I Need My Pound of Flesh

“Oh it GLOWS.”

Zira squeezed the tiny dog tightly like she was hugging a teddy bear. Her heart glowed alright. Lady’s little beating bloody thing was a huge thorn in Zira’s side. Every time she shifted her weight there was Lady stabbing her in the side. All because of her damn love and loyalty. Zira was about to show Lady why her stupid love and fluff was not going to be tolerated in this war. She was about to remove the thorn in her side.

“It glows right in my face. A beacon of mockery right in my face and do you know why? Because you came into my land, spat in my face, desecrated my home and insulted me. I don’t tolerate that one little bit.” She dragged her claw down Lady’s left eye. It wasn’t enough to scar but it sure would hurt.

“A pretty little present,” she purred in Lady’s ear. She gave another squeeze to the canine. “Something to let Simba know we’re not fooling. Oh and little Lady…”

She lifted Lady’s ear with one claw and whispered directly into it. “Your heart is going to be the deeeeath of yoooou.”

With that the final bit of punishment was dished out from the claws of the sadistic queen. Tossing the dog with a whirl to the ground, Zira raised her paw. A flash of heat lightning gleamed over the silver of her claws. As if the small break in the darkness was only to illuminate Zira’s undying hatred.

She lowered her claws and dug, deep and HARD into Lady’s breast. Four wicked flesh wounds would be left there, four right over her heart. THOSE, Zira mused to herself, would scar. With another swipe she dug two of her claws right over the bloody would. X would mark the spot when Lady’s wounds scarred over. X right over the organ that destroyed her.

“Have a fucking reminder of what brought you here,” she hissed, “Have a fucking reminder of all the goddamned things your heart put you through, you filthy animal.” And just for good measure, Zira kicked a few bits of sand over Lady’s wounds.

With that the queen turned on her heels and trotted back to the outlands, a snicker on her lips. How she would love to see that damn canine later when she scarred.

She would have to make a point of coming to meet her for tea.

{Zira out.}

Lady felt surrounded. Zira hugged her and held her tightly to her own chest. The little cocker whimpered and whipped her head side to side, eyes clamped shut and teeth grit as she tried to pull away. But the big feline was stronger then she looked, and Lady remained restrained. Her heart was thundering and her stomach churned in a blend of pure fright and expectation of pain. She wasn't afraid of death, having gone through it before. But now, starring down the real possibility of what her punishment would bring, it frightened her more then anything else. How she hated Zira, hated Scar. She had just started to make real connections to fix the family that she had torn asunder. Now it would all be taken away.

Her eyes opened as she felt a big paw land on the side of her head, the irises darted to the side. She had to suppress a shiver as a claw was extended, and drawn down the left side of her face. A small tug from her ear as a bit of the fur got caught pulled her slightly to that side. She closed her eyes again and let out a soft whine. The claw felt like a sharp needle was being drawn over the eyebrow and across the lid. It hurt, but it barely broke the flesh. As Zira drew out her torture, Lady instead focused on the image of her pups again. Playing happily together under the watchful eyes of the Tramp.

Zira's voice purring in her ear yanked her from the serene fantasy and served to heighten her anticipation. The spaniel grit her teeth and hissed as she felt her whole body be squeezed again. This time she really did shudder as a claw slid under one of her long mahogany furred ears. Lifting it and whispering so close that the queen's hot breath could be felt among the bristling fur of Lady's cheek. The cocker swallowed hard, and between grit teeth, hissed out one final proxy;

“Then, at least I die for something more then pride.”

Suddenly, the spaniel was tossed over. Flicked onto her back in such a quick and heavy motion that the wind was knocked out of her and she was momentarily stunned. She lay with her hind legs splayed side to side in a very un-ladylike pose with her forelegs cycling in mid air. Looking through her own paw, she gasped for breath like a fish plucked from a pond. Her mouth set in a wide “O”. She suddenly felt very exposed and very frail as she lay on her back. Pain racking through her body from the force of impact. Yet it was a mere shadow to what was to come. Her eyes lost focus and she failed to see Zira's paw lashing out like a whip.

