Folau Pack – Kwanyar Island

«Come on, Kydos. Tell me where to go.»

In the darkest of the night, a single Saliko stood on top of a high dune in the middle of the desert. The absence of the sun made a cool wind blow over the land and chill the female. She stared up into the sky, occasionally blinking the sand out of her eyes that she was exposed to because of the breeze. The stone colored Kumba was searching for the stars, but the weather was bad and thick clouds covered the firmament, shutting out all light. With a loud sigh she turned away and looked around. The jill knew she was heading east for a couple of days now, but she couldn’t tell where east was without following the shiny little celestial bodies. Jindra also always felt comfortable wandering around on a balmy, starlit night, so she was a bit pissy that day.

«Let’s just hope I’m lucky tonight.»

She said to herself, then sniffed the air and headed in a direction that she prayed would be remotely right.

Cisco had just returned from a late hunt and slowly strolled through the cave entrance, climbing down the rocks towards his families nest. His father was there, but his mother was still out. She loved the night and would probably stay away for most of it, while his dad was already tired from being active during the hot daytime. The adult hob looked at his whelp with sleepy eyes and lazily murmured.

«So, how was your day?»

«We don’t need to talk if you’d rather wanna sleep, you know?»

«No no, I’m wide awake!»

He could hardly keep his eyes open.

«Well, I almost caught a mongoose today, but it got away at the last second.»

«I’m sure you’ll get it next time. You’re such a good hunter already.»

«Because I had a great teacher.»

«You talkin’ about me or your mother?»

Cisco grinned and showed his tongue.

«Wouldn’t you like to know?»

«Gosh, sometimes I wish you were less like us.»

«I don’t know what you mean, you turned pretty soft and boring lately.»

«Say that again, I dare you!»

The hob grinned and jumped to his feet all of a sudden, wide awake with his tail excitedly swishing from side to side, ready for a practice fight.

The younger one mirrored the pose, but then turned back around and ran towards the exit of the caves, his father shortly after him. Cisco leaped through the hole to the outside world, yet Murphy was faster than him and caught him mid-air, pulling him to the ground and pinning him down with a smirk on his face.

«What was that again?»

«Come on dad, that wasn’t fair!»

«The world isn’t fair, get used to it.»

The silver hob let go of his son and licked his chest proudly, while the adolescent shook the sand out of his pelt. The cool breeze was ruffling up their fur and they noticed how it was an especially dark night that time.

«How come mom never gets lost in this pitch-blackness?»

«Don’t ask me, I never understood either.»

Suddenly they heard a loud roaring and hissing from the distance. They looked at each other and then started sprinting towards it, ready for anything. As they looked past a bunch of rocks, they saw Eris fighting another Kumba and while Murphy wanted to keep out of it and let her have the honor of dealing with the intruder, Cisco seemed to have a different opinion and wanted to join in to prove his skills.

«Let me help too!»

Eris turned her head towards him and immediately got a face slap from her opponent, hissed angrily and jumped a tail-length back.

The stranger looked at all of them in turn and noticed she was outnumbered, so she growled deeply and stepped back as well, crouching down a bit to show she surrendered.

«I just came through, I didn’t know anyone was living here. You didn’t have to show me such a warm welcome.»

The fur on Eris’ back flattened a bit as she relaxed, yet she remained attentive and suspicious.

«Go, this is our territory.»

Now that the initial shock was overcome, the foreign jill with tabby pattern bowed her head in an apology and talked with a calm voice.

«I’m sorry, I overreacted. I’m usually not one to quickly fight but you surprised me, so I defended myself. I’m really not looking for trouble, you know?»

Now Cisco walked closer and examined the stranger. She was about his age, possibly a bit older, had similarly grey fur as them, though it seemed a bit more brownish and her whole neck and throat were brightly colored, while her eyes glimmered with a rich blue shade. She was absolutely stunning and the young hob was entranced. He hadn't seen many stranger in his life yet, as his family lived in a rather remote part of the desert.

«Who are you?»

«My name is Jindra, nice to meet you.»

«Where are you headed?»

«I don’t know to be perfectly honest. I go where the stars guide me to.»

The fade Kumbas all looked up, only to notice the dark clouds hanging above their heads.

«I guess tonight they didn’t guide you much.»

«No no, I believe every place I find and every Saliko I meet I am destined to. I'm sure about that.»

«If you say so.»

The more experienced adults seemed to disbelieve that statement. Still they didn’t want to be impolite, which was weird, as neither of them, and especially not Murphy, would usually hold back about their opinion. Cisco was thankful though, as he wanted to find out more about that mysterious traveler.

Still, the silver couldn’t keep his mouth shut and if he didn’t run the foreigner down, he’d badmouth someone else.

«Your loony son thinks I turned soft and boring.»

