Our Future is Bleak [PRIVATE]

[zorayda]

PLOT:

It is sometime in the distant future. Humans have destroyed everything with their nuclear warfare...even themselves. This story takes place in decimated and barren Africa, where the desert has new dangers, including radiation, toxic clouds, extreme temperatures, and a severe lack of food and water for all animals...or what's left of them. A group of felines, mutated to survive this harsh wasteland over the years, meet and decide to search for a rumored paradise, but what waits for them there is nothing they'd ever expect...

Players:

SnowyCheetah and Zorayda

Characters:

Eeve- Zorayda
Kobi- Zorayda
Taraji- Zorayda

Snowy-SnowyCheetah
Tabasamu- SnowyCheetah
Nyeusi- SnowyCheetah

-----

It's not fair. Why was it that whenever she encountered an animal suitable for prey, it always got away or took every effort to take down?

The adolescent lioness's natural bioluminescence gave the sands under her an eerie green glow, lighting her way to see the path to her prey. The light cast shadows in sharp relief across her bony features, underlining the ribs that stuck out from her sides and the ridged spine and hips that protruded from her back and rump.

She'd been following the footsteps of the gazelle that had gotten away from her, though she'd injured it. Her tawny fur and mandarin irises were alight with the glow of her body in spots and streaks--an ability she'd gained due to the terrible nuclear apocalypse that had occurred all those many years ago. Something that helped her to see in the darkness...but because of that, she was also a beacon to other unwelcome strangers, even if they were extremely few and far between.

Eeve's hardened paw pads danced silently across the tainted desert sand swiftly as she half-ran, half-trotted to catch up to her hard-earned prey. The freezing weather, temporary and only available during the darkness, caused her slightly labored breaths to puff out in a small vapor cloud in front of her face, making her pink nose paler and numb to smells. It had been a few hours since she could catch the scent of the gazelle...

She continued her journey, her figure lonely in the expanse of the once-lush desert of the African plain.

---

A small figure cowered in the old bomb shelter, shivering from the freezing temperature to fluff out her white fur. But the white was rapidly turning colors, an ocean of swimming shades that shimmered across it as the little feline seemingly disappeared into the background.

As the hulking figure of the striped hyena passed by, it snarled in frustration when it discovered that the little snow leopard had seemingly escaped. It yipped angrily and stalked off in search for other prey. The little female let out a huge sigh of relief before letting her fur go back to its normal color. She stood up and exited the rusted shelter, shaking out her fur and fluffing it so her body heat remained trapped against her skin. She gave her long, luscious tail a flick before stepping in a few circles and settling down, watchful for any movement around her.

[SnowyCheetah]

Nyeusi carefully traveled through the barren land; her search for other living creatures that were not prey yielded little fruit. Her hopes were nearly gone, when she picked up the faint scent of a lioness. Her sense of smell might have been drastically altered, but she knew this one. She immediately quickened her pace, following the pawprints that had been left not long before.

Not long afterward she caught sight of the lioness. She looked hungry, very hungry in fact. Reluctantly, Nyeusi interacted with a lion for the first time, having previously been adverse to them. "Hello?" she called out, cringing and ready to sprint if the lioness turned out to be hostile.

----

Tabasamu, a timid cheetah, was huddled in a cave. She'd been there for several hours, freezing to death as the ice slowly melted inside it. There was heat outside, but she could not get to it. In her sleep, she'd accidentally let her hind pads touch ice and, as usually happened when her pads touched ice, they froze to it, trapping her inside the cold cave. She could barely move her lips, having developed an ability to withstand cold that she would normally have died in; that didn't mean she could thaw out and move in such cold, however. She looked outside, hoping someone would see her and help her get out of the crippling situation she was in.

[zorayda]

Eeve's paws began to slow to a trot, her legs weary from endless running and from the bitter cold that dug down into her bones. Cold, almost frozen, droplets clung to her maw as she panted, and she finally stopped to take a break. Without the food she'd needed lately, her energy had been wearing down more and more quickly within the last few days. The sound of another animal's voice penetrated her senses, and her head turned instinctively towards it.

A female leopard was standing not too far away from her, looking somewhat fearful and cautious, judging from her body language. Eeve perked her ears forward, on alert, but did not answer. How long had it been since she'd actually used her voice to speak to another feline? The lioness couldn't remember when. She blinked her orange irises that glowed into the night before slowly creeping towards the other, smaller female. If it weren't for the fact that lions were naturally bigger and stronger than leopards, Eeve might never have given the cat a second glance. Another factor in the equation was Eeve's need for companionship and contact with others. Being a naturally social feline, she'd begun to develop odd thought processes and habits in the absence of company...

"H...hello..." She called, her voice rough and dry with thirst and underuse.

