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 Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2011 12:42 pm
Semi-Public
Weather: Setting sun, fairly warm
Location: In a large, open area of low grass. Off to their left is higher grasses and a large rockEverything has been going swimmingly. It was going so well that Umoya had even forgotten of the fight she'd had with her mother before leaving with Quba. Maybe not forgot, but it certainly wasn't bothering her as much anymore. She was quietly stalking their target prey, they'd picked him out and he seemed like a good wildebeest to take down, even if their was only two of them. He seemed to be dragging one of his legs, he was definitely hurt.
Umo glanced back to make sure Quba was still with her. She loved her friend dearly, but sometimes the girl could be lazy! She disliked prolonged activity in the sun, which was understandable. But Umo had suggested the hunt later in the day because she knew this about her beautiful friend. Her tail flicked and she gave a playful smile to the other before pausing in her stalking, looking again at her target.
As Quba came to a stop beside her she began to whisper, "Surround 'im, or go at 'im at once? Yer call on this, eh?"
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Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2011 12:49 pm
There had been good days, and there had been bad days. Today, Quba thought, was a good day. There was a prey beast, right there waiting for them to take it down. Her ears flickered, see, she was an okay hunter after all! Who needed Amanzi’s stupid stone saying, anyways? Her and Umoya were still alive even away from the pride of lions, meaning they had some ways of fending for themselves. (Although, it was much to Umoya’s help rather than Quba. Umoya would always be the one to go for the kill. Well, not this time!)
The injured wildebeest would be easy prey. “All at once.” Quba said to her friend. “But…I’ll go for the kill this time!” Her heart beat out of her chest as she approached the creature. “Will go on the count of three, ok?” she asked Umo, already knowing the answer.
“One….Two….” she readied herself. “Three!” and launched.
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Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2011 4:35 pm
Umoya was slightly impressed her friend was going to take the initiative, but not entirely surprised. After being on the back burner for so long it was obvious she'd want to shift to the front and do the killing herself. Umoya didn't mind either way, they would get the job done and then maybe travel some more. Maybe even run into another rogue soon, so far the males they'd met (which was not many) did not seem... right. But hunting was now, males would come later.
"Sounds good teh me." She mumbled, crouching lower as she waited for the count. When three came she shot off, racing straight for the prey. This would be an easy kill, over-all. Umoya was not the best hunter in her pride, far from it, but she didn't do too badly for herself. Her nostrils flared as she caught scent of her friend, trying to gauge where the female was at. She was so close to the beast's hindquarters now that she could almost hear the pulse of what must of been his terrified heart.
She lunged at his leg, snapping. She wasn't ready to pull him down yet, just cause a little more panic and fear.
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Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2011 5:02 pm
When Umoya snapped at his legs, she could feel the prey buckle underneath her. Quba released her grip, her claws still clinging tightly to the wildebeest. “Pull him down!” she shouted to her friend. She inched up the back of the wildebeest until she was near it’s head. If only she could grab a hold of it’s mouth, smother it so it’d stop breathing completely, that would be best!
She felt Umoya pull on his legs, causing the creature to stumble greatly. In that one moment, she saw her chance. With her claws extended, she reached to grab for the wildebeest’s only source of air, its nose. However, it seemed the creature had other plans. With one last effort on its part, it swung its head, flinging the lioness in the air, and onto the ground with a loud thud. Even though it was dying, it still had managed to make a full run at Quba, trampling the younger lioness under it’s feet, before running a few more steps and collapsing.
The good news that the wildebeest was dead. The bad news, Quba lay dying when the prey had beat her down. She didn’t open her eyes, they were cast tightly shut. “Umoya,” she cried out, her voice quiet, but her breathing fast. She really didn’t want to die here…not like this…not during a hunt especially. “please….help…” she let out a sigh of breath, the pain to great for her to speak much.
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Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2011 6:05 pm
Umoya worked well with Quba, especially when the lioness was making an effort to do something. She listened patiently to her friend, doing what she was told and expected to do. So when she was told to pull the wildebeest down she did not hesitate, she just continued to run at it's side until she found her chance.
It was a fairly successful job they were doing, that was... until she saw the drastic movement from the wildebeest, throwing her friend to the ground. "No!" She screeched, though she snarled as she felt the beast make a lurch forward. Umoya could not hold on, she fell and tumbled. She was only able to look on in horror as the beast trampled her friend. Her eyes were wide and she felt frozen in place, and though she kept trying to shout out 'no' nothing came.
He best friend... "Quba no!" She finally shouted, stumbling forward and then hurrying as her friend called out her name. "P...please dinae do this.. how'd this 'appen?" She whispered, panicked slightly. What was she supposed to do? As she got closer the damage was slightly gruesome to look at, but Umoya forced herself to anyways. She could not... would not leave her friend to just die here... but what was she supposed to do? She moved to groom her friends face very lightly, "I will... I will... oh Quba!" She was whispering, and then she turned away, looking around. "SOMEONE!" She called, but she could not see anyone... she turned again, moving to the wound. Oh, this was bad!
