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 Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 11:04 am
"Mother!" Genge's voice echoed in the night, desperate and pleading, "Mother, I need you! We need you!" He grunted, the body of his father pressing down on him. Angusho was very weak, and badly hurt. He couldn't walk on his own, so little Genge was doing his best to support him until they could get him home where he would be safe. They were making progress, but it was slow and painful for the both of them.
"Raza!" He shouted, "Please, please hear me!" His legs were beginning to fail him, shaking violently with each step. "We can't keep this up much longer..." He said to himself, his teeth bared in concentration as he tried not to pay attention to his protesting limbs.
He was barely conscious. The massive white lion was covered in blood from the brutal battle with the outsider. Angusho could hardly remember what happened; he knew that the dark lion was probably also in bad shape, but not nearly as much as he was. His opponent would have killed him if...
If Genge hadn't come to save him.
"Son." He groaned, struggling to keep moving, "L-leave me here, go find Raza." He coughed, the edges of his vision going dark. "You can't carry me... By yourself..." His voice faded to barely more than a whisper as he started to slip in and out of consciousness.
"No, stay with me, father, we're almost there." Genge insisted, "I can't leave you, we have to go together." He prodded his father with his nose, trying to help him wake up, "Come on, you can make it. I know you can."
"Raza!"
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Posted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 6:49 pm
Barazahi was worried. Her mate, Angusho had been out for much longer than usual today, he normally didn't take so long to return. She couldn't sleep, and so she was out of the pride's den and pacing, she didn't know why she was so worked up. "Calm down, Raza... Genge went out after him, he must have..." It wouldn't have been so bad if that weren't the case- both her mate and one of her sons had gone. She sat down, tail flicking behind her stressfully. "You're just like your father, caaaalm down!" she said, running a paw through her bangs, pushing them back and fluffing them up. It was almost a subconscious habit, she wasn't truly thinking of her looks at a time like this. Her mind was solely on her mate and her son.
Her ear twitched as a familiar voice called in the distance. Was that... It wasn't Angu, but it sounded a bit like Genge. She listened again, she'd only caught a very general direction, (out towards the pride's borders, not really a surprise,) and the second call let her zone in on where she needed to be headed.
His words seemed tense- and she knew it had to be dire if her son was using her name to call her. She rose to her paws immediately and ran as fast as her legs could carry her. "I'm coming, Genge!" She called, unsure of what she would find when she would finally come to slow down.
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Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 10:36 am
Genge's vision began to fade as his fatigue started to overcome him, but he could hear his mother not too far off. He shook his head, trying to clear his vision, and the distinct blue color of his mother's pelt appeared. "Mother..." He groaned, his voice becoming faint.
"Father is hurt, we need to-" He hissed in pain as his father's full weight collapsed onto him; Angusho had finally lost the ability to hold himself up. Genge struggled to get out from under him, before he too was forced to lie down. "He needs help." He panted, "Need to get him... Home..." His vision was going dark again, the world was spinning... Genge closed his eyes and tried to focus; now was not the time for his weakness!
Both he and his father were covered in blood, some from the dark rogue that Angusho had been fighting, but most of it was from his father. He couldn't have his mother worrying about him because of all the blood on his fur. Angusho needed help, not him, for once. "I'm fine, but father was in a bad fight." He breathed, his eyes still closed as he spoke.
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Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 4:30 pm
In all of her life, Raza had seen blood in many ways. She'd had cuts and scrapes herself; she had made a catch or two and caused her prey to bleed... But she had never seen such wounds on an animal as high up the food chain as she saw right before her on her mate. She kept up her speed until she got close, padded to slow down, and came to a stop, jaw agape. For a moment, she couldn't move or speak, just stare and try to figure things out. Not only was her mate covered in blood, but so was her son, what had happened?! "Angu... Genge..." she said, face distorting to one of extreme despair, their names were all she could manage, mostly she was in shock.
She saw her son finally lose his strength and she dipped to try to keep Angu from hitting the ground. She was fresh she could try to carry him for a while.
By the time Raza had organized her thoughts enough to form her first question, her son answered it. So Genge was fine, that was only half of a relief. That meant that all of this blood, most of it, anyway, was from Angusho. Her eyes grew warm with tears, but she kept them- she could cry later, she had more important things to do here! "We'll get him in, if you can walk. I can't carry both of you," she said with a nervous chuckle, hoisting Angu up as far as she could. Still, she was only half-standing under his weight, she could barely hold him. It would be slow going, but it would be going, and they'd make it home sooner or later.
