State of Prominence

For the First time in many days Vikki was sleeping rather soundly. She was dreaming she was back home. Within the safety of the Army Base. Behind the walls protected by dozens of well-armed guards. Within the embrace of the man, she loved more than anything and under the loving sight of her father. For a brief moment she took her fathers safety warnings for granted. Why didn't she listen to him?

All she wanted was to make a decent story. Something that would glue people to their screens and the papers. Why couldn't she have just stayed on the task of reporting the rebuilding efforts? Going over the war stories the survivors of the war would talk about? How foolish she was to be so easily tricked and now she was in a world where she already had nearly been eaten or fallen to her death on a rocky ledge or into a river of lava.

The Woman was shaken stirring her from her rather pleasant dreams. She moaned as she didn't wish to leave the world she dreamt up so soon.

"Wake up, sleepyhead." A Soft voice cooed into her ear. "The Sun is rising, and we must make haste." Bathsheba woken up just as the cave started to light up from the sun's rays outside. She along with her new friend needed to move if they were going to get a good distance this day.

Vikki moaned as her eyes opened up. Her blurred vision adjusted, and she saw the lioness kneeling in front of her with a kind smile shaking her shoulders.

"Good morning, love." Bathsheba smiled.

"Good morning, Bathsheba." Vikki replied as she sat up and stretched her arms out with a big yawn. "How long have you been awake?"

"Long enough to hear the birds begin their morning song." The Lioness said standing up offering her hand to Vikki. "Come along now. I know you have only just woken but we cannot delay a moment. Fire Keep is a very long journey south."

Vikki was helped to her feet and the Lioness gently pulled her to the cave entrance. "No breakfast?" Vikki asked her stomach grumbling slightly.

"We will fill our stomachs as we walk." Bathsheba assured as she stepped out into view of the outside of the cave with, Vikki's hand in her own. Vikki's eyes went blind from the sudden rays of the sun, but she adjusted them with a hand over the tops of her eyes. She saw the jungle before her just a slight climb down from the cave that stood against a rocky hill.

"Come. Let's leave. Our journey starts towards where the sun is rising. We head south." Bathsheba said as she hopped over to a branch that laid stretched over from a tree that stood close. The Lioness landed on the tall branch and carefully moved towards the tree's center. She stopped when she reached it and looked back. "Come Vikki. Its alright just take it steady."

Vikki sighed as she wished she had something to eat before starting the day but if she was going to keep the company of a native that had lived in this world all her life she would have to oblige in listening to her. Her own survival right now depended on it. She showed the Lioness a kindness by helping her against attacking raptors and, Bathsheba now in return offers her a place by her side in traveling to a possible sanctuary where safety could be assured, and she may gather useful information on finding a portal that could lead her home.

Vikki carefully hopped over onto the branch nearly losing her footing for a moment but managed to steady herself and went over to the waiting Lioness who smiled at her.

"Not entirely graceful, are you?" She asked with a smirk as she began to climb down the tree.

"I admit not especially. Not like I would have known I would eventually have found myself banished to a world such as this." Vikki shrugged her shoulders before she made her way downwards. Bathsheba didn't have any problem climbing down the tree as her clawed hands and feet made it easy for her while, Vikki had to watch where she stepped and climbed down every time she made sure at least her hands and feet where gripped or stepping on something.

Bathsheba made it down to the ground and looked up as she waited for, Vikki. She giggled at the sight of the human woman who was rather slow in her descent. It was obvious to her by now that Vikki wasn't truly intoned into climbing. Nearly all the humans she knew were proficient in climbing tree's and mountains even though they had no claws to assist but, Vikki was taking her time down.

It was amusing sight until Vikki finally managed to get low enough where she hopped down on her feet. "Took you long enough, love." Bathsheba playfully nudged Vikki in her shoulder.

"Hey! Not all of us are cats!" Vikki retorted with a giggle.

"Being called a cat is an insult." Bathsheba replied as she went behind the tree and pulled loose her spear she left lodged into it the day before as she needed to carry Vikki in the cave with both her hands and left the Spear in the tree overnight.

