~x~
The day had been mild with a stiff wind blowing, nothing out of the ordinary for the pride of peaceful cats. The morning hunting party had left at dawn, a collection of lionesses with a cheetah scout and two leopards, all of whom were talented and expert hunters. He had risen with them, seeing the dawn warm the skies before tending to his various early morning duties. Once those were done he checked on Aaliyah, and once assured she was safe and still asleep, he started on restocking her supplies. By the time he had finished and had a mental note of the things he needed to look out for that day, she had woken and left their small den, bleary-eyed and adorably grumpy.
They had visited the watering hole and then shared a couple of desert hares that had been caught by the night patrol. After that it was a case of following Aaliyah around, making sure she didn’t overdo it and strain her constantly weakened body. It would have been a good day, Aaliyah was not needed to perform any of her ervices, it would have been a day of rest but Fate, it seemed, had other ideas.
They had been walking along through the sparse trees of a boaboa thicket, enjoying the sparse shade and each other’s company. Day’s like this had been rare and they took every opportunity to relax and just be another regular couple, not the Shaman and her Guardian. Neither of them had been aware of the trouble brewing until it was too late. The first crack of gun shots sent panic through everyone, no one knowing what was happening the pride suddenly dissolved into panicked paws and high-pitched cries of fear from the females and youngsters or deep growls of rage form the males. Kenan had thrown himself on top of Aaliyah, driving her to the ground in an untidy heap. The sounds exploded all around them and bits of bark rained down against their fur. Knowing they couldn’t stay where they were, Kenan had grabbed her ruff and half dragged, half pushed her further into the trees. They had lain there briefly, catching their breath, trying desperately to find the safest route out, then made a run for it.
Kenan had felt a sudden lance of pain in his side, his paws going out from under him several strides later. His brain screamed at him to get up but it was as his strength had been drained out of him. He could barely haul himself along and within moments, was flat on his side panting harshly. He watched helplessly as Aaliyah was taken down several trees away, seeming to trip over nothing before she too crumpled to the ground in a heap.
For a while, he had no idea how long, the world came and went in a blur, whole clumps of time lost to him as he struggle to remain aware. One moment he was struggling to get to Aaliyah, the next he was surrounded by those weird two-legged monkeys that walked upright and carried black sticks that shone in the sunlight. He felt them poking and prodding him, then he was floating, the world tilting drunkenly. When he came back to awareness he was in a small, dark space, bars of light filtering through to blind him in one eye. His periods of awareness slowly increased and the missing patches grew shorter and shorter. The drug that he had been darted with wearing off though he didn’t realise it. The wooden box, for he eventually worked out that was where he was, made terrible rumbling sounds as it moved along in a kind of jerky sideways motion that quickly made him feel sick.
There was one thing he did recognise however, the scent of Aaliyah. She had to be close! After several minutes of frantic sniffing, he worked out that she as behind him and twisted round to press his cheek against the wooden slats, calling her name franticly. Only when she answered in a weak and dizzy voice did he calm a little. At least she was still alive and not in a great amount of pain. As the hours slid past and the strange jerky rolling motions continued, he gently coaxed her into talking to him, and between them they worked out that beside themselves, there were two other lions with them in crates beside their own. The four tried to make sense of what had happened but it had been chaos and no one really knew. One of the other lions, a female by the name of Mawali, was far sicker than the rest of them, her words disorganised and slurred. She eventually went quiet and Kenan felt dread crawl its way up his spine.
Soon enough it wasn’t just the silent female that he had to worry about. Thirst started to burn at his throat and make his tongue cleave to the roof of his mouth. His coat was prickly with sweat and his stomach threatened to rebel t every jerk of the crate. Suddenly there was a terrific grating noise and the world tipped, sending him and all three of his companion’s crashing into the sides of their boxes. They hung there for a single, brief moment then everything went crazy, his crate tumbled end over end only to suddenly smash into another, bits of twisted metal and wood showered him, and a fierce, burning pain struck him across the face, forcing an anguished roar of pain to explode form his throat. Just as suddenly as it had happened, everything went still, though it was far from quiet. The monkeys shouted wildly at each other though he had no idea what they said. Bright sunlight poured in from one corner of his box, revealing solid ground outside, the hint of patched grass and churned earth.
Without thinking he attacked the shattered wood, claws scrambling wildly, a fevered panic driving him on as blood streaked the wood. Then he was through, body burning with fresh pain as he tore his skin against the splintered wood in his effort to be free. Blind instinct drove him on as he searched each of the crates for Aaliyah. The first was the silent lioness, he didn’t have to look twice to know she was dead, her spine snapped. The second crate held his mate and one side had half-come away. With a few violent bites and some hard paw swipes the rest of the lid came free and he tossed it away before tugged Aaliyah to her feet and out. She was disorientated and scraped up but otherwise she was alright. He quickly checked the last crate but its occupant was past his help, though he did try and break the wood away it was clear the lion would not last much longer.
His mind numb with total disbelief, he tied to get Aaliyah away, but such was her shock that h ad to bite at her rear to get her moving. Finally the pair of them fled, the angry shouting continuing behind them until that too, faded into the distance.
~x~
Groaning, Kenan stirred and opened his one remaining eye, the other lost amid a ragged scar that carved across his brow and cheek. Wincing at the pounding pain in his head he looked over at the sleeping figure of his mate, a wash of relief spilling through him as it always did upon seeing her laying so peacefully and more importantly, safe. Shifting he curled up round her sleeping body, drawing her sent deep into his chest. He hoped the nightmares eventually stopped... but he was just glad she didn’t seem to suffer them as he did. The guilt from that day was already a heavy, constant burden... Sighing he closed his single eye and lowered his head, waiting for morning to break and bring forth a new day.
