Wehi cabe j’ejargo. Rain in the north was the report from her feathered friend as he descended from the sky to land upon her shoulder. His comment was paid little heed, for a simple glance at the sky could confirm the conditions. Camellia was sure it would rain that day, and reports of rain in the north did not surprise nor concern her. She had been away from The Hollows, on one of her long-ranging herb collection forays. It was nice to get away sometimes, to sleep beneath the stars and explore the lands on her never-ending quest for medicinal plants to expand her pharmacopeia. Her wanderings had led her to the lush eastern quarter of the island, more specifically to the great river that ran through them.

'Ve go back den.' The eagle gave an impatient squeeze of his talons, eager to turn his friend back towards their home. The jungle, with all its tangled and twisted growth, towering trees and confined canopy, was not a place of comfort for the Sky Lord. He was impatient for this foray to be over. "Fly ahead then. Tell Lilliana I will return soon." Replied Camellia, shrugging the bird off of her and causing him to take wing. He gave a squawk of protest, but Camellia chirped back at him and he resigned, gliding away through a break in the trees. He would mark her place in his memory as he departed, losing sight of her in the sea of green below.

Camellia padded along the riverbank, picking her way across the tangle of driftwood that lined the shores. She sought shallow but fast moving water, where a specific type of fontinalis could be found. Upon location of a suitable stretch of the river, Camellia ventured forth into the knee-deep water, picking her way across the current as her eyes carefully scanned the riverbed for the plant she sought.

She was not, however, paying attention to much else.

A shadowy form drifted towards her, looking for all the world like a slow-moving log, no different than the countless others that lines the shores. No different... except for two wicked yellow eyes that stared, unblinking, before slipping beneath the surface once more, gliding ever closer...

Camellia smiled with satisfaction upon seeing the aquatic moss that she sought. Standing in chest deep water, mid-current, there was no avoiding getting wet in the venture that she sought. However, she was not expecting the white-hot crushing pressure of jaws clamping around her outstretched forelimb, or the sudden lurch forward as she was dragged forcefully beneath the surface of the water.

A strangled scream preceded the loud splash, her voice cut off as water flooded her mouth. Camellia kicked and struggled against the prehistoric reptile, but felt the darkness closing in quickly with the lack of air. The crocodile held her beneath the surface and though they were still in the shallow section of the river, it quickly moved towards deeper water, intending to drag its quarry with it.

---

@Levana

coded by flea

The shadowy overcast and Levana staring up at the gray sky, if she looked.farther than right above her she could see the dark clouds rolling in, the air was electrified with the promises of a storm in the near future. Paws led her away from Firnen, seeking some time to think about the most recent things that had happened. But she triednnot to dwell on anything, with a wounded husband at home, four heathens, and the responsibilities she would soon shoulder.

She walked the edge of the shoreline, her eyes glancing to the water, she knew what dangers lurked there, she lived amongst these creatures, and most think that cross or gators are mindless killing beasts, but that's simply not true. You don't live millions of years through each different extinction and have your species be the one surviving throughout all of history by being stupid. Most the time, she didn't bother the crocodiles and they wouldn't bother her, when first moving into Firnen, she'd spent most days bored, and found it entertaining to find food to.give to the reptilian creatures. So they chose not to harm her because she fed them. That simple. And she caused them no harm, they lived together, peacefully.

She knows these creatures rather well by now, and when she hears the familiar scream though at first she doesn't realize who it is, she does not take her time getting there, she runs to the splash and her eyes search. She sees the commotion and the crocs prey, a gasp leaves her as she recognizes even through the splashing, this causes her to abandon clear thought and she plunges into.the water, paws propelling her forward to the pair. She has claws unsheathed as her feet kick on the bottom, and launched herself onto the gator. Her Jaws open and she bites hard into.the area where it's scruff would be if it were lion.

Pain and darkness envelop her as the water enters her lungs. Her body, in its sheer panic for life or death, immediately senses the lack of air and as a defense mechanism it shuts down. Camellia loses consciousness, even as the gator twists and thrashes, but she no longer feels that breaking bones and the wrenching pull that dislocated her forelimb at the shoulder. Nor does she feel the sudden release, as she was liberated from the crushing jaws.

The crocodile lurched as a weight fell upon its back. Jaws snapped open, teeth sliding free of their grip as the beast thrashed, trying to free itself from the pain of claws that sunk in between scales, and the teeth that found a purchase at the back of its neck. Armored scales provided some protection, but it was not enough to fend off the fury of the jungle queen. Levana's jaws spread wide, teeth finding purchase and grip despite the armor. The crocodile's flailing only drove the teeth in deeper until suddenly there was a snap, and its neck was broken. Perhaps it had been skill from experience, ferocity of determination, or maybe simply dumb luck, but Levana's aim had been true and her grip upon the crocodile's neck had been fatal. The struggle was over as fast as it had started, and the reptilian moved no longer.

And neither did Camellia. The sandy colored piebald woman bobbed limply just below the surface of the water, the current already taking hold of her body and threatening to sweep her away...

coded by flea

Had Levana actually thought she would have killed the beast? No. She had no faith that her teeth would land true, but adrenaline did crazy shit, and when she felt her teeth sink into the neck, the beast under her does too by the way it begins to thrash and releases her mother, she does not let go though, her claws grip the body while its movements sink her teeth even deeper,
and she shakes her head as best she can, not realizing how hard it actually was until she heard a snap and felt the scaled animal go limp under her.

Somebody else may have grabbed the animal and attempted to carry it and the victim to shore, unwilling to let such a big prize get away but she cares not for the crocs meat, instead she gets under @Camelia, being mindful of the arm that and been wounded. She was lucky it had not had time to death roll and rip the limb clean off. The girl paddles them to shore and climbs atop the earth, gasping for air, dripping blood and water, she pants and looks to her mother still sprawled on her back. ""It'll be okay mom... I'm gonna make sure you're okay.""

Camelia had protected her, nurtured her, raised her, Levana couldwould not turn her back to her. The firnen lioness grits her teeth and puts her paws forward, when she got closer to home she would call for another to help but for now she focuses on being quick but careful as to not let the hurt woman on her back slide off. She already felt terrible that her back legs were dragging, Levana was by no means a huge lioness, but she was determined and still had adrenaline rushing through her veins.

She was floating in dark cold place. A rushing sound filled her ears but it was strangely distant… hollow. Streaks of light played at the edges of her vision, dancing and swirling into ephemeral shapes that seemed… so familiar… She twisted this way and that, trying to gaze upon the figures of life but they flitted away, avoiding her gaze. She tried to cry out to them but she had no breath. A pair of eyes smoldered at her from a distance, out of focus but unmistakeably emerald. She was being pulled away, the lights were growing more distant. She reached for them with at outstretched paw, but a sudden wrenching pain yanked her violently away and then they were gone.

Despite the care that Levana took when lifting her mother onto her back, the jostling on her wounded forelimb brought on an intense jolt of pain that roused the injured lioness. She coughed and sputtered as her face was lifted clear of the water, retching and clearing the water from her lungs. Her jaw hung slack as she gasped for breath, tongue lolling and limp within her mouth. Her dual-toned eyes, usually so enigmatic and full of wisdom, were unfocused with pupil constricted into pinpoints. She stared, as if unseeing, at the face of a familiar lioness with emerald green eyes. There was a brief moment where something seemed to register, but a moment later she had passed out from the pain of her injury. She hung limply, half dragging, but she breathed.


As the darkness fell around her once again, Camellia accepted her presumed fate.

I am in the Spirit World. I am dead.

[exit]

coded by flea