It took a painfully long time for Siyo'Jini to make it back to the main part of the pride, and that was due to having to balance an unconscious lioness on his back. She wasn't heavy, not by a long shot, but Siyo'Jini was doing his best not to drop her. He had hurt her enough. It didn't take long for a few curious eyes to land on their leader, and Siyo'Jini felt the weight of every stare in his direction. Some were Tani'Ajiri members, some were visitors looking to make contracts with Thunzi, all were unwelcome at this very moment.
The large lion stopped in his tracks, emerald eyes narrowing dangerously as he scanned the immediate area. The two resident healers were nowhere in sight. Siyo'Jini, the Boss of the Tani'Ajiri, threw his head back and roared to gather the attention of those around him, before snarling a command at each and every one of them. He would not be mincing words; time was of the essence. "Find Jua'kali!" were their orders. The other lion's name was simply the first to spring to his mind, though he would not be angry by any stretch of the imagination if Melaku had appeared before him instead. Both were capable healers.
The journey was a strange one for the semi-conscious lioness, who kept having brief moments of lucidity before falling back into unconsciousness. She knew she was moving, but not by any means of her own. Was someone carrying her? Her mind flashed with mild alarm, but she was still too fuzzy to understand why that scared her.
Jua'kali had been enjoying a nice afternoon of herb organizing when all of the sudden someone had run up and demanded he follow them. Jua was typically grumpy to begin with, but as he opened his maw to argue with the insolent interloper, he was cut short by just who was requesting, no, demanding his presence. Siyo'Jini, the pride leader himself. That shut Jua up quick as he had no mind to get on the large lion's bad side. What's worse, he wasn't sure what he was walking into, or what sort of medicine, if any, would be needed. The messenger apparently didn't have any relative information either. This would be difficult, then. "Lead the way," Jua urged as he hurriedly followed after.
He could still feel the burning stares of those around him, and he tried his best to ignore them, but his patience was wearing thin. He wanted to lash out, he wanted to claw their eyes out, but deep down he knew this was his fault. He had been the one to strike Kiv, and because of that she had hit her head hard against the ground. He had done that to her. He could not believe he had done that to her. It made him sick to his stomach.
Thankfully, before his mind could spiral even further down, Jua'kali came into sight and Siyo'Jini snapped out of his self-hating stupor. Carefully he lowered himself back down to crouching position and gingerly set Kiv down onto the soft grass. He lingered briefly to make sure she was still breathing before he stood tall again. "She hit her head," Siyo explained as Jua reached him. "She comes and goes but is not responsive." His voice sounded steady, stern even, but that was a far cry from how he was actually feeling.
She was certain she was hearing voices now. Though it was difficult to pick out individual ones, and more like they were similar and distant. She couldn't quite understand everything that was said either, and it took her a moment to grasp that they were talking about her. A vague feeling of dread washed over her as she attempted to stir and wake herself, though only managing a soft groan and a twitch of her maw.
Jua's expression stiffened as he heard the description, and he immediately sidestepped the Boss to reach his patient. She looked to be a young female, with no visible wound despite the severity of the symptoms. He could see she was twitching and making small noises that indicated she was attempting to rouse herself. "A concussion, most likely," Jua muttered to himself. "A severe one at that." Head injuries could be tricky. The damage wasn't always visible, and the danger always laid in just what might have gotten shaken loose on the inside.
"Get her into the shade, and out of this sun," Jua remarked as he glanced around for any able bodies that might assist him. "We'll also need some cool water."
Siyo knew next to nothing about healing or injuries, aside how to inflict them, so once again he was feeling helpless. So, when Jua started rattling off what needed to be done, Siyo eagerly moved to assist. His emerald eyes landed on someone standing nearby and he raised his lips in an urgent snarl. "Get water from the river," he urged. There would be time to comb over any bruised egos later, right now Siyo'Jini demanded action from those around him. Even if it was born of his own desperation and helplessness.
