Creatures Caves

Amun basked happily in the sun. He lay on a log that stretched into the pond. He yawned, and watched his mate and daughter gathering windfalls under the great apple tree. A bee buzzed lazily around his head and he brushed it away. Hathor, she was called, his mate, and his little daughter Nut, named for her love of the crunchy nuts that fell to the ground by the pond. Amun sat up when he heard someone call his name. It was Polin. He didn't like Polin that much. He was always angry and bad tempered, but he was one of the cleverest norns among them. Amun walked slowly over to where the half Tiger, half Trident norn stood by the grazer herd.
"What is it Polin?" He asked.
"There's a strange creature in the engineering. Hurnink saw it and it frightened him away. From what he said it sounds dangerous. You are coming with me to investigate."
"Wouldn't Hilal be a better companion? She is half grendel."
"No. You."
"Alright then. If it frightened Hurnink then it can't be anything much."
The two norns set off. They went along the tunnel under the ground, and Polin grasped and turned the handle that opened the door. They passed through, and came to the corridor between the rooms. They went left to get to the engineering, and saw nothing on the first level. They went down to the next. Suddenly they heard voices, right down by the airlock and the lung. Amun put his head to the floor and heard a voice that he recognised as belonging to a shee. It said tremulously "What are you doing?"
Then a voice that sent a chill through Amun's blood spoke from below. "You know precisely. It has already happened to your creature."
"No! No! I'll do anything, but don't!"
Amun looked up and saw that Polin had crawled over to the lift shaft and was looking down. Amun followed him. Below he saw several large and burly grendels, a shee he recognised as Sheenal being held by them, and a group of figures that made his heart freeze. They were tall and thin and swathed from head to foot in long green cloaks with massive hoods. He had never seen them before, but he recognised them from the shee's descriptions. They were banshee. All he could see were slimy green hands sticking out of the sleeves and glaring red eyes shining out of the darkness beneath the hood. The shee was being pulled towards an open airlock door by the grendels. He was screaming and struggling against their grip, but they pulled him inexorably in. Then in a quick movement the grendels let go of him and dashed outside, slamming the door behind them. One of the banshee lifted a device in his hand, and the airlock opened to space! Amun shut his eyes and slid away from the hole, horrified. Polin grabbed his arm. "Come on! We've got to warn the others!"
The two norns dashed into the lift and sent it speeding up and away from the banshee below.

They dashed together into the aquarium, and found the three remaining inhabitants of the ark standing at the aqua window and discussing a new mollusc. They looked up irritably at the invading norns.
"Go away norns, we haven't got time for you now!" Said red furred Sheedar irritably.
"There's horrible creatures by the lung! Murdered Sheenal!" Gasped Amun, panting for breath.
"Oh, go away. There's nothing there." And then, of course, the banshee came in.
"Great grendels!" Gasped the shee in unison.
"Grendels! Take them!" Commanded a banshee. The shee and norns ran for the lift, but only Polin and Amun reached it and shot it down into the mechanical part of the aquarium. They sped away as fast as they could through the ettin subways, and came to the ettin desert. Then they went through another subway and came to the grendel jungle. Up they went in the lift, and got into the norn garden - just in time to meet the banshee. All the norns were quickly grasped by grendels and held in front of the banshee, who examined them with their fiery red gaze. One said "Leave them. It will make sport for our grendels."
"Very well. Release them, Ung Bug!" A massive jungle grendel gave an order in speedy Grishlyn to his followers, and they let go of the terrified norns.
"But not that one!" Said another banshee, stepping quickly forward and pointing at Perila, a pretty young magma norn. Perila fought the grendels clutching her, but it was no use. The grendels hauled her away. Perila's mate, Golthen, ran after the grendels but they ignored him. He returned, some time later, weeping uncontrollably.
"They spliced her with a grendel!" He moaned, and hid his head in his hands. Hilal stroked him gently, and he shied away from her. "Go away, you monster! You're part grendel!" Hilal left, hurt.

