A Chance Meeting

A rustle in the bushes above set the large beast on edge. Kimahri’s eyes darted to the top of the cliff face above him, his body tensing. For the last week or so he had noticed signs of someone in the area, though he didn’t know who. The only thing he knew was that they were human, which meant he had to be wary, it was mostly humans who were Hunters. He felt a little pang of nervousness, so he growled, his large mane standing and puffing up a bit to the unseen threat. He felt the glow around his eyes grow stronger, and he moved to plant his feet firmly in the river bed as the water flowed around the rest of his body, liquid dripping from his chin as he had just been drinking.  

After a few tense moments, Kimahri stared in surprise as a human woman screamed and fell down the cliff face. He watched as she slid first on her butt, but then lost control and tilted to the side and she started rolling down. She hit the riverbank with a loud thud, the breath knocked out of her. The air around them grew silent, as she had startled the birds as well with her tumble. After a while, he heard her get her breath back, and she was starting to cry in pain. Kimahri was torn. Help her, or run away? He took a moment to decide, and decided that his conscious wouldn’t let him leave her injured like that.  

The water sloshed around his limbs as he walked through the water. Thankfully it wasn’t any deeper than his belly at its lowest point. He slowly walked up to her, water dripping around him now that he was on the dry bank, staring down at her small body with concerned interest. She was so small in comparison to him, but she seemed fairly tough. He could see that she was battered and bruised, but the main injury he noticed was her foot. It was bent at an odd angle, which left Kimahri to believe her ankle had broken in the fall. 

His face twisted with thought, trying to think of how to best help her, when he realized that she was staring at his head and large body looming over her. She was silent in fear, her green eyes wide as she braced her arms on the ground. She looked as if she wanted to run, but they both seemed to understand that she couldn’t. Every once in a while, she would wince and whimper in pain from her legs. Kimahri had made up his mind, he wanted to help her. She was small and frail, and he couldn’t just leave her to the forces of nature without feeling bad about it.  

He picked up one of his front paws and reached to over her body in an attempt to scoop her up. She screamed in terror and started to wiggle, but it was hard for her to find purchase in the ground with her ankle broken and her legs as hurt as they were. Kimahri made a small surprised sound, his face looking to hers, eyes wide in shock. Such a loud noise from such a tiny creature! She opened her mouth, and her voice was shaky from fear as she pleaded with him, “Don’t hurt me! Please don’t!” 

Kimahri’s voice rumbled from his chest as he spoke back, “I’m not going to, I only want to help,” he started, “is that okay little human?” It took her a minute to decide to consent, but when she did, she nodded her head fast, the little red ringlets framing her face bouncing with the movement. Her lips were shut and she looked pale. Kimahri figured she was probably in some sort of shock between the fall and now being scared of him. He was glad that the human woman had decided to trust him though. 

The large beast of a Drakiri finished reaching around her with his front paw, being as gentle as he could to pick her up off the ground. When he picked her up, Kimahri could tell that she was shaking like a leaf. The poor thing was frightened silly it would seem. Without a comment about it, he cradled her against his thick silvery mane fur, and he felt her small hands grip into the locks of hair for purchase, leaning into his body as he cupped her there.  

He turned slowly, and intended to move slowly as well, so as to not jostle her or cause her any more pain. He started back into the water, heading for the other river bank, where a large cave opened up into the rocks. He was careful to keep her as dry as possible on their journey through the river. As he pulled himself out the other side, he grumbled to her, “You can call me Kimahri, tiny one.”  

From the depths of his mane, he heard her voice, much calmer now, “My name is Rosanna.” Her voice was soft, almost like a happy bird call. It rang in his ears in a pleasant way before he continued to his Den. He felt a small smile creep upon his muzzle, but he kept his voice in the same grumble tone as he walked through his den entrance, “Nice to meet you, Rosanna. Now let's get you patched up, okay?” He heard her mutter a soft thank you as he brought her into his home. 

With pleasantries out of the way, he sat her down on his bed of furs. He had taken it upon himself to heal her up, and he was a Drakiri of his word, so heal her he would.