ORIGIN

Oka had slithered their way back to Eridanus, through the myriad tunnels and caverns. Eventually, the familiar lush scent of Eridanus hit their senses. They enjoyed the way dirt and grass felt on their foot as they slid over it. No hard rocks or crystals every five feet to poke themselves on.

Well, excluding the one behind them. Oka turned an eyestalk towards the crystal dragging after them. A bit of the spire. Beautiful. They wished they could add it to their shell. To their collection of beauty. But it would hurt them, as it had before. Oka slithered past the tall stalk of grass, the one they had planted. Back when they had been plagued by visions. Qiziux had followed back then. They absently wondered where Qiziux had went.

Then, they slithered within a little clearing. The ground was soft here, covered by grasses and the occasional fern that poked up. Oka had decided to make this their home. They didn't have to worry about their shell spines trying to climb underneath a trees roots. Oka settled, and dragged the length of vine to their mouth. When the crystal was close, they snipped it with a bite. The vines from Polaris tasted different, they noted.

The crystal looked so exposed. It was just...sitting in the middle of the clearing. With nothing to protect it. Oka shifted uncomfortably. If a lesser, or a greedy greater were to see it, they could drag it away. Take Oka's vine rope, and just haul it back to their nest. Or out of their cave. Oka didn't like the thought. They looked around for somewhere to hide it. And then down. Down, beneath the plush grass. Yes, itd be safe there. Oka scraped at the ground with a tentacle. And did absolutely nothing, because it had tentacles and no claws. Tapped their face. Oka pulled a rock from nearby, and began to dig. Throwing nervous glances at the crystal from where they worked.

Oka's digging must've hit a fault in the caves. A sinkhole yawned open, taking a part of the clearing with it. Oka shrunk into their shell, the crumbling of the ground an unwelcome suprise. Moments passed. An eyestalk out. Another. The crystal still laid there. The ground had stopped crumbling.

Nervous of causing any more damage, Oka tossed the crystal into the hole. Well, atleast it would be buried now. As they began to gather dirt to cover it up, Oka's gaze travelled to the black currant branch they had gathered. They had begun taking a branch at a time from the tree. Else, the berries come over with rot and mold from lying uneaten. This was a new branch, but Oka could see already that lessers had gone after it whilst they travelled.

Nibbling at their berries. Theirs! With hardly a thought about what frankenstien burying the berries with the spire could cause, they tossed the branch in. They could come after it again when they were hungry. And then, they set about covering the spot with dirt and grass, transplanted from other parts of Eridanus.

@Oka