Chapter Text
It had been ten or so cycles since Artificer had encountered the strange yellow drone that had since become her only companion, silently stalking behind her emitting an eerie red light and occasionally pointing out threats when needed. Had she been in a better mood, she could have spared some time from her shelter rests used for sleeping off injuries or not grooming herself to inspect the gadget for any possible functions, but earlier efforts proved inconclusive and gnawing on metal dulled her teeth. Plus, she had some other priorities in mind.
For one, killing scavengers.
The lantern shined dimly, Artificer holding the bug pupa smeared with orange slime mold in one hand to illuminate her path forward in the shaded citadels. It had been three cycles now, and results were sparse, the unforgiving darkness of this place making it less prone to scavenger habitation than the fetid garbage wastes neighboring it. She was sure that the environment had claimed many of the scavengers here, the only sighting outside of the initial merchant on the tower atop the bridge and the roaming hunting band that she slaughtered was the dead, drained husks that had once been swarmed by swarms of tiny spiders. Less of a concern for her when a simple slam of her tail could blast away any spiders in a nearby radius, of course.
Her stomach rumbled, but she ignored this urge as she licked her lips, looking intently at the small corridor ahead. She had barely eaten for the cycle, denying herself of the spider or the rogue lost lizard down here as she finally found some tracks of scavengers. New tracks unrelated to her previous bounty. Tracks of victims she could hunt down. Like a predator prowling through the jungle, she slowly trekked forward, careful to not make a sound and eye peeled for the faint glow of another lantern. She never liked scavenger flesh, of course; it was taboo to eat it in most slugcat cultures, not to mention its stringiness compared to the perfectly good lizard meats she left for the spiders every cycle, but… she likes to think of eating scavengers as ‘therapeutic’. Help her feel like her revenge was having an effect by bringing terrors into the collectors of corpses.
She lept across large metal boxes that stank of flesh and rotting bile, walked through vast open spaces with murals that glowed even in the depth of night, ducked through cramped tunnels that had spider dens around every other corner. As she followed the trail, she found something else that brought a smile to her face. A spear. Not just any mundane spear; she already had one in her hand, but a spear with a hand print on it. Lying right next to a trail. Whoever had been here must have traveled through here this cycle. “Finally…” Artificer snarled, her hunger increasing tenfold as her throat desired the relishing quench of scavenger blood.
And there it was. More scavenger signs. She could read some scavenger, and she knew already that the signs outside read “merchant.” If she was lucky, she could go in and catch two scavengers trading by surprise. Kill both the coward supplying her pursuers with goods and the victim themselves, two scavenger carcasses should be enough for her to go to sleep with a full belly tonight. She was able to do this often in the garbage wastes, but in a scavenger-sparse region like this, even one night with a stomach full of scavenger meat would be a great accomplishment from her perspective. With a bomb in one hand and a spear in the other, Artificer moved in for the kill.
As she dropped down on the floor, she groaned at the sight. They had already fled. Probably because they had spotted her in the region without her knowing. Lanterns hung on pikes illuminated the deserted room, the trader’s wares still out in the open, some stacked neatly in piles while others were in disorganized piles, clearly from the scramble to grab whatever they could before she arrived. There were two scavenger tracks, but also… something else. It was fainter, but also newer and smaller. Could be just a lantern mouse, she found a few just outside hanging on their strings, looking at her as if they would drop dead from a heart attack at any moment. Regardless, a disappointing find. She could work on the trail later on, but for now, she could pick up some straggling explosives.
Her ears twitched at the faintest sound, a silent yet hesitant footstep forward. “Idiot.” Artificer muttered at the hidden scavenger who had just given themselves away, her muscles flaring on instinct. With her spear raised high and her muscles tensed as she turned at lightning speed, she readied herself to launch the spear through the air until it hit the other side, impaling that damned scavenger’s neck into the wal-
A slugpup.
Artificer staggered back in surprise, lowering her spear. “What…” Artificer muttered. This was definitely a hallucination, and a part of her just wanted to throw the spear anyway. Why risk hesitating on her psychotic break when a scavenger could catch her stunned and kill her right there and then? She was not sure how she was hallucinating, for she thought she ate a decent amount and made sure to drink as well. Did she not get enough sleep? The last cycle was one of the ones where she didn’t have a nightmare. She rubbed her eyes. It could be a trick of the lights, her mistaking a particularly large lantern mouse frozen in fear as a pup. There was no way… right?
The pup was still there.
Artificer felt her hand go limp, the spear clattering to the ground and rolling away to the floor. This was suicide, and her mind was playing tricks on a scavenger going to kill her. She should throw her bomb and end this. She took a step closer.
The pup took a step back into the wall.
