His head ached and his ego had been shattered during his last tour of the rouge lands. Ably had even been told he was not permitted to go on another Viking until he was cleared by the healers of the pride, frustrating him further. What more could go wrong for him? He couldn’t face his siblings either, as he needed to show how strong he was in front of them. No, Alby needed to stay away and get better quickly. Growly lowly, the albino paced the abandoned cavern at the edge of the pride-it was s**t like this that absolutely screwed with him.
Snarling suddenly as his anger bubbled over, the massive white lion swatted at a lonely stalagmite, throwing it across the room, creating an echo that pissed him off further. “********.” Tensing his muscles, Alby felt his body quivering with aggression and soon after the headache that plagued him appeared.
Grey-blue eyes stared at his now shaking paws and his head pounded. To his left on a rock was a bunch of berries and herbs that Bellatrix has selected for him to consume. She said they would help with the pain, and so far they did, but he wasn’t healing fast enough. Turning away from the mound, he looked out at the rain before returning his attention to the medicine.
“How pathetic I am...” Stepping forward, Alby scooped up the plants and shoved them into his mouth, grimacing at the taste before swallowing. Soon the plants affects would start to appear, settling him into a happy lull and fake comfort and the near euphoria.
A nap would be in order soon after, what with the rain and lack of ability to do much else. Closing his eyes, Alby drifted, not realizing that there may or may not have been others closer to him than he thought.
In the blink of an eye a few weeks had passed her by, and before Maya knew it her sister had come and gone, leaving with her echoing words and unresolved feelings, this blight was taking a toll on the scarred female, this much was easy to read. Her belly felt like it was full of hot embers as the lioness moved her way back to her den, stopping as her eyes settled on the figure of a pale lion. Slowly her ears pulled back in annoyance as her green eyes drifted over his figure once before speaking firmly. "What are you doing here?"
This was was her place, even if she did not own the rights to the land, her den lay just a few feet from where this lion rested, apart of her felt uneasy about this. "-you look like s**t." she muttered as her teeth clinched together, snarling faintly toward his direction. This was just poor timing, Maya was not ready to deal with another wild lion so soon, if it came down to it she would gladly put him in the ground too.
"Do you even hear me?" finally her eyes had taken notice of his strange appearance, something was off here, he didn't seem fully aware of her presence even after she called out to him, so what was going on here? Her wide eyes narrowed as extended claws dug into the earth below. "-mmm..." a faint mutter escaped her chest as her tail danced wildly behind her. This was... strange, was he just exhausted... or?
Whatever the case was, he stood between her and a warm bed. Maya was not amused. "-I swear to the Gods if you are some drunk fool..."
Eyes were nearly closed as the stranger entered the space, they were speaking but not being heard- or rather, not being understood. The directions had been given to take half of what was given to him, rather than the entire dose, but his ego knew better than to listen to the ‘good doctor’. Why take less of a dose of something when he could take the whole thing and feel so much better? Did they not want him to succeed?!
Wobbling on his toes, Alby muttered a couple unintelligible words before drooping further towards the floor, blinking up at Maya now and again and almost seeming to comprehend that the lioness was there. From her perspective it was probably rather troubling, considering the white giant kept bobbling his head back and forth, following her perceived motions. It was thankfully due to these motions that the lion started to feel sick, and then unceremoniously vomit.
If it wasn’t clear before, it would be now that the rather large, awkward albino wasn’t well at all. Rather, his body was dealing with a rough case of poisoning that had he taken the correct dosage of, he wouldn’t have noticed as it would have appeared as more of a side-effect than a straight poisoning. Spilling more of his guts out, Ably shivered violently as his eyes fluttered up to Maya, begging for some sort of assistance.
“N-Not right…” He managed to stammer as he spat more of the contents from his mouth. Did he actually register she was there? Not completely, but her presence was welcomed even if it was a potentially a fever dream.
Not right? Mmm. Her eyes settled on him as she spoke, allowing the lion to try his best at forming complete sentences, this was pointless however, this albino seemed to be lost to some illness, ebbing between this world and the next. The soft parts of Maya had closed off long ago, so for a long while she simply watched the lion struggle against himself, soaking in his discomfort just long enough to become dulled by it. "I see-" the female frowned deeply as the large male withered about, unaware of the two green eyes that had been locked on his for the better part of half an hour.
"It would seem you have been poisoned," she spoke to herself as her paws circled him, eyes never leaving his figure for very long. "I wonder what brought you out this far? Mmm?" Maya could not see any sighs of a struggle, nor was there anything in this area that was alarming enough to be suspicious over, still, something had done this to him... but who, and for what purpose?
"Can you hear me?" finally the lioness called out as she moved to stand right in front of him, frowning down at this shameful display.
"If you can hear my voice, nod your head." the demand was firm. She needed to measure just how far gone this lion actually was.
