blood thickens in the darkness, becoming slower as the blackness surrounds its trembling body. It cannot open its eyes but it knows the blue globe is far away now, lost beyond the crater's edge. Hours pass. Muscles cramp and strain.
At last, the warmth begins to return. The Kletch keeps its eyes closed until it is warm enough to open them without tearing the frozen lids. Gradually, the rock thaws and the yellow ball rises high into the blackness above, casting yellow light across the ground. The Kletch's numb thoughts begin to clear. Soon it is crawling, loping, and sprinting to the next crater as it has done so many times before. It pumps its thick muscles until its blood is hot and thin. It sprints and leaps, leaving deep imprints in the grey dust behind it.
The next crater is small but deep. Some fragments of rock remain, but most of the ground is covered in a thick grey dust. The Kletch pounds its fists into the ground, stirring the dust into shimmering white clouds that glow in the yellow light. The Kletch watches the shower of dust specks settling slowly towards the ground around it.
When the blue globe returns, the Kletch wastes no time in raising its golden eyes to search for new creatures. It stares as far as it can see, and soon discovers a long grey beast with a horn that is mounted on top of its head. The creature charges back and forth across the land on powerful legs.
'What is this beast?' The Kletch asks.
When there is no answer, it raises one huge fist to check its own face for a horn. It finds nothing. Its face is little more than rough folds of skin like the rest of its body.
On the blue globe, the horned creature collapses part way through a final charge and lies still on the ground. A white oblong creature appears nearby. It doesn't move. There are more creatures inside it and some of them climb out. Tall, thin and white, these lean creatures move towards the fallen beast and examine it. They take its horn and climb back into the oblong white creature before it moves away.
'What are they doing?' the Kletch asks.
'They hunt.' The voice sounds distant, but it has returned.
The Kletch considers all that it has seen. It searches for more of the tall thin creatures and finds them scattered all across the land. They are small and weak, but there are so many of them. The Kletch wonders how it failed to notice them before. Some are white, like the ones that hunted, while others come in many different shades and colours. They move in strange ways and gather into groups. The Kletch tries to understand what it has seen. It watches the blue globe and drags its talons across the ground beneath its feet. After a time, it sees a green crater on the blue globe. A great number of the thin creatures are gathered inside it, but it doesn't have any boulders.
'What are these creatures?' the Kletch asks. 'What are they doing?'
The voice waits a long time before answering. 'They are people,' it finally says.
Some of the people gather in the green craters, while others travel the land alone. Still more fight amongst themselves, hunting each other in packs. The Kletch watches them all with interest. The voice responds to no more of its questions, but it doesn't mind so long as it can watch them. The yellow light grows warmer and soon the Kletch finds itself exhausted. It lies down and sleeps a fitful sleep, dreaming of people and craters that are not grey - but green.
Blackness returns, chasing the light away. It leaves nothing but biting cold in its wake. The Kletch wakes to find itself shivering once more. It stares at the white dots amongst the blackness, and wonders if each one might be an eye of the voice - thousands of eyes watching it from the infinite blackness. The cold grows bitter, stretching icy fingers around the Kletch's limbs. It closes its eyes tight and curls into the smallest ball it can manage, flexing each muscle in turn. The pain is worse this time. The exhaustion might never end. Time passes, but
At last, the warmth begins to return. The Kletch keeps its eyes closed until it is warm enough to open them without tearing the frozen lids. Gradually, the rock thaws and the yellow ball rises high into the blackness above, casting yellow light across the ground. The Kletch's numb thoughts begin to clear. Soon it is crawling, loping, and sprinting to the next crater as it has done so many times before. It pumps its thick muscles until its blood is hot and thin. It sprints and leaps, leaving deep imprints in the grey dust behind it.
The next crater is small but deep. Some fragments of rock remain, but most of the ground is covered in a thick grey dust. The Kletch pounds its fists into the ground, stirring the dust into shimmering white clouds that glow in the yellow light. The Kletch watches the shower of dust specks settling slowly towards the ground around it.
When the blue globe returns, the Kletch wastes no time in raising its golden eyes to search for new creatures. It stares as far as it can see, and soon discovers a long grey beast with a horn that is mounted on top of its head. The creature charges back and forth across the land on powerful legs.
'What is this beast?' The Kletch asks.
When there is no answer, it raises one huge fist to check its own face for a horn. It finds nothing. Its face is little more than rough folds of skin like the rest of its body.
On the blue globe, the horned creature collapses part way through a final charge and lies still on the ground. A white oblong creature appears nearby. It doesn't move. There are more creatures inside it and some of them climb out. Tall, thin and white, these lean creatures move towards the fallen beast and examine it. They take its horn and climb back into the oblong white creature before it moves away.
'What are they doing?' the Kletch asks.
'They hunt.' The voice sounds distant, but it has returned.
The Kletch considers all that it has seen. It searches for more of the tall thin creatures and finds them scattered all across the land. They are small and weak, but there are so many of them. The Kletch wonders how it failed to notice them before. Some are white, like the ones that hunted, while others come in many different shades and colours. They move in strange ways and gather into groups. The Kletch tries to understand what it has seen. It watches the blue globe and drags its talons across the ground beneath its feet. After a time, it sees a green crater on the blue globe. A great number of the thin creatures are gathered inside it, but it doesn't have any boulders.
'What are these creatures?' the Kletch asks. 'What are they doing?'
The voice waits a long time before answering. 'They are people,' it finally says.
Some of the people gather in the green craters, while others travel the land alone. Still more fight amongst themselves, hunting each other in packs. The Kletch watches them all with interest. The voice responds to no more of its questions, but it doesn't mind so long as it can watch them. The yellow light grows warmer and soon the Kletch finds itself exhausted. It lies down and sleeps a fitful sleep, dreaming of people and craters that are not grey - but green.
Blackness returns, chasing the light away. It leaves nothing but biting cold in its wake. The Kletch wakes to find itself shivering once more. It stares at the white dots amongst the blackness, and wonders if each one might be an eye of the voice - thousands of eyes watching it from the infinite blackness. The cold grows bitter, stretching icy fingers around the Kletch's limbs. It closes its eyes tight and curls into the smallest ball it can manage, flexing each muscle in turn. The pain is worse this time. The exhaustion might never end. Time passes, but
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