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Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 1:32 am
The years had been kind to the lioness in one respect, she was still healthy and capable of travel. This was a considerable bonus for her, as her past was not the most pleasant or fortunate in many respects. It wasn't that she'd evre been mauled or seriously injured, but her abilities ensured that more often than not, she lived in a world of isolation. Having found no place to call her own, she had no other choice that to simply explore and had done so since she was old enough to claim her independence.
This afternoon was to be no exception to this and as always, the pale lioness could be found meandering across the roguelands, pausing here and there to pick across more precarious and hostile areas in the terrain. Suffice to say that her exploration would not have been quite so easy if she had not been granted pieces of advice and guidance from other rogues and prides as she passed by their borders. It would have been accurate to say that some had been more helpful than others, but she had discovered in recent years that as a seer, she should not be 'provoked'.
...Especially when you could foresee such horrid omens.
Alas, the female was in no rush this afternoon and as such, made no attempts to quicken her pace. Or rather she didn't until she heard the scream ripple through the still air of the Serengeti - it was a scream of alarm too, rather than murder, and as such... Well, she came to a halt and turned her head in the direction it had come from. She would sooner have avoided the trouble, but she also couldn't live with the guilt of simply walking past. Contrary to popular belief, while many mistook her for a doomsayer, she was a good and pleasant individual at heart.
With her decision made, the pale lioness gathered her wits about her and quickly turned in the direction of the cry for help. With a reason now provided to her, she moved far more quickly and had lopped across the distance between herself and the pair of lionesses in very little time at all. It was only when she got there that she skidded to a halt and gazed towards the sight before her - one healthy lioness and another in a positively horrendous state...
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Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 5:34 am
Could shock have been setting in? The pain was beginning to fade as her body started to feel numb. Every now and then when her tail happened to flick, a jolt shot through her body, causing the lioness to close her eyes tightly. This wasn’t supposed to happen! The wildebeest was suppose to die, so she could prove that she was a good hunter, just like Amanzi was! Bright blue orbs popped open at the small grooming from her friend. A look of sadness, and of fright were held in the depths of the eyes. She didn’t speak though. There was no one around…this was going to be the end. It had taken them days for to even meet just one rogue male since they had been out here in the week’s time. ”I…don’t…think…anyone is….coming….” Quba whispered, sounding defeated.
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Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 6:10 am
She gave a few more shouts, but her mouth felt clumsy and dry. She turned back to Quba and shook her head fiercely, moving to inspect the wound again. "No, no yer wrong! Someone will come, someone 'as teh come!" She barked out, more frantic than what appeared to be her dying friend. Umoya would not allow the other to die, there was no way! Unfortunately she had absolutely zero experience in treating wounds. She was more of an inflicter of wounds than a fixer of wounds. "Yer gunna be alrigh' dammit." If Quba died what would she do? How would she return to her pride and just tell them? And... and what would her mother say? How would she let herself live, knowing she'd just let Quba die without doing anything? She would feel horrible for the rest of her life!
"I shulda jus' taken the kill.." She mumbled softly, though she wasn't aware she'd spoken the words out loud. It was not that she didn't believe in her friend, it would have been very hard to avoid what had just went down... but she was feeling guilty. She moved to groom bits of Quba again, though she didn't get too close to the wound. "Please.. please... please.." She kept mumbling the word, as if it would somehow help the situation. She looked up again, about to shout for help in what was quickly becoming a hopeless gesture. But her gaze suddenly landed on a pale lioness heading in their direction. "Q...Quba...!" She yelped her friends name, forgetting for a moment it wouldn't really be in the dark lioness' best interest to look.
"Quba... someone is comin'.." She breathed, sounding shocked herself. But as she watched the lioness she felt the hairs on the back of her neck rising. Somehow, no matter how accepting she thought she was of the changes the pride was making, she still felt hostile toward the lioness approaching. She could feel her tail lashing back and forth and she knew she must have looked suspicious, but quickly she tried to quiet these dead give-aways to how she felt toward the stranger. She moved to stand slightly over her friend, just in case. Maybe this lioness was not here to help.
"O'er here! Hullo! Hay!" She called, though it would have been hard to miss she and Quba. The lioness came closer and closer, but when she got close enough to see the state Quba was in she halted to a stop, lightening fast. Umoya looked as though she might start crying any minute, eyes wide and clearly drinking in the stranger's form as if she was the last hope they had. "Please... please, can yeh nae help us?" Her words were lost on her own ears, everything felt so strange... her poor Quba! She didn't care if this lioness was a stranger! She needed something to happen! She couldn't just stand here and watch Quba die! And if this stranger was bad news? She would kill her. She would rip her throat out... she would... She took a shuddering break, gaze finally breaking away from the other. Her whole body was trembling.
