"Ah, then that must be... wait no, then that means... aha, of course, of course..."
At first whenever I interacted with the symbols, I was unable to handle all of the information, and was forced to withdraw my consciousness almost immediately. The ensuing headaches would nearly incapacitate me for the better part of a day. But over time I must have gotten used to it, and I was able to handle the information better and better. Now I can study the symbols for hours at a time, and although I still get headaches a lot, they aren't nearly as bad as the ones I got initially.
Every time I study these symbols though, I lose track of time. At first I was only trying to find a way to turn off this barrier. That's still my goal, but I've come to enjoy the time I spend examining the symbols, learning more about them.
The more I study them, the more I feel these jumbles of interconnected symbols often act similar to math. I always loved math in my past life, and I was pretty good at it too if I do say so myself, but the difference is on Earth I had teachers and reference books to help me learn. But here, though I do have these symbols to study, I have to learn their properties by myself. The hardest part is learning how each symbol interacts with the others. I do feel my proficiency in math has helped me with this though!
"You should not work on that all day, you will make yourself sick again! Come eat."
"Just a minute Mama, I'll be done soon!"
"Okay dear, but please do finish quickly."
After the first time I heard Mama Bloodcat speak, I started trying to teach her words. At first I thought that she might have just been mimicking me without knowing what she was saying, but that wasn't the case. She has human level intelligence at least, though she's much smarter than anyone I've ever known. I only had to explain a word to her once, and she would remember what it meant. She was able to hold a basic conversation within a week, and was almost completely fluent within a month!
The cubs were much slower picking it up, but they eventually wound up learning how to talk as well.
After appeasing Mama Bloodcat, I turn my attention back to the symbols. It's been several years since she and the cubs settled down near the Eggshell, and since then I haven't had much success with the barrier. But a couple months ago I happened upon a section that seems important. My current theory is that it's some sort of on-off switch, but I have yet to find out how to flip it on or off.
Why don't I just change a random part in order to make the entire equation invalid, you may ask? Well, I can't. I'm able to send power through the symbols and observe their reactions, but it's like a circuit board, I can't seem to move anything. That is, until a couple months ago. That's why I think it's an on-off switch. Out of the thousands of symbols I've examined, this is the only group of symbols I've found that I can actually move around.
And so I continue rearranging the symbols in different positions as I have been doing for months, when suddenly, as I connect two symbols, I'm hit with a sudden burst of inspiration.
"That's it!"
I start madly connecting the symbols, building off of the first two I connected.
Shua!
A beam of light pierces the sky, originating from the symbols surrounding the Eggshell. Lingering for a few seconds, the beam of light is then swallowed back up into the symbols.
"I did it! Mama, I did it!" I shout as I run into the forest.
Coming back with a sitchle in my mouth, I drop it in my paw and throw it over the symbols.
Bonk!
The sitchle hits the side of the stone platform, after which it quickly scurries away in a daze.
The cubs look wide-eyed at me.
"You did it sis!" "Good job!" "My sister is so cool!" "Hooray!"
They all get excited, though I'm not sure if they know what they're excited about. Feeling proud of myself nonetheless, I suddenly recall the original purpose of this endeavor. Running to Mama Bloodcat, I start trying to drag her to the pool of tonic.
"Mama, hurry!" I shout excitedly.
"I will dear, but I would like to celebrate this special occasion first."
"Hmm?" my siblings and I tilt our heads.
"I would like to give you all names."
"A name?" one of my brothers asks.
"Yes, a name. Your sister tells me that a name is something a parent gives to their child to call them by. Therefore I will grant each of you a name, so you may address each other by more than just sister and brother."
With sparkling eyes, my siblings line up one by one, with me at the end.
Mama slowly walks up to my brother.
"You are kind and patient. You are good at talking, and better at listening. To you my son, I shall give the name Casus."
"You are brave and persistent. Even if you fail and take a loss, you still try again. To you my son, I shall give the name Regis."
"You are intelligent and generous. You solve problems, and ask for nothing in return. To you my daughter, I shall give the name Eile."
