Trials of Survival

Chapter 5: A... Person?

(VERY LITTLE VIOLENCE IN THIS CHAPTER! LIKE, THE VERY OPPOSITE OF VIOLENCE IN THIS CHAPTER!!!! A LOT OF ITTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

4:24 PM

I stared at the Hue-Man in confusion... why was he yelling so rashly? Did he want to attract attention?! No, no no no, that was no good... especially near the territory of the Kaiju! I quickly padded forward and covered his mouth with my paw, shushing him fervently. 

He was... no, this was not the Hue-Man from before... he looked awfully familiar, but from up close there was a lot more to differentiate the two... this one had lots of white fur, instead of the dull greys and blacks, he was a little skinnier... oh? As I looked him up and down, I spotted some of the things the other had on his character. 

One on it's waist, one tucked in the pouch on it's back, and one in it's- 

"EEP!" 

I startled back, a sudden loud clang sounded out! Was it the Kaiju, were they coming back?! I glanced about hurriedly, but I eventually found what made it... the Hue-Man had dropped one of the items, and it had clanged to the ground... 

I let out a sigh of relief... then looked back up at the Hue-Man... this must've been the other's kin! It was smaller, frailer... so that must've been the case! I slowly walked up to it, trying to warble out another phrase from what I could remember... 

Language. It was so hard... my voice came out goopy, drippy, warbly and distorted. I barely had a grip on what the memory me's words actually meant... but I think I had a good enough hold on it... 

"Hello..." 

Yes! Good, it seemed to respond to that... less stiff, more relaxed... it's face never changed, but it's body spoke a thousand words! Though still, his legs wobbled and it seemed he struggled to keep himself upright. This one must be malnourished... maybe injured? I could not see any wounds... No, but I smelt something... iron? What is iron? That's what I smell... but what is it? 

I looked down to the child's legs, the white fur was stained red... oh! I see, the wound must be underneath the fur then! That is... that is no good! 

I hurried over to the wobbly Hue-Man, worry in my eyes. He stiffened as I approached, but I paid that no heed. Setting my paws on his shoulders, I motioned for him to sit down, a faint smile on my face. 

"S...S-Sit... Floor..."  I sputtered out, wrenching the words from my throat. It was so unfamiliar... yet so familiar all at once. Like I was a master, and also a beginner... 

The Hue-Man slowly followed, lowering itself ever so slowly to the floor, until it thudded against the smooth rocks, eyes ever wide, a constant stare right into mine... it was unnerving. 

I sat down just a few steps away from him, cross legged. I set my paws on my lap and looked to him... A-Ah! What was I going to do? I... I never thought this far! He was the key to... to remembering who I was...? I think that was it... yes, but how would... how would I do that? 

"U-Um... You're... Are you gonna kill me?" The Hue-Man spoke, slowly reaching towards one of the items on it's waist. I had a hard time wrapping my head around it's words... 

I stared at the Hue-Man, wide-eyed for a few moments before smiling. "Me... Kill... No?...No!" I spat, the Hue-Man seemed unnerved by the way I spoke, so I made sure to send him a reassuring smile! 


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I stared at the mutant before me, I'd barely understood what it said... and now, it was baring it's teeth at me! Something... Something... Kill? It wanted to kill me! Was it just toying with me, before it ripped out my throat?! 

Wait... no, it said it didn't want to kill me... speaking with these mutants is difficult... It was... an odd sight, to say the least. It looked docile, compared to the ravenous beasts Tane described to me. Soft, plush fur covered it's body, light blue in colour, it's underbelly a whitish blue. 

Behind it were two, twin-split tails, slightly swaying as it stared into my eyes, seemingly peering right through the visor, and into my soul... and it's eyes... it had no pupils, no irises, just two wide, blank voids of white space... Creepy...

Two fox like ears sat atop it's head, twitching idly as it just stared at me, teeth bared. Speaking of which, it had a short, thinnish snout, ending with a light blueish button nose. It's teeth were sharp, two long fangs in the front, upper jaw. The rest were shorter but still sharp, and in the back were two short, flat molars on either side, on lower and upper.

Short claws were on the ends of it's paws, short and curved, they looked sharp... It seemed a bit wispy, small faint trails of mist floating up from it, and dissipating in the air. It looked... a bit unnerved now... oh right! I was just staring at it... it must feel bored... M-Maybe it'll slice me up! U-Uh, I'd better entertain it! And maybe, while it's not looking... I could force a knife through it's neck. 

"S-So..." Ahem "You're one of them? How come you're uh... so friendly?"... Crud... Great, bring up that of all things! You're done for... 

