[JRP] Waking the Gentle Giant (Ru'yah, Haki, Kaze-Ki & Paol)

[CaliWolfe]

Ru'yah's belly grumbled as she lay breathing shallowly on the luscious green savannah grass. Thankfully, she was experiencing a pleasant dream. Had it been a nightmare her legs would have been thrashing about and a sour expression would had captivated her face. Still, despite her blissful endeavours in the dream land a small blue jackal nudged at her toe. "Wake up..." He whined in plea.

By now, he knew all too well that her sleeping meant she was experiencing a vision. At first it had become progressive but then they simply overtook all her dreams and nightmares. The visions fashioned them to suit the story she watched dearly or frightfully for days upon days until she finally awoke. Haki feared for her safety. He may have been nothing more than an escort at best, but when Ru'yah became trapped in these dream worlds it took all his efforts to interrupt and awaken her. She would often rise starving, thirsty and weak. What was worse was that had the duo not be a reliable food source she was destined to soon elapse back into the cycle.

Haki sat back and huffed out a frustrated puff of air. He had done all he could at this point, which he had to admit was not much at all. Yanking on her ear or wiggling her toes wasn't going to get through to her at this rate. The jackal, feeling utterly defeated rose from his spot and walked a few paces ahead. It was then in the silence he heard the steps of someone travelling along the worn path to his right. Was someone travelling so late at night? A terrible idea really, but perhaps they could aid the small jackal regardless of their destination.

"Hey! Is anyone out there?" He barked. "I need.. Help! Help me, help!"

Thalion

 

[Thalion]

Kaze-Ki ||
Sion insisted that someone in the higher court patrolled the territory at least once a week to ensure that the citizens themselves were content, that the borders were being respected, and that the military wasn't acting outside of their given orders. It was a new kingdom, a new pride, a new set of rules and traditions but the king rightly believed that the foundation of anything was the most important part. Kaze-Ki agreed. Unfortunately, that meant that he was sent away to take a walk about while the king focused on drawing out provincial lines. One lion wasn't an island and he couldn't possibly keep an eye out on everyone at all times. The kingdom would need to be broken up into smaller pieces and those pieces would be assigned to trusted members of his council to over-see. That way he had more eyes and ears out among the people to hear their concerns.

Of course, this was Sion. He didn't trust just his council, he needed his personal Saiho to go through the land when he could not to ensure that what authorities he had assigned were staying fair in their practices. Leaving Pitoo behind to defend the king if need be, Kaze-ki selected Paol to be his bodyguard and escort. The pale lion was smaller than most, and had a gentle spirit, but he had a quick, lethal fighting style that had made him a stand-out for Shirei.

Kaze-Ki wore a thin scarf and cloak to hide the markings on his back and much of his face. He made a point to keep his head down on his patrols so the people didn't suspect, too much, his identity and press him for personal matters.

Paol ||
Paol's head perked up and his eyes shifted over. He heard something... a voice. Help?

"Sir." The shirei turned to his charge. Kaze-Ki came to a halt and turned to regard his companion. With a short gesture towards the sound, Paol continued. "I hear someone. It sounds like they may need assistance."

Kaze-Ki ||
The Saiho sighed. Of course there would be something to do on his patrol. As much as he wanted to get his patrol over with, he could not resist the call of someone in need. Dipping his head in a short nod, he changed his course and followed his small escort through the grass.

Paol ||
The pale lion stepped in front of his charge, walking with purpose until he found the source of the cry- two creatures. One a little youma and the other a young female feline. He frowned and tilted his head. "What's happened?"

CaliWolfe

 

[CaliWolfe]

Oh thank heavens, someone heard him. Or rather make that two someone's. Haki took a few steps back towards Ru'yah, for he was slightly intimidated by the presence of two grown lions coming towards his call. He had certainly expected one but two? Well, more the merrier in this case. The last thing he wanted was to create a scene, but Ru'yah wasn't going to wake herself up anytime soon. A crowd at least might create even the least bit of noise enough to get through to her.

"She-" He turned to face Ru'yah; "-she won't wake up, I need help." He was about to say fainted but that wasn't quite the right word. It wasn't as if she had toppled over or anything, she simply lowered herself down on the grass for a nap. Facing the two lions again the jackal questioned whether to release the next piece of evidence or not. Several prides they had encountered wanted to enslave Ru'yah for the sake of her visions. Others chased Haki and her away because she was "cursed." This lead the little youma to ponder whether he should, no, could trust these strangers. Then again he had been the one to call them out, it would be terribly rude to not share any and all helpful notes... To hell with it.

