As it splish-splashes closer, I realize it’s no taller than my knee, and covered in striped hair all over its body. A long tail trails behind it, held up in the air to keep it dry, and its eyes seem to take up most of its face, though there’s still room for a long, pointed nose. I press back into the glider’s side as the thing marches toward me, and with a soft trill, stops right in front of me.
The noise doesn’t sound like it wants to kill me, but for all I know it’s about to unfurl a long, poisonous tongue and zap me with it.
“Hey, little … uh, thing,” I murmur cautiously, trying to figure out whether to lunge right or left if it suddenly becomes hostile.
It blinks at me when it finds out I can make a noise, the movement slow and deliberate, and then it sniffs at me once and burbles cheerfully, as if it’s replying.