{
  "$type": "site.standard.document",
  "canonicalUrl": "https://serpentsquiggles.neocities.org//posts/fiction/endless-stars/05",
  "path": "/posts/fiction/endless-stars/05",
  "publishedAt": "2018-12-22T00:00:00.000Z",
  "site": "at://did:plc:ivoe7cntxuy6at7uzmxzs2ft/site.standard.publication/3mfk6cpprzt2t",
  "textContent": "::: subchapter\nWe hunted.\n\nI'd learned hunting from my tutors, but some details were different on\nthe surface. In the sky you could exhaust yourself and fall to your\ndeath, or drop your prey and lose it forever. But the basics hadn't\nchanged: every predator had its own unique skills, own way of hunting\nits prey. Without a lot of strength, or any deadly venom or really big\nclaws, you had to rely on teamwork and better senses⁠ ⁠---⁠ your eyes,\nfrills, and above all else, your tongue.\n\nHunting on the ground was so much safer, so much more secure, than what\nI grew up on; the surface had a ton of flightless prey, like so many\neasy pickings.\n\nFor example: the ape I now hunted. Not just injured and exhausted, it\nalso lugged around a corpse, and there was no thought at all in tracking\nthe fear and sweat. How could these creatures survive in the first\nplace?\n\nI flew low and slow, in a bounding flight, holding my breath for the ape\nto relax or stop moving⁠ ⁠---⁠ and for Hinte to finish bandaging her\ntail. It was only one wound⁠ ⁠--- the first fight with the apes was\nworse. I couldn't help the knot of worry in my stomach, but I could\nthink. Hinte would be okay. She had to be.\n\nThe beating of my wings filled the air around me, and clear venom\nbedewed my fangs. There was a faint tinge to it, but I couldn't taste\nwhat. I let the thought light and felt the beating of my wings. I was\nalone again. But that didn't matter as much as the lightning flutter in\nmy heart, flashing through my veins.\n\nI flicked my tongue, waving it in the air before pressing it to my\nvomer. Moving my head to either side, I built a sense of direction, of\nscent gradients. A new smell had appeared: urine, off to the side of\nthe ape's old path.\n\nWas it that scared? It should be. That flightless monkey had hurt my\nfriend. I would hurt it.\n\nThe mixed scent of urine and blood didn't move in the next few moments.\nWas it tired at last? Did it think I lost its trail?\n\nI flapped my wings, harder, anger straightening my slow bounding flight.\nI could keep waiting for Hinte, or I could catch the human myself and\nshow her. I was swooping down to the spot, growling.\n\nOn the ground, I only saw a wet puddle and scraps of torn, bloody cloth.\nI landed, flicking my tongue again. Near the puddle sat a circular\nhuman canteen, black and smelling of sharp, dead leather. And around it\nthere were other splashed wet spots, like water pour out, that smelled\nslightly of sweat. I tilted my head before jerking it up. It had\nrinsed its scent, even if partially. I should have gone after it with\nthe chance.\n\nI smelled drops of blood on the ground here, leading off in a kind of\ntrail. There were footprints too, vague things, and they seemed to stop\nsuddenly with the urine puddle. I leapt up, flying low along where the\nblood pointed, waiting for the urine scent to fade, the distant blood\nand sweat to come clear again.\n\nSoon came distant flapping, closing in on me. I kept flying, but slower.\nI started, \"Is your tail⁠ ⁠---\"\n\nShe caught up and cut me off in moments, her voice a sharp growl:\n\"Tongueless! What are you doing over here?\"\n\n\"Following the ape's trail?\" I said.\n\n\"The urine was a misdirection. The same trick it pulled to escape. And\nyou fell for it again.\"\n\nShe flipped away then, flying opposite me. I flew after her, catching up\nin a few beats. Flying was something I did better than her, at least.\nI slowed my pace to fly beside her, and smiled at her.\n\n\"Go,\" she said. \"This is not the time to talk. You can fly faster, then\ncatch the ape. Do not show off.\"\n\nWith a crinkling of my frills, I did as she said.\n\nThe smell found me again, coming from the distance, the other side of\nthe spot where we left our bags. Hinte had been right. This human was\ntricky.\n\nWithout waiting for Hinte or for the human to tire, I winged low after\nthem until I could see the human jogging over the dustone. It moved\nfast, even with its weight. Had it kept that pace the entire time? At\nleast we can fly. It might have escaped us if we had to chase it on\nfoot.\n\nFanning my frills, they caught a familiar skittering crunch. Below me,\na dozen glasscrabs scurried in pursuit of the human! I needed to be\nquick. The human looked back as it ran. It held a glowing pink cryst\nin its mouth and there was a similar glow in its forefeet.\n\nWhat was it up to? Would it try to use the crysts to make the glasscrabs\nattack me? The crabs were scurrying behind it. I could land in front\nof the human, trap it between the crabs and me.\n\nThreshing my wings, I overtook the human. After twisting in the air and\ncrashing in front of the ape, I glared, fangs out, wings spread. The\nape flinched, and clutched its hold on the corpse slung over its\nshoulder.\n\nI growled and stepped forward. \"Got you,\" I said. From my fangs, I spat\na stream of weak venom at its face. It would only irritate, but it'd\nbuy me a few seconds.