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 Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 5:04 pm
Lihau frowned at all the mud that was covering him from paws to rump, muttering about hook-claw only being found in the muddy shallows. He stuck his front paw in deeper, toes stretching to reach under the half submerged log and the tender lichen he needed to retrieve.
For the love of the hundred gods...why did it have to be UNDER the slaughtering tree! the healer thought to himself, blowing his bangs out of his face, Sadara sooo owes me for this....
Swallowing the last of his dignity, Lihau put his shoulder against the wood and pushed for all he was worth, only to be rewarded by having the tree move forward, pushing his face into the mud, causing him to loose his grip, and then falling back into place.
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Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 5:25 pm
Flicking his tail he snorted back over his shoulder, bright green eyes slitted as a wide grin curled his maw upwards. "Your fault for being slack, Mèo." The dark cheetah purred, sauntering a few steps before stopping and turning round, summer-hued eyes suddenly serious. "Don't do something that stupid again, brother." Arching a brow he nudged his nose towards the leopard's front leg and the shallow gash that ran from ankle to shoulder to half-way down the limb.
"Cut it out Siyah." The low, dark snarl returned, yellow eyes squinting with embarrassed anger, teeth bared in a feral snarl of warning that the cheetah simply ignored. Flicking his tail in irritation he tried to walk without a limp, but the pain of the wound was bad enough that he didn't want to put any weight on it.
Sighing, Siyah rolled on shoulder in a shrug and padded back to his slower-than-normal companion. "It was stupid." He muttered, fangs snapping on empty air before he caught the leopard's ear in his maw and tugs none to gently. "Just don't do it again." He repeated, tone grumpy but worried.
Shaking his head to dislodge his brother from his ear, Mèo shut his jaw tight, resigned to Siyah's constant grumbling and bitching, knowing that it was worry and the brief stab of fear for him that had set the dark-coated cheetah on this path of verbal haranguing. The worst part was, he knew he deserved it. he had been careless, not committed tot he kill since he hadn't though the prey was any real danger. But he had been careless and the springbok had managed to slice his leg open with its hoof as it put up its last few minutes of fight before they had brought it down.
Closing his eyes, as much against the pain of his head from Siyah's renewed tirade as from the soreness of his limb, he simply let his brother lecture him with a blistering tongue as he concentrated on walking.
Suddenly Siyah went silent, green eyes narrowed as he peered ahead, lips lifting in a warning snarl that had Mèo's hackles raising. "We have company, brother..." Green eyes flickered to Mèo before settling back to their front, fixed on a weird blue and mud-coloured lump that lay stretched out beside a fallen tree. Beside him, the leopard went still, all four paws planted firmly, yellow eyes slitted yet patient.
Together, the two dark shapes slid into identical crouches and slithered forwards, more like thick black shadows that living, breathing cats, as they closed the distance between them and the stranger.
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Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 5:52 pm
Lihau had just managed to hook his front claws around the aquatic moss, managing somehow not to drowned himself in the process. Success! It hadn't been that difficult, though he was going to need to wash off all the mud before it baked to a hard crust on his fur under the savanna sun.
Yanking, he pulled the plant out from the mud, harder than he needed to. The force of his movement sat him back on his rump, another muttered curse following the inelegant landing.
Suddenly the hair along the back of his neck stood up, and he knew he wasn't alone anymore in the tall grass. He scented the air, but whatever it was had remained up wind of him. Standing up slowly, he bent down and picked up the precious moss with his teeth, slipping it into the wort-hog hide pouch he had been gifted by his mentor with.
Turning, he brought his blue eyes up, seeing the two black males in front of him. He dipped his head submissively, but than caught sight of the leopard of the pair's front leg and the ugly looking gash on it.
" You're hurt," he said without thinking," You need to have that cleaned, it can go bad in this heat. Looks like it was done by a hoof? Impala?"
