As the group walked along, Eris began to teach Mars and RK some simple things in Nay'weh Spay'chu, such as “hello,” “good-bye,” “yes,” “no,” “please,” and “thank-you,” along with some other basic vocabulary.
“Okay, now say ‘play’AI’say’loo’,” Eris instructed.
“Play-uh-s… um…” RK attempted.
“No, no. ‘Play’AI’say’loo’.”
“PLAY’ai’SAY’loo,” Mars said.
“No, that’s close, but no. It’s ‘play’AI’say’loo’.”
(10 minutes later…)
“No, it’s ‘play’AI’say’loo! Play… Oh, nevermind. Try this one: ‘ah…’” Eris hesitated, not finishing the word.
“That one’s easy! ‘Ah’!” RK declared triumphantly, but was immediately shushed by Eris. “What?” she asked.
“Sh…” Eris insisted, motioning for the two women to stay still and be quiet. She moved silently over to Deygo.
“{{What is it?}}” she whispered. He shook his head to indicate he didn’t know. Mars and RK now could hear the sound that had alerted Deygo and Eris to the approach of something moving with great speed through the trees.
Deygo moved forward toward the underbrush to try to see what it was. Suddenly, his eyes went wide and he hastened to stand up and back away, but was not quick enough to avoid being hit square in the chest by a large, black, panther-type cat. He stumbled backward, attempting to regain his balance as the cat quickly scrambled to its feet. It hesitated a moment, making eye contact with Mars, who had a very surprised expression on her face. The cat then disappeared into the woods again on the other side of the trail. Mars shook her head as if to clear it of something. No one else seemed to have noticed.
“Shee’teh,” Deygo muttered as he looked down to see that he had blood on him where the cat had hit him. "Dai’mu ee’teh."1
“{{Was it injured?}}” Eris asked.
“{{This blood isn’t mine, so yes}},” Deygo confirmed.
“Um,” RK interrupted. “What about them?” She pointed to a group of people that had appeared from the brush. They were all carrying weapons, and looked to be hunting something.
Deygo and Eris turned to see the dozen or so people staring at them. There was an awkward silence for several moments. At last, the one who seemed to be leading the mob spoke.
“{{You let it get away, dammit!}}”
“{{The cat? But it was hurt!}}” Eris protested.
“{{Yeah? Good,}}” the man replied.
“{{Good? Why good? Why are you after it?}} Deygo asked.
“{{It killed my sister’s kid, that’s why. It’s a dangerous beast. If you are so inclined, any help would be appreciated.}}”
“{{I am sorry, but we cannot. We have pressing business of our own to attend to,}}” Deygo told the man.
“{{Fine. Then stand aside and we’ll be after it. It couldn’t have gotten far.}}”
Deygo bowed his head slightly and stood aside. Eris, Mars, and RK did the same, albeit somewhat more reluctantly. Even though they were in a hurry, the people in the group still looked curiously at Mars and RK as they passed by, but didn’t say anything as they disappeared into the brush in pursuit of the creature.
Once the group of travelers were alone again, Eris smacked Deygo on the shoulder. She looked extremely upset.
“Why’d you let them go? They’re just going to kill it!”
“I know. And so what if they do? If it killed a child, then it deserves to be exterminated.”
“But,” Mars interjected. “But it didn’t kill that kid.”
Everyone turned to stare dumbfoundedly at Mars.
“What?” Deygo asked, confused.
“It didn’t kill that kid.”
“How do you know that?” Eris questioned.
“I… I’m not sure. But… But I looked into its eyes before it ran off, and it was like a flash or something. I was able to see what it had seen, and feel what it was feeling. It was like, for an instant, I was the cat.”
“That sounds really whacked, dude,” RK told her friend.
“I know that! But that’s what happened.”
“Okay, okay!” Deygo said, trying to stall any fight between the two women. “I believe you, Mars. I was wondering if something like this might happen. What else did you ‘see’?”
“What do you mean, ‘wondering if something like this might happen’? Huh? What do you know?” Mars demanded.
“He’s right,” Eris concurred. “Now that I think about it. But we’ll explain later. This is urgent. Please, what else did you see?”
RK, Deygo, and Eris looked at Mars expectantly. Mars sighed, and closed her eyes, trying to remember. “I remember I was walking along the road, heading toward the village, when I saw a child in a field, playing. Then a man, dressed very oddly, approached the child, that’s when I noticed the knife he held. I shouted at him, but it was too late. I tried to stop him, but he stabbed me, and took off. He must’ve left me for dead. That’s when the villagers came by. They think I killed that child.”
“Wait, wait,” RK said. “You shouted? But you’re a cat, dude. Cats don’t shout.”
“No, I wasn’t a cat, I was a person, then I changed into a cat when I saw that man use the knife on the kid.”
“That’s messed up, dude.”
“No,” Deygo said. “It makes sense, now. That wasn’t really a cat we saw…”
“…It was a human affected by Libitina to shape-shift into a cat,” Eris finished.
“That’s great, really,” Mars interrupted. “But can someone please tell me why the Hell I know this?”
“Not now, there isn’t time. We must hurry if we are to reach that cat before the villagers do. Come, follow me. I think I know where it’s headed.” With that Deygo moved quickly off into the forest, followed by the three women.
1 “Shit,” Deygo muttered as he looked down to see that he had blood on him where the cat had hit him. “Damn it.”
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