Hello everyone! Here we have the second chapter. Still a little slow at this point, but that's to be expected with this kind of story I guess. It will pick up soon and we will get to see our first Zerg creatures. This will be a true beginnings and not everything will appear as you think it should at first. Anyway that's all for now!
Taking her time, Rachel looked around the forest. She hadn't seen it in the daylight yet and it looked much better. She could hear birds singing, see the leaves rustling with the soft breeze. There were small flowers bursting off of trees and bushes, and it looked beautiful. The trees weren't very dense, and she could easily see the sky above her. As she was exploring, she realized that she didn't feel as hungry or as thirsty as she thought she would. She was also making good time, though she had no destination in mind.
After a couple hours of walking, she stumbled across the one thing she didn't want to at this point. A wolf was sitting in a small clearing, licking itself clean. Rachel started panicking slightly, knowing that there would be more around somewhere. She tried to take a detour around the clearing, to avoid the wolf before she heard a rustling around her. She turned only to come face to face with another wolf.
Rachel felt the fight leave her, knowing that she could never fight off one, let alone the pack that was sure to follow. Just as she was about to give up and give her life away, a fire ignited inside of her. 'No! I won't give up without a fight!' She thought to herself.
She got into a sloppy stance, facing the wolf in front of her, before hearing rustling as 3 more joined her. It was less than she thought would come, but more than would be required to kill her. The rest of the pack seemed to be the signal to the first wolf, because it attacked nearly as soon as the rest showed up.
Rachel ducked beneath the wolf, lashing out above her to hit it in the side, but before she could even move another darted in and raked their claws across her leg. She screamed and fell to the floor, as pain seared up through her body. She gripped her leg and felt the blood running down her fingers. She looked up and was slightly surprised. There were still only 3 wolfs. She looked over at the 4th and saw it laying on the ground in pain.
Before she could even register the fact that she had been the one to do that, another wolf dashed at her. She lashed out with a kick, hitting it in the face, sending it shooting away. This time she did have time to gasp in surprise.
"This shouldn't be possible" She whispered, pulling her hand away. The rest of the wolves were looking at her suspiciously, backing away slowly as the first two joined them. She got up, wincing slightly as she leaned against a tree. 'At least I'm getting numb to the pain' She thought, knowing that her blood would probably draw even more creatures that would try and kill her. 'But… what was with?' She thought, surprised that she had had the strength to fight off the wolves. She knew it shouldn't, couldn't be possible. Yet it was.
She slowly started limping off, the pain getting less and less. She sighed in relief as she was able to walk fully again, finally used to the pain on her leg. Her mind kept going back to the fight as she walked, wondering where that strength came from. 'How is that possible?' She thought in her mind. Suddenly her instincts went off, warning her that danger was nearby. She stopped and looked around, wondering what was coming, and how she knew it.
Suddenly another wolf jumped out at her, she couldn't tell if it was from the same pack, or another one that came after the scent of blood. A little more confident than the few minutes before, she ducked and moved out of the way of the wolf's claws, before lashing out and slamming her fist into the side of its head. She looked down at its unconscious form, and that same instinct in her was going off again. But it was saying something else this time. It was calling for death.
She blinked and backed away a little, the thought of killing the wolf seemed to repulse a small part of her mind, but another part, that was growing slowly, was telling her to kill it. 'We need food' it seemed to whisper, 'It attacked you first, you are no stranger to death' She looked down at the wolf , the part of her brain that was telling her not to kill it was growing smaller.
She looked around and then down at the wolf, before reaching down and grabbing its neck. She gripped it as hard as she could, trying to choke it. She didn't realize that she had crushed its windpipe nearly immediately. She waited a while, wanting ot make sure it was dead before pulling away. She thought she should be disgusted, that she should feel worse for killing the animal. But for some reason, she didn't.
She didn't know what to do with it out, knowing that she should bring it with her for food, but not having away to cut it up. She was at a lost. She looked around, nothing but wood and leaves as far as she could see. She thought back to the past few minutes, the strength that she had, before reaching down and trying to pick it up. It was heavy, as she was suspecting, but she could lift it. She was astonished, "This isn't possible." She whispered, looking around and then at the creature she was holding with both hands. Not knowing what to think anymore, she started walking again, deciding she needed to find a place that she could call home.
