Soft dirt under her paws, blue sky all above, the wind tickling through her short, pale coat. The day couldn’t get much better for the Cinga. Twitching an ear she glanced upward, watching as her vulture companion circled high on the thermals, seeming to float effortlessly in the air. Ilanga had often tried, as a cub, to fly like her companion did now. Wishing to go as far and as fast as the birds could. Of course a lion would never fly, but she had the next best thing.. Idla. And a body strong and fit enough to keep up with the vulture as they scouted through their homeland.
Suddenly a cry from high above reached her and she automatically look in the direction Idla was indicating with her looping flight. The pair had worked out a method of communication that allowed the vulture to stay high aloft, far out of speaking range, and yet still allow her to ‘talk’ to her lion-bonded on the ground. Right now she was performing the looping sweeps that told Ilanga that she had seen something important, as well as what direction and roughly how far. Throwing herself into a smooth run Ilanga took off, not even considering not going to investigate.
Soon enough she saw a shape on the savannah, a very still dead-looking lump of sandy colour fur. As she drew closer she realised it was a lioness. Had a rogue come into the pride and passed on? Or was it a pride-sister? Speeding her strides she quickly covered the remaining distance, slowing only when she was a pace away.
“Hello?”
The dusty figure didn’t move, but now Ilanga was so close she could see the sharp protrusions of ribs were moving slowly with each breath. A sound she could just make out under the whispering song of the light breeze. “Hey… are you ill?” She tried again, and this time was rewarded with a brief flicker of movement. She finally recognised the lioness when those piercing blue eyes opened, though they were dull now. “Dania…” Frowning slightly she wondered what the lioness was doing all the way out here. But in her no-nonsense manner she stepped forward and shoved her head under the smaller female’s shoulder, forcing her up onto her belly instead of laying flat on her side.
Slowly the dazed looking Dania folded her limbs more appropriately under her, gazing up at Ilanga without really recognising her. In fact the first real independent movement she gaze was to flinch when Idla landed heavily beside them, kicking up little puffs of dust.
“…. Ilanga…?” She queried, her voice hesitant as if not entirely sure of the Cinga’s name, or maybe she was so out of it she was struggling to remember, or recall herself. Gazing about the weak Umzingeli seemed unsure, confused. Taking pity on her Ilanga smiled. “Yes, that’s right. And this is Idla.” The vulture clicked her beak in welcome though was already eyeing what looked like the remains of a springbok leg. Though it was so far gone Ilanga couldn’t really tell.
“You are pretty far from the pride.” She prompted gently.
Dania had become distracted watching the vulture as the bird hopped over to the scrap of bone and meat. It had been the only thing Dania had managed to scavenge, her belly so painful she had been desperate but when it came to eating she had been unable to even attempt it. The same sickness that kept her from enjoying the fresh kills her pride-sisters made had struck her again. Cramp seized her stomach again, an almost constant presence in her body the past few days, but she simply turned her head away from the now feeding vulture and instead stared up at Ilanga, hopelessly. She wasn’t sure why the other female had come to her, or what she wanted, but Dania was too tired to struggle with the thought.
After a long moment her head sank down to her paws and she closed her eyes. Sleep… sleep eased the pain. Both in her belly, and in her chest. She only needed sleep and she would be ok….
Yet the insistent nudging from Ilanga refused to let her rest and she weakly lifted her head again. “Come along.” The no-nonsense Cinga said as she shoved and pushed and nipped at Dania until she forced the weak lioness to stand. “You can’t stay here.” Dania couldn’t see why not, but she was too tired to argue and allowed the larger female to bully her along, only walking with a stiff, slow-legged pace but the Cinga seemed content to move slowly, so long as they were moving. Every time she tried to stop, or lay down, she received a sharp n**. But eventually she could not lift a paw and sank directly to the ground where she stood.
Ilanga sighed but knew Dania was not being wilful. The lioness looked horrible, all skin and bone and broken eyes. She didn’t know Dania well, but she did recal there being a twin. Come to think of it… a twin Ilanga had not seen in quite a while. Was that what was wrong with the umzingeli? Frowning she watched as Dania rested. Her coat was dull and she had clearly not been eating. She vaguely recalled hearing about the meeting not long ago, where Dania had snapped at a fellow lioness. Was the fact her twin as missing causing this change? Or was it the recent troubles in the pride? The loss of both Umholi had hit everyone hard, but if a lioness was already reeling from one loss, another may push her over the edge…
Either way it was clear someone needed to look after Dania until she could find her paws again. Sighing softly she turned to Idla, calling the vulture over with a low, quiet chuff. “Can you go scout a meal? I’m going to try and get Dania to eat..”
“Sure sure!” Idla chirped, stretching her large wings. “I go. Call you soon.” With several heavy flaps the vulture jumped and took off, winging her way into the broad blue as she started to hunt. When she located a target she would signal to Ilanga and the lioness would go fetch it for Dania. In the mean time….
“Come on Dania… lets go a little futher…”
(words = 1,061)