"She's a seer." He explained. "Her dreams are visions, but they trap her! She's been asleep for days!" Before he could even confirm she hadn't eaten in all this time Ru'yah's belly moaned again. "She doesn't eat or dink, only sleeps. If I can't wake her she'll die!" He exclaimed vigorously. "Please." His ears flattened with a soft whine, "I can't save her myself, I need help."

Thalion

 

[Thalion]

Paol ||
The hesitation came from both sides. Paol took a few cautious steps ahead of the Saiho and quietly looked between the youma and the lioness laying on the ground. He gave the female a gentle nudge of his paw, waited, then nudged her again. When there came no response he turned over a shoulder to nod the Saiho forward. It wasn't a trap- which meant that the female could be in genuine trouble.

"A seer?" He looked back to the youma, his eyes wide. "Saiho-"

Kaze-Ki ||
The scaled lion stepped foward, his interest piqued. A seer that had lost herself to her visions? To this point? He had never heard of visions causing so much strife to their bearer. He didn't know what he could do for the other. They were, as far as he knew, unable to influence each other's dreams and visions. They could have visions of one another, sense one another on some level, but not directly mind-touch each other.

"It's quite alright... let's see if we can't do something here." He frowned, "If not... we may have to bring her further in. There's a few good medics in the kingdoms..."

Kaze-Ki leaned in close to the female and gave her a gentle nudge with his nose. "Come on, little sister."

CaliWolfe

 

[CaliWolfe]

Ru'yah did not react at first, but after a few short moments her face cringed in a soft frown at the touch of the Saiho. Her muscles tightened as if she was prepping to be attacked; but it then her look changed into a pleasant expression. It almost appeared as if she was in upmost glee. Haki breathed out after not realizing he was holding his breath to begin with. They had gotten her to react, a good sign. The fact that her foot had twitched at the lion's touch had the youma's tail wag in joy.

Determined to wake her again, Haki crawled across the ground like an inchworm towards Ru'yah. "Ru..." He whispered, tapping her nose gently with his little blue paw. He nearly squealed in delight when she made a muffled "umph" noise. Was she finally coming too?! "Hey Ru'yah, come on, it's time to get up..."

He then seemed to have a moment of instant realization and looked at the other lion, who was just standing their watching. Well no, not really watching. More like... Guarding? Yeah, that was a good word for it, guarding. Regardless Haki didn't want to pry at them, after they had stopped to help and all, but... "Is it okay if she stays here? I mean... Um... In one of your kingdom thingies." He wasn't entirely sure how a kingdom worked, but they would okay with it wouldn't they? "I mean- we've travelled a lot and she keeps getting sick." He opened his mouth to say more but shut it again to think about what to say next. He shouldn't have really been making all Ru'yah's decisions for her but he felt cheerfully confident she'd be fine with it. The lioness was fairly easy-going after all, he was sure she would forgive him.

He then looked at their puzzling faces and felt a tingly sensation of fear run up his spin. Oh gods, did they not want her? Or him? What if they were reconsidering helping her?! Haki let loose a nervous laugh as he spoke in a blind effort to gain their approval. "I mean, if your really not okay with that we'll leave as soon as she's better, I promise!"

Thalion

 

[Thalion]

Kaze-Ki ||
The saiho leaned back as the young female stirred somewhat. She seemed almost ill, fainted. Perhaps her visions were too much for her, or perhaps there were some physical problems that were more pressing. Whatever the case, she couldn't be left out here. Even if the weather was pleasant enough, the nights could sometimes get cold and with very little break from the wind, it didn't take much for the windchill to make things uncomfortable.

He looked to the little jackal and gave a short nod. "She is welcome here. As are you, youma." He stepped back to give the female some air. "If she is a seer, then she will join Kasai. The island at the center of the island. The Nyosen there can see to her health and well-being. Tell me-" He looked down to the little one. "Has she done this before? This... fainting. Or was she injured? Perhaps she has not eaten."

Paol ||
The other lion frowned. They would have to carry her if she was unable to rise herself. "Saiho... should we go speak with one of the Nyosen now? We.. may need help."

