Eclipse Event Stories (NOT CANON)

Nerissa woke up again when she heard someones paw steps next to her. She raised her head and saw Ren, the pretty jill with the flower, put some prey down next to her, as well as a turtle shell filled with water. She immediately noticed the blue stranger was awake and her ears turned towards her. «Here you go, I hope you like lizards.» The long-striped one sniffed the air and looked at the food, her mouth immediately watering and stomach growling. Ren giggled quietly and Nerissa laughed as well. «Yes thank you, I love lizards!» She got up and walked over, her paws still hurting from all the walking, yet she was less tired now. «If you need anything else, don't hesitate to call us. There's always guards patrolling outside so there's surely someone to help you if you need something.» «Thank you.» Ren turned away to leave, when suddenly Nerissa thought of something that she had been wondering for a while now. «Oh, wait a minute. Can I ask you something?» «Sure, anything.» «Those birds outside, aren't they bothering you?» «Why would they? We train them and live together. They are our partners and we care for each other.» «But the birds all over Ibea have turned crazy lately, why not yours?» She shrugged her shoulders, her bushy red tail swishing from side to side impatiently. It seemed as if Ren was getting uncomfortable...or she was just busy with other things and had to leave. «I have never met a mad bird to be honest. I don't know what that rumor is all about. Anyway, I need to leave now, maybe tomorrow we'll have the time to show you how we work with the birds, I'm sure it will be interesting for you.» And just like that she was gone again, leaving Nerissa alone. She frowned and thought about that for a while. It was strange the birds here were so normal, despite having the red eyes, since she had heard of so many Salikos, from the Tundras up on the northern isles down to the Kumbas in the far southern desert telling stories about bird attacks. Many Salikos have been badly injured, lost an eye or even their life to the vicious creatures, especially elders and whelps who could not defend themselves. Even her tribe leader Koji had been attacked by one and the prey was getting wary as well, always keeping an eye or ear out for the flying monsters. Something seemed off, but she couldn't quite tell what it was. Nerissa sat down and cleaned her fur, licking her paw first and the brushing it across her face and mane. It seemed like an eternity to her that she had met the strange Mayur fighting Minas, yet all that had only happened a couple hours earlier. She wondered whether her tribemates had already noticed her absence, but she was sure they wouldn't worry too much about her yet, unless she would not return in the next couple sunrises.

After skinning the lizard and taking some bites out of its juicy flesh, as well as drinking water from the shell, Nerissa felt refreshed and satisfied. She walked over to the hole in the bark, leading to the outside world and looked at the world below her. There was quite a bustle going on at the bottom, Salikos hurrying from one side to the other, not greeting each other or stopping to talk. It seemed like everyone here was part of a well oiled machine, yet a little impersonal towards each other. She raised her gaze towards the sky and saw the stars glittering on the dark firmament, the dark shapes of a few birds circling above, even at that late time. The slow, circular movement was almost mesmerizing to her and she couldn't stop looking at the sky and wondering how nice it must be to fly. From time to time, one of the birds returned, carrying something large in its talons, but it was too dark for her to recognize what it was. Possibly the Tatras have taught the birds to catch large prey for them like some Snufflagons or Mud Whoppers which were difficult for Salikos to hunt down and carry back to camp. After sitting there for hours, which only seemed like mere moments, Nerissa noticed her eyelids getting heavy once more and decided to rest a bit more until Minas returned. She curled herself to a ball in her soft nest and burrowed her muzzle under her front paws. A while later she awoke, or at least thought she did, with a throbbing headache and weirdly, numb feeling. She wasn't completely sure whether she was still sleeping or not, but either she couldn't open her eyes or there was complete darkness all around her. Suddenly a loud scream ripped through the air. «MOVE I TELL YOU! FOR THE LAST TIME OR YOU'LL REGRET IT!» «No, please! Leave me alone! I don't want to become one of them! Please, I'm begging you, let me go!» «You disrespect us and our mother! You deserve no mercy!» The a loud thump could be heard, followed by the sound of something falling to the ground right outside Nerissas door. A moment later she noticed the sound of something dragging across the floor and disappearing into the distance. Then everything went quiet again. Still, whether it was a dream or not, the jill with the blue fur wasn't scared. She just felt like she was very far gone and didn't know what was going on, but after a short while, her mind slipped away once more.

When the next day Minas stepped into her den, she didn't immediately notice him. Only after he softly poked her in the side she slowly raised her head and looked at him, puzzled at the stranger in front of her. Her eyes were dull and lifeless and she wanted to talk to him, but no words left her open jaw. The Tatra tilted his head and frowned, studying the female with the full mane. «Seems we got no more time to lose, you need to meet mother right away. You've been staring at the sky for too long now it seems.» «Wha...?» Then she remembered the 'dream' from the night before, but still she wasn't sure if it was real or not. Something as horrible as that could've never happened here, right? «What happened? Where am I?» «Don't you remember? I'm Minas and you're at my tribe in the great tree. You saved me from the mad Mayur.» «...» «Follow me please, we need to go.» She got up, but immediately fell back down as her feet were too weak to carry her. The numb feeling was still fogging her mind and she couldn't find the strength to get back to her feet without help. Minas hesitated at first, stepping from one paw to the other nervously. Finally he decided to help her and supported her so she could lean on him and walk next to him out of the den. As she was bracing her head on his shoulder, she noticed a strange smell. She knew she had smelled it many times before, but it was unsettling her and she didn't quite recognize why. Together they went up the ramp, towards the top of the tree.