A Dreamer's Worlds

Divvy Up The Loot (Part 1 of Mother Nature)

Ritir shifted his weight, feeling the cracked concrete beneath his paws. The wind howled around him, but he simply shoved his helmet down farther on his head. He carried no weapons, something about how the planet's defenders had already been defeated.

Hemen, or something. Ritir thought a little harder. No, not hemen. Something that didn't quite roll off the tongues, but did anyway.

He was whispering it under his breath when the Chief of State walked out of the ship. Ritir took his place by her side, marching in step. Their claws clicked on the ground as they walked to a large, square building with some sort of sunburst symbol at the top. There was writing, too, but Ritir hadn't felt the urge to try and learn the now dead language

Mischievously, he twitched his tail to touch the Chief's. She gave him a smile but didn't look at him. He was wearing her down, he thought, but what a scandal it would be if he did. The Chief of State and her Prime Guard! The media wouldn't shut up about it.

Though with all the offplanet visits, maybe a relationship would go unnoticed. This building, whatever it had once been, likely had restrooms, so maybe he could sneak her into one and-

No, no time for that. The chief was going to have a meeting with some other leaders to determine how to split up the planet. Ritir didn't have to be here, but appearances had to be kept. Life in the public eye had to be carefully measured, after all.

They entered the building, the Chief of State going first and him following. Something squeaked and Ritir moved away from the chief to examine. The wildlife of this planet was harmless, though they could cause some trouble. Ritir wasn't sure what this kind was called, only that it was a small scavenger with a hairless tail. The creature turned and hissed at him.

Uninterested, Ritir fell back in step with the chief. The scavenger wasn't worth his time, though he would have killed it if he could. Scavengers like that were bothersome, and it wasn't as if he'd be aiding genocide if he killed one.

Tables had been pulled together. What used to be displays for food and goods had been moved away, to the walls if possible and to the other displays if not. Chairs had been set up, and Ritir couldn't help but think that the chairs made it painfully obvious that the dominant species had balanced on two legs with no tail. How hard it must have been to communicate with a missing limb! Even communicating simple emotions would have been difficult for them.

Still, the Chief of State located a chair that wouldn't block her tail and sat down. Ritir took his place behind her. Slowly, the others trickled in. A variety of species joined them, choosing chairs that would best accommodate their anatomy. If no chair was found, then their guard would run through the building until something was found.

The meeting itself was incredibly boring. Ritir found himself nodding off at times, and the time he was awake was spent examining the other guards. Like him, not one of them carried a weapon. They were all secure in the fact that the humans (yes, that was it) were gone and couldn't cause any harm.

It was about half way through the meeting that everyone realized they were wrong. The beast had likely been in here for a while, feasting on the rats that tore apart what the humans had left.

It struck the harsian delegation first, tearing them apart. Everyone turned tail to the exit, hoping to escape the maned monster.

Ritir didn't run out. He grabbed the chief and pulled her deeper into the building. The racks that once held objects were empty now, and Ritir was tempted to climb them for safety. The way the creature jumped, however... That would be a terrible thing to do.

Ritir swiveled his ears back, listening to the sounds of the massacre behind. The chief had her ears pinned down in panic, the whites of her eyes a testament to her terror.