\|/ Turn 57, before light

  I’m not sure whether it’s turn 56 or turn 57 now, since it’s still dark, but I’ll mark it under 57.

  I’ve been letting the different herbs sit on my claws for about… 2 marks now? It’s hard to tell without the red dwarf. I’ve had to add about 13 big branches to the fire, so I’ll use that as a measurement.

  … I should’ve counted how long it takes for one to burn.

  Right, this isn’t a proper experiment, I don’t need to know how many vispans something lasted, I need results.

  And the results are:

  Red-blue flower – Scales and growth dyed deep purple. Excellent scale paint, no effect.

  Dark-grey leaf - Growth mildly shrunk, noticeable positive effect.

  Black berry(?) - Air taste extremely pleasant. No effect.

  Yellow-orange flower - Area dyed slightly orange. No effect.

  Prickly green leaves – The powder was too coarse. Some prickles are stuck between scales. Never again.

  Odd-feeling rough leaf – No effect.

  Almost ripe berry which we eat - No effect. Waste of food.

  Pisca blood - Gross. No effect.

  About the results:

  Most of the herbs are useless, though the tumorous black berry made the air taste very nice, like a combination of sweet and… sandy. It really reminds me of home.

  The red-blue flower makes a deep purple colour when crushed, and it’s really difficult to wipe off. Might experiment with that a bit more, while no one but Mik can judge me.

  If it does try to, I’ll start painting it in its sleep, and it won’t be so judgemental. I could actually do that now…

  …

  Tempting.

  Back to the experiment. I really need to get some sleep.

  The most important result is that I found what might be the cure: the grey leaf.

  It’s difficult to describe, but when I was looking at the fungus, the only growth that seemed different was the one that I had put the grey leaf on.

  The ‘veins’ from the fungus seemed to have shrivelled under my claw, and it felt less itchy. It was only a small amount of the leaf, so I wouldn’t give myself some type of reaction, but it seems promising.

  Before writing this, I cleaned my hands off in the grass. I wanted to borrow some water from Mik, but I found the bowl almost completely empty, so I didn’t touch it. Not the best safety procedure, but it will have to do.

  (I may have given Mik a smidge of purple on its non-snout. For touching mine.)

  \|/ Turn 57, early light

  The fungus regrew on Mik’s injury. Neither of us have any idea how.

  Mik woke me up at early light, shaking me and calling my name.

  “uughhh…” I groaned, covering my eyes with my tail.

  Mik pulled it away, shaking me harder.

  “…okay okay…” I mumbled, yawning and rolling onto my back.

  I sat up and rubbed my eyes. Only afterward did I remember that I still shouldn’t be doing that.

  “What’s up?” I rasped, looking at Mik. I didn’t remember telling it to wake me up earlier.

  Mik showed me its left arm, frantically tapping a growth.

  “Yes, yes, I know, I found something…” I waved my tail, still barely awake.

  Remembering Mik couldn’t understand me, I took my journal and wrote “Found monster for”

  Mik took the journal and completely ignored what I had written, writing “Back”

  Back…?

  I tried going around Mik to see its back, but it turned to always be facing me.

  “What back?” I wrote. Mik tapped a growth on its arm again.

  Only then did I realize it was the same one it had torn off last turn.

  “Oh…”

  “Oh no.”

  I took Mik’s arm, looking at the growth closer.

  It was there like nothing had happened. Same exact shape and size, and as white as the dreadful snow.

  Suns…

  I finally understood why Mik had woken me up so frantically. The fungus had grown over a wound.

  Mik took the journal, writing “WHY?” and holding it in front of me.

  I stared at the word, unmoving. I tried thinking of possibilities, but every one of them left me with dread.

  …

  …The fungus could’ve left something under…

  Which would mean this is permanent.

  Or it’s drawn to wounds… somehow, and you had made the perfect environment.

  In the end, I just shook my head silently. My theories wouldn’t help us.

  “Sorry.”

  Mik took a breath, its face red, and gave me back my journal with a shaking hand.

