[PRP] Still Here (Taabika, Kubwa'Jazi) - FIN

[Mogami]

Kubwa’Jazi was returning to the den where he’d met a wary dark lioness who had seemed terrified of him. The leopard was panting rather exuberantly as he dropped a fat gazelle at the mouth of the den and he did not appear surprised when he found it empty because he promptly followed the lioness’ scent while dragging the heavy load after him. After a few moments he stopped and let go to the prey beast weighing him down, looking puzzled. He could clearly smell the lioness but it was as if she had walked in random directions. Again, he picked up the gazelle and followed a different trail that had him running in circles for a while until he was forced to accept that the lioness’ scent was simply… everywhere.

Confused, Jazi finally sat down and slowly looked around for any clues to the lioness’ current location. Most would probably attempt to call after her but Jazi had never been the type to raise his voice and so he simply sighed and stared at the gazelle. Maybe he should just leave it in the den.  

[Talencia]

She watched him intently from her hiding spot. When he had arrived, she'd been somewhat surprised, but had frozen where she crouched, only the canvas that she had repositioned over her head moved gently in the faint breeze. Her eyes followed his progress as he did exactly what she'd expect a predator... or a friend?... to do. He followed her scent trail, which she had purposely muddled. She smiled inwardly at the ploy working, but her eyes very slowly narrowed under her makeshift hood. Something had caught her attention, and it was this thing that made her reconsider her strategy.

He hadn't eaten. The carcass he'd been dragging around was bloody, but untouched. She was floored. The hunter always got to eat first, and always did so immediately after the kill, to prevent others from getting the best parts. But he hadn't done this. In fact, he'd said he'd hunt for her, and he'd brought here the entire kill. Even now, when he'd clearly given up finding her, he wasn't ripping into it, only staring at it sadly.

Could she... should she? She lifted one paw and froze again. What if this was a trick? But her belly pinched suddenly at her, and her jaws betrayed her by flooding with saliva. No, she had to risk it. If he beat her for trusting him, then so be it. She had to eat. With her belly nearly scraping the ground, she crept out from her hiding place and into the open air again, head almost low enough to touch the ground as well. She paused and flinched, waiting for him to snarl at her for not being where he'd left her.  

[Mogami]

Jazi had almost decided to drag the carcass back to den, leave and return later when the dark lioness came skulking out of the bushes. He sighed, his frown turning into a gentle smile that had some very obvious relief to it. It almost hurt to see how frightened the lioness was of him and the leopard hated to think that her fears might actually be justified and based on personal experience.

As she didn’t seem too keen on getting closer to the carcass while he was sitting right next to her even though she was obviously hungry, Jazi stood up slowly and took a few steps to the side. He plopped down heavily – he was still tired after all – and lowered his head to the ground to rest, wondering briefly if there would be anything left for him after she was done with the gazelle. The carcass was big but lions in general ate a lot and this dark lioness in particular looked as if she hadn’t eaten in days. Now that he could really see her, he found her bright markings rather interesting and her eyes were quiet lovely even though he tried not to stare into them for too long. He sighed quietly again, his body thanking him for his hard-earned rest and the leopard closed his eyes for a few moments.  

[Talencia]

Seeing him lay down, away from the carcass, she eased up towards it, her eyes pinned on the leopard instead of the gazelle. She settled near the hind legs and set her sharp teeth against one of them, still watching him carefully in case he decided she was eating too much, or the wrong parts. Thus she was completely unprepared for what happened next.

Though the gazelle was definitely dead, one of those odd quirks happened. A flare in its nervous system caused a sudden jerk of the hind leg she was nibbling on. It yanked out of her grip, to her shock, drew up close to the belly, and then let go an astonishingly strong kick for something with no pulse. Thankfully it wasn't nearly so hard as it would have been had the thing still been alive. Even so, that small hoof managed to land squarely upon her sensitive nose.

She fell back with a cry, both of pain and startlement. One paw flew to cover her injured nose, and the other three scrambled her backwards from the prey. Her cowl slipped completely off her head, fouling her legs, and tripping her up so that she landed heavily on her side, paw still on her smarting nose. For several moments, she just laid there, breathing heavily, eyes huge. Her prone position revealed her ribs, lean belly, and shoulder and hip bones. She wasn't on death's door, but she was far, far skinnier than a lioness should be. Not to mention she was so dusty and dirty that her black fur looked grey, and her grey fur looked nearly tan.  

[Mogami]

Jazi looked positively dumbstruck when he saw the leg of the dead gazelle move and hit the lioness. It would’ve been amusing if not for the piercing cry that had Jazi standing quickly in one fluid motion. Her somewhat odd reaction to the unusual but not unnatural occurrence had Jazi believing she’d been terribly startled which was not that surprising considering she seemed to be particularly jumpy to begin with.

“Are you alright? These things happen sometimes.” He moved to inspect the gazelle and make sure the animal was indeed dead. In all fairness, he’d never seen such an exuberant spasm from a carcass but the world was a strange place sometimes and the leopard had little trouble accepting.

