Bounkola

With an angry sigh a bright colored Kumba sat down on a flat rock amidst the sandy dunes. Her cream fur was shiny and smooth, but her pale purple eyes sent out fierce flashes as she looked into the void, talking to herself.

«Stupid jill. She can’t take all those delicious fruits for herself! Shiro will find a way.»

She pushed out her lower lip in a sulky manner while scratching her claws along the rock. The Kumba had no eyes for anything around her and was lost inside her own mind.

Shiro was a very special kind of Saliko, a lot more unsual than most in Ibea. Not only did she have her pretty rare coat, but her personality and intelligence seem to not have developed a lot since her childhood, while her body has indeed.

The female had never really liked meat either, which was abnormal to most other Salikos, and she only feasts on sweet fruits and plants. She’s healthy and strong, but because she needs a lot of nourishment, she’s almost always hungry.

That day she had stumbled upon a large patch of prickly pears and was overjoyed. She had sat down amongst the cacti and begun stuffing her mouth with the fruits, as an angry Kumba had appeared out of nowhere, shouting at her. The stranger said it was her territory and if Shiro wouldn’t leave on her own, she’d make her. The naive jill didn’t understand why she couldn’t stay, but felt hurt by the screaming, so she had left. Now she was sulky and as she dreamt of the delicious fruits her mouth was watering.

Finally she decided to go back and eat more anyway, and if necessary, she’d throw rocks onto the mean Saliko until she left her in peace.

Now, because of that plan, she was in a great mood again and happily strutted back to the place where she was before. The sun had already set as she reached the outskirts of the patch and she jumped right into the pointy plants, not caring about their needly surface.

The other Kumba was not there anymore, so Shiro felt comfortable enough to enjoy her meal, which was exceptionally sweet that day.

When she was done eating, so full that her belly was getting very large and round, she lazily fought her way out of the cacti. The darkness of the night was lying over the desert now and her eyes had to adapt to the lighting circumstances for a while.

Out of the corner of her eyes she saw a bright flash on the horizon and turned towards it, but she couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary there. With a happy sigh she turned to go home, when she saw the flash again.

«Huh? Who’s there? Show yourself!»

She was confused and tired, not knowing if she actually saw something. It has also happened to her before that she ate bad fruits that made her feel dizzy and imagine things, so when nobody replied to her, she was sure that there was no one else around.

Shiro had walked only a few steps when suddenly, she fell over and couldn’t get up anymore. She DID eat bad fruits and had to sleep the hallucinations off, she knew that much.

When she woke, she didn’t know how much time had passed, but it was still night. She got up and looked at a Salikos silhouette on the horizon. Despite the lack of light, the coat of the Kumba seemed to glow very brightly, even more than her own pelt, and she was fascinated. Slowly she tried to get closer, the stranger did not move and only looked at her. Or at least she assumed that, because the other Kumba did not have a face. The Shiro noticed that even though she tried to walk towards it, she didn’t seem to get closer at all!

«What a weird dream…are you a nightwalker? Do you want to tell me something?»

Shiro was sure the creature before her was a sign sent by her ancestors. They wanted to tell her something, but she couldn’t understand. Then her vision turned black again, but she could still feel a warm breath on her neck and some strange murmuring in her ear before she fainted.

Soft rays of the morning sunlight were waking the jill up the next day and she looked around for a moment, not knowing where she was. Then she remembered the fruits and burped loudly, the effect of those had worn off finally.

She got to her feet and noticed she was still not able to walk in a straight line, but her mind was clear and so she knew she had to leave before the jill came back to scare her off once more.

On her way home she was humming a song, ignoring everything happening around her. She even almost stepped on a red-tail-scorpion, but missed by an inch and the creature skittered away.

As Shiro reached her den, an old and broken treestump, she noticed a strange smell, like of another Saliko, but only very faintly, as if it had been gone for a couple days. But when she left her den the night before, that scent had not been there yet…

She scratched her claws into the stumps dry and dead bark, refreshing her own scent and ignoring the uncomfortable feeling she’d gotten.

The following night, Shiro left her den to stretch her legs a bit and go to do her business, when she saw the bright Saliko again, watching her once more.

«Am I dreaming again? Or still? Who are you?»

After a moment of hesitation, the glowing Kumba walked towards her, the moonlight reflecting off its shiny, white pelt. As it got closer, Shiro noticed that it was a very skinny hob, with faint stripes in its fur and menacing, red eyes. Its voice was low and steady, while the words it spoke were chosen carefully.

«It appears you are feeling better today.»

«Huh? Uh…yes, Shiro is better. Shiro ate too many dizzy-fruits yesterday.»

«Dizzy fruits? I see.»

«Do you have a message for Shiro?»

«I do not understand what kind of message you are talking about.»

«You are a nightwalker, right?»

«A nightwalker? You mean a spiritual deceased?»

«A what?»

«Indeed…Yes…Yes I am! And I do have a message but first I need to see if you are worthy to receive it.»

