Darkness. Pure nothingness. The first memories of newborns will be forgotten over time. But she never did. Supposing that was the first occurrence of abnormality in her life, many more laid in wait. She didn't see herself. What the inheritor of this body felt was foreign and new. The next thing to feel was tiredness, the eternal desire to rest, but she couldn't. She must keep pushing. For whatever reason, she needed to. Wriggling around helplessly, the creature attacked its surroundings with enmity. Cracking sounds chirped around the spot she would hit. She hit it again and again. Several more times before finally she felt it give way. A small thin strand of the outside world shone into her shell, more and more pushing followed until a gaping hole had formed in the egg. Shoving through with great effort, she fell into the opening, landing on her side. The passing breeze felt cold on her sensitive skin, the amniotic fluid protected most of her body, but she began to dry quickly. Having completed the greatest tribulation to come, the young hatchling slept peacefully outside the remnants of her egg. Opening her eyes, its body had changed. Bigger, brighter, and older than her hatching day long ago, the girl had exceeded the age of youth. She was now tall enough to climb trees, run, and hunt for herself. The earlier days were spent foraging for the tiniest scraps of food she could find, nobody to teach her, nobody to help her. All alone, she grew in constant hunger and fear. But no more would she go through the pain of an empty stomach again. No more would she worry about escaping from predators. No more would she have to stay close to the forest and its safety from the outsiders. Patrolling her home, she looked for signs of food and danger simultaneously. The twitch of bush several leaps away. The sound of a bird ascending the branches above. And muffled buzzing from a stream far away. Her sharpened senses caught and analyzed each occurrence within range of her ears, nose, eyes, and feet. Suddenly pouncing forward, she dove at a crow resting on the lowest branch of a nearby tree. It attempted to fly away but was too slow. Fingers digging into its frail body, the poor bird quickly died as it was devoured. Hunting and gathering were all she knew so far, nothing new, nothing learned. At times she felt lonely, though not the only predator here. None of them would listen to her. The bear monkey had a tad bit of understanding, but whenever she got close, it attacks. The killing came easy. No other animal was bigger nor stronger than her. But still, she felt troubled. Falling asleep under the night sky always calmed her. When she couldn't see, she felt the nostalgic comfort of being enclosed in her egg. Warmth, darkness, and no worry. Sounds, more sounds than she could focus on, suddenly drifted into her ears. Unfamiliar noises, similar to what she could make, pulled her out of her blissful revery. Opening a single eye to glimpse the commotion, she saw an unexpected light rising up through the trees. Sitting up quickly in her tree nest, she watched several huddled figures sit around a bright beam of what she thought resembled leaves blowing in the wind. Dark grey clouds rose from the light. The smell was egregious and burned her nose painfully. Around the flowing source of heat, the creatures were making sounds. Different from regular howling and mating calls, they made noises to each other. Back and forth like singing birds. Her interest in them grew, she wanted to get closer and see them, but she still felt uneasy about approaching a new threat. Slowly and carefully, she climbed out of her nest silently. Climbing down the tree, she prowled closer and closer to the moving light. The creatures went on with their unappealing bird song, unaware of her presence. Stopping behind them, they were close enough to touch with her outreached hand, but she refrained. Backing up behind a nearby tree, she watched them continue to sing to one another. Though she didn't understand the significance of their words, practice and experience had taught her to easily read intentions from more than just sounds. One figure had their arms crossed over their bosom with their eyes closed. Oddly, they looked a lot like her, not in the sense of resemblance, but more so in anatomy. They had arms, legs, eyes, ears, hair, hands, a torso, and furthermore. All through the night, she watched them. Numerous predators came around looking for an easy meal, but she chased them off with enmity. Sooner than she anticipated, morning came along. The light the creatures had used for guidance had disappeared into a black mound of wooden sand. With the cover of the night gone, she escaped up a tree quickly when she noticed one of them move. Slowly, each one got up and stretched like animals; with easy visibility, she could see them now for what they were. One had dark brown hair cut short and bright blue eyes that encapsulated