Children of the Light Ch. 01

He had mated with some of them, the result of each hatch were young that knew.

The females of D'aath's spawn formed small rings of dry plants to hold their young once they developed enough to escape their protective covering.

The males lay around and basked, waiting for nutrients to be provided, and then bred with the females.

The males did sometimes assist in improving the nests, because the more young they had, the more nutrients the females gathered.

This increased their numbers, no longer were the soft eggs left on their own, completely vulnerable.

Each female now spent most of her time pecking and eating the large worms that came to take the young. In each circle of dry plants, a few would manage to survive, there were a lot of the worms. Every beginning of each light cycle the worms left, and came again at each closing of the light cycle.

In full dark the females rested, the worms did not.

The males then gathered near the nests, spending the dark period biting at the worms at random, getting many of them.

The worms were not aware of self, they simply moved and fed, making no attempt to even avoid the sharp beaks of the creatures.

D'aath sat and pecked at the worms with all the rest, finding them not unpleasant. Yet poor in nutrient, it took a lot of them to sustain.

As the survivors evolved, they gained more knowledge, some of things D'aath did not even need to teach. They began to harvest and store the more nutritious plants.

With the increases in nutrients, the creatures gained in size, D'aath kept increasing his own to avoid being pushed aside by the more aggressive males.

Defeating them was always easy, but size gave them pause and avoided most conflict.

He felt pleased, this species was doing rather well.

They began to build, their circles were moved to points of safety where the worms could not reach easily.

The discovery of artificial light allowed far more of the worms to be stopped before they could reach the eggs.

Very soon they were building and placing false nests, the worms that came to those died quickly when they fed on what appeared to be the eggs.

Since the worms were not self aware, D'aath did not interfere with that.

With the worms all gone, the creatures claimed their world, now masters of all.

Very few became very many.

With knowledge came desire, desire became greed, then competition began. The very best sites for nests were soon taken by those who led.

After they eliminated the worms, that required them to seek other sources of sustenance.

At first it was plant matter, fixed in place and not aware of self. The beings actually began to grow crops.

Their discovery of an even better source of nutrient was a shock to D'aath, when they began to feed on other species after bathing them with fire.

Those were also not yet aware of self, so D'aath allowed that also.

But that soon caused a concern, some claimed far more than required to sustain, others felt the pain of shortage.

To maintain power and control required force by those who led. Those who claimed to lead began to eliminate those who dared to challenge.

The end result was the same as it always was, so the Father gave the permission.

That race of beings very nearly beat D'aath to it, they were already sending the flames of Atoms at each other when the Comets struck.

+++

Once again D'aath took the lengthy drift back to the tiny little planet that was it's favored one. On arrival the pod was fully charged, which turned out to be a good thing.

That time when sensation was barely beginning D'aath saw the monstrous creature. More than 20 times his size, it's fangs had snapped shut where he had been an instant before. It had clipped his side, that was the second time D'aath felt pain and he did not like that one bit. Only the armor of the body he inhabited saved him, the huge teeth had glanced off rather than sank in.

Finally eluding the beast, D'aath took stock of himself. Two lower appendages, limber with powerful muscle, two upper short ones, just three sharp claws on each and no way to really grasp and hold anything except for long sharp sticks.

It fed on plants and sometimes those deceased that were no longer self aware, and it was very fast.

The reason became clear quickly.

It didn't take very much of that, by the third time one of the huge things tried to grab him, he had had quite enough. He did not even bother to investigate further at the camps the beings like he had become lived.

Not after he found a pack of them swiftly dissecting one of the larger beings that was obviously self aware. They had struck it down with long sharpened sticks, and had stone blades they were using to slice it apart.

They also had a huge fire, and many of them were covered in bright coloring as they danced and chanted, insane from over use of a mind altering plant fermentation.

The Father once again gave D'aath permission.