It choked out another reply... another, barely understandable gargled mess "You and... Pack... Make... h-head... tingle?" It tilted it's head at me, it's ears flopping to the side... I... the thing was kinda cute... 

In all honesty, from the get go, the thing was cute. It always looked like it had a little smile, it's eyes, despite lacking all definition, were soft and wide. It was also just so damned floofy!

...
 
AARGH! What am I thinking?! The thing wants you dead! Snap yourself out of it Dave! 

"Oh... I-I see... is this head tingle a umm... a nice feeling?" I stuttered out, managing a forced smile under my mask... yeah, doing that had no purpose really. 

It cocked it's head at me, then smiled wide... showing of every single little tooth in that maw of it's... eurgh... scary... 

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The Hue-Man asked another question... what was it? What did it mean... I took a moment to study the words, brief summaries flashing through my head... in a few moments, I finally got the sentence, and it's meaning down! 

I flashed the Hue-Man a knowing smile, it seemed unphased though, staring lifelessly at me as per usual. 

"Head tingle... not feeling... think? Head think!" I tapped the side of my skull, pointing to my head. 

He stared. I stared back. It was a thing now... A game of back and forth, both struggling to speak in one way or another... The tiny Hue-Man was silent for a long time, staring up at the ceiling with it's paw pressed to it's chin. It wasn't speaking to me, just making low mumbling noises to itself... was it ignoring me? Oh... I see... it didn't think me worthy to talk to it...

A sad frown crossed my muzzle, but before I could stand and float away, the Hue Man turned to stare at me once more. It's body language radiated curiosity, rather than fear or unease like before. 

"A memory? You remember something about me? Or maybe... my friends?" The Hue-Man spoke. It didn't chitter or chop it's words up. It did not stop and glance away, it glared at me and spoke... Something new? 

Feeling this choppy conversation pulling along, I felt a surge of happiness course through me, a giddy feeling I had yet to feel... it was very warm, a new one, that I didn't remember feeling ever... not even the memory me felt it... from what I know at least. 

"Memory?... Memory...Memory!... Remember look... me? You... You memory me!" I gargled up another patchwork string of words, scooping up some of his phrases and stitching them back into my very empty mind. 

The Hue-Man tilted his head, coughing into it's paw... oh no... was it sick? That couldn't be good... Before I could act though, it was already talking. 

"You... heh, you remember me? No wait... that can't be it... do I remind you of someone? Wait... too big of a word... I look like person you know?" I deflated a bit, smiling nervously... I appreciated how the Hue-Man dumbed his sentences down... but it made me feel a little small...

"Y-Yes... Me." I glanced up at him from my deflated pile of fluff and anxiety, smiling weakly. 


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I perked up in excitement, this was... this was huge! From what I could gather... I reminded it of itself... this could probably go two ways, 1: It thought it was... uh, small and weak, a bit like me, or 2... and hear me out on this... it used to be human! 

That is a big discovery. Or... maybe it was just lying to me for me to drop my guard... but I was much too curious for my own good. 

I leaned forward, grabbing it my the shoulders and pulling it in close. "Are you saying you used to be Human?!" 

Gleaming brightly, I stared right at it. It tried to return the smile, but shrunk away from my touch, clearly shaking like crazy, chittering nervously. Maybe from the sudden loud noise, maybe the fact I was getting so upclose and physical... but what really matter was it's answer. 

I waited with bated breath as it stumbled over it's words, repeating a few phrases and sounds before looking up at me with quivering eyes. Huh, tears were forming... 

"Y-Yes... M-Me... Think H-Hue-Man..." It stuttered out, it's voice was warbling, raising in pitch as it shied away. I... don't think it was gargling because of it's... umm, mutations... was... was it crying? 

Yep. It was crying. 

It quickly turned away and buried it's face into it's paws, reaching it's fluffy tails around to cover the back of it's head. As I inched closer, I heard shrill, chirping sobs and sudden sniffles sounding out from beneath all that fluff. 

Ohh... Uhm... this was awkward. 

I slowly sidled over towards it, ever so slowly reaching out to settle my hand on it's head. Granted, I needed to brush past it's thick bushy tails first, but it was worth it in the end... oh my god, it was so fucking fluffy... 

Ignoring the surplus of strange static shocks I got from simply touching it, I slowly scratched it's head. The sniffling and sobbing slowly relented, and it glanced at me from over it's shoulder. It's eyes were wide in curiosity, granted, there were still tears flowing, but I think it was safe to say it'd calmed down. 

