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She tapped her chin, mocking me.“Hmm, I never thought of that.But only one of us has vines growing out of our skin.”
I laughed, whipping one of said vines out and spanking her ass, making her squeal and jump.“They’re useful, though.”
She swatted at my arm, laughing.But the laughter soon died down into brooding silence as she once again sunk into thoughts of her friends.I wasn’t going to add to her concerns, so I simply squeezed her hand and let her think.
***
As early afternoon drew near, I offered to stop and have something to eat.
“Do we need to go hunting?”she asked.
“There is likely to be herds of gorae around, but if you don’t fancy the hunt, we can find some luphers.”
She shrugged.“Sure.Whatever works.”
As we walked, I started kicking up the yellowish grasses.Tori let this go unmentioned for a while before she frowned and asked, “What are you doing?”
“Looking for signs of luphers.”
“I thought that—” I shushed her with a light hiss and a wave of my hand, and she silenced, ducking down with me when I pulled her into a crouch.“I thought we weren’t hunting,” she whispered.
“Not exactly.Luphers are too stupid to run away, but they could crush us.”
“Crush us?”Tori hissed through her teeth.“How much do you think we need to eat?”
I shushed her again, causing her to tut.
The luphers always hung around the border between the forest and the fields—another species that wasn’t native to the planet, brought here by the Moeks, though I’m not sure what they were thinking even taking them.They shared no physical characteristics with the Ghaal, so perhaps it was another move born purely from desperation.Or maybe it was a joke, a small act of rebellion.Moeks were the only ones who would help, given the no-trade rules put on the planet by the interstellar authority.Ilk suspected the Moeks grabbed random species under the guise they could be used for breeding, simply to worm more fuel and supplies from the Ghaal.
The luphers had bred quickly, apparently through asexual means, which I had never witnessed the process of.I had no qualms about killing them occasionally for food—they were large and lumbering and ate more than their share, taking it from the smaller native species.After the chemical warfare, the native species had dropped substantially in numbers.Fewer luphers taking their food was a good thing.
I slapped a hand over Tori’s mouth as she squealed when the lupher came into sight—a large yellow creature, brighter yellow than the grasses, and about up to my shoulder in height.It lumbered slowly, weaving in and out of the trees before dropping itself onto the grass with a thump and a huff from its beak.
“Vitri,” Tori hissed, grabbing my arm.“That thing is as big as a fucking car.I don’t think we need that much food.It’s like a giant beetle.”
I chuckled.“Just watch.”
With the lupher settled, I lifted my spear, hurling it toward the creature.With a sure shot, the spear hit the lupher in the side of its large body.
With barely a sound from the creature, it exploded.
“What thefuck?”Tori screamed, standing and jumping backward to avoid the rush of goop flying toward us, spreading over everything near where the lupher had been standing.“Vitri, what theactualfuck?”
I scooped up a handful of the goop, what was left of the lupher, and offered it to Tori.“Eat.”
She looked disgusted as I helped myself, sliding handfuls of the goop down my throat until I was full.Tori hadn’t yet started eating, and I laughed at her expression.
“Just try it, will you?”
With a scowl, she scooped up a small handful and poked her tongue out to taste it, smacking her lips comically afterward.I waited, and she made an irritated humming sound before taking another mouthful.
“It tastes like…” she rolled the goop around her tongue before swallowing another serving.“A really bitter lime jelly.”
“Is that a good thing?”
“It’s passable.Next time, warn me before you explode a giant beetle, okay?”
I laughed.“Where’s the fun in that?”
