Hunted (Private)

[Ruby_Fehu]

"I slept okay, are you alright? You had another nightmare again didn't you?" He said gently; nuzzling her comfortingly.

[Deleted]

"Yeah... ever since we left home," she said, then smiled, enoying his nuzzles. "You really are a wonderful lion. Tell me again how you came to fall in love with me."

[Ruby_Fehu]

"You know how." He said ambiguously, shuffling forward and rolling on his back so he was grinning up at her.

[Deleted]

"Remind me," she said, pouting. "I just like to hear you talk about how much you love me and why. Is that a burden to you?" She waited a moment, then added, "Here's how I came to love you: Despite the fact that EVERY other lioness of the pride was flirting with you and bringing you their kills, and despite the fact that they all picked on me, you still treated me with politeness and respect. You were kind to me where they were cruel, and didn't mind that I wasn't a good hunter - by the traditional sense anyway. And you called me Sweets, which is... very sweet." She grinned, poking out her tongue. "So why did you take an interest in me?"

[Ruby_Fehu]

"Because you didn't suck up to me. I always hated the attention, I wanted to love someone who was genuine and that was you. I would literally bow to your every need to get you to say you loved me too. I still do now and it was worth it." He replied, licking her nose.

[Deleted]

Wasana's grin came unbidden then. "Oh I love you," she said, then pulled him in for a hug, running her claws through his mane. "I don't understand how I'm worth it, and you know what? I don't mind. I'm just glad you're here. And I'm VERY glad you don't mind killing wilderbeast for me!"

[Ruby_Fehu]

Ezekiel grinned and nuzzled into his partner, enjoying every minute. "I love you too. Now come on, we can try and find that cave if you want. We could even make it a permanent home. This place has enough for us to live - food and water and such."

[Deleted]

Wasana grinned wryly. "Well, we can find the cave, but can we talk before we choose to settle down anywhere? I am a shaman, after all, and I could do a lot of good in a place where people could find us. You might never need to hunt again. Wouldn't you like to take a break from time to time?" She licked his nose.

[Ruby_Fehu]

"Okay then. For now, let's find the cave." With that he shuffled free of Wasana and stood up, "Need help?"

[Deleted]

"I'll be fine," Wasana said. She shuffled her back feet and took on a very serious expression, then pushed down on the ground, lifting her massive belly off the ground (just). Then she smiled at her mate. "Ready."

[Ruby_Fehu]

Ezekiel smiled and nodded before setting off at a steady pace.

[Deleted]

(Sorry I've been absent. Haven't felt very inspired. Will see if I can spice things up a bit in a few posts from now).

Wasana hated walking the savannah. The grass hid fallen branches and sticks and stones, all of which hurt the underside of her belly if she walked over them. Still she did her best to keep a steady pace, but half way to the cave her rear paw slipped and she landed on her stomach with an "oof." Her legs were tired, but she tried to breath smoothly, so Zeke wouldn't see how out of breath she was. "Sorry, love," she said, trying to regain composure.

[Ruby_Fehu]

Ezekiel went to her side quickly, "Hey it's fine. We can rest for a bit here if you want." He said softly, starting to lick the top of her head.

[Deleted]

Wasana looked about. Everywhere the grass towered over them. Ants crawled on her paws and flies buzzed around her ears. "No. I don't want to stay-" she started, but then heard something else. Something bigger than an insect. It sounded roughly like the chatter of monkeys, but the patterns were harder to discern. She grabbed Zeke's wrist. "Do you hear that?" she whispered, then looked up in time to see shafts of wood bobbing closer from their left. They were tipped with sharp stones. "Oh no..."

[Ruby_Fehu]

Ezekiel looked up and tensed. "We need to move. Now."

[Deleted]

Wasana watched as the spears multiplied. First two, then three, then five, then twelve. She tensed, wanting to rise but her legs were tired and stiff. "Z...Zeke? I need some help..."

[Ruby_Fehu]

Ezekiel grabbed her scruff roughly and pulled her up, "Go now." He snarled before turning and bounding in the opposite direction. Diving at one of the spears and grabbing it roughly, trying to buy time for Wasana.

[Deleted]

"Ow, Wasana said as Zeke bit her, then stared in horror as he ran towards the spears. "Zeke!" She cried, then realised what he wanted her to do. As fast as she could she waddled off towards the caves. Grass scraped cruelly across her stomach. As it swung back and forth it got in the way of her back legs, almost tripping her. But she kept going. The human voices were frantic now. She could hear cries of fear and bellows of rage. But ahead of her she saw the hill, and the dark shadow of the cave on its slope. She ran to it as fast as she could, her heart pounding in her chest, head growing faint. The voices behind her spurred her on until finally, she ran into the cave's blessed cool interior, and slumped into a heap.
"Zeke," she breathed.

[Ruby_Fehu]

Ezekiel cried out in pain as one of the humans jabbed at him, leaving a gash in his flank. He backed away from them not moving his gaze from the many humans until he glanced behind him and saw no sign of Wasana, that meant she was safe. Now he had to get a way. Turning he leaped a small distance away and began racing in the opposite direction, he wanted so badly to head to the cave but he couldn't risk putting Wasana in danger and so he steered off to the right as the cave came in sight. Praying they would follow him. He was a lion though, faster than the humans. More powerful. They'd give up soon enough and when they did he would return to his mate.

