Click click click
Swiftly I grab my opal from where it was resting with my beak and turn to face the source of the sound. Nothing moves at first, so I get up to get a better vantage point. Within a few seconds that same clicking sound from earlier repeats itself.
From inside the make-shift tidal pool I made yesterday, several small crustaceans with conical shells pick at the scraps I left inside. Green Pincers far longer than their bodies chip away at the meat before handing it off to a more reasonably sized one. Curious about them I pluck one out of the pile. Noticing its ascent through the air, the crab tucks its tentacle limbs hastily into its shell. Meanwhile the comically large pincer swings about, sealing off the entrance into its calcified fortress.
That’s cute and all you freaky little octo-crab, but I'm hungry, and the least you can do after waking me up is be my breakfast. The only right thing to do, don't you agree?
Angry clicks
Mhmm, I hear your articulate counter-points. It's certainly making me feel sympathetic to your cause.
CRUNCH!
I bite at the joint right behind the bulk of the pincer, disarming the creature with ease. With my other foot, I collect my new prize and squeeze it hard until- crack! Beautiful marbled meat is exposed. Not wanting to wait any longer I dig right in. Mmm, quite fresh, but it could use some salt.
Turning my attention back towards my now clearly grumpy hostage, I start depriving him of his slimy tentacles. The first one I eat with trepidation, and my instincts were right. This is awful. The thick mucus coat is all I can taste and it is foul. Thinking of the handful of octocrabs left in the pool, I could just eat their claws, but that doesn't sit right with me for some reason. So with reluctance I turn my focus back to the second tentacle. This time I slice it along length and wash the underlying pale meat in the water. Giving this a try is… better I guess. Not my ideal breakfast but it would be wise to eat what I can now.
Six octocrabs later and I'm a fat happy bird. I add the remnants to the tide pool before scanning around for where I left that pesky scale I was working on last night. It only takes a few moments before finding it next to the well-dried cord I finished the night before. The charcoal scale still has a lot of work left to do on it. My efforts barely put a chip in it, but the mark is a proof of concept that while tedious, it's possible.
So without a good excuse to toss it into the depths of the lake, I start drilling into it again.
Meanwhile my thoughts turn inwards, focusing on reclaiming that which is out of my reach. Lost memories. My exploits in the cave so far has made me question where I'm pulling all my knowledge from. It doesn't come from no where, so on some level there's got to be something. Who was important in my life. Focus on that… focus.
In that swirling cloud-like realm, humanoid shapes began to emerge from the smokey boundaries. First a few, then ten, twenty, a hundred… Swarms of indistinguishable faces stare upon me, each a statue shifting as turbulently as their surroundings. My head is in agony, and as more shapes lined up against the horizon, the pain became exponential. Before I let go of this manifestation, I search for broader details amongst the crowd. In this I choose shape. Using all my mental faculties in this endeavor I scan the first row of misty phantoms. Searching through the paradox of their still, yet perpetually fluctuating forms, I glimpsed an outlier. The girth of this smoky figure was a constant. This person was large, of that I'm sure.
Suddenly, their demeanor changed. The phantom memory approaches me with an ever-shifting arm that threatens to blow away like a gale in a storm. At this point the turmoil I was experiencing was getting to a point that I could no longer handle. I withdraw myself from that forgotten realm and let it fade back into the void of my being.
Back to my senses in the cave, I'm breathing erratically, my legs shaking against my will. Clearly at some point I was so distracted with my mental expedition that I lost track of what I was doing. While I'm not necessarily in pain compared to earlier, the experience has left me harrowed. Breath in, breath out. That's it. You'll be fine. Everything is fine. One last deep breathe.
With my left foot I grab the scale that I let go of and numbly go back to drilling. While I certainly want to know who I was, I really don't want to do all that again. Nothing wrong with being content in the present.
Thankfully it doesn't take much longer to finally bore a hole through the scale. I must have made more progress than I realized in my meditation.
I hold it up to my eye, peeking through the newly opened space with gleeful content. With that done all that's left is assembly. Gathering the cord and my opal that always stays nearby after yesterday's encounter, I thread a loop through both of the holes I carved. Then all that needs to be done is pull the other side of the cord through the loop I made and it is done. My wonderful necklace that will cast plenty of light without me having to always hold onto it with my beak. Now I just need to make a fire and I'll be a proper cavebird!
Part of me was concerned about trying to swim with my mouth open because of the opal. Would have been a recipe for drowned chicken. The alternative would be to hold it within my talons but that would just mess with my swimming ability. Considering I don't know how far I need to swim yet, I would rather not hamper my lack of aquatic skills any more than necessary. Wasn't exactly born a duck with webbed feet ya know?
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So you, my precious, are my solution. I give my dangling opal a primitive smooch which does nothing but cause it to swing pointlessly in the air. Done admiring my work, I loop it over my head. There it dangles along with that trophy from that oddball of a lizard. Speaking of, I should probably throw the rest of his remains in the tide pool.
Except 'remains' is a poor choice of words. More appropriately, nothing is left but bones and scales, and I mean that in the most literal sense. There is not a hint of any other material left. Even the scales are loosely separated and scattered about the area, the membrane keeping them all together now gone. Thinking about how much effort I expended trying to dislodge just one blasted scale certainly gets me feeling lively.
