Did I sleep well?
Yes, I did. Thanks for asking!
Where were we when I last finished?
Day 21? Oh, we are getting closer.
Okay... let's see...
***
I felt stronger, yet, weaker?
I woke up on the hard, cold bark of our branch on the 21st day. Noticeably, I had increased in size once more as I examined my body and stretched in the dim morning light.
My whole body was sore like I was hit by a truck... Like I was I just did leg day... I feel like I used that expression before already, but do you get it? Because my whole body is a foot... never mind. I don't even know anymore.
...
I slid forward. My stomach growled. Suddenly, the black bar appeared.
Remember the black bar that was below the yellow bar? Yeah, that one. It was ever present in my view, but I chose to ignore it all through the battle. I couldn't ignore it so much that morning. Flashing vigorously, it clearly wanted to divert my attention to it.
White. Black. White. Black.
Back and forth it went between the two.
Suddenly, a noise.
*Ding.* I heard the voice in my head chime in.
[Mutation: Gluttonous] (Not satiated)
"What do you mean?" I asked out loud.
[Run system.mutation(gluttonous);?] it asked me back. Unsure of what all the brackets meant, I replied hesitantly with a "Yes.".
[Gluttonous: A mutational trait that allows the user to consume and digest anything continuously to no end. Possible levels: Satiated, Not satiated, Unknown, Unknown, Unknown. Source: System database.]
+ gain stats when fully satiated
It replied.
'I mutated...? Is that why I lost control of my body those times in the past?' I asked myself.
I thought back to our migration and to when I took a bite of a Spiked-shelled snails soft and juicy flesh. The taste returned and hovered in my mouth. My felt my mouth begin to water as the black bar shortened some more.
[Status: Hunger is growing]
My stomach growled once more like it was agreeing with the voice.
'I need to get the thought of food out my head quick.'
I chose the quickest way possible. I slapped myself and tried to knock the thought of eating snail meat into the back of my head where it belonged.
'Don't think about food. Don't think about food.' I chanted to myself in my head between slaps. 'Don't think about food.' I chanted once more. The slaps seemed to be working if only slightly as the bar seemed to slow down in its rate of shrinking.
'I need to calm down even more.' I thought to myself. The thought of possibly losing self-control scared me as the only sources of food around me was my siblings. I knew I couldn't lose control at that point.
Little did I know, I was far from losing control~ Well not that far. But relatively far.
In my panic, I didn't realize that and the constant shortening of the black bar was similar to the feeling of the clock ticking down during a test or exam. The tick of a seconds arm on of a clock was basically a flash to me.
I was running out of time.
'Maybe a change of scenery will help!' I thought as I slid to the edge of the branch while I continued to chant like a monk chanting a mantra.
"Don't think about food." I chanted out loud now.
I thought the sight of destruction and shattered homes would get the thought of food out of my head.
Even in the dim light of the morning, I saw shifting and movement below our tree and into the distance. Strangely shaped creatures begun to crawl around the destroyed forest floor. Some looked appeared to wear a look of dismay as they look down on what used to be a burrow, a nest, or a hollowed out hole. Others seemed to look energetic as they already had begun to look for new homes or begun to dig into the ground and create a new burrow.
A small screech.
I looked over in the distance as a large brown beast seemed to hug another grey-furred beast in its four arms. 'Oh, what friendship!' I thought. 'They must be friends that are relieved to see each other alive!' I concluded.
Snap.
My eyes opened a little larger.
The furred beast was split into two as its guts and blood splattered all over the large beast's body.
Oh, the brutality of nature am I right?
...
I shook. The sight didn't scare me. I just felt my stomach growl and my mouth water like the disgusting sight looked delicious.
I looked up quickly away from the bloody scene. I didn't want to watch the ecstasy of having something to eat.
"Don't think about food." I continued to chant once more as I stared into the sky.
The gaping hole that had pierced the through the layers of cloud the day before had closed up.
Upon closer inspection, there seemed to be movement in the sky as well. Black dots swarmed around white ones as they appeared to be engaged in a game of tag.
