Chapter Text
"How much further, Monk?" Hunter asked, trudging along behind the yellow slugcat, spear hefted and ready to throw at anything he might see as a threat to the two of them. It felt odd to be back in such a dangerous region once again; he had grown used to the comforts that the tree granted him. Not having to worry about hunting dangerous predators or having to defend himself from death every cycle. Not to mention, he hadn't had a cycle of bad symptoms in a very long time, not since the other slugcats came to live with them, in fact. Maybe the symptoms were connected to his psychological health somehow?
He abandoned the trail of thought, he needed to stay focused. He supposed if there was one very small con about the location of the tree, it was the lack of variety in meat, he supposed, mostly just centipedes of varying sizes that resided in nearby areas. To his surprise, both Monk and Artificer had shared a groan of disgust at that, and the maroon slugcat had vowed to Hunter that she would go out and catch some lizard meat every cycle for them to eat instead. Shocked, the red slugcat had, of course, agreed with this fact. Who would say no to eating lizard meat every time they were hungry?
Maybe it was the lizard meat that was making him feel better? Making his symptoms decrease and his general health become better? Maybe he'd have to do some sort of research into if lizard meat sported healing properties.
Nevertheless, he got to thinking about the weird reason he was out there with Monk in the first place. Only a few cycles had passed since the slugcat’s big reunion, and the yellow slugcat suddenly mentioned he wanted to travel a ways back to ‘get something done’, as he put it. Of course, Artificer and his mate worried about how well the small slugcat would do on his own. He had spent the previous cycle getting into some simple combat training with Artificer and Hunter, and he had a surprising talent for it, but it was more the psychological issues that were a worry.
From what Hunter had heard, Monk did not do so well when alone for long periods of time. He had tried to tell the others that he would be completely fine, but they weren’t convinced at all. Someone had to go with him to ensure his safe return, and since Artificer had currently been indisposed trying to help the scavengers find a suitable new spot to move the tribe and someone had to care for Night, Hunter had stepped up and volunteered. Survivor had spent a small moment objecting, citing his illness as a concern, but Monk had suddenly jumped at the opportunity, convincing his mate by making a point of the red slugcat’s strength in combat.
Hunter was unsure of why Monk really wanted him along specifically, but it did feel kind of good to have his mate’s approval, he supposed. The yellow slugcat seemed like a bit of a wild card—chipper and happy one moment, then bitter and frustrated the next. Artificer had told him that he wasn’t like that usually, still grieving the loss of his family. Hunter could understand that. Survivor had been very bummed about his family being gone for the first couple cycles in the tree. Hunter would sometimes catch his mate sitting outside late at night, staring at the far-off entrance to the field as if expecting them all to come back at any moment.
So when Monk was in one of his angry moods and took it out on anyone he could find (barr Night, he never screamed at the pup, thankfully), Hunter either stayed well away or simply stood there and took the screams head on. They were usually just swears and random insults anyway; they had no real effect on him, and Monk always snapped out of it and apologized profusely afterwards, so it was no big deal.
It took Monk a long time to respond, but after a moment, he finally turned his head and glanced at Hunter with a smile on his face. "Just a bit further, we’re almost there!" The red slugcat had to bite his tongue to avoid asking again where they were going or what they were doing. He had tried to ask those questions way earlier, and the response was always something along the lines of, ‘You'll see’.
Oh well, Hunter was fine with not knowing; it almost felt a bit nice to just get to travel without any worry of where to go or what to do to think about. As long as they didn’t have to pass through any more scav tolls, at least. He knew that all the local scavengers were to be considered allies and that Monk spoke their language, had a satchel full of pearls to gift, and was practically best friends with every scav, but Hunter still didn’t trust them.
Anytime Monk stayed to talk, Hunter could swear that the other scavs were eyeing him suspiciously, hands ready to grab a spear from their satchel. When he turned to look, they acted like nothing was wrong, and it kept him on edge the whole time, ready for them to stage some sort of ambush for the duo. It never happened, thankfully, but it didn’t stop his nervousness for the next time they met a sole scav out traveling.
As well, when they were traveling through subterranean, as well as Farm Arrays, Monk kept asking Hunter to keep an eye out for any white lizards he could spot and to let him know if he saw any. This was confusing to the red slugcat; he knew there were not too many white lizards, if any, in the regions where he asked him to keep an eye out. When they got through the two regions with no lizards in sight, Monk seemed genuinely saddened for the rest of the cycle. It was odd, but certainly not the oddest thing the yellow slugcat had done in the short time Hunter had known him.
