[Trade] NO SILK?! - Pouncing Zataro Hunt (Vitalus)

It was quite chilly that day, and the bustling streets of the Salt City were filled with Tyrians and Vayrons, all looking for something in the markets.
Yokourin was there too, happily shopping with all the peace of the world, paying no mind to the irritated vendors who only wanted to know if he was buying something or not.
But Yokourin was looking not for silk, but for THE silk.
He had heard that some travelling merchants had brought from the far Thedale some high quality silk, that shined in the sun and had incredibly vivid colours.

So, obviously, Yokourin needed that silk. Only the best silk could adorn his shoulders, after all. The problem was that he couldn't find those vendors.
He tried to ask around, but nobody had seen them.
The Haedian was starting to get a bit upset about it: sure, he had time... But he didn't want to spend it waiting around like a dog waiting for its dinner.

He huffed, walking down the streets and stopping to look at some jewels. But as he was trying some rings, a big and dark coloured Empyrian slammed her shoulder on his back.

“Hey! Are you blind? Can't you see I'm standing right here?”

He grumbled, already upset at the missing vendors he travelled so far for. The other Tyrian snorted loudly, and turned. Her pupils were white, and the spots on her head looked way too similar to eyes.

“Yes, and?”

“O-oh... My bad, but- well! You should use a cane or something!”

Yokourin watched as the other Tyrian snorted again, and disgusted by the spittle flying around, he took a step back.

“Aww, what a nice brat you are, hmm?”

“A brat?! I am not!”

“Whatever you say, not-brat.”

Higatami, the Empyrian, grinned as she bullied a bit the Haedian. Yoko was not amused by that, but before he could talk back, the two both heard some commotion ahead, down the street.
Curious, Yokourin walked toward the noise, trying to keep some distance to the other Reoseans, especially the ones who were covered in dust from all the work they were doing around the city.

In the middle of a square, there was an elderly-looking Vayron, accompanied by a human and an elf, who covered themselves with some heavy robes.

“Please listen, Salt City citizens.”

They started, with a sad and upset voice, while the human and the Vayron stood there, quiet.

“We are travelling merchants. As we were traversing the Smooth Canyons, a beast descended upon us, destroying our cart, killing our friends and stranding us here. All the money we had was on the cart with our high quality silks, so now we have nothing.
But if one or more of you would be so kind to retrieve our goods, we will pay you back generously!”

But unfortunately for the elf, as they said they didn't have money on them, more and more people and Reoseans started to ignore them, returning to their activities.
Yokourin was going to do that too, but he remembered something very important.

The silk. Those in the square were the travelling merchants he was looking for. And, they had lost the precious silk.
He wanted to scream at his misfortune, but instead he walked to the saddened trio, not noticing Higatami following him.

“You are the silk vendors, right? The ones who have the best silk, that shines under the light?”

“Oh- yes! Yes we are!”

The human answered, looking hopeful.

“When will you get another batch?”

“A-another batch..?”

Then, the human looked dead on his feet. How could they get another batch, if all their possessions were gone?
Yokourin ignored the giggling Empyrian behind him, waiting for an answer.

“Uhm... Young one, I'm afraid we will not have any more silk.”

The elderly Vayron said softly and with a great sadness in his voice. Like a petulant child, Yokourin let out half a whine.

“Why not? Aren't you famous merchants?!”

“That, we are. But all our money was on the cart... So even if we are famous, we cannot acquire more silk, unless our merchandise and money are retrieved from the canyons.”

He kindly explained, making Higatami snort again, and Yokourin nearly slapped her with his tail. What a brutish and annoying lady.

“I... Understand. And if I get your stuff back, you can sell it, right?”

“Well... Yes, but-”

“Then, I'll go fetch it! It shouldn't be so hard!”

Yoko didn't even wait for the elder to finish talking, already taking off. He wanted that shiny silk, after all.
Higatami let out a startled laugh, and even if she couldn't see, she could feel the disbelief on the faces of the three merchants.

“I will keep an eye on him. Say, what beast were you attached by?”

“...It was a Pouncing Zataro.”

“A WHAT?!”

***

Yokourin had found a map, and was now travelling toward the smooth canyons. If it was only a beast, it wasn't going to be THAT difficult to get back all the merchant's stuff.
Boy, how wrong he was.

