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GROWTH - From a Speck to a Titan

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Jungle 4
  • Threadmarks
    • HUNT - SOLO

    Dig a small hole in a spire before you leave so that you have a place ready to rest upon your return.

    In the end, you decided to decline Swing's offer. Perhaps in the future but right now, such a hunt was not worth the extra attention from the jungle's inhabitants. You were an ambush predator, you worked best when no one knew of you. Also, you wanted to grow to match with them or at least be not so far below, on your own. You craved the feeling of a kill entirely earned by you like your first. With those in mind, you climbed over to Swing who was now surrounded by his hunting party.

    They only affirmed your decision, all of them were bigger and stronger than you. No inner circle but certainly above your league. Again, the diversity of the pack surprised you. In Swing's hunt, there was everything from borrowers to climbers just in style let alone in differences in body which were much bigger.

    "Swing," you called out as you reached the edge of the group. His head turned towards you.

    "Thought about it, newbie? What's your decision?" he asked even as he spoke with three others using other mouths. A testament to Thread's skills. You hesitated a split-second before answering, defiance was risky in your mind.

    "No, that's my answer. I want to grow stronger on my own and I don't want the attention from prey here," you said with slight fear to his reaction. He seemed calm but Beings could be drastically different from in mind as in body. The former was far more dangerous.

    "Fine, perhaps in the future," he said as he frowned in the mouth talking to you. A shiver went through you, his other mouths were smiling, some even joking or neutral. It was unsettling, his multitudes.

    You quickly skittered away, you were cautious and Swing was starting to seem creepy. You had never seen what looked to be multiple minds in one body. Not that you could really call them separate, at least not yet. You remembered what Stitch told you, perhaps this was what she meant. This couldn't have been intentional on Swing's part, right?

    You shook your mind of such thoughts as you arrived at the edge of the nest. By this point, it was nearing nighttime, actually not a bad time for you to hunt. Your vision was potent even in gloom and your tendrils didn't rely on light at all. They were a tad disrupted by the near-constant drizzle but it was just a matter of time until you got used to it.

    In the hour you had left before the Red Sun went down, the Blue Sun had already set, you dug a small hollow into the underside of a thick spire branch. The branch could nearly house the entire Pack, the spires were so large. Entire ecosystems could exist in a single spire. Your nest had a small opening leading to a long room. It wasn't much but it would keep you safe to an extent and shelter you from the weather.

    By the time you finished, both suns had set. The top of the canopy was still bright from the moon yet you knew the lower parts would have nearly no light entering their depths. Depths that you were now entering as you crawled away from the nest to hunt. As you descended down the spire, the darkness grew and grew, swallowing you whole. At some point, even the green moon was blocked by the wide leaves of the spires.

    Here, every single noise resounded like thunder, booming and unnatural. It was as if you were intruding upon the quiet domain of something greater. A despoiler of silence. You went slow, moving each leg very deliberately. Your claws gently dug into the hard bark quietly. Your tendrils unwrapped from your joints and brushed your surrounding making up for the darkness.

    You moved at a snail's pace, senses firing on all cylinders. Every whisper of the wind made you nearly jump but you restrained. Patiently, you kept going deeper. Signs of life were subtle but visible. Little grooves on the spire trunk where your claws had to dig deeper to touch bark, flashes of light from bioluminescence, faint scents, and the like. Small but noticeable. You honed in, life meant prey.

    Multiple eyes locked on those tiny flashes of light, watching while you stayed unmoving. A pattern began to emerge, they were likely for communication. When one lit up in a short burst, another would respond in a distinct mobile formation. A leader, two scouts, two covering the back, and small lights in the center. Young. They were moving through the spires the same as you, though they seemed to have some sort of ability that allowed them to make bridges. You followed as far away from them as you could without losing visibility.

    As they ran and climbed through the jungle, you noticed something. They were making a circuit, likely patrolling their territory or on the search for prey just like you. Foolish. You had long learned that predictability meant vulnerability but then again, was this a trap? It was a bit too foolish for a group in the jungle, the plains you could believe it but the jungle? No, it was too risky even as a trap. You made your decision.

    As they made their second circuit, you stayed behind, planning. They didn't seem much bigger than you, you could bring one down quickly if timed right, no, that wasn't the issue. It was their cooperation that posed a problem for your ambush. When they noticed one of them was missing, they were sure to scour the area. You needed to kill one and take their body to a safe place to eat very quickly. Perhaps...yes.

