Tuah

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Shaurria
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Tuah

Postby Shaurria » Thu May 12, 2011 4:02 pm

((Cross-posted on my blog.))

Shaurria was bored and lonely. Lark could sympathize, since everyone the youngster normally spent time with was gone- Pitch and Rheugan had left for Nagrand that morning, and Alanon was back in Hyjal. But after nearly tripping over the little druid for the third time, Lark had had enough. "Alright," she addressed the druid, and Shaur sat down to look at her alertly. "Do you want to go do something, anywhere? I'm not getting much done like this, and I've got some time off due anyway."

Shauria's forehead crinkled in thought, then she unshifted and looked up. "Uldum?" she asked tentatively. "Pitch took me there once and I liked it. But I haven't gotten t' go back since."

Lark nodded. "Uldum it is. Just let me tell Kal and get Wynd."

Kal didn't even look up when Lark popped her head in to say she was leaving, she just waved one hand distractedly. With that taken care of, Lark headed out to fetch her gryphon. In no time they were through the Earthen Ring's portal and flapping their way out into the desert.

Lark let Shaurria lead the way, and the little druid headed down the river toward the Delta. She finally flapped down to a landing just outside the Tol'vir city there, shifting to a cat as she did, and started playing in the water at the river's edge. Lark settled Wynd, then came over to sit a little ways away, outside of splashing range. Shaurria was apparently in a kittenish mood, and amused herself for a good while pouncing through the rushes after frogs and snakes. Lark had just started to doze off when the druid-cat suddenly went still, head up and ears pricked, looking over to the far bank.

Lark noticed and roused herself. "What is it, kitten?" she called, but Shaur only twitched one ear in her direction. Then abruptly she was bounding into the water, in the direction she had been facing.

Lark cursed to herself and hurried after her, whistling for Wynd. The gryphon came running, pausing just long enough for Lark to throw herself in the saddle before hopping into the air, to cross the river in an easy glide. Lark slid off her mount and waited, arms crossed, while Shaur reached the bank and pulled herself out, panting. "All right, little one," she said shortly. "What was that about?"

Shaurria unshifted to look at her incredulously. "Y'mean ya couldn't hear it?" she asked. Lark blinked at her. "Hear what?" She was answered, not by Shaur, but by a low chuffing moan from nearby. Shaur's eyes widened, and in a blink she had shifted again to go after the noise. Lark stopped her with a hand held in front of her nose. "Not so fast," she told the druid firmly. "We'll check it out together."

The two Night elves headed up the bank cautiously, into the brush surrounding the city walls. Lark kept one worried eye on the city itself- if anything came out after them, they were in a world of trouble. Everything seemed quiet, however, except for whatever animal was making those noises.

Lark smelled the blood just as Shaurria came to a stop, ears pricked and nose twitching. She unshifted again to point at a bush. "S'in there," she whispered, and Lark peered in. "I don't.." she started to say, then stopped as she realized that the splash of orange she could make out wasn't a plant- it was the biggest tiger she had ever seen. Lark grabbed for Shaur's arm, ready to beat it out of there, when she saw the cat's near hind leg. She stopped and stared, realizing that the tiger wasn't a danger after all.

It looked rather like the tiger's leg just above the hock had been pushed through a meat grinder. The grass it was lying on was stained with blood, and Lark could see flecks of shattered bone poking out of the meat. The tiger lay quietly, eyes almost shut, every now and again giving another of those rasping moans.

Shaurria pulled Lark out of her shock by tugging on her arm. "We have t' help him," she said softly. Lark swallowed and nodded, then carefully approached the tiger. Its eyes opened, glowing a strange purple color, but it simply watched her, eyes dull with pain. Lark crept up to within touching range, took a deep breath, and placed one hand on the cat's haunch.

The skin under her hand twitched, but otherwise it didn't move. Lark wasn't sure if that was a good sign- that the animal was used to being handled- or a bad one- that the injury was so severe it just didn't care anymore. She peered at the wound as closely as she dared, taking note of the tooth marks in the cat's leg. Shaur hovered anxiously just over her shoulder as she gently probed the leg. Finally she straightened up again.

