Of course the mind is the next thing that must be fed, for without a fed mind you will feed nothing at all besides what kills you.

-From Aphorisms: 1:47

“I found him!” she squeaked “All I did was find-”

Tok’s fingers tightened, cutting off the sibilant of her words into a gurgle.

She tried to explain herself again, and Tok silenced her more roughly this time. Her vision started to go red before the pressure lessened, all of the blood surging up into her skull.

“Quiet.” Tok hissed, red eyes no longer lazy, wide open.

The gravity of his full attention made her urinate, the reek of it strong before the rain washed it away. Her scales locked into the white and dirty yellow of fear. He didn’t even register that. A red frill under his chin had extended, a bright challenge to something he saw as a threat. She trembled in his grip.

Live! Cringe! Grovel! Beg!

Her Instinct was whimpering deep inside her mind, both it and her forebrain resigning herself to a sudden violent death that she hadn’t earned.

Tok’s forked tongue slid out of his mouth, smelling her, and she winced, trying to pull away. His teeth were huge and sharp.

“Stop squirming.” Tok rumbled, punctuating the statement with yet another squeeze, making her yelp in pain as her body locked up.

The tongue came out again, smelling her one last time, before she was lifted up towards his face.

His mouth! He’ll eat me!

Live! flee! Swim! Hide! Her Instinct gibbered.

She could smell his breath. The death of what he had last killed. Something that was itself huge and powerful. Not like her.

The neonate squirmed violently. Claws digging in, biting his scaly knuckles fruitlessly, not strong enough to get through his natural armor. Trying desperately to escape. She knew that without the island, without Tok, she was unlikely to survive.

But I won’t be killed for something I didn’t do!

She was determined to take that choice over the certain death that was the Provider's jaws. Lightning split the sky, the thunder coming almost instantly after and rattling inside of her.

This was it.

She was going to get eaten!

She closed her eyes. She didn’t want to see it coming. He had probably wanted to cull her from the start because of her size. Hope stopped twitching in her mind as it finally died…

Her feet rested on something solid.

What?

The Provider released her.

She stayed still, then opened one eye and looked around.

He had placed her on his shoulder.

She blinked, looking at him with yellow eyes, seeing that his red ones had become lazy once again.

He’s not going to eat me?

“How did you find him?” he questioned without preamble.

She stared for a moment, but quickly found her voice again and she relayed what had happened. She stammered because of the adrenaline coursing through her, but he didn’t seem to mind.

He rumbled deep in his throat as she finished. “Hatchlings are not to kill hatchlings at this stage.” The lazy red eyes regarded her again, and there was a momentary glint of focus in them, the vertical slit of his pupil contracting before widening again.

“Stay vigilant. I will warn the others.”

She nodded, mouth dry.

Perhaps I shouldn’t be so comfortable around the Provider anymore.

Her Instinct was hissing and muttering, not sure how to cope with the idea of Tok, the Provider, almost killing her out of hand. Anger replaced fear.

“Why did you think it was me?” She hissed. Feeling… disappointed?

No. Betrayed.

He looked at her. The rain rattled against his scales. Sturdy as turtle shell.

Lightning flashed again, illuminating those massive red eyes of his.

“Because you are more dangerous than it seems even you realize, little one.” He said finally.

Thunder boomed in the distance. She wasn’t sure how to take that.

Tok nodded and picked up the pile of meat and bones of the corpse. For the first time it almost disturbed her as he took it into his mouth, crunching down loudly.

That was almost me…

It was not as abstract as it had been anymore.

It wasn’t a strong feeling. Meat was meat. But the fear, the pure terror of knowing that her life would end so easily, so… wrongly… It had changed things forever.

“Go.” Tok hissed, as his red frill retracted back into his neck.

She clambered back down as he started moving on, purpose in his heavy strides. One of his hands shot out, pulling a massive python out of a hanging branch. It coiled around his arm, squeezing, but not as powerfully as he.

Crackle pop!

She heard the snakes neck snap in the moment of quiet between the bouts of rolling thunder, blood splattering onto the ground.

He wouldn’t kill us. The statement by Instinct was almost a question, but not quite, it seemed to have re-evaluated the certainty with which it regarded the Providers protection.

There was a fresh crack and boom of lightning and thunder in the sky, and she quickly searched for shelter. The neonate spotted a bush with the healing herbs and grabbed a fresh handful.

