As it turns out, navigating a dense jungle was nearly enough to make me consider just camping out back with the ants. No matter how many times I tried going in a straight line, it was as if the universe was switching my drunk and sober switch on a whim. The experience made me question my intelligence. I was left with a few minutes before sunset at best, before I managed to find my nest. It was so iconic and memorable. It even had the signature rocky landscape. Just like the previous 4 locations.
With the clouds on the verge of tears, I make my way back to the little burrow. But looking up, I see the small mountain wearing some clouds like a hat, tipped up just above the entrance to my cave. The mountain was much to short to reach the clouds that covered the rest of the sky. I gave it a long stare, wondering how such a fact escaped me when I first ventured out. I quickly ignore it though, not wanting to get wet and in all honesty not having the care to understand the inexplicable phenomenon.
'Really hope that's just a jungle thing, not a matrix mantis thing'
Crawling down the tunnel, I finally make it back to home sweet home. Littered in feces, carcasses, and a single feather. '...'
Deciding to clean up later, I spit out the little white rocks, pad the dirt around me with my paws and tail while circling in place, until I find a comfortable area to rest. I close my eyes and soundly drift to sleep, dreaming about the lost pleasure the ants took from me.
Waking up with drool on my tail, I get up with a refreshed body, reinstilled with the sensation of an after workout rest. Stretching my limbs like a cat, I make my way over to try and unravel the mystery of the white rocks, or more specifically what the hell that strange mind tickling sensation was. Swiping up the feather and walking to the rocks, I hold the feather to my snout, trying to truly get used to the feel. I had believed that feeling only had something to do with the feather but my little adventure had proven me dead wrong. Seriously, ants? Really? Now I really don't care about putting things in my mouth! Ok, maybe just a little.
I decided to call this 6th sense the mental sense, the mental sense that senses nature waves. I doubted it was something so straightforward but I just needed something direct and simple, and the closest thing I could connect this to was radiation but I had never heard of radiation being an essential part of lethal flying blades. So I sat there, balled up holding the feather still, my eyes closed, trying to figure out what more the mental sense offered. Clearing my mind of any distractions to focus on the waves.
I concentrated on the feather, sometimes moving it to the side or walking further or closer to it. I figured out that I could vaguely sense the direction of the feather, and the intensity of the nature waves, depending on the distance it was away from me. But that was it, I could sense the waves from the feather but nothing happened. I take a different, albeit a fairly ignorant, approach by stuffing the feather in my mouth once again and started to concentrate on it. With my hopes a bit high, with a touch of anxiety, I try to focus as deeply as possible on the waves and how they might interact with my mouth.
Minutes pass, and my mental sense starts to produce a more vivid feel. My eyes still closed, I feel the waves around the feather and around me. The ground that's in contact with my paws also emit these waves, but in a different and much more diluted way. I keep going, keeping the sensation alive, exploring every inch of the feather. Eventually, going around the frame of the feather brings my mental sense back to me. I start to explore myself, from the fan structure at the end of my tail, to the little horns on the top of my head. I go inch by inch, scale by scale. I emit these waves as well and oddly enough, they are slightly more concentrated at my wings and eyes, while my small horns seem to almost lack any nature waves. My body has these waves in the same way the feather does, still and solid but malleable. In terms of intensity, I had a slight upper hand.
I continue the repetitive routine of scanning myself and the feather of these waves but I can't find out anything else. I spit out the feather and open my slightly drowsy eyes. I down a quick meal then move towards the white rocks.
Even when holding the rocks as close to myself as possible, I can't feel my mental sense picking anything up. I was sure I had felt something when the little animals picked them up and crushed them. Crushed them? 'With my mouth? Yeah right.'
I throw 1 of the five I had to the other end of the burrow and pick up one of the sturdier bug shells. I place it on top of the rock and begin to stomp on it. When that doesn't work, I stand up with my hind legs stretched as much as possible, and fall with as much force my little body could produce. I repeat this a few times until finally I hear a crack and my mental sense feels a small rush of nature waves. As the small wave flows past me, I focus on it and aside from the lacking intensity, the only thing I could make out was that it was different. Different from the feather and different from the mantis' attacks. All three were different.
'If only I had the chance to focus in on the fire'
I crush another 3, each one slower and more meticulously than the last. After a slow cycle of crushing and sensing, I stare at the bare ground, wondering why not even dust remained. I walk around my burrow while staring at the remaining white rock, trying to understand how any of this worked. Pacing around and around, my tail rapidly tapping the ground, I simply couldn't think of anything. Except for imitation.
