Iluka had been working on her goal of finding a pride, but she found she couldn't put the things the wild dog she had met out of her head. Something about a wizard and magic and making a wish so she could live in the sea? Honestly, it had been difficult to understand everything the hyper creature had been going on about. It felt like it would be too late to see her again, but she had decided to give it a shot anyway, slowly making her way back to where she thought she had seen the female heading. With her coat that looked like the ocean, surely she wouldn't be missed, right?
Unfortunately, she wasn't around to be missed- it seemed like she had already moved on. She did, however, find a lion hanging around the area. The black coated male looked like his markings glowed against his fur, which Iluka found very interesting. She smiled faintly, heading over to him. "Hi," she offered softly, "I'm sorry to disturb you- I just have a quick question, if you don't mind." The male looked at her, and while she was expecting him to be cruel and tell her to get lost, he actually smiled and offered her a polite not of his head instead. Why was she leaving the rogue lands, again?
"I don't mind at all, ma'am- what is it you would like to ask me?" The male replied lightly, "if you're looking for directions, I'm afraid I'm not from around here, so I don't really know much about which way to go to get to... anywhere." She giggled at that, and shook her head.
"No, I'm not looking for directions. To be honest, I don't know where I'm heading anyway. I was actually wondering if you've seen a little wild dog around here. She's blue with white markings, and kind of looks like the ocean? She's also a little..."
"... crazy?" Laughed the lion, "yeah, I saw her. We spoke together for a little while and then she bolted off like she had some great mission to accomplish. I didn't really have a chance to ask her where she was going, I'm sorry."
Iluka sighed. "That's okay, I was only going to ask her about something she said to me, anyway. She mentioned something about a wizard, and I was a little confused." She frowned, looking around. Hopefully she wasn't getting herself into trouble. Funny, she had only just met the little wild dog, and yet she was already feeling very concerned about her. Maybe because she was like a little child at heart and in mind, which made her being alone a very frightening thought. But she must have been on her own for a long time, right? She was an adult, after all. So maybe she knew what she was doing, even if it didn't appear that that was the case. She shrugged her shoulders and looked at the male, smiling lightly. "I'm sorry, I'm being so rude. My name is Iluka. Thank you for helping me out- I hope I wasn't interrupting anything important."
"Not at all, my dear," the male told her, "I'm Quinlan, and I really had just finished speaking to that wild dog before you arrived, so I wasn't doing much of anything. Nguva was her name, right? She mentioned that wizard stuff to me, too. Turns out, it was a hyena playing a trick on her to get a free meal. He told her something about being able to grant a wish and made her wait for hours by the sea. But she didn't seem too upset about it, and she found out the truth. I think she's going to be fine." He smiled, trying to comfort her the best he could, Since he didn't know much about the situation, there wasn't a lot more he could say on the matter.
"That's good to hear," sighed the female, though she was stopped from saying anything else when another male emerged onto the scene- it was a white and cream lion with a small body that was covered in dirt. He staggered out from a small forest nearby, fumbling a few steps out into the open before collapsing onto his side with a grunt. "Oh my!" The female yelped, sprinting over to the fallen lion. Quinlan was just behind her, moving to see if there was anything he could do to help as well. They both hovered over male lion, frowning and investigating his state.
"It looks like he's very weak and thin," he said faintly, "and there seems to be a healing wound on his paw. My guess is he hasn't been able to hunt very well on his own and he's collapsed from hunger and exhaustion." He frowned, looking at the female. She was already busying herself with cleaner the male off, nudging his face gently with her nose to try and wake him up. "stay here with him," Quinlan said lightly, "I'll go bring him something to eat." He moved off at that, thinking how strange the day had been. He had gone from some male hyena faking an injury for food, to getting food for a lion who actually needed it. He had to wonder what the meaning behind that was.
While he was hunting, Iluka stayed neared the male, cleaning his paw and looking him over for any other injuries. But it seemed what Quinlan had deduced was correct- there wasn't any other wounds on his body beyond some simple bumps and bruises. He looked like he was just tired and hungry. As she sat herself back, he groaned, looking up at her weakly.
"Ah! You're awake. Try not to move, okay sweet heart?" Iluka said sotly, "you look very weak and you should just rest. My friend is going to get you some food."
"T... thank you..." he mumbled lowly, "my paw...."
"I know, you have a very bad wound on your paw, but don't worry! You're going to be okay. You just need to make sure you stay off it for a little while. I'll stay with you while you heal- you can count on me. My name is Iluka, by the way." She smiled and sat with him. The poor thing was too tired to even question why a stranger would be so willing to help him out, resting until Quinlan finally returned with a large kill in his jaws. He moved it close to the fallen male, resting it next to him. "Thank you for bringing that," Iluka said lightly, "you are a very kind lion." He smiled. In his mind, he was no kinder than her- she was already willing to help as well.
Eventually, the male seemed to regain some of his strength, raising his head to look at the two rogues who had helped him out. "Ah... thank you," he muttered weakly, "I really... needed something to eat." He smiled lightly, though he didn't feel too inclined to get back on his feet. It felt like he was going to need to sleep for a month before he could stand again. At least he had met some nice rogues along the way.
"My name... is Albus... I was attacked by a lion and he bit my paw... I haven't been able to hunt since then." He felt he at least owed them an explanation for his sorry state of being. They had been so nice to him, and they hadn't even known anything about it.
"You're going to be okay now," Quinlan told him lightly, "just rest and try and regain your strength, okay?" He looked at Iluka, smiling at her faintly. "If you have something you need to be doing, it's okay for you to go. I can watch Albus and make sure he's alright." She looked at him and smiled.
"No, I want to stay and help. I'm not in a rush, so I don't think I need to be leaping off, leaving you alone with this poor lion! I want to be able to help Albus, too." She smiled and looked at the lion on the ground, who looked at her and smiled in return. Quinlan chuckled. Well, it was very clear to him that he had met every nice animal in the rogue lands that day- how wild! He hadn't thought there were so many others who cared as much as he did.
"You're a very nice lioness. Where ever you end up, I think you're going to make your new home a much brighter place." Albus said from the ground. Iluka smiled and moved to lie beside him, smiling and trying not to feel too smug about the compliment.
"You just focus on sleeping, okay?" she said lightly. Quinlan watched them, chuckling.
"Well, I think we could all use some sleep- it's been a strange day, hasn't it?" He laughed and settled himself down near them. He wouldn't sleep just yet, of course, but he didn't want them thinking he wasn't going to join them. Really, he wanted to keep an eye on Albus. Make sure he didn't start looking too weak or fevered from his injury getting an infection. He was a smart lion, and he liked to keep an eye on things.
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