A single nod confirmed that he had indeed heard her, however now without the concoction Bellatrix had created for him, his head was pounding terribly. The force from vomiting did not help his case, nor did the blurred vision, however he was coming to his senses enough to wearily focus on the strangers figure. She wasn’t a familiar face- Perhaps a trespasser? The albino’s eyes fluttered as he looked away from her, unable to truly process what to do at the moment.
“Who…” He mumbled, finally succumbing to gravity, landing in his own bile and the dusty grounds of the forgotten cavern. Had he been in his rightful state of mind, he would not only be pissed for showing such a weakened state to a stranger, he’d be disgusted. As it were, though, the lioness had perfect timing. Had Ably fell asleep, he’d surely be dead. Letting his eyes stay closed and his body still for a few moments, a few deep inhales and exhales could be heard. One of the healers had told him to focus on his breathing when he had first arrived back home. He had said it would help ease some of the pain and help him heal.
Several minutes passed, but he felt steadier, words echoing in his mind- “You look like s**t.” “Can you even hear me?” “Poisoned.” His tail thrashed across the ground as his anger bubbled. He wasn’t stupid… he had only taken a second dose. He wasn’t poisoned. Had she not barged in like she had he would probably be fast asleep and healing. Now he didn’t even have the medicine to heal!
Crinkling his nose, eyes opened again and looked to the strange, but she was still a blur- He would lay into her later. He had to get the medicine or he would never heal up. Dipping his head, he searched for a clump of half-digested herbs and attempted to consume them again.
Her sharp green eyes would narrow to fine slits as the lion struggled to speak, toppling over into his own vomit before grasping for what looked like something he had coughed up before she found him withering against the ground. A deep frown crossed her as she quickly kicked the half-eaten plant from his reach, standing over him like a dark shadow. "Enough." Maya insisted as she moved her paws to hold his face forward, clasping him tightly until he settled. "You are not well. This isn't going to fix you. Sit still while I get you to my den."
Maya knew this wasn't going to be as easy as she would have liked it to be, however, he seemed like he was in real trouble here, how could she let a fellow Stormborn suffer like this? Her tail danced in annoyance as she tried to grab the back of his neck with her jaws, failing quickly to hold him still long enough to get a firm grasp. Her throat rumbled as the large lioness snarled under muffled breaths. "Hold. Still." this demand would be her last, because the second he started to move again Maya lifted a clawed paw and slammed it against his head so hard it knocked him out, leaving his limb body beneath her, easily manipulated and movable.
"Finally-" she sighed as lowered herself to get a firm grip on him, dragging him back to her den.
A few hours would pass before the albino would come to, in this time she had settled him down against her pelt to rest and had retrieved water for when he woke. Maya sat at the entrance of her den and waited for the lion to join her in the waking world.
It had been the extreme pounding in his head that first caused him to stir. The familiar sting from the fairly fresh wound a reminder of his failure. Had he placed a paw to the spot, he’d find blood was now oozing out of the wound that caused his torment. His body twitched, the softness of the strangers pelt doing nothing to comfort him. He was in pain and angry as hell. Why would anyone stop him from trying to succeed?
Snarling, his paws unsheathed the razor sharp claws as he stretched them, toying with the idea of outright attacking the stranger. He thought better of the idea, however and hid them once again. “Why’d you do that?” His voice was but a mutter as his throat was dry and damaged from the bile he had spewed previously. If she was observant, the lioness would realize Ably was attempting to avoid looking at her. The half-image of the green-eyed goblin was haunting his memory. She was disfigured, or his vision had caused her to look the part, whatever the case he wasn’t interested in finding out the truth.
His bulky frame rolled to the right, then paused for a few minutes to allow his head to stop spinning and center itself. Was he always going to have these issues? Taking a deep, frustrated breath in, Alby coughed and gaged. The smell was awful. Was that ********!” Soft eyes stared down at the mess that could be seen from under his nose. His mane, his paws, ********, even his tail was covered in vomit, dirt and blood. Grimacing, he felt the urge to peel his fur from his skin. Never in his life had he been in such a state. Turning back to the lioness, this time looking at her, though half-lidded from the pain of his headache he questioned her again, “What happened, why am I---?!” He stopped mid-sentence and stared at the burns, having been completely derailed from his fury, his mind was now mildly curious… and disgusted.
“…Wow.”
It didn't take him long to come to, and when he did he brought with him a whirlwind of movements and a self-awareness Maya would soon grow to regret. Her eyes rolled as he struggled against himself, realizing where he was and what he was covered in. "You threw up on yourself a few times." the female made sure the albino knew just what he had done. He wouldn't make eye contact with her and for some reason this started to annoy her more than she liked to admit. Maybe her efforts in aiding this lion were meaningless, he couldn't even look at her, let alone see the effort she made to help him during his time unconscious. Still, she allowed him to settle before she spoke, watching him closely as he slowly started to become more self-aware.
His swears made her frown as she finally looked away from him, settling her sight back to the entrance of her den, as if she was waiting for someone else to show up. Maybe... no. She knew he wouldn't. Not anymore.
