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| Posted by | Death's Mercy [Private] |
 ㅤ🌸 Lady Kakata ㅤ🌸 (#37637) Heavenly View Forum Posts  Posted on 2024-08-31 10:20:26 |
Water ... When was the last time she had had something to drink? Far longer than she had had something to eat, that was for sure. Her mouth was parched, her skin cracked, her fur patchy and falling out. Her bones jutted out from under her hide at nauseating ankles, so little flesh clinging to her that even the vultures would find her difficult to stomach. What was there for them to take? A few shrunken organs, a collection of frail bones, that was perhaps it. She had fled her maternal pride many, many moons ago. A combination of disease and starvation, before a violent takeover that further thinned the ranks by slaughtering or chasing off adolescents from the latest litter, broke the Pride apart. She ran rather than force herself to entertain the incoming new Kings, terrified and not the sort to try and survive on her own. Lone lionesses didn't survive long, she was warned, you need a Pride to survive. She was dying. She knew it. She had tried to scavenge from any kills or dead animals she could, even becoming violently sick after eating a vulture in desperation. Even dry twigs, but all that gave her was painful splinters and an even angrier stomach. The dry season now meant that water was also scarce, and she was dying even faster. I can't ... Her legs quivered, before buckling entirely and causing her to collapse out in the open on the dry, sandy grass. Character SheetsView and Post Character Sheets 0 players like this post! Like? |
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Silence (#474508)
Bone Collector View Forum Posts Posted on 2024-08-31 13:54:42 |
A few hundred meters away, about an hour later, a huge male leopard was padding through the tall, dry grass, head raised as he sniffed the air. Dust was all he had been able to smell for hours now, besides the occasional animal that scurried away from him as he passed. He froze, however, as something caught his attention among the pervading dust. Something... feline. Mixed with the stench of illness and coming death. Intrigued, he moved closer. His golden fur was thick and healthy, the black spots nearly completely hidden beneath the dust and dirt that coated him. He likely looked like a strange, maneless lion to a casual observer. The lion, if that's what she was, looked almost completely dead. He moved in a little closer, amber eyes looking her over, and then he nudged her head with his snout and a gentle huff. 0 players like this post! Like? |
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ㅤ🌸 Lady Kakata ㅤ🌸 (#37637) Heavenly View Forum Posts Posted on 2024-08-31 21:26:20 |
The lioness before him was small for an adult, possibly stunted due to her starvation. Crawling with fleas that were draining what little remained of her thin blood, ticks clustering around her eyes and ears where she could not remove them, she was a sorry and sickened sight. When nudged, her head felt like all the weight was in the bones of her skull and nothing more. The movement did, however, reveal that she was still breathing, her mouth gasping slightly on reflex with the motion. She cracked open one pale, unfocused green eye and looked up at the leopard, her expression one of delirious confusion. She was alive, but only just. 0 players like this post! Like? |
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Silence (#474508)
Bone Collector View Forum Posts Posted on 2024-08-31 22:51:40 |
“Hold still.” He muttered, lowering his head so that he could bite the ticks on her face, killing them and pulling some of them off. “Come on, let’s get you to some water. Can you stand?” The leopard asked, nudging her again. He tried dragging her upright, ignoring the fleas that crawled throughout the lioness’s patchy fur. If he needed to, he likely would pull her to the thin river that ran through his territory. Despite it being the dry season, this one hadn’t dried up… completely. It was a good place for animals to come for a drink, and he hunted occasionally from the ones that visited. It had helped him to keep his health. 0 players like this post! Like? |
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ㅤ🌸 Lady Kakata ㅤ🌸 (#37637) Heavenly View Forum Posts Posted on 2024-09-01 15:03:54 |
Hold still When she saw the teeth coming for her face, she thought this was it. She thought this was the end. After all, a leopard would do well to end the life of a competing predator, even if she couldn't even compete with a termite at her current strength. Feeling the teeth scrape along her dry skin and brittle fur, she was shocked to feel the grasping, draining ticks being pulled away or burst open to kill them, spilling their fetid stomachs and ending their reign of terror over her eyes. Despite herself, she signed, feeling relief despite the stench of the parasites, their bite sites bleeding weakly as even her blood was too sluggish to escape her. Could she stand? A good question. Her side raised and lowered a few times, her eyes unfocused as she tried to gather a little bit of strength. Her rest was a little restorative, though it still took a few agonising minutes for her stick-thin limbs to haul her body upright onto blistered paws. She swayed, falling over completely on her first attempt. Had she not looked so close to death, one would mistake her as simply tipsy over a few overly-ripe marula fruit. Her second attempt was more successful, even if her limbs trembled with effort, and she looked towards the leopard. "Water ...?" 0 players like this post! Like? |