    You scrabbled to the jungle floor, full of black leaf litter. It was the darkest place you had ever been in, nonetheless, you rapidly dug out a small tunnel just enough to fit you and a corpse. You were on a time limit, the lights' circuit took about two hours to complete. The burrow was right at the base of a spire, as to help you remember where it was. You sure weren't going to be able to see it. With that done, you positioned yourself on the underside of a branch of that very spire.

    Your plan was very simple, when one of their scouts came near, kill them and then take them to the burrow to eat. Afterward, burrow far away in the ground before slipping onto a spire and escaping with a body. So you spread your tendrils out as far they could go and to your surprise, they were even longer now. At this point, they barely fit into your joints, spilling out around your limbs. Growth came with struggle, as you couldn't use your eyes, your tendrils grew longer and more sensitive to compensate.

    Just as you did that, you saw a light far away flashing in that distinct pattern of your prey. Time for action. You tensed your legs as they got closer and closer. Just as they passed under you, you leaped, pushing off the branch with all your limbs. You raced toward the light, falling.

    Contact.

    You slammed into it, feeling soft flesh easily part under your thrashing claws. It shined its light brighter, likely trying to summon help. You didn't let it do that, reaching a leg back then jamming it forward deep into the Being. Your limb sheared it, reaching deep inside and snuffing the light just as you crashed into the bottom litter.

    Very little time was available. You held it with two limbs and darted off, reaching the burrow just as its fellows' lights became visible. You stuffed yourself underground, immobile as the lights searched in a frenzy for the corpse now in your mouth. After a couple of hours, they left and you feasted. Again, just like your first, a meal caught and killed by your own strength was far more satisfying than something delivered by the Pack. Despite the meal you got from Sky being objectively higher quality, to you, this fragile, thin Being filled you up better than that ever could've.

    After you finished, your body bloated and full, you gripped some small hard bones that were left and ascended towards the Canopy. It was nerve-wracking, more so than descending despite coming up full, bigger, and with better tendrils. Perhaps, it was a fear of loss. No matter where it came from, it delayed your journey as you climbed even slower and more carefully.

    However, even the slowest climbs eventually reach the top. Just as the Red Sun was rising, you emerged on top of the canopy. You looked around before finding the Nest and heading off towards it. It was quiet, many Beings were diurnal in the Canopy. They didn't waste their nights by sleeping but didn't come out either. They would be out by the time the Blue Sun arose.

    As you stumbled into the Nest, you shivered. The adrenaline was finally coming down and you suddenly felt a bone-deep exhaustion hit you like a punch to an eye. Skittering over to your little burrow, you collapsed with contentment. You were successful.

    What do you do the next night? (You're resting the day away.)
    [] CRAFT - perhaps these small hard bones can be of use. Armor?

    [] HUNT - Another hunt, you felt yourself grow faster than you had in the last couple of months in a single night.
    [] WEAVE - Try your hand at some amateurish flesh weaving. You'll just get familiar with what exactly it is. A way far off from using it.
    [] NETWORK - Talk to some Beings.
    -[] WRITE IN - Who? (Subject to veto.)
    [] WRITE IN

    Please don't hold back on criticism. I know my writing needs a lot of improvement. Thank you for participating.

    Longer, more sensitive tendrils.
    Bigger size, nine inches in height from 6.
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • [X] WEAVE - Try your hand at some amateurish flesh weaving. You'll just get familiar with what exactly it is. A way far off from using it.
    [] CRAFT - perhaps these small hard bones can be of use. Armor?

    I'm down for either of these
     
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    [X] CRAFT - perhaps these small hard bones can be of use. Armor?

    If we wanna be a trap maker this seems like a good skill to learn.

    Also I really like Trigger's underestimation of themself. I find that a very comedic and endearing character trait. "I'm just a normal weak wittle creature" lmao.
     
    [X] CRAFT - perhaps these small hard bones can be of use. Armor?

    A thought that has me worried is how do we tell what is a wild creature and what is affiliated with the pack? I assume most of the pack is noticeably more developed then us and are generally predators but i don't think a method of identification was given? Is it like some cultivation sect where if a newcomer kills another they just shrug as long as it was in the wild or ought of sight?
     
