remaining in the open was no longer a viable option. when putting his weight onto his right hindleg, anathi could hobble for distances at a time. the next goal would be learning how to run, but that was difficult with the burden of his limp left leg. it didn't take a healer to know that it would never heal, not in the way that it was meant to. learning to live with the burden of that realization was the most difficult part of the process.

he was too weak to dig a den, so he'd taken up residence beneath any shelter that he could find. however, with snowfall becoming heavier and starting more often, anathi thought to take up residence in the nearby quarry. he'd only made it a few steps down one of the halls before being hit with the scent of another. he followed it from a distance before the stranger finally came into view.

anathi froze. uhrihro, he whispered. he attempted to backtrack and leave without being detected, but tripped over his own lame feet.

o, kak.

the panther quickly caught wind of anathi's presence. as she lunged forward, he stood, moving just far enough to keep his throat out of reach. instead, her claws raked a wound against his ribs as he collapsed once more, pain searing through his body. 

anathi fought against a cry, instead snapping back in hopes of returning the favor.

anathi pushed himself out of the way using his front legs as leverage. he returned the panther's growl with one of his own, lips curling upward in a defensive snarl. there wasn't much for him to do here aside from preventing as much damage as possible. as she sat back, paw up in preperation, he forced his body to turn and snapped forward.

the cougar's paw swept clean against maw. anathi flinched backward, licking at his paw to clear some of the blood dripping from his nose. one of her claws had managed to knick his gums, prompting the slow pooling of blood in his mouth. in an attempt for retaliation, he quickly forced himself upright and pushed for another lunge.

the bite landed and anathi held on with all of this might. for a moment, this worked, but the panther quickly overpowered him and flipped the brute onto his back. were his hindlegs not splayed out at his end, he might have attempted to claw at her underside.

the strike was a clear attempt to kill. anathi swept right as she lunged forward, her teeth gripping onto and pulling away a sliver of flesh from his throat. it was deep enough to provoke bleeding, but luckily missed any major arteries. he snapped at her paws to get her to release their grip. if successful, he would push himself a few steps away, legs scrambling to stand behind him.

anathi managed to stand, but buckled and fell with the panther's lunge. his head hit hard against the ground, leaving his vision dizzy as he drifted between states of consciousness. 

the pain of her claws digging into the flesh of his cheek was diluted by that of her jaws around his thigh and the subsequent breaking of bone. anathi's eyes shot open as he opened his mouth to gasp, though the air was trapped in his throat.

a moment of numbness.

the shock and adrenaline did anathi a favor, then. the panther'd partially amputated his hindleg, leaving the upper half mangled and unrecognizable. the blood followed a slow but powerful flow, puddling beneath the stump. if allowed, anathi would use the last of his adrenaline to hobble and fall into a nearby pool of water.

gaan in die water, he thought to himself, en sê u gebede.