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Silence (#474508)
Bone Collector View Forum Posts Posted on 2024-09-01 15:35:37 |
He was silently pleased as she managed to stand, and a hint of that glimmered in his bright amber eyes. The leopard was only a second too late to catch her when she fell, but he offered her his shoulder to lean on when she stood successfully on her second attempt. “Yes. You’re not far off from my river. It’s good water, I promise.” The drought had affected everyone, yes, and some had turned to preying on the weak, but he had never really seen the appeal in this. Why hurt when you can heal? Why bring an end full of fear when you can help make the passing an easy one? He felt the need to help this lioness… her awful state had filled him with pity when he first saw her. “Come along, just one paw in front of the other. Then you can rest, be rid of those foul parasites, and drink until your belly can’t hold any more.” The leopard’s voice was gentle, and deep in comparison to most others of his kind - most likely a result of his size - but despite him being another predator, he seemed to almost have an aura of trust. There wasn’t a hint of guile in his eyes. 0 players like this post! Like? |
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ㅤ🌸 Lady Kakata ㅤ🌸 (#37637) Heavenly View Forum Posts Posted on 2024-09-01 15:40:22 |
The lioness was fully confused as to why the leopard would help. Leopards were solitary, unlike social lions, but even lions didn't help lions who were not part of their pride or were unrelated. She knew cheetahs sometimes teamed up together, usually males and usually brothers. Did he have a brother that was waiting to attack her? She had to move away from this thought. If they did, then the would have just left her another hour and she surely would have perished. There was no meat or fat to her, and she was likely very unappealing to everyone bar the least picky scavengers. She followed his lead, leading against his muscled shoulder even if her bones kept poking him. She was very cold to the touch, his fur was glossy and warm in comparison. He certainly had no trouble hunting, which made her wonder if there were lions here at all. She could smell the river before she got to it, thick ropes of gelatinous saliva beading on her chin at the mere sight. It was silty and dull due to the sheer amount of animals crowding the banks, but it was still water ... 0 players like this post! Like? |
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Silence (#474508)
Bone Collector View Forum Posts Posted on 2024-09-01 15:54:00 |
The leopard huffed softly at the sight of the animals crowding the banks, and the nearest ones scattered to safer places as the felines approached. Calmly, the leopard lead her to the bank and laid down in the silty water with a happy little sigh. He could feel the water soaking into his fur, cold against his skin. “Go on, try it. It feels positively wonderful, and you can rest and drink at the same time.” He said, relaxing further into the water. Clearly, he was perfectly content with where he was, and positive that he was in no danger from her. 0 players like this post! Like? |
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ㅤ🌸 Lady Kakata ㅤ🌸 (#37637) Heavenly View Forum Posts Posted on 2024-09-01 15:59:30 |
She just stared at him lounging in the water. Did ... he like water? Was he secretly a crocodile? She thought it rude to question such things, blinking in confusion before leaning down to drink. Trying to do so when one was unsteady on their paws was exceptionally difficult; her balance gave way and she fell face first into the water with a high-pitched, parched-throated yelp. The birds that had been sipping at the riverbank scattered in panic, as a distant wildebeest looked at her in blatent bemusement. "..." Now lying in the water, she could do nothing to really get up. She ... kind-of didn't want to. As weird as it seemed at first, as much as her senses told her to get out, this ... was really nice. Really nice! Her fur and skin were so barren and dry from a lack of care and nutrients, the water rushing over her made the sunburn feel better. Fleas fled up her back and neck to escape the water, something she noticed once they attempted to colonise her face. Wrinkling her nose, she craned her neck down to drink again, much easier now she wasn't standing, and drank until she was literally breathless. Once her thirst had been slaked, she dripped her face and back further in the water, pulling herself into deeper waters with her fore paws to give the fleas no escape, drowning them and refreshing herself at the same time. 0 players like this post! Like? |
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Silence (#474508)
Bone Collector View Forum Posts Posted on 2024-09-01 16:14:09 |
He was unaware of her confused stare, but he did chuckle softly as she fell in the water and made no effort to get out. The leopard did sit up, however, water dripping from his now soaking wet fur, as he watched the fleas float away down the river, out of the lioness’s fur. The golden brown and red tones of his fur were now much more readily visible now that the dust was gone, and the black spots that patterned his body were like splotches of darkness. His belly and neck were a creamy white, and water sprayed outwards from him in an array of glittering droplets as he shook himself off. The leopard watched as she slid further into the water, making sure she wasn’t attempting to drown herself. He had never really been around lions before, but his mother had always told him to be careful around them. They were still bigger than him, for the most part. This one was smaller, however. This one intrigued him. Why was she so small? Yes, she was starved almost to death, but that normally didn’t make one shrink in height. 0 players like this post! Like? |