    [X] HUNT - Another hunt, you felt yourself grow faster than you had in the last couple of months in a single night.

    I like the idea of building traps, but traps only seem useful if we have a lot, for which we need more material. Hoping a Being ends up in exactly one spot out of the entire jungle?
     
    [X] WEAVE - Try your hand at some amateurish flesh weaving. You'll just get familiar with what exactly it is. A way far off from using it.
     
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    Xerio said:
    [X] CRAFT - perhaps these small hard bones can be of use. Armor?

    A thought that has me worried is how do we tell what is a wild creature and what is affiliated with the pack? I assume most of the pack is noticeably more developed then us and are generally predators but i don't think a method of identification was given? Is it like some cultivation sect where if a newcomer kills another they just shrug as long as it was in the wild or ought of sight?
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    The pack is right now small enough that by this point, you can recognize everybody. It's about 15 members. Craft, Sky, and Stitch are the inner circle, and Swing is close to becoming IC. They almost always travel with their groups. Beyond that, there are a few loners but that's it. It might become a problem in the future though tas the pack gets larger.
     
    [X] WEAVE - Try your hand at some amateurish flesh weaving. You'll just get familiar with what exactly it is. A way far off from using it.

    Seems interesting to me, and I want to talk to Stitch more. I am glad we got the size and bulk out of it, plus that tendril advancement.
     
    [X] WEAVE - Try your hand at some amateurish flesh weaving. You'll just get familiar with what exactly it is. A way far off from using it.
     
    Seems CRAFT won. Tomorrow, the update will drop.

    Also, I know this isn't what you came here for but Cyclone Mocha is hitting Myanmar and Bangladesh tomorrow. I urge everyone to donate to various disaster relief organizations like the Red Cross, they're going to be needing it. For reference, Mocha isn't much better than Nargis in 2008 which killed over 100k people. It's going to be terrible.
    Scheduled vote count started by BeeBadidoo on May 12, 2023 at 1:35 AM, finished with 17 posts and 13 votes.
    Click to expand...
     
    Jungle 5
  • Threadmarks
    • CRAFT won with 6 votes.

    In your tiny little hollow, you examined the bones of your prey. They were small and thin but chained together to provide a framework. It was fascinating to move one bone and watch another bone on the opposite side twitch as the motion translated across the frame. Their coloration was unusual too, a light red though that was probably blood. Underneath the red was blue. As you cracked one open with a quick bite, you saw that the insides were blue as well. Interesting.

    Next, you examined the joints where they were connected. It was like no other you had seen before. Circular toothy little bones ground against one another transferring force. It was all so complicated and beautiful and skilled and artificial. Your prey and its light brethren were created by something. Now that it and of itself wasn't too odd. You were a creation of a Titan but this didn't have the signatures of any of the Titans you had heard about in this area.

    Your flesh and blood would've known if they were the spawn of Mother Storm and they lacked the strength and bulk of Father Fire's offspring. No, this was too small, too specialized. Also, factor in their behavior. You had noted it was strange but chalked it up to foolishness. It seemed you were the one who was truly the fool. The way they had moved in that set formation, the consistent repeating of previous movements, and the "patrol." Did this thing ever even have a mind?

    Suddenly, you were hit by a wave of disgust. You backed up so far away as to nearly fall out of your burrow. As you crawled back in, your hunt tasted like ashes compared to the juicy meat earlier. If your theory was right, you hadn't hunted and killed something with a mind. You had eaten a moving plant with the flesh of Beings. Nauseating.

    Wait, how were these things even Weaved in the first place? The moment you asked that, your mind answered with a flurry of horrifying ideas. These things might've recycled from corpses or more likely, Weaved from the ground up similar to how Mother Storm created you. The idea scared you. If you had lost...you shivered, you likely would've become one of these things. Only able to follow inputs from their master with no will of their own.

    Although, if it wasn't a Titan, what was creating these things? It had to be a Fleshweaver of some stripe but what you saw here couldn't've been done by Thread. No knock on Thread's skills but you didn't think he was capable of something like this and if he wasn't able to do it, Stitch certainly also wouldn't have the ability required either.

    Which meant this was a Weaver not of the pack. An evidently very skilled and powerful Weaver. You had to warn Bullet if she didn't already know. You knew that they were to be feared. Weavers could be negotiated with but make an enemy of them and you had a ticking doom counter. The more time they had, the worse your end would be.

