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 Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2010 9:33 am
 Muscardini returned to the den he and his sister Gliri had occupied for the past weeks since their last move. In his mouth he held the hind leg of a young gazelle he'd killed. Dragging it back to the den on his own was something of a challenge. More than killing it had been. Muscar was getting very good at killing gazelles. The trick, he'd learned, was to isolate them first. That made it much easier, and much less likely that other herd members would retaliate.
When he reached the den Muscar dropped his burden and made a sound that didn't much resemble anything a lion ought to make. It was a sign to Gliri that it was him and not some other lion, and that all was safe. Usually she answered with an identical sound, just to let him know she'd heard him. Today, however, she made no answer and Muscar's whiskers drooped and his ears went flat. He knew that was not a good sign.
He dragged his kill to a slightly less obvious location and then set off in search of his sister. She wasn't in the den anywhere, but now that his nostrils were no longer filled with the scent of a fresh kill Muscar could smell that someone else had been in the den. Someone male. A growl rose from deep in his chest as he investigated further, examining the paw prints and reading in them signs of a struggle. There was even some blood, though not enough that he was concerned anyone had died. If there'd been a death, there would have been signs of someone being dragged away, since there were no bodies.
Muscar left the dark den and began tracking the paw prints that led away. There were two sets of them, and from what he could see, both lions - one male and one female - had been running. Someone had been chasing his sister! The rumbling growl in his chest grew louder in proportion to his anger and worry. He followed the tracks to a tree. There, Gliri's tracks disappeared, but judging by the gouges in the bark she had climbed. The male's tracks showed that he had been pacing beneath the tree, and maybe dragged his claws down the trunk in frustration, but he'd not actually climbed up.
"Gliri?" Muscar called. "It's me. Are you up there? Are you all right?"
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Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2010 10:01 am
 Gliri clung with all her claws to a branch that swayed precariously. She had actually climbed to that height in a blind panic, but she didn't regret her decision now that she had a firm grip on her perch. The branch was just a little too slender to safely support her weight, but it was just that property which made it a safe haven for her. The lion who waited below knew that if he somehow made it to that branch and added his weight to it, they would both fall, risking serious injury or even death. The odds were, she guessed, in her favor in such an event, as she could jump free of the tree completely and hope to land with minimal injury, whereas he would hit every limb on the way down and possibly have the broken branch land on him, too.
The unobtrusively-colored lioness was prepared to stay in the tree and out-wait her larger pursuer. There was no water nearby and very little hunting within sight of the tree. If he didn't wish to starve, he would have to leave at some point, and when he did she would flee. She wasn't worried about starving herself. She and her brother frequently went longer than the average lion between meals, and she was more used to privation. She was also unconcerned about meeting up again with Muscardini. She had every confidence he would find her somehow.
"Someone's coming," the male who had come upon her earlier in the day informed her. He glanced up at her, squinting against the glare of the rising sun to look at her. With the sun rising his eyes no longer glowed and Gliri could see that they were amber-colored. Not that it really made any difference, but focusing on minor details made the larger picture - that she had been treed by a lion intent on rape and possibly capture - easier to bear.
At his announcement Gliri looked away from him for the first time since she'd settled on her branch and saw a familiar form loping through the shoulder-high grasses. Her brother! She'd been certain he would find her, but not so soon. Not while the other lion was still present. She looked back at her pursuer just in time to see him step with care into the grasses, his tawny pelt blending well with the wheaten stalks. It would be too much to hope that he would actually leave, which could only mean that he intended to ambush her brother.
She wanted to cry out a warning when Muscar called up to her, but she bit it back, certain that would be the cue to the tawny lion to attack. Perhaps if she could just convince Muscar that she wasn't really there, somehow, he would move away and be safe. Gliri could find him another day. For now, she just wanted to keep him alive so she could do so. She loved her brother, but he was no fighter and she had no doubt that if it came to a fight, he would not win.
Please go away, she thought. Please!