This time it sent a thirty earth mile wide chunk of solid rock into one of the Oceans, and another one onto the land on the other side of the planet just to make sure.

D'aath had carefully checked each rock for life, and found it on both but it was not yet self aware.

There was another very long time drifting, with brief stops at worlds with beings engulfed in flame, beings wafting in gaseous atmospheres, creatures little more than a portion of the soil of their world.

It was a very long time before D'aath returned to the favored world.

+++

It was pleased when it returned to the tiny Earth world again, after a quick visit on it's way to a strange planet.

One of the common worlds that was in full lockstep with it's Sun, the life there was barely into the beginning stages. It was simply cells floating in bubbling water so D'aath moved on, content to be returning to the only planet that now held it's fascination.

There were furry little beings everywhere when it arrived and transformed at the Earth world millions of it's cycles later.

They bustled around finding seeds and grains, living in peace. The shock of sensation that time was severe, everywhere D'aath looked there was frozen water.

D'aath did not stay very long, even the claws on his four tiny little feet hurt him. Spending long periods rolled into balls with all the other furry beings far beneath the ground was not pleasant. That was interrupted only by brief periods of foraging for the seeds falling from the plants that grew very quickly when the planet had warm periods.

It was a miserable yet peaceful existence, short days spent dashing around gathering mouthfuls of the bitter seeds and storing them for the long periods rolled into tight balls for warmth.

The only respite was when they pretend mated, that was odd as the females mated regularly even though they were not in their fertile period.

That appeared to be indiscriminate, and nearly constant, and the males made great effort to place their seeds inside the female bodies.

The beings also urinated on the ground and lay in it to salvage every trace of heat.

D'aath was glad to get out of there that time, after placing the genes into several of the females. That had been an involved process, he was forced to strut and carry on with a completely silly ritual before any of them would stand to mate.

Rather than simply spray the sperm over a bed of eggs like so many species did, these creatures joined momentarily and the seed was spewed into the female's body.

To D'aath, that was completely distasteful.

But he knew their spawn would be larger and stronger, and soon know of fire. The young would carry his own genes.

Once again in the pod where it felt little, it absorbed the weak light from the planet's Sun, then began the drift there. There would be a stop of a long period in the sun's center to fully power the pod, then on to another emerging world.

D'aath knew it would be many millions of this little planet's years again before it would return.

Perhaps, just perhaps those peaceful little furry creatures would evolve into a species that could share the blessings of the light.

After so many visits, D'aath knew the tiny little planet held huge potential. It's Sun was barely one third of the way consumed, plenty of time for the creatures to evolve and learn.

Perhaps finally some species to share the Universe with? Perhaps then offer them the blessings of the light?

+++

NOW

The creature that startled him turned and dashed into the nearby brush. D'aath felt better about that, she did not attack.

Now he stood there, looking down at the being he had emerged as. It was really a strange thing, right where the lower appendages joined was a worthless mass of fur. Why, D'aath had no real idea, and protruding from the mass was a much shorter appendage than the other four the body had.

That he had seen before but always encased, never just there. He understood that it must be for mating, but how? It was just there, exposed.

D'aath felt a flash of hope, with the mating portions of the body completely exposed and vulnerable, this race must then be peaceful?

He began to walk, the lower appendages on this life form were well designed for that. Feeling the pressing need of nutrient, he looked around.

Each time on a new world he always had to find some kind of sustenance because unless he was in the wisp that formed his normal self he could not feed completely on the light. The Sun shone faintly on his naked skin, it did offer energy but barely.

He spotted a plant with plump looking fruits. It was preparing to reproduce. Reaching out, he touched one, expecting to get a protest for doing that but there was none.

That being had life, he could sense it but it was not aware of self. D'aath feasted, feeling the flood of energy pour through his being. Then he spotted a furry creature with large appendages for receiving sound. He grasped it, it was fast but nowhere near as fast as he was, even in his weakened state.

It turned and tried to strike so he released it.