She walked for about an hour, her muscles finally starting to burn from the effort of carrying the wolf for so long, yet that small little voice that had been in her head since she woke up didn't want to stop. It was looking for something. She took her time, looking at the flowers, smiling at the pretty sight, before she noticed that they were getting lighter, and farther apart. She looked ahead and saw a gap in the trees. "I guess this is the end of the forest." She whispered, breaking through the line of trees.
It was an expansive clearing, nearly empty except the few trees poking up out of the ground. The ground was full of large tall plants and shorter grass. The small voice decided that this was a place to settle down. She however didn't agree. There was no place to hide, nothing ot keep her safe from the elements. She walked a little while into the grasslands, before putting the wolf down. That little voice was pushing at her again, nagging her, but she didn't know what it wanted.
She sat down next to it and looked around. "I need a home" She whispered, and then something happened. She felt like something was being pulled out of her, like she was losing her very life and soul, before it stopped, leaving her gasping and panting. She felt ready to pass out, slowly laying on the ground and curling up, before drifting off to sleep, not realizing that just a few feet away, a cocoon wrapped in some fleshy substance was growing.
Rachel's eyes snapped open. She looked around and saw the sun was high in the sky, making her eyes widen "Did I sleep through the night?" She asked herself, looking around, wondering just how long she had been out. As she was looking, her eyes caught onto something, a cocoon of flesh that was protruding out of the ground. She wanted to back away, look away in disgust, but that voice in the back of her mind wouldn't let her, so she walked closer.
She reached out and put her hand on it, feeling some kind of connection with the strange shape. She looked a little closer at it. It was slimy, and pink with what looked like veins throughout the body. There was a connection to it, feeling like it was a part of her. She pulled away and continued to let it grow, going back to the dog that she had brought with her from the forest. A hunger pang ran through her body, as she looked down at the meat she brought with her.
"How am I going to eat this?" She whispered and reached out, poking it and sighing, "I don't even have a way to cook it" She complained with a pout on her lips. She made her way back into the forest, intent on looking for something to eat until she found a way to cook her meat, or find out why that voice in the back of her head was so adamant that she keep it.
A couple of days of picking food from the trees and drinking out of a stream running through the forest later and she felt it. The cocoon was calling to her. She walked back into the clearing, looking at the huge bulge. It had grown a lot over the past few days. It was easily the size of a 2 story house at this point, and she could see something inside of it.
Seconds later, the cocoon broke, and the strangest thing she had ever seen was now sitting in front of her. At first glance it looked like a small fleshy hill, circular and raising up to a point at the top. It had bones protruding up out of the base and 4 entrances opposite from each other.
The next thing she noticed was that the voice in the back of her head got slightly louder, and there seemed to be another presence that she could feel in her mind. She ignored that for a moment and brought her wolf carcass into entrance closest to her.
She didn't know what to be expecting, maybe something like the inside of a stomach, but not what she found. It seemed like a cave, the ground below her didn't even feel sticky. It was plain for the most part, except little pouches and holes that seemed to be along the walls, and a pit in the middle that seemed to be filled with some kind of liquid.
She followed her instinct and put the wolf carcass into the pit, where it evaporated nearly instantly. She looked down in shock, tears springing to her eyes, 'I wanted to eat' She nearly whimpered inside of her head, when she felt a small draw on her energy once again. She looked around, wondering what was happening, but nothing seemed to be changing.
Giving a sigh, she turned and walked back out, knowing that she would have to find something else to eat this time. As she got back outside, the strangest thing stopped her. There was some pink fleshy substance on the ground, and small cocoons on the side of her new home.
That little voice in the back of her mind was in her head again, telling her that her food was right in front of her. She looked down at the fleshy pink substance that was growing in all directions around her. "eat this?" She whispered to herself, not quite sure if it was safe.
She kneeled down on top of the ground and reached out, feeling the growing substance. It felt spongy, not nearly as slimy as she had first thought. She broke a piece off, barely noticing that more grew back nearly instantly. She started examining it. It looked pretty much like a slimy pink sponge, though she could not feel the slime anywhere.
Knowing that the voice hadn't led her astray so far, she leaned in and nibbled on it softly. Her eyes widened in surprise. It tasted sweet! It was one of the best things she'd ever eaten. Ignoring the other thoughts nagging at her at that point in time, she pulled off another piece and finished both quickly, feeling fuller than she had in a while.
Rachel smiled for the first time in the past few days, things seemed to be looking up, little did she know that her surprises of that day had only just begun.
