Part 2: The First Evocation "Isolation".

[Admin]

When she came to her senses, everything was different.

She was sore all over, acutely so. As if her senses were sharper. She felt that she was largely covered on her left side in a unpleasant patch of thick dried blood. Before opening her eyes, she knew she was not alone. There were movements around her, at least 2 or 3 beings were near. One was small and trying hard to wake her or clean her with its tiny tongue by liking her face above the left eyebrow. Another one was massive, not as much as her father, but still more than her. It was prowling about defensively. She was unsure about the presence of the third being, but the occasional sound of what seemed like a flickering tail to the her right hinted at another individual. More unsettling, were the smells. She knew by them that she has left her pride's home. She was surrounded by vast tall trees and vines.

She felt her strength returned. She was ready.

[Sophie]

Confusion, fear and uncertainty were all the feelings her senses woke in her. Her eyes burst open, and she stood up abruptly, jumping back, trying to put some distance between the strangers and herself. Defensive, she smelled and observed who they were.

[Admin]

Flakes of blood lifted into the air at her sudden movement, but getting rid of it all would take a bath in a river or an extremely long cleaning session. But with fear in her eye told any onlooker that it did not matter.

Even before she was fully erect, the smells had already given her much of the information regarding those around her. The small one licking her was none other than the Lioness Cub. Startled, it gave out a "yelp" of distress and jumped back three good feet.

The massive form nearby was the Other Male, but it was not in good shape. His face and parts of his fore paws were covered in blood, his own, and his demeanor as he walked was different in more ways than one. He now had the look of one ready to kill at any moment. The half-mad air of danger her father had often displayed and his walk was... off. Wrong. Every little step seemed to demand a little more attention than it should and each of them veered him slightly to his left as if he was perpetually off balance.

The last being was She Who Had Stood, her aunt who had defended both her and the cub in the previous battle. She could find no sign of her father or her mother in the immediate vicinity either in smell, sound or sight.

[Sophie]

She was weak and she was hurt, as was the male. She had recognized her pridesmates, and so she felt safer. She settled on the ground again and started to lick the cub.

[Admin]

Even after being so startled, the cub came back quickly. It was afraid, and it was lost and she was the most familiar thing around. It was easy to settle her and lick her.

Soon, seeing as she was awake, the male came round to take a look at her. He approached her cautiously, weary of any sudden violence.

[Sophie]

She let him come near her. She smelled him a bit, then her aunt, then she rose and, if it didn't hurt to much, started sniffing around.

[Admin]

The male sniffed her too, took a good look at her and seemed contended with his conclusions. Her aunt, She Who Had Stood, seemed by far the least wounded of the lot - aside from the cub for all the good that would do them in a fight - she was laying on her side, gnawing on a strange cubic thing with several "branches" protruding from one side. It would be simple to enter it from that side, but it was covered in holes and would never do as shelter. The scent told the Young Lioness that her aunt had spent a long time inside the thing and she didn't like it one bit. Scent also told her that many of the Hyenas touched it.

Sniffing about, the Young Lioness began to explore her new environment. It was hot, humid, vibrant with life and smells she could not interpret. Immense trees and vines where everywhere, a stark change from the plains of the Savannah she had always known. There was no wind here, it could not pierce the armor of leaves and branches that made the occasional impassable verdant walls. She could see no end to this place, that place had one distinct flaw. It wasn't home.

Home was nice, it had places to cool herself, it had all her family, and it had water. No so here her nose told her. While she did detect a puddle here and there she could not smell a river or a pond.

What she did smell easily, however, was the trail of the Ajaba who had come here to dump them, and the one they left behind on their way back.

[Sophie]

She'd felt her strength return, but did not care to move yet. Her pridesmates were still hurt, so she would wait. When they would feel better, they would follow the trail.

[Admin]

The small pride rested for a while, until they felt their strength had returned as much as it would. They would need to drink soon, if they hoped to restore themselves more, but for now, the Young Lioness wanted to follow the trail. The Other Male grunted when he understood the direction she was taking, not pleased the smell of their enemies. But in the end, the group gathered and followed.

As they walked, the male would repeatedly veer off course and be forced to correct his direction to continue walking in the right direction. It seemed rest did not restore his ability to walk straight.

Eventually, they reached a small clearing where the trees gave way to a path where something huge left a trail that could not be missed. It seemed to have at least two legs which never left the ground. The smells told her that the Ajabas had been carried with great haste by this smelly creature.

[Sophie]

The lioness smelled the trail, trying to figure its course. She then walked away from it, in search of water, for she was thirsty. They would resume the hunt later.

[Admin]

They tried as best they could to smell for water, but couldn't find any. They walked tirelessly, driven an animalistic need for survival that could push back the boundaries of death. This new land meant new dangers for them. They did not know it, and it did not know them. Here and there, they hear life fleeing from their approach. Scared of the unknown that they represented.

A loud hiss from a very angry and strange creature caught her off guard. She turned to look behind her and saw that the Other Male, still leering left whenever he walked, had done a misstep and disturbed something that was mostly a long tubular green thing with two large teeth. It stood at a height with them and was about as long too. Its demeanor said that this was its nest, it would defend it should they approached but...

If only it was that simple. The Other Male was already too close, he was within reach of an attack. Yielding too much while walking back might show a weakness that would invoke an attack, standing there would only increase tensions and attacking might disturb more creatures like it if there was any. The Other Male's stance was one of determined defensiveness. One that was unyielding but not aggressive. It was enough to make the other creature doubt it wanted to strike, but not enough to prevent it altogether.

The group would need to think fast. To intervening might help, but it might also trigger the fight.

[Sophie]

The lioness stayed behind, not daring to approach the long creature. She let out a low warning growl toward the male, so that he would back off.

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