A drabble that was part of a test run on a longer fic. I don't think it will go through, but I like this little piece about one of the small animals.
Imprisoned
Flesh meets metal. A small rabbit, barely a foot high if he stretched his ears up, was surrounded by metal and electronics. Wires pierced into his spine, feeding him some energy while drawing more away. With his life force infusing the mechanics, he felt as though he was greater than his body. But it didn't feel empowering. No, it made him feel helpless, at the mercy of the electronic brain of this not-creature that he had been placed inside. What would happen when the metal beast didn't need him anymore? Would it kill him?
The metal beast had a mind much bigger than his too. The rabbit couldn't understand it, thinking in numbers and letters. Those belong to more sophisticated creatures. However, he could understand the images and senses. He could look out its eyes and listen with its ears. It did not smell, it did not feel, and it did not have whiskers, so the rabbit always felt that lack distinctly.
Around his beast, there was grass going down a slope. There was a flat area with colorful flowers bopping along to their inner rhythm. There were some trees with long yellow trunks and wide green leaves. From that, he could tell he was still home at Green Hill Zone. But why was this great metal parasite now entrapping him?
He could remember another metal thing. It was a domed cylinder with a round platform atop it. And it had smelled so tasty, on so many levels. It was like fresh spring lettuce, sweet and tender. It was like perfectly ripe berries, fruity and nutritious. It was like nuts, vegetables, seeds… it seemed to hold every definition of tantalizing and then some. Tempted, the rabbit had come sniffing to find the source, which had seemed like a natural buffet.
He didn't have a name for the thing, but he could only think of it as a trap. Once he had found the opening, he found a sudden jolt of pain, then darkness like sleep. When he came awake again, he was already owned by the metal beast.
Scared, he tried again to escape, again to move. But he couldn't. He couldn't even move a whisker. Nor could he affect the metal beast. It did its own thing while holding him captive. For now, it seemed that the rabbit would never move again. He would never feel the warmth of the sun, nor the coolness of the breeze. He would never eat another flower, nor drink from the running streams. He would be owned by this metal beast until he died.
There was only one thing he could do. He could pray to the God of Life. Although the rabbit knew very little, there were some things that passed on through blood from one generation to the next. Chaos and Order had given birth to the God of Life. As a living creature, he owed everything to the God of Life, who had given its gift to every thing that breathed and moved. Chaos and Order too, but mostly the God of Life. Perhaps that might save him.
And then the great metal beast died.
The rabbit wasn't sure what had happened. One second he was praying; the next, the beast was falling to pieces around him. As it lost the ability to think its numbered thoughts, it lost its grip on the rabbit's life force. That returned to him on one rapid move, giving him back his senses and control of his body. But he was still afraid and whatever had killed the beast could kill him.
Run, his mind commanded.
And his body obeyed, struggling out of the wreckage of the metal beast, then rushing across the plateau to a safe spot. He was not nearly as fast as one of the thinking beasts, like the blue blur that continued along the ways of Green Hill without stopping. But he had always been fast enough for his survival.
Upon finding a hole to hide in, the rabbit stopped and let himself calm down. The sun was shining, putting warmth back on his pink fur. The breeze brought him scents of foods ready to eat, like tender leaves and ripe berries. And thankfully, his whiskers were working again, letting him know there was no immediate danger as long as he didn't enter the domed trap again.
What had saved him? He had thought the metal beast had its own weapons, the ability to spit fireballs and emit spikes. But something stronger must have come along. Whatever it had been, the rabbit silently asked for the blessings of the God of Life to fall upon that rescuer.
For now, the rabbit was hungry and felt a touch ill. He ate some nearby grasses, then went to sleep within the hole. He was free now, and he would be okay.