[Comm] Salt Stalker

As the three travelling Reoseans stepped out of the Forest of Ebrus, leaving the lush greens and vibrant plantlife behind them the change in scenery was quite stark. Before them stretched what appeared to be an endless expanse with nothing in it. The odd vibrant blue water puddle was surrounded by shining white ground, the odd crystals that were so synonymous with Vitalus breaking through the cracked white ground. There was no doubt about it but this was the famed Salt flats- their second to last stop on their journey to the white city of Hoius.

Salt as far as the eye could see and in spots where salt water puddles had formed they perfectly reflected the sky straight up again. it was a sight to behold and was even for Vitalus standards special.

Umendo glanced ahead, noticing the beginnings of the white city of Hoius on the horizon. With a content smile they point it out to Zin and Obsidian by extending a clawed hand into the direction. „Our goal is in sight. We should keep marching.“ they said, allowing the two Vayrons to share their opinions on the matter.

Zin glanced at Obsidian. „I‘m so ready to explore the Salt flats.“ Though they cast a sad glance over their shoulder at the Forest of Ebrus they had crossed through knowing that the salt flats were pretty, yet the variety in marvelous sights to behold would be restricted to salt formations from now rather than the pure unbridled power of nature. Obsidian followed Zin’s gaze, his pink eyes softening as they lingered on the distant edge of the forest. The Forest of Ebrus had been a sight to behold that is true, its beauty not going paralleled, yet there was something inviting about the stark simplicity of the salt flats before them almost as if it invited the trio to uncover its secrets.

“We’ll have time to take it all in,” Obsidian said gently. “Each step forward brings us closer to Hoius. Besides”—he gestured to the shimmering salt crystals growing from out of the ground even near the forest's edge already, they laid there scattered across the ground—“this place has its own kind of magic. You just have to look closely.”

Zin nodded, casting her gaze toward the horizon and Hoius with newfound determination. “You’re right. Every part of Vitalus has its charm, doesn’t it?” Obsidian simply nodded and with that Umendo took the charge, leading the two Vayrons towards the salt flats, their footfalls crunching under them once salt was below their paws.

The three had been wandering for a while, Zin and Obsidian entertaining a pretend conversation about creating a business to bring a little of Vitalus Salt flats into the homes of those that inhabited the other continents. It had been a refreshing, funny concept to debate about, even if there was no actual intent to follow through with it.

Umendo abruptly stopped opening her wings to shield the two Vayrons following after her as she herself crouched low.

Stay alert,” Umendo whispered, every muscle in their body drawn taught as a bow string.

In the distance, a shadow stalked, breaking the monotony of the flats. It was faint at first, but as it approached, its form became clearer. A massive creature, its body covered in salt-encrusted scales, two whiskers ending in stingers trailing from its snout behind it and two pointed horns standing straight up, lumbered toward them. Its eyes glinted like pure unbridled wilderness, and it's heavy scaled tail dragged behind it, leaving a deep groove in the ground. The colors of its pelt were muted, restricted to shades of white, pink and beige.

“A pouncing Zataro ,” Obsidian muttered, his expression tensing. “I thought there were no reports of Zataro between here and Hoius.”

Umendo didn‘t respond, keen eyes still glued to the beast as it stalked closer. Tyrians were large, but Zataros were formidable foes, not lastly thanks to their poison. Even Obsidian was dwarfed by this approaching predator. Zin shot a worried glance to the still heavily encumbered Tyrian that had volunteered to carry their provisions.

It was clear that they mustn‘t provoke this beast as it had enough destructive force to severely injure any of them. Yet this wasn't up to the trio, no. This Zataro seemed to have already made up its mind, as it broke out into a sprint clearly ready to pounce onto the group as soon as it had closed the distance.

Obsidian cursed under his breath, turning to Umendo who was already fiddling with the straps of the backpacks trying to remove them as quickly as possible. „Zin get behind Umendo!“ barked Obsidian, the urgency apparent in his voice as he helped their tyrian friend with their adventuring gear as getting off of the ground and away from this beast was imperative. Zin shot a worried glance between the sprinting beast and Obsidian who together with Umendo was struggling with removing the weights off of the tyrians back.

„Don't get hurt.“ she said before walking behind Umendo to take cover. „Wouldn‘t dream of it.“ responded Obsidian. He knew the amount of responsibilities he shouldered as an owner of multiple businesses and intended to see all three of them return in one piece.

A backpack finally slumped off of Umendos Back and hit the floor only for Umendo to raise one of her winged arms , grab the backpack and hurl it in front of her. Obsidian didnt dare to look behind him knowing that Umendo had tossed the backpack to slow down the approach of the beast. Finally- the strap he had been fiddling with gave way, freeing Umendo of the second weight, only one more backpack resting on her back. 

Seeing the second backpack drop down gave Obsidian hope yet Umendo didn't seem as happy as him, he saw her open her mouth as if to yell out though no sound reached him as she lunged forward, then suddenly his world went white, almost as if someone had put him in a room only consisting of endless white void in every direction. Then the pain hit him, blinding white and sharp, right in his side. The air had been knocked out of his lungs and as his brain was catching up to what had happened Obsidian opened his eyes to see the beast in front of Umendo who had taken to the air, the beasts claws merely missing Umendos tail and lower legs by a hair as it reached up, intending to bat the Tyrian out of the sky and down into the salt flats again so that it could make short work of them. 

Zins and Obsidian's eyes met, with her gaze being full of shock and worry, glued to Obsidian. She was holding on for dear life on top of Umendo back yelling words out to Obsidian though he strained to understand them.

Everything happened so fast- Obsidian had taken a pained sharp inhale, the next moment that he opened his eyes again, his vision blurring he saw Umendo diving down to the ground to get him with the beast right behind her Zin barking orders to Umendo to help her evade the beasts attack as she tirelessly tried to get to Obsidian.

Next thing he knew he felt claws dig into his sides as he was hastily carried to the skies. The beasts crunching footfalls drumming on the ground quieted and its growls and roars turned to background noise.

„I think it stung him.“ is what Obsidian heard Zin say though he couldn't discern the words meanings through his pounding headache and throbbing pain in his side. When he opened his eyes he saw the salt flats far below him, Umendo holding him securely with her feet as they soared through the sky the city of Hoius drawing closer in record speed, if Obsidians vision would have been able to focus well enough then he might have even been able to see the backpacks on the ground that they had left behind.

As he glanced up he saw Zin's worried face look down at him- were those tears? Ugh, if only he could focus. He didn‘t want to see her cry and hated to see her pelt stained with tears. He strained to focus his mind and used his energy to say one thing willing every muscle in his body to cooperate through sheer determination. „I am glad you are alright.“ he smiled weakly through the pain. Zin barked, „You dork!“ Back at him, the words were not meant to insult clearly, but rather to show how the chaser was feeling about Obsidian's predicament. „Don‘t ever do that again.“ she muttered, still inspecting his wounds.

Umendo who had been making haste carrying the three together to Hoius spoke up.

„He will be fine. Zataro poison is rarely lethal. Though it is nasty to deal with. The problem is that the beast flung him and he might have more injuries as a result of it. The sooner we get to a doctor the better.“ said Umendo sharing her knowledge on the matter with Zin. This seemed to put her a little more at ease, though the worry was still very much printed on her face.

The sole thing that comforted was that she at least knew now that he was going to be fine. That was enough for her. Obsidian felt the same way, knowing that he had succeeded in keeping Zin safe, even if he wasn't able to keep his promise to her to not get hurt. He knew he would be fine as Umendo carried them closer to Hoius where they were sure to receive medical help thanks to Zins and Umendos initiative.