Moonlit Bath

The long struggle from the tar pit to the closest source of water felt like a life time of walking. He could hear the rasping breath of Lyric as he did his best to support her weight and get them to their destination. He felt the horrible crustiness of the tar that coated her and by this point, him also from their close proximity. He worried deeply for the fae beside him for how much she might have swallowed for how lethargic and tired she was beside him. He could feel also the rough and matted fur of the kitten in his mouth. The bitter taste of tar that that clung to its coat and his struggle not to swallow, the bile that rose in his mouth and the need to spit or swallow a constant battle he fought. The damn creature (he thought of it as such for the way it had almost cost him Lyric?s life) had at the very beginning struggled in pathetic little twitches and tired broken cries. It seemed to hang limply from his jaws now in exhaustion and defeat to the predator that held it. He knew it breathed, he could feel its warmth in his mouth the faint pitter-patter of its heart beat. He struggled to ignore the taste of blood in his jaws, his own blood from torn gums, and grateful that at least the weight of the cat in his jaws was a light one.


When a quite whine emanated from Lyrics jaws he would wince and try to sooth his stride, unsure what had caused her distress. They were so close now, she just needed to hang on for a little longer before she would be ok. He followed her direction, the gentle nudge and accepted that despite her state she seemed to know what she was doing. The tiredness of her voice chipped away at her heart as he pushed on with his two delicate burdens, one in his maw and the other on his back. She said she could go on her on from here, despite the fact she could barely get out her words.
?Don?t even think about it, I?m not letting you go?
He protested gently as he finally came upon the edge of the Rio Grande water, away from the pond as she had indicated. He would kneel here to help her ease off him, and let her slip gently into the waters embrace, directly by the shallow of the bank. He would set himself up beside her, facing the opposite direction to her and setting himself up on the side towards the water so that she was closer to the land then he. Lowering his lower right hip right beside her head in an indication that she should rest it on him there above the waters. He was lying half submerged in the waters, and began to rub his paws up and down her coat in an attempt to dislodge what he could of the tar. If she had the strength they could go a little deeper, but in her lethargic state he thought lying down and leaning on him might be the safest to keep her from drowning.


He would also dunk the ass-end of the kitten into the water repeatedly, letting the motion of hitting the water gently and rising up and down through it dislodge the tar from the little creature before depositing it gently onto Lyric?s back, afraid that putting it in the water it might drown. From here he could finally dip his mouth into the cool fresh-water stream and wash the taste of tar from his tongue, spitting as much as he took in until it tastes clean again and then he would drink, looking over to see if Lyric did the same, to see how she fared and how clean her coat was getting.



"Speech"