Waking was painful. Hunger and thirst gnawed at Second as he ever so slowly raised his head, eyes creeping open to be greeted by the cool evening air. Clambering to his feet, Second hunched as pain surged through his small body. He took in the surrounding area. He was at the base of a short cliff face, his panicked escape having led him right off the edge without even realising it was coming. Ringing the cliff were reaching, twisted trees, the setting sun throwing their shadows wide into a shifting lattice of darkness across the ground.

He was outside. Eyes darting around Second felt a thrill of excitement even as it was tempered by a rush of fear. No longer was he in or even near the den. For the first time in his young life he was out in the world, where his parents had so frequently disappeared to. Briefly Second trembled at the thought of his mother, and what followed, thoughts of First, Third and Fourth. His family, gone. Quickly and harshly he shoved the thoughts into a distant corner of his mind, cringing away from the subject whenever his mind strayed near. Second limped past the ragged treeline and away from the cliff. He needed to eat and he wasn’t going to find food here.

Moving from cover to cover Second's ears were pricked up, alert and ready. Aside from the gentle breeze rustling the leaves above his head and the soft padding of his paws on the red sand below, it was a silent dusk. As Second continued to move his gait slowly evened out, the bulk of his aches and twinges coming good with time. The forest fell away before him, into loose groupings of trees across ever more sand spreading away into the distance, patchily covered with odd bits of grass. Second prowled forwards, out and into the evening, his tired mind shying away from the memories of yesterday, hoping to stumble across something sooner rather than later.

It was well and truly night before Second’s nostrils twitched and flared wide. A stink he’d come to know well from the carcasses and injured animals dragged in by his mother that’d been torn apart by him and his siblings. The strong aromas of oils and body odours, of fear and stress that always was followed in his memories by the most attractive of all, blood. The distant hunger that had been gnawing away in the background of his mind all this time surged to the fore, making itself known with a vengeance. He swallowed as saliva flooded his mouth. Prey was near.

Second lightly trotted onward, his paws flowing across the sand with a smoothness he himself had not known he possessed. It was Second’s first hunt and his instincts came alive as he paced first left then right, inhaling the scent, tasting it on his tongue as its strength ebbed and flowed along with the wind and his positioning. Slowly but surely its origin became apparent as he moved around the grassland. Second honed in on a particular tuft of straggly bush with a deadly certainty, until finally his alert ears picked up on a tiny rustling within. Instantly he froze, his body hunched down against the ground, eyes locked on the growth.

He was poised for action, his paws tucked below him, ready to explode into motion at the slightest sign of movement. Everything faded away, the bush and its slight rustling growing to be all encompassing within his view. He strained to glimpse a hint of his quarry, for a single misstep to pounce upon. The rustling continued, whatever little creature that was hiding within unaware of the danger it faced.

Time dragged out as Second lingered in place, totally numb to the remnant aches and pains of his body. It could have been half the night, it could have been mere moments, time melted away until Second saw it. A flicker of movement. Before he even had time to properly process it he was already in the air, leaping from his perch. Landing on the bush his jaws snapped forward, sinking deep into soft flesh. A high pitched squealing filled the air, desperate and shrill, the small mouse he’d latched onto struggling futilely within the grip of his jaws. The blissful salty taste of blood flooded over Second’s tongue, he swallowed greedily at the liquid while the creature struggled pitifully in his maw.

Clenching tightly onto the rodent until he was sure it didn’t have the strength to escape him, he tossed his head upwards, adjusting the mouse’s position in his mouth and biting in deeply at the base of its neck. Instantly its movements ceased. Hurriedly swallowing it down Second reveled in the temporary satisfaction of a good meal, but rather than disappearing his hunger merely faded into the background again, still present to prod at him, leaving him far from truly satiated.

He’d traveled in a roughly straight direction ever since he woke up, which had felt somewhat aimless. It was only now, with the distraction of his hunger lessened in his mind and the beginnings of a true desert forming before him that he felt it. It was strange, a vague pressure in the air, urging him on. Once he noticed it it was hard to decide whether he’d known it was there the whole time, like an ignored itch, or if it was only now making itself known. A pull. The call of something… greater, tugging at him from far away. As Second trudged forwards his steps naturally oriented towards it, and he found himself feeling no need to change that, no, the idea of not following the call was strange, like the longer he continued in this direction the harder it was to imagine aiming to be anywhere else.

