\|/ Turn 52, midlight
I've finally had something to eat. I have to help Mik survive midlight.
When I woke up, I felt extremely disoriented and confused. I don't know how long I spent staring at the hull piece above me before I remembered everything that had happened.
"Mik??" I hissed, sitting up and looking around. All I saw was the almost empty bowl and bottle. I frantically tasted the air but only caught traces of Mik's taste on me.
I started trying to get up when I noticed Mik's journal in my lap. I quickly read what was written on the open page:
"Mik find food"
A cold dread washed over me. Mik was alone, trying to find food when it already can't even survive the sunsdamned warmth. What if it ran out of water and collapsed without me?!
"Suns- MIK!!" I hissed, swatting the journal out of my lap.
I shot up, ready to find the stupid alien.
But my body gave out.
The world spun around me; my abdomen cramped so hard it felt like I was going to fold in on myself.
I fell backwards, hitting the tree behind me. My thorns dug into the bark as I slid down, landing on my tail.
I was powerless to do anything, again.
Why do I have to be me…
I cried quietly, hating myself for being so damn weak. I have no idea when Mik came back, but I was in the same state when it did.
"Maya?" I heard a hiss. I looked up.
Mik was there, holding things in both arms, looking back at me.
I stared back, not sure whether it was real. I knew my pain was real, but that hardly grounded me.
Mik crouched in front of me, placing whatever it was holding next to itself. It flailed its arm in front of me, which finally got me to blink.
"MiK!" I screamed out, my voice cracking. I brought my arms out to envelop Mik, but I had to pull back as my abdomen cramped again.
Suns please… I winced, bending forward to try and lessen the pain.
A sudden crack startled me, making me flinch and look up.
I saw Mik with the hatchet, standing over the thing it had brought and handing half to me.
The thing was a type of fruit, from what I could gather. It was circular, yellowish orange in the middle, releasing a sweet taste. The inside was brimming with small, black seeds, all with the same oval pattern. The outer layer was coarse, catching awkwardly on my claws.
I grabbed it and desperately bit down in the middle. I couldn't handle being tortured much longer.
The fruit was incredibly sweet, melting in my mouth in every bite.
I didn't care when I heard Mik laughing over me due to my entire snout being in the fruit. I was too desperate for any manners. Hearing Mik laugh was calming, however paradoxical that was.
Mik sat down next to me. Just as quickly, it stood up and removed its slightly crushed journal from beneath itself.
Mik looked at the journal for a moment, the page with "Find food" still open, moved its shoulders up and down once and started eating. I wanted to apologize for throwing its journal, but decided against it, seeing Mik didn't seem to mind much.
We both ate in silence… Well, as silent as my furious munching could be, which it wasn't. I finished first, eating half of the fruit in less than a few spans.
I wasn't full- I hadn't eaten in far too long for half of a fruit to fill me- but at least I wasn't in agony anymore. I left the outer part off to the side.
I attempted not to drool on Mik as I rested my head on its shoulder while it ate.
Mik ate its fruit without looking at me (which was definitely the politest thing it could do), and it got up. Only then did I notice that there was a second one on the ground.
"Mik, you're a lifesaver! Love you!" I cheered.
…
Why did I say that?
Suns, I swear I'm never teaching Mik hissing.
Mik, indifferent to my rambling, cracked open the other fruit with its hatchet and gave half to me. It left the other half of the fruit to the side, letting me eat alone.
I was a bit more restrained, but the damage was already done; any self-respect I had burned upon entry to Tau. While I ate, Mik was writing something in its journal.
I quickly consumed it, leaving the outer part with the other one. I went to brush away the juices on my snout, only to find that my claws, hands and snout were dreadfully sticky from it.
…I should've predicted this.
I sighed deeply, less than happy that my scales were literally sticking to each other as I moved.
I tapped Mik with my tail, which was probably the only part of me that wasn't sticky. Mik looked over to me, having been in the middle of writing something to its journal.
I went to tap its journal but stopped myself beforehand. If I had, Mik would never be able to open it again. I thoroughly rubbed my hands on the grass off to the side and then took the journal lightly.
I was about to write "where find" and some other questions, when I noticed there were already something new written.
"Followed bird to food"
"Saw metal, Maya Mik go find"
…
Suns is a 'bird'?
