Folau Pack – Kwanyar Island

«So what do you think might that one be?»

«Hmm...»

The two Kumbas were walking next to each other on another starlit night. It's been a couple quarter-moons since they had met and embarked on their journey. Like promised, whenever there was a clear night, the jill had taught her new friend about the constellations and their mythological origins, just like that night.

«Maybe...a snake or...it also kinda reminds me of a bird, I really don't know.»

«Bravo! You learn fast!»

«Huh? Don't mess with me, what is it?»

«Exactly what you said. It's a snake with bird wings! It's name is Kareem and it was exposed to its inevitable fate right from its first living moment. The creature was one of many of its kind, all of Ibea was full of the flying snakes according to legend.»

«Well good thing that's not happening anymore.»

«They weren't dangerous though, just really curious and a little annoying. Well, most of them anyway. They DID have poison, but they usually didn't attack anyone at random. The also came in all kinds of sizes and colors, and Kareem was a rather small snake with grey skin. Sadly, he'd been doomed by the start with a cruel curse. His body was fragile and weak and he suffered his whole life, yet he never turned his anger towards anyone else. Whenever he could, he tried everything he could to help others and make life better for them, until the time came to let go. He became a saint and rose into the sky to live an eternal life in health up there.»

«Oh, that story is much nicer than yesterdays! And way less bloody...»

«Not all end bad, this one I feel actually had a good ending.»

He nodded in agreement. Then suddenly Ciscos stomach started to growl and, as if it would answer, Jindras did too.

«Guess it's time for us to hunt, what do you think?»

«You bet!»

They split up, looking around for some prey to hunt. Cisco found a small snake, but it hissed at him and quickly disappeared before he could catch it. Then Jindra signaled him that she found something and, with slow and quiet paw steps, he crept closer towards her until he saw something moving in a hole, a few tail-lengths away. It was a large desert hare with enough meat on it for both of them to eat, but it would surely have a mean bite and they wouldn't want it to escape either, so they had to be careful. It was digging in the ground, probably a den for itself to hide in, but it was still very close to the surface, so they might be able to just snatch it out of its hole. The rabbit was shoveling dirt and sand away left and right and did not notice them yet because of the earthy smell and rustling sound. Jindra tried to send signs with her eyes, ears and tail about how to best approach the situation, but Cisco didn't understand her at all. Still, he didn't want her to think he was stupid, so he nodded as if he knew what she wanted, and crouched down low, creeping closer to the hare. He was sure he'd be able to catch it on his own anyway and impress her like that, but her eyes widened as she saw he didn't stick to her plan, but she couldn't call him out of fear of alerting the prey. So she did the only thing she could and dropped to a low crouch as well and tried to keep up with Cisco, who was already almost there.

With one lightning quick snap, he had grabbed the furry hare by its neck and ripped it out of its hole. The creature was very surprised, but immediately went to a defensive stance, trying to bite the hob into the legs. Jindra was still creeping up behind it, but it was so concentrated on the fade colored Saliko that it didn't notice the silent Kumba jill at all. Now Cisco only had to stall the rabbit until she was ready for the killing blow and he did his best, slapping and scratching at it to keep its attention, then quickly jumping backwards to evade its attack. With one last leap, the stone jill managed to pounce onto the animal and, with one last terrified squeak, its life was over. The large prey was dangling limply between her jaws and she was happy it had worked out, but the hob felt ashamed that he didn't manage to kill it himself. Still, he swallowed his pride and pretended to be alright as they skinned the hare and shared the meal together, then proceeded to clean and groom each others fur.

Suddenly they heard a noise behind them and turned their heads towards it, only to spot two strange, almost ghostly creatures. They were bright as the sun and reflected every bit of light that fell onto their pelts. For a moment, neither of them were sure whether what they saw was real, until they looked at each others confused faces and noticed they saw it too.

