"Child. I know you met them. The snails with spiked-shells... hatchlings that are part of a dear old enemy of mine. Their spiked shells served them well as a weapon and as a defensive shield. Not only those, every species of snail that's not related to us have their own species traits... The shadow shells can manipulate shadows."
The world began to form again as she spoke.
"So what about us? Us spotted snails... or you rainbow-shells the descendants of your mother. What do we have?"
'Intelligence.' I thought.
"Intelligence." The ancient snail said as she read my mind.
I had a feeling from the start. Language, comprehension, schemes, deduction... everything about the way we thought, the way we did things felt natural... but it seemed unnatural for a snail and it was. For the spiked-shells, their primitive speech - screeching... only had to do with issuing commands and nothing else. They made formations for themselves and could barely think without a leader. Without questioning the situation, they easily latched on to our colony... to 60.
'We are different. We are definitely different.' I confirmed to myself as another scene unfolded in front of me once more. It was dark. It was very dark. A group of snails seemed to huddle together. Each of them had a different shell and each of them emanated an aura of power. And one of them was my great-grandmother.
"Spotted one. Why are we here? Is it time to wage war once more?" A snail with bright streaks across its shell asked.
"No... I'm here to make a suggestion." My grandmother replied. "I'm sure we are tired. In-fighting. Fighting for these resources... all the countless lives being lost..."
"Isn't war great?" Another snail replied. "We get to slaughter as much as we want, grow stronger and get what we want. In fact, why don't I just kill you all right here and take all your territories for my people?" The snail asked jokingly only to be met by stares by the other snails.
"You're not wrong." My great-grandmother began. "It does solve our problems. The weak die, the strong persevere building their lives from the corpses of those that lost. It's a great system if you asked me... if it didn't just benefit us."
"Explain further." Another snail demanded. Its shell was covered in blade-like edges and red as if they were covered in blood.
My grandmother turned and pointed towards the ancient tree in the distance as she stared onwards. "The ancient tree. The inhabitants have everything there, yet to them, our lives are just a game." She began. But just as she said this, the ancient snail's voice entered my head and the scene before me seemed to freeze in place.
"I was lying child, I lied to them. I made up lies and skewed the truth to convince them."
The scene unpaused again as another snail slid up in an attempt to refute her.
"That's preposterous." the snail stated. "What are we doing here? Fellow snails, why are we letting this Spotted-shell convince to direct our attention to those on the tree? I have seen through her plans. She wants us to attack the inhabitants of the tree so she could take over our territories while we are gone or if we are defeated. This is a complete sham!"
Uneasiness spread through the group of snails like wildfire. Some snails backed up and seemed like they wanted to leave. Others began to look at my great-grandmother in contempt.
The statement, however, didn't seem to phase my great-grandmother as she stared at the crowd confidently as she continued her facade.
"Who here has seen the creatures?" She asked. But no snails answered so she continued. "They are wasteful and disgusting creatures. I have seen them, swooping down from the skies, crawling down the side of the ancient trees and leaving their well sought out territories... but for what? They come down to terrorize us snails. No. Not just us snails, but all of the creature in the meadow."
"I have..." another snail tried to interrupt, but my great-grandmother instantly cut them off.
"Don't even try to deny this. They heinously kill our brethren in broad daylight and for what? Food? No. They murder our own for entertainment. I'm sure all of you have seen this before." she stated.
The looks on the other snail's began to change as her words seemed to hit a little too close to home.
"Those savages continue to gloat... continue to eat... treat us as entertainment. Watch our wars and place bets on who would come out on top. So I ask you all this. Why are we wasting our snail's lives for a measly piece of the meadow? Why are we wasting our snail's lives by waging wars and culling our populations when we could easily those that are living on the tree? Tell me if you agree or disagree."
The ancestor of the Spike-shelled snails seemed to step forth from the gawking group and began to speak.
"I agree." the snail began as it spoke in screeches. "But I disagree with spots. We can't wage war with those on the tree. They are stronger. They have more. They tougher and well-fed."
"I also disagree with you." my great-grandmother interrupted. "They are well fed, but they are weak. Fear. Fear is their greatest weapon. We all fear to die at their hands so we have never tried. But we... unlike them, we are fighters. We fought wars against each other and survived. We use strategies and our unique skills to the fullest. They... they haven't even seen our battles up close. Our instincts and strength have been honed through battle while there's are only gained by eating their fruit. We work for our meals and they don't. They haven't fought with their lives on the line like we do. So... I have something to propose to you all."
Taking a deep breath, my great-grandmother let her words sink in before as she certainly got the attention of all the snails that were present at the meeting.
"I propose a coalition between the snails."
The scene around me faded to black once more as I was pulled away like all the times before.
...