Curiosity

Grendel’s eyes went to all possible directions as they scanned the landscape in front of him. He couldn’t help it, there was no way to be sure.

Everything was dark around him, and yet he knew this wasn’t the time the sun went down. If experience had taught him something, there were many things lurking in the dark places. Really, really bad things. Yet this time around there seemed to be nothing wrong. His ears only picked up the flutter of birds and distant calls and rustling of wind on leaves. His nose caught scents of humidity and fresh fruit. And he really saw nothing but the occasional little thing squirming in the undergrowth. After what seemed like the fifth check, he finally mustered the courage and pushed himself out of the shrubbery

He was at the base of the Giant Tree. He had heard many stories about it, and he had caught glimpses in the distance during his wanderings, but there were truly no words to describe how monstrous, how majestic, how impossibly gargantuan it was. The great trunk stood like an ancient, smooth mountain, and the greyish-brown bark was invaded by all sorts of creeping vegetation and marks and holes and animal nests and jagged splinters. Far above were the massive branches, carpeted with dangling vines, so large Grendel thought he’d stand in those perfectly if he could only climb. And even further above, floating over all in sight was the luminous green foliage, so endless and thick and lush no matter where the squamataur looked. So dense, in fact, it practically blotted out the sun rays, and a perpetual night engulfed the base. As a result, almost everything that Grendel could see glowed with its own light. Fireflies and all sorts of sparkling critters danced and swayed and darted on the sky like tiny living stars, and flowers and fruit and fungi of all kinds bathed the soil with their unearthly light.

A hauntingly beautiful view it was, and Grendel watched it with certain awe as he dragged himself down the grassy slope. Eventually he reached a spot between the gargantuan roots, and with a lazy gesture he dropped on it like a rock, raising a small cloud of dust and spores on his fall. Long, puffy mushrooms shuddered around him while he lied on his back and put his hands behind his head.

Yes, this was the good life. To not worry about something else going after you, to not go through hell for a meagre snack. Just enjoy the view, watch the day pass with your belly pleasantly full. One had to enjoy those few moments when they presented themselves. And Grendel certainly didn’t let those pass by.


He felt an itch erupt on his back, and reached behind with one arm. He promptly groaned; much as he tried, he couldn’t get there. The squamataur didn’t give up at this and positioned his tauric half on the roots, then started scratching his back against the rough bark. Now that was something! Soon enough he was squirming and rolling against the tree, letting out comical hums of contentment, his tail wagging in pleasure. He should have tried this long ago!

Thunk

Huh. What was that just now?

Quickly he spun around, leaving his back against the giant roots, and raised his tail in a defensive posture. It was weird, nothing seemed amiss in there. The glowing insects, the luminous flowers, that brown thing on the grass…

Wait…was that brown thing there before?

Grendel’s curiosity got the best of him, and he started approaching the object at a slow, cautious pace. It didn’t seem to be any creature he had seen before. In fact it didn’t look like it was alive at all. Some sort of…cube, couldn’t be bigger than his head. It appeared to be made of wood and strange markings could be seen on its surface. Even more carefully, the squamataur extended an arm towards the thing, pausing at every turn to look around. He gave another step, and finally poked it. Nothing happened. Grendel only got more confused than before, and picked the object up right away.

Now he got a good look at it, the cube was even weirder than he thought. It had some sort of toothed wheels of various sizes on its side, and the markings looked like they had been carved with some sort of little claw or blade. Certainly it wasn’t edible. What manner of device it was? He had never seen humans or nekos or even elves build something like this, and it didn’t look like something they had the aesthetics for either. How strange…

Just then he noticed one of the sides had this small, deep hole on it. With a curious little noise, he turned it and tried to take a look inside. He couldn’t make out anything but darkness. Perhaps he should try putting a finger in there…

…And almost immediately he was wailing and convulsing wildly against the tree roots. An electric discharge!! Powerful and strong enough to course through his whole body, leaving a burning and sizzling pain to take over his senses. Making things worse, his finger had gotten stuck on the cube, and it just wouldn’t come out. There was no end to that pain!

It took several agonizing minutes for the squamataur to finally break free, and he wasted no time in throwing that vile device against the floor afterwards. Exhausted and with his hair now puffed and bristly from the static energy, Grendel grabbed a nearby rock and, with an angered roar, started bashing the cube again and again. “Stupid!!” He yelled “Stupid, stupid, stupid!!!”

“Hey look! Anna, there it is!”

That voice stopped Grendel on his tracks, and he looked back to the tree. Above him there were two female nagas, clinging with their tails to one of the lowest branches. One was blonde with teal scales, and she looked at her partner like a sort of scolded, if still cheerful kid. The other, with short pink hair and blue scales, had a very upset look in her face, and constantly switched between the other naga and Grendel

“Oh, you’re lucky it’s still in one piece, Crisis! How many times do I have to tell you to not touch my inventions??”

“I’m sorry!” The other naga answered, laughing nervously and clasping her hands in an apologetic gesture “I just wanted to play a little!”

“Whatever” Anna cut her off, and then leaned over to meet Grendel’s gaze “Hey! You over there! Can you pass me that engine?”

The squamataur just looked at her with a dumbfounded face, and then his head turned to the cube on the ground. Then back to the naga, and his expression changed “You mean…you mean this thing is YOURS???”

“Uh, yeah!” She said, raising an eyebrow at him “If you gave it back it would be very nice of you! So, can you?”

The answer she got was the cube suddenly hitting hard on her head at great speed, sending her backwards and unconscious against the bark. Crisis could just watch and yelp in surprise, trying to figure out what happened

“Anna!!” She yelled “Hey, you jerk!! What was that for??”

But the moment she looked down again, Grendel had already leaved, and she saw his lumbering figure stomping through the glowing greenery, mumbling loudly

And as she was trying to tend on Anna, several fairies floated down from the upper branches, gathering at her side

“What’s going on here?”

“Oh my…Someone got her just desserts I see!”

“Quit it Melany! Crisis, is she okay? What happened?”

“Ah, we…kind of had a run with a squamataur I guess? And Anna…”

“Oh…that figures. You know how those are like”