A lone patch of lichen was roused to what you could call consciousness. The lichen sensed food. It carried the feeling of warmth, wet, and a feeling the lichen couldn't quite understand, but familiar. It was new, and strange, but it wasn't picky.
The lichen began absorbing the new source of nutrients with a cavalier attitude, the unknown feeling just made it curious, rather than cautious. The lichen’s unspoken motto of life was ‘New was fun’.
As the lichen absorbed the food it felt the flavor. T.a.s.t.e. S.t.r.a.n.g.e. It was similar, but different from normal food in the feeling of taste. It enjoyed it even so, because it was new, and fun.
The lichen was never able to think, and still can’t, but ever since the weird stuff came it was able to feel, and it like feeling. Feeling was fun to the lichen. But feelings were strange.
It still wasn't used to the ability to feel, and being able to produce its own feelings. Feelings are hard to understand at moments, but the lichen was a curious little thing, and still tries to feel everything with gusto. L.i.c.h.e.n. B.e.s.t. F.e.e.l.i.n.g.s. The lichen radiated a child's pride, as it braided those feelings together.
By all terms it was already good at sensing multiple feelings, making feelings from only being “alive” for around a week. The kitchen was even able to understand the feeling of self. It even gave itself a name, a name made from braided feelings of which made it, itself, L.i.c.h.e.n.
The. . . Lichen practically cooed as it felt its name, it was the feeling of self that made it L.i.c.h.e.n.
By all rights it deserved that joy. This little patch had spent multiple days pondering that complex feeling, but now it understood. It was unique, special, curious, singular, and . . . lonely.
L.i.c.h.e.n was the feelings that made self, and self meant L.i.c.h.e.n. Since understanding that Lichen made that feeling its name, without knowing what a name is.
Lichen, almost finished absorbing its food, felt an old, but constant feeling. Lonely.
Its chipper mood was lost. Lichen stopped absorbing its food. Even before knowing self Lichen had known lonely. It just was different before; An unknown feeling, an emptiness, a void within it, and now Lichen knew what that void was. L.i.c.h.e.n. Lonely. Lonely.
Lichen has known lonely for so long that it could easily produce the feeling, and understand it. Lonely always follows Lichen, no matter how many times it tries to unfeel it, it just comes back.
A new feeling bloomed in Lichen. Lonely, but different, empty, pain, but not pain, cold, broken self . . . S.a.d. L.i.c.h.e.n. S.a.d
Lichen started secreting a liquid. The liquid carried good feelings, health, sun, joy, and multiple arcane feelings. It did not help the lichen this time, the feeling made the lichen sadder.
The lichen writhed, and its food began mixing with the liquid. Lichen noticed an unknown feeling he had never felt before mixing with the liquid. S.t.r.a.n.g.e? Lichen was confused, but that confusion snapped it out of its little fit of sadness.
It focused on the unknown feeling. Its liquid was changing the odd feeling. H.e.a.l.t.h? S.t.a.n.g.e H.e.a.l.t.h? E.m.p.t.y? N-.N-.N.o.t. H.e.a.l.t.h? Lichen struggled to encapsulate the feeling, even to the point of creating a new feeling. N-.N.o.t. H.e.a.l.t.h. S.t.r.a.n.g.e? . . . N.e.w! F..u.n!
Lichen mood improved. It began focusing on the feeling made from not-health and its liquid mixing. It was something new, unknown, something it can’t even compare to another feeling, and that made Lichen very curious, but then it stopped, the not-health slowly taking over again. E.m.p.t.y? E.m.p.t.y!?
Without knowing it Lichen by being happy meant the liquid stopped being secreted. The feeling of the not-health mixing with its liquid disappeared, and Lichen drooped, becoming sad again. S.a.d.
Lichen started secreting liquid again. The liquid began mixing with the not-health. Lichen noticed, J.o.y! N.o.t. E.m.p.t.y!
The lichen stopped secreting liquid again. S.a.d. Liquid was secreted. J.o.y! It stopped again. Lichen was now confused. S.a.d? A trickle of liquid was secreted. J.o.y? It stopped.
The mental gears within the patch of lichen began turning as the reaction of not-health and liquid mixing together stopped, and the not-health slowly growing more prevalent over the new feeling made from them mixing.
This was something that has never happened to Lichen, and it didn’t know what to do exactly, but it wanted to try doing something. S.a.d, Lichen forcefully drew on the feeling, and it bloomed, but the feeling felt wrong, false, not-sad. But even with its dislike to the not-sad, liquid began to secrete from it.
