Chapter 2: Navigation

Imala spent the rest of the hot day navigating through the canyon, climbing, descending and jumping across cracks and crevices that marked the canyon. Before she knew it, the sun was beginning to set. The ruby red horizon dimmed, and the bright stars and pale white moon began to twinkle in the sky. 

"Phew! Today sure was tiring," Imala sighed, wiping the sweat from her forehead while she began to take out her sleeping bag and roll it out on the ground.

Soon, she had a fire burning, and she was snugly tucked into her sleeping bag, watching the stars twinkle above her. They were almost like a sea of fireflies, glowing and flickering in the night sky gently. 

Imala relaxed, watching the performance of shining and flickering lights. It felt so relaxing, just her and the stars, the warmth of the fire, and the peaceful silence…

Soon enough, she closed her eyes, falling deeply asleep.

Hiding behind some rocks above her, a pair of figures observed her, their red eyes observing patiently for the right moment to strike the sleeping Imala.

"Is she asleep yet?" one figure whispered in a ratty voice.

"Yes." another figure whispered back, in a deep, almost growl-like tone. 

The creatures quietly crept from their hiding place, and tip-toed up to the deeply asleep Imala, stopping in place when they were close enough.

"This girl, she looks like the green-dressed one," the first creature noted.

"But look closely, comrade!" the second creature noted, carefully unzipping the sleeping bag. "She does not have a green dress."

"But how can we be sure this girl isn't the one?" the first creature asked. 

"Because she doesn't not have a green dress," the second creature reminded.

"Should we take her for ourselves instead, then?" the first creature suggested. "I wonder how she would taste." The creature's mouth watered at the thought of this.

The second creature pondered this. "Very well," he decided. "But maybe we should bake her into a pot pie."

"No, we eat her raw," the first creature countered.

"Pot pie."

"Raw."

"Pot pie."

"Raw."

"Pot pie."

All of a sudden, a cloud of sand struck the second creature's eyes, blinding him and stinging his eyes.

"Aaugh!" the creature cried out, trying to brush the sand out of his eyes.

"Who goes there?!" the first creature hissed demandingly. 

"Step away from the girl," a voice commanded. "Or I shall bring the fury of the desert upon you both."

"Stay away from matters that aren't your business, weakling!" the first creature warned, bearing a dirty yellow set of sharp fangs.

A figure then emerged from the shadows, the campfire light illuminating a tall, intimidating figure. his face, covered up to the nose, left his golden yellow eyes only visible. A poncho covered most of his body, with the light night winds swaying it ominously.

"Who are you calling 'weakling'?" the figure asked, his yellow eyes flashing under the moonlight.

The two creatures froze in fear, immediately recognizing the figure. 

"It's the Great Desert Spirit!"

"Let's get out of here!"

The pair ran off into the night, yowling and yelping.

By this point, Imala, who had been in a state of deep sleep, was awoken by the increasingly loud commotion. She sat up, and inspected her surroundings.

But there was nobody in the area.

"Huh…Must've been imagining things…" Imala yawned, returning to her deep rest.

In the cliff above, the Spirit observed her from above, his valiant eyes sweeping over the area for any more signs of danger. He had kept the girl safe for now, but he knew that she still had a long way to go. 

It's just as I predicted, he thought. This girl, she will be the catalyst for everything. She must find her sisters. But she cannot go home yet. She must fulfill her fate, her destiny.

The Spirit looked at the stars above. They seemed to twinkle and shine in agreement.

He kneeled and closed his eyes. A new day would come soon. He would wait and watch from afar for now.