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 Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2009 2:25 pm
She hated this. She hated it so, so so much, and yet there was nothing her small, fragile, delicate body or mind could do about it. Almost as if to confirm her thoughts of weakness, her maw let out an involuntary whimper as she caught the gash on a tree branch, stopping in her tracks to allow a shudder to traverse her small frame. Nafsiari's emerald eyes were clouded with fear as she looked before her - the den wasn't far. But she was so, so sore. She'd never felt such pain before, nor such hate coursing through her veins. Hate...that was a bad emotion, wasn't it? She'd never really felt hate before. And it was in that instant that she realized it wasn't hate - not really. It was merely fear, fear so strong it felt like a raging anger. She whined. Where was her beloved Cyn?
Cyn had probably found someone more worthy. Cynerubor was an amazing, beautiful, intelligent lionness that Sia knew she didn't deserve, but the darker female refused to leave her. But with all these males now having taken over, they found themselves forced apart in order to apease them, and avoid punishment. But somehow Sia had done something wrong - she'd just been so scared. Even when Cyn had been there beside her, her warm pelt there in a reassuring gesture, Sia had found her legs turning to jelly as the males invaded. And she'd been without her beloved, without that support when one had come up to her, roughly demanding that she catch him a meal.
She'd just been so scared! Too scared to move, to talk, to do anything other than cower. So she'd been punished. The large gash on her side hadn't stopped bleeding since, and in all truth she was feeling quite light-headed. But more than that was her limp paw, the large bite-mark still clearly apparent, though the blood there had clotted and the bleeding ceased. It wasn't that far to the den...not that far...
Ahhhhh, this was the life...
Lying on his back on a leafy bed between two big trees, Uyahambe was completely shaded and cool, and very comfortable. He had had his fill of food, had his fill of fun, and now...A nap. Could life get any better than that? All his life he had gone through hardship after hardship until he had finally taken things into his own paws, going after what he wanted with wit and skill and deception. And it had worked. But it had been hard.
Now, all that was changed. Now, he was really livin' a life of ease~!
A smile touched the male's maw and he shut his eyes, soaking in the sweet relaxation. But something interrupted his "happy time".
There was a strange, whimpering sound. For a moment, he thought one of the cubs had gotten away and was making an escape or something. Crazy little wretched brats, cubs. Eyes cracking open, Uya glared around, searching for the source of his noise. He was loath to get up, but he did. And then he saw a lioness.
Brown and lean, small and lithe-looking, she was a beauty if he ever saw one. He felt his heart pound and he smiled, shaking his mane in an attempt to make himself seem more attractive before he went to introduce himself. For he had not seen that female before. There were many females in that pride; a delightfully-large number...And he intended to meet every one.
Making his way towards her, he stopped in his racks suddenly, the stinging scent of blood entering his nose. Black eyes wandered down to the lost-looking female's paw, and he saw her wound. Without thinking of her being scared, he walked towards her, a concerned frown on his face.
Sia clamped her eyes shut, trying to drive away the pain and think of something happier. Of...of happier times when it was her and Cyn and no-one else. She'd liked that. When they could just cuddle up in the shade under a tree and sleep the whole afternoon away. And then they'd found the Antianeira, and it had gotten even better. Until...until they'd invaded. They'd come and stripped the pride of it's purpose, and now it felt more like a prison than anything else...
The crack of a twig. Sia's eyes flew open, the looming shape of a large brown lion soon being spotted by the paler female as she gave a frightened cry, momentairily forgetting her injuries as she attemtped to surge forwards, to escape in some way. She knew that to run from a male was an unwise decision, but right now her mind was confused, and her first instinct was to run. However, her body had other ideas, screaming in agony the moment she put weight on her injured paw, sending her crashing back to the ground again. Her frightened cry turned to one of pain again, as Sia landed hard on her front with a whimper, clamping her eyes shut once more, bringing her good paw up to cover them, blocking out all light.
Maybe if she pretended he wasn't there, he'd go away.