her. The next to awake fashioned brown eyes and silver hair. She could tell they were young, naive hatchlings many times less experienced than her. They all bore happy smiles that she'd never seen before. She'd only seen expressions on animals, but here for the first time, she realized what she looked like when happy. The others were up now, their eyes and hair contrasting beautifully. Entranced by their appearances, she let her hair fall down past the branch she was perched on. It seemed one of them caught the movement and vigilantly looked up at her as he reached for an ornately decorated stick. Gripping it, his face showed fear and anger. Or perhaps frustration, she couldn't tell, but his sudden movement triggered her to climb higher out of view. Down below, she saw him search around for her while speaking to the others. Soon enough, each of them too began to search for her in the open canopy. Though these creatures didn't appear threatening, underestimating their strength covered her in the sense of foreboding. Grimacing, she slowly descended warily. When she came into view, the others drew sharp-looking blades of straightened stone. They held them skillfully in their hands, taking up a threatening stance. Moreover, she continued until she reached the bottom. They didn't attack, but she still crouched into her defensive stance. Lower, she planned to pounce at the nearest one and rip through his throat with her fingers, then she would retreat while keeping an eye on them. But before she could take action, the one she wanted to kill took several steps back and lowered his weapon. An obvious sign of submission, she looked around for the next target since her original plan was foiled. No openings revealed themselves. For once, she felt trapped. Like a predator had finally bested her in intelligence. Frowning, she bared her teeth. The others didn't move, but one spoke to another. Back and forth, they were communicating, planning, plotting, scheming to kill her. She thought of running, but something kept her there, a feeling unlike any else she'd felt. Though it wasn't smart, she remained to see how it would all play out. Eventually, the others relaxed slightly; they lowered their weapons in submission and backed away to let her escape. Relieved and confused, she was far more hesitant to relax. No alarms of danger were going out, but her instincts still told her to remain alert and ready. Backing away, she quietly and calmly stood upright. Still prepared to run away, she increased the distance cautiously. When far enough, she stopped. The others looked at one another. They made more noise again, which she was beginning to find annoying. Now in a standoff, neither moved closer. Until one of them did. The brown hair and blue-eyed creature put its long shiny stone back into its decorated stick cover and took a step closer to her. She didn't move away, but her body tensed. He moved closer and closer, trying very hard not to appear dangerous. After a few long and slow steps, he was within arm's reach. Why she let him get so close was a mystery to her, but she radiated an aura of safety and kindness. He spoke, supposedly directing it at her. She didn't know how to respond. Behind him, his companions whispered to each other; the emotion coming off of them was readable as worry, yet curious. The one in front of her reached forward with his hand and touched hers. Anything else in existence would've caused her to attack and run, but his presence emitted anything but danger. It was incredibly disturbing how much she trusted him. But even still, she looked up into his eyes. In them, she saw herself, yellow-haired and green-eyed. She was different in many ways, yet they were very similar. He spoke again, but his time, she understood him. He assured her she was safe, which she already felt, but hearing him reaffirm it made her heartbeat speed up. Letting go of her hand, he stepped back while still looking at her. The feeling of safety disappeared as he got further away, and she wanted to get closer. She subconsciously took a step closer and another. Eventually in the center of their camp. They had all put away their weapons but also talked louder and longer than ever. They were speaking mostly to the one she felt safe with. But he never responded. All he did was keep his focus on her, which she gladly accepted. Louder and louder their banter went, but it seemed his attention never swayed. Soon, they all began to walk away. Leaving her behind with him. He said something again to her, but she failed to understand. Turning, he followed his companions, standing her in the forest with her comfort and safety getting away. When they were out of sight, she finally came to her senses. What had happened to her? Why didn't she run or attack? Her own actions greatly confused her, and she wanted to know more. Taking a step, she went after them.

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