A/N: I know nearly everybody has done this, but Godzilla himself is interesting on his own so I try to see what I'll come up writing about him. It's also a little practice - I haven't write for so, so long, this will be a nice kick-start for my muse. Also, because it's fun!
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I have been feeling uncomfortable for a few days but tonight, I am absolutely anxious. Even the usual darkness in the water cannot soothe me as I swim around, trying to find something with which I can let out some of my restlessness. I swim down right to the bottom of the bay and still cannot escape it.
I am what the humans know as Godzilla. I do not recognize the meaning, merely accepting what he has given me, but I do know what I am; a predator. Because of that, this fear is irritating – fear is an emotion reserved for the prey-kind. I am no prey. I seldom need the benefit of being frightened. Of course, I fear too at one time or another but it does not hold me back indefinitely or send me cowering back with tail between my legs. I retreat when the need presses me but I will always come back to claim back the victory that is mine – such is the way of the predators.
A yellow glint flits at the periphery of my vision as I swim on. I know it is watching my every move but I am not overly concerned of the stalker's presence – I barely do unless I feel the urge to chew something just for the fun of it, a habit of hatchlinghood that never entirely shakes off. I have heard somebody call it 'Nuh-ee-gel', or at least, that's what it sounded like to me – and to this very day, I am still perplexed by this yellow thing. It has voices and it can move but I never actually sense life stirring within it, like it was a pretender to living bodies – an Unlife of some sort. Oftentimes it piques my curiousity but for now, I am more inclined to solitude, thank you very much. Its speed is laughable compared to mine and with a few powerful beats of my tail, it is left far enough to be visible. However, solitude is hard to come by tonight, it seems – with the corner of my eyes, I catch a metallic glint of another familiar shape joining in the pursuit of me, this one in darker shade of yellow instead of the stalker's brighter colouration. This one, though, is a little different. I know that it is merely another Unlife like the previous stalker but I sense that it carries a living creature within it, one that I recognize. I know it without knowing how; this person is the only one whose presence I tolerate – no, welcome, in fact. I give my respect and concern to no other but him – the giver of my name. He is my father…sort of.
…Well, actually, I made him my father. Others of his kind have given him various names, 'Nick' being the most frequent, but to me he is simply Father. When I broke out of my egg years ago, his was the only life I could feel around me and the scent he had enveloped his body with was something pleasant, something oddly familiar. And I…I have identified him as my own ever since then, someone that I translate into safety and comfort, even affection. For a time, I believed he is my true parent, a creator of my flesh. I heeded his words, learned his strange wisdom and ways of life and was content to let my baffled instinct to settle. But I am not stupid and very soon I understand why I am not like my father at all or any of his friends. For one, I am massive – I now dwarf my father several times over, with teeth that can effortlessly rip him and a tail which I have used to devastating effects a few times already; my father is tiny by comparison, hardly bigger than a talon on one of my toes, tailless, and with an overall feature that is not exactly predatory or even frightening. The scent of my kind that has effortlessly lured me into his embrace in my hatchlinghood has long vanished since then and the innate restraint on my hunter-instinct has been lifted. Yet I never feel the desire to hurt him or break free from his reach. His company is precious to me and I…oh, a predator should never feel like this, but I do not want to lose him. I care for him, I truly do. I want to protect him, to keep him safe, to keep him mine.
