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 Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2008 6:15 am
Cassian was feeling sorry for himself.
Two fights in one day! How was that even possible?
First it was those horrible siblings, mocking him and then threatening to kill him because he retaliated. They shouldn't have poked fun at him if they didn't want to play rough, should they? Then as he'd headed back to find Ilena he'd bumped into another feline. A stupid black female who'd decided he looked like good prey. Well, he'd put up the best fight he could have in the situation but he'd lost.
Hell, he would have lost his life if it wasn't for the male stepping in to stop her.
Now his shoulder was cut, his ribs were bruised and there were scratches marring his once untouched, beautiful pelt. Sure, they'd heal in time and they probably weren't deep enough to scar...but they made him unhappy and they itched like hell.
Recognising another landmark - a large tree with thick green foliage - he wondered if this was the place where he'd left his companion. He hesitated a moment before daring to call out to her.
"Ilena?"
Illena had been wandering rather aimlessly in the same area she had been in when Cassian had first wandered off. She had tried her hand at hunting but had, unfortunately failed. It unsettled her, she had never had too much of a problem at least catching small game. Now she hadn't caught anything. Heaving a sigh she shook her head, hopefully he wouldn't be too upset with her. Maybe she would try again once he returned, that way she at least knew where he was.
When she heard his voice her features brightened and a smile spread across her maw as she turned her head back only to have it fall at the sight of him. He was so beaten up!
"Cassian!" She squeaked panic filling her tone as she turned and trotted over to him. "Are you okay?! What happened?"
She couldn't exactly imagine what happened to him, all she knew was that he had gotten hurt. "Can I help with anything?"
A wave of relief swept over him as she replied. Finally, he wasn't going to be alone anymore. His little journey had made him realise one thing. He felt safer with someone else, even if that someone else was Ilena.
"I'm fine." He replied gruffly, somewhat embarrassed by the fact that he'd been beaten up by three lions and hadn't really managed to harm any of them - not even a lucky scrape! What use was he if he couldn't even protect himself? "It's only a scratch, yeah?"
He paused to look into her worried face and his frown wavered slightly. It was odd to think that someone was worried about him. "Some rogues were causing trouble. I tried to put a stop to it. I was outnumbered. Next time they might not be so lucky." He huffed. "How does my shoulder look?" He turned slightly so she could get a look.
It was the wound that he'd technically caused himself. The lioness had him pinned, her claws piercing his fur. He'd wrenched himself free and dragged her claws through his flesh. It'd seemed a good plan...at the time.
Despite his words she wasn't convinced, he didn't look fine. "Are you..." She trailed off as he spoke to her again. "I-if you say so." She replied with an uncertain nod.
"Really?" Her features brightened at the though of him trying to be so noble. "Well I'm glad you weren't hurt so bad." She admitted sheepishly as she crept forward to get a better look at his shoulder. Her brow furrowed together as she examined the wound. It wasn't terrible but it wasn't exactly decent.
"Well it doesn't look too deep but you shouldn't put too much pressure on it." She stated with a nod before stepping back. "Would you like me to clean it for you?"
Did he feel bad about twisting the truth? No, he didn't. Besides he wasn't in the wrong or the right. He'd neither started nor finished the fights, instead he'd run off to save his own skin. Hell, he had pride and the fact that he'd had to take the coward's way out stung. But he'd throw pride to the wind any day if it meant saving his own life.
He was not ready to die.
"That's the way the world works. Females hunt. Males fight. Don't ask me why. It just is." He grunted as he sat. "Uh, if you want to." He tried to turn his head to get a look at the wound but he just couldn't get the right angle. "Damn. I hope it don't take too long to heal. I don't like this place much." He was still a little worried that those rogues might try and hunt him down.
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Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2008 7:15 am
"I understand. I think's it's very brave of you to stand up to others even when you're outnumbered." She told him softly moving closer again. She hesitated as she waited for the okay from him before she moved any closer to tend to his shoulder. "It might sting." She warned before she let her tongue run over the wounded area.
It was something her mother would do whenever she hurt herself. She would come crying to her mother whenever she tripped and fell and her mother would lick the area which she hurt herself until she stopped crying. It was moments like that that she missed.
"I don't think so, one maybe two days at the most." She commented thinking about the time. "But you probably shouldn't be running around until then."
A little of his pride was mended at her words. See, he was brave! Brave...stupid...it was all the same thing really. All that mattered was that Illena didn't realise the truth of the matter and the only way that would happen was if one of those nasty rogues got close.
But he doubted they would. Surely they had better things to do than chase adolescent rogues around the lands. He knew he did.
He had Gods to chase.
Thinking about that, he wondered whether he should let Illena in on what they were 'searching' for. He hadn't told her that he was looking for anything, mainly because that would bring up questions on why he was looking for them and he'd have to think of a lie to cover up the truth about his sight.
But...how much longer could he keep up the pretence? Those rogues had noticed something odd about him. Sooner or later Illena would. And if he'd lied about that she'd end up wondeing what else he'd lied about.
His thoughts were broken as the wound began to sting under her care. She'd warned him, yes, but he hadn't expected it to be that bad. He held back a whimper and dug his claws into the dirt.
"I'll just stay put then, for now at least." He trailed off, still clearly uncertain about what to do. "At this rate it'll take weeks to get to the ocean." He grumbled. "I'm sorry, Illena."
She smiled softly at his words and pulled back to shake her head. "Don't be sorry Cassian." She told him nudging his cheek lightly with her nose. "I don't mind, as long as you don't leave me I don't mind how long it takes." She admitted before turning her attention back o her task. She continued to clean the cut. She was almost finished. "It'll just be a little longer okay?" She asked glancing at him through the corner of her eyes.
With another few licks she had gotten rid of the rest of the dried blood and now moved back to observe the wound, to make sure that it didn't start to bleed or fester. "You should rest now. I'll see about finding you something to eat alright?" She suggested before falling silent and waiting for a reply.
Lately she had stopped stuttering at all, there were moments were she did but as time passed, and the more spent with him, she stopped stuttering and simply felt comfortable around him. It was definitely something she was rather pleased about.
"Don't worry." Cassian replied. "I ain't going anywhere, right? Truthfully, I didn't much like travelling by myself, I realised that today when I was off on my own." He winced as she gave his wound a last wash and released a sigh when she was done.
"Resting sounds like a good idea." Food too, he admitted with a smirk. Yeah, he could be truthful after dinner. "Only if you're feeling up to it. Just...don't go too far, okay? And if there's anyone suspicious around, call me."
His brow furrowed slightly. He didn't want to scare her, but he was worried himself about any rogues that still might be waiting in the shadows. He resettled himself on his belly and was careful not to jarr his bruised side. "I'll be right here."
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Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2008 7:24 am
"Good." She mumbled more to herself than to him. Truthfully she was thankful to know that he'd be there, after all he was the only one she had. For the moment. Well that was what she told herself at least.
"If you don't rest you'll be in trouble okay?" She warned jokingly as she moved and started to trot away. "I won't be too far away, promise. Just call if you need me." She told him before turning her back on him. She started to walk away content with the knowledge that he'd be close if she needed him and vice versa.
"I'll be back soon.
He gave her a lop-sided grin. "Don't worry, don't worry. I'll be good." He shook the dirt out from his growing mane and set his chin against a foreleg. He watched her go and hoped that she managed to catch something. All the fighting certainly had given him an appetite.
He nodded groggily, knowing that she'd stay close by and taking comfort from that fact.
He'd sleep for a while. But he'd sleep lightly...just in case.
/fin
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