Lion Head Mesa Shake like the bough of a willow tree.

It is overcast, even in the mesa's heartland. That does not prevent the heat from creeping in. If anything, the clouds trap the humidity and make the warmth of the day feel heavier. He feels it; creeping along the outskirts where few wolves bother to tread alone, this dark and lumbering shape.

This place is too hot for him, even at night. The man prowls as he hunts for shade, of which there is very little, and stops to sprawl pantherine beside a squat tower of stone. For a few hours at least, Raimo can try and catch his breath. Once the sunlight shifts enough to be upon his back again he will move along.

and i imagine she's spaced out from him/akashingo unless noticed!

She had fallen on the trail of something familiar.

And unfamiliar.

A dark smudge against the sandy horizon. She was the same too. They were the same. Blended, pulsing, life within each other. She continued pursuit from a distance.

Something told her she knew this one.

Something told her she knew better than this.

two shadows. they were long against the hot light. tavina straightened beside the lake where she had been gathering fresh water, for maegi to drink and to bathe her newborns.

the doctor dropped the moss and the leaves. she approached her pelt-mates and stopped. a single bark rung out, summoning them to her.

He is openly panting in the shade of the stone, oblivious to the shadow that trails him. If he'd ever taken note of it, by now Raimo's heat-stricken mind cannot hold firm to anything.

The air trembles with heat and it is not even summer. Everything shimmers; nothing feels real.

A woman's call sounds across the dirt. Raimo looks towards the sound and then draws up to his full height, though his head sags low and his shoulders are like the slanting edge of a mountain ready to collapse.

Another shadow.

This one called to them.

Jakoul did not immediately heed it, even as the one she trailed did. But nor did she disperse upon being discovered. She remained a safe distance away, watching the drooping mountain of a man. She too held herself heavy but did not yet teeter with such a precious weight as the man.

She waited.

She watched.

a man. a woman. the former looked ready to collapse. the second was silent.

red dirt puffed out from beneath her paws as she rushed to his aid. "bring water!" she barked to the woman, motioning down to the serpent lake where she had left her oak leaves and soaked moss.

"don't faint," she joked, pressing her shoulder against the larger male. "this is akashingo. you can get out of the sun and rest here." tavina began to steer him toward the lake.

When the woman moved it was in slow-motion to his eyes. There was red bleeding out from beneath her paws; that was dust, he was sure of it. The same dust came moments later as he lost his own balance and collided hard against the ground, causing a plume of rust red to billow forth.

He was awake; his body rang like a bell from the collision, as the delirium tossed aside all sense. The woman spoke and tried to assist him; it was enough to get him back up again, and as he was leaning upon her as support, Raimo staggered along.

There was a lake. It sprawled before him suddenly; a glassy blue falsehood, he was certain it was a mirage. He could not recall how he'd gotten to the shade, or to the water's edge, or where this woman had come from — and as he peered listlessly around, he saw a second. Which was real? He closed his eyes and felt the world pulse around him.

welcome to powerplay her as much as you two want! she'll follow any commands as of now

Bring water!

And like a dutiful servant, the shadow was off. Gone on quick limps only hindered by an old healed limp. She would do as she was told.

Fetch water, avoid gazes.

tavina helped to guide the heavier man toward the lake. he was listless, which was quite dangerous in this heat. 

despite the fact that she herself was accustomed to it, he was not. the woman was back with water, silent. watchful. tavina urged him to drink and dragged the moss across his forehead.

"the both of you will come into the palace," the sesh decided.

A sloppy mound of something cold drew across his forehead. The shadow nearest to him spoke and he could not avoid the sound of the voice, or the sense that it was real, but he did not react to any of it.

There was a bead of water drawing a line across his face as it dribbled, dripping down his cheek. He only wanted to sleep. His eyes felt as if they were dry and full of sand; the rest of him, he thought, would soon fall away beneath a breeze.

He could be smoke. Black against a blue sky. Smouldering.

Still, the shadow pressed the cold moss to his face and tended him, trying to subdue the heat of his skin.

Fade here, have another?

can do! <3

little by little, the man regained his strength.

and when he could stand again, it was tavina and the unknown woman who supported him into the palace, and lay him down just inside the open-air throne room, in a small chamber off a small hallway where a silver eagle had once broken the heart of a shadow.