\n\nThe ape brought its free leg to its eyes, and my venom splattered on its\narmored sleeve, dripping and soaking and useless.\n\nIts other foreleg moved to its mouth, and there came a quick dissonant\nwhistle. It repeated the notes, three times, and never lowered its\nforeleg.\n\nAnd then, the ape spoke. \"No.\" Its voice sounded garbled. \"Get you.\"\nIn its mouth, The hisses and growls of our language felt forced and\nalien.\n\nThe ape threw the pink cryst at my feet; then it reached into a pocket.\nA foot-sized clay orb was in its forefeet before flying at my face. The\nclay orb fell short, and cracked apart on the ground.\n\nThe contents exploded!\n\nMy world became blinding white light that mocked the suns and stars. My\nfrills fell over my eyes⁠ ⁠---⁠ but when I moved them, only suffocating\nblind darkness was there.\n\nSomewhere near me a wet rag smacked onto the ground, stinking of the\nmusky scent the crab had marked me with earlier. After this came\ncracking footfalls sprinting away from me. The skittering crunches came\nupon me in heartbeats. I flapped my wings to scare them, to give me\nspace to leap up and land a few strides away.\n\nI was backpedaling from the crunches, and calling, \"Hinte!\"\n\nThe reply was as a crash on the dustone. \"What now, stone-frills?\"\n\n\"I'm blinded!\"\n\n\"No, you are fine. I have seen that effect before, from ignited kakaros\nleaves. It overstimulates the eyes to impair vision. The effect\nvanishes in seconds.\"\n\nI looked around, breathing, breathing until the world started to clear.\n\n\"Oh, okay,\" I said, my voice small. Some tartness came to my fangs, and\na twist to my voice as I added, \"This ape has too many tricks under its\nwings!\"\n\nHinte tilted her head. \"Apes do not have wings.\"\n\n\"It's a saying⁠ ⁠---⁠ my point is that the ape is crafty, okay? We\nmight have to work together to catch it.\" I looked to the writhing mass\nof crabs. They'd ripped the ape's wet rag to shreds, and were climbing\nover each other to chance at the cryst.\n\n\"It only has time for all of these ploys because you fall for the most\napterous tricks. Let me handle this.\" Hinte turned around, crouching.\n\n\"Can we at least try my plan?\" A tiny bit of pleading entered my tone.\n\nHinte didn't take off.\n\n\"It's simple, I'll--I'll distract the ape, and you can attack where it\nisn't expecting.\"\n\n\"How will you do that?\"\n\n\"It spoke to me earlier⁠ ⁠---⁠ it sounded like a horrible monster, but\nit speaks and understands. We can use that.\"\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nMy frills were dancing beside my head. My plan is going to be\nawesome⁠ ⁠---⁠ Hinte will taste it. After waving my own tongue in the\nair, I leapt up again, and raced after the apes' scent. As I flew after\nit, I heard whistles resounding across the lake. The notes sounded\ncomplex, cacophonous, unmusical. Then came another complex whistling,\nfrom far behind me. That couldn't be good.\n\nAs I drew in on the ape, my frills folded and I prayed the endless stars\nmy plan would work.\n\nI yelled, \"Hey ape!\" It felt like a leap.\n\nThe reply was more whistling, the human not even glancing\nup⁠ ⁠---⁠ then, it spoke. \"Betrayer,\" was the distorted answer, its\ntongue garbling our sibilants. It sounded like it had a lisp.\n\n\"Can we just talk? I'm so tired of chasing you.\"\n\n\"You betray.\" Another whistle, a single note response.\n\n\"Hey, we're only here for the crysts. The little glowy stone things.\nYou have another. I know you do.\" I prayed you did.\n\nIts whistling held for longer, with another short response.\n\nThis time the human was leading no glasscrab attack force; I overtook\nand crashed down in front of it again. I could lunge, bite its neck,\nend it all right now. What stopped me was the image of Hinte crashing\nto the ground after fighting the apes --- wings punctures, legs slashed\nat --- and she was better then me. She'd had more of a surprise.\n\nI prayed the endless stars my plan would work, because it had to expect\na direct fight on some level.\n\nThe human was clutching the corpse on its shoulder tighter, and had\nmanaged a single step backward. Breathing in massive pants, its body\nswayed with exhaustion. It recovered like molten glass turning to\nbrittle dustone, and at length slowly spoke, maybe tasting that I didn't\nattack it, or move at all, really.\n\n\"I no want death dragon.\" Its words came out sounding deliberated, yet\nit must have a weak grasp of y Draig, as told by its word choice.\n\n\"Me neither,\" I said, not sure how to respond or even what it meant. The\nape stared at me, eyeing every inch of my body for motion. It spoke\nagain after breaths and breaths.\n\n\"My friend,\" it said, patting the corpse. \"Dearest friend. Comrade. I\nbury comrade. Is all. Please.\"\n\nI raised a foreleg, and the ape started back and lifted its other limb,\ntoes splayed.\n\n\"Please. I want no death.\"\n\n\"I want cryst. Glowy stone, please.\"\n\nThe ape stared. But its face shifted, eye-cover things squeezing\ntogether. Maybe it tasted my meaning? It reached again into a pocket.\n\nNow I tensed, wary of another blinding orb. But it produced the pink\nstone, holding it out.\n\nIt didn't step closer, so I stepped forth. The foreleg holdin",
  "title": "Blow"
}