«He’s YOUR son too, you know?»

Eris raised an eyebrow and smirked, while her partner sighed loudly and pointed his claw towards the adolescent fade.

«Nah, I’m copping out. This one’s no associate of mine anymore.»

«Daaaad!»

All started to laugh and the tense atmosphere got a lot more laid back. Jindra sat down and looked at them one after one, then giggled.

«You all have such beautiful fur colors! I’m almost jealous.»

«You wouldn’t if you knew what hunting is like for us.»

«I understand.»

Jindra looked around. Apparently she really didn’t expect anyone to be in this area that was cracked up and broken apart, as if Kydos himself wanted to split the land apart. Huge cracks and gaps were scarring the earth, posing a great threat and difficult hunting ground.

«Why did you decide to live here, if I may ask?»

Eris intently stared at the foreign jill for a while, then smiled.

«You know, it may seem odd but somehow we saw this place had more to offer for us than others might think. We got used to this and evolved. This is our home now.»

The stone colored Kumba nodded.

«That’s what I’m hoping to find too. A place that might not be perfect, but is magical in its own way and serves as the perfect home for me.»

Murphy snorted loudly, got up and turned away. He was getting grumpy from being tired and having this stranger in his territory that didn’t seem like it was leaving soon.

«Oh enough with this dreamy bullshit. You gotta take what you can get and then get used to it. And you will sooner or later. When you’re living in a wasteland, you’ll find a way to survive or you’ll die, that’s how it is. That’s how we do it. We just survive.»

He walked away, leaving the remaining Kumbas in silence. Eris’ ears twitched as she watched her mate head towards their den and she knew what he expected of her.

«Alright Jindra, if you’re looking for a safe place to stay the night you can remain in our territory, but we want you gone in the morning or I will chase you off myself.»

«What? But mom, can’t we –»

«Hush, Cisco! You haven’t learned to defend our territory yet because hardly anyone ever dares to show their face here, so you better pay attention now.»

The bright grey hob was surprised and confused. Everything was fine just a moment ago and he wanted to talk more to the stranger. Why was everyone so mean to her now?

Jindra seemed a bit snubbed as well, but calmly nodded and got up. She was clearly sad this interesting conversation had to end so quickly, yet she understood. She had a lot worse encounters before.

«It’s fine, I always move during the night. I will be long gone when the first rays of the sun touch your territory. But thanks for sharing your stories with me anyway.»

She smiled and walked away, looking at the cloudy sky, leaving Cisco and his mother back.

Eris watched her for a while, then resumed where she had stopped: hunting prey and patrolling their border to leave scent marks. The adolescent just stood there for what seemed like an eternity for him, angry at his parents for being so rash again. He'd never get to find friends when they were both like that! And suddenly, he knew what to do. With breakneck speed he ran towards the direction the tabby jill went, occasionally sniffing the air and ground to find her, checking the earth for fresh footprints and trying to track her down. She had gotten a long way ahead already, obviously used to long and quick travels, but he managed to reach her finally.

She turned around and frowned at him, scared he would chase her as well.

«I think I already left your territory, what more do you want?»

«No please! I want to apologize for my parents. I’m afraid they’re not really…friendly Salikos. But I really wanna find out more about you and your way of living.»

«I’m not your babysitter, you know?»

He raised an eyebrow and smirked.

«Ignoring the fact that I don’t need a babysitter, aren’t we about the same age anyway?»

«Yet I am way more experienced and hardened than you somehow.»

«You haven't had it easy, huh?»

He looked at her with compassion in his eyes and she returned his gaze sadly.

«No, I'm afraid not...»

«You know, my mother told me some stories of her childhood. She had been treated very badly and her own mother expected a lot from her, which she could not, and also didn't want to deliver. So someday she left and was on her own, at a very young age still.»

«...»

«I'm not gonna assume your past, but I think you two have a lot more in common than you might think. And it's true, my parents have cared for me very well. I was their first and only whelp, so they were almost too protective of me. I want to know what's out there and I want to get to know other Salikos. I have been so closed off from the world that I don't even really know what to expect when I'm leaving the territory.

You seem to have been roaming around on your own for a long time now, so maybe you can teach me about the world.»

Jindra had been silent for a while, quite surprised at the young, grey hobs words. What he said had touched her and with that grabbed her attention. She felt like it was her responsibility to fulfill his wish somehow. Her ears twitched and she raised her gaze from the ground which she had been staring at and looked right into Ciscos eyes. When their eyes met, the hob could feel a burning inside of his veins and his skin under the fur tingled, as he lost himself in the jills cold, blue eyes, that seemed like an endless ocean...or a starlit nightsky. Her voice was calm and quiet, almost an inaudible whisper, but he understood her clearly, hanging on her every word.

«Very well then. Let us share this journey then.»