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 Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2017 1:13 pm
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Paws twitched as did her tail... Still she slept.
Tail thrashed as her paws clawed at whatever they could touch. Eyelids even twitched as if ready to wake… Still she slept.
Muscles in her front paws tightened, unsheathing dagger-like claws, while muttering almost incoherently about the Firekin lands… Still she slept.
Then there was nothing. For several hours just soft, barely visible breathing and wheezing, as if the deep brown lioness was losing a fight with death. Her body was warmer than what was considered normal and her paw pads dripped with sweat… still she slept.
Finally, after nearly two days she awoke, but it wasn’t gentle. No, this wakening was like the start of a wild fire. Ripping her body from where it lay, Kaelyn rushed forward, barreling into a nearby bush and then tumbling into the waters of the spring fed pond below. Growling viciously, her amber eyes dilated in and out as if she couldn’t completely focus on what was surrounding her. Was she dying?
Standing on shaky legs, Kaelyn drew in sharp, angry breaths, waiting for anyone to come by and mess with her. There was pain everywhere, but more than that, there was panic. She was definitely dying.
Swatting at a nearby branch that floated to close to her body, she turned to face Dooley and Wessex, tears stinging her eyes as her knees began to buckle. |
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Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2017 1:33 pm
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The big male was quite surprised when she sprang awake. She had slept so fitfully and he had worried. He'd dressed her wounds several times with the weed that Wessex brought from the pond. He had gone to the water and drank, he had returned with the thick water absorbing weed and forced the unconscious lioness to drink. He'd had to leave her for a short while to hunt. He'd returned to the water bringing an antelope with him. He'd eaten and so Had Wessex but there was enough left for when the lioness woke up.
Of course when she did wake up, she stumbled, fell, landed in the water, he had to stop himself from laughing. The lioness was baddly injured, but when she woke, she certainly made an entrance. "Good morning." He rumbled, he could see the fear in her eyes, so he stayed where he was, keeping his distance seemed like a good idea at this exact moment. "Do you need help to get out of there? We brought you food."
When her legs started to wobble, his keep his distance policy went out the window. He rushed to her side and pressed his thick maned shoulder against hers. "Come on, get out of the water and eat."
Wessex was equally surprised at the lionesses leap. Luckily she was well out of the way when the large lioness dove up. The little jackal barked and shook her head. "Go get her Dooley she'll open all of her wounds." As she said this the big male was already on his way down to assist the lioness out of the water. She nodded and sat quietly waiting for them to come back ashore, she needed to stay out of the way, the lioness may not be too friendly after all and though Dooley could perfectly handle himself, she could quite easily be lunch for as lioness.
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Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2017 2:29 pm
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Dooley smiled gently at the smaller female as she sat, he pressed himself next to her, transferring his warmth, his massive frame could easily envelope her and part of him wanted to hug her and tell her to cry but she was already crying. "Who didn't let you stay little one?" He whispered his voice a rough murr. Of course her words struck a cord with him to, although he was huge, even as an adolescent he had sported the massive frame of a true firekin. They didn't want him. It had hurt even though his mother had carved for him and his father had taught him well how to fight, it had hurt when he hit adolescence and he was commanded to go. If it hadn't been for Wessex, it would have been a lot worse.
The massive male started to groom her ears gently, it was something his mother used to do when he was sad, when he pondered his fate. "You know I wasn't wanted either but my life has been wonderful, mainly because of Wessex over there." He nodded at the little jackal. "I still don't know your name, you had better give me one or I'll have to give you a cute nickname and I am sure you won't find that amusing at all." He grinned broadly, he could see she was hurting and it wasnt just because her wounds were deep. She seemed so very sad.
Wessex barked when her name was mentioned and she wagged her tail a million miles a minute. Dooley said things like this all the time. He was such a soft cheesy dope. She loved her friend, he was her best friend in the world. "You should try to eat something you haven't eaten for nearly two days. I doubt you hunted in that state." She smiles and pads a little closer to the two.