“It seems safe enough now.” He stepped back again, pointedly ignoring the lioness’ obvious malnourishment. It was something that compelled to stay close to her but not something he really wanted to discuss.  

[Talencia]

She scrambled back up on her paws and stared at him for several moments silently. Why did he keep stepping back, as if he had no rights to the prey? She didn't hesitate too very long, though for her stomach snarled at her. Unwilling but unable to resist, she crept up to the carcass, trying to watch him and it at the same time. For another moment she paused, hovering over the belly where all the good stuff was, giving him ample chance to reprimand her for the daring. But when he didn't, she suddenly was tearing it open in a near-frenzy. Despite her savagery, nothing was wasted. Nothing edible went flying, or splattered messily in the dirt. It all went down her throat.

It was over quickly, for her hunger-pinched stomach couldn't handle as much as a normal lioness could. The innards and one haunch was eaten when she slowed, then stopped, thin mid-section now bulging. She eased backwards, her ragged cowl still loose around her shoulders from her fall. Her eyes were once more locked on the leopard, who hand't moved during her brief if fierce feasting. Very softly, nearly a whisper, she spoke one word. "Why?" She was baffled by him, by his reasoning in this strange act of kindness. She still was wary of the true answer to that question, but she was beginning to suspect that whatever reason he told her would actually be the truth. At any time he could have touched her, attacked her, punished her. But he hadn't. She wanted to know why.  

[Mogami]

He remained still and out of her way as she ate with remarkable speed and he refrained from telling her to slow down as he glanced over in her direction on occasion. He feared she might choke but this was hardly the time to do anything remotely similar to barking orders at someone who appeared to be so wary of him.

Her question didn’t exactly catch him by surprise and so Jazi he did not hesitate before answering.

“Because you needed it.” He stated simply, slowly considering his answer only after having spoken. “My name is Kubwa’Jazi. I live nearby.”  

[Talencia]

Her gaze immediately flashed to the shallow den she'd been occupying. Was it his? Had she somehow overtaken his home, and this was his way of telling her so? Her eyes darted back to the leopard from the den, and she cringed, showing her throat as if begging for mercy. "I d-d-d-idn't know," she rasped pitifully. "P-p-p-p-lease," she managed, but her throat closed and wouldn't let her finish her plea. Please don't beat me for it! her heart cried, even as she squeezed her eyes shut in anticipation of the coming blow.

It never came, of course. Strangely, something deep inside her was expecting this lack of response. She cracked open her eyes to still see him across the way, not having moved even a twitch closer. She gulped and stayed low to the ground, though she uncoiled her muscles sooner this time. She looked from den to food to him once more, clearly at a loss. "Why?" she asked again, her tone plaintive and begging for understanding. It wasn't about why he'd given her food, but rather why he did not punish her or mistreat her. That was what she deserved, wasn't it?  

[Mogami]

Talencia

He hated to see her flinching away every time he spoke, confronted with the reality that his smallest action could instill so much fear on another. Some might revel in the feeling or even chase after it but to Jazi it was nothing short of sickening. It was frustrating that he didn’t even know what exactly frightened her, what words upset her the most so that he could at least try to avoid them. He said nothing for the longest of time, his ears swiveled in her direction but his penetrating gaze firmly locked somewhere else.

She’d repeated the question which seemed to imply she didn’t understand his actions and while the leopard could try to think of what could’ve happened to make her this way, he knew that he didn’t truly understand her either. Finally, he sighed and started speaking, reminding himself to be careful of his every word so that their meaning was absolutely clear.

“It just feels right to me. You needed help so I helped. Even if our kinds don’t always get along, most strangers I’ve met are willing to lend a paw when someone truly needs it, regardless of species.” It was the first time Gunju gave the “The World is Not Such a Bad Place” speech but he spoke as if he’d been working with damaged felines his entire life. “There are dangerous creatures in the world, male and female, lion, leopard, cheetah or hyena. But there is also good folk who will never hurt you. There are those who will refuse to hurt you even if you hurt them back. And there are even those that will give their lives for you after knowing you for less than a day.” He didn’t have to say it aloud but his eyes seemed to glow as his head turned to look at the dark lioness when he said the last option, silently including him in that category.

 

[Talencia]

She frowned in thought at what he had to say, still edging habitually away, though that look of stark fear was fading from her face. It was true that not everyone she'd known had been cruel, but it was not true that good folk managed never to hurt her. Her brow furrowed further as she thought harder, which was more than she'd done in a long while. So long she'd merely been reacting, flinching, running. Now she stopped and considered.

Even though her family had indeed hurt her, even she had to admit they had not done so on purpose. Not like... she shuddered.... him. No, noone had ever treated her like he had. So perhaps... just maybe... this male was right. She dared raise her eyes to look at him closer, astonishingly leaning faintly forward, pupils wide, whiskers spread and quivering. She licked her lips, nervously preparing to speak again. "W-w-what...," she began raspily, "if you... h-hurt....... b-b-but d-didn't.... m-mean to?" She continued to watch him intently now, intensely focused on what he'd say. How was she supposed to distinguish between hurts, the ones on purpose and the ones that still hurt anyway, despite good intentions? Clearly there had to be a difference, according to what he'd said.  

