Chapter Text
With spring in full swing, the warm rays of the sun once again gave life and colour to the forest greenery, awakening it from the deepest of rests. Greenery, in turn, gave life to the herbivores, who unwillingly gave theirs to the predators who’ve recently returned to full activity. Migratory birds sang with vigour, as if to proudly announce their return from the great southern savannahs. The gentle breeze which carried the scents of pollen and blooming flowers throughout the land also gently pushed on the newly revitalised crowns of the trees, making them sway in dance. Such was every spring in these mild climates.
In mostly-undisturbed woodland not far from the continent’s shores, a young wolf returned to the clearing where the rest of his pack should have been resting. But there, he only found his mate. Though the absence of the rest was unexpected, there were no signs of struggle or any other emergency in either the environment or in the behaviour of his packmate, so the male approached the she-wolf without too much worry.
Once he got to a distance of about two paces, two blue spikes launched out of the female’s body at incredible speed, piercing clean through the skull of the male and killing him instantly. The false canine’s flesh changed colour to match that of the spikes as it flowed like water and quickly covered the male’s fresh corpse in its entirety. Once the carcass was fully enveloped, it took less than two seconds for it to be fully digested and absorbed by the shape-changing lifeform.
So nutritious, so physiologically complex! What wonderful creatures, what a thrill to have observed and hunted them!
I bounced up and down in excitement. I decided to call this land the Dry Place. The creatures here were very different from those found in the Big Water. They were built so strangely, often having to resort to using limbs to move across the grainy ground, which was itself filled with so many different types of living things of all types. The Dry Place, even more obviously so than the Big Water, was like a wonderful symphony of interconnected systems that coexisted to sustain each other.
I couldn’t wait to eat all of it.
And to think I really believed I was going to die in the Coldness… In the end, my will, my unmatched determination was now being thoroughly rewarded with these new lands, where all was mine to devour.
I wondered where to go next. Every direction could hold some wonderful new thrill, some wonderful new prey, some wonderful new subject to study. I vibrated rapidly, the overpowering joy threatening to turn me stupid.
I decided I mustn’t think too much, lest I delay my next adventure. I chose a random direction and ventured ahead.
… After briefly wandering with no particular aim, I caught the trail of an entirely new scent. I followed it with haste while making sure to remain quiet and low to the ground. On the way, I encountered something that gave me pause, something more intriguing than the promise of a new lifeform to learn about and consume.
In this area, many of the mighty brown growths – the ones which also had that flat green stuff growing from their limbs – were destroyed near their very bases.
I slithered closer to one of the defeated specimens and inspected the site carefully. It seemed as though repeated strikes with something sharp destroyed them. Did the creature I was tracking do this? That was a rather impressive feat. I already saw little creatures consume these big brown growths with little nibbles, but to fell them and take them away for some unknown purpose? That was most interesting.
I turned around and continued following the scent trail with bolstered curiosity.
… And it wasn’t too long until I reached the boundary of where the big brown growths proliferated, only to be met with a confusing sight. From a distance and out of a hiding spot behind a large stone, I spotted many remains of the big brown growths gathered into one place and stacked in various ways to form an enclosed shape, likely some sort of shelter. Near it, there was a small pond, and on the edge of that pond was a new beast very unlike what I expected. Its central body was blue, and from the blueness emerged two beige limbs at the bottom, two beige limbs near the top, and a mostly beige head – though that, in turn, had some long black fur growing out of it. The bizarre and unexpectedly small beast was holding something and splashing its two lower limbs in the water.
What was that structure? What was that lifeform? Did it really destroy those brown growths and build something out of them? Did it do that by itself? What was any of this?
I needed to know more!
I simply couldn’t hold myself back, I couldn’t just hide and observe from a distance, like I usually did with new prey. That usually necessitated a lot of idle waiting, which got boring quickly. I wanted to investigate and consume this creature so that I could understand its physiology right now! I needed to understand how something so small could be so impressive! With some effort, I made myself transparent and incredibly thin before beginning to sneak up on the beast, weaving between the tiny green growths that covered almost the entirety of the Dry Place’s ground. Once close, I realised this creature was not the one whose scent I followed here. I could tell that this one was of the same species, but a different individual, and spread throughout the surroundings were also the smells of a third. On heightened alert, I looked around and saw no other specimens within line of sight.