    You quickly climbed out of the burrow before an impulse seized you. You went back inside and hooked your legs through the bones. You fit the bone...coat onto your body. Not too dissimilar to how your elder sister wore her chains. It provided a degree of protection, you would need to make it out of stronger material though in the future.

    With that done, you exited your dinky to a rainy morning to find Bullet. The rain wasn't too bad yet you could rumbling clouds on the horizon and knew a true storm was coming. When that hit, you would have to shelter in your body. All the more reason for you to get a move on. You strode forth being careful to dig your claws into the bark when it came to the more narrow sections of the canopy. Slipping from this height meant plunging into the dark abyss below obscured by black leaves.

    Gusts of wind pummelled into your body threatening to knock you off the precarious vine you were now slowly dragging yourself across. It didn't shake too much, secure and heavy as it was but you were very scared at the moment. You had fatally misjudged the storm's speed and it had arrived much quicker than you had expected. Your mouth bit down on the vine and you shimmied yourself across inch by inch. The rain fell in thick sheets on you, pressing you to the vine and shutting your eyes off. By now, you were blind and deaf.

    You kept on going. The only other option, death, was no option at all. Carefully feeling your way through the storm, you made progress. This was the last vine you had to cross to reach Bullet's Chambers which she was sure to be in. As your claws gripped into the bark, you immediately felt a rush of relief and with one explosive burst of strength from your legs, you reached her chambers.

    For a while, you simply caught your breath, resting and waiting as your senses started to come back as some of the storm's noise was blocked out by the thick walls. Soon, a hiss of scale against bark woke you from your near slumber. Bullet emerged from a backroom. Her bulky, long body filled up the room. She seemed the same size despite you being bigger. Her form brushed against hanging bone charms on the wall setting them tinkling with a macabre tone. Bits of chitin and fur was still attached to some of those old bones, bleached by the sun. You stared into a large mouth filled with tongues. It was a disturbing image that reminded you that beneath her surface personality of geniality and caring was a predator with years of experience devouring prey.

    "Why have you come to my abode?" she asked, well, more demanded as multiple voices came out. She had gotten some new vocal cords then. Her tail swept across the ceiling back and forth producing an ear-bleeding sound as the metal spines on it caught on the irregularities of bark.

    "I've found evidence of a powerful Fleshweaver right beneath us," you answered as you took off the bone coat, carefully slipping your legs out. You handed the thing out to her and showed her.
    "The circular teeth are too perfect, too refined for Beings of that level. Unnatural. Additionally, their behavior was all off. Far too predictable," you explained as you pointed with a leg towards the teeth. They really were beautiful in their craftsmanship. Interlocking and turning.

    Bullet was silent for a while, flicking a thin tongue forward to taste the teeth as she thought. You stayed quiet. A look of confusion crossed her face for a split second as she muttered under her breath, "I thought they were dead." Her expression returned to normal and she looked at you.

    "Good work. I'm keeping the bones. However, you did well for the pack. So, I'm granting you a boon," she spoke. You flushed with joy. This was what you had joined the pack for. The rush of possibilities filled you.

    [] GEARS - The interlocking circular teeth interested you. Perhaps you could make it without Fleshweaving. You requested some tutelage under Crafter.

    [] STITCH - This whole feat of Weaving astounded you. To be able to have essentially multiple bodies even if their minds are dumb. Learn under your sibling. (Very basic weaving, you won't get anywhere near that level of proficiency now.)

    [] WRITE IN - An appropriate boon. (Subject to veto.)
     
  • Threadmarks
    • [x] STITCH - This whole feat of Weaving astounded you. To be able to have essentially multiple bodies even if their minds are dumb. Learn under your sibling. (Very basic weaving, you won't get anywhere near that level of proficiency now.)
     
    [X] STITCH - This whole feat of Weaving astounded you. To be able to have essentially multiple bodies even if their minds are dumb. Learn under your sibling. (Very basic weaving, you won't get anywhere near that level of proficiency now.)

    Fleshcrafting is always cool.
     
    [X] GEARS - The interlocking circular teeth interested you. Perhaps you could make it without Fleshweaving. You requested some tutelage under Crafter.

    Trap time, trap time.
     
    [X] GEARS - The interlocking circular teeth interested you. Perhaps you could make it without Fleshweaving. You requested some tutelage under Crafter.
     
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