Shifting Sands [ Rook10 & Bear ]

[HeyThereLittleBear]

It was in the hot desert sands that a young lioness had been born to her duty, the first daughter in a long line of sons that was born to a couple of decent standing in their tribe. From a young age Ramla had shown signs of the gift of sight, and for that she had been given her name. In the tongues of their land, her name meant ‘fortune teller,’ and that was what she rightfully had been seen as. When she was but a child the tides turned, as the tribe leader had offered her sacrifice for a seeing only for the outcome to be… Less than what he’d wanted.

In the shifting sands of her looking glass, she had seen horrors that the tribe had never known before. Furless creatures stole away their children in the dead of the night and hid them away behind stone walls where water was abundant and the people were careless for each other’s lives. She talked of horrors they had never seen before, their kind flogged for following basic instinct such as mating and enslaved to the creatures that were without fur.

The truth had been a pill too bitter to swallow, a burden too great for the man to bear. And because of that he forbid her to speak of it. Her title was stripped from her and the respect of her family had been taken away, cast to the part of town with the rest of the dishonored families. Among the beggars and whores, Ramla grew into the lioness she had seen herself to be in the looking glass, round of hip and bosom with a mane and tail that were the color of the sun as it fell from the sky.

And though they had stripped her of her honor, they had not made her fortunes any less true.

It was in the cold of the starry skies when even the moon had abandoned them that the furless creatures had found them, and as she had foretold so many years previous, they stole into the homes of those with children. The first night they lost a kit that was barely off the teat, a youngster that still had their cub fur on them and had the sweetness of childhood. The second night they had stolen a young female that was in the prime of her heat, taken as she napped after a day of vigorous and passionate sex.

Only when the moon returned did the members of the camp stop disappearing, but the people in it were left in a frenzy. Their community, though primitive in its own ways, was still a society based on the cooperation of all of its members. They were close knit and cared more deeply for each other than the furless creatures did, but that didn’t mean they were without taboos.

One such was the greater dishonor she had done her family. She had stumbled upon another feline in their community, a young beauty much like herself that was as spirited as any could be. She was as warm as the sun-heated sands and as quick as a viper, every bit a beauty as she was a scholar. And though the romance was forbidden… Ramla was in love.

And love had turned her inner eye blind towards her lover, unable to see her fate in the ever shifting sands of the looking glass, a worry that kept her up each night with the missing peoples in their group growing. Because of this, she was one of the first awake in their community, kicking through the sands as she wound her way through tents and lean-tos that their kind lived beneath. “Nyla?” She called out for the girl, leaning her head back to try and catch her scent on the winds, “Nyla!”

 

[Rook10]

The air was still in the small tent that was Nyla's home. Light filtered in between the scraps of cloth held up loosely by thin wooden poles. It wasn't much but it had been enough for her and her mate, Zoran. They had been together for two years, somehow avoiding having cubs in spite of several heats and Nyla's insistence that he always finish inside of her. It was more than just sex between them, she felt connected, cared for, at peace even in her most disheveled moments.

As she knelt there in the middle of the tent, clutching at a blanket as if it were the only thing keeping her tethered to the earth, she realized Zoran was gone and was never coming back. After the second kidnapping their community began posting night guards and that seemed to help some, at least it put people at ease. Zoran, being the strong lion that he was, had volunteered from the beginning to stand watch. He was always back before the sun came up though, always, every single day...except today.

When Nyla awoke to his absence she was first filled with terror before trying to calm herself and reassure herself that she was just up early or he was running late, that had to be it. But her own thoughts couldn't placate her for long and in her heart she could feel something was wrong. That Zoran had either been captured or worse...dead. Tears began to fill her eyes as she absentmindedly grabbed the blanket that smelt so much like him and fell to her knees, staring at the flap of the tent, praying that he would walk through any minute while at the same time cursing the furless monsters that would take him away from her!

Sure enough the flap did open but it was not Nyla's beloved who stepped through, instead it was Ramla, sweet Ramla who Nyla considered a good friend, a sister even, ever since she and her family had been banished to the lesser part of the village. Of course Nyla didn't know that Ramla had foreseen all of this happening, that detail was a well kept secret by the tribe leader and by Ramla as well if she valued her family's safety.

"Zoran didn't come back, Ramla." Nyla choked out as she looked at her friend instead of the opening of the tent. "He was on the night watch and he didn't..." No longer able to hold back her tears she began to sob openly and clutch the blanket to her chest even harder. Her eyes squinting shut as if to block out the harsh reality she now found herself in. The grief burring her like sand settling after a wind storm, countless, unstoppable, and oh so heavy.

