Ribbontail: Enter Emalia
Chapter 17: Mister Kerberos

Author's Note: Please read my artist's comments before continuing. :3
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Having spent her life in the tame human society, Ribbontail found the desert environment very hard to travel in. The afternoon sun glared down from above, and at her feet the sand shifted and sank uneasily.

After many minutes of traveling PuppetRibbontail stopped, pausing to look back at them from the crest of a dune. Ribbontail approached her friend and opened her mouth, but it was O’liday who found the words quicker.

“What is it, dude?” he meowed; this question was followed soon with a loud rumbling from his stomach.

Silently PuppetRibbontail turned and pointed across the great dunes.

Nestled among the rolling hills was a flat stretch of land; at its center was a tiny green oasis, complete with a shallow spring and a withering palm tree. Ribbontail cocked her head, noting the dome-like house that lay in the shade of the palm tree.

“A house out here in the middle of nowhere?” she mused, “I wonder who could live there?”

“Who cares?” laughed O’liday, sliding from his steed’s shoulders, “Maybe he’s got food!”

“Well O’liday, it’s not nice to just drop by somebody’s house and ask for food. I mean...”

But the feliulf did not listen to Ribbontail. He was already off, skipping and bounding down into the little ravine. It was but a second before Ribbontail tore after him.

When the three arrived down in the lush oasis, O’liday fell at the spring’s side and began lapping thirstily from the pool. Surprised at his stark thirst, Ribbontail watched for a second before turning to stare at the old, dome-shaped house. It was only about half the size of a human house back on earth, and being made of natural materials, it looks disheveled and lonely.

“You think it’s an Emalian house?” thought Ribbontail, turning to PuppetRibbontail. The little creature said nothing. Instead, it was O’liday who acted.

The feliulf hopped to his feet, wiping the cool water from his mouth, and padded to the house’s wooden front door. “Looks pretty Emalian to me. I don’t think an Eclipsian would want to live in a house anyway.”

Without hesitation O’liday knocked on the door.

Ribbontail and her guardian approached, sidling next to O’liday in anticipation. A brief moment passed before a click sounded from the other side, followed by the slow creaking of the oaken door.

In the doorway stood a very strange, crippled creature.

He was a fellow quadruped only a bit larger than Ribbontail, with tired old eyes set upon an aged lion-like face. From his head sprouted two long, curving horns; the large spines that protruded from his shoulders matched these horns, being a yellow-cream color.

“Well this is a rare and unexpected sight,” the large animal finally purred as he ruffled his teal fur welcomingly. His voice was lighted with a bit of a Scottish accent. “And who might you children be?”  

Gawking up at the strange creature, Ribbontail noted a strange third pair of legs; one limb was missing, bringing his total leg count to five. Ribbontail gulped. “I um... my name’s Ribbontail,” she stuttered, “these are my friends O’liday and PuppetRibbontail. We were just passing through and...”

“Travelers, are you?” The great lion-like face leaned in closer, sniffing the three down quickly. Then he lifted his head and shot a toothy grin down at them. “Tis a rare sight anymore with those nasty Eclipsians. Lately they’ve been moving in closer to my house here. Nasty old things...”

Ribbontail glanced quickly at PuppetRibbontail. The little creature seemed comfortable, and thus Ribbontail began to relax visibly.

The great lion-like creature paused a moment and tapped his chin with a forehoof. He then turned back and added, “Oh yes! But never mind that. My name is Kerberos. What is it that you children might need?”

Kerberos blinked, eyeing Ribbontail curiously. He had noticed her ribbon-tails and his eyes were fixed firmly on them. Ribbontail cleared her throat, “Well... we were just wondering if you had any food. O’liday- we- haven’t had anything to eat for a day now and...”

Again, the old animal finished her sentence with a hoarse laugh. “Aye yes, I do have some vittles kept in here for visitors. Come in, come in!”

Kerberos’ house was a lot more appealing inside than it was outside. Small and circular, the single-roomed dome had few features. There was a cupboard and a desk, which flanked a large bed of straw. At the centre sat a tiny firepit, which sat illuminated by the light of a window.