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As time passed it became all that he could focus on, a single thing he could devote his being to. If he didn't have this purpose, this direction drawing him in, what would he do? Where was there to go? He followed the strange pressure as much to avoid thinking as he did to find out what it was. As it lead him up dunes and across plains of sand the pressure grew in detail and variance, rising and falling in strength, its strange oscillations moving faster and slower, it pulled pleasant memories up from his past and pushed harrowing ones away.

It was only after traveling for a good length of time in this fashion, long enough that even through his single minded focus he'd begun to feel worn down, that Second crested a dune and found himself gazing down at an enormous rend in the ground. It was as if a gargantuan talon had reached down from the heavens and gouged through the desert below. The sand beneath his paws sloped down to its crest, forming into a curved path wrapping around the inside of the chasm, trailing off into a black abyss. The sky above was still as dark as the peak of night, though it surely must have been close to dawn. Halting ever so briefly, Second took in the sight, the ominous depths lurking before him, then he continued his inexorable course downwards, the pressure growing ever stronger.

Further and further Second descended, the dancing jaunty tune in his head beckoning him ever onward. The path wound round and round, leading him deep beneath the surface. As he was enveloped by the craggy bowels of the world and his vision began to fail, a subtle silver light revealed the path ahead, its source seemingly always just around the corner as he continued his descent. It continued like this for a time, the cold rocky depths extending further and further downwards until finally the light began to grow brighter as the rugged tunnels Second was passing through gave way to smooth stone, a corridor opening into a round chamber.

The chamber was practically barren, simply a wide circular area with a floor just as smooth as its walls. Seconds eyes were instantly drawn to the single object of notice at the centre of the room. There. A spire of glowing silver liquid glistened in the air, illuminating the chamber with a brilliant light. It floated like nothing Second had ever seen, slowly rotating on the spot as orbs of the fantastic fluid slowly coalesced only to later split apart again. The presence in Second’s head vanished, and Second relaxed as he took in the sight, feeling not just the summons fade but also all the pressure and tension of the past days slough away. In its place a fierce desire arose. His raw animal instincts wanted, nay demanded he drink that liquid, that he take it and make it his. He moved to approach the mysterious substance when a loud and pointed cough interrupted him. Second’s head whipped to the side, his alarmed stare fixing onto a dark figure leaning against the wall. How hadn’t he noticed it?

The figure was cloaked in shadow, Second could not piece out any detail beyond its outline. Tall and two legged, just like those from earlier… Second snarled in threat at the figure, but it merely watched him, showing no reaction to his display. Second’s gaze darted between the being and the light-giving substance, weighing his options. It was clear to him, no matter what that he must have it. Would this animal try and keep it from him? Ignoring his fear Second inched further into the room, approaching the silver liquid in spite of himself, his eyes darting from the fluid and back to the intruder as he crossed the floor. The figure merely watched, its head tracking him across the room, until at last Second stood before the mystery substance. It was surreal, the fluid looming over him, up close there seemed to be so much more of it than he'd realised, and the whole while he stood before it his every animal instinct shouted and screamed at him to take it all.

The being inclined its head toward the spire, seemingly goading Second to go ahead and take the precious material for himself. Something of its mannerisms, the way it held itself, reminded Second of his siblings and ways they’d roughhoused and teased each other. Was the creature allowing him…? Regardless Second needed the fluid, every second spent next to it felt as if he were depriving himself of a fresh kill while he starved. Giving the being one last snarl Second turned and dipped his nose forwards, ever so gently brushing it against one of the loose orbs.

It was cold, like ice stuck to his nose. The orb wobbled in the air, the portion his nose had touched staying attached as if it were glued to him. The languid bubbles began to stir, their idle splitting and combining finished. The smallest orbs gravitated towards him, as they got closer their pace changing to a furious rush, slamming into his body all over. The cold was a stinging pain now and Second whimpered as he attempted to pull away from the swarm. The larger orbs were moving too, ramping up in speed as in a flurry of activity the bubbly liquid swarmed over him, enveloping him in its silver chill.

Second panted out air desperately, feeling himself shudder as the bubbles all over him absorbed into his body. His mind swirled in circles, expanding and contracting as he felt his very thoughts shuffling and growing. A hand stroked his flank, Second’s eyes rested on the shadowed stranger as it stroked him comfortingly, unable to move an inch in response.

What’s happening? I don’t understand… I?

Second’s world faded into darkness.