ORIGIN

Cycles had passed in isolation. Despite the lights coming back on Zeno found himself not rushing out to see each and every thing but instead slowing down even more than he had before. Each day he would sit still, memorizing the world around him lest he lose the gift of sight once more. The next day he would move ever so slightly to see from a different angle, observe new details that had evaded his notice before, continue contemplation on whatever thoughts passed his mind. If he was hungry he would find fruit and eat. If he was tired he would sleep. If he was restless it was a simple matter to fly back and forth between the ceiling and ground a few times. One might think that boredom would be maddening but somehow for Zeno there was nothing he felt like he would rather do.

On this day, after having spent a significant portion of time around the other rim of Orion, the small bat found himself in one of the tunnels leading away from the room of false stars. The lights were dimmer here, and a mist permeated the atmosphere making the gift of sight even less usable. A quiet place, darkened and forlorn. Such was the way of life and light though, one minute it is full and vibrant and the next it is gone without hope of recovery.

Hours passed near the entrance in complete silence before the small bat silently fluttered his way into the deepest and least visible parts of the tunnel. Just as he could move no further by air without danger of crashing into something Zeno perched upon the roof, his claws digging in to the uneven stone and his wings folded in front of him. Formless thoughts flooded his mind as he had a chance to rest, full and vibrant and silent and ephemeral all at once- like looking over the glass surface of a lake teeming with life.

Click.

A single motion from his wings sent an audible click throughout the tunnel, echoing off the walls, the floors, the ceiling.

Click.

Another click from his otherwise motionless wings a moment later. His small ears turned to absorb the sound, a fuzzy picture beginning to form in his head.

Click.

Over and over, each click following the other in an echoing rhythm like an antique clock adjusting the minute hand. Unlike his meat eating cousins Zeno would never be able to gain a clear picture this way, but the general shapes and sounds and composition of the tunnel he found himself in would make itself known, and the great shape that lurked in the darkness would soon present itself to his conscious mind.

Click...

Click.

The world around, obscured in mist, an image within bringing form to the void.

Click.

Just as the depths of the mind is vast and unknown but with small echoes in the darkness revealing the secrets of self.

Click.

An object... a massive shapeless behemoth lurking inside. Was it there before? Was it a creature? Did there even exist a creature that size?

Click?

No, it was definitely there and definitely coming his way. Usually he was safe on the ceiling, far out of reach of any who might want to do him harm. With something like this though?

Cl... no. Zeno's wings paused mid motion, his heartbeat and the telltale sounds of movement below the only indicators of life in this tunnel. The bat brought a wing claw to the surface of the rock and lay himself flat against the ceiling. Were the cracks in the rock somewhere he could hide? He scurried around as quickly as his body would allow without falling, but this part of the ceiling was flat, with no cervices that might provide him cover.

The thing was getting closer, glimpses of its black and white form becoming visible through the dim light and fog. For the first time in a while fear began to well up in the bat. Perhaps the beast wouldn't notice him?

A patch of mist cleared for a split second, revealing the creature's head, and with that view its gem antlers. A mix of relief and renewed apprehension rose up in Zeno. If this was a gembound then it could probably be reasoned with, and might even be friendly. Then again gembounds could be unpredictable, could lash out and cause pain, and with their intellegent minds could do so more effectively than any beast.

There was no way he hadn't been seen by now. The creature was close enough that effectively no mist obscured the view between them.

"Hello?" he called out hesitantly, hoping the beastly gembound was of the friendly variety.

Through the fear and intimidation a new sensation welled up within the small fruit bat; intrigue. The behemoth did not lunge for him, nor show signs of emotional instability that could lead to violence and pain. At the same time she did not seem as cold and calculating as other gembounds had displayed propensity toward. All things considered her voice was rather disarming, evoking a strange sense of trustworthiness despite her size.

Neither wolf nor owl, nor any other kind of creature he had observed before. A great serpentine dragon with wings of black and white. How such a creature survived down struck a thread of curiosity in Zeno's mind, but that was a thread he would have to follow another time. Whatever the case was she was likely no threat to him at the moment.

"I apologize if I have accidentally invaded your home." he spoke with a deep courtesy, not wanting to test his current working theory on her emotional stability, "I am simply a wanderer. My ambling journey brought me here from the room of structures and stars. I was going to see if anything existed on the other side of the tunnel or if there were any side passages, but if it claimed then I can exit."

As he spoke Zeno loosed his flattened grip on the rock above him, allowing himself to fall into a comfortable hanging position with wings folded. His heart still pounded as he could not quell the primal instinct of wanting to run from the huge beast, but as he grew accustomed to her presence that too would soon go away.