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Posted: Fri Apr 02, 2010 10:23 am
Muscar continued to pace below the tree. He was certain Gliri was still up there, as he could see no signs of a descent and there was only one set of her tracks, and those led straight to the tree. There were no tracks of hers leading away from it. He backed up and squinted up through the branches, trying to see if he could make out a leonine figure amongst the leaves. He thought he could, but the sun was in his eyes, half-blinding him.
He wondered why she didn't answer him, and he was concerned despite himself. True, he had seen only a little blood back at their den and he couldn't even be sure it was hers, but maybe she'd been otherwise hurt in a way that didn't involve blood. If that was the case, he would find the lion who did it to her and he would kill him. He stopped the growl that tried to rise in his throat. Assuming Gliri was nearby, having him growling wouldn't do anything to put her at ease.
"Gliri," he called again. "It's Muscar. You can come down. Or would you rather I come up?"
He didn't like climbing, but for Gliri he would undertake to do so. She was his sister and his only companion. For one who hated to be alone as Muscar did, it was worth it to do something he didn't much care for to avoid something he truly despised. He couldn't handle being alone.
He walked over to the trunk of the tree and planted both forepaws on it so that he could get a better look at potential routes up. This was not going to be fun, he decided with a sigh. "Come on, Gliri," he muttered. "This is really unnecessary. And need I remind you that I don't like climbing."
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Posted: Mon Apr 05, 2010 8:43 am
Gliri watched with growing horror from her elevated vantage point as Muscar remained oblivious to the presence of a third lion and that lion making ready to spring at him. She knew she didn't dare stay silent any longer, or else Muscar would receive no warning at all of the impending attack.
Before he could begin the tree climbing process in earnest, Gliri made herself speak up. Her mouth was dry with fear, and at first she couldn't make any sound, but a few frantic swallows loosened her tense throat muscles and generated some saliva so that she could cry out a warning.
"Muscar, look out!" she called. She was amazed to hear her voice come out as an eerie shriek, like some otherworldly creature. At least her words were comprehensible, she thought.
Unfortunately, the tawny-eyed lion hiding in the grasses took his cue from her warning, too, and launched himself from where he had been concealed, claws extended and teeth bared. Gliri gasped when she realized that she'd been far off in her estimation of the relative sizes of the males below her. Her brother, having not yet fully grown to fill his adult frame, was massively out-muscled. And he had next-to no experience fighting. Mostly they tended to flee when threatened.
"Muscar!" she screamed, scrambling along the length of the branch toward the trunk of the tree. She wasn't quite there when she stopped and wondered what she thought she was doing. She would be a liability for her brother if she came down. She clung miserably to the branch and looked down through lower branches to watch the fight beginning below her.
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Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2010 6:08 am
Even before Gliri screamed Muscar had a sense that something was wrong. Her earlier silence wasn't typical. She spoke softly and she was good at being soundless, but she would always answer him when he called to her. She knew he tended to worry about her when she didn't answer, and so if she wasn't answering there was obviously something for him to worry about. At her warning, however, he cursed himself for not figuring out sooner what was the matter.
He barely had time to process that thought, however, before a body came hurtling toward him all teeth and claws and hard muscle. Muscar had no opportunity to get on his guard or consider a counter-attack. All he could do was duck and try his best to evade the worst of the attack until he could get to his feet again. Even so, the shock of impact knocked the breath out of him and he grunted. As his attacker's claws raked his flank he hissed He was grateful that his mane protected his throat from his opponent's questing teeth.
With an effort he wrenched himself free, growling low in his throat. Already the shallow scratches along his side stung distractingly. He didn't know much about waging battles, but for the time being his plan was to keep his distance and watch. He wasn't going to initiate any attacks until he knew a little more about the lion he was fighting and how he fought. Since he was more or less making this up as he went along and trying to learn on the fly, he had to watch anyway to try to pick up some techniques.
