A trail of blood followed after the limping lion as Abrafo slumped over onto the ground. He chuffed with the effort of it, and felt his muscles pulling as Xabryel screamed for help in the distance. What was the boy yelling for? It was just a flesh wound...A bite to the shoulder, nothing more, but one that had all of the youth's strength in it. Abrafo was missing flesh as well as muscle thanks to their intense training. It had gotten heated fast, and now..he was paying the price.
Shadow was all but floating as she slipped away from the privacy of the den she and Lu had chosen for themselves. One of the cousins had offered to take her earlier patrol so it gave her a rare morning to wake up curled around her beloved. That had certainly been a good morning!
Her ears perked up hearing Xabryel's screams and she went from relaxed to battle ready in an instant as she bolted towards the sound of her second's panic.
Abrafo pressed his paw onto his wound as best he could. A sharp stinging pain pulled a growl from him and it was at that moment that he realized his shoulder was also dislocated. He hadn't put pressure on it when walking away from the training area, so he hadn't know but now he knew himself to be a hot mess. What to do? If he'd been a smart male he wouldn't have sent their only healer out on patrol that morning, but Abrafo was not a smart male it seemed.
Shadow skidded to a stop taking in the scene in just a mere moment. She snarled sharply at Xabryel to get him to shut up. Bumping her head against his jaw to assure him he was forgiven, she immediately went after her father.
It didn't take her long to overtake the older male, her lips curing back seeing the state he was in. "Father." Even injured and distracted as he was, Shadow was taking no risk of sneaking up on him and having him lash out.
Taking a moment to gather himself, Abrafo turned his bi-colored eyes towards Shadow and didn't bother to hide the pain he was in. He had raised her to be sharper than falsehoods. So instead he turned so that his injuries would be visible, and the effort made him curl his lip back in a fierce snarl.
"Underestimated the cub...last time for that..."
Shadow snorted at him, "Told you." She had warned him repeatedly that the cub was better than he thought. Sniffing around his shoulder she huffed and before giving him any warning, slammed her very heavy body down on it to knock it back into place. It might startle him at how easily his 'little' shadow was able to pin him in place so that the thrashing wouldn't tear his woulds more.
Abrafo spat into the tall grass around him and shifted. He had been about to reply with a smart a** remark when he let out a sharp, loud roar that reverberated across the surrounding area. The pain was almost unbearable for a moment until it began to ebb away. He felt things shift back into place with the grunting bearing of a grumpy old man.
It didn't stop him from trying to snap at her because of the act. He tried to bite at his daughter, thrashing with as much might as he could with little shred of reason telling him that this was his offspring. Gentle meant nothing when she was putting pressure on his wounds.
Shadow snarled and snapped back. The eerie rasping tone of hers when turned into the yowling of an outraged cat was something straight from a nightmare. It was a sound few ever heard and only one had lived to tell about it. He had the size and reach on her, but she had the sheer weight on her side.
"Still or die!" Isith snapped in his ear. "Bleeding worse." The more he fought the more he was injuring himself.
There was something primal in Abrafo that responded with another booming shriek of his own, as if to challenge her. It was as if for that moment he meant to take back the reigns of control from her, but the pinning weight on his wounded side kept him down.
Begrudgingly he quieted, lolling his head down to the ground, but at an angle so that he could watch her at all times.
Once he relaxed, Shadow huffed and shuddered rubbing her cheek against his to reassure him. "Easy. Love father. Tend." She licked his cheek once before getting off of him to start cleaning his wounds being careful not to cause him more pain.
"Pfft." Abrafo tried his best to ease himself into a relaxed position, but he was as tense as a loaded viper. "I know, Shadow, I know." The way he said it was weary. It didn't cover the little half grin he held just for her.
He kept his breathing level, focusing more on riding through what pain might have flared up by thinking of his mate. How would he explain this to Nia? I was just playing with Xabryel, goofing really, and he...bit me? Like she would buy that.
He had provoked a killer, and got the a** end of it.
Doing her best, Shadow licked and cleaned the wounds till the bleeding stop before hunting around for some of the roots that Lulu had showed her would numb pain. Digging them free she made a face as she chewed them up and spat them into the wounds, her nose wrinkling as her mouth went numb. It was a good thing she was normally mute anyway.
Abrafo shifted uncomfortably, shivering when the numbing agent was spat on his wounds. "You're so...gentle." He grunted out, teasing her over her bedside manner. There was nothing gentle in the way the bothered area around the torn flesh began to cool, or the way it made Abrafo sigh with relief after it had begun to fully kick in.
Snorting with a disgruntle look she held up her leg showing her mating cuff. Lulu was the gentle one but she was teaching Shadow the arts that she knew.
"She would." Abrafo chuckled harshly. His throat was dry thanks to the dehydration that had set in due to blood loss. It was something he would get over in the coming days, but for now all he wanted to do was rest.
Shadow sighed softly moving to nuzzle her father's thick mane before sitting by his head to keep watch. "Rest," came the harsh rasp."I keep guard." He needed to sleep so he could heal and she knew he wouldn't feel safe out in the open as he was, but right now he didn't need to be moved.
Taking in her rich scent the older lion only nodded his head. It wasn't often that he slept so openly around others, but with his Shadow he felt at peace. Surely at some point the others would come looking for them. For now, he was pleasantly content to catnap.
(WC:1197 )