'Whatever these waves are, I have them to, sooooo since the ones in me are only slightly different from the ones in the rocks, I might be able to change them? Is that what the mantis did with the invisible ones?'
Hell, if the half eaten mantis could do it, why couldn't I? So I tried it. I crushed the last rock and close my eyes while attempting to change the waves in me to match the waves that I was sensing. I focused as much as I could, trying to bend my own waves to match the significantly lighter and more flexible waves coming from the stone. I could feel it somehow working, feeling as if I was drawing out my blood vessels from my body and trying to make a renaissance painting with my blood. It wasn't painful but the mental strain was heavy.
Time passes and I could feel something changing around my mouth. I slowly pry my lids open and from the corner of my eyes, I could see a faint light illuminating the dirt walls of my burrow. It was cloudy out yet this was the brightest it had ever been inside. I trace the path of the light to the back of my open mouth and just stand still for a bit.
'Built in flashlight baby LETS GOOO! I could light up dark passages and also umm... what else do you do with light? Whatever.'
With excitement built up, the light immediately disappears as I lose my focus, but I just keep my mouth open in amazement. I stare at the unlit walls, trying to once again reignite the small light but all I get is a flickering flash, nothing stable like before. Taking a few deep breaths, I calm myself down, deciding my future steps and how these abilities will fit in.
'Damn, whatever this process is, it sure drives my stomach. I should've focused in on the fir- nah, everything's perfect in hindsight.'
Understanding that I wouldn't be having cooked meals for a while, I slurp up some bug juice and take a quick nap. I would have to go out into the jungle again, dreaming that I'd meet another mantis that was conveniently lacking in any motor functions.
After waking up and yawning, my first action was to once again test my ability. With a clam mind and rested body, I produce a light from my mouth, slightly brighter than the last, then control it until it disappears, instead of it breaking from a lack of focus. Satisfied, I go up my little tunnel, intending to explore the cave my home was under. Though my natural eyesight was incredible, it was still raining even after a day and the darken sky made it very difficult to see.
'Who I am kidding, I just wanna test this out'
I plop out of the ground and start up the flashlight. I walk around with my jaws open, pointing my head in every direction. Going deeper into the cave, enjoying the jagged and uneven terrain. Eventually I make it to the end of the cave, where a small pond rests, half of it covered in light red algae. The red algae was surprisingly boring, and just laid on the lake while tiny fish nibbled off bites once in a while.
I made my way towards the outside of the cave with my mouth slowly closing, along with the dimming lights. The scene that meets my eyes however leaves me in a tensed jump. I look down to the base of the trees, and from the ground to around 5 meters up the trees, the entire area was completely submerged in water. Countless peices of loose bark and leaves floating on water, while heavy rain falls from the sky. I can see some bugs gliding along the surface of the water while other small mammals simply fly under it, not even moving their limbs to propel themselves forward.
'I know underwater forests are a thing but can it really happen in less than a day? Maybe I slept for more than a day? Whatever, I'd rather starve for a while than taking my chances meeting Nessie'
For the next few days, I follow my usual routine with the addition of practicing my light show. Controlling the brightness was easy unlike trying to change its color, which was currently impossible for me, if possible at all. Every day, I checked on the conditions of the jungle, only to watch as the water continues to climb higher. I didn't think it would ever reach my cave but I didn't put it past this world to keep screwing with my mind.
On tally calender, day 20, the rain stops and the water calms. I sit perched at the entrance of the cave with a growling stomach, praying to the gods of this world that a school of fish would just beach themselves straight into my cave. Annoyed, I walk down to a flat but shallow side of the cliff. I proceed to preform every graceful aquatic movement I could manage with my reptile body, and by graceful I meant panicked, and by movement I meant flailing. I can float well, and performing a dog paddle wasn't to hard. My tail pushing up and down definitely helped, in speed but less in turning. All I need to do was cross the short plains to make it to the trunks and find food by tree hopping.
Swimming across, and making it up a tall branch, I shake my body like anyone with wet fur would. But instead of water spraying off fur, the shaking makes water fling off me while some of it leaks out from under the soft scales. I consider taking a dive test to see how well I'd react in a case of a fall but decide to leave that up to future me. Besides, a tasty bug was much more appealing than taking safety precautions.