Shock.
Its what people go through when experiencing something overwhelming or traumatizing. It's a kind of survival instinct that can keep you operating under the worst kinds of duress, and even through fatal injuries. I realize, perhaps a bit too late, that shock was exactly what I had been experiencing. My mind had been rejecting the very idea of where it had woken up, and I had decided to just keep moving to distract myself.
"Just keep going. Keep surviving. Everything is fine."
It's what shock does, for better or worse.
Until the weight of reality got dropped on my head in the form of that titanic foot. Well, I guess it got dropped on the spider, but my point still stands. It took a gruesome death happening right in front of me to finally ground me back in reality.
A death that reminded me exactly how weak I am. How I could die just by unlucky happenstance, like a bug smeared across a windshield.
I don't know how long I sat there lost in my own thoughts and self-pity. With no sky or need to sleep, time starts to lose meaning after all.
At least, I don't think I need sleep. I haven't been back "alive" for very long and I don't truly know my limits. It's not like I have a heart or lungs either, so despite all the fighting I just went through, I don't feel winded nor hear my heart pounding in my ears. I do admittedly feel tired though, in a strange dull kind of way.
To be fair, all of my physical senses seem dulled, both the good and bad ones. Just vague mimicry of what feeling should really be.
Mental senses are still, unfortunately, just as sensitive.
I do the muddy equivalent of a sniffle as I finally right myself on my broken leg and look over the remains of the Warrior Spider.
the scene was unpleasant to say the least. Detached legs in varying degrees of destruction were littered around the green-black smear that was once the spider's abdomen. It's front half splayed out awkwardly across the stones with the remaining legs curled up into its torso. The small leaf I placed over it's face is the only small respect I was able to give It in death. I have no fire for cremation and I cannot dig into the solid stone to make a grave. And as much as I felt a half-baked sense of comraderie for the would-be warrior, I didn't think I would be able to drag it to softer soil with my broken leg either.
I decide to grab a few more leaves and just cover the corpse that way, with the sheer size of the colossal alien flora further reminding just how small I am now. I had nothing familiar enough that I could get a reliable sense of scale, but if that titan from before and the leaves I'm dragging around are any indicator, I could probably fit my whole body on a dime with room to spare.
I shuffle some of the crushed legs back towards the body, making a small pile of the detached limbs. As I'm moving the body parts together into a makeshift grave site, a glimmer catches my attention. Partially submerged in the guts of the Warrior Spider, right at the center of the abdomen, is a small dark gemstone. The way the entrails seem entangled around it leads me to believe it was a part of the creature. Some sort of organ, and not just something that ended up there through random chance.
But, it is a gemstone, right?
The questions start to fill my mind as I stare at the strange and morbid sight.
'Do I eat gemstones? Or is it a pearl? Do spider's produce pearls in this world? If they do, can I even eat pearls? They are mostly sediment after all, sort of like rocks..."
I find myself already standing over the grisly remains, my limbs having absent-mindedly taken me closer as my brain rattled off questions into the unanswering void.
'Is it considered graverobbing if the grave isn't finished yet?' I ask myself as I reach a stumpy leg towards the pearl, the sudden strange feeling of desire now overriding my previous self-pity. The smooth surface of the pearl greets my outstretched appendage with a visible spark arcing between, the glassy surface rippling like water just a hair's breadth away. Whatever it is, it's definitely not a pearl.
I could tell my body wanted it.
I wanted it. But-
'I shouldn't do this. It's wrong. I just shed metaphorical tears for this guy.' I thought, chastising myself as I stood frozen over the corpse like a lumpy headstone angel, my mind and body suddenly at war with each other.
'I mean, maybe it's just because my body craves whatever this is? Cravings are natural after all.'
I found myself trying to justify it in my own head.
'The mind is dumb. Remember brain, you thought molten lava looked tasty.'
And then rationalizing back.
'Normally a craving just means your body is missing something. Maybe this orb is just super nutritious for me! Like an.... oh...'
An involuntary shudder skitters up my spine as a terrible thought crosses my mind. I look back down at the orb with a dawning horror and slowly retract my limb.
'Oh, oh no. god no, please don't be an egg. for the love of all things holy, please don't be a spider egg. I can't deal with creepy-crawly orphans after all that.'
The angel and devil on my shoulders took a backseat while I tried my best to further analyze the orb. I still loomed over it, staring into the crystalline surface framed in grisly remains. It was just dark, semi-transluscent, and glassy, like a smoky amethyst ball. Definitely not egg-like.