  I could only imagine what Mik was feeling at that moment. It didn’t have the luxury of being protected by scales, and this suns-forsaken thing had claimed it. I felt my tail coil around me, despite trying to appear calm for Mik.

  I opened the journal again, tapping “Maya find monster for” I had written earlier.

  Mik nodded, enveloping itself with its arms.

  I got up and took one of the few grey leaves we had. I crushed it with the flat edge of my knife and showed it to Mik. Then, I showed it the underside of the claw, where the fungus was slightly shrunk.

  Mik’s breathing was still shaky when I showed it that. It went to envelop me but hesitated and pulled back.

  I enveloped Mik. I wasn’t going to let it be afraid for me.

  “We’re in this together.” I hissed. Even if it didn’t understand, it needed to know.

  Mik put its head against the back of my head. It was wet.

  I hissed gently, trying to stay calm.

  About a span later, Mik lightly pulled back. I did so as well, still holding its arm.

  Mik wiped its face with its sleeve and gestured to my journal. I handed it over.

  Mik flipped over to the map and tapped the streams.

  I shook my head.

  Mik’s face turned to confusion, mixed with its sadness.

  I wrote “Mik have no water. Food too.”

  Mik glanced at the bowl and bottle off to the side. It was going to write something but gave up on the thought and gave me back my journal with the map open.

  “…Thanks.” I hissed. It felt unusual for Mik to agree with me on something on the first try. I was fully expecting another play of insisting until Mik gave up.

  I opened my mouth to hiss something, but I stopped. I looked at the open map.

  We had to go to the river and to the valley, with Mik needing the grey leaf as soon as possible.

  I can’t let you hunt.

  But I knew it would insist on doing so if we went to the river together. It knows I hate the water, and wouldn’t let me hunt alone if both of us were there.

  I breathed in deeply, tapping “MIK” on MIK MAYA and then tapping the electric valley.

  Mik nodded and went to get up. I tugged its arm for it to sit down.

  I tapped “MAYA” on MIK MAYA and tapped the river.

  Mik’s face turned to confusion.

  “Yeah… I know.”

  I wrote “Maya go”, drawing a little river, and then “Mik go”, drawing a small valley.

  Mik took the journal, writing “Why?”

  I thought of an excuse. It was faster. But Mik probably didn’t know that word yet. I need to keep better track.

  Drawing, then.

  I drew the red dwarf at its current position. Underneath, I added:

  “Maya~~~~

  Mik //////////”

  Then, I drew the red dwarf before midlight, writing:

  “Maya, Mik MAYA MIK”

  As the last drawing, I drew the red dwarf at midlight, writing “Maya, Mik” and drawing the leaf next to our names.

  I handed the journal to Mik.

  Hope you get that…

  Mik re-read it a few times, carefully examining my drawings. Its face contorted as it struggled to understand.

  I think Mik gave up, since it just returned my journal with a slight nod.

  I raised my tail to Mik. It tapped my tailend.

  The silence while we prepared for our separate trips was deafening.

  Mik took its hatchet, the bottle and the bowl. I took my knife and the net.

  We both left our journals at the camp, since they’d have no use while we were separated, and could be damaged if we did bring them unnecessarily. It felt wrong.

  When we were both ready, I enveloped Mik one more time. It returned the gesture.

  “Stay safe. Please.”

  Mik said something back in its language and let go. It took a few steps back while facing me.

  I mimicked its arm flail from the very beginning and turned around, trying not to look over my back.

  The trip towards the river was off-putting without Mik.

  It was so silent. There was singing around me, of course, but that had turned into background noise long ago.

  I started talking to myself to keep it from being too quiet. I knew it looked mad, but I had to. I even tried imitating Mik’s language, but that didn’t go well.

  “We’ll go and get the leaf when we get some food, so you don’t have to carry a lizard around all turn.” I joked to no one left of me.

  The trees didn’t respond.

  I sighed, breathing in deeply and tasting the air.

  The scavenger.

  I turned around, squinting to see where it was. All I saw was green and the occasional odd colour.

  Mik would’ve seen you.

  I turned back to the path, trying to ignore the presence that was somewhere behind me now. It was slightly comforting to know I wasn’t completely alone, but it wasn’t a substitute for Mik. Not nearly.