“Please. Make yourselves comfortable, friends. Feel free to settle down anywhere,” called the creature as he shut the door behind them. Then he turned and plodded across the room, heaving open the cupboard to stare at the wide array of food displayed inside. “I’ve got some breads, a plum pie,  rice cakes, mint tea, berries and nuts... pears and apples, still good. The caravan just passed through the other day, you know. Now what would it be for you lot?”

Gulping, Ribbontail ran the list through her head again. Such a tasty array; all sweets and delights, for this old creature in the middle of the desert. “Don’t you need any, sir? Sure they’re sweets, but shouldn’t you be feeding yourself?”

“No no, not at all,” purred Kerberos, waving a hoof at them, “The sweets and candies are for my guests. I prefer insects, the lovely crawlies that come around my fond at night. Tasty things, really.”

O’liday leapt forward and snagged a piece of bread from Kerberos, tearing into it with great gusto. “Yeah Ribs,” he assured with a mouthful of the stuff, “Lighten up, he eats bugs.”

Sanguinely the old creature smiled down at O’liday. “Aye my friend, I’m glad that somebody understands.” With a nod, Kerberos gestured to Ribbontail. “Would you like any food, Ribbontail?”

Ribbontail shook her head. “No, none for me. I’m good.”

Content to watch her friend wolf down snack after snack, Ribbontail sat back by the firepit, with PuppetRibbontail at her side. Kerberos came and sat across from them, chuckling as he too noticed how famished O’liday was.

“Hmhmhm.” Kerberos laughed and lowered himself back on his haunches, turning to shoot a friendly smile at Ribbontail. “So, my friend. Where might you three be headed to? You must be mad traveling alone through the desert.”

Ribbontail flicked her ears.  “I’m headed down south, to deliver this scroll to somebody. O’liday there is going to visit his brother in some place called Bazaar.”

“Such a long way to go by foot,” Kerberos breathed quietly, “Don’t you children have a caravan to guide you, or a map? The desert is an awfully nasty place to be wandering about.”

At first Ribbontail said nothing, frowning as she pondered the idea of a map. But then she recalled her star guide, and her face lit with a slight smile. “Yes, we’ve got protection. And we know where we’re going, so please don’t worry about us.”

Kerberos nodded understandably. He seemed content to just listen and agree, showing blatant enjoyment in their company.  And with the aromatic delights in this little house, Ribbontail was pleased to just sit and relax as well. After many minutes of peaceful silence, Ribbontail noticed that Kerberos had substantial interest in PuppetRibbontail: he was looking the skeletal beast up and down, a look of shock across his face.

With a  shrug the girl gestured to the little zombic creature. “Oh...this is PuppetRibbontail,” she reintroduced, “She’s my guardian.”

Suddenly Kerberos’ face lit up. “A guardian spirit!” he replied, “Why, how in blazes did you get yourself a guardian, lassie?”

“My mom gave her to me.” Ribbontail shifted uneasily, settling in closer to PuppetRibbontail. “She said that I needed protection, and so she gave me Puppet.”

This time it was O’liday who spoke, padding up to the trio with a pawful of pastries. He gulped down a whole half of a slice of bread before concurring with a proud, “And a good guardian she is, dude. Man, she took down some nasty Eclipsian like it was NOTHING!”

“Screech,” Ribbontail added quietly, “its name was Screech.”

“The bloody thing saved you lot from the Screech?” Kerberos, as swift as the wind, leapt to his feet and opened his mouth in a toothy grin. “This guardian of yours took down a greater Eclipsian?”

Ribbontail and O’liday both cocked their heads at that, for once both uneducated on the matter at hand. “Yeah, she did. But...” Ribbontail said slowly, “What’s a ‘greater’ Eclipsian?”

“Hohooo, only the baddest type of Eclipsian out there. They say that the evil god Eclipse himself treats them like his children, babying them and giving them rights no mortal should have. Nasty things- they can come back to life as many times as they’d like.”

Shocked, Ribbontail gulped.