Uya quirked his jaw, raising his brows in surprise at the female's quick, sudden actions, each changing quickly and turning into other actions and sounds. He didn't get females. But what was there to get? They were pretty. That was all.
"Easy there, honey, I ain't gonna hurt ya." he chided calmly, stepping forward even though anyone could tell that was a bad idea. But the female seemed to have settled for the moment, on the ground with an arm over her face. From the looks of it, her injured paw was quite swollen with a good deal of dried blood covering it. Maybe it hurt too much to groom? Or maybe it just kept bleeding? Poor chick. He'd help her out. Living on his own, he learned all kinds of tricks to survive. He had to look out for himself. So he could definitely handle something like a bite wound.
Moving closer, he eyed the wound, then trotted back over to his leafy bed between the trees. He shuffled his right paw through them for a bit, lazily scanning the immediate area. Black eyes locked on their target, and he dragged something that looked similar to a fat aloe leave forward. He bent down and grabbed it in his teeth, then sauntered back over to the female. He knelt down by her and began breaking the juicy-looking leaf apart, gooey liquid beginning to seep out.
"Calm down, yeah? I'm gonna help ya out." he informed her, nose wrinkling at the strange smell of the ointment. But he quickly tried to hide it so the female wouldn't be concerned. If she even saw it, that was. She was kind of covering her face. Craaaazy females. But hell, he liked the shy types anyways.
She heard him speaking words, but couldn't quite tell what they were due to her paw partially obstructing her ears, too. Straining her hearing as she shifted her paw to hear better, she listened to his footsteps moving away. She gently opened one eye, peeking out from under her paw - she could see large brown paws moving away, grabbing a...a leaf? And oh no, he was coming back? Another involuntary whimper escaped as she dived under her paw once more, although this time she was careful to leave her ears free.
Calm down? How could she calm down when he was...he was here!? Why would he want to help, anyway? It was probably just a trick...a horrible, horrible trick and she was his pawn in some evil plans. She whimpered again, trying to drag her injured paw further under her so he couldn't touch it. Where was Cyn!?
Having successfully peeled away the outer shell of the fat leaf, Uyahambe sliced his claws against the outside edge, cutting through soft flesh and revealing the goopy liquid inside. His eyes watered at the strength of the scent, and he moved it away from himself just a bit so that it wasn't directly beneath him. It didn't help much...
He fixated his black eyes on the female's frightened form again, gaze dancing over her body for jusssst a moment before he got back to work. What? He couldn't help it. He was a male, after all. That was a valid excuse, right? Or wasn't it...Huh...Well, what did it matter. He liked pretty females, and this was certainly a pretty female. Pretty females usually liked him, too. But judging by this one's reactions towards him, he guessed she didn't like him in the slightest. Ehhh, it was understandable given that he and a bunch of others murdered their Queen and took over their home for themselves and used all the females as their pawns...
...But he'd get her to come around to him sooner or later. She'd soon find that he wasn't all that bad...At least, not on the outside.
"Oyyy, don't be difficult, hear me?" Uya warned lightly, reaching an arm out to paw her injury closer to him. It was a struggle, but he managed to grab a hold on her. But he didn't want to scare her, or hurt her, so she'd have to meet him half way. Problem was, would she? "I'm not gonna hurt ya, I've got medicine. Can't you smell it?"
She smelt it long before he started speaking. It smelt vile - some horrible smell that he must've been producing from a plant or just somehow, since it was too horrible to be just naturally occuring. Moving her paw a little again she allowed herself to peek through with one eye, watching him closely as he peeled away at a leaf, before using his paw to slice it, allowing a liquid to drop out. It was the liquid that smelt so horrible, she realized, wrinkling her nose and taking to breathing through her mouth in quick, frightened gasps.
Don't be difficult? Oh, it sounded like a warning! She couldn't help it - she was so terrified, she could barely move. Petrified - was that what they called it? And now it sounded like he was going to hurt her because of something she couldn't...her through her cut off with a pained yelp as he grabbed hold of her injured leg, Sia instantly beginning to shudder, pained whimpers escaping her maw. Of course she could smell it, it was vile. But how could she know it was medicine? What if it was poison or something?!