I shook my head to clear my thought, as if the act could physically shake off the paranoia and doubt that clung to me.
'Maybe this isn't wrong. Maybe I'm wrong for trying to apply human morals and ideas to this nightmare situation. I should get a grip... The fact is: I'm weak. The weird glowing rocks made me grow , and this thing might do the same. This is survival right now. I don't have the luxury of choice, I need every opportunity available to me.'
I stood there a moment longer. Even after coming to a decision, it took me a few minutes to fully steel my resolve. I reached out and grabbed the orb.
Or, that was the plan anyway.
I reached out for the orb, but much like missing a step when going down the stairs, I found myself off balance and lurching forwards as the orb seemed to pop like a soap bubble, the resistance I was expecting vanishing out from under me. Unlike the steps though, instead of finding myself tumbling down a flight of stairs, I found myself landing face-first into fresh spider goo.
I struggled with my one good leg to try and extract myself from my visceral landing pad and right my body as elegantly as a bloodied and half-broken clay boy can. I was still elbows deep with my bad leg when I noticed that the orb from before had exploded into small shimmering lights that danced around me. My awe at the sight was admittedly a little dampened, both figuratively and literally as the wet remains still dripped off my body. The dancing lights paid no mind to my discontent though, instead slowly drawing closer and closer to me. Only when I realized that the ring of light was growing smaller with me dead center did I begin to panic, struggling harder to free my damaged leg from the sticky confines of the spider corpse, thankful that this body didn't seem to feel pain.
With a wet *Shlork* my leg finally comes free, sending me careening down on my little clay ass. Even that minor victory is short lived however, as it seems I was to late. My vision fills with a kaleidoscope of vibrant lights as the glowing noose tightens around me. I try to grab at it in my final few seconds, a last ditch attempt to rip it free, but find nothing physical to grab. My limb just waves through empty air as my world fades to black.
*********
Hundreds of legs, wrapped in a comfortable caccoon. A brood a brothers and sisters.
A childhood marred by territory disputes and hunger.
An adolescent, training in the way of combat. Joyous battles and grievous losses. Love, lust, passion, apathy and hatred blending into a tapestry of life, flashing by in memories and bursts of color.
Even as the Arachnid's adulthood arrived, they sped by, telling a story of a simple but happy life with his tribe. The sounds and memories begin to focus, becoming slower and clearer. Fresh, no longer marred by the wear and tear of time. Finally, the images and feelings stilled and showed that morning's events.
Thornwalker and the other able bodied Huntsmen felt the fluctuation in the local mana, looking up from their meal around the dead Bellootho. Something had just evolved, and fairly close to the settlement at that. But that happens often, that wasn't the what drew their attention. It was an evolutionary ripple that felt wrong on an instinctual level. Whatever it was screamed and failed into evolution, thrashing like a Rustmoth that fell astray into the water. There was no graceful flow into a higher state of being, but a violent surge.
Thornwalker looked to Elder Worldweaver for answers, but saw that she too seemed disturbed by the event and now stood staring in the direction of the strange occurrence.
"I will investigate." Thornwalker told her, already standing from their shared meal. He was assigned the patrols today anyway.
"Mm." She twitched her pedipalps in confirmation. "That might be for the best. Be careful." The elder told him.
He rubbed his forelegs together in playful amusement. "I am always careful, Elder. Do not worry, just make sure to leave me some leftovers for when I get back."
The others chuckled and sent their varying warm goodbyes as he dropped out of the nest and made his way towards the disturbance.
-------
"What the hell is that?" He asked as he spotted a seemingly mobile hunk of earth on the ground below. He had finally spotted the creature after a short trek as he made his way carefully, trying to remain unseen. The creature appeared to be a sphere of mud, with two small protrusions that it was somehow balancing on as it walked. He could tell from the mana waves that this creature was the one in question. The waves had not yet solidified from the evolution, and still bubbled like the volcanic vents of the deep chambers not even attempting to hide it's presence.
"A wild beast this close to the nest will only bring trouble." He scoffed. "Best clear it out now."
He stalked the beast a bit further along, attempting to understand just what it was, but the it seemed ...simple. It stumbled around slowly, and stopped to look at nearly every plant along its path. Deciding he had learned enough, Thornwalker dropped from the wall, intending to tackle the beast.
"Oof!" He grunted as he was caught off guard. The seemingly slow creature suddenly snapped to attention as he fell towards it, swinging one of it's few limbs to intercept him with alarming accuracy. The impact shook through his abdomen and only seemed to succeed in knocking the other creature on its back, rather than getting his fangs in it and killing it outright as intended. He struggled and snapped at it, assuming he had the advantage with his clearly superior quantity of legs, but the beast held firm, silently watching him from underneath. The strange cold clay surface seemed to watch him with an eerie indifference.
