Moon 514 || Blaze and the White Griffon

5 || Dangerous Wetlands

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Last revision: 2/15/2013

Dangerous Wetlands

She lay awake, eyes closed but ears acutely attuned to the soft patter of rain, the plodding of flying insects grounded by the moisture, the occasional splashing from mammals shaking water off their soaked fur, the croaking of various species of frogs, and the musical sounds of exotic birds calling to one another.  Her large waterlogged eyelashes threatened not to open because of the extra water weight but she soon had her eyes carefully slit to observe her environment without moving.  Nothing unusual, she observed.  Frogs, toads, lizards, snakes, monkeys, and several other critters moved around, nearly silently because of the white noise splashing all around them.  This was her new home.

She grabbed some berries next to where she lay with her tail and passed them to her mouth where she greedily tasted the succulent flavors of these local delicacies.  Her environment safe, her consciousness surfacing more clearly each moment, and her rested muscles ready for movement, she sat up and considered her plans for the day as she continued to ingest berries by the dozens.  For other species in this jungle, it was a dangerous thing to lay next to a berry bush to sleep but for those on the top of the pecking order, it was less foolhardy.  And although these local creatures recognized her as the top predator in the area, she still had to be wary as sleeping predators can also be considered prey by those with the disposition to think so.  And with so many new species created by the rogue gene splicing team, there really was no security based on status here in the deep jungles of Borneo.

Not ready to stand up yet, she began her daily routine: meditation while stretching.  Legs split, face resting on the ground, and arms pointed behind her and towards the sky, she held her tail while carefully and methodically breathing in a regular, rhythmic fashion.  After several moments, she shifted position until she was stretched into a similarly odd pose and continued focusing on her breathing.  The air here was usually moist but today, she was breathing thick fog – and the heat was almost unbearable.  Her glowing, shining skin glistened more than normal under these conditions but she was too focused to notice that – all she noticed was that it took extra focus to do her routine under these uncomfortable conditions.

But then, food was plentiful here and the environment was beautiful – though dangerously and deceptively so – so she did her best to enjoy her surroundings. 

Today was the day she expected this new world to communicate to her. 

She had spent moons here – too many moons – learning everything she could about this new environment and all of its inhabitants, its patterns, its pulse, its energy.  Now, it was time to learn its thoughts.

As she sat upright, her arms stretched behind her back once again and twisted around each other more times than looked natural and her waist twisted awkwardly towards an angle over her left hip, the woman felt a disturbance in the energy around her and looked up – only to see a large crocodile slowly edging towards her.  She wouldn’t have named it so and she wouldn’t have named an alligator either but she recognized the difference – as well as she could recognize that this particular creature was especially large and boasted features that suggested genetic manipulations: spikes decorated its backside in two rows much like one would expect from certain species of extinct dinosaurs.  Its tail boasted spikes and an edged tip as well.  Apart from these modifications, the woman could not quickly detect anything unusual about this beast – but modifications there were.

She sang to it.

A short little tune, she hummed and sang a simple melody and countermelody in harmony with herself, using both of her vocal chords and the secondary flap in her throat to make soothing, fluttery sounds.