Iggy and Thlayli Eat Stuff: Iggy's Journal
Day 3
Today certainly began with excitement. I was awoken in the mid-morning by the sounds of a scuffle. I quickly left the tent to see a Xiavalion and its offspring hunting a group of Volaticytes. I was very excited, as I had never seen any of these creatures before.
The Xiavalion climbed up the Tranel with lizardlike dexterity, and snapped at the Volaticytes. The flying arthropods flapped off towards a nearby tree. However, one large specimen was too slow. It bumped into a branch, and the Xiavalion flung itself onto the Volaticyte's back. Flapping and thrashing desperately, the large arthropod cracked onto the ground. A few quick bites and slashes on the head and into the wound quickly killed the animal. I was about to move in to kill the Xiavalion when I noticed the two infants hiding in the bushes behind it. I couldn't bring myself to do it, so instead I merely scared off the creature, cut the Volaticyte in half, and left. I hid, and a few minutes later the family returned, ate their fill, and left, with a few pieces of meat still hanging from the emptied shell. As the Hiborytes started to carry off the scraps and a group of Chungi began to crawl into the clearing, I felt morally sound again. I picked up a few Chungi and carried them and the Volaticyte into the food pile.
Shortly afterwards, a group returned with a dead Xiavalion. It had fallen from a tall Tranel while pursuing prey. I felt somewhat guilty- perhaps it had been a father (or mother, hard to tell really), and had some baby Valions... the penguins assured me that it had been old and solo, but I'm not entirely sure I could trust them. Gris derided me for my soft behaviour, so I beat the crap out of him with my lightsabre (thank goodness for variable power levels, or he would have been sliced up finer than a 'did on an Arix's dinner table). Shortly thereafter, he retracted his statement.
The penguins agreed to prepare the food. One whose name escapes me suggested that the Chungus I provided him with was unsafe. Being quite aware of its relative safety (other than the fact that it's toxic for anything without a degree of acid resistance), I implied that it was deadly toxic, and he was the food tester.
Heheh.
Well... it seemed funner at the time.
Anyway, I spent the rest of the day diving around the coastline. I was unable to catch anything, so I will be water-proofing some of my arsenal tonight, after completing this entry. The animals I got to swim with were quite fascinating, though the only animal I managed to catch was a Garbageos Megatronus, and I could barely even take the thought of eating that putrid, mushy mass of slime. Yech.
I mean, it was a cool animal and fun to hold and such, but... blech.
Anyway, after drying off I ate. The Xiavalion tasted somewhere about halfways between a fish and a chicken. Its meat was rather tough, and a bit metallic tasting, but it tasted fine, and with a sour topping of Chungi spores it was a delicious dish.
The Volaticyte tasted like a rather meaty crab. The muscles just around the wings were rich, succulent and delicious. The sour Chungus sauce made it absolutely delectable. However, I did not want to eat many more, lest I endanger my only evolution of the era.
Thlayli's continued radio silence has grown beyond worrying. If I don't get any word from him by tomorrow, I will put my taste-based exploration of Delta Panzerus on hold to organize a search operation.
Well, I've got work to do, so I guess I'll end this entry now.
P.S. I feel that I should give a physical description of the Volaticyte. It looks a lot like its Clepsuryte and Scensuryte ancestors. The most notable difference is the adaptation of the middle set of legs into wings. The wings retain the segmentation of the legs they developed from. They are paddle-shaped, terminating in gripping talons.
So essentially there is one roughly triangular and flat segment extending from the torso, one flat rectangular segment extending from that, and a segment which curves to a close, terminating in a gripping talon.
The rest of the body is largely unchanged. The body is very slightly more aerodynamic, and somewhat reduced in size (though the muscles connected to the new wings have grown quite dramatically). The legs are now less adapted for ground crawling, as they terminate in sharp talons. Finally, the tail has extended, and is used as a bit of a rudder for the gliding and flapping flight of the Volaticytes.
Well, I guess it's off to sleep for me now. Tomorrow- though I hope it doesn't come to it- searching.
(I'll be continuing the story later tonight.)
