Trailing Along

Quinlin trailed along, keeping close behind despite fatigue. She'd be sure to give it no reason for dragging her instead. Where to? She couldn't begin dissecting that question until grasping a motive for its previous torment. 

A low and distinct vibration from ahead crept over to her ears, less jolting than the others but just as sinister. She listened in closely as a low mist emerged, brushing by her skirt's edges. Having dabbled in the life of a range as well as marine conservationist, she's acquainted herself with plenty of land and sea animals, studying their behavior. Her eyes traced along the jointed and disjointed chunks of its body, unable to gather a mood from how it walked. A picture began to shape, she was swimming through a coral reef, right over a mantis shrimp where she heard it for the first and only time, the only thing similar in tone and pitch. The teacher later informed it was likely being territorial, that seemed a plausible idea for this instance, creatures have been known to fight other creatures for territory. She didn't bother to be skeptical about relating animal sounds with creatures.

Leaves began to dim as the dark patches reached into every branch, engulfing the remaining brown semblance of normalcy. The endless things to be weary of were too unnerving to consider, she put them away to focus on slowing her heart. A calm state could offer a more enlightening perspective. 

Slowly, the beats reclined until a sudden gasp launched them forward like a slingshot and her hands reached out to the nexus, though didn't touch it. Squatting on a branch, only a jumping distance away, was a bakevu. It faced her, arms hung loosely with flexed curled fingers ready to attack. Only such a sadistic looking smile birthed from hell could have her gesturing for protection towards another impious entity. 

The shock on her face twitched to a scowl as she nearly bumped the nexus with her shuffling stomps. There was overwhelming disgust and hatred for that obnoxiously large face with 6 eyes, none of which met her gaze. She prepared to gouge one out, she could do so, maybe. It's primarily an ambush creature but she was weak, it'd likely have little trouble subduing and tearing her limbs apart regardless, like in the stories she's heard. 

Nothing came of it. She and the nexus passed on quietly, but the scene binded to her gut, churning it with each reiteration. The fierceness felt in that moment wasn't like anything else, her body lit up with energy as if possessed. What followed were shaken steps, threatening to buckle from the shifting weight of movement. A limit must have been reached, or very close, but there wasn't one to afford.

"This place," She stopped the thought, sensing tears. It wasn't so much fear at this point, the world felt cold, terrible, she questioned why she's a part of it, how she's even still alive. Just then, it fumbled together, territory. The land was not just the nexus's territory, she was. 

If there were any more creatures around, they went unnoticed. Her sight resigned itself to the ground where her feet kept up the painful pace. For just a moment, she'd stop every so often to catch breath and rest hands on her wobbling knees, then hurry back up. It seemed to help recoup a little energy.

The sun had begun to set but all she could focus on was keeping up, not collapsing. They both came to a stop when light bled out from the sky, she hardly absorbed which of them stopped first. This didn't feel like her body nor mind, everything was a fuzz of strangeness. A breaking twig triggered vigilance, her eyes scampered through the dark until a thud hit the ground where an orange thing began rolling her direction. She fell with a thud hardly more graceful than the object. Picking it up, it smelled edible. She bit into it.