"Walk with me, tell me what happened," she said, hoping her son would know. Her voice was completely flat except for a single crack in the word "tell." It was all just starting to hit her, but not knowing what had happened staved off depression.
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Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 8:08 pm
"I think I can walk..." Genge grunted, opening his eyes and trying to focus his vision so that he could see straight. It wasn't working that well, but it'd have to do for now. With quite the obvious effort he managed to stand, swaying slightly but feeling a great deal lighter now that he was only supporting his own weight. He could do this. He had to.
"Don't know how it started." He walked alongside his mother, partly glad that her pace was slow so that he could keep up, but partly worried that it might be too slow for his father to get the help he needed. They would have to make due though, they had no other options. "When I showed up, father was on the ground with a big dark lion standing over him. He was hurt almost as badly as father, so he ran off pretty quick when I showed up." He looked at Angusho with a mournful look. His heart sank as the thought crossed his mind that the only time his father would ever be proud of him was when he was about to...
No, he couldn't think about that. Angusho was going to be fine, right? He had to be. He was too strong to be taken down by something like this...
Angusho felt himself falling for a second before landing on something soft, though the impact still pained him. He grunted and opened his eyes for a second, seeing the brilliant blue coat of his lovely mate.
"R-raza..." He gasped, willing his legs to move and support his weight, but they would not listen to him. "My love..." the effort was too much, he had lost so much blood. The massive lion lost consciousness again for a few seconds, completely drained, but he would not give up. He had to keep fighting. Though he kept fading in and out of darkness, each second he could, he set his mind on one thing and one thing only; staying alive. He could not allow himself to relax, to give up, even if that would be easier. His family needed him, Raza needed him...
He wouldn't let this one mistake end him. "And Genge..." He managed a faint smile in the direction of his son. "You saved me..." He coughed, but tried to make it sound like a laugh. "That's my boy..."
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Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 8:51 pm
"Angu! Hold on, Angu, we're getting you to the pride's lands. You're safe now, I've got you," she said when he spoke. She said her words confidently, but it was false- she was unsure of herself. Was he really safe? Would he truly pull through? It looked pretty bad. How would she take care of this? Well, other than getting him towards home? She supposed that he'd need to be cleaned up- the same way you cleaned a single cut. Then rest and some TLC, she guessed.
A border skirmish? Caused all of this? What kind of heartless character did they run into out there? Her expression darkened as her son continued his story, brow furrowing. Who could it have been? She hoped she would never find out. "Oh, Angu," she said, only tilting an ear back towards him. He was always so brave, and he was a strong lion. Angusho always took his duties seriously, but look what they had done! She had always been confident that he would come home at night without a scratch. But at least he himself had done damage! It was a small condolence to her, but it made her feel slightly better nonetheless.
Clearly, she had taken that for granted. She needed to be a bit more concerned, maybe. His blood started to stain her own coat, but she didn't care, unlike normal. When she had a kill, Raza was always careful to let just what blood was necessary touch her- it was hard to get out of a coat, but this was completely different- that concern had yet to occur to her.
She trudged on, knowing it was too slow, but whenever she tried to pick up the pace, she would tire out more quickly... Her joints began to give much more easily, and weren't able to hold her up as straight as they should, but she still carried him on at as quick of a pace as she could muster.
"We've got you, Angu," she repeated, when she thought he was awake. "You'll be fine."
Genge seemed to be alright- a little fatigued from carrying his father, but at least he could walk. "You've done well, Genge," she said to him, looking over to her son with a truly grateful look- you could just see it in the lioness' eyes. She was very proud of her son, too, for being able to act, and to save his father. He had held their family together, it seemed... After so much of it had crumbled around the lioness. Her father and mother split up, then her mother went missing... Yes, it was good to finally have someone to keep their crew together.
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Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 9:03 pm
Genge felt a bit better as his parents told him how well he had done, something rare for him to hear, especially from his father, but he could not smile back at Angusho. He knew that his father was trying to make them feel better, not make them worry so much, but Genge had seen how close the other lion had been to killing him. The image would haunt him for some time, if not for the rest of his life.
