Khiijja, Sahsa, and the lost Leporen

The quiet of the forest was broken by the screams of a small clan of Laporens. One young one broke free of the main grouping and fled into the forest. She ran as fast as her injuries, bleeding from her side, would let her. She was losing much too much blood from the exertion. Behind her she could see the men, who sought to enslave her, flowing close on her heels. Tears streaked through the fur on her cheeks as she ran. Never again would she see her parents, who were killed in front of her by the men who now chased her. They’d sought to destroy the clan for their own food. Humans always took much more than they truly needed, and judging by the guts on several of these men they needed no more. She had fallen in the beginning of the attack, the humans had thought her dead, and then ran when she saw the chance to escape. Now, as she fled through the forest, she feared they would capture and kill her soon.

The tiny Leporen didn’t however count on a Khajjir that was in the area. Khiijja awoke from her nap hearing the screams from the clan. She watched from her vantage point in the forest rubbing the sleep form her eyes. She usually didn’t get involved in these things, but instead would go through and pick up the spoils. She’d never been one to like a fight, even if it was over her only food source. Her keen vision picked up movement below. Leporen, the screams she’d heard, were common in this forest, and one of Khiijja’s only food sources. As far as she could see it was a young Leporen, not nearly old enough to be eating, but the humans perused her as though she were the biggest catch of the day. She watched for a moment then dropped silently from the tree beating her wings to slow the descent. Curse the wings she had while she traveled through eh forests.

The young Leporen struggled to keep running, but her strength was swiftly failing her. The loss of blood was making her weaker by the second, as well as the pain in her side, so that she could only keep a swift lope. The humans were swiftly catching up to her weapons raised. Soon she finally collapsed panting her eyes fluttering. She couldn’t keep going with this wound. This was their chance, the humans thought as the surrounded her, to take her without damaging the flesh too much. She approached her swiftly intending to snatch her right up. The first to reach for her though was stopped short by a loud angry yowl as Khiijja leapt from the shadow’s upon him. The great winged Feliren thrashed the man scratching and biting at him. She didn’t want to stay long. She would just snatch the kit and go. She twisted and went for the limp figure Khijja was surprised by one of the humans who’d come at her and slammed her in the chest with his club.

Khiijja hit the ground gasping, the Leporen could hardly hear the scuffle, and she looked over where the kit lay. Khiijja could sense a bit of life within the limp body and so made another move to grab her and make a run for it. She’d already made the mistake of getting involved. This kit had better have been worth it. Khiijja, however alone she thought herself, had a friend in the forest that night. Another Leporen, generally known as a Jackren by the humans, bounded into the fray with a screech of delight. She bounded through the group, Kicking and punching as she went, swiftly downing the other three men who’d been chasing the young Rabiren. She stopped next to Khiijja and held out a friendly paw to the Feliren.

“Fancy meeting you here eh love?” she squeaked cheerily.

Relief washed over Khiijja’s face as she took the Jackren’s paw, her dear old friend Sasha, and pulled herself up. She’d wondered where the Jackren had gotten off to. Now she saw though that she’d never truly left. Sasha whirled and kicked one of the men who had gotten back up, and intended to hit her in the back of the head. She smiled cockily and hopped on his chest.

“Not a smart thing m’boy.” She sneered down at him before laying a side kick to the side of his face. He would not be getting up from this blow ever again. Sasha hopped over to the kit lying on the ground and sighed. “Poor thing’s badly injured.”

“She was injured before I joined the fray… Sasha where have you been?”

“Away haven’t you noticed” Sasha chuckled as she picked the young one up. “Here take here and go that way” Sasha handed the kit over and pointed in the direction she herself had just come from. “I’ll follow in a moment.” Sasha smiled deviously and moved off towards the remaining men who had gotten up to come after them “Ahh time for round three?”