  About a mark later, I arrived at the river. The view was still beautiful, despite having seen it so many times.

  As I stepped up to the flowing waterline, I realized how horrible this was going to be.

  I wasn’t that afraid of water with Mik near me, since it could swim and help me, but I was alone now.

  A Thornkin in a flowing river. Not too dissimilar to a metaphor for death.

  Hesitating, I put the net down.

  Maybe there are sweetfruit?

  I went over to the bush and dug around. I almost dug up the roots when I stopped due to my left arm aching. There were none.

  I sighed and left the bush; my claws now covered in both mud and fungal growth. I had never been so dirty in my entire life.

  Stepping up to the water edge, I picked up the net again.

  “I said I would do this.” I muttered to myself.

  As I looked, though, all I could remember was the sensation of falling into the lake. Of water forcefully flowing into my thorns, drowning me from the inside. I stopped as I put one foot in the water.

  “Come on.”

  I took another step. And another.

  After a few painfully slow spans, I was in the usual position where the thorns on my legs were still above the water.

  Why was that so difficult…

  Waiting for a pisca to swim close enough felt like an eternity.

  Constantly, I was just thinking about either Mik or the river. I failed to distract myself by thinking about home. That felt lost.

  Finally, a shape swam up to me.

  I held the net above the water, carefully waiting for it to come close enough.

  And I slammed down onto it.

  It squirmed as it got entangled in the net. I rushed to take it to the shore, so I could finish it off.

  As soon as I saw its head above the water, I took my knife out and plunged it into its skull. Yellow blood poured out of the wound.

  I dragged it out completely, and fell on my knees, panting. It had been so much easier with Mik here.

  After recovering, I took the net off, looking at the pisca I’d caught. The first pisca I’d caught alone. I felt a tingle of pride.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  It was like the ones we’d eaten, but slightly smaller and with oddly soft scales.

  Smiling, I lay down on my back, looking up at the sky. My only wish was that there was sand under me, instead of grass.

  But I couldn’t rest. That wasn’t why I was there.

  “Not enough.” I muttered, forcing myself up.

  Getting myself into the water was easier the second time around, but no less uncomfortable. I concentrated on the warm light hitting my back as I waited for another pisca to swim by.

  …

  I saw a green blur in the corner of my vision.

  I snapped around, preparing to throw the net on whatever was about to attack me.

  Except the scavenger was there, taking the pisca I had barely gotten out.

  “HEY!!” I screeched, trying to run out of the water.

  But it was too late. The last thing I saw was the scavenger’s tail coiling behind it as it ran into the underbrush.

  “Oh you absolute…!” I hissed, throwing the net onto the ground out of frustration.

  “After everything?!”

  No, no!

  “I’m not letting you take it!” I growled, taking out my knife and running after the scavenger.

  I crashed through the bushes and grazed against trees, manically following its taste. I didn’t hear it moving, meaning it was trying to hide from me.

  But I knew where to look.

  Finally, I managed to track it down to a large bush hidden behind some trees, not far from the river.

  I stared at the bush, barely being able to see its shape through the light green leaves.

  “There. You. Are.”

  I got closer, holding my knife up defensively.

  It took a step back, its body pinned to the ground. Weirdly, it didn’t try warning me from getting closer.

  I entered the bush. The scavenger kept backing up.

  “I’m not going to let you sabotage us.” I growled again, my tail lashing behind me. Every part of me was ready to stab it if it tried attacking me.

  Another step closer. My ears rang from adrenaline.

  And I slipped.

  I quickly got back up, despite the pain from landing on my tail. I held my knife up, trying to figure out what had made me slip without letting my guard down.

  The pisca, intact, was on the ground before me.

  My view returned to the scavenger.

  Its face, unlike Mik’s, was unreadable. Those eyes betrayed nothing but alertness.

  But I did see one detail. Its massive tail was under its body, which was nearly pinned to the ground.

  The scavenger, many times bigger than me, was afraid.

  …

  “You’re… submitting?” I whispered, still ready to defend myself.

