The ravine in front of her was long and gaping with a river flowing gently at the bottom. The yellow lioness was grateful for that, because if she fell to her death, at least it wouldn't end with her being thrown about and crashing into rocks under water. No, instead she would probably die from either the fall or slow drowning....On second thought, maybe that wasn't something to be grateful for.
Ideally she wouldn't fall though. So Xing shook her head and kept moving forward. She needed to cross this ravine, but after traveling down it for a good portion of the day, she had yet to find anywhere that she could do so. On the bright side, it was starting to get thinner. So perhaps she would find a place to cross soon.
Blue-tipped paws were busy messing with a group of ants on the ground, but the black and tan lioness they belonged to was only half paying attention to what was going on around her. Aislin was rather bored, but the faint sound of flowing water was relaxing and lulling her to a quick nap. Maybe she would. After all, what else did she have to do today? And she WAS feeling rather lethargic lately, probably from the vast amount of traveling she's been doing. She'd been walking along the edge of a pride's lands for the past few days, not relaxing during that time due to her desire to NOT run into any of them. And then finally, FINALLY she managed to leave their area just this morning. So she thought she deserved a day's worth of rest.Unfortunately for her though, the sound of paws crunching against the ground tore her away from her daze. A grumpy look over-taking her, she glanced bright green eyes back over at whoever it was. By the looks of it, it was another lioness. A blindingly bright yellow lioness who must have been terrible at hiding in the dark. She seemed anxious about something too, and, judging by her constant glances at the ravine she was walking along, Aislin guessed that it was probably that.
She debated whether to actually engage this one - after all, she'd been trying SO hard to avoid meeting anyone - but curiosity won out. "If you're so worried about it, then don't walk next to it."
Xing was so focused on the ravine, she hadn't noticed another creature nearby. Squeaking in surprise, she spun around to look at the speaker. It was a lioness, black and tan all at once but with eerie glowing eyes that were difficult to look into for too long. She seemed like the surly type, which Xing wasn't terribly happy about running into. Those types were usually the ones who either poked fun at her or attacked her.... She would have to wait and see what this one did.
Clearing her throat, she croaked out, "I-It's not the ravine I'm worried about." Yellow eyes turned to gaze down at it before moving up along the ravine. "I'm trying to find a place to cross." She paused, wondering if maybe this other lioness could help. "Y-You wouldn't happen to know if there's a spot to cross up ahead, would you?"
What a strange lion. She must have been walking for quite a while, which means it probably would have been faster to just find a place to climb down and then back up. Whatever, it wasn't her problem what this girl was doing.
That being said, she actually HAD come across a place where one could potentially get across. She debated the merits of helping this yellow lion, before deciding that it would be entertaining if nothing else. Mind made up, Aislin gave a slow blink and then flicked her gaze down the length of the ravine. "... Actually yes. It doesn't connect completely, but there's a spot that you could jump from." Pushing herself up, she stretched out tired limbs before starting off in the direction she'd seen it.
"Really?!" Hope blossomed in Xing's chest. Maybe, for once, nothing bad would happen. Bad luck seemed to follow her, but maybe today would be different. Jogging after the other lioness, she caught up to her and walked side-by-side. "Thank you so much! My name's Xing, by the way."
"Aislin," was all she replied with. Just because she was helping her doesn't mean she wanted to start up a useless conversation. They walked in silence for a few minutes. The ravine slowly got thinner and thinner as they went by, before suddenly gaping even wider than before. Aislin stopped walking at that point, turned to the lioness and gestured a paw out at the thinnest part of the ravine. "Here." It was thin enough that one could make the jump just from trotting. So there shouldn't be any problems.
The yellow lioness froze up just a bit at the sight of the widening ravine, but slowly turned her head down the the small jump she would have to make. She... she could do this. It was such a small jump! She'd be fine. She's done bigger jumps than this before. "... Right... okay..." A few seconds went by with her just staring at where she'd need to jump.
Finally, Aislin couldn't take it anymore. "Well, what's wrong? Jump!"
Xing startled, and then nodded shakily. "R-Right! Here I g-go!" Backing up a few steps, she crouched and then took off at a full sprint. Heart beating rapidly as she approached, she gave a mighty leap and then grunted as her paws hit solid ground again. Oh thank goodne-
Suddenly her back paws lurched out from under her, quickly followed by the rest of her body. Realizing what was happening, she screamed as she went sliding down the side of the ravine. Her claws scrambled against gravel as her body instinctual huddled against the rock face. She was going to die! YEARS of bad luck and close calls, and this was what would finally take her!
... There were few things in life that honest-to-god shocked Aislin... but this took the cake. She watched with wide eyes as Xing went backwards almost in slow-motion. Moving herself closer, she leaned her head over the edge and watched as this screeching, yellow lion went down the side of the ravine. She had almost made it all the way to the bottom when she suddenly went twirling through the air and landed in the water with a faint splash.
One minute she was holding onto not-so-solid ground, and then the next Xing knew, she was flying through the air. This was it. 'Good-bye, cruel world!' was her last thought before water suddenly rushed all around her, blocking out sound and disorienting her.
About a minute went by above the river, before a bright yellow head and paws came splashing out of the water. Gasping, she doggy-paddled her way to shore and then collapsed to the ground. SHE WAS ALIVE! She'd never been so grateful to feel solid ground underneath her before. Sure, she was drenched through to the bone, but she was ALIVE and that's all she cared about.
Although... a quick glance up showed that she would now have to climb her way back up. Groaning, Xing flopped her head to the ground, making the executive decision to simply lay here for a little while. She was no longer in any rush.
Up above, Aislin continued to watch for a few seconds as Xing pulled herself out of the river and plopped to the ground..... She was probably fine. But Aislin had to admit, that certainly was entertaining to watch, and she could now say that she's seen a lion survive falling into a ravine.
This was either one very lucky or very unlucky lioness.
