Stance low and ears up, my exploration of my new cavernous home begins. I make sure to lean into my Stealth skill and the knowledge it imparts as much as possible as I move along the cavern walls and I eventually find myself near a forest edge. I briefly debate venturing into the forest itself, but several roars and what I can only guess to be explosions sway me from that idea. Best to just skirt the outskirts and find a place to make a new den. I need to rest and heal up, exploration can come after.
As I move through the shadows and sparse foliage around me, I relax enough to take in the details in the surrounding area. Now that I'm not actively running for my life from monstrous ferns, bipedal mammoths, or stupid Wolf Dragons, I can take in just how bizarre this place is. Putting aside the size of the cavern, which is probably a hundred or so square miles across, the plants here are in a league of their own. Much like the monsters I've fought so far, the flora is also blown up to massive sizes and has exaggerated features. Giant pines, spruces, and firs dot the landscape, rivaling redwoods and sequoias in sheer size, needles bigger than my body covering the huge branches above. Below their shady branches, oak and birch trees seem to hum with power as they eke out life under their titanic roommates, flowing gently in the invisible breeze with the rest of the flora. Hell, even most of the bushes and other normally small plants are around twice my size here, making me feel much like how I would imagine an ant would. From what I've seen, I'm small for monster standards, so these huge conifers aren't exactly helping me feel significant in this ecosystem. I suppose ants at least have a colony to lean on. Strength in numbers and all that. As for me...
The only companion I have is currently wrapped around my waist snoozing away. Her soft rhythmic breaths make her sharp feet stab into me slightly, but I don't blame my little arthropod. Today has been a rough day for both of us and she needs all the sleep she can get. She may have taken damage from the sonic howl that the Wolf Dragon did too, so rest will help with her recovery. Speaking of recovery, I'm almost healed, sitting at a good 30 HP. I'm sore and bruised all over and my ribs are still broken, but my lung is no longer collapsed and I'm able to breathe with it to a certain extent, so I'll survive. I stopped gaining health once I hit 30 HP, so I'll probably need sleep to heal the rest of the big injuries. Unless I can find a way to bypass that, I'm going to need to be extra careful about injuries.
It's been around twenty minutes since I began my exploration and I decided to deviate from my path slightly to a nearby hill on the edge of the forest. Only around a couple dozen or so feet tall, the area isn't very noticeable since the top of the hill is covered in a thick grove of birch trees, providing ample cover for myself and Eminence. What catches my eye, however, is at the top of the hill. In the very center is a birch tree much bigger than the others, its thick branches stretch out to shelter its smaller cousins, and its sturdy roots burst from the ground in multiple places, giving the entire area a peaceful, wizened feel. In addition to being a good landmark for exploration, since it's taller than the other birches, the tree itself will provide a good vantage point in case I need to hide from a monster invading my den or just need to scout around for something. I'll be digging underground, so the large roots could be hard to deal with, but at the same time, the roots will provide an extra layer of security and structural support for my new home, so it isn't too bad.
I might be rushing my decision a little when it comes to finding a place for my den, but I'm getting too tired and I'm worried I won't be able to defend myself properly if I get into a fight now. If anything, I can always abandon this place and find a new area, but this is as good as anything. Digging is going to suck though.
As I steel myself for the grueling task of digging out a small den, a mental yawn seeps into my mind as my pet has finally decided to rouse herself from her slumber. It's been a while since she had fallen asleep and I tried to step extra lightly to not wake her.
'Well well well, the chitinous princess finally decided to grace us with her presence! Did you sleep well, miss freeloader?' I taunt. Obviously, I'm not mad. Still, a bit of joking now and then can't hurt, right?
No sooner does my playful jab go across the mental link am I proven wrong.
'I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to fall asleep, it was involuntary! Have I held you back? Are you hurt?! I'm so sorry, mistress!' Eminence wails across the link as she rears up in fear.
Involuntary taps with her antennae on my body and distressed chittering tell me just how upset the little centipede is. I may have fucked up a little. Gently, I reach back with my tail and tap her on the head, trying to soothe her frazzled nerves. It's just a hunch, but I might need to ease her into jokes.
'Emi, relax, it's okay. You didn't do anything wrong. I was only teasing you. I'm not any more hurt than I was before and you haven't held me back at all. ' I say to my distraught pet.
'Are you sure, mistress..?' She sniffles.
'I'm sure.'
Honestly, she's such a worry wort. I couldn't stay mad at her, not for long anyway. Not only is she cute, but she's also the only person I have to talk to. Well, monster, whatever. Well...since she's still so upset, maybe I can help her out a little.
'If you're really that upset, there is something you could do for me.' I offer.
Immediately, she perks up, antennae whipping wildly in the air as a show of excitement.
