Once, on a planet far away, there lived a giant bug. He was just one among countless others. He walked through the mushroom-infested bogs, the endless sands, the infernal lava pits. He was driven by something, but as to what it was he could not explain. His legs moved in unison and he scaled cliffs and ceilings, held on to every surface instead of falling into chasms. Often, he burrowed, and burrowed, and burrowed again.
There it was again, that strange something which kept him going. He did not see; his kind have no eyes. His orientation was entirely by smell and sound and feeling vibrations. He sniffed, sniffed, and sniffed some more. There it was again. Something strange. Something new. A smell he had never smelled before, sounds he had never heard before. A rhythmic thumping. Powerful shockwaves. And something almost akin to the gurgling sound made by the only thing he feared, the exploding brothers.
His curiosity - yes, that was what it was he realised - drove him on. His curiosity made him move from here to there and back again. He felt as if he was going in circles.
That strange smell was there again, fading, fading. It was elusive. He wished to know what it was.
Suddenly the ground beneath him gave way. He was falling! This too was a new sensation, and in some way he cherished it. He did not fear it - again, he feared naught but the exploding brothers - but it did feel a little unpleasant. Disorienting, even.
Two loud sounds rang out, then several more. The air around him was disturbed, strange whistling noises moving from the front to the back. But this was it! The smell, the thing that stimulated his curiosity.
Then he heard something new yet again. An arrangement of sounds unlike any other before. More rhythmic thumping. He moved forward... and halted. His leg was broken. He did not feel pain, but he knew he could not move on like that. He knew it was only a matter of time now until one of his brothers would become an enemy. His kind eats their wounded. He suddenly felt very alone, and very hungry. When was the last time he had eaten?
The thing moved closer. Carefully, as he judged based on the vibrations, and slowly. He felt something hard and cold against his front carapace. A click. A short arrangement of sounds. And he felt fear greater than towards that of the exploding brothers. His time to die had already come.
But then the hard thing moved away. The thumping became lesser as the... something stepped away. And he smelled it. The thing he had been looking for, right in front of him. It was a lifeless thing, but it smelled so good. Carefully, he sniffed it. Its aroma was unlike anything, so strong and varied. He bit it, and it brought him delight. He chomped it right down, and regretted that it was already gone.
And then... he waited.
Nobody came. He was alone, left and forgotten. But this gave him the chance to heal his leg. However long it took, he moved it every now and then, and eventually it was as good as new. He continued his voyage, and found what he wanted. That stomping being, its irregular beat as if moving on only two of its legs. He knew he had found it again. It came closer, and closer, and closer. But something was wrong. There was, once again, a click. Something cold and hard pressed against him. The fear of death. But again, death did not come. Instead, something soft reached out for him. It touched his body, and it felt nice!
.̸̻̜̯̺̣̃̀̉̄̒.̸̥̳̼̐̀͜.̶̢̪͎̔͑Ș̴̛̠̺̦̩̏͌̒͘t̸̢̳̼̘͍̆̍ḛ̶͉̖̼̹̓̓ȩ̴͉͙̬͓͒̒̓͋͠v̶̞̒̈́́é̴͉̯̹̺̻̄͐͝?̶̲̱͚̀̑̅̿̇
Shiiiv. A strange sound, but he knew, this was now his name. He waggled in joy. The being touched him more, with affection. The being was now his friend. But then they came. His brothers had arrived. A cacophony of sounds and vibrations exploded into the endless void. He knew what to do, he had to protect his new friend! He went ahead and challenged his brothers to fight. He was strong, stronger than he ever felt! He could protect! And so he bit his way forward, he slashed, and slashed, and clawed, and clawed. Many of his brothers fell, he roared in victory. They would have eaten him without a second thought! But that being, that which named him, it did not!
Even so, he was getting wounded. His carapace was breaking off. His legs got pierced. His teeth split and cracked. He had to endure, but eventually it proved too much. There was silence. He had won. He had protected his friend! Slowly, so very slowly he crawled back. To feel one more touch, one more nuzzle. He did not make it all the way, his broken and battered body too weak to continue. Yet there it was, that one last touch before his life went out. His friend had come! His friend had sought him out to say good-bye.
Now he felt a new emotion. It was a good emotion, what he felt. Joy? He was not sure. It was better than when he ate the good-smelling thing. His friend did not leave until his body went still.
...
...
...
How long had it been? He was in a void, but there was not even sound. No vibrations. No good-smelling somethings.
There was nothingness, nothing all around. But then... then there was. There just was.
"̵̣̽͋̀͂͌̕Î̶̪̞̠̗̗̆̎̈́̈́͛̕͝'̵̡͔̻̑͌͛͠m̸̡̃̈́̍̈́̓͆̍ ̶͉͕̥̗̐̌̀̂̍ĝ̸̳̫̞̤̩̍͋̊͝ǫ̵͖̲͋͊̾͌́̔̍̀̈n̷̼̻̪̪̏̏͐̓̀͋n̷̺͇̦̞̮͙͖̑̽̿à̶͖̣̻͙͖̂̃̾̽͂̂̕ ̶̭͙͇͈̯̥͌͆̍́̕͝͝c̴̢̧͓̲͕̗̜͗̏͐́͆̔a̸̝̥̣̟͘͜l̷͎͈̹̦͈̼̰͙̔̉́̓̓̒̄͛̊̚l̷̡̻͙̜͖̼̤͓̠͒̔̂̑͐̕͜ ̶̤̈̒̎̅͆̽̈́̌̌̈́y̸̧̧̬̞͚̤̬̌͗̑͆͌̃͝o̴̟̮͙̜̭̰̦͊́̒͒̃̅̓͒͘u̸͓͍̾̊̿͘͜͝ ̸̲̗̇́̎͒̌͋͝͝Ş̷̹̞͓̦̦̰̓̓ṫ̶̬̭͗͗̍̓͌̚͝ẽ̵̮̓̎̐̆̄̆͂̀͘e̵̞̊̃̎͗͂v̸̼̞͙̲̲̰͋͗̀͜é̶̡̝̝̙̮̦͎̒̇͘!̶̟͈̲̤̥̝̬̩̊̅̕͝"̷̬̫̜̬̯̣̜̫̤̺̊̑͆̐̀͛͐̍̋͝
He was back! Back with his friend! And he knew... he just knew, he could come back whenever his friend would call his name. His body felt slightly different, slower yet tougher. It did not matter. All that mattered was that his friend was alive, and that he could protect him again. And so he would do, for all time.
Because his name, he knew, was not Shiiiv. No, his name... his name was Steeve!