I have had an itch to write the dreaded 'modern setting' stories which, for this particular one, is going to be focused on the relationship between Daine and Numair. Its definitely different from my usual writing, and fanciful. Very fanciful.
CC would be helpful.
Today's Tomorrow
By ElspethElf
Safari
'And – action!'
A hushed silence fell across the plain as six pairs of eyes all focused on the lone figure – a tall man crouched beside a rock, talking quietly into the camera. Behind him on the grassy plain, lay a family of lions. The mother yawned, white fangs glinting, ignoring the cubs that jumped on top of her, restless in the blistering, African sun.
Among the expedition group were five students, present as a part of their Animal Psychology course from the University of Cambridge. As like all over-sea trips, the students were thrilled at the unexpected holiday. The only catch, they discovered, was the extreme heat and swarms of mosquitoes that plagued air.
Fifteen minutes later, the camera was lowered and a break was called for. The presenter, also Cambridge's youngest lecturer, made his way towards the group of students.
'All right, listen up. There's about one more hour before the lions' hunting time. Use this hour to collect their waste sample and take whatever photographs you need for the assignment. Remember, this is the last chance you'll get with the lions before we move off to the southern regions. Do your work quietly and quickly, don't wander too far – and no petting or feeding them. These lions aren't house cats.'
His last remark seemed to be targeted at one student in particular, a young woman with smoky curls swept back by a headband. She looked up from her notes, blue-grey eyes widening in surprise.
'Professor Salmalín – I would never feed them. That would disrupt their normal diet, causing an unbalance to their digestive system, and in turn, their natural behaviour. You taught us that remember?'
The rest of the students laughed, glancing at their professor's grimace. He shook his head, black horsetail swishing, and waved the crowd of students away.
Daine Sarrasri, the student who had spoken, wandered off quietly, eyes searching the ground. She hummed softly to herself, swatting away occasionally at venturing mosquitoes. Not long, she found what she was looking for.
Three dark-brown lumps of lion faeces.
Carefully, she knelt down and scooped a small section of it with a spatula, and dropped the sample into a plastic bag. This would be used for examining back at home. Sealing the bag, she weighed it in her hand, and made a face when she caught herself thinking how satisfying the job had felt.
Everything done, she made her way towards the plain, half hoping for the lions to have started hunting. Professor Salmalín had forbidden the students to be out in the open during hunting time, even though there was a slim chance of lions approaching their vans.
From a small grass mound, Daine sat down and began making notes, sketching for some parts, the movements and activities of the cubs. She watched, fascinated, as one cub climbed onto the male's head and began guzzling his ear. The female glanced up lazily before getting up to lift it away by the back of its neck. Letting go, she began to wash it, ignoring its small, yapping protests.
Daine smiled, sensing an almost human affection from the female's mothering performance. Watching the lion family, she felt a deep longing for her own mother who was killed in a car accident five years ago.
Shaking her head, Daine forced herself to concentrate on her notes. Heck, her assignment depended on these notes, and after her last coursework, she was not prepared to face Professor Salmalín's lecture again. No matter how good-looking he may be, Daine thought, grinning sheepishly.
By the time she returned, everyone was already inside the van, talking and having supper. Taking a seat next to Leila Kyreen, Daine's classmate at Cambridge, she grabbed her food and wolfed it down hungrily.
'What took you so long?' Leila asked between mouthfuls. 'Salmalín thought you had gone nestling with the cubs again.'
Daine made a choking sound into her water. She checked the van – there were two other students in addition to herself – before saying darkly, 'he's always suspicious of me.'
Leila snorted loudly. 'You can hardly blame him. After riding that horse when you were supposed to be checking its hooves, I'd be wary of you.'
Daine stuck out her chin. 'He was restless. He had all the signs of a horse deprived of a long gallop. The owner should have noticed.'
Just then, a student from the van gave a shout, pointing out of the window. Daine and Leila peered through the glass, and both sucked the air abruptly.
The female lion, her amber eyes glinting in the setting sun, was staring directly at their van.
A deathly silence washed upon the whole van as everyone froze in a second a panic.