Once more the large lion crouched down to maneuver Kiv onto his back, though it was made much easier with Jua to help him. Carefully the two of them walked over to the shade of the tree line, where the pride made their dens.
She could definitely feel herself being moved now, and that alarmed her further. The fuzzy feeling faded briefly and finally a clear thought rang throughout her head. She had to escape. She had to flee. She'd been caught! A surge of determination went through her body as she somewhat regained consciousness and jerked awake, only to find herself tumbling off the back of something moving. She had dug her claws in to try and steady herself, but she still slid off the side of whoever it was. Was it the attacker from before? Her vision was still blurry as she unsteadily attempted to regain her paws, taking a swipe at whoever was closest to her. She had to escape! She had to find Siyo and Thunzi!
Jua had not expected the lioness to suddenly regain consciousness and attack them, but he was more concerned with her further hurting herself by struggling. "Easy miss!" he hissed, taking a few steps back from her swiping claws. "You need to rest," he told her sternly, though the confusion on her face and the unsteady way she swayed on her paws told him they were not out of the woods yet.
Once again Siyo'Jini felt claws dig into his flesh, only this time he did not react blindly to the pain. He stopped walking and snarled at the pain, but he did not wish to hurt her any further than he already had. When he turned to look at her, at the expression of confusion and terror plastered onto her maw, his brows furrowed with concern. "Kiv," he said softly and took a step towards her, only to feel the sting of her claws rip into him once again. That was fine. He would bare it. "Kiv, stop. We'll help you," he said calmly, more calmly than the violent despair he felt at seeing her like this and knowing he had done that to her. "Please, stop." Please, be okay.
There it was again, her name. Her ears flicked forward at the mention of it, and she tried to discern just who was talking to her. Her fur stood on end as she tried to furiously blink away the blurriness of her vision. There were two of them, she was certain of that, one pale and one dark, but that was all she could make out at the moment. "Stay away from me!" she warned as a wave of exhaustion threatened to overtake her once more. She began to shake with the effort of holding herself up. "Or I'll, I'll..." what would she do against two of them? Finally, her legs gave out underneath her, and she collapsed into a semi-conscious heap.
"Heavens," Jua breathed a sigh of relief. It was much easier to treat someone when they weren't actively fighting against you. "Quickly, let's get her into the shade," the pale lion urged as he took a step forward to help Siyo'Jini with the task. They weren't far from the tree line, and with the two of them they made it there with relative ease. Jua made sure to position the lioness comfortably as he sighed and took in a deep breath. "She needs to rest," Jua reiterated to the Boss. "I'll stay with her in case she wakes up again, but I recommend not letting her get excited like that again." He leveled a stern stare at the dark lion before clearing his throat. "That might be easier if..." how could he say this 'delicately'?
"If I'm not here?" Siyo finished sourly. He wanted to argue, but Jua'kali may well be right about that. It seemed she only wanted to attack him, and he couldn't really blame her for that. "Very well. Let me know if you require any other supplies," the Boss said stiffly as he turned to leave. His emerald gaze lingered on the dark lioness and her labored breathing, and his heart twisted in his chest. He'd done that to her. With nothing left to say Siyo'Jini took his leave of the pair, his eyes dark with emotions he couldn't possibly begin to untangle.
As much as she wanted to struggle against the exhaustion, Kiv'mauti found that it was useless to do so. Her head felt heavy and there was a pressure behind her eyes that made it difficult to concentrate. Eventually her breathing evened out and after a short bout of brief consciousness, the lioness finally slipped off into sleep. There was still a mild sense of dread that hung around her thoughts, but she was simply too tired to do anything about it.
Jua was true to his word and did not leave the lioness' side as she lay unconscious in the shade. He wasn't sure what her situation was or how the Boss knew her, but clearly the two had some sort of history. He'd never seen Siyo talk or act like that either, which further cemented in his mind that this lioness was important to their Boss. He was curious, but for now he just had to make sure she survived the head injury. The pale lion settled in for a long night of observation.
((Word Count: 1,763))