"You are steadfast and resourceful. Pressure means nothing to you, you always find a way. To you my daughter, I shall give the name Tisa."
Arriving in front of me, Mama continues.
"You are passionate and decisive. You do not shy away from danger, instead rushing straight at it. To you my daughter, I shall give the name Lyna."
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After Mama Bloodcat finishes, everyone is silent for a while, until...
"Mom says I'm brave, so you should all follow me!" states Regis.
Eile adds, "The leader is supposed to be smart, idiot! I should be the boss."
I start feeling a little bit guilty for teaching them such words.
"If you nominate me as leader, I will be a stable and resourceful boss!" Tisa persuades.
"Patience is a virtue. A good leader should always be patient!" proclaims Casus.
Having no idea how they even learned some of these words, I sit beside Mama Bloodcat.
"Mama, I think you just triggered a death flag."
"What is a 'death flag'?"
Figuring the death flag would probably dissipate if I point it out, I just shrug at her question.
"Children, Mama is going to follow Lyna, behave while I am gone."
""""Yes Mom!""""
Leading the way, I walk Mama Bloodcat to the pool of tonic. But instead of directly jumping into the liquid, she puts a paw in it. Not long after putting her paw in, she suddenly recoils. Worried, I ask her what's wrong.
She answers my question while looking at her paw incredulously, "I am merely shocked by the properties that this liquid possesses. Already I can feel the scars on my paw healing."
Now that it's confirmed that it can heal her scars, I get impatient.
"Hurry Mama, get in!" I shout as I jump into the pool of tonic.
"Alright, I am coming." she laughs.
Even with her huge body, Mama Bloodcat easily fits inside the pool of tonic. To my surprise, once she fully enters the pool, she actually starts floating in the liquid! I always sink like a rock. I guess my body is denser or something.
Getting out and standing on the edge of the pool, I ask, "How does it feel?"
"How should I explain... scratchy? No, there is a word..."
"Tingly?" I ask.
"Yes, tingly." she replies, smiling.
After several hours of soaking, she exits the pool to eat and drink. It seems that in the short time she was in there, some of her smaller scars have already healed! Looking excitedly at her missing leg, I don't notice any immediate change. I guess I can't really expect it to heal that quickly, but I still feel a bit disappointed.
--
It's been about a month since Mama Bloodcat has started taking baths in the tonic. All of her scars have healed by this point, even the one across her face. But more exciting than that is, her missing leg is healing! It's pretty slow, even now she has only grown about a quarter of her leg back, but I'm still super excited. But she seems even more excited than I am.
"Look children, look at how much it has grown! Soon I will be completely recovered, and we can roam anywhere we would like! We can finally hunt as a family!" exclaims Mama Bloodcat, clearly excited.
With one of her legs missing, not only does it slow her down, it also makes being quiet much harder. But even worse, it makes her look like an easy target. Many creatures seem to view her as weak, and attack her on sight.
Casus is the first to speak up, "I'm so happy for you Mom!"
"Congratulations Mom." says Regis, with his usual straight face.
"Too bad it won't grow any faster..."
"It will be grown soon enough, don't worry Eile."
'Aren't you comforting the wrong person?'
Hesitating for a moment, I ask, "Mama, how did you lose your leg?"
As I ask that, everybody looks towards Mama Bloodcat.
"My leg... It was when I even younger than you cubs." She lies down, and we all sit down beside her. "I was hunting with my sister, when we ran into a creature that walked on four legs, and had two sharp legs that it swung around."
I interrupt, "Arms?"
"What are 'arms'?"
"Arms are like legs that you don't walk on."
"Yes, then they must have been arms. When I saw the creature, I was afraid to go near, but my sister ran straight at it. Before I could even stop her, she had already been split in two by the monster. The creature moved so fast, I could not even see it. It then looked at me. Paralyzed by fear, I could not even move. The creature walked right in front of me and proceeded to cut my leg off. I collapsed, closing my eyes, fully expecting it to kill me. But when I opened my eyes, the creature was dragging the two halves of my sister, as well as my leg, away. To this day I do not know why the creature did not kill me. After I returned to my mother, she abandoned me because of my missing leg. Ever since then, I have traveled alone, until I got you cubs." she smiles at us.