She moved under a wide leafed shrub, laying low to the ground, next to a tree. Out of the rain and already chewing up a fresh poultice for her wound, taking solace in the intoxicative effects of the leaves.

Just to relieve the stress.

Yes. Relax. More leaves.

It was only when she was settled, ready to wait out the storm as it raged around her, that the implications of Tok’s questions sank in. There was a murderer amongst them. More, trying to actively kill any of the others was prohibited.

And I am… Dangerous? His words at the end resonated in her mind again.

Her Instinct stirred slightly, but she ignored it as another flash of lightning lanced through the sky. The neonate pressed fresh leaves into her injury.

So I need to be indirect, if I am to compete. Infection and claiming food and other things.

Compete. Her Instinct growled.

Can’t hunt the others. The effects of the herb started to seep in, her mind circling back to Tok’s complement.

Dangerous huh? I like the sound of that.

Feeling bright yellow about that before her thoughts were interrupted by her hindbrain.

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Kill if needed as defense. Better to kill to live then to die. She hissed thoughtfully as she settled in, sliding under the roots of a tree.

The lightning, thunder, and rain continued for the rest of the day, and two days after on top of that. It was most of the way into the third night before it started to ease up.

She spent all that time moving from hiding spot to hiding spot, not sure if the murderer had been found yet or not, but deciding to not take any chances regardless.

Her Instinct grunted.

It was not, however, content with the amount of food she was providing herself.

Eat! It insisted from her rumbling belly.

But she had eaten all of the roasted tubers the previous day and only managed to scrounge up some earthworms she found under a rock as food. She had almost eaten a bright orange salamander with sky blue spots out of desperation, but her Instinct had screamed at her for even thinking it.

Poisonous! Colors!

Her injury, on the other claw, was feeling much better. It wasn’t fully healed by any stretch, but the number of times she had to reapply her poultice. By extension decreasing how dizzy and drugged she felt from chewing the leaves.

She couldn’t wait to be done with the medicine.

More leaves… Her Instinct demanded, again.

No! Vigilance!

Feeling restive after being out of commission for so long, she decided to go for another careful exploration around the island, see if she could learn something new. Find new prey.

The neonate traveled towards the river, knowing that whiptails would be there and she could try digging up the bulbs. What she hadn’t counted on was just how much work it would be. It had taken her a few hours on her own with only her claws. And when she finally had one in her hands and bit into it, she nearly vomited. Spitting it out.

So bitter. It was to the point of being inedible.

I’ll need a way to make fire before I can use these as a resource.

Her tongue flickered out. Her eyes narrowed.

She could smell food. Close.

Where?

The neonate scanned the area she had been digging in.

Her eyes widened, and she splashed forward.

Eggs!

Clear, gelatinous, the little yolks starting to reshape as the embryos grew. Hundreds of them. All in a big clump the size of her tail, stuck to a reed that had been bent with the weight of them.

Food at last!

The neonate scooped up a handful and shoveled them into her mouth. Her eyes closed. So squashy and rich with fat! Her roaring stomach quieted.

She shoveled more in, and again. Starting to gorge.

Wait… She paused, mid chew. Some of the eggs fell into the water with a goopy splat.

Consume!

No. There is something wrong with this. Too easy…

The water rippled behind her and her eyes went wide.

Screeching she sprinted towards the shore!

Splash!

The huge Tikabo burst from under the surface, jaws wide, double rows of teeth glinting in the lightning. Its eight foot body writhed, stubby arms helping to push aside the whiptails, and she awkwardly splashed forward.

Have to look! Timing! Her Instinct demanded.

She glanced, then jumped.

Snap!

The jaws slammed shut under her. She had avoided the second strike. And landed on the Tikabo’s back!

Shit!

The creature writhed, and she was flung into the deeper part of the shallows. The beast’s domain.

Live!

Scrambling underwater she pumped her legs and tail, getting lost in the muck stirred up by the beasts lunge, not sure which way to go.

Swim up! Look!

She started too.

Something getting closer! Something about the water’s movement!

No! Dive! Her Instinct reevaluated.

She dove! Turning sharply.

Bang!

The Tikabo’s head slammed into the mud. Stunning itself by hitting a rock. Its jaw snapping.

She swam along its belly to avoid the lashing tail.

It’s too long, I can turn faster! She’d have to use that. She couldn’t outpace it. She broke the surface and sucked in air. Looking wildly, spotting the bank before diving again and darting left.