  I hadn’t realized that would be an option. I was ready to fight the scavenger if I had to.

  I looked at the scavenger, and then the pisca again.

  …

  “Fine.”

  I took the pisca and sliced it in half. Of course, since it wasn’t cooked, blood gushed out, staining my hands and the knife completely.

  “I’m keeping the head, though.”

  I chucked the tail half to the scavenger.

  It moved its head out of the way, and the pisca fell next to its clawed feet.

  I took my part and backed out of the bush. I heard rustling from inside, but the scavenger didn’t follow me.

  It took me a few spans to navigate back.

  I put my half of the pisca very close to where I was hunting, so the scavenger couldn’t blindsight me again. Then, I took the net and went back into the water.

  Time passed quicker, since I was less focused on the water and more focused on making sure nothing tried to steal from me again. It made me feel paranoid, but that’s better than being hungry.

  I think about a mark passed before I managed to catch another one. By the time I did, my legs were cold and aching from standing in the water for so long. I considered going back to the camp with the one and a half, but I got greedy.

  And I didn’t want to be hungry again. Suns, I had never known the feeling of starvation. Now I know it too well. The fact that we have a full meal a turn is a lot better than before the net.

  …One more.

  I entered the water again, waiting to catch a third.

  As I waited again, I started losing concentration. I had been hunting for a few marks at that point and have been up from very early light.

  At one point, I leaned forward from drowsiness.

  Under the water, my feet lost grip in the mud, and I fell in.

  “A-!”

  Water went into my mouth as I tried to scream. I scrambled to save my life.

  I managed to claw my way out of the water, due to being close to the shore, but I immediately felt overhydrated from falling in.

  It felt so damn familiar. The experience of drowning. I just knew what to expect, even if it was brief. The sensation of queasiness in my system followed soon after.

  I coughed profusely, at the same time desperately trying to shake off the water still on my thorns, begging to poison me again.

  My mind couldn’t think straight. Even though I was on ground, I still felt like I was sinking. How, in my own home, do Thornkin live in the wet domain is beyond me. I don’t want to even approach it now.

  I collapsed on my stomach, holding my tail and breathing deeply.

  I don’t know how long it took me to calm down. I never fully did. I was just up, at some point, forcing myself to go on.

  I started taking the pisca to go back to the camp. Under no circumstance would I get in the river alone again. I went to take the net but couldn’t find it anywhere.

  “No no nononono!” I panicked, looking around.

  And then I realized: I hadn’t taken it out of the river with me.

  I ran downstream, desperately looking at the water. Every moment of running made me feel like I was about to collapse again, but I couldn’t stop.

  I’m glad I didn’t, as I found it.

  “Oh, thank the…”

  I heaved, leaning on a nearby tree. The net was stuck on a rock protruding out of the water not far away from the shore.

  I tried reaching for it but kept barely missing.

  “Come on…” I cried. I couldn’t bring myself go into the water, even if it was just a step.

  I turned around, trying to get it out using my longer tail.

  Please…

  My tail missed it a few times. I started feeling dizzy from the odd angle.

  And then I managed to catch it.

  “YES!”

  And to slice one of the grids.

  “AH!”

  I quickly hoisted my tail back, falling onto my torso. My tail cramped from the fast movement, making me yowl.

  The net fell on top of me as I did.

  I enveloped it while writhing on the ground. Mik could make another, but it would be so much effort we couldn’t spare.

  “Ughhhhh” I groaned, exhausted. I hadn’t died, and I hadn’t lost the net. The damage was repairable.

  Just as I celebrated, I remembered the pisca. The completely unguarded pisca.

  I… I can’t…

  Standing up was a monumental effort, but I managed to do it, swaying while holding the net. I would faint if I tried running again, so I walked, dragging my tail behind me.

  When I got back to the pisca, however, they were still there.

  I could taste the scavenger in the air, but the pisca were untouched.

  “Huh…” I muttered, my face going into a shallow smile. That felt natural, now, even though it used to be ‘teeth-baring’.

  Guess Silith’s constant doesn’t always apply…

  I sat down, finally letting myself recover. We wouldn’t go hungry.