But she was so uncomfortable, and in so much pain. She wanted Cyn to be here, but she couldn't. Being a healer herself Sia was well aware of the fact that the foul smelling plant was most likely a herb used to heal serious open wounds, and as such could think of no other alternative but that he was telling the truth. With another whimper, she eventually relaxed her tensed stance, allowing him to pull her injured paw closer to him - but not without constant whines, both in fear and in pain.
Uyahambe collected the female's paw to himself, making sure to take it with great care. Once it was directly in front of him, the wound facing him, he saw the extent of the damage. It looked as though someone; most likely a male; had taken the paw in their teeth and had bit down hard, and shaken it, damaging it quite a bit. It certainly looked painful, swollen, red, and scabbed, but that wasn't a good sign. When something swelled up, it usually meant it was...Well, filling with something. He had to lower the swelling and clean it up. The first step was to apply that sharp-smelling goo from the plant leaf. So, he did.
Dipping a dark paw into the goop, he got a good wad of it. Then he lowered it onto the female's injured paw, and carefully began smearing it in, barely applying any pressure. All he wanted to do was put the goop on and move it around, not rub it in, really. So he barely touched her with his paw at all. If anything, he was using his paw as a tool to move the goo.
When the injury was covered on all sides, Uya tossed the leaf away and smeared his own paw in the dirt, hastily ridding himself of the wretched smell.
"Therrrrre, that wasn't so hard, yeah?" he chimed gently, offering a smile to the small female. He backed up a bit where he lay, wanting to give the female some sense of personal space and security. He had to gain her trust, after all. He wanted her to like him.
He really did...
She was expecting just a lump of goo and him to leave. Why would one of them care so much about her, anyway? She was just another female - one of many. Plenty of the other females were rebelling, Cyn included. They seemed to take up most of the males' time which made Sia grateful - she didn't want to catch their attention. But it seemed she'd failed here. But then again...he was being really gentle, as he smoothed the gooey stuff from the herb over her paw. Her shudders subsided a little as the pain slowly ebbed away - not completely. But instead of a sharp stabbing pain it subsided to a mere throb.
She heard shuffles as he backed away, and slowly raised a paw, peeking out from underneath it. He seemed a fair distance away. She very cautiously lifted the paw, blinking her emerald eyes to look upon him, her eyes clouded with fear. She swallowed, shuddering again lightly as she very gently lifted her head, to have a look at her injured paw. It was covered by the goo - he'd done a fairly good job, actually.
She looked back up at him, eyes widening and ears pinning back against her head as she couldn't help but wonder...what did he want? Surely he wouldn't just help her!? He...he'd slain Kiuma! Or at least, been a part of it! Sia whined softly, before remembering what had been said - the males, they had new rules. She needed to thank him - oh gods, she needed to thank him before he thought her rude and punished her! Her mouth opened to say the words, but none came out.
She whined softly again, before finally managed the two words, albeit extremely quetly - he might have only known she was speaking by seeing her lips move. "Thank you."
Uyahambe grinned handsomely, his right ear flopping to the side like it always managed to do every time he smiled about something.
"Yer welcome, sweetheart." he returned, folding his paws on top of each other where he lay. He coiled his tail to his side, tuft falling over his white-tipped foot, and let it rest there as he relaxed. The canopy of trees overhead blocked out most of the sunlight where they were, and it felt very cool. Whenever things were cool, it put Uyahambe in a good mood. He liked the jungle, he decided. He was used to the dryness and heat of the savanna, and of all other kinds of places. But this was certainly a nice change. A guy could get used to living like that, he told himself. A guy could really get used to it...
Black eyes tearing away from the trees, he focused on the little lioness again, offering her a charming smile. "What's your name, babe?" he asked, unable to help the constant nicknames that spilled forth from him. It was just his manner of speaking. But sometimes, people took it the wrong way. He was never aware of that, though.
