A Change of Plans [PRIVATE: AC & The Whistlerify]

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga looked up at Marini, and he managed a small sigh of relief when he saw that, aside from a few minor cuts and bruises, she was okay. She apologised to him, and he could see the tears in her eyes. He tried to say something, anything, to help soothe and calm her down a little, but all that escpaed from his throat was a pained whimper as his various wounds sent constant streams of pain through his body. He tried to stand, but found he could barely move his legs from the pain across his body...nothing would respond to his thoughts at the moment.

In the end, Tanga did manage to lift his his head up and give her a quick, if weak, nuzzle, making sure to use his left cheek, which was free of blood. Leaning back, he then licked her across the cheek, showing her that, as far as he was concerned, there was nothing for her to be sorry about.

But his wounds were taking their toll on him, and a moment later his head thudded back to the ground, as he lay on his side, his right ear, or what was left of it, feeling like it was on fire, along with all his other wounds. The fur on his chest was similarly turning red, but Tanga could feel the wounds already beginning to clot and seal over, the razor-sharp nature of the leopard's claws leaving the wounds long and relatively deep, but thin and clean. He looked a mess, but Tanga knew he would survive.

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As Nala got over the shock of what she was seeing, tears welled up in her eyes at the sight of Tanga looking so broken. She felt certain, from the number and seriousness of his wounds, that her friend was dying, and there was nothing she could do.

"Oh, Kings...Tanga, no..." Unable to bear looking at Tanga's bloody form any longer, she reached out to the first thing she could find, which just happened to be Simba, and she buried her muzzle in the young prince's half-formed mane, sobbing loudly and uncontrollably as her paws clung onto Simba's shoulders.

"Simba..." she gasped between heaving sobs. "Please, Simba...please tell me...tell me he's going to be okay?"

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Once Sarabi got over the shock of it herself, she moved away from Simba and Nala, making her way down to Tanga's side as the adolescent simply lay there, barely aware of the world around him as she quickly inspected him. Her muzzle contorted in a nauseated grimace as she figure everything out. Tanga was going to survive, but his chest would bear scars, and possibly his cheek and foreleg, too. And nothing could be done about his ear...it had been sheared clean in half, there was no no way of salvaging the half that had been removed...it was another scar he would have to bear.

Satisfied that Tanga's life was not in any immediate danger, Sarabi turned to Marini, her eyes sad and comforting. "Marini, what happened...tell me everything." despite her kind tone, her voice was also laced with seriousness, warning Marini that she needed to explain every detail.

[TheWhistlerify]

Marini looked down at Tanga as he lay still. She felt terrible at the feeling that this was all her fault. But she knew he would be okay, maybe a few scars. She sighed in relief and smiled as she received the nuzzle and lick on her cheek. She lay down next to him, hoping he would find her presence comforting before she turned to Sarabi. "This is all my fault." she said sadly before looking down at Tanga againm "I came here, and he followed me."

Simba looked at Tanga and could see that he would be fine. He tried to stay focused as Nala hang onto him all of a sudden. "He'll be fine." he said as he reached Nala with his paw and pulled her into a quick hug, trying to reassure her.

[AustralianChaos]

Sarabi looked at Marini, glancing over at Tanga once more. "Where did the leopard come from...how did the fight start? Marini...please tell me everything you remember...don't leave anything out." She wanted to know the details of what had happened. If her hunch was correct, then the unknown force that made the forest so dangerous to go to may have just been dealt with.

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Nala just kept crying into Simba's shoulder, feeling only marginally better at his words. "But his cuts...there so much blood...and his ear! I just...how could this have happened to Tanga...to any of us?"

[TheWhistlerify]

Marini turned her gaze from Tanga to Sarabi, "I was looking around when he came out of no where." she said, recalling memories of what happend, "Tanga happend to be following me or... I don't know. But he attacked the leopard before he did anything to me." She then looked at Tanga again, feeling the biggest relief of her life knowing that he was going to be okay.

For some reason, SImba pulled Nala a little closer, feeling an urge need to comfort her. "I don't know Nala... but he will be okay."

[AustralianChaos]

Sarabi was not terribly surprised to find that Tanga had once again put himself in harm's way for Marini...but this time he had been seriously hurt, and was very lucky to still be alive. Sighing, Sarabi turned back to Marini...she did not want to punish Marini, but she had to understand.

"Marini, I warned you not to come in here because I feared something like this would happen. We are very lucky that both you Tanga are still alive right now...and it's an absolute miracle that you just have a couple of scratches, Marini. The cheetah I met was wounded even worse than Tanga is...and this was all caused by just one leopard. I get the feeling that he is the end of it, but even if it isn't, Tanga has to stay here...we can't move him when he's like this."

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Nala continued crying, although Simba's attempts to comfort her were at last beginning to have an effect. She nuzzled her head deeper into his mane, trying to bring herself under control.

