"KILL! Pillage! DESTROY!!"
When a monster was born, those were the first sapient sounds it heard. The voice of the grand progenitor of all life, yelling out orders from within their mind to destroy all the sapient inhabitants of the world to reclaim its missing manná. Briggs didn't understand that at the time. Getting up from the ground, his eyes covered by a thin layer of dirt and a viscous patch of skin that kept the sun from piercing too deeply into his retina, he threw away the pieces that were holding him back from fully being born, the sound of bone breaking as the muscle and thin tissue of his mother's womb clung to his skin in an attempt to give him nutrients, vitality, and most of all, her manná, making him feel a little bit regretful that he now had to abandon it because of the progenitor calling out for him.
Her womb was safe and provided him with all the food and comfort he could ever imagine, but at some point, it became uncomfortable, and the will of the progenitor had become too loud for him to simply ignore, like he had before when he was a child. Getting a full view of the world for the first time was unlike anything he could have ever described. Shades of green, blue, light blue, bright blue, and ceramic blue filled his vision along with thin patches of yellow and orange, yet the sight of the new world that had suddenly opened up to him was an entirely different experience all on its own. Food was everywhere and in everything. They were little, about the same size as mana.
But they were numerous.
His skin absorbed it, pleasure coursing through all of his senses as his body rewarded him for the first-ever action he had taken. He had pleased the progenitor! He freed his legs, then his hand, and emerged fully from his mother, his wide jaw opening for the first time as the air and the little creatures went into his mouth. When he looked down at the laying corpse of his mother, he contemplated eating it, a thin layer of drool falling from his mouth as his long tongue took in the amazing stench of the food below; however, a nauseating feeling and a strong sense of disapproval made him completely disregard the effort entirely.
The progenitor was not pleased with that idea. Maybe he should try another, tastier idea. Shaking off the fluids, dirt, and grime that were on him, he followed the source of the light, eventually ending up at a giant hole at the center of where the rocks had ended, opening up to an even brighter world filled with many more of the little creatures that he had just recently snacked on. It even smelled tastier as well.
Briggs stood at the edge of the opening, his shoulders rising and falling as he took in the scenery. Little tiny flying things, little brown walking things, and big scaly-looking things were all sights that accompanied the scenery, but something dark began to overtake him. His mind.
The entirety of his senses, and even the back of his eyes as something settled at the edge of his perception.
It had dark ideas and felt like it wanted to eat him, and though he didn't fully understand the concept of being digested, the idea scared him silent as he stared at the big wide world.
"Destroy it.. The whole —
The progenitor was giving him a direct order. The same order.
"WORLD! Wipe Them All Out!!"
It whispered a bunch of other things to him and revealed threats to him in the form of vague images of the terrible punishment that would come if he did not carry out his orders, but just like he always had from the moment it was born, the progenitor left, allowing him to attend to his own devices. And with that, he was finally allowed to explore.
He was allowed to go, but he didn't know what to do. The progenitor was not guiding him anymore, like it had from the beginning.
But he didn't stay idle. Who knew when the progenitor would come back, and who knew what he had in store for him.
He poked his head out of the mouth of the cave, his vision momentarily blinded by the intense light coming from the sun.
The smell though, made it all worth it.
From what he would later learn was a mile, the smells and sounds filled his sensory perception, and when he flicked his tongue out, the smells coagulated into various shades of color in and of themselves, which later formed into different shapes, giving him a rough layout of the environment he was in, even if he didn't quite understand it yet. When he got a hold of himself and his sight returned to him, he stepped forward, one of his legs pressing into the soil outside the cave. The ground felt softer than it did in the cave, and a bit tingly but not uncomfortable.
Thousands of thin green blades surrounded him, bending under his weight but stubbornly refusing to break. When he inhaled again, the little creatures flooded into him, slipping through the pores of his skin and across his tongue, dissolving into warmth that spread through his chest.
His body hummed in satisfaction. He bit into one of the greens on the ground when he gained enough confidence in himself to step out far enough to bend down to reach one of them but quickly spat it out out of disgust for its odd taste.
No greens, he supposed. Briggs wiped his tongue against the back of his belly, trying to scrape the bitter awful taste away.
It took a bit, and a lot of spitting, but eventually he felt great again.
He needed to leave, though.
Something smelled good.
It was unlike anything he'd smelled before. A bit like the white-gray things, but also like the good-tasting red thing. He didn't quite have a reference for it, other than the fact that his mother had it. And, like a predator, he began to pursue it. Using both of his front hands to get a grip at the mouth of the cave, he used his back legs and middle legs to gain an advantage, then he pushed. The world lurched, his muscles sliding under his skin to allow him to squeeze better through the tiny opening, the stone lip of the cave cracking slightly under the sudden force. For a moment, he hung there awkwardly, his many limbs moving without coordination, his claws scraping rock while his hind legs searched for leverage.
In the midst of panic, his instincts overtook the process; his body stretched forward, the middle limbs locking as his back legs drove hard, creating a wet sound of his outer membranes tearing away from the corners where they had managed to hold on to him. Pulling himself out of the cave, the sudden change in predicament occurred quickly, causing him to tumble down the short slope beyond the cave's entrance and into the big wide woods. He should have been scared, and he was a little, but he was more excited by the prospect of now being free rather than afraid.