Suddenly her chest was on fire! Lady let out a sharp wail as those claws found her breast and ripped into the flesh and fur. Her legs went ridged and toes splayed as jets of pure pain shot through her like arcs of electricity. They dug deep and the spaniel felt her chest and body splash with the warmth of fresh blood. Her own. She heaved as once again the claws where brought down in succession and drawn right over where she had been lanced. This time in the other direction. The spot was across her chest, right over her chugging heart. It felt as if Zira had cut so deep that she would pull the organ right out of Lady's body!

“Have a fucking reminder of what brought you here,”

Tears rolled down the side of Lady's face. Her mouth frozen in a wide gasp of pain, voice snatched away. Her eyes where clamped shut and all she could feel was the pain of her chest, the fur stained with blood and each pump of her heart only adding to the mess. She didn't even feel the spray of dirt, only the sudden gritty taste in her mouth alerted her to it's addition to her pitiful existence. She lay her head down, her ears splaying out to each side like twin lakes of ruffled and twisted fur. Their red being highlighted by the blood that was pulled down her shoulders by gravity. She could feel her own consciousness starting to slip, both from bloodless and the pounding adrenaline.


Lady was left on the boarder a bleeding mess, unable to even roll herself back upright. Slowly dying from a combination of bloodloss and shock. Unable to even call for help.

He'd heard it before he'd been anywhere near enough to see it. Although when initially the noises reached his ears, those chilling wails and sharp cries, he hadn't understood what it was. But he knew who it was. It was Lady. And it had caught him and froze him, ears tingling for a moment as they rang and his heart jumped up his throat. Those were not good noises, you didn't have to be a genius to realize that. The noises were bad, but the silence was almost worse.

He launched, a steady stride as he panted slightly to regain his senses and the feeling in his paws, before he began running. Steady pace as he followed where he thought the noise came from. It was bringing him closer, and when he thought he might have been going the wrong way, that's when he realized the form of Zira was heading back to the heart of the outlands.

His heart stopped.

If Zira was there that meant nothing good. It was a moment before he realized he'd froze again, his maw agape in horror. But he had to continue- who knew who else might have been there, if anyone. As he approached he hoped that no one would be there. That those hound ears had betrayed him as often as they did with Reba in the jungle, and that the little cocker who's face he knew so well was still in that awful holding section, and not out by the border. The blood reached his snout before he'd seen it. Wrinkling his maw and his forehead tensing, it took a moment before eyes actually laid on the little form, broken and muddled in her own blood in the dirt.

This time, his heart dropped.
Fell through to his belly and left an awful indescribable feeling. Was she dead? There was no way she's survived, what with so much blood that currently painted the outlands dirt, soaking up in the dry lands. His chin trembled a moment as he strained his brow and approached hurriedly.

First he stood over her body, careful not to step on her, as he lifted a paw and arched his neck down put his nose by one of her ears. A gentle snuffle.

"Ooh, no no no no no..." he fussed, his voice cracking as he nudged her cheek with the tip of his nose. Still warm, but that meant nothing since Zira had just left. "Aw no, lil' Songbird..." he said, scarcely more than a whisper and unable to muster anything more.

"Come on, yeh can' go... Not like this, not after- C'mon..." his voice shook, his eyes darting between her little face and and the rest of her body. He wanted to be able to comfort her, talk about her kids and how they needed her. Hell, talk about Tramp and how he probably needed her too, despite Cash not caring for what he'd heard of the dog himself. He could talk about how he needed her, but truthfully Cash had left Lady's life a long time ago. Heck, she'd left his after their incident in the jungle. He'd yet to come to grips with that before she was back again.

And yet seeing her like this wasn't easy. It was hard and it was terrifying. It wretched at his heart and left him struggling for words, and that was all he was good for. Without words what use was he? Taking a deep breath, Cash tried to steady his racing heart, fighting the pulse that was so out of control and wild. What would become of him if he lost his songbird this way.

