Down the hill
For Daniel it was a stressful trip, teeth gritting as he tries his hardest not to speak. Every attempt at even the slightest comment, from pointing out a clear path to asking about the types of flowers just came out as another riddle. Infuriating, unfathomable, and made even worse by the fact he could not discern what was causing this to begin with. Charley opted to be quiet as well as if that were a default state for him. Angel was mutely concerned, seeing that Daniel was angry for rather subtle reasons and acting decidedly strange. Keth found entertainment in trying to solve the riddles, while occasionally having to stop himself from a nasty tumble.
“Woah there.” Angel calls out. “Watch the moss on that rock, looks slippery.”
“Okay mom.” Keth rolls his eyes but dutifully steps away, instead sliding down a sloping dirt trail.
Daniel could see the footprints indicating this was the same path they’d came up, though from how parts of the pathway were more worn than others it would appear this family wasn’t the only one. Being so much larger the Sphinx had little trouble with patches of moss or the softness of the ground, feet as wide as a lion’s and larger than an elephant’s did not have an easy time sinking down even despite the weight. Likewise when one has grabby claws and rough pads that curl inward it is really easy to maintain traction.
“So uh, Daniel. If you aren’t going to tell us how you actually got here all the way from Egypt, mind if I start taking guesses?” Angel pipes up nervously, as if seeking to lighten the mood.
The sphinx opens her mouth to speak and gets as far as the first syllable, before angrily relenting to the fact it wasn’t the sound she’d intended. To get her point across the enormous lion leans down and huffs noisily into Angel’s face. For her part the toned and lithe woman just giggles.
“Oh come on, that was cute! How do you expect me not to laugh at that?” Angel complains upon seeing the lioness’s face. “If you can’t talk or won’t talk then we can at least play twenty questions. You can nod your head for yes or shake it for no without turning the head wobbles into a riddle, right?”
Daniel nods, however slowly. With tightly sealed lips the overgrown feline turns away to look at the sky.
“Are you actually from Longport.” Was her first query. Eyes serious and her arms folded. “That isn’t just you screwing with us, right?”
Another nod from the sphinx, though now she looks toward the trees drifting past on the rapid walk.
“Are you alive? As in flesh and blood not just some mechanical thing?” the next words from angel’s mouth were a bit surprising.
Daniel looks to the distant mountains, toward the sun high above, anywhere but directly at the woman by his side. He can’t think of an answer. How would he know? He didn’t hear clicks or whirring and he didn’t notice any gears or wind-up parts. Could those be faked? If you weren’t certain how could you find out? Daniel didn’t feel electronic or mechanical, his movements were silent and fluid, he was clearly light enough to fly with however much difficulty. He felt like flesh and blood, he could still taste things, he was still breathing and could smell the grass by his feet or the hint of summer leaves.
It was all the sphinx could do to nod at that one, as far as he could tell he was alive. And he wasn’t sure if that was more plausible than random transformation, or less. At least until he could pinpoint a direct cause for this.
“How about this one.” Keth calls back from just ahead of the two. “Does anyone else know about you? Any people in longport, any scientists who might want you back in a lab somewhere, any historians that want to quiz you on ancient trivia?”
Daniel puffs his cheeks out in indignation, the tail flicking dangerously behind him and the various bags jostling ever so noisily with his steps. Another moment to think about it, he knew people sure but none of them had ever seen a sphinx before. He was almost certain of that. After full consideration he shakes his head side to side.
“Odd.” Angel muses. “So you don’t have some museum to go back to, no hanging out in the Egyptian exhibits?”
The oversized catwoman rushes ahead to get in front of Angel, the massive feet stomping through leaves and sticks, the bags struggling to stay up. He’s careful not to step on any of the small humans around his feet, but with angel right behind him …
Flick.
The tuft of the sphinx’s tail swipes out to bap her in the face, the fur coated appendage startling her more than it hurt. Certainly less painful than a swipe from paws larger than her face.
“Hey!” she shouts, ducking under a second blow as the tail loops back around to strike again. She has less luck on the third one that catches her directly in the stomach.
Angel doesn’t simply accept this, her arms wrap tightly around a tail thicker than her legs, she hugs it close to her chest and tries to root herself in place.
Daniel simply lifts the tail up, easily carrying the young woman snagged onto the end. Angel kicks her feet through the air and sticks a tongue out at the Sphinx. Daniel turns his head and sticks his tongue out right back, giving the tail a soft wiggle that rocked the woman back and forth.
“And we’re here kids.” Charley announced openly, motioning his hands toward the parked car beneath a tree, just off the side of a dirt road.
Written by Arbon on 02 September 2016