Rumi was snooping around in the mountains, trying to see if any of those damn goats were nearby. It was hard to find food up here, but because of that some of the prey weren't as scared of lions as they should be. Still.... "Where are these damn things?" Her nose twitched as she tried to catch a fresh scent, but it seemed like she was in the wrong part of the mountains this time of year. Witha sigh, she felt herself shifting her weight to descend...and then she slipped.Once Rumi opened her eyes again, she realized that it was later in the day. Much later. Her head was ringing, and her body was sore all over, but otherwise she was ok. Upon further inspection of her surroundings, she saw a huge lion...instincts tried to kick in, but she reminded herself that she knew who it was. "Dì Zhènhàn," she whispered, her body shifting under her. She was attempting to fold her legs under herself, but it was proving difficult.
"Don't push yourself," Rey replied. "You hit your head hard enough that I didn't move you. Take it easy. The last thing anyone needs is an invalid." His heavy eyes pierced through her, and Rumi felt herself flinch. The last thing the North needed was someone who could not take care of themselves. It helped that there were no youngesters at the moment...she had been the last, and only, youth to grow into her body and take a job. Hunting wasn't glamorous, and it left her smack in the bottom of the middle class, but she did appreciate how others thanked her when it came to dividing up the kills. Not everyone had the time to hunt, and it was her responsibility to make sure that everyone ate.
"Sorry," Rumi said, blinking back the pain in her head. It was leveling off, but hovering just enough to warn Rumi to not do anything too drastic. "I was out for a couple hours....have you been watching over me the entire time?"
Rey shook his head. "I only found you about 20 minutes ago."
Rumi was clearly not that thrilled to have been lying around helpless for so long, but there wasn't anything she could do about it. Rey had clearly done what he could in the short time he had found her. "Well, thanks for being here when I woke up. I probably would have pushed myself too hard in returning home."
Silence crept between the two of them. Though Rumi knew of Dì Zhènhàn, and what he looked like (he was huge!), she had never spent a lot of time with him. Scouts and hunters didn't interact very much, as normally scouts could feed themselves if there wasn't much to report on. She didn't know much about him, or if he had a family, or...anything.
"You should stay here for the night," he said, startling her from her thoughts. He looked at her curious as she calmed herself, a little curious but resistant to asking. "You'll be fine, there's nothing out here anyway."
Rumi's ears flattened, feeling a bit more ashamed than anything. Frustrated at herself, she forced herself to seem more confident...and got a kick in the head from her headache for being so annoying. While she was recovering, Rey spoke. "The goats don't roam this part of the mountains this time of year. Come back in two moons, and you'll find them again." He laughed at bit at her frustration expression. "They do not like to make much sense, but that's goats for you."
Rumi smiled, not allowing herself to laugh. "Well, I can't push through the mountains much more to get to them, so I'll remember that. Thank you, Dì Zhènhàn." He waved a paw at her. "Don't worry, Língchén. You should be able to go back like your namesake," he grinned. "Early morning. It won't be easy, but you can make it back even with the dim light of false dawn."
"Alright," she replied, stretching out her legs carefully as she rested her head on them. "Do you know of elsewhere I can hunt, once I am certain I am healthy to do so?" She watched Rey carefully as he thought, intrigued that such a large lion was a scout, and a successful one at that. She was relieved in feeling confident at his skills, since the North was a little stretched thin at the moment. She wondered if anyone knew what lay north of them, as the mountains seemed to keep them safe...but she learned that safety was a flexible term in the North. It was home, though, and Rumi never thought of leaving here.
"You should go a bit more south and west," he finally replied. "You may find boar, though I wouldn't advise you hunting alone. Take a partner. Flush one of them out, but make sure that its not mated. They're too vicious to protect one another for anything more than a large hunting party to take down." He nodded, his rich reddish brown mane shifting in the fading light. "I am sure you can find someone to go with you."
"Okay..." she replied sleepily, feeling herself struggling to stay awake. She tried, but when Rey left her, she gave in. Once in a while, she could feel him nudging her to make sure that she was still healthy, but otherwise she dozed on and off until he awoke her under the dim light of false dawn. Yawning, the lioness pulled herself up, feeling the ache of sore muscles, but otherwise feeling much better than she had earlier. Once Rey decided she was fine, he sent her off back home, where she would take the rest of the day off. Tomorrow, though, she would hunt, and she was determined to find someone to go with her. There had to be someone, as there must be hungry bellies from her failed hunting attempt of yesterday.
Boar it would be, and boar would fill the bellies of her housemates better than a silly little goat or two would have.
(1,030 words)
