{PRP}Held Up Lame {Farasi x Kyriaka}

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Kyriaka slowly cleaned her left foreleg carefully. Carefully because her right foreleg was still in a cast. The leopardess was a hunter. The enforced idleness while she waited for her bones to heal was slowly driving her mad. Normally she was quite cheerful and always full of excitement and enthusiasm. It was terribly boring to just lay here.

She was resting in a patch of rare sunlight this day. Almost everyone avoided her these days, except her familiar Iphigeneia and her healer. She finished her paw and groaned as she contemplated the struggles of washing her back legs or even her back. Finally she settled for flipping her tail around and working on that instead.

She was soooooo bored! “Iphi! Are you sure you don’t want to play another game?” Did she sound whiny? Kyriaka was sure she did.


Iphi looked up from preparing a meal for her friend as her tail wagged, raising a small dust cloud. “Sure. If you don’t mind losing some more. I’m not about to go easy on you just because you broke your leg you know. I would have thought after these few months you’d have learned that by now.”

The maned wolf picked up the bowl with carefully shredded meat and brought it over to the feline. “Do stop licking so much. You’ll go bald if you keep that up.” The female sighed with fondness and shook her head. The pair were like sisters from different mothers with their identical markings. Iphi wouldn’t leave her friend to wallow in misery alone.
 

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It started with Mahiri hearing something and then taking off and Farasi hurrying after her. What Mahiri had heard was the keening wail of a leopard and who that leopard was, he didn't know. She struck Farasi as pretty,
but what was more impressive was that both she and her familiar had matching markings. He blinked curiously, but then strolled forward with a smile.

"Good day, ladies." He said smoothly, coming to stand nearby and eyed the leopard's leg as he did so. "What seems to be the trouble?"
Mahiri had very impressive hearing, everyone said so.
Well, not everyone, but Farasi had told her so once and he had been her everyone for so long that it still counted, even if her everyone had expanded slightly.

At any rate, she heard the complaint and she was determined to answer it.
She sped off and found herself looking first at a maned wolf and then at a leopard. Both, she noted, were female and both, she noted, looked exactly the same, right down to the eye color!
"You're twins!" She exclaimed in surprise. "But you're different species! How can you be twins?"

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The leopardess wrinkled her nose. The maned wolf was right. She never did take pity on her! Kyriaka was on the verge of feeling annoyed or depressed. They had played so many times that Iphi was clearly the better player. She claimed the game sharpened her mind. Kyriaka wasn’t sure about that, or if her friend was implying she was stupid cause she almost always lost. She eyed her pelt with a frown. What else was she supposed to do?

A welcome distraction and relief came from an unexpected source. Kyriaka looked up as a serval and lion entered her clearing. Her eyes widened in surprise at someone brave enough to risk contact with her. “Oh nothing much, just a healing broken leg.” She replied and waved the offending appendage around, much to Iphi’s dismay.

The serval’s reaction to her and her familiar’s coloring was simply adorable though. Kyriaka looked at Iphi then busted out into giggles.


Iphi was also surprised to see a lion entering the clearing. She nodded to the new duo. Maybe they would be able to provide her friend with a healthy dose of distraction. She did make vocal sounds of protest when the leopardess waved her broken leg around. “Don’t do that! You might break it again.” A slight overstatement perhaps, but better than the alternative of reinjuring the leg.

When Kyriaka looked at her, she couldn’t help but laugh with amusement at the poor serval’s confusion. “We are twins of the soul little friend. That is why we bear the same colors and markings, yet we’re different species.” Her eyes winkled with humor.
 

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Farasi looked sympathetically at the injured leg and came to sat with the other.
"My goodness, however did that happen? If you don't mind telling the tale again, for I'm sure many have asked." He inquired and then added. "My name is Farasi and that," He nodded to his small companion, "Is my familiar, Mahiri. It's a pleasure to meet you." He added coolly.
Mahiri stared at the two with wide eyes and a mouth that hung open.
"That's so cool!" She mewed and looked to her companion. "Why aren't we twins of the soul? I'm sure you'd look pretty neat with rainbow stripes." She grinned. "Though I guess that's why you chose me as a familiar when you were pining over Vaiva." She looked back to the pair and whisper-said, "That's his mate. She's got rainbow zebra-stripes."
She glanced down at her paws and craned her neck to see her flanks. "I don't know what kinda stripes I have, but they're still cool, right?"