"Cats are simple creatures we are the Felidae a race far above such simplicity." Bathsheba finished as she went back around the tree holding her spear over her shoulders giving her friend an obstinate look.

"I meant no disrespect." Vikki put her hands up defensively.

"Don't worry yourself. I understand your not like the humans here as you have told me. This will make my journey less quiet. I would be happy to tell you all about my world and all that's in it as we go." Bathsheba purred as she gestured with her head. "Come along. Let us be on the way south."

"Lead the way." Vikki hurried next to her friend and they both walked along in the jungle heading southward as the sun continued to rise.

For a short while the two travelers said nothing. They had to make it over some topped tree's and logs moving through the jungle staying alert as the sounds of the dinosaurs filled the air. Bathsheba's ears pricked up at every noise. Her senses were a lot sharper than that of a humans. As fortune had it nothing that was a danger to them was not even close.

"Do tell me more about yourself, Vikki. I'd like to know the one who's native to my world and just how capable my new traveling companion is?" Bathsheba asked as she stepped with her spear walking in rhythm with her steps.

"Where should I even begin?" Vikki wondered for a moment as she nearly stepped onto a rock but quickly saw where she was going and took a larger step over it as some hanging vines brushed against her bare skin. "Well, I am an only child of a proud military man. My Father is a colonel of the army."

"Oh! So that would make you a warriors daughter then?" Bathsheba asked intrigued. Due to how Vikki helped her against the raptor pack the other day it was a good show of skill of her use with a bow and her reflexes were rather good.

"I guess you could say that. Though my daddy didn't wish for me to become part of the army in general. Given his great role in the many battles in fought he didn't wish for me to become part of something where I would be at complete risk of my own." Vikki explained.

"How did your mother feel about it?" Bathsheba asked next as the journey was taking them out into more open grounds where the tree's were becoming few and some wondering brontosaurus were grazing about with their long necks stretched out towards the sky.

Vikki looked away a bit saddened by that question. "Well…my mother passed away when I was a little girl. She developed a disease when I was three years old, and her condition was so bad that nothing could be done. My Father wouldn't even let me see the body until the funeral."

"Oh…by the spirts, love." Bathsheba moaned sadly reaching over and stroked, Vikki's cheeks affectionately. "I am sorry I asked such a question."

"Its alright. I'm long over it but after that day my father became protective. A bit overly protective." Vikki continued to explain. "With his refusal to let me join the army I became a reporter. Which means I go around and find stories to tell the people about namely anything that's worth telling others. It is to keep them informed of any situation. A Troubling development or something that would captivate anyone to know about."

"Sounds like a duty that requires a lot of travel. Sights to behold and to share a tale with others. Sounds like a rather charming life." Bathsheba inclined as they started their way though a grassy pasture with some triceratops walking close by. The Alpha gave the two travelers a warning glance but sensing they were no threat to its herd it allowed them both to move past them.

"Not too exciting at times. Most of the time I only could report while under heavy guard. My Father wouldn't allow me to be anywhere other than what he wanted me at. Reporting simple things and wouldn't share with me anything big that was worth telling about. I hated it though I still was passionate in my job." Vikki said as she looked around her seeing the many sights of the herbivore species of dinosaurs all grazing and eating about in the pasture. It still was a sight she barely got used to no matter how long she was there in the world that wasn't her own.

"So, I decided on my own I would find stories worth telling. Something that could make my name be a lot more than being the daughter of a high-ranking officer. But I will admit I may have gotten into some trouble through it and because of that it's the reason I ended up here. I was stupid!" Vikki growled as she stomped her foot in anger as the memory of her exile still made her blood boil.

"We all make mistakes, Vikki. Don't be angry with yourself." Bathsheba assured. "It sounds like your father with the loss of the woman he loved so much he was only trying to safeguard the one special thing he still had. I can't say I would blame him for that. Coming from my own experience the loss of a loved one weighs heavy on the heart." She stopped for a moment shutting her eyes as she dearly missed those that she lost in the battles in the past. It had been many weeks, but it was still fresh in her heart.