Dooley smiled at the jackal and returned to cleaning the lionesses head, he slowly moved to her face and lapped away the tears at her eyes. "You're not alone, we will look after you." |
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Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2017 2:49 pm
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Dooley’s question rung loudly in her ears, almost like the question was getting louder and louder in her head. Knitting her brows together, her lips curled up into a snarl. It wasn’t his place to ask her a question like that, how dare he try and pry into her life. He had absolutely no idea how she felt. Picking up a paw to strike the lion, she stopped halfway.
The look on his face gave it all away. He did know how she felt, perhaps even sharing the same fate as her. It hadn’t occurred to her until now just how large the lion was, or how his facial features mirrored many of her own prides. Was he…?
“You are a huria.” The works stung worse than the wounds upon her body. She couldn’t believe she even blurted out the sentence. Covering her mouth with her paw, she looked all but horrified. That quickly diminished as a sudden rough lick drew her attention away from the sentence.
Moving her head to the side, she frowned. “Do that and you are dead.” She didn’t need any sugary, cutesy name for herself. She was a warrior and a damned good one. Taking Wessex advice, Kaelyn lowered he head to the antelope’s dead body, taking a few small bites to satiate the hunger pains.
“Kaelyn.” She watched them both for a brief moment, before continuing to eat, not really caring if they understood the context or not.
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Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2017 3:06 pm
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"Yes I am, I was born in the firekin my mother is Jyotika, my father Kosuke" He smiles and settles himself in to a lounging position to wait for her while she ate, he took a moment to think about what he had just said, he pondered occasionally how his parents were, how his siblings were, many were still in the motoujamii lands but at least a couple of his siblings had left the sands when he did, and that was a long time ago.
"Ah, finally a name, I couldn't very well carry on calling you mrs brown. Kaelyn is a lovely name, I'm glad i know it now and I promise, no more nicknames." He chuckles quietly and rolls his shoulders. "I'm not sure if you caught our names or not, so I suppose I should introduce you, my little partner here is Wessex and I'm Dooley." He tilted his head "We've both eaten our fill so make sure you fill your belly." He pauses for a moment to clean his paws, they were a little damp from his paddle and though water didn't really bother him, he had been raised on sand and being wet was a concept he never fully embraced.
Wessex hopped closer once again this time she padded over to Dooley and hopped on to his back settling herself down to wait patiently. She wanted to know more about this lioness now. She was a Huria, she was like Dooley? She had left the firekin because she was told she had to and now here she was meeting another. Small world. "I'v been with Dooley since before we left the sands. Many moons ago now, many moons. Dooley are we getting old?"
Dooley pondered this and shrugged "Don't know Wessex, maybe? What is old but a state of mind?" He grins sheepishly. "We have been rogues for a long time now, it's not very often we meet another huria have you been out long?" |
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Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2017 7:17 pm
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Kaelyn had absolutely no idea who they were, probably mostly due to the fact that her father kept the family away from the main pride and as she grew she focused heavily on training rather than making friends. She still wondered sometimes if perhaps things would have worked out differently if she had someone to vouch for her on a more personal level. Sighing, Kaelyn’s ears sunk, watching the large male sink into thought.
Taking a few more bites of food, she sat, she didn’t want to over eat and give her stomach a fit -- pushing the rest of the carcass away she absentmindedly batted the foreleg of the creature back and forth. Looking back on Dooley, Kaelyn winced and sighed.
“Mm, that is a rather dull nickname, though I would honestly appreciate it ove--” Taking a few smooth breaths she paused as pain blossomed around her lungs. In and out, her breath steadied. A few more moments passed. “—Yeah. Okay.” Nodding and wincing, she kept her mouth shut again for several moment before continuing. “I can’t yet.”
Deciding it best to just listen and let her body rest, Kaelyn made small nods, urging the two to continue their conversation. It was a small world, did they have a distaste for their homeland like she? Thinking back to her father and then to her casting out she couldn’t help but have a scowl on her face.
How dare they, how dare the-
A question rose to her ears, helping her remove the dark cloud of emotion forming around her mind. How long had it been? Pondering for a moment she looked to the sky.
“Long enough.”
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Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2017 6:45 am
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Dooley watched her as she ate, he was a little weary about the fact that she didn't eat more but he supposed she would know when her belly was full. Still the thought crossed his mind that he would get her to eat more later.