I was still a little on edge, after all, from what I know, all of the mutants down here... no, mutant sounds a little too harsh for something as soft as this guy... it's fur is kinda gooey... goo... gootraxian? Eh, it'll do. I'll make sure to edit those docs later. 

But still, so far, all the gootraxians down here tried to tear us limb from limb, this was the only one that was... well, passive. Not just passive, friendly! It didn't keep it's distance (from what I knew), it didn't avoid us out of fear or wariness... it just approached and struck up a conversation... 

This was... oh, I'd have to write this down really soon! What did this gootraxian know? It used to be a person apparently... was it a scientist? Maybe it knew what happened to the others! Maybe it knew a little about the other gootraxians down here... seeing how it lacked scars or wounds, perhaps it could be friendly with the others...! Ah, but that's only wishful thinking...

"What... Hue-Man... d-doing?" It warbled, tilting it's fuzzy head, inadvertently leaning into my hand... oh my God... this guy was fucking adorable.

Now that I think about it... was this thing a guy? I... couldn't tell from it's voice, or it's figure. I wasn't a very big animal guy... our landlord didn't allow pets either, so I had no clue what lady foxes looked like from a male...

Not like that mattered in the moment.

"Oh I'm uh... I'm petting you? Would you like me to stop or-" 

"No... Do more."

"I umm... it feels a little strange to do that now... y'know you're uh... kinda human and stuff soo..." I pulled my hand away a tad, but that didn't last long. It grabbed my hand and placed it back onto it's head roughly. With my hand pressed firm into it's fluffy fur, I couldn't exactly help myself...

As my hand ran through, I felt as if though it's fur was a little... gooey?

"Huh..." 


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What is this feeling... is this... is this glee? Haha... I-I need some time to think... shutting my eyes, I leaned into the Hue-Man's paw, a bubbling chirp trilling from the back of my throat. I had no clue that this would feel so... so good! 

At first, I thought the Hue-Man was sure to kill me, I'd turned my back on it, curled up and lost all focus on it. With it's wide, unblinking, forward facing eyes, it was no doubt a predator, but in no means did it attempt to take my life... 

It... it comforted me? Ah... I didn't deserve it... to think I would shed tears over such little things... it wasn't weak by a long shot, it and it's kin had fought off the Kaiju... that, or they actually killed them... but how? They had no claws, no teeth... they were small, skinny... 

This... this whole thing is making my head hurt... but still. The Hue-Man kept lightly clawing at my scalp, dragging it's invisible nails through my fur in a soothing rhythm... 

"This... feeling good! Don't not do!" I trilled, the words just flying out, I was getting a decent hold on speaking Hue-Man... at least, I think? 

"You... you like being pet? Huh... that's not hard to believe..." His paws travelled behind my ears, and I perked up, eyes wide. His tiny claws struck just the right nerve, and I practically melted... not that I um... wasn't already.

"Y'know, I'm pretty sure the guys would be-" Suddenly, a loud groaning noise followed from the other room. My ears perked up, and I slightly leaned to look around the corner. That didn't last long as the Hue-Man forcefully dragged me to my feet. 

"Scratch that idea. Never mind!" 

I eeped in protest as he pushed me over to the lockers on the other end of the room, and stuffed me in. I barely fit, my floof puffing out in protest, and my arms bound tight to my sides, or stuck out awkwardly, my tails took up almost all the space inside... the door was shut forcefully, compounding me tighter. 

"Owie..."


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I leaned against the locker door awkwardly, looking over at Tane who stared dumbly at me. 

"What... are you doing?" He cocked his head, suddenly glancing down at the machete, with a huff he scooped it up and clipped it to his belt 

"And without this no less?"

I cleared my throat, banging the locker door forcefully as the gootraxian yipped furiously. "Just uhhh... hanging around, y'know? Just uh... thought I left something in here!" I gestured to the locker with a nervous chuckle "A-Also the uh... machete was too heavy..."

Tane studied the situation for a moment, before slumping and sighing. "Well, that much was expected... sorry for doubting you. But still, I'm pretty sure I heard you talking to someone..." I glowered a tad. 

"J-Just talking to myself, haha! It get's a little boring just staring at a couple of doors for hours..." He shoved some of the floof back into the locker, trying to block the three slits in which the gootrax was staring through. Mumbling and stifling sobs... great, now I felt bad. 

"It's only been a few minutes..." Tane slumped a bit, facepalming and pinching the bridge of his gas mask. 

"I know... but still, can't a man entertain himself nowadays? I'm sure you two do that sometimes, right?" I brushed away all my nervousness, steeling myself and putting on an act of bravado. 