Still feeling far too ill to start thinking about Mik's naming schema, I handed the journal back, having had my question predicted and answered.
I looked at Mik's face, only to see it smiling widely.
"What?" I asked.
It repeatedly tapped the text it had written.
I sighed, taking the journal and writing "Where find?"
Mik only smiled wider.
"Why does the universe have a 'being right' complex?" I muttered.
Still, seeing Mik smiling helped me a lot at that moment, so I could handle Mik having a superiority complex for the time.
Mik then flipped the page and showed me something it had drawn.
It looked like a kind of map, top-down view, made in Mik's sloppy way of drawing. In the middle was "MIK MAYA", while around there were symbols of different types.
"What's that?" I asked, tapping a few small circles. Mik wrote "Metal" next to it.
I looked at it more, recognizing the crater (a perfectly black splotch, to the bottom right of where MIK MAYA was). Then, there was a place with an awkwardly drawn… screecher? It was pretty incorrect, having a tail (proper one, not just a weird cloak end) and only two wings and two legs. Mik wrote "Food" when I tapped that.
Mik then handed me my journal, tapping it a few times.
"What?"
I looked at Mik. Mik looked back. A moment passed.
It breathed deeply once, opening my journal on the last page and tapping the drawing.
…
"You want me to copy it?"
After a moment, I finally understood why.
Embarrassed, I redrew the entire thing. The only thing I couldn't get is why Mik had written N, W, E, and S on the map's edges, but that would be for a later time, as it didn't seem important.
About a mark passed while I redrew the map properly. I added the electric valley, since it was a major landmark of the area.
By the time I was done, I felt much less sick, so I was ready to actually do something (including taking care of Mik when it got too warm for it).
When I wrote "Ready", Mik tapped the "Metal" on the map.
I wasn't quite oriented at that moment, but Mik had already gone there, so I let it in walk in front of me. If half asleep me could bring us to the ship; Mik should know where it's going.
While we were walking through the dense foliage, I noticed that Mik was, without any problem, holding and swinging the hatchet with its left arm. I knew Mik had gotten better since our tent got destroyed, but it never came across me fully until now. I was glad at least one of us wasn't broken.
We got to an open field about a mark later. Fortunately, it had regular grass and not the electric kind, but the grass was tall, going up to my hips. Interestingly, it was extremely reflective in some places, making it quite blinding. I wondered what was up with that.
"Mik, what are we-" I was about to ask Mik when it suddenly knelt in the grass.
I immediately crouched, thinking something was there. When I looked around, all I saw was the red dwarf and the trees where we came from. When I snuck over to Mik, it was already rifling through the field.
Mik pushed some grass aside, trying to find something. I was about to ask what it was searching for, when it pulled something out.
It was a tiny piece of metal, about the size of my finger. The metal itself, probably from Unity's Hope, wasn't shiny, but the blade of grass attached to it was reflective.
It turned to glass…?
Mik handed the metal to me.
I wasn't sure whether to be happy or not. It was another piece of hull; another piece of my home. I ran my claw against the jagged edge, reminiscing quietly.
But when I looked up, all I could see was Mik smiling.
If Mik was smiling, so was I. We found metal scraps, which was the main reason for coming here, so I shouldn't be a lousyscale. I smiled back, pocketing the piece of metal. Afterwards, I went around the field with Mik, searching for more, always smiling.
Unfortunately, we couldn't stay there for long.
I was fine with searching for a while, but not much more than a few spans later, Mik left the field and sat down in the shade.
It was breathing deeply, tugging at its shirt. I insisted we head back to the camp, tapping the "MIK MAYA" part. Mik resisted for a little bit, but agreed.
In total, we managed to gather about a handful (my hand, not Mik's) of scraps. Mostly smaller, jagged pieces, but all in all, a success. We would have to come back there when the light wasn't hurting Mik.
At some point during the trip, Mik gave me its journal so it wouldn't be absolutely drenched again. It was already too warm for Mik when we got back to the camp. Mik got progressively more red and wet as we walked, until it started slouching and breathing loudly.
I tried helping it as much as I could, but I couldn't cool it down in any meaningful way. It immediately sat (more like fell) down when we got there, desperately gulping down the liquid from the bowl.