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Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 2:21 pm
It was usually the silence that made the awkward atmosphere worse, but in this case, it was more likely to be the decidedly hostile body language of the lioness before her. At first, the Seer was of the opinion that perhaps she should have dodged the pair, but with further consideration she had lobbied another idea towards her own thoughts - the hostility presented by Umoya could be more logically linked to concern, protectiveness and a general wariness towards strangers. Apply the Seer's unknown identity with the precarious position that Quba was in and it really shouldn't have come at a surprise to the paler lioness.
"I am no healer," she confessed, raising her voice ever so slightly to be heard. It was clear that this particular female rarely spoke, and if she did so, she only ever elected to speak quietly. As a consequence it might have been difficult to hear her immediately but as the winds stilled, her words would gain more clarity. "But I can see that you are in need of considerable assistance," she conceded, casting her gaze towards Quba. It was at this point that her brow furrowed and she tentatively moved towards the pair, coming to a halt two foot or so away from them so that she could inspect the injured party more closely...Whoever, or whatever had gored her, had done considerable damage.
The Seer would have been lying if she said it looked good.
"She requires a healer and quickly," she murmured. Admittedly, the pale lioness was stating the obvious but on occasions such things were necessary. Alas, she fell silent for another few seconds after she had made this remark and released a quiet sigh. With a lick of her lips to moisten them, she then turned her attention towards Umoya and took another breath. "There is a pride near here, the klipspringer spoke of them in passing," she began and lifted a paw to direct the female towards where the preybeasts had indicated the pride lay. "If you were to take her there, I suspect one of their healers would be capable of lending a paw," she explained, trailing off into silence.
"However, I do not know if your friend can walk with great ease, I suspect she may need to be carried..."
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Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 2:37 pm
There was a new scent in the air. Quba wanted to much to lift her head up to see the newcomer. She could see the fur rise on Umoya’s neck, and felt very wary. Great, if Umo was acting in an almost hostile manner, that could mean trouble for the charcoal lioness. “Umo…” she said quietly, “who…is it…” while she really shouldn’t have been talking, it something Quba could never really control. She would always say what was on her mind, rather than thinking about the possible consequences.
The younger lioness relaxed somewhat as Umoya seemed to do so. She wouldn’t have called the other creature over if they were a threat. She knew her friend well enough that she would protect her by any means possible.
Quba’s heart raced as the other female spoke. A pride was nearby? More importantly…a healer? Unless of course, she meant her own pride. But still, it was always a shot, right? She tried to force herself to relax, but found this difficult. There was hope for her yet. But as the other lioness mentioned about walking, she shook her head, a mistake on her part. Just the short movement jolted her body in a way that made her gasp for breath. She definitely could not muster the energy to walk, and if just a small shake of her head caused an intense pain, she could only imagine what it would be if she was carried. It was almost a lose-lose situation. But they had to try it…right?
What other choices did they have?
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Posted: Tue Sep 06, 2011 1:49 pm
She frowned down at Quba, but almost immediately the look of annoyance turned into painful guilt. Still, Quba shouldn't be speaking right now! She should save her strength! "Shhh, yeh stop talkin' Quba, yer teh save yer strength. Some stranger." She added at the end, unable to deny her friend the answer she was seeking. She nodded slightly towards the female, having already asked if she would be of any help. She had no need for introductions, she shouldn't have even been speaking to the stranger. When the other spoke Umoya had to strain her ears to listen to what was being said, and felt frustrated. This was no time for whispers!
Her face fell even more when she heard the stranger was not a healer. She supposed that would have been too lucky, especially in the face of such a disaster. Yes! A healer, of course anyone could see that Quba needed a healer! Umoya did not like where this conversation was headed, she did not even feel right holding a conversation with the lioness. She felt open to the idea of females joining once in a while, but at the same time she'd never actually... encountered a rogue lioness before. This was for Quba though, and she had committed herself to doing anything for her best friend. "A... a pride? yeh mean the Ithambo’hlabathi, yeah?" Oh no, how many traditions was she going to have to break today? Rules even... she had a feeling the stranger did not mean her pride while speaking of the one close by. How could she? Her gaze flickered loosely toward where the lioness was pointing, but it seemed she was not very interested.
"I can carry'er!" She said almost immediately. Forget it, there was no time to think about the consequences now, she would just deal with them later! "I can. I'm strong, Quba isnae as large as some of the females." She meant in her pride, but did not finish the thought. She looked down to her friend. "S'gunna hurt Quba... s'gunna hurt bad. But we need teh try..." She moved to gather the other lioness onto her back. She wasn't sure how far she could carry the female, just that she could.
