Siyo'Jini had been feeling restless for some time now. It seemed no matter how much he sparred with his pride or how many contracts he took for himself, the large black lion was still feeling uneasy. Almost like his skin wanted to crawl off his very bones. It was sensation that plagued him throughout the day, and kept him from sleeping well at night, which in turn made him even more testy and stubborn than usual. But the thing that bothered him the most, was that he didn't know why he was feeling this way. He had thought that, at first, maybe he just needed a good fight to rid himself of this tension. But that hadn't seemed to work. So then, he had tried taking on contracts further away from the pride, to get more time to himself, but that hadn't seemed to work either. All in all, the great lion was stumped, and it was pissing him off.Kiv'mauti had been traveling for several cycles of the moon, but her progress was slow and she had be careful about what path she took when she did make a move. It wasn't safe to travel during the day, as her pursuers were more active during the daylight hours, and her dark coat helped to hide her at night. That was fine. Kiv'mauti vastly preferred the darkness any way. Not only was easier for her to hide and move undetected, she just felt safer in the darkness. As her luck would have it, the sun was still high in the sky when she sensed something wasn't quite right. She had found a relatively secluded rock formation, thick with brush around its base and a partially dug out badger's den to help hide her. It had seemed like a decent hiding spot at first, but now she wasn't so certain. It was a bit too out in the open, and there wasn't much else around to distract from the spot. Maybe it was a bit too obvious? Kiv'mauti swallowed hard at the rising fear that crept up her spine. She dared not get up to find another one, not until the sun was well past the horizon. She just hoped she wouldn't be discovered in the mean time.
A silent snarl spread across Siyo'Jini's maw as he padded restlessly back towards Tani'Ajiri lands. He was annoyed and angry all at once, with no real reason for being so. Like some damned kid, just coming into his mane. He just couldn't put a claw on why he was feeling this way. It was also particularly difficult for him to describe. 'Feelings' were not his strong suit after all, and he'd much rather keep such things buried deep under a layer of indifference. It just wasn't working any more. The further he tried to push them down, the more restless he felt. It was all rather exhausting.
So much so that Siyo'Jini paused in his step and halted his progress back to the pride's territory. It might not be a good idea to go back yet. A spar may have helped a little bit, but the last thing he wanted was to lose himself on some unsuspecting mercenary. His claws slid from their sheathes as he scratched at the dirt. What he needed was a fight, something he could really dig his claws into. Unfortunately, the opportunity for such a thing had not presented itself yet. Even the recent contracts he'd taken on were relatively easy, and hadn't quite scratched that need deep in his bones.
Kiv'mauti could feel the very real fear creep up her spine and raise her fur on its ends. She hadn't seen her pursuers in several days, and theoretically she was still ahead of them, but they could easily catch up to her during the daylight hours. That still left the overall question of... where was she running to? She had never forgotten Siyo and Thunzi, despite being away for years, but from what she remembered of the pair they moved around a lot. Did she really think she could find the two mercenaries just wandering the roguelands? And even then, what did she think they could do against a whole pride? She considered them friends, and Siyo... Siyo... how she missed him. Could she really put them in this much danger? What if they didn't remember her... and, what if they said no...? It was all honestly starting to feel a bit hopeless. Dread overtook her as she pulled her tail close to her body and she did her best not to make a sound. Was this how she would die? Alone and terrified? It wasn't much different from the fate they had saved her from all those years ago, now that she thought about it.
Siyo'Jini was a large lion, tall and muscular with a dark hide that did little to hide the scars of his past. And when he found himself dwelling on thoughts of his past, about his cubhood and his father, well, he couldn't help the dark mood that fueled his feelings of restlessness and aggravation. His claws dug holes into the dirt as he wildly looked around for something or someone to lash out against. There. A small sapling of a tree, with a cluster of rocks and brush around it. Siyo barely knew what he was doing before he did it, as he lunged and aimed a heavy strike at its base. The sapling's trunk was little thicker than a stick, and it's wood buckled and snapped under the lion's blow. What happened next shocked Siyo'Jini, as he found himself dumbstruck by the events.
She thought she was alone, but one of the drawbacks of hiding in this particular spot was that she couldn't see who or what was around her. There was a sudden commotion beside her, a growl and the violent snapping of wood, and the lioness reacted out of panicked fear of being caught. Her muscles, which had already been tense with stress, sprang into action as she launched herself at her 'attacker'. She wasn't aiming for anything in particular, but as soon as her claws dug into flesh her truest fears were realized. They had found her! She had to fight in order to flee! She didn't have time to see just who she had clawed in the face, she just hoped it would be enough to distract them so she could make her escape.
He hadn't expected to get a face full of claws in return for his actions against the tree, but that didn't stop the stinging pain that he now felt on his muzzle. His first reaction was to snarl and lash out at whatever had attacked him, only to see it was a dark pelted lioness a little too late. Siyo'Jini managed to tuck his claws away in time, but his paw did smack into her shoulder rather hard. Hard enough to send her straight to the ground and there was no mistaking the sound of her head hitting hard against dirt. Not only that, but Siyo'Jini finally got a good look at who had 'attacked' him.
She was a dark pelted lioness, with no discernable markings, but there was no mistaking the shock of blue in her fur. For a long time Siyo'Jini was simply stunned, unable to react or process who this was and what he had just done. It was several long moments where he held his breath, watching as the body lay very still next to him. Finally, quietly, in a voice he did not recognize as his own he whispered, "Kiv...?" The resulting silence stung him deeper than her claws ever could.
The large male dropped to a crouching position, and gently pressed his face against hers. "I'm sorry. I-..." what could he even say? "I didn't know." And somehow, despite all of his strength, he felt weak. Helpless even. Her stillness chilled him to his very core.
One moment she had been ripping her claws into her attacker, the next everything seemed to blank out of existence. Something had hit her? She tried to gather her thoughts, to move, to open her eyes, something, but it all seemed out of reach. She thought she heard a voice, her name maybe, but it sounded so far away. Was the voice familiar? She seemed to think so, but she couldn't quite put her paw on it. Then something warm touched her face and she could almost grasp control of her mind and body. Briefly, very briefly, her blue eyes fluttered open to see the blurry image of a dark pelted lion, before they closed again. Her mind raced as she struggled to regain control.
Her eyes fluttered open, and he could feel relief wash over him, but his gut twisted when they closed again. Oh no. What had he done? She was breathing finally, but she still had not responded to him. Siyo'Jini was no healer, but luckily the Tani'Ajiri had welcomed a couple into their midst. They weren't far from the pride's borders, and Siyo'Jini was confident he could get her there in time. But, just what had she been doing out here? He hadn't seen her in years, and for her to suddenly appear like this, well, it left his head reeling. So many questions sprang to mind, but they would have to wait. First, he needed to see to it that she wasn't severely injured.
It took some careful maneuvering, but eventually Siyo'Jini managed to slide her onto his back while he slowly rose to his full height. It was awkward, and he wasn't sure he could keep her up there, but he had to try. Progress back to the Tani'Ajiri was painfully slow, but Siyo'Jini was determined to get her there. He had to. He had to. Gods, he had to!
((Word Count: 1,646))