“It's so hard to forget pain, but it's even harder to remember sweetness. We have no scar to show for happiness. We learn so little from peace.”
― Chuck Palahniuk, Diary
It took Vendak several days of flight, alongside a few dips in the ocean, but he finally encountered his first living creatures.
Odd vegetation, like large saltwater lily pads, filled his vision, each one the size of a small bus. Pale green plants floated in a tangled mass and covered over a thousand meters in their shadow.
Like a small island, they drifted within the relatively calm ocean waves. Ven watched as the plant colony flowed with the current, before he landed for a closer look.
The spongy green flesh was sticky, a thin film of tacky moisture that remained on his hand. Its strong earthy smell caused his nose to twitch.
This thing almost smells like a field of dirt. I really missed this.
Vendak settled onto the soft buoyant leaves of the collective of plants. He lay on the natural mattress, rested his head on a tangled section of vines, then closed his eyes.
It's been way too long since I've touched earth.
The thick loamy scent around him was like a balm for Ven's frayed nerves. He imagined himself in the shade of a large tree, nestled next to its roots. The long-repressed desire to escape, born from his long imprisonment, had been fulfilled. A manic sense of relief, there since he'd first awoke, hung on until this moment. As he rested, he washed away the final tensions of the past.
This place is grounding, like a relaxation garden...
Vendak's small siesta went until the twilight crept in, and his mind idled. I bet I could make a pair of makeshift clothes from these plants...HEY! The living platform he rested on bucked. Ven flipped to the side, forced into the seem between the foliage. He slapped his hand against the water and floated into the air.
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A vast school of silverfish, each the size of a city bus, had almost launched him into the water as they surged above the surface. Several massive jaws pierced the greenery, a desperate feast. Their target wasn't Ven, but his newfound mattress. They rammed into the underside of the buoyant plants and ripped large chunks from the interwoven flora.
Vendak was about to fend off the troublesome bunch, when he paused, gaze locked on the water. I've spent the last week looking at the ocean, and that is not seawater. It had an off-blue, streaked with thin lines of reds and greens. This area of slightly different water stretched away from the plants, and moved against the current to surround the hungry animals.
The oversized, silver-colored fish had slowed their movements, and now seemed to be attempting escape. Their bodies planned differently, however, as they sat paralyzed in place. The fish drifted in circles, muscle spasms more than anything else.
Before they could drift off into the open ocean, the plant island extended several underwater tentacles. The sinister vegetation dragged their victims beneath the expansive colony, then shoved them within their roots. His newly discovered resting place appeared to be a cluster of predatory plants.
At least they don't seem to want to eat me, maybe they only nab stuff from the water?
When he poked at some nearby tendrils, they showed no reaction to his presence. Maybe they only eat fish... Still, now that he knew these things were more alive than average plants, he chose to leave them be.
I can find clothes elsewhere, like an animal's skin. Or I can just rob some brigand.
He had no desire to munch on this toxic plant, and it had left him alone. Also, if he ripped it up for cloth, he might be exposed to its poison. Ven wasn't sure about his resistance to such things, so he played it safe.
He spent a few more hours, relaxed on the back of the deceptive plant colony. The water darkened as they dissolved their victims. After the last fish vanished, reduced to soup, Ven resumed his travels. The journey was not nearly so lonely anymore, as the ocean below now teamed with life.
Strange creatures that resembled orcas and dolphins breached the surface, their bodies almost as large as blue whales. He'd even glimpsed a behemoth-sized sea turtle as it cruised just below. It began to rise and Ven flew down for a look.
The turtle's massive back surfaced in a swell of water that resembled mountains. Its shell, covered with a thick tangle of ocean plants and filter feeders, loomed like an island. It took an expansive breath that pulled in the air like a hurricane. The atmosphere rushed like thunder, driven to fill the void.
"Oh shit!"
Vendak tumbled into the water, barely dodging the large animal as he slipped into the water beside it. A vast eye, taller than any sky-scraper, glided past. It inspected him with an intelligence that shocked his mind. The great beast nodded its head, before it slipped beneath the ocean.
This place really is amazing, so different from what I'm used to...
The endless cityscape in his past life had long since thinned the animal population on that cursed planet. Most of the creatures he'd seen had been bugs. Even non-fungal plants had been rare in that place.
Here oceans still covered the world, and animals roamed freely through their depths. Green plants stretched under natural light, instead of clustered under sun lamps for warmth.
Just being here is good for my mental health, normalizing even.
He smiled as he continued toward the sunset. Half his attention fine-tuned his aura, while the other half scanned the horizon for anything besides the open ocean. The climate has really shifted now, almost tropical... Ven hoped that any land he came across would not be some barren icy wasteland.
It had been over 100 years since Vendak set foot on the natural surface of a planet. Images of his first life filled his thoughts. Green plains, covered with wildflowers, filled with mammals of all shapes and sizes. Visions of forest and fields guided him, as Vendak soared towards the setting sun.