During the break, people from the staff rushed towards the set, to quickly check up on the makeup of everybody. Since everything seemed to be fine, they evacuated even faster.
- Thirty seconds - shouted the director.
Mahinder smiled at us and fixed his position in the chair, then the countdown started, and finished with the band starting to play. The cameras zoomed in again on the host.
- And welcome back after the break! - he said with a confident smirk. - Ki'rai, you are the proud representative of a race called xuzards. Can you tell us a bit about you and your people?
My little lizard first looked at me, and I nodded slightly, to boost her confidence.
- We were born to hunt, so the transition to Ark went smoothly for us. We have a certain ability to mimic the other creatures around us, so learning the language was easy for us. Also, the humans were nice and supportive.
- Can you tell us more about your home planet?
She again looked at me. I actually had no idea of how she would respond since I never wreaking thought about it. I could only hope she would go with the story The Great One implanted in the memories of other xuzards.
- We were hunter-gatherers, very focused on survival since our home planet was filled with competing animal creatures. Since we aren't that big, we had to utilize our intelligence for gaining advantages. We used to live in small tribal communities. You could say, we were less advanced to what you have here, on Earth, but since we are good at adapting, we were able to quickly catch up after our initial arrival.
- Right now, your community is very focused on the hunting aspect of life in Arc, right?
- Yes - she picked up the pace, as she grew more confident with speaking - Usually the best hunters lead, so the ranks mean status among us.
- Currently, you are the highest-ranked xuzard. Does that mean you lead your people?
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt- Yes, I do.
- And how do you find yourself here, on Earth, in India?
- Its... Crowded. I've never seen so many creatures around. You are like a horde of goblins, but with a purpose. It seems like everybody is doing something, and they have a goal to fulfill. It's quite interesting to watch you all doing your part.
- She meant that as a complement - Added Tihana.
- Of course - said Mahinder. - But what about the other aspects of our local culture? How do you find the city? The music? Food?
- I like food. I love music. Any music. Music is fun. Dancing is fun. The clothes are also fun. I like the colors and different shapes.
- It's nice to hear that. Now that you have seen part of the human civilization here, in India, do you have any plans of visiting other countries?
- Yes! - she jumped on top of the couch, surprising the host. - I want to see everything. I like traveling and exploring! It's fun!
- You are very lively. All other xuzards also so energetic?
- Yes!
I noticed the conversation became quite awkward for the host, so I poked Tihana with my elbow to bring Ki'rai down. She picked up on my silent suggestion, and put her hand on the lizard's shoulder, to pat her slightly.
She noticed what my fake daughter meant, and jumped down, to land on her butt.
Mahinder smiled but left the whole thing without any remarks.
- You are a very small race, and I know that some of the monsters are quite big. Can you tell us how do you overcome the difference in size during hunting?
- We are very agile, so it's easy to avoid attacks, and we try to focus on the vital point to take down our enemies. It's not too difficult right now since we are not hunting in higher ranked areas, but I'm sure even in the more difficult ones we will be able to handle ourselves.
- You are quite confident - I have to praise you for that.
Some people clapped and cheered when he said that.
- You mentioned earlier the ability to mimic others. Could you maybe show us? - he continued.
- Yes - said Ki'rai and immediately turned into a goblin.
Mahinder smiled, and the audience went crazy.
- Maybe you could stand so the audience watching us on television could see better?- he asked.
She did just that and presented herself in a goblin form. Then she turned into a wolf, making people go even crazier.
- To those who don't know, the first creature was a goblin - the host rose his voice, to make it past the noise created by the audience.
Ki'rai switched to rat form, then to a miniature version of orc, and finally to a small lizardman, then she turned back to her original appearance.
- And here we have a creature called rat by the hunters, orc, and a lizardman - commented Mahinder.
People on the stand went bonkers, clapping, and screaming. Some whistled. My little lizard got excited, but fortunately, she stopped right there and returned to her spot on the couch.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmWe had to wait a moment, for the audience to calm down. The host did a good job, standing and gesturing with his hands to make everybody ease on the cheering department. Then he sat down and smiling turned to Tihana.
- That was quite a performance. I'm not gonna ask you to top it - he joked. - You are a teenager. The first one to become a hunter actually. How is it, to combine school life with hunting?
- I don't hunt much, I mainly focus on my studies - she replied.
- So what are your plans when you graduate? Do you want to pursue the hunter's carrier, or maybe switch to other disciplines?
- I'm not sure yet. Hunting seems quite attractive, but I always wanted to work in animation.
- Cartoons?
- Anime. I wanted to be a director, and create my own stories.
- That's quite an interesting dream. I would ask you about your favorite shows, but I'm unfortunately lacking the knowledge - he smiled again.
- It's fine.
- With the current prices of crystals, you could aim at creating your own animation studio. Have you thought about that? To boost your dream, using the opportunities that occupation for a hunter provides currently?
- Yes, I did, but I'm still young, and many things might change until I finish school, so I actually haven't been thinking too hard about that.
- What stories would you like to make?
- I've been thinking about some action, with elements of romance and adventure. I'm slowly working on a script, so yeah... Time will tell.
- That's great. Unfortunately, we don't have more time tonight! - he switched his focus to the camera. - I hope you all enjoyed tonight's show. Big thanks to my guest's doctor Sudarshana Patel, hunters Peter, Ki'rai, and Tihana! Have a good night!
The camera zoomed out, and the band started playing the jingle. We sat there, smiling, until the director finally gave us a cue, to stop.. That's how the filming ended.