As the radiating creatures got closer, they finally recognized they were two Kumbas as well, but none of them had regular black markings like almost all Salikos do. Neither of the two adolescents had seen someone like that yet, but they tried to remain polite and walked a few steps towards the strangers.

«Hello! We were just passing through, hope we didn't disturb your territory?»

«Shiro doesn't have a territory, Shiro just goes where her friends go too!»

One of the strangers was a cream colored jill with a long mane that hung down her sides like on a horse and she looked very excited and joyful. The other was an albino hob, very bony and thin, with white eyes and a large, nasty burn wound defacing his otherwise confident and curious appearance. It seemed as if he had a mane once too, but it had either been cut or burnt – either way it was gone. The hob, despite his white fur, had very dark rings around his eyes, as if they were deeper inside the sockets than usual and because of their light coloration, they seemed empty as well. While the jill looked nice and approachable, yet weird and confused, he seemed scary and dangerous, even though he was obviously weaker than any of them. His voice was calm and collected, something they did not expect at all.

«No worries, we are not going to chase you away. Where are you heading?»

«We don't know, we're just gonna see what we can find.»

«Of course. You look like you've been traveling for a while now. If you wish for a safe place to rest, or some water, we can help you.»

«YES! Shiro wants new friends! Shiro hasn't seen anyone new in forever!»

«Who?»

«Do not worry about her, she talks about herself in third person, it is quite normal. My name is Ruvik and this is, as you must have already guessed by now, Shiro.»

The jill waved her tail in a friendly greeting.

«Who are you two?! You look funny!»

«My name is Jindra and this is Cisco. I'm looking for...a relative living east of here.»

It was a blatant lie, but Ruviks creepy eyes lightened up as he heard that.

«What method do you use to decipher which way to go?»

«I use the stars to guide my way. Demetos' eyes are always showing me where to go.»

«I see, a believer. Pity. Anyways, are you in need of our support? We live in a cave system close by with enough place for you to rest and much fresh water too.»

Despite his offer being kind, the two couldn't get rid of the feeling he had something planned, they just didn't know what. Still, they haven't had a drink in a while, so they looked at each other, obviously worried, but then nodded and agreed to follow them. He was nice to the cream jill too, it was probably just a bad first impression, based on his appearance, rather than his behavior. Together the group traveled towards a large mountain in the distance, as the sun began to rise on the horizon.

«Argh, just in time. Could not have wasted any more precious time.»

The albino had run the last bit to the mountain and dove into a cave entrance, to flee from the rays of the sunrise that apparently hurt his skin. He shook his white fur and tried to cool the bare skin in his face by licking his paw and then softly brushing over it.

Shiro had already run past them and had disappeared into the pitch-black tunnel that was leading deeper into the underground. They could only hear her voice, getting more quiet as she distanced herself more and more, yet echoing from out of the darkness in an eerie song.

«She is not always like that, you know? She has good and bad days and this is a bad one.»

The foreigners just nodded, even though they didn't understand, and followed the white Kumba down into the mountain. After walking for a while they reached a larger chamber with many glowing crystals. On the side of the wall lay some strange bones of a creature they had never seen before. Cisco was too curious about it and couldn't help but pointing his tail towards the skeleton.

«What was that?»

«Luplux.»

«Lup...what?»

Ruvik turned around and stared him down, as if he tried to find out whether he really didn't understand or just pretended not to.

«Lup. Lux. A wolf-like cave dweller that's blind and glows in the dark.»

Jindra had never heard of that before and wasn't sure whether he told the truth or was messing with them, but she didn't want to get involved. Together they continued, left that room and went through another short tunnel until they reached a gigantic room with an underwater lake. They gratefully nodded towards Ruvik, who just sat down and watched them intently, as they walked to the water and began to quench their thirst.

When she was done, Jindra walked back to Ruvik and sat down in front of him, while Cisco tried to find Shiro to talk to her. He was too creeped out to talk to the albino, but the stone colored jill wanted to get more information about that place and the chance he knew something useful was higher than the cream jill.

