Skaikrasha Pack

A few quarter moons had gone by. While both hobs were still nice and friendly towards the jill, her relationship with Elijah had suffered very much. Despite their talk, he kept secluding himself, being alone most of the time now, and so did both Valerian and Cheondunchida herself. She still missed the hobs, which had become her good friends, quite a lot, but she saw there was no future for her and the sunmask if she would try so hard and he not at all.

It was another early afternoon when she got up, sleeping long but still getting up earlier than the others, left her den and checked the weather. It was rainy, and though she didn't really enjoy getting drenched, she had to stretch her legs. Sun-Hee didn't seem to eager either, but the bird joined her anyway, always looking for a delicious meal. While Noeu strolled through the jungle, the sun conure occasionally flew off, only to return a short while later with a piece of fruit or a seed in its claws or beak, which it gnawed on with relish. This also indicated to the Saliko where to go to find food and the two had an easy time stuffing their bellies together. The western jungle was also very rich in flora with consumable parts, which gave them the ability to eat every day without having to search for long, compared to the two hobs that still had to hunt.

That day the birdcatcher jill was feeling a little exhausted and tired, even though she had just woken up, but she hadn't slept well. It was a full moon, she was sure about that, and the bright light shining into her den made it difficult for her to sleep through the night, so she had to take a daytime nap after they were done scavenging. Sun-Hee wasn't tired yet and decided to fly around a bit, knowing very well she could always return to the Saliko if danger would arise. Cheon usually loved napping by the river, as the sound of the water rushing by was calming her down, but since it was raining and that place wasn't very well sheltered, she looked for a tree with large leaves that would keep her from getting too wet, climbed it and lay down on a thick branch. She didn't want to go home to sleep, sick of the loneliness she felt there and the stale air in her den. She needed fresh air and the comfort of a peaceful surrounding, away from those that made her feel so bad.

At the same time, Elijah woke up and blinked his fatigue away, still tired from not sleeping enough as he always stayed up late with Valerian, but shook from a nightmare that he couldn't remember, so he couldn't fall asleep anymore, no matter how hard he tried. He had been thinking about visiting his family again, because even though he enjoyed the life he had at the time, doing whatever he wanted and going wherever he felt, he also missed his brother and adoptive parents very much. The thought crossed his mind that Cheondunchida had said something similar a while ago, something that had never left his mind, just like he never forgot anything, but he couldn't help it. She just didn't quite fit into his life and he couldn't give her what she wanted. He felt sorry fur hurting her that much, but he just couldn't change who he was. Still he also feared confrontation and just continued with his life the way it was.

He crawled out of his den and noticed the sun wasn't blinding him as usual when he got up at that time of day, and felt the warm raindrops hit his pelt and sink into his skin. It felt refreshing and he raised his head to embrace the weather even more, enjoying the moment. The bright green hob sniffed the air and noticed Noeus scent in one direction, but decided to go the other way, avoiding her.

As he walked he let his mind flow freely, not thinking about anything in particular, but more listening to the birds, the rustling of the leaves, the smell of the rain and things like that. Compared to many other Salikos, he could live purely in the moment, not worrying about what was going to come in the future or what happened in the past. So he was very surprised when suddenly, a stranger stood in front of him. It was a Mayur jill with very dark fur, but bleach white parts in her pelt and two differently colored eyes. The one where the piebald embraced her face was bright blue, while the other was golden. The jill looked around erratically, then spotted Elijah and ran towards him, breathing heavily.

«Has the beast come by you?!»

«Beast? What are you –»

«A creature with leathery, green skin, a bit taller than a Saliko, with six legs.»

«SIX LEGS?!»

«Yeah, it's hard to miss. So I assume you haven't seen it?»

«Gladly not.»

«Alright, then I'm off again.»

«Off where?»

She ran past him, but looked over her shoulder as she talked.

«I'm hunting it!»

Then, as fast as she had showed up, she was gone again, leaving the puzzled hob behind.

«Why would that crazy jill hunt a thing like that?»

Elijah got a bit uneasy now, cautiously looking around and listening intently, not keen on meeting that creature she had talked about, so when he heard the sound of feet in front of him, he ducked into a defensive position, ready to attack or run, depending on what would show up. He relaxed as he noticed it was another Mayur, a hob this time, with piebald as well.

«Did you see a jill around here? Dark with white patches?»

«Yeah, she just came by. Why are you looking for her?»

«She's my sister. Well, half-sister to be exact. And she keeps getting into trouble, so I have to find her. Where did she go?»

