Starfish Scares (13) : Starfish live in the sea. They do not live in freshwater rivers, lakes, or reservoirs with no connection to the ocean. Starfish are also not social creatures. And yet, here they are–in hoards. They can be found near any water source–and far from it. These starfish seem to be a unique species that are eager to travel and don’t seem quite bound to water, though they will seek it out. The starfish will latch onto just about anything they can to hitch a ride, even though they’re fast. They secrete an itchy, oozy slime after they’ve latched onto something, and though it seems as though they can absorb nutrients from any living creature, these starfish have an odd penchant for blood. You might as well have a colorful leech stuck to you as soon as you think one of these things crawling your way. Their bites are sharp and will leave the nearby skin itchy and painful. They are a bit difficult to remove but they can be killed; as soon as they have perished, they will rapidly dry out and crumble. However, it’s far more likely that they’ll escape before you can get your hands on them. Be vigilant; these things are pests–and smart enough to cling to people and vehicles alike if it means getting to where they want to go.



Teyla’s nose was glued to the window, eyes as huge as saucers, mouth popped open in a small ‘o’ of surprise as she stared out into the backyard. “Somethin’s out there,” she whispered quietly to herself. The dusk brought with it the fading of the light, making it difficult to see exactly what she was looking at, but her usually green backyard had these weird, big blobs of color speckled around! Like the world had Skittle-pox or something! Except the world was big, so the Skittle-pox blemishes were very big too. Much bigger than on a person!

“Papa!” Teyla called, not pulling her eyes from the window. “I’m gonna play in the backyard for a few minutes!” Held her breath as she waited, knowing that if either Daddy or Papa had noticed something weird outside, they’d be quick to stop her. Only a word of acknowledgement came, so Teyla scurried quickly for the door before someone could realize what she was up to and stop her.

Teyla wasn’t up to anything, though! Just wanted to see what was going on on her own territory!

Could’ve powered up to check it out, if her daddies wouldn’t get upset by it… They shouldn’t get upset by it, she thought. Zero was the best way to protect herself from anything, including Skittles-pox. But they had that rule about not being close to the house, and Teyla wasn’t never, ever supposed to be Zero unless someone was with her because of monsters or whatever… But what if the Skittles-pox were caused by monsters? Shouldn’t she do something about them?

Exited the house as quietly as she could, desperate to draw no extra attention to herself. Practically tiptoed barefooted across the grass until she was close enough to the pile of Skittles-pox to see… To see that they weren’t really Skittles-pox at all. They looked like the starfishes at the aquarium! Except that had to be a trillion million of them stuck to the house and piled on top of each other and crawling up the fence. Teyla hadn’t ever seen starfishes that weren’t in an aquarium or a storybook or the television, but maybe they did the big migration like birds did… (She knew they didn’t do the big migration like birds did, but how else was she supposed to explain it?)

Crouched down near a pile of about a dozen, only observing through pretty, crystal eyes for all of sixty seconds before she reached out a hand.

The starfish jumped (starfish didn’t jump) away from her, setting forth a chain reaction where all the starfish in the pile suddenly jumped and snapped away from her presence. Should’ve taken that as the warning it was, but Teyla pressed forward, scooching closer and reaching out a hand again. “I just wanna see you, little guy. You’re so cute! Don’t run from me! Teyla won’t hurt you…” Maybe it understood. Maybe it didn’t. But it didn’t run from her a second time. Her fingers brushed over bumpy ridges, and- And it BIT her! A starfish bit Teyla! She jerked her hand back with a yelp, falling backwards over herself and scrambling back toward the back door.

“PAPA!” Teyla shrieked as she ran back into the house. Daddies would teach these little biters!