The day was hot, and the pain in her side welled up as if it was growing and swollen. The white lioness gently opened her eyes, viewing the world as she tried to recall what had happened... that put her in such a wounded state. Her fiery eyes flicked from one tree to the next... and the dull rocks, and the hungry vultures that circled above. The day was hot, and the pain in her side welled up as if it was growing and swollen. The white lioness gently opened her eyes, viewing the world as she tried to recall what had happened... that put her in such a wounded state. Her fiery eyes flicked from one tree to the next... and the dull rocks, and the hungry vultures that circled above. Why was she on earth? On earth, with... mortals? As she tried to move, the lioness realized it wasn’t just her side that was flaming with pain. Her skull and her neck surged with a piercing feeling, bringing it all the way down her spine as she tried to move from her resting place. This is bizarre... She thought to herself, totally unfamiliar with the concept of pain. This learning experience was not a pleasant one, she decided. With a little more effort, the lioness struggled to her paws... it was then she noticed the blood. Blood was a liquid associated with the flesh and meat of prey... the things she used to eat whenever she was bored... not necessarily to sustain energy. That was something only mortals did, anyway. So... where did this blood come from?
The green hue in her coat was dulled by the splotches of mud and sticky blood dirtying it. She gazed downward to view her paws... they almost looked.. mangled, and falling apart. Something was wrong. Something felt different... but she couldn’t quite lay a paw on it. Not just the pain or the blood, but something completely different... she didn’t feel herself at all.
She weakly traveled to the nearest watering hole. She needed to rid herself of this muck before it permanently wrecked her “flawless” image. She didn’t even bother gazing at her reflection before she flopped into the river, creating a splash and frightening all the prey animals away. Had that tiny trip exhausted her? Weird... She didn’t often get exhausted.
She watched idly through half-closed eyes as the dirt and blood slowly decided to depart from her fur. A little bit of movement would have them leave faster, but the lioness didn’t seem to have that amount of energy left. In fact, the energy was draining faster with each moment that went by.
“Oh my, oh my! Are you alright there, little miss?” A rather petite voice sounded from behind. The lioness paid no attention. It certainly wasn’t referring to her, anyway. Her eyes drifted further across her colorful iris’...
“Miss, miss! Oh, don’t go to sleep, I fear you may never wake!”
The lioness growled fiercely considering her weakened state as she felt a painful pressure on her abdomen. But she didn’t have the energy to look up and investigate the cause of it.
“I’m so sorry, did that hurt?” It was the little voice, again. It was almost annoying. Why couldn’t it just leave her be?
“Please say something, I’m so worried you might be too far gone!”
The lioness felt another pressure... this time on her paw. She flicked her eyes towards the source of the voice... it was a tiny creature. A honey badger? She knew honey badgers were courageous, but daring enough to approach the likes of her?
“Flee from me, puny creature...” The words left her maw in a crackled tone. The lioness hadn’t even recognized it at all. Despite her doubts, she continued with a threat. “Or I shall smite you with the flick ... of my toe.” And with that, she closed her eyes once more. Surely, the brown ratel would flee from her presence instantly. Oh boy, was she wrong.
“Oooh my...” The petite voice grew substantially in concern. “I think you took a real bad blow to the head, missy... But don’t you worry. ‘Lil Hoco will fix you up. Don’t you worry your pretty little head at all.” With that, the ratel wobbled away.
“I’m not a missy.” The lioness grunted weakly, not bothering to lift her head or raise her voice.
“Oh, I’m so sorry then! What would you prefer to be called? Ma’am? Girly? Sweetheart? Mmmmmh?”
“No. I am not a female, you twit.”
“... Ooooh dear oh dear, you’re worse than I thought.” A grim expression grew over the little mammal’s face as he scurried away in a rush.
Worse than he thought? What does that mean? The lioness huffed. Her intimidation seemed to have dwindled since... well, when did that happen? The same time she was covered in blood and became exhausted, it seemed. And she couldn’t recall any recent events, either... something is not right... and for the first time the little lioness started to grow fearful.
The ratel called Hoco came back bearing various herbs and leaves in his mouth. He dropped them at her side, and looked to her face in concern. “Just relax, then! I’ll fix you up in no time.” He proceeded to cleanse the herbs in the watering hole, and then gently place them on her wounds. Wounds? The blood was hers?
The sudden discovery seemed to bring even more pain, and she surged and trembled and groaned. “Stop!” She wheezed, squirming as if to run away, but her body was not in favor of that decision.
“I’m sorry little miss, but this is necessary if you wish to recover...” The ratel continued with a grim frown, pressing herb after herb over the multiple wounds on her face, paws, and head. He could only pray that the feline would survive the trauma. Yet, he couldn’t help but wonder how she got herself into this situation anyway... But this was not the time for her to talk about a possible traumatizing event. Now, she needed was rest and some tender loving care.
The lioness was overcome with the pain. It wasn’t long before her pure white eyelids snapped over her colorful eyes. She drifted back into her a world where everything was dark and she was completely oblivious. When she woke, she’d find herself warm and in an improved state... but there were so many questions to be answered. And there was no one on earth who could answer them for her. Or so she thought.

Word count 1122 according to Word count tool