Chapter 77: First Sight
Au’dtair heard the cracking of branches not far away and quickly flew towards it. His prey was definitely having some troubles. It was adorable, almost like a fledging learning how to fly for the first time. He turned off his anti-gravitational system feet from the base of the tree and waited for what was going to come next.
And what did come, he never saw coming.
His prey was still invisible to his infrared sensor, but his helmet adjusted itself so that he was able to see on a different spectrum of light. At first, he was confused. The armor that appeared once the camouflage had been deactivated had initially looked like Saalistaja armor, except for how small it was.
Younglings that size did not get their first set of Nanos until many years later, so it was impossible for it to be a youngling. The armor also didn’t look to be purely Saalistaja. There were definitely some modifications in the style, helmet, and boots, but appeared to suit the wearer extremely well. There were two unusual mounds on the front of the armor, and Au’dtair wasn’t sure what they were used for.
Maybe there was something wrong with the nanos that they produced something like that. Either way, it suited the body well. The creature stood still for a second and looked around. Au’dtair’s camouflage was still activated, so he wasn’t too worried that his prey would be able to see him. However, he was curious why its nose didn’t seem to pick up his scent. Was it defective? Was that why a youngling was given Nanos so early?
With one more glance around, his prey reached up to touch its neck. All of a sudden, the helmet and Nanos dissolved, leaving a species that Au’dtair had never seen before. Its black mane was long and thin, falling from its skull to the base of its spine. He had originally thought that it was also growing out of its spine so as to provide more information, but when it gathered the sensors into its hands and then brought it over its shoulder, he realized that he was wrong.
It looked much softer than his own tresses, and the way that it was stroking it and pulling out strands of it made him shudder in pain. None of his species would willingly touch their tresses. The amount of sensory input from a gentle stroke was enough to cause them to freeze. In fact, it was one of the ways that the females kept the males compliant in mating. But he wondered how her hands on his would feel.
Some of its mane came out with each stroke, and it simply released it into the air, not caring about where it would land. A sudden rage overcame him at the idea of someone or something getting their hands on any aspect of his prey.
Putting on a burst of speed, he captured every strand of hair that it released and put it in a leather pouch beside his waist. If it molted that much, he would need to follow even closer just to ensure that no one would take his prey from him.
Once it had finished stroking its mane, it started twisting the tresses around its claws until it made an almost rope-like structure. Tying it off at the bottom, it then swung the rope over its shoulder, letting it just hang down. Au’dtair studied the structure for a bit, trying to see if he could duplicate it. He was one of the best hunters when it came to making ropes and nets. Nothing that he had created had ever come undone.
If he could weave ropes, he should be able to duplicate this pattern for his prey.
His prey seemed to bend and twist in different ways, almost like it was trying to stretch sore muscles. It was wearing a black suit made out of Dryadalisan silk. Maybe it was a royalty of some kind, but he had never come across its type of species before...
But it had Saalistaja technology and Dryadalisan silk. Could it be one of those pet species Vraev’ox had spoken of? The ones that the L-series had picked up? Maybe his original hunt hasn’t changed. Only now, it was no longer an impossible hunt but one that literally fell into his net. And that meant that the prey was his, and he was the only one to know about it.
The other three were waiting back at the camp. Should he leave and tell them that he had a lead?
But that wasn’t true, now was it? It was only a suspicion, not an actual fact. After all, its armor wasn’t the exact same as the Saalistaja, and it could have come across enough fabric to create a suite like that from anywhere.
His prey was so small, almost half of his size. It wouldn’t take much of the fabric to outfit it. Yes, he would need to gather more information on his prey before alerting the rest of his friends about what he had found. It wasn’t honorable to spread lies, and he was nothing if not an honorable male.
His prey took something out of the bag on its back and started to munch on it like a vasfuggony. He watched as its cheeks started to bulge with the food. It didn’t smell pleasant to him, but if it couldn’t hunt, then it would make sense for it to eat whatever food it could store.
Maybe he should start hunting for it to make sure that it gets the appropriate nutrition. Maybe it was so small because of its diet. He could fix that.
With the foul-smelling food consumed, his prey took out a bottle of water and started to chug it down. Was it normal to drink that much water? Did it need it? The surrounding environment provided more than enough moisture and hydration for him. Couldn’t it absorb the water from the air? Could it only consume it?
Au’dtair started to make up a long list of things that his prey seemed to need. He would be able to provide all of its needs. But it would also explain why it was a pet species to the L-Series. It would need a lot of care to be able to survive even the easiest of environments.
So, what was it doing on this planet?