"Whoa, hey, don't!" I yelped out in vain. Mik had already drank the rest of the bowl. Now, it had no water.
Mik lay down on its back. It was still conscious but not really responding to me.
I went over to it, gently grabbing its shirt. The entire thing was soaked. I tugged lightly at it. Mik must've noticed, since it brought its arms above its head, and I managed to get the shirt off.
I started worrying whether to go get water or stay with Mik. Both would be extremely dangerous for Mik, but it being exuding water would be more life threatening the longer it went on without more, even if the liquid from the electric grass was 'denser' water.
I crouched next to Mik, writing "Maya get water" in its journal and leaving it on the ground. Mik didn't respond or move, so I grabbed the bowl and hurried off.
I rushed over to the electric grass valley by going in the direction of the ship and then downwards. Mik's map, redrawn in my journal, really was a good idea.
The moment I tasted CHD, I knew where I was, and I ran over to the electric valley. Once there, I fell to my knees and started desperately gathering grass, crushing it to get the liquid. It stung, and a lot of it went through the thorns near my hands, but I didn't care.
It must've taken me about a mark until the bowl was full and there wasn't any grass inside of it. My hands were extremely painful, bloated and shaky, with my left arm in a particularly bad state due to the electricity.
I ran back to Mik as fast as I could with the full bowl of water.
When I got back, I saw something with its head over Mik's shirt.
"Hey?!" I panicked, almost dropping the bowl.
It quickly spun around and ran away. All I saw was a blur of green disappearing into the trees.
I felt terrified, worrying it hadn't eaten Mik while it was out.
The relief I felt when I saw Mik was fine, if still unconscious, was immeasurable.
I crouched next to it, slowly pouring a tiny amount of water in its open mouth. It choked on slightly before actually drinking it. I poured a little over its head, too.
And now, I'm here, giving Mik some company. It's slightly less warm, and Mik is conscious, if weak.
I realized what the animal was doing here. It stole the sunsdamned piece of fruit Mik left. Took the outer layer, too.
At least it didn't steal Mik…
I've made a kind of game for Mik while we wait for it to get less warm. It took a bit of describing, but, in essence, I'm teaching it more words by Mik writing definitions and me writing what the actual word is. So far, we managed to get:
"Alive, not monster" for plant.
"Not weak" for strong.
"Light, midlight, not dark" for star. Still have to check if Mik understands that one, though. It's a bit vague.
Mik's asleep now, so I had a lot of time to write. It's less wet, and there's about half the bowl left, so I don't have to rush to get more water. The animal that stole the fruit scared the life out of me, though.
I won't let anything get Mik, even if it's the red dwarf itself.
… or a shirt stealer.
\|/ Turn 52, dark
We found the green culprit that stole the fruit. It's weird.
Mik and I played the little word game for a while. It was surprisingly fun, though very annoying at times. I felt like slapping Mik due to an especially bad definition one time…
At some point, Mik wanted to get up and go explore more (flipping to the map and showing me "Food"), but I didn't let it get up, hissing at it to rest until it got less warm. Mik was actually intimidated by me, which, in retrospect, is hilarious purely from a biological standpoint. Some four marks passed, and I decided it was bearable enough for Mik at that point.
Mik got up, put on its shirt (which had dried in the meantime, with no help from the thief), and pointed out "Food" on its map again. I nodded, taking its journal and putting it in my pocket. Mik filled its bottle with some liquid from the bowl, and we started the trip.
During the trip, I was extremely nervous that it was still too warm for Mik, but it was bearing the warmth at that point. Mik's taste was still strong, and it was wet, but not leaking water like before. I wondered how Mik's species could live on Varanth.
Probably not the arid domain…
It felt like a pity, really. Mik would have to be very careful during midlight and those peak marks, right when everything was open, and live mostly during the dark.
Mik need a lot of water… Maybe the wet domain?
Then I remembered Mik's swimming speed. Good Suns, would it be made fun of by everyone there.
Maybe not! I laughed to myself, getting a glance from Mik.
I tried to stop myself, I really did, but the visual of everyone swimming around Mik in the canals was too vivid. Mik turned around, since I was maniacally laughing at nothing from its perspective, its face contorting into confusion.
Mik took out its journal from my pocket and asked: "What laugh?", shoving the journal into my arms with pure anticipation.
