[PRP] A Light Plight (Sun-Cursed x Smoldering Ember)

[HuniPi]

Sun-Cursed was out hunting that day but had not been finding much success. After another failed attempt at catching food, she was forced to venture further away from her usual spots to unfamiliar territory. Her and frustration distracted her so much that she'd not realized the ground she was walking on was unstable until it gave way under her weight.

The world spun as the acha fell head over tail, tumbling quite far until she came to an abrupt stop against a boulder. Sun-Cursed groaned, trying to gather her bearings, but thanking her lucky stars that despite it being morning, she managed to land in the shade. But she knew she didn't have much time before the sun rose high enough in the sky to shrink her safe spaces to near nothing.

She raised her head towards the sound of frantic paws on soil to see her cheetah rushing up to see how she was. She tried to stand but fell right back down as pain stabbed through her leg, "Oh no," she whimpered. Her leg wasn't broken, she hoped it wasn't broken, but it was too freshly injured for her to put her weight on it.

Moving in the Dark had seen her master fall twice now, the first time from the edge of the hill, and the second just now. The cheetah knew she was fast but not strong enough to bear her master's full weight. If it were the feathered serpent or the lion, they had the muscle to do so, but Moving could only run off in search for help.

Hopefully the first kin she meet would be kind enough.

[doomsayer]

Smoldering Ember had just finished helping another kin pull a heavy load to a location that was quite far off from the swamp itself. The other kin said they were working on building up something large that could be seen even from far away. Ember thought it was a lofty goal and might help some lost kin get their bearings in the future.

As he started the long trek back to his home, saw a blue cheetah frantically running across the open plain as if in a panic. He craned his neck to see if it was injured or being chased in some way, but instead that cause its eyes to meet his. Without losing speed, the cheetah pivoted on one leg and changed directions, bounding his way.

Smoldering Ember weighed his available courses of action. If the cheetah were hostile, he was confident enough in his strength and combat ability that he could fight it off without much detriment to himself; though he could always start running now an find a place to break vision from it to prevent an altercation altogether. However, his curiosity about its demeanor outweighed his common sense to avoid a hassle. He opted to just wait and see.

[HuniPi]

It took Moving in the Dark a few encounters with kin that didn't involve being chased off before she saw a well-built kimeti. She hoped this one would give her the chance to pique his interest and follow her. As she neared him, she purposely swerved to circle his legs, loping around him in a strange dance before darting a distance away.

She'd stop to glance back to check if the kimeti was following, and if he wasn't she'd run back to him then dash away expectantly.

[doomsayer]

There was no collision, which he expected there to be at least some. Instead the cheetah seemed to methodically circle around him, then dashed away with purpose. Though Smoldering Ember did not completely understand what these movements meant, when the cheetah stopped to glance back at him, it cemented in his mind that it was asking him to follow.

And so he did, through the tall grass of the plains and the rockier borderland between the plains and the swamp where many subterranean cave entrances and pitfalls naturally form. As the cheetah started running towards an area known to have unstable ground, he started to worry. There must have definitely been an accident. He hoped he wasn't too late.

It was nearing noon when the cheetah stopped at what looked like a freshly collapsed rocky ledge. Ember carefully looked over it and saw at the bottom was a familiar acha doe leaning against a boulder as its shadow shrunk with the height of the sun.

"Sun-Cursed! Is that you, are you alright?!" he shouted from the top of the hill.

[HuniPi]

The doe had pressed herself as flat as she could against the boulder in a desperate attempt to keep herself in whatever sliver of shade was still available to her. She could balance herself right now but the nearest shade was too far for her to attempt with a bad leg. She hoped and prayed to the MotherFather that Moving in the Dark would come back soon.

Even without another kin to help, she would make do with another source for balance. It would at least shorten the amount of time she'd be exposed and have a set of eyes she could use.

The sun was so high up and reflecting against the ground so intensely, her eyes were watering. She had to keep them closed to stop the stinging. Her ears twitched at the sound of a familiar voice, and though her eyes were still screwed shut, she angled her head towards "Smoldering Ember! H-help!"

Moving in the Dark sped past the kimeti buck back to her master, giving soft yowls of comfort.

[doomsayer]

Hearing her call out to him for help, Smoldering Ember immediately slid down the side of the ledge to Sun-Cursed's side.

Seeing her up close, he saw that she could barely open her eyes. "Sun-Cursed! I'm here. What happened? Are you hurt?"

His mind raced at the possibilities as he took a quick look around the area. Were there bees around that stung her? Other animals that may have caused something to get into here eyes? Was there vegetation somewhere that she was reacting to? Did she hit her head in a certain way on the way down that she hurt her eyes?

[HuniPi]

Thanks to Smoldering Ember's size, his presence gave the acha just enough shade to let her crack her eyes open just a smidge. Sun-Cursed looked up at him gratefully for a moment before scanning their surroundings in search of the nearest place to hide from the sun. "I fell and hurt my leg. I need to get to the shade. And fast. I'll explain more when we get there."

