Born of proud desert stock and woodlands, Calavera was a being that considered himself to be from two worlds. The sandy dunes of the desert and the dense woods felt like home yet when he resided in one landscape he longed for his other homeland. Since he always felt the urge to travel between his two homes, he was a frequent traveler through the soq lands. During his journeys, he frequently saw unusual sights and creatures. Despite Calavera’s vast experience as a lifelong wanderer, he constantly discovered new plants and animals on his trips. Discoveries such as Phacelia campanularia, or desert bluebells growing profusely in a stretch of desert east of the mountains. Still, Calavera for all his worldliness was startled on his recent trip to the desert.
On this trip, he encountered an unusual creature an outright peevish and suspicious catus cat. The day had started like any other winter day. Winter currently raged through the desert lands. The days were temperate, but the nights could be dangerously cold. Precious water rare in the summer, fell frequently across the sandy dunes, and flowers bloomed profusely. Because of the abundance of water food was plentiful in the winter. Calavera had his favorite spots to forage one was close to his father’s old territory. Despite his father's absence, Calavera still felt the old stallion’s presence in the surrounding land. Dotted by catus and large red flowers the landscape featured one of the desert's prettiest sunset vistas. As a frequent visitor to this stretch of desert, Calavera prided himself on his knowledge of local plants and animals. Yet the day he encountered the cactus cat near his father’s land remained etched in his memory.
It was early morning, and the air was still nippy. Calavera strode towards his favorite breakfast a small desert flower that only bloomed during the winter months. The tiny sweet-tasting flower frequently grew near cactuses. As Calavera started munching on his preferred breakfast he noticed movement nearby. Initially, Calavera thought his eyes were playing a trick on him as the movement was quite slight and the creature had clever camouflage. Huddled under a small cactus was a catlike creature that looked exactly like a prickly cactus. The being opened its pale pink eyes, which looked at him in a way that suggested terror and contempt. The small creature let out a fierce hiss in warning. Calavera was familiar with cats, his mother’s fam was snobbish but an occasionally friendly bobcat. This creature was vastly dissimilar to his mother's fam but similarities in behavior could be observed among all feline types. Intuitively, Calavera knew that the cactus cat's life was in jeopardy. Despite the creature's outward aggression, Calavera knew that behavior was a defensive tactic. He could see that the cactus cat had a large gash along the side of its left back leg. Red blood flowed from the wound. Initially, Calavera wanted to grab the cat and take him to a healer but the animal's behavior and poor condition caused Calavera to pause. “It will be ok, I’ll be right back with help,” he told the cat. Galloping off at full speed Calavera headed towards the location of the desert healers. With any luck he could get a healer to come to save the cat's life.
(W: 542)
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