Khiijja knew better than to disobey her friend and so she went, walking while she took a cloth out to press against the young ones wound, in the direction she’d been pointed in. the screams of the men could soon he heard, and the raucous laughter of the Leporen, as Sasha destroyed them. Khiijja was not too keen on the sound, but then she usually wasn’t when sasha was in that kind of mood. The two were as different as black and white and yet they fit together perfectly. Khiijja looked down at the unconscious kit. She wondered if any of her family would have survived the attack. So young to have seen such evil and to be left alone in the world like she now possibly was. The wound looked deep. She worried that the kit would die right there in her arms. ‘Think of the bright side,’ Khiija thought, ‘if she does die you’ll At least have one last meal in this area before you have to move on.’ She peeked at the wound and sighed. It would scar, and badly so, like a wound Khiijja herself had sustained some years ago from an old master.

The little kit squeaked softly, more of a whimper, and opened her eyes slightly. The striped face was unmistakable she was in the hands of a Feliren. She certainly was doomed this night. She closed her eyes again, hoping the Feliren would kill her quickly, and drifted back into unconsciousness. Sasha soon arrived at Khiijja’s side and looked over the kit. She grumbled angrily that humans could be so callous as to kill young. The humans severely upset the delicate balance that was present in Atreyu.

“What do we do Sasha?” Khijja interrupted Sasha’s thoughts, “I’m not particularly good at healing.”

“Nor I kee kee.” Sahsa replied sadly. “We must bind the wound, and try to stop the bleeding, then try and find a healer.” She veered off the path they were following and pulled up a travel pack and cloak. Once back at Khiijja’s side she began digging through her pack and took out some bandages and a thick, yellow, and very smelly looking salve in a jar. “Let’s stop and do this.”

The pair stopped and Khiijja laid the kit down on the ground. Sasha crouched down next to Khiijja and the kit, and poured water from her water pouch onto the gash, cleansing it of any dirt that might be inside it, then applied the ointment as carefully as her clawed hands could. She knew that the process was painful with such a deep wound, but it had to be done. After she was finished applying the ointment she washed her hands off and wrapped the kit's entire middle with the bandages. She was glad the kit was unconscious because there would have been much complaining from the stinging the salve would have caused. She smiled up to Khiija who looked very worried.

“That should help until we get to a proper healer.” She replaced the things in her bag and shouldered it and her cloak, while Khiijja carefully lifted the kit once more. She stood looking around the dim clearing. Her eyes were quite adjusted to the low light, and she could smell the fire and blood from the raid and the fight in the clearing here.

"The closest town is not a short walk, so we should go as quickly as we can to get her a healer as soon as possible," Khiijja murmured as she started on down the path again. The kit whimpered softly, feeling herself being shifted in someone's arms. She closed her eyes tightly; the pain in her side kept her from realizing what was going on, she barely noticed the two around her.

Sasha nodded, “Right lets be off then.” and followed after Khiijja. Khiijja walked the path, which Sasha was soon swiftly leading her on. The obstacles of the forest consisting of logs, bushes, and a small brook only slowed their brisk pace slightly. Khiijja smelled the air strongly, and often, as she went she did not want to come across as surprised if anything were to jump out at them at any time. While she knew flying would be easier she wasn’t quite ready to truly try. Her last attempt had failed miserably and landed her with a broken wing for the better part of a month. Khiijja was thoroughly lost within her thoughts when the kit began to wake once more. she opened her eyes slightly looking up to Khiijja who still carried her. Khiijja smiled as the kit looked around and seemed to relax when she noticed Sasha.

“You’re safe now kit.” Khiijja informed the kit with a soft purr.

“W-who are you?” she asked nervously.

“I am Khiijja” Khiijja replied soothingly

“She awake back there?” Sasha asked as she dropped back to the pair.

“Yes she’s awoken a little. We should get some fruit into her.”

“Yes! Good thinking love!” Sasha said with a grin “I’ve got just the thing.” She went into her pouch and pulled out a pair of pike ball peeled of their spikes. “We’ll give these to her.”

“Do you think you can eat?” Khiijja asked lightly of the kit.

“Y-yes I think so…”

“What is your name?” Sasha asked.

“SwiftRun.”