It took half a day to get there, and his paws were already hurting, scraping against the pointy rocks of the road.
Every ten minutes or so of walking, he would grumble out some insults, annoyed. What kind of beast could scare off travelling merchants? He even heard that they fought two Gryphons and won, so they shouldn't have had that much of a problem against only one foe.


As he walked on the path that lead deeper in the smooth Canyons, Yoko noticed something. It was a flapping sound, like one of a big bird... He raised his head, just in time to see the big Empyrian of that morning slamming, AGAIN, against him.

“OW! I know that you are blind, but be careful!”

“You idiot! Why did you come here without knowing what the beast was?!”

Yokourin was surprised to hear the other that out of breath, and that worried.

“Ah? I'm not a child, I can handle myself and any beast.”

“Not a Zataro!”

“...The beast is a ZATARO?!”

Higatami huffed, and tried to grab him by the neck with her long claws.

“Come on, we better leave.”

“I want my silk. Leave, if you want.”

“You-”

Before the two could argue more, they both heard a snap over their heads. Shivering, both looked up, and there it was... A brown and yellow beast, bigger than the Empyrian, with long and whip-like whiskers.

“...Bye.”

Higatami launched herself in the air, as the beast did what it's famous for: pouncing on its prey.
Yokourin scrambled away, claws scratching the smooth rocks as the Zataro jumped right were he was half a second before.

The Haedian looked at the beast, who now seemed quite focused on him. And not in a good way, that's for sure.

“Hey! Where are you going, give me a hand! I can't fly!”

He screamed at Higatami while keeping his eyes on the Zataro, that slowly licked its own fangs. The dumbo ears of the Haedian dropped like long loopy ones in fear.
Seeing the beast getting ready for the hunt, Yokourin did what he could: he ran.
He didn't know how to fight such an opponent, since he usually had someone hunt for him, and he didn't never feel the need to spend time learning battle arts.

Yoko turned a corner quickly, with the Zataro snapping at the tip of his fluffy tail. The Haedian's wing membrane were half folded: ready to be used, but not open all the way, so they wouldn't slow him down too much.

The Zataro was breathing on his back, ready to eat him and then digest him in those canyons... He had to save his own skin, this time. Yokourin could hear Higatami flying over him, but he couldn't see what she was doing. The Haedian cursed in his mind, angered. The Zataro wanted to eat him, and that rude lady was going to only watch!
But, as he thought that, he felt the beast behind him yelp. With the corner of his eye, Yoko saw the Zataro pawn at his face, where a small wound was... And on the ground beside the long claws of the beast's paws, there was a rock. It wasn't a big rock, but dropped from high enough it could hurt.

Yokourin felt hope, and quickly turned toward the smooth rock wall and readied his talons. Using the distraction that Higatami provided with the stone, he wanted to scale the smooth wall and then glide away, once he was high enough to catch some wind.
His talons however, didn't have enough grip on the too smooth stone. Yoko slid back down both the times he tried to climb the wall, and now there wasn't any time left. The beast shook its head, and Yokourin heard Higatami hiss angrily, as the creature fixed its gaze back on him.

The Pouncing Zataro snarled and launched itself on the Haedian, who dodged the attack for a hair, escaping through a tunnel on the left.
The tunnel was narrow and the rock under his paws turned to sand, which made running even more difficult. Yokourin could hear the Zataro scratching at the entrance of the tunnel, as it was too big and with too wide shoulders to squeeze between the rocks.

“Oi! Still alive in there?!”

Higatami asked, flying on the other side of the tunnel. The beast in the meantime hissed and growled, pawing at the ground as if it could pull the sand and rocks like a carpet and drag the prey, Yokourin, to itself.

“Not for long if you don't help me!”

“Weeeell, you put yourself in this situation!”

“Ugh- you are a very rude lady!”

Yokourin nearly screeched when he felt a pull on his tail, and turned just in time to see the Zataro spitting a couple of black and brown hair.
He ran out of the little hiding hole, growling quietly at Higatami, who was suspiciously silent.
With the Empyrian on his head, he ran towards the east side of the Canyons, while Higatami gave him some directions. At first, he didn't question it as they had a beast roaring and growling on their tracks, but when she told him to drag himself in a crack, Yokourin hissed.

