A few days after the talk with Jicho, Nyuni had let her wandering mind settle down. The prospects of life getting interesting died down after life seemed to return to normal after that. Being bummed didn't even start to describe what she felt, but she kept her worries to herself. The red lioness never was one to share her true emotions with others, always so worried about how others would feel if she did.
Travelling just shy of the border lands that she almost never came near, she glanced out at the world within her eye's reach. It seemed to similar to what she had seen all her life, with just the hints of a real jungle just on the horizon. The grass started to grow more green, and.....wait, that wasn't right. There was a lump there that didn't look like anything, not even a rock. Rocks didn't breathe!
"Ugghh." Groaning, the odd shape that the red lioness had noticed shifted his weight. He was face down in the dirt, the rest of his body contorted in an odd shape. Everywhere hurt, enough so that he wasn't able to tell if anything was broken or just sore. Blast, what had happened? His memory was shot, he barely even remembered his own name. All he could remember actually, was his nickname. Dios.
Raising his head only made it ache more. Avoiding the pain meant lying as close to the ground as possible. Did this mean that he was dying? He knew that everything had to return to the earth, but the idea scared him. He knew he was too young to die. One day he wanted to do...something. He couldn't remember what it was though. The thought scared him more than death. There had to be something more out there for him than waking up just to die, right?
Nyuni's paws swiftly carried her to where the lion lay. It was a thrilling prospect to be outside of the pride lands, but she knew that she would hear for it later. If this lion was still alive, she'd use him as her excuse for doing so. There was no reason that she should just leave someone out there to die without trying to help.
As she slipped towards him, seeing that he was young, but indeed a male. It looked to be in incredible pain. Ny froze for a moment, unsure as what she was doing. She didn't know the first thing about trying to save someone. She knew enough of what could happen on a hunt, though, and with that knowledge she let her mind continue on it's path.
"Hey, hey! Where does it hurt?" Asking 'are you okay?' would be the most redundant question to escape her mouth.
Hearing the voice of something other than his mind, the young lion arched his head upwards, the pain searing through his skull. "Huh?" he asked quietly, his voice raspy. How long had he been lying here? How long had she been here? She almost seemed short of breathe, had he done something with her? It seemed unlikely, as she was looking at him as a stranger might. His red-brown eyes scanned his forepaws, about the only thing he could see at this moment.
"Think...so..." he said quietly, still shakey from something. Memories were still void, but he pushed that aside for now. There was a flicker of hope that he might survive this, with someone else to help him. He just had to convince her that he was worth saving. He wanted to live.
"Everywhere..."
Great. Everywhere was not going to help her with anything. Fretting, as she had no idea where to start, the red lioness closed her eyes and slowed her breathing. There was no way that she was going to be able to help him if she was panicking herself. Calming her nerves, she determined that water would be the best thing. She had no idea how long he had been lying here, but obviously long enough that it was risky to try and fill him up with meat immediately. Get him to drink, and this 'everywhere' pain might melt into only certain places.
"Wait here. I'm going to get you some water. I'll be right back, I promise!" And with that, she ran to where there should be water.
Seeing here leave was oddly painful in of itself. Here he finally had hope, and she had left. What was she getting? Oh, water. Water...it didn't bring back anything to his mind but that of the fact that hhe ached for something to cool his throat. Oh, water did that, didn't it? What a wreak he was, he couldn't even remember the functions that he would need for his life.
Waiting was hard, but it also let his mind mill over the throbbing that seemed to take over his mind. The longer he was awake, the less he felt the pain; it seemed to only hold in certain areas. The worst of one was his head. It was still quite hard for him to raise it above his shoulders, but his mind was clearing enough that he could really tell where he was. Not that he even knew where.
The red lioness rushed back, not quite as quickly as she had left, but in due enough time. There was a very large, dry leaf she had found, and though she had done her best, there wasn't much water left when she dragged it back. It seemed to be just enough to make the young lion feel slightly better, though, and for that she was greatful.
It only was then that he raised his head enough to look at her. And for a moment, Nyuni forgot everything. She felt like she was sinking into those eyes.
