Lomasi was lost. Her soft paws were oozing blood, making it hard to walk. The mountains were nothing like the savanna she had left. Really, she had never meant to leave them, but the lioness had gotten herself lost and disoriented on a deer's path into the mountains, and she had no choice but to keep walking. "Ow..." Wincing from the pain, the lioness finally collapsed, her head hitting the ground not-so-softly. She blacked out, and the world was lost to her.
------
A shrill sound, mixed with the pain of claws poking at her stomach finally stirred the lioness awake. Her vivid blue eyes took a while to focus, but she was greeted with the small face of a hawk.
"Finally," chirped the bird. "You can't die. You're mine, I'm your's."
Lomasi's head hurt, and her paws hurt even worse, even if the blood was no longer fresh. "...what?"
The hawk snapped her beak in irritation, not wanting to explain everything to the injured lioness. "Wait here." With that, the hawk took off, leaving the injured and confused lioness where she was.
------
Umoja had been scouting, his restless self feeling tortured. He didn't know what had happened with his blossoming relationship with Lamkana, but it seemed like he had done something wrong. Being the King, it was best to not make a public display about it. Life was more normal now than it had been since the earthquake, and he needed to act like how his father had. Being without a Queen didn't bring him much pressure, as his two adult children were still alive. He wanted a partner for himself, more than for the sake of the pride.
"Incoming," warned Mfalme as he swooped by the daydreaming King. "Company."
Before the lion had time to react, a small hawk was screaming at the two of them, nearly crashing into Umoja. "Woah what?!"
"Help! Help! Help!" Shikra cried, her wings beating fast as she tried her best to hover around the lion's head. It wasn't the most successful, and she shot up into the sky when Mfalme cried his own warning and the wild hawk.
"Watch yourself," the eagle dared, finding a nearby tree to land in. It would be easier to take off here than Umoja's back.
"A lioness! She cannot walk! She's hurt, and I won't let her starve! She is my bonded!"
Umoja's ears shot forward in curiosity, his eyebrows as well. "Bonded? Here? Lost? She must be new, and you were careless in your actions bringing her here."
Shikra cried angrily. "No! I found her after she knocked herself out, bonded to her then. She is mine, and you must help her!" The bird had no idea what lion she was talking to, and at this point she didn't care. She didn't want her lion to die - it would put her at risk of dying. That emotional bond was weak, but the little hawk knew she was too attached to the injured lioness already.
Mfalme launched himself from the tree, a little disappointed that his resting period was so short. "I will sound, King Umoja." Now the little annoying shikra would know who she was talking to.
The hawk ignored the eagle's jab, and took off to lead the pair towards her bonded.
------
"Wake uuuuuppppp!"
Lomasi's eyes fluttered open again, the voice of the bird more familiar this time. It was hard to remember what happened, but the pain reminded her that she was nearly useless right now. She could not walk....would she die here? There was no water nearby, and her head hurt too much to even attempt to move.
"Pretty lady! I brought help!" The hawk landed on the ground in front of Lomasi, hopping towards the lioness. She hopped up along her shoulder, lovingly preening the lioness' headfluff. Lomasi was so confused, and a little worried about having a bird so close to her, but it was a comforting motion. She was close to falling back asleep, but the she felt a small echo in the ground, as her whole body was laying against it.
Her blue eyes opened wide, fear creeping in.
Umoja's black paws disturbed the ground around him as he followed Mfalme's trail. The little hawk was fast, but her nosiness helped Umoja follow her. He didn't know what he was expecting, but he hadn't been expecting the hawk to be telling the truth.
Dried blood was everywhere. The bottom of the lioness' paws were clearly damaged, and the sticky brown colour of dried blood speckled her white paws. Her eyes struggled to stay open, and it reminded him of the earthquake all over again. Of his dead mate....
But she wasn't dead. Barely alive, yes, but not dead. As Mfalme landed on the ground nearby, Umoja approached the lioness, his voice soft and calm. "Its ok, I'm here to help you. Your bird brought us here."
"Bird...?" Lomasi was still confused, but she knew that she didn't want the hawk to leave her. Not yet. "But...she's mine?"
"Yep yep! Shikra, Shikra. You're my bonded!"
Umoja shook his head. "I will explain later," he said, as the lioness was still clearly confused. Even as injured as she was, it was hard to not be struck by her beauty. He tried to treat her carefully, as she was so overwhelmed. "She bonded to you while you were unconscious, so none of us know your name. Do you remember it?"
The lioness tried to remember his words, but it was hard to connect them all together. All she could think of was the irony in a male saving her. Being by herself for so long, she was expecting the bird to find a gaggle of lioness' to help her. What did males know of healing? "L-lomasi."
Mfalme snapped his beak, more attuned with his bonded than nearly anyone else in the pride. Umoja was weak in the heart, broken. The eagle worried that Umoja was rushing his emotions, though he did his best to guard them. The lioness was too dazed to see it, and the hawk was dumb. Mfalme was going to have to handle this very carefully, and at a later point. "Umoja..."
"Yes, yes. Ok, Lomasi. You clearly cannot walk. I'm going to pull you onto my back and carry you to my home. I won't let you die out here, ok?" Umoja started to figure out how the heck he was going to do this, as the mountain wasn't a walk in the valley.
Lomasi fought down panic as he said he was going to take her. Where? To his home? Was she going to be enslaved or something? Shikra seemed content, and the giant eagle that was also nearby didn't seem alarmed, so Lomasi tried to calm herself. She was going to die if she didn't leave here, so leaving would at least mean surviving. She nodded her head, doing her best to keep herself awake.
Umoja, with the help of the two birds, somehow got the lioness draped across his back. He knew he was a strong lion, but he had never tried to carry a full grown lioness on his back. he worked carefully down the mountain, the two birds circling overhead as a warning to the rest of the pride that two lions were returning. Mfalme would go find a healer, and Umoja would have to unravel just what happened to this new member of their pride.
(1,246 words)