“Precious.” Sasha murmured as she motioned for Khiijja to follow “this way.” She led Khiijja off to a clearing where a small knoll of trees stood. The knoll was unremarkable to the naked eye, but to the trained eye of Khiijja and it’s new owner, Sasha, it was obvious to see that it was a dwelling built directly into the trees. Sasha sniffed around the clearing and then around the knoll for a moment. Khiijja knew she had to be sure that the area was free of anyone sneaking about. Sasha was often protective of things she claimed as hers.

“Alright we can rest here for now.” She pulled lightly on a piece of bark, which slid open to reveal an entrance big enough to accommodate a large Musteliren. Khiijja wondered if maybe this was the home of a Musteliren at one time as they made their way in. Just inside was a small landing and a staircase that lead down and seemingly around the knoll of trees it was dug within. Sasha motioned Khiijja past while she moved back and closed the door securely locking it in place. Khiijja moved very slowly in the pitch darkness until behind her light suddenly sprung up from a torch that Sasha lit. Khiijja felt a slight bit more confident, and moved more swiftly down the stair well. It was a crude and poorly dug stair well though, as it went further down, the stairs began to get better in quality soon having wooden planks and then bricks laid out upon them by the time they reached the bottom.

The rest of the room could not bee seen as it was still mostly over shadowed by darkness. Sasha places the torch within a holder at the base of the stairs and slipped by her friend and into the darkness. After a moment a small fire was trickling it’s way along several logs laid within the fireplace. Sasha smiled proudly as Khiijja looked around in astonishment at the beauty, if a bit simple, of the place. It was roughly a circle fifteen feet in diameter. At the opposite end from the staircase was dug a cubby which fit a large bed of grasses which looked as though they had recently been changed. Next to the cubby’s left side stood a stand of shelves filled with implements of living; dishes, sets of clothing, spindles of thread, jars of different shapes and sizes, and several other things. Next to the stand of shelves was a small space of wall that a table stood by. On the wall hung pots and pans and a couple cooking. The table looked to have been heat-treated so that it might stand up to the head of the fireplace it stood by. On the right side of the cubby hung a shelf and underneath it stood a cabinet with a mirror that looked as though it had been pieced together from many broken pieces. Beside that a desk handmade with a matching chair that was obviously carved of an old tree stump. Against the wall on the same side as the stairwell sat a chair draped in heavy thick and very soft looking furs. It was obvious to tell that the chair was formed from the roots that grew into the dwelling but it added a very homey aspect to the place. The center of the floor was adorned with the dwellings only real decoration; the pelt of an Urseren.

Khiijja noted, as she laid SwiftRun in the bed that, she was now more alert. Sasha tossed her the pike ball and set to getting things settled at the fire. Swift run did not sit up though she wanted to but simply lay there looking around. The place they had entered certainly was interesting and she wanted to know more but the pain restricted her. She groaned softly and tried to roll over. She so desperately wanted to curl up in a ball and sleep, but it hurt so terribly to move. Khiijja sympathized with the kit, and gently laid down curling around her. Poor thing was in pain, and they had nothing to dull it. Only mystics, among the Furens, or Healers, among the humans, usually carried those things because mostly they were the ones trained in using them. She hoped, since the little female was a slight bit more alert, SwiftRun might survive through the night. Khiijja peeled the pike ball fully as she lay there, and then began feeding the fruit to SwiftRun. she knew the girl was very frightened and tried to give her a feeling of safety. SwiftRun ate the fruit slowly moving every so often to get into a better position. The bandage had seemed to have stopped the blood but was terribly uncomfortable. Sasha soon made her way over to the bed where she sat on the edge looking over Khiijja and SwiftRun.

“How is she?”

“Eating.” Khiijja replied as she gave swift run another piece of the fruit.

“Good. I’ll return in a moment. We need some water for stew.”

“Alright. But be careful out there you never know what could be lurking when you go out.”

“Will love. Don’t worry.” Sasha assured Khiijja as she headed not for the stairwell but a ladder that hung behind a curtain next to the stairs. Khiijja hadn’t noticed this upon entering but it was a crafty way to get to the outside without alerting others of ones presence or giving away the position of the entrance. Khiijja smiled as Sasha disappeared through the exit, and then turned her attention back to SwiftRun. The little kit looked up at her with her beautiful, large eyes and sobbed slightly. Khiijja purred lovingly and curled closer to her trying to comfort her. She knew the little one was in pain not just physically but emotionally, the poor thing.