'Tsi-kik-tsi-kik-tsi-Kik-kik-tsi-tsi,' he chittered happily, satisfaction coursing through him at his first time ever laughing. Briggs lay on his back for a moment where he had tumbled, the soft ground pressing pleasantly against the scales and feathers of his skin, while above him, the sky stretched endlessly, an ocean of bright ceramic blue broken only by drifting white shapes that crawled slowly across it. He rolled upright in a clumsy motion, several of his hands pushing against the ground while the smaller, weaker ones lagged behind as he tried to stand on his hands.
It took a while, but he finally got the hang of it; the stench of the thing in the woods called out to him, and he was immediately on it. His front limbs pulled him forward while the middle set pushed, and his rear legs followed awkwardly behind. At first, it was uneven, with his weight shifting too far to one side, causing him to stumble into the tall green blades every now and then. But slowly, he got faster, thanks to the instincts of his mind helping him out.
It was still an alien feeling.
Pull. Push. Step.
Pull. Push. Step.
Pull. Push. Step.
The woods came alive around him. Little brown things darted between the trees. Tiny winged creatures zipped through the air with sharp buzzing sounds. One of them got foolish and flew a little too close to him than it should have, and he opened his mouth, snapping his jaw closed in the instant that he passed the red flying thing while he continued onward. It burst like a tiny sack of warmth, coating his tongue in a sharp sweetness that made his eyes widen. His body shivered from head to tail as the little things inside the red thing spilled into him all at once. "Tsik!" he chirped in delight, continuing the chase as he jumped over a log, eventually reaching a wide clearing in the forest.
The smell had ended here. Instinctively, he crouched down, his limbs spreading out as he lowered himself to the ground. He flicked his tongue outward, and a coagulation of scent and color crossed his vision as a much clearer image of his prey formed within his mind. It was small, about the size of a brown hare, and it was four-legged too. One of its legs was injured, giving off that delectable aroma, but it was also in a fragile state of feral anger that made its mind uneasy and its movements erratic. He approached it, careful with the steps that he took as he advanced slowly upon the creature, his mouth drooling.
Its heart pounded loudly enough that even he could hear it now, despite being a little way away from it. The whole forest grew quiet. It knew something was wrong, so it sniffed the air. He froze, the feathers on his body receding back into his skin, along with his thick layer of fur, until only his green scales showed under the gaze of the sun. He didn't know what he had done, but pushing a little bit of stimulation into his scales, their previously red color shifted into a bright green, camouflaging perfectly with the grass.
Even his eyes lost their pigmentation.
He waited, but the creature remained still for an entire minute; then, it made the worst mistake it would ever make in its entire life. It moved from its spot in the clearing, turning its head away from him. Like a coil that had been given kinetic energy, he sprang forth. His front limbs dug into the soil and pulled, middle limbs shoved with force, before his rear legs launched him forward in a clumsy, terrifying burst of speed. The grass flattened under his weight as he lunged towards the creature with a roar.
It spun around with a startled squeal, its leg collapsing beneath it as panic exploded through its body, but its fate was already sealed. Its fear, coupled with its smell, only heightened his predatory instincts, making him want to eat the thing even more. The thin membrane between the hinges of his jaw stretched with a wet creak as rows of small backward-curving teeth revealed themselves. The creature swiped at him with its large claw, roaring in defiance.
*Crunch*
His jaws sank into the brown-gray bear's hand, its bone giving way beneath the pressure of his bite with a snap that vibrated pleasantly through his skull. The creature retaliated, hitting him with its claw, but he didn't even register its action, his other limbs already grabbing at the creature before it could pull away. One of his arms hooked around the bear's thick neck fur, another pressed down on its injured leg, pinning it uselessly against the soil.
His smaller hands did their best to provide support, even if it wasn't entirely necessary. With all of its limbs captured, the giant bear could only thrash. He grabbed its head, opening his mouth. He didn't even know what he was doing.
He thought he was going to eat its head, but something, completely out of his idea of what would have happened, happened.
Instead, a smaller, tinier organ emerged from his mouth. Then, after reaching the bear but not close enough to sustain any injuries from the thrashing creature, an eye at the center of the tiny membrane connected to him by a thin cord of skin opened up, instantly halting the bear motionless.
The organ pulsed again, sending a ripple of heat and vibration down the cord connecting it to Briggs.
The bear's eyes became wide, then completely white.
A bunch of feelings rushed into his bones, then his whole body.
The progenitor was pleased.
A huge, glowing, squishy thing emerged from the bear's mouth, then coagulated into a small, easily consumable sphere. Another, tinier tendril emerged from the sockets of its eye before wrapping around the squishy thing and absorbing it whole. The bear's heart stopped, and it died instantly.
The eye retreated back into his skull, leaving him free to eat his meal. When he was done, there was not much of the bear that remained other than its bones and some flesh that he threw to the side rather than eating due to its odd taste, but aside from that, nothing from it's carcass was wasted.
But, that wasn't all he obtained from the bear's remains, after consuming it.
Soul Devoured.
[ Species: Forest Ursine ]
[ Mana Obtained: 37 ]
[ New Trait Absorbed: ]
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[ Predator Instinct ]