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Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 1:26 am
The Seer was most definitely a stranger and refrained from taking offence at the uncertainty and wariness expressed by both females. Truth be told she was accustomed to it and instead of making any wry remarks, she held her peace until both had conversed briefly with one another. It was only when the attention was on the pale lioness again that she lifted her gaze to meet Umoya's, a slow blink the only immediate response that would be received. Suffice to say that if they thought the Seer was aware of the name of the pride then they were in for a shock - there were some things she did know and then there were others that remained a mystery to her...
"I am unaware of the identity of this pride," she replied at last, shaking her head slowly to emphasise her point. "However, I do know that they are present in the area," she paused briefly, turned her gaze towards Quba and sucked in a deep breath. Healer or not, the seer appreciated that talking from an extended period of time wasn't going to help anyone. "They arrived recently and if they are like any other pride then they will have access to healers. I have yet to hear any criticism of their hospitality either so I would assume that they will receive an injured party," she explained. Perhaps if she emphasised that they hadn't appeared hostile to the rogues in the region, then the pair would be more receptive to the idea of making contact.
Alas, Umoya's assumptions were right in one respect - unbeknownst to the Seer, she was making reference to the Ithambo'hlabathi!
"If you believe that you can carry her than I would encourage you to make haste," she spoke up again after the words had sunk in and motioned to Quba with a slight wave of her paw. "The longer we remain here to idly converse, the more serious the situation will become," she pointed out softly, her brow beginning to furrow slightly at the prospect of this transforming from a major injury into a fatality - somehow, she didn't think that Umoya would be terribly receptive to anything if that happened and the pale lioness was definitely not a fighter.
"If you can lift her, I will guide you," the Seer added.
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Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 8:39 am
As Umoya lifted her friend she was aware that it must have hurt quite a bit, Quba's body was tensing hard. She heard Quba groan slightly, but for the most part the other female tried to contain the pain that she was feeling. Umoya's ears flattened as she felt the other female's body go limp on top of hers; she'd passed out. "Yeh donae think it's serious yet?" She snapped at the other female, snarling slightly. But almost immediately she gave an apologetic look. "She's passed out. I'm sorry, I jus'... I donae mean teh be this... like this teh yeh, oo's only tryin' teh help." She mumbled her way through the apology, but was already looking around.
She rose to her paws carefully, shutting her eyes as she did so. Quba was not... that heavy. She would keep thinking this, because she had to keep thinking this. They were going to get Quba the help she needed, she would. not. die. It was too bad she couldn't drag Quba to where they needed to be though! "Alrigh' where teh?" She asked, thinking it would be best to move as quick as she could. The weight was already beginning to bother her. (Kasai will be sitting out a few posts, until needed)
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 3:28 am
"Well she is not dead yet," the seer pointed out softly, remaining calm despite the overwhelming sense of urgency that was attempting to rise up from her stomach. It was better that she maintain a level head, particularly in the face of individuals who were not terribly receptive to her to begin with! Truth be told, Umoya may have been otherwise engaged in carrying her companion, but that didn't mean she couldn't exact some form of revenge once they reached their destination - it was better not to provoke them verbally, she often did that enough with her visions.
"But she will be if we wait any longer," she added and with that, lopped forward and away from the pair, making no further reference to Umoya's apology (after all, the lioness was panicking and entitled to abrupt remarks). Her pace was slow, reasonable enough to be kept up with despite the additional weight of Quba...but it had a sense of urgency that couldn't be faulted. Making use of each of the rumours and whispers she had heard from various rogues in passing, the lioness made swift work of navigating her way towards the pride who had been referenced to. It was only as she drew within metres of their destination that she began to slow down, padding cautiously towards the area in question. She may not have heard that they were vicious, but she also hadn't heard if they were receptive to passing rogues.
"We are near," she said at last, unaware that Umoya may already have recognised where they were or who they were approaching.
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Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2011 6:48 pm
She would not die. Umoya did not like the other's wording, even though it would probably be the thought of any other lioness. Quba was not dead yet. It was pessimistic and foreboding, it left a taint in your mouth. But at this point she needed to focus entirely on the task at paw, so talking wasn't really beneficial. She was already tired, and they had not gone far.
It didn't matter, she would walk until she passed out if it meant saving her friend! Even at the quick pace they were traveling at Umoya was beginning to pick up on familiar, yet still new, sights. This was... this was her pride. Where they'd chosen to settle... it was a very good sign. And also a bad sign, she did not know how her family and friends would react to the stranger she was bringing with her.
She was panting, and even though the stress and activity of their problem was bringing her to this point she wished they did not slow at all. "This.... this is our pride." She managed to blurt out, meaning entirely she and Quba. She prayed that her friend would make it, she hadn't stirred yet. OOC; I think this should be finished with the next post or so?
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