[Deleted]

Wasanaheard a commotion outside the cave, though it quickly moved off. She raised her head and looked at the entrance. It was darker than usual. Something was moving closer very quietly. She could hear its careful footsteps of the stones. Finally a hand appeared, then a pair of intelligent eyes.
She hissed at the human. Just one - and a small one like this - she could probably defeat on her own. Nevertheless it withdrew by itself.
She allowed herself a moment to relax. If only Zeke was here. She felt so vulnerable without him.
But then the sounds returned. This time with a cry: the small human came back, followed by another, carrying a small bundle of animal hides. The female stopped and locked eyes with her, and Wasana offered the obligatory hiss. Nevertheless the small male indicated to a place on the ground and the female lay the baby down. It cried. Next two men carrying a large platter of meat came inside and lay it next to the baby. They looked at her too, before withdrawing.
Wasana awaited a moment before gathering her strength and standing. The baby was crying now. She stood up and moved the furs aside, and for a second the baby gazed on in fear. Then it bawled in earnest. "Hush," she said. She looked to the meat. Beside it was a small bowl of herbs. She recognised some of them as medicinal. Why were they giving her herbs, raw meat and a human cub?
Then it came to her, at the same time she noticed the strange smell coming from the baby. And the cough, cutting off its cries. "You're sick," she said. "They want me to heal you."

[Ruby_Fehu]

Once the hunters had gone off Ezekiel turned and raced back to the cave only to find the humans huddled where Wasana was hiding. He shoved through the crowd at a run, some jumping back in fear but when they realized he had one thing on his mind only they calmed. Ezekiel soon took his place beside Wasana just as they placed a bundle of furs down and a bowl of meat and herbs, just as he was about to speak the baby let out a wail and Ezekiel recoiled at how loud it was, he was about to ask what was going on when Wasana spoke out loud about the child being sick.

"I don't understand, why are they looking to you to heal their cub. Surely they have humans who can fix things like you do." He said, his tone gently and low because he knew that it would be nothing but a roar to the human ears. At least if he spoke quietly it wouldn't appear as a threatening roar.

[Deleted]

Wasana gasped. "Zeke!" She said, throwing her arms around him. She hugged him very tight, breathing a sigh of relief into his mane. Then she leaned back and said crossly, "Don't EVER run away like that again. You scared me to death!"

[Ruby_Fehu]

"If it meant keeping you safe I would do it all over again." He replied, cowering a little as she shouted at him. Only Wasana could make him like that.

[Deleted]

"I know, I know," she said, then sighed. "You're right as usual. I was just scared. I'm sorry." She felt bad that she had wounded him, and was about to express that more fully when the baby stopped crying. She looked down to see it looking back at them. "Hello, little thing," she said, running her fingers through its curly hair. It grabbed its toes and giggled. "Humans are cute when they're little, no?" She sniffed him again. "I think he has a skin disease... It smells like flamelick. Maybe that's why they brought him to us. Lions get flamelick too."
She turned to the herbs, rummaging through them. "There's nothing here I can use... Zeke, my dear. I need a ruby flower. Any red flower will do, but I need its roots. Can you gather at least ten plants? Look around the base of streams or the northern slopes of hills, where it's shady."

[Ruby_Fehu]

Ezekiel nodded and padded out of the cave, the humans all leapt to the side and watched; lucky for him there were a variety of plants on top of the cave and under a large accacia tree. Scanning over them he began to dig carefully when the humans began to help him, much to his surprise.


After about an hour the lion and humans had gathered well over ten plants and were now carrying them back to Wasana. Ezekiel dropped his mouthful down and the humans copied him. "Is this enough?" He asked.

[Deleted]

"Yes. That's very good," she said. She took the roots of the first plant and chewed it into a paste, then applied it to the infected areas of the child's skin. Only the small human male had remained behind, but he watched with keen eyes. Wasana pushed the baby forward with her nose. She knew humans couldn't understand lion but she said, "repeat this every day until all the plants are gone." She also pushed the rest of the roots to him. As far as Wasana could tell, he understood, for he called in the child's mother, who took the baby. He took the plants with a bow, and then pushed the platter of meat forward with his spear before retreating.
Wasana looked to Zeke. "I think they mean the food as a gift," she said.

[Ruby_Fehu]

Ezekiel nodded in surprise. "That was certainly different. If only all humans were like that." He sighed.

[Deleted]

Wasana sat down with a sigh. "Do you mind if I eat? I've been staring at this food for an hour since you left."

[Ruby_Fehu]

"It's fine, go ahead." He smiled.

[Deleted]

"Thank you," Wasana said, and bit into the meat. It was skinless and boneless and tasted delicious. She finished it quickly. "That was very good... It tasted a little strange though. I left the heart for you." She smiled up at Zeke, and then noticed his leg. "You're injured. When did that happen? Why didn't you tell me? Lie down here, let me look at you."