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Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 6:07 pm
Two pairs of gem-bright eyes regarded the pale leopard, twin expressions registering the same wary hostility as the black bodies shifted among the grasses, tails flicking to the same slow beat. The dual-vision the pair represented was broken only by one being taller and slimmer than the other, and the differing colour of their eyes. Neon yellow gleamed beside toxic green, both fixed on the mud-covered figure before them.
Lips lifting, green-eyes snarled under his breath before a harsh grunt from the other silenced him, though the fangs remained visible, gleaming darkly in warning. The yellow-eyed male shifted, easing the weight on his wounded leg before speaking.
"Who are you?" Wary but slightly less hostile gaze roamed over the blue male as the dark leopard straightened. After a moment, the cheetah reluctantly followed, his tail doing an agitated dance behind him.
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Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 6:14 pm
Lihau let out the breath he had been holding and regarded the two other males for a moment, absoultely fascinated with the color of their eyes. Catching himself, he lowered his head again, keeping himself below them for now.
Well...they didn't kill me right off, so...that's good....just keep from staring and it might stay that way....
" My name is Lihau, and I am sorry if I came into your territory. I was looking for hook-claw. I'm a healer."
He let his eyes come back up for a moment, " Could you let me out of the mud? Its starting to itch."
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Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 6:23 pm
Siyah lifted his head from the half-ready stance he had been in and snorted derisively. "We wouldn't want you to have to heal yourself now would we... " Jerking his head to indicate the leopard could move, the cheetah dropped his rear end to the ground and started grooming one paw, indicating that he no longer had any interest in the blue male.
Rolling his eyes at his brother, Mèo took a step back, carefully keeping his weight off his front paw. "Mèo, and this is Siyah, my brother." He introduced the pair of them, clearly well used to answering for the cheetah who was now intent on chewing between his toes with an unconcerned air. Setlting back on his butt, Mèo studied the blue male, head tilting sideways. "You're a healer... " Pausing he simply watched Lihau, vibrant gaze flicking to the pouch then back up as if assessing the leopard. "You might want to collect your things and leave soon. There is a band of particularly viscous hyena in this area."
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Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 6:34 pm
The healer lifted his head, and slipped out of the mud with far more grace than he had shown while in it. He desperately wanted to shake it all free, but figured that it would be a very bad idea to shower the two with the sticky sludge. " Thank you for the warning."
His pale eyes flicked over to the cheetah and his intent toe chewing, and back to the leopard..Mer..Mea..Meo...that was it, and jutted his chin toward the black cat's wounded foot, " Do you good to let me look at that. You can't fight a Hyena on three feet." He kept his voice steady, knowing how to deal with snarly males from numerous encounters with his own siblings.
The younger, the more in pain, or the more arrogant, the more snarly they were, and Lihau had a sneaky suspicion these two fit at least two of those categories.
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Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 6:48 pm
The cheetah paused in his chewing, toxic-green eyes flicking up to the leopard, paused, then dropped as he resumed his rather savage looking attack on his own foot. Though the long black tail was swaying with relaxed contentment, indicating the green-eyed male was at least relaxed and distracted for the time being, though it would be unwise to assume he wasn't fully aware of the stranger.
Ignoring his contrary brother, Mèo watched the other leopard, brows arching up at the lightly given order. Ears flicking back he curled his tail round his front paws casually, the motion careful, purposely calm. "Its not as easy, of course. But unless they are well disciplined, its fairly easy to out manoeuvre them... even with only three paws." Pale eyes regarded the healer for several long moments, Siyah transferring his attention to his other paw, fangs digging between the toes with a kind of sadistic pleasure as he fished out small splinters and sharp grass seed pods.
"Why do you wan to help?" Mèo finally asked, tail-tip twitching slowly.
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Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 5:55 am
The young leopard raised his eyebrows at the cheetah's vehement attack on his feet, blinking a few times as he watched him.