  When I felt well enough to walk again, I decided to go back to the camp. I probably should’ve rested a bit more, but midlight was coming, and we needed to get Mik that leaf.

  Before I did, I took a few steps to check on the berries. I couldn’t gauge whether they were ripe or not from further away.

  To my pleasant surprise, they were. The berries weren’t the exact same as the ones near the lake, some having more than one colour, but the three I knew were edible were there.

  Yellow, red, orange.

  I picked about a handful, glad to know that we had something akin to a reliable food source again, aside from the pisca.

  Despite everything, I felt slightly happy as I went towards the camp with my bounty. I was still extremely stressed, but I knew seeing Mik and having a proper meal would make me feel better.

  On the trip back, the scavenger didn’t follow me. Not that I particularly wanted it to, but I felt guilty from scaring it so much.

  From the silence in both sound and air, an intrusive thought bore itself into my head, spoiling any sense of joy.

  Maybe Mik went to the streams without me.

  …

  No… It…

  It didn’t have a reason not to, except for being polite to me. It was definitely desperate enough to try.

  I sighed.

  I’ll find out, I guess…

  After a mark of trekking with too much weight on my left arm, I got to the camp.

  And Mik was there.

  “Mik!” I hissed, hurrying over to where it was sitting.

  Mik wasn’t particularly excited, slowly closing and looking at me.

  “Heeya!” I hissed, putting the food down. When I did, my left arm still felt like it had the full weight of everything I was carrying.

  Oh, this is going to suck.

  Mik got up as I nursed my left arm and silently enveloped me.

  “Oh, hey?” I asked, not expecting the gesture.

  Mik then pulled back, looking at me. I felt uncomfortable as it held me by my shoulders.

  Mik’s face wasn’t happy. It wasn’t mad either. I couldn’t understand its expression.

  A moment later, Mik took its journal from the ground and wrote “Where Maya?”

  My tail twitched as I read it.

  Where Maya?! Do you have any idea…?!

  …

  You don’t.

  I breathed in deeply, simply bending down and tapping the fish and berries.

  Mik gave a shallow nod.

  It immediately wrote “Go leaf?”

  I shook my head, writing “Food 1, then go.”, and quipped “So Mik no carry lizard” after a moment of thinking.

  “I really don’t want that again.” I giggled. Mik’s face didn’t change. My smile disappeared.

  It gave a nod.

  “I’m sorry. We’ll go soon, ok?”

  I gestured towards the usual campfire spot. Mik nodded again, putting down the journal and helping me make a fire. I noticed the bowl was full of water, and congratulated Mik. All it did was nod again.

  The pisca are almost done now. We’re going to go to the streams as soon as we eat, since Mik is not behaving normally.

  It just feels as if it’s not fully there. I don’t know what happened between us splitting up to Mik acting like this, but I suspect it’s the fungus. It still itches when I’m not focusing, and Mik’s entire arms are covered. It’s holding up well as is.

  But we’ll get Mik help. Out of all the things we survived, a fungal infection…

  Actually, I won’t finish that sentence. The opposite will be true.

  \|/ Turn 57, dark

  This has to fix Mik.

  When the pisca finished cooking at midlight, I experimented a bit to try and cheer Mik up. I don’t know much about Mik’s world regarding seasoning, but it’s safe to assume it has a sense of taste (if not tasting the air).

  Taking a clean slice of meat, I crushed a yellow berry on top. My logic was that the yellow one is the most neutral tasting, so it shouldn’t overpower the meat in a way Mik would mind.

  I brought it over to Mik, holding the slice with the edge of my knife.

  “Try it!” I hissed, nudging its leg.

  Mik looked up, its face neutral. It took the slice in its hand and ate it.

  …

  It didn’t comment anything, staring blankly through me.

  “Is it good?” I hissed.

  Mik snapped out of whatever it was thinking about, flipping a page in its journal and writing “thank”

  I grumbled, writing “is good?” in its journal.

  It nodded.

  I wrote “more?”

  It shook its head.

  …

  “Glad you liked it.” I mumbled, going back and bringing Mik’s entire pisca and taking my half.

