Before plants and before animals, all water condensed together and created the sea, imprisoning all land below freezing waters, populated only by the animals who were strong enough to survive the bite of the glacial ocean. When the Great Fever came, it lowered the sea level, and creatures had the chance to walk on land for the first time. Some eels were gifted legs and steel-like scales, octopuses traded their tentacles for legs and ever-moist skin, and dolphins lost their tails, gaining a dark green armor and deadly teeth.
Tardigrades grew like giants, lost half their legs and grew thick fur coats and lethal teeth. They became able to run as fast as the wind could blow and strong enough to rip mountains in half. Soon enough, they could speak. They developed rituals, such as Moonalay Dance, a feast to thank whatever being that thought them worthy of the land. As powerful as they were, they remained humble, and in their abode reigned peace.
However, they were not the only ones who adapted and decided they belonged on land. Some of the octopuses abandoned their moist skin for hair and a tail. They made their homes up in the trees and were the best climbers existence had ever seen.
Both tribes thrived in their dwellings, but the octopuses were envious of the tardigrades' evolution. They envied their intellect, their capability of speech and their lifestyle, and they cursed at them even more when in two strange creatures were born to their tribe. The younglings, a male and a female, were peculiar looking, to say the least. Their skin was hairless, their members too slender, and the worst of all, they possessed no tail.
The mother of the freaks became a target of scrutiny and agreed with the tribe when all decided that the twins should be sacrificed to keep the tribe from tending to useless beings.
In the dark of the night, the two children were left at the tardigrades' borders to die from the cold.
The tardigrades' tribe, however, took pity on the fragile beings. At an impromptu tribe session, it was decided that the strange creatures should be taken in. With their fur, they saved the things from the weather. With their teeth, they took fish from the rivers and fed the hairless beings.
Together, the tribe taught the two how to walk, sit, talk, and the apprentices grew kinder and nicer-looking with each passing day. They were given the names of Berwin and Yuna. The twins grew to love the tribe, but as time flew by, came the question.
- Great One? - Yuna called out.
- Yes, youngling? - answered the tribe's leader.
- Why are we not like you?
- What do you mean? You were raised here, you live here, just like any of us.
- Yes, but we have no fur. Our teeth are not sharp. We are not strong. We are not fast. We are not agile.
- Of course you are. You just have to learn how to access your abilities.
And with that, the twins were trained. They never gained teeth or fur, but they became agile and strong, choosing to learn the ways of the dances with needle-sharp edges. They became deadly warriors, Yuna with her bow and arrows, and Berwin with his spears, but in their peaceful land, combat had never occurred, and bloodshed was not even fathomed.
But, as if it was meant to be, the question resurfaced.
- Great One, may I have a word? - demanded Berwin.
- Yes, little one?
- What are we?
- You are part of the tribe, of course.
- No, we're not. We have no fur, no sharp teeth.
- Young one, I - started the Great One.
- You have taught me the value of truth, Great One. You have to hand it to me. Or are you an exception to our people's rules? - spat Berwin.
- You and Yuna were left in our borders by the tribe that lives across the river, to die from frostbite.
- And never did you think about telling us the truth? Did you believe for a second that we needed not to know where we came from? - bellowed the warrior.
- Child - the leader was again interrupted.
- We deserved to know! I'm taking Yuna somewhere. Anywhere else. Anywhere would be better than a home full of liars.
The boy ran from the sight of his leader, who could only hear Yuna's screech of surprise when her brother yanked her away from the tribe's territory.
- What's happening, Berwin?
- They lied to us, Yuna. Our whole lives were a facade.
- What?
- We were abandoned by the rival tribe by the river! They left us to freeze!
- Our people saved our lives then.
- But they lied to us! - spat the boy.
- They did it to protect us! - she retorted. Berwin looked down in shame.
- I should apologize, shouldn't I?
Yuna didn't get to answer, for the roars coming from the center of the tribe were enough to deafen out every other sound. The twins ran as fast as they could, but they would never have gotten back in time to save their home.
All the tribe glistened red. Strange creatures with hair and tails shot spears from the trees, and the tardigrades could not retaliate since they could not climb. Few survived and tried to camouflage, but their size made it impossible for them to hide. The Great One had been hit but remained alive, and the twin crouched over him to hear his last words.
- Great One! Who are they? What do they want?
- The opposite tribe, younglings. They came to kill us.
The siblings arose with seething fury, grabbing the weapons they had never marred with blood before. They set out to slaughter each and every one of the octopuses. They threw spears with far greater force than their rivals, climbed just as fast, and with way less effort.
The enemies realized their mistake on attacking the twins and began retreating to their own land, but Yuna's arrows flew as fast as they jumped from one massive tree to another, and neither did Berwin's spears.
However, one of the octopuses managed to escape to her home in the trees. The female had almost reached its entrance when a spear lodged itself across her chest. Her still-warm body fell inside her home, but Yuna felt the need to have one last look at her corpse to assure her people had been avenged. When she entered the home, she surprisingly found another pair of hairless beings, newborns. At that moment, she knew. Things would get better.
And that is how our people came to be.