Suddenly, the yellow slugcat held out a paw to stop him and crouched low to the ground. Hunter followed nervously, pulling a spear from his back and handing it to Monk’s outstretched paw. "What? What is it?" Even behind the other slugcat, he could practically see the grin forming on Monk’s face when a large orange centipede suddenly showed itself in front of them. It wasn’t the biggest Hunter had ever seen, but it was no doubt big enough to kill them both with a well-placed electrical shock. "It seems to be on the move; let’s let it pass."
"No, no. It will be perfect." Monk was mostly mumbling to himself, but Hunter could still make out the gist of what was said, perhaps thanks to his greater-than-normal hearing.
"Perfect? For what?" Hunter had already eaten, and Monk hadn’t exactly fancied centipedes a lot since the first time the red slugcat had met him, so what precisely the centipede could even be used for, he had no clue.
"You’ll see soon, my friend." The red slugcat gave a withering look in response, but Monk couldn’t see it as his back was still turned. Suddenly, the yellow slugcat jumped to his feet with a yell. "NOW!"
Before Hunter had any time at all to react, Monk was already charging towards the centipede, which was quickly recovering from its shock and scuttling towards them. If he dies, Survivor will have your head. Didn’t he know it? With a groan, Hunter chased after the other slugcat, spear at the ready. When Monk got close enough to almost be grabbed, he turned around and threw himself backwards into the air, backflipping over the baffled centipede. At the peak of his jump, he threw the spear downward, the sharp tip piercing the centipede’s flesh and pinning it to the ground below.
It was a good technique, taught by Hunter himself. Early on in the cycles of training Monk, Artificer and Hunter quickly found that while the yellow slugcat is very accurate in his spear throwing, he isn’t capable of throwing with as much strength as the two carnivorous slugcats. Monk’s strength lies in his agility, technique, and accuracy. Thus, that’s what he used in combat. It worked well with Hunter, who focused more on raw strength; it was one of the arguments the other slugcat used to convince Survivor to let Hunter travel with him.
As Hunter’s own spear pierced the centipede, the creature writhing around in its death throes before falling still, he had to agree that the two of them made a fairly good team. The centipede didn’t even make them break a sweat! Though the red slugcat’s question remained in his mind as Monk pulled his spear out of the creature with a satisfied smile, ‘Why?’.
"Okay, Monk." The other slugcat turned to him with a tilt of his head, so he continued. "I’ll ask you again, and I want you to answer me this time. Why did we kill the centipede? What are we here to do?"
Monk turned towards a nearby pipe with a hum, and Hunter was about ready to start screaming in frustration if he wasn’t about to get a really good answer. Thankfully, he turned back to Hunter with a smile. "Help me haul the body to the pipe; we can talk on the way." Without another word, he bent down and grabbed hold of the centipede corpse, painstakingly starting to drag it towards the nearby pipe while the other slugcat watched with a baffled expression.
Eventually, with a sigh, Hunter pulled out his spear and stashed it on his back before walking over to the other side of the centipede and lifting it up to make the process a bit easier and quicker. Monk gave him a grateful nod as they started to carry the carcass. "Alright, answers, now."
"Well, first off, do you know how taming lizards works?" It was an odd thing to start with, but Hunter still responded with a hesitant nod. It was about feeding the lizard you wanted to tame; some needed more food than others, but that's really all it came down to. "We are here to tame a very special lizard, Hunter! Are you ready to hear this?" The tone of voice the other slugcat had used made Hunter’s blood run cold, his instincts telling him to run away fast. He had a suspicion of what type of lizard Monk was talking about, but still, he nodded slowly. The other slugcat leaned in closer, whispering. "We are going to tame a red lizard."
Hunter’s reaction was immediate fear as he dropped the centipede he was hauling and prepared his spear. "There’s a red lizard in this area? Where?" The red slugcat was a crazy bastard, he’ll admit, willing to fight anything that threatened him or his family even a little, but a red fucking lizard was way too far!
In the early cycles of his delivery mission, he made the mistake of stumbling upon one of the apex predators and foolishly trying to fight it. It had basically bitten him in half in a single bite, leaving him with tremendous pain for the whole next cycle as he recovered from the death. Any other hostile creature Hunter had ever stumbled across, he had killed at least one: a red centipede, a king vulture, etc. He had never, ever managed to best a red lizard, and he was certainly not interested in doing so.
