you're just too HOT for me,: openn

[cat]

I S O K E

The tiny grains of red-hot sand bit indignantly at the sensitive undersides of the lioness's paws, as if to scold her for daring to stand upon them. She growled, irritated, quickly lifting and dropping the golden and blue mitts, as if trying to avoid standing on that gilt carpet. Her tail swiped from side to side, smacking the dry, dusty air with a temper. Her thin, brightly hued body faced the open expanse of glaring nothingness, eyes and ears pricked forward, distractedly scanning the flickering distance. Her usual watering hole was some lopes behind, the lioness having picked up a faint scent of cat, blown to her by a hot languid breeze from the west. She had followed for less then a half a mile, the trace growing stronger and stronger, but had eventually stopped, for her fear of losing the oasis was greater then that of never meeting another feline again.

Isoke moaned in distress, amber eyes narrowed. Her paws beat agitatedly at the ground. She inflated her chest, breathing in deeply, the waterless air doing nothing to help her parched throat, before exhaling in the form of a loud and powerful roar of plea. Then, for a couple of silent moments she stood, her ears waiting expectantly for an answering call. There was nothing. Nothing but the faint whistling of far off crows circling above the blasted desert. The lioness gritted her fangs in disappointment, shooting a firey glance at the birds, who seemed to be waiting for her dusty death. Isoke snarled in anger, a feeling that she often used as a substitute for sadness, tears were all to much seen as a sign of weakness.

Turning her back on the distant hope, she broke into a heated trot, her throat painfully rough with dehydration, anxious to get back to her beloved pool. Her life hadn't always been this way, Isoke reflected, although she had been in this situation before, a situation which she had hoped would never happen again. And this time there was only herself to blame. There had been no attacking lion on this occasion, desperate for a bite to eat. It had been her own fault, she had been the wrongdoer; trying to charm a Lord, seducing him away from his life-long mate, making him hers. It had nearly worked, she had been so close until other lions had got involved. "It's my nature, I can't help my actions." Isoke had decided. Prehaps this was just her way of justifying her deeds.

The oasis was near now, Isoke could see the beautiful glittering water, lapping at the edges of the rounded pool. She sighed in relief; she hadn't lost it. That was one of the lioness's major fears, to loose her water supply. It was obvious that no-one could last more than a couple of days without water, and prey was impossible to find far from a water source. Huffing apprieciatively as she approached it, Isoke dipped her muzzle into the lukewarm liquid, lapping it up thankfully with her long pink tongue. Then, shaking her head, the feline stepped neatly forward into the shallow basin, enjoying the cooling feeling on her burning pads, before collapsing down onto her belly with a splash. Prideless and in such a bare land like this, these activities made the most of Isoke's day and in such scorching weather, there was nothing better than to cool down in a oasis of water.

[CHEKESHA !]

C H E K E S H A

the waves of heat took over cheke's mind as she trudged through the barren sands. each single grain, each tiny stone called out to her, telling her to turn back, to go back to the watering hole, but she refused, only to move faster through the desert. there was not much food out here - only the random jackrabbit or kangaroo mouse, but it was barely enough to stifle cheke's hunger.

maybe i should turn back, to go to the watering hole...
she turned down her own request, only to spot a mouse scuffling along the grains of golden sand.
cheke leaned down to a crouch, and started to stalk towards the tiny rodent. it was amazing that it couldn't see her, there were no large bushes or trees to conceal her identity. very close to her prey now, cheke pounced, only to engulf her muzzle in the burning sand.

she was surprised with herself, for listening to her mind-games. her hullucination. why did this always happen to her? against her better judgement, she was forced to go back, back to the oasis where she called home. it was also a place where her pride, kronos, inhabited. she started to trudge back to the shimmering pool of water, hoping that this image of water was not also part of her mind, that it wasn't part of that malicious game that her brain played on her when she went without any water.

approaching the water, cheke took in the humid air. the pool was surrounded by thick reeds and palm trees that swayed and cast shade around the shallow liquid. a few beautiful rocks pertruded out of the water, causing ripples as the pool splashed up against them. cheke walked down toward the water, and slowly dipped her head down to it. she let her golden muzzle part the water, and lapped up the instant gratification of the cool drink. cheke looked up, droplets of wasted water evaporating into the heat, and saw the three crows that loved to dangle around the oasis. they always seemed to whisper out to her, "chekesha, you are going to die eventually, they all do. you are going to die, just like everyone here before you. they all died. you will too."

their cruel chant hit cheke with great force, and she snarled at them. she told herself it was just her mind again, that it was playing its' gruesome tricks once more, but she knew it wasn't true.

the whispers were correct... everyone died eventually.

looking up from where she was standing on the side of the bank, she noticed another lioness. what was she doing here? did she come to join her pride? or was she just passing through? she gazed at the lioness intently, and then started conversation awkwardly.

"Greetings. I am Chekesha, Lady of Kronos. How may I be of assistance?" was it too nice? too kindhearted for the newcomer? cheke took a deep breath and tried not to show fear.