Another scorching day.
Wiping her brow, Talisia glanced about the desert expanse she had wandered into. It wasn’t completely offset as there was a small part of the oasis stretching from the city that allowed some greenery and waters. What had intrigued her, however, was the appearance of what appeared to be a system of tunnels and holes. She didn’t know much about the creatures of the area just yet and was still trying to learn all she could about their different habits.
She was glad that she hadn’t brought Silva along else the raptrix would have stuck his nose into every hole to scare off whatever creatures lived here. “Or maybe someone dug this as a water way?” Talisia frowned. There was obviously no real water source going through those tunnels and the dirt was completely dry. None of it made sense…
“Hiss!”
The sound startled the girl out of her thoughts. What was hissing? A small band of figures darted out of the shadows of the evening towards her with eyes glowing. Demons in the sands? They were rather small…but at the same time it had startled her to actually run into something out here. Much less to hear something actually hissing at her! Ouch! The sharp feeling of claws on her leg caused Talisia to twist on her feet in surprise.
It was then that Talisia stumbled. The distraction of the smaller creature had made Talisia miss the larger holes and her reaction of moving away from the creature hadn’t given her time to study the ground. It was then that her foot had managed to get caught inside the hole. Hissing under her breathe the girl wiggled upwards before realizing something else. She had kicked something in her fall and it appeared that many more eyes were suddenly watching her.
“Ooops.”
So there were creatures living here after all! As they approached Talisia smiled warily. They seemed really cute actually…once you got past the furless appearances. Did they too have gems in their bodies? It appeared many Oban creatures, at least the Quhar and this guy, had gems. Unlike the Quhar it appeared that these guys were more easily irked. Talisia had to wince as stinging claws caught her arm, “Hey!” The girl frowned as she tried to scoot out of the hole she had fallen into, “It’s not like I meant to intrude! You did chase me here!” She had just wanted to observe them and to see what they were. Had she known how aggressive they were going to be the girl would have been better prepared. Not everything is always so simple, is it?
Apparently they didn’t like her excuse. Suddenly five of the hissing creatures started to come forward. Talisia didn’t have much time for observations as she pushed to try and get up out of the hole she had trapped herself in. Well this is embarrassing. The hissing creatures lashed out at her and she had to swat them away. Why were they so eager to fight her here? Do I look like a prime meal or something?
If she pulled out her whip now that would only result in more flailing. Cursing, Talisia smacked against one of the creatures as it tried to snap at her. So small, but ferocious! At least while she was down on the ground that was. If she hadn’t fallen into this hole then things would be different. Perhaps it wasn’t just a simple hole, but rather it was a den? The thought made her pause, “I guess you don’t like me being in your home.” One more try…pushing with all of her might Talisia managed to free her leg. There!
Still that didn’t stop the hissing creatures. What did they call you? She had seen one before, a much more tame version, with others in the market. Per…Perai? No, no there was a z or something in the name. “Perzi.” Talisia repeated with a small wince as she tried to get back on her feet. Her ankle was definitely throbbing now and she worried that she might have sprained it. How did someone explain that? Oh, you know I just got injured by some small creatures while out on a walk… Not that they were completely innocent, they seemed intelligent and were very quick on their paws. Had they purposefully chased her towards the holes?
The thought astonished her.
No way. But they had navigated the holes so well while she had stumbled around like a fool. She definitely was not in her territory, but rather was in theirs. Frustrated with her own foolishness, Talisia reached for her whip. She would fight back and show them a thing or two about picking on some innocent stranger! Taking her stance she prepared to lash out at her next attacker…but suddenly she finally heard something else.
Faint meows.
The soft sounds may have escaped another’s notice, but Talisia’s ears had sensitive hearing thanks to her ice heritage. The sounds weren’t just faint, they were weak. Almost like a baby’s cry…”Oh.” Realization lit up Talisia’s face, “You were just protecting the little ones then?” She glanced towards the hissing group of perzai, “Alright then.”
Wincing at the pain in her leg the girl took a few steps backwards. She would give them space and let them be. “I’m sorry to have intruded.” Bowing her head the hybrid turned her back on the creatures and took a few steps away from the dens. It appeared that as long as she was backing away, rather than moving forward, that they wouldn’t dash forward to scratch at her. Instead they just watched, waiting for any sudden change, and kept their guard around the dens.
The perzai despite those she had seen as pets truly had some dangerous intellect. Talisia smirked as she continued backing away. I’ll let them win today. It wasn’t like she wanted to fight either. She had just been curious and now was satisfied with her observations. They had little ones to take care of as well. The last thing she ever wanted to do was to separate a family. She would just have to mark the spot in her memory that way in the future she would make certain to either come prepared or to avoid the area completely.
(1053)