---

Taraji was only slightly aware of the strange feeling in her gut when she awoke. At first, she wasn't even sure that she'd been asleep, not remembering having dozed off before. Then, she wasn't certain of what had woken her up, until a strange pull at her heart urged her to get up. She sensed that something was not right--something was amiss, and she wasn't certain what it was. Then, all at once, she knew what had gotten her mind so worked up.

A small, almost inaudible whimper, coming from the south. The noise must have been carried on the wind, straight to the young snow leopard's ears. She got up and shook her small, fluffy body, shaking off sand and ash as she went. Taraji trotted towards the direction of the sound, hoping to find the individual who so desperately needed her help.

After a small amount of time, she came across paw prints that led straight into a dark, deep, ice cave. The young feline swallowed nervously and licked her lips.

"Um, hello? Is anyone there?" Taraji doubted that anyone could see her from within the cave at such a distance, but she was sure that her voice would echo nicely and be carried to the one who needed help. Besides... Taraji didn't want to have to go inside such a creepy cave for no reason.

[SnowyCheetah]

Nyeusi was somewhat astonished to receive a reply. She had worried that another feline larger and more powerful than herself would simply attack and eat her, since she knew that if one did she would not be able to put up enough of a fight to save herself. However, the lioness replied, apparently equally surprised. Nyeusi, somewhat overjoyed at finding another sane creature, ran toward the lioness and stopped a short distance away, an excited smile on her face. "I... never thought I'd speak to a lioness, or anyone else ever again in these circumstances." she said, her front paws lifting up and down separately every so often as the leopardess tried to keep her excitement under some type of control. "Are you ok?" she asked, her own voice also recovering from underuse.

----

Tabasamu's ears perked up instantly as she heard the voice of another animal call down the tunnel to her present location. She squirmed and tried to get up, but failed. "Yes! Yes, I'm in here!" she exclaimed, as loudly as her underused voice could shout. "Please help me, I can't get out!" she yelled up, clawing at the ice with her front paws, trying to pull herself up without letting her front pads touch the ice. Her hind paws, however, remained in place on the ice beneath her. It was as if her pads and toes were superglued to it. No amount of her writhing moved them even a bit. "My feet!" she yelled, hoping to convey her rather unusual problem to the creature above while lacking the words to do so, having never before had to describe to someone her pads freezing to ice.

[zorayda]

Eeve's ears pinned back and her lips pulled up instinctively when the panther came forward quickly. The young lioness was not used to being close to others, and did not trust other animals easily. It was hunt or be hunted out here, and even though the other little feline was smaller than she, it wasn't to say that the panther couldn't injure her and make her unable to hunt and survive...

She sat back on her haunches, paw lifted and her scrawny body pulled away from the other cat defensively. Her body's glow intensified with her stress, shining like a beacon in the dark, cold air.

"I'm fine," Eeve said stiffly, her orange eyes never leaving the other's. She was tense and ready for anything... ready to defend herself if the need arose.

---

Taraji gasped, having heard the voice come from inside the cave in answer. So she was right! Somebody DID need her help! Forgetting all fear for a moment, the young snow leopard rushed towards the voice. It sounded female, but she couldn't be sure...

"Oh, my goodness! I'm coming, I'm here!" Her furry paws allowed for better traction against the slick ice patches as she ran, and finally came upon the poor animal that so needed help.

"Oh, dear," Taraji commented quietly in her breathy, girlish voice. A female cheetah was struggling and clawing at the ground before her, and for a moment, Taraji had no idea why, until she saw that the cheetah's back feet weren't moving. "Are you... you're stuck?" Taraji asked, confused. "Oh...I see. You're frozen, aren't you?" She asked softly, her large blue eyes sympathetic. "What... how can I help?" She asked, because in all honesty, she wasn't sure how she could.

[SnowyCheetah]

Nyeusi sat and sighed. The first time she'd seen an animal in what seemed like eons, and she'd forgotten the first rule of meeting another feline, which was to show respect for their fight-or-flight response. "I'm sorry, I should have rushed at you like that... I don't mean harm, I was just surprised to find anyone else around here who's still sane. My name is Nyeusi." she said, slowly reaching out with one paw, not only making herself obviously less able to attack but trying to show that she wasn't afraid of contact with the lioness. She hoped she hadn't blown her chance at a new acquaintance, and some friendly or at least civil company in her home, which had been turned into a barren wasteland.

Tabasamu sighed in relief. "Yes, I'm stuck, or frozen, whatever the word for it is. My paws have a tendency to do this with ice after the boom." she replied, looking down at her immobile paws. "It's never been this strong, though. Normally I can pull them free without too much effort, but I fell asleep in here and they were there for awhile..." she said, the facepawed. "Not sure how you could help but to pull, but it's difficult to walk in here even when you're not stuck." she said, hoping the snow leopard could free her. She knew the ice would never melt. "Perhaps if you turned your back to me, your claws could give you traction. But you can't really hold onto me that way."

