Terra 2: A Second Tree Of Life

Friends

This is a short story, not an entry. Still canon though.

10 Million Years Post Establishment

The sun begins to set over the North Eastern Almaran prairie , illuminating the grass in a radiant blue glow of twilight. Unfamiliar constellations dot the night sky like drops of milk on a black canvas, each one a distant world much like this one. Wind blows gently through the tops of spider bamboo and a family of burrowjacks rests in their burrow, hugging and snoring peacefully. Darting between stems of tall grasses, a small finch makes it's way to an adjacent forest while a herd of capyrams, far off in the distance, stroll across the grassland and bathes in the glow of the rising moons. In the burrow, obscured from terrestrial view by some low lying flowers, the burrowjack family suddenly blinks and open their eyes, raising ears in alert. Periodic vibrations gently shake the home, causing small particles of rubble to tumble down the sides of the hole. Each thump gets louder and louder, eventually causing the back half of the den to cave in. Startled, the hamster descendants scurry from their home and out onto the surface, searching the landscape of hills, forests and rivers for whatever could have causws such a racket. And then, like a skyscraper, a huge mess of brown feathers over 9 feet tall struds past them, its huge legs smacking against the ground like thunder. The burrowjacks safely gather their cubs between them, slightly lowering their ears and legs in fear of the beast. An incredible horn stretched up from the beasts beak into the sky, piercing the night. All of a sudden, a pain shoots through the nape of one of the subteranean mammals. His vision blurred and mind white with pain, all he can do is squeel and randomly kick his legs in hopes that whatever terror of the night had caught him retreats. But it doesn't. The pain worsens quickly as he is lifted into the air by the spine. And then, a crunch. He goes silent. His legs lay limp. Crimson dribbles down his face as his life comes to an abrubt end.

The giant is a descendant of the kiwis; the rhinofinch. And this one is a fully grown female, 23 years old and with a worked up appetite. For the last few days she has barely eaten, instead just wandering the prarie and sleeping on the soil. Her feathers, short but fuzzy and thick, keep her warm during the winter months. As she walks past the burrow she inadvertently destroyed with her heavy talons, she looks down to notice a small corpse, its grey fur stained red and its eyes glazed over. Curious, she turns her head just a bit further back. Another set of eyes stares back at her, brown feathers with a vibrant red crest. Yellow beak, forearms hanging low, bloody snout, white underbellie. The hooksparrow clicks his beak and chirps, tilting his head. Hesitant, the rhinofinch stumbles backwards but manages to stop its coming fall, clumsily sitting on the grass below. Meanwhile, the hooksparrow redirects its attention to the treat on the floor, reaching down and nuzzling its beak into the soft flesh of the corpse and stripping off a few bits of muscle. Eagerly, the young male gobbles down the red meat, not thinking twice about it, no guilt. She watches in curiosity. This creature eats other creatures? Such a strange concept to the kiwi. After all, the most meat she had eaten was a few helpless slugs whenever she got snacky. But now, as she whatched the hooksparrow rip and tear at the carcass, it became clear that perhaps she had been living restricted.

Nervous, she rises to her unsteady feet, ruffleling her feathers in the gentle breeze. The sun had now set, and the two moons brightly shined in the sky, casting a cold light over the landscape of hills and grasses. The rhinofinch takes one step forward, gently. Then another. And another. Until she was standing over the robin and its captured prey. Though, the smaller proto-predator didn't seem to mind too much about the giant looming above him. If anything, he was thankful to the bird. Her heavy steps had lead his prey out of their den and into a striking distance. Maybe, if it lets me, I could follow this beast? Simple, animal thoughts ponder in the hooksparrows small brain. Eventually, his red stained beak is joined by another as the rhinofinch delves into the carcass, hesitantly sniffing the meat and finally taking one small nibble of the ribs. Shocked, his crown of bright red plumage erects behind his head. A grass eater eating meat? My meat? But why? Slightly disgruntled, the hooksparrow lets out a short guttural call, alarming the kiwi which looks back at him, unsure of what to do. But just a second later, both avain creatures are feasting again, occasionally converging on the same piece of food and engaging in a small tug of war. Once both had had their fill, the rhinofinch chirps and playfully nudges the smaller finch. He nips at her foot back, which she steps out the way of. And just like that, the two are chasing each other across the clearing, calling and chirping. One nip there and one kick here, the two forget their simple troubles as they run in circles. The hooksparrow is faster so he always catches her first, but then she is larger and always steps on his tail to stop him from getting away. Other animals of the grassland observe, indifferent. Specifically, a small herd of Eastern Capyrams notices the playful commotion. While the cubs enjoy the show and attempt to imitate, clumsily chasing each other with their still developing runing skills, falling and tumbling all over the place, others nare not so interested in the interspecies game of tag. The rhinofinch falls, her plumage meeting the floor in a soft but thunderous shudder. A weight along with some sharp objects presses down on her back as the hooksparrow jumps on top of her, still playfully nipping at her face and body, to which she rolls over, knocking him onto the soil.

As the moons reach their highest point in the night sky, the two creatures lay down on a bed offoliage to rest. For the next 3 or 4 months the male hooksparrow will stay with the female rhinofinch and the two are to form a close bond, just like the thousands of others have done all over Almara for the last 500,000 years. But now is not the time to think of the timescale, of the incomprehensibley large stretch of time it took for these two to meet. All we know is that they did, they were happy and they eventually both passed, becoming another corpse, another skeleton, another fossil, another sedimentary layer of rock. Both are and always will be unaware of their origins or their species destinies in the far future, and they simply couldn't care less. For now, they play tag. And eat. And sleep. And cuddle. The world moves on.