“My side it hurts.”

“Dear one it will for some time. It was a deep wound.”

“No the… The bandages on my side, they hurt when I move.”

Khiijja yipped in surprise and moved gently but swiftly to adjust the bandages. The bleeding had stopped and so it was not safe to loosen the bandages. She hadn’t realized how tightly Sasha had wrapped them. She nuzzled SwiftRun and purred to her.

“Is that better?”

“Yes thank you” SwiftRun whimpered in a relieved way. “They’re not gonna get me are they?”

“No, no child. They’re not. They’re far away and won’t be hurting anyone else again. And we won’t let anyone else hurt you either.” Khiijja knew of the fear the child held it was much the same as her own when she'd been taken and her brother killed. She still held the scars from the encounter, physical and emotional. This child did not deserve those wounds. She gently tickled SwiftRun’s nose tip with her wing tip. SwiftRun giggled weakly. Khiijja smiled softly and looked around near them. She picked one the furs, on the shelf at the right side of the cubby, up and wrapped it around SwiftRun and snuggled her into the back of the cubby where she could be most protected. She tucked SwiftRun in and began to sing softly.

Little child

Tuck in safe and warm

Sleep child

In this gentle and safe place

Loving child

We will watch over you

Sleeping child

Dream the dreams of happiness

A song passed through her family sang for all the children. She smiled softly at the little girl wiggling her whiskers to make her smile. She looked over towards the ladder as Sasha seemed to be on her way back down with a bucket of water. “I’m returned loves.”

“That song was pretty” SwiftRun murmured with a light yawn as she drifted off to sleep. Sasha moved over to the fire with a smile

“Off to sleep is she? Precious little thing.”

“Yes, sweet little one. Poor thing is still scared.”

“She is bound to be, but with another of her kind she’ll at least know that she is in no danger from you.”

“I was worried about that.” Khiijja said simply.

Sasha poured the water into a pot, which she then hung over the fire. “We’ll make a nice hearty soup for her. The garden has been growing well this year.” She turned and headed back up the ladder returning with a basket of fruits and vegetables, which she had obviously gathered from the garden she’d mentioned. She took them to the table, and laid them out then, with a knife she took from the shelves, began cutting the vegetables into bite-sized chunks. Once the vegetation was cut she moved to the shelves and searched through the jars to find one particular one, which she sat upon the table. Khiijja knew she intended to make a fruit and vegetable soup for the kit to eat and hopefully feel better on. The nutrition would certainly help her body heal. Soon, when the water was at a boil, she began adding the fruits and vegetables to the water. The red fruit that the humans called tomato, samurai cabbage (bak choy), long squash, acorn squash, pike ball, cabbage sprouts, bean pods, white stone bush (cauliflower), and bonsai bush (broccoli), leek and a few others.

This soup would certainly be filling. Khiijja thought with a small smile. Then again even a vegetarian meal sounded good to her. This night would have been a hunting night for her had the humans not so blatantly stolen her food. Even with swiftRun being injured she couldn’t bring herself to devour the little Leporen. She was the remaining of her clan within this area and a female at that. It was utterly unethical to destroy completely what the humans had mostly succeeded in doing. Khiijja curled up in the cubby next to SwiftRun tucking her wings against her back and, out of habit, curled into as small of a ball as her body would comfortably allow. After so many years of being within the quarters of the slave halls, Khiijja had gained the uncanny ability to minimize the pain of beatings by curling up this way. Now she simply did it when ever sleeping.

Sasha looked over to her friend and sighed affectionately. She had always thought Khiijjas sleeping habit was cute but sad. She quietly tended the soup contemplating the destroyed clan. Leporen clans tended to be very private and skittish even with visiting Leporens of other clans. She herself had only just been welcomed to visit the clan for that day after weeks of negotiation with their scouts. Now all that time was a waste. ‘No matter’ she thought ‘at least I’m back with Khiijja’ she had missed her striped and spotted friend dearly since she’d left her side. The two escaped slaves had made quite the living together. She certainly homed that that living would continue.