Drifting in nothingness, I was somewhere. I was static, nonthinking. This was life for me, I figured nothing was wrong.
But recently, things have been changing. I’ve been, thinking. That was new. The word was unfamiliar, but right when I thought about what I was doing. How this happened? I don’t know.
A little while after thinking happened, there was an urge. An urge to move, to use this new found thinking to do something. That urge was something I had yet to familiarize my self with, instinct.
Yes, that sounded right. It guided me, helped me do something; it helped me open my eyes.
A new sensation wiggled itself into my mind and burrowed itself in it, curiosity. I could… see for lack of a better word. And there was something under me, I could feel it. It’s just... it feels like something had yet to… click in my mind.
For the longest time I was stuck in nothingness, an awoken being spectating a sea of… something. Nothing? Maybe. Eventually, something did click. A surge of… energy? Yes, that sounds right.
This energy came into me. I don’t know what energy is, but something changed. Instead of there being nothing underneath me, it changed; a completely still… glassy liquid replaced it.
Curiosity overcame me, a familiar feeling. I wanted to get closer, to know what this liquid is and what its purpose was, I just didn’t know how. And then something else had… changed for lack of a better word.
I looked down at my self, I had what was… not a body, but an outline of one. The first thing I could see were the claws on my forearms, each tipped with sharp talons. Looking behind me, and spikes lined my backside, while the claws also were sustained on my hind legs. I had a tail, as well, tipped with a sharp diamond blade.
Another thought came into my head at this point, where was all this knowledge coming from? I racked my mind for what felt like an eternity, but never found the answer, I chalked it up to instinct, since that makes sense. Instinct had been my guiding light so far, so I’ll continue to follow it.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
I explore more of my body after that, using my limbs, learning how to move them around, however my body seemed to be untouchable, so I gave up on that.
Now for the real question I wanted answers to; what is the liquid? Now, I knew how to move my limbs, however moving my entire body was a different story. Instinct provided little help in this endeavor, so I only could try.
Try as I might, flailing my limbs in all directions did not work, so I continued trying. After a while of this trial and error, something changed, frustration plagued my mind. Why must it be so difficult to move?
Despite my frustration, I must keep trying. I must find out what this liquid is, instinct says to. I eventually gave up on trying to use my limbs to move. I looked around frantically, hoping to find something, something that can help me, anything!
Something very obvious about my body I seemingly missed stuck out like a sore thumb, a pair of wings on my back. Of course! How could I’ve missed this?
I stretched these wings as much as I could, instinct leading me through this task, and flapped them. I soared through nothingness weightlessly and straight toward the liquid. Relying on my instinct once more, I broke my fall and land softly on the liquid. My landing causing small ripples in the liquid when I touched it. When I tried touching it with my claws, it felt… sort of solid.
Something I could use to move without my wings, my instincts told me. I tried doing so, easily sinking my talons into the liquid and pulled, my body seemingly floated along with my pull, and I continued to do so, ripples constantly going out with every movement.
It was… fun. Yes, that’s what this is called, fun. The ripples in the water, were… entertaining. Another feeling washed over me; fun came with happiness. That was, until I tripped.
My claw had sunk deeper into the liquid than expected, and I tumbled over weirdly. The floaty-ness of this place caused me to flail in the air for a few moments before finally crashing on the liquid on my back.
However, the liquid didn’t stop me, in fact, I was sinking into it. The constriction of my body was first, I couldn’t move anything but my limbs now. Panic settled in. I tried to get out, clawing at the surface of the liquid trying to get a grip, but I simply sank into it.
The ever slow sinking into the liquid was what kept panic on my mind fresh. I had to get out of this. I don’t know what’s down there, what if it’s dangerous? Danger, a new concept introduced by instinct.
Danger is bad, I need to get out. NOW! I kept trying to move, writhing around aimlessly. Eventually, I stopped flailing, knowing the effort was futile.
I despaired as the sinking continued, until it eventually got to my head. The slow sinking was torture, and I closed my eyes. Panic still fresh on my mind, I simply followed my instincts and didn’t move. If there was one thing I could trust to guide me to safety, it was instinct.