The rainy season had ended, and the savanna was as dry as ever. Perhaps more, even. Considering that whenever Johari stepped, the brittle grass crunched and broke beneath her paws, and there was little water other than the occasional puddle, it was most likely a drought. She hated them. Not only were they a terrible inconvenience, but they reminded her of the same event that resulted in her mother's death.
Johari growled as she instinctively padded over to where the waterhole usually was, but it was no more than a meager pool of muddy liquid. She wasn't usually picky, but she wasn't going to drink that. It was disgusting. She'd find something else, and if she didn't... Oh well. Such is life.
The peachy lioness wandered far away from Domo's territory. She was still pained over the death of her sister. It was so sudden... Some time had passed since, of course, but she didn't like the idea of never seeing Kaaria's shining green eyes again. She reached her sister's sun-bleached bones, and shifted them with her forepaw. Over time, decomposition and vultures ripped away at her flesh and innards until only her skeleton remained. She never forgot her sister's face. How could she, when Kaaria and herself were identical?
She ambled off, after running her paw over her deceased sibling's skull. It got to the point where she couldn't even see her leader's territory anymore. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to leave. What if she got lost?
Oh, you're starting to sound like Kaaria. Worry, worry, worry, Johari scolded herself. She brusquely grunted and strode forward.
Narrowing her eyes, Johari spotted a spark in the distance. She must be seeing things because of her thirst. She shook her head and moved on, but she halted when the "spark" erupted into fire. The flames increased in size and made their way quickly along the plains. Screaming, Johari veered to the left and sprinted back to her territory. She let out a string of colourful language when she slipped on one of the wet areas of soil, where the dirt was more mud. She twisted her hind paw, crying out.
Inconveniences occur in the most dire of times. This was no exception.
She tried to hobble towards Domo's territory, to warn the pride of the fire, but she couldn't. She was too lethargic and was in too much pain to walk. She collapsed to the ground, flickering in and out of consciousness.
Eventually, the flames did reach her. She remembered feeling the fire licking at her fur, singing her pelt. She wailed, but her throat was too parched for her to produce any sound other than exhausted squeaks. At least when Kaaria died, her corpse had been discovered... Johari knew her body would be burned to ashes.
For the last time, her vision blurred, then faded into the world of white nothingness.
Subject: Fire Escape 
Mon Sep 07, 2015 7:01 pm
