Work Text:
Within the shelter in the Outskirts, a blue slugcat snores in his sleep as the snowstorm outside begins to weaken and a new cycle begins. The slugcat in his dream finds himself reliving a past. Memories of him and his family, how they once were. He remembers how much he struggled to catch a batfly when he was a pup, yet his brother would always be there to hand him his own food. Then, should they be good slugcats, his father and mother would treat him and his brother with a delightful feast as they all eat like a big happy family. Despite the food being so basic, they always seemed to taste equally wonderful as the food his human friend makes. His nose twitches, smelling a delicious scent that was enough to interrupt his dream as he wakes up to look for the source of that smell.
The human stands by the corner mixing something on his pot and creating even more of the fragrant smell, he turns and notices the slugcat is awake as he smiles, knowing that sooner or later the slugcat would smell his food and wake up.
The slugcat yawns, and stretches before getting up as he approaches the human, curious to see what he's cooking and why he is cooking this early in the cycle. He boops the human's elbow with his nose to get his attention.
The human chuckles and pets the slugcat before showing the slugcat the surprise food he's been cooking this early. In his pot is a melted light blue liquid with texture that is of a thick creamy paste, the slugcat realizes this was made of the eggs from the eggbug they killed last cycle. The human prepares it on two bowls as he serves one for himself and one for the slugcat, he finishes it by adding two twigs of cinammon on the side. It's an eggbug eggnog.
The slugcat marvels at such a unique dish, he's never thought of Chef creating foods in this style but he definitely loves it. Tasting it impressed him even further, he could taste the slightly sourness of the eggbug's egg that's been mixed with the sweet creamy flavor of milk and the other ingredients, all of which forms together into a jolly harmony.
As the slugcat finishes his meal, the human excitedly pulls out a pearl, he begins to tinker and click on it before a hologram pops out, it displays multiple jumbled up and unidentifiable symbols, all he couldn't understand... except a number... The number is 25 with a green tree symbol right beside it. The human excitedly taps at the number 25 then to the tree symbol, whatever it may be, it seems important.
The slugcat tilts his head, confused by his excitement yet also slightly intrigued. He points at the green tree wanting to know why this is such an important thing to get excited at.
Using the spoon to draw on the dirt, the human draws the same tree from the pearl as he draws multiple people under the tree all wearing these strange hats. Some he draws giving each other these box shaped objects, some he draws hugging each other or holding hands, and some he also draws just enjoying what appears to be a good meal on the table. Throughout all of this, one thing is consistent, they were all happy .
The slugcat is now hooked by this concept, could this be some sort of event the humans celebrate? The slugcat himself is not alien to such celebratory rituals, in fact he remembers his tribe would host these activities to celebrate over them thriving and surviving such harsh conditions and how a delicious feast is accompanied by said celebration.
The human giggles before pulling out a box from his backpack, wrapped dried colorful leaves from a monster kelp as he hands it to the slugcat.
The slugcat gasps as he realizes that the human is mimicking what was drawn with the person handing over another person a box shaped object. He accepts it, feeling warmth and happiness at the gesture. He unwraps it and opens the box and inside he sees the same hat that the human drew on top of the people. It's made of red fabric with the soft white fur on its base and on the top is a white fluffy ball. He puts it on and feels the softness of the hat as the fluffy ball dangles to the side of his head, causing him to start trying to catch it with his paw.
The human puts on his own hat with a green fabric as he stops the slugcat from trying to chase his hat bobble. He points at the drawing of the tree with the decorations as he looks at the slugcat with excitement and happiness, Wanting to celebrate it with him.
Without hesitation, the slugcat nods with a wagging tail. It has been a while since he has participated in a celebratory ritual but it would be a nice change of pace from just trying to survive or getting into another region. Besides with the eggnog he ate early on the cycle and the depiction of the people enjoying a feast, he knows there's got to be meals involved by the end of this celebration too. He picks up his spear and lets the human lead the way this time.
...