"W..h..y..?" The beast suddenly asked.
He felt like there was more to the question, but the beast spoke strangely. The concepts tied to it's intent were too tangled, much like the Great Being's speech. The depth of the single question alone jarred him, rattling his mind and hurting his several eyes. He finally managed to find footing and skid away from the creature while we regained his senses.
"So you aren't just a beast! You speak, yet you act like a monster. What's your business here, Earth Doll?" He asked.
He was confident that this beast was not camouflaged to blend into the earth like many species may do, but actually made of clay and sharp rock. He had the injuries on his carapace to prove it too, he noted to himself as he looked down to take stock.
Despite his diplomacy though, the beast didn't answer right away, instead taking a strange stance with its leg to the side.
"#&*!!$%^+#" The creature spoke again. This time, the words were too garbled to understand, but he could still feel the intent. Fight me.
He clicked his pedipalps in enjoyment. The beast was a Warrior? Very well, he would give the beast his duel. It had been awhile since he'd fought anyone strong enough to injure him after all. He was a bit miffed that the Doll ignored his attempt to communicate, but what kind of Warrior would he be if they didn't settle things with their fangs like real men?
"Haha! I accept your duel, Earth Doll. But when I turn you to rubble, you will tell me your purpose here!"
And he prepared to pounce.
---------
Both were standing at an impass. He had thought he'd beaten the doll several times now, but the beast was persistent. It continued to defy his expectations, much to his enjoyment.
He slowly stalked in a semi circle around the corned beats.
"Come now! Accept defeat and I will go easy on you, fledgling warrior!" He laughed. The creature was rough around the edges to be sure, but it fought valiantly. He would hate to cut the beast down early when it had a promising future, but first he had to learn the creature's intentions. If it was truly hostile, he couldn't simply let it go free.
It took a step towards him, it weight sitting unevenly on its two legs. He could tell it was haggard, even with its impassive face.
He cpuld only commend their fighting spirit as heprepared to finish the fight, lowering his posture to spring into his next attack. He focused in, planning to aim for the other leg.
'Sorry, but that's the downside of the inferior legged beasts' He shrugged mentally.
"Have at you, Earth Do-"
*BOOM* he was interrupted by a violent shock wave that sent the doll tumbling back against the wall, while he remained pinned in place for reasons that didn't he didn't immediately understand. But only for a moment.
The shadow of one of the Great Beings towered over him. On him.
He felt the crunching and cracking of his carapace piercing into his body. The pressure that kept his organs in place violently seeped out in a bloody mist, and he tasted the coppery tinge of his own blood as the visceral stringy innards spilled out of his mouth.
At first, there was no pain. His body fell limply to the ground before his legs began to slowly curl in. He tried to weakly spit out the blood filling his mouth, only to see chunks of what could only be organs mixed in. He shuddered as his limbs suddenly felt cold and the pain finally began to wrack what was left of his body.
Every Warrior knows that they face death every day. It's what they sign up for, But experiencing it is different.
Painful.
Cold.
Alone.
He tried to push the organs back where they belong, frantically scraping up his own flesh in a last ditch effort with hope that it might stick.
It did not.
He felt his body giving way, his mind slipping, and all he could think of was home. Of the warmth of his nest, so close and yet so far away.
"I never told Threadsinger I wanted to have a brood with her. Hah... I suppose it's a bit late now, huh? And Elder won't have her morning training partner anymore..." he laughed bitterly as he still tried in vain to pull himself together.
"I... I just..." he could only shudder in sorrow. His body wracked with silent sobs until-
"It...was...honor...to...fight...Warrior."the beast broke his train of thought, gently gripping his front leg.
He looked up at the doll and yet again felt the overwhelming depth and complexities in the creature's intent. But there was no pain this time. No discomfort in the overwhelming intent. Instead. It carried emotions of kindness, sympathy, comraderie, and even pride. The curious creature didn't let go either, choosing to hold him like a brother at arms as he slipped away. Memories flooded into his mind. Old, sad memories of holding his own brother who had fallen in battle. Honoring the Warrior in sigil as he passed, holding him in his last moments. Truly, final moments befitting an honorable warrior. And here, a brother at arms holds sigil for me....
"... Thank you..."
It was strange. He was sure that the doll's clay was cold, but for some reasons...
He felt warm...
