A chiming bell echoed discordantly with the natural sounds of the forest, and the kuscra's triangular ears twitched, the angular muzzle swiveling to regard a neglected green pouch with many straps. Curiously, the ivory-furred mustelid skittered over to the pack and dug past the array of buckles and flaps with deft hands until its short, clawed fingers closed upon a round object. The bell chimed again, vibrating the smooth device just slightly, and the kuscra sat back on its haunches to lift the sphere to its nose.

Snf. Snffff. No, there was nothing important if the sphere smelled only of cool metal. Bright, inquisitive eyes scanned the surface, tiny hands turning the object around and around to inspect it. No, there were no ripples on the skin of the device, nothing to be touched and understood by the discriminating pads on the tips of little fingers. The kuscra sighed, then chirruped an inquiry.

The bell only chimed in response.

Annoyed now, the lithe creature dropped the sphere back into its particular pocket in the pack and started to turn--

A set of gaping jaws half as long as the mustelid's own lengthy body descended from above, huge teeth gleaming with saliva, and closed around the smaller mammal's ribs. Gently, the tar'kran lifted its charge high into the air, a guttural snort steaming from wide nostrils in admonition. The kuscra chittered and wailed in protest, but another snort silenced it, and its big ears twitched again.

The bell chimed, and now the sphere seven feet below the mustelid's anxious feet released a musky odor instantly read by both creatures. The kuscra squealed in alarm and clung to the bony ridges of the tar'kran's face with its fingers and toes, scrambling over the broad forehead and thick neck to hide between high-rising shoulderblades. With a breathy growl, the tar'kran bowed its snout to carefully pick up the abandoned, reeking pouch, then turned its head and awkwardly made sure that at least a few straps snagged on the bony protrusions rising from its shoulders. Once the bag was hung reasonably securely, the dark-skinned beast began moving at a swift lope.

The kuscra stayed hidden, curled up with its bright eyes behind its plumed tail, sharp claws nigh-gluing its light frame to the tar'kran's back. Pheromones that betrayed fear brought an acrid stench to the air, and the tar'kran huffed, displeased, as its talons pounded the uneven terrain in a steady gallop. Minutes passed, and the sphere ceased releasing scent, but now its formerly sleek surface dimpled and stretched into strange symbols that shifted and disappeared and reappeared. Once the kuscra caught the faint whirring noise, it stretched up and over the tar'kran's high shoulder, soft stomach resting on the smooth curve of exposed bone as it dug the sphere out and then retreated to the safety of its ward's back. Almost comically, the long-furred mammal juggled the device in its hands, palms and fingerpads reading the message being broadcasted.

It was a disturbing message, and when the sphere smoothed into blankness once more, the kuscra was whimpering in the back of its throat nervously, beady eyes darting left and right at the foliage the tar'kran was bounding past. The reek of fear rose again.

There. There, ahead and to the right. The deep, throaty cough of a predator.

The tar'kran veered instantly to the left but did not slow. The kuscra on its back ducked low and clung, whining, to the leathery hide of its ward.

To the left, almost even with them, another cough. The first predator answered, and the pair of hunters began a conversation as the second kept pace easily with the running tar'kran. The now-prey grunted its displeasure as it broke through the treeline and left the forest for a more grassy area that stretched towards another, distant, copse of trees.

The predators burst from the treeline simultaneously and began narrowing in on the fleeing tar'kran and its now-shrieking passenger. The second cougher was the faster of the pair, and it leapt for the tar'kran's haunches before its partner was close enough to do the same.

Smoothly, the tar'kran stopped and whirled, presenting its slavering jaws and horned temples to the swift ursine's face. The collision of beasts of similar size should have sent them both staggering backwards or seen them writhing in a heap where they crashed; instead, the tar'kran's attacker crumpled bonelessly upon impact, and the tar'kran itself only slid backwards a few inches from the shock.

The tar'kran shook its heavy head, now spattered in grey matter and shards of bone from the ursine's shattered skull, and twisted about to greet its other hunter. The other ursine was standing stiff-legged with shock, blunt muzzle contorted with a snarl.

After another shake of its muzzle, the tar'kran grunted and took a few steps forward, challenging the widowed hunter. The ursine hesitated, stood its ground, and cough-growled loudly. The tar'kran took another two steps.

The ursine fled.

After the tattoo of running paws had faded, the kuscra clambered onto the tar'kran's broad skull and deftly picked off the strings of gore and remaining bone shrapnel, chittering in distaste as its off-white paws became stained red. Once its ward's face was uncluttered with biological debris, the kuscra scraped the blood off against the tar'kran's tough skin and skittered back to its place between the shoulderblades.

With a soft huff, the tar'kran resumed its steady lope towards the place both creatures called home.

...I am on a comm high.

XD!



Basically made this one for myself and anyone else who wants a place to work on, discuss, and store creature/world/ecosystem ideas, concepts, and descriptions. Don't join iffenz ya dun want spammed. Because we all know I'm a crazy cresh like that. However, I don't mind being spammed with your stuff either. XD!

Join the Bestiary if you:
--want to post your species descrips somewhere for feedback/easy linking on your stories
--want to post your species art/concept art/world "photos" (see Terragen) somewhere
--want to design/create your own species and have feedback from others like you
--don't mind being spammed with masses of creativity
--need to ask biological/genetic/aesthetic questions about your species
--want some space to test out and design species' languages
--want to catalogue the major and minor beasts in a particular world/moon
--want to investigate the flora and ecosystem of your world

XD! Honestly, I made the Bestiary primarily for my own uses, simply because I want to work on getting my species/worlds fleshed out and I need a place to store the works-in-progress until I finish most of them and can finalize them into a website-form. However, I'd be very happy if some other crazy species-creators would join me in my prolific productive madness! XD!