With nothing preventing me from doing so, I quickly pierced the head of the beast, seemingly killing it instantly. I made sure to be quick with the envelopment and digestion.
But what was this? That blue main segment of its body… It was not blue at all, that was just some thin outer layer, one that wasn’t even attached to the creature. Its skin, in reality, bore the same beige colour as the limbs all across its surface. The blue layer was made of an entirely different material than the fur which the creature possessed on its own body… How utterly confounding. Where did it obtain this additional layer? Did it create it? And what was it that this creature was holding? It was made of the same material as the big brown growths…? It was of a strange shape, and I didn’t understand its purpose at all. For a moment, I merely remained there, still and confused.
But not for too long. I snapped back to the present moment and quickly adopted the beast’s shape and precise position to ensure no observer would notice anything amiss. That was clumsy of me.
I tried to review what I learned of the beast based on its body. It was clearly a female. And a juvenile one, judging from the underdeveloped state of both its internal offspring-forming and external white-substance-creating organs. It had small scales on the ends of its digits. Were those meant to be used as weapons? They didn’t really protect anything of note, but I doubted they would be helpful at fending off threats. The creature’s skin was quite unusual, with the way it was seemingly meant to excrete water – a rare trait, especially considering it was not limited to only a select few areas. Another unusual-
I was distracted by a vocalisation coming from behind. I turned my head around to see another member of this species who was twice my current form’s height, looking at me from out of the shelter and performing some sort of gesture.
I really should have held back! With what I’d learned from consuming the first one, I could see that these beasts must show some incredibly interesting behaviours if passively observed! I desperately hoped they were not particularly rare.
Due to my lack of observation, I had little clue what natural and non-threatening movements looked like among members of this species. But generally, keeping my actions slow and avoiding any unnecessary gesturing was universally appropriate among most lifeforms, so that is what I attempted to maintain as I approached the shelter.
It was only partway through my journey there that my senses were struck by a powerful and truly exquisite smell.
I almost lost control of my shape and colour entirely once it reached me. I could not believe it. It felt incredible, yet it also elicited a powerful craving within me. Where could it have come from? Instead of keeping my movements calm, I hastened my pace. As I approached the entrance to the shelter, the large one blocked my path and vocalised at me, so I killed it by also driving a spike through its head. After helping its body fall gently and not make too much noise, I entered. The interior was overwhelming with the amount of unfamiliar objects, but I paid them no heed for now, beckoned by the scent. There was another large member of the species, which was seemingly distracted and interacting with the source of the smell, its back turned to me and the exit. I could not tell what it was doing from this angle, but I nonetheless dispatched it in much the same way as the last, leaving me alone with the…
What was I looking at, exactly?
It was some sort of… liquid? One that visibly contained other, more solid substances within itself. The mixture was very hot, sitting inside of something black which was being heated up from below by some sort of moving, light-emitting, very hot… thing? The hot thing seemed shapeless, as though it weren’t an object, but some other kind of phenomenon.
But I could not resist and merely observe. I immediately grabbed the liquid’s container and enveloped it fully, focusing on consuming the mixture.
And it felt so, so good.
An additional, entirely different, and far more powerful sensation to the satisfaction of merely obtaining new nutrients!
Though it was also highly uncomfortable to have something so hot inside me.
Just what was that substance?!
I quickly analysed what I had just consumed. It was not actually anything unfamiliar in terms of composition; water, a number of growths I’d already encountered in the Dry Place’s ground before, a bit of flesh from one of the creatures with sharp bone spikes growing out of its head… But why was it so much more pleasing to me now?! The combination of these things, the way they were so high in heat… I could not believe it. I didn’t even care about the nutrients – the mixture wasn’t even impressive at all when it came to those. What I really wanted more of was… I wondered what to name these pleasures, these sensations I barely had not even given much thought until this moment. The way it felt when I consumed it… I decided to call that sensation “flavour”. And I wanted more of the specific way in which it dissolved within me so easily. I would call that sensation “texture”. I wasn’t just consuming for the feeling of gaining nutrients and mass, this was an entirely different pleasure, one I certainly wanted more of…
One I needed more of! Preferably, right away!
Strangely, despite knowing exactly what it was made of, I felt I still understood little of the mixture. Was this what the species here primarily consumed? Was it merely normal sustenance to them, or something very precious?
I decided I should also name it right away. I would call this “food”.