“You see these eyes of mine?” Kerberos plodded forward and widened his eyes to Ribbontail, fixing her with a chilling green stare. The orbs were solid green with tiny pupils, deep and enchanting. “I got these lovely eyes when I was young. I defeated a greater Eclipsian called Chiroptera, and with his death I got his one utmost power. Aye, my mates, I can now see in the night like it was day. If you kill a greater Eclipsian, it is said that you get one of their best powers!”

O’liday stopped eating for a moment to add a short belch to their conversation. He followed the gesture up with a short, “That’s rad dude. But how can you tell these ‘greater’ Eclipsians from the regular ones?”

“There is no way,” Kerberos explained, “but to guess. Most greater Eclipsians are bigger and uglier than others. Much of the time you can simply tell without looking.”

“You two are lucky to have such a great guardian,” he added, “Screech is a beast who has tormented the passing caravans for decades: nobody could travel north with Screech prowling the great canyon. They will be glad to hear that Screech is gone... for now, at least.”

Ribbontail smiled as she heard this. PuppetRibbontail had stopped a beast so fierce and taxing- such luck!

The large desert-dweller relaxed, letting his body sink back into a sitting position. He then flicked his large ears and cocked his head, raising a hoof to his three visitors. “Would any of you like tea?”
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And so over tea the four sat and talked, with Kerberos and O’liday exchanging stories and Ribbontail and Puppet listening in silence. A wide plethora of tales were traded: O’liday’s yarns of surfing and exploring, and Kerberos’ stories of childhood adventures. According to his tales he had lost his mate and children decades ago, and since then he had lived in the same house with only the rare visitor. He was a rapidly aging beast, and though he was strong in every sense his heart seemed to yearn for companionship.

Ribbontail contained her own story, of her death on Earth and her godly role in this world. The wizened Kerberos seemed to notice this silence, and though he said naught Ribbontail was aware of his curiosity.

But as the day dragged on O’liday, Ribbontail and PuppetRibbontail were all pleased to take a rest in the cool home of Kerberos. Ribbontail learned a strange form of poker, and she was taught of the many lands and stories of Emalia.

By the time the sun began its slow descent below the horizon, none of them had thought once of leaving. Kerberos’ home was far too comforting to depart from so soon.

At the sudden realization of the time, Ribbontail blinked and glanced once out the window at the peach-orange sky. Her ears drooped as she scratched an itch on her side. “It’s getting dark out... do you think we should go, O’liday?”

O’liday looked up from his game of cards and snorted. “Aww dude, bogus. It’s chill here: a nice fire, tasty food, oh! And there’s Kerberos too, he rocks”- Kerberos shot O’liday a toothy laugh- “Can’t we stay just a day more?”

“We really should be going...” Ribbontail sniffed as she got to her paws. “We don’t want to fall too far behind.”

At the opposite end of the room Kerberos had been inspecting PuppetRibbontail and her zombic features, observing her skeletal anatomy and idiosyncratic traits. He looked up when he heard Ribbontail’s statement. “No lassie, it’s never a good idea to go out when the sun sleeps.”

“Eclipsians?” Ribbontail already knew the reason.

The old creature nodded. “Indeed. Deserts at night are perfect hunting grounds for Eclipsians. If you get caught out in the middle of the dunes, there’s nowhere to run and little means of getting help. You’d best stay here, lest you put yourselves in danger.”

“I like how this old dude thinks!” piped up O’liday before cramming his face with a rice cake. “Let’s just chill here for a day or two, what’s your rush?”

“There really is no rush” thought Ribbontail as she sank back down to the floor, yawning. She then announced out loud, “Okay sure, I guess we should stay.”

Kindly Kerberos nodded, limping over to tend to his fire before checking the tiny window fixed to his door. Ribbontail, PuppetRibbontail, and O’liday all watched in silence as he then nudged open the door to stare outside, peering and listening in every direction before he finally returned inside and shoved the door shut.

Then the old desert beast gave the three a smile and a wave. “No worries children, just making sure everything’s in check. Anything can happen at night.”