The cocker lay still as the hound investigated, until having felt the soft wetness of his nose as he nudged her cheek, her chest took an almighty heave and she coughed heartily. She cracked her eyelids slowly, irises dilated and unfocused to an extent that she didn't really see him at first. Only fuzzy shapes and colors. Her head rose slightly, before falling back to the earth, eyes closing. At first she was unsure of what was happening, only by his scent and his voice did she recognize that someone had come to her side.

Her eyes opened once again, this time the soft brown irises had a more controlled focus in them. It was obvious from the way she grunted, and the heaving in her chest that she was doing all she could just to remain in control and refuse to black out. Her forepaws where brought down across her chest, the digits and pads becoming stained with blood. So much of the stuff had gotten caught in her matted fur it was hard to actually see the damage sustained. She had never seen this much blood in her life. Lady had never gone to battle, nor had she had to fight before coming to the Outlands. The only other time she had seen her own blood before was when she stepped on some broken glass while taking a walk as a puppy. She didn't remember the time before, the time in the cave.

She focused as best she could on the hound dude's face. She was still unsure if it was Cash, or Tramp, or someone else hovering over her. she knew she would need medical attention to survive. But she only knew of the infirmary in the Pridelands, and that was a long way away. The bleeding would need to be stemmed somehow, but her brain was too drunk of focus on how.

"Come on, yeh can' go... Not like this, not after- C'mon..."

“Cash?” She wheezed. She was able to focus enough to see his face, albeit her vision was tinted as if she was looking up through an opaque pane of glass. Her words where harsh and gritty in nature.

Seeing him, hearing his voice. It spurned her on. She wasn't alone, not at that moment at least.

She raised her right forepaw and placed it aside Cash's cheek. As if making sure that he was indeed real. The touch was gentle, just enough to brush the fur of his muzzle, before allowing the foreleg to drop across her own chest under gravity's power. The result being that she left a small splotch of her own blood on the hound dude's fur.

“I'll make it,” Her words where forced, her voice horse. She grit her teeth as she worked to raise her head and keep it raised. Yet there was a inner strength that shone through the pain. Lady was a little fighter, and she wasn't licked just yet. "She hasn't won. I'm still here."

((Sorry. oTL. I was itchin' to post here again... ;m;))

He hardly breathed as he looked over her fragile frame. Every second that passed was agonizing as he lacked the knowledge of what he should do. She didn't seem all there, she seemed vacant and weak. Obviously she was, after what had just happened. The hound hadn't seen it but he could only imagine. It wasn't until she finally spoke that he seemed to be able to catch his breath again, relieved. Her voice seemed hazy to him, but it was still her. It was familiar.

"Oh." he exhaled. She wasn't safe but she was here. That's all he could've hoped for.

"How did yeh get here, songbird." he lamented about her situation sorrowfully, leaning into the gentle touch she placed with her paw upon his cheek. He watched with worry as she tried to raise her head to see him, his brow tensed and he shook his head.

"Don' you go'n hurt yerself more... Yeh trooper." he warned, but couldn't help the soft appreciative chuckle for her spunk. Gentle as ever he shifted so he was no longer standing over her, but lowered his body and curled around her frame. "We need teh get you out of here... Yeh can' stay. But yeh got to take it slow..." he spoke quietly. As if being closer and talking at a normal level would somehow break her.

Leaning inward, he touched the tip of his nose to hers. Sentimentally those dark eyes inspected her face more closely with a tenderness. Despite being back with Dixie and being involved in her life again, Cash wasn't about to turn his back on Lady when she was so in need. Nosing his snout under her chin, he helped to lift her head a little.

"Can yeh walk?" he asked tentatively. Hoarse voice as he feared the answer might be no. Cash couldn't leave the outlands again. Abandon not only Dixie, but also her pups and the boys? That wasn't about to happen again. Yet if Lady stayed here he feared the risk that was the loss of blood.

