“Okay, okay,” Moriko soothed, trying to calm the creature once more, “are you scared, little guy? I’m not going to let him hurt you.” As she spoke, the Phoenix’s voice dropped into a crooning tone, smoothing the lizard’s fur reassuringly. “Don’t be offended, Akagi-san, this must all be very strange to him.”


——
[D1 LA] Little ball of fur (Awareness 3 / Animal Handling 1, Raise x1, TN15?): 5d10o10k3 29
1 Raise to try build some trust.

The little ball of fury wrapped its leathery wings around Moriko's arm, clinging to her like she was a fungal stalk, hissing more softly again as it burrowed its head between the folds of her shirt.


"Hsssssss <3 "

Akagi nodded. "I understand," he said, with a trace of sadness. The Bayushi lowered his hand and backed away slightly to give the animal some room.

"You have a natural gift for this sort of thing, Moriko-san," he said.

Almost purring, the lizard agreed as it sought comfort in Moriko's arms.

Petting the little creature, Moriko smiled tenderly, a motherly expression lighting her features. She hadn’t been feeling entirely all right that day. The distraction of tracking the screamer had seemed to keep the fuzziness at bay, but it was returning now, leaving the girl feeling like her thoughts were lagging a half-second behind. Hoshiko had seen her sister take these mental jaunts before, Moriko’s mind wandering away from the present as she became distracted by only the Fortunes knew what. Today was different, the sensation of disconnect dragging her attention harder than usual.

Hoshiko knew to give her sister space. "It will take some time for her to tame him, Bayushi-san. But, she's very good at it."

Akagi nodded solemnly. "Of course," he said. "It must take time for them to get used to humans being around, I'm sure."

"Is there a place we can safely keep it, while Moriko-san looks after it?" he asked. "I... I hope this isn't too much trouble."

"Not at all." she shook her head. "We should be able to put together some sort of habitat at the ranch. This isn't the first time she's done this."

After a few moments, Moriko shook her head, chasing away the cobwebs. "I'm sure it will be fine," she agreed, "I'll take him home tonight, and we'll see if he settles. Animals are like people, some are smart and some aren't, some are easily stressed and some are easy going," she shrugged.

The little hisser kept clinging to Moriko, seemingly having no intent to escape for now.

The Scorpion nodded. "Sounds good. Is there anything I can do to help? If it isn't too much trouble for you, perhaps I could come by and visit occasionally so that he - or she - gets more familiar with me."

"It's, uh, a bit hard to tell with reptiles," Moriko admitted, "but yes, of course you can visit. I'm sure that he'll warm up to you." She and the creature seemed comfortable together, "you know what works? You should feed him," the young Phoenix sounded excited, "nothing makes creatures friendly faster than some good food."

"Feeding him sounds like a splendid idea!" Akagi agreed. "He eats insects, right? Should we catch some, or is that something you would have at your ranch?"

Moriko and the lizard seemed to settled into something comfortable for both of them, her hand covering the creature protectively, “screamers prefer dragonflies, butterflies, that sort of thing, but I think he’ll eat centipedes if offered.” If there was anything other than fungus that the planet had in plentiful supply, if was centipedes.

"Centipedes, right!" Akagi said, nodding. Moving to the base of a tall xenofungus tree, the Scorpion pried up some of the matted tangle lichens to reveal some wriggling centipedes. Grabbing a few of them, he brought them triumphantly back to where Moriko and Hoshiko were standing.

"What's the best way to feed them to him?" Akagi asked, holding up one of the wiggly multi-legged centipedes where the screamer could see it. "Without getting bitten, I mean."

-
1LA Look for bugs to feed screamer, PER/Hunting TN10: 4d10o10k3 15

Akagi heads into the woods, looking for a centipedes. Soon he can hear a clicking sound, his prey soon bursting from the fungal thickets. There is one problem though.

This centipede is six feet long and looks rather upset, hissing and clicking furiously.

"Oh!" Akagi said, blinking as the monstrous centipede emerged from the fungus. "Sorry, centipede-san, but you're a bit ... bigger than I had in mind. Shoo! Shoo! Be off with you!"

The Scorpion drew his sidearm. He thought wild animals were mostly afraid of humans, so hoped to frighten it off; but it seemed better to be ready. Just in case.

-
1LA It's probably frightened of us, right? Scare away giant centipede AWA/Intimidation, unknown TN: 4d10o10k3 27

The creature rears up, its mandibles twitching. Realizing that it has come upon a prey tad too fierce for it, the centipede laid flat, shuffling its many feet in almost an apologetic manner before turning away, its legs carrying it swiftly away from the Scorpion samurai as is dove into the undergrowth.

“Hey! Put that away,” Moriko scolded. It was true that she had a sidearm of her own on one hip, but that was only for the strictest of emergencies. Like land-cephalopods. “I would very much appreciate if we didn’t kill anything while we are out here.” Scritching the little screamer, “why don’t we head back to the ranch, where the centipedes aren’t quite so big?”

"Ah, sorry, sorry," Akagi said contritely, holstering his sidearm. "I wasn't too sure of the big centipede's intentions. He proved harmless enough, though."

"Going back to the ranch sounds good, though," he agreed. "Perhaps we can make a nest for our new friend. Hmm, what shall we call him?"