They offer to lend a ride
It was a quiet day as the sun rose higher, too hot to risk taking off. Daniel managed to scarf down three more sticks full of steak before the campers had to declare he’d pretty much cleared away their supply of fresh meat. While the sphinx was still hungry, there wasn’t really room to complain. Likewise he couldn’t help but feel guilty at how much he’d taken, and how little comfort it had offered him in return. Mindful of his footsteps the towering winged lion stayed carefully in place for most of the day, listening to their conversations while occasionally drifting in and out of a small nap.
It was just in the afternoon with Daniel’s stomach rumbling loudly that he felt a tiny bap against his nose. One of the few parts not covered in fur.
“Hey, you alive there kittycat?” Angel says, her face so close it could touch. Daniel had to blink, taking active measures not to move too suddenly and throw the girl away.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just resting really, I don’t think I’m even getting sleep here.”
“Well how about you try helping us pack out stuff, we’ve already got our tents and things loaded and it’d be a really big help if you offered to carry a few things.” She explains, ending her words sweetly.
The sphinx yawns directly in Angel’s face, rolling onto his back and stretching all four limbs out. Angel staggering somewhere near the left ear, only to stumble a few steps back when Daniel rolls up onto four legs.
“Sure thing, but weren’t you guys going to be here for weeks?”
“Eehh, planz changed.” Charley shrugged, walking up from the side with two bags and a set of ropes. “You dun ate all our meat, but if yer still hungry like that it’s gonna be hell for anyone to keep ya fed.”
“So that’s why we had to choose a more logistically feasible solution to your long term predicament while traveling in human dominated landscapes.” Keth adds without bothering to look up from his phone. He wasn’t carrying anything either, a point Charley did not approve of if the expression was any accurate tell. “There is a lake only a few miles down the road, still within the national park’s borders. Its on the way to Longport so you’ll be going in the direction you wanted, and we were planning to head there anyway. Just not this soon I don’t think.”
“Oh, so help you guys get all your stuff down. Then wish you the best of luck fishing? Got it” The lioness grins, puffing her chest out and looking over all the heavy things she could so effortlessly lift right now. One paw reaches out to grasp at a rolled up tent and curl the talons around it. When she lifts the paw up the tent falls away, said fingers being too short to curl in far enough. She frowns and tries pawing at it again.
“STOP! Stop, okay stop we’ve got something better, just hold still and keep your wings up. Don’t try to kick or jump or anything and we’ll be fine.” Angel stands in front of the lioness, holding her arms up and acting like an owner who just scolded a pet.
“O-oh, sorry. I know I didn’t break anything.”
“I’m pretty sure you didn’t, but you’re sort of missing the point here. You’re still hungry right? So that’s what we’re off to fish for. Catch enough, its all mostly free, and you can eat till your heart’s content.”
Daniel blinked. Then grinned. “I’m a bit more worried about my wings than my heart, but I’ve gotten rest. Not quite sleep but lots of rest. Just say the word and I’ll- …”
Flop.
While the two ‘girls’ were talking Charley had tied one bag to another, walked up to Daniel’s flank, and tossed one of the bags over her back. Daniel could feel the rope pulling down as if he’d just gotten a surprise necklace, turning around just in time to see the next one flopped onto his shoulders. And the next. And the next. Every single bit of their camping equipment just fit over the side of his flanks like a saddlebag, and it didn’t appear to weight a thing as far as his level of exertion could tell.
Daniel saw Angel was grinning, and none of the three needed to carry more than their clothing and personal equipment. In Keth’s case a cell phone.
“I think I see why you thought I could help here …” Daniel accuses, only to be met by Angel’s burst into a fit of giggles. The sphinx then tilts her head up high, puffs the chest out, and pretends to be as regal and dignified as possible “Lead the way and I shall carry all! Seriously guys, least I can do to repay you.”
Charley rolls his shoulders and scoffs, already walking off with both hands in one of his pockets. “Aint nothing ta worry about, just be careful gettin down this here hill comin up.”
