Full Happy Bellies H. Wright

“What is it?” Misuchi jabbed her finger at the small furry creature.

“Stop that.” Saria swatted her hand away. “You’ll scare it.”

“Why would you buy ” Misuchi paused for dramatic effect “that?”

With a roll of her eyes, Saria swooped the gangly beast up and placed it gently back in its cage. “It’s a tchrel ”

The little animal gave a warble of protest and eyed the two women from behind the wooden bars.

“Some misguided Yochins poach them and sell them as exotic delicacies ”

“So it’s our dinner now?” Misuchi’s mouth watered at the prospect of cooked meat

Saria groaned, shaking her head. “We are going to release it.”

“So now, not only am I short coin, but also clangin’ food?” Misuchi glared at the passing onlookers who had stopped to gaze at her language. Yochee’s city streets were often busy enough that her language went unnoticed, not that she cared either way

“Hush now,” Saria chided and was off.

They left the marketplace behind and then out the main gates Outside the safety of the city walls a forest loomed. Nearly dusk, the gates would be closing and Misuchi and Saria would undoubtedly need to camp out for the night Not that it mattered, they certainly didn’t have enough for an inn

“Alright, let the stupid beast go If we move fast enough we may at least find one of the nice alleys to sleep in ”

Saria raised a brow at Misuchi but did as she asked She opened the cage and the long slender creature slunk out It stopped to look at them, letting loose a long chattering noise and rising to sit on its haunches.

“I wonder what it’s saying,” Saria pondered aloud

“Probably cursing our kind for taking it from its home in the first place ” Misuchi snorted “It’s just going to get eaten out here anyway ” She crossed her arms “Could have been us! At least we’d have full bellies.”

“You’d eat it? Really?” Saria didn’t sound convinced

Misuchi shrugged non committedly She narrowed her eyes at the glossy eyed tchrel “I guess it is kind of cute ”

It chirped, then flopped back, exposing its lengthy belly and wriggled in the tall grass, its bushy tail writhing like a fluffy serpent

“What’s it doing?” Misuchi took a step back

“No idea ” Saria narrowed her green eyes

“It’s definitely going to get eaten,” Misuchi said after the tchrel continued its bizarre horizontal dance.

Then with a pop, a burst of dust shot up and clouded around the pair

“Clang it!” Misuchi hollered, coughing as the shimmery spray tickled her throat

Saria waved a hand. “It smells like burnt spinah!”

The tchrel gave a cheerful “purrump” and then sped into the woods

“Clangin’ vermin!” Misuchi grumbled at the creature “I don’t feel so good ” She swayed as the world seemed to shift unnaturally around her

“The… Is… ” Saria’s head lolled “Poison?” She dropped to the crisp pale grass below Her staff thumped beside her

Misuchi tried to give one last curse but found the ground before the words could leave her lips. ***

Misuchi woke, head throbbing, the sun glaring in her eyes With a groan, she found Saria and shook her awake

“What happened?” Saria asked groggily, rubbing her head.

“Your new pet sprayed us with something and took off.”

Saria stared into the woods

“It’s probably finding the rest of its family so it can come back and eat us.”

“What is it with you and food? It’s not always food!” Saria moved on to rubbing her face