Investigating the crime scene reveals nothing. No crabs, no critters, no nothing. No bite marks on the bones except where I plucked at them yesterday. Huh.
The only thing I can think of is the gemstone that hangs harmlessly from my neck. It's the only common denominator. Whatever this thing is truly made of, its not meant to be ingested. Considering it formed a tumor within 24 hours and caused the lizard to develop weird growths such as the whiskers leaves me with a couple conclusions that I could draw up. I can only hope that such a reaction doesn't occur while merely being in contact with it, because I really need it as a light source.
This is farewell my lizard friend, may your eyeballs remain forever moist with saliva wherever you are.
With that parting thought, I head towards the shore with its gentle waves. I pause on the shoreline, reflecting on my time spent in this cave. Despite no longer human, I think I've done alright so far. And now it is time to take the next leg of the journey. Placing one foot in front of the other, I wade my way through the shallow waters until I reach that familiar drop-off back when I fetched the lizard. This time I launch myself underwater akin to a javelin.
Opening my eyes reveals a deep sapphire world. Similar to the cavern, there is a notable lack of greenery. Just more bleak stones that made up the lake bed and the outcropping. There were a couple fish swimming about. However the sudden arrival of a large feathery outsider sends the scarce few inhabitants towards the aquatic horizon where they merge as one.
With little left to observe, I give my first go at swimming. Somehow, keeping a good rhythm stroking with my wings and kicking with my feet feels strangely natural. For now, aside from the few curiosities I've seen so far, I keep my eyes open for any predators large enough to take a bite out of me. Thankfully the lake isn't all that deep, maybe 15 or so feet at the most. Somehow I doubt there's going to be something that big, especially in what I assume to be an isolated cave.
Eventually, I angle myself upwards and speed back up to the surface. Breaking the surface I look back and notice I've gone further than I expected. Nice! About 30 feet ahead of me is where the ceiling dips down to become one with the lake. If I'm lucky, there will something on the other side. If I'm not lucky, well to frank I'm screwed. Then again, there are slight currents so they can't come from nowhere.
This time I take my time getting a good deep breathe in before diving. As soon as I submerge, I'm greeted by a two-headed eel accelerating dangerously close to me. Both of their mouths are lined with uneven needles, clearly exposed with aggressive intent. Realizing the danger, I immediately try to right myself up in the water so I can meet my attacker with my own deadly talons. However the double-headed eel gets to me first, one head latching onto my wing, the other aiming for my neck.
With my life suddenly on the line, I reach out to bite the second head first, tasting a mix of acrid blood and slimy mucus. By some miracle I manage to stop him from reaching his target, and I use what strength I have to keep the snapping jaws from meeting their mark. Meanwhile the other head that's painfully clamped onto my left wing begins to savagely twist and roll. The water stains crimson as my wing is nearly ripped from it's socket. From the excruciating pain I am forced to let go of the other head, who instantly darts for my neck. My flailing causes it to miss its mark by fractions of an inch, instead latching onto a mouthful of feathers from my chest.
Instincts take over, and I finally get my talons to impale the slippery eel in its abdomen. With two of my deadly daggers hooked in, I pull with desperate adrenaline-fueled strength. As I expose my adversaries precious innards to the bloody battlefield, I feel the feral and wild head on my devastated wing finally releasing its hold. Through the scarlet waters, I see the eel twisting upon itself and writhing in painful agony.
This is my chance. I desperately kick back to the surface and gasp for sorely needed air. Not wasting any time, I take a deep breath and dive back in. The bloody and sorry mess that is the eel was falling deeper towards the lake bed. This is all I wanted to see, as I have no desire to make sure its dead. With one wing horribly incapacitated, I kick and swim past my dying adversary towards the underwater cave mouth I barely noticed during our unanticipated life and death struggle.
As much as I want to swim back towards the shoreline, I risk other predators noticing the conflict and sticking around. Not to mention there wouldn't be enough time to spare with that creeping presence back in the tunnels that threatened to overwhelm me.
Faster and faster I kick my legs, mostly using my one intact wing to keep myself steady. Ahead the water's surface shimmers. Recognizing it as a pocket of air, I launch myself towards that direction.
With a wild splash I surface and quickly take in my surroundings. This time I'm encompassed by the familiar bleak stones of the cavern. Shit, there's nothing here!
Again I dive, following the narrowing tunnel with reckless abandon. My nerves are at their wits end, and I feel as if I'm one poor encounter away from having a panic attack.
What if I can't reach the next pocket of air?
What if there's more of those eels?
What if heading back was the right choice?
DAMMIT!
I forcibly expunge all those toxic 'what if' thoughts clawing at my consciousness and I increase my pace. Air bubbles leak from my nostrils with greater frequency as I desperately swim. The lungs in my chest in airless protest of my peril.
Then I see it. Like a radiant prism refracting precious light form above. I'm going to make it!
SPLOOOOSH!!!
Violently I breach the surface, flopping over onto my back so that I can take a much needed rest. Far above, the ceiling gives way, revealing the inky heavens with a radiant round celestial body at its center.
Inside I'm flooded with emotions. For deep within the unreachable depths of my soul, I feel it. Both in this life and the last, this is my first time gazing upon that which was always out of reach.
The open sky.