“And say, how do you know where to go and where this crack is?! Aren't you blind?”

“...”

“What.”

“Just get in the crack, we will discuss everything in a bit.”

With a huff, Yokourin crawled on the rock wall, slipping a couple of time and freezing at every noise, knowing that the Zataro was way too close to be at peace.

“Well?”

Higatami hissed, and after she got a hold of the rocks around the crack Yokourin was hiding into, she started talking.

“Well. Not my first time hunting a Zataro around here, alright?”

“And why didn't you tell me you are an expert?!”

Higatami snarled at him, making Yokourin recoil at the angry expression.

“Because, I AM NOT. First, I was hunting with two other reoseans, second, they at least knew what they were doing!”

Ouch, that hit right where it hurt.
Yokourin grumbled something, but as he lowered his head, he saw the brown beast staring at him.
The Zataro found them, but since the crack between the two rocks was far up in the smooth walls, it couldn't reach the two reoseans.

The creature growled, its whip-like whiskers smacking on the rock wall.
It was angry and very frustrated. Yokourin frowned seeing all that droll on the animal mouth. It wasn't sick, just very hungry... It must have been difficult to find food in the canyons.

“So?”

“So?”

“So, what now?”

Higatami shrugged, perched on the rock near the crack.

“Now we wait until it gets tired or bored.”

“...How long does that take?”

“...Dunno.”


Apparently, Zataros are very food focused and do not get tired easily.
After nearly three hours, with the sun now going down, the three souls were still there, in the middle of the Canyons.
Yokourin felt sore, and every time he moved to try to find a more comfortable position, the beast under them growled, whipping its whiskers.
They were going to die there, he was very sure of it.

“Is there really nothing that can be done?”

He asked, after another hiss of the Zataro.

“...You could jump on it and try to strangle it.”

“...Something more doable?”

Higatami rolled her eyes, “looking” down to the beast.
Here ears were perked on her head, as if she was trying to gather more informations on the matter.

“Hm. Nope, jumping on it and attacking is our best bet. Or, well, yours. I could fly away whenever I want.”

Yokourin silently thanked the grumpy and rude lady for not leaving him alone.

“Will you help me kill it?”

“Sure, as long as I get some of the money.”

“Uh... Good. Plan?”

Higatami grinned at him, then slowly, like a big parrot, used her left leg to grab him with her claws.

“You jump.”

“I whAAA-!”

The empyrian tossed the haedian down, on the unsuspecting Zataro, that didn't think its prey would just come running at it.
Yokourin fell on top of the beast, smacking it in the face and missing by a claw the sharpest scales on its back. Quickly, Yokourin scrambled back as the beast snarled and got up, shaking the dust and sand off.

“Now, pipsqueak!”

“P-pipsqueak?!”

Higatami dove down, claws ready to plunge deep in the Zataro's side.
Yokourin gulped and launched himself at the beast too, with a terrified and frustrated scream. The creature snarled, black claws swiping towards him, but the Empyrian slammed in its side before it could injure the haedian.
The Zataro fell on the side howling in rage and pain, whipping its whiskers, but exposing at the same time the soft throat.
Yokourin lunged, and deep he dove his fangs, as the creature trashed in pain, missing him with its whiskers the few times it tried to poison him.
Finally, after a lot of struggle, droll and blood flying around, the beast stood still, dead.

“That was... Something.”

“Yeah... Let's get back.”

Yokourin dragged a paw to his bloodied maw, wincing. He looked like some barbarian now, he was sure.
He got up, shook some dust off himself and slowly tried to walk back to the city, only to be stopped by Higatami, who laughed loudly at him.

“Ain't you forgetting something?”

“What would I forge- THE SILK!”

***

Luckily for them, the silk and the money where still in the abandoned carriage, the only missing thing was the horse, but dried blood trail let them know that it was useless to try and search for that too.

With the goods tied on their backs, the two made their way back to the city, where they finally were able to rest.
The merchants came the next morning in the tavern they each had gotten a room at, with tears in their eyes.
Their precious merchandise was safe, with all the money. They paid Higatami quite well, and gave a few pieces of silk to Yokourin.

The Haedian avoided every piece that looked brownish or golden.