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 Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 11:37 pm
Takatifu'moja:
Tifu's walk had slowed the closer she had gotten to their resting place. She was still on her guard, still listening for a rustle, any sound that might herald the hybrid's return. There were cuts in her cheek and the white fur on her chest was almost completely red by now, though she thought the blood flow might have stopped. She hadn't meant to go that far out, it had been an accident.
Of course, she would be okay. Now that the rush of survival was gone, she hurt so badly, but she would be okay. It wasn't a superficial wound, but neither would it keep her down for too long. She just needed to get cleaned up, maybe put some mud and herbs on it, Shoshan would know what kind, and some rest and she would be fine.
On the other paw, however, she was so tired. The fight had been more strain than she'd had in a while, and she'd never been hurt like this before. It hurt and all she wanted to do was to lie down in a safe place and close her eyes.
Kisulisuli:
Both Kisulisuli and Maji had spent the entire afternoon skirting the edge of their designated resting place for Tifu. They had intended on traveling by night so they could have the moon on their backs and the darkness to their advantage but with Tifu's disappearence, their plans had been all but forgotten.
Suli trudged from one high ground to the next, straining his eyes against the setting sunlight to pick out any and every moving figure in the grass and the flatlands beyond. Soon his temper began wearing thin and each trip between the high points grew shorter and shorter as he broke into a sprint, panic swelling in his chest.
At long last a familiar figure broke the horizonline. Swearing, he trudged down the rocks and broke into a hasty lope to cover the distance between himself and his traveling companion. Shock soon consumed his features followed by a strange mixture of worry and anger as he took in her battered form.
"What the HELL happened!?"
Takatifu'moja:
Tifu's ears flicked back, her eyes narrowed, and she hissed at him.
"I swear to all the gods, Suli, if you start yelling at me, I, I, ugh, I can't even think of some way to make you sorry," she shot back, her words snapped. Yup, she should have expected this. Of course he would be upset with her. And he probably wouldn't give her any time to herself ever again. Her father certainly wouldn't have, if he was in Suli's position. But he wasn't her father and he sure as hell wasn't her mate, so what right would he have to boss her around? Sure, he could yell at her until he was blue, he could tell her she didn't know the world, that all her dreams were wishful thinking and that life was won on claws not tongues, but damned if she was going to let him yell at her when she had just been fighting for her life. And damned if she was going to let him treat her like some wilting flower.
"Some psycho wanted my pelt for his den floor," she added, stopping instead of continuing past him. Some of her initial anger hissed out of her and she locked her eyes on his.
"I won."
Kisulisuli:
"Swear all you want, you weren't where you were supposed to be!" He flattened his ears and planted himself firmly on the ground. He'd not fuss over her or inspect her for futher damage, the former would only grind at his nerves further if he actually managed to find additional hurts to her person and the former would violate both comfort zones in question. The look he gave her was something between baleful and reprimending. It said enough.
He watched her slink past him, his eyes finding hers as she shot her final remark over her shoulder. It was... impressive. Unexpected and impressive. Little Tifu winning a fight? He thought he'd see Maji pull that off before she did...and he had a bad leg!
"You could have died." He said sharply, ignoring her little show of confidence and going right for the heart of the matter. "And we'd have never known where to look! What was going through your head!?"
Takatifu'moja:
"You think I don't know that? One misstep, one paw-swipe to his flank and I could have had a vision. I could have frozen for just long enough for him to cut me down," Tifu replied, a tremble making its way into her voice. She hated it. She had been strong, confidant before, why couldn't she keep it up? True, it had all been a front, she'd been terrified, but why when she needed it just as badly as when she was fighting did her courage start to leave her?
"I wasn't paying attention to where I was going, just that my paws moved under me. I was too caught up thinking... Thinking about other things. Don't berate me for taking a walk to clear my head, Suli, I just don't want to deal with you yelling at me right now." The more she talked, the more her voice softened, from that of a tough lioness ready to fight her way through anything to get where she wanted, to that of the creature she truly was, a young, almost desperately hopeful female with shadows in her innocent eyes. She had stopped just a bit past his side, her ears still back, but her shoulders dropped.
This was her fault, she shouldn't have hoped for a reaction out of him. It was stupid and she should have known better than to think he'd really do anything but growl at her and blame her for what happened. It was her fault, she shouldn't have strayed, if she had just stayed put like a good little female, nothing would have happened.
Kisulisuli:
He bit back the response he wanted to give and glared daggers at her back. She could have died! She never thought about her actions, she just leapt into them with both paws wide open and absolutely no thought as to how she would get out of a fix if there was ever a need.
He took a deep breath, noting quite easily the hurt in her tone and the exhaustion there. She needed to rest and have those injuries seen to. Once he was certain she'd recover, then he could bite into her backside for being a bone head.
"Come on, careless." He turned sharply and flanked her, obviously intending to escort her back to their camp. "You had the old man worrying circles in the dirt."
Takatifu'moja:
Tifu flinched when he called her careless. Of course, it was all her fault. She should have stayed by the males, should have stayed where they could watch over her. It was only logical.
And yet it wasn't. It was stupid. She could take care of herself. And for goodness sake, how was she supposed to figure out her life and her feelings if she was surrounded by others every waking minute?
How was this fair? She had been attacked, had fought, and triumphed. She'd beaten the hybrid back, sent him running with his tail between his legs and yet she was getting the third degree.
"And you, Suli? Did you worry? No, don't answer that, forget I said it," she said after a moment. She didn't want to know, mostly because she couldn't bear to hear him say that he hadn't. Not to say that she knew if he had or not, but... If he hadn't, it would hurt. And she was hurt enough right now.
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Posted: Tue May 29, 2012 10:23 pm
Kisulisuli:
Suli trudged onwards, slowly enough so that the wounded female could keep close but briskly enough to let her know that he wasn't willing to drag his heels and waste any more time arguing. His ears laid flat against his mane and his shoulders hunched up over his neck and spine. Orange eyes narrowed in agitation while a wide jaw ground a mouthful of teeth to bite back on his temper.
He did worry. But she'd not know that. Admitting it would mean admitting that he too had fears and troubles and Tifu, being who she was, would want to coddle that to bring out a 'softer side', or so he suspected.
"It doesn't matter." He grumbled. "Worrying doesn't do anyone any good. I found you, let's be grateful about that."
Takatifu'moja:
"It should matter. No, it does matter, but... I just don't want to know," Tifu replied quietly with a shake of her head. He sounded angry at her, but then he was almost always angry at her. Or annoyed. But this time... he seemed particularly upset. More so than he normally got. Maybe Maji was right, maybe Suli did treat her the way he did because he cared about her. He got angry when she was in danger, but... Why couldn't he just say it, that he was worried about her, that he was angry that something bad had happened to her and that he hadn't been there to help her? No, he called her careless, blamed her for wandering away.
She sighed as they made their way back to the camp. She hurt outside and inside now. She even wanted to cry. How strange, she hadn't felt like crying until now. Even through all the pain and the fear and the worry that the hybrid would come back as she limped back to the males, she hadn't felt like crying.
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