WC: 1010Chozi was in a bad mood. His stomach ached and he couldn't sleep. It made him want to scream, but his throat hurt far too much for that. He was hungry and exhausted, and nothing was working out for him today. He grumbled softly, laying in the fluffy furs that made up the sleeping area of his den.
He sighed, suddenly, though it was far more like a whine than anything. He stood, pacing the inside of the den for a moment. Unfortantly the aches that shook his body sent him tumbling to the ground quickly after.
He was alone in his den, most of his children off doing their own thing. Most had their owns dens by now, but Saren and a few of the others stayed with him. It was the middle of the day, however, so no one was home.
He huffed a sigh, staying in his fallen spot. He was a bit aways from the furs, and laying on the hard ground in this angle was not the most comfortable he had ever been. It was that moment when Aluevyon entered the den.
She cluckled softly upon seeing her father. She was one of the few of her siblings that came to the pride almost into their adulthood. She had been born and raised in a leopard colony that was quite far. She and her two litter mates had all become story-tellers, telling tales of the stars and of adventures and of deep forests that never seemed to end. Alue was one that was quite good at these tales, and sometimes she and her siblings told them gether, practicing to get the stories right.
But at this moment, she had come to check on her ailing father. It was her turn to watch him today - not that it was a chore. Still, little Saren needed a break. That child was so eager to please, and so tied up in helping their father that the poor thing would work himself into exhaustion, eventually passing out somewhere to sleep. She was concerned for him.
She was concerned for her father as well. She moved to help him, listening to his whines of protest only for a moment before using her size and weight to edge him back into the furs. She helped arrange him as well, nudging his limbs with her head before nuzzling her father gently.
Chozi gave a soft sigh, leaning into the touch. He felt not very good, his stomach rolled in protest again and he closed his eyes, trying to ignore the pain there. He couldn't tell if they were hungry cramps or something else anymore either...
"When was the last time you slept?" She asked, somewhat concerned. She knew her father was having trouble with everything, but she couldn't quite shake the feeling that something worse was plaguing her father. She huffed siftly, nuzzling him as he shook his head.
"Do you thing you could sleep now?" and she almost growled when her father shook his head again. Chozi was weak and his health was dwindling further and futher away from healthy. She didn't quite know what she could do. There were only a few healers in the pride, and she wasn't trained for this kind of thing.
No one knew what to do. She was the leader, now, and she couldn't even help her own father. The leotah snarled, angered. She only quieted once Chozi made a soft, distressed noise in the back of his throat. It echoed hollowly, and Alue immediately forced herself to calm down. She paced away from him, taking a deep breath. She thought, for a moment.
What could help her father? What could she do to gentle him to sleep. Then she remembered something from her past - something from before her mother dropped her - and her siblings - off with their father to raise to adulthood.
She moved back to Chozi's side, settling next to him. Chozi did his best to nuzzle into her side, laying his head on her paws. Alue was almost larger than him, and she had meat on her bones, unlike the scrawny thing Chozi had become in the last months. His ribs were visible through his coat along with his hip bones.
He was uncomfortable to sleep against, but the Cheeton craved the warmth his family provided in the night, unable to retain the body heat himself. During the day, he would lay in the sun to try to steal all its warmth. Alue didn't mind though, she hummed softly, thinking of a way to soothe her father enough for him to call asleep.
She hummed a wordless tune for a moment, hoping a soft song would help. Chozi often sang to them when they were small children, but there had been no new children in an age. Chozi wasn't in good enough health to bring new children into their fold, after all.
They stayed silent for a while, Chozi breathing against her paws, Aluvyon humming softly under her breath. It calmed her father enough that she hoped it would put him to sleep, but she could still see Chozi's eyes blinking back open and the hitch in his breath as he fought down the coughing.
It took them a while to figure out that the coughing was not a symptom of whatever ailed him, but from his body's need to expell whatever made it to his sensative stomach. She huffed, thinking on it, the humming stoppiong for a moment. Alue winced, nuzzling the top of her father's head.
"It's okay, I was just thinking," She told him, calming - soothing. He sighed in response, not working up the energy to counteract what she was saying. She smiled a bit, hidden by the lanky, sand colored fur of Chozi's mane. She gave a small hum again. "How would you feel about a bedtime story?" Maybe that would put him to sleep. Chozi hesitated for a moment before nodding his head.
Alue smiled, and began her story.
"Well, this is how is goes..."