  I sat down against the rock on the opposite side of our camp, and prepared a similar slice for myself, only using a sweeter red berry than the one I gave to Mik.

  It was beautiful. With how long we’ve been without any kind of seasoning, eating something that wasn’t just one type of food tasted special.

  Mik ate especially slowly, not bothering to look up from the pisca it was cutting with its hatchet.

  Maybe since you don’t taste the air, this isn’t that special to you, either…

  As we ate, Mik didn’t notice I was eating only half of a pisca instead of a whole one like it was.

  I was glad I wouldn’t have to explain the story regarding the scavenger, but it felt off. Mik, just a few turns ago, forced me to split a pisca into fourths so it would eat.

  You’ll get better.

  I ate faster than Mik, despite having to prepare each bite. Exhausted from early light, I took the time to rest while Mik finished its meal.

  As soon as it was done, I went over to it and tapped “go leaf” in my journal.

  Mik nodded, cleaning its hands against the grass and taking its hatchet and water bottle. It immediately started going towards the streams.

  But as I went to follow it, I noticed Mik had left its journal on the ground, where it had been sitting.

  “Hey, Mik?” I hissed.

  Mik turned its head back towards me.

  “You forgot this.” I said, tapping the journal on the ground.

  Mik shook its head, turned back, and continued walking.

  “…okay.”

  I took its journal and went after it.

  During the trip, Mik was silent and mostly staring at the ground. I tried getting it to engage in our usual non-intelligible discussions, but I would get a hum at most, which I knew didn’t mean anything, even in Mik’s language.

  “It’s less warm this turn, right?” I hissed, commenting Mik being only slightly wet.

  Mik mm’d.

  I took out my journal, writing “too warm?” and shoving it in Mik’s sight.

  Mik shook its head slightly, remembering to drink some water.

  “Come on, what’s wrong with you already?” I groaned.

  At some point, I saw a flower that was the same tone as Mik’s flesh.

  “Hey, look over here.” I hissed, picking it from the ground.

  I brought it over to Mik, putting it in its hand. It was exactly the same colour.

  “Pretty neat, right?”

  Mik took the flower, inspecting it closely.

  Don’t eat it!

  It then pressed the flower to its arm, right across the wound the fungus had grown over.

  …

  I sighed, pushing Mik along. It dropped the flower, and we moved on.

  We got to the streams faster than the first time, even though Mik was almost dragging itself at this point. If it had a tail, it would’ve literally been dragging itself.

  We got in through the blue bush, the air immediately feeling cooler on the other side.

  “How about you stay here.” I hissed, taking my journal and writing “Mik no go”

  Mik tilted its head slightly.

  “Maya go leaf, Mik no go” I wrote.

  Mik moved its shoulders up and down once and sat down.

  “I still have no idea what that means, and I’m starting to hate it” I grumbled, going to find the plant.

  I remembered vaguely where the plant was, but it still took me a while to find it. The streams, aside from the occasional shrubbery, were clear enough to orient myself around alone.

  When I did find it, however, I was incredibly disappointed.

  The plant I remembered was actually just a bunch of stems connected to the ground, not an actual singular being. There were less than hundred leaves in total.

  How many do I pick…

  If I picked too many, the stems would die. If I picked too few, Mik wouldn’t get the treatment it needs.

  I’ll get half.

  I worked my way down, picking the topmost leaves and going to the roots, since the leaves there seemed the newest.

  When I picked the lower leaves, however, I noticed that the stems would leak a viscus, dark fluid.

  Maybe that can help…?

  Before I could try it, though, the dark fluid had hardened into a shiny black. It made a light clank as I tapped it.

  Huh.

  I picked off another low leaf, quickly dipping my index claw in the fluid.

  It immediately covered both my claw and the growth under it. Just like on the stem, it hardened. The feeling felt odd, but I managed to keep myself from panicking.

  “I don’t like this.” I whispered, unsure whether I should try rubbing it off.

  It continued hardening, until it started constricting. I felt it tug on the edges of my scales near the claw. I felt my stomach sink as the feeling got more intense.