"I... can't find fault in that logic. Just keep it down, will ya? Not unless it's something serious." He grumbled, trudging on back to bed. 

...

BUT I WAS BEING LOUD! You two just ignored me! I silently fumed, waiting for a few moments after he rounded the corner. I slowly crept over, taking a peek. Yep, he was asleep... I think? No, I know. 

It was kind of a good thing he didn't wake up earlier... they probably would've torn the poor gootrax to shreds if I hadn't! Ugh... I can't keep calling it gootrax... I'll figure out something later. 

I sped walked over to the locker and pulled it open. The goo... the fox fell out and faceplanted on the ground. Lip quivering, it glanced back up at me, it looked like it was trying very, very hard to not burst out sobbing.

I softly pulled it to it's feet and patted it on the head, ruffling it's fur "S-Sorry about that... I... didn't know if Tane would believe me... about you and stuff" I shuddered a little, thinking back to the heavily mutilated corpses of the Kaiju. I couldn't help but imagine this fox being in the same situation. Eye's turned to mush, arm nearly torn off by the shoulder, muzzle shattered and shoved through the back of the skull... eurgh. 

"Hue-Man... I remember now?... No... Memory kept!" 

I chuckled a bit, but my smile soon faded into a nervous frown. "Hey... if we're gonna talk, it's best not to do that here. I'm sure you know what places are safe or not so uh... y'know." I rolled my shoulders, casting my gaze away from the droopy fox.

It tilted it's head to the side, ears flopping down with it, then it perked up, wiping the stray tears from the corners of it's eyes and it's frown transforming into a chipper smile 

"Safe... Safe?... Plants! Plants... not rocks... up ramp... b-b... book? Book!" It sputtered out, trying to keep a low voice. It took a good second to finally get a grip on what it'd said. 

"Plants... so, the garden?" It looked a little distraught, then nodded it's head, then shook... what? 

"...It's in the garden?" It nodded it's head, smiling happily. 

"Up the ramp... up the stairs? The LAMINAX Uphills... books... oh, the library?" I tilted my head, and it nodded fervently, yipping quietly. 

"Ok, it's settled, we'll meet in the library!" I held out my hand and it just... stared down at it. 

"Oh, you uh... you shake it, like this." I grabbed one of it's fluffy paws and guided it swiftly to my hand. I squeezed it's paw tight, resulting in a quite yip, then shook firm. "There, it's a deal!" 

"Deal...?" It blubbered out, opening and closing it's paw, staring down at it in pure, utter confusion. 

"I'll... I'll explain it later, for now, just go there, I'll try and make it as soon as I can!" 

It looked up at me, then nodded quietly. It turned towards the gate, glanced back at me, then waved... it was learning! Quietly padding off down the corner, it simply disappeared out of sight, no noise, no fuss. 

I smiled down at my hand, brushing off some of the weird light blue gooey stuff from my palm. It was settled. 

I may have made a friend!


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I sat patiently in the library, hovering a tad over the floor as I warmed up next to the fire. That Hue-Man, it was worried about me... A nice feeling, no less! Someone... close? What was this called... marriage? Memory me was marriaged... no, this was not marriage... Friends? We were friends! 

A friend... 

I couldn't help but feel warm, not just from the fire, or my fluffy fur, which was thoroughly ruffled and unkempt, all thanks to my new friend... A few of the others spared me glances, they were... kind of friends, we knew each other, but never spoke... not that they could, anyways. 

What was the word... fam... family? Yes, family! These three were like family... There was the one I liked to call Shade. A tall, gray person, with smooth, well kept fur. He had lime strips on his arms, and he always seemed in a good mood!  He was currently leaning up against the wall, looking cool.

Sometimes, when I go to explore, he would come with me... he would growl at the Figs, and scare away all the big scary people... He always had that toothy smile... my brother? My brother... 

Then, there was Azuare... she didn't like to spend time in the... the library, I think the Hue-Man called it... she preferred to stay in the gardens, the Figs didn't mind her. But as of now, she was here with us, tending to the bushes. Her fur was dark green, like the grass of the gardens, with small flowers blooming off her... She was friendly, calm and gentle... my... my sister. 

Lastly, there was Hebi... he was the dumbest of my family, always wide eyed... whenever he's not sleeping, that is. Most of the people down here were terrified of him, due to his size, and strength... he was much larger than the Kaiju, and a lot more dangerous... though, I only felt safe around him. He spent most of his time sleeping though... he only ever got up if the lights went out, then he'd go out to hunt.  He was passed out behind the counter.

My... dad? Yes, this was my dad... 


And I... I was... who am I?