Her heart was heavy in worry as she left her pridelands. She had been sent out by a distraught Mato, who was bearly consolable about the missing Jamila. He had sent out a few others in search of her, all family, hoping that she would be found and quickly. She'd been missing for an entire sun and moon cycle, and it was time to be worried. It was unlike Jamila to wander off, and if she did.. it wasnt for long. Valenera had lived in the rogue lands almost all her life, and as a cub she had been left to her own devices. She knew how dangerous the Rogue lands could be.. especially to an inexperienced female. She walked slowly, though trying to make sure it wasnt too slow. She just didnt want to miss her in case it wasnt an obvious place that Jamila was. She had to find her.. She had to. She had this horrible feeling in her chest. She had dreamed of her son, her long gone son, and to awake to Jamila missing had been terrifying. Of course her dream had shown her son as he was when he was a cub.

Sweet, innocent, if a little quiet. She missed Roth. Deep inside she knew she had done the right thing for her family to leave him behind. He had enjoyed the dark, evil things, and she had caught him torturing animals numerous times. Hell, even one time he was -training- with a female that called herself a Demon. She had known for a long time she had lost her son from that point on.

Red eyes gazed out at the sandy dunes. It wouldnt be too hard, she hoped, to find Jamila if she was out in the open. She had been ready to turn and head another direction when something caught her attention. She saw an unmoving form, almost blending into the golden sand and grasses. She stood out because of the dark brown patch that had built around her, letting the sand absorb it. She knew in her heart who it was, and that it wasnt good. She went wide eyed, a scream leaving her throat as she took off towards her granddaughter.

"Oh, my poor, poor Sweet Jamila.." She whispered as she got to her, seeing no signs of life. She lay down next to the body, expecting cold and rigor.. But it was still slightly warm. Either she was newly dead, or she was still alive. Val took her paw, gingerly brushing at her grandbabys mane fluff.

Jamila was alive, but asleep. A scream caught her and brought her around, slowly. Her eyes hardly opened before the pain washed over her and she let out a pathetic sound. However, when she opened her mouth, blood bubbled forth and drowned out the noise for a moment. She couldn't even lick her own wounds. Finally, she figured out who it was. Grandma Val was here. The gods answered her prayers again. They had sent someone before she died, someone she knew. Now if her grandmother could get her to the healers, she would be at deaths door for a couple of days before starting to recover.

"Gran....grandma...." Her voice was shaking, liquid sounding and no more than a whisper. She tried, so hard, to put a smile on, but tears slipped free instead and the pain made her face relax. She couldn't smile. her cheeks, maw, lips.. they were scared in various places.

"Th...the gods... sent you."

When her Jamila spoke, she perked her head, listening intently. Though the sound was gurgled, and she wondered if that may be the last time she'd ever hear the sweet voice. She nuzzled the spot on top of Jamila's head, the only spot free of the blood. She licked at her granddaughter, cleansing some of the blood away from her. The taste was bitter, coppery and she continued to clean her wounds.

"What happened baby? You're okay..Grandma's here. I wont leave you, Princess." She whispered softly. She couldnt imagine anything like this happening to her family, and now that it had.. It was the most empty feeling she'd ever felt. She gulped, and shook her head. Oh poor Mato.. His poor family, his mate and other babies. Jamila's death would be blood on her heart that she just couldnt deal with.

She cleansed the wounds as gingerly as she possibly could, before nudging her sweetheart's head. She knew Jamila would hurt.. She'd be in so much pain, but she had to get back to the healers. If she didn't, she'd most definitely die...

Cleansing hurt. But it wasn't as bad as when she got these wounds. Jamila wanted to vomit all over again but somehow, resisted. "...R...roth.." She heard his name in his mind before the attack. He had told it to some girl before he raped her. "He... he was... going to... force himself... the... I lashed.. got his eye... and this..." She swallowed thickly and whimpered again, a sob reaching her throat and bubbling out. How could family do this to each other? WHY did he hate so much? It hurt. Everything hurt so bad. Bile rose up again and she had to spit it out, gasping and moaning at the pain of craning her neck to do that.

She wanted to black out again.

When she heard the name, Valenera stopped licking Jamila's wounds. She went wide eyed once more, and her brain went to work. Why had Roth returned? Had he found them? Oh god, the fear within her made her want to throw up. Oh how could he? How could he! But she knew why.. Sadly she knew exactly why he had hurt her.. and he had likely known they were related as well.

It was no secret Jamila bore a strong resemblence to both her mother AND her grandmother. He was so angry at her still.. SO hurt that she had left, and it broke her heart to think that he still lived with such hatred inside him. "Oh my poor baby.." She whispered about her son, but then her concern instantly dropped from him, and went back to her granddaughter. Jamila had suffered for something Val had done. She felt so guilty.. Deep in her heart she knew it was because of her..

"Come on, darling.. We need to get you help. Roth is a vicious lion, and I would greatly expect him to return.. You can do it. Just lean on me." She said, nudging her body gently. She knew it likely hurt, but Jamila just HAD to stand.

Jamila didn't know it was for her con, the words her grandmother whispered. And if she knew, Jamila would be furious. Not poor Roth. Poor Jamila. The near dead one. But the she spoke again and Jamila tried to pay attention. Stand? Seriously? Her grandmother was right, of course. Roth would return and carry out killing her if she was still here. That thought made the bleeding girl attempt to rise. She leaned heavily on her grandmother, getting blood all over her, wounds oozing again and further staining her pale coat.

This was hurting her so much, she cried. She sobbed and, with her grandmother, they slowly, inched their way to the pride. Jamila could only whisper ows and cry from the pain. She had to stop a couple times when she got dizzy from blood loss. "It.... it hurts..."

She hadnt meant to say anything regarding Roth out loud. It was the mother in her, and if Jamila had cubs, she would have known just how this was making her feel, what it was making her think. She felt so guilty.. and she knew it wasnt really her fault, but it was!.. Right?.. Oh this was just awful. She got her granddaughter up, and walked slowly, allowing her to put most of her weight on her. Valenera was a strong female and she could easily support the younger girls weight. Her pelt, too, was stained with the red of Jamila's blood.

Once they were within the pride, she cried out for the healers. She knew once the bloody mess of her granddaughter was seen, it would take only seconds for
rescue. But they had to hurry.. They just had too..

"I know sweetheart.." She whispered.

Jamila tried her damnest not to fall down right there. She wanted to vomit and sleep. "Death would be better...." She whispered softly to herself. Death would really be better than the pain she felt right now. She would never, ever, find anything more pain than this. If she got to the healers, she knew for a fact she would pass out while they did whatever it was they did. The gods had been furious with her for turning away from their path planned out for her. Now she would spend the rest of her life trying to pay them back.

"I wanna sleep...."

Val was determined to not leave her granddaughters side. Once the healers got to her, she backed up a little, though made sure that Jamila saw that she was still there.. Stilld efending and protecting. She wanted to snuggle her more, but knew the pain she felt wasnt permitting.. She looked forlorn, her eyes sad, her stomach sick. She needed Mato.. God, Mato.. please come back.. She thought.

"Please.." She whispered to the healers that came at once, quickly, and began trying to help.. "Please help her."

The healers set to work doing what they did best. One of them murmured to Jamila that it would be best to sleep through everything, because a lot of this would be painful for her. That's what Jamila did. The last thing she remembered seeing was her grandmother near tears and that's when the darkness took her over. She wouldn't make noise, wouldn't move or wake up for a few days. She had to heal, her body knew that. She had to sleep to heal and everything would be OK. She would live; she wouldn't be pretty anymore, but she would live.