I ejected food’s container out of my body and inspected it more closely. The process of digestion heavily damaged it, even though I was only trying to get at the contents… What sort of material was that, anyway? It was incredibly different from anything I’d seen so far. I then applied pressure onto the object from two sides, causing it to distort, but not break into pieces. A strange property for something so tough. Stone, which was also very durable, could not bend at all, let alone to this extent. Where did the beasts harvest this material? How was it shaped?
Was there another such container here? I looked around the shelter. There were so many unfamiliar things…
Was it a mistake to kill these creatures? Were they precious few in number? I fell into despair. Into regret. I never regretted killing something before.
No, surely there were more. And they would have more food for me to harvest.
I’d need to understand them better either way. For the time being, it seemed best to briefly investigate the shelter I found myself in.
I decided to start my investigation with that heat-emitting phenomenon. It was warm and bright, like the light of the sun… It seemed to grow out of Brown Growth, changing it in the process. But how did that work? It was so dissimilar to pretty much anything else I’ve seen. Why did it create warmth and light? It was so hot that touching it would hurt, so I grabbed some nearby object with an elongated shape and used it as a tool to poke the heat phenomenon. Strangely, it did not react at all to my poking. I took something nearby that was also made of Brown Growth, and gently tossed it into the phenomenon. It began to slowly change the object, also converting it into a source of itself, almost as if consuming it. So it was alive? I felt that I probably couldn’t understand the phenomenon any further at the moment, so it was probably time to move on… Even if I really wanted to understand how exactly it came about.
I continued my inspection of the area with the seal to the entrance of the shelter. It moved side to side easily, but not up or down. What was the point of something like that as a tool to prevent invaders from gaining access to the interior? I noticed that it was made of Brown Growth, but… It was made of multiple, flat, precisely cut pieces of the growth, which were then stacked tightly together to form one whole! There was nothing about the physiology of the creatures which would indicate the capability to do anything like this, so this must have been achieved through the use of a very specialised tool. How impressive.
And what was this part on the edge, embedded into the Brown Growth seal? It was the same dark material as the container for that exquisitely tasty mixture. There was a blocky centre, from which a protruding component extended out and then to the side. I inspected it, but couldn’t understand what it was. Surely there was a point to it, right? I tapped it, pulled on it, pushed on it…
Eventually, I applied downward force to the protruding component from the correct angle, and it moved slightly. I applied more force, and a different component located on the thin side of the mechanism also moved, retreating inward at the same time. I didn’t understand what purpose that could possibly serve until I inspected the shelter’s entrance hole itself closer. Located in the wall, perfectly at the height of that inward-retreating component was a slot with the same size as that competent. I felt a surge of excitement when I understood. The protruding component was meant to be grabbed and pulled down on by the creatures, which controls the inward-retreating component, which can be inserted into the hole to stop the entire entrance seal from moving in any direction, thus defending against all intruders who do not also understand the mechanism and have the capability of manipulating it correctly!
What an incredibly sophisticated way to do something as simple as control an entrance to a shelter! This species… They were clearly masters of creation. Perhaps such an impressive and complex creation deserved that I also give it a name right away? I decided I shall call it a “door”.
I felt my regret at killing these creatures deepen. I wasn’t even sure why. There were surely more, so this wasn’t some kind of great loss…
I pushed that feeling away, because the most important thing was still learning more about this species and consuming more of the food that was guarded here! I had enough of learning by myself. The more I found out about these creatures, the more I thought that observing them passively would actually bring me a great deal of joy. And if I learned enough, maybe I could create food for myself from scratch!
I consumed the corpses I left behind – which I learned were a fully grown male and female – and rushed outside to look for more scents. After an inspection of the area, I noticed that the fully grown male had a scent trail leading somewhere opposite of where I came from, deeper into the Dry Place and away from the Big Water. Would it lead me to more of these Crafty Ones?
…
I followed the scent trail to a different kind of trail, one of water, all of which flowed in one direction, toward the Big Water. I wondered where all of it came from. From that point onward, the scent followed the water trail. It took some time, and I didn’t come across anything interesting on the way, but I did eventually find exactly what I was hoping for.