Maybe he has the frothing sickness, he thought to himself, it would explain the odd enjoyment he seemed to get from what looked like a painful pedicure.Liah recoiled a little, a slightly disquieted look on his face.
When the sane one of the pair began to talk again, he looked back at Meo. There was something about the leopard's calm countenance that made him want to comfort him. It was too calm, to controlled, and those brilliant eyes, may have been guarded, but they were filled with the echo of a deep, past pain.
" I tend to avoid the hyenas, which requires I have all four of my feet," he quipped, some of his natural humor showing through, " as for why would I help...I AM a healer, and I have a soft spot for injured strays." His tone was dryly teasing.
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Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 6:11 am
Mèo ignored his brother's activities as if the cheetah was doing nothing more unusual than cleaning himself, which in a way, he was. Instead, those vivid yellow eyes remained on the pale leopard, studying, assessing, gauging. The healers obvious disquiet over Siyah amused the darker leopard and a faint smirk curled his maw. "Siyah....." he murmured softly, flicking his brother with the tip of his tail.
Looking up the cheetah glared at his companion before snorting loudly. "I'm not allowed to groom now?" He growled, ears flattening as he hissed before sticking his nose in the air.
Mèo chuckled, the atmosphere instantly thawed as Siyah shared a wide grin with his twin. "Alright alright.. I'll behave." The cheetah male quipped, fangs gleaming as he smiled darkly at the healer, sleek body sliding causally to the ground as he stretched out on his side in that classic cheetah pose. Endless legs stretched out, tail curling lazily, head up and watching the pale leopard with curiosity.
Mèo shook his head faintly, clearly well used to his brother's eccentricities. Arching a brow at Lihau's words, he smiled faintly, the humour still in his gaze joined by a wry amusement as if the leopard was doing something particular fascinating but a little dim.
Well.. provoking either of the brothers was a very, very bad idea to ones general health, though the dark pair did enjoy a male who had the brass to stand up to them. After a moment Mèo chuckled and dipped his head. "Very well, if you wish to... I certainly wont turn down the chance to get fixed up." Standing he moved a few paces in front of Siyah before sitting down, waiting for the other leopard to come to him. He had only moved away from his twin to save the healer's sensibilities, as Siyah had a habit of disturbing even the most grounded of cats.
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Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 9:21 am
Watching the exchange between the two brothers brought a twinge of pain to Lihau's heart, and he had to drop his head to hid the sudden tears in his eyes. He didn't know what had happened to his own siblings, or even if they were still alive. Sniffling slightly the healer swallowed a few times, before bringing his head back up.
By then his would be patient had settled down beside the cheetah, and Lihau had no choice but to approach them. Shaking the mud from first his back feet and then his front, the leopard squared his shoulders and walked up to Meo, a slight p***k of anxiety running down his pelt, causing his stomach to knot. The two looked like they were waiting for a afternoon snack.
Right, no fear...predators sense fear. You're a predator too Lihau, you can do this. Just don't throw up and you'll be fine....
He kept his pale gaze on the two, stopping just to the right of Meo. " I am going to have to touch you to get a good look at the wound. I'll try not to hurt you." Lihau kept his tone matter a fact, and was proud you could only just hear the warble in it.
Settling down onto his belly, the healer waited until he received permission. If the leopard told him no, well he could still examine it, but treating it would be incredibly difficult.
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Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 9:56 am
Oddly enough the two dark-coloured cats seemed to understand, looking away while the healer gathered himself and hid the tears. Once the other had control over himself again, Siyah closed his eyes and looked like he'd fallen asleep. Mèo stretched out on his belly, the wounded front leg pushed out in front of him, his other tucked under furred chest while neon yellow eyes followed the healer.
"You wont hurt me." The leopard shrugged faintly, expression passive and shut down. Now that Lihau was closer, he could see the many scars that trailed through the black fur of both large cats. Mèo had some very impressive lines decorating his chest and shoulders, a few too new to have allow the fur to grow around them enough to hide them. Under the black pelt, silvery lines of old scars were just visible.
