08-27-2023, 10:54 PM
Princess Leila, (willingly) dressed in a miniature lizard costume, held the timer and crouched down as if at the beginning of a race. She glanced mischievously at the other faces in the circle. José caught her eye and grinned. None of the others seemed so enthused.
“Aaaaand… go!” Leila shouted, then shot off towards the beach. The guards assigned to her followed, frustrated with the amount of exercise they were getting. Yousef Chaher trailed after Leila, nowhere near as excited as she was. José had run in the other direction, trailed in turn by Cranston. Citlalnite and Tlotli had trudged in a third direction.
This was Leila’s new plan for maximising lizard-catching. They would split into three teams and compete to see who could catch the most lizards, using the new Serrielan sweets. Leila and Yousef had acquired a bunch in a dodgy-looking store called “NORTH NERIAN FOOD” with a bad Arabic translation underneath. The shopkeeper, who looked more like he came from Western Hesperida than Northern Neria, had sold them every single one of the sweets he had, and Leila had divided them between the teams.
So far, Leila and Yousef were very much in the lead. Leila had so far managed to catch 46 lizards since joining the group, with Yousef adding five to her number. For some reason, the lizards did not easily trust the sweets given by the men. José’s team was in second with 24 and Citlalnite was trailing behind with 7 – although, Tlotli had killed three, somehow. Casualties in the Thraxian-Saladian War, apparently.
“Yousef, grab it!” Leila demanded, handing him a lizard. She was quickly running along to attract more. Yousef trailed along, pulling a large shopping trolley full of lizard cages that Leila had sweet-talked the owner of a bizarre bright-pink corner shop into lending them. It did make it easier to transport the sheer number of lizards the girl could catch.
“Aren’t you worried your father will get angry that you’re catching his lizards?” Yousef asked Leila as he watched the girl work. He was being lazy, but she was much better at this than he had ever been.
“No, he wants the lizards back, it’s the cats he’d get mad if I caught,” Leila said while she waited for another lizard to get high on the sweet. “At least, I think. I mean, the catching isn’t the issue really. It’s handing the lizards over to the Saladians rather than the Thraxians. But all the human Thraxians are prisoners of war now, except me. And I still get followed and watched by these guards all the time.”
They were speaking Arabic, which Yousef didn’t think the guards spoke, but he couldn’t be sure. He glanced at them every so often, checking if they were reacting. Right now, though, they were both bent double; catching their breath from Leila’s running. Yousef had cheated somewhat, by leaning on the lizard-cage trolley as they ran downhill.
“Yousef! Hand me another cage,” Leila said, holding three lizards in her arms. He hadn’t even noticed two more lizards approach. She was good.
“Aaaaand… go!” Leila shouted, then shot off towards the beach. The guards assigned to her followed, frustrated with the amount of exercise they were getting. Yousef Chaher trailed after Leila, nowhere near as excited as she was. José had run in the other direction, trailed in turn by Cranston. Citlalnite and Tlotli had trudged in a third direction.
This was Leila’s new plan for maximising lizard-catching. They would split into three teams and compete to see who could catch the most lizards, using the new Serrielan sweets. Leila and Yousef had acquired a bunch in a dodgy-looking store called “NORTH NERIAN FOOD” with a bad Arabic translation underneath. The shopkeeper, who looked more like he came from Western Hesperida than Northern Neria, had sold them every single one of the sweets he had, and Leila had divided them between the teams.
So far, Leila and Yousef were very much in the lead. Leila had so far managed to catch 46 lizards since joining the group, with Yousef adding five to her number. For some reason, the lizards did not easily trust the sweets given by the men. José’s team was in second with 24 and Citlalnite was trailing behind with 7 – although, Tlotli had killed three, somehow. Casualties in the Thraxian-Saladian War, apparently.
“Yousef, grab it!” Leila demanded, handing him a lizard. She was quickly running along to attract more. Yousef trailed along, pulling a large shopping trolley full of lizard cages that Leila had sweet-talked the owner of a bizarre bright-pink corner shop into lending them. It did make it easier to transport the sheer number of lizards the girl could catch.
“Aren’t you worried your father will get angry that you’re catching his lizards?” Yousef asked Leila as he watched the girl work. He was being lazy, but she was much better at this than he had ever been.
“No, he wants the lizards back, it’s the cats he’d get mad if I caught,” Leila said while she waited for another lizard to get high on the sweet. “At least, I think. I mean, the catching isn’t the issue really. It’s handing the lizards over to the Saladians rather than the Thraxians. But all the human Thraxians are prisoners of war now, except me. And I still get followed and watched by these guards all the time.”
They were speaking Arabic, which Yousef didn’t think the guards spoke, but he couldn’t be sure. He glanced at them every so often, checking if they were reacting. Right now, though, they were both bent double; catching their breath from Leila’s running. Yousef had cheated somewhat, by leaning on the lizard-cage trolley as they ran downhill.
“Yousef! Hand me another cage,” Leila said, holding three lizards in her arms. He hadn’t even noticed two more lizards approach. She was good.
LIDUN President 2024 | she/her | Puppets: Kerlile, Glanainn, Yesteria, Zongongia, Zargothrax