Way of the Slugcat

Passenger

Thorns had never felt this feeling before. It was as if his heart had been left on the ground as he ascended. He expected to fall back down as he usually did, not really expecting his plan to work. But it did. He felt as if he were walking on clouds, as if he had lost all of his weight and were floating nonchalantly through the sky. Then, his feet gently touched down onto the raindeer's crown of antlers, bringing his heart back to his chest. He released the bug and held his savior tight.
"Night, I did it! It worked, I did it!"
"Great job!"
Thorns could hardly hear him. He turned to see his friend still sitting on the brick ledge.
"Come on, grab a bug!" He hollered.
"You're too far away! Just keep going!"
"But-"
"No buts! Keep going, I'll find a way to catch up!"
"But Night!"
"Keep going west, then go down into the canyon as far as you can!"
By this time, raindeer had lumbered so far away that Night had to scream to get any sound to reach him. Thorns felt himself starting to panic.
"W-what do I do alone!? Where is shelter, what about lizards and vultures and... and those weird noodle things!?"
"Just keep going!"
There was nothing he could do. Nothing that either of them could do. The red grasses lurched hungrily at the raindeer as its spindly legs moved it across the field. None of them could seem to get a grip on its shaggy fur. Thorns grasped one of the creature's antlers and tried to yank it in a direction. It paid him no mind, not even bothering to glance up at him.
"Come on you stupid mammal, turn around! Turn around!"
The deer continued to walk. One step at a time, it glided further into the unknown. The white slugcat looked back to the platform now almost out of sight. A tiny black figure raised a paw and waved. He stretched his body out on his taxi's antlers and let out a mournful sigh.
"O-okay, okay. Don't panic Thorns, everything is going to be fine. Everything is fine... The raindeer has no idea what is happening, so it is not at fault here. No one is at fault here... calm down. Deep breaths."

The sky seemed so big. Too big. What monstrosities would come diving out of it? Alas, the rain was not the only thing to fear when vultures lurked above. Thorns felt exposed, sitting atop a large animal in the middle of the field without anything over his head. He was but a dot on a map. A dot surrounded by nothing, going somewhere he could never anticipate. Not without his guide. The good news was that he and his ride were getting further away from the clouds. The bad news, on top of everything else, was that the clouds were probably moving faster than them. He could smell the rain from here.
"I hope Night gets out of there alright..." He said to himself, looking up at the open blue sky above him. "Do you have any idea where we are headed, Taxi?"
The raindeer gave no response, only glancing up at its hitch hiker with large yellow eyes.
"I supposed you would say that." The slugcat sighed.
Hours passed. The taxi and the passenger lumbered along through hungry weeds, only stopping to inspect small anomalies in their path. A bent up pipe protruding out of the grass, a harvester that seemed to have fallen over recently, given that the corpse of a vulture was still rotting underneath, and an abandoned scavenger toll overtaken by the ravenous plant life. Once, another loan deer wandered up to them. This one had considerably smaller antlers than Thorn's ride. The slugcat had braced himself for a tussle, but was left in awe as the smaller deer bowed its crown to the one he rode on. His taxi gracefully stepped over its acquaintance and continued to walk in no particular direction. Thorns remained impeccably impressed by this interaction until the graceful deer stumbled on something and almost launched him into the grass.
That would not have ended well... Thorns thought as he climbed higher into the antlers.
Everything seemed so dead out there. So quiet. One could hear a feather drop to the ground, or a batfly squeak from miles away. The wind smelled fresh as it passed gently by, blowing Thorn's ears backwards slightly. All the while, his ride wandered aimlessly through the endless fields of nothing.
"It is almost like another world up here..." Thorns muttered to no one in particular. The raindeer shifted slightly at the sound of his voice. "Is this your every day, Taxi? How wonderful it must be to live a life such as this one. No worries, no threats. Well, except for maybe scavengers."
Taxi gave a quiet sneeze.
"Yes, no one likes scavengers. I suppose they have their reasons, but they tend to be needlessly violent a lot of the time. Sort of like... me."
Ah. So I finally admit it. And to whom, a giant deer?
"Yes, Taxi, I used to be the violent sort. I almost got my friend killed by a vulture because I wanted to stab it. The bird was only looking for food, but I took it too personally."
Taxi blinked, then went back to looking ahead.
"I have always had trouble with... anger. Ironic. That is the first sin I started working on, yet it is the last to be concurred. Even when I was taller and had no tail I had trouble. I have gotten much better though, Taxi! I am not perfect. Not even close. But I do try, I really do. I never thought I would come this far, to be honest. And I would not have, if Night had not found me. Oh... I hope he is doing alright. I wonder how he will catch up with us? If he even can... W-wait, what are you doing!?"
Suddenly, the ground seemed to drop from beneath them. Taxi stumbled a few times as they lumbered clumsily down a steep slope. The sun was swept out of sight by a massive overhang of rocks that Thorns had somehow failed to notice up until now. The air around him cooled as his ride continued to descend into this strange, sunless field.
Thorns looked around his surroundings in awe. A large, concrete wall had been completely covered in faded graffiti of all shapes and sizes. Words, symbols, drawings of various creatures, and a cartoonish depiction of an iterator wearing a gas mask. This amalgamation of meaningless colors continued to stretch on for quite some time. Maybe once they had meaning to whoever created them, but all of that thought was lost now in a sea of senseless art. Thorns picked out a number of exaggerated depictions of lizards, vultures, and even slugcats within the chaos.
Who is responsible for this? He pondered. Or, should I say, how many people are responsible? How many have come down this way, and how long has it been since they passed? Were they like me?
A sudden urge came over him. The urge to add something to this work of art, this catalogue of all those who came before him. As Taxi strolled closer to the wall, Thorns caught sight of a strip of blue paint, poorly applied and seeming softer than the rest due to the rain. The slugcat let his paw rest against its surface, staining his white palm blue. As the reindeer walked further, Thorns took an opportunity to lay his little slugcat hand against a section of bare concrete. As he pulled his paw away, he could not help but feel a sense of satisfaction. A sense that he had contributed to something larger than himself, something that he had never felt before. He knew, and accepted, that the world would move on without him. It did not care if he perished or ascended. His fate did not affect the universe in any shape or form. But that tiny blue print he had left upon the wall would remain for a very long time, maybe even long enough to inspire the next soul that passed through. Only time would tell.
A spot of grassless land approached them. Taxi's spindly legs touched base and bent to let their heavy body down to earth. This was Thorn's stop.
"Ah, Taxi? Where are we?" Thorns asked the beast as he crept down from their antlers. The raindeer shifted a bit to create a more comfortable resting position. "Oh right, you cannot respond... I suppose I will need to find the answer by myself then."
Taxi blinked. They looked down at their tiny passenger with an expression Thorns could not quite understand. The gaze those yellow eyes gave him seemed regal and intelligent, yet witless and aloof at the same time. A beast that wanted to understand, yet could not bring itself to do so. A beast that wished to care, but did not understand why they should.
"...thank you, Taxi. I know that you cannot understand my words, but I will thank you anyway. I hope that my gratitude can get across to you, friend."
Thorns stood there with the raindeer, cherishing this moment that he would only have once, until a distant roar of thunder drew Taxi's attention. They stood on their impossibly skinny legs, gave one last indescribable glance at Thorns, and walked away towards the fields.

