10: Errand

"So, where do we have to take this again?"

Nem glanced back towards Jin who stood tall and wide, his tentacled mass expanding till he was larger than a bear, creating a canvas-like plane. A little away from the centre was a ball of black mass covering Jin's flame and from within it a long spindly tentacle reached outwards, making precise movements weaving in and out between imaginary trees until finally coming to a stop a small distance before the edge of the canvas.

"South. You got it."

Nem almost immediately marched forwards, a small spring in his step as he marched forward into the forest trailed by a curious Mic. In his hands he held a vase, expertly made with colours and patterns to be proud of; although what it was carrying was a different story.

+++

"Hey… Mic?"

The creature turned towards Nem with a half-consumed rabbit in its flame, the smoke from smouldering flesh and fur floating up into the night sky like a cigarette. It responded with a joyful croak, it��s fire crackling slightly as the movement of her flame caught a freshly unconsumed patch of fur.

"Are you excited about your new sibling?"

The creature shook its head, causing a few sparks to fly out and tickle Nem's legs. Part of his thigh erupted in ghostly blue flame, but he simply disregarded it and continued talking.

"Really? I would have loved to have a little brother or sister. Even with seven relatives living in our house, it was lonely having nobody around my age."

Mic quickly used one of her spare tentacles to smother out the flame, leaving behind a large amount of crispy skin and burnt muscle, Nem's leg blackened like coal. After giving itself a moment to calm down, Mic responded with a series of croaks and clicks, giving a curt and to the point response.

"Lonely? Lonely is pretty simple. It's the feeling of being by yourself and not wanting to… well, be by yourself anymore."

Mic tilted it's head inquisitively but remained silent, already knowing what answer would come when asking about human emotions. Without muttering another word, Mic nuzzled up against Nem's side as it began to shrink down in size, eventually reaching the size of a small mammal.

"If it makes you feel any better, I haven't felt lonely since I learnt to talk with you guys."

Ignoring the piercing cold of the night and the lukewarm glow of Mic's body, Nem drifted away to sleep, his arms around the jar and his back against a tree.

+++

"Oh, finally. I thought we were lost again."

Mic responded with three clicks, rising in tone each time.

After three days and two nights of travelling, the pair of Nem and Mic had finally arrived at their destination. Before them was a small stump with a red circle painted onto it, no doubt some sort of animal's blood, which stood in the middle of the woods completely inconspicuously. Making sure to tread lightly, the pair of them made their way to the stump and Nem placed the pot inside the circle before quickly stepping away. Once he retreated about three paces back with Mic, the tentacled creature emit a foghorn-like cry for three second after which the pair of them watched the stump in silent anticipation.

The stump ripped itself from the earth, carried by six long spindly wooden legs which made it tall enough to reach Nem's chest. Bark fell away into the stump revealing that it was hollow, leaving several gash-like gaps in its wooden frame which were soon filled with human eyes peeking out into the outside world, quickly settling onto the pair of them. The gashes on the far side had their eyes soon replaced with two bent, wooden appendages which seemed to snap into place, making sudden and jerky movements to pick up the pot and place it onto the floor. The same appendages picked up the top of the lid and the creature peered inside before 'dancing' for a moment gleefully. It took a moment to bow towards the pair of them before quickly getting to work. One opening at a time, the creature extended an appendage with the human eye attached to it, shaking off the organ before piercing the same appendage into the pot, retrieving a new human eye and slithering it back inside it's frame. With a terrifying efficiency, the creature replaced eleven eyes within the span of about a minute and then began it's dance again, this time without having to stop itself a moment later. As it began its celebration a swarm of tiny wooden bugs skittered in from the trees surrounding them, making a mad dash for the discarded eyes and beginning to consume them, eating them up in an instant. Without taking a moment to stop its dance, the creature extended an appendage out from its head and tipped the pot over gently, spilling the rest of the contents out onto the ground. A mixture of eyeballs, blood and tentacle mucus flowed onto the bugs, likely killing hundreds of little lives in the fallout. Once the mucus had thinned out enough, the rest of the bugs raced towards the rest of the eyeballs, unphased by their cold, uncaring parental figure. Nem quietly tiptoed forward, trying to avoid any accidental squashing, to pick up the pot and lid. Once he had succeeded in retrieving their container, the creature looked towards them silently, now completely still except for two appendages that swung around in a strange manner, seemingly at random.

*I want to thank you as usual for your high-quality vision spheres.*

A voice floated into Nem's head from seemingly nowhere, but he felt like he knew where it had originated from. Facing the creature, he straightened up his posture and puffed his chest proudly, with his feet together and his hand over his chest.

"Thank you for the compliment. Half of those are from yours truly."