That creature was aware of self, so he let it be.

His mind was fuzzy, it was hard to concentrate. It struck him again that something was terribly wrong.

He had grasped the small being, curious.

He should have already known what it was.

There were far too many things he did not know.

He again thought to the Father, it would know what to do. That was when he realized again, there was no Father in his mind.

Something scratched his arm, only the 3rd time in his existence he had felt pain. Glancing over he saw that a small branch with claws had scraped across him. Looking down, there was a droplet of internal fluid?

The branch was armed with claws, yet it was not aware of self. That was strange also. Why would it bear claws for struggle if it was not self aware?

His mind felt quiet, what was happening? This was wrong, he felt his own thoughts clearly in what seemed to be the upper portion of the body he was in. But he sensed he could not perceive quickly, everything in his mind came to him in what was like a ponderously slow motion.

D'aath understood his mistake. He had stranded himself, far down on energy, and he was now vulnerable.

"Oh, my God!" He heard the sound behind himself. He turned and saw the creature again standing there.

D'aath had heard sound many times before, from beasts and even from beings that had language. But he nearly always knew well ahead of the sounds what the thoughts were.

The sound came as a complete surprise. The being had gotten far too close this time without him knowing.

Looking closely, the tall creature stood there again, one paw to what obviously was it's nutrient intake. Two very large blueish orbs were pointed directly at him. He could sense that it used vision, the same as D'aath knew he was now doing. It had a large mass of flame colored fur above it's visual system.

"Why are you naked?" It said. Now he understood that it appeared to be frightened, the language of it's body was tense.

Fear meant danger, D'aath knew that very well.

"What?" D'aath felt come from his upper body.

He reached up and touched himself there.

Something stuck out in the center of what he knew was the cranium that controlled this being, then he felt downwards to his mouth. Feeling upwards to the orbs, he now knew why everything seemed to be up high on this being he now was.

The center of self awareness was up high, that meant there really must be danger that elevation could warn of since he had found nutrients low down within easy reach.

D'aath quickly looked around, but saw nothing else.

Looking again at the creature, it had the paints of war on it's upper body. Each of the visual orbs was encircled with darkness, there was a splash of reddish color on each side. Even it's nutrient intake orifice was blazed with a bright coloring.

D'aath knew very well what that meant, having been chased by so many other species. He knew the decorations of conflict when he saw them.

In conflicts many species wore colors to reflect their anger. He even remembered the shock of discovering on other planets that some fed on their own when painted for combat.

He had gotten the permission very quickly for those worlds.

"What?" He repeated.

"Why are you naked, dude? And why are you sticking your fingers in your mouth?" The female asked again.

"I don't know. Something is wrong."

"No shit! I have never seen a man like this, just standing there with it all hanging out in plain sight! You better put some clothes on."

The female then made an odd sound, and appeared to be demonstrating humor.

D'aath looked more closely at this being, it was soft looking and rounded. He knew it was a female of the same species he now was, he could see quite clearly that there were what appeared to be feeding glands.

And only two? That meant a usual litter of young was likely very limited. Limited young would mean this species would be very few.

Those glands were very high, not down on the middle, efficiently close to the abdomen where source of nutrient would be, like most species.

She had an upper and lower small body covering, it was an unnatural color. Looking at her lower body he could not tell if she had an appendage there like he did or not.

If so, then it was tiny, perhaps encased? That was clear, there was no sign of it since the covering there was very small.

It struck him that the painting was perhaps not for war but mating?

Although if she was in mating ritual, why was she not completely uncovered? It could not be for warmth, there was not enough of it.

It was a colorful looking skin covering, that appeared to be to demonstrate the shape of the being rather than hide or warm anything. Even the fur on her cranium was unnaturally colored, like a decoration.

That nearly matched her long red claws which seemed to be weapons.

Her skin also was covered by darker spots, especially the upper portion above the covering.