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ㅤ🌸 Lady Kakata ㅤ🌸 (#37637) Heavenly View Forum Posts Posted on 2024-09-02 11:41:51 |
The female's fur was still quite dull, darker from being soaked in water, but the dust and dirt - as well as fleas and blood from burst ticks - washed away, revealing she was probably something closer to a yellow-gold colour if fully healthy. She had all her claws, her tail was intact, she didn't seem to have any large scars or scratches that would indicate she had been in a fight. Realistically, it would have been smarter for her to run away from any confrontation; usually only males dared to fight back, and usually in the name of pride if nothing else. She had survived longer by avoiding others, and probably ensuring her longer survival as she didn't need to deal with broken bones or ripped flesh on top of everything else. She dipped her face in the water a few times, pawing at her eyes to get the last of the ticks to loosen and fall off, her mouth open at times and showing that the very points of her canine teeth had snapped off. Not close enough to the gum to expose the tender and savagely painful pink inside that would cause her unspeakable pain, but certainly enough to rob her of her piercing, strangulating bite. Little wonder this, as well as the lack of pride sisters, made hunting rather difficult. She looked over to the leopard, surprised he was still there, blinking water out of her eyes. "Um ... ... thank you?" 0 players like this post! Like? |
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Silence (#474508)
Bone Collector View Forum Posts Posted on 2024-09-02 12:04:46 |
The leopard remained quiet for a moment, seemingly fixated on her. The sound of her voice, however, seemed to shake him from his study. "Oh, ah, yes. Of course. Are you feeling- hold on, you missed a couple of little ones." He moved closer to gently bite the last of the ticks from behind her ears. Then he sat back on his haunches again. "Are you feeling better? You seemed quite far gone when I found you." As he spoke, his eyes continued to examine her, following every line and angle of her emaciated frame. Her broken teeth surely caused her problems... especially with hunting. How had that even come about? 0 players like this post! Like? |
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ㅤ🌸 Lady Kakata ㅤ🌸 (#37637) Heavenly View Forum Posts Posted on 2024-09-02 12:19:11 |
She flinched when he approached her, surprised when he attacked the ticks behind her ears, causing her to scratch the new wounds on pure reflex with her hind leg. Her claws looked almost comically large on her bone-thin paws without muscle to pad them. "I feel much better" She sighed, taking another sip of water, eventhough she would probably vomit if she took any more, "I haven't had water in ... three? Four days?" 0 players like this post! Like? |
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Silence (#474508)
Bone Collector View Forum Posts Posted on 2024-09-02 12:42:49 |
The leopard blinked in surprise. "That's certainly quite a while. Too long, in my opinion. Come on, my den is just beneath the roots of the big tree. It's nice and cool in there, I'd even dare say it's almost cold." He stepped out of the shallow river, then started to make his way towards the largest tree in the small grove that sheltered the area. This tree was growing from a large mound in the ground, and its roots reached out and downwards to make a sort of shelter. Claw marks in the soil around its base and on the roots showed where the massive leopard had dug it out to make it larger. He hopped up onto the base of the tree above the entrance to the den, and then turned to look back at her. "My name is Atlas, by the way. Might I have the pleasure of knowing yours?" His long, spotted tail slowly waved back and forth in front of the den opening. 0 players like this post! Like? |
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ㅤ🌸 Lady Kakata ㅤ🌸 (#37637) Heavenly View Forum Posts Posted on 2024-09-02 12:48:04 |
It was the lioness' turned to be surprised, getting to her feet and shaking off as much of the water as she could. "You live in a den?" She tried her best to keep up after him, her step clearly awkward with the blisters and cracks on her paws, those would fade with time and the water was very soothing to them, "I thought leopards lived in trees ..." She was astonished to see the den, tilting her head as she observed the natural hollow that the leopard had taken the time and effort to make larger. Was it formally a warthog burrow? His scent was all over it, so if it had been that in the past, that time was very long ago. "Chuki .. my name is Chuki" 0 players like this post! Like? |
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Silence (#474508)
Bone Collector View Forum Posts Posted on 2024-09-02 13:18:49 |
"I prefer both. But I especially prefer the den when the yearly drought hits. It's cooler in here, and I get an escape from the blazing sun." Atlas smiled at her, his spotted face kind. "Chuki. Lovely name. Did you name yourself? Or were you once with a pride and recieved your name there?" He tilted his head. "Surely you haven't lived this entire time on your own out here?" He laid down across the roots, watching her. 0 players like this post! Like? |
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