The Desert Portal throws you out of the frying pan and into the fire. You realize too late that the volcano is active. You stand on a rocky plateau between vicious magma flows wondering what possessed you to come. The ground beneath you shivers and you feel it sink into the lava. Move as quickly and gently as possible, you leap to the next ledge in reach. You look out into the sea of red hot fire and notice the most peculiar thing. Trees. Large, oak-like trees with their roots buried into the volcano's blood. The leaves are glowing in colors from red to gold as though they, too, are on fire.
"Heyla traveller! You best get up here quick!" A familiar voice calls to you and before you can even think, you're sitting in one of the large tree branches. Sitting next to you, Lady Reaper grins and you almost fall over. Before you can speak though, she raises her hand.
"Everybody in these parts knows the whole island is covered in a constant lava flow. The Flava Trees are the only place to live and they are, indeed, teeming with life." The feline points upward and you notice the incredible height of the tree. The branches, at least five feet thick in some places, are crawling with reptiles and birds... even creatures as large as dogs! You try to stand up and your clothes stick to the branch. You manage to pull away easily but are left with a sticky, red sap on your backside.
Lady Reaper giggles. "Something I forgot to mention! Flava trees are covered with sap to keep its denizens from falling into the magma. It's also quite tasty."
Standing up quickly, naturally balanced, Lady Reaper pads down the length of the branch easily. You get up much more slowly, teetering, but you follow as quick as you can. You blink as she takes a little jump onto another branch. Hesitant, you test the sticky sap on your feet. It seems to hold quite well, you think. With a deep breath, you boldly leap from your branch to the next. Just as you're about to take off, the branch snaps and you fall to your flaming doom. Mid-scream, you find yourself caught in an invisible net. You bounce up, seeing Lady Reaper grinning down at you from her perch, and fall again. You bounce a few more times then settle. Gazing around quizzically, you look up at your feline hostess.
"Come now traveller!" She shouts down to you. "You didn't think I'd let those in my charge fall to their deaths, do you?" In a blink, followed by her harmonious laugh, you're on the branch next to her again. She stands next to your sitting form and you take a deep breath to starve your shakes. "Sweet hellian, you didn't think I'd take the slightest chance with the life of my companions, did you?" She places a hand on her hip and looks down at you expectantly. You smile sheepishly and rub the back of your neck nervously. She cuffs you gently in the back of the head and you notice something crouched behind her legs.
The black, fiery-pointed creature lays on its belly and stares at you intently. It reminds you of a kangaroo from the Earth realm. You look at it curiously and smile. Narrowing its eyes, the creature leaps at you. You almost fall back but Lady Reaper catches it in her arms. "Easy Kattal! It's a friend!" Before she can even hold onto the sooty-colored creature, it scurries up her body and leaps off her shoulder.
"Kattal is a Fire Kajis. She's rather energetic... slightly aggressive." The feline giggles as Kattal glares at you. The Kajis bounds away and you watch it hop to a collection of branches forming a kind of platform. This whole maze of trees has created dozens of platforms for what looks like miles into the sky. You finally stand and witness the young Kajis stalking prey on the platform. Satisfied, you face your hostess.
She snaps her fingers and you inevitably end up somewhere else. You look around and see that the volcano really is an island. A moat surrounds it, filled with magma, and you can still see the enormous trees from here.
"You see, traveller, when I visited The Island Sanctuary, I stumbled across these creatures, the Kajis, and I couldn't resist. Come, come... You must be parched." The feline grins knowingly and leads you off.
| Name |
Kattal |
Gender |
Female |
Species |
Kajis |
Breed |
Fire |
Litter |
Wild 2 |
Arrived |
April 18th, 2005 |
Home World |
The Island Sanctuary |
The Desert Entrance
Home
Lady Reaper
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