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You attempt to approach the small creature. Softly. You lean down and avoid eye contact, holding out your hand for a sniff.
<span class="mu-b">”It's alright little one, I'm not going to hurt you. Let me just take that back...”</span>
Even as you draw closer and closer, the creature doesn't move, just standing there and looking at you with it's doll-like black eyes. Eventually, your feet scuff some dirt on the way up to the creature and it leans down to bite your water pouch... before running away with it.
<span class="mu-b">”Hey! Stop! That's mine!”</span>
Keeping up to its species namesake- they like to steal things- it stole your waterskin. Even if you attempted to chase it and are careful enough to keep your footing, there is no telling how much distance you'd lose and if you could even follow it. Within a few mere seconds it has run into a stony reach and then disappears among the crags- no doubt stashing its new find in its nest. It's gone.
What possibly convinced you of trying to reason with a wild animal? You honestly and truly believe that Mainlanders, like yourself, are the closest of all the races when it comes to nature. Other races brutalize and chase away animals, or even worse torturing them for traditional medicines, while the Centralia government spends billions on green energy projects to avoid upsetting their ecosystems... corrupt as they are. But it shows moreso the culture behind it. Of course, it is only now how stupid you feel thinking that would somehow translate to this animal obeying your wishes; do you honestly think it evolved to trust blue fur of your hue over any other? Stupid.
The sun has past its apex in the sky and the day only gets hotter. The stones around you have absorbed so much heat that they are radiating up at you like an oven. You feel positively cooked. You're sweating like an Eater and its not getting any better without fresh water to drink. They called this an ordeal for a reason- worse yet, there is no shade on this mountain. No trees. You can't take much cover here- and you realize soon that your nose is no longer wet, and you've stopped sweating. That's bad.
