Matriarch pet prompt 2 - Taha, Elise, Lillie

The four reos stood in the cavern, looking at the matriarch's body. The teams had made progress in extracting her, she was not more than one third freed of the crystals, she could lift her head and look around, even if her body was very weak still and she could not hold herself up for more than a couple minutes at the time, she was still gorgeous under the shine of the stalactite like crystals above her. Moisture had accumulated in the cavern from all the reos working tiredlessly on her, sweating over and over, again and again. The air was musty with it, but nobody was batting at eye. 

 

Many had been surprised when the matriarch started moving, but they were expecting it as well, as every living creature moves once it can do so. The caregivers had helped her lift her head for the first time in decades, and she had smiled thankful at them. What had surprised all the reos in the cave, however, was the creatures that came squeaking out of hidden tunnels in the caves. The matriarch had huffed, smiling gently at them as they all approached her. They were porcupine like, with crystals embedded into them instead of quills, still thin and sharp but multicolored and fragile instead of the quills one would find on a normal porcupine. 

 

They had come out to greet the matriarch, but they had also had to flee from some of the de-crystallization works, where some haedians were holding a kind of huge drill and were drilling the more sizeable crystals instead of trying to dig them out. The caregivers let them all know the creatures were called nyxthorn, and they all watched as the nyxthorn's eyes darted between all the reos, their clawed feet clicking on the ground as they darted from one way to another, out of the way of one group and then the other of reos. 

 

They were agitated, their world shaken as the efforts to free the matriarch went on, and they distrusted these new creatures, the vayrons and empyrians, who they had not seen before. They weren't as wary of Taha as they were of Elise, Lillie and Haldor. Cailu asked them to try and calm down the nyxthorns, but their bodies bristled as they were approached by the reos, their position switching to one defensive, their crystal quills staying straight up, ready to pierce anyone that dared to come close.

 

Lillie, with slow, deliberate movements, reached into the satchel strapped around her body and retrieved a handful of small red berries. They were a bright red, the color of strawberries, but the smoothness of cranberries, and they reflected the colors of the crystal caves from how clean they were. The nyxthorn watched Lillie's hand and bristled as she moved, keeping an eye on her hand, but she simply handled the berries to Taha. From there, Taha carefully stepped forward, but not too much, and placed them between the four of them and the nyxthorn. She then stepped back, further than before, and Lillie, Elise and Haldor followed her lead.

 

The nyxthorn hesitated, their nostrils flaring, testing the air for fowl smells, but they still remained locked in place. In sight of them, Elise extended her hand towards Lillie, and she gave Elise another handful of berries. Elise made sure that she was in full view of the nyxthorn as she bit into the berries, showing them that they were safe to consume. 

 

The nyxthorn relaxed a little as she settled back, stopping her movement, and a single nxythorn, smaller than the other ones, moved forward. it sniffed the berry warily, and it pushed it around with his hand for a second. It pressed on it as well, and the berry got crushed a little and released it's juices. The nyxthorn's nose flared then, and it cautiously opened it's mouth and scooped up the fruit, biting it fully and releasing all the juices. 

 

The reaction was immediate. The nyxthorn froze, its eyes widening as the taste of the berry washed over its tongue. The flavor was unlike anything it had ever experienced, sweet like no other thing, with a small taste of tartness. It chewed on the berry fast before throwing itself to the other berries on the ground, scooping them up and creating a mess as it bit them down.

 

Then it rushed forward, towards Lillie, and opened it's mouth. Lillie laughed and placed more berries into it, and the nyxthorn chewed with happiness all over it's face. 

 

The other Nyxthorn shifted uneasily, still distrustful but now undeniably curious. The one that was gobbling down berries realized so, and instead of swallowing the ones offered to him next, he brought them back to it's group, squeaking excitedly and clearly telling them to eat the berries. One by one they took a berry and ate it, and soon enough they were all circling the four reos. Taha and Haldor helped Lillie undress her backpack, and they got out all the berries she had bought. They should have been their snack, but if it helped make these creatures happy and made them trust the reos, they would gladly go without.