Dimly, I am aware of the Unlife carrying my father within its belly, and the stalker further still behind me, struggling to keep up with my speed. Water is my element, my world; in it, few can match me whether it comes to stealth or speed. Yet even now, I hardly regard his presence while I focus myself into forced calmness – the agitation is prickling at my senses with constant annoyance. My swimming carries me to a region of the water that I know well but rarely visit; this is the area where other humans roam in their floating metal leaves, seeking to catch their own share of fish with their strange trailing web. I rarely have need to hunt – Nick periodically provide enough food for me to keep me satisfied – but the humans' presences easily irritate me; instinct tells me that they are intruders to places I call my own and I am innately driven to chase them off. Only precious few of the humans that I allow to be here; my father, of course, and then, there are also other members of his pack. So far as I can tell, they do not carry the familial scent that ties their bloods to that of my father's but I accept them as my father does, as a 'family'. However, the rest of the humans…
I lose against my better judgment and let my irritation drive me into recklessness. My patience, already running dangerously thin, is further drained by the sense of imminent danger. These humans are no threat to me but they are certainly getting in my way. With no outlet to spend my aggression upon, the humans become my unfortunate targets. A dash of my tail drives me forward and my jaws snap close as soon as the net attached to the floating metal leaf is within range. I cannot help but being a little opportunistic, though – I know that the net in my mouth is their tool to catch fish… and it is my favourite food. I rarely can resist temptations of easy meals and the humans' catch will be an extremely easy target for me, costing almost no energy for my part in pursuing the fishes. To my disappointment, though, as I lift my torso out of the water, the weight of the net proves the little bounty in it. The humans' metal leaf itself dangles precariously off the water by the net I'm holding in my mouth and I can hear the terrified screams of its occupants from within it. Unfortunately, it only makes me all the more annoyed. The impulsive roars I give announce my bad mood to the world even as I realize the presence of another floating metal leaf that appears seemingly out of the blue in my single-minded annoyance. However, I am more familiar with this one and so, feel no territorial instinct that the one I have caught invokes; this one is white in colour, with strange marking at the front that may or may not be a face of some creature I encounter in the ocean. Most importantly, like the Unlife that carries my father within its belly, this newcomer metal leaf also occasionally carries my father and his pack upon it, especially when they have needs to traverse the water. They are acceptable to my territory just like the yellow stalker has been – they all belong to my father and therefore are spared from my excursion.
However, the one I have caught is certainly an intruder and I am determined to get rid of it. I turn myself away from Father's metal leaf and plunge myself into the water, the net still clasped between my jaws, dragging the intruder-metal leaf with me. I try my luck in detaching the net from it – the fishes in it may be few, but they can still be complimentary snacks – and wiggle the net around while I continue to pull the metal leaf along, leading it out of my stretch of water. Their terrified shouts intensify – though muffled by the water surrounding me – when I tug at the net harder and almost capsize their metal leaf in the process. The lingering taste of what few mouthfuls of fishes I have managed to catch during my earlier swim seems to fuel my hunger…and the pitiful few that are within the net seems suddenly like a feast worth fighting over in my clouded mind.
"Godzilla!"
I start at the naming of me, so much so that I temporarily forget to snatch the net and its catch from the metal leaf. I am fully aware of my father's inability to function in the water as well as myself but the voice that speaks to me undoubtedly belongs to him. He sounds so very near too, as if he is right beside me…but experiences tell me that my father cannot speak when he is underwater, exactly where I am now. Before I can fully comprehend the situation, the disembodied voice of my father speaks again, and this time, it issues to me an instruction that I have heard numerous of times already: "Back away! Back away!"
Baffled, I turn my head to where the voice seems to come from…and to my greater bafflement, where the speaker is expected to be, I find instead the yellow stalker Unlife. However, neither Father himself nor the dark-yellow Unlife he embarks in is in the immediate area. It must have been one of the many tricks the humans have which enable him to communicate thus, I conclude, although I give no thought as to how this is achieved. The question is not mine to answer. Convinced now that the speaker is really him despite the lack of his presence, I am obliged to heed his order. I open my maw, letting the net float out of my mouth freely, suppressing my slight disappointment in having to let the intruders go.
Father's voice, still issuing out from the Unlife stalker, shouts again once I have obeyed his first command: "Follow me! Follow me!"
I do not question the reasons as I follow the retreat of the yellow stalker, as was expected of me when such instructions are given. But then, something strange takes place; the stalker's body spazzes and crackles with erratic force, brief sparks glittering all over it. Father's voice becomes distorted as if responding to the stalker's own seizures…and as he becomes too incomprehensible to understand, a mixture of anger and worry swells unexpectedly within me. I fear that I have been fooled by this yellow stalker into leaving the area, distracting me away from the scene when the intruding metal leaf is up to no good…and the humans' mischief may probably include harming my father. The increasingly unintelligible noises from the yellow stalker prove to be too much of an irritation with my current mood; with a flick of my tail, I dismiss the Unlife stalker and save my ears from further audial tortures.
