The voice that called out in the distance caused her ears to flatten. Braith didn’t recognize it, nor did she recognize what she could see of their form within the darkness from her hiding spot behind the cactus. They didn’t seem like a threat… but she couldn’t be sure. During the day, the heat of the desert would often play a trick on the eyes. That trickery sometimes made other desert dwellers act just as cunning. For others, it made them more wary. Braith was the latter of the two. Yet, even despite this, she decided to take a chance.
Slowly, quietly, Braith set down her remaining prickly pears where she stood before she peeked out from behind her hiding spot. ”S-stay there,“ she managed to get out before glancing at the other cacti in the area and found another prime hiding spot and darted towards it. Braith got another cautious view of the stranger. They looked like a mess, covered in cactus spines and burs, and definitely didn’t seem to be from here. Was this one of those.. visitors? The stranger looked out of sorts enough that maybe they were. Even if Braith hadn’t been around many others, she had heard whispers here and there of visitors from other realms far different from their own homelands. But then again, Braith had only ever been in the desert. She couldn’t even comprehend the idea of places like forests, where the trees were never-ending, or hills covered in wildflowers.
After a few more moments of hiding, Braith gained a sliver of confidence to creep out from behind the cacti. She shuffled her paws through the sand to reveal her comparatively smaller form. ”You’re in the Badlands,“ Braith finally spoke, the confidence in her voice being obviously feigned as she tried to act as if the stranger wasn’t the first one she had seen in weeks, or even months. She glanced back to her original hiding spot a bit awkwardly, then moved back towards it to grab the other prickly pears before slowly, cautiously, she approached the stranger.
Braith stopped at a safe distance before setting the pears down and pushed the fruit towards them with her nose before backing away a couple of steps. ”Eat. They’re food.” she offered. Even though her instincts told her to flee, they didn’t look like a threat. Either way, it seemed like her peaceful evening was going differently than she had planned. Just in case the stranger didn't believe her, Braith carefully pulled another pear off the nearest cactus before she removed the spines with practiced ease and took a bite for herself. The taste was sweet and tart and she savored it while she remained on guard, curiosity of the stranger equaling her weariness for now.
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