  And then it cracked.

  I froze.

  I looked at my claw.

  It was fine. The fluid itself had constricted until it cracked.

  “Oh Suns” I breathed out, chuckling slightly.

  I got another claw under the crack and wrenched it.

  After a bit of struggle, it managed to pry it off.

  And the fungus came off with it.

  “HAH!”

  I looked in awe at my almost clean claw.

  It was like I had shaven off a thin layer from it but left the actual claw unharmed. There were some parts where the fluid hadn’t reached that were still infected, but my claw was almost as black as it used to be before the infection.

  “HAHAH!” I laughed manically.

  “Finally!”

  I quickly grabbed the pile and ran over to Mik in pure excitement.

  Mik was asleep on the ground when I found it. I was exhausted from jumping over streams to get to it, but I felt like the world had finally fixed itself.

  “Mik! Mik Mik Mik!” I hissed, dropping the pile and shaking Mik a bit too hard.

  Mik groaned.

  “I found it! Come on!”

  I tried pulling Mik up but immediately felt immense strain on my left arm. I went back to shaking it awake after that.

  Mik finally stood up, rubbing its eyes. The blackness under its eyes was worse than when it had gone to sleep.

  I don’t even remember the trip to the plant or what I had to do to convince Mik to hurry up. I was just so utterly excited that it passed in less than a moment.

  “Ok ok ok, sit down!” I hissed, pushing Mik to the ground. It complied, sitting next to the bush and looking at me with a confused face.

  I brought its arm to the plant. Mik looked slightly nervous.

  “It’s fine, see?” I hissed, showing it my almost completely clean claw.

  I brought the fungus covering the wound Mik had created close to the plant and went to pick a leaf at the base. I struggled to get one that kept bending out of my grasp.

  That forced me to pause, and, for a moment, to think.

  …

  Wait…

  It pulled on my claw…

  But Mik’s flesh could bend. My claws were rigid.

  Mik stared at me blankly as I mumbled to myself.

  “I hope this won’t hurt…”

  I took Mik’s flesh on its arm directly, grabbing it between two fingers. The feeling I used to loathe was there, with the flesh bending outwards.

  I squeezed the little “mound” of flesh that had formed from the action.

  Mik yelped and immediately pulled back, rubbing the area.

  “Sorry.” I hissed, extremely disappointed.

  I hadn’t even put in any serious pressure.

  If the liquid had gone there, it would’ve torn off Mik’s flesh from contraction.

  Mik, after a few moments, let go of the area, looking at me in confusion. The flesh there was slightly red.

  Damage.

  “Let’s… let’s go.” I said, gesturing Mik to follow me. It got up, and we went towards the entrance.

  I picked up the leaves when we got there, and we continued silently towards the camp.

  I gave up on trying to interest it with anything. It was existing. No more, no less. I felt like joining it in that mentality at that point.

  Seeing it’s face just neutrally sad was crushing. I tried asking why, in the warm suns, was it like that.

  “Why Mik not good?” I wrote, giving my journal to Mik.

  Mik took it, reading it a few times over. It hesitated.

  It wrote “Not know”

  “How can you not know?!” I hissed, frustrated.

  I immediately lowered my tone “Why… I know it’s bad, but we’ve survived worse.”

  “…So much worse.”

  I wrote “Mik arm not good, Mik not good?”

  Mik shook its head, writing “Mik arm no ow”

  …

  I wrote “?”

  Mik gestured to scratching its arm, tapping “no ow” afterwards.

  “Your arm… doesn’t itch?”

  My claws still itched. Even the almost clean one.

  …

  It’s… integrating.

  I stopped writing to Mik after that.

  We’re at the camp now. I crushed the leaves and applied them to the entirety of Mik’s arm.

  Mik’s been drawing blankly in its journal when I ever since I finished that. The only thing it did was help me make a fire, and even that was more out of instinct than free will. I ate some berries, and Mik refused when I offered them.

  I just don’t know anymore. I was depressed when I thought the world had ended. I did incredibly stupid things.

  I had given up.

