Rustleif felt like things were going pretty well recently. She had met that very nice male, the one that was different to all the other males she had met so far in the pride. He was nice, and she was glad for that. She knew that no good thing came without some consequence, and she was sure there was going to be a fall around the corner, somewhere, to bring her mood down. She was just not anticipating it so soon, and had expected it to be geared at her. Instead, she was quick to find, it was her brother.
Odfel was not a bad lion. He was very much like his grandfather, and was mostly just really awkward and shy. It was not a very fitting personality for someone born in these lands, but he did his best to hide it when he could, and he pretended to be much tougher than he actually was. He had no ambition, though, so he did not have to go out and try to prove himself, instead opting to living a quiet part of the pride and spend most of his time by himself, or on the borders, talking to strangers wandering by.
He was soft hearted for a viking, for sure. Sometimes Rustleif wondered if he was destined to leave the pride, and find some place a little more fitting for his personality. She would rather that, she supposed, than seeing him get hurt by someone who found out how feeble he really was.
His health was not always the best. She knew that, so she was not all that surprised when she came to his den to find him still sleeping. He could get the sniffles all the time, and it always took him down a few rungs as far as his energy went. More than once she had found him exactly like this, sleeping late, and discovered he was just fighting off a cold or illness of some kind. His stomach was easily upset by food, as well, so there were a plethora of reasons why he was still in bed. She sighed and rolled her eyes, padding toward her brother and nosing him on the shoulder in an effort to wake him.
“Come on, lazy bones. Get up. You’re not sick again, are you?”
Odfel was slow to wake, opening his eyes and looking around in confusion for a moment before he turned to settle his eyes on Rust. She could see a strange glossiness in his gaze, and she immediately felt concern creeping into the back of her mind. He had never been really sick before, only sniffly and shivery. Little colds like the ones cubs got while their immune systems were growing stronger, except his had never really gotten there.
“Rust… I don’t feel good.”
Odfel sighed, putting his head back down on his paws. He was too tired to keep it up, and he wanted to go back to sleep. He had been feeling weak since the night before, and he wondered if it was something he ate. If it was, he must have managed to poison himself somehow, but he was not willing to really think about that. He was a worrier, and thoughts like that just made him want to hide in a corner. He was prone to jumping to the worst possible conclusion about things, but with how ill he was feeling now, that was probably the right answer. That scared him.
“You don’t look so good, either,” Rust confirmed, sitting down next to him and putting her paw on his arm in what gesture of comfort she could make. She was not sure how to approach this, not wanting to panic before it was warranted. Okay, so he had managed to get sick in a more serious way than she was used to, but that was bound to happen, right? He was not the toughest lion, and he had not been built to handle exposure or the elements. She did wish she knew a little bit more about herbs and medicine to help him feel better, though.
She sighed, watching him and noting that he looked like he was about to fall to sleep again.
“I’m going to stay here today, okay? Keep an eye on you and make sure you get some food and water, but don’t have to go out. You haven’t eaten today, I take it?”
“No,” Odfel mumbled, putting his paws over his face. He was too tired to really care, but he knew his stomach was not happy enough for a meal. He felt sick just thinking about it. “I don’t want to eat anything.”
“It’s not a matter of wanting to.”
Rustleif shook her head and got up, moving toward the front of the den and peeking out. It was still midday, but she was sure he needed something to eat to help make him stronger, to fight off whatever he was dealing with. She would go out and get him some food, whether he wanted to eat it right away or not. She had to get him some water as well, which was going to be a little harder since she was not sure what she was going to carry it in. Maybe she could find a big enough leaf that was sturdy and would not break with the water.
Maybe.
“Don’t go anywhere, okay? I’m going to be gone for a little while, but I’m definitely going to come back with food and water. If you feel any worse, you tell me, okay?” She would have to get him to wake up enough to tell her what exactly was wrong, but for now she supposed it was fine. She did not think he was in danger, so she would let him rest and hopefully that was all he needed to get over this particular illness.
He definitely needed to find some place better suited for him. He was never going to survive here, if even living alone and away from the tougher lions was still dangerous for him.
Word Count: 1,015 in Google Docs
