Page 40 of Infala: The Alien's Bond
He did stop on occasion, however, and it was during those little pit stops that Darla managed to catch up, finding him bent over a bush. There was something new. A small furry animal that looked a bit like a mutant rabbit with very muscular legs was now dangling from a strap on his hip. Apparently, he had found time to hunt while he waited for her.
And now he was gathering deep purple berries from a low shrub, plucking them with lightly stained fingertips as he put them in a rigid-bottomed pouch.
The top could expand to hold a large amount, she could see, but the bottom was designed to keep the contents from compressing into mush. A clever design, actually, and one that allowed him to collect an ample amount of the little berries.
“These any good?” she asked, plucking one from the bush and popping it in her mouth. She immediately spat it out, her eyes watering and her tongue not in the least bit happy with the astringent berry’s properties she’d so rudely discovered.
Heydar shook his head. “Caution, woman. You must learn patience. This is not your world. I do not know if you would just blindly eat anything you came across on your planet, but here you must practice care.”
“Then why are you gathering them if they’re bad for us?”
“They are not bad for us. They must simply be soaked in cool water for an hour at the minimum before eating. The coating on them is meant to drive away land animals, but birds have different tasting apparatus. And birds can transport the seeds much farther than a terrestrial beast.”
Darla had to admit, it was kind of impressive. “So, this plant evolved to only be tasty to the things that can help it propagate across a greater area. Clever.”
“Indeed. But with a good soaking, these will be sweet and flavorful once the protective layer has dissolved and washed away.”
It was sort of akin to acorns back on Earth, she mused. Though she’d never eaten any herself, Darla had heard that you were supposed to soak them for several hours before using them to remove the harsh tannins that would upset your stomach.
“Well, now I know,” Darla said, picking a few more and adding them to his pouch. “I thought you packed up food from the village. Why stop for this?”
“Because it is always best to conserve your resources, especially foodstuffs. If we can feed ourselves off the land and save what we carried with us for a time of true need, all the better.”
“Do you foresee that happening? A time of true need, as you called it?”
“Hopefully not, but I learned long ago that prudence is the wisest path.”
Darla couldn’t argue with the logic. “All right, then. Let me help.”
“You would hunt?” Heydar asked, his violet-gold eyes crinkling slightly with amusement. “Very well. Let us see what you can manage.”
He drew one of the twin blades the Oraku had provided him for their trek.
“What? No, I’m not going to go killing Bambi. Or Thumper. Or whatever those things are. I mean give me a bag. I can fill up on berries as we go. And with two of us working together we can stop less. Make better time, you know?”
He cocked his head and pondered her offer a long moment then sheathed his knives. “Very well,” he said, handing her an empty pouch. “Gather what you can, but do not fall far behind. I will not slow for you.”
“Yeah, yeah, you’ve made that abundantly clear.”
He stared at her a moment longer with his unreadable gaze, then turned and headed off once more. Darla followed, keeping him in sight, but not close by any definition of the word. Their path was fairly straightforward, though there wasn’t an actual trail where they were heading. But the space between the trees and rocks was more than ample to make for a fairly easy passage.
Shady patches beneath the burgundy and green canopy gave them a nice cool down from time to time, where others the red stone would radiate heat up at them where it was exposed to the sun. Darla couldn’t help but think that if not for their circumstances, this would be a rather beautiful walk.
Heydar was not one for sightseeing, maintaining a steady course, scanning their surroundings as he moved, alert and ready, like a hunter. Like a predator. Even from a distance Darla was taken with the way he carried himself. Confident and in control. Ready for anything.
Darla felt the growing desire to show him she wasn’t just some helpless waif riding his coattails. She wanted to prove herself. It wasn’t as if she had a praise fetish or anything, but the thought of winning his approval brought a little smile to her lips.
I’ll fill this thing up in no time, she thought, veering off the direct line Heydar was following and into a thicket where she could see some dense clusters of berries growing. Why he bypassed them she had no idea. Probably, he was too focused on tracking game to worry about more berries.
But Darla? She wasn’t about to pass up such a dense patch. As she moved closer, weaving around some low bushes blocking her way, she realized this one detour might even fill her little pouch close to halfway. Not bad in her opinion.
She began picking quickly, adding the ripe ones to her pouch, skipping the questionable ones. Her fingers were getting quickly coated in astringent juice, but she ignored the tightening of the skin on her fingertips and kept working, moving around the low shrubs, following the trail of berries.
A few minutes had passed before she realized she had wandered a bit too far from the path for comfort. Heydar was moving quickly, and if she didn’t get back on his tail she might lose him entirely.
A crack made her jump. Another followed, along with the sound of rustling leaves. Footsteps, and more than one set. Someone was coming, and they were not alone. She quickly turned and began retracing her steps, hurrying back to the open area they’d been trekking through when a low-pitched, rumbling shriek pierced the air just to her side.
Without another moment’s warning a pair of creatures leapt through the foliage right at her. Darla dove to the side, narrowly avoiding the snapping jaws of the hairy beasts. They were the size of a large dog, but their builds were more like miniature bison, with massive shoulders and narrow waists. They also had horns, not just sprouting from the top of their head, but also a ridge of smaller spiky bits running the length of their spines.