It was unmistakably a collection of those shelters which the Crafty Ones made! Well, they actually looked to be made of different materials, but still retained an easily recognisable overall shape. And the Crafty Ones were all concentrated in the area, so these must have been their shelters! I really assumed I would either see another small pack of them living in a shelter similar to the one I already encountered, or there would be one huge hive with countless specimens within. Why did they build many, smaller shelters? That was an inefficient use of space and materials. How fascinatingly odd! The collection of structures was also surrounded by a vast area where the ground looked much different, lacking any stone or ground-growth, and having instead been shaped into a pattern of straight lines. Were they doing something to it? For what purpose? I knew right there and then that I knew I simply had to hold myself back this time and limit my killing of them. I had to observe instead, and learn as much as I could.
Due to the lack of growths and stone in the area surrounding the colony, I had to take great care in order to be able to approach it stealthily. Thankfully, most of them were now beginning to swarm to the center of the colony, leaving their positions in the surrounding area. It also helped that the sun was now retreating again, causing everything to get much darker, which would impede the Crafty Ones’ vision – I knew they lacked the ability to see in such conditions based on my analysis of their eyes. While keeping myself incredibly thin, low to the ground, and transparent, I approached one of the shelters, whose surface was made of a strange stone-like material. I managed to climb it unnoticed. The double-sloped top of it was somewhat difficult to navigate because it had trouble supporting my full weight, as it was made of Brown Growth. I moved across it carefully so as to not damage it, which would likely alert the Crafty Ones to my presence and possibly alter their behaviour in a way that would compromise my attempts at understanding them. I was successful without much trouble.
Once I reached the very top, I spread my transparent body thin and ensured I was not even the slightest bit reflective, making me almost impossible to see. After that, I could simply watch, listen, and smell carefully. Curiously, I heard some strange sounds that must have been other species besides the Crafty Ones, but could not see them from my current position. Were they captured for some strange purpose? I was most curious, but it was risky to wander the colony at the moment.
As the Crafty Ones were returning to this area from the surroundings, they carried what appeared to be tools, and while some of them then remained outside, most returned to the interiors of their shelters. They communicated using vocalisations a lot, so I listened very carefully.
Yet as much as I did, I found untangling meaning within them incredibly difficult. The language they used seemed rather complex, perhaps one of the most complex I’ve encountered among any species…
For the time since I crossed the Coldness, I felt real anger. It would take such a long time to discern the meaning of all these sounds! I wanted to understand now! I wanted to know what these creatures were communicating, to know just how complex they were socially! I wiggled vigorously in frustration.
But only for a moment. I was determined not to let this get to me. I remained in place and continued my observation for the time being.
I needed more patience! These were not only the most intriguing creatures I had encountered in the Dry Place so far, but also the creators of that wonderful mixture – food! I was well aware that I mustn’t do anything rash again.
The more I thought about these creatures, the more they resembled one other species I also found incredibly intriguing. Those little dancers and architects, the flying yellow-and-black ones who flew growth to growth, collecting yellow powder. They also built mighty shelters for themselves, also communicated in a complex system, and also produced a substance I thoroughly enjoyed consuming. If it weren’t for the fact that I encountered them so early into my arrival to the Dry Place – a time where everything was so new and endlessly fascinating to me that I especially lacked patience – I would have certainly paid them much more attention. But for the time being, I am glad to focus on the Crafty Ones, who seemed even greater builders with an even greater ability to create pleasing substances.
And as if pondering food brought it into reality, I began to register smells vaguely similar to it… Were some in the colony beginning the process of creating food?
I had to observe this! I could learn how to create food for myself!
I traversed the top of the shelter back the way I came and lowered myself onto the ground with great care, hiding myself behind some objects which were stored here. I was unsure how to proceed. There were so many, but I needed to sneak into one of the shelters and observe the process of food-creation properly… What could I do? Was detection permissible here? Would the Crafty Ones cease their activities if I were to interrupt?
The scents originating nearby were growing intolerable in their irresistibility. I was turning restless with desire, my appetite stimulated relentlessly… It was not as though I could simply deactivate my sense of smell altogether, as useful as that would be at the moment. What a challenge to overcome.
With my patience growing thin, I did the first thing I thought of, quickly but discreetly taking on the form of the Crafty One juvenile I consumed earlier. My new form’s lower limbs carried me to the entrance of the shelter from the top of which I had just been conducting my observation. I was now in the midst of the creatures. I could not tell whether or not I was showing any strange behaviour in my attempt at blending in, but it was clear that I was noticed, and that at least a couple gazes were now fixed upon me. Not paying this much heed, I used my knowledge of the Crafty Ones’ mechanisms to enter the shelter by correctly manipulating its sophisticated invader-repelling system – the great door.
