The realization that the crack I slept in last night was not actually as safe as I thought it was is a scary one. So, after gathering my wits and peeking about again, I start to slither quietly away from the spider deathtrap.

My plan is to make it to the moose carcass, but that is on the complete other side, and who knows if anything is left. I stay away from the ant colony, since that is the closest thing besides the spiders. The bats look like they've moved further toward the back wall, sleeping above a large pile of guano. The beetles I stay well away from. They look harmless, but everything else in the cave stays away, so it must be for a good reason. The couple times I did come across the path left by them, the stone looked unnaturally smooth. Polished almost. I don't know how they do it, but I'm not about to find out.

The trip is uneventful, other than me jumping at shadows. About halfway across, the feeling of my magic has started to come back, but it is slow. I am leaving it for emergencies even though I don't know what the earth magic does yet. Instinct seems to feel the same, though they're eyeing the mushrooms that have come close. The moss too. The strange thing is that the beetles avoid the moss, but eat up the mushrooms. So Instinct has been steering us clear of the moss. I am half tempted to take a bite of the mushrooms, but Instinct is still trying to figure out what they do. All I know is that they glow.

The mushroom we pass is left behind, untouched. I glance ahead and see we are close to the bones of the moose. As we've gotten closer, I've lost hope that we'll find food in the bones. They are stripped clean. Some are even cracked open and look sucked dry. The bats must be very thorough. I also see that the moose is much, much larger than I had originally thought. I could make a nice home in its eye socket. Not that I want to. The bats are also much larger than I thought. Instinct does help me realize that we can taste the air like snakes and brings us to a piece of meat that's been left. We take turns tearing into it, one keeping watch while the other eats. It disappears quickly.

Full and tired from the long trip, I start to look for a crack in the rock to squeeze into. I find one that is away from the mushrooms so I don't get happened upon by the beetles. It has some of the moss stuff right next to it, but Instinct is no longer opposed to checking it out. After we settle in of course.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Instinct and I seem to have the same thought, and we both start using the earth magic. The green spines start glowing brown and the glow moves to the stone we’re directly touching. Where the glow touches, the stone feels less rigid. Following Instinct's example, I start to shape the entrance to our small hole. We work our way inwards, smooshing the stone smooth and forming the small crack I found into a den. It has circular shape when we finish, the ceiling smooth and rounded above my heads. The floor is flat, and the entrance is only large enough for me to squeeze through. There is a small tunnel that leads to the outside, to provide a little protection.

I do feel slightly lightheaded afterwards, and Instinct tells me it's from the amount of magic we used. The exhaustion I feel is bone deep. Instinct has already passed out. While I curl my head around my body and Instinct's head, I keep my eyes on the entrance of my new home. Sleep calls to me, but my mind is still awake. The sadness of losing my family keeps me up. The sadness of losing both my families, actually. The fact that I barely knew one isn't lost to me. Neither is the fact that I could barely remember the other.

There is a comforting thought that crosses my mind, though. I have Instinct. Even if Instinct is foreign and only shares my body, they're something. They've kept me alive. They're here for me. Kind of like my sister was. My sister whose name I can't remember.

As comforting as Instinct is, they are still alien to me. Their way of thinking is so different from mine. Instinct didn't have a hint of sadness at Mother and siblings dying. At least the badger is dead now. It can't hurt another hydra. I do feel a small amount of satisfaction at that. Would I have gone on a quest of revenge if I hadn't seen it die? I don't know. I don't think I would've. I was never one to go about getting revenge. That I can remember at least.

I never escalated the pranks sister played on me, keeping the pranks in the same vein or lesser. The few exes I had were never lashed out at. I had liked to think myself a gentle soul. Still do, but I have the feeling that will change. My eyes had closed at some point during these thoughts, letting me drift into sleep cuddled with my literal other half.