The unexpected arrival of the pack leader certainly gives me pause. Fresh wounds decorated his dusty pelt since I'd last seen him, and despite his best efforts to exude a menacing aura, I can't help but notice the labored rise and fall of his chest. Beyond on either side of him are Marco and the twin he was squaring off against prior. Both wield pointed expressions of unresolved hostility aimed toward the other, making their forced pacifism appear all the more amusing and jarring simultaneously.

A low rumbling growl snaps my attention back toward the one demanding it. Once again, the depths of his being are exposed to me, and each time I peer into his deep yellow eyes, I discover new facets to an already complex mind. From what I first assumed to be just another wild animal, he has proven time and time again that he is hardly cut off the same cloth. Even now, as the two of us stare each other down, he reads me as readily as I read him.

Only when a weak sputtering cough escapes from the nearly dead orothus beside me does the leader break his attention away from me. His snout lowers, and he begins to sniff about the body of his fallen comrade, spending a long time as he draws near the mutilated stub that could once have been called his tail. A flick of his ear and a huffing snort provides a small glimpse into his thinking, and I take it as a cue to back off.

While he inspects his ally and I have a moment of peace, I bounce back and forth on a couple names for the rest of the orothus here. Starting with the twins, I decide on Theo and Fanis, the former being the one held in contempt, while the latter is the one whose fate is still uncertain. I am optimistic with Fanis's condition though, considering how well Marco turned out. It is remarkable to think how quickly he recovered, in all things considered, such a short span of time. Miraculous is the word to come to mind, and ironically, one that has lost quite a bit of meaning with everything that's come to pass. This essence stuff is a serious game-changer and honestly, I'm a bit worried about what unforeseen consequences may arise from my lack of understanding. Such as, can I overdo things? What if I lose control? Will it ever backfire? All in all, there are many more questions I have, but the reality of my situation is that I can only learn through trial and error. It doesn't do me any good right now to dwell on such a matter any longer than I have to.

Besides, just as the battle-scarred leader of the orothus finishes his inspection, I land on a name I'm finally satisfied with. Julius. A fitting name for the one leading this modest pack of orothus. He takes one last look at me before angling himself towards home tree, leaving the three of us to our own devices. Theo is the first to make a move, taking cautious steps towards Fanis while Marco gives him a stern look. With my job long done, I have no reason to antagonize the untrusting orothus any further than he already is, so I cycle around until I'm united with the one that is perhaps a bit overly trusting. Sure enough, he is already ushering me away from the twins, affording one final glance back at Theo, as if to express, "This isn't over."

What in the world is going on in that mind of yours Marco? That ape knock your head around so hard that you think I'm one of you guys now? And you're placing me higher on the pecking order than someone that was already in your pack? It's absolutely bizarre behavior. Whatever, I relent with a sigh.

After all the delightful events this morning has had to offer so far, I've grown quite hungry, and those apes are looking like a snack. Except as I stride over to one of them, the sound of buzzing insects grows increasingly louder. To my absolute disgust, swarms of flies have already planted their repulsive flag in the carcass. Marco however, is another story. A quick lick of his lips and he's already at it, ripping away at the pelt to expose the muscles beneath. Hundreds of tiny black insects flee away in a buzzing protest, not that Marco could care. Matter of fact, that other head of his snaps up the occasional fly that veers to close. Meanwhile I'm swatting the wretched things away from my face with my wings. Unlike this carefree disgusting guy, I have no plans or intentions to eat such a foul meal. I might just look like any other wild bird to them, but I have standards you hear! Standards! Seeing the serpent head ignore my thoughts on the matter while swallowing a large cicada looking bug whole nearly causes me to throw up. You do your thing over there Marco, I'm just going to be over here…

Looking around, the other corpses are all the same, and I feel a strong urge to purge the fly-ridden bodies in cleansing flames. Only I feel that wouldn't fly with the others here, clearly content to feast upon such questionable meat. As seen by Julius and the silver furred orothus that have found their own ape to start eating. Come to think of it as well, I should probably be more conscious with these fire abilities of mine considering there's no rain anymore to put out any fires that I might recklessly loose upon the forest.

Right, while I'm waiting for Marco to finish his breakfast, I might as well name the others. For the silver one next to Julius, I ponder for a bit before deciding on Greta. Next, it's time for the one with a serious attitude problem. For her, Megaera seems appropriate for someone with such a vicious personality. All that leaves is the two pups, of which I'm suddenly reminded that one of them disappeared last night. To think that they were running around the clearing just the night prior, happily splashing into the growing puddles. One would think they would be running and playing in them now that there are so many of them, but alas, that's not the case.