The two traverse throughout the land in search for materials as well as the unique ingredients they need for this celebration. Flora wise they collected; Dandelion peaches from the Sky island, Gooieducks from the Farm arrays, Lily pucks from the Drainage System, Orange mold from the Shaded Citadel, and Bubble fruits from the Shorelines. Fauna wise they killed; Centipedes, Centiwings, Dropwigs, and Spiders. They finish the journey by finding the tree they can use for the event, settling down on a large thick fern plant to substitute as their tree.
Dodging some predators and ensuring none of their loot is stolen, the two return back to their original shelter. The slugcat sets the fern plant up as he climbs up and begins decorating it by hanging some blue fruits, and lanterns on its leaves, arranging them to be akin to the drawing of the human.
The human meanwhile begins setting up his large workplace as he prepares himself for hours of cooking and hard work. Cracking his fingers, he chops, grinds, boils, fries, and does all of his magic on his work station, not once taking a break as he multitask and bounces around all the foods he's currently cooking, creating a magnificent smells that makes the slugcat wonder what he might create once he's finished.
By the time the two are done, they've created quite the environment. The Fern tree shines beautifully , a huge delicious feast has been prepared on the table. A roasted stuffed dropwig, glazed centipedes, orange mold pudding, fried seasoned spider legs, and a fruit cake made out of the lily puck, dandelion, bubble fruit, and blue fruit.
The slugcat sits down, his mouth watering at the huge feast in front of him. He stops himself before he could begin eating after noticing that the human is not with him yet.
The human is still busy cooking a few of the foods as they have gotten way more ingredients than they originally planned. He looks at the slugcat and gives him a thumbs up, letting him know he can start eating if he wants as he prepares another meal and crawls inside their shelter to store it.
The slugcat tilts his head wondering why the human would store the foods in their shelter rather than set them on the table along with the other foods he made if they still have a few remaining ingredients left. Not wanting to just eat alone along with being confused by this, he gets up and heads to the shelter. Crawling inside he finds the human has prepared piles of his cooked dishes much larger than the feast that was currently on the table outside. He chirps at the human, becoming more confused and wanting answers.
The human, noticing the slugcat has arrived, smiles as he picks up his spoon and begins to draw a figure with a beard and the hat handing down gifts to other folks as they celebrate. He then draws a version where it's himself and the slugcat handing down gifts in the form of food to the lizards, scavengers, and other animals.
The slugcat stares at the human for a while, processing what the human has shown him. Then he begins to chitter as if to laugh from the human's joke. He points at the piles of food before pointing at himself and the human, wanting those foods just to be for them to enjoy.
The human's smile disappears momentarily before it returns as he shakes his head and points at the drawing of the figure, handing presents to the people and making the others happy, He points outside with the prepared foods on the table, that's what they will eat, it's already enough of a feast for them.
Realizing the human is serious at his decision of sharing the food with others, the slugcat stops chittering and tilts his head. Why would the human ever want to share his foods with predators who want nothing more than to harm them or scavengers who are outright rude to them. They've worked yet now the human wants to give it all away? He shakes his head in response as he approaches the pile of food and picks up an orange mold pudding as he walks away plans to move all the foods to the table.
The human gasps and runs after the slugcat as he takes away the orange mold and returns it back to the pile of food, pointing again back at the drawing of them giving it away.
The slugcat shakes his head, not wanting to partake in any of that as he tries to take another food away from the pile only for the human to take it away from him and put it back. At this point the slugcat begins to feel frustrated at the human’s insistence, in response he slams his paw and smudges the drawing of himself and the human handing away the foods, hoping that message is enough for the human to understand.
The human eyes widen at this gesture as his smile fully disappears, appalled by the selfishness that the slugcat has. Isn’t the point of this event to give gifts to others…?
The slugcat walks past the human as he wraps himself protectively on the food pile, his mind set on hoarding the dishes for themselves and not sharing a single one. They worked hard for these foods, they deserve to eat it all.
The human, now frustrated by the slugcat’s stubbornness, tries to pull the slugcat off the piles of food as he frantically points at the drawing of a person handing someone a gift as well as the tree symbol.