J-. Lichen forced that feeling away, and it felt wrong, but it still did. This was all for the new, and fun. The liquid began mixing with not-health, and the unknown feeling began to form. Lichen felt it, while still forcefully creating sad.
It was unknown. I couldn't feel it correctly. There was too little to be felt. Other feelings were in the way. The lichen stopped, the not-sad already weak foundation crumbling away, and the unknown feeling slowly disappearing for not-health to take its place.
It didn’t know what to do. Lichen’s plan didn't work, and it was at a loss for what to do. It went back to the drawing board. It couldn't think, so it didn't really do anything, but faintly sensed the feelings around it. It tried to just feel the feelings, but Lichen always drifted back to not-health. It felt like it was no longer replacing the unknown feeling, but instead growing. . . The lichen noticed it was growing.
Lichen had a eureka moment. It needed more liquid, it already kinda knew that, but it didn’t know how. It tried to force it, but that failed, and it didn't like being actually sad. It needed to do what its instincts told it to always do. Grow. But it didn’t have enough nutrients to grow. . . It had a ‘oh, I do’ after it felt the strange food on it.
So it began absorbing again, and dedicating the nutrients to grow. While absorbing the strange food it noticed something. That the strange food caused not-health to form.
The more the strange food left the weird bundle of feeling the more the more not-health grew. It even began to notice as it grew itself that some spots had more not-health. And that not-health was multiple feelings mixed together, and within those feelings were other feelings. The other feelings carried an overbearing or weak feeling to them. This piqued the lichen’s curiosity even more, this food has been a whole batch of new, and fun.
The not-health grew, and the lichen felt a faint feeling of cold blooming in the strange bundle. A feeling of wrong met the Lichen, the weird bundle was warmth, not cold, and it noticed the strange food was losing the feeling of warmth. A feeling riddled it, it was, it must hurry, that was all it could understand.
Forgetting its old plan, and deciding it was big enough Lichen started producing not-sad. S.a.d. A slow amount of liquid trickled out, mixing with not-health, causing it to change into the unknown feeling. But it wasn't enough, the not-health grew faster than the unknown feeling was made
S.a.d. S.a.d. S.a.d! More liquid was secreted, and a chunk of not-health changed into unknown, but that was spread out. The spots with overbearing not-health were barely scratched, and just consumed the unknown feeling in a few moments.
This wasn’t fun anymore to Lichen, but the new feelings it got from not-health were wrong. Something else was leaving the body too, it was close to the nutrients from the strange food.
True sadness started mixing with not-sad, and to a certain point Lichen couldn't tell which was which. It was just focused on turning not-health into unknown. Its attempts were rewarded with short wins, and bigger losses. It needed, it needed to, it needed to remove the overbearing not-health zones.
The rain turns to a maelstrom of thunder, and bone breaking chunks of water.
The lichen did something it did not know it could do, the feeling of sad and not-sad within its body moved to form spots of overbearing. Each spot of overbearing sad was directly under the spots of overbearing not-health. The liquid started solely secreting from there.
Lichen began to feel something leaving its body in mass amounts as it secreted liquid, it was its stored nutrients. Lichen pushed back its desire for self preservation, it didn't care what its instincts told it, Lichen was L.i.c.h.e.n. It needed to, no, it had to remove the not-health.
The not-health slowly receded, but inside the strange bundle was spots of not-health that it couldn't turn into unknown.
So it began to grow, and stretch into the strange bundle from the spots of overbearing not-health. Parts of it shriveled as it grew, their nutrients consumed to feed the new growth. Lichen didn't care.
It felt a new feeling from the body as it penetrated it, but it was minor compared to not-death.
Its senses were overwhelmed for a second from all the new feelings that made themselves known. They were similar, but at the same time nothing like the strange food. It almost stopped to feel them all, but shook that desire off, and continued to make its way to the not-health.
The spot was other strange bundles that practically dripped with not-death. A strange nutrient was stabbed into, and strange food slowly dripped out of the other strange bundle.
Lichen grew towards it, and began curling itself around. Once it completely surrounded the strange bundle Lichen focused all its sad, and not sad on the point. Liquid flowed out, mixing with the not-health, and slowly turned into unknown. Lichen froze, temporarily stopping the flow of liquid. The not-health in the second strange bundle was getting worse, different feelings sprouted from it too.
Lichen didn’t understand. Liquid meant not-health turned into unknown, and unknown was good. It was perplexing.
