It had been a slow, few days, all in all (not that Mwezi much minded slow, really, given it suited him just fine). Still, the rhythm of his days would soon enough change, given the fact the female (he'd decided to stop calling her 'leopard' in his mind) gained strength, and would soon enough be able to leave. Probably today or tomorrow, he wagered.
In fact, he half expected her to be long gone from his little den, by the time he reached it. He was, after all, giving her ample time to do so, as he was dragging the carcass of an antelope through the vegetation. His hiding place had proved to be efficient, and taking food there, so long he disposed of the remains, was safe.
Interestingly enough, however, by the time he arrived to their little makeshift den... the female was still there. Still laying down, still present, and still horribly confusing in her entirety; more because Mwezi still couldn't figure out what on earth had driven him to help than anything else. All he'd been able to pinpoint was that it'd felt wrong to just leave her to die. Rin wouldn't have approved of it.
And for some odd reason, that mattered.
Letting out a sigh, which passed through his teeth, the large lion dropped the carcass of the antelope in front of the female. Near enough that she could reach to eat from it if she desired, and far enough that it was not overwhelming to her. Then, he gracefully lowered himself and into the spot he'd dubbed his, against her side, and facing the entrance of the den. The perfect spot, really; the fact she was pressed against his back allowed him to judge if she was in pain, asleep, etc, all from the breaths she drew in, without actually having to look at her or ignore the entrance, from which real danger could approach.
Having served his purpose, Mwezi decided to reel his mind well away from females, leopards or entrances, and instead meditated on the probability of him having actually gone insane after leaving his former pride. Chances were low, but still an interesting thought to debate on.
The days following the attack passed in a blur. Kiyoshi could scarcely recall much of it aside from being awake for some parts, eating a little, and then sleeping for most of the rest of the day. Mostly she slept, and she didn't have the strength to think clearly, let alone enough to make conversation. Somewhere in her mind she knew she owed her gratitude to the lion, but it had taken a long time to even find enough clarity to make out his face. How long? She couldn't say. She didn't have much of a concept of time.
But after a while she did find that the weariness was losing its hold. Her strength was returning and it no longer hurt to move. Finally, at least a full week and a few days later Kiyoshi began to rouse from her slumber. The first thing she did once her head was no longer too jumbled to think was to take stock of her situation. A den she didn't recognize and a vaguely familiar scent- overpowering by that point. That must have belonged to the lion that had rescued and taken care of her. She wasn't starving, but she was almost ravenously hungry, meaning that she hadn't dreamed being fed over the last days but she also hadn't eaten much- just enough to regain some strength before passing out again.
Her wounds had been cleaned and the minor ones healed. It was the only explanation for her recovery, really. The worst of them had a bit to go but had long since closed and stopped bleeding. She could stand, she could walk. She was sure that she could probably even run and climb and jump if she had to, even if it would be uncomfortable to do so... While she hadn't been injured to that extent before she did have wounds in the past that had needed tending. The only question was had she somehow managed to clean them, or had the lion? She could only vaguely recall a hazy vision of him leaning over her and licking the gashes and bite marks. Maybe she had dreamed it.
Tahja Estes: There was the sound of something being dragged into the makeshift den. She'd come to associate the sound with food somewhere in the back of her mind. Her ears twitched, showing that she'd heard him coming and yet she didn't immediately respond. He settled down beside her and she felt the press of his side and back against hers, his warmth a familiar presence by then. Her head lifted up then, and she moved to eat, first, unable to really resist the call of food when her stomach and her body were demanding it so. After a while she could feel her strength coming back to her a bit more, and once she was done she settled down again next to him and began quietly grooming- she wanted to speak to him and she wasn't so tired or feral as to do so with a bloodied muzzle and paw.
A short while later, once she was done, Kiyoshi finally turned her head to get a look at her rescuer. Just like she thought it was the white lion from before, with his big fluffy pelt. He still looked regal even for having just finished a hunt, and it looked like he was deep in thought, but-
"I didn't think you'd come all the way back to help me." Obviously she wasn't talking about the antelope, and she punctuated the observation with heart felt gratitude. "Thank you."
He didn't have to turn around to know she was eating; granted, she was hardly a messy eater, but still, the few noises she made were a dead give away, and Mwezi 'harrump'ed deep in his chest, a noise a mild approval. If she was hungry, and she managed to keep the food down without being sick, it meant she was much, much better than once upon a time, a few days ago.
The leopard had been so out of it, that she'd not even managed to clean her wounds. Needless to say such a task had befallen him, and given the fact he'd placed so much effort upon her recovery, the lion had sighed and done was was apparently expected of him. All in all, he figured the universe, the gods, or some sort of omnipotent conscience was teaching him a lesson in humility. It was a lesson well learned, mind you, and though he still had quite a lot of trouble referring to the poor female as a leopard in his mind, he figured he at least deserved a nice pat on the back for being such a good sport.
He was, in fact, so busy congratulating himself on a job well done and a lesson well learned that he almost missed her whispered words.
For a long moment, it seemed he was not going to answer her, for he moved not, except for the small flicker of an ear in her general direction. However, after tossing and turning her words in his head, the lion turned to look at her, his head hovering a bit over his shoulder; he looked... mildly confused, perplexed even, as if she'd said the last thing he would have expected her to. Almost as if he were unused to being thanked, "You are welcome," he told her finally, allowing himself to offer her a small nod. His eyes remain on her, and now that she was awake, it swept over her body, looking here and there before falling back upon her face, locking his gaze with her for one long, awkward moment. It was as if he were looking for some sort of lie in there, deceit, something... but found only honesty there.
Frowning, mildly overwhelmed by the revelation, the large lion turned his head away from her and returned to his previous activity of looking out of the makeshift den, "Only a coward turns his back to one in need. I do not like leopards," he told her, his eye looking back upon her for a second, before returning to the scenery, "But I like hyenas even less."
After another beat of silence, he turned his head towards her again, watching her languidly, "You should be well enough to leave soon."