Monk didn’t seem all that surprised by Hunter’s very realistic reaction, simply pointing a thumb through the pipe they were standing next to. "Just through that pipe there." Hunter immediately reached out and pulled the yellow slugcat back, forcing him to take cover behind him as he started to back away from the pipe, spear raised and at the ready.
"Are you a fucking mad, Monk?" It was a rhetorical question, of course. You have to be mad to even think about attempting to tame anything with a red color scheme in these lands. But of course, when he glanced back, Monk seemed to genuinely be pondering the question, a paw on his chin as he scrunched up his face in thought.
Eventually, he unscrunched his face and smiled up at Hunter. "A little!" Of course… The red slugcat groaned as he took one last look at the pipe. There was no flash of red, at least, so Hunter considered it safe, at least for now.
He turned around as he stashed the spear on his back, crossing his arms and glaring down at Monk. "I refuse to interact with a red lizard, Monk." The yellow slugcat’s smile fell away, and he adopted a frown. "I won’t allow you to do so either! I promised Survivor to keep you safe, and trying to tame a red lizard is the antithesis of safe!" Suddenly, Monk’s expression turned deathly serious as he glared right into his eyes, and Hunter took a small step back in surprise.
"I will tame the red lizard, Hunter." The usually chipper and light-hearted voice of the smaller slugcat is completely gone, replaced by a cold tone as the paw that held his spear clenched down, the weapon shaking in his grip. "I will not allow you to stop me."
Surely Monk wouldn’t fight him over this, right? The thought of that seemed insane and impossible to Hunter, but the longer he stared into the expression on Monk’s face, the more nervous he felt himself become. He’s serious, isn’t he? To avoid a fight, the red slugcat nodded and raised his paws in a pacifying manner, taking a small step back. "Alright, I won’t stop you."
The yellow slugcat nodded once, staring at him for a moment longer before suddenly smiling brightly. "Good!" Monk walked around Hunter and bent down to start carrying the centipede once again.
"It’s just… Survivor wants you back safely, you know?" Monk stopped pulling and gave Hunter a look; the red slugcat fidgeted slightly in place. "A red lizard, I mean, just one bite and..." He shuddered at the thought.
The yellow slugcat laughed and gestured towards the centipede on the ground. "If you don’t want me to get hurt, then you better come along as backup, eh, Hunter?" After a moment of hesitation, Hunter walked over with a grumble and helped Monk carry the corpse to the pipe.
Hunter had to suppress the instinctual urge to run for his own life when Monk spotted the red lizard on the other side of the room and started to whoop and whistle to get its attention. The room was fairly tall and wide, sporting a pipe on either side and a small pit with a few poles in the middle. Immediately, the red lizard hissed loudly, sprinting across the room towards them. It jumped into the pit and climbed up quicker than even Hunter could’ve managed.
"Get ready to throw, Hunter!" Monk lifted the part he was holding into the air, so Hunter did the same, eyes still locked on the terrifying creature approaching them head-on quickly—far too quickly than a creature that size should be able to manage.
"Now!"
At Monk’s shout, they threw the body of the centipede practically right into the creature’s mouth. Its hissing and growling stopped abruptly, and it looked almost comically confused as it backed off slightly, glancing down at the centipede in its mouth. Hunter was tense, his paws twitching to reach up and pull his spear free, even though he knew it probably wouldn’t do much to the creature in front of them. Monk was completely chill, smiling kindly at the lizard and waving his paw. The red lizard’s confusion only lasted a short while, until the red lizard growled loudly, staring at both of the slugcats with a terrifying glare, before turning around and running back to its den to feast.
Immediately, Hunter grabbed hold of Monk’s paw and pulled him back through the pipe. Once they were through, in relative safety once again, the red slugcat collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily like he had just run a marathon through all of the regions without breaks. His fellow traveling companion, meanwhile, didn’t seem to be slowed down at all, bouncing around excitedly. "Did you see how cool it was, Hunter? It even accepted our gift so easily!"
"Wait, what do you mean by easily?"