'No…body move,' Daine heard her own voice whisper, low and hoarse. She fixed her eyes on the lion, trying not to blink.
The lion stared back, her body still and poised. There was something grand, an almost royalty with the way she held herself, with her face alert and watching.
Daine couldn't help herself. She blinked and pressed her face against the window.
'Daine! Are you ma –'
The lion took a step forward, and in that second, her gaze seemed to pierce straight at Daine. She felt her breath halt and then, out of the ordinary, felt the sudden surge of emotions from the lion: strength, authority and above all else, curiosity.
Then she moved, her nose close to the ground. It took a moment before Daine realised what she was rummaging for: a rucksack that lay several feet away. The lion sniffed at it, opened her mouth and lifted the bag. With one more look at the van, she walked away into the distance.
When she was a safe distance away, the van next to Daine's burst open and Professor Salmalín stormed out looking incensed.
'Who left their bag outside?' he demanded angrily.
The students clambered out, all looking dazed. Zack, a man who operated the cameras, spoke out guiltily.
'That was the camera bag,' he said, looking pleadingly at Professor Salmalín. 'I…I didn't think the lions would dare come this near, so I just left it out for a second.'
'What else is in there?'
'The equipments and…. and all the tapes we've done on this trip.'
There was a dismayed cry from the students. All of their vital tapes and films, not to mention part of Professor Salmalín's documentary record, were in the stolen bag.
'What are we going to do?' Someone asked anxiously. 'We need those stuff. The photos and all the data – '
'I am aware of the bag's importance, James.' Professor Salmalín's voice was cutting, his eyes shut in a frown. After several moments of silence, he headed for the van, saying he needed to think.
Daine watched him enter the van and counted to ten before following. Inside, she found him by the table, a large map and their schedule plan spread across it.
'Can we wait until tomorrow?' Daine asked, 'maybe the lions will leave the bag and wonder off.'
Professor Salmalín shook his head. 'If we hope to reach the Fall by sunrise to see the feeding, we have to move in a few hours.'
'Perhaps they will loose interest with it?'
He shook his head again. 'That's unlikely. Even if they do, they would have torn the contents to shreds. I just…I don't understand why she came so close, and why she took the bag.'
Daine rolled her eyes. 'She probably smelt food in it. Zack's always storing sweets in the pockets.'
Professor Salmalín shook his head again and turned back to the schedule. 'There is no other option, our schedules is too tightly packed. We'll wait for two hours maximum, and if nothing happens, we'll have to move. Our best chance is finding a camera for sale at the local town, and just do the best we can.'
Daine looked out of the window, frustrated at the turn of events. If they left, their last three days of hard work would all have been for nothing.
'When the lions are fed, what are the likelihood of another hunt?'
'Not high,' Professor Salmalín replied distractedly. 'Their usual pattern after a feeding is to rest as their metabolic r – why do you ask?' He looked up sharply, then swore when he realised Daine was gone.
Jumping on to his feet, he grabbed a tranquilliser gun and bolted out after her.
He reached her one moment too late. Crouching down, he saw Daine's still figure, her eyes fixed steadily at the lion that lay only a few feet away. The female was by herself, sitting on her front – and the bag – it rested securely between her front paws.
He had to breathe several times to calm his nerves. Gritting his teeth, he risked a low hiss.
'Daine! What the hell are you playing at?'
His eyes darted towards the lion. By sheer luck, her family was still out hunting, and her stance did not suggest aggression. He risked a louder whisper.
'Get back here, do you hear me?'
She appeared not to have heard.
'This is an order! Daine! I swear I will remove you from the course if you don't back off now!'
In response, Daine took another step forward.
Swearing under his breath, Professor Salmalín brought the gun slowly to his face. He waited, finger pressed against the trigger.
Daine approached silently, her mind numb, and her body denying each movement. All she knew and felt was the pair of amber eyes that studied her.
Carefully, she took step after cautious step, until she was an arm's reach from the female lion. Dimly she registered the amazing truth that she was still in one piece.
Keeping her movement unhurried, she lowered herself down until she was in equal height.