He was smiling? It was a nice smile, too... Sia's tensed form relaxed, the female forgetting herself for a moment as she studied his face, searching for any signs of malice or ill intent. But strangely enough, she found none. She thought herself a fairly good reader of faces and expression, but in his face she only saw a genuine smile, perhaps a little flirtatious but weren't all males? Swallowing again, she pinned her ears back a little still, emerald eyes clouding over once again, but this time with something else mixed in with the fear - curiousity, perhaps?
He smiled again and it threw her - what was he smiling for? What was there to be happy about? Whining quietly, not wanting to seem rude, she attempted to force a smile of her own - but instead it failed miserably, coming out twisted and awkward and not at all like a smile. She dropped that plan quickly, turning her gaze to the floor so as to hopefully not anger him. He asked for her name, and she desperately didn't want to give it. But she knew the rules, and didn't wish to get into trouble. And the cubs - she had to think of the cubs.
"Nafsiari," she whispered, half hoping he wouldn't be able to hear.
Uyahambe's ears turned, mouth closing in his smile. He rolled his shoulders back, inching himself back a little until he was pressed against the trunk of a moss-covered tree. Something like a disgusted look plastered itself on the lioness's face, but it was with a split second of careful discernment that Uya decided it had been a forced attempt at a smile. Poor chick was scared of him. And she had good reason to be. He wasn't about to scold her for fearing him; quite the contrary. He wanted her to, in a way. But at the same time, he wanted her to trust him. But something as drastic as that wouldn't happen after the first meeting. He'd have to meet her again, was all. And then again. And maybe again. And maybe even more than that. But she'd come around eventually.
They all did.
"That's a pretty name," the male stated in a friendly way. "I like it." A yawn slipped from his maw but he stifled it quickly, causing an unpleasant shudder to tremor through his body. He cleared his throat, black eyes swiveling over the canopy of trees again before resting themselves on Sia's face. "I've got a pretty boring name, see. I'm Uyahambe." He didn't bother with any flourished nods or bows; unnecessary things. He was too tired, besides.
He shuffled backwards and she, as always, watched him carefully. What was he doing? Was he trying to trick her!? After a few moments he stopped, and remained there. She wasn't entirely sure why he had moved - perhaps he'd been uncomfortable in the original position? Well, whatever the case, he'd moved, and was now complimenting her name. Not sure what to do, she simply whined again - maybe Cyn would hear, and come to her rescue? Oh why did Cyn have to be somewhere else, now of all times!?
He yawned - maybe he was getting tired, and she'd soon be able to creep back to her den and hide there, waiting for Cyn. He seemed to be hiding the yawn, however, causing him to shiver instead and then...he cleared his throat? Utterly confused, puzzled by his strange behaviour, she relaxed her form once again, deciding that if he'd really wanted to hurt her he would've by now. Poor, naive Nafsiari...
She was silent for several moment, not finding any direct questions to reply to. But the feeling of awkwardnes crept over them, and wanting to avoid it, she quickly offered a comment, "It's not..b-boring." she spoke, just as quietly as before, "...Y-Y-Your name. It's not b-boring."
He leaned forward, nodding hair out of his face and coiling his tail onto his white ankle once more. He listened to the female's words intently, heart fluttering with excitement and accomplishment that the female actually was speaking to him regularly. Well, mostly regularly. She stuttered; out of fear, or out of way of speech? Whatever the case, at least she was talking. And a compliment, no less.
He was making headway faster than he thought.
"Aw~, thanks, honey." he replied, a grin stretched across his face. "I appreciate that comin' from you." he nodded, and rested his head on his folded paws. "You come look me up whenever you bust a paw or somethin' else open, yeah? Just remember my boring name." he said, flashing a grin. Then he yawned again and closed his eyes, a smile still on his face. "Take care not to put weight on that...Injury." he said, pausing half-way due to another yawn that seized him. When it subsided, he closed his eyes, and was silent.