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Finding a higher vantage point by propping myself up on a stone that juts a few feet vertical from the ground, I scan the area in search of them. After a few minutes of searching, I let out a sigh of relief when I spot two small bundles of pelts taking shelter underneath a large section of roots. The hollow is rather small, but it still qualifies as a den I suppose, humble as it is. With that spot of anxiety settled, I get to thinking of names now that I know both of them made it through the night. For the first one, the larger of the two with predominately dark gray fur with splashes of white, Eris feels right. As for the other young pup, this one with distinct black, white, and brown markings, I think I'll call Rue.

That makes all of them, I think satisfyingly. It's a warm feeling, the same hopeful one I remember having back when I first gave Koko his name.

Realizing where that train of thought is going, I give my head a violent shake and slap the sides of my face with the clawed tips of my wings. Suddenly flailing around like that causes Marco to pause what he's doing and stare at me with confusion. He's got an obnoxiously large chunk of meat he managed to tear off and he looks like a complete goofball with the majority of it hanging out the side of his mouth. Once he see's I'm fine however, he swings and pivots his head around wildly, determined to eat it all in one bite. His silly little theatrics earns a small laugh out of me as I watch him struggle to down the ridiculous thing. It takes another minute or so for him to finally realize it's just too big to swallow before he pins it between his paws and begins to shred it into smaller pieces. Watching him like this is almost enough for me to forget he's practically eating carrion, the realization of which quickly turns the situation from 'kind of cute', to 'suddenly morbid'. I can only hope that I never have to resort to such barbaric measures to survive in this wilderness.

Wait… Rotting meat? I nearly took such an inconsequential thing for granted, but now that I'm thinking about it, isn't it actually really strange? Back in the cave system, leftover bones from the lizard and Big Jonas left me with quite the mystery, the latter of which were entangled by a swarming rat's nest of colossal roots. So considering that I'm currently surrounded by massive trees, doesn't that make this situation rather weird? At first I thought it was because of some sort of overdose, perhaps a bad reaction with the lizard. As for Big Jonas, I never really second guessed what it meant for roots to swarm a surely essence-rich carcass. Based on previous encounters with these crazy explosion flinging apes, I know that they have essence that runs through their veins.

So why are they still here?

Thinking hard on it, weren't there also the same roots that entwined my, I don't know, egg? Then it dawns on me. What if it's only one particular plant, or rather should I say tree doing this? Taking my previous theory that essence can improve one's physical qualities into consideration, one very specific tree comes to mind. No way…

Quickly I crane my head towards a sky obscured by thousands upon thousands of interwoven leaves. Somewhere beyond that canopy painted with more shades of green than there were stars in the night sky, stands a verdant titan that makes an endless sea of trees look minuscule in comparison.

A single question carefully and hesitantly approaches the podium of my mind now standing at full attention.

Is that because of me?

I truly want to believe that I'm just being foolish and making wild baseless claims, because I don't want to face the reality of the opposite being true. It would mean that I'm more of a monster than I could ever possibly fathom. An existence that would stand forever beyond any realm of reason, just like that impossible spire of a tree.

My mind is racing uncontrollably and I can't stop it. Not only that, but my heartbeat accelerates, and then my breathing is the next thing to spiral out of control. With the last vestiges of my composure threatening to collapse, I manage to step off my rocky perch before I hurt myself, after which I collapse into a panicked heap. Up until now, I've been able to tolerate all the trials and tribulations that have helped me build up a humble foundation to understand this new and foreign world. But now the brick and mortar that I've placed so much of my fragile trust into suddenly finds itself inadequate to handle the massive weight that comes with the burden of my latest discovery. It crumbles as if it were all naught more than a house of cards. It's just too much.

---

Nearby, Marco's other half is the first to senses that something is wrong with his savior, which causes him to stop what he's doing and come investigate. His head lowers to sniff the area, and he snorts annoyingly when he finds nothing. Both heads swivel all around to see if there is some hidden predator lurking in their midst, but once again, the two of them find nothing. Confused, he rams his head into the mysterious bird in front of him, but it doesn't respond to him at all. He does it again, this time with more force, but the creature in front of him continues to look listless while breathing uncontrollably as if it were dying.

This fragile feathered creature required his protection, without him, it would surely die on its own. But what was he to do? Despite being right next to it, there was nothing he could do. He has never seen such an affliction, not to mention one that came so suddenly and helplessly.

With everything out of his control and with no options left, Marco sets his giant head down on the creature. Hopefully it would realize that he was nearby, and know that no further danger will come to it while he's around. Of that he was sure.

While his main head rests upon the lap of the crimson bird, his serpentine head goes into full alert. The black forked tongue of his partner flicks in and out of his mouth without end, no one could approach them while his sentry is on watch. Of this, he was also sure.

The rapid sound of something beating furiously flooded into his sensitive ears, and he closed his eyes to focus on the noise.

Badum-badum-Badum-badum-Badum-badum-Badum-badum-

…

Badum. Badum. Badum. Badum.

…

Badum… Badum… Badum…