Vikki looked at Bathsheba with sympathy. She only had known her as of yesterday but to hear how she lost nearly everyone she knew broke her heart. "I am truly sorry, Bathsheba. I wish I could have done something to help if I could."

Bathsheba gave her a slight smile happy to know Vikki was willing to assist in such a dire time. "There would have been nothing you could have done. It was a complete slaughter I was only fortunate to even wake up in the rubble I was in and not be part of the heavens in the embrace of the great spirts unlike my love and all my fellow brothers and sisters."

Vikki greatly pitied the lioness. It was more than obvious by now that she wasn't some animal that walked like a man. She was her own person as well as all the others who knew her. It seemed the world she was in had many secrets within it than first realized.

The Two of them shared a smile before they continued walking. "To explain more on just how I ended up here that enemy of mine I told you about yesterday she is called Bridgette. I encountered her when were starting to close to ending a war. She gave my father information of our enemies sub leaders whereabouts and tried to charm my boyfriend. Little did we know that there was a lot more to her. Seemed she was a double agent."

"What is a double agent?" Bathsheba asked as she pricked up her ears. Something other than the grunts of the local dinosaurs and the chirps of the birds in the tree's was starting to come to her but she couldn't make it out as they continued to walk.

"Someone who plays both sides. Usually on behalf of their true allegiance. But in Bridgette's case she only works only for herself." Vikki explained thinking of the one who caused her so much grief she couldn't wait to meet her again and tear that smug look off her face. "She helped our cause only to nearly destroy us when she was working for the true ruler of our enemy. It even led to my capture and imprisonment for a time. She tried to seduce my boyfriend after he came and rescued me, but he denied her, and I got some retribution on her for that."

"You didn't kill her then?" Bathsheba asked next keeping an eye on their surroundings as they were about to traverse through another part of the jungle continuing to head south as the sun continued to rise higher and the humidity began to rise with it.

"I should have!" Vikki grunted angrily. "But she got away when she caused a distraction that took our eyes off of her. None of us have seen her since and when the war was won I was again reduced to reporting on what my Father wanted me to report. Trapped in the confines of our base after one excursion of mine brought me to a place that my boyfriend was currently at the midst of a heavy fight which I did help him out of, mind you. But my Father grounded me to the base and shortly after I received a package with a map and a letter promising me the story that would make my career. I foolishly took off without telling anyone because I was angry with both my Father and Boyfriend since he took my Fathers side in the case despite that I assisted him little did I know it was a trap set by Bridgette. Her goon caught me when I was in the place the map instructed me to be at and she tied me up and put me in this ridiculous excuse of an outfit you see me in right now. Bridgette then appeared gloating over me like a hunter with its prize. She talked about how in another world she was a Queen building up an empire or kingdom of the like and promised she would find a way to take my boyfriend from me after she would be rid of me. She could have killed me but she likes to toy with people so she banished me here instead as a means of a twisted joke while she continues her scheming until she gains what she wants and then she will go after my boyfriend next."

"How terrible dreadful!" Bathsheba moaned pitifully for Vikki. "She sounds just as vile as the one who plaques these lands."

"I am inclined to believe that. This is why I have to get back to my world. I have to warn my Father and stop, Bridgette from trying to take my boyfriend. I know he would never fall for her. He knows what she really is, and he is loyal to me. One of the many qualities I do admire about him. But if what Bridgette told me is true then she may find a way to at least bring destruction and ruin upon my home and family, so I have to find a way back before she gains enough power to do it." Vikki explained as her fists tightened and her eyes began to scrunch in fury.

"Don't worry, Vikki. I can promise you once we get to Fire Keep then I am certain someone there will have some knowledge of what you're seeking." Bathsheba assured as they walked through the jungle with the roars of the dinosaurs filling the air.

"Its good to know that at least I am walking in the direction of something instead of aimlessly like I have been doing for so long." Vikki admitted.

