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 Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2011 1:42 pm
Amani fell into darkness. For the longest time the young leopard laid curled up between the same rocks which had helped to create the gashes on his body. Dried blood covered his normally pale fur giving the leopard a darker look. His forehead was covered in it and even as the leopard miraculously began to stir he was nearly made to believe that he had been blinded by the attack. But no it was rather the blood preventing his eyes from opening that prevented him from seeing.
Cursing softly under his breath Amani wobbled to his paws before falling forward again. This time his body slammed against yet another rock causing another round of pain. Everything was so sore! Hissing the leopard reached out towards the sound of running water and managed to plunge his body into the river just in time. They had been circling trying to find his hiding spot, but now the hunt was over. Managing one sly grin the leopard watched through half-lidded eyes as his attackers fell back away from the cliff and river.
Good. Maybe now if he had to die then he could die in peace. Closing his eyes the leopard fell back into darkness as the currents swept him away and out of sight. He was still out of it even as the river dumped his body against the shore further downstream.
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Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 10:34 am
Isi supposed she hadn't so much escaped as rebelled. She loved her family, but she simply could not stand the harsh, cold, unbending rules they lived under. She knew other prides had strict role rules for each gender, each species, but to her knowledge thus far, her old pride blew them all out of the water. The one that had chafed most personally was that only medicine lions were allowed to tend the sick or injured. Only they were allowed to heal with herb, technique, and usually without any sympathy for the one they treated. She'd had enough finally, and left to find her place in the big wide world where her talent for patching up creatures would be allowed, perhaps even valued.
She was at least grateful the medicine lions had considered her beneath their notice as a cub, while she watched and absorbed how they did it. It wasn't until they caught her applying the proper herbs to a heavy gash in a fawn's shoulder that notice was taken. She'd been secretly tending to small animals for months by then, and was convinced that this was what she was meant to do. There had been a huge uproar over her actions, for not only was it taboo to have a female healing, but to have her healing prey animals? Outrageous! She had endured their severe punishments... the starvation for a week, the solitary treatment, and the scorn thereafter. But once she had become strong enough, old enough, big enough, she had bidden her mother a tearful goodbye and slipped away by night, never to return.
Oh, that had been several years ago now, but the memory was still vivid, playing out behind her eyes from time to time, but most often when she happened upon a patient that desperately needed her help that her old pride would have forbidden her to tend to. Like now.
She didn't spend much time gazing down at the unconscious male leopard. Instead, she seized him by the scruff of the neck and hauled him slowly from the swirling fingers of the river, up onto dry ground. He was a right mess, to be sure. Without treatment, she wouldn't be surprised if he died of his injuries, especially if he'd remained in the grip of the river. With a determined firming of her jaw, she began to dig into her pouch, which some grateful primates had rigged up for her. She thought she might have at least some of everything she needed, for now. However, what she did now was only the very start of a rather long recovery. This was going to take a lot of time.
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Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 5:06 pm
Amani had a feeling of flying through the air. Once again he was envisioning the fall from the cliffs and the moment of pure freedom as his body was finally free of the thrashing. Most would imagine a deep despair or terror at the idea of falling from such a height, but with Amani it was more of an acceptance. So why was it that he wasn’t in the clouds yet? In his mind he chuckled. Did souls even go to the skies or did they just disappear into the winds? Oh, if only his sister was here to give him one of her crazy answers. If any of his family was here...no it was better if he woke up alone.
He wanted to open his eyes and see where he was, but his eyes still wouldn’t listen to him. Neither would the rest of his body. Perhaps it was just a soul thing. In time surely his spirit would be able to move without an actual body.
The leopard honestly kept imagining himself as dead. But then the pain came. Each and every gash, bruise, battered limb throbbed in tremendous pain. Semi-conscious he lashed out at everything in blind annoyance. Was this some form of punishment? Should he have fought harder? Or was he just experiencing his life again before finally moving on? Amani’s body convulsed weakly in pain until he passed out once more. And just before he went under he had a vague memory of a warmth that had dragged him through the darkness before and away from the waters.
