The sun laid it's burning hand across Chetan's back, slowly yet surely crushing him under it's white heat.
He had been walking through the desert for nearly four days now, and hadn't had anything to eat for five. He hadn't had any water for just as long, and it was starting to take its toll; his could barely walk without stumbling, his vision blurred at random. His head felt like it was full of feather fluff, thick and suffocating. But onward still Chetan pressed, for what lay behind him was just as dangerous as the desert ahead. Word had spread quickly of the tragedy of the Kanaka Pride and of the caped leopard who brought about their doom. Chetan was hunted in the savanna.
Very faintly was he ware of the shimmering form of Mitra at his side. He wasn't sure if they were speaking or not. His head was underwater, faraway from the scorching desert but not far enough, he was boiling in its heat, drowning in the dry air. Suddenly, Chetan collapsed, the world going dark around him as he sank into the burning sand.
Chetan groaned as his paws met something cool and wet. His eyes fluttered open, only to be met with the sight of water pooling at his paws. Eyes widening in surprise, Chetan quickly shoved his muzzle into the pool, hastily drinking as much as he could. He pulled away, beads of water dripping from his muzzle as she gasped for breath. Mitra was a time his side in an instant, stroking the fur on his cheek gently.
"How did I get here, Mitra?"
The fae paused. "Glowing lady." They replied. "She help Che-tan."
"Glowing lady?" Chetan echoed. What did that mean? Was there a spirit out here?
Before the leopard could voice any of his questions, he caught sight of something most strange against the horizon. Delicate arcs of color haloed a figure most strange. Twice the height of a lion and made of brilliant pale blue light, the creature drifted ethereally across the sands. It was hard to make out where they stopped and started, but Chetan could pick out wide wings that brushed the sky, curled horns of pure white light, and a face vaguely feline-like in shape. Curious but calm, Chetan pushed himself to his paws as the creature approached, trying to make himself remotely presentable.
Only when the creature was a few tail lengths away did Chetan spot the silhouette of a lioness underneath all that radiant light. As she drew closer, the light seemed to envelop the leopard, sending a wave of serenity washing over him. Up close, he could actually make out the features of the glowing lion; her fur was pale gold and plain, save for a few swirls of darker brown. There was a small pair of wings spreading from her shoulders, but it was the stranger's eyes that were most striking to Chetan. They were a deep, fathom-less blue, the blue of the sky folded in on itself and burned.
The stranger dropped a hare at Chetan's paws, looking him up and down warily. She was anxious, Chetan realized, but he didn't know why.
"I didn't think you would wake up." The stranger's voice was oddly melodic. "Not before I left, anyways."
Chetan looked the strange lioness up and down. Ifshe didn't have the calming aura about her, he very likely would have been far more suspicious. "Why did you help me?"
The lioness shrugged. "Why wouldn't I?"
"You don't know me."
"Is that a good reason to leave someone to die?" The lioness gave him a strange look.
Chetan flushed under his pelt. "I didn't mean it like that."
"How did you mean it, then?" Those striking blue eyes were glued on Chetan, pinning him.
"...Who are you?"
The lioness looked away. "That doesn't matter." She turned her attention back to Chetan. "There's a pride half a day's walk west of this place. They will help you."
And like that, the lioness was gone. Chetan blinked, stunned. Very slowly did he come to realize what had happened, but what he thought to be the truth simply couldn't be. But the hare was still there at his paws, a testament to the strange lioness's being there. He also realized that, now that the lioness was gone, his former weakness had returned full-force. He hadn't even realized he had felt better.
"Glowing lady is strange." Mitra tittered, pulling Chetan out of his thoughts.
The leopard hummed. "You got that right."
Even with the brief respite Chetan had been given by the generosity of a stranger. A single hare and a drink of water would not cure his fatigue, but Chetan was determined to reach the pride the stranger spoke of. He left only a hour after she did and travelled throughout the night, despite Mitra pleading him to rest. In his current state, Chetan felt that any pause could be the last he ever took.
Finally, the leopard came upon more lions. He could tell the we're guarding something, for they came to him in an organized regiment as he stumbled toward their camp. The sky and the earth blurred as Chetan once again collapsed into the unforgiving sands. As his consciousness slipped away, the leopard was faintly aware of being lifted onto the back of a lion. For a brief, oddly comforting moment before he finally succumbed, he was certain he felt the whisper of feathers against his nose.
