AW || trenches

[Cliff]

finally he'd found somewhere with more coverage. a place with soft dirt, and shadows to hide in. there were also plenty of roots, shrubs, and hollow logs to sleep in or under here. a perfect place to finally try and relax enough to rest. tired eyes were drooping, heavy with sleep. too-large paws stumbled through the brush, in search of a place to squeeze his giant, growing body into for a spot of sleep. he was hardly picky at this point, and soon found a nice little shelter of tree roots which were shrouded by vines and foliage. it was a space just big enough for him to wriggle his way into.

once in place, cliff would curl up and allow himself to finally enter the sweet, dark abyss of sleep.

it wasn't long before he realized he was sinking, the soft dirt oozing around him. the young lion let out a snarl of surprise, flailing his paws to try and claw his way out of the pool of sludge he'd managed to find his way into. the ground hadn't felt so goopy as he'd climbed in, but then his awareness had been clouded with the promise of sleep. cliff just hoped no one would prey on him as he tried to find a way out of this sticky situation...pun intended.

[Xarera]

Xarera

Call it maternal instinct, call it sympathy, call it whatever you wanted to call it really, but the moment that Xarera spotted Cliff struggling, she moved into abrupt action. There were two types of lions in this world: the do gooders and the do nothings. There were those that chose to take life by the horns and others that merely got impaled by them. Judging from Xarera’s stance, she was clearly the former, and did not have to think twice about heading towards the Slough. It was a no brainer to her. Was she rushing towards danger instead of away from it? Duh, that was the whole point. Was she going towards a complete stranger that actually might not want her help? Well, he probably would not be a stranger after this she guessed. As for wanting her assistance, it was a little late to stop Xarera from coming forth. Now the thing about rescues was that the rescuer did not want to become one of the rescuees. Forming a logical plan and following through with it normally was the best option. The lioness had been a little impulsive in thundering towards the southern mire, but was piecing together the best escape route for the youngster as she did so. Xarera was the kind of lass to think with her head and her heart, which made for a fierce combination in the best ways possible more often than not. So what was the plan exactly? Xarera was not about to go dipping her paws into the mud only to get stuck too. There was only one word for that, and that particular word was counterproductive. However, if there was a branch long enough and sturdy enough, then she could act like a tow truck and haul him out of there. Yeah, let’s go with that, shall we? This was not what the lioness was expecting to do with her day honestly, but that was the thing about expectations. Similar to plans, they often were broken, let down, or changed. Era hoped that her tactics would go according to how she wanted them to for the boy’s sake, though expectations were more easily adapted. While wanting to visit the lake was on the to-do list, saving cubs was not initially. Maybe that is why she was supposed to go there in the first place. Who really knows? Regardless, the woman quickly analyzed her options of branches. Some were too short, while others were long enough but brittle. Snatching the best one she could find in her jaws, Xarera forced herself to balance under its weight and then she proceeded to make her move. Bring it on life, let’s see whatcha got. Actions "Speech" 'Thoughts'

tag || Cliff || notes || - || ▲