This was...miserable. Not at all what she wanted to be doing. It was wrong, not to mention shameful and painful to boot. It was against everything in the lioness' nature to do this, but a threatening voice and razor claws had more than helped convince her into action. In the end the claws had come anyway, leaving obivous cuts along her flank. "To make it look real" her temporary master had chuckled as he carved her side. She'd bit back her cries as he made sure she looked suitably ravaged. None of the cuts were deep, she would be more than fine...but she looked like she'd been beaaten and attacked as she was led out of the main pride area and told to lay in the grass, roll around to get some blood on the tall stalks, and then count to a hundred before she began crying out.
It was really a horrible idea. Horrible, horrible, and destined, she was sure, to work. The plan was that she would feign an attack and draw someone in from the rogue lands with her yowling. Then, the reaver lying in wait would pounce, claiming whomever it was as a thrall and leading them away into the same life of miserable slavery that she herself suffered in. She didn't want to do it.
If she didn't, she'd been assured, she'd suffer doubly for her lack of discipline.
So she allowed herself to be coaxed down into the grass, made sure she looked as miserable as she felt (it wasn't hard) and began to count. The rustling of grass made it clear her 'companion' had found himself a good place to watch and pounce from down wind. On she counted, 95, 96, 97, oh, she was going to have to do this wasn't she... 98, 99, 100.
A deep breath, and she began to moan. The cuts DID hurt, so it wasn't hard, but she embellished her pain. If it wasn't loud, no one would come, and if no one came, she'd really be given reason to scream. She felt like the worst of the worst to do it, but she couldn't, she just couldn't disobey. "Help...help!" She cried out into the quiet empty air. "Someone, please...help me! It hurts!"
To her conflicting distress and relief she heard a distant voice calling back to her after a near hour of carrying on. "Where are you?" The voice was soft, distant, barely more than a whisper on the wind. She yelled louder. "Help! Help!" But in her mind she was begging them not to hear her. Her own shame had grown to outmatch her fear for the moment.
"Call out to me again! I'm coming!" The voice was closer now, clearer, clearly female. No! She cringed, burying her head in the dirt, praying they'd give up. Instead she only heard the voice grow louder. "Hey! Hey! Don't give up on me! You have to keep yelling so I can find you!" She bit her lip, then took a ragger breath. "H-help...please...!"
"I think I see you! Hold still!" She could hear the rustling grass now. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. It wasn't the pain. It was shame and fear and self hatred. "My god, what happened to you?" The voice sounded so kind, so gentle and caring. It broke Uchafu's heart to think that she was going to do this to that soft kind voice.
"Oh you poor thing. Who has done this to you? Please, no, don't move. I know it hurts but I'm going to get them clean." She couldn't help herself as she shook when the lioness knelt to begin grooming her torn skin. It did feel good, but it took all she had not to scream for her to get away. To run and run and keep running. To say she was sorry this was going to happen because she wasn't going to run and that she'd understand if she hated her from here out. If Uchafu was the one being captured, she'd hate this lioness. If their places were reversed and whomever this was was too afraid and weak to warn her.
Well, she could always tell her that later. And if she hated her regardless...that'd be okay too.
She let out a shuddering breath as the newcomer's tongue stung over her wounds. It was good though. Good to hurt, because she deserved it. "There...these aren't even that deep. It's going to be okay, you know. You might have a few very faint scars, but nothing big or ugly. You'll still be just as pretty. Shh, shh...hush. It'll be alright." Oh if only she could believe such sweet words. It said much about how far she'd fallen into despair and servitude though that she didn't even consider trying to fight back. To join this newcomer and make a break for it. They'd surely both be run down and dragged back to the pride, if not killed.
The grass behind her rustled and she took a heaving breath, making her would be caretaker shush her again and try to settle her. She had to...had to at least try to warn her! At last Uchafu forced her eyes open to stare up at the other lioness - a brief glimpse of similar brown fur, a bit paler - oh she was so small! She looked like an angel...! "P-please..."
"Shh, I said lay still. It's going to be just fine, I promise!" "N-no...no please, please listen!" Now that the words had sprang forth they came faster, tumbling like water over stones. "You have to listen to me, go, run, now! He's still here, he's going to--!"
And then the dazzlingly sweet lioness was gone from her side, a pained noise cutting Uchafu's words off dead. She fell silent, horrified as her limp body thudded down beside her. And then, even worse, she heard a growling familiar voice behind her ear.
"You tried to warn her, didn't you? Now, what are we going to do about that...?"
[Words: 1015]