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Posted: Sun Apr 18, 2010 10:10 am
Gliri clung to her branch in terror as the strange lion with the amber eyes circled Muscar. She could tell that the scratches along her brother's side weren't even deep enough to scar, but she guessed they'd be a distraction to him. To her knowledge, he'd never been in a real fight, or even played at it, really. Gliri hated fighting even as a cub, and so he had never even held the usual sort of rough-and-tumble play fights most cubs did.
"I've crippled you," she whispered despairingly. She knew, or at least hoped that Muscar couldn't hear her, but just in case she shut her mouth and let her next thought go unspoken. What if I've killed you?
Although her concern for her brother was genuine and at the forefront of her mind, Gliri's subconscious was also aware of how much she depended on Muscar for everything from companionship to protection to food. Without him, she wasn't entirely certain she could survive. She was a poor huntress at best, afraid to take on any prey which could fight back, which limited her severely. She couldn't survive on rabbits. She would surely die without Muscar. She loved him and needed him.
"Muscar," she whimpered. "Gods, please protect him. Please."
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Posted: Sun Apr 18, 2010 10:51 am
Muscar and his opponent continued to circle. Muscar's hide twitched as nervous sweat stung his scratches. When would his opponent attack? How long would they keep circling like this? The constant tension of being on high alert was far more tiring than Muscar would have thought it could be. He'd hoped that he might be able to make some connections between this and hunting, but this was nothing like hunting. The waiting and anticipation, yes, and the fear on Gliri's behalf, yes, but on the other hand...no.
As he was thinking this the amber-eyed lion leapt at him once again, bowling him over. This time Muscar didn't dodge in time and bore the full force of the attack. He managed to avoid the larger lion's snapping teeth, but the claws were more difficult, as there were more of them. He twisted his body, contorting into shapes he shouldn't have been able to make in his efforts. Somehow he succeeded in digging one set of claws into his attacker's shoulder.
His success caused the larger tawny lion to pull away with a snarl, only to retaliate with a well-placed strike that caught the side of Muscar's head. His mane protected him from the claws, but the force of the blow sent him staggering. The tawny lion followed up immediately, scrambling around behind Muscar and leaping onto his back. He used his claws to hold on, digging into Muscar's shoulders with his foreclaws and trying to find a way to bite through Muscar's mane.
Panicking, Muscar dropped to his stomach and prepared to roll, not realizing his mistake until it was too late. Once his legs could touch the ground, the larger lion used his superior weight to anchor Muscar and trap him so that he could tear at him at his leisure. Muscar struggled and cried out in vain.
"Some hero," the tawny lion growled. "She your sister?"
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Posted: Sun Apr 18, 2010 11:21 am
Gliri's tail lashed hard enough that she nearly overbalanced. She alternated between being unable to watch and having no choice but to open her eyes and see what was happening. She hated this! She didn't know any more than her brother did about fighting - probably she knew less - but it didn't look good for Muscar, especially when the tawny lion who had chased her had him pinned. She didn't know why Muscar had let him do that. Maybe he hadn't been thinking about it, or hadn't realized the danger.
She wasn't even aware of her actions when she began to move, but it looked like Muscar could be seriously hurt if something didn't change soon. She didn't want him to be hurt. She'd rather die. And perhaps her body acted on that unconscious conviction and propelled her from the tree. Her landing was clumsy, but it was also more or less directly on top of the amber-eyed lion, pushing him off her brother with a horrified shriek as her mind realized what her body had done.
"Muscar," she squeaked. "Run!"
Her personal store of bravery used up for possibly the rest of her lifetime, Gliri followed her own advice and could only hope that Muscar would do the same. She didn't consider the possibility that maybe he'd been too badly injured to follow. She didn't dare think of that. He had to be all right, and any wounds he had, he would recover from. She would do whatever she had to, and make any deal with any god if only she and her brother could get away and be safe.
Please, please, please, she prayed, her thoughts falling into a natural rhythm with her footfalls.
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Posted: Sun Apr 18, 2010 11:54 am
Muscar grunted in a combination of pain and surprise when a sudden extra weight landed on him, knocking the air from his longs. It took him several dazed seconds to realize that he was no longer pinned to the ground, and although he'd acquired a few deep gouges where the tawny lion had resisted being thrown he wasn't permanently or even seriously injured. He heard Gliri's breathless words and scrambled to his feet and followed her.