She had to use this time to memorize the distance and direction. It'll be high noon soon and if she hadn't gotten shelter by then, well, she didn't want to consider how much it was going to hurt. Her cheetah curled its tail around one of her front ankles.

[doomsayer]

He nodded. He'll save his questions for later. Right now he will consider her priorities. He gives their surroundings another scan.

"I see a small recess along the cliff wall. There should be enough room in it for both of us to get out of the sun. You can lean on me for balance, but it would be faster and easier for us both if you got on top of me and I carried you there."

[HuniPi]

"No! I can't be in the sun. Please just shield me before the sun's too high up?" She pleaded, leaning against him at an angle to allow her to keep in his shadow for as much as she could. Already she could feel the heat of the sun edging around them, and she didn't want to wait much longer.

Hurt leg or no, Smoldering Ember or no, she had to go. She drew in a deep breath, bracing herself for pain that would come, be it from her leg or from the blistering heat, and began to hobble towards the cliff.

[doomsayer]

He heard a fear in her objection and pleading, and that concerned him even more than her hurt leg.

"Alright, I'm sorry, I didn't know. Of course, I'll do my best to shield you. Lean on me as much as you need and I'll move at your pace, okay?"

Knowing that the sun was what she had issue with, he did his best to straighten his legs and widen his core so that she would have as much coverage from his bulk as they slowly made their way to the shade.

Although he was focused on her during this short transition, the thoughts in the back of his mind went to her name. Sun-Cursed. Did her name carry a literal meaning? Did she burn under the light of the sun?

[HuniPi]

There was something nostalgic about the pace the pair of kin was taking. Sun-Cursed couldn't help but think back to the day she discovered that despite her longing for the sun, there was a price to pay for greeting the morning. What would she have done had there not been another kin to help her? It made her feel guilty that despite having grown, she was still that helpless foal in the face of the burning light.

Despite their best efforts, the sun still managed to catch their tail. and while the rays would warm Smoldering Ember, Sun-Cursed's skin began to turn an angry red. She bit back a hiss, kicking off in a final burst of speed to get to the shade. She'll worry about her hurt leg later. For now, she needed to cool her skin and check whether she needed to worry about blisters.

[doomsayer]

Witnessing firsthand her worsening condition as they made their way to the shade only elicited more questions in his mind. But his growing worry for Sun-Cursed's well-being would push back his curiosity until he was sure she was safe and comfortable.

When they finally got to the shade and he saw her tend to the inflamed skin on her tail, he went back out to gather large leaf stalks that he proceeded to layer against the entry to the recess of the cliff. This way, the light from the afternoon sun wouldn't directly be seen from inside. He continued to do this for quite some time, wordlessly leaving Sun-Cursed in the shade, then returning to focus on layering the leaves against each other. He did this with both a sense of urgency and a twinge of guilt in that he wasn't able to help her fast enough to get her to safety completely unscathed.

Only after he was sure that the light inside the shade would be minimal would he go back to Sun-Cursed's side. "I hope that helps. If I can do anything else to make you more comfortable, just say so. How are you feeling?"

[HuniPi]

The surge of adrenaline took a while to taper off, but Sun-Cursed curled into as small a ball as she could without worsening her tail or leg. She managed to mumble a thanks to Smoldering Ember as he set about gathering leaves to further shield her from the sun. "I'll be okay, thank you. I had my naming dream when there was no sun and when I woke, I was alone. I don't know how many days it was during those times of darkness but eventually things got bright and, well, I learned that being in the sun hurts me."

She hesitantly showed her tail, thankfully no blisters had formed, which meant she managed to escape into the shade fast enough. "This would have been a lot worse without your help, thank you. I owe you so much."

[doomsayer]

There was enough space for both of them inside the small recess, but it was still a tight fit and Smoldering Ember didn't want to crowd Sun-Cursed since it was she that needed the shade for her own safety. As a result, he positioned himself pressed up against one inner wall to give the acha doe as much breathing room as possible.

When she finally started to explain her condition to him, he simply remained quiet and let her share as much as she was comfortable. He was relieved to know that no permanent damage resulted from his earlier hesitation but still visibly felt quite bad about being the cause of her minor scalding.

"You don't owe me anything. The fact that you're safe now is enough for me. We can stay here until sundown, then I can carry you back into the swamp where we can have someone look over your leg. I'm sorry about making that suggestion earlier; I didn't pick up that it was the sun that was hurting you. I feel like that must be a terrible lifestyle. How do you deal with it?"

[HuniPi]

Sun-Cursed gave the kimeti buck an apologetic smile, "It's not your fault, you couldn't have known. I, I try to avoid going out in the morning but as much as it hurts, my body just craves the s-" she trailed off, eyes growing unfocused as her halo seemed to waver in its intensity.

Her gaze remained trained at Smoldering Ember but not on him exactly. She seemed to be staring around him, perhaps even beyond him.

"Something, someone follows.
Fear them? No. Wary. Be wary.
Close. Too close. Stop!"

She shuddered suddenly breathless, her heart racing a mile a minute. Sun-Cursed buried her face against the cliff wall, eyes screwed shut as if trying to block whatever it was she'd seen.