Growls

An intricately adorned lupora stood watching them. Her amber eyes staring right into their own in an attempt to intimidate the young hatchlings. It worked. Zima hurriedly stepped backward, sending herself and Yae tumbling into the rushing river, cold as ice. Downstream they went, the lupora payed no attention to their pleas for help and simply turned around, presumably returning to her pack.

"Help!" Zima screamed as she was pulled underwater, a strange turn in the current dragging her down, down, down into it's depths. The river was deeper than it seemed from the bank. She'd no idea where Yae was, but she hadn't any time to think. The water was wrapping it's arms around her, choking the young vulnyx.

Suddenly, two vibrant blue eyes met her own. Black spots appearing in her vision. A sylvorpa swiftly grabbed her with it's webbed front legs (arms?) and swam, strong tail swaying violently back and forth, to the surface. The cold air hit Zima's face like an old friend. Gasping for breath, she hurriedly looked around for her young Lunemara friend, twisting and turning in anxiousness. "Where- where is she?" Zima spluttered. The sylvorpa's eyes filled with confusioin "Who?" she said. Zima's heart skipped a beat.
"Yae! Yae! She's a lunemara! Where is she?! A lunemara larvae! She fell in with me!". Her saviour dragged her up onto the bank before delving straight back into the waters, searching for said lunemara. Panic stricken, Zima stared frantically into the water, shivering and coughing as she did. "Come on Yae...," she thought "you'd better be okay...".


261 words, sorry for going over the limit!

Growls

Zima shrunk down in fear, taking a tentative step back, as she turned to face a giant Morkko. The Morkko was a dark brown, with glowing yellow eyes, and a black ocelot pattern much like Zima's. It had huge antlers and wickedly sharp claws, much longer than a normal Morkko's.

The Morkko looked down at Yae and Zima with a snarl spread across his face. "What are you doing on my domain?" He demanded.

A moment of silence passed before the Morkko spoke again. "I said, what are you doing on my domain!"

"We're just looking for someone!" Yae squeaked, and hid her face when the Morkko turned his gaze to her.

"Yeah! We're just passing through!" Zima added on, trying to sound braver than she felt.

"Oh?" The Morkko growled, "and who might be looking for?"

Zima didn't know what to say, should she tell the truth? Run? Lie? Luckily, she wasn't the one to make the decision.

A small pebble hit the Morkko on the nose. "Nobody you need to know!" Yae shouted- as she threw another pebble. "Run Zima! Run!" She shouted as she clutched onto her friend's back.

Day 11 Prompt

Thanks everyone for the super participation! Keep it up! :)

Please put the word Sneezes at the top of the post so I know that you are replying to the current version of the story.

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By Eatmypi


Zima backed away, praying there wasn't another twig behind her. She ducked behind a log, barely daring to breathe.

And then seven Vorkids emerged from the trees.

Yae barely restrained a yelp. Zima's heart thumped so loudly, she was sure the Vorkids would hear. She was so close to one of them that she could've reached out and touched it. If it turned around, it would see her. There was no escape.

Please leave, please leave, thought Zima, shuddering. Unfortunately, that movement caused Zima's fur to brush Yae's nose. Yae sneezed. "Ah-choo!"

All the Vorkids turned. Without a second thought, Zima dove into the log, nearly knocking Yae off her back. The Vorkids started attacking the log, scratching and tearing at the wood. Zima trembled as the log shuddered under the rain of blows. In a moment, the log would break and the Vorkids would be upon them. Zima closed her eyes and wished it was all a dream, that she would wake up in her den with Zuri beside her. Alas, the nightmare continued.

Then suddenly, the blows stopped, and the sounds of a struggle reached Zima's ears. A moment later, only silence ensued. Sensing that the Vorkids were gone, Zima wriggled out of the log. A huge shadow immediately fell upon her, but before she could react, the stranger said, in a wise, gentle voice, "Never fear, young ones. I mean no harm to you. But you must come with me immediately if you are to save Zuri."

Sneezes

Despite the large sylesti's words of kindness, she still trembled in fear. What on Earth was it? Such a large, looming shadow could only belong to a ny'vene... but there was fur. A ruffled edge outlining the shadow's form. Perhaps? No. It couldn't be. Zima had heard stories, but she'd never known they were true. The Nytekrie of the Lost Clan.

Still, she had no time to ask this creature if her theory was correct before Yae and her were hoisted up into the air in the deep grey talons of their flying saviour. Over the treetops they glided, not entirely sure whether they should be scared or incredibly relieved. They still hadn't been able to get a good look him. But that would soon change, they were heading towards a cave in the side of a mountain. A cracked entrance strewn with leaves and... Zima gulped.... bones.