Unseen, hidden in the unending darkness, the grey-furred mongrel had watched helplessly, crouched on his belly, as the drama unfolded before him. He wasn't close enough to hear what was being said or, even if he'd have been able to actually do anything, intervene when Zira lashed out and marked Lady's chest with her cruel claws. It took every ounce of self-control and knowledge that he'd be no good to Lady dead or mauled to keep him from racing forward.

Even that was very nearly not enough. He closed his eyes, and closed his jaws around his own foreleg, focusing on the pain in an effort to focus. His rapid, shallow breaths slowly evened out, and he rose to his feet, only to pause when he spotted Cash, just as Lady raised her paw to his face. He'd accepted Lady's claim that she'd always have a soft spot for Cash without protest or resentment, but seeing them together again pierced his heart.

But, for Lady's sake, he kept his personal feelings contained, and padded slowly forward, showing neither caution or aggression towards Cash. His attention was fixed on Lady. "Oh, you poor kid. What has she done to you?" he breathed softly, taking in the full extent of her injuries. She needed medical attention, and soon. And she wouldn't get it out here. He raised a pleading gaze to Cash, hoping the hound would be reasonable.

"Please, help me get her back to the Pridelands," he implored, knowing it would be very difficult to get her back on his own. And, despite how much it hurt to see Cash offering Lady comfort, at the same time, part of him acknowledged he should be grateful.

Lady rolled her head to the side in order to face up, just as Cash gently touched the very tip of her nose with his. It was a cool sensation, against the burning fire that roared from her chest. For a few seconds, her brown eyes peered blankly into his. Her vision was growing more fuzzy by the passing second, and she feared that if she blacked out, she may not reawaken. So she focused as hard as she could on staying alert. She felt him curl his body around her and nose her under her chin in order to lift her head.

But it was the sight that greeted her as her head was raised that filled her with joy. There was the Tramp, silently padding towards them. The graceful spaniel’s brown eyes gained a new softness to them that took in the features of the gray furred mongrel with a growing affection. She suddenly found the corners of her eyes becoming very moist with tears and the corners of her mouth rose in a weakened smile. The look on her pained face could only be described as love. 

“Tramp?” Her voice was a mere whisper. Repeating her words to Cash once more.“Oh, Tramp...my Tramp. She hasn't won, I'm still here. I'll survive.”

She wouldn't let herself pass, not when there was so much care being presented to her. She would fight to keep herself steady, fight to make their efforts worthwhile. Tramp's presence and Cash's kindness spurred her one and gave her a renewed strength. She would not let them suffer from her passing. Not again. Between Tramp and Cash, she felt a relief and security that kept her moving. Her gaze was slowly drifting between the hound dude and the best street dog there ever was. Right now their past did not matter. They both were helping to keep her alive, and she was eternally grateful for that.

The spaniel clamped her eyes shut, and shuffled her paws. Could she walk? She would give it an honest try. Despite the jabbing pain in her chest, she shakily rose to her paws. By this point the fur on her chest was a deep crimson that ran down her forelegs and her paws. Making her a matted mess. Cash holding her head actually helped her, and she let out a sharp hiss as she orientated herself into a standing position. Legs wobbling, and back arched as she strained to keep herself upright.

“I think...I think I can stand.” She hissed, eyes still clamped shut. Opening them, she relaxed a bit, letting her own weight settle. She tried to take a step, raising one forepaw, the fur on the toes and heel matted with the red hue.

She moved forward, but upon placing the paw back onto the earth, found herself suddenly dazed. The cocker fell forward, towards the Tramp. She stumbled forward and caught herself against the Tramp's side. Burying her muzzle just behind his shoulder blades. Lady leaned herself against the mongrel, her legs still shaking. She left a red swatch against the mutt's side.

“I'm sorry, I don't think I can walk it.” She looked between the two men. “Perhaps if one of you helps, I can get on the others back?”