For once Delilah had traveled from her forested home so she could see some of the world and spend time with her brother. It had been a nice family trip although it did seem like Jeremiah did have to leave to go do something from time to time. She just figured he wanted to secretly buy some gifts for her and the two Soquili she had adopted, as he often returned with a small gift for her. However on their way back something big must have come up as a stranger to her came up to her brother, whispered something to him, and both left her on the path back home after Jeremiah explained how it was basically a straight path through a canyon and a turn to the left on the other side. He also apologized to her again and again and also gave some quick 'stranger danger' warnings before he left. She finally knew how it felt to be on the receiving end of apologies.
Fortunately for Delilah she also had her trusty familiar, Mahlah. The owl flew above her keeping check on her progress and making sure that the mare didn't get lost. Unknown to Delilah was the fact that when Jeremiah left he had placed some additional guards to shadow and keep track of his sister. There was typically always shadow guards around Delilah but she was oblivious to them. "Okay just need to follow the straight path through this canyon and take a left. That path will take me back to the forest where we live." Delilah said to herself. She was nervous about traveling alone so she took a couple of deep breaths to help try and settle her nerves.
The beginning walk through the canyon was uneventful, in fact it was rather pleasant. The heat wasn't so bad down here and it was mostly quiet with some general small critter and bird sounds. She relaxed the further in she went until she reached a bend in the path. There was only the one path so she wasn't able to get lost but on the other side of the bend was a strange Soquili ahead of her. She paused, noting that the stranger's back was to her and saw the bunny like tail and ears. Normally the bunny features wouldn't give her much pause but one of her brother's warnings raised a flag in her mind. He had warned about a shifter that could look like a harmless bunny or when it the Soquili horse form had bunny features. She had no other description to go on and the fact that she had never encountered a shifter before didn't remember about how they had a pelt covering them or if a pure shifter, paws or claws instead of hooves.
Frozen in building panic, Delilah missed her chance to step back and be hidden behind the bend. The strange stallion turned around and spotted her. "Ah! Excuse me! Could I trouble you for a moment miss?" He called out while starting to walk in her direction, "I really nee-" He got cut off as Delilah yelped and began to run away while yelling out 'sorry I'm so sorry!'. He stood there for a moment before beginning to run after her.
Seeing the stranger begin to move towards her Delilah panicked. He must surely be the shifter that her brother warned her about and was now about to attack! She yelped and turned to run back the way she came. "Sorry! I'm so sorry!" She yelled out unable to stop her apologetic nature. She ran as fast as she could and was about to slow down as she drew closer to the entrance of the canyon when she heard the thunder of hooves behind her. She glanced over her shoulder and saw the bunny like Soquili racing after her! Her heart sank and she had the thought that she was done for when a flash of blue appeared near her. "Mahlah! Run away! The shifter is after me!" She yelled out.
Mahlah hadn't been paying the closest attention to her bonded having determined that the canyon was safe enough. Plus it was more interesting to find out what had happened to all of the guards that were normally shadowing Delilah. As they reached the canyon they had all left suddenly. The owl had eventually went in search of them and found out that they had word of an actual threat to Delilah and went to go deal with that. With that knowledge, Mahlah decided to return to her bonded and help usher home faster so she'd be out of danger. Instead when she finally located Delilah it was almost back at the entrance of the canyon and with the mare running for her life. "Delilah.... Delilah! Calm down! There's no shifter here!" She called out, "Only a slightly normal stallion! I mean... yeah he's got bunny ears and a bunny like tail but he's no shifter!" That seemed to get through to Delilah as the mare slowed down. Mahlah landed on a nearby rock and looked from Delilah to the now approaching stallion. "Remember Delilah, shifters have a pelt on them. This fella has none."
Delilah looked from Mahlah to the very confused looking stallion. "R-right... but Jere said to watch out for a Soquili with bunny features...." She said softly, "N-not to doubt you! I'm sorry! But....." She trailed off to look at the stranger. "You're not an evil bunny shifter who wants to hurt others.... are you?"
"What? No? I don't think so anyway..... what's a shifter?" The stallion asked looking very confused, "I just arrived in this area recently and got lost. I've been trying to get some help but it seemed like everyone I encountered acted like you and ran away. Although I must say you're the first to apologize while doing so." He gave a little smile and chuckle thinking back on how the mare had fled and apologized at the same time.
"Oh I am so so so sorry! I thought you were a shifter! My brother warned me that one had been in this area before and I just assumed....." Delilah apologized, "Mahlah.... do you think you can help him in finding the direction he needs to go?" Her familiar sighed but gave a nod.
"Yes but lets go to the other end of the canyon, I think that's the best starting point for all of this. Then I can figure out from the sky what direction our new friend needs to go in." Mahlah replied. She then flapped her wings to take off and started to lead the way out of the canyon. The two Soquili followed the owl in silence that was only broken by a couple more apologies. Once at the other end of the canyon the two would part ways with one going to the left and the other following the owl for a short while along the straight ahead path. (wc: 1166)