The day had been hot. Scorching, even. But those with plenty of experience with the desert knew that even with the hottest of days, the night could be the exact opposite. Braith had found herself sheltering from the sun and heat in the oasis during much of the day and exploring elsewhere at night. After all, this was her home. The desert was where she was born and it was where she had always stayed. She never ventured further, enjoying the chilly air after such a hot afternoon. After all, why did she need to? It may have been hot and dry, but there were plenty of cacti to bite into for hydration and she never strayed too far from the oasis to risk otherwise.
This night was the same as always. The starts were bright in the sky with no clouds in sight and the moon was her guide, silently creeping through the dusty terrain with practiced skill, taking care to avoid any snake trails or sharp rocks. Her goal wasn’t snakes today, nor was it bugs or antelope. It wasn’t like she could easily catch one of those by herself anyway. Her goal for tonight? Cactus. Not just any cactus. Nopal.
Braith knew exactly where the paddle-like cactus thrived in the Badlands. She had walked this path weekly on her hunt for nutrients, trying not to take from a single area too much. It didn’t take long in her nighttime stroll to catch sight of her goal. Her tail wagged as she pranced towards the cactus. This path was one rarely traveled, so the prickly pears growing on her cactus of choice were everywhere.
With careful precision, Braith used her teeth to remove any spines from the fruit before she carefully pulled them off of the cactus. She took her time in grabbing four small prickly pears before turning to retrace her steps back to the oasis. It seemed like a normal night so far - not another wolf in sight. Peaceful. Quiet.
At least, it was quiet… until she heard some rocks get kicked nearby.
Braith stiffened for a moment before doing the only thing she could think of and ran to hide behind one of the larger cacti, dropping one of the prickly pears as she sprinted. The nopal plants were large, thankfully, so she could only hope her hiding spot was good enough for now. The desert was harsh on a good day… if it meant fighting or fleeing over a few prickly pears, she’d choose the latter every time.
She woke with sand under her belly, tangled in her fur and a mouth as dry as the Sahara. Aster rolled her tongue around in her mouth, trying to prompt some kind of saliva to no avail. Her orange eyes blinked, scanning her surroundings and flickering skyward squinting against the blazing sun, she sighed slowly picking herself up and giving a light shake to her coat which was a tangled mess of burs and cactus stickers. "Ohhh..." she complained. This would take forever to get out, and...where was she?
Aster blinked, sighing as her attention was drawn back to the strange place she'd woken up in - and how to get out of this desert before she keeled over from heat exhaustion. Panting, and giving one last shake to her pelt which she'd have to remember to tend to later the woman started in any direction that seemed good. Maybe she'd be able to find a way out of here, or at least track down some kind of water source. Food could wait.
Her mind reeled as she walked, pausing when the scent of something filtered into her nose. Aster raised her head high, sniffing with one paw lifted in the air. Her ears perked up, as a blur of charcoal shot from her view Aster lurched forward. "H-hey, wait!" she barked trotting after the figure briefly before she quickly realized she hadn't a clue where they'd gone to. The Collie sunk slightly, shuffling her feet as she sniffed around through the rocks and dirt, "I...don't mean any harm I just....I don't know where I am, or how to get out of here..." she called softly, her tail wagging in hopes the stranger was still nearby and might be coaxed out.
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.
Aster looked around, utterly hopeless and trying her best to assess her predicament. She couldn't stay here, no, no, no. She had to get out of here, to somewhere at least with water, and food and then ─ then maybe she could find her way home. There was movement, in the direction the stranger had gone and the collie perked up, her long nose turning the direction of the sound, a hopeful twitch of her nose. She watched the other slip out, careful in her movements.
”You’re in the Badlands,“ came the others words. Maybe she knew this place then. A single ear fell back, "Do...you know how to get out? I can't stay here...it's too hot" she wondered, watching the other turn and pick something up.
She seemed uncomfortable with the entire exchange, but when she turned away Aster got a better look at her. The Collie's brows furrowed, her face tightening and pulling together in obvious concern. And even as her company turned back with something clamped in her jaws, and it was pushed toward her, Aster's expression didn't falter. ”Eat. They’re food.” she looked down at the sticky looking food, before her focus turned back on the other woman. "My dear you're green" she blurted. "Are you ok? Are you sick?" what was wrong with her? What did she have? A hundred questions suddenly rushed through her mind. Cast aside the thoughts of getting out of here, or finding water, Aster was concerned for this others wellbeing.
The only reaction she could give to the stranger’s question was a curious tilt of the head. Get out of the desert? That was all there was here. Just, desert. Well, there was the oasis. Maybe she wanted to go there? There was plenty of water and food there, so maybe that would help. She hadn’t seen anyone with fur as thick as hers, so that might be their best bet.
As the stranger’s face contorted in peculiar ways, Braith grew concerned. Was there something wrong? Did they not want the prickly pear? It took a moment, but it soon became very clear that it wasn’t that. Her head tilted even further in confusion. ”N…No?” she finally managed to get out, ”I’m fine…? I’ve always been colored like this. Are you okay?”
Braith took the rest of the half-eaten prickly pear at her paws and ate it then, clearly confused at the stranger in front of her. ”If you’re hot, you should eat those. They’ll quench your thirst a bit. I can…” she paused as she thought for a second, ”I can bring you to the oasis if you want. There’s a lot of water and it’s a bit cooler there.” She remained still in her place as she awaited a response. If they didn’t want more help, well, that was fine. Braith hadn’t had many interactions with visitors so she wasn’t quite sure what else to do.
