Of Illness and Claws
Kina and SnowyCheetah
Characters--
Kina - Kina
Dixon - SnowyCheetah
Grunge - SnowyCheetah
Haley - SnowyCheetah
Snowy - SnowyCheetah
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As Haley slowly woke one cold, rainy morning in the Pridelands, she had not yet realized what was happening to her. She knew something wasn't quite normal when she woke before the sun had even risen. Even though the weather was dreadful, it was hardly normal for her to wake before sunrise, especially since she had stayed up late the night before as her mate, Snowy, had set off on a long journey and she wanted to see him off.
Rising to her paws was something she found more difficult than it usually was. Her legs felt weird; weaker, and less sensitive than they should be. Her paws felt a bit tingly, as if she had slept on them funny. But the feeling lingered long after she had gotten up. She licked them, wrung them, and pawed at things to try and get the blood flowing; but it already was, and it wasn't helping to restore her less-than-normal sensation.
She also felt drowsy. After sleeping only a few hours such a thing was, perhaps, to be expected. But it wasn't the tired kind of feeling; rather, a sickly, wanting-to-sleep-and-never-wake-up type of feeling in her head and body that she felt. The cold wind and rain, as well as the startling thunder and lighting outside did not help as the snow cheetah padded through the messy mud outside her cave, did not wake her up. As her webbed paws sunk into the mud, she only stood there, fighting to wake up. Before long she passed out, her gray fur brown with mud and her toes held apart by mud that had become wedged between them.
Hours later, Haley found herself back in her cave. She had been dried off, and her toes had been freed of the mud between them. Her webs had even been licked clean, which saved her a lot of irritation as that skin was very sensitive to foreign material. She felt much better than before, but still sick. As she looked around, she saw the Pride princess, Kiara, sitting next to her. Hey, Haley. she said in a soft voice, What happened to you?
Haley struggled to rise to her paws once again, this time finding it a little easier to keep from falling over. I'm... not sure... she answered weakly to Kiara, I feel very sick and weak... for no reason. Kiara frowned. That's an illness that's been going around... usually only between mates. There is only one cure, but it's known of only by one lioness. Her name is Kina, and she is a rogue. You'll need to find her.
An hour later, the sickly snow cheetah was on her way out of the Pridelands in search of this lioness. She knew not what she looked like, where to find her, or how it would go if and when she did. She just walked, her paws weakening a tiny bit with every step.