For a little time things seemed to be going to get back to normal. But then, the grendels began to move in. First the comparatively gentle Ung Fig came in one day - and stayed. The the huge Ung Bug and his followers - and finally a tall grendel who was half magma walked in. She was obviously the result of Perila's splice. Golthen loathed and loved her at the same time, and one day was found in the pond. Dead, with a rock cradled in his arms. This was the first casualty. Ung Bug and Wesela, the half norn grendel, mated many times, and the grendel population grew. Amun grew greatly alarmed and decided to take his little family away to somewhere safer. They gathered carrots to bring with them, and set off for the ettin desert. But to get there, they had to get through the grendel encampment, a massive sprawl of walking sleeping and mating grendels. Holding Nut on his hip, and gripping tight to Hathor, Amun began to walk through the grendels. They hadn't gotten far before they were attacked. They began to run, and then Hathor tripped. Amun pulled her, but grendels had leapt onto her, and as she sank under them, she cried "Get Nut to safety!"
Amun thought of his daughter, and ran. He sped through the grendels, and got safely to the other side. Polin was waiting there with his mate and an egg. "We're leaving too." He said. Amun nodded, and together they ran to the lift and sped away.

It was hard in the ettin desert. All there was to eat was minuscule seeds that hardly filled you up at all, and pieces of cheese. Nut was wasting away. It was terrible to watch. Polin's mate, Greldiki, was pregnant again, and she was in serious danger of dying at birth. And Amun was sorrowing for his dead mate. Polin seemed to be the only one of the little group who was still his old self. He was bad tempered, but he cared deeply for his family. He was at the oasis one day, getting water for Greldiki, when he heard a voice cry "Polin! I'm glad I've found you!"
He turned, and saw Garn standing there. Garn was half Madakoi, half Woolfa, and very intelligent.
"Are you alone?" Asked Polin sharply.
"Yes. Hurnink and Harnib are dead, and Hilal was thumped to death by Ung Bug. I've no idea where Hafakoi is. The last time I saw him was before those creatures came."
"Well you can't stay here. There's not enough food for us as it is."
"I thought there might be a situation like that. Look." And he drew out a bag full to bursting with nuts, carrots and apples. Polin drew in a deep breath looking at them, and said "Alright, you can stay."
"Good."

For a while after that things got better. They were well fed for a time, and Greldiki gave birth successfully to a feisty little girl who took after her father in personality. They named her Desret, and she grew strongly and steadily. They were most careful with the food, rationing it out to make it last as long as possible, but it ran out surely and steadily. A few days before it ran out all together, Desret was found to be missing. They searched everywhere, but she wasn't in the desert. They went out searching, and found her battling with Ung Seed in the jungle. They were taking turns hitting each other, but when Polin and the others joined the battle, he was soon seen off. Desret said "I could have dealt with him, Polin!"
"No you couldn't!" Snapped Polin, angry with her.
"I could have, too!"
"What were you doing in the jungle, anyway?"
"Looking for food, what do you think?"
"It's not safe!"
"Being without food isn't safe either!"

Soon after that Garn mated with Desret who laid a red speckled egg. Polin was furious with them, raving and shouting about how little food there was already, without them adding another mouth to feed. Desret flamed back at her father, yelling that she was old enough to look after herself now, and didn't need any senile idiot to tell her what was what, and wether she could have a baby or not! They were on the point of blows when the egg hatched and a little baby boy emerged. He stared at his quarrelling mother and grandfather and burst into tears. Immediately both norns were comforting him and making up.
The baby was named Frel, and he grew speedily. He too was like Polin in mood, but he was a bit more thoughtful. He thought more before he opened his mouth. This came from Garn, and Polin would sometimes moan about it, but Garn and Desret were proud of their little son. Unfortunately he turned out to be a fast ager, so he soon became a youth. Nut, now a youth also, took a fancy to Frel. And he to her. They wandered off together. They didn't come back. Just as they were all getting ready to send out a search party, Frel came stumbling into the desert. He was wounded and bruised, and he clutched a tiny egg in his arms. He collapsed gasping onto the hot sands, and Garn rushed off to find him some food, while Amun cried "Nut! Where's Nut?!" Polin ran off to get water, and Desret knelt beside her son. "Frel! What happened?" She asked gently.
Frel coughed and croaked "Grendels. Ung Norn."
Amun cried "Is Nut dead? Where is she?"
"Ung Norn . . . Got her. Just . . . Escaped."
"Nut!" Wailed Amun. He ran through the door, shouting her name. He was never seen again. The norns assumed he must have been killed by the grendels.
Frel recovered from his hurts, and jealously guarded the egg that was all that was left of Nut. But it wouldn't hatch. He pampered it with all sorts of different sorts of things he thought might make an egg hatch, but it still didn't hatch. It only got bigger. Then, one day, Desret came up to him. She said "Frel, I'm going to fight Ung Norn. Coming?"
"I'm coming!" Cried Frel eagerly, and he carefully buried the egg in hot sand to keep it warm, and then they set off. Into the jungle they went, and then into the garden. What they saw horrified them. It was filled with grendels. A pair of guards grabbed them immediately and carried them off, protesting and kicking, to where the grendel king, Ung Bug, was sitting with his queen. It was Wesela, the grendel who was half norn. One of the grendels holding them said "We have captured two norns, mighty Ung Bug."
"I see that. Thump them. I'm busy just now." But then a voice that was almost nornlike said "No. Leave them with me. I wish to talk to them."
"Yes, Beauteous Wesela." They said, and dropped the norns. Wesela beckoned, and they followed. What else could they do? She led them away to the learning room, and sent all the grendels away. Then she said "Don't attack me. That would be a stupid idea, because I'm stronger than both of you."
"Why did you save us?" Asked Desret.
"How do you know that I have?"
"I'm hoping that you have."
Wesela sighed heavily. "You see," she began, "I have been having strange feelings for a grendel. You wouldn't understand, but I am feeling a certain empathy with your kind, and that is most ungrendelish. And I feel . . . Guilty when norns are killed. It's probably because I'm part norn myself . . . So I think I should preserve and create life, not destroy it. I'll take you out of here now, so you will be safe."
Both the norns were gaping at her. Frel said at last "There's a lot of Perila in you."
"What do you mean?" Asked Wesela, frowning.
"Perila, she was the norn part of you."
"Oh. Come on now." Wesela seemed to be ashamed she was half norn, and she abruptly led them out of the learning room, and out, into the inter room corridor. Then she left them. They began to walk back to the desert. When they entered it Polin ran up to them, holding a tiny baby girl norn. "Look! The egg hatched!" He cried. Frel took the baby from his grandfather's hands and held her reverently.
"What will you call her?" Asked Desret.
"She is Rsnee! Rsnee!" Cried Frel.