"It's broken, and he's missing a good-sized chunk of that leg. Looks like a croc got him. He'll heal if he gets care, but he'll be crippled in that leg." Shaur looked at her, round-eyed, then peered at the cat. "S'what'll we do with 'im?" she asked. Lark sighed, mostly at the inevitability of it all. "We'll take him home and find him a healer," she told the younger elf. "And hope he survives the trip. It's a long way back, and he's lost a lot of blood."

She stood and went to get Wynd. The gryphon was used to carrying animal passengers, and the tiger was too far gone anyway to put up much of a struggle. She had only taken a step when Shaur's hand on her arm stopped her. She looked back irritably. "What now, kitten?"

Shaur just gave her a knowing grin. "We don' have t' move 'im hurt," she said. "I c'n heal 'im." Lark blinked, thinking with some chagrin that she had been with Pitch for too long. The thought hadn't even occurred to her.

The tiger gave another painful rasp. Lark nodded to the druid. "Go ahead, babe. See what you can do."

Before too much longer Lark had unrolled the pad behind Wynd's saddle and coaxed the cat up onto it. Wynd was used to ferrying her pets around and stood steady. The tiger was using his injured leg, albeit stiffly, and the remaining damage didn't look too bad. Shaur had done a good job.

The tiger was surprisingly placid. Lark didn't know if he was still sick or injured, if he really was used to being handled, or if he simply trusted the elves that much. She was worried it was the first, and kicked Wynd up into the air as soon as he was settled on the pad. Shaurria flapped along behind her, keeping watch in case the big cat slipped, but he clung to the pad as if he had been doing it all his life, and by the time they crossed the Uldum border Lark had stopped worrying. Mostly.

She was relieved when they finally arrived back in Stormwind. The tiger and Wynd both were worn out, so she wasted little time in directing the gryphon toward the University and getting him to the ground. She left the tiger in Shaur's care while she stabled Wynd, then they both coaxed the tiger into her room. Lark was a bit worried about her own pets, but Komah knew to stay well out of the way, and Quiloe seemed to take her cue from him, although the wolf watched them with wide eyes. The tiger ignored them both, limping over to the sleeping pad and dropping onto it with a sigh.

Shaurria knelt by the cat and began gently petting his head. "Are you gonna keep 'im?" she asked.

Lark sighed. "Probably," she answered. "Nether knows I don't need another pet, but they seem to keep forcing themselves on me anyway."

Shaur grinned at the attempted joke. "Whatcha gonna call 'im?"

Lark considered the big tiger for a moment. "I think he'll be Tuah," she said, and the cat's eyes opened to stare into hers. Behind that strange glow, Lark thought that he looked content.
Will you carry me down the aisle that final day
With your tears and cold hands shaking from the weight
When you lower me down beneath that sky of gray
Let the rain fall down and wash away your pain

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Shaurria
Posts: 292
Joined: Thu Jan 07, 2010 8:19 pm
Location: Virginia, USA
Contact:

Re: Tuah

Postby Shaurria » Sat Aug 06, 2011 11:39 pm

Lark held up her creation. "What do you think?"

Pitch eyed it doubtfully. "A feathered leather ball? What does it do?"

Lark just grinned, then looked down at Wynd. The little wintersaber cub was sitting at her feet, watching expectantly. Lark hefted the ball, then threw it, and Wynd leaped after it, pouncing on the toy with a growl before bringing it back. There was a brief tug-of-war before he relinquished the ball to Lark, but he let it go without too much difficulty.

Lark grinned at Pitch triumphantly as Wynd sat back down at her feet, ready for another throw. Pitch grunted in amusement. "Seems to have met his approval. Clever." Lark passed him the ball, and he looked it over before tossing it for the cub. "He sure seems to-"

Pitch broke off whatever he was saying as a big shape suddenly charged in from the side. The two Kal'dorei gaped as Tuah went rushing past them. Wynd squealed and dashed out of the way as the big tiger pounced on the toy. He settled on the ground with the ball between his forepaws, sniffing it over curiously.