Sneezes



The Ryori almost seemed to bend the wind to his will, leaves swirling round him. He glowed slightly with a yellowish light, and his eyes were like deep pools of gold, wise, knowing.

"H-how do you know about Zuri?" Zima stammered, still shaken after her and Yae's near death experience.

"I know many things, child. But there is no time to waste standing around, if we are to save Zuri we must go immediately," he said, turning and setting off in a direction Zima had no time to think about.

"Where are all of the Vorkids?" Yae whispered into her ear. "What did he do to their" - she shuddered - "bodies?"

"I don't know, but he knows about Zuri. If this is the Warrior that the Hunter told us to find, we have to trust him," Zima said, padding after the Ryori.

"Well ask him-" Yae coughed, sitting up straight. "Excuse me. Who exactly are you?" she asked him directly.

He didn't stop. "I am the one with many names, though the Hunter may refer to me as the warrior."

"See, I told you," Zima said under her breath.

Yae gave a sharp tug on the fur on Zima's back, making her yelp. "There's something really weird about him!" she said into her ear. "I mean, were the Vorkids really there at all?"

That put doubt into Zima's mind. What if the Vorkids were just an illusion to make them trust the Ryori? He had stopped, and was looking back at the two. His eyes revealed nothing. He was far enough away that Zima could run into the woods if she wanted to. But they had just met him... what if he really was okay?

A little more than 250, sorry.

Sneezes (Word Count 248)



"How do you know about Zuri?" Yae asked as Zima slowly emerged from the log. She might have said more, but the nytekrie's strange appearance made the youngster's voice catch in her throat.

"I know all the names of the destined victims of the Blood Cascade Coven," replied the pastel sylesti gently, his armor clanking gently as he knelt down to better see their faces. "And all those who have gone before. I don't often get a chance to save them, but you understand the importance of trying, right?"

"Right." Zima swished her tail with her excitement over finding someone who was going to help. "You can take us to Zuri?"

The nytekrie nodded. "Climb on! We'll be faster if we can harness the wind to our aid and I'm a little more adept than you currently."

As the pair climbed among the gently-colored feathers, Yae couldn't help asking, "Don't you stand out around here? I thought nytekries were stealthy, but you look like you're from Sweet Blossom Orchard."

"Oh, my young friend," the sylesti chuckled kindly, looking back over his shoulder at the pair. "You are more right than you imagine. I've had a hard time trying to keep myself hidden from the Coven, but the cause is great and armor helps. I think though, between the three of us, we might be able to stop the sacrifices for good."

Calling the wind to lift himself into the sky, the nytekrie flew, ever closer to the volcano.

Sneezes

Despite the creatures friendly tone, Zima and Yae couldnt bring themselves to move. They were frozen solid, seeing the giant loom over them. Follow me, he said, and lumbered off. There was a hidden cave entrance in the mountains rocky face, and he disappeared down it. Only then did Zima relax a little bit. She slowly made her way into the caverns, but didnt make it far before they were in a warmly lit cavern. Zima could make out the shape of the figure, a giant nyvene, undoubtedly once a great colosseum fighter.

He had his back turned towards them, and was doing something over a table. He turned when they entered, and beckoned.
But Zima was once again too scared to move, his piercing gaze made her fur stand on end. Then it occurred to her. Wait, she stammered how, how do you know Zuri?
Ah, just a haunch. He grinned and chuckled. Anyways, Ive travelled many a time in the territory of the blood coven. Youll need my help.

Sneezes

"What?" Zima whispered, as she craned her head around to view her savior. Her eyes fixed on a large Lupora, who seemed to be blending into the shadow's themselves. She wanted to ask him how he knew her, but he was already walking away. She motioned to Yae for her to climb onto her back, and she climbed out of the log to follow the Lupora.

As soon as she escaped from the log she ran after the Lupora. She would occasionally trip over roots here and there as she followed him, but he glided through the forest like the wind. After some time Zima finally managed to get close enough to the Lupora to have a conversation.

"Wait!" She called out to him. "How do you know Zuri? Also how do you know me?"

"I know many things." He responded simply. "Now come on- we're almost there."

"Wait- no- ughh!" Zima groaned as the Lupora sped up the slope of the mountain. Exasperated, Zima sped up as well, trying to not lose site of the Lupora.

Finally, the Lupora came to a stop gazing at something in front of him. Once Zima caught up, she turned her gaze to see what he was looking at.

It was a village, tucked between two peaks of the mountains. There were a few huts, with snow capped roofs. It seemed well protected from the wind, and it would be hard to see from air.

"Wow" Zima said, "How long was this here?"