That damn god, Iyubi thought as she grumpily continued back home. It had been days since her encounter with Utako and her opinion of him became worse and worse the further she left the spot he ditched her at. Her once well made bag was now stretched from him carrying it. When she first saw him she thought he was just another dumb lion who she could trick. Joke was on her though when he flew off without finishing helping her. She grumbled to herself and swore that if she saw him again she would rip of his ear and make it into a necklace.
As she grumbled to herself, she found herself getting closer and closer to a stream. From time to time during her adventures to find little trinkets, she would pass this stream and try to con whoever was around to carry her belongings. Usually it works well, with the last case being the oddity. How in the world was she supposed to know that the worthless lion she picked out just happened to turn into a god?
This time she would be pickier, Iyubi thought as she glanced at the creatures around the stream. There seemed to be a good variety, from small critters to ones she wouldn’t talk to even if she was in desperate need of help. It was a beautiful day so it wasn’t too strange for there to be many creatures around. Casually she took a drink from the stream, being careful not to get her bag went.
When she pulled her head up she saw the perfect candidate.
A fellow hyena that had fur white as the mountain tops with a flowery pink accent color. The stranger was across the stream all by herself. Iyubi noticed that she would look around occasionally, as if she was on edge. It seemed like her soon to be new friend would do well with some company to watch her back.
She walked toward the light hyena with purpose and a friendly smile.
“Would you like company?” Iyubi asked once she was standing next to the other hyena. The other hyena looked her over and tilted her head.
“I guess I could use some.” She said. Her voice was soft and gentle, Iyubi noted. She had a strange innocence to her. “I am Venera. And you are?”
“Iyubi,” Iyubi responded with a grin. She was slightly surprised that their conversation was going so well. She thought that the other hyena would end up being at least a little stand offish. “I know this is sudden, but I was looking for someone to do some traveling with me. It is just safer in numbers and since you are a fellow hyena I thought we would make a perfect teamup.”
Venera took a moment and thought about it, leaving Iyubi in suspense.
“You know what? Why not? I am just out looking around. What direction were you headed in?” Venera said.
It could not have gone better, Iyubi thought. Soon she would have Venera carrying her heavy bag. “That direction for a couple days. There is a lake over that that we can separate at.” Iyubi said, pointing.
“Sounds good! Lets get going.” Venera said surprisingly eagerly. Without waiting for Iyubi the hyena started heading off. Surprised, Iyubi stood still for a moment before catching up with the hyena. “So what is in your bag?” Vener aasked curiously as they headed away from the stream. Venera walked quickly while Iyubi was weighed down by the bag.
“Just little trinkets from different places. It is mostly just junk that I have found.” Iyubi huffed, trying to keep up with Venera.
Suddenly Venera stopped and looked at Iyubi. “You’ve been carrying that around for sometime huh. Normally I wouldn’t offer, but if you would like I can carry it for you for a little bit. In exchange maybe you can show me around? That way when I am traveling by myself it won’t be as tough.” She said cheerfully.
Iyubi nodded in agreement happy to get rid of the bag for a little bit.
Venera quickly grabbed it and wrapped it around her shoulders.
“Wow this sure is heavy! It must be important to you for you to carry it around so much.”
“Well I had a traveling partner. He was carrying it for me and then out of no where he decided that he had better things to do.” Iyubi said thinking of that horrid god. “But that is in the past. If I run into him you can bet he is going to regret abandoning me.”
Venera gave her a pitied look.
“What about you? What leads you to travel alone?” Iyubi asked. There was a lot to learn about her strange new companion. It was pretty safe to assume that she wasn’t a god in disguise like Utako, but Iyubi was still prepared for the unexpected.
Venera let out a soft giggle. “Well I actually got lost from my family. It is sorta embarrassing.” She said awkwardly. “I’ve been traveling alone searching for them, but I haven’t had much luck. I thought that if I travel with you that maybe we would run across them. We were always traveling around, entertaining and trading with others.”
Iyubi’s heart ached for Vanera. Losing ones family was horrible in a land that was cruel as this. It almost made her feel bad for having Venera carry her belongings. Almost.
“I am sure you’ll find them sooner or later. The land might be massive, but sooner or later they will turn up.
The two hyenas continued to chat as they traveled. They found a shelter for the night. Venera offered to scout for food and Iyubi happily accepted, finding a cozy spot at their shelter to rest.
The area was quite and peaceful. The silence was stopped when Iyubi heard a loud yelp. She stood up quickly. The yelp sounded a lot like Venera. Her paws were shaking. She just met Vanera, so there was no real emotional attachment, but part of her felt guilty. Iyubi looked back at her bag. She could make a run for it, keep herself safe. But that would make her just as bad as Utako, worse even. She looked back at the direction of the yelp and took a deep breath in. Then she ran toward the noise.
When she found Venera she was lying down on the ground, her delicate white paw was stained with the color red.
“What happened?” Iyubi ask, leaning down toward Venera.
Tears rushed to Venera’s eyes.
“I am sorry that I wasn’t able to get food. I saw a wild dog and I tried taking his food, but he ended up snapping at me at bit my paw.” She cried, holding her paw up for Iyubi. “He ran off but now we have nothing to eat.”
Iyubi patted Venera gently. “Do you think you can make it back to the shelter by yourself? If you can do that, I’ll finish up hunting for us.” Iyubi said quietly. The guilt she felt was building up more and more. Venera nodded her head.
“I’m sorry by now I should be better at this sort of thing.” Venera said. “My family would be so disappointed in the hyena I have become. I can’t even get food for myself.”
“You just made one mistake. Trust me, I have made mistake after mistake. It is just apart of life. Your family would understand and would love you no matter what.”
Venera’s tears began to stop and she was able to smile just a little bit. She was able to get up and she began to limp toward their shelter. Iyubi watched her go, feeling proud of her for getting up. Once Venera was out of sight, Iyubi began her hunt for prey.
A little while later Iyubi was able to catch a small gazelle. She dragged the body back to the shelter. To her surprise Venera was no where to be seen. She looked around, wondering if the hyena got lost. Then Iyubi noticed her bag looked like it was moved. When she looked inside she saw rocks in place of some of her belongings. Notably her pelt she had found was gone.
“Sorry Iyubi! But this is mine now!” the sweet innocent voice of Venera yelled out.
Iyubi looked and Venera was standing a ways on top of some rocks. She was wearing the pelt that was missing.
“What the hell?!” Iyubi yelled out.
Venera let out a laugh, licking the red off her paw. “You came back quicker then I thought! But at least now I can give you a proper good bye! Just so you don’t worry, this is actually berry juice on my paw now blood.” She said with a wink. “It was fun traveling with you! I hope we run into each other again. Be sure to carry around some more of your wonderful treasure.”
With that Venera darted away. For a little bit Iyubi chased her, but the pale hyena was much quicker then her. It did not take long for Iyubi to tire out and head back to her shelter, muttering to herself.
This was NOT how it should have gone, she thought bitterly. How could she have two bad encounters one after another? Was she cursed?
When she got back to the shelter she laid down. At least it can’t get worse, she thought before eating. A moment later it started to rain and all Iyubi wanted to do was scream.
WC: 1,596