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 Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 1:20 pm
Ajani had been travelling earlier that day, and the fierce downpour had meant that she had been forced to travel in conditions where she could barely see, much less stop for rest without shelter. The gentle incline of the relatively flat savannah had caused miniature floods during the heavier downpours, and to stop travelling toward more stable grounds could have resulted in disaster. The nervous hornbill she had encountered the day before had warned her against venturing this way with rainclouds gathering on the edges of the horizon, but she had foolishly thought she would have enough time to make it past the dangerous areas before the rain started. It had been a mistake only a cub should have made, and now Ajani was already regretting the hasty decision which had left her hungry and tired. She was confident she could catch a gazelle, however, and finally identified a few individuals on the outskirts of the herd which seemed like the easiest targets.
Ajani lifted her muzzle to test the direction of the wind, and for a brief moment, the scent of another lion drifted to her attention. Her head snapped in the direction she thought it was coming from, but the motion had been too swift, too abrupt. Her whiskers brushed against the sides of the tall grasses, making them vibrate quietly. The gazelles did not look up even as she froze, but then an unknown species of bird, flying too swiftly to identify, burst from the grasses nearby and soared into the air, a single startled cry rising from its beak. The gazelles snapped their heads upwards, before springing their hind legs into action as they darted away in as though directed by a single leader, despite the chaos. A low rumble built in Ajani's throat as she sprang after them, her paws pounding against the dampened dirt, savannah grasses bending beneath the force of her movements. She saw a younger gazelle start to dart away from the herd before being corralled back into the cohesive mass, and decided on her targeted prey. She started to make an adjustment to her course to disrupt that part of the herd, to send it into panic and allow the young buck to venture away from the rest of the herd, but she had overestimated the solidarity of the ground before her.
A slight indentation in the ground before her had filled with water during the earlier rains, and even now hadn't fully evaporated enough to change the dark mud back into dampened earth. Ajani’s normally agile paws slipped against the unexpectedly fluid surface, a price for expending her energy in such a quick sprint, and the change in her direction was too much for it to support. Her paws twisted beneath her, and she crashed to the ground, speckles of dirt splattering across her pelt as the shoulder of her right front leg collided with a patch of dirt, relatively hard compared with the muddy ground beneath her. A sharp cry of frustration left her mouth as her legs scrambled to find secure footing beneath her again. After a few slippery attempts, Ajani managed to stagger to her feet enough to shake some of the mud off her pelt. In the distance, the herd of gazelle grew smaller, their faint scent brought by the wind becoming fainter with each heavy crashing of her heart and gasping lungs. A perfectly good meal, ruined by nothing more than a puddle.
Ajani knew when a cause was lost and chasing after the disappearing herd could only expend more of her energy without any chance of reward. She staggered away from the muddy ground until she found a relatively dry path and continued to shake herself in an attempt to return her coat to its normal bright coloring instead of the dark brown shades clinging resiliently to the strands of her fur. It would probably take another rain or a conveniently placed watering hole or steam to fully clean herself, but Ajani began the laborious process anyway. It wasn't like there was an abundance of prey within smelling distance, and she could feel her muscles growing heavier with the exhaustion of a long day without feeding. Soon enough, she would have to venture out again in search of more food, and with the afternoon sun still overhead, she would at least have sufficient time to hunt again, as long as she didn't make another mistake. The other lion's scent had been completely forgotten in her disappointment, and she carelessly scraped the upper side of her front paw across the damp grasses in an attempt to dislodge the mud before it had the opportunity to dry.
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Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2010 11:38 pm
 The savanna was the type of place many came to, to find themselves. You could wander for days, months, or even years. To places beyond your wildest dreams. For there were no boundries out here in the unknown. Just the blowing wind pushing you to try your best and start a new adventure every day. Wether that be racing after your next prey or having an unexpected encounter. So far there were few downsides to this place in the view of Aras. Except for now after a huge rain had made the land wet. Turning the ground to mush or rather mud. It made her miss the bright lands she had at first wandered into. As she awoke from her first sleep in weeks she smelled the fresh air. Glancing up at the she to greet a new day of wonders. She stood to her feet and began to stretch each of her paws in a different direction to insure she had the strength to walk. Though Aras wasn't the weakest of lioness she always seemed to feel week, and until now she had no idea what had caused this... Aras had been wandering around these opened lands, for what seemed like days. Her goal to reach the edges of this earth and find her place. Since she had always wondered where she had come from and what was excepted of her. A part of her always dreamed her parents were out there somewhere just waiting for her to find them. Where she could run up to them and have a warm embrace. Another part knew that was impossible from what the ones she had been raised by had told her. Even if those creatures weren't her family. They had taught everything she knew, even if she wished she could have redone it all it was no use. The past is the past and the future is for you to decided is something she learned on her own. Causing her to start out on this adventure, leaving behind the ways she new. To start a search for who she was... Aras had decided that maybe north was the best way to start today. Since she had heard from other lions that she passed by. That over that way there was easy prey that fed on the blowing grasses. One thing she remembered hearing was that the only way to find this place was by listen to wind. For the grass there seemed to hum a beautiful rythem if you just listened. As she walked she attempted to listen to winds. Though it was useless, Her stomach ached with hunger and each step she took felt like it could be her last. She hadn't eaten in days, because she always offered her meal to those who seemed to need one. A small part of her wished she had eaten at least a little of each of those meals. Since the affect of not having eaten was beginning to sweep over her. Before she realized it her vision was beginning to go black. Everything fading from her view, she tried with all her might to fight it. Running as fast as she could to try to reach some safe zone where she could lay down. Before she could reach some where though she finally could run no more. Stopping in her current place panting heavly. As the darkness overcame, she fell into the mud with a large splash. Which seemed to echo around the area...