This close, Daine felt again the breath-taking rush of mutual connection with the mighty predator. Strangely calm, she reached forwards for the bag.
'This is mine,' she whispered, her eyes never leaving the wild beast. Gripping the strap, she held her breath and pulled.
To her immense surprise and relief, the lion gave no resistance. She simply looked at her, her gaze neutral and, Daine kidded herself to think, regarding her as an equal.
Somehow, quite absurdly, Daine was sure an understanding passed between them. Gingerly, she lifted her hand and very slowly, stroked the rough fur on her neck. A low rumbling sounded deep in her throat, and to Daine's astonishment, she felt warm tongue running across her palm.
It was with the same affection of washing her cubs that the lion licked Daine's hand.
Not daring to breath and unexplainably touched, Daine whispered, 'thank you' before slowly backing away.
She walked backwards, a step at a time, both hands clasped tightly against the bag that she had reclaimed. Once she was far enough, she felt two strong hands snake around her waist and was pulled roughly backwards.
Steadying her by the arms, Professor Salmalín more or less dragged her as far and as quickly away from the lion.
'What the hell possessed you?' He demanded furiously once they reached safe grounds, 'are you bloody out of your mind? That lion could have killed you! For –' His next string of exclamation made Daine look up in interest.
'I didn't know used words like that.'
Ignoring her comment, he rounded on her. A nerve twitched at his temple.
'I don't think you understand the enormity of your actions,' he said gravely, shaking his head in a manner all Professors excelled at. 'You have put yourself in moral danger as well as breaking every single rule that you have agreed before the trip. Do you realise I could fail you from this assignment, not to mention the whole syllabus?'
Daine shrugged her arm away in annoyance. 'I just saved half our expedition's work, and your filming! You should be thanking me, not threatening my grade! And anyhow, I didn't get killed, and if you were watching close enough, you would have seen that she actually licked my hand, which, might I add, is a behaviour almost impossible for wild animals.'
There followed a small silence, broken only by Professor Salmalín's frustrated and perplexed sighs. He drew a disgruntled hand across his hair.
'It should have been impossible,' he murmured distractedly, 'had I not seen it myself, I would never have believed you.'
Abruptly, he stopped and turned to his student, eyes narrowing suspiciously. 'I've noticed you have always been a little…' He paused, searching for the most suitable word while Daine raised her eyebrows expectantly.
'…funny, when it came to animals. Professor Drayton would tell you that animals can detect a certain quality, almost like a scent, in some humans, which they identify as their own kind, or equals.'
'No doubt he would have a field day if he was here,' Daine replied, and then looked up, a little worried. 'You're not serious about failing me, are you?'
'I'm thinking about it,' he replied darkly. 'I'm not used to seeing years of scientifically reliable theories break in front of my very eyes.'
Daine thought that meant a no. 'Look, I'll write a report about it, if you like,' she offered. 'Treat is as a kind of…primary research. And if it proves to be something significant, you are welcome to give me an A.'
Professor Salmalín turned his head and looked at her oddly. There was a loud shout overhead and the caravan door burst open. Students poured out, all speaking at once.
Professor Salmalín took the questions all in, answering them in one fluid sentence.
' – Yes, everything is fine, we have got the bag back, and no, James – I did not wrestle with the lion.'
Waving a hand vaguely, Professor Salmalín climbed into a van, giving orders for students to get ready to leave.
'What happened?' Leila hissed loudly, 'James saw you take off, and then Salmalín followed with that gun. We thought you were going to retrieve the bag single-handed.'
'I did,' Daine replied, suddenly feeling exhausted. She ignored the incredulous looks of her fellow team, and dumped the bag into Zack's hand.
'Here's the bag. Its not damaged, but, you might want to stop putting food in there in future.'
Half an hour later, the vans were on the move, tumbling slightly against the bumpy soil. In the distance, the day was beginning to set, and far towards the horizon, just where the sun touched the earth, was a silhouette of four lions.
One stood poised and calm, and as the van curved along the dirt track, Daine saw the gleam of light reflecting against amber eyes.