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Posted: Mon Nov 07, 2011 10:06 am
After stopping to think and looking around herself, she decided this was not the place to begin treatment. He seemed unconscious anyway, so this might be the best time to move him further, before doing so would cause any further pain. She needed a safe place for him to remain when she needed to go searching for further herbs. She gave a soft sigh of resignation. This was going to be a long haul, to be sure. At least this was a leopard and not some huge male lion, or she'd have been forced to treat him here in the open. As gently as she could, she took him again by the scruff of the neck and began dragging him.
It was a decent distance to the last den-type cave she'd seen. She winced at each jostle or thud of pulling him across the uneven ground. Unfortunately, some carrion birds saw her dragging him and assumed him dead. Their circling and raspy cries irritated her, but made it all the more obvious why a shelter was required. Out of sight, with no death-smell to draw them, they'd soon leave him in peace.
By the time she'd tugged him into the shallow cave, she was panting heavily. Despite this, though, she never once thought with regret about rescuing him. First things first, now that they were safe. She quickly set to applying certain leaf saps to his wounds, and had him swallow something that would dull the pain. It was a trick she'd learned from watching her father, where she mixed crushed herb with sap or honey, then placed that at the very back of the tongue, shut her patient's mouth, and gently massaged his throat. True to form, he swallowed it with no problem.
Satisfied that she'd done what she could for now, she left the cave in search of something to cover his chilled and battered body with. Hopefully this wouldn't take very long, but it was getting dark, and he needed extra warmth soon.
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Posted: Mon Nov 07, 2011 1:45 pm
Amani floated in darkness. At one point the throbbing pain that had kept stabbing at him had gradually faded away. It was a strange sensation that was for sure. Still Amani was slowly resurfacing to the conscious world. Wincing the leopard managed to open his eyes. Everything was still dark. Was he really blind now or still trapped in some in between? No. The leopard winced. His body was still throbbing with pain when he tried to move. “Great.” He commented softly with a weak laugh. Seemed that he wasn’t dead yet. Whether that was a good or bad thing he didn’t know.
Something cool was against his skin. Blinking the leopard managed to turn his head to examine his body. Had someone been caring for him? Who in the world would have….Amani just closed his eyes. Maybe it was better not to ask and just let things be as they were. Still where was he now? This was no cliff or stream side. With his eyes closed the leopard picked up on the sound of something dripping in the distance. Was it a cave? Had someone dragged him to shelter?
Swallowing Amani tasted a faint aftertaste of something. Something herbal? He really was in the hands of some healer or someone who liked to experiment any way. That or they were getting him to that right taste with the herbs…the thought made him chuckle. No. No one would have went through so much trouble just to eat him. Talking about going through trouble…if he was already alive and conscious then he should try to save this mystery the trouble. Reaching a weak paw out the leopard grabbed at a stone and attempted to pull himself forward. There was nothing worse than having to have someone take care of him. But another burst of pain laced through his body at the movement and the leopard had to grit his teeth in order not to yell from the pain.
His vision was blurry and even with the faint hint of light from outside everything was dark around the edges. Oh not again. Wincing Amani had to close his eyes and focus on keeping awake.
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Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2012 12:54 pm
She returned, tugging a large clump of ground cover after her. It didn't taste particularly nice on her tongue, but it grew in thick clusters, and thus would do well to capture what little body heat the leopard had and keep it close to him. She rested, panting, when she reached the cave's mouth. She ducked her head in to check on her patient, only to find he'd moved slightly. He was awake? His eyes were closed, but his breathing indicated a conscious patient in pain. Keeping her voice low, so as not to startle him, she tried to reassure him.
"Lie still, you'll need all your strength to recover." She left the cave and returned, dragging the brush behind her. It was thankfully more soft leafiness on one side, and this was the side she maneuvered to cover him. It was full dark by now, and the perfect time to go hunting dinner for them both. "I am going back out," she softly told the leopard. "I promise I will return with something to eat. Please, lay still until I return. Dragging yourself that way will only make you worse." With that,s he whisked out the cave entrance and into the darkening night.
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