 

[HeyThereLittleBear]

Ramla’s nose didn’t catch the scent of her friend but her keen ears heard a sound from the tent, a noise that she couldn’t pick up well over the soft whistle of the wind as it was as soft as a whisper. She opened the folds of the tent to find the normally so strong and steady Nyla clutching a blanket, her nostrils flaring as she breathed in the scent of her lover, a handsome and rugged lion that had protected them for so many years. The reality of it didn’t strike her immediately, her eyes moving from Zoran’s empty space to the blanket in her arms as she tried to process it all.


Nyla’s choked cry finally made it feel all too real, her tail lowering as she understood what this all meant. SHe had seen the people disappearing but she had never seen Zoran’s fate, had never guessed that he would be among the people taken. “Oh, Nyla.” Her face crumpled as she did her best to stay strong for her friend, crossing the space and falling to her knees to wrap the woman in a soft embrace.


“I’m so sorry.” She was lacking the words to properly comfort her, but she could nuzzle her face into the woman’s cheek affectionately, offering soft murmurs of comfort. She could feel a weight hanging hard in her stomach, her eyes closing as she did her best to turn her third eye towards them. Without her looking glass to focus on, it was hard for her to picture the future, the images fuzzy enough that she couldn’t make anything out. The sands of the future were still shifting, no image yet set into stone.


Ramla forced herself to pull back, stroking Nyla’s head softly, “The furless beasts have gone too far. They have taken our young and now they are preying on our protectors… If we can’t stop them then we will be without any of our people.” She said, letting a claw trace Nyla’s spots. “Now is not the time for your tears. Now is the time for your anger.”

 

[Rook10]

Nyla leaned into Ramla's embrace, too preoccupied with her grief to feel embarrassed at this out of character outburst of self pity and sorrow. Her wails did subside to softer sobs after a moment and she listened to Ramla's words. The beasts had gone too far. The Anthros had done nothing wrong, they had hurt no one, certainly Zoran had never hurt anyone who hadn't deserved it.

But what were they to do? How could you fight an enemy that you could never see coming? You have to go to them. Nyla thought to herself and ideas began to form in the female's head. They were both interrupted though by footsteps and the rap of knuckles against the tent's front pole.

"Nyla." A raspy voice carried past the tent flap. It was Kirvan, the scaly lizard anthro who also worked the guard shift. "They want you at the front of the village, there is something you need to see."

For all the heat of the desert Nyla only felt ice in her veins as her mind raced through the possibilities of what could possibly create a need for her at the front gate. She stood, slowly, letting Zoran's blanket fall to the sand below her and still holding onto Ramla with one hand for support, more emotional than physical. She looked at her friend with eyes that said Nyla wanted, needed, Ramla to come with her for now. They stepped outside where Kirvan was waiting for them. It was difficult to read the expression of a reptilian, their faces didn't change much with their feelings and their eyes always seemed so distant. Still she could tell by the way that he avoided her gaze that he was uncomfortable, perhaps feeling guilty that he was still here and Zoran wasn't.

"I don't blame you, Kirvan. Zoran volunteered for the guard. I blame the furless bastards." She spat the last bit into the sand, her body shaking. "Please, take me to him." She already knew what awaited her at the front of the village. What she didn't know was just how ghastly it would be. The walk did not take long as the village wasn't very big to begin with though large enough to discourage Anthro raiding parties. That was another thing that made the kidnappings so terrifying, despite their group's size their abductors did not seem to care. Almost as if they were targeted for that reason.

There was a crowd at the gate already though it was less of a gate and more so just a wide opening in the low wall of sand and clay that had been formed around them to protect from the wind and now from their new predators. Mothers were careful to keep the cubs far away though, no need for the young to be filled with even more fear at the sight that awaited Nyla and Ramla. Just inside the wall lay a body, or what remained of it. As anthros moved aside to allow Nyla and Ramla to the front Nyla gasped audibly, covering her mouth and clutching Ramla's arm a bit tighter.

Zoran lay there in the sand, his body naked, torn, and broken. His flesh covered in bite marks of some sort of canine though too small to be comparable to a wolf anthro or the like. His wrists had chains wrapped around them though the guards who had retrieved his body had cut them and allowed his arms to rest at his side. Blood matted his fur and his mane, cuts and lashes covered the parts of his body that hadn't been torn off and his leg was at an odd angle, broken as if by some sort of blunt object striking it.

"They found him a mile or so away, still chained up but with nothing but some tracks leading west. He must of put up a fight and they decided he was too much trouble to take back to whatever hole they call home." Kirvan explained. Nyla just stood there staring at the body of her mate. Before she had been drowned in sorrow but now she felt the overwhelming anger at what they had done to him and to her rising up in her chest and causing all of her fur to stand on end.