And so the four began walking, Daniel having to duck or shove to push through trees and only feeling free in wide and open spaces. Angel walking almost side by side with the sphinx, not seeming to be worried by the pace of those steps or just how large the feet were. More unnerving was the fact Daniel’s footpads were almost as light as Angel’s, a cat’s padded toes making so very little noise even with the ridiculous weight atop them.
Keth put the phone away long enough to keep track of the path, ducking around bushes and watching where he placed his own feet, and Charley took the lead having to occasionally glance back and make sure everyone was keeping pace. Daniel felt the mild discomfort with his wings, being this low to the ground and this large he could not spread them out without smacking into something. The leaves would itch across the skin, the sharp branches would tear at those feathers. But he also could not fully fold them back down in a way that would be comfortable. The stacks of tents, bags, and rope tying it all down was between his back and the inside of the wings. Jutting up and taking space so they could not fit neatly into place like they were supposed to. With each step there was a bounce in the sphinx’s hips making the bags shift and sway with disconcerting wobbles. Never enough to fall off, but always enough to be annoying.
Ten minutes of walking and the winged lioness felt time to correct these problems, they obviously wouldn’t reach a road or a car soon so she was left to reach her paw pack, pausing the trip, and fiddling with the bags. Her claws were long and sharp, but the fingers were all but useless for delicate work and trying to maneuver without snapping any ropes or tearing a bag open. Wearing mitts wasn’t this limiting, and the distinct lack of an opposable thumb hampered her efforts completely.
“Need help?” Angel pipes up, naturally the first to notice when Daniel stopped.
A flush of embarrassment, the tan cheeks turning to a soft pink as tries to keep moving and pretend nothing happened.
‘Just realizing I could use some thumbs is all.’ He tried to say. Or he thought he tried. What actually came past his lips was something else entirely, in an overly formal and flowery tone like a woman on stage attempting to recite poetry.
“Used left or right, I get to travel over cobblestone or gravel, used up I vie for sweet success, used down I cause men great duress.”
“What …” angel deadpanned.
Daniel stopped dead in his tracks, eyes wide with alarm and now staring directly ahead. No. NO! Not again, not now, was that filter coming back? Was he loosing the capacity for normal speech for the second time today? What was causing this!?
“Many have heard it but nobody has ever seen it, and it will not speak back until spoken to.” Daniel says with a voice that clearly showed his blind distress. The sphinx backs away, looking toward the trees, the rocks, twisting her head to glance at the bags on her shoulder and ensure all were still there.
Was it location based? Was there some specific plant that made her speak in riddles? Were any of these trees the same as the ones along the road, but not present around the campsite? Could it be some rock or mineral like a superhero weakness, maybe some very particular type of dirt that a sphinx couldn’t go near? Did it have something to do with altitude, and going lower down the hill made it switch out from normal speech? What? WHAT!?
“An Echo?” Keth blinks, turning and looking back at what was causing the delay. “Heh, nice one I guess. Yeah if you shout at the mountains you’ll get an echo back. That is the answer right?”
“OOooohhh!” Angel smacked a palm to her face. “Riddles, right. I thought you said you weren’t going tell us any.”
Daniel’s lips curled into a snarl, eyes furrowed. This caused even Charley to pause and raise an eyebrow in return. The sphinx opens her mouth to start a sentence, but the moment the first word wasn’t what she intended, she stops. Then tries again, once more not even making it past the first word before realizing it was wrong. The third attempt was no better than the first two, a half started sentence that leaves Daniel frustrated and gritting his teeth.
“Although it is neither big nor small nor liquid nor solid nor gas, it can be broken without being dropped.” He finally concludes, looking down to the floor and aggressively walking forward. A paw silently motioning for those in front of him to keep walking, he wasn’t going to hold them up any longer.
“Are you … alright?” Angel blinks, it was obvious something was wrong. Daniel answers by a shake of his head, eyes downcast and obvious anger in the womanly face.
The rest of their trip was carried out in silence, the three humans trying to hide their concern, and the sphinx doing all she can to not act like a comic book villain setting up puzzles for some hero. Daniel was just as careful to keep from stepping on anyone, even Angel who stayed close to his side, and just as careful to prevent damage to his cargo. But everyone knew this wasn’t fun anymore.
Written by Arbon on 26 August 2016