The rolling waves lapped against the sand outside, and every time he heard one crash against the rocks he flinched. He preferred it when he could hear the laughter of cubs from the Nursery and the roar of the practicing Guard. The quiet was supposed to help him heal from his injuries, but all it did was allow him to think, and thinking was the worst. Zaid forced himself to stand, and stretch his paws. Would it be alright if he left? Would they notice? It had only been a couple days, after all, and most of that time he had slept. “Bumming around, aren’t cha, boy?” He murmured, picking his way through the den. That is, until he stepped into a dip and fell into the side of the den. “s**t!” Now he had another bruise, and if that one female had anything to do with it, he’d be knocked out before it was looked at! As soon as he was able to move he made a beeline for the sunshine. Even though his steps were still uncertain and bruised, they didn’t prevent him from taking in the warmth outside. It filled him with clarity that he hadn’t had in days. Even brought a derpy smile to his face as he breathed in the fresh air.
Ouch. Talise winced as the male fell into the side of the den. That would be another bruise most likely. Her mother would love that. For the male’s sake the lioness decided that might be one thing that she would not report to her mother. Really that was the reason that she was awkwardly stumbling around behind him. Iara wanted an eye kept on the male and since everyone was so busy…well that just left Talise with a new job. Him.
Still she hated hiding from someone so the lioness shyly made her way over to Zaid, “That’s cute.” She commented smiling towards him, “You should smile more often.” Rather than just hiding from all of them and sleeping away the days. It was a good sign that he was outside moving around in the sun. Surely he was on his way to a full recovery. “It’s pretty isn’t it?” She asked looking away from him and towards where the sun hit the water. It gave everything a sparkling effect. The beauty of it made her hopeful for the pride’s future. Surely the ocean would never do such a horrible thing to them again. She loved it too much for it to act like that again. Really she didn’t know what she would do should her ocean home be destroyed again.
Zaid opened his eyes and looked over at Talise, his smile waning in the wake of surprise. How could he not have noticed that his personal watch dog was that close? Instead of commenting, he turned towards the water, subconsciously stepping closer to her. He couldn’t see past the moving water to the beauty beyond. It stilled in his mind, and caused his heart to speed up. The young adult closed his eyes instantly, and turned his head away from the water. He had to get away, and he had to do it fast!He brushed up against her on his mad dash to the jungle. If he could just get away, away from the water, then he could live! Life = jungle, water = death; simple as that. As soon as he broke through the tree line, he turned, slamming his back into a tree, facing away from the ocean as he slid to the ground. Why was it so hard to breath? When did it start getting this hot? It was an inferno! And the noises! Everything was getting so much fuzzier….
Talise’s eyes widened in surprise at the lion’s reaction. Was seeing her that horrible an experience for him? The lioness could almost cry if not for the firm sense of duty to her job. Her mother wanted her to take care of this stranger and she would dang it! Though as the memory flashed through her mind…was it the water? Still Talise followed him to the jungle, “Hey! Hey!” Was he going to be okay? Watching him slam into the tree she winced.
What was up with him always running into things?”
The thought was pushed aside as Talise leaned over him, “Are you alright?” Sticking out a paw she nudged him, “Come on now. Do I have to go get mom to look at you again? Or do I have to drag you back to her as well?” She teased lightly but really her heart was clenching. Was he going to be alright?
As soon as she was close by, Zaid latched onto Talise. He cuddled close to her, throwing his paws around her neck before he buried his face in her shoulder. Even though her coat reminded him of the water, it also reminded him of the sky and how pure it was. Zaid held her tighter. “Don’t….” He took a deep breath to calm himself. “Don’t make…me go back. I can’t…” He didn’t realize how tight he was clutching her, or that his claws were out. He didn’t care. All he knew was that his world had almost crashed, and she was the only thing safe to look at in the damnable place.
Eyes widened Talise froze in surprise at the male’s touch. Certainly she had male relatives but most of her siblings were girls and the female was not really accustomed to a male who was not related to her touching her like this. Sure she would touch male patients while helping her mother, but this…this was different. “It’s alright.” Her heart clenched in her chest, however, as she slowly figured out what it was he was speaking of.
Was it the water?
Her gaze darkened at the thought. It was a sad thought that someone could be so afraid of something so wonderful to her. Without really thinking about it the lioness reached out to hold him close to her and she nuzzled the male’s shoulder. “Shh. It’s okay. There’s no more waves to knock you about. You’ll be safe here. Kay?”
