As Nova and Lunaris traversed through the new "continent," they found themselves being chased by bull-looking creatures, who had two heads, four legs, and two noses, with six different eyes. They were all different colors, and so even eerily shaped to look different, with different sizes to them, so pointy, others dull.
"Well, Lunaris," Nova said to the Harlequin Cat, who was pinching its claws into him, as a way to secure itself onto Nova’s T-shirt, as he ran from the swarm of bulls coming towards him. "It looks like we’ve already attracted a little bit of attention, since yesterday."
Lunaris owed softly, Nova agreeing with him, nodding his head. As he ran, eventually, getting a tad bit serious, and really running at his normal speed, he crossed a couple of dozen bodies of water, all shimring different colors, mostly red, creatures of Beastaria surrounding the bodies to drink from them. He found himself in a new bio on the new continent.
He slowed down, just walking at this point, and experiencing what the new bio had to offer. Nova slowed to a steady walk, his breath easing, as his steps softened against the ground.
Lunaris still clung to his shoulder, claws sheathed now, though the cat’s fur bristled faintly with suspicion. The air in the new bio was cooler, crisp even, carrying a very interesting, eerie sll that felt like burning tal.
The bio they’d entered felt quiet, but loud, filled with this heaviness that couldn’t be described. Strange plants bent toward them, the ends of their stems splitting into translucent fingers that waved lazily, as though greeting them.
Small motes of light drifted like fireflies, but upon closer inspection, they were tiny winged creatures, sowhere between insects and birds, their wings shaped like glass petals, humming faintly as they moved.
"Finally," Nova muttered, brushing his sleeve where Lunaris had left faint claw marks. "Sothing that doesn’t want to murder us in the first five minutes."
Lunaris jumped down, landing soundlessly on the glittering soil. His mismatched eyes glead with interest as he padded toward a small creature drinking from a pond.
It was about the size of a rabbit but had translucent fur, through which soft blue veins pulsed. Its eyes were like beads of opal.
When it saw Lunaris approach, it didn’t flee. Instead, it tilted its head and emitted a soft, bell-like sound, neither a chirp nor a growl, but sothing lodic.
Nova crouched beside the pond, the water shimring with layers of color that shifted as if aware of his gaze.
"You friendly?" he asked, holding out a hand.
The creature sniffed his fingers, then pressed its tiny forehead against them. Its skin was cool, almost glasslike, yet warm beneath the surface.
"Looks like we’ve got our first local friend," Nova said softly.
Another creature erged from the bushes, a tall, long-necked being covered in what looked like scales made of leaves.
It had two sets of eyes on each side of its head, blinking asynchronously. Despite its bizarre appearance, it radiated calm. It moved slowly toward them, each step deliberate, as though careful not to disturb the earth too much.
The translucent creature made another bell-like sound, and the leaf-scaled one responded with a low, harmonic hum that resonated through the ground.
Nova felt it in his chest, a soothing vibration that seed to untangle his nerves. Lunaris, for once, didn’t hiss or arch his back. He simply sat, eyes half-closed, tail twitching lazily.
"Alright," Nova said, smiling faintly. "This place isn’t so bad. Weird, but peaceful."
For several minutes, he just observed the way the smaller creatures moved in flocks, the way the tall one seed to guide them.
The ecosystem here worked in a strange harmony, unlike the chaotic wilderness of Beastaria’s other regions. Then, the peace fractured.
It began with a low rumble, subtle enough that Nova thought it was his imagination. The ground trembled a little, sending ripples through the pond. The friendly creatures froze, their bodies going rigid. Even Lunaris’ fur stood on end.
The rumble deepened into more of a growl. "...Okay," Nova whispered, standing slowly. "That doesn’t sound friendly."
The leaf-scaled creature turned its head toward the horizon. In the distance, the trees bent, snapped. Sothing massive was moving through them, and its roar followed soon after, rolling through the valley like thunder.
It was unmistakably primal. When the creature erged, Nova’s jaw went slack. It was, without exaggeration, a dinosaur. Not just vaguely dinosaur-like, no, this was straight out of an Earth textbook.
A hulking, bipedal beast with jagged teeth, muscular legs, and skin that shimred between scales and smooth hide. It looked like a distorted T. rex, except its eyes glowed faintly violet, and it had streaks of crystalline growths jutting from its spine.
"What the hell..." Nova whispered. "That’s... that’s a dinosaur. An Earth dinosaur."
Lunaris owed, tail flicking sharply, as if to say, Do you finally see how weird this place is?
The beast let out another roar that shook leaves from the trees. Birds, if that’s what they were, erupted from the canopy in a storm of color.
Nova didn’t move. He just stared, brows furrowed in confusion. "No, seriously, how? You shouldn’t even exist here."
The dinosaur’s glowing eyes fixed on him. Its nostrils flared. The ground cracked slightly under its step.
And Nova waved. "Hey there, big guy!" he called, like a complete fool. "You lost?"
Lunaris hissed in disbelief. The dinosaur blinked once, as if montarily baffled by this tiny, unard creature’s audacity.
Then it tilted its head and let out a sound halfway between a bark and a screech, charging forward with alarming speed.
"Oh, co on!" Nova yelped, finally springing into motion. He darted backward, tripping over a root before catching his balance, laughter bubbling up uncontrollably. "I was kidding! Don’t take it personally!"
Lunaris bounded after him, looking distinctly unamused. Nova leaped over a small ridge, landing near another pond, the dinosaur crashing through trees behind him like an avalanche. Instead of fear, however, adrenaline-fueled amusent overtook him. He looked back and grinned.
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