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Once her giggles were under control she was able to focus upon what the others were saying. Iphi, with her usually glib tongue, had come up with a unique and inventive reason for their identical coloration. Kyriaka rather liked that touch. Sisters of the soul eh? She’d remember that next time her butt was getting whipped at the game.

It sure made an impression on the serval though. She laughed again as the serval asked her partner why they weren’t twins. “Twins of the soul are rare.” Why not add in her own bit?

“I’m Kyriaka and Iphi over there is my familiar. Ah Vaiva? Or Marzena? There's two rainbow cheetahs.” Kyriaka eyed the serval, “I think you have stripe stripes.” She looked back to the lion and smiled. “It was a hunting accident I’m afraid. Only had Iphi along with me.”



She smiled at the lion. Yes, this would be a good distraction. “If you’re asking about this, then you’re new since everyone else has heard it. Welcome to the Isoba.” Iphi nodded her head with her introduction. “Or your my leopard,” she teased.

Kyriaka’s reason was as good as any that she could come up with, so she nodded. “I think he’s handsome the way he is, but I’m sure some rainbow would always benefit him.” Iphi sounded amused. “Rainbow is very fashionable. Who else could make that many colors just work for them?” She did like the rainbow hued stripes that went down the serval’s body.
 

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Farasi made a rumbling noise of sympathy.
"From what beast? Because if need be, I can go and track one down and bring you back its head as ample revenge." He grinned at the other and his muscles twitched. He was certainly on the brawny side of things and he knew it well. He became a Dagrun for a reason.

"Or if not, perhaps I may at the very least provide you with some manner of company." He glanced at Mahiri. "Or I could leave Mahiri with you for a bit, since she seems rather taken with the two of you." He offered with a light chuckle.

At the notion of a second rainbow cheetah by the name of Marzena, he tilted his head. He didn't know the name, but had Vaiva mentioned it before? He couldn't remember.
"Vaiva." He replied. "She is the love of my life." He declared boldly.

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense." She sighed and then smiled. "Stripe-stripes... I like it!" She replied cheerily and ran a figure eight, before stopping to stare at the injured leg. "Did you see an Eir? Did you have to eat something gross? Farasi had to get a thorn pulled from his paw, he was such a baaaby, but he didn't have to eat anything gross, so that was okay, I guess." She explained, much to her bonded's apparent chagrin, for he looked a little sheepish.

At the thought of staying with the friendly two longer, she perked up.
"I'd like that!" She told Farasi. "I could tell you guys all about my adventures with Farasi before we came here! It's very exciting. And then, you guys could tell me about what the Isoba was like since, well, since whenever you got here!" She said, bouncing in her excitement.

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She wrinkled her nose playfully at the maned wolf. Whoever was whos, they belonged with each other. His fresh sympathy helped settled her quickly. It was nice to have a fresh set of ears. She sighed. “To my shame, a zebra. But no, don’t take it out on them. It was my own fault for going out and hunting something too big for me alone.” As much as she hated to admit it.

“Next time I’m allowed hunting, you’re definitely welcomed along!” He looked big and strong! “I could use with some fresh company if you aren’t busy. Tell me what you’ve seen or done recently. I haven’t been allowed to move from this spot in far too long!” She leaned forward early to listen. “She’s more than welcome to stay too.”

“Ah that one. I’m glad she’s found someone so loyal.” Cheekily she batted her eyes flirtingly at him. Kyriaka laughed at Mahiri’s questions. “I saw two Eir! Although one didn’t belong to this pride, but she still helped me.”



Iphi settled down until she was comfortable. She was looking forward to some fresh news too. As much as Kyriaka hadn’t been able to leave, neither had she. “I second the notion of fresh company.” She smiled at the devotion of the lion for the cheetah.

“I’m glad you do. I think they are lovely stripes since I don’t have any.” Her eyes crinkled with suppressed laughter as the serval ratted out on her partner. “They made her eat green mucky stuff, and when she wouldn’t listen, the healer had to sit on her.” Iphi laughed. “I would love to hear about your adventures. I think we can do that.” It sounded like a fair trade to her.
 