The Tikabo breached the surface, two third’s of its eight foot length writing in the air as it snapped viciously, stubby forelimbs waggling with the fury of a Provider.

Hide!

She shifted her scales, going brown, like the silt, green vertical lines like the reeds.

Current. Her Instinct whispered. Tikabo sense swimming.

She let the slow current through the vegetation pull her along, her heart pounding. Keeping an eye on the beast.

She only moved to gently redirect herself towards the bank.

It thrashed, prowling through the water like the apex it was, hunting for her.

Please… Just a little farther…

She could see the dark outline of the bank.

She was so close.

The Tikabo’s eyes slid over her and she froze. But they kept going.

Then they turned back and locked onto her! She had forgotten to close her eyes!

She scrambled away, dropping the camouflage and the beast boiled forward, jaw opening as it gained speed.

She bumped into the bank. Scrambled out, rushing up a tree and onto a branch.

The beast breached again, this time completely leaving the water.

Jump!

She leaped and grabbed a vine above her as the teeth of the monster crunched into the branch she had been standing on, nearly fifteen feet in the air.

Crack!

It broke off, the weight of the giant salamander too much for the limb, and it splashed back into the river. Droplets splattered against her body as she hung there. The neonate pulled herself up and climbed even higher for safety.

The beast lingered there, waiting. Amber eyes stared at her as she gasped and tried to let her heartrate slow down. She could see the beast thinking.

It slithered out of the water, gulping air, rearing up and placing its stubby forelimbs onto the trunk of the tree. Climbing! Quick considering its bulk.

It can’t run through the canopy, I’ll just- she looked around, seeing no escape.

With a hiss of frustration, the neonate realized that the tree was isolated. Too far from the others for her to jump across. And she couldn’t get down with the beast climbing up.

Run! Live!

Wait… I don’t need to! The beast was too heavy. Quickly she climbed higher, getting to the thinner branches.

It kept coming.

Other salamander! Her Instinct suggested from her scales.

She shifted her pattern, taking on that bright orange coloring with the blue spots. Hissing down, not hiding, trying to look larger.

It paused, the second eyelids sliding over its amber eyes as it stared. She made the pattern more vibrant and forced herself to snarl at it. Bold, not frightened.

It’s an amphibian, can’t be that smart.

It shifted, as if to ponder.

Snap!

Another branch broke and it fell backward, impacting the earth with a wet slap. Right on its back. Writhing, getting back onto its pale belly, it seemed to glare up at her.

With a snap of its jaws, the Tikabo squirmed back into the river. She was apparently too much work for the beast.

She sighed, resting for a while before climbing back down.

The Tikabo snapped its jaws again with a splash, making her jump. When she looked, she saw a strange too-large rodent in its mouth. It squealed in pain, blood dying the water a desaturated brownish red. The titanic amphibian swallowed the unlucky mammal whole.

Need to get out of here.

Her Instinct grunted.

Slinking down, she searched for a better tree to climb. One that connected to the rest of the canopy. Once there, the neonate went back to trying to calm herself before she went back to searching for some of the others. Hunting skills she could use, skills she clearly needed.

Never eating amphibian eggs again.

Her Instinct grunted.

Later, prowling through the branches, the neonate heard something moving through the underbrush. She peered down with mostly closed eyes.

It was only Harvester, and she was looking hungry. Not as well fed as before, picking through he undergrowth. The neonate hadn’t realized she was still so close to the other female’s territory. She looked towards where she knew the nest was.

No smoke.

No fire. Her Instinct confirmed with orange smugness.

She hadn’t realized just how effective destroying the fire would be. She… She had competed! She was dangerous!

There have to be other ways to compete with the others!

Learn!

She would think about that later. For tonight she wanted to find new skills to start practicing. After she managed that, maybe she would try to deny resources in this way for another broodmate.

If I do it to enough of them, I’ll make things easier for myself! Less competition meant more for her.

Adapt, survive, thrive! Her Instinct had taken on a much more confident tone now. Hissing from the base of her skull.

She slunk into the forest, climbing through canopy into the heart of the island, planning to start her search there.

She moved slowly, shifting her patterns, maintaining stealth. Not wanting to be seen by anything or anyone.

Something tightened around her wrist. She jerked away instinctively, and it became painfully tight, not letting go. Cutting off circulation.

Constrictor! Danger! Her Instinct screamed, and it only tightened its grip the more she struggled.