A Fish Out Of Water

Catherine Dove is not built for hunting. Neither is she built for a hot and dry environment like Sandfall.

There’s no doubt in her mind that she’s completely out of her element from the moment she steps foot in here. She’s a fish out of water — very literally.

Her heart is thumping so loudly in her chest she fears that whatever creature she’s hiding from would hear it. Never in her life did she think she would need to be faced with a life or death situation like this ; hidden behind a boulder, trying not to move and accidentally make a noise so she doesn’t alert this… this absolute hell of a creature.

Oh, she wants to cry.

Cathy thought she could handle it at first because the being was pretty small – no bigger than 2 feet? Roughly? It’s the size of a child! It looks cute, fluffy… It reminds her of a Lovabun, but in the body of a Beastling. It looked easy to hunt, which was the only reason why Cathy decided to go for this one but holy shit— she couldn’t have been more wrong.

No one warned her that this beast only appears harmless, like a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Nothing would have prepared her for the way its entire appearance shifts the moment it detects danger. Nothing could’ve possibly prepared her for this.

Its eyes were dark. So dark. It would have been hard to gauge what its intentions were. And then its teeth. They are not ordinary like a herbivore's. Rather, they are sharp and shaped like they were meant to tear through flesh in an instant. Its fur looks rough. Rough enough to mistake its back for a porcupine's. Like an armored hide that could protect even against the sharpest of blades. Its paws hold talons. Its tail is abnormally long.

No. This isn’t some rabbit. It is clearly a predator that would hunt its own hunter.

Cathy presses her hands against her mouth, trying to keep as quiet as possible when—

Grrr…

She feels her heart drop when she hears footsteps coming closer, growing louder by the second. Then, there’s the scratching of fur against stone and her breath stops. She’s holding her breath, afraid that the creature would find her. The footsteps stop and for a moment, Cathy thinks she’s safe ; only to freeze completely when the growling starts again. Belatedly, she’d realize. It’s… It’s right next to her. 

When she turns her head to the side, she’d see it then. The beast, staring right at her with its fangs bared.

Ah… This is it. She couldn’t escape it, after all.

Just as the beast’s lunges at her and Nimare decides to give into her fate, a short spear plunges right into the beast’s open mouth ; piercing right through its body and effectively ending its life right then and there.

The blood splatters onto her. Catherine could only watch, wide-eyed as the creature’s fur deflates and its body, very slowly, falls to one side.

“Phew, that was close.” A familiar male voice comes through, snapping her out of her trance almost immediately. She turns to stare at a Gleamstic approaching her, blinking a couple of times before her eyes start to tear up.

“HASTRAAA!!!” Before the Gleamstic could even register it, Cathy’s whole weight crashes right into him — sending sand flying everywhere as he tumbles backwards with the crying Nimare clinging onto him, on top of him. “Hastra, you stupid! You were supposed to be my bodyguard! I almost died! WAAA!”

Hastra couldn’t help but sigh, his hand raising to pat her back in comfort. “You’re the one who ran off, y’know? I told you it’d be dangerous… You’re the one who insisted on coming.”

Catherine doesn’t reply. All he hears from her is sobbing. Hastra doesn’t blame her for this, considering the fact that she’s never had to face anything of this sort before. Whether or not she hears him isn’t really an issue either. The most important thing is that she’s safe and that he’s, well – actually doing his job well.

“There, there.” He sighs, rubbing at her back. “Let's go back to the camp and get you cleaned up.”

There’s a soft sniffle, then a nod. It takes a moment before the Nimare actually peels herself away from him to get onto her feet, though. He leaps back onto his own two feet as soon as she does, grimacing slightly at the wetness on his shirt from her tears and the sand that’s sticking to his back. There’s only so much he can get rid off by dusting and shaking his shirt. Oh well, he’ll just get changed later.

For now… Hastra turns his attention to the Leponesco’s corpse, walking right up to it and hoisting it into his arms with ease after yanking the spear out of it.

“What are you doing?” Cathy squeaks, horrified by the fact he’s even touching it.

Hastra rolls his eyes. “To skin and eat, duh. We didn’t hunt this just to leave it.”

That makes sense. Of course it does. They did come out here into the desert for this, but… It doesn’t mean Cathy can’t stare and grimace at the fact that he’s holding onto a corpse. A beast’s corpse. Who almost ate her. She shudders at the thought and decides to walk ahead of him, stopping once she’s a bit of a distance away to turn and wave at Hastra.

“Come on, let's go back! I don’t wanna stay here longer!” She yells, cupping her hands in front of her mouth.

…Hastra wonders if she realizes that yelling would only end up attracting more beasts her way.

“Coming, coming! And stop yelling!” He’d speak up just loud enough for her to hear him, keeping his eyes peeled on their surroundings to ensure that they won’t get jumped on.

Really… One of these days, he has to teach this woman some survival skills. Sure, he’s paid to take care of her, but there’s only so much that he can do in a place like this.

He can only hope that they won’t run into any more trouble from now on.