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 Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2008 9:03 pm
Aailyah woke with a start, eyes wide and body tense. Her head darted from side to side as she looked for the source of the noise that had woken her up. A shrill scream echoed through her den. Whatever it was, it seemed to be nearby.
Jumping to her feet, the cheetah left the comforts of her bed and began in the direction of the upsetting sound. Her entire body seemed tense and her fur stood on end. What on earth was going on? When she finally stepped outside her den, the cheetah realised that the sound was nowhere to be found.
The sky was just barely lit and the sun remained low in the distance, teasing a sunrise in the near future. The lands remained silent and no one had yet woken up.
Despite this, the cheetah couldn't shake the awful feeling that something had happened.
Despite his ability to fly, Thaka had been traveling slow. His left wing was injured and it seemed more comfortable to simply walk along until he found some place safe to rest. It was dangerous on the ground for an avian and he very well knew this. His injury had come from a close encounter with a serval that nearly claimed his life. If it had not been for a quick thought up distraction, Thaka would certainly have been a goner. A couple days had since passed and while Thaka knew his wing was healing, it still ached something fierce.
Spotting a tall rock in the distance, the bird got the brilliant idea to attempt flying for the first time in what seemed like ages. It wouldn't go smoothly, he also knew this, but he had to do something.
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Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2008 9:24 pm
Aailyah still couldn't calm her shaken nerves. She thought for a moment of finding Kayin for simple conversation, but it was still too early. With a shake of her head, the female paused at the entrance of her den. The scream seemed to echo in the back of her mind. It was nothing she'd ever heard before. A sound of anguish, pain and fear. It seemed to be the sound of death.
Aailyah's fur stood on end at the thought.
Gathering herself, the cheetah soon realised that it must have been a vision. While she heard nothing in the images that plagued her, they gave off such an intense feeling, she often swore she could. Why didn't she remember any of the vision then?
Thaka had managed to crawl to the top of the rock, wings stretched out awkwardly to pull himself up. Birds were certainly not made for climbing, not for walking... Oh! Thaka was so ready to fly! The avian found himself anxious at the thought of taking off into the sky again, feeling secure and confident! Having spent the past couple days on the ground, the bird was becoming somewhat paranoid at all sorts of sounds, fearing that this might be the serval come back to finish him off. Finally on his feet, the bird heaved a deep sigh of relief and looked out towards the savannah around him. He wasn't too high up, but it certainly beat the view from the dirt covered ground.
The view was enough for the bird to pause and smile contently. It was during this pause that the bird didn't notice the approaching footsteps of the same predator that he had so closely avoided. He had cast away the cat's attention for a short while and even managed to get a couple days worth ahead of the monster, but traveling by ground left his wounded scent as a clear trail for the serval to follow.
It seemed her question was asked too soon.
A thick explosion of colors danced about before her eyes. Teal, golden, blue, white and green. They floated to the ground almost magically, swaying side by side before they finally hit. It seemed to be a beautiful site until thick blotches of red decorated her beautiful painting.
No longer was she mesmorised, but almost frightened. Red instinctively caused the cheetah to think blood and she was fearful once again. The sound did not seem pleasant, why would this vision?
A second explosion, though this time much smaller. Each gorgeous color seemed accompanied by small speckles of the same red.
Was it finally over? What did it mean?
The serval was silent as it lay in waiting for the bird's next move. Thaka, unknowing of the animal's presense and eager to attempt flight stretched out his wings with as much a grin as he could muster. The right stretched out widely, though somewhat stiff from lack of movement. Slowly, but surely the left also opened up. To his surprise, the aching was not as intolerable as it had been. Stretching it out some more, the bird danced about atop the rock, preparing himself for what was to come. If he was unable to fly, the distance wasn't too high to injure him further. Having nearly gone crazy on the ground from the loss of one of his greatest abilities, Thaka figured that he had nothing to lose.
Thaka was ready now, feet curled over the edge of the rock and body pulled up as though it was planning to jump even if he changed his mind.