I said no with my head, handing it back, still chuckling.
Mik, ever insisted, put it back in my arms.
How do I break it to Mik…
I wrote "No get mad, Mik swim sloooooow"
Mik took the journal and read it with pure excitement. Its face went from 'happy' to 'very unhappy' in record time. I think my tail would've snapped if I tried to convey that quick of a change.
It furiously wrote a barely legible "Maya no swim!"
I responded with "More good"
Mik breathed deeply after reading that, giving me its journal again and marching onward. Mik even increased its pace, so I would have to jog behind it, but seeing it pout was worth it after all these turns.
Got you back for slamming my face into food!
We continued onward, with Mik slowing its pace a little bit from overwarming.
"You can't even be angry right!" I teased, seeing Mik overworked from walking and getting through bushes, knowing it wouldn't understand a word. For all my joking, I was beyond glad that Mik and I were good again, even if I did lose us the bowl to…
I don't want to think about that.
We continued to the "Food" location.
Through the somewhat quiet forest (the little singing beings were incredibly persistent), I started hearing flowing water.
I took out Mik's journal, writing "Water?" and tapping Mik on the leg. Mik pretended not to notice me.
"I will lick you again!" I hissed loudly. Mik didn't understand, but couldn't pretend I wasn't there, so it looked at what I wrote.
A moment passed, two. It was just staring at me, while my tail twitched with anticipation.
And then it nodded.
…
Could you be more specific??
I started thinking about rambling to Mik about how just responding with "yes" wasn't useful but decided against it. I needed to teach it more words for me to be able to describe annoyance like that.
Even though my tail obviously betrayed my anger, Mik simply turned around and continued walking. I knew that at this point, it knew how to read tails. I swear I saw it smirking slightly.
We continued, both of us now pouting at each other, towards the noise.
We broke out of the trees, only to stumble upon a river.
"Oh wow." I breathed. I hadn't seen a river in Suns know how long. It was mesmerizing.
Mik continued towards it indifferently. I caught up a moment later.
Mik was already picking at some wide-leaved, yellow bush that was pretty close to the river itself.
I stared at the water, entranced. It looked pretty shallow from what I could gather, but still dangerously deep for me. It wasn't too wide at the point where we were, maybe a few lengths. I thought about Mik swimming across, laughing a little bit. Then, my mind wandered to Mik being swept away and drowning. I immediately stopped thinking about that.
There were some very round pebbles near the base of the river that caught my attention. Something for tools, alongside the metal. I started picking them up, trying to find the stronger looking ones. I got about a handful.
As I held them in my hands, for just a moment, they all looked like eyes, staring back.
I quickly looked away from them. I wasn't going to let myself spiral into madness over nothing. I was probably starving again, and that's that.
I turned back to Mik, who was still searching around in the bush.
I tapped Mik's back, tilting my head.
It looked back at me and made a hand gesture.
Its hands imitated holding something round. I blanked out for a moment, before I realized that it probably meant the "food", as in the fruit it brought. I put down the pebbles next to Mik, trying not to look at them too much. I went over to the opposite side of the bush to help search for a new fruit.
Just as I crouched, something caught the corner of my vision.
I panicked, quickly hiding in the bush. Peeking out with my snout, I saw what was there.
A being I hadn't seen before; the same thief that was at our camp.
It was completely light green, with only its chitinous snout being a slightly darker shade. I saw it just as it jumped across the river, with its wings spread out in a glide.
It landed with surprising grace, barely making any sound. As it did, I finally got a good look at it.
It was about as tall as Mik; but with a vastly different composition from the wildlife I've seen thus far. The being had wings, yes, but they weren't proper wings, as they ended in deep green, almost black scaled arms. The being had scales. Its hands had three clawed fingers, though the claws weren't particularly intimidating (being comparable to mine), with no opposable thumbs. Another thing that shocked me was that it had a full-length tail, covered in the same cloak as the rest of its body.
Then, it turned towards me.
The being looked… exhausted. It had two eyes, with extremely round pupils (like Mik's, making it extremely uncanny), that were almost closed as it approached my bush. Its steps were slow and sluggish, with it dragging its feet across the ground more than actually raising them.
I panicked internally, thinking whether I should tell Mik or try and fend it off. None of the options seemed good, especially if Mik would get hurt, so I decided to hide for the time being. At least I was well camouflaged at that moment.
