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 Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 4:07 pm
 His spotted tail waved in the wind as he trotted along. The rest of his fur was indestiguishable beneath all of the dust and mud and blood on his body. It was a cool day for a cub to be out wandering, and yet there he was. A chirp off in the distance caught his attention and he flicked his ears up and peered with neon green eyes off in the direction of the bird. What kind was it? He didn't even know, he'd never met a bird before. Keeping up his pace, the small cheetah suddenly toppled over when his leg crumpled. He didn't know what to do. He tried to leap back up, but his leg crumpled again. He knew it was from the lion attack not tht long ago. How was he supposed to move though? Letting out a mewl of pain, the little cheetah laid down and tried to blend his back and orange fur into the grass. ninja
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Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 4:20 pm
 The femme meandered slowly through the tall grass on silent paws, the rhythmic movements of her long legs graceful. A long yawn splits her maw, sounding somewhat like a growl, as she pauses in her wanderings to stretch her muscles, feeling them shift under the dark greyish-purple fur that covered her lithe frame. The spots that covered her body were somewhere between dark grey and black, as were the toes of all four paws. Markings of the same colour wrapped around her hind legs, resembling lace neatly tied around them.
As she finished this quiet yawn, she heard that mewling of pain. Her pretty purple eyes swivelled as she sought out the maker of the noise, one she could tell, without seeing, was a cheetah like her, and definitely young. As she takes a few more steps forward, her long tail flicking lightly at the tip, she suddenly spies the injured one. As she suspected, he's only a cub, although a bit younger than she had originally thought.
Hesitantly, she approaches the youngster, careful to make noise now as she treds on the long grass, even deliberately kicking a rock bigger than her paw and sending it skittering away from her. She didn't want to startle this little cub by appearing suddenly at his side and frightening him to death when he was obviously injured and alone. So, being the considerate type, she'll allow him plenty of time to see her before she gets near him.
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Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 4:58 pm
A rock rolled not far off, the cheetah cub lifted head and looked up to see a grayish female cheetah. But she was towering over him. Her eyes seemed to peer through him and he shivered. Trying to lift himself to his feet again, the young cub toppled to the ground. His leg was throbbing and bleeding all over the ground. It hurt, and he wasn't sure if this female was here to help him, or to eat him. Twitching his tail he let out another miserable mewl.
ninja
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Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 5:06 pm
Her heart wrenched as she saw the little male's obvious distress, they way he tried to stand and couldn't. Poor little thing. Her nose twitched as she caught the scent of blood on the wind, cheetah blood, and she made an educated guess that it was coming from the young one. Closer inspection revealed the location of the wound on his leg, the one that wouldn't support him.
Now level with the cub, she slowly brings herself to a seated position in front of him, careful of making sudden movements, lest she startle him further.
"You should really try and clean that leg up, little one," she murmurs gently, voice soft and soothing, deliberately so. "I could do it for you, if you're having trouble."
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Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 5:17 pm
"Clean? What's... clean?" He hadn't spoken in days. This was strange to him now.
This female didn't smell too bad, she smelled nice actually. Kind of like what he thought his mother might smell like. She did seem nice at least. But then so had his friend that had died. He didn't want that to happen again, didn't want to make another friend only to lose them.
Yet, for some reason he was drawn to this dark colored female. He wondered why.
"You would help me?"
ninja
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Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 5:27 pm
Zakiya smiled then, a pleasant, motherly smile, as she scooted herself a little closer. Already she was beginning to grow attachment to this little cub, probably because he was a cub, and was injured. She'd always had a soft spot for others in need, cubs especially. Her tail curls and uncurls around her legs in a slow, repetitive way.
"Of course I'll help you," she said in reply, then nods her head toward his injured leg. "And I'll show you how to clean your wounds, if you'd like."
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Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 5:33 pm
A slow smile spread across the cub's small face. His bright green eyes lighting up more than they had in the days following his friend's death. Then his tail lifted up slightly as well and wagged in the air the way a dog's tail would.
Was she... willing to be friends with a worthless cub like him? She seemed so sweet, there had to be a catch. But then his friend hadn't had one. Maybe she didn't either.
"That would be... nice." He said slowly in an accented voice, "I'm Korou. What's your name?"
ninja
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Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 5:38 pm
She unfurled her tail all the way and got gracefully to her paws, nimbly stepping around to his side. There, she settles once again on her haunches, leaning her head toward his injured leg.
"My name is Zakiya. It's nice to meet you, Korou," she says softly, before leaning down to begin cleaning the wound, running her tongue gently over it to remove the dirt and grit from the cut to try and prevent infection. He probably wouldn't be able to walk on it for a while, she knew, but she could stop it getting any worse before it gets better.
