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 Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 3:00 pm
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Aera was growing. She was still small enough to need a dedicated guardian most of the day, but that didn't mean she couldn't sneak off every now and then. She knew Katiti would be watching her, with the use of her ravens, so it wasn't as if the bright red cub could go far. Today, she found herself investigate a termite mound. To a cub, it looked like a playground of fun. To an adult, it seemed to be on its last leg, shifting with the earth's rotation, ready to fall.
It was a shame Aera didn't notice that.
---
From his perch, the Monarch's Claw watched the pride below. He enjoyed this particular spot; he was able view most of the pride, from the termite mounds, to the far edge of the lands borders. Ebbe's eyes narrowed, spotting a small flash of red near one of the termite mounds. Who was watching that child? He stood, glancing around for any guardian.
His mind went to his dark apprentice. See, children were such a distraction, and broke all the routines. The small cub seemed to match the male's thoughts from the other day. He shook his head, deciding to head in the direction. Some of these mounds weren't safe, now it had to be Ebbe the one to break the news.
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Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 3:32 pm
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It was not a requirement for Delphi to stay with Ebbe at all times but even when she was not with him she found herself thinking about him. She treated every action with purpose and questioned what value he would have seen in it. She wasn't certain if she was growing as an apprentice or simply driving herself insane - it had been a very, very long time since anyone had consumed her thoughts so completely and she felt very much like she might have been on the verge of losing herself.
This late in the afternoon she had been dismissed, per usual, though she had not gone terribly far. There was a bit of shade across from the perch she knew Ebbe loved so dearly and she had taken the chance to wallow in it, concealing her dark coat within the shadows. She hadn't even really been paying him much mind until she noticed him stand of a sudden and begin to move. Even at a distance she could seen concern across his normally stoic face though it was a wonder if she only noticed because she had been learning to read him so well.
At once, her eyes shifted and darted across the landscape in the direction he had been staring. They landed, immediately, on the small form of the cub and the playground she had so blindly chosen. A knot curled at the pit of her belly and she was standing without a second thought, propelling herself forward toward the unstable mound.
"Little one," she called as soon as she felt herself within an ear's distance, doing her damnedest not to look immediately concerned.
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Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 3:46 pm
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Aera was pawing at the mound, giggling as she took a few swipes at it. "Take this, and this!"
Dirt didn't creak when it moved. It was silent. The one thing the cub found odd of the situation was there was no little bugs running in and out of the small holes they had created. She frowned. They were always fun to torment.
Her ears flicked as someone called out to her. At least, she assumed it was her. She was the only 'little one' in the area. Aera's bright eyes glanced towards the approaching shadow. "Oh. Hi! Come to play?" She asked, a bright smile on her maw.
---
If Ebbe had been paying more attention, he would have seen the lioness dart from the shadows, moving more quickly towards the cub than he had. He had paused a step, Delphi? he thought to himself, an eyebrow quirked, watching the scene unfold before him. She could take care of it then...
But there was still a sense of duty the lion still had to fulfill. He continued forward. His eyes widened as he saw the shifting of the termite mound. Not only was the cub under it, but so was his apprentice.
He quickened his pace. But as he did, he could see the collapsing of mound, as if in slow motion, right before his eyes. |
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Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 4:13 pm
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For the space of a breath, Delphi had been absolutely sure that she was going to stop the disaster she had been so sure of. The little cub turned a pair of bright eyes up at her and stopped what she was doing beneath Delphi's attention. It made the older lioness smile as she took a few very, very cautious steps forward.
"Yes, absolutely," she heard herself say in a voice that was uncharacteristically kind, "let's just go find a better, bigger termite mound to play with, okay? One with lots of-"
Motion stilled her words and her eyes darted quickly past the little red figure to the mound that began to sway dangerously. There was no time to tell her to move or get out of the way. Instead, Delphi did the only damned thing she could think of - she dove forward, trying to use her own body to shield the little thing from harm. It happened too quickly and slowly all at once and Delphi couldn't even manage to groan as she was quickly overcome by the debris.
A cloud of dusty orange rose around them and shielded everything from her vision, including the Claw that was making haste in her direction.
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Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 4:25 pm
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Aera was about to retort, but she saw the older lioness look past her. She turned her head, her eyes following, watching the mound start to crumble. She felt herself shrinking to the ground, as the darker lioness dove on top of her. The cub squealed in terror, feeling the weight on her from the lion, and the termite mass.
---
"No." Ebbe found himself whispering. His trot turned into a full on gallop at her raced to the collapsing structure. He was too late though. Dust was flying up, shielding his view. He didn't want for it to clear. He was there, pushing away the hardened dirt, feeling it break under his claws.
The first thing he saw was the bright red tail of the cub, sticking out. He continued to push his way through, until the dark pelt of his apprentice appeared.