"Usually that is the joy of it. We may get lost, but we keep to ourselves and carry on. The More we see and do the more knowledgeable we become. Don't think of your struggles as a burden but think of them as challenges that you're accomplishing." Bathsheba smiled as they passed by some tall trees that stood so high that a brontosaurus neck span would reach them.

"That's one way to look at it I suppose." Vikki chuckled along with Bathsheba. But the Lioness suddenly stopped when she heard something. She halted Vikki in her tracks.

"What's wrong?" Vikki asked seeing the lioness tense up as if she was preparing for something that was coming.

"I sense something. I can a very faint sound. Like the tiny echoes of a scream. I need to get higher to see where its coming from. Follow me up!" Bathsheba lodged her spear in the side of the tree and began to climb up from the side of it digging her claws into the bark.

"First down. Then up!" Vikki sighed as this Lioness was always on the move. She started to climb by leaping up to a branch just over her and pulled herself up and she tried her best to catch up with, Bathsheba who was climbing her way to the top.

"Are you alright down there?" Bathsheba called down to Vikki seeing how she was taking her time to climb but Bathsheba stopped midway up the tree looking down at the green haired human taking careful steps as she pulled herself up one branch after another.

"Yeah…I'm doing just…" Vikki said just as she grabbed the branch closest to Bathsheba but then it snapped causing her to nearly loose her foot but, Bathsheba quickly grabbed, Vikki's hand.

"Oh…" Vikki smiled in relief as her friend stopped her from falling. "Thank you." Bathsheba pulled her up to her till they were side by side upon a branch that hung just above the canopy.

"You're welcome. We will make a climber out of you yet." Bathsheba chuckled giving Vikki's chin a soft tickle before turning around to look out in the distance over the land.

"Its beautiful up here." Vikki marveled seeing so much of the land from a great height as she stood close to the lioness. She could see much of the jungle and the outer mountains. The Sky was clear, and some pterodactyls flew over the tree's. She hoped she would not have to shoot another one of those creatures down again but that's when, Vikki remembered how her bow was destroyed earlier by the raptor pack.

Bathsheba had a weapon, but she didn't. She couldn't be able to defend herself properly without a weapon. "Hey, I think I will need…mmm!?" Vikki was about to tell her friend about her need, but a furry paw covered her mouth.

"Hush! Look there! What do you see?" Bathsheba withdrew her hand from, Vikki's mouth and moved her in front of her pointing in the distance towards some mountains where a thick black smoke was rising just past a small forest.

"Looks like smoke. But it's coming from the ground and not the mountain which means those mountains are not volcanos. Had enough of those since I came here, and nothing just catches fire as there is no storm of any kind as it's a clear day." Vikki explained as she continued to pear out where the smoke was bellowing from. It was thick black showing that the fire causing it was recent and then more tiny streaks of smoke started to come up around it.

"Exactly!" Bathsheba confirmed standing just behind Vikki with her hands on her shoulders that began to grip the woman rather tightly. Her ears twitched and now she realized what she was hearing.

"Oh no!" She gasped loudly. "It must be a village! It could be under attack! Come Vikki we must get there and see if there is anything we can do to help!" She immediately turned around and began to climb down the tree.

Vikki was surprised by the sudden claim, but she started her climb down the tree. If what Bathsheba said was true then they must do something. If there were more people around then that could be in need they had to act. If there truly are more people in this world the more information she could gain from locals could assist her in the quest of finding a portal that could get her home. At the very least she had to help those in need what kind of person was she if she did not rise to the occasion to help the innocent?

Bathsheba quickly got back to the ground of the jungle and this time Vikki followed her down close to the same pace. She already was starting to get better.

"Come! The Smoke was coming from the south we must make it there and assist how we can!" Bathsheba grabbed her spear and took off with, Vikki following as close as she could, but the lioness was a lot faster than she was, but she did her best to keep up. If there were innocent people in danger then they had to help and it gave, Vikki a rather happy thought about her friend. It seemed she cared for others and would not hesitate to help those in need. A Quality she respected greatly as it reminded her of her boyfriend and just hoped she would make it back to him and apologize for how she treated him when all he was doing was looking for her like her father was.