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Post by June on Apr 18, 2024 6:29:17 GMT -6
"Wh-wh-what? Wh-where..." Shara blinked and gasped as she suddenly woke. She put her paw to her head, feeling dizzy, disoriented, and slightly panicked - the relaxation had been so intense that coming back awake felt like a panic at first. When she did come to her senses though, she looked all around the jungle floor, growling, and spotted the snake slithering away as quickly as he could, pointing him out to Shanti. "Kaa." She growled. "He got me once before, long ago... That's why I..." She couldn't bring herself to say the next part. She looked at Shanti, very seriously. "It wasn't your fault Shanti..." She began, though she struggled even now to really make it sound like she meant it. She wanted to forgive Shanti, after all, she herself had fallen under so much quicker - but in spite of how irrational it was, she couldn't stop thinking that if only Shanti had warned her, that Shanti had sat there whilst Kaa fought Shara... "I'll tell you this now because I know what the lingering thoughts are like - that it felt so good, that he seemed not so bad, that you could trust him again... I felt them too. When I was a cub, he did that - that THING to me, and I thought it was all a game. He called me his special, favourite cub, and drew me under his spell over and over as he got me to play further away from the others. All the tigers came out looking for me, when he finally sent me back to them and my parents woke me up from his thrall - and he told me why he did it. Luring the tigers away from the patrols had let wolves and hyenas and everyone move into our territory. We lost so, so much of our ancestral lands and territory, all because of me... And he did it for a JOKE. Because he thought it was funny." She growled, her hair standing on end in fury. "I know it wasn't your fault, but..." Shara's eyes said it all. She desperately wanted it not to be her fault again, not to be the weak link that Kaa preyed so easily upon.
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Post by kanatokisho on Apr 18, 2024 6:46:09 GMT -6
Shanti looked and watched Kaa slither off, she hugged Shara "B-But I didn't think that he was Kaa, I-I almost let him get me..." She said, tears in her eyes, she listened to Shara's story, Shanti didn't even think about it...She couldn't really remember much but it did feel good, it wasn't painful but it was dangerous and Shanti knew that for a fact.
"It's not your fault Shara...It's Kaa's fault...That thing is strong...I-I can't really remember much but this feeling of happiness...I don't know what to call it but now I know who to look out for, it won't happen to me again" Shanti said, determined to not fall again to the evil Kaa.
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Post by June on Apr 19, 2024 9:38:07 GMT -6
"Hopefully you never run into him again. We think it's the tigers he's interested in again - he finds us 'amusing'." Shara growled. "I'm sure he couldn't trick you again though, little sis. You're smarter than me." Shara softened her tone, putting a paw around Shanti to try and console her. "Let's go back to sleep, for now. He won't be bothering us again tonight." Shara said with a yawn, and she settled back down on the branch to sleep, closer to Shanti this time.
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Post by kanatokisho on Apr 19, 2024 10:25:57 GMT -6
Shanti wasn't so sure in herself but she trusted Shara and she'll certainly not fall for him again now that she knows his trick...She let out a yawn as she cuddled closer to Shara, feeling more protected by her side.
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Post by June on Apr 19, 2024 22:42:34 GMT -6
The two quickly went to sleep. Morning came quickly, and Shara woke with the sunrise. She left Shanti sleeping for a moment whilst she went to forage for some food. She got berries and a bunch of bananas and held them gently with her teeth as she carried them back to the tree, leaving them for Shanti whilst she ran off to hunt some breakfast for herself.
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Post by kanatokisho on Apr 19, 2024 23:46:50 GMT -6
Shanti woke up after Shara left the second time, she smiled when she saw the berries and bananas, Shanti stretched her arms before digging into her breakfast.
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Post by June on Apr 22, 2024 2:35:11 GMT -6
When Shara had finished eating, she went to return to Shanti. On the way, the ground began to shake. She climbed the tree and nuzzled Shanti. "The Jungle Patrol is moving, time for us to move too. We'll be safe with Hathi and the elephants keeping an eye out." She explained, presenting her back for Shanti to climb on to.
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Post by kanatokisho on Apr 22, 2024 2:52:52 GMT -6
Shanti felt the ground shake and smiled knowing it was the jungle patrol, she didn't see them a lot but they kept the jungle safe, not even Kaa messed with the elephants "do you think Kaa will follow us?" She asked as she climbed onto Shara's back.
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Post by June on Apr 22, 2024 14:59:44 GMT -6
With Shanti securely on her back, Shara leapt from branch to branch, going lower and lower until finally they hit the ground, and Shara bounded forward, racing along through the foliage. "He might - if he wanted revenge or something of that nature. But he tends to seek to fulfill his own, sick amusement, so odds are he's already moved on. But just in case, let's move fast." Shara answered, and doubled her pace, the ground seeming to fly beneath her as she carried Shanti through the jungle.
