To search for other than food was beyond Effluvium's ken. And yet, Polaris was lucky today. The beast was still. No searching, hungering. It had done that earlier. And drifted into Polaris, into a corner of the cave, half hidden. To rest. It had fed earlier. It's life was an endless cycle of such. And it's rampant use of energy, weeks without rest, had finally caught up with it.

It laid, squished into the smallest place it could find. Dead asleep. There was little movement, save for the occasional twist of muscle, the rise and fall of lungs. Effluvium, unsurprisingly, snored loudly. Breathing forced through a multitude of esophagus haphazardly formed. Various limbs twitched as it slept. There were no dreams. Not this time, at least. As soon as the creature had finished resting, it would move on. Towards it's next meal. But, for now, it was still. Safe to approach or pass.


"When I speak."

When I think.

Sharp needed things. Big things, small things, wooden things, stone things-- she needed them. Ever since the little lizard found herself in possession of two devious children she had been crafting non-stop. Blankets, nesting, toys, you name it. But of course, Eridanus didn't always have the right supplies, and in those circumstances she turned to Polaris.

Ah, Polaris. The last time she was here the air was full of billowing snow and the screeches of far-larger beings. Not exactly a fun time for a tiny, cold-blooded lizard. But then came a great rumbling, and the snow fell away, and since then it's seemed quite... calm. Even as Sharp walked through, it was like nothing had changed at all. Well, safe for the massive gaping holes in the walls. But past that? It was quite fine. In fact, she could even see that old ranch just past the Spire. Perhaps she'd find something useful there...

... And Sharp immediately stumbled upon a sleeping kaiju.

Well, she didn't really know what it was. From the angle it was at it was just some scarily big, smelly pile of raw meat squished into a corner. Her mind was puzzled. Was this always here? Was it some corpse of a (awfully diseased) lesser? She didn't really like the look of it's wet flesh, but a morbid curiosity kept her fixated. Perhaps she could find a stick, yes, and prod it, just to see it's state?

And so Sharp the great and lovable lizard found a stick, clenched it in her jaws like a dog's bone, and gave the massive horrible beast before her a resounding poke. Truly a show of intelligence here.

© ©

@Effluvium

There was no movement, at first. Effluvium, its sense of touch dulled as it was, took a good while to realize it'd been poked. Then, the flesh where it'd been poked shifted. It adjusted, and gradually, it pulled its head from between its forearms. A collection of eyes, myriad colors, blinking open and shifting, until coming to rest on the small lizard beneath it.

It didn't react for a solid few seconds. The creature's brain was going. Close to overheating. Trying to process why the much smaller creature had a stick. And why it had been poked. And if the smaller creature had poked it. And then, a bit of drool leaked from its mouth. It'd settled on a thought.

Effluvium wasn't sure why the lizard had approached it. Nor why she decided to wake it up. That was a first for Effluvium, but food was food. And it wasn't going to complain. "Food," Effluvium said, a half awake rumble. A rather intelligent expression of its thoughts. Effluvium gave a half shuffle closer, before it leaned towards Sharp, jaws unfurling. It desired food, but it was still tired, too tired to put too much effort in. A good contender for Effluvium's laziest attempt at capture.

"When I speak."

When I think.

@Sharp

Well, that was one way to lose sleep.

Sharp had prodded the strange fleshy mass with a stick. Perfect scientific protocol, right? And for a moment, it just remained a fleshy mass. But then it moved. Legs, arms, tumors, eyes, all revealing themselves as the massive monstrosity reared it's head. Hulking hundreds of times larger than herself, to the point she could barely see what was up top. It stared upon her and did the one thing that terrified her little lizard brain: called her "food".

Cue the screaming.

"EEEEEH! EEEEEEEEH!" the sungazer's scratchy voice was so high it would've been funny, if she wasn't on the verge of a heart attack. A gasp-- "EEEEEEEEEEE!" Sharp backpedaled as fast as her squat legs could. What could she do if it tries to eat her? All she had was a spiky tail (far too small to even graze the monster), a couple weak sparks (she highly doubted it was conductive), tiny feet (this had far, far more, and much faster from the looks of it), and the scarcely-practiced ability to record her own movements. None of that would fare very well. But wait! She could do one more thing!

"WAIT!" she gasped. "Y-Y-You don't want to eat me! I promise! P-PROMISE! I'm not tasty! I'm very, very bitter!"

Well, that wasn't as strong as she wanted, and filled with a few voice cracks too many. But Sharp prayed it was enough.

© ©

@Effluvium

Normally, prey screaming made Effluvium hungrier. But this ones screams were...so loud. It groaned, lowering its head to paw at what must've been where its ears went. Effluvium raised snarled in response. It rose to its full height, and shook itself out. Then it stomping after Sharp. Ready to eat the high pitched lizard, to make the loud noise stop. Then, the tiny lizard spoke. Effluvium paused in its movements. Huffed. Annoyed that it could not feed. This one didn't seem large enough to hunt for it either.

It said it wasn't tasty, and it was bitter,(a new pair of words added to its vocabulary) though Effluvium had trouble believing it. The lizard was small. It would be crunchy. Flavor didn't bother it, and it liked texture. And a crunchy texture wasn't a bad one. But Effluvium also wasn't sure about eating small not-foods. Even ones that didn't look like they could fight back. The bright flashing small not-food made Effluvium feel sick and strange. Like the strange fish, but worse. It felt its stomach churn thinking about it. It wouldn't risk another one.


"Not...food." It said. Its words were stilted, as if it were trying to work its jaws to force them out. "You give Effluvium tasty food. Not bitter food." It said. Effluvium licked its face, thinking of food. It had its doubts Sharp had the ability to feed it. But it was a not food. And not foods were made for feeding.


"When I speak."

When I think.

@Sharp

The pounding in Sharp's heart, the pounding of true fear, was like nothing else when the beastly abomination looked down upon her. It pounded towards her, a whole ton of pure raw meat slapping against stone that made her feel sick. She was never looking at meat after this again. Assuming she survived the encounter.

But right when she got to the point of curling into a pointy ball on the floor... it stopped. Looked her over, and talked some more. At least it was sentient, right? She had trouble separating her trembling body from the floor, but it's demands were clear: bring it food (lest it possibly eat her).

But after seeing what was in front of her, the lizard really didn't think she could stomach anything more.

"W-would you possibly want... not food?" Sharp's voice was scratchy, still shrill from her screaming session. "U-uh, I can give you crafting l-lessons! Or c-child advice!" She backed away slowly, her small claws scraping against stone. "Maybe even show you how to build a house? Everyone w-wants one of those, right? Just please don't eat me."

© ©

@Effluvium

Effluvium's head tilted. It listened to Sharp, oddly quiet. It seemed to think that her speech was leading to food. Or, at least, somewhere where Effluvium could find food. But it lead to neither. Effluvium was oblivious to Sharp's fear. It was wholly unaware that she was still scared from the whole, yknow, threatening to eat her thing. Then, its jaws began to work. Knocking against one another with sounds similar to bones dislocating, preparing itself to speak again.

"Craft lessons...child. House?" It considered Sharp's offer. It grumbled, oddly similar to a hum. Effluvium's front limbs slid, until its' main body hit the floor. It sat, tucking its forelimbs beneath it. "Teach Effluvium how do I eat child." It thought. "Then, how craft food to eat. House food?" Effluvium liked the thought. If Effluvium could figure out how to make its own food, it could eat whenever it wanted. If house was food, house would be nice too.

"When I speak."

When I think.

@Sharp