I looked up at the sky, having walked around a mile from where I crashed. Night was quickly setting in, and the Blaze Lights were starting to come about. They fluttered around each other, twirling around the trees surrounding them. Their buds on the ends of them lightly flashed many different colors of the rainbow as they flew synchronized throughout the air, giving a performance to whoever entered the forest.
It wasn't dark enough for their light to be very strong yet, so it would have to be a bit before they really shined. The Glowflies twirled around, leaving little particles flowing after them in their wake. One flew right by me, and I could see their curled antennae, it's beautiful blue wings dazzling me as it passed by me. The wispy form of a feline in the distance, most likely a Glisten Snarl, stalking its prey.
Nearby there was a lake seen in the distance near the forest and there was a serpent twirling around creating wakes. It made its home here, and was the protector of planet Lumis. The protector of the deep will hear the calls of its people and creatures if a threat comes. It had done once before and disposed of the threat with grace and elegance. It shimmered as it flew up to the battleship, channeling the bio luminescence like no other creature of the planet and blowing a hole within the ship.
The ship slowly was engulfed and blew into a glittery eruption that the Protector shielded them from. Many years later however, the Protector was found alive, swimming again in its domain. Once a year, there is a ceremony to celebrate the creature itself and what it had done for the planet. The bio luminescent beam of the Protector could be chalked up to something else, but that is what research has taught us so far.
This forest was called the Whisperings of Radiance. Every creature, no matter what it was or where it was from would end up with the bio luminescence of the forest. It was what happened in natural occurrence, and even I was experiencing its effects on me.
My skin, though normally a dull, diluted mixture of beige and at the tips of my fingers blueish purple. The color of my fingers while I wasn't transformed into something else was barely noticeable up close. Within the Whisperings of Radiance, my true colors were starting to be more pronounced. I glowed with the rest of the flora, creatures and whatever else lurked within the domain. My skin turned a bright orange, and my fingertips had turned to an iris color. My hair was the only thing that didn't seem to change, but it was forced to stay short because of the Scarlet's Raven's rules. No matter who you were, if you wanted long hair it had to be in a bun. My hair was not long enough to abide by their rule for buns, so my hair was forced to stay short.
Unlike most people that came through here, I felt the feeling of belonging towards the forest. My heart yearned to run alongside a Glisten Snarl chasing after the Glowflies in the cool night while the stars glittered over head. The Blaze Lights slowly coming out at night to appear before the moon was just barely up, welcoming it ever time it dared to peek its gaze above the cover of the trees around it.
I don't understand why harbor such feelings towards the forest, but that was close to emotion. As much as I would love to stay with the rest of the wonderous species here, and creatures yet to be discovered, I will need to return to base. That's my home as much as I would hate to admit it, it's where I grew up and where my memories exist. My communications to the Boss and the other channels were severed due to the crash, though I think it's mostly because the forest is blocking out the signals.
Who knew such a forest could take away any communications to the outside? It's almost as if it wants to keep those who come into the place to never return to the world around it. I thought it was unusual for base to be kept so close to a forest, though I think I'm starting to see why. The creatures wouldn't attempt an attack on the base as long as assassins and other people staying at the base would stay away. The creatures had limited interactions between assassins, but they peaked my curiosity. What if other creatures like the Tufted Machin we brought into this place? Would their wings and horns glow and transform into something else or would they not be affected by the change from coming into the forest.
Something rustled behind me, and immediately I was on edge. A creature must have spotted me and just wants to see if I'm a threat towards them. I thought, and turned around to the rustling. My heart lurched, hoping that no creature would have to be harmed in the process of making out of this forest alive. What I saw though surprised me even more. A small, pink eyed creature rose from the depths of the lavender tinted flora. The first thing I noticed from the creature was the eyes. They were a peachy color just like that-
Oh no that Tufted Machin followed me here! The mother must be in outrage right now! I thought as the adolescent came towards me. He rubbed himself against me, which from my observations of the species meant family. Family? I had only known the adolescent for a few minutes at most, so why was it so acquainted with me? The mother must be nearby, so I have to search the area and find it. Hopefully the adolescent wasn't going to cause troubles in the future, so I kept him by my side.
He trotted closely next to me, and I could now just watch the changes in his skin from when he first appeared in front of me. Slowly his skin turned into a vibrant blue like most other creatures that dwelled within the forest. His pink eyes weren't affected, which was perplexing to me. Why wouldn't it change at least a little bit or at least become a shade lighter? It could be possible the reason that they weren't changing was that he was here beforehand, but that wouldn't explain anything. I couldn't ask the Machin anyway, due to not having the ability of speech like most people.
At least that's what the logs have dated, but as much as the assassins know about creatures there must be details gotten wrong. Years ago they said the Screeching Isra was no way related to the Griffons on planet Duoasis but new studies show that they indeed many years ago split into two evolutionary branches. The Griffons preferred the cliffs while the Isras preferred the desert like region, closer towards the water. The only time their paths would've crossed in recent times is when the Griffons head down for mating season, but that is once every few years because of their long lives.
As we walked forward, the trees started condescending on the dirt path laid out before me. The glowing leaves fluttered away from the trees as they fell, slowly losing the bio luminescence due to it relying on the tree's life. Once a creature or flora's life presence faded away, so did their glow. The bacteria living on that creature in a symbiotic relations faded away into nothing as the bacteria slowly fell into the descent of death. It was peaceful, knowing that they didn't harm each other through life and only helped each other prosper, to come out on top.
Some bacteria in the forest is able to shift from creature to creature, but they aren't in a symbiotic relationship with each other. The bacteria is parasitic, slowly eating away at the creature until they are weak and unable to continue on in life. They leap from creature to creature, until they land on a creature that will survive past it. The Glisten Snarl is one of these creatures that aren't affected by the parasites. Their species have thrived for many generations, back before they ever had gotten their long teeth in the front.
I think they look like a sky blue version of those prehistoric creatures from the planet Earth with longer tails. I believed they are called Smilodon's, but I never hear that name when I research it on the archives in base. They are usually referenced by the name of Sabertooth Tigers, however they don't look anything like the true tigers of Earth. The true tigers are majestic creatures, born to fight and hunt since the moment they were around 6 months old. Those Smilodon's don't have any history dating back on them before they went extinct in the archives. I would've loved to learn about a creature that was extinct like that, surely wouldn't have survived during the modern era? Humans seem to like taking care of creatures that were evolved over time to encompass certain traits that they liked and if they didn't like a certain trait, well that animal wouldn't be able to breed. At least that's what the archives said, and I base my knowledge of a planet I've only been able to go to once on.
I stopped suddenly, hearing a crackling noise in the distance. I got down low, though I hoped my scent wouldn't be able to be smelt from where the noise was coming from. It could've been anything really because this forest had such diverse creatures that you couldn't predict what was happening if you tried. The adolescent Machin behind me stared at me curiously, and looked over the bushes I was hiding behind. He started snorting and stomping the ground violently, alerting me to the danger lurking on the other side of the bush.
After studying the Machin's from a distance for quite a while, I could discern that the snorting meant there was danger around and the stomping was for suspicious activity. How stupid of me not to notice his signals earlier! I thought to myself, knowing that the adolescent would've been making the sounds from a quarter mile of a way because of their impeccable hearing.
I placed my hand on Tizona's sheath. I decided to get Tizona at the ready to pull out and fight with. No matter how strong these bioluminescent creatures were, they weren't anything to my strength built up over the years, especially with Tizona's reaper like blood shedding over the years. I peered out over the bush and my heart lurched at the sight. The adolescent's mother getting eaten by a Glisten Snarl after searching for her child.