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Post by kanatokisho on Apr 22, 2024 22:59:56 GMT -6
Shanti held on tight as Shara raced across the branches and then on the ground, Shanti always wished she could run as fast but what she loses in speed she makes up for in weaving and getting through small spaces. Shanti hoped she'll never see Kaa again.
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Post by June on Apr 26, 2024 7:15:09 GMT -6
They made fast progress this way, travelling much further than they had managed yesterday. They stopped only shortly at midday for a quick meal, then continued on. It was more difficult than usual with Shanti on her back, but Shara was determined after last night to get Shanti out of tiger territory as soon as possible, and away from Kaa's clutches, so she pressed on. Although exhaustion gripped her as the sun set, the sound of running water was on the air. The river must be near - and so Shara made a last burst of energetic speed, bringing them just as night fell to the riverbank. "Once you cross that river, you will be beyond our territory, and into the deep jungle." Shara explained, nodding to the far bank. It brimmed with tall trees, strong of limb and crowned with vast arrays of leaves that made the forestry of the tiger territory look bare by comparison. Vines roped from tree to tree, thickening the space in between so much that it was hard to see much beyond the treeline. All in all, the deep jungle made a forboding impression.
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Post by kanatokisho on Apr 26, 2024 8:40:40 GMT -6
Shanti wanted to tell Shara that they could take a break but then they reached the river, Shanti got off Shara's back as she stared into the mass of tall trees, she was nervous to leave and enter a new place "c-can we rest here...Just for tonight?" She asked not wanting to leave Shara just yet, especially close to nightfall.
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Post by June on Apr 26, 2024 8:55:23 GMT -6
Shara looked at her, pondering for a moment. The tribe needed her back as soon as possible... But on the other hand, Shara didn't want to leave Shanti just yet either. She sighed, relenting. "Alright. Just one more night." She said, and started looking for somewhere to rest. The trees by the riverbank were thinner, with less sturdy branches, so she looked for somewhere on the ground they could sleep. A few paces away from the bank, she found a small hillock with a sheer edge that was covered in an overhang, a bit like a miniature cave. "This place will do. You go down and get some sleep, I'll keep watch for a while." Shara said, nuzzling under Shanti's chin affectionately.
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Post by kanatokisho on Apr 26, 2024 9:16:52 GMT -6
Shanti smiled and followed Shara along the riverbank, the overhang felt more safe than any tree she smiled and hugged Shara tightly "goodnight sister" she said before she headed down and tucked herself close to the back wall. Shanti tried to resist falling asleep but after a small yawn, her eyes closed and she drifted off to sleep.
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Post by June on Apr 30, 2024 0:16:15 GMT -6
"Goodnight." Shara whispered. As Shanti settled down to sleep, she paced around the overhang, keeping watch. Something kept nagging at the back of her mind, and her paces became irritable as she tried to figure out what it was that was itching at her awareness. At last, she got it - something smelled ever-so-slightly off. Pausing and closing her eyes to concentrate fully on scent, she started following the subtle out-of-place smell... Away from the bank, through a copse and to a bush... The smell was nearby now, and she opened her eyes - only to be greeted with the shock of looking right into a pair of bright, spiralling eyes. Shara felt herself start to slip already, and growled herself awake fiercely, swiping with claws out, but Kaa just easily dodged away, giggling to himself. "I won't let you get me again! I'm not a cub anymore!" Shara yelled at the serpent. Kaa's laughter stopped abruptly. "Not a cub anymore...? Ohhh - I didn't know it was you." He hissed thoughtfully, giving Shara pause. She cocked her head in confusion. "Ssssssssssssssssshara, yesss, I remember now!" Kaa chuckled - poor Shara couldn't help but shiver as she heard him hiss her name, her ears going rigidly straight, and she felt some sort of memory or feeling on the edge of being remembered. The way he said her name... "You were such a playful cub, and you were ever so helpful to me..." He moved closer, and Shara raised her paw to strike him again, but already Kaa was hissing again. "Sssssssssssssssshara." Her paw went limp, slowly dropping uselessly back into place. Every hair on her body tingled, and all the memories and feelings of being entranced over and over again by the serpent flooded back into her mind all at once, all unleashed by hearing the way Kaa used to call to her, so long ago. She was so caught up in rememberance that when she returned to the here and now, she found herself already looking Kaa straight in the spirals, his nose touching hers. In a last flash of free will, she remembered Shanti, and roared as loud as she could to warn her sister, as long as she could, roaring and roaring until... PING! The roar died in her throat, becoming a whimper that turned into an obedient purr.
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