In the small village Agave
It was much too early in the morning for Niought to enjoy walking through the small forest in the back of their village, but somehow Jevar had insisted on it, telling him there was something she wanted to show him.
So far the only things he saw were trees, trees and more trees, though. It was a crisp morning, not a cloud in the sky, and there were all sorts of bugs and birds around them, making noises as they started their day. Niought really didn't mind the forest that much; it was nice, it was calming even, but it was way too early and he was way too cold and ready to go back already.
"Seriously," he whined, following her as she ducked under some low hanging limbs, "I want to go back, I'm cold and sleepy."
Jevar glanced back at him as if trying to decide whether or not to let him go, but then she smiled, her lime green eyes sparkling. "You'll be fine. Just a little longer now."
He rolled his eyes, pouting a bit. She always did this. Dragging him along, telling him it's important. She always has. Hopefully she wasn't trying to prank him like she sometimes did. The last time she pranked him by walking him into a small pit-fall he'd been so angry and upset that he couldn't stop crying and yelling at her.
His mom had been surprised by it and some people in the village thought he'd ignore her for weeks. They were wrong, of course. He hated her for doing that, but he couldn't exactly avoid her or ignore her. She was his best friend. So while she was crazy, and wild and kind of a meanie, he still loved her.
After all, if he decided to hate her and ignore her over that, who would he hang out with? And who would snuggle with him when he was cold? That's what they should have been doing. They should have been back in the village, at his house, snuggling on his couch or bed, and maybe she could read them a book. She was good at that.
"Almost there, just this way," Jevar mumbled, stepping on some rocks to cross a river and leading the way down a slope. "Watch your step."
He carefully followed her, hating the way the cold rocks felt under his feet, and how tall the grass was in this area, making his legs itchy. They clearly shouldn't be this far out.
Soon they were coming to a stop, though, and Niought frowned, glancing at Jevar expectantly. She glanced back at him, smirking. "See?" She pointed, and he followed her hand to where it was.
There, just at the top of a cliff in the distance, but still in view through the trees, was a death creature. And this death creature was a Stalker. It was standing on the top of the cliff, just at the edge, it's white, pearl like eyes staring into the distance, it's black body slender and yet it's head was sort of large. Or larger than it's body, at least.
Niought stared in awe at the monster. "It's-it's..."
"A Stalker!" Jevar quickly supplied, bouncing on her feet and making her cotton candy pink hair move about in the air a bit.
After staring at it a while longer, he turned to her to grin, bouncing too. "How did you find it? That's so cool! Look at it! Look, an actual Stalker!" They both turned to stare at it some more, grinning as they watched it move slowly, but then it glanced towards them.
"It can't see us-right?" Jevar questioned quietly, her grin fading a bit as she watched it. "I...I don't know. Don't you know that?" Niought asked in return, his grin falling away as well.
A moment of silence passes between the two, watching and nearly holding their breaths as it continues to stare in their direction. "I mean...it's way too far away." Jevar mumbled then.
But just as she spoke the death creature moved forward slowly, down the side of the cliff. Without waiting to see where it went next, both the children screamed and starting running back up the slope.
Niought fell behind a bit as they ran up the slope, and his foot slips on the cold rocks as they try to hop back across the river, falling into the river with a yelp. He whimpers at his arm that's in pain, trying to pull himself up as Jevar quickly grabs his wrist, yanking him along.
His heart beats loudly in his ears and he can feel sweat and tears mixing beneath his eyes and down his cheeks. Were they going to die? Would it get them? Would he die? What if Jevar left him behind? He glanced back now, freaking out, and saw the death creature surprising close. He screams again, loudly, turning to look at Jevar again as he continued running with her, sobbing now.
This was so stupid! He knew it was a bad idea! He just knew it! Why did Jevar do this? Yeah, it was fun from a distance...but now it was chasing them and they were going to die and the whole village would be upset that they were gone, but never know what happened! What if they thought him and Jevar ran away? They wouldn't think that, right?!
He's crying so badly that he doesn't see anything but the blur of Jevar's pink hair as he tries to run with her, his legs aching, and his arm hurting.
And the only sounds he really hears is the strangely loud sound of their feet hitting the ground, their loud breathing as they ran more than they were really used to, and his own sobs. The rest of it—the sound of birds in the distance, insects buzzing and making noises, and whatever Jevar might have said—was all faded. He heard it, but it went straight to the back of his mind, forgotten just as quickly as it happened.
His feet ached and his legs burned by the time they were rushing back through the open field of the ranch, rushing past the cows and both children mentally apologizing to the innocent creatures.
As they dashed into town though, none of it seemed to matter. Niought just wanted to be safe again. He just wanted someone else to deal with it.
He stumbled along after Jevar as people gathered towards them worriedly, and that's when Jevar's father stepped forward, grabbing her shoulders. "What's going on here?"
She struggled to get free, but Niought let go of her hand and rushed to move past the crowd, panic eating at him, kind of like how the Stalker was going to. Jevar could handle herself, though! And she had her father with her!
But soon after his grandma and grandpa moved to grab him, and he found himself struggling to get free. Were they stupid?! He hit his grandpa then, and when that didn't work something broke in him. He fell down, letting out a scream and more sobs followed it. "It's going to eat us! It's going to rip us apart!"
Aside from his quiet sobs, silence followed his outburst. And after a few minutes, his grandma spoke. "Well, whatever it was, it's gone now."
He glanced up at her with his bright white-yellow eyes, with a tinge of red from crying. And after a few tense seconds, he glanced back to see for himself.
Jevar was sitting on the ground too, silently crying with her father trying to talk to her, or get an explanation, but past them, and the crowd of people, just as the exit of town, the dirt path leading to the pasture—
—was an empty space where he thought the death creature would be.
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