"What about our father?" asks Eile.
"He parted from me long ago. Our species does not usually pair for life." says Mama.
--
I observe Mama's leg, now missing only the tips of its toes.
"Mama, your leg is going to be good as new soon!" I exclaim.
"Then we can all go out hunting!" adds Regis.
"Children, I will take longer this time. I feel something coming."
"Something?"
"I am not sure what it is. I feel I am about to break through something, to become stronger."
"Ahh, so like a level up?" I ask.
"Yes." Mama laughs.
"Please take as long as you need! I'll take care of things while you're gone." says Casus.
Surprisingly, he's the one that became the leader in the end. I guess with enough patience, you can just wait until everyone else gives up and you become the boss by default. Looking satisfied, Mama climbs into the pool.
It's been three days, and I'm honestly a bit worried about Mama. She hasn't been out once this whole time, neither eating nor drinking. I've checked on her many times, and she's still alive, but her eyes have been closed ever since she entered the tonic. She doesn't react to anything, almost as if she's asleep.
I'm currently in the process of checking on her again. As I near the Eggshell, I notice a glow emanating from it. Jumping up onto the side of the pool, I realize it's actually Mama Bloodcat that's glowing!
I observe her condition for a while to confirm that she's not in danger, and then head back to where my siblings are. But on my way back, I suddenly I hear a faint buzzing sound coming from behind me. Turning my head, I see the light from the pool has gotten much brighter. When my siblings see it, some of them start rushing towards the pool.
"Stop!" shouts Casus, "We need to leave her be. This is probably an important time for her."
Everyone agrees and stops. Deciding to wait it out, we restlessly wait for Mama to finish.
We wait impatiently for about an hour before we notice a change. The bright light starts slowly dying down, eventually disappearing. When the glow finally disappears, I cautiously approach the Eggshell. When I finally get there and peer inside, I'm speechless.
In the pool where Mama was, there is now a beautiful woman floating on the surface. She looks to be about 30 years old, with red hair and sharp, chiseled facial features. Feeling something is off, I suddenly realize. She doesn't have any cloths on...
"Shoo shoo, all of you, go!" I start shooing my siblings away.
Now that I think about it, they're not humans so they probably don't even care, but still...
After I chase my siblings away, I jump back onto the side of the pool.
"Mama...?" I call hesitantly.
The beautiful woman in the pool suddenly opens her eyes. Rather than the black eyes I expected to see, what greets me is a set of eyes that look surprisingly human, save the bright red irises. She slowly holds her hands up in front of her face, wiggling her fingers back and forth. Afterwards she swims to the side of the pool and grabs onto the edge, pulling herself out.
"I may look different, but it is still me, dear." she comforts as she walks closer and tries to hug me.
Dodging the hug, I release an awkward cough.
"Um, Mama, you should get some clothes..." I say.
Suddenly, with a speed much faster than any I have ever seen her achieve, Mama scoops me up and gives me a hug. Seeing my shocked expression, she laughs.
"What are 'clothes'?" she asks, smiling.
"Uhh, clothes are for uhh, it's something to cover your uh, body when you don't have... fur..." I stutter out, trying to look away.
"Are you afraid of this appearance? I am sorry..."
"No! I think you look beautiful Mama, it's just, you uhm... you need some clothes. It's embarrassing when you don't have any..."
She makes an 'ah' sound and puts me down. Suddenly with a flash she has a red robe draped over her body.
"How is this?" she grins.
Stupefied, I look at her robe. It looks very simple, but... she just materialized clothes out of nowhere! I start excitedly instructing her. Shorten this, lengthen that, add this, tighten that. Though it's a bit crude, we eventually craft it into a relatively pretty dress, if I do say so myself!