"Thank you." He replied to both of them in a mournful voice. He couldn't help it, tears were starting to form in the corners of his eyes. Tears of sadness, frustration, anger... He didn't know what to do, and he felt just as useless as ever now. Sure, he had helped, but would it be enough? Would Angusho pull through? Had he arrived too late?
"Of course I'll be fine." His voice was weak but he wouldn't let that bother him, he had to stay positive if they were going to pull through. Raza seemed to be at least making an effort to stay hopeful, but it appeared that Genge was unable to hold up any longer.
"I just need... Some rest... A little food..." He was fading again, but he continued to speak, incoherent mumbles filling in the spaces between his words, "I'll be alright... Very soon..."
He had barely blinked, or so he thought, and then they were nearly home. He couldn't tell if he had passed out again or if his perception of time was simply becoming distorted from the pain coursing through his body, but they were getting closer. Finally, he was going to be able to lie down.
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Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 9:21 pm
Raza had to be strong now- she now had no choice. She had had every intention of breaking when they were home, but Genge got there first. He needed her to be strong, whether he said it or not, it was what he needed. She would hold back the tears and her concerns longer. She sighed a sigh of great relief, though, that home loomed into sight. She had made it with him- the lioness had a good amount of strength in her own legs, though they were unaccustomed to this form of strain.
"Yeah, I just know it," she said to Angu. "I'm glad you know it too," she said to him, face softening at the sound of his voice. She crouched as slowly and smoothly as she could to set him down. The action had been smooth, but her legs gave out a little quicker than she would have liked. The lioness slunk out from under her mate and curled around him, tending to the first wound in sight. She looked up to her son after she cleaned off one area, wondering if he was alright. She knew he was fine physically, but she was concerned about his state of mind. "Your father needs a little tending to, that's all," she said as strongly as she could. She kept her voice from cracking this time.
I'll be strong for both of them. I have no other choice, the lioness thought to herself before tending to another wound. Whenever she got the chance, she spoke. "I hope this doesn't hurt, love... I'll get you some food and water after you're all cleaned up here, ok?" she offered, voice soft as if a regular volume would hurt his ears.
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Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 8:06 pm
As they entered the den Genge watched silently as his mother began to tend to his father's wounds, a grim look on his face. He had no words left in him, only an expression that showed clearly his anger, sadness, and fear. He began to pace restlessly as Raza spoke to him, his mind racing. She was right. She had to be right. Angusho would be fine in no time. The worst was over... He was home now, he could rest. Things could only improve from here.
Right?
Ground, solid ground. Angusho never thought he'd be so grateful to feel the cold earth beneath his body. He watched his son pace anxiously and frowned. It was just like always, Genge felt helpless and was becoming frustrated. His heart sank as he realized that it was probably mostly his fault that he felt that way all the time... He had always pushed him to be a warrior, to be strong, and he had never met the old lion's standards.
How wrong he had been to put his boy through that.
"Doesn't hurt a bit, love." He lied, lightly touching his nose to Raza's, doing his best not to show how much his wounds were paining him. Raza was clearly doing her best to stay strong, and so would he. Until the end, whenever that may come. He chuckled a bit in an effort to distract himself from the pain, "Funny how you're the one protecting me now, hm? Seems like just yesterday I was standing guard over you and your family..."
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Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 10:14 pm
She sighed in between her cleaning, not knowing what to say to console her son. The blue lioness heaved a sigh; she had a feeling she'd need to have some one-on-one time with Genge in order to do that. She didn't feel comfortable talking about Angu when he was right here in front of her... No, she would take care of that later. She was pretty sure, too, that a family meeting would need to happen at some point- although it was only a short matter of time before her cubs found out what had happened. There was a lot of bookkeeping she'd need to do, and she was certain that she would require some help from the pride- the leaders would help her decide what her course of action should be, right?
Yes, yes that would be it. For now, though, he needed immediate attention and she knew how to take care of that.
"That's good," she said to him in the same soft voice. "You're almost all patched up here," she said with a smile, incomplete though it may be. "Would you be up to eating, or no?" she asked. She was sure that she could get someone to hunt with her, if need be, and someone to stay with Angu. Or the other way around- someone to bring something to eat while she stayed with him. She liked the latter more, but whatever needed to be done needed to be done. She lay her head down near his, hopefully giving him a chance to rest... Hopefully he would fall into a sleep that he could climb out of later.
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