It took Zaid a long while to be able to calm down enough to loosen his hold, but when he did, he found that he didn’t want to let go. Talise’s smell was comforting, and forbidden at the same time. In his old pride, if he were caught holding a female like this, one that he wasn’t related to and hadn’t claimed, he would have been punished. Here he felt like he could get by with this bit of comfort. Slowly, he pulled back with a small smile. “Look, I’m….I don’t usually do that I just…” He flushed, and looked everywhere, but her. “S-sorry. I’ll go back in a little while, okay? Just not now.”
Talise blinked before shaking her head – a bit too quickly actually. “Oh no! You’re fine. I mean – I – I don’t mind.” She looked away sheepishly, “I’m here you know. For help and stuff.” She snuck a peek at him from the corner of her eye, “I know you probably don’t like me following you around, but my mother – well I – I worried about you.”
Shaking her head the lioness gave a small smile to the male, “Don’t worry about it. As long as you come back by the time night comes. Mother prefers to keep everyone together after dark. No telling where someone could end up in the dark out here in the jungle like this.” The jungle. It sent a small shiver down her back to be here enclosed by trees. She loved it, but at the same time it just wasn’t the ocean. It just wasn’t home.
“It’s alright,” Zaid smiled. “Honestly, I prefer you to your mom. You’re really nice, and she….well, she scares me.” He chuckled. Then he stopped . Had he really….? How long had it been since he’d been able to laugh? “I’ll come back as soon as I can’t see….that.” He motioned his head vaguely towards the ocean he couldn’t see. Even mentioning it gave him the shivers. “Talise? Could you….do me a favor?” If she really was as sympathetic to his plight as she seemed, then how could she refuse?
Talise laughed softly at his comment, “Oh don’t feel bad. She does that to most of her patients. Maybe that’s why I’m not a mwani. I’m not tough enough.” She was honestly just happy to hear him chuckle. The sound of it warmed the little lioness’s heart and she grinned back at him.
Still his comment about that made her softly ask, “You mean the ocean?” She shook her head, but for a second the sad expression had shown on her face. “I suppose that’s good timing. Should I stay out here with you still though?” Pausing she looked back at him as he asked her for a favor, “Depends. Will it make my mother angry?” She smiled teasingly before sobering up. “I’ll do whatever it is I can to help you. So what is it?”
“You can stay if you want too. I won’t run you off, but I won’t keep you if you have other business to attend to.” He tried to ignore it, but that sad look on her face when she said that awful word hurt him. It made him feel dirty. Like he was wrong because he didn’t find enjoyment in it the same way she did. “It might.” He stated honestly, with a little sheepish smile. “Could you ask your guards to be on the lookout for my brother? Or his…corpse?” He paused, making sure he was okay to go on. “I have to find him. I can’t rest knowing that he might still be alive, and hurt, waiting for someone to save him when I’m just laying around.”
“Okay.” Talise tried to act nonchalant but it really made her happy to hear that. “I might stay for a bit then.” She settled in next to him before looking back over, “No. Mother understands your worry about your brother.” The lioness nodded and smiled, “I can definitely ask them to look for your brother, not his corpse though cause he just has to be alive out there. I’m sure of it.” She closed her eyes before looking back up at him, “Trust me. Sometimes you might think someone is dead, but then they come right back. They thought the ocean had me for a while as well, but here I am today.”
Standing the lioness shook her head, “Actually I think I’m going to go talk to the guards about looking for your brother now. I know a young guard who will definitely be on the lookout for anyone like that. And when you’re feeling up to it I can even take you to the border to look around for any signs.” She smiled, “I’ll be back don’t worry!” With that the lioness slipped away through the jungle and went towards the ocean.
“Well, I’ll just have to be hopeful for your sake then, right?” He smiled, even if he didn’t feel it. After what happened that fateful night, Zaid was sure that his brother couldn’t be alive, but he wasn’t about to argue that point with Talise. He preferred to see her smiling then frowning. “Maybe he’s out there looking for me while I look for him. Who knows? Maybe he’s already home.” Wouldn’t that be a sight? Everything about that night told him it couldn’t be true, but that stressed part of him laughed anyway. He watched as she stood. “I’d like that.” And then he waved her off, standing for just a minute before balking. “Wait, Talise! You don’t even know what he looks like!” Without a moment’s hesitation, he took off after her.
((WC: 1974))