CaliWolfe

 

[CaliWolfe]

Haki nodded in regards to the saiho's question. But he hesitated on his answer. The youma only ever caught enough food for one, maybe two jackals to consume. One hare filled his little belly for a week at best, and he had no idea what a lioness needed to eat to be full. In fact, before Ru'yah he had never seen a lioness eat really.
Well, there was that elephant hunt he had witnessed, but that didn't really count in his mind. Everyone was so hungry by the time the beast had been taken down even he ate more than he could manage.

So naturally he simply assumed Ru'yah ate as much as he did. Though it quickly became prevalent this was not the case. She became thinner, and more and more tired. Though for the latter he wondered if it was even related to the situation at all.

Haki sighed but looked up at the saiho with hopeful eyes that a child might possess. He owed it to them to be truthful. Only he hadn't known how many times she actually had fainted before. The cause could be something obvious and that Ru'yah and himself simply were clueless to it. Or it could be something that happened to Ru'yah before she met Haki. It so very confusing for him.

"She just... When she hasn't eaten much she complains of being tired and then does the fainting thing again. She only does it then, so it's not very common." Well, if you didn't consider common being every other week, then yes, it was definitely not common.

Thalion

 

[Thalion]

Kaze-Ki ||
The lion's ears rolled back and his eyes narrowed. The lioness had not been eating well... that would certainly explain it. If she wasn't eating enough she would grow weak, grow faint, and loose her strength. It was a simple enough answer but the solution would be anything but. Months of caretaking, months of proper care...

He closed his eyes and took a few steps closer. "Paol, go fetch some of the Nyosen. I cannot bear her myself. Even if I can rouse her, she will be terribly weak."

He glanced meaningfully to his companion, who despite his prior request seemed hesitant to go. "I can mind myself."

Paol ||
The pale lion made a face but ducked his head in agreement regardless. He stepped away, turned, and ran towards the massive lake just on the horizonline. He held nothing back. Every ounce of strength was poured into his limbs, pushed through his joints, and surged through his muscles. The longer he was separated from his charge, the greater the risk.

Kaze-Ki ||
The Saiho nodded and lowered his head to judge at the lioness once more. "If you can hear me... if you've the strength, open your eyes."

CaliWolfe

Sorry for the delay hon! I've had to get a few things sorted. :3 It's been a hectic few weeks.

 

[CaliWolfe]

Ru’yah stirred. Her eyes were weak when they opened, not focusing on anything or one in particular but floating tiredly in the sockets. It took a couple of slow blinks for her to clear away the sleep and actually stare at the two who were left surrounding her. Oddly, she was not shocked at the Sahio’s presence. One would think that waking to a stranger in front of you would raise alarm, but Ru’yah remained calm. In fact a soft smile left its impression on her face as she moved her head to slowly look at the duo as they watched her wake up.

She attempted to say thank you, but only managed to get the mouthing of it out. If she had said any of it at all it was as quiet as a whisper, if not more. But Ru knew she had probably passed out again. And that Haki probably went to go get help as she had lost herself in a vision that was far too interesting to wake up from. Probably. He did that sometimes, or at least in her visions he had. She honestly wasn’t sure what was vision and what was reality however Ru’yah was glad that her little blue friend wanted to help her in both worlds she lived in.

She felt something soft touch her arm, yet Ru’yah could not move her head to see what it was. Probably just Haki. Probably…

Thalion

No worries! I'm just glad this wasn't forgotten :3

 

[Thalion]

Kaze-Ki ||
The lioness stirred and opened her eyes, an encouraging sign. He leaned back just enough to give her some space as reality slowly crept back upon her. There was a distant look in her eye and her body moved sluggishly but just moving and stirring was an improvement over her previous state. The mouthed thanks wasn't missed and he returned her gesture with a warm smile.

"So you're with us. Take your time- but do you think that you can stand?"

Paol ||
"I could offer some assistance if not." Paol said hesitantly, loathe to leave his charge for any amount of time. There were others within their territory that would be able to assist, some were fairly nearby, but the strangers were just that- strangers. It would be unwise to trust them with the safety of the Saiho so easily.

Kaze-Ki ||
"We aren't in much of a hurry, Paol." He pointed out gently. "Give her time to find her feet."

CaliWolfe