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Assumptions and Introductions
Tina awoke to the glare of the early morning sun. As she slowly sat up, she noticed she was in a small rocky cave, which was filled with an odd scent, as well as the smell of fresh pine from the trees surrounding the cave's entrance. She looked down at herself and realized that she was bandaged up, and looked to see if Koopa had done this. Almost immediately, she realized her sister was missing once again, and was about to dart out of the cave looking for her, when a figure made it's way through the entrance. It was a tall man, with odd blue hair, and a small little leaf head dress on, which rested on his pointed ears. He hard two large blue horns on his head unlike Tina's or her sister's, and soft grey eyes which were squinting in the morning light. Instead of legs, the man had a long dark blue tail, with a palish blue underbelly. He carried a small, dripping wet net at his side as he rounded the corner and made his way into the cave.
Tina saw stared at this figure in awe until her eyes rested on his stomach, which was slightly bloated. Without giving it any thought, she growled (what she thought) was a menacing growl as she spoke. "Where's my sister..."
"Hmm?" The man looked back along his snake tail, then smiled at Tina. "Well, she's right here! With me!" Tina growled even louder at this, and reared back at he approached her. "Oh! I'm sorry! That's not what I meant. I meant she's here, see?"
He pulled the rest of his tail in from the morning air and pointed to Koopa, who was clinging to his tail and purring like a kitten. She had bandages on her wounds as well. Fluffles was nesting and snoozing further up on the naga's tail.
"She got up about two hours ago. After talking for a little while, we thought we'd go out and get some food before you woke up." He set the net down, and opened it, showing Tina a few fruits, a bunch of fish, and one strange looking flower. "The plant is for this little chick...it wouldn't leave the red cat girl's side."
Tina stared at Koopa, then let out a sigh of relief as she smiled up at the stranger. "I am very sorry...It's just that it seemed as though...well..."
He laughed and gave Tina a pat on the head. "It's ok. See...I got my fill of fish in earlier. Your friend is quite the little hunter, so it was the first time I was able to pig out in a long time.. So...Tina is it?" He stared back at Koopa, who only nodded as she continued to cling to his tail. "Ah. Nice to meet you Ms. Tina." He smiled and held his hand out for a hand shake.
Blushing, Tina grasps his hand, "Such a gentleman...And...What would your name be?"
"Ekone. No last name."
"Ah. Are you here with anyone?"
Ekone lowered his head, "No...I've been livin alone for quite some time now. I did have a few friends here..."
"Brother? My, what happened?"
He frowned up at her, almost tearing up, "Poachers happened. Turns out these horns are worth something to them. As well as our hides. There's still a few out there. Somewhere. But no. I've been alone for a very long time now."
"I'm sorry to hear that...You sure seem friendly though."
"It's the first time I've had some friendly company in a long time! Plus...I couldn't leave you two like that....You guys needed some serious attention."
"I do appreciate it...."
"You both had a pretty necklace on you two. I fixed it. ...I think..."
"The Gem!!" Tina looked around frantically, only to find it hanging from the rock wall, as if it were on display.
"Your friend here had it. But she was acting wierd. The minute she dropped the necklace, it was like she had changed completely. So I fixed it for her!"
"..You didn't feel anything when handling it?"
"Nope. Was I suppose to?"
Tina stared at Ekone in shock, then smiled as she said, "Maybe you should hold it for us for the time being."
"No problem. Now...About your friend...."
"Koopa? She's a little clingy with nagas. Don't mind her."
"Ah, ok. So why were you two out there in the first place? I mean..you guys were out for almost two weeks"
"Well...It's a long story. I'm guess I'd be willing to tell a new friend though."
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