Siyah, stretched out on his side with his eyes closed, looked no less deadly and no less aware than he had before, but it was clearly an attempt to show the healer than he was safe from the dark brothers. The cheetah was decorated in the same pale scars as his twin, just in a different pattern. These two were clearly tough and used to fighting, and apparently, survived long enough to become more than proficient at it as they lacked that many newer scars.
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Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 10:26 am
The healer couldn't help but stare at all the scars that decorated the sleek fur, his pale eyes wide, one paw lifting to touch a particularly wicked looking one that traveled along the leopard's back. The only other male he had ever seen so marked up had been years older and the Warlord of his Pride.
" You're lucky, this one could have left your hindquarters weak if it had been just a little closer to your hips. What got you? A wilder beast?" He couldn't keep the morbid fascination out of his voice as he spoke. " Wow, even Be'hara didn't have so many scars as you two, and he was second only to the Warlard."
Trained eyes noticed that the majority of the latice work of scars was older and he nodded as he bent over to look at another one that looked like a serpent on the sleek pelt, " Heh...at least it looks like you've learned to move faster...well...except for this new one here, but I can keep it from scaring...," he frowned as he narrowed his eyes looking at the injury in question, " maybe."
Slipping his front paws under Meo's outstretched leg, he let it rest on his mud splattered fur, his nose almost touching the gash as he examined it closely making a few non-com-mental sounds. Lihau leaned in and lightly bit the leg above the wound, " Can you feel that?"
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Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 10:58 am
Mèo arched a brow at the pale leopard's comment, tolerating the paw that probed his body like he was a day old kill and the leopard wasn't sure the meat was still good. Resigning himself to the fact that the healer seemed a little.. well, off in the head.. and very sheltered. At the healer's inquisitive question, Mèo rolled his eyes faintly and snorted. "A buffalo." Earing himself an odd look from Siyah, who looked surprised at the fact that Mèo had actually explained.. since the cheetah knew exactly what that experience had cost his brother, the weeks of recovery, month of weakness. Closing his eyes he shut out the memory before it could surface, having relived many times the instant where those wicked horns had swept down, gouging out a lump of his back while he had been trapped against a second huge body. He knew if the blow had been a thrust and not a slashing attack, he would have died. he was very careful when they hunted the huge grey prey-beasts now.
Shaking his head to dislodge the direction of his thoughts, he tipped his head and looked back at Lihau, yellow eyes blank, indicating he would tolerate no more questions about his past. When the youngster finally settled down to what he had claimed to want to do, Mèo let the other shift his front leg without so much as a wince. "I don't care if it scars, I just want to be able to use it." The sudden bite pulled a dark warning growl from the leopard, toxic gaze slitting, lips lifted to show off deadly fangs.
"Yes." The voice no longer relatively normal, had chilled to an icy fire.
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Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 11:13 am
The healer lifted his paw, bopping the the older leopard's nose absently, not lifting his eyes, as he frowned at the wound, trying to determine how much actual muscle damage there was, " Stop that, I can't figure out if you've messed up the tendon with you growling in my ear. Quite being such a cub."
Damn snarly male, always such cubs when it comes to getting their wounds treated. Oh they'll charge a wilder beast, and have a go at a rhino, but give them a little n** and its all hissing an spitting.
Blowing his bangs out his eyes, Lihau nosed the end of the wound closest to Meo's paw, " Rotate your ankle and wiggle your toes and tell me if it pulls at anything near your elbow." His tone broking no argument, but then in the next breath it was almost rambling, " Bufflo huh? Yeah, I'd say you were really lucky than, specially if you were just hunting with a cheetah. Personally....I'd have taken a lion with me..."
His words trailed away as he watched Meo move the limb with a critical and well trained eye, making another one of those non-com-mental sounds.
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