The slugcat growls, pushing away the human’s hands and breaking free from his grabs as he protectively clings to the pile of food. Yet the human doesn’t give up, putting all of his strength in trying to pull the slugcat off, making the slugcat growl louder, and his fur bristle as he feels himself slowly reach a boiling point.
The slugcat finally snaps as he turns around and swipes at the human, making him fall into the floor with force. The human grunts and slowly opens his eyes as he feels his cheek ache and his body sore from the impact. He slowly places a hand on his aching cheek as he feels blood slowly trickling down.
The slugcat’s anger and adrenaline quickly fades as soon as he realizes what he has done. He looks at the scratch mark across the human’s cheek and then looks down to his shaking hand that has been tainted by the human’s blood.
The human calmly rises from the ground as he takes deep breaths to control himself, yet he feels his eyes sting as tears begin to form against his wishes. The slugcat begins to whimper in apology but he raises his hand to interrupt him as he takes off his green hat and throws it away in frustration before crawling out of the shelter, leaving the slugcat alone.
Racked with guilt and shame, the slugcat feels his eyes sting as he also starts to tear up, an emotion he thought he’d never feel again. His ears drop down as he covers his face and wraps his tail around himself, whimpering. What has he done..? How could he have hurt his best friend like that…? This cycle was meant to be a happy celebration for them and yet…. This happened.
Feeling empty emotionally and physically, the slugcat takes a piece of the food pile behind him, he tries to eat it but finds that the flavor is quite.. Dull. How odd, he’s sure the human has seasoned the food and mixed its ingredients perfectly. He tries to take another bite and again it’s always dull.. Bland.. Any food he tries just feels unfilling.
In the corner of his eye, he spots the monster kelp wrapping on the floor, this was from the gift that the human gave to him early in the cycle. He then looks up to the drawing of the people giving gifts to each other, all being happy. Memories of his brother giving him his own batfly begins to flood his mind, despite having worked hard capturing that batfly. Still, his brother seemed happy because it made the slugcat happy. His eyes widened in realization, how could he have been so selfish? It’s not about working hard for your fill, it’s about giving to others to make them happy. All the human ever wanted in this event was to simply share and make everyone happy, even the predators, not just him and the slugcat.
He picks up the hat that the human threw away along with the wrapper. He has to make things right, otherwise he could never forgive himself. He’s been bitten, stabbed, and attacked in many ways, yet none of them could compare to the pain he felt when he saw the human feeling betrayed and hurt by him.
He crawls out of the shelter and finds the human tucked under the tree with his face obscured. He approaches the human with his body lowered as he places a wrapped present next to the human and whines to get his attention.
The human turns to the slugcat, his eyes wet and bloodshot after crying. He appears apprehensive at first until he notices the present next to him, he picks it up and opens it as he finds his discarded hat.
The slugcat draws on the floor of himself and the human, giving the food to everyone before closing his eyes and whimpering, wanting to be forgiven for what he has done earlier. Suddenly he feels hands wrap around him and pull him in a warm embrace as the human would hug him tightly with a smile as tears fall down on his face. Slowly, the slugcat returns the hug as he begins to feel himself cry again, this time out of happiness.
…
The two spend their remaining time in the cycle handing out presents to everyone, the slugcat making sure to deliver all the gifts with such speed. Running from a pack of red lizards after handing them roasted dropwigs, showering any scavengers they encounter with pearls and delicious meals, and even leaving some presents for the iterators Five Pebbles and Looks to the Moon. Five Pebbles discards the gift he got, meanwhile Looks to the Moon opens her present and to her joy, receives lots of neuron flies. (All of which were stolen from Five Pebbles during their visit)
As they are done, they return back to their shelter where they finally get to eat the feast that they had prepared hours ago. The human is slightly disappointed that the food has gone cold now and is no longer as tasty, but for the slugcat, the food has never been as delicious as now… And as he eats with the human by his side, he gets reminded of one last memory, of himself eating with his family by his side.