The petite femme curled up even more on herself, trying to remain invisible when the male returned. Even though he had not physically hurt her…at least not yet, she was anticipating it, waiting for it to happen. And the waiting scared her. It scared her more than if he had actually hurt her and left her injured and dying. The anticipation of what could happen was worse. Perdere didn’t believe her feigned attempt at sleep, but he did leave her alone. And that was all Shilo wanted. “Suit yourself, princess. You can starve for all I care - Ainae did not demand your death but it might please her nonetheless.” She didn’t know who Ainae was…but if he wasn’t going to come over and bother her then she didn’t care. But the scent of the fish reached her nares, and her stomach ached with hunger. When was the last time she had eaten? When she thought that Perdere had gone to sleep, she slunk over to the food, eating some of it but not much, constantly gazing over to the form of the other brute in case he were to wake. In the end she didn’t really eat much meet at all, too paranoid about the other wolf sharing the cave with her to let it settle in her stomach without feeling like she was just going to vomit it back up. Shilo slunk back to the corner she had been in, trying to sleep even though she felt the presence of the male nearby.
Eventually the femme had fallen into a deep sleep, and was only awoken when the brute woke her abruptly, his snout pushing into her form to wake her up. She woke up with a start, fear waking her faster than he did. What did he want with her now? He went on to speak, insulting her and her weaker lifestyle. She tried not to resort to eating he kill of others, but sometimes she had to. She tried to hunt, but if she was too tired or too weak she was often unsuccessful. And it was either feed off the leftovers of other carnivores, or starve to death. What else did he expect someone like her to do? Shilo remained silent, not answering the words that he said to her. She had no clever comeback or anything to say anyways, so what was even the point. He only gave her a few minutes to wake up before he was roughly shoving her through the cave’s opening into the morning light. Mint green orbs squinted in the sudden light, blinking to let herself adjust to the sunlight. But Perdere didn’t even give her the chance for that before he was shoving at her from behind to go forward, so she did. Shilo stumbled along with the brute urging her along behind her, dragging her feet with her tail held limp behind her.
The only sounds that Shilo heard was the noise her own paws were making. Crunching on every leaf, breaking every small twig and branch. She was glad that Perdere was not questioning her more this morning, but it also made for a boring morning to just walk through the forest, not knowing what was in store for her when they got back to the pack. She chewed at her lip as she thought of how she had become nothing but trouble for the pack. Nimueh surely would kick her out after this encounter. The femme was distracted though when she heard the approach of another being, one that was more dangerous than her companion. The tall stilted femme froze, her eyes widening as the large feline approached them. Even if she was in fighting condition, it would be tough for two wolves to take down a mountain lion. Perdere forced her out of her shocked phase, his shoulder shoving into her form to push her out of the way. Why was he protecting her? He knew where they were going, he said he didn’t care if she died, so why did he act this way now? The brute snarled at the cougar, but Shilo felt that he didn’t stand a chance. With ears held back, her form slithered into the shadows, watching the fight unfold, assuming that Perdere would be slaughtered and that she would be next. But what Shilo saw surprised her. She knew that kalaks were skilled fighters because of their speed and cunning, not because of brute strength. The male went for one of her main weapons of balance, which would change the entire way that the cougar could fight. He was smart, and if it was different circumstances then Shilo might even have respect for him. Miraculously it seemed that Perdere had won, the cat was retreating, realizing that this was not as easy a fight as she thought it was going to be.
Shilo remained where she was in the brush, only the black tipped ears visible as Perdere limped over to her. Even though he had come out the victor, he was limping heavily and his blood had been spilled. She had never been told that she could be of use to others, not even with healing. Honestly it had never even crossed her mind before. Shilo assumed that she would always have to rely on others, that she would never be able to contribute to a mate or a pack or a family. But surprisingly Perdere had given her a spark of hope. Could she be a healer? Could she learn how to help others even in her diseased state. She didn’t speak this out loud of course, but it almost brought a smile to her kissers before the brute went on. “Be a doll now, go find us a cave to rest in. And as before, don’t try to run off. Even like this I probably can still catch you…. ” Shilo flinched at the end of his words. She knew he was right. Maybe if she had eaten more of the food he offered and slept better she would have stood a chance to outrun him now that he was injured, but she had not done either of those things and was still weak. Finally she slunk out from the brush she had hidden in, this time walking more carefully to not attract any other unwanted guests. She already had one companion with her that she didn’t want. The pace that she was used to was one that Perdere probably could still easily handle, even with his injury, so she didn’t try to slow down. Her eyes caught what could be the covering of a den hidden in the trees, and she veered off to the side to explore it. It was some sort of abandoned den, no fresh scent to it so she didn’t imagine that they would be stealing anyone’s home. Thick ferns mostly covered the entrance, and when she adjusted them it was completely hidden. She turned to the male, waiting to see if this would suit him well enough. Assuming that it did they would both go in, and once in Shilo realized it was smaller than she thought. They both fit, but much more snuggly than the large cave she had been in before. There would be no way for them to both lie down without some part of them touching, and that made her nervous. But unless he rejected this den…they were stuck with it…
Picture and table credit to Casey!
//Shilo//Fae//Daughter of Shae and Caspian//Sister to Tiresias, Malina, and Rylan//Crith Thalmhainn//Teen//Violet//
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