"There will be vengeance." She spoke in a low but deadly tone. "They will be made to pay." Tears still streamed down her face but these were tears of rage, not of sorrow.

 

[HeyThereLittleBear]

Nyla’s sorrow was so deep that it was almost a physical pain for Ramla to take, her head nuzzling to Nyla’s to attempt at soothing her. It was so hard for her to deal with the fact that her friend was going through something so difficult, as Ramla had never taken a mate. She had never loved anyone save for Nyla, and ahd never formed any sort of bond. Her heart ached for her friend, because she couldn’t even imagine what life would be like without Nyla in it, even in some way.


The voice caught her off guard, her tail flicking and her ears shifting back as the man beckoned them towards what Ramla could already feel in her stomach would be Nyla’s mate. Her body stayed close to the woman, feeding off her emotions to try and focus them into her own power. Her third eye was remaining firmly shut, but she couldn’t let that bother her just yet. She needed to See in order to find where the furless beasts were coming from, needed to know what purpose they had for them.


The body was a sight that was almost too much for her to bear, her heart pining for the man that he had been. He could have easily become their new leader when the old pack master died, could have been the head of their village and been a protector of all. It hurt to see someone once so strong be laid so low. His body was a mangled mess. But by rights of their traditions, the only one with a right to send him to the gods was his wife - Nyla. She would be the one to give the order of when his vigil could end and when they would send him as ash back to the sands in which they had all crawled out of.


Nyla’s face was wet with tears, the rage so plain on her face as she vowed revenge against the creatures that had dared to do this to her lover. “Nyla,” Ramla grasped her hand gently, her eyes solemn as she struggled to find the words that were proper. “Nyla, I need to confess to you.”


She fought to find the words, her tail flicking once again as she mulled it over, “I… Have the Sight. I was born with the gift from the gods and I foresaw… I saw it in the sands of the future that the furless beasts would come. I didn’t See Zoran. But I still have my Sight.” She touched Nyla’s cheek softly, stroked it with her claw so gently to wipe away the tears. “I need Zoran’s body. My third eye cannot See the beasts clearly. But he saw them with his eyes and my glass can see through him. We have little time before his soul forgets his body. I need you to release his vigil so that we may put him into my sands.”

 

[Rook10]

Nyla turned and looked over at the younger feline. What sort of confession could she have and why make it now? She leaned in to hear her better but the words did not make sense. The Sight? How could Ramla have such a gift and live in the lesser part of the village? It was then that Nyla remembered that Ramla had not always lived there, it had not been too long ago that her family had been much better off by comparison. She must have made a prediction that the elders hadn't liked...the hairless beasts?

There was no time to ask questions or ponder that though. Nyla had to make a decision. Trust Ramla and end the vigil so that maybe she could see, what? A clue? A face? Something more than cold tracks that would be swept away in the sands within hours? Still it might be worth it, might give the rest of them a chance. She looked at the body of her mate longingly, he deserved a proper vigil, he had worked so hard and sacrificed so much for them all. But at the same time she couldn't bare to see him in such a broken state as he was. This was not Zoran, Zoran had been strong and wise and handsome. This was the result of evil beyond comprehension.

"Do it." She told Ramla before turning to Kirvan. "I hereby end the vigil for Zoran. I wish for his body to be burnt at once so that his ashes may return to the sand and his spirit find rest." She wasn't sure how Ramla intended on getting a hold of the ashes though. It was taboo to try and contain them or otherwise keep them separated from the sand as they were considered part of the soul and to keep a portion of that locked away would be to curse that person to eternal unrest. Nyla knew Ramla would only need them for a little while though and then they could be returned to the sand where they belonged.

 

[HeyThereLittleBear]

Nyla struggled to understand at first but the moment that she realized that it would be a hint to get revenge she was sold. The moment the release was given to end the vigil those that were nearby collected his body, as the pyre had already been built to send him properly back to the sands that they had all come from. They already had his body burning by the time that Ramla came from the tents, her hands clasping in front of her as she watched the once strong man be returned to that of which he’d come from. The fire burned hot and the reek of sorrow tainted the village, letting all that were within sniffing distance know that there had been a loss that was deep enough for all to feel.


The coals were still hot when she finally stepped forward towards where his head had once burned. She was gentle as she scooped up hot coals and ash alike, her palms burning and adding blood to the mix as she stepped away to return to Nyla, her Seeing objects in a pouch that was held at her hip. In the privacy of Nyla’s tent, she closed the flaps so that no one could enter to interrupt.