"Oh, I guess I forgot to tell you, the way we fed the lizard there was slightly risky since there is a chance they ignore the food thrown at them and instead immediately go for the one giving the food!" Monk giggled to himself; if he noticed Hunter’s face paling, he didn’t mention it. "We were lucky, though!"
"I think I’m going to be sick…"
"No more time for resting, Hunter! We need to give more food." Hunter groaned as Monk reached down and grabbed hold of his arms, pulling him along the ground. Something told Hunter that these next few cycles were going to suck.
The red lizard hissed as the two slugcats were once again spotted, in the same place and eating the same food as the first time. Hunter was sure he was just imagining it, but it almost looked like the red lizard had turned slightly bigger since the feedings started. He was quite unsure of how many times the lizard had been fed; he had lost count after the fifth time. The new strategy of feeding was thankfully much safer than what they had attempted the very first time; it involved waiting until the lizard was close enough to see the slugcats and the food in their paws, then they would lower the meal to the ground and step back, letting the lizard grab the food herself.
It was a she, apparently. Something Monk had just mentioned out of the blue as they had placed a dropwig in front of the predator. Hunter had no idea how he knew that, and he didn’t really feel like asking. He had the slight idea that it might have to do with the number of spines, but that was just a guess in the end.
Hunter was currently more surprised at the fact that the red lizard was capable of eating so much. They had been here two cycles, and on both, the creature would carry all it was given to its den, no questions asked. Could it be that it stored some of the corpses to be eaten later? Wait, how big were the dens the lizards claimed? Were they about the regular size of a shelter, or smaller, maybe bigger? Hunter shook his head. None of that mattered or was important to him.
At least there had been no interactions with wandering scavs this cycle, not like the last one, where they were in the middle of bringing another centipede to the lizard. They were one pipe away when a scavenger suddenly popped out of another one and blocked their path. Monk and the scav talked; apparently, the scav wasn’t part of the local tribe that some of their colony knew, and they were also fairly hostile. The yellow slugcat ended up hurling a rock in his face when their conversation turned aggressive. Hunter had been ready to throw a spear at the stunned scav when the red lizard suddenly stuck its head out, bit into the scav, and pulled them away. The red slugcat had been fairly shocked, but Monk, shockingly, didn’t seem to care all that much. "They attacked us first." Well, he couldn’t argue with that.
But progress still felt slow, and Hunter was beginning to feel bored with the process. He didn’t even know how to keep track of the progress of the taming; after all, he barely had a clue what a friendly or even neutral lizard was supposed to be like. Though Monk seemed to know, he suddenly straightened his back and started walking forward in the direction of the den where the lizard had climbed down.
"Monk! What the fuck are you doing?"
"Finishing the taming process."
Without another word of explanation or hesitation, the yellow slugcat hopped down into the pit in the middle of the room, and Hunter heard a loud hiss. With a muttered swear, he pulled his spear off his back, rushed forward, and jumped down into the hole, landing next to Monk. The lizard was on the other side of the pit, staring them down angrily. Hunter prepared to throw his spear, but the slugcat next to him placed a paw on the spear’s handle before he could, lowering it down with a confident smile, eyes still locked on the lizard in front of them. With a huff, the yellow slugcat started to approach the lizard, who leaned back and hissed again, seeming ready to charge. Hunter swallowed nervously at the display, completely sure that Monk was about to find out he bit off way more than he could chew.
Only to open his mouth in stunned shock and awe when Monk got close enough to touch the red lizard. Slowly, he reached out a paw; the lizard flinched back, but Monk persisted, eventually being able to run a paw over the lizard’s head and upper back, careful to avoid the spines. "That’s a good girl." Hunter put away his spear and kept watching, entranced by what he was seeing. Monk actually managed to do it; he actually managed to tame a red lizard. "I think I’ll call you... Ruby. What do you think of that?" Hunter’s eyes somehow widened even further as the lizard purred in response.
Monk laughed and gave the lizard one last pat before carefully walking around to the creature’s side, Ruby watching him the whole time. After a moment’s hesitation, he pulled himself up just below the lizard’s head, ending up on the upper back, using the first spine as a backrest as he rode on the creature.
Hunter had never seen something like it—a slugcat riding on the back of a lizard, a red one no less. Monk was full of surprises, that was for sure. Shockingly, Ruby had no complaints about being used as a mount, purring as Monk gave her another pat on the head. Hunter took a step back and averted his eyes as the lizard turned to look at him, narrowing her eyes. "Let’s head home, Hunter! I can’t wait to show Survivor Ruby!"