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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 8:32 am
His behavior was odd, and caused a narrowing of the female's eyes - but not in a manner that suggested anger. More of a squinting, as if she were trying to get a better look. After all, it had been she who'd demanded he stay so far away. Not in as many words, perhaps, but in her actions and such. He looked...he looked happy that she'd spoken. Sia couldn't help the flutter of relief that slowed her racing heartbeat - perhaps that meant she could do something, about not getting hurt again. If she spoke, perhaps he wouldn't hurt her, or come any closer, and eventually she'd be able to drag herself back to the den and wait for Cyn. Yes...she'd just have to talk.
He thanked her, and she forced another smile - this one turned out a little better, seeming almost sweet. He appreciated it, coming from her? What was that supposed to mean? She was confused, and frowned a little, but soon wiped it from her face - it wouldn't do to be nosy. Instead she merely nodded at his suggestion, knowing full well she'd rather not sustain anymore injuries, and even if she did it was unlikely she'd go searching this male out. She'd rather go to Lorelei, or one of the other healers. She trusted them - females could be trusted. Males couldn't.
"T-Thank you," she stuttered again, at a loss for how to keep the conversation going. She had to keep him happy! He yawned and settled down as if to sleep, and panic shot through the lithe lionness' emerald eyes - she couldn't be boring! He had to stay happy!
"S-S-So...u-uh..." she started, at a total loss for what to say, "H-H-Have you a-any family?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 11:58 am
Sleep was itching at the male lion's mind, but he staved it off for the time being. When someone talked to him, he felt he had to keep up the conversation. At least, if the other person in the conversation was worth talking to, or had something important to say. If someone was of little value to the lion, he would usually juts ignore them. But this girl...He'd try to stay awake a little longer. Though, he told himself, he made no promises, as the lullaby of the jungle was beginning to force him into a nap whether he liked it or not.
Sia's question threw up a red flag in Uyahambe's mind. A stream of memories began to play out in his mind; memories of where he came from, his sister, growing up without a family, being on his own, fighting, killing, cheating, pretty females...But those were things he didn't like to think about, especially not now. Now, he was like a king. Though technically, that other black brute was the real 'king' of the pride...But in Uya's mind, at least in secret, he was the real king. And this was his jungle; his lands. And Sia was his female, as were all the others. It was nice thinking greedy thoughts. He'd never had much to call his own in his life. Pretending...Pretending was nice. But pretending made him want a reality. And that was dangerous. Though maybe not for long...
"Yeah," Uya answered with a tired smile, eyes still closed. The memory of his sister was a nice one, and he wondered how she was doing. They'd parted on good terms. She was a nice kid. He hoped she was doing alright; the one female he didn't look at as a completely useless airhead... "one sister. I don't have--" He yawned. "--any other family; never did."
Somewhere, a Hornbill began to sing, and Uya simply couldn't fight off the Antianeira's soothing bedtime song anymore. He drifted off to sleep, the pleasant smell of Sia in his nose.
And the dream of her and everything else being his soon in his mind.
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Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 12:11 pm
He seemed...sleepy. Nafsiari's mind filled with hope, for if he should start to fall asleep she could creep away, and he'd be none the wiser. He'd wake up and she'd be gone - maybe he'd forget about her altogether! He seemed deep in thought for a while, and she found herself wondering, again, what he was thinking. He was so strange - all the males were. They must be pure evil, or hatred, or some sinfully terrible emotion in order to kill Queen Kiuma, and overthrow the pride. What pleasure could possibly be gained from torturing defenseless females and their cubs?
His eyes were closed but he spoke, Sia blinking. He had a sister? She found herself wondering where his sister was. Why she cared, she wasn't sure. But it didn't take her long to realize he was falling asleep, and she tensed, waiting patiently for several more moment until his breathing evened out, and even a small squeak from her didn't rouse him.
She moved quickly, biting her bottom lip to prevent herself from crying out in pain as she lifted herself to her feet. Sia limped, wincing as she did so, hurrying back to her den. She wouldn't be coming out again for a while.
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