Time was not on her side, Miarel knew that. Her best chance was on Luris to lead the lion around and not take him directly to the pond. With an injured leg, Miarel felt confident that her brother would make sure they took their time. She traveled straight to the pond, only taking short naps when she had to.
As she traveled, she thought of different ways she could rescue her brother. The most ideal was to get someone to fight for her and during the fight sneak Luris away. It just meant she would have to find someone who would be willing to distract the lion long enough. Her and her brother had always relied on each other. She wasn't even sure how to go about asking for help.
When she finally did reach the pond, she was tired and exhausted. It was getting close to night. There were some creatures hanging out around the pond, some seemed to be travelers like herself, others seemed familiar and she was certain she saw them the last time she was here.
What she needed was to find the biggest, most intimidating lion she could. There were a good number of possible candidates. There was one lion though that caught her attention. He sat alone, under one of the trees. From the looks of him, he seemed tough.
'This is it Miarel, be confident. Convince this lion that you need his help.' She thought as she walked toward the lion. He did not seem to notice her though. He was calmly looking upwards, watching the clouds drift. She stopped in front of him and cleared her throat to get his attention.
Her'sie had found this spot on one of his previous traveling adventures. It was a spot that was quiet, peaceful where nothing happened. He was glad that he was able to stumble across it again. Lift as a trader brought him back to places he thought he would never see again.
Places like this made him feel safe. That he cold enjoy watching the clouds sail across the sky and not worry about others. Of course he would think differently if he knew about the cheetah that was approaching him.
He did not bother to look at her when he heard her approaching. Hopefully she would find someone else to bug, he thought, as he spotted an elephant shaped cloud. He had no such luck though. When she cleared her throat, he lazily drew his attention to her. She did not look familiar. Her'sie was typically good at remembering the faces of those he had interacted with, especially ones that looked as pretty as she did.
“Can I help you with something?” he asked, giving her his full attention. Maybe she heard he was a trader? Usually he did not work while he rested, but for her, he might make an exception.
'Be confident' Miarel reminded herself. “Well I am in a bit of an odd situation and I need some help.” Miarel explain. “I don't really know who to go to, so I have to turn to strangers for help.”
Her'sie rolled his eyes. “You heard I was a trader and want things from me. Sorry but I don't give hand outs.” He replied, with a bit of irritation in his voice. He should have assumed that all she wanted was a gift or something. His attention went back up to the sky.
“No- that's not what I want.” She blurted out, feeling a little embarrassed. “There is a lion who has my brother. He said he would only return him if I found someone for him to fight. I would fight him myself, but he would just cut through me like a leaf.”
Her'sie looked back at her. “And so you are asking a complete stranger to help you? To potentially be beaten up so you can get your brother back? Ya I don't think that I am the lion you are looking for.” He replied.
“I'll give you some of my treasure,” she said, carefully pulling out one of the rings around her ear. “This is just one of a few trinkets my brother and I have. We have more hidden away. If you fight for me, you can have as much as you want.” Miarel passed the earring over to him and the lion examined it carefully.
The rest of the 'treasure' was in her brother's pouch he wore around his neck. There wasn't much, but it was what their father had given their mother when they first met. The only thing Miarel found interesting was the earring, but even that she couldn't care less about parting with.
A cheetah in desperate need of help comes to me to help, Her'sie thought as he examined the ring. He wondered if there would be anyone else who would take her up on the offer in the area. Deep down, he had a soft spot for those in need. That soft spot became more obvious when treasure and goods were involved.
“Tell me more about who I am fighting and about the reward.” He said, his eyes returning to the cheetah. Her eyes lite up when he said this. “I am not saying I am going to help you, just that you have my attention.”
“Of course! Well I don't know anything about the lion. My brother and I were traveling in a forest, hunting some prey, when we saw the red eyes of the lion. He chased us down and my brother tripped and hurt his leg. The lion was getting closer so I hid. The lion told my brother that if he tried to run from him, he would kill him. My brother offered to take him here in exchange for his life. The lion however said that they only way he would let my brother go was if someone were to fight him for my brothers freedom.” Miarel took a deep breath. It was a lot to cover. “I think he knew where I was. At one point he looked directly at me.” The thought of his eyes on her sent a shiver down her spine.
“What I would like to do is just have him distracted long enough so I can sneak my brother away. I would return and help you deal with the lion.” she explained.
“And what is stopping you from running away and keeping the treasure for yourselves?” Her'sie asked.
“Honor?” She gave an innocent smile, but Her'sie just rolled his eyes. “I mean, if we did try that you could always tell the lion what we were up to. With my brother injured we couldn't make it too far. The two of you would be able to find us if I betrayed you. Which I would never.”
“So really you are putting your full faith in me.”
“Yes. If you are willing to help save my brother.”
“Okay you have a deal. But I want something else out of you and your brother when the fight is all done.” He said.
Miarel hesitated to respond. The treasure her and Luris had wasn't a lot, so it would make sense to add more to the lions reward in order to avoid upsetting him. “What do you want?”
“When this is all done, you two will travel with me for a little bit and help me out with my trading. I won't force you to stick around and you will be free to leave at any point. However, there is safety in numbers and I am certain you and your brother would find yourself in trouble just as quickly as you got out of it.” He explained. “Plus I could use the company for a bit.”
It was a surprising offer, Miarel thought. “Alright we can do that.” She said gladly. He was right. Traveling with someone would at the very least give her some comfort.
“I guess we should prepare for the fight then.” Her'sie said, trying to sound more confident then he was.
WC: 1,355