The Shins and Shanins

Meanwhile, Emily, still curious about the conversation she had overheard, approached Christina's door and knocked. "It's me, Christina, open up!" she announced.

The door clicked and opened after a few moments. Emily entered and saw Christina sitting on her bed, staring at her with a mixture of curiosity and wariness.

"Aren't you going to have dinner before you sleep?" she asked, wearing a mask of concern.

But Christina was not fooled. "Since when do you care if I had dinner?" she scoffed. "Why are you suddenly worried about me? That's so unlike you, and it's unsettling."

"Of course, I'm genuinely worried about you," said Emily nonchalantly. "I'm your mother, after all."

"Oh my God! I'm so moved," said Christina sarcastically as she raised her hands to cover her mouth in mock surprise. "Should I be emotional right now? Should I be shedding tears of joy that my stepmother suddenly began to care for me out of the blue?" 

She stood up from the bed, her fake smile vanishing as she glowered contemptuously at Emily.

"I'm no longer the Christina who's easily intimidated by you. That old Christina is dead," she stated with all the seriousness she could summon. "And if you're looking for a way to get information out of my mouth, I'm sorry your efforts are fruitless in advance."

Emily's facade broke off when she realized her pretense was nothing more than an open book to her stepdaughter. 

"Get your ass on your bed and sleep on an empty stomach then, for all I care!" she scolded, glaring disdainfully at her. 

"I didn't cry to you for food in the first place," Christina said. "And if you're done, can you please excuse me, I want to sleep?"

Emily hissed and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. 

"Yen Yen Yen Yen Yen!" Christina raised the edge of her lips as she mimicked Emily's outburst. She threw herself on her bed and exhaled in satisfaction.

*****

Mike, Miram, and Garo made their way out of the cavern, climbing down a series of rocks that resembled stairs and carefully navigating each step. As they descended the stairs, a passageway unfolded before them like a deep hole. 

The narrow tunnel seemed to burrow deep into the ground, its ceilings disappearing into the darkness, where they merged with the ground in the distance. 

The air was thick with the scent of dry soil and the faint hum of unknown creatures. As they ventured deeper into the passage, Mike's eyes adjusted to the bright light, and he marveled at the sight before him. 

The walls of the passage were adorned with creatures that resembled giant grubs and bugs, each one glowing with a soft, ethereal light. The creatures clung to the walls, their gentle luminescence illuminating the passageway.

Mike stared at the creatures in wonder, his mind struggling to comprehend the beauty of these bioluminescent beings.

He recollected the moment when the cavern was suddenly bathed in a warm, yellowish glow. He now understood the mystery behind it – these creatures, clinging to the walls, were the source of the light.

"This is wonderfully amazing!" he whispered to himself.

Miram noticed his expression and smiled. She pointed to a grub-like creature. "This is called a shin," she said, before gesturing to a bug-like one. "And this is called a shanin. They both sleep during the day and wake at night to give us their light."

As Miram finished speaking, the group stood in silence for a moment, allowing the human among them to take in the beauty and wonder of the glowing creatures. 

The creatures, though different in nature and shape, stuck together in harmony, as though they were from the same species. Each of them nestled next to each other, their gentle chirps filling the passageway with a soothing melody.

The sound was almost musical, a symphony of crunching and chewing that echoed through the passage.

"They're amazing, aren't they?" Miram asked, her voice lowering to a whisper as she waited for Mike's response. 

Mike nodded slowly, his eyes never straying from the creatures. "Hmm-Mmm! They are, except for their annoying noises," he replied.

Anyone would've found the creature's sounds almost musical and amazing. But to Mike, they're nothing more or less than just a nuisance.

"That's because they're feeding," Garo said. "They're typically quiet, but whenever they're eating they'll be this noisy. That's their chewing sound you're hearing."

"You mean… this is the sound of them feeding?" Mike said in disbelief.

Garo turned to face him fully, and she nodded, a gentle smile on her face. "The amazing fact about them is, they don't leave one spot, yet their meals always find them."

"How?" 

"The shins and shanins feed on smaller insects and food leftovers. They come together whenever it's time to feed and emit a pleasant scent to lure their prey."

"The insects are drawn to this sweet fragrance produced by the shins and shanins' coalition, and locate them with the leftovers they've gathered. But eventually, they end up as a meal for them along with the leftovers they've gathered."

To confirm this, Mike could perceive the faint, sweet fragrance produced by the bioluminescent creatures. He squinted and saw several insects from different species lined up, rushing to their deaths

Mike couldn't help but smile as they succumbed to their sweet fragrance. "They got what they deserve, greed is a disease," he said, shaking his head in amusement. 

He stood there, taking in the intricate social dynamics of the shins and shanins. The creatures continued to feed, their chirps and crunching sounds filling the passageway with a sense of life and vitality.

"It's not greed, my Jyuran. It's like a spell for them," Garo said. "No matter how much they watch their kind being eaten, they can't overpower their thirst for the sweet fragrance. They'll end up drunkenly finding their way to the shins and shanins. Basically, they have no control over it."

"The shins and shanins eat millions of insects whenever they feed. Can you believe that?" Miram added in awe.

"Then I guess it's only a matter of time before they run out of insects and die of starvation," Mike envisaged.

Garo chuckled, a deep, throaty sound. "Don't even get me started, my Jyuran. The insect population far surpasses all the creatures on this planet combined!" she exclaimed. "There are several species that reproduce millions each day, and they grow extremely fast. They become adults the next day they're born, so the chances of them going extinct is... strongly impossible."

Mike was dumbfounded by these new discoveries; he thought he'd seen it all. However, little did he know that he was just getting started. After all, he's in a completely different world, a stark contrast to his home planet.