Instead of brute forcing it by just adding more liquid like before Lichen focused on the feelings radiating from the weird second bundle. It was mostly not-health, but the strange nutrient stabbing into the second bundle felt wrong.
Lichen focused on the not-health and felt, even if Lichen understood little of the torrent of feelings, it could still pick out parts. The feeling it got proved its original idea. The strange nutrient shouldn’t be there, and was causing strange food to flow out, which meant more not-health was formed.
It grew around the strange nutrient, and kinda just froze. Lichen really ‘thought’ something would happen, but it didnt know what to do. C.o.n.f.u.s.i.o.n. Surfaced from its self induced ocean of sad.
Lichen was still focusing on secreting liquid on the not-health spots outside of the strange bundle, but on the inside it kinda its plans for the moment. . . Lichen had another eureka moment, and began extracting itself from the strange bundle, while it held on tightly to the strange nutrient. . . Nothing happened, its body was just taut with tension. The lichen drooped. It really had thought that it would work.
The lichen stilled for a moment, letting the piece of itself curl around the strange nutrient to go slack. A few moments passed, the war against not-health continued, and Lichen noticed something, it had lost a lot of its new mass.
Lichen realized it couldn’t continue this forever. The strange bundle was constantly riddled by the growing not-health. Lichen had turned most of the original spots that produced not-death, but now the all of the strange bundle was constantly producing not-health, and slowly starting to produce a sickly feeling that was too similar to not-health.
The only reason why the strange bundle was not consumed by the two feelings. Was because Lichen was constantly turning them into the unknown. Lichen was fighting a losing battle. Lichen didn't know it was fighting a losing battle, but it knew it couldn't keep this up.
But for one thing Lichen was sure if it got this strange nutrient out and turned the not-death into unknown, the strange bundle would stop being able to be produced. The lichen felt a new feeling, and with its better understanding of feelings it still couldn’t understand the feeling it felt, but it was close to curiosity. A curiosity about the strange bundle and the not-health. W-.W-.W.-.h.y N.o.t.-.h.e.a.l.t.h? S.t.r.a.n.g.e. W-.W.h.y H.u.n.g.r.y N.o.t.-.h.e.a.l.t.h?
Lichen struggled to braid together feelings to fit its question on why would want to have not-health.
Lichen decided to try again at pulling the strange nutrient out, but this time it’ get a better grip. Lichen slowly curled up the strange nutrient and hit the point where it penetrated the second strange bundle, it slithered in. What met it was an ocean of strange food filling the seconded strange bundle. It took a moment to piece it together, but finally got it, and grew into the strange food and began absorbing it.
Lichen needed to remove the strange food anyways, so absorbing it and getting spare nutrients didn't change the final result, but the spare nutrients would allow it to temporarily stop consuming its own mass to secrete liquid.
So it began slurping up the strange food in mass. It was nowhere close to the amount it absorbed before, but enough to get the job done. H.o.p.e! The lichen was partially stunned by the feeling it made by reflex, H.o.p.e. Lichen like the feel of it, but it would never match L.i.c.h.e.n.
Getting back to its job Lichen finished up the strange food, not leaving a drop. It wrapped itself around the tip of the strange nutrient, and began pulling itself out of the strange bundle.
Nothing happened. Well, something did, but only slightly. The strange nutrient shifted, more strange food trickled out that Lichen absorbed immediately. Lichen body was taut, and the strange nutrient didn’t budge anymore.
Lichen felt a hot and tired feeling well up in it. F-.F-.F.r.u.s.t.r.a.t.e.d!
Lichen let his body go slack once again, and allowed the feeling of frustration to stay. Usually it would be having fun from all these new feelings, but this whole thing has been frustrating, and it didn’t care all that much. Lichen calmed down, and got back to the problem of trying to remove the strange nutrient.
N.o.t, Lichen stopped braiding the feeling, and tried to find something to encompass the act of pulling, and found none, P-.P-.P-P-u-.u-.l.l.i.n.g. So lichen made its own, taking the core idea, and compressing it into a feeling. N.o.t.-.p-.p-.p-u.l.l.i.n.g?
Lichen started growing inside the second strange bundle, pushing against the walls, but mostly focused on pushing against the strange nutrient. Lichen grew, and grew, till it felt its new reserves almost depleted. It pulsed a wave of frustration, and continued growing, and then with a satisfying pop the strange mineral popped out.