A pit formed in Thorn's stomach as he continued onwards through the dark. The tunnel that connected to the patch of bare land was not very small, yet it still felt as if its walls were suffocating him as he crawled through.
"Blast this stupid darkness." He muttered to himself, then stopped to take a couple of deep breaths. He was very much aware of the fact that he had no idea where he was going. His eyesight proved useless in this situation, so he closed his eyes and listened instead. To his horror, there seemed to be something moving about in the blackness behind him.
The all too familiar sound of claws scraping on concrete pushed the white slugcat forwards. He opened his eyes out of habit and caught sight of a light at the end of the tunnel. His heart skipped a beat in excitement, and possibly fear, as he increased his pace forwards.
Hah! That lizard is not going to get me this cycle. It will have to find something else to eat instead of-
A flash of orange filled Thorn's vision as he exited the tunnel. He ducked underneath the jaws of a lizard as they snapped shut on empty space. The slugcat burst into a mad dash and, without thinking whatsoever, scrambled up a pole in the center of the room he had emerged into. He could now see very clearly that the lizard in the tunnel had not been the only one there.
His initial pursuer stuck its yellow muzzle out of the hole, bumping into a second orange reptile with a pair of large antennae on its head. They vibrated as the beast realized that it did not have a hold of its prey. The top of a pole was not an ideal spot to hide, so the pair spotted him moments afterwards, hissing and shaking their antenna back and forth with vigor. A third lizard emerged from a burrow on the other side of the room. It's scales shone with a rich orange hue, sparkling in the fading light that crept through cracks in the ceiling. Its antenna seemed larger than its companion's, extending all the way down to its tail. It clambored its way up a pole to get a better view of its friend's situation.
"W-why are there so many of you!?" Thorns exclaimed. "You are supposed to be fighting! Go on, bite each other or something!"
The predators did not oblige. The first two lizards lumbered over to the base of his pole, looking up at him with an unquenched hunger in their beady little eyes. Saliva oozed out of their jaws in foaming strings. The third lizard simply sat on its pole, watching Thorns with interest.
Hold on... Thorns pondered. If these lizards are capable of climbing, then why are they not-
His question was answered before he even finished. A fourth lizard, this one of a pale
yellow color, launched itself off of a ledge behind the pole. Its body shot through the air like an arrow loosed from a bow. Thorns had nowhere to go. Below him, behind him, in front of him; all paths of escape had been cut off by these antennae-bearing beasts. In a moment of panic, Thorns swung himself around the side of the pole, hoping to throw his attacker off. To no avail. The pale lizard's jaws snapped shut on his little body, piercing his skin with ease. The smell of blood filled the air and reached the slugcat's senses. He couldn't move, couldn't think, could hardly breathe through all of the pain.
Thump!
Suddenly, he was free. Thorns opened his eyes to find himself on the ground with his assailant lying next to him, stunned from the fall. It had failed to grasp the pole in its claws and fallen, the force of its landing knocking Thorn's free from its blackened teeth. The other three lizards had begun to close in on his location.
A sudden rush of adrenalin hit Thorns' shuddering form. It was as if time itself had slowed, giving him a brief moment of calm to catch his breath. Two lizards were coming at him from his right. One lizard charged in from the front. The lizard on the left was beginning to recover from its fall. A wall blocked his escape from behind, and it was apparent that the pole was no longer safe. As Thorns observed his situation, a thought crept into his mind.
What would Night do?
No. Thorns shook his head. Night is not here right now. What would I do?
As the predators closed in on him, an idea began to formulate in his head. It was crazy, completely insane! But it just might work. Thorns had every intention of reaching wherever Night had tried to guide him. He knew not what awaited him in the far west, but he did know one thing: He would allow nothing, nothing, to stop him from reaching it.

Journey
Not the destination, but the path one takes to get there.

Author's note: Hello! Sorry this took so long to get out. College has been hitting me pretty hard, but things have quieted down for now. Thanks for sticking with me!