«This way.»

The sunmask pointed towards where the stranger had run off to and the hob nodded in thanks, then continued after her. But now Eli was curious and wanted to see what those foreigners were up to, so he followed the hob and the two searched for the jill together.

«My name is Isaiah by the way and my sister is Zoria. For some reason, she loves hunting large prey, but this one is just way too dangerous.»

«Yeah, she told me it had six legs.»

«That's not all though, it's venomous too!»

«Are you serious?!»

Isaiah shook his head in defeat.

«I really don't get why she keeps doing this and I will always try to protect her but it's difficult when she's doing stuff like this.»

«Let's hope we find her fast. Before the beast.»

Cheondungchida was still lying on her tree when suddenly she awoke to a strange sound. She looked around but couldn't see anything. Still, she heard some kind of hissing and clicking and got up, afraid a snake might have crawled up to her. She jumped down the tree and walked a few steps, checking her surroundings for anything suspicious, when suddenly she noticed bright orange eyes gleaming at her from the darkness withing the bushes. She frowned and stepped back, preparing herself for an attack as the creature slowly walked closer and revealed itself. It was a hideous thing, unlike anything she had seen before. Its face was sleek and narrow, a thin tongue occasionally protruding, searching her scent just like a lizard, but it looked nothing like a reptile. She noticed now how large it was, put her ears back and tucked in her tail in fear, yet the creature came closer and closer, hissing at her. The birdcatcher kept walking backwards, slowly as to not make the monster mad, but after a few steps she bumped against a large rock and was driven into a corner of which she couldn't escape that easily anymore. She prepared to jump over the beast, when suddenly, its face opened up, four skin flaps unfolding and showing the true face of the monster, with its fiery orange eyes staring at her. It screeched so horridly that her heart skipped a beat and a cold shiver ran down Cheons spine. Whatever this was, it was hostile and she had to get away fast.

But before she could do anything, she heard a roar from the bushes behind the beast and a Saliko jumped on its back, digging its claws and teeth into the creatures head to close the face up again and keep it from biting anyone.

«What are you waiting for?! Run! I got this!»

The stranger was a jill, so dark green she seemed almost completely black, if it weren't for the white patches in her fur. She held the monsters face tightly closed and it whirled around angrily, trying to get rid of her, but Cheondunchida wasn't stupid and used the chance she got to get away from the rock, back out into the open where she could fight. The monster buckled like a wild horse and managed to throw the stranger off, angrily erecting three large spikes on its back to protect it from future attacks like that, and rattling with them, emitting a weird and scary sound as it screamed at them, its face folding out once more. It showed its long, snake like teeth now, and Noeu was sure a bite of those would be the end of her, if not for the wounds then for the obvious venom that was coursing through them.

The jill landed beside her and grinned, eager to try again.

«These things are tough, are you ready to take a stand? If not you better leave.»

«I uhm...»

While the birdcatcher was confused and scared, she felt like she couldn't just leave the stranger to fight on her own and decided to stay, not sure if she was brave or stupid to make that decision. The monster leashed out and the Salikos jumped out of the way, both in different directions and Cheon heard the jaws of the beast snap close to her ear. When her sight focused back to the body of the thing, she noticed it was standing on four legs, yet it had two more legs with a large, raptor like claw in its front and slashed around like mad, trying to slit her throat. The jill dodged and jumped back just in time, but a few strands of her mane got caught off by the sharp claws. This was just way too much for her, she had to flee.

Then, out of nowhere, two more Salikos showed up and threw themselves against the monster, ripping it from its feet and pushing it to the ground. She noticed Elijah was one of them, as well as another piebald hob. Zoria was confused at her brother showing up and called over to him.

«Zay? What are you doing here?»

«What does it look like?! I'm saving you, like always!»

«I don't need saving, I can do this myself!»

The jill didn't pay attention, distracted by the appearance of the hobs and couldn't move in time as the monster attacked her, pushing her with its strong paw so she flew backwards and hit a tree, the air leaving her lungs in an instant, making her gasp in surprise.

«Zoe!»

The hob ran toward his sister to check on her and help her back up, but the monster was cutting his path off, turning towards him now and releasing another blood curdling scream. Despite it being surrounded by now four Salikos, it didn't seem to be scared about being outnumbered. It would take them all on if necessary. They had to take a stand and kill it, flee or chase it off somehow and none of these options seemed like they would work, but the adrenaline was driving the Salikos on. Together they roared in response, strong in the pack.