«Oh Shiro is worth it! Shiro will do anything she needs to do!»

«Anything? Are you sure?»

«Yes yes!»

«Good.»

The male looked closer at the jill, studying her and making mental notes about her character and build.

«You look like a strong jill, do you have experience in fighting?»

«Shiro only fights when others are big meanies. Which they often are.»

She looked pouty again and her mind wandered off, not listening to the hob talking.

When he noticed her absence, he snapped his tail in front of her face and she returned to him.

«What are we gonna do now?»

«Well, I need to go hunting, I am hungry.»

«Spirits eat?»

«Of course we do. Otherwise we would perish.»

She nodded in understanding, it all clearly made sense to her. Only then she noticed the hobs faint scent, even as he was right in front of her. It was almost as if he really was a spirit.

«Can Shiro join you?»

«No, not this night, I want to be alone.»

The jill looked sad, her tail dropping to the ground and dragging through the sand as she turned around and left.

«We will meet again though. Tomorrow night, same place, same time.»

One night later, Shiro was so excited that she went to the meeting point a few hours before they had agreed to. The sun was still out and the hob nowhere to be seen. Shiro was sure she had to fall asleep to meet the spirit, so she lay down and dozed off quickly.

«Welcome back.»

The hob was standing in front of her, while Shiro was still curled up into a small ball. She jumped to her feet and shortly cleaned her face to make a good impression.

«Shiro is ready for the message!»

«Not so fast. Yesterday you seemed distracted. Will you promise to listen to me well today?»

«Of course! Shiro will listen well to the nightwalker from now till ever!»

He smirked satisfied.

«My name is Ruvik, you can call me that. And today I want to see how good of a fighter you are. There is this evil spirit of a Kumba lingering around the area and it needs to be cleansed. Will you defeat it to bring peace to its poor soul?»

The cream colored jill nodded eagerly, then they both began walking north, towards a small mountain range. When they arrived, Shiro immediately noticed the stench of a hob that must be close by. It didn’t take her long until she found the Kumba, a pretty heat colored male with shadow spots and full mane, sitting in front of a small hole, apparently waiting for his prey to come out.

As the two strangers appeared, he whirled around and frowned as he saw the albino.

«You again. Brought a friend this time to protect you, huh? I’ll tell you again, I’m not sorry for what I did, you lowlife don’t deserve to live and I need the food more than you.»

Ruvik leaned over to Shiro and whispered in her ear.

«That is him, the evil spirit. You have to kill it.»
«It doesn’t seem so evil.»
«That is because it is deceiving you! As soon as you attack it you will see its true nature!»

Shiro dropped into battle stance and prepared to pounce on her opponent, who was still confused as to what was going on.

«Seriously? You actually want me to fight her just because I stole your food?»

«I am starving, do you not see?! I needed this prey! And you, you think you deserve it more than I do, but you are wrong and you will regret what you did. GO, SHIRO!»

With a loud roar, the jill leaped at the heat Kumba, who was not prepared for such a fierce attack. She ripped him off his feet and pressed him into the dirt, Her teeth close to his throat, but he was able to fend her off. Her muzzle snapped close to his face and her eyes seemed empty, she just obeyed what she was told, nothing else mattered. Ruvik was standing a bit away in safety, his grin reaching from one ear to the other and his whiskers twitching with joy.

The victim managed to throw his attacker away, though the cream one landed gracefully on her feet and charged right back at him. He pulled back and slashed his claws at her, cutting up her thigh so blood splattered onto the rocks, but his opponent didn’t even flinch. She bit his front leg and didn’t let go. The hob screamed in pain and tried to shake her off but was unable to do so. Even after he kept punching her head over and over again, she wouldn’t cease to hold on. He felt the bones in his legs break and tears streamed down his face, until finally she stopped. Blood was covering her muzzle and she looked at him with disgust.

«Your wrath is over now evil spirit, go and die!»

«No please, leave me alone! Help me!»

This time, her jaws closed around his throat and there was no escape. She ripped out a large piece of flesh and the fountain of blood that left his body drenched the ground, then he slumped down and after a few more twitches, he stopped moving, his eyes quickly growing pale and dull.

Ruvik ran over and, with glee, addressed his avenger, talking her into believing things that weren’t true at all.

«Did you see that? Did you see the white soul that drifted towards the sky? You released the spirit!»

«Yes…yes Shiro saw.»

Her eyes were still empty and she seemed as if she was far away. Ruvik was a bit scared whether she’d be in a bloodrush and attack him as well, so he stepped back form her.

«Are you alright? You did very well, Shiro.»

«He said…that Shiro is your friend…is that true?»

Ruvik was speechless for a moment, then shook off the confusion and assumed his regular, self confident behavior once more.

«Of course! You helped me rid this horrible creature, so now we are friends. You help me and I help you, how does that sound?»

Slowly she returned to her true self and smiled at him, very calm and contently. The blood of the hob was still dripping from her muzzle, but she didn’t seem to mind. She had found her first friend.