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Farasi lay down and put one front paw over the other. Finally, he took a deep breath as though preparing for a grand story and began his tale.
"Well, before Mahiri and I came to the pride, we lived as rogues. That's how we met Vaiva who was, too, a rogue. Naturally struck by her beauty, regardless of the species difference," He waved a paw in the air, showing that it was hardly important whether she was a cheetah or otherwise. "I told her that I simply had to travel along with her, for I knew I would never see a finer creature in all of my life." He smiled. "I managed to woo her and we became mates after that. Had a litter of three beautiful cubs, two twins and one boy..." He trailed off and then resumed his story. No need to think of what happened to the litter.

"Then something came up from my old pride and I had to go to them. Long story short, it didn't end well and I came back to the rogue lands to look for Vaiva again. I looked for anything with rainbow stripes, which is how I met this one." He smiled at Mahiri, who grinned back at him, happy to be in the story at last. "It was only recently I managed to find Vaiva again and now I'm settling into the pride. It's certainly a change of pace, from being a rogue to being surrounded by so many others." He remarked.

"He said that he thought I was Vaiva from far away, cause I was so small, but when he got up close, I was still as small as I looked from far away." Mahiri put in eagerly when her name was mentioned in the story, before falling silent again.

"Before we met Vaiva and her familiar, Nasrin." Mahiri rolled her eyes at the name. "We traveled all over the place. Not into anyone else's pride, of course, but in the rogue lands. It was really fun. Did you join this pride as a rogues? Or were you born here? How did you meet each other?" She asked, firing her questions at them at the speed of light.

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The pair snugged up to each other as they settled in to hear the tales. Kyriaka gently leaned in one direction until her shoulder met the shoulder of her friend, as if expecting it to be there and having complete faith it would be. Kyriaka smiled happily as he gave a short version of his love story. Now if only she could find a nice leopard boy she’d be happy.

“Oooooo,” she breathed as he spoke of his old pride. “Well we’re glad to have you. Thank you for telling us.” She scratched her ear, “well we use to be rogues too. We happened across each other and intrigued that our pelts matched we simply stayed together. We kind of drifted into the pride and here we’ve stayed. It’s nice here and we love it.”



The maned wolf settled beside her friend and leaned into the shoulder that was expecting her. She nodded in all the right places for his story. “It’s nice to have other’s where you have something in common.” Iphi was thinking of the pride’s tendencies to lurk in the shadows.

“I’m surprise he managed to see you from a distance. It must have been those rainbow stripes.” The female blinked at the tone of the other familiar’s name. Something said the two hadn’t hit it off well. “I was just wandering where with no real place go or any place to call home. She looked so much like me I thought she was a sister. It turned out she was.”
 

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Farasi nodded along with what they had to say, appreciating the company and under the assumption that he had made two new friends in the process. Still, with all of this talk of his lady love, he felt the sudden and strong urge to return to her. So, getting to his paws, he said.
"I'm sorry to cut my stay short and, Mahiri, you're welcome to stay longer, if you'd like," He told his familiar, before turning to the leopard and wolf. "But all this talk of Vaiva makes me need to go see her." He smiled a little and bowed his head. "Kyriaka, I hope your leg heals soon so that we can indeed go hunt together." He smiled up at the leopard. "I'm sure we can take the next zebra we come across down with all four of us." He said, before nodding to her familiar and excusing himself. He waited a moment to see if Mahiri was coming, but her chatter alerted him that she was happy where she was. He was relieved. She had been having a little trouble with his beloved's familiar, so it was good that she was getting to know others and make friends of her own. So he left her to it. She would know where to find him, anyway.

Mahiri soaked up the words of her companions and listened eagerly. She was concentrating so much on the other females that it was only when she felt Farasi get up beside her that she looked up and blinked, only to shrug and look back to her companions. She was eager to know more.
"How did you find the Isoba? We had to have Vaiva show us the way. Did you meet someone who showed you the way? Were they nice? What's their name?" She chattered on and on, contentedly. She wanted to know everything about her new friends and by golly she was going to!

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Fin~