It got closer and closer.
I started tasting its air taste, which was something between savory and tangy. It was extremely recognizable, even from a distance.
Wait…
Did Mik write "food" because it stole it from the thief…?
…
Oh no.
It was too late to run. The being was at the bush's edge, and it started searching for the fruit, using its chitinous snout to rustle through the bush. Thankfully, it closed its eyes due to the leaves, but that didn't mean I was safe.
I ducked under the chitinous snout, then jumped to avoid it sweeping my feet.
But my tail snagged as I jumped over it.
The snout stopped for a moment, going back to where it had touched my tail. I held one leg up to prevent touching it again.
Unconvinced, it continued searching to the right of me. I was barely breathing from terror.
Only a few moments later, I saw it find a fruit that was partially buried next to me. I hadn't even realized it was there.
The being then retracted its snout, bringing its clawed hands right next to me. It dug out the fruit and started taking it out of the bush.
As it pulled the fruit out, I saw an opening. It was beyond stupid, but I was too hungry to not try it.
I grabbed the fruit and started pulling back.
The being didn't seem to notice it was me pulling the fruit and just pulled harder.
Let… Go… I strained; my left arm started to burn from the tension.
Then, the being completely overpowered me with a strong yank.
I got thrown out of the bush, landing on my stomach while holding the fruit.
Time felt like it slowed. Everything around me got dark as my eyes focused on the being.
Its pupils dilated immediately, almost spanning the entire eyeball. It was preparing for something.
I stood up in a last-ditch effort, snarling loudly at it. I brought my arm back to throw the fruit at it with all my might.
The last thing I expected was for my snarling to actually work.
The being stumbled backwards, hissing loudly back at me.
It spun around, that long tail slapping me on the shoulder, sending me off balance and to the ground.
It fled in an utterly desperate manner. It didn't look like a coordinated animal that lived in the wild. No, it looked more like a clumsy, panicked person, crashing through the underbrush.
I stood in silence. I still felt the adrenaline in my head, despite the situation being over in less than a span. The air taste was still present, that savory-tangy mix.
…
"…Ok?"
Mik appeared behind me as I turned around, holding its hatchet in a battle-ready stance.
"Heya!" I said, displaying the fruit.
Mik immediately broke into a smile, patting me on my left shoulder. I immediately moved the shoulder away, it still hurting badly.
Mik holstered the hatchet and took the fruit.
Rather, it tried to.
My claws were embedded in the thing, and when Mik started pulling it my arms came along it. I struggled to get my claws out, the sweet yet unbearably sticky juice covering them again.
Noooooooo I groaned internally, feeling my scales stick again.
Mik laughed as I had to throw myself backwards to dislodge myself. I'm glad I didn't need to throw it at the thief, because that would've been awkward.
We head back to the camp after I washed my hands off in the river a bit, trying to avoid accidentally drinking more water. Mik took the fruit, while I carried the rocks I found.
The trip took a bit; we meandered a bit off the path back but managed to find our track after a bit of coordination.
I helped Mik make a fire, and we sat down. We really walked a lot this turn, so both of us were incredibly sore. The fire was quite a bit away from our spot, not really for warmth, but for protection and visibility. Everything fears fire, so it makes a good deterrent.
I'm writing this a bit after we shared the fruit.
Mik searched a bit for the piece that it had left earlier, eventually asking me if I ate it. I opened the map and tapped Mik's drawing of the thief, and it seemed to understand, smiling slighty.
Wait… Is it smiling because it thinks I stole it?
...
Damn it, now I have to find more so Mik doesn't think I'm some food thief.
Surprisingly, the taste of the being is still here. I didn't remember it being here when Mik was overwarmed, but I was also completely distracted and must've missed it. I don't think it's here right now, because, surely, Mik would notice. If I learn that its species is actually air tasteless, I'm giving up on survival.
I need to think of a name for that animal, though. I'm divided between Thief, Scavenger and Scaredyscale… I'll decide next turn.
Whatever it was, it was good at finding food where there is none to be found. It can have the corner it took, since we got more. Hah!
Mik's shirt is off bounds, though, no matter how salty.
…
Mik was really salty.
…
Why am I still thinking about that?