Way of the Slugcat

Just Life

For the first time in a while, Thorns felt his heart skip with joy. The clusters of plants at the bottom of the pipe felt smooth to the touch. They filled his vision with swaths of lively green. Night had descended the pole before him and chose to wait at the bottom. As the leaves brushed against his cheeks on the way down, Thorns couldn't help but smile. These plants were unlike the many species of flora he had encountered previously, and very different from every other object in terms of how they were affected by the rains. Most of the landscape seemed to have given up, reluctantly accepting the fate of being drowned on the regular. After the rains left, they carried the water in a melancholy state of defeat. These plants, however, held their drops of water proudly. They existed in a sort of harmony, thriving in this wet environment and allowing drops of water to congregate on their leaves. It took only the slightest touch to loose one, yet there always seemed to be more just waiting for their turn to rest upon a leaf.
At the bottom, Thorns feet touched a soft blanket of decaying leaves. These too had a fair amount of water drops on them, most likely fallen from the plants above. He must have made some kind of expression, or maybe a sound, that alerted Night to his current state of mind. He certainly did not mean to, but Night got the message anyway.
"Welcome to the factory outskirts! This is a wonderful change of pace for you, is it not?"
"Oh good karma, yes!" Thorns exclaimed as his lips stretched into a giddy smile. "Every other place is so dreary compared to this! Why is that?"
"I don't know." Night shrugged. "This place is not without its dangers, but they are considerably... less of a threat, shall we say."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
A smile slowly crept onto Night's face. A couple of his little teeth glinted in the dim light of the sun.
Oh no, Thorns sighed. I know what that means.
"You'll find out soon enough." He chortled.

The bugs were everywhere. Squidcadas, both blue and white, buzzed by overhead every few minutes. They were always preceded by tiny brown figures flapping furiously away from their outstretched tentacles. Tiny centipedes skittered along the sides of walls, fleeing from the slugcat's shadow. Thorns had a bit of a heart attack the first time he caught sight of one, but was immediately comforted by the fact that they were edible. While he was in the process of catching his breath, Night walked over and pried one off of a rock with his bare paws. Without hesitation, he sunk his fangs into the creature's head and ripped it clean off.
"Gonna gib you a bib of a shock if you bon't!'' His muffled voice had stated. Needless to say, Thorns passed this opportunity to eat.
The two continued to walk in hip-high weeds, jumping over rocks and fallen debris. Almost all manufactured structures had been completely grown over by vines. They looked like frilly snakes sprouting from the ground, coiling around their metallic prey and covering its skin with layer upon layer of green. The structures in this part of the land seemed more degraded than anything Thorns had seen. Nature had certainly taken its toll!
"Over here!" Night stuck a paw up over the brush, which had been getting thicker by the minute. A symphony of hums and whirs filled the air as Thorns scampered over, the dew covered wings of dragonflies buzzing out of his way. Metallic flashes of green and violet fled in every direction as he bumped them off of their leafy perches. Thorns could remember a day, very long ago, that had felt almost exactly like this one. The wet plants, the buzzing of insect wings, the laughter of his siblings as they ran alongside him in the grass...
Well, maybe not that part. Aside from Night, he was alone here. He would never see them again. They had chosen their paths a long time ago.
"What is it?" He panted, slowing to a stop beside his friend.
"See for yourself!"
Beyond the slugcats, concrete pillars rose from the earth. Metal bars were strung together in groups of twos and threes, connecting each pillar to its neighbor. A couple of the structures had some sort of growth utop their platforms. They didn't look plant-like at all, more like pointed stones tipped in a pale shade of gray. As per tradition, everything had vines of wild ivy climbing up and down its surface. Beyond the pillars, the remains of a building stood drowned in plant life. What it had been for, Thorns could not tell. He did, however, recognize the tiny brown shapes darting from pillar to pillar.
"Batflies!" He exclaimed. "There are so many of them... I have only seen them in cages before."
"So you do not know how to catch one?"
"Catch one?" The thought had never crossed his mind. Why would he have need of a batfly?
"Oh good Karma..." Night sighed. "Alright, the first thing you need to know is that chasing one down generally doesn't work. You need to choose a spot to hide and wait to pounce when one gets close enough."
"Wait, hold on. Why do we-"
"You are hungry, aren't you?"
"...ah."
"Oh come now! I promise they will not taste as bad as the hazer."
For some reason, Thorns was not inclined to believe him. The thought of forcing a pair of leathery wings down his throat did not seem ideal. His stomach, however, had other ideas. He had not eaten anything since last cycle, and even then he did not consume nearly enough.
What an atrocity! His mind complained. I will not allow this to go on any longer!
"Fine." Thorns let out a sigh and cracked his tiny knuckles. "Let us begin. How do I start?"

