Reign's head was ringing.
The doe's blood was tacky on his face, and his own was still leaking from the gash on his temple. That doe's hoof had been incredibly sharp, and he had not expected it. The cut went from his temple down to his eye, and he had to blink to keep the blood out of it.
He wavered as he walked, stumbling over quartz and rocks and debris. He almost walked face first into The Tower, blinking up at it in bafflement.
The Cheetah looked up at the tower, and tilted his head. He'd seen it from before, of course, from afar. But never had he seen it from this close. And now, it seemed to be a very good place to nap.
Carefully, he began to climb the stairs. He had never seen stairs before, but they were easy to use, and he was quick to learn, and before he knew it, he had reached the top.
The Cheetah hesitantly approached the opening that the stairs led to. It was like a cave, but smaller, and with openings that looked out over Orion.
Any other time, it would have been incredible. But at the moment, he just wanted to sleep. So he walked over to the wall, curled into a ball, and promptly fell asleep.
Slowly, he came back to wakefulness, and wished he hadn't.
His head throbbed, and the wound stung. His muscles ached from being so suddenly overused, and his stomach ached. So he closed his eyes, buried his muzzle between his paws, and went back to sleep.
Slowly, this time, Reign awoke.
His head no longer throbbed, and the stinging was gone. He could tell he had slept for a long time, and stood carefully, testing his muscles, approaching a quartz that grew from the wall. In it, he could see that the wound was scabbed over, and the blood on his face was long dried.
How long had he slept?
His mouth was dry, but his stomach was still full, content with the gorging he had done on the doe.
Looking in the quartz, the cheetah grimaced. He looked disgusting, and he shook his head. He needed to clean himself off before he could show his face to anyone. He was many things, and proud was one of them.
However, his muscles protested when he tried to bring his paw up, and he groaned. He couldn't tell whether he had slept too long, or if his muscles still hurt from the chase.
Reign took a deep breath, and stretched, working the ache out of all of his muscles.
Only then was he able to bathe himself. He licked his paws until they were clean, before wiping his face clean. The cheetah was careful not to scrape off the scab, not wanting to start the bleeding anew, and kept an eye on the process in the quartz, until he was satisfied with how clean he was.
Satisfied with his appearance, the cheetah stood up, arching his back.
Now with a clear head, he looked around, taking in the room he was in. It was actually rather nice, and he could see himself using it as a den. There was plenty of space for him, and the holes in the walls allowed a breeze to run through. It was fairly dim, but he could still see. This, he decided, would be his home inside of home.
The cheetah walked a circuit around the room, rubbing his scent against the walls, marking the ground with his claws and the scent glands in his paws. He made sure any that entered would know that this was his, before stopping and looking out one of the holes. He had a perfect view of the entirety of Orion, even able to see the stark white of Pride's pelt near the Throne.
Yes, he liked this place.
But, he had to admit, it was very plain. All dirty walls and hard ground. So, deciding to do something about that, he turned around, and began to walk down the staircase. As it turns out, stairs are a bit harder on the way down but, before long, he figured those out, too, and was out of the Tower, and on his way.