After a few moments, she pulled her head back, and looked straight into Simba's eyes. "Thank you, Simba. Just...thank you." Acting purely on a whim, and the burst of affection she felt for Simba in that moment, she leaned forward, giving him a quick lick across the cheek, before burying her head in his short mane once more, still sobbing quietly at Tanga's predicament.

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Tanga had been listening into the conversation as he lay there, Marini by his side. His wounds her still hurting fiercely, and part of him wondered if the pain would ever go away. His mane, chest and the left side of his face felt heavy from the thick coating of blood now covering those areas, but he could feel that the bleeding had slowed dramatically...although the amount of blood he had lost already had left him weak, and struggling to hold onto consciousness.

Having spent the duration of the talk between Sarabi and Marini building up his strength, Tanga now tried to talk once more. Opening his mouth, he whimpered as the cuts on his right cheek protested, before finally finding his voice. "Ma...Marini..." his voice was rough and weak, and proved just how badly the leopard had injured him. "Rini...this...this is not...your fault."

[TheWhistlerify]

Marini looked at Tanga, an apologetic look on her face, "It is my fault." she said and sighed, before turning to Sarabi, "But... what do we do now?

Simba smiled slightly as he realised Nala was feeling better. But when she licked him all of a sudden he was quite stunned, feeling a huge blush forming on his cheeks. Nala didn't see that because she buried her head in his mane again. He felt a strong wave of emotions he didn't quite understand and was quite stunned, he tried to react but his body didn't move.

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga paused as Marini brushed off his attempts to shift blame away from her, but refused to give in. "Rini, please...it's my own fault I'm so hurt...I jumped in, I decided to fight him...and I wasn't strong enough to hold him off. Please, Rini...don't...don't beat yourself up over this. I'll be okay in a little bit...I promise."

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Once Tanga had finished talking, Sarabi butted in with an answer to Marini's question. "There's not much we can do, Marini. We could try moving Tanga back to the den, but it's very risky. If any of his wounds open again...he could die from the blood loss. But at the same time...we have no idea what secrets this forest holds, and if we could get him back to the cave, he'd be safer from other animals there."

Sarabi turned to Tanga for his opinion, but the young lion was losing strength fast. His efforts to talk to Marini had left him semi-conscious, and Sarabi rather doubted that he had understood what she had said.

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Nala peeked up from Simba's mane as Sarabi mentioned the possibility of getting Tanga back to the cave. Her awkwardness around simba vanishing in the heat of the moment, which was no small matter given she had just licked him, she turned to the prince. "I think we should try and get him back...it's safer at the den...what do you think, Simba?"

[TheWhistlerify]

Marini looked at Tanga and sighed in dis-agreement before turning to Sarbai. "The leopard said that it's dull here." she said and sighed, "Which is why he likes visitors because of the sport they provide." She then looked at Tanga, "According to him he's the only one who lived here." she said and pointed at the leopard, ignoring the pain caused by her shoulder's movement as she did so, "We could stay here with him for a day or two then we'll take him back."

Simba looked at Nala as she pulled away from him. He tried to find his voice, but only managed to speak after a few moments. "Ahhh... I...You heard Sarabi, it's too dangerous to move him right now." he said, barely hiding his blushing as he turned his gaze to his mother and two friends.

[AustralianChaos]

Nala nodded, starting to change her outlook on the situation after Marini mentioned the leopard's behaviour, completely ignoring Simba's odd behaviour in the process. "Yeah...yeah, I guess so." She then turned to Sarabi. "Is there anything you can do for him?" she pleaded.

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Sarabi shook her head at Nala's question. "I'm sorry, Nala, but I don't have any knowledge of healing, and away from the Pridelands, I can't call on Rafiki for help. It's all up to Tanga for now...all we can do is watch over him and keep him company until he heals enough to move again."

She then saw how distressed the two of them, particularly Nala, appeared to be. "Simba, Nala...you don't need to be here. Perhaps you should head back to the den for now." She posed it as an offer, telling them that, while she wanted them to leave, she was accept it if they decided to stay.

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Tanga, meanwhile, was fading. He was still alive, for sure, and the bleeding had stopped, but he was in agony, weak, and exhausted...his state of consciousness was slipping from him...fast, and he felt extremely vulnerable.

"Marini..." he called softly, trying to get her attention despite the fact that he could barely hear his own voice, and his vision was starting to black out. "Please..." he managed to reach one paw out, and touch her paw softly, drawing some much-needed comfort from the contact. "Please don't leave me here. Please...stay with me..."

[TheWhistlerify]

Marini looked back at Tanga, "I'm here." she said calmly and snuggled close to him before looking at Sarabi agan, "What if he wakes up?" she asked a little concerned and pointed at the leopard.

Simba didn't feel like staying there and look at his mauled friend. He looekd at Nala, trying to see what she felt like doing before walking over to Tanga and Marini, "I'll see you later okay?" he asked, receiving a nod from Marini as he turned back to Nala, "I think I'll get going back now" he said to her before he began walking back, wanting some time to think about everything that happend, and about what happend ith Nala a moment before.