[zorayda]

Eeve relaxed only slightly when the other cat apologized for her actions. One couldn't be too careful, nowadays... And Nyeusi, as she'd said her name was, seemed to like to chatter a lot. While Eeve didn't mind this, she felt compelled to speak, when normally she would not.

"I'm Eeve," she said after a long pause. The glow under her fur began to diminish somewhat as she felt less threatened by the panther's presence. "I was hunting," the lioness explained after a moment, urged into conversation. "The gazelle was scared off by my glow..." She gestured to herself, her body obviously alight with the natural bio-luminescence coming from within. "After the blast," she explained. Eeve's words and sentences were short and succint, and her voice, though rough, was pleasant to her own ears. She hadn't heard it in ages... a soft, low-pitched feminine voice, albeit a bit gravelly at the moment.

---

"Um..." Taraji's brow furrowed in thought for a moment. "I think it would be all right for you to grab onto my tail," she said finally, swishing it. "It's long and really fluffy, so it shouldn't hurt me too much."

The snow leopard turned her back towards the cheetah, planting her paws. They had naturally good traction, so even if she wasn't all that strong, she wouldn't slide backwards, at least. Taraji swept her white tail in front of the other feline and blinked encouragingly at her with large, cerulean eyes.

"You can grab on, if you want..." she prompted softly.

[SnowyCheetah]

Nyeusi was a bit distracted by the glow coming from within Eeve, which was changing intensity apparently with the lioness's mood. Eeve's voice seemed more unconditioned than Nyeusi's own, but that was probably because for weeks after the blast, Nyeusi had occasionally sung to cheer herself up during the lack of company. "I'm sorry if I frightened you... but perhaps we can help each other." she said to Eeve, hoping not to scare her again. "You can't hunt without being seen. I can't find any water around here." she hoped her implication was clear enough to the frightened glowing lioness.

----

Tabasamu, trying not to dig her claws into the snow leopardess's tail too much, wrapped her short pawtoes around the fluffy appendage and gripped it as tight as her paws would facilitate. "Alright, I hope this works..." she said, beginning to wiggle her hindtoes to make it perhaps a bit easier to pull the pads free. She watched closely at Taraji's hind claws, dug into the ice. She could see her pads, which didn't freeze to the ice like her own did. Why does this happen to me? she thought to herself while waiting for the snow leopard to begin pulling.

[zorayda]

"I know where to find water, I will lead you there," Eeve said quickly, encouraged by the panther's implied promise of food. Eeve was starving slowly, and if she didn't eat soon... well, it wasn't good to think of such things.

"The gazelle went there," here, she pointed with her nose, "You can see the tracks. You should find him quickly... he'll be gone soon," she urged, the light of hunger entering her eyes. Eeve shivered, her scrawny frame shuddering. She had short fur, not meant for the freezing nights, and she didn't even have any subcutaneous fat to keep her warm. This worked well for the blisteringly hot days in the desert, but at night, she often had to half-bury herself in sand to keep herself from becoming hypothermic. Eeve just hoped and prayed that the black leopardess could make good on her promises...

"I can help take it down... it's just that I don't have stealth on my side," she said bitterly, gesturing at her glowing skin.

---

Having expected the cheetah to clamp her tail between her teeth, Taraji was relieved to have the other cat instead grab on with her paws. Taraji pulled with all her little might, her small body tiny underneath the layers of thick fur. Her muscles twitched and pulled with all the strength left in them. She tugged and twisted, her furry paws unmoving upon the slick ice.

Just a little more, and the cheetah would be free...

[SnowyCheetah]

Nyeusi followed the tracks and faint scent that the gazelle had left. "Stay close behind me." she whispered softly to Eeve, "Perhaps it can help hide your glow." She began to trot briskly and quietly in the direction the gazelle had run off, the faint scent growing stronger in minuscule amounts. After a few minutes, Nyeusi stopped abruptly as she made out the faint silhouette of the gazelle in the distance. "I see it, let's move." she said, quickening her pace as she resumed her trot. Soon they were within several yards of the unwitting prey. Nyeusi turned around to speak to Eeve. "Take the right, scare it toward me and I'll take the left." she said.

----

Tabasamu grew encouraged when she felt her pads slowly peeling away from the ice. Before long, one toe pad had broken free, freeing the digit. The cheetah curled that toe, tucking the pad safely away and pushing with the furry top side. With that extra strength, more toes came free and she did the same with them. Before long all eight toes were free, and only the two main pads remained stuck. With the strength of her eight small, but strong toes, both pads eventually broke free from the ice and the cheetah's paws were free.