Tumai was feeling rather good. Her memory was the same as it always had been, but she did not seem to mind any more. So she forgot things too easily… could not remember her own past… sometimes had trouble with short and long term memories… she was still happy. She remembered who she was, and that she had one litter of beautiful babies who, though she had some trouble keeping track of them and still had not found all of them, were all adults. She had faith that they were all happy, capable, and remembered her better than she remembered them.
She had to hope.
She was walking along the beach, near a large lake, enjoying the scenery. That was one thing about being a rogue with a bad memory: everything was always new and beautiful. She had no home to speak off, but it meant that she could explore to her heart’s content, taking in all the beautiful sights of the lush lands around her. There were trees here, and grass, and this lovely lake. Of course, she did not know that she was simply going in one large circle. By the time she got back to a place she had already seen before, it was gone from her memory. As long as no one told her, however, she would never be sad about it.
Ulozi, on the other hand, had never been to these lands before, and was well aware of it. She had been walking for a few days now, away from a certain leopardess that had pissed her off and left her with smarting, wounded front legs. The injuries had not healed up very well, considering she had not stopped walking since that mini fight, but she was not going to sit down and lick her wounds until she was so far away from that stupid tree and that even stupider leopard. She shook her head as she walked, still dwelling on it, still angry. The front of her legs were dirty, matted in blood from the wounds closing and reopening, the scratch marks unable to set.
Sniffing a tree, it did not take long for the sharp nosed wild dog to catch the scent of old and new blood in the air, drawing closer. Her tail dropped and she looked around. It was not hard to spot the black lioness moving closer to her, and she crouched down, ears low, hiding in a bush. She did not make a sound, not wanting to draw attention to herself. It had been a hard lesson, and many reminders, but she knew well enough that there were more enemies than friends in the rogue lands, and lions were the worst offenders for being aggressive for no reason.
And Tumai was no fighter.
Ulozi smelled the wild dog easily enough, though she could not spot her yet. Maybe they could just pass one another, two ships in the night, while she made her way over to get a drink from the lake. She passed Tumai’s hiding spot, padding slowly to the edge of the lake and laying down after taking a long drink. She put her paws in the water, wincing as she scooted closer to get the water over her legs and the wounds they sported.
Tumai peeked out, seeing the strange behavior. She crept closer. Both pretended not to notice the cracking bush twigs that Tumai stepped on as she came out of her hiding place. She padded closer, clearing her throat softly. She was not exactly a large wild dog, after all, so she imagined she was not intimidating. Though she did not like instigating fights, she also did not like seeing other creatures injured. And Ulozi was.
“Are… you okay?” She asked quietly.
Ulozi looked at her, tilting her head with an annoyed expression on her face. As if to say ‘what do you think?’ Tumai got the point, nodding her head. Ulozi had turned away from her by then, though, shifting so her back was to the wild dog. She did not feel like talking at the moment, it seemed.
Tumai moved back into the bushes, and was gone for a short while. Long enough for Ulozi to start dozing. She returned, though, and the lioness sighed when another soft clearing of a throat woke her from her half nap. She looked up to see Tumai standing on the other side now, so she could be seen, leaves in her mouth. Ulozi sat up a bit, tense, but Tumai timidly put her head down and placed one of the leaves over her leg.
“If you mush them… the juices inside make cuts feel better. I knew I had seen some here just a second ago…” That was not exactly true. She had seen them quite a few times before, and it was simply ingrained in a part of her memory that she did not actively or consciously know how to access. But the knowledge was there and, in this case, helpful. She offered the lioness a little smile and a slight wag of her tail. Ulozi sighed.
“Thank you.”
The lioness was not used to creatures being nice for the sake of it, though she supposed she had met that hyena once. But that one had been weird, and very forceful in her need to be friendly. At least this wild dog, which was not much different to a hyena as far as Ulozi knew, seemed to be fairly normal. Quiet, sufficiently intimidated by the larger lioness, helping maybe because she felt like if she did she could get away without being eaten. Respect born of fear was fine by the lioness, who was large and strong, and could easily kill the wild dog if she were so inclined.
It just so happened that, tonight, she was not so inclined.
“You are welcome to stay here for the night if you would like,” Tumai offered. Ulozi eyed her. If she wanted to stay, she would. She did not need this dog’s permission one way or the other. Tumai smiled though, and her soft eyes indicated honesty. “I will keep an eye out for anything that might try and hurt you? I mean… I don’t know what hurt your legs but if you need rest and are worried about being found…”
“I’m not worried,” Ulozi snapped.
Tumai nodded her head, whimpering a bit. The lioness sighed and rolled her eyes.
“But thank you, again. I’ll stay here tonight, since you don’t seem to mind, and it’s a nice place. You don’t have to keep an eye out for me, though. You don’t have to stay… around, either. You know, you could just. Go away.”
Tumai nodded her head and made to leave, though she smiled to herself. At least the lioness had thanked her.
(Word Count in Word: 1,139)