Her heart tightened. Was this what it was when they said love at first sight? She could hardly believe it!
She...was staring at him. It was mildly creepy. While he was greatful to her for doing what she had done so far, the staring wasn't really needed. He pulled his eyes away from her, looking back down at the leaf for any leftover droplets of water. Leaf tasted gross, but the water was like magic. He almost felt better. Enough so that he knew he hadn't broken anything, but he still ahced in more areas than just his head.
He dared to look back up, and it seemed she had finally stopped that ceaseless staring. She was still looking, but it wasn't like she was looking into his soul. He shivered at the thought. It wouldn't be fair for her to know everything about him and he didn't know a thing.
Oh...oh. He looked mad. But why? When it was love, didn't the other side feel it too? Nyuni was horribly confused. Maybe it was because he was so injured, the only thing that he could think about was the pain. That...that had to be it! Nyuni nutured what little hope she had left into a large feeling in her heart. She didn't realize the dangers of treating it so childishly.
"You seem better," she asked after she composed herself better. She let her eyes linger around him, telling herself to analyze where he could be injured. "Did the water help at all?"
The light grey lion nodded. "It did," he replied, his voice easier to understand than it had been just a short time ago. Thankfully she seemed to stop. What was it? Was there something horribly wrong with him and he couldn't just tell what it was yet? The ideas that flowed through his head were small but numerous.
"Ah....where....where am I?" he asked, nervous. It seemed embarassing that he would wake up in unknown lands, but then he still couldn't remember much about himself. He didn't want to admit it, but he was going to have to depend on this stranger for everything until he got better. If he ever did get better.
"Oh!" she chirped, feeling quite rude. "You're just outside of my homelands. Umm..." Oops, they really weren't supposed to expose themselves, were they? But he seemed so harmless...and he seriously made her heart skip. Father would understand, wouldn't he? Nyuni's thoughts were nothing what they should be, but then when did a sheltered girl ever think about more than just herself?
"The Mteo'nyungu, actually. We're...well, no matter. We've got a place for you if you need it. My name is Nyuni," she said as calmly as she should, nearly shaking with excitement that she would know the young stranger's name. She felt odd, since he was obviously younger than her...but....but....
"Ah. Dios," he said, hoping to hide the fact that he didn't remember anything. At least a name stuck, so he could fake through some of it. He lowered his head onto his forepaws, willing the throbbing pain to ebb while he glanced around. It was all so strange, and the earth was more red than what he was used to. Almost like this Nyuni fit it so well, and he never would. Would he fit anywhere? He continued to fight back the worried that flooded him, but it didn't seem to matter.
No, it did. He was alive.
"So...um...are there any other prides around?" Maybe if she listed off some things, she would trigger something in his memory so he could return home. If it was his home.
"Well, there's the Pridelands, really. SOme other ones, but that's really the only one that I know of. I'm sorry I can't be of much help," she said, sounding genuine. "I don't know that much, I just live here and hunt." She shook her head. "But...I guess....if you want to just stay here until you feel better, we wouldn't mind. My father is the Akida, here, y'see, so he'll surely let you in."
The fact was that she wasn't completely sure with that, but it was apparent that he was going to be useless for a while, and he needed the attention to heal. He didn't seem bad, either. Jicho would stand by her, wouldn't he? She didn't know that he would be against it. The girl was ensaring the boy without even realizing it.
The grey lion nodded. "All right. I'm...sorry. My head still aches, and it's hard for me to really move, but I'll do my best." He felt embarassed by this fact, but it was better than skirting around the issude without really telling her what was wrong. Being up front would probably be the quickest way for him to heal, and hopefully figure out what he wanted to do with his life. Whatever was left of it.
Nyuni could barely contain her excitement at the fact that he would probably need to lean on her for guidance back to their home. Their home, indeed, because Nyuni was going to try to keep him there. Hopefully he would like it once she got the both of them to the cave. Hopes were thrown forward, but no real foresight was used. Nyuni, always brash enough to rush into things when her heart was warmed.