It may be difficult to believe but most of the time, I am surprisingly docile; unless I feel those irrational urges to throw tantrum, and even that is growing uncommon now, I do not run amok without reasons unless there are threats to my existence or my father. When I do not hunt, I prefer to sleep in my hideout or bask near my father's aboveground lair, saving my energy from fruitless activities. I can easily tolerate his antics and all the ridiculous things he carry out even though I can barely understand to what purpose he does so. I enjoy his presence and companionship and the occasional touches I receive are appropriately treasured. I even bear the closeness of others of his pack and lend them my aid in dangerous situations…but that is as far I am willing to go. If strangers happen to be near enough to offend my calmness, my normally quiet manners will evolve into monstrous raging, turning me into a nightmarish creature with an innate territorial sense to eliminate those that I do not recognize.
That same rage is fast transforming me into the vicious incarnation of myself. I break the surface of the water with a splash, head swiveling around in search of the intruder-metal leaf that I have previously abandoned. My eyes fall upon said object immediately, with the human owners standing upon it. My throat vibrates with warning growls, realizing that I have emerged a mere few feet from them. I bring my head down to them, smelling their fear and delighting in it as they look upon me helplessly, an intoxicating scent to my nose that fuels my anger to new levels. Already I can feel the satisfaction of spilled blood, of flesh being torn apart –
A shrill sound suddenly takes me by surprise, halting my dangerous intention from commencing into actions. By itself, the interfering noise should only serve to increase my aggression but alongside it, there is a familiar call that prevents my rage from boiling full-fledged.
"Back away!"
The voice shouts again, piercing through the veil of my bloodlust with the keenness of my teeth sinking into my enemies' flesh. The effect is instantaneous; I can feel my murderous anger dissipating into mild annoyance. My clouded thoughts become clear, giving way for intelligence and reasoning to fill the gaps in my mind. Only one man can assert such influence upon me and he is now standing on top of his half-floating Unlife, his hands waving around to further fish my attentions.
"Godzilla, back away!"
Even as Father utters those words, I have already moved myself away from those intruders. I bring my head down before my father, signifying my full attention upon him; a questioning growl rises in my throat. I understand his instructions, yes, but I cannot comprehend why he tolerates their presences in my – our – area. Perhaps he can read my not-so-gentle intentions towards them, knowing that in my wrath, I can be quite reckless with my actions. His face shows all the sign of fear, though clearly it is not for himself. I give him a purring growl definitive of my gentler side, assuring him that I am now free of my bloodlust. Almost instantly, his body relaxes a little when he hears me using the tone…though perhaps he is still not completely sure if I will leave the humans unharmed, hence his to-be-on-the-safe-side order of 'go home'.
I understand what he wants and oblige with it. I am sure my father will know how to deal with the intruders so I leave him be, diving back underwater and disappearing out of his sight. I leave the open water and return to the bay that I have made home for myself; my lair has been burrowed out in the area, close enough to the water edge that the bay's shoreline is visible but far enough that its depth ensure a satisfying swim for me. On fine days, my eyes can see the lonesome structure that is my father's place, his own aboveground lair where most of his time is spent. I frequently make my appearance there; the shallow water surrounding it is excellent for basking and even the small sandy stretch at the building's side offers me a place to just laze around when nothing calls to my attention. These past few days, however, I find myself avoiding the place for a strange darkness has fallen upon it, one that drives me into constant restlessness should I come too close. It is somehow familiar but I cannot quite put my talon on it, hence my growing disappointment. If it has been any other place, I would have likely thrashed the place and rip the walls apart. But this is different because it belongs to Father – his refuge, his lair, just as the underwater cave is my respite when things become too overwhelming. If someone should invade my lair and destroy it, I will be very, very angry – I do not wish to invoke Father's anger towards me if I act that recklessly.
I guess it's alright either way – I can just stay put and observe for events to unfold themselves. I may be a predator, but I am one with the patience to ambush when my enemies have let their guards down.
