Clouded Mind part 3 #9

Rescued?

It's finally Friday and it's finally time I update!
Enjoy the chapter!

Fuli places one paw in front of the other into the hot golden sand beneath her paws. She was thankful for the boots she was wearing that Makini had made her. Fuli bet that Makini wasn't expecting the boots to have this many uses apart from protecting Fuli's paws if she over worked. Fuli tried to focus on all of the good times she had in life to try and distract herself from feeling how hungry, thirsty, tired and hot she was. On day 2 of travelling through the God forsaken desert, Fuli had gone through her all good memories twice before midday. Her stomach grumbles, distracting her from her thoughts.

'Don't think about food, don't think about food...' Fuli tells herself.

Fuli stumbles but regains her balance. She feared that if she stopped, she wouldn't get back up. The only time she got an outburst of energy was through fear. In the middle of the night, Fuli had to run away from a huge sandstorm. She hoped that she had made some ground but it didn't feel like it.

"SQUAWK! SQUAWK!"

Fuli's ears twitch to the sound of birds flying above her.

'Crap.' She thought. 'Vultures. They must know I won't last long.'

The thought made Fuli's heart skip a beat. She shakes the thought aside and keeps walking.

As the hours ticked by, Fuli could sense that the vultures were getting impatient. Every now and then, one would swoop down and try to peck her but Fuli swatted it away each time. Her vision begins to blur, her legs felt like jelly and her stomach felt hollow from starvation. Fuli could feel her paws not moving.

"Must...keep...goin-OW!" She screams.

A vulture had swooped down and had pecked her side. Fuli growls at the vulture and it flies away only to fly back to her and peck her head.

"QUIT IT!" Fuli snaps, bucking it away.

Another vulture begins to peck at her. Fuli jumps around and kicks it. The squawking started to get louder as Fuli begins to panic. The whole flock was flying at her, trying anything to weaken her and get a snack or better, a meal.
Fuli roars a distress call that echoes off the mountain walls.

'Why did I do that? No ones coming to help me.' Fuli tells herself.

Her heart was beating so fast that it felt like it was about to jump out of her chest. There was no point in swatting the vultures away. She was just wasting energy, she knew that much. With no other option, Fuli runs away as fast as she can. In no time at all, Fuli had outran the vultures until she couldn't see him in the distance. Fuli notices the sun starting to set beyond the mountains.

'I must be close. The vultures must still be after me and I could make it by sunrise if I keep going.' Fuli tells herself. There was no going back to change her mind. She kept going.

The moon was high in the sky when Fuli collapses. She couldn't move no matter how hard she tried. Fuli's eyes felt so heavy that she wanted to fall asleep or die right now. She looks at her surroundings. The mountains stood tall in the distance from her left and right, the sand looked like snow in the moonlight, there were no clouds in the sky, the long high sand dune blocked Fuli's view of anything else ahead of her. Fuli curls herself into a ball before she could start shivering from the cold.

"SQUAWK! SQUAWK!"

'Oh hell no...'

Fuli looks up at the sky to see the dark figures of the vultures circling above her.

'Why couldn't they leave me in peace to die?'

The vultures land and surround Fuli. She barely had any energy to fight back or even stand. She roars one last distress call to see if anyone would come to her aid even if it was hopeless. The vultures argue about who gets the first and biggest bite. The waiting felt like torture to Fuli. They wouldn't leave her in peace, and now they wouldn't get it over with.

Fuli puts her paw on her shoulder and whispers 'I'm sorry'.

The vultures finally stop their bickering and step closer towards their fresh meal. Fuli takes shallow breaths as she watches them take a step closer to finish her off. Fuli could almost hear her mother and the kings of the past cry for her to stand up in the wind.

RRRRROOOOOAAAAARRRRR!!!!!

An almighty, ear splitting roar echoes through the desert. The vultures fly away in fear. Fuli looks at the high sand dune and sees someone walking towards her. It either had a mane or a big head. It was also muscular which meant it was strong. The lightning that flashed showed the stranger's face for a brief second. Most of his body was covered in golden fur and most of its head was covered in red. Fuli felt her heart beating fast. Was she about to get eaten by this beast? Exhaustion takes over her, and Fuli closes her eyes.

She opens her eyes again moments later to see the beast standing in front of her before she closes her eyes once more.

Sorry guys. Cliff hanger 😅.