Within, I spotted eight specimens, of which three were fully developed while the rest seemed to be in varying stages of juvenility, ranging in size to a large extent. Six were gathered around a large object which was essentially just a flat four-sided shape held up by four thin pieces resembling legs in purpose. Two of the youngest beasts here were being held by their larger shelter-mates. A fully grown one was manipulating objects unknown to me somewhere deeper in, and one lingered in an area that was both home to yet another one of the Heat Phenomena and the source of multiple smells I found most pleasing. Almost everyone was looking at me, and multiple vocalised in my direction. I moved closer to the one who seemed to be in the process of creating food, intending to observe the process.
But upon arriving, I was confused. There was no food. There was some other mixture being heated up in a container similar to the one in which I found food earlier, but it was quite different. Nearby, I also saw many other unfamiliar objects, as well as some growths which I previously observed other species consuming. I was still being vocalised at.
So there were more types of food? And food wasn’t the only thing that the Crafty Ones consumed? That complicated things.
Still, that mixture had a very inviting smell. I grabbed some of it and placed it in the same opening a Crafty One would if they were to consume something, as I was trying not to garner suspicion in how I consumed it.
As I did so, I was somewhat pleased, yet the experience was far from the joys of a fully ready food, a food that was also the same type as the one I initially encountered…
So not all of food matched my preference… At least not when still in the process of being created. And this flavour wasn’t even as pleasant as its smell would indicate, which felt like something of a betrayal!
It also seemed my attempts at acting as another member of the colony were unsuccessful, and I was attacked by the Crafty One I was standing next to, the one who was preparing all of these objects for the consumption of its shelter-mates. It grabbed me before vocalising loudly, which prompted several others to also become loud. Displeased with the food’s ability to satisfy me and frustrated with the difficulty of blending in, I realised I had to rethink my approach.
I thought that perhaps next time, I would only intervene if the food was both of an appropriately satisfying type, and also fully prepared. But it seemed that the more wondrous the food, the more enticing the smells! Could I really lie in wait if I were to detect the same scents as I did earlier, during my first encounter with the species?
I felt a sense of defeat… Something I had also not experienced in a great deal of time.
For so long now, I saw everything outside the Empty Place as something that belonged to me. These lands were all utterly devoid of anything that could pose me any harm, utterly devoid of anything like my old enemies, leaving everything completely defenseless in the face of my appetite… It all felt like a reward for my ability to cross the Coldness… But I saw for the first time that there were indeed great challenges for me here.
I turned around and began to leave the shelter. The Crafty One who was trying to hold me lost its grip instantly as I began to move. These creatures were very weak.
So weak yet so impressive.
Although I clearly caused some sort of disarray within the colony, I ignored that fact for now, my strange lower limbs carrying me onward without paying much heed to the reactions of the creatures. I needed time to think, and to attend to a different need growing within me.
…
I continued following the trail of flowing water until I was well out of sight of the Crafty Ones’ colony. Approaching the edge, I did away with my disguise and submerged a portion of myself.
With excitement, I began the process of forming them.
First, I compress a lot of myself into as little space as possible, near the centre. They start out as part of me. But as I continue concentrating on the process and manipulating my mass properly, I quickly feel them become a separate entity with its own will and appetite. It wasn’t long before the cuties were fully formed, at which point I gently moved them within myself, towards the portion of myself that I had submerged. Then, I ejected them out and into the water. And how wonderful they were! Just like me, in so many ways! I was a beautiful blue like that of the daytime sky, but their transparency was also very pretty, on top of being useful for the purpose of camouflage! There were three of them this time, but for as long as they stayed physically united with one another, they would act as one mind. Not that they could really think...
With pride, I watched them immediately begin moving around and seeking for something to consume. Just like me, they would grow as they gained nutrients. Just like me, there was little in this world that could possibly pose them any harm. I hoped they would live a long life full of easy prey.
I wobbled happily, even though I just lost a great quantity of mass as a result of the wholesome process.
Invigorated by the experience, I started paying attention to my now-dark environment again. There were still many smells of the Crafty Ones here, so it seemed they ventured quite far from their colonies, as well as between them. Perhaps now that I was properly on their trail, it would be trivially easy to find ever greater numbers of these creatures.
And then… Well, I’d have to study them more to figure out my next steps…