"Delphi?" He said cautiously. Any light markings on his own pelt was stained with the orange dust. Usually he wouldn't be so careless with his appearance, but now was certainly not the time to dabble in that.
He nudged the female, hearing the cub cry out from under her.
---
"Is it over?!" Aera cried out. |
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Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 4:36 pm
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Being buried beneath the rubble was an odd feeling; it dotted out all the light and filled her nostrils so thickly with the smell of clay and rubble that it was hard for her to get a feel of how deeply she was stuck beneath it. She knew she was alive from how much damned pain was crawling through her bones; it wasn't serious, she thought, but she was also having a very hard time judging such.
She had expected to remain that way for a lot longer than it took the older male to drag away most of the debris. It was a lucky thing he had been watching, that was for sure, since no one else in the pride seemed to think anything odd about the young cub being so foolish.
As the rubble was pulled away from her face, she searched through the cloying, swirling dust clouds to find Ebbe's rosy eyes. It was odd how comforting they seemed in that moment. She didn't dare answer him yet but shifted as much as she could with the weight of the debris still crushing her lower half, letting the cub have as much room as she could offer to try and claw her way out. The wince that struck across her face suggested it felt damned awful so she hoped, with as little irritation as she could muster, that the girl wiggled out sooner rather than later.
"Help her," for once, it was Delphi's turn to be short and curt. She was worried as much as she was in pain and neither of those things were contributing positively to her mood.
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Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 4:46 pm
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The Claw watched as Delphi shifted, there was enough room for the cub to squeeze out, yet she didn't seem to be moving.
Not caring how it looked, the lion was quick to grab her tail, pulling her from underneath the apprentice. "What the hell do you think you were doing?" The lion scolded, his voice echoing. "You could have been killed! She could have been killed!"
"I didn't..."
"No. Of COURSE you didn't. You didn't think. You didn't watch." The red pelt was familiar, was this Katiti's toy? "Get back to your guardian now."
The cub nodded quickly, seeming unharmed from the ordeal. Without watching the cub the leave, Ebbe turned back towards Delphi. "You saved her..." He frowned, working on the debris that covered her tail end. The wince she had done previous did not go unnoticed. "Stop moving." He ordered the lioness. It would do more harm than good right now until she was completely free from the debris.
It didn't take long, but Ebbe was sure he managed to at least make the area movable for the lioness.
"Where are you injured." It was not a question. He was by no means a healer, but all members of the pride would know basic skills in wound care. However, if her wounds were more internal, Ebbe would be up a creek. |
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Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 5:23 pm
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Delphi didn't need to be told twice.
With her adrenaline quickly wearing away and the gravity of her injuries setting in, she felt exhaustion coming for her like a storm on the horizon. While the Queen's Claw worked to remove the debris that still held her pinned, the dark lioness let herself dwell in her anger and irritation.
"My side," she offered, softer now that she realized how much worse it felt to speak, though she was well aware of the dozens of grazes and cuts that nicked and matted her dark fur too. It was harder to tell if there were actual bleeds, not with how thoroughly she was covered in clay dust, but she didn't think anything could hurt more than the pulse of pain across her ribcage. "My back paw.. isn't much better."
The look on her face was a mix of different emotions, all saturated with the pulsing points of pain that radiated across her body. It made her wince simply as she tried to breath so instead she let herself lay there, drawing shallow breaths and cursing herself for the sudden hero complex. Survival, she heard her old man's favorite word echo in her head and shut her eyes, defeated. She was letting Ebbe ruin all the lessons the old rogue had taught her. Delphi of a year ago would not have dived to save a cub..
"Stupid." It wasn't clear if she meant the cub or herself, maybe even something else altogether.
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Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 5:32 pm
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He was at her side when she mentioned that was where the injury was. His nose twitched as he sniffed, lightly nudging the area. He watched for any signs of pain that was sure to cause a reaction from the lioness. He shook his head.
"Stupid indeed." What he was agreeing was questionable.
Ebbe didn't dare ask if the lioness could walk. Even if she said she was fine (she wasn't), he wouldn't allow her.
His ear flickered at the presence of a small form behind him. The cub didn't leave?
"Can I help?" Aera asked quietly.
A raised lip from the striped male caused her to scamper off. This time, he watched her leave completely before turning back to Delphi. "And you wanted a family." He scoffed quietly, assessing for any more injuries such as her back paw. He let out a slow sigh, obvious contemplating what to do, and the options weren't the greatest.
"Brace yourself." He stated. "This will probably hurt."
Ebbe meant to carry the lioness back to the dens. It would be no use leaving her out here; she was hard-headed enough to probably try moving. That would only do more damage. He moved to her 'good side, nudging her once more. He just needed to find a good angle, ah, there it was, to lift her up.
Oh what a sight this would be for any Outlanders looking on. |
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