Welcome to Gaia! ::

( A backlog for the two after their meeting. )


The wounds Taiga has gained from the ambush had not seemed bad. maybe just scratches here and there, a bite mark, but nothing that wouldn’t heal easily. However through his neglect, added with the dirt of travel, they had grown worse without him realizing it. After having passed out from exhaustion, after his meeting with the lioness Mana, he found himself within dreams twisted by his feverish mind. They were of a time he would prefer to forget, the ambush where he had foolishly caused the death of some of his kin, though the dream would not leave it at that. Rather is became a nightmare. The few that had been killed turned in to many. Lions that had not even accompanied him had somehow come to fall beneath the paws of foe unseen. He himself stood within a field, surrounded by still bodies of those he knew, had grown up with, those that were his family. His dream self made to escape the horrors, but any attempt to flee simply brought him through the clearing where the ambush had actually happened, and once more to the horrors of his nightmare.

After quite some time of being stuck within his fever-dreams Taiga managed to slowly come to. His body ached, tired and pained, and attempts to move were unsuccessful. After a few more tries to at least lift his head he gave up ad lay there, staring through half-lidded eyes at the open land that lay before him, past the water hole and past the tree he lay beneath. His mind slowly managed to drift away from the contents of his dreams and back to that of the pale lioness from before. Had that all been a dream as well? Within his mind she shone, something bright to take his thoughts away from the darkness that hung over him when he had slept, that the scent of her within the area was not some cruel trick played by his mind.

Ears lazily swiveled forward as the sound of his own name. “Mana?” He opened his eyes further to see that the female not only was real but had returned. A weak smile pulled at his maw as he once more tried to raise his head to greet her, managing a few inches before his head came back to the ground. “A rest did not seem to help all that well.” A quiet chuckle escaped, him though it died off quickly. “I suppose my wounds turned worse than I had thought.” With another effort he managed to turn his head so he could see her better, the weak smile once more on his face. “You came back though. I had feared you were nothing but a trick of my mind before.”

“Yes, friends.” The smile widened, and an attempt at a nod followed. “Perhaps, though I did not expect them to get so bad. I had assumed that they would have healed by now.” Travelling had perhaps not helped either. His rests had been short enough to get back his strength, but rarely any longer. it had only been recently that his strength had started to wane, but Tai had thought nothing of it. As Mana took something from her little bag he watched curiously, unsure what the sprig was or what it was for until she had finished mixing it with mud and spoke. At the command he nodded, a bit amused at the forceful tone, but said nothing at the time. His skin twitched as the mud poultice was applied, though it didn’t hurt as much as he had thought it would. Instead it felt cool against the woulds, taking away a bit of the burn and sting. It was nice. “I think it’s helping already.” He purred, enjoying the soothing mud mixture on his back. With a bit of effort he stretched his forelegs out so their wounds were better accessible for treatment as well.

Taiga nodded, quite content to just lay there anyways and let the herbal mud help his wounds. The burn of the wounds was already fast fading from his legs, replaced with the soothing cool. His eyelids had started to droop as he lay there, savoring the fact that his pains were lessening, however at being called a fool he perked his ears forward and opened his eyes once more to look at the lioness. “A few little scratches take down one such as myself, I think not.” A small chuckle followed his little attempt at lightening to mood. The smack, gentle as it was, had still caught him off guard. His head had jerked up slightly, quickly followed by a grin. “Well had I fallen I’m sure the buzzards would have had a hard time picking at my tough hide. Even dead I should hope I would give up a good fight.”

“I do thank you though,” Taiga slowly lowered his head back down, still a bit weary, but certainly feeling better. “for your help. I feel better already, and I’m sure within a day I’ll be right as rain.” He shifted slightly, trying not to move too much lest he mess up the mud on his wounds, before settling down for another rest. “Thank you.” The words trailed softly as he drifted back to sleep, this time void of the nightmares that had plagued him before.