Ramla sat herself down on the bed that had once belonged to the beloved deceased, pulling out her objects. The first was her looking glass - a crystal that held the sands from the very heart of the desert they had all come from, and a small herb that had been half-burned already before.


She poured the hot ashes into her crystal, letting it mix with the sands before she lit the herb. “Nyla,” She murmured the woman’s name, letting the emotions that Zoran had felt for her before flood her body, “Don’t trust what you See.”


***


Arousal. The first thing that flooded her was an arousal that was unlike anything else and a small that hung heavy in her nose enough to enflame her and make her feel more beast than anything else. Her nostrils flared and she recognized the scent immediately. There was a female in heat close. She made his eyes open and finally saw what she needed - he was caged, for now, put close to the young vixen that had been taken just a mere two nights previous.


The female was young still - a mere sixteen years of age and going through only her second heat. Her scent was strong, as her body had not been cared for properly as a young female should have been. By tradition, she would have been cared for by the elderly women in the village and her sex kept cleaned with water so that the men would not be enraged by her until she was primed to be mated by her husband.


These furless beasts knew nothing of the anthro kind and how their bodies worked.


Zoran was nearly in a fury from his desire, his cock thick, hard, and dripped as he paced inside of the tight space. The furless beasts were fascinated by her, probing at her swollen and pink pussy as she pressed against the bars in her desperation to relieve the agony of her unstimulated heat. Each time one of them spread her lips he felt the wave of rage again, as they were violating one that was still so innocent and one that didn’t understand what her body was going through.


They left the girl still aching, whimpering softly as she pushed her throbbing sex against the bars closest to him. He leaned his head into his cage and his muzzle was close enough he could almost lick her if he’d wanted, but instead he breathed in the smell of her arousal. It was adding to his strength, and he used that to his advantage to break the cage, blind fury and rage taking over as he fuelled himself beyond what was normal for him.


He burst from the cage like the wild beast that he was on the inside, nostrils flaring as the furless beasts rushed him. There were too many for him to fight reasonably and his claws were useless against their shining metal skin. His battle was lost before it ever began as the pierced him with a lance, his heart coming to its end as he fell to the ground. His last sight was the mountains, the guiding stars glittering over them.


***


Ramla returned in a shaking gasp, clawing at the blankets as she coughed and tried to spit out the taste of death that lingered in her mouth. She rolled off the bed and lay on the sands, her body limp but mind still so full of images. “I know… I know where they are.”

 

[Rook10]

Nyla watched as her mate was carried away, following the procession as they marched to the funeral pyre. There his body was lain and prayers were said as his fur was rubbed with oil to ensure he would be completely cremated. Sure enough once the wood was lit the flames spread quickly a roared high into the air. The stench of burnt fur soon followed and Nyla stood with the rest, watched as Zoran's body and soul were put to rest. Tears streamed down her face but she did not openly weep, she did not curl up into a ball like she had been when Ramla found her.

No. This time she stood tall, accepting the reality in front of her, hands balled up into fists. Holding onto promises she made in her heart that she would have her revenge if it was the last thing she ever did.

The fire burnt hot and fast just as it was meant to and before long just a smoldering pile of ashes and charcoal remained. Some of the tribe gave Ramla dirty looks as she stepped forward and scooped up handfuls of Zoran's ashes which were already being swept away by the wind. But they held their objections as they saw that Nyla was with her and guided Ramla back to her tent. Nylas let Ramla have her space, not having any understanding of how the Sight worked and not wanting to interfere in some way.

She watched her light the herb with the still hot coals and breathe deeply before her eyes closed and she clearly fell into some sort of trance. Nyla couldn't tell what Ramla was seeing or even if she was seeing anything at all as she stood a few feet away from her, waiting. She wondered if Ramla had fallen asleep before the young tigress jolted from her spot on the bed and fell to the ground, hack and coughing, visibly shaken. Nyla went to her, stroking her back, trying to soothe her in some way. "It's ok, you're here, it's ok." She assured her as Ramla had another coughing fit.

Then she heard the magic words, the the first step in fulfilling her promise. "Where? What did you see?" She helped Ramla sit up right and turned the younger female to face her. Nyla's eyes searching hers for answers that she couldn't find on her own.

 

[HeyThereLittleBear]

The vision of Nyla finally came into focus as the last taste of death faded from her mouth in return for the grit of the sands from her harsh breath dragging into her throat. She enjoyed the comfort that Nyla offered her but it was always a difficult time when returning from the last few moments of someone dying. Ramla did her best to get the coughing under control as she struggled back towards the reality of everything, pushing out the things that were still clinging to her mind like spiderwebs.


