FRIC — Viewing Species: Zooming Cometchaser

This rocky, meteorite-esque egg is much heavier than its size lets on. The spikes that adorn the top of it are very rigid and slightly warm to the touch.

The egg has hatched into a pupa-like arthropod with bright red eyes and feelers. Most of its body is covered in a shell that’s always warm. While it scoots its way along the ground like one would expect, it also has a surprisingly good jumping ability. If allowed, it’ll freely climb to the tops of counters and repeatedly jump off of them, seemingly unharmed after each landing. Spends most of the daytime resting, and is typically active during the night.

Red and blue lights can be seen flying across Crop Circle Canyon at night. These lights are actually Zooming Cometchasers, whose pastime is launching themselves from one side of the canyon to the other. The lights they emit are referred to as trails, and they will persist for a few seconds before dissipating whenever they jump. Since they spend their entire lives honing their jumping ability, it’s best to exercise caution around wild Cometchasers. If they perceive something as a threat, they may opt to launch themselves directly at it in order to startle and drive it away.

The impressive speed at which they launch themselves is equal parts intriguing and troublesome. A handler that neglects to properly train a Cometchaser may find themselves with a creature that has zero qualms with launching itself off of even the most cluttered of desks and countertops. They’re very easily motivated by food, and will happily accept most offerings. Their favourite foods are large leaves that they can gnaw away at for an extended period of time. Seemingly no leaf can be too big for them to turn away, though it may take them a few sittings to get through it.