ORIGIN

Crack.

The sound resonated through Yuma's mind as he snapped into consciousness, to life. Far too early, he wasn't ready yet... But the warm glow of the world filtered through his cocoon, broken by the outlines of dozens of wriggling shapes. The miniscule aye aye moved a forelimb and brought it up to his sight, gazing in wonder at the strange hand he had come into this world with. He sat there unmoving for minutes, doing nothing more than take in the sensations of this new place.

But where then had that sound come from? Another crack echoed through the small chamber and the lighting changed ever so slightly. Yuma's blood red eyes turned upwards as one of the wriggling shapes had managed to get through his failing fortress, revealing itself to be some kind of large green millipede. Wallcrawler... that was the name that popped into his head.

"Kill." he mouthed almost silently, immediately pleased with the smooth tones produced by his own voice. Instinct took hold and he reached up with the single bony digit on his claw, ending the life of the green intruder and bringing it up to his mouth. It tasted satisfying, filling a void that the youth hadn't even recognized had been there.

There was another one now, perhaps the same one that had made the first noise? Yuma didn't hesitate to give it the same treatment as the first, retrieving the insect from where it had been skittering about his leg and consuming it. A new sensation filled him... satiation? Whatever it was felt no desire to consume more of these insects, but perhaps he would still be able to spike them and save them for later if they came nearby. Yes, that seemed like the best idea.

And thus he waited for what was likely hours as his home was slowly destroyed by an infestation of green wallcrawlers until finally with one final loud crack it shattered in on itself, leaving Yuma sitting next to a cliff overlooking a beautiful waterfall. He continued to sit motionless even as he was covered head to toe in gem shards and insects.

The ghostly creature sat there watching the waterfall, completely unfazed as the wallcrawlers skittered about consuming what was left of his shell. To his great fortune the shattered structure provided enough sustenance that none of them got curious enough to try eating at the gem embedded crookedly in his forehead. His mind felt completely blank, seeing, hearing, feeling, but not reacting to anything. Were he older and wiser it might have been considered a perfect state of meditation.

There was movement below. Still no reaction. An insect got a little too close to his face. In a flash it was dead and lying on the ground beside him, skewered by his claw. The movement below was gone out of sight. Just as well, nothing of interest. A voice called up to him.

Now there was something new. The little aye aye shifted his weight and righted himself on all four paws, sending all but a few of the insects off him as they clung to the red shards which tumbled to the ground. He then started slowly, carefully, moving toward the edge, looking over with a curious grin plastered to his face. Indeed there was another creature there, large, looking at him. Yuma was not the only one?

"Life?" the cold voice sounded again in a quizzical tone. Wanting to get closer to examine this anomaly he threw himself over the edge, clinging to outcroppings as he slowly descended and stopped halfway up the wall just out of reach of this odd creature.

Strange movements flashed over the face of the four-legged creature that stood before Yuma. Deer, yes that was what it was called. What was he doing? Was it some form of communication? But why speak without speaking if he had words of his own. It was all so confusing, he had to find out more.

With what probably appeared to be the utmost caution Yuma slowly continued his decent, staring at the face of his visitor with a blank piercing gaze. Soren, that was the title the deer seemed to have given itself. So there were more than one deer, enough that he needed to be called something else. Very useful information.

"Soren alive." Yuma clarified as he descended uncomfortably close, still staring with wide eyes. If he had blinked this entire time it likely was almost unnoticeable. Feeling an uncomfortable sensation in his fur Yuma absentmindedly shook his tail, dislodging the last of the millipedes which clung to his fur.

So the deer spoke well! This was a good thing; it meant there were definitely a large number of interesting things to see in this world. Before he realized it Yuma's face contorted in a strange way. His cheeks tightened, exposing his rodent-like teeth. His eyebrows lowered, causing his eyes to squint. He felt like he was making words without words like Soren had done only a moment before. Was this a common thing?

Whatever the impulse was Yuma knew it had to have been connected to those feelings that existed inside his head. Happiness perhaps? That was probably the best word for it, he was happy to find another individual that thought like him. Not like those wriggling insects; though they had been tasty.

Yuma doubted Soren would be tasty.

Oh but he was forgetting something. The deer had addressed him and he'd let it stand for many seconds now as he had tried to figure out what made him make a strange toothy face. The question seemed an obvious one to the aye aye, he just had to find the words to convey the answer.

"I exist..." he started out, seemingly in another non sequitur, "as Yuma."

His cheeks tightened even more as he clung to the rock wall facing the deer. His lungs contracted without warning, sending a single sharp note through his mouth. A laugh? Yes, the situation of learning so much in so little time had brought some form of jubilation to the newborn. Sure he probably looked insane or inebriated, but who cared about appearances?

"Soren has value." he spoke again coldly through his odd smile, showing appreciation for the other's presence as best he could. "Need food? Have much food."