The lake of visions was unusually quiet, with the ravine empty of its common troves of travelers. Although now the sky was setting into a deep pink, the colonists were in the hottest months of shemesh, a season akin to summer. The water shimmered with the pale light of the sky overhead, a rare solace in the vast dunes of the Issiq desert. Surrounded by sandy beaches and the rising, multi-colored geologic formations of the ravine, it made a pristine location to hunt – When it wasn't crowded, like now.

A pair of deep-purple eyes blinked through the binoculars. A grey paw carried it away from her face, revealing the spotted cheeks of Thyla, the scout. Standing directly beside her was Hivoo, another tsabhua and one with slate silver fur. Both were from Tsidal, assisting the Sea-Cucumbers due to an order from a higher-up. Skritch, the Captain of said aquatic gherkins, stood on his tippy-toes, whining while desperately trying to see a glimpse through the lens. Thyla, a natural leader, pretended that she didn't notice that. "Golden nukap, huh?" She mused, "I'll keep looking."

The swine-like creatures were slightly invasive to Issiq, having originated in the mushroom swamps of L'Hatzif. While many colonies kept them as adored livestock or even pets, their wild cousins fit the more primal diet of some colonist's tastes. "Isn't that one?" Hivoo's grey claw gently pointed towards some scraggly brush at the edge of a rock formation. "It's–" Thyla squinted at the brown shape, turning the lenses to try to bring it to view, when–A white fluffy menace crashed into her, knocking her over. "Hey!" She barked. Although Skritch seemed shocked that his weight pushed her over, he swiftly grabbed the binoculars for his own, putting them up to his eyes.

There were two nukap, the brown-spotted nutty swill variant. While Hivoo bit her tongue, Thyla had no difficulty standing up for herself. "We're not going to keep helping you if you shove us around, you know!" She demanded. "They're not the golden ones," Skritch shook his head, making an expression quite like a tsabhua who had swallowed a sour lemon. "What does the color matter?" Hivoo brought it up gently–it was a real question, and it was important to figure it out in order to best help the Captain of the colony that had requested their assistance.

"There's this tark'ee prince who was trapped and starved inside of a bunker, and he's offering a handsome reward–" Skritch made himself bite his own tongue, just this time. "I mean, requesting a meal…" Hivoo and Thyla both stared at each other blankly. "Did you really just say that out loud, and think that if you corrected it, we wouldn't hear you?" The later poised, raising an eyebrow. "Yes," Skrich responded, blinking and then fidgeting his hands anxiously. Hivoo sighed–she didn't care about the reward, but didn't like having her need to help people abused like this. "And this prince will only eat golden nukap?" She said.

"Yes again," Skritch nodded empathetically. Tyla snatched the binoculars back from him, and then stared through them again – focusing deeper into the horizon, and the cracks between the rocks. "Still no golden nukap," she bit her lip, "But…" Both she and Hivoo spotted, at the same time, a small grey nukap who had waddled out of some shade to sip from the lake of visions. "How about a grey one?" Hivoo piped up. Skritch's ears raised, and his eyes turned into the deadly slits of a predator on the hunt. "That'll do!" He leapt up, readying his claws for action–but neither of the Tsidal colonists were sure that he'd ever hunted on his own before.

"Look, I know that you're the Captain of the Sea-Cucumbers," Tyla regarded him, "But let me lead this one. Just… Hang back, and follow my lead." Skritch's eyebrows furrowed and his tail gave an unhappy twitch. From where they stood atop one of the rocky ridges, Hivoo started the path down, a dirt trail that dipped around the geological formations towards the lakeside. All fell quiet, their hearts and minds pumping with the adrenaline of their duty and the bloodshed of the hunt awaiting them.