"What is your problem?" Maya finally barked as her glance slowly found his, speaking in a tone that was both a mixture of anger and disgust. "How dare you look at me like that, you are covered in vomit and smell like death, yet you look at me like I'm the disgusting one here? Please-" It was easy to see her annoyance yet she did her best to stay composed. He wasn't completely right in the head, that much could be seen, so for now she would deal with his shitty glances without reacting in anger... for now at least.
"They are burns. It's not that deep." if he wanted to know more about them he was looking in the wrong place, Maya was done giving her disfigurement thought, it didn't mean anything to her and she couldn't understand why others seemed so put off by the sight of it. She had seen worse. At least she was alive.
"You should be thanking me," her tone lingered as she looked away again. "I gave you shelter to ride out that high you seemed to be trapped in." Whatever his reasons were for consuming what he did meant very little to her, to Maya he was just some idiot that was self-indulging on the wrong plant. He gave her no reason to think otherwise.
For the first time in a long while, Ably was startled into silence, a silence that came from a strong female figure such as his mother. Shifting slightly, Ably’s gaze drifted away from the lioness’s body and at the ground near the entrance of the den. Was he feeling shame? Perhaps a little bit, but his pride was also at stake here and from what he had been told he was probably at fault for a lot of what had happened today.
Gritting his teeth, claws unsheathed again, burying into the softer earth below. He could feel himself quaking with anger, but also anguish. The gods had decided to s**t on him, or he had felt like they had. A sharp twinge of pain raked through his head and down his neck, causing him to wince. “Gods, what have I done.” Whispering to himself, he almost wished he had died during the Viking excursion than have to face the fact that he was a failure.
“I..” He felt wobbly, the other head injury seeping blood after being reopened by Maya. Taking another deep breath and scowling again at the scent, Ably laid back down, now staring at his paws, unsure what to say. So again a long paused passed before he bit his pride and attempted the conversation again. He didn’t know her, hadn’t ever seen her. What was the risk of revealing something to her? It wasn’t like the pride would listen to her rumors if they started them. Hell… did it even matter if they did?
“I probably should.” He was referring to him thanking her, however he was hesitant on doing so, “I..” growling, he winced again as another wave of pain washed through his head, making him feel the need to close one eye. “Look. I ******** up. I failed my ******** Viking and now I am the loser trying to recover.” He turned his head, offering a show of his skull and the strange divot and now apparent blood spot that was starting to form, which he was unaware of. “ROCKS! FALLING FROM THE SKY!” He exclaimed loudly, working himself up and causing his head to pulse painfully.
Closing both eyes, Ably attempted to recover from his self-inflicted pain, however every heartbeat made it worse. Tensing his paws, claws unsheathed and completely stuck in the earth. He gave himself a few moments before opening one eye to look at the lioness. “Look. I didn’t mean to offend you. I just… I never seen it. I mean, that.” He pointed at her scarring, a bewildered look upon his face mixed with pain. “…Damn it. I mean… “ He looked away, there was no way he was going to unbury himself from this situation.
“Just.” He breathed out quickly, “Thanks.” Ably finally said it and he felt so weird having done so. Biting his tongue he let his face fall between his filthy paws, an attempt to hide his overall discomfort and disgust. If she had truly drug him back to her den and endured enough pain to cause the scars on her body, she was surely a formidable foe. He didn’t want to add getting his a** kicked by a lioness to his resume.
His words made the fur on the back of her neck bristle as her eyes left his, settling somewhere between annoyance and exhaustion. Maya had been on overdrive for the past few days and it felt like event after uncontrollable event kept her moving even when she longed for rest, it was starting to weigh her down. "A failed Viking?" was this what has caused the pale lion to seemingly overdose? Was he trying to off himself? Her lip curled as a soft snarl escaped her, the void in her overflowed with anger.
If he was trying to kill himself the lioness should have let him rot, however, as he continued to speak his situation started to become a little more clear. Things weren't as simple as they might have seemed. "I see-" the brown lioness nodded as she settled herself back to sit, far enough from him that she felt comfortable enough to let her guard down. He was in pain, this was something she could relate to on a very... personal level. "I can help you with the pain, you know-" her offer came with firm nod as green eyes studied his face over, searching for information he had not given willingly. "-I have a divine sibling that could... help settle it. If you are willing, that is."
Maya was never one to offer her sister's services so freely, yet here she sat offering this albino a cure for his sickness. Why? Something in her eyes lingered, something unsaid, something... relateable. He was a broken thing - just like she was.
"You have not offended me to the point of violence, so save the sorry for someone else. We are fine." It was obvious the lioness was uncomfortable with him apologizing, even if she had wanted him to.
At his final thank you her eyes turned back to his before the burned lioness nodded, bowing her head ever so slightly in his direction. Respect mattered. She would take this as a sigh of trust, for now.
"I do not know your name, or how you came to be so fragmented, but I will help you, albino." she spoke a confidence he seemed to lack.
"You sleep now, in the morning I will summon your cure."
