An Unlikely Ally

Chapter 8 - Exploration and Discovery

The sun was just starting to show as a new day broke as the creature sat by the edge of a nearby lake near the town, it was surrounded by dense forrest land, tall trees and the sounds of running water. The creature was washing itself off after an entire day then night, of hunting, having had its face covered in blood which trickled down the length of its broad shoulders and slender arms. By the other side of the creek, a good 20 meters away, towards Pawling, was two lifeless forms of deer, having been half shreded and nearly all gone.

Easier then anticipated, I am superior in speed. The creature scooped up a handful of water and poured it over its face, it kept it's plates firmly shut as this was quite a vulnerable position for it. The sounds of the running water masked any wannabe stalkers, so the creature had to be on guard.

Several minutes passed as the trails of blood filled the water downstream, before dissapating further along. After beliving enough of the blood was removed from its face and body, it savoured a moment to pause and listen out for anything out of the ordinary, before diping its head underwater and opening its plates. Letting the blood soaked interior flush with water, and in turn take a much needed drink.

It brought its head back above water and sighed, resting in the cool stream for a moment. This place does have its pleasantries, im surprised my home didnt have this. I could get used to this...

The creature had known a life of struggle, fighting to survive and having minimal trust in even its own species. The unforgiving landscape, hard obsidian ground and souring temperatures for weeks. Then terrible winters that even froze the CO2 in the air. Water was scarce, mostly came in the form of ice during those seasons. A part of survival was trying to move large chunks of it into caves and caverns, as during the hot season, a lot of it would start to evaporate, nearly all of it by the end. Not to mention fighting over brothers and sisters, trying to get enough to survive. Mother killed my youngest sibling, as it had fallen into the small pool we had in our cave, it dirtied the water and that was enough for it to be killed off. 'clumsy enough around water, so not fit enough to support the family.'

The air felt suddenly thick for the creature, in the realm of things, was not a long time ago for it. Eleven moons had passed, which due to differences in planets, is two times slower then earth's moon. So the creature was 22 before one day, its world was destroyed entirely.

It was the 10th month on its eleventh moon, generally it would be winter, and it would be preparing to venture out and collect ice and hunt for food, however it did not get cold. Infact it was hotter then ever before, something felt wrong. Then one day without warning, the ground shook, broke apart and the creature was buried it is cave. Darkness came as the air grew thin and the cold seeped in, the water flowed through the rocks covering the creature as gravity became no more, before freezing and entombing the creature.

The creature remembered its last thought before it lost conciousness: "Am I going to die?"

The creature stood up silently without another thought and walked away from the water, suddenly feeling less soothed from it and wanted to get away from it as far as possible, back to the safety of town. Taking a quick pace back to town and not looking back.

The creature had kept a fast pace, running through the trees and dodging obstructions, taking relief as it got further away from the water source. The thumping sounds of its arms and legs on the soft ground and leaves, the brush of leaves past its face, the full stomach that fueled its body, filled it with energy.

It slowed down as it broke through the treeline and reached over grown grass, now keeping a steady walking pace as it panted slightly from the exertion. It was now standing just infront of a row of buildings, it couched down to catch its breath as it thought out its next course of action.