The thought of Survivor’s reaction made Hunter pale slightly and fidget nervously. "Survivor will have my head for this." He eventually sighed, turning around. His head hung low in defeat as he walked, the lizard and subsequently Monk dutifully following close behind.
"I'm sorry for causing you trouble in paradise, Hunter." The red slugcat huffed in response, he didn't sound all that sorry... "But don't worry! I planned for this! Remember that flower I told you about?"
Survivor chuckled as he dangled a loose blue fruit vine in front of Night’s face, the little slugpup’s eyes widening as she followed the dangling string-like plant with her head. With a curious chirp, she reached out her tiny paws to bat at the vine, eventually flipping upside down and purring as she tried to grab it from her pa’s paws.
Their playtime was interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps. The white slugcat’s ears rotated to focus in on the noise, the steps belonged to more than a pair of paws, meaning it probably wasn’t Artificer coming back. That has to be Monk and Hunter. Night obviously heard the sound as well, her small ears twitching as she looked towards the entrance to the tree. "Hear that? Your dada’s back!" The pup’s eyes widened in excitement as she chirped happily, looking up at Survivor and reaching her paws up towards him.
With another laugh, Survivor reached down and scooped Night up, cradling her in his paws as he walked to the exit of the tree. "Welcome ba-!" The white slugcat’s greeting died on his tongue, and he leaped back with a frightened yell. Night flinched and chirped in fear at her papa’s reaction, turning her face into Survivor’s to try to hide from any nearby threats.
In front of their tree stood a massive red lizard, glaring at Survivor with what looked like intense hunger in its eyes. With a hiss, the white slugcat bared his teeth and turned his back in a desperate effort to protect his pup. The lizard growled, and he closed his eyes, preparing himself for the bite. "No, Ruby!" Survivor’s eyes shot back open as he heard the familiar voice of his brother. "They are family, not food!" His eyes widened as he spotted Monk riding on top of the massive creature. The lizard huffed, its expression turning as neutral as a lizard’s face can, as Monk gave it a few pats on the head.
His mouth dropped open in awe as he turned back fully towards the lizard and its rider. Monk offered a smile and a wave, as if nothing was wrong, as the lizard started looking around the field, seemingly uninterested. At the sound of slight shifting, Survivor turned to look to his left, spotting Hunter standing off to the side. His mate was shifting his feet, looking nervous. In his paws was a glowing flower, which one Survivor recognized well. A glow poppy! Named by himself, it was a beautiful flower, glowing like a karma flower but inedible; it was more of a decoration if nothing else.
With an attempted smile that looked more like a pained grimace, Hunter held the flower out towards him. "Surprise…" At the sound of his voice, Night turned back around, chirping joyfully as she recognized her dad. She had already completely forgotten about the red lizard. With a look of confused awe, Survivor stepped forward, reached out a paw, and took the offered flower, looking it over for a moment.
It had obviously been picked with care, the stalk severed cleanly with a sharp tool, probably a spear, and the petals untouched. Despite the situation, Hunter hadn’t carelessly picked the flower as an apology; well, of course it wasn’t completely out of the question, but he could have just ripped it out of the ground without a care in the world. Instead, he took care to really use it as a gift, no doubt having been told how much Survivor liked the flower by Monk.
Survivor couldn’t stop a wide smile from spreading on his face as he looked back at his mate. "Thank you." Hunter’s grimace turned into a genuine smile as he reached a paw out to scratch Night behind the ears, the pup purred and leaned into the touch in response. Survivor turned back to Monk, who was still smiling wide on top of his tamed killing machine. Survivor closed his eyes, considering his words for a moment. After a while, he carefully covered Night’s ears, the slugpup mewling in confusion as Hunter winced, knowing what was to come. Survivor took a deep breath to try in vain to calm his building anger before giving Monk a glare.
"Brother…” Monk, completely unsuspecting of what was about to happen, tilted his head with a smile. “What the actual FUCK?!"
Survivor was fairly sure the ensuing scolding could be heard all the way to Looks To The Moon's collapsed can. He was definitely grounding Monk for at least a few cycles, forbidding him from traveling to any other region for a while. Though considering all the work the duo apparently put into taming the lizard, he would at least get to keep it around, as long as it was kept far away from Night, of course.
Could never be too safe...