Hey guys. Happy New Year! Here's a present (though it probably isn't the best)

Scoria 34: The Planet of The Invertebrates

Chapter 3

A bright red star bounds over the algae tree tops, signaling the start of a new day. The Scorpinok tribe slowly woke up and exited their huts to begin their day time jobs like hunting and gathering resources. Gulfam watched his tribe from his hut. He was happy that everything went back to normal after the pod crashed through the canopy three days ago. Since then, the three humans had been integrated into Scorpinok society. Though he wonders where they are since they haven't emerged from their hut yet. Maybe humans and Scorpinoks woke up at different times? He had no idea, but he decided to let them be for now.

That was when he heard a scream, a Scorpinok one no less. He exited his hut and ran to the source. Everyone was crowding around something. He pushed his people to the side, and his grey eyes widened in shock.

It was one of his own men, covered in a sticky web with two puncture holes in his chest. Blue blood seeped from the holes. Gulfam knew this Scorpinok was dead. And he knew the culprit.

"Alert the hunters," he ordered. The village went into a panic. The men grabbed their spears and bows, along with food for the hunt. The hunters gathered in the central plaza, awaiting Gulfam's command.

It was here when Cari emerged from her own hut. She was awakened by all the noise the village was making during the panic, which she didn't realize was going on. She noticed the congregation and joined with the crowd that formed around the hunters. She turned her translator on, wondering what Gulfam was going to say.

"My people! We are in grave danger! The monsters have returned and have already claimed their first victim." The hunters gripped their spears and bows tighter. Cari gasped in shock. What does he mean by monsters? "We are going to go find these monsters and kill them once and for all. Are you with me!?" The hunters let out a war cry, pleasing Gulfam. He then noticed Cari walking up to him.

"What's going on," she asked.

"A monster has killed one of my own kin. I want to set things straight," he told her.

"Then...let me help. I want to at least pay you back for letting us stay in your village," Cari told him. Gulfam went quiet, putting his claw against his chin. He began to think. Would it be wise to bring her with them? She probably doesn't even have training. Maybe it would be good practice?

"Hm... you good with medicine?"

"Well, my parents were doctors back home, and they did teach me a lot of their stuff, so...I guess," she told him.

"Good. You'll be the medic," he told her. She wanted to help them on the front-lines, but a medic is okay as well. Gulfam gave her the materials needed, and they set out to find what killed his kin.

The hunters swung from branch to branch using their claws and tails, which reminded her of how monkeys travelled. She had trouble keeping up with them, but Gulfam helped her catch up. They landed on a platform, cut straight from a fallen algae tree and hung up to help the Scorpinoks hunt. A multitude of paths came from this platform.

"Let's stick together. The monster is weaker when we fight as one," Gulfam ordered. They began to travel on one of the paths. They were on the alert, holding their bows and spears tightly while what looked like venom began to drip from the ends of the stingers on the ends of their tails. Cari looked around. It was dark, but bioluminescent algae also populated this sector, providing her and the hunters some light to walk upon the path. She was mesmerized by the fluent colors of the algae.

But then she slipped. She tried grabbing hold of the path, but it was moist, preventing her from holding on. She started to fall, screaming as the hunters realized what had happened. Realizing they wouldn't get her in time, she closed her eyes and readied to meet the bottom. At the time she heard the forest floor screaming in fear as she was falling, she stopped. Opening her eyes, she found herself on a large web. She tried to get up, but it was rather sticky, preventing her from moving.

"Great, just great," she said to herself as she struggled to lift her arm up. She felt vulnerable in this position. It only made it worse when she felt the web vibrate. Did something just get on the web? Turning her head, she saw something horrifying. It was a large creature, about the same size as a bus, with two clawed arms, almost like a scorpion, six legs, a long, thick abdomen, large fangs, small eyes, a small head, and smooth white skin. It started to slowly creep its way towards her. She struggled to break free, but the web tightens its grip, almost as if it was a living creature. Her eyes widened in fear as the creature now stood over it, fangs poised to strike. She swore she saw blue blood on them. Was this the creature Gulfam was talking about? She was too shocked to care, as it was about to strike down on her. She awaited her fate.

"Time for a warm up." That didn't sound like Gulfam, or any of the other hunters. The creature removed its gaze and focused on someone outside of her own vision. The creature was then seen being thrown by this person to the other side of the web. She heard this awful buzzing sound nearby. She turned her eyes to the direction of the sound, and gasped at what she saw.

He looked like a Scorpinok, but he had wings, a large abdomen with a stinger at the end, and yellow skin with black markings around his eyes, nose, shoulders, ankles, and back. What and who was he?

The creature retaliated quickly, raising its abdomen towards the humanoid and firing sticky webbing. The humanoid reacted quickly, dodging the incoming projectiles and aimed his fist down at its face. He slammed his fist upon it with such a force that the web broke. The creature fell as the humanoid went after it. Cari, on the other hand, was falling, but the web began to wrap around her. The web then collided with the side of a algae tower, leaving her stuck again. She sighed in relief. She was done with falling! But then she realized that, after looking around, that Gulfam and his hunters may not be able to reach her.

She hung from the side of the tower for what felt like hours, until the familiar wing beat from before was heard. She looked down to see that the humanoid, his hands covered in blue blood, was flying up from the forest floor and away from the scene. She realized that he was her only chance of escape.

"H-Hey!" The humanoid stopped and turned his head over to her. "Um...a little help please?"

"Who are you," he questioned, slowly flying towards her.

"I'm Cari...I'm not exactly from around here," she told him.

"Hmph." Cari looked nervously at him as he grabbed the front of the web and pulled it off with ease. He grabbed hold of her, holding her close to his body as he flew up to the path, where he put her down.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it," he told her as he was about to fly off.

"Wait! Who are you," she asked him. He stopped and turned back to her.

"Uh...I'm Berac. And for your information, I am a waspan, not a beegon. Our races get confused a lot," he told her.

"Oh...I see..." Berac smirked before flying off. She watched him disappear behind an algae tower before letting out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. She heard footsteps behind her. She turned to see Gulfam and the hunters. Gulfam was worried sick and was the one to approach.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she told him.

"How are you back up here so quickly? We saw you fall," Gulfam questioned. She explained to them about Berac, how he somehow managed to beat the creature by himself and flew her back up. The hunters grew worried looks on their faces, but Gulfam knew why.

"I know why you all are worried. Waspans are known to be very powerful all on their own. But I know that they mean us no harm. We leave them alone, they will leave us alone, simple as that," he told them. They breathed a sigh of relief before looking over to Cari. She started getting uncomfortable, a blush forming over her cheeks.

"Please watch where you're going next time."

Thanks for reading this chapter! I hope you enjoyed (if you didn't, that's fine). If you want to give me ideas, leave a review.

This is Sporedude135, signing off...