In the blink of an eye, Artificer bolted, muscles pounding with exertion as she lunged forward and dove toward the pup. It was real. It was physical. She looked into their eyes, and they looked back. A million thoughts rushed through her head as she stared at the dark green pup in her hands, feeling the slimy fur on her hands. Who did this belong to? How did they get here? Why a merchant room? Why here? Why now? As the reality of her situation set in, the pup barely protesting her grappling, she finally looked over them, and…
“Oh void.” Artificer whispered. The fur was matted and covered in pipe soot, their eyes looked sunken, their skin discolored and tail shrunken as the fat reserves were drained. This pup was starving. “I am sorry, little one.” She muttered, falling to her knees as she embraced the pup. “I am so-” She clenched her teeth, trying to not let tears flow out of her eyes as she felt tiny weak limbs wrapping back. “I need to get you some food. Before the rain comes.” They clearly were separated from the parents, and from the malnourished state they were in, it must have been for at least a cycle by this point. They will not survive the night without food.
It does not need word to say that this pup, as much as she had hoped some sorcery or black magic had brought them back to her, that she could have her children reunited with her, she could tell this was not the case. Even without color, that was. As she picked up the pup for them to set out for food, Artificer could tell this was from a different region. Her pups had long, fluffy hair with relatively little slime ever since they were newborns, just like their mother and late father and the rest of their respective tribes. This pup, however, was much slimier, fur short and stout and slick, indicative of a different region of origin. Gently, she placed the pup into the tunnel, carefully guiding them forward through it so they could proceed to the next rooms safely. However, as they exited into open rooms in search of food… something else circled her mind.
A cocktail of emotions surged through her, emotions that she was not sure how to deal with. Some were definitely overreacting, though. She felt the pulsing urge to adopt them right there and then and claim them as her own surge up like an enormous tide, before breaking on the beach and reducing to nothing but foam. How ridiculous was that? Another feeling pervading her mind was that of grief, like a wound stitched up now reopened with exposure to the taste of parenthood once more. Another part felt doubt at her current capabilities, and another felt anger, at… something. She was not quite sure. Bah. She really needed to shut up her own mind every now and then. She was caring for a pup one way or another, and she needed to get them food, to find a place to stay and to figure out what to do next. She could find scavengers next cycle.
Speaking of which, they were here. The lantern mice hanging above illuminated the various slime molds, blue fruits, and even batflies in this room flying about, a bounty for pups but much less for her. Artificer set the pup down. “Stay put, alright? I am getting you something to eat.” The pup stared blankly at her. Ah. Right. Language barrier. She was from quite far away, so it only makes sense for a pup from a different region to grow up hearing parents speaking a different dialect. Artificer sighed. “Fine.” Artificer pointed to the pup, then stuck herself to the floor. “You, go, stay. I, get, food, you.” The pup took a second to process, but they tentatively nodded. Good. So they do have a language that they could speak. Artificer leaped up, grabbing the two chunkiest globs of slime mold before chucking them down. Slime molds are good pup food, good for pups who had recently weaned and were quick to digest, the perfect fit for a pup in recovery.
The pup looked ravenous as they greedily grabbed up the slime mold, eyes ablaze with the desperate need for sustenance. With greedy chomps, the pup quickly tore off the tendrils of the slime mold and spilled juices all over their hand and face, barely chewing before swallowing, before finally tearing open the core and stuffing the goopy mess into their mouth before they finally swallowed, setting their eyes on the other globule. “Poor thing.” Artificer muttered. “How many cycles did you go without food?” Her self musings were heard by no one, of course. She snatched a lantern mouse in midair, it squeaking in terror as its brethren retreated, and…
Well, lantern mice make decent food if you get around all the bones.
As she threw away the carcass and grabbed onto her second lantern mice, she quickly lobbed the bluefruit and the slime mold up on this ledge down onto the level of the pup. They grabbed it with the same level of ferocity, soon tearing at the bug pupa and chewing on it like a rabid predator. This… her heart ached a little. Her green pup was like this with food sometimes, even when they were not starving. However, they would be so overzealous that she doubted her own judgment on whether they were. Then again… the pup was dark green. They can’t be from that tribe, the fur was much too short, but… maybe they had an ancestor who travelled from there to… wherever they were born? Who were their parents, anyway?
A drop of rain fell on the floor. Artificer’s heart skipped a beat as she began noticing the batflys beginning to burrow into the walls. She tensed, throwing away her half-eaten lantern mice as she stood steady. With the keen sensory perception she had gained, she could sense the faint rumbling of the walls. A rumbling she knew all to well. The rain was coming. Artificer lept down from the top platform, rolling and grabbing the pup. Luckily, it knew how to perform uppies and quickly dropped the half-eaten slime mold to grab onto her shoulders as she dove into the tunnel, traveling through open ruins that were somehow more gloomy than normal as the soft pitter-patter of the rain’s first scouts made contact with the ground. Traversing a room, Artificer came upon the ruins of a large structure, with the path to the shelter lying at the end of a series of vertical climbs up the building. When she traversed through here for the first time, hunting for scavengers, the exit is merely a few explosive jumps away. Before she jumped up the platforms, a worrying thought came to her.