"EEEE" I heard a small screech and looked closer.
'Oh, just a flock of flying creatures.' I thought as I stared up.
They swirled peacefully around in the air like they didn't have a care in the world.
'Ah, such freedom, wow.' I thought as I continued to look upward. Soon more screeches followed as I looked even more closely. Wings fluttered in the air as the white creatures seemed to fly closer and closer together.
They clumped and merged into one - one white creature.
Feathered from head to toe, the feathers gave it an elegant yet, sophisticated look. It waved its large wings. Instantly, it rose up higher in the air before it stopped flapping and hovered.
Looking down at the bodies below, it changed direction and descended.
With a swipe of its sharp beak, a black creature was scooped from the air. Crunch. A cascade of red blood dripped down its pristine white body as it gulped down its first victim.
'I wonder how good that black creature tastes... it looks like it's enjoying itself.' I thought as I continued to watch the white creature as it hunted. I felt my stomach growl once more as I salivated at the thought of the taste of fresh flesh.
'No!' I jolted my head away from the scene above suddenly.
"I HAVEN'T SEEN A SINGLE CREATURE FOR DAYS, WHY ARE THERE SO MANY TODAY?" I screamed out loud as I clearly forgot that there used to be a tranquil forest and tonnes of plants blocking my vision just a day before. Now it was clear and all the creature were visible without homes.
I decided to look below my tree. Surely there was nothing below right?
Tilting my head, I looked down below. I LOOKED DOWN BELOW. I should have just slapped myself silly at that point as to how stupid I was.
Below our branch, the body of the ancient snail glistened in the sunlight. It looked surprisingly appetizing. Like a plate of delicious ESCARGOT, I mean ESCAR-NO way would I eat snails okay?
...
Turning my head back towards my siblings, I made an executive and totally not-selfish decision to find a new leaf or travel towards the fruit as soon as possible.
The black bar continued to decrease in front of my eyes as I slid past a few snails that had awoken to my outbursts that morning.
I quickly made a dash to the snails that were still asleep and gave them a rude awakening.
"We need to move!" I yelled out as I passed snail after snail. For the snails that refused, I gave their shells a few taps. Okay, maybe not a few. Maybe 25 rapid and well-placed taps?
Sliding past even more snails I yelled once more.
AUTOBOTS ROLL OUT! - a phrase that I didn't yell out, but I just thought of for some reason.
...
Slowly, snails began to rise out of their shells one by one as I passed by.
Most were confused. Others were mad.
"It's so early. Why should are we leaving so early? We have plenty of time." One of my sisters asked as she rubbed one of her eyes against her body.
"YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE MUCH TIME LEFT IF I GET HUNGRIER!" I yelled out suddenly.
Wide awake now because of my yell, the snail stared at me in disbelief as I suddenly went from 0 to 100 way to fast.
"What I meant is that the earlier we leave... the more time we have to prepare for dangers and get to a new leaf," I said more calmly in an attempt to cover myself. "What you heard earlier was just a joke. Yup. Definitely a joke and not the truth." I declared.
Concerned, she asked me if I was fine.
"Yes, I'm totally fine," I replied.
There's totally not a timer that's literally counting the seconds until I lose control or anything - is what I wanted to say, but what came out was: "Don't worry."
"Really?" she asked once more.
"YES!" I yelled.
"Really, Really?" She asked to confirm.
"Yes. Sis. Really, Really."
"Really, really, really?"
I slapped her.
Gently. Don't worry, it was gentle. I won't beat a snail up like I beat up 7 ever again. When I said snail, I meant the snails in my family so the Spike-shelled snails or any other type of snail is still on the table, okay?
What? I said I didn't beat up 7 before? You're right. Yup. Never beat him up. What? I just said I did? You must have misheard me silly.
...
The slap seemed to work immediately as she stopped asking or complaining to me.
Meanwhile, in the chaos that I created, 7 and 11 had gotten up and decided to approach me.
...