ORIGIN

Unfortunately for Attikias, Effluvium was hunting in the area. It had proved unsuccessful so far. But its luck was looking up. Effluvium caught the scent of meat. And it was drawn by it. It dragged its lumbering form in the direction of the scent. It kept its snuffling nose to the air. The meat smelled strange. Charred. Burned. Effluvium pulsated rapidly, afraid. But meat was meat.

Effluvium was not in Cetus. The place of burning. That, along with its newfound size, reassured it. Effluvium came upon it, then. The flame was small. It blinked once. Then, in its infinite wisdom, hissed at the flame. It noted the structures nearby. Upright. Strange. Effluvium had no words for them, and didn't give them more than a passing glance. It was after the scent of food.

The smell of meat seemed to come from the flames. Effluvium crouched before the flame. It hissed. Effluvium raised a arm, and, like an oversized horrifying cat, batted at the campfire. Its movements were nervous and flinching. Its arm aimed for the branch the strips of meat came from. Effluvium's hunger overcame its' fear. Its' arm batted at the branch, and with a snap, the branch gave. Half-cooked jerky fell to the ground, and Effluvium scooped it up after finagling with its' head, along with whatever substrate found its way into its mouth.

With the main draw now gone, Effluvium turned its attention to the pots. It dragged itself around, sniffing at the scattered remains.They smelled of meat too, yet more faintly. Effluvium picked a urn up in its jaws. The smell was stronger. It was fresher, to have drawn Effluvium. Effluvium bit down on it with an audible crack. It tasted mostly of ceramic shards, but there was enough meat in it to keep it interested.

It swallowed all of it. Which would most likely hurt, a few hours down the line. It began to pick off the urns still standing. The ones that drew its attention the most, at least. Either crushing them in its jaws, or stepping on them, and swiping up the contents with a tongue.

"When I speak."

When I think.

Effluvium was quickly growing to enjoy the shelled meat. It was meat, but with extra texture. The sound of Attikias' voice reached its ears. Effluvium looked up from the pot it was currently raiding, it turned to the sound, unhurried. Shards of smashed pot stuck to what constituted its face. Its watched Attikias blankly. The expressions passed over the thing's head.

Its' simple brain was focused on Attikias' threat level. Attikias didn't seem larger than Effluvium, nor did he possess fire. so it instantly wasn't worried. Effluvium bit an urn off the ground, smashing it. Back to Attikias. Its' eyes drifted down to the spear in Attikias' hands. Even wielded by shaking hands, it was still a threat. Connecting 2 and 2, Effluvium suddenly went on the defensive.

The purple upright thing was there to steal its food! It snarled, teeth exposed. "Effluvium's food!" It said. "Effluvium found first!" Effluvium wasn't supposed to eat not-foods, but it could scare it off. It bit one last urn, crushing it within its jaws. Then, shaking off the remnant shards, it began to trot towards Attikias. Not a full out charge, at least yet.

"When I speak."

When I think.

Effluvium's eye squinted. He made that? It paused, and looked at the carnage beneath it. It pawed at the dirt, and the bits of Attik's home it'd been so kind to destroy. It considered the idea for a few seconds. Then, it decided. You couldn't make meat. Meat just appeared. Effluvium clearly had the superior intellect here. "NO!" It roared in response. "Meat come from food! Can't make!"

Effluvium took another few steps forward. But Attikias' words had it confused once more. "Steal...?" It said. It paused again. Effluvium wasn't familiar with the word. It was prepared to ponder this for a few seconds more, but a stray eye noticed the spear once again. The sharp head pointed at it. Effluvium growled, its random limbs curling and twisting. Forelimbs curling into the dirt. Effluvium didn't like spiky things. It especially didn't like spiky thing pointing at it. Effluvium gauged its options.

It could ignore the shorter thing. Continue eating the shelled meat. It didn't seem very threatening. Or it could chase it off. The spear had it wary. It briefly considered both, but came to a decision quickly. Effluvium decided it wasn't waiting for the spiky thing to bite it. In its mind, it was only a matter of time until this became a repeat of the situation with the owl.

Effluvium wouldn't have mass taken from it again. The thought spurred it into action. With only a huff as warning, Effluvium launched forward, jaws extended. Effluvium's face, unfurled, hit the tip of the spearhead. Loose in its teeth. It'd nearly overshot it. Effluvium bit fast again, in an attempt to secure it. It growled, a menagerie of eyes pinned onto the spear.

"When I speak."

When I think.

Effluvium briefly considered the concept of stealing. And decided it didn't like the concept. Effluvium just found things and ate them. The only thing you owned was your meat. But Effluvium didn't say any of that. Its teeth were on the spear. Before it could even finish ruminating on the thought, the spear was out of its jaws again. All that was left was a lingering sensation that it'd been there, and a strange emptiness where a tooth'd been.

Effluvium was briefly stunned at the strength of the other. It staggered back on its' four main limbs. Its eyes flicked behind it, a sudden change in emotion. It briefly considered snatching what urns it could and leaving. But Effluvium had a lot at stake. A bunch of random jerky it'd found. It snarled, focused on Attikias again, and charged forward in a headbutt.

"When I speak."

When I think.

Effluvium's frontal charge had landed. Its head pulsed dully from the impact of the spear. But Effluvium didn't notice. Not right away, at least. And it didn't waste any time in pressing the assault. Attikias was down, the dangerous spiky thing horizontal.

It charged after Attikias, aiming for the spear. The sooner the weird purple stand-upper was disarmed, the spiky thing broken, sooner it could go back to ignoring him and foraging in the weird flat place. It bit down again. It found the angle hard, but it managed to get its teeth on the spear once again. An even weaker grip than the first time.

"When I speak."

When I think.