The lichen did the lichen equivalent of arm pumping, a lot of wriggles, and pulses of feelings. Then, suddenly, strange food started pouring out from the hole the strange nutrient left, and a wave of not-health came along with it. Even the stabilized outside of not-death gained a second wind.
Lichen in its cool not-minded self began to freak out. It secreted a big glob of liquid within the second strange bundle before pulling all of itself out, leaving a trail of liquid behind it. Once out it started detaching all of its reserves on secretiving as much liquid as it can on the second strange bundle.
The moments of panic passed as Lichen felt the not-health turn into the unknown feeling. But the not-health didn’t disappear. N.ot.-.h.e.a.l.t.h. E.m.p.t.y?
The lichen was confused. It was supposed to be gone after Lichen removed the strange nutrient. Lichen wondered if it was because it was still in the first strange bundle. It was worth a shot. Lichen uncurled around the strange bundle, and slowly heaved the dangling piece of strange nutrient out of the strange bundle, leaving a slight hole.
The strange bundle didn’t get any better. Lichen actually felt it get worse from the hole being there. A new feeling of tired filled it as Lichen slithered back inside the strange bundle, covering the hole it made in liquid, making it seal moments later.
Lichen felt the strange bundle condition as it slighter its way back to the second bundle. It was so close to complete removal of not-health, and being filled with unknown, but it was feeling the same thing Lichen was feeling. A tiredness, and lack of nutrients, and the strange bundle feelings seemed dimmer to Lichen senses.
N.o.t.-.g.o.o.d
The lichen reached its destination, and began slowly curling around the second strange bundle, and began curling around another strange bundle next to it without realizing. Lichen snapped out of its daze.
It stopped in place, and it wondered what just happened. Lichen didn’t notice it before over the tired feeling, but another feeling was guiding it. I.n.s.t.i.n.c.t? N.o.t.-.i.n.s.t.i.n.c.t.
Lichen's guard was raised, it did not like having something making it do things, that would break it being L.i.c.h.e.n. But that feeling had something going, so Lichen felt it again, and realized what it wanted.
Deciding it could hurt to try Lichen wrapped around the other second strange bundle. With one moment to steady itself Lichen squeezed, the bundles compressing, and Lichen released. A feeling it always felt was sucked into them, and nothing happened. The patch felt betrayed, but tapped into the feeling again to see if he was missing anything.
S.t.r.a.n.g.e. F.o.o.d. B.u.n.d.l.e?
The feeling wanted it to find a bundle filled with strange food. Lichen gave a lichen way of shrug, a short writhing motion before going off to find it. Lichen had already found one; maybe it has to be a not-wrong feeling.
To make it easier Lichen allowed the feeling to guide it. In a few moments it found the strange food bundle. Lichen just had to move slightly away from the second strange bundle to find it.
Lichen still followed the feeling wrapped around the strange food bundle, and squeezed lightly, then released, and continued following the feeling’s instructions till it felt a beat, then another, and another. The feeling told Lichen to start squeezing the air bundles. A.i.r b.u.n.d.l.e.s? . . . S.e.c.o.n.d. B.u.n.d.l.e!
Lichen wriggled its body at the mistake of the feeling, but agreed that A.i.r felt more fitting. Lichen squeezed the “air” bundles, released, and repeated till they started beating on their own.
The feeling told Lichen to secrete one more layer of liquid on all bundles to change not-health into the unknown before leaving the first bundle.
The feeling already proved partially trust worthy by telling Lichen the other steps trusted it not to be deceiving Lichen. Lichen set off to do so, completing it in a more relaxed manner due to the tired feeling, and already feeling the not-health turn into unknown without the help of Lichen.
It only took a bit, but by the time Lichen finished secreting the first bundle radiated the unknown feeling like a … Lichen could tie the feeling to anything, it was just really bright. The body only had some not-health, but it was dim, and mostly on the outside.
It made its way out after double checking with its senses that everything was right. Right after leaving the first bundle, and sealing the mini hole it used to get out, Lichen felt a wave of tired feeling crash into it.
Lichen tried to resist it, but it was too strong. So in a last fit of defiance it released one more layer of the liquid on the outside of the first bundle, turning any remaining not-health into unknown.
Lichen was about to let the tired feeling take it, but then sensed one last reminder of not-health near the very bottom of the bundle.
F.r.u.s.t.r.a.t.i.o.n!
Wtf is happening
Truly as a joke I would say I don’t know, but I do. And to be fair, for my case, I just posted my drafts. Also if you want you I can tell you? But you would have to tell me specifically — the feelings or a overall.