Koko, please… Uggghh…
Just as I set down a rock to weigh down the fibers I'm weaving, he takes it and runs, gleefully chippering as he adds another curiosity to his collection. He's been like this ever since I gave him his own necklace. Just instead of an opal and a scale, his has the one large green fish scale that I carved "Koko" into.
Looking back on it (and at the pile of stolen goods), it was a waste of perfectly good cord. He has been an absolute menace to my productivity, stealing everything even if I am working on them. He already ripped up two bladders that I foolishly left out, and to add insult to injury, he used his 'powers' to make the shreds flutter in the air.
Take a deep breathe Alistair, don't lose your cool again. He's just a child. At least, that's what I try telling myself as I find a replacement rock for the one Koko just kidnapped.
The rumble of thunder far away is enough to give Koko pause on his shenanigans. Good, maybe I can finally get some work done.
I managed to get quite the catch during the peak of the storm two nights ago, so minus the two that Koko destroyed, that leaves me with nine bladders left. As of now, they are resting high up on a ledge that has a smooth wall below it. While I'm not sure it's Koko-proof, it's better than testing my luck leaving them about my work area. Aside from them, I managed to carve an equal amount of hooks without too much issue, so now all that is left is getting this cord finished. The idea is that that I will thread the hooks through it and fashion it into another useful necklace. However this one will be used to carry the talon-made 'bags'.
FWOOOOOOSHhhhh!!
…
…
Plop!
Seriously Koko?! I take my attention off him for mere seconds and he blasts the rock I just replaced into the lake with a jet of air. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the little brat is jumping up and down, ecstatic with the results of his mischief. Suddenly he stops his hopping and bows down Infront of a another stone I'm using, his busy tail waving erratically and playfully through the air
NO!
I plunge my talons towards him, easily catching him and pinning him on his side. Koko instantly starts screaming bloody murder in protest, but I ignore him and shove my beak right up to his forehead. Immediately, his ears flatten and he shuts up and stares back in trepidation.
Stop. Screwing. With. Me.
Of course he can't hear a word I'm saying, but I let my eyes and my expressions do all the talking I need. I continue to hover right over his leaf colored face for a couple more seconds before I finally let him go. Despite how frustrated I am with him, I handle his release with the upmost care, delicately lifting my talons instead of tossing him out of my grasp that part of me desperately craved.
When he feels the weight pressing down on him release, he keeps his head low and still, but I can see his eyes darting left and right every now and then. Finally, taking his chance, he flees behind a stalagmite about 20 feet away before popping his head back out a few seconds later.
Look I don't care if you watch me, but you have got to stop with the nonsense!
Whatever, I doubt it's the last time he is going to mess with me. For the third time I find another rock. One way or another, I'm going to finish this…
With the source of my distractions finally sorted out, I get back to weaving, and make good time too. Within 30 minutes or so I'm just about done and I can start threading the hooks in. One at a time, I use my claws to needle the finished cord through the holes I bored yesterday. After the first one, the hooks fall into place with an immensely satisfying click as they bump into one another.
At last it's finished! All that remains is one last preparation… Thinking about my plans sends a violent shiver down my spine.
Don't look back, you know what has to be done! Freedom is at stake, come on Alistair, you know this! Are you going to spend the rest of your life in some dank cave?
Hell no I'm not.
I put my latest creation around my neck and clip the bags I prepared onto the hooks. Come on Koko, lets roll.
A renewed sense of adventure surges through the little miscreant and seeing me head towards the passageways stirs him away from his hiding spot. I don't have to look back to know he's following me, his tiny paws racing along the stone floor is the only indicator I need. Up the slope the two of us head, or destination, the left passageway.
The hike ahead is going to take a couple hours based on my previous experience. Not exactly my cup of tea just for an errand but those dilapidated ruins have exactly what I need, hence the empty bags.
My encounter with Big Jonas certainly left its impression on me, but back then it got me thinking. The first thing he did when he begun to stir was to sniff the room with that enormous snout of his. After which of course, he found me within seconds, so clearly his sense of smell is acute to say the least. It wasn't until I gutted that fish when I got back and held up that swim bladder did an idea click. What if I turned that great strength of his into his Achilleas heel?
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
So my thoughts drifted back to my original trip to the ruins and the dangers of breathing in the lingering toxin. If I could just bag up all that hazardous residue is what I thought. And how my heart fluttered when I conducted my first test with such promising results.
Is it wrong to bag up the ancient corpse dust of your ancestors with a healthy mix of bygone rust, broken down plastics, and a pinch of hallucinogenic mushrooms? You know, just so you can toss them unceremoniously at your enemies?
Oh, absolutely.
If it's in the name of survival? Perhaps a bit of a heretical gray area. But it's good enough for me.
About those fungal creepers, I couldn't be sure when I first ate them, but after deciding on not to eat them has resulted in far less vivid dreams. For that matter too, I haven't had any more waking nightmares or any similar experiences to when I decided to give myself a name. That malicious presence has been notably absent, and it would be perfect it continued to stay that way. The feeling of molten nails piercing into my skull…
I stop walking to shake it out, as if the gesture would forcibly eject the memory from my mind. Yeah, point being I'm pretty sure the fungi was to blame.
