Going beneath dense undergrowth and towering trees, the creature — no larger than a rabbit — spotted the perfect hiding place: a fallen, hollow tree trunk, filled with moss and liverworts.
It dragged itself inside and rested. Immediately, it gained full awareness of the wood and soil it touched — just as it had happened with other materials since its arrival in this world. It was as though it became one with everything around it.
As night fell, it was bathed in the moonlight — and just like the earth and wood, it became conscious of the Moon.
Instinctively, it took advantage of the umbral shadows to slip back into the forest. It dragged itself through unfamiliar plants and soil, learning their feel and scent. Before long, it felt as if everything around it was part of itself.
Every falling leaf, every gust of wind against a stone — it could sense it all. Its understanding was so deep that it believed it knew everything in that ecosystem.
Suddenly, through its sharpened senses, it detected something charging toward it. Every fiber of its being screamed: You are the prey now.
From a nearby bush, a fur-covered beast burst forth, scarred and snarling, its jaws wide open, teeth sharp and aimed at this small entity.
With no time to flee or fight, it stayed still — as if it had already accepted its fate. After all, it had once been on the other side. A cold logic.
But then, as the beast's fangs sank into it — something unexpected happened. The creature' soft, sticky body turned entirely to stone. The attacker's teeth shattered instantly.
As the beast howled in agony, still processing what had just occurred, the creature returned to its normal form and stretched — wrapping itself around the wounded predator.
It didn't know what it was doing, only that in this moment, it was consuming.
While the creature writhed and screamed within, its body melting alive, a flood of memories poured into the small being. Sensations it had never known surged all at once.
And so, it lived another life.
Loud sounds. Strange sensations made its newborn body tremble… emotions, maybe? Darkness.
Time passed, until its eyes opened.
It lived on the streets, surviving the best it could — feeding on rats and scraps with its family.
The only moments of peace were when they slept huddled together. The warmth, like a sunbeam it once knew, was comforting.
Unlike them, the world was filled with bipedal creatures, furred only on their heads.
Nature here was unnatural.
Small suns hung from stone trees. The beings made constant sounds and often showed their teeth. Sometimes, even at them. It was strange.
Some gave food. Others kicked and hurt them. Pain was constant — a sharp, stabbing sensation that made it cry out in anguish.
One of its siblings was even killed by them while they muttered incomprehensible words.
Days passed. Nights came.
Until one sunrise, everyone around it cherished was dead — except for itself. It liked sleeping apart, out in the open, beneath a bush.
Its mother, dead. Its remaining siblings, dead. So much blood. Open heads. It didn't understand any of it.
It sniffed the bodies, nuzzled them, hoping they'd wake up. Nothing. Days and nights passed, until the maggots came.
So much hunger.
It decided to leave. That night, it rose. Suddenly, a biped came running toward it — yelling, baring its teeth, holding something. Wood. That, it recognized. A heavy, thick piece.
A strange sensation weakened its body while another made it hot. It fled as the being chased after it.
It darted into the forest, with the face of the attacker burned into its memory. Food was the priority now.
Its nose picked up something unique. It located the source and hid behind thick foliage. The prey was nearly invisible. Without its scent, it would never have noticed — unless it stumbled right into it.
The attack was swift. Its teeth shattered. Pain.
The thing it hunted had become the hunter. Intense pain.
Darkness. It remembed of its birthing. Comfort. Nothingness.
The present returned.
Through this experience, through these memories, the creature learned new things, unbeknownst of their names, those were: pain, love, fear, anger. Even the capacity to hear and smell. It became ecstatic.
Always curious, the desire to learn burned within it, more now than never.
Now, it had only one thing in mind: to find that man.
To understand what led him to kill the family of that dog. To learn more about the unnatural nature of that place. To understand the bipedal beings.
And so, the creature crawled. Driven by one purpose: toknow everything it desired.
Towards the city. Towards thatface.