The flies were much faster than anticipated. Thorns had chosen a spot that looked ideal in the beginning, but turned out to be somewhat of a bust. The few flies that did come near enough to grab always darted out of his reach at the last second. It was as if they were teasing him, just daring him to try catching them. One even had the gall to come back for a second time, flitting around at the tips of his fingers! The more he moved, however, the less batflies flew in his direction. He decided to stay put in his crummy spot and wait.
He couldn't smell the rain yet, nor did he see any sign of clouds. The silhouettes of lizards stalked about in the distance. A good number of them were locked in combat with another of its kind. Thorns witnessed three fights from start to finish, and concluded that so long as they had sight of each other, they would not even bat an eye in his direction. No wonder Night felt so relaxed in this place...
After a while, Thorns finally got his paws around a batfly. It had flown down towards him in curiosity and paid the price. If he had been able to skip the part where he bit off its head, the snack might have been more pleasant. After that, catching his prey became much easier. He had caught and eaten three more in the span of a few minutes. He was just about to pounce on his fourth when Night called over to him.
"Hey! Don't go back on our agreement!"
Oh. Right.
Reluctantly, Thorns allowed the fly to flit away to safety. It squeaked in his direction as it flew off. Maybe it was thanking him? Alas, he would never know.
Before long, the two were back to walking. The faint smell of precipitation had crept into the air, encouraging the two to move faster. Thorns had always found it ironic that his people were forced to live atop the things that made the surface unbearable in the first place. Surely, there could have been a better option?
"Hey Night?"
"Yes Thorns?"
"Has anyone ever made a decision for you? A decision that you despised, and yet were forced to go along with?"
"Hmm..." The black slugcat lifted a paw to his chin. "Yes, actually. Although I was more confused about it than angry."
"What was it?"
"It was... a sort of task. One that I was reluctant to agree upon at first, but later found that it enlightened my path beyond my wildest imagination." He turned his milky eyes to the sky, gazing distantly at the whisps of clouds swirling above. "I bet that your situation is different from mine, however. One thing that you must remember is that the past has already happened. It is set in stone and can never be moved. How you use those stones to climb into the future is what really matters. Besides..." Night's gaze fell back to earth. It rested upon the white slugcat standing beside him. He smiled. "...in the form that you are in now, I doubt that your peers' decisions matter much anymore."
"W-wait, how do you-"
"You mentioned it when we first met. I also have some experience in these matters."
"Experience!? Night, I..."
Forget it. His voice whispered back to him. He will not budge if you ask him a question. It is best to wait until he willingly gives it up.
"...I will choose to ignore that comment. For now. However, I do need to tell you that you are wrong when you say my peers' decisions are now obsolete."
"Oh?" Night's smile faded. A look of genuine confusion settled over his expression.
"The rain, Night."
"...oh."
"We are the entire reason the world down here is drowning! There had to have been a better solution for the Great Problem than installing massive supercomputers in the sky to think on it for us. In fact, there was!
"It was not perfect. You are an example of that."
"Well, yes, but just because it was not perfect does not mean that it is obsolete."
The black slugcat let out a sigh. The tiny light above his head wavered ever so slightly.
"I cannot help you with this, Thorns. Life is never fair enough to grant simple solutions to issues like that. But..." He paused, then turned to look ahead of him. "...you can help yourself."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Um... we may want to continue this conversation another time." Night lifted a finger and pointed to what lay ahead of them. Thorns' stomach dropped. The unwelcoming sight of a raindeer skull draped in shining pearls tainted the clearing before them.

Regret
A stain on the soul, a scar on the heart.