To distract myself from my thoughts I look back to check up on Koko. The varmint is just a couple of feet behind me, sniffing a brown-colored stone jutting out of the wall. Then he steps forward a bit and lifts a leg-
Okay I don't need to watch the rest of that. Why are you even doing that? Who is going to come out here and challenge your claim over empty tunnels. Whatever you strange little monkey.
After another hour of walking the caved-in section comes into view. Going forward, I would really prefer Koko not to follow me. Last thing I need is for him to breathe in this junk and keel over from it. Perhaps if I can distract him.
Nearby are a couple fragments from the broken wall, small enough to grasp a couple of them within the palm of my feet. I turn around to face Koko, the light of curiosity already aglow in his glassy eyes.
Hey, no! Look here! Fun little rocks, yeah? I wave my foot around to get his attention, and when I see his eyes focus in on the new distraction, I release.
Without skipping a beat, he leaps up, paws outstretched in the air. For a split-second, a green light projects off the tips of his little fingers and afterwards a blast of air is once more conjured out of thin air. Even from where I'm standing, I get a small taste of the shock wave, and one of the chunks too for that matter as it soars through the air. Straight towards my cranium.
Bonk!
As I rub my tender forehead with the flat of my claws, Koko could care less. His furry form dashing about, busy scattering the broken chunks and chasing them wherever they go. Yeah that's fine Koko, that didn't hurt at all.
Those powers of his are a true enigma to me. He just wills air into existence and blam, it appears. Must be nice I think bitterly.
Anyways, I turn my attention back towards the ruins, I've got a job to do and there's no sense in lingering any longer than I have to. Once I get started bagging up all this dangerous stuff, it's going to stir all this settled debris up in the air and I definitely don't want to breath that in. One at a time I unhook each bag from their respective hooks and lay them down against the wall. That done, it's time to just… start filling…
Yeah…
This feels wrong on far too many levels, but I've already made it this far. Now that I'm thinking about it, most of my actions so far have been rather morbid, but what was the alternative? At least I'm making the most out of these dead creatures, albeit some dead for far longer than others. Just being conscious and responsible… yeah we can just stick with that for right now.
Enough delaying. Carefully I hold a bag open with my foot and dredge it through the pile of dust that was once a human being. Already I can see motes of disturbed dust reflecting off the light of my necklace, and this is just the first bag. I'm not to keen on inhaling any of this nonsense, so I bury my beak into the nook of my good wing.
One by one, I fill them up about a third of the way before I gently reposition to an unnatural pile of rancid orange powder. Nearby are pipes in serious states of decay, rust consuming them with hardly a spot of gray metal to be seen. Just going to grab some of this lovely stuff, don't mind me.
Next, in the corner I spot a collection of dried mold and residue in all the colors of the hazard rainbow. Putrid-green, desolate-black, pale-white, you name it. I can only imagine what delightful fate is in store for my good friend, Big Jonas. Starting to feel a little bad for him if I'm to be honest here.
As I'm gathering my toxic groceries, I spot Koko looking reaaaaaal cheeky near the entrance.
Oh no you don't.
His eyes have expanded twice their normal size, clearly in awe towards a side of the world he has never seen before. Then the realization dawns on me.
Koko don't you fucking do it.
I'm marching right towards him, unsettling a noticeable amount of hazardous debris in my wake. But the fear of what he might do is of far greater concern to me more. I've noticed during these past few days that he loves to blast things that spark his curiosity with bursts of air, surely to see how the sudden gusts will affect them. Already I can see him putting his paws up in the air.
KOKO!
I throw away my caution and shift up several gears, sprinting towards the troublemaker at full speed.
Seeing the charging bird rapidly close the distance dissuades him long enough for him to put his paws back down, and instead turn tail.
The damage is done however, so there's no going back now. The ruins have become a hazardous death trap with an unholy concoction of poisons mixing together and floating about the wide open space.
Koko I'm going to get you back for this! Is what I mentally shout as I also high tail it out of the ruins. Unfortunately all the bags had to be left behind, but that can be an issue for another time. I can always come back tomorrow, no need to be reckl-
KACK!! KACK!
My lungs tighten uncontrollably from the faint cloud of debris that followed me outside of the ruins. I'm forced to lean against the nearby wall as my body wretches violently with every cough. The sudden noise must have surprised Koko because he is starting at me from behind a bend with a dumb confused look on his face.
I'll get- KACK! you for this KACK!!
It takes several minutes for me to finally collect my tattered composure and I already feel exhausted. I look back towards the now regretfully unapproachable ruins, before I turn back around to glare at Koko.
Maybe instead of a collar I should have made him a leash. Whatever, I can just come back tomorrow when all this refuse settles. Next time I'll make sure he stays behind.
Well you ready to head back you little jerk? Only a mild two hour walk back.
Chi, chi!
Of course you are.