[Private] Shades of the Flame [w/ Iri]

[Zoketi]

[ lel ]

Her head had long drooped, with her tail dragging along in the dust behind her. When her companion finally spoke up after another hour of silence, she slowed her pace and swung her head around to fix dull orange eyes on the red lioness. "Sure," she grumbled out with a flick of her ears. She caught sight of the baobab as well and began to dully make her way towards it, swaying on her paws. When they reached the shelter Kaharabu didn't hesitate to settle down with a groan. She examined her wounds a moment, giving them a few quick laps of her tongue before lowering her head to her paws, a low huff escaping her jaws. Sleep would be welcome.

[Iri]

Chaltuu followed, and as the dark greyish female settled down to sleep, she curled up multiple tail-lengths away from her, facing the opposite direction with a cross grunt. Her tail wrapped around her hindquarters and she rested her chin on her paws. For a while she was unable to sleep and shifted around uncomfortably, but after a while drifted off into a light doze.

As dawn approached, as evident with the sun's pale rays spilling over the horizon, Chaltuu blinked sleepiness out of her eyes. She hadn't intended to sleep for as long as she did, but she felt a new strength return to her limbs, which had been a bit sore prior to them agreeing to rest. She rose to her paws a bit drowsily and stretched, but ever silent as she did so. An unspoken agreement seemed to have formed between her and Kaharabu- if fate kept tossing them in dangerous circumstances, it wouldn't hurt either of them to travel together, even if they weren't the most compatible of beings. She broke from her musings and began to wander around aimlessly.

[Last timeskip for a while I'm sorry ;n;]

[Zoketi]

As the sun poured light over the grassland, Kaharabu stirred. She was glad to have rested well, for she felt rejuvenated and restrengthened. She was in time to see her reddish companion ambling away. She twitched an ear, watching for a moment. She had a feeling Chaltuu wasn't leaving, though, merely just moving around to stretch her legs or something. That did sound nice. The dark grey female pulled herself up to her paws and shook her fur, arching her back and flexing her paws into the soil. She wrinkled her nose and yawned, then glanced around and stepped slowly forwards in the general direction of the other.

[Iri]

Flicking her ears to a faint rustling, Chaltuu craned her head around and saw Kaharabu trailing after her, although slowly and multiple paces behind her. That was perfectly fine. Distance between the two of them was acceptable. She strode ahead, her tail lashing behind her. Now that the greyish feline had woken and their energy seemingly restored by their rest, they might be able to travel a bit more, perhaps get closer to a decent, fresh water source- which, as far as she could remember, was what the two had been looking for in the first place. It had also been what had gotten them both in dangerous situations, she supposed, but neither of them was in complete danger if the other one was around. Despite not being a social creature, she did have some knowledge- albeit minimally- of how to work with others, but as she would frequently isolate herself from the rest of her former pride, she hadn't completely developed proper social skills. Though she had to admit, she had had one meager bond with another cub only slightly younger than herself- Dhakiya. Inwardly she winced as she thought about the other lioness.

[Zoketi]

Her thoughts were dull and short as she trekked after the other female, ears twitching slowly as she let her gaze travel around the area. Water, that was what they were aiming for, right? She twitched her tail and lifted her head a moment to breathe in the scents, but detected nothing more than grass and dirt and prey (and Chaltuu). She let her head drop again as she meandered forwards, casually ignoring the red lioness in front of her. They were too distant to have a conversation, which was perfectly fine of course. Kaharabu licked her muzzle in distaste, hoping they'd find some source of water soon.

[Iri]

The reddish brown lioness meandered ahead with a relaxed, steady pace. There was no point in hurrying and losing more energy than necessary, after all- especially now that both of them were presumably dehydrated. She admittedly felt disappointed that both water sources they had stumbled across had led to either of them getting stuck in a crisis. As Chaltuu ambled casually forward, she lifted her head to "taste" the air. However, there wasn't much except for the savanna that surrounded the two females. She hadn't felt this dehydrated for quite some time... Was there a drought, she wondered? She recalled the hyenas' hostility towards Kaharabu, simply because the greyish feline had wanted to drink from the waterhole that was apparently claimed by the cackle. Had it been due to a drought, and the hyenas had wanted to preserve their water?

[Zoketi]

After some time, and with no such luck as to a single drop of water, Kaharabu was feeling hot and harassed and in a very foul mood. She'd not gotten a drink for at least a day, and it was taking its toll physically and mentally. She plodded along after Chaltuu, scowling at the dry grass below, and scuffing her paws along the dusty terrain. After a moment she lifted her head with a groan. "Let's follow the prey over there. They must get water somewhere." she called out, nodding to the distant wildebeest along the horizon.

[Iri]

"Sure," Chaltuu grunted in response, beginning to turn in the same direction as the faraway wildebeest. The two lionesses were a good distance away from them- it was highly unlikely that they would be spotted. Even if the herd did notice them, the felines' presence probably wouldn't concern them, considering the large gap between them. The reddish female picked up her pace a bit, though not considerably. Despite the fact that she did want to keep herself far enough away that it wouldn't alert the wildebeest, she didn't want to lose sight of them. She didn't recall feeling this dehydrated since a drought that had occurred when she was a mere cub, a few years ago... It had begun shortly after the cub had been weaned of her mother's milk and brought onto meat instead. But though the drought had lasted for quite some time, the wet season had thankfully brought enough rain to nourish the parched lands. If it really was a drought that was affecting them, Chaltuu could only hope that the wet season would come again...

[Sorry for my MLK hiatus, was taking a break from my laptop.]

[Zoketi]

Plodding along with the reddish lioness, Kaharabu paid little attention to anything other than her surroundings, constantly on the lookout for something to betray the presence of water. The ground was hard and dusty, the grass limp and browned. She hated the heat that pricked at her dark coat and stirred up dust in her face. Shaking her head, she glanced towards the wildebeest, inching closer. The herd continued to ignore their distance presence, quite sure that the two lionesses were not hunting them. Kaharabu had not the energy to chase anything right now, anyway, though she knew they'd have to find food soon. It still felt weird to think of 'they' rather than just herself. She snorted softy, gliding along.

[Iri]

Huffing, Chaltuu continued to traipse along. As all the surrounding grass was dead, that didn't display the presence of any water, which still irritated her to no end. She felt dehydrated and impatient. The reddish-brown feline continued to follow the herd of ungulates ahead. The thought of food made her feel hungry, but she knew that discovering a lake or pond was much more important than hunting at the moment. Her mouth hung slightly ajar as she panted, feeling the sun's relentless rays shine down on the landscape... And the fact that her mahogany-coloured coat was quite thick didn't help matters. But as the two lionesses plodded ahead, Chaltuu found that the grass began to gradually grow greener as they trekked forward. That was a good sign.

[I felt like it was time to stop torturing these two. cx]