Their enemy gave chase. Muscar could hear the heavier footfalls behind them and made a split-second decision. Gliri was taking no trouble to hide her tracks. He could find her again after this was over, but he needed to buy her some more time. He turned, stirring up dust with his sudden direction change and propelled himself directly at the oncoming lion. He lacked the momentum and speed to knock him over, but he threw him badly off balance and he used that advantage to charge him from the side, this time managing to knock him onto his back.
Muscar sprang onto him, not understanding that it was only an advantage to be on top of an opponent if you weigh more and if they're not in a position to fight back. With the tawny lion on his back, he was in a very good position to fight back and almost immediately he kicked out with his powerful hind legs, catching Muscar in the stomach and tearing painfully through his fur to send him staggering back. In another few moments a powerful set of teeth closed around Muscar's wildly lashing tail and Muscar roared in pain and whirled to strike back.
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Posted: Sun Apr 18, 2010 12:10 pm
Gliri skidded to a stop when she heard Muscar's roar. She'd never heard him make that sound before in their lives. Logically she knew he could, and theoretically she could, too, but neither of them had ever done so. They spent the majority of their existence trying to avoid attention, and roaring so that anyone within a mile radius was hardly conducive to an unobtrusive existence. A part of her mind wondered how she had known it was Muscar who made that sound, and not their anonymous foe, but she knew.
Cringing miserably, Gliri made herself turn around. She had to help her brother, though she didn't know how she would manage it. Had the other lion caught up with him, or had he turned for some reason to fight? She couldn't help hoping it was the former, because even though that meant it was more likely he would catch her, she didn't want to think that Muscar was being hurt more on her account. She couldn't stand to think that.
"Muscar," she whimpered as she gained speed, retracing her steps.
It wasn't difficult to find him. The sounds of combat were unmistakable. The snapping of jaws, the grunts and growls and snarls, the scuffling of paws over packed earth, the thud of bodies slamming into one another or the dirt. When she reached them they were an almost indistinguishable snarl of fur and claws, rolling on the ground and then separating and coming together again with a sound that made Gliri heart-sick.
The next time the combatants rolled apart Gliri could see that Muscar was coming off the worse. He was bleeding from so many small cuts that entire portions of his coat were stained with blood. He had done well, though, and his opponent was favoring one hind leg, which was probably a good thing. Both lions' sides heaved as a reaction to their exertions.
"No, stop," she panted. Running and fear had stolen her breath. "Stop, please."
Her plea attracted the attention of the larger fighter, she could tell, but she could only hope Muscardini would take advantage of that and run, rather than fight more. With his injury, maybe he wouldn't be able to keep pace.
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Posted: Mon Apr 19, 2010 6:33 am
Gliri's arrival didn't register for Muscar at first. All he could hear was his own heartbeat and all he could think of was evading the next attack. He was positive there was no way he could get out of this. Sure, he'd injured his opponent badly enough that he might be able to flee, but he had to have an opportunity to do so, a time when his opponent wasn't ready to spring forward and latch onto him and drag him back. He watched with some amazement, then, as just such an opportunity presented itself and the tawny lion turned his head to look at...Gliri.
Gliri's blue eyes were wide with fear, but seeing them Muscar felt better. She was unhurt, and - amazingly - she'd come back for him. He'd scold her for that later, but for now he was going to run. He couldn't fight anymore. He was hurt and tired, and all he could think of was getting away and finding some safe place to hide with his sister.
As he bounded past him on the opposite side, Muscar took one last parting shot at his amber-eyed assailant, raking his claws down his flank as he leapt. When he came down, he hit the ground running. He could hear Gliri beside him, her footfalls matching his as they fled. It might be a long while before she could stand to be left alone again. It might be a long while before he could stand to leave her again. She was all he had in the world, and he needed her.
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