D'aath realized it had to be mating colors, she must be in ritual, so many species did that.

Yet normally it was the male rather than the female that was bright and colorful?

D'aath was also well aware that on so many worlds the female either ate the male after breeding, or saved it for food for their young.

D'aath was wary of this creature, if she was in mating colors then she could be dangerous. On so many worlds, the female of the dominant species was by far the most deadly.

Those long red claws looked to be very wicked, the soft flesh of his current form could not withstand an attack by them.

D'aath checked his own claws, they were short, useless.

This meant the females of this species were the warriors?

But he also realized he was larger and far stronger. If she attempted to make a kill, he could simply elude her.

She stepped closer, D'aath stepped back, nervous.

"Do you need to mate? Or are you going to try and eat me?" He asked.

She came to a stop, looked at him and threw her head back and roared, again in what seemed to be humor.

It did not sound like a cry of war.

"Honey, I don't even know you, there is no way in hell I am going to blow you!"

D'aath just looked at her, confused.

"I only wish for a peace from you. I have no ill will." He said.

She blinked, then laughed again.

"A piece, huh? Wow, you must be on some good shit! Come on honey, I have a spare T-shirt in my bag. I think it might be barely long enough to cover that little thing up." She grinned, looking down at his appendage.

D'aath had drawn that appendage back when he was close to the plant with claws to avoid them, sensing the nerve endings there meant vulnerability.

He was now sure that extra "thing" she called it between his legs was for mating. He had seen that before also. It was odd that it stayed exposed though, since it was so vulnerable.

Most species that did not split simply had the male spray it's seeds over their eggs before covering them up...?

And then killed the male for food for their young.

He desperately wanted to be in thought with the Father, it would know what to do. He felt helpless, not being able to understand clearly what this female was thinking.

The sounds she formed somehow did not match the sight of her, it was all confusing.

"Hey, come on guy. If you stay like that the cops will toss your ass in jail. Relax, I don't bite. I think you are just all fucked up on something, you don't look like a pervert since you aren't jacking off." Her orifice curled upwards as she glanced down again.

She kept doing that, it appeared to amuse her.

That sounded reassuring even though he did not know what some of it meant. Perhaps she wasn't one that killed the male after all? Even if she did, she would not make the attempt until bred and he could somehow sense that she was not with young.

He followed along as she pushed through the brush, keeping a safe distance.

The trail opened into a clearing, the female went directly to a container and removed what he took to be a body covering from it's shape. He saw that it had what was probably a symbol of one of their Gods on it, the God was riding in a ground vehicle. That he could see, so this species knew of the wheel.

So many species worshiped strange things, that was something common D'aath had witnessed many times.

The symbol was certainly a strange being to worship, it had long furry arms, huge eyes and more fur on it's cranium that went every which way.

The covering was also confusing, did the female wish for him to join her in war? It could not be for mating, covering the body during mating made no sense.

"Here, put this on. I swiped it from my brother to use as a cover, he is almost as big as you." She nearly got too close, but he kept stepping back, finally she tossed the garment to him.

D'aath was still concerned about those long red claws. She had not retracted them and he knew very well that meant she was ready even if her actions did not seem to be very threatening.

"I'm Kathy." She said, stepping over and hopping onto the upper edge of some kind of platform. D'aath gauged the distance, thinking she might be trying for elevation to leap at him.

Then he saw the much lighter flesh that became exposed on her feeding glands. She must wear this covering a lot since sunlight had darkened her exposed flesh.

"Well?" She said.

"Yes, I am well." He figured out the garment and quickly jerked it on. It felt a little snug. It took nearly no thought at all to make it larger so it fit better.

The Sun was shining brightly, it was helping him. A trace of energy came from the pod that now followed closely, nearly unseen as it blended into the rays of sunlight.

D'aath saw the female glance over towards where the pod was, it did create waves in the light but he was sure she could not actually visualize it.