Pitch glanced at Lark with one eyebrow raised. "Does he do that often?"

Lark just laughed. "You're supposed to bring that back, silly!" she called to the tiger. Tuah twitched one ear in her direction and chuffed, then stood up and trotted toward them, the ball almost hidden in his jaws.

Wynd, watching the huge cat warily, suddenly realized that Tuah had his toy. With a squeaky growl he jumped at the tiger, smacking into the side of his head. Tuah stopped in his tracks, rolling onto his side with a groan. Wynd immediately began chewing on the closest ear, until he noticed that Tuah had dropped the ball. He gave up the ear to pounce onto the ball, then proceeded to prance around the bigger cat, holding his prize high. Tuah just lay where he fell, watching him.

Pitch looked over at Lark, keeping a straight face with an obvious effort. "They're your cats, you know," he told her. Lark dissolved into helpless giggles. Pitch just watched her, until Wynd came over and dropped the ball on her face. Then his composure cracked, and he fell over on top of her, laughing his head off.

Wynd watched his people curiously, cocking his head to one side. Then he trotted back to Tuah and curled up at the tiger's side, chewing contentedly at his toy.



* * * * * * *

Lark hated to admit it, but she had lost track of how many pets she had had over the centuries. From the scruffy lioness that had first claimed a piece of her life, to her current companions... it had likely been hundreds. That lioness had been the first Tuah, and the name had passed down from one pet to the next, occasionally skipping an animal as another name asserted itself, but always returning before too long. Lark was the first to admit she had no head for names; this way was the easiest, so she stuck with it.

She had found that whichever pet carried the name was usually the one she formed the strongest bond with, especially the few times she had more than one pet at a time. Even when her current Tuah had been found after her other pets. She worried over it sometimes, but Komah assured her that he and Quiloe didn't care. I am here to repay the kindness you showed my mate, the spirit-cat told her after she'd asked him about it yet again. That doesn't mean you need to coddle me every minute. I am content, and so is the wolf. Wolves are pack animals, after all; she doesn't mind sharing.

Right now, however, Lark was feeling less than charitable toward the most recent object of her affections. She surveyed the mess that had been the living room of their new house with dismay. Pet bedding had been thrown or dragged everywhere, and the leather cushions she and Pitch had bought until they could get real chairs were scattered throughout the chaos. Two of them had been chewed to ruins, and the culprit himself was sprawled on his belly in the midst of the stuffing, a couple down feathers festooning his ruff. Komah and Quiloe had wisely left the scene, after Komah had all too happily informed her who was to blame; they were probably waiting upstairs for the storm to blow over.

"You want to tell me why you did this?" Tuah blinked at her sleepily, but otherwise didn't even twitch. "You get plenty of attention, there was no reason for this. You ought to know better. And when Pitch sees this mess, he's going to want to tan your stripey hide." Lark sighed, running a hand through her hair in exasperation. "Nether, who am I kidding? You're too big to whip, and you know it, too." Tuah just rolled to his side with a rumble, his massive front paws gently kneading at nothing, eyes almost closed. The tiny knot of feelings in her head, which comprised her bond with the tiger, was full of nothing but lazy contentment. Lark felt a grin tugging at her mouth, but firmly held it in. "You can forget the next pub night, you know. You may be too big to switch, I'll admit that, but I can darn well set Komah to watch you. See if you can get into any trouble then." No response for that. Lark shook her head, then stared at her pet incredulously as a sudden thought struck.

"You...big brat! You know you can get away with it, don't you?" Tuah rolled onto his back with a loud groan. With his head upside-down and his ears squashed to the floor, he blinked at her again. It was hard to tell with that strange glow, but behind it Lark swore she saw a twinkle in his eye.
Will you carry me down the aisle that final day
With your tears and cold hands shaking from the weight
When you lower me down beneath that sky of gray
Let the rain fall down and wash away your pain


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