«Thank you for letting us drink.»

«You are welcome.»

«What is this place if I may ask? Have you been here for long?»

«Not as long as you might think, no, but long enough. It is a large cave system that had been inhabited by aggressive monsters, but is not anymore.»

«I see.»

She looked around, her blue eyes glittering with the shine and glow of the crystals around her.

«Have you explored all of the system yet?»

«No, and we never will. We have discovered enough about this place to know we got everything we need, everything else does not concern us and would just waste our time for no use. Also, there might be more Lupluxi.»

«Hm...»

He studied her carefully and frowned, lost in thoughts.

«Feel free to explore the caves yourself if you want to, no one here is hindering you from it. Maybe you will find something interesting.»

He got up and walked over to his friend, who was happily chatting with Cisco about 'spiky fruits' and 'smooth rocks'. Ruvik sat down next to Shiro and Jindra and Cisco positioned each other opposite of them.

«Well, we better get going again.»

«Alright, however you like. Like I said earlier, you can stay if you want to rest, we are going to sleep now anyway.»

The two younger ones looked at each other insecurely. They were both tired but not sure whether or not to stay.

Then Jindra decided and spoke to the strange hob.

«I think I'd like to check out the caves like you mentioned if that's alright.»

«Very well.»

When the two bright colored Salikos got up and lay down in a nest made of fur and dry grass, Cisco and Jindra left through one of the tunnels, happy to get going. After the foreigners were gone, the albino with the scar turned towards the jill with the long hanging mane and whispered something into her ear.

She started to growl and got up.

After they had been trying to navigate through the tunnels for a while, Cisco thought they had gone far enough and decided it was finally time to rest. This cave system was quite interesting and both wanted to stay there for a few day or quarter-moons to discover more about it, or possibly make it their new temporary home. As they reached another larger cave, they climbed on top of some rocks and quickly fell asleep, not noticing the shadow watching them at all times. Shiro sneaked closer towards them, softly placing one paw after the other, without making a sound. Compared to earlier, she didn't have that happy and careless expression on her face anymore. Her eyes looked knowingly and mysterious, while her muzzle remained serious. She watched the two for a while, then unsheathed her claws, which glimmered in the dim light and then tapped them impatiently on the rocky ground.

«I found you.»

Jindra, who had a very light sleep, noticed a strange feeling and woke up again, only to see the jill stand above them, her claws extended and ready to strike. The tabby immediately jumped to her feet and pushed her friend out of the way, but had to take the hit and her shoulder was gashed, bleeding profusely. Cisco immediately got up and ran to her side to supported her so she could stand.

«What's going on?! What's gotten into you?!»

Shiros eyes were dull and lifeless, but she seemed to perceive everything they said.

«Run.»

They didn't hesitate. Jindra had difficulty walking, but Cisco did his best to make it easier for her and so both descended into a tunnel leading deeper down inside. They were running for their lives, scared that the more experienced and obviously strong jill could return, and sometimes they thought they heard steps behind them, which is why they kept going. Deeper and deeper into the mountain, Jindra leaving a bloody trail on the ground, while both were insanely tired and their feet hurt from walking for one whole day and night, possibly more. They were completely lost in the labyrinth.

When they were sure they hadn't heard anyone follow them for a while anymore and they found a small hole close to the ground in which they could hide, they decided to risk it and rest again, as especially the tabby was really exhausted now. The gray hob did his best to clean her wounds, while she was clenching her teeth, then they cuddled up together, still scared and confused about what had happened.

«Thanks for not leaving me behind, Cisco.»

«I would've never. We're a pack now, we help each other.»

She was already drifting off into sleep.

«Jindra?»

«Hm?»

«Thank you for saving my life.»

«If I would've know what would've happened to me, I would've still done it again.»

«I know.»