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Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2008 9:49 pm
Aailyah felt her legs move beneath her even before her mind could register her thoughts. She was panicing once again! It seemed urgent, her body was nervous. Despite her natural reaction, the cheetah did not know what to do or even where to begin. She could barely make sense of the sudden flashes of color and the painful feeling she felt after witnessing their fall.
Glancing back towards her den, Aailyah wanted to return to the comforts of sleep. Why was she given that horrible ability? All normal cheetahs would simply remain unaware of the horrors of reality of what was to come. She wished so badly for that opportunity to remain naive.
It was against her nature, however, to deny what she knew and Aailyah knew that someone was in need of assistance.
He couldn't wait any longer.
Thaka pushed with his small legs and spread his wings wide to catch the breeze. Perhaps he could only fly for a moment, but it would be worth it. Simply smelling the rushing wind and feeling the sudden adrenaline from soaring. The bird found himself in the air for a moment, seemingly gaining elevation when he realised that he couldn't get any higher. He was disappointed, but relieved that he had at least made an effort to find that his wings were not fully healed. They would need more time.
As he had gone up, Thaka had begun to come down and much more quickly than he imagined. His body twisted and he attempted to adjust his wings so that he could soften the fall. The sound of a cackling hiss seemed to approach and the bird's eyes went wide!
Aailyah padded through the whole of the Duma'Chama territory, coming up with nothing that even slightly resembled her vision. She began to make her way towards the borders with the hopes that something might show up there. In the past she had found that if she looked hard enough she could find some way to answer her vision. If she didn't find the creature it affected directly, she'd find some way to ease her mind. Perhaps another vision was going to come? Perhaps things would get better? The cheetah remained hopeful, but continued on.
Stepping outside the ring of small orange flowers, the lithe female peeked out, as though frightened of the land beyond her home's territory. She wandered quite often from her den, but it had been months since she'd ventured back to the roguelands. The cheetah felt it was her responsibility to remain where others might find her.
The serval's movement seemed instantaneous and before Thaka could even blink, a thick jaw clenched tight around his middle, causing a flury of brilliant colored feathers to fly about the air. Like many felines, the serval was not one to deny toying with his meal before finishing it off. Not willing to let it get away a second time, the serval released his jaw only long enough to allow the bird to hit the ground with a thud. Additional feathers seemed to fall out from impact, this time stained with blood. Quickly, the serval clenched his jaws around the bird, aiming for the neck. Thaka, though almost entirely stunned, managed to shift his body enough to feel the jaws come down on his middle once again.
And then the pain was too much to bear. Thaka released a horrifying scream, a final plea for help.
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Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2008 10:30 pm
Aailyah was still searching when she finally heard it. The scream.
The cheetah froze for a moment, fearful for whatever it was that had made the sound. She hadn't expected to come across it so soon and still without any idea as to where it came from. Was she too late? Would the effects of her vision unfold without her having any opportunity to help the victim? Would the same fate await the determined cheetahs of the Duma'Chama?
When Aailyah finally arrived at the scene of the incident, it did indeed appear as though she was too late. The hungry serval loomed over what appeared to be a broken and tattered avian, covered in blood and missing large patches of feathers. It did not take any thought for the tall feline to raise her body and emit as frightening a noise as she could muster.
Thaka's eyes shut helplessly as he felt his body be tossed about in the air. Additional bones broke as the serval continued to bite down on his form. He wanted to scream again, but his body couldn't find the strength to act.
There was nothing he could do.
Aailyah watched as the serval refused to back down, seeming to clasp the limp figure more tightly. The cheetah questioned her motives and why she even found herself acting. The bird appeared to be dead and it wasn't anything she'd put past her own kind. Perhaps the serval had only been hunting, hungry and desperate for a meal? Was this anything she hadn't already found herself doing? What was it about the small animal before her that seemed to urge her to continue on?
Pressing forward, the cheetah released a threatening growl, exposing her teeth and making it clear that she was the larger of the two.
Though she was determined to help, the cheetah found herself surprised when the competitor finally decided that the thin bird was not enough to get injured over. He left in a hurry, no longer wishing to upset the furious cheetah.
Aailyah crept to the small creature, eyes swollen with sadness. Lowering her head to its chest, she heard the faint pittering of a heartbeat that was not willing to give up.
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