Her pause, that long drawn out look of agony, he guessed that her time in their birth place had not been a good one. He thought for a moment before opening his mouth to speak. "I was one of the lucky ones, although my father was a bit absent he still taught me to fight and my mother loved me and my brother until the day we were sent away. Wessex and I have been rogues for a long time now. The thoughts always there to go and settle down some where though you learn so much bouncing about." He smiled and tilted his head. "You know, they are bound by traditions that leave them vulnerable, there are better places out there. Have you been to the sea? Its wet but theres sand every where or the pridelands where its green as newly sprung grass." He chuckles, there were many places that he had visited in his long time as a rogue.
"Don't forget the mountains where its super cold and the dark places where theres caves and the jungles where its sooooo green." She barks happily and wags her tail they really had been to so many places on their travels, they had seen the world, if they had stayed in the firekin lands, if they had been allowed, they never would have seen beyond the sandy borders.
"Oh yes we must not forget the snow or the jungle." He smiles a pleased look on his pale maw. "I know you won't like it but we should re-dress your wounds. They will heal better if we keep them clean and dressed." He purses his lips and raises a brow. "We can do it for you if you need us to, or we can just bring you things to dress them?" He tilted his head, he had a strong, rather knowledgeable feeling that she would want to do this on her own. All the firekin ladies he had known were strong and independent they didn't take any none sense or help from anyone, even if they needed it. He wanted to continue to help but until she asked for it he guessed that she would probably deny she needed it. He was certainly old enough not to know not to argue. |
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Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2017 3:12 pm
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Her left eyelid started to twitch when Dooley spoke of his father, it brought back memories of her own father – Why did he have to curse her existence as well? Couldn’t he have figured out a way to fight it, rather than give into it? However…
“My father wasn’t cruel to me.” Allowing her face to form a strong line of dissatisfaction she eyed the clouds, as if she was trying to distance herself from the conversation. Yet, Dooley continued on, allowing her thoughts to travel to the areas he was describing. She had indeed been many places and was granted the power to expand her horizons – but at what cost?
“As touching as this is.” Kaelyn winced, her chest aching from speaking yet she only paused for a brief moment. “What is the point of wandering without purpose?” Flicking her tail back and forth in disgust she couldn’t be satisfied with aimless travels, she was a warrior not some adventuring hippy.
Furrowing her brows she again was sucked into a dark and stormy headspace and again quickly removed with a question. Her wounds. Eyes travelled over her body, what she was able to see she knew she could patch up, however…
“Since you are offering…” She rolled her eyes, rather annoyed she was asking this. “Please help.”
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Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2017 3:22 pm
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Dooley smiled at her a gentle, careful smile. "I don't need a purpose to enjoy life Kaelyn. I just need to learn something new, to experience life as it comes. The good, the bad, the what ever, its going to happen any way so why worry?"
He felt there was more to this conversation but he also had a feeling he had pushed her far enough for this day. She looked broken, exhausted in a way that was nothing to do with the wounds on her body. He wanted to help her, to tell her he could see her for who she was. He had possessed dilemas and doubts in the past, but he had been pulled quite forcably out of those fears by Wessex, she was his rock, she had always lead him onwards, to the next quest.
A thought crossed his mind and he decided yes, this was his quest. He had to make sure she was okay, she was happy, if he didn't do that he would be most unsatisfied. With a grunt at his own decision, which of course he didn't voice, he moved closer to the dark brown female and started to groom her wounds. "Wessex get me some more green stuff please."
Wessex had seen that look before. She had seen it and she dreaded it. Oh boy. He had made a decision that would undoubtedly affect them both, she guessed it was something to do with the lioness. He was so protective of her, if anything the revelation that she was, essentially the same as him seemed to tie a very tight knot in this odd, slightly one sided relationship. Well she would have to just go with it. She gave a nod and plodded off down to the watering hole. Green stuff, green stuff. It was going to be a long night of cleaning and reapplying 'green stuff' but if Dooley was happy, she was happy, those things just went hand in hand.
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Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2017 7:48 pm
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