Pompods

6

Baru watched the Memee with curiosity. Over the last few days it had ventured closer to him with each passing day.

The elders had asked him to venture back towards their star ancestors' valley as he was unique in his knowledge of that land. Most of the explorers were content to live within the valley, but his curiosity and thirst to discover newer areas and things kept him away for most of the time. The recent quakes had begun to concern them and they wished to know if any clues could be found elsewhere about its cause.

He watched as the Memee ran around a large boulder as it chased one of the few vermin that inhabited the landscape.

Squibbs were small creatures and this one was particularly tiny. It ran ahead of the Memee on all four of its tiny legs as its pointed little head darted back and forth as it sniffed at the air with its bulbous nose and whiskers. It lapped around the boulder a few times until it had been able to gain some distance and plunged itself into a burrow before the Memee caught sight of it.

The Memee raced around the boulder a few more times before it noticed that its prey had disappeared. It looked under its legs as if the Squibb had somehow managed to hide under it and then peered around itself for a moment before it retraced its steps around the stone.

Eventually it found the burrow the Squibb had dashed into and proceeded to climb the boulder to position itself above the burrow's entrance but stayed far enough back so as to not be seen.

Baru's curiosity was in full bloom. He was sure this would be a story he would retell later with fervor.

The red sun slowly crossed the sky as he watched the Memee. It kept itself stock still as it observed the burrow. The high shriek of a Cabal could be heard in the distance, but the little sprite paid it no heed.

Time felt as if it had slowed as he watched the tiny creature. Its patience soon to be rewarded as the Squibb's nose carefully protruded from the burrow, tiny whiskers trying to sense danger.

Within a few moments, its head poked out as it looked for any sign to retreat to safety. A few more moments and its body would be fully exposed. But the Memee remained completely immobile.

Baru had never seen any Memee remain motionless for any length of time unless they were sound asleep and even then, most tended to twitch every so often.

It wasn't until the Squibb had ventured away from the burrow by a few body lengths did the Memee move. Its action had been so quick, Baru had almost missed it. From a stock still position, the Memee leapt straight into the air and perfectly positioned itself above the Squibb.

The poor vermin hadn't stood a chance. Before it could react to the small shadow descending upon it, the Memee landed and engulfed it whole. Only a small squeak had emanated from the impact.

"So you finally caught it," Baru proclaimed. "Patience is sometimes the only way to accomplish a task successfully."

As if understanding, the Memee dusted itself off and strolled over to where Baru sat.

Its skin lightened until it became translucent to show the tiny Squibb suspended within its body. It was completely unharmed but looked scared and confused as to what just happened to it. Baru considered that it shouldn't be able to breathe within the Memee but this fact did not seem to impede its ability to do so. It shouldn't be possible, but then again much of what happened when a Memee was around defied a certain amount of plausible logic.

"And what are you going to do with it now?" asked Baru, his curiosity still in full swing.

The Memee gurgled, gestured at something in the distance and then gurgled some more.

"I see," he replied, somewhat baffled as to what it was attempting to convey. "But I suppose we've rested long enough. What do you say we continue along our journey?"

He took the Memee's gurgled response as a note of agreement and began to continue towards his original destination when the tiny sprite gurgled, bounced and motioned for him to follow.

Baru saw no reason why he shouldn't follow the imp and his curiosity for what it was going to do with its captive was definitely something the elders would be discussing for cycles to come.

They travelled along the hillside for much of the early afternoon. The sun reached its apex and would soon be on its way to disappear behind the mountain within a few hours.

They crossed an area where several large boulders dotted a hillside. The Memee rushed over to one and began to circle it. It then circled another one as it occasionally leaned forward as the poor squibb remained suspended within it. After circling the third and largest boulder a few times, it gesticulated and began to gurgle loudly.

Baru watched from a slight distance as it bounced around a few more times before it extruded the squibb from its body. It leaned over the squibb, patted in on the head once and then left. The Memee made its way to Baru as he watched the Squibb attempt to regain its footing.

Within a few moments, another small and bulbous nose with whiskers poked out from a burrow. A few squeaks sounded and three similarly sized Squibbs emerged and were closely followed by one twice their size.

They observed the four interact with the newly deposited Squibb. The three smaller ones sniffed and nudged the new arrival. It received a few nudges from the largest one before it was picked up by its neck and they returned to their burrow.

"Well my little friend, did I just observe you returning a baby squibb back to its family?"

A short gurgle would be its only reply.