Her own children were able to hang off her back even during explosive jumps just fine, as presumably, they were also resistant to explosions. This was something this pup lacked. If she jumped now, there was no guarantee that they would not get stunned by the blast, falling off her back, and be consumed by the rain. The drops were coming in shorter and shorter succession, she must think of something. Artificer grabbed the pup off her back, and hugged them into her torso with one arm, the slugpup instinctively using their little arms to hold on to Artificer for extra stability. With near-perfect movement, she used multiple explosions to jump from platform to platform, tail whipped into a frenzy as she blasted upwards using both her remaining arm and feet. Entering the ruined tower, she can see where the shelter is, the familiar glow of the symbol giving her a sigh of relief. With just one more explosive leap, Artificer landed in front of the shelter, and rushed into it just as the first lethal drops of rain began to fall down.
She expected a normal shelter, but her nose wrinkled to an odd smell in the air. As she settled in, she took a whiff of the air, then on the pup now settled and the floor, and then noticed the stray pieces of dark green fur shed within the shelter, and… ah. This must have been where the pup survived the cycles before they wandered to the merchant room. It looked barren, of course, about as best as a slugpup could set up a place alone, but it would do fine as a shelter. They were full, she had enough food to hibernate, it would be a good place to sleep for the night. Artificer placed the pup to the side and let them wander, brushing off the fur to make a clean place for her to…
Something glimmered in the reflection of the lantern’s light. It was lying in the corner of the shelter inconspicuously, something she would not have noticed if she lacked a light source to see. She grabbed the leather trinket, the metallic ring on its end giving off that iridescent shine. However, what surprised her was that the engravings on the leather were not in scavenger, but slugcat. A different script than what she was used to, but slugcat nonetheless. The red slugcat furrowed her brows, trying to decipher it. “P…Po…Pollux?” Artificer chirped in confusion, but saying that word caused the pup to turn around, ears perked up and eyes widening. “Here, little pup. Have your toy back.” She muttered, handing the leather tag to the outstretched hands of the young slugcat. As they fiddled around with it, Artificer sat down in contemplation.
She never thought that there would be other slugcats here, but… of course there would be. It was not like she and her pups were the only lone wanderers out there. No traders would have gone this deep in, though, so… she has no idea what were their parents thinking to bring them down here. Looking at the inhabited condition of the shelter and the sole presence of the pup’s fur within, she suspected that they were separated and was lucky enough to find this shelter to hunker down in before the rain came. She hoped whatever separated them from their parents was not scavenger-related. As much as she believed that these bloodthirsty marauders would attack slugcats regardless, her quest of vengeance would not exactly put her kind in the… most favorable of views. What could have happened to cause-
Artificer looked down as she sensed pressure on her tail, only to see the pup lying down on it, using it as a pillow. “Back off.” She growled, the tone carrying her intentions more than her words. The pup looked up with a sad look. Artificer remained resilient. The pup looked sadder. Artificer remained resilient. The eyes were growing to dinnerplate status, their ears drooping down and they clasped their hand together in front of them. With a groan, Artificer relented and laid down on the ground. “Persistent little twerp.” She spat, expecting them to go cozy right next to her tail, but… “No. Don’t go there. You are not my pup.” The red slugcat chittered scornfully, watching as the pup crawled into the space next to her abdomen in search of warmth and comfort. …the place that was reserved for only her pups.
…They are rumbling.
Artificer’s gaze briefly softened at this sight, her legs no longer attempting to kick them away. “I… will let this go for tonight. You lost your parents and are probably scared to sleep alone. But next cycle will be different, alright?” The pup mumbled a quiet chirp as their eyes closed in contentment, the silent vibrations spreading throughout her body. Despite their fur, the pup was quite warm. Their forced presence had to make her curl up slightly less to accommodate for the new mass in between them. Artificer fought off the urge to start cleaning the pup’s head. Not right now, at least; she needed to have a good think about what she was to be doing next.
First thing first, bring the pup with her? Absolutely not. She was not even sure if she is in any capacity to take care of a pup at this point, and that was ignoring all the scavengers that she was to be murdering. Even if some dark magic pacified her and she decided to forget her grudge and avoid scavengers at all costs, they would not forget her. She still would be hunted down, and she knew she could not protect a pup like that. She would grow attached, to slip up once and be ambushed, and… she would be alone again, an extra scar on her heart as she fought with even more ferocity, avenging three pups instead of two. Leaving the pup here as they are did not give Artificer a good feeling either. They were starving, and even what she fed them this cycle would only be enough to keep them alive for one more cycle. Then… they would be starving again. This time with no one to chance upon them at the last possible moment to save them.
Artificer couldn’t allow that. Even though she could not care for the pup, she could buy them some time for their parents to retrace their footsteps and find them. Create marked trails that lead to the shelter. Maybe even stockpile some extra food to help the pup last multiple cycles. She knew how horrible it was to lose a child, she did not want another set of parents to experience that again. So, it was decided: Gather as much food in this shelter in three cycles, and hope that the food will last the pup long enough for the parents to find them again. As much as the knowledge that the scavengers would live free of her wrath for three whopping cycles made her blood boil, this was the least she could do. It felt strange, that there now lay something else in her heart other than the constant thought of retribution, but she could not blame the pup for being at the wrong place at the wrong time. She refused to admit it, but it felt… nice, to have something to take care of again, like something missing being filled up. Seeing the pup sound asleep, Artificer rested her head on the ground, letting gravity close her eyelids and dragging her down into unconsciousness.