The Five Senses of Loneliness

Darkness was the only thing which occupied the creature's mind. As time went on he started to feel as if a piece of his sanity was passing with each moment. Before the experience of vision, he knew of nothing to crave more than what could be found within himself. Yet, now that outside knowledge existed he felt an undeniable urge to seek it. It was only sight which he had been granted, but what other mysteries would reveal themselves once he had other senses.

Luckily for his mental fortitude, those senses which he craved, were eventually restored. Sound was the first to satiate his hunger for new experiences. It happened to him as he was slumbering in his usual darkness. He was grasping for his sanity, when he suddenly heard something. At first, the shock was so great his initial reaction was to think of how strange it seemed but then the realization it him. The fact that he could hear generated an unbelievable joy within him. Out of excitement he nearly opened his eyes right away, but then he stopped himself. He just wanted to listen to the sound before spoiling what its source was.

A watery thud was the first thing to take his notice, as it was of a constant pace. Yet, his hearing even exceeded that, as he could hear water sliding against a rough surface. The beast could tell the end destination of the water was a small pool. When focusing on the sounds of that small puddle he was introduced to another sound. Splashing followed a sound akin to quick scratches on a chalk board. This sound was multiplied by sets of ten, informing him that they were most likely coming from the rodents he had already seen. A light squeaking came from the scraping sounds' direction, confirming his suspicion. He could also hear a faint sound similar to that of a whisper. Yet, from his knowledge about the cave so far, he didn't have a clue of where it could be from. When he opened his eyes to put an image to the sound all his assumptions were correct. Water trickled from the stalagmite into the pond below where rats would occasionally dash threw squeaking happily. However, he still couldn't find the source of the faint airy sound. Once again he spent time enjoying the senses before letting himself go back into slumber.

His years of recovery continued, and with the new added sense of hearing the beast's loneliness grew. The desperation for more senses and knowledge became an obsession. Finally, compared to the years of torment, relief came in the form of smell. However, his joy was cut short when he sniffed the air. Though he experienced a new scent which alighted his nose, that was the only smell he received. One smell, in trade of years of torment, it seemed like a cruel joke, especially for the fact it was a filthy odor. Though he could not compare it to anything, anybody else would recognize it as rotten eggs or sulfur. However disgusting it may be, the beast still enjoyed letting it waft into his noise. Once he had his fill he let his mind drift in endless loneliness once again.

The beast suffered the despair of lacking knowledge, taste, and touch. Yet, as guaranteed by time, his taste and touch did recover. Sadly, both were mere grains, of the field of new sensation they could be. Yet, for taste he was welcomed by his own saliva for he still could not open is mouth. For touch his whole head was covered by rock, and he had yet to have sensation in his arms, torso, and legs. Thus, after his brief discovery of taste and touch he wallowed in self-pity.

Mental exhaustion from the frustration he felt took its toll and lulled him to sleep. This time however it lasted longer than any other time. When he woke once again he had a great surprise, mouth movement. In total the period, that passed from his first day in his body to when he could move his jaw equaled to 534 years. But, after all this wait it was worth it for him. Soon after mouth movement, well soon in comparison, came the ability to move his tongue. With each lick of salty stalagmite and filthy floor came elation and now with the ability to make sounds, roars echoed in his cavern. Outside the cave system, down a mountain which pierced the skies, to a little village the roars silenced everything. Sadly, from the lonely beast his roar had made that the mountain was a forbidden place, crushing his dreams of company.

The beast tried everything with his new sound producing and mouth moving capabilities. Though in affect he either killed or scared away all his rat friends. Yet, he entertained himself, by speaking to inanimate objects and responding for them. Of course, what he spoke was not the world's language but instead different grunts and howls that he gave meaning.

The years once again passed, and as the village grew they started to worship the mountain beast. The cause for the idolization of the what lived on the mountain was fear and admiration. The roar which echoed shook the villager's hearts but even more so for the beast of the woods. Every once and a while there would be a roar so loud that even small animals the size of rabbits would die, unless in a comforting place beforehand. Thus, giving another reason why the beast was thanked, as the village people[1] could harvest the dead critters for a feast. Yet, as the beast got bored of his new voice, the people will to worship the beast became few. However, some of the older people who managed to train hard enough, as whichever type of practitioner they were, kept the culture going even though the people's hearts weren't into it. Nothing new happened until a certain cultivation master arrived at the small city.