  But this… It’s just an infection. Mik shouldn’t have given up on life from a fungal infection. It said it had one before as well. It shouldn’t be like this.

  At least not willingly.

  I’m starting to think that the spores made it to Mik’s brain, because of the wound. That’s the only theory I have at this point. Nothing else makes sense. It never does, on this cursed planet.

  Mik’s sleeping. I’m struggling to sleep. I fall asleep, and a sense of dread just wakes me up. No dream, just pure hopelessness.

  Please,

  just let there be something left of Mik when this is over.

  \|/ Turn 57, very late dark

  We’re both gone.

  I stayed awake after writing, silently watching the fire fizzle out. Every time it was about to go out, I added another piece of wood. I don’t know why.

  At some point, I tasted what was left of the pisca in the air. I had forgotten to give it to the scavenger, and it didn’t come to our camp while we were gone.

  Seeing I had nothing else to do but rot mentally, I picked up the scraps and the few leftover berries and went towards the scavenger’s bush.

  It was completely dark again, but I knew where to throw the food.

  I turned around, going back to the camp.

  Almost immediately, there was rustling behind me.

  “Hungry?” I mumbled, glancing over my shoulder.

  My throat sank when I saw the scavenger right behind me.

  I spun around, taking my knife out and holding it up. My eyes focused on the scavenger.

  Two green eyes stared back, digging into my mind. For a moment, I saw more.

  I dared blink. Only two again.

  I couldn't see its body, but I realized it was crouching, like when I had tracked it down.

  But its eyes didn’t look afraid. It didn’t taste afraid.

  It wasn't afraid.

  I felt every deep breath on my scales. I couldn't move.

  ...

  Then, I figured it out.

  The scavenger was in the same spot where I was, and I was in the same spot where she was.

  “No…” I took a step back, covering my head. The scavenger didn’t move.

  I looked at the sky. I was awake.

  Or my dream had been perfected.

  “Why…”

  “WHY?!”

  “Why are you doing this to me?!” I screamed. The scavenger didn’t move, breathing slightly faster.

  Animals don’t get half-afraid. They don’t do this.

  This. This taunting.

  “WHY WON-“

  A hand clasped over my snout.

  “MMH!” I squirmed, reaching around with my knife.

  It bent to the other side, dodging the blade. I tried clawing at it but couldn’t bring my left hand around.

  Mik pulled me back, trying to hit knees to force me to fall.

  Only its hits were bending them the wrong way.

  I stopped trying to stab it, blocking its leg with my tail and crouching quickly. My thorns dug into fabric as Mik lost grip of me.

  I turned so I faced Mik and the scavenger, holding my knife up.

  Mik was breathing quickly. I couldn’t see anything but a shape, but it was Mik. At least, it looked and tasted like Mik.

  I looked back at the scavenger. It was still there, still half crouched.

  “Don’t you see it?!” I screamed to Mik, pointing the blade at the scavenger.

  The scavenger didn’t even flinch.

  Mik looked at the scavenger.

  “So I’m not seeing things! I’m not insane!!”

  Then the scavenger hissed back.

  It was laughing.

  It was laughing.

  I screamed.

  I lunged at the scavenger.

  It tried to swipe me with its tail. I fell to the ground, pushing off my right arm towards it.

  The blade went into its cloak. It met the feathers, slowing the blade down, but not enough.

  Just as it was about to tear flesh, if it even was that, Mik ran into me.

  I got flung. The scavenger fled.

  I tumbled to the ground. The world blurred. The stars broke and realigned in less than a thought.

  Mik ran to me, throwing the knife somewhere.

  My left arm was pure agony. The shock did nothing to ease the pain.

  Mik helped me up as I cried, and led me back to the camp.

  That was more than a mark ago. I still can’t move my left arm. It hurts so much.

  Mik’s been awake, just looking at me. It won’t stop.

  I can’t understand its expression. Sorrow? Anger?

  Fear?

  I can't.

  I’ve written this with one hand, since I can’t look back. I can’t see those eyes.

  Two or more, they’re dead.

  Are mine?

  Who am I to say Mik’s gone, when there’s nothing of me left.