Aqua Vitae

Faster.

Heavy footfalls tossed loose pebbles into the air with every frantic step as sharp claws raked over the slope of the mountainside.

Faster.

Hooves sent stones clattering down the face of the mountain with every break-neck turn and leap, desperate to get away and escape the jaws of death that persued them.

Faster.

Boonsong’s flanks heaved as she took fast, increasingly shallow breaths and the edges of her vision started to pulse with darkness in time with the rapid beating of her heart. She was running out of time. Even with choosing her target much more carefully and waiting as long as she could, she was still going to be outpaced by a goat.

With a frustrated snort she threw herself forwards, pushing herself even harder with stubborn determination to prove her hunting prowess and her worth to the pack. She had a massive shadow to fill. She had to prove herself worthy of the noble heritage that she came from, she had to prove that she was not useless and destined to spend her days being looked after by the rest of High Peak. She had… she had to - 

Her feet slipped out from beneath her as her vision fully blackened. The small, thin carnotaurus fell and crashed against the ground, sliding and rolling down the stony slope of the mountain until she finally slowed to a stop where the mountainside evened out to a plateau, a grassy strip of land nestled between two peaks. The goat that she had been feverishly chasing continued to bound away, unaware that it was no longer being pursued and free to live on another day.

Wisp stared at the carnotaurus that landed on the grass in front of him, a sickly looking underweight female with dark splotches that ran in a long line along her tail, torso, and up onto her face, which was adorned with a bright marking that slashed across her muzzle like two long, curling claws on either side.

Wisp looked around briefly but, upon not seeing anyone else around, settled down beside the fallen carno to wait for her to wake up. The fall looked like it had scuffed her hide in a few spots, and she might need help getting to wherever she was going. Wisp… was not sure where he was going yet, so he was happy to help.

...When she woke up.

He could not see any major injuries, and the blood that he could smell was only from shallow scrapes. He hoped nothing inside was broken. He did not know how to fix broken bones.

Time passed by quickly as he waited, Wisp’s thoughts drifting to and fro as he watched clouds sail slowly by and butterflies dance delicately on the breeze. It was pretty up here. He was glad that his wandering - he still was not sure why he had to leave his mother, but she had shooed him off - had taken him here. Maybe this would be a nice place to stay for a while.

The afternoon sun had sunken well over the crest of the mountain by the time Boonsong started to stir. Her whole body ached and she had a pounding headache. Her legs felt heavy and weak, and it was still hard to catch a breath. Though still dazed, she was at least conscious enough to notice that she was no longer alone. The scent of another carnotaurus hung in the air, heavy. It was close.

Very close, as it turned out. Wisp was sat on the ground extremely near to where she was laying, watching her with a wide-eyed, curious expression. The two stared at each other for a moment, Boonsong uncertain and Wisp excited that she was finally awake.

“How… long have you been sitting there?” Boonsong was the first to break the silence. Disappointingly, there was a note of grogginess in her voice still. Her words slurred together slightly. She had done it again, she had pushed too hard. She was not going to be able to go on another hunt for days after this. The feeling was tight in her chest, more painful than the aches and bruises on her body.  Another failure.

“You fell in front of me,” Wisp explained, as though it were obvious. “So I waited for you to wake up.”

Boonsong tilted her head slightly. “You’ve been here this whole time?”

Wisp looked very pleased with himself, which apparently meant that the answer was “yes.”

“... Why?”

That answer seemed obvious to Wisp, too. Why would anyone not? “You were sleeping. I just wanted to make sure you were okay and help you if you needed it.”

Boonsong’s gaze hardened slightly. No, she did not need help, she was perfectly capable of… She was a long ways away from where the pack would be resting tonight, she realised. She had gotten out here on her own just fine, she could get back there herself. It would be fine.

“I don’t need help,” she snorted, a little brusquely. She did feel a little bad when Wisp seemed to wilt at her terseness. It was a nice thing he did. There were not a lot of strangers that would sit down and keep an eye out for trouble just out of the kindness of their own hearts. Maybe he was not kind, though. Maybe he wanted something.

“Thanks,” she said, after a moment. “That was really nice of you.”

Boonsong pulled her feet towards her to plant them underneath her stomach, trying to push herself back into an upright position. To… no avail. There was just no strength left in her legs, and that simple act alone was enough to tire her out.

Her hide burned with embarrassment, which was made worse by the look that Wisp was giving her. Piteous. Like she was some weak little hatchling that should have been culled right out of the egg.

“Did you hurt yourself when you fell?” Wisp spoke up, his voice soft and full of worry. “I tried to figure out if you were hurt but I’m not good at that sort of thing.”