“We follow the stars,” She choked out finally, wiping at her mouth with the back of her hand slowly before cleaning the back of her hand with a few slow wipes of her tongue that also cleared her mouth of sand, “They are using the guiding stars to find us and collect us.” The images filtered through her mind again, this time hazy because the memories were not her own. Her Sight was a wonderful gift, but the power was not without its down sides.


She forced herself to her feet because otherwise she would have let herself be dragged down by the sudden grogginess that fell over her like a heavy blanket, “When we get close we can follow by scent. The girl they took a few nights ago is in heat. Her smell is,” Her nose twitched with the remnants of that smell, the enticing musk that had made even the mightiest of warriors go mad with desire, “Strong. She’s young. Fertile. The furless beasts underestimate nature.”

 

[Rook10]

Nyla held Ramla close, as if she were the last thing on earth that held any sort of value to her. She listened to her friend's words and thought about what it all meant. The guiding stars, the captured female, the danger of it all. She stroked Ramla's fur as she continued to hold the young female close to her bosom. "Not 'we', I alone shall carry out this task. There is no need for you to put yourself in danger, you'll be safer here than out there tracking monsters."

Nyla was already planning it out. She would travel light, few provisions, a knife, perhaps an extra cloth to shield her from the beating sun. She would travel at night mostly and find her enemies in their sleep, kill them, save the female if she could and take what provisions they would need for the journey home. Of course if it came down to it, she was alright with never making it home.

"Tell me which stars, Ramla. Tell me where they went so that I can find them."

 

[HeyThereLittleBear]

It was almost overwhelming to be so intimately close with Nyla like this, especially with the smell of heat still lingering in her own nostrils, her eyes closing as she fought against the rising tide of desire. Ramla had to pull herself away from Nyla’s bosom swiftly, shaking her head and clearing her nostrils of the sweet smell of the other woman’s fur. It was wrong of her to desire someone that was already so in love with someone else, so wrong of her to think that Nyla could ever feel the same. But there was no denying that her heart yearned for the young female.


“You will not go alone.” She wouldn’t let Nyla so much as speak another word on that, her shoulders squaring against the other woman almost as if she expected a physical fight, “I won’t allow it. It is a dangerous journey and I must do what I must to help rescue our kind. These furless beasts have to be stopped… I have to redeem myself in the eyes of our leaders.” She added on the last bit mostly for Nyla’s sake, so she didn’t feel like Ramla was going just to protect her, as if it was something she would have done on her own regardless of whether Nyla was going.


“We follow the north star towards the mountains. They live in the lands beyond where our sands turn to stone. They live in areas our kind has been forbidden for many years…. Are you sure you wish to take this journey?”

 

[Rook10]

Nyla's own nostrils flared a bit. Her senses momentarily flooded with something akin to her own heat. Was it Ramla? Was she getting aroused? It wasn't beyond imagination since she had just bore witness to a captured female in heat. She was sure the scent must have been strong for Ramla to be so certain. Still, it was a bit surprising.

Before she could question it further though her friend was already arguing with her about the journey and Nyla's desire to go alone. Ramla was so adamant, the look in her eyes threatening that she would venture out on her own if Nyla left her there alone anyway. There was no helping it. Nyla sighed. "Alright then, we leave tomorrow night but we tell no one. Take only what you must have, we will have to travel light if we are to catch up to them."

She stroked Ramla's head, her fingers running through her red mane. "You must be careful, little one. I cannot bear to lose you too." Nyla did not have many friends and among them none as close to her as Ramla. If her own quest for vengeance got her killed, she would never forgive herself.

 

[HeyThereLittleBear]

Nyla didn’t push the argument any further and for that Ramla was thankful, as she couldn’t bear to confess that part of her reason was born of selfish desires for the young feline. She knew that Nylas was in a compromised state and it would have reflected poorly for her emotions to be shown now, even if they had been present for years previous to the death of Nyla’s lover.


It didn’t help for the other woman to stroke her so, her heart fluttering in her chest as she felt the soft fingers of the woman she loved across her face. “You won’t lose me, Nyla.” She captured her hand in one of her own and secured it to her cheek, letting it rub against her softly and leaving the other’s palm smelling softly of her scent.


“I’ll be with you to the end as you have been with me in my time of need. I care for you, Nyla.” She didn’t want to use the word ‘love,’ as love was such a dangerous thing in times like this. She couldn’t bear to know what Nyla would think of it, as it was still looked down upon for a female to lust another female, especially when population was so low. They needed all the cubs they could birth to help the village grow.


Ramla pulled away after a moment, “I have all of my belongings. We can slip away now, under the protection of the night.”