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Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 5:49 pm
The tongue over his wound hurt... a lot. He managed to bite back all of his whimpers and mewls as she went about cleaning out the grit and muck. After a bit the tongue on his leg didn't hurt as bad. Maybe this washing thing wasn't as bad as he thought it was at first.
"Zakiya, that sounds nice. So, why are you helping me?" He was curious. He didn't mean to be rude or blunt, but he didn't know her reasoning.
ninja
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Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 5:55 pm
She had tried to make the cleaning experience as quick and painless as possible, but it had been inevitable, though she aimed to be as gentle as possible for the young cub, who had obviously been through a great deal to have sustained such an injury.
At his question, however, she had withdrawn, then opted to lie down beside him, so that they could see almost eye to eye.
"I guess it's just the way I am," she replies thoughtfully after a moment. "I saw that you needed help, and my natural instinct was to help you." She gives an elegant shrug of her shoulders, her tail flicking lazily behind her, head tilted slightly to the side as she watched him.
"And what is the reason you need help, if you don't mind me asking?"
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Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 6:09 pm
This could hurt to talk about, but he knew that he would have to eventually. Now he just had to not cry, to not show how sad he truly was.
Now was time to start getting over it.
"I lost a friend, not that long ago. To a lion. He was a cheetah like me, only not like me, he was an adult. But he wasn't strong enough to beat a lion. He died, but the lion got me before he could save me." Korou dropped his head in sadness. "It's my fault he died. He was the only one that took care of me after I lost my family. And I got him killed."
Tears welled in the smaller cheetah's eyes and he buried his face in his paws so she couldn't see them, couldn't see how embarrased and worthless he truly was.
ninja
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Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 6:19 pm
For a moment, Zakiya had sat stunned. What a horrid thing for one so young to have suffered! This sweet little cub, Korou, had also lost someone he cared about at the paws of a lion, just as she had, long ago. It was a strange coincidence, indeed. Perhaps... this meeting was somehow fated. Zakiya had never been the type to believe such things, but perhaps she had been mistaken all these years.
As Korou dropped his head, hiding his face, she had immediately shifted forward, dropping her head to nuzzle softly against his neck, and the side of his face that she could reach. It was an action done purely out of instinct. Of course, she didn't realise the little cub thought he was worthless, but she guessed he was embarrassed over his tears.
"I don't know what happened, Korou, but I'm sure it wasn't your fault," she whispers gently into his ear. "Your friend loved you, little one, loved you enough to sacrifice his life for you. Remember that when you think of him, and don't upset him, wherever his spirit rests, by blaming yourself for his death."
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Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 6:31 pm
Upset his best friend? He didn't want to do that, ever. Never ever! His ears flicked up and he lifted his head enough off of his paws to look at Zakiya out of the corner of his bright green eye.
She looked a little pained. Like she knew what he felt. He prayed for his new friends sake that she didn't, he knew how much it hurt. All too well how much it hurt.
"I-I don't wanna upset him, but I just feel... so worthless that I couldn't help him." He looked at his paws again. "He told me to run, that i was too small to help. That someday I would understand why this happened. But I... don't know if I ever will."
Glancing back up at her, he noticed something. Leaning up he licked her back and leaned up even higher to tug slightly at her ear. It was playful, an attempt to get that pained look off of her face.
ninja
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Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 6:46 pm
She laughed softly as the playful cub tugged at her ear, pulling her head down a little with the action. That pained look had indeed vanished, simply in her happiness at seeing the cub looking livelier. It had hurt her to see him looking forlorn, even though she knew only his name and just a small bit of his past.
"You will understand, Korou, I promise," she murmurs, watching him still tugging at her ear. "I know it doesn't seem that way now, but it's true. When my mother and sister were killed, my mother said a similar thing. She told me and my brother to run and never look back. For a long time, I wondered why she wouldn't let us help her, but as I grew older, I realised that it was simply because she loved us, and our lives were more important to her than her own. She would rather have lost her life than ours. A love that strong is a precious gift. You should treasure it always, because it'll always be with you."
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Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 7:01 pm
That sounded a little deep to him, or experienced, or... something that Korou's young mind couldn't wrap around. So he kept tugging on her ear before he lost his balance and toppled to his back.
Since he couldn't see out of his left eye, he couldn't see his friend anymore. Blinking the wasted eye, Korou laughed and rolled over so he could see Zakiya from his good bright blue eye.
"That sounds like it would be nice. To have him with me."He said happily, then he dropped his voice a bit. "I'm sorry about your mom though. What happened to your brother?"
He hoped that wasn't a bad question to ask.
ninja
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