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Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 7:23 pm
The moistened dirt covering Ajani's pelt squished against her rough tongue. The lioness winced. The taste lingered long after she spat the mud out onto the grass. While she enjoyed being clean, the process could sometimes make her wonder if being clean was worth it if there was no helpful source of water around at the time. She'd had to deal with mud hardening on her pelt before though, and she was willing to endure its unsavory taste to avoid the possibility of it hardening while pinching areas of her fur uncomfortably together. The failure of her hunt grated on her nerves, already stretched from her log travels. Ajani wasn't ashamed of her hunt; it could have been avoided, but was she simply hadn't seen that puddle. Instead, it was the loss of a potential meal that caused her irritation. She might have to wait another day before she found more prey, and while that was nothing new to her, she'd considered herself fortunate for stumbling on what she'd thought would be an easy meal.
Ajani's soothing of her injured pride was interrupted by a loud splash. Her ears perked toward the origin of the sound. Maybe there was more prey lurking around that she hadn't scented. From volume of the splash, it seemed as though the prey might be injured, or at least fatigued. It seemed her luck might have been turning. An easy meal was always appreciated by a lion unfamiliar with the terrain he or he hunted on. She turned her head toward the sound's origin slowly, as not to startle the prey. There was no prey in sight, only a lioness lying prone on the ground, as though her legs had just suddenly given out. Splotches of dark brown mud slid down the sides of her crimson pelt from her impact with the liquid, and it seemed like she was making no movement to get back up. The slight movement of her belly showed that she was still alive, and there was no sign of blood that Ajani could see, the cause of her collapse was still a mystery. Maybe she was just exhausted, or had a medical condition of some kind. Whatever the reason was, the fact still remained that she was just lying there, obviously needing someone's help. It wasn't in Ajani's nature to ignore the problems of her fellow rogues. Life alone was hard, and sometimes a lion needed some help to make it through another sunrise. This lioness certainly seemed to.
The moist ground squished beneath her paws as she loped toward the unknown lioness, slowing down to a gentle padding once she got close enough for a better look. The lioness's torso looked slimmer than it should have, a clear sign of lack of food. She didn't look like she was carrion food - yet, anyway -, but she was in bad enough shape to awaken Ajani's sympathy. She leaned her head down to nudge the other lioness's shoulder with her muzzle experimentally. “ Hello?” she said, her voice purposefully loud. “Are you awake?” She shifted her weight backwards to her haunches before lifting a paw and placing it on the lioness's upper shoulder. Her paw pressed gently against the lioness's pelt, attempting to bring her around. She's not sure what put the other lioness in this condition. It could have been lack of prey or even disease - Ajani certainly hoped it wasn't disease -, but there was no way of knowing unless the lioness told her. If she still could. The best she could do was offer her assistance for the lioness to accept or reject. “My name is Ajani. Is there anything I can do to help?”
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Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 12:24 am
Aras' world had completely faded to black. All that seemed to exist in this realm was her own thoughts if even that. What had happened to her and why would her eyes not seem to open were all a mystery. All these things ran though her mind as she laid there feeling more alone and tired than ever. Her eyes felt so heavy that everytime she attempted to open them, it was like she was lifting another lion. Well it was useless was all she thought, she knew not eating probably is what caused this. Though she would never regret what she did, since those lions and lioness needed a meal more than she ever could. For she could remember the days when she had to fend for herself. It was apart of some training the place she had lived thought was necessary. They felt that to truly grow you had to gain strength in all areas. Of course they never thought I female like her could ever withstand as much as she did. Everytime she proved to be stronger than a male she was forced to work harder. Little did she know that it was only for her benefit. They were actually trying to help her, so that when she left on her own adventures she could fend for herself. Never needing anyone or a male for that matter, to protect her or treat her as if she was enable to do anything for herself. At times she would admit she was greatful for all they did and now could be one of those times.
She knew at that moment she could not give up hope! She had to press forward, no matter what pain she felt. Pain was apart of life and to overcome the great challenges you must first overcome the pain. So she tried once more to just open her eyes. Forcing herself to open until she could at least see the bottom of the grass blade, cover in mud.
At that moment though she heard footsteps and breathing, from what seemed to be another lion. From all she could see the paws of this fellow lioness were golden yellow with some type of marking on them. Aras wanted to yell out for help though her throat felt like it was on fire. Only one of the symptoms you usually have from lack of food and water. As she was nuzzled, she knew she couldn't let this lion leave. For it could be the only person to pass by here for days and see knew she didn't have near that long. So as soon as she heard an offer for help she couldn't reject and fought through the pain. Closing her eyes she began to talk the best she could. "Hi ... I'm Aras ... nice to meet... you Ajani .... and well ... to be honest ... I think I just need some water... I believe I'm just deprived of food... and thank you..." That was all she could say before going silent once more. Maybe the heavens were shining down on her tonight and for that she thanked them with all she could.
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