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 Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2011 9:19 pm
 Part 1No blow landed. A voice reached his ears, gentle as a feather. Still shaking, he opened his eyes, turned towards the sound. Still white. Still terrifying. But that voice – that voice was one he hadn’t heard before. And that face. That face had no stripe down the chin, that was not the face of a leopon or any feline.
That was the face of a common wild dog.
“Nobody,” he growled. He flexed his claws even as he shrunk back. He had nowhere to go but he’d fight his way out if he had to.
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Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2011 9:22 pm
 She watched his reaction calmly, dispassionately. Frightened animals, wounded animals, trapped animals – they were the most dangerous. They fought with savage desperation, they ignored any signal of pain or warning. They fought to escape, to be free.
But this leopard… he was broken. She did not think he would attack her, and if he did she would defend herself. She would not leave her position at the entrance of the den – if he ran, how long would it take to find him once more? how much damage would he do to his broken body? – lest when he ran whoever had hurt him found him first.
You’re not supposed to care.
But oh, she wanted answers. “You call to her when you’re sleeping,” she remarked. “Sometimes you apologize.”
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Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2011 9:23 pm
He wanted to turn away; he did not. “I said she’s nobody,” he spat, a snarl spreading across his face. He kept his body tense, ready for any blow that might fall. He’d fight, he told himself, oh how he’d fight! He’d never let anybody hurt him again.
Only…
Only he’d let her. He’d lie there and take it, shrink away and retreat, but never ever try to stop her. If she told him to move this leg or that so that she could reach his belly, so that she could get her teeth around his neck, he’d do that too. Deep down he knew he was too well trained to resist. Deep down he knew exactly what he was: a toy, a plaything. She only had to say the word. All it took was a smile, that special smile she always used, the smile that meant he had done something wrong, that meant she’d ask him to beg and he would, beg as if it made a difference, beg while she purred, beg until she hit him, demanding silence.
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Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2011 9:25 pm
Tujil-dasu didn’t say the word, she didn’t smile. She was puzzled by the male, by the contradictions in his behavior. How he snarled while he cringed, how he bared his teeth while sheathing his claws. It was in his eyes, the answer was in his eyes. The look of fear, of anger… of expectation.
He thought she was going to hurt him.
He thought she was going to hurt him.
She felt sick to her stomach and fled the den. She needed a minute, a deep breath. Something away from the sick smell in that space. Her paw brushed against the hare she had killed and she picked it up, returning to the den so that she could fling it at the male’s feet. “I caught this for you,” she said, her voice rough.
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Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2011 9:27 pm
Tendaji didn’t move when the female left, nor did he move when the female returned. He barely glanced at the hare before looking back up. Why feed him? Why bother? He made no move to touch the hare. Let her tell him to eat. He’d crawl if she called, but not a moment before. He had that much left to him.
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Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2011 9:29 pm
Tujil-dasu turned to leave the den. If he didn’t eat, if he starved… it would be his own fool fault! What right did she have to care? Let him lie there for all she cared.
“Wait,” called a voice behind her.
She stopped and turned, peering back in the den. The leopard hadn’t moved, but there was something about the way he looked at her… somewhat puzzled, as if he was trying to figure something out. “What’s your name?” he said at last.
“Tujil-dasu,” she said with a sharp grin. She lifted her head high as she said it, proud of her name and her identity. “What’s yours?”
The leopard didn’t reply, but she hadn’t expected him to. Riddles. Why had she expected this one to be easy to solve? She solve it though, she’d figure it out. And this… Cari… was a clue to solving it. Female, he’d let that much slip. A mate? The tormenter? Neither seemed to fit. There was pain in his voice, but not the pain of a lover or the pain of fear. Somebody important though.
The rogue lands were a big place. All she had to go on was a name.
A name and the scent of that leopon. Worst case, she could always track her down and drag the answers out of her. There was nothing nice about the way Tujil-dasu smiled at the thought, but she’d left the den to hunt and there was no way for the leopard to witness it. Oh yes, she most certainly would get to the bottom of this.
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Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2011 9:30 pm
Back in the den, Tendaji dragged the body of the hare towards himself. He didn’t want to eat, he didn’t want to get stronger, but he had no choice. He had to get back to Cari, he had to protect her. His niece, his favorite. If anything happened to her…
Oh yes, he would get stronger. He didn’t understand the motives of the wild dog, but dimly he felt that she wasn’t going to hurt him. There was no smile, no words of command. Not even a command to eat.
No one can be trusted, he reminded himself roughly. The leopon he had met had not hurt him right away either. Oh no, she had waited, only hurting him a little to start. A n** here, a scratch there. And always the concerned look in her eyes, wondering aloud why he thought there was anything unusual to her behavior, why he didn’t enjoy it. And he tried to like it, oh how he tried!
Fool.
No, he wouldn’t trust this wild dog. But he would eat what she had to give, he’d bear any blow she dealt. And all the while he’d get stronger until the day came when he could just run, run and run and escape. Escape back to Cari, escape so that he might apologize and die protecting her.
But for now… rest. He rested his head on his paws, not bothering to wipe the blood from his maw.
Word count: 1108
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