"Get back here!" Bart hissed, as he chased down his erstwhile pet. The biggest problem so far with having a Malayan Flying Fox of his very own was just how quickly a creature that large could disappear. How did a flying mammal with a nearly six foot wingspan manage to move through the tropical foliage without making a sound or a disturbance?
Unfortunately, Bob was as bad at listening as he was good at disappearing, and he had seen something interesting off in the distance. He tucked in leathery wings as he dropped into a dive, heading towards his goal as Bart ran after him.
"Bob!" the golden-eyed youth cried out as he saw the bat heading towards a man. "You can't DO that!"
Cain had his gun spun out of its holster and drawn immediately, keeping it trained on the sky. "You've got two seconds to call it off before I shoot," Cain warned, finger heavy on the trigger and just waiting for an excuse to blow the mobat-like creature out of the sky.
Bart gave a whistle, the only command Bob seemed to mind so far, holding out an arm. The bat snapped his wings open to change his flight direction, and Bart kept his face still as the claws dug into his arm, not hard enough to draw blood, but painful. He comforted the poor, frightened animal, even as he shot a glare at the man.
Cain was all-too-happy to do so the minute it was out of the sky. "Sorry, kid, but the past couple of days I've had, I'm not trusting anyone or anything, especially when your little pet looks like something that would've clawed my eyes out, only a week back," Cain put it bluntly, holstering his gun properly and letting his coat draw over it.
"Bob's harmless, really. Unless you're a mango," he said, shaking his head. The idea of a bat purposefully clawing someone's eyes out...he had to suppress a shudder.
Bart considered then, even as he felt the bat move to hang from the cloth of his shirt, against his body. He still acted like a baby sometimes. "There aren't any other bats like him here. You just arrive?"
"New to the neighborhood, yeah," Cain agreed, with a wry smile, like that ought to mean something. "I'm Cain," he introduced himself with a brisk nod and little else. "He looks like something back home. A mobat." At least, on first glance. Looking closer, the facial features are different enough.
"Bart," he offered, thinking about offering a hand as well, but deciding against it. This Cain guy was probably going to be one of those who thought Bob was a hideous creature, and it was better not to give him a chance to make a worse impression. Carefully reaching in his pocket, he dug out the packet of figs he had with him and handed one to the animal, who devoured it eagerly.
"I've only had him about a month, so we're still working on training."
Cain watched the creature for a long moment, looking to see just what its main focus was and eventually, it didn't look as dangerous. "I've only been here all of a couple hours, so I'm still getting used to the place." He'd seen the caves. Hadn't been too keen on delving inside them yet, but he'd seen them, which was why he was so on guard when it came to creatures from the sky.
"I don't think anyone ever does get used to this place. Every time you think things are settling in, it changes the rules. Albeit most are of a strictly temporary nature," Bart said, shrugging. "Pretty safe though, unless you cross the fence into dinosaur territory."
"Giant reptiles. Quite a few have claws and a taste for meat. Fast buggers, too. Faster than a man can run, anyways. Most could catch a horse, too. Luckily the fence keeps them on their side of the island, up north," Bart said, nodding slightly in that direction.
"It's better than some of the places I've lived. The people are pretty nice, low crime rate, no wars..."
"Never heard of the things," Cain said, wondering just how much they shared in common with Papay. "We've got something similar, but they're small things. Could eat a man in half under thirty seconds. I've seen it," he said coolly.
He'd fought many a war in his time, but never so many as when the Witch took hold of Azkadellia.
"Sounds lovely," Bart said, dryly. "My world, we mostly had to worry about the human kind of trouble. Or the occasional interstellar war. The people, I miss. The planet, not so much. If it weren't practically a prison, this place would be paradise."
"This place, a prison?" Cain echoed, giving Bart a dubious look, almost an angry one, to call a place like this a prison, with such a bright sky, with such open walls. "Kid, you don't know what prison is like if you think this is an example of one."
"Close enough. The whole island, but you can't leave. People have tried. The only way off is the way folks come. Just appearing and disappearing for no reason at all," Bart said, shaking his head. "Fancy words don't change things, and a prison's a prison. This is just nicer'n most.
Cain took his hat off to shake it out, brushing droplets off as he didn't once take his eyes off of Bart, shaking his head. "You can move, you can breathe, and you can see what you like," he offered evenly, icily. "Trust me. This is no prison."
Unfortunately, Bob was as bad at listening as he was good at disappearing, and he had seen something interesting off in the distance. He tucked in leathery wings as he dropped into a dive, heading towards his goal as Bart ran after him.
"Bob!" the golden-eyed youth cried out as he saw the bat heading towards a man. "You can't DO that!"
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"Put the gun away," he said, coldly.
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Bart considered then, even as he felt the bat move to hang from the cloth of his shirt, against his body. He still acted like a baby sometimes. "There aren't any other bats like him here. You just arrive?"
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"I've only had him about a month, so we're still working on training."
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"It's better than some of the places I've lived. The people are pretty nice, low crime rate, no wars..."
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He'd fought many a war in his time, but never so many as when the Witch took hold of Azkadellia.
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