[Mogami]

Talencia

It was nice to finally see her relax a little, Jazi thought to himself as he considered her question. He couldn’t tell the kind of “hurt” she was talking about – Physical pain? Emotional damage? - but at least this was starting to feel like a real conversation.

“I’d like to think we’re smart enough to work out a way of not hurting each other but…” he remained on the same spot, making no move to stand up. He was still trying to look as harmless as possible, after all. “… if I did something to hurt you, at least I’d learn what not to do again.”

Now that he thought about it, that didn’t sound particularly reassuring. It was as if he was starting to think hurting was her was inevitable which was very unlike him. He had to mentally shake himself to return to normality.

“I’m not leaving anytime soon so maybe you could start by telling what not to do.” Despite being a rogue, Jazi was actually rather good at following a set of rules and guidelines.


 

[Talencia]

She was beginning to do an impression of a cupped leaf in a soft breeze, rocking first forward, then back, then forward again, but never leaving the spot. So many confusing signals swirled in her head, leaving her confused on whether to be alarmed or reassured. She ducked her head and hunched her shoulders and looked faintly miserable, but still she considered what he'd said.

First, he'd said he'd never do it again, if he hurt her. It wasn't really an if. They always hurt her, somehow, without meaning to. But at least... at least he [i[said he wouldn't again. He might be lying, but even... well, the bad one hadn't made such promises. Oh how she wanted to believe him!

Secondly, he asked her to tell him what not to do. Though her mind was slow at coming to this point in what he said, leaving him in silence as she rocked and hunkered... eventually it did finally dawn on her what he'd said. Her mind flashed back to his mention of giving his life... had he meant his for hers? A ripple shuddered down her spine, but it wasn't the usual sort of tremor. It was almost delightful.

"You... you wouldn't... touch me?" She swallowed hard, her thin throat showing the motion clearly. "If I said... n-n-n-not t-t-t-to?" She stuttered more at the end, leaning farther backwards as if from a blow, but not moving her paws this time. Only leaning and a faint flinching of her face away from him.  

[Mogami]

Jazi was starting to get a pretty good idea of what the lioness had gone through and while he had no way to confirm his suspicious with the exception of waiting for her to willingly breach the subject, the leopard had to admit that at times he did feel ashamed for his gender, disgusted by the cruelty that other males often displayed just because they could. While he wasn’t usually one to show emotion in his expression, his eyes widened considerably at her question though he wasn't really getting its full meaning.

“Never without your permission.” He said seriously, angry that she was so wary of him though not really at her. After a few moments, he tried to shift the subject and get the attention from himself back to her. “Won’t you eat more? Do you want to go to the waterhole to drink or clean your coat a bit?” He didn’t want to be terribly blunt but the fact was that the dark lioness wasn’t in great condition. But that was nothing that a bit of rest, food and water couldn’t fix, he hoped. “I’ll go with you but I’ll keep my distance if you want.”  

[Talencia]

Never without her permission? Heavens, she'd never grant that permission! But if he really meant it... well, she'd see whether he did or not. She was getting the feeling he had no intention of going away. How long would he stay close, she wondered, and why? Oh, he'd told her why he was here now, but why was he staying? She whispered an answer, pupils still very large and frightened, though her words were a bit bolder. "Water w-w-would be... nice." The last word was nearly inaudible, she said it so soft and low. She was suddenly and overwhelmingly thirsty Her coat she considered negligibly important. There were more important things to tend to right now.

When he said he'd come with her, she looked more sharply at him, body tensing. However, his whole demeanor was not one who sought to keep her, to hold her, to claim her. Not like... him. No, his expression was earnest if a bit passive, and his body-language said he meant exactly what he said. "W-why do you c-c-c-come?" she managed, with a hint of possibly standing up for herself. It was only a flicker, the remnant of her spirit that was uncrushed, seeking still to determine his reasons for doing what he did.  

[Mogami]

Jazi nodded and circled the the lioness until he was on her side but a good distance away. "It's over there." he said simply before he started walking in the direction of the waterhole, very poitedly keeping a good distance from the dark lioness. She kept asking the same kind of questions as if the fact that a stranger could show her a bit of kindness for no ulterior reason was beyond unbelievable and Jazi wondered if he was going to start repeating himself.

"I can't just leave you alone right now, can I? It wouldn't feel right." he said without looking her way. "It doesn't look like you can take care of yourself right now." Maybe she never could. He didn't even know how good she was at hunting, after all but he wouldn't mind teaching her if necessary. His eyes finally turned to meet hers, his calm blue gaze staring cooly into her pale green as he spoke with more confidence in an answer to her sudden tiny spark of boldness. "You'll be stronger in no time. You just need a bit of food and rest." It lifted his spirits to see her cheering up even if just a little. Maybe in time he might actually see her smile.

- FIN -