Boonsong inhaled and took a moment to quell the irritation that simmered in her stomach. It was not this stranger’s fault that she was like this. And he did seem genuinely concerned for her condition, even if he did not fully understand the root cause of it. The fall had bruised her pride more than anything.

“I’m okay,” she assured him, which immediately seemed to brighten his mood. “I’m just a little tired.” She turned her snout towards the slope that she had fallen down. It was… a considerable height. It was going to take a long time to climb it again, and the thought of the ascent alone made her even more fatigued.

“Do you need some water?” Wisp asked, pale blue eyes shining in the dark shadows of night that were creeping over the face of the mountain. “Or some food? I’m a good hunter!” When he didn’t start making friends with what he was supposed to be hunting, anyway. He got scolded a bit for that when he was still growing up.

Boonsong eyed the young bull. There was not anything familiar about him. Not his appearance, not his scent, not the sound of his voice. He was not from around here. “Do you know where to find food or water in the mountains?” she asked, a hint of amusement colouring her voice.

Wisp looked crestfallen again as the realisation hit him. “Uh… no.”

Boonsong huffed quietly. “If you help me up, I can guide us to some water. There’s a pond near here.” She was not going to let him hunt for her. That she knew she could do herself, just… not right now. She would try again when she recovered her strength, and quietly eat her unearned share when she returned to the pack.

That seemed agreeable enough to Wisp. He got to his feet with so much ease and swiftness that Boonsong was briefly jealous before she dismissed the feelings as being wasteful of what little energy she had. Standing up, she could also see that he was much taller than she was. Another reminder of her inadequacy - she had just never grown quite as tall or strong as her parents.

But his strength was hers as he helped her stand, letting her lean on him and standing perfectly still while she found her balance. Once she was at least somewhat, cautiously certain that she was not just going to fall back down again, she directed them towards a nearby montane lake. It was not very big, but the crystal-clear water was always present no matter how much rain had fallen and it was always refreshingly cold. It was difficult to drink and stand at the same time, so Wisp helped Boonsong to crouch near the water’s edge.

“Are there fish in here?” Wisp asked as he eyed the water curiously. He did not see any, but that did not mean that there were none there. Fish were very good at hiding.

Boonsong gave a short laugh as water dripped from her chin. Getting her food seemed to still be on his mind, which was almost sweet if he really was good-intentioned, but he was not going to have any luck here. “You really aren’t from around here, are you?” There were never fish in these lakes, only in the rivers. And who had ever heard of a fishing carnotaurus?

“Nope,” Wisp replied, apparently oblivious. “I like it here though. It’s very quiet and the water’s nice. The stars are pretty up here.”

Boonsong turned her head upwards, looking towards the sky. Sure enough, in the shifting periwinkle, lavender, and baby’s breath hues of the twilight sky, there were a few glittering stars that were starting to come out. She made a quiet hum of agreement. Her home was pretty.

“Do you plan on staying here?” she asked, curious now as well. His comments suggested as much, but travellers often came and went in the mountains.

“I dunno,” Wisp replied cheerily, as though that were a sound answer.

Boonsong gave a short huff of a laugh. “Do you at least plan on staying the entire night?”

That, he seemed more certain of. “Oh, yeah. This is a good spot to sleep, I think.”

It was not the worst spot, as far as bedding locations went. There was not much in the way of shelter, but at least the mountain had not decided to turn on them and suddenly drop a torrent of rain or snow as it was sometimes wont to do.

“Good,” Boonsong sighed in satisfaction, getting comfortable near the shore. “Then we can rest, and then we’ll go see my pack.” A night of rest would probably help her get some of her strength back so she could make the journey back up the slope. And he could… maybe help her, if she started to struggle again.

“You have a pack?” he asked, settling down nearby.

Boonsong hummed in confirmation, her eyes already closing. A whole group of carnotaurus, who referred to themselves as the "High Peaks" pack, and almost all of them family. They had called the mountainside home for longer than Boonsong had been alive.

“I’ve never seen a whole pack of carnotaurus,” he prompted. His voice was almost a whisper, like they could keep talking and Boonsong could sleep at the same time if he was just quiet enough.

Boonsong chuckled quietly. “You’ll meet one. And then they can help you decide whether you want to live in the mountains or not.” A fishing carnotaurus. As amusing as the thought was to think about him floundering in the lake for invisible fish, he had been kind to her. It was the least she could do to make sure that he didn’t starve himself trying to live on one of these lower plateaus.

Of course, Gaboon could just decide that it would be better to chase him off.