'Really? I'll do anything for you, mistress! You just need to ask.' She exclaims.
'Well, I'm getting ready to start digging the new den, and I could use a smart little scout to go up in that big tree and keep an eye out. Can you do that?'
'I can do it, you can count on me! Not one beast will intrude on our home while I'm on guard!'
With that confirmation, Eminece unwraps from my body and scuttles up the tree, crawling all over the bark and branches to get the best angle for scouting. With her many spider-like eyes, she is probably one of the better monster types for the job. Still, I'm only really asking her to do this because she seems to what go help with something. I doubt she's going to be able to help with the digging since she's so small. Actually, is she a bit bigger than before?
Looking closer, sure enough, she's a little girthier than before. I wonder why. Is she getting fat? No, if that were the case, I would be the thickest lizard on the block considering how much I eat in one sitting. She must be growing then. She did eat quite a bit on our run here for her size, so that might be it. Does that mean she'll grow back into a true monster? I could use a fighting buddy, so I hope that is the case. I'll figure it out once we start getting a steady influx of food. For now, the grueling task of den making.
With tired acceptance, I begin the long process of making my new home. I first dig down at a forty-five-degree angle, using the root system of the big tree to provide a sort of natural cover to the entrance. I plan on making two chambers in the future, so I curve to the left, making sure to make the larger of the two under the tree itself, hopefully using the roots to my advantage. Carving away with my claws is easier now thanks to my high Dig level, my paws able to shove away sizeable amounts of dirt behind me to push back with my tail, using the appendage as a sort of plow, but it's still hard. My dig skill also helps to prevent cave-ins, almost like someone is guiding me and explaining why certain actions would result in disaster and ruin my work almost like someone is whispering in my head: "Don't dig there, the wall is too weak. Dig here instead, the roots are supporting this section of dirt." It's...nice. Makes me feel a little less alone, even if it is just my imagination. Or maybe I'm just going crazy.
While digging, I make the unfortunate discovery that the azure veins are here too, though not as dense. For now, they're only poking through at the entrance, but I suspect that'll change over time. I hoped I would be able to get rid of them if I got out of the tunnels, but it seems I'm stuck with them for the foreseeable future. Still, it isn't all bad. I've been digging for over an hour now, and besides a few false alarms, I haven't been attacked yet. Every time I went outside, however, it became apparent just how visible my den is if you stumble on it. I didn't have any place to put the dirt I dug out, so I just pushed everything outside into a pile. I made sure to make this den bigger than the other one since two full-grown monsters may be living in it, so there's a lot more dirt than the first one. Even if Eminence doesn't return to full size if I make it a similar size to before I might get stuck once I evolve again. I'll need to spread all this out after I'm done so it isn't noticeable.
Another hour of digging passes by uneventfully and I'm finally done with the first chamber. I'm so damn tired! The largest chamber is bigger than my old den by quite a bit, so digging was a pain, though I did get Dig to level 4 thanks to that. I made the ceiling five feet tall just in case I get too tall in my next evolution, but it will also help if Eminence or I need to hang on to the roof since we'll have a bit more clearance. And since both me and Emi are monsters who are longer than we are tall, myself being around four feet head to tail, I made the chamber with a seven-foot radius, just for a bit of wiggle room. Like before, I made a small divot in the side of the chamber for me to sleep, packing it with soft dirt and some leaves I found outside for padding. I'm not human anymore, so I don't exactly need to make a comfortable bed since almost anywhere I lie is comfy, but it just doesn't feel like home without one.
Outside, I was able to hide the entrance for the den by packing dirt around the opening and distributing the leftover dirt around the rest of the hill. For a little extra protection, I tried to caomoflaug the entrance with loose sticks I found around the area, but it, unfortunately, doesn't have as good of an effect as I want. I found a fallen log a bit further into the forest while I was taking a break to ease the stress on my paws, but not only was it too heavy for me to move, I couldn't even break off more branches because they were like stone! Even with how sharp my claws are, whatever the trees are made of around here is harder than rock, so I couldn't even put a scratch on them. I don't think I want to meet whatever was able to knock that tree down any time soon.
Still, despite what was needed to get here, I'm quite pleased with myself. Sure, the den is dark, damp, and dirty, but it's a home for me in this strange world. I'm not sure why I was brought here, but if I'm being honest, it isn't that bad. Sure, monsters want to eat me at every turn and take everything I have, but that isn't too different from my life as a human. In this life, however, I'm able to defend my possessions and my life with everything I have. I'll take that as a bonus.
Finally satisfied with my new home, I call Eminence down from the tree and into the den, ready to settle down for a couple of hours rest. Once we wake, we're off to hunt and explore.
Let's hope we find some good food.