After that Desret vanished again, but returned safely with several seeds from the jungle and some mushrooms. None of these would grow in the desert, but they kept them alive. For a while.

Rsnee grew strongly - but then the food ran out again, and there were now grendel guards posted in the jungle, so they couldn't get food there, and the banshee were in the aquarium. Greldiki, always frail, was the first to die. She expired at the hands of hunger and a wasting disease that made her always hungry, but she always grew thinner until she died one morning. She looked pleased to be dead. Then Frel followed his mother into oblivion, because he gave his share of the food to Rsnee, and because he was a fast ager, making him ancient speedily. Desret fought Ung Norn and killed him, desperate for food, but died herself soon afterwards of her wounds. Now there was only Polin, Rsnee and Garn left of all the norns of the ark. Rsnee was their only hope for continuing their species. Garn mated with her as soon as she was old enough, and she laid one egg, but died in the laying. The egg became stuck inside her, and she bled to death when Polin pulled it out. Garn, feeling it was his fault for not looking after her enough, walked into the oasis and didn't come out again. Polin named the unhatched egg Drif, and made caring for it his sole occupation. But Polin was sick with some pestilence. He had a limp, and coughed and sneezed all the time. He grew weaker and weaker, until he could only lie by Drif, giving his unborn great great granddaughter his warmth. And, as he heard the crack of a hatching egg, he knew he had succeeded. And he at last passed on with peaceful sigh, knowing he could let go now, for his work was done.

Sheefa paced up and down in her little room. Up and down. Up and down. It was so monotonous. Sighing, she stopped and sat down on her bed. She was the only shee on the ship left alive. The others had been murdered by the banshee who had taken control of the ship. They had kept her alive because they had no idea how to use organic equipment. She had piloted the ship for them, towards their home planet of Quormoona, and they were almost there now.
Suddenly the door opened, and a banshee was standing outside. He said "Come on out! We are leaving the ship and setting you free. We no longer need it."
"Why -" began Sheefa.
"Not now! Come on! Move!" Sheefa went out and followed the banshee until they came to an airlock. He stepped through into a small shuttle waiting on the other side. Then he left. Dazed, Sheefa stared after him. Then she turned away, and made for the terrariums and aquarium. Life was still fine in the aquarium. Then she entered the desert. A dead norn lay on the ground of a depleted and empty of life chamber. It had been sparse, but not empty before! Then she saw a small creature lying on the sand, hardly moving. She ran over, and saw a tiny baby norn, almost dead of heat exposure, hunger and thirst. She picked the baby up and cradled her. The eyes flickered open, and the norn whispered "Drif."
Sheefa hurried her to the medical bay and quickly injected her with cures, food and water. When the baby came out again, she was looking a little better. "Drif." She repeated.
"You poor little thing." Said Sheefa, and caught her up in her arms.