I am doing numerous things. Following the human, making a mental map of the environment, listening to the human, memorizing its words, double checking the list of names I now have for my children and considering how to create musical instruments from the various plant life around me.

Now there is quite a lot of plant life here, a ruckus of colors and shapes. Most of it seems edible at first glance; My children won't have to go hungry. There is also a certain beauty to all these plants, in that everything beyond the grass seems to be unique. Which could occur in a small sample size; I've seen 23 trees so far, 45 different bushes, 158 different flowers.

Gardening will have to be very careful, any of these plants could go extinct with an idle step.

I am slowly building all these plants into the map of this area, focussing mainly on the fruit-bearing ones. My children will need to know where to go after all. The hilly terrain could be a good place for them to grow up in, although the small odd bird-like creatures I've seen hidden among the trees may predate them.

Perhaps I should stay near when I introduce them to this area…

I reach out to connect, to query for knowledge to the greater web, out of automatism, but realise where I am before I release my message.

I am lonely…

The human hasn't really stopped speaking since we finished with our diplomacy through mental messages and charades. It seems friendly, from what I can gauge, and it tried to help me, when I was attacked by the metal beast that is now following behind us at a distance.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

It seems the toothy metal thing and I have reached some kind of impasse, for what reason I do not know. I keep it in my sight by tilting my head slightly, but otherwise attempt to ignore it.

The human on the other hand has my full attention, insofar that is possible for my kind.

I don't know if it's talking to itself, or to me. I can't say I'm not curious to know what is being said, but simultaneously, I know at some point I will either have pieced together their language and I will be able to translate these talks, or I or they will have perished.

Let it be safe to say that I intend to translate.

As we step in deeper through the lightly forested hills, my constant vigilance is rewarded. A floating creature made of black tendrils plunges down from a tree at a low angle, aiming straight for the head of the human. I notice it in time to react and as I swipe at it I see the metal beast behind me get into motion.

As I fail to impale the creature with one of my legs, batting it away instead, my foreleg pins into the soft earth next to the human. I await the inevitable piercing of carapace by the teeth of the metal beast, already wincing away just from the memory, at the same time the human flinches away from me with an outcry.

The pain does not come. Instead the beast bounds past me to chase after the hostile creature that attempted to slay the human. The human meanwhile is leaning against a tree as he pants, mumbling some things with a sharp tone.

When the next creature swoops in I am more successful, pinning it against a nearby tree and piercing its center. It lets out a keening cry that quickly falters as the human cries out again.

The human looks around quickly before gesturing and beginning to run. It stops a bit further and looks at me, shouting and gesturing.

I suppose I've got a vague idea of what "Come fucking run already. Come." means.