There was a human there. Right at the only hole of light and life she had. She hadn't seen one in centuries, the last one being a young man set on killing her as soon as he laid eyes on her. She thought about moving her, of finding the strength to push her muscles into action. But even entertaining the idea of it had her body ache and she resigned to the human. Letting it have one more thing, one more thing to take away from her. It spent days there, seemingly dead, but smelling of undeniable life, and Lilith slowly grew used to its presence. It was not violent, nor angry, nor manipulative, just alive. And so, every morning, Lilith regarded this human as her temporary and brand-new source of life, turning a limb towards her to suck in her essence, lick her blood, anything that made her feel more animate.
Then one day she watched as the human opened its own tiny little eyes. She watched it happen because she had not slept, had not taken a nap that could lead to her opening her eyes and not finding the human she had become increasingly obsessed with. And so, she sat there, guarding, watching, inhaling the human and refusing to sleep. Until the fateful day it opened its eyes, and she could see the second it conceived her presence. No anger resided there, no hunger for violence. Instead, fear carved its way through its eyes until nothing else was visible in them. And somehow that was worse. Was life scared of her? Repulsed? Is that why she existed in the way she did? The human laid there, hands uselessly by her side, feet swollen and limp, body faced down but eyes looking up. It looked like it was accepting its fate. Like it thought Lilith would hurt it. She tried to reassure the human but only gargling sounds came out and it seemed to further intensify its trembling. So, she gave up, her slimy back slumping against the cold stone. Nothing was ever hers to keep. After making sure her shell was in place, she decisively went back to sleep.
It had not been two seconds of blissful death when a sense she did not know she still had, woke her up. Touch. Not the stone or the floor or the slime on the wall, but touch, flesh to flesh touch sent wrinkles all over her body. She woke suddenly and the human leapt back, breathing hard, its hands and feet now wrapped in large leaves. It stared at her for a long time.
"You were dead...You looked dead. You were just there for two days straight. I was just checking...." It trailed off but Lilith was stunned. It spoke her language? The human hesitated again.
"I know you're not an animal. You're conscious. Some type of creature. I see something alive in you. What are you?" But Lilith only stared. The human said there was something alive in her. Could that be? The happiness Lilith felt could not match anything she felt before. Intending on giving the human something, anything, that made it feel just as she has shown to her, she surged forward. However, the sudden movement sent the human crashing back, heart in her mouth again, so Lilith moved back in her sit to give it space. This one was interacting with her. It called her alive. It checked up on her. For the first time in her miserable existence, Lilith felt warm in her body even with the cold of the world pushing on her. The human, though, looked to be feeling the exact opposite way. Horrified, it laughed nervously.
"Or maybe you'll kill me. Who knows. Humans kill each other as much as other animals, probably more. I felt safe with you but sometimes my instincts are not always that sharp or that correct. It reminds me of that time I tried to pet a wild bob cat because it looked cute and almost got my hand bitten off. Yeah, I'm not the smartest and sometimes I can't tell when something should be left alone or not. Stacey defiantly would know how to deal with this." The humans trails off and looks into the distance, but Lilith did not mind. This one has so many things to say to her and she has never engaged in talking with one of them before, she stays seated, calm, patient, and waiting for more stories from the human. One she can store up into her bones and use on the decades where she feels meaningless.
"I ripped off some of the leaves right outside the cave if you don't mind. Th rocks are covered with plants and shrub. I honestly did not know plants even grew on rocks, but they must be really powerful and unique because they mended my cuts when I applied them on my arms and feet." The human lifts its eyes once to look at Lilith.
"Welll.... That's actually a bit of a stretch. I tried to get out, injured and all, which was kind of stupid since I was basically crawling, but in the end, I fell back and smashed all the plants on the cave wall and the cream started burning then just healing it. Slowly, but it was magnificent. Do you know how this is possible?" The human is blabbering now, but Lilith doesn't mind. She keeps her eyes fixed on it, not letting herself miss a single second.
"It also turns out it's a fulfilling food source as well. It's like a superpower plant." Camrin sighs.
"Where are we? What is this place?"
[Heis Chora]
Camrin startles.
"Did you just talk?" Lilith is stunned as well. Did she just talk. But she never moved her mouth. It has been glued shut long ago. She turns back to the human, intending to shack her head to communicate with her.
[No, I have long lost the ability of such a connecting skill.]
Now Lilith and Camrin stare directly at each other. She has not spoken, but somehow, she is communicating with the human. It stumbles but the look in its eyes, the look in them, the look of curiosity and wonder are what throw Lilith of guard. In their reflection, Lilith did not look like a monster.
"That's you!" it says breathlessly, "You have talk" It smiles then, really wide, like she has just been given heaven.
"You're alive. I can feel you. Somewhere in my head, I can see you." Its smile fades a fraction, and it looks up
"If I am transgressing on your territory, I'll leave. Just let me know. Will you hurt me?"
[I will not hurt you dear human, so long as you do not harbor hatred or violence towards me as well]
"My name is Camrin. I am a female of the human species from the planet Earth- Oh god, this sounds kind of silly. We're still on Earth, right? God I'm overreacting. Is this The Amazon. What continent are we on? How did I get here? How did yo-"
[Human Please. Let us take things slowly. My brain has not engaged in this much activity for a considerable amount of time. Peprahs a century or two. Or perhaps more. My memory fails me now.]
"Camrin, remember, not human." The human says, bemused, distracting itself from what it clearly cannot face. Then suddenly looks like she remembers something.
"I heard your voice before. When I was almost drowning. And before then too. How did you do that? Why did you do that? How did you know-?"
Lilith would have been annoyed, had she not been this shocked.
[I had not realized I contacted you beforehand. That might have been out of obsession for a need to feel...alive or connected. I am not sure how that happened. I.... I truly apologize]
"Don't be sorry. You saved my life." She smiles wickedly "But you still haven't answered my first round of questions." Blinking all three of her eyelids, Lilith sighs with her little crocked mouth.
[Well Camrin, whether this carries good or bad news to you, I do not know, but I will inform you of what I do know. We are on Heis Chora, the great and only continent of this planet and in the Selcar System. We are on the very Eastern edge of this land mass, called Eshika Forest. I have been exiled many many centuries ago from the Eshika palace by the reigning family. They limited my magical borders to force me into this forest to fend for myself. I have no knowledge of this Earth you speak of nor of the so-called Amazon.]
Camrin blinks, taking in this information in stunned silence.
Lilith chuckles inside her head.
[Is that enough to quench your thirst, Human]
Camrin laughs, high and true, yet nervous and unbelieving.
"Looks like I caught one with an attitude"
It was perfect for a moment, like all time held still. But like everything good that happens to Lilith, it must be destroyed. This time it comes in the shape of yellow colored hair woman screaming the name of her human at she shoves through the entrance, trampling the plants Camrin had thoughtfully left preserved.
"CAMRIN! CAMRIN! CAMRIN!" The human in question gets up, tears in her eyes, and jumps on the yellow haired woman. There goes her happiness.