Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Rest had always been simple enough to grasp, easier so thanks to what she had given him. 

At first, he could only listen to the immediate sounds of his rest. The slow dribble of the earth's sustenance, the off rhythm of bursting heat. It was home. A place of memories. 

The last memory he had of it was the small one who entered, giving him one of those destructive blooms in a dire time. Whilst he approved, he had been left without a source of nourishment. 

He shifted, his gaze going to the skull of a deceased rival he had only seen once then never again. The only memory of this domain he had, and it was one of humiliation. The only solace he had was that he was young. Inexperienced.

Rising to his feet, he huffed. He should scope out the rest of the underground here, to prevent any future ambushes. He trusted that his hide was well enough to take a battle and some more. 

The tunnels were different, as all things were when the light between sun and moon exchanged their position in the sky. Smaller, but not impossible to manage. He only had to lean forward. 

Should it come to it, he would go on all fours. While not his preferred way to move, he knew that comfort was scarcely ever regarded when it came to territorial patrol. 

The walls themselves had scattered remains of the structures made by man from a time past, sticking out in old defiance. He recognises these builds, all of them created so that those who wished could live alongside him. 

He blew a soft breath, then went silent for a moment. He recalled when they would do this for a passed one, and the most he could think was that they found peace somewhere else. If any had even survived into the world below. 

He continued on, as always. What else was there to do? He had given himself a task, and he would finish it before moving on to the next. He would mark them later, as priority was to extend his knowledge of the cavern. 

He walked in silence, but the further he went into the earth, he noticed it began to shift from sunset colored stone to the color of shattered rock, pale and without life. It had only been at least some time of breaths too, how did he never notice this? 

Smelling it, he scratched at it with his claws. Rocks below and above never had this stillness. Mountains were made of motion, and shattered ones were weathered by the flow. Yet this seemed… odd. 

It reminded him of the worlds that appeared to remain in the past while the rest went on as it always would. However, growth and decay were still natural there, despite the odds that came with it. 

This was different. He could feel it was.

Leaning forward, he sped up his pace. If there were any other passages into the world below that had this, he would need to mark them. Perhaps destroy them before anything came to the Sky Blessed. 

The pale rocks dominion continued to grow the more he went down. Yet, it appeared to be as if it was becoming a building, he noticed a pillar there, half a staircase to his left, the idea that this had been a built home for one of the others was possible. 

The carved walls were another addition to this theory. However, they held memories to tell of whoever this was meant for. A past before his time, he presumed. Even still, he had seen what the little ones could do with their intricacies. 

Too focused on what was above and around him, he failed to notice what was below. So when he stepped on grass, he lifted his foot immediately, balancing on his tail and other leg. At first he assumed it was a trap, but then looked closer.

Grass, nearly an entire forest worth simply sprouting from the ground. However, it was pale like the lands of cold where the dirt below was hidden. He was sure no plants in the below world did not. His memory failed to bring up any recollection of it. 

It had the scent of grass, but it felt… wrong. Wrong like the stones around him. He curled his claws, it felt like the one who fell from the stars. Not from either of the worlds he knew. It would be a waste of time to destroy this. He needed the source. 

He sped down the tunnel after that, his footsteps short bursts of booming thunder. What made it worse was that there was now a dull glow emanating softly ahead, roots belonging to some sort of tree filled the barren ceiling. 

Some blocked the way, but powerful slashes of his claws and bites of his teeth tore through them, the taste abhorrent. Had the three headed one truly managed to inflict a parasite in his territory? 

A wave of fury surged over him at the thought, his scowl deepening. He snarled, spines already building up some of his power in case he needed it. There would be no mercy for whoever he found before him. 

Except, when he finally reached the end of the tunnel, there would only be one of the travel pits that lead to either another part of his territory, or to the world under. Much like any other, it had the colors of what it was closest to. In this case, the stillness around him. 

There was the expectation that the source was to be another one like the others, but he should have remembered that the travel pits could produce life on their own if left alone for long periods of time. Just how long had this been here? Was it how the Serpent had nearly bested him? 

He grumbled, it would serve him best to simply destroy it, before anything else came out, but if she had been here prior, that meant the Serpent had been eating whatever came out. Which meant it provided energy. However… The very fact it felt similar to the one who fell from the stars meant he must raze it to the ground. 

If there was an entire realm of them, it could spell problems for him and the others, so this would have to be the best course of action. The only one he could really take, unless another came through and began commanding the others to rend the lands. 

With his decision made, he walked towards it and tentatively hunched forward, his snout nearly touching the travel pit. The wrongness made his scales itch, and the stillness was a challenge to him personally, he felt. 

He dove in quietly, as none of the others needed to know he would be absent for some time. 

When he awakened it would be to an empty, dimly lit cavern? Tunnel? and a hunger like he had never felt before. Where had all the sustenance he had gathered gone? Why did he feel so sluggish? What happened on his way through the travel pit? 

He groaned, shaking his head as he unsteadily got to all fours. Claws digging into the ground below as she stabilized himself from what felt like a drop. Not as severe as the one he experienced against his rival, but his body hurt still. 

It took some time for Blue Spine to gather himself, but with some strained effort, he managed to stand. Albeit not without crashing into what felt like a wall when he lost balance for a moment. 

Thankfully, it appeared that there was some sort of soft material in place of hard rock. However, and much more alarmingly however, he saw a shape in there, beginning to move out towards him. A dull glow revealing a silhouette he did not recognize. 

He backed away best as he could, aware that he was too weak to use his strongest ability. Nor would he be the one to retreat, he had come to investigate this realm, and he would see to it that he felled any who associated with his dead enemy. 

The shape squirmed around within, pushing forward and all he could really do was watch, uncertain of what would happen if he attacked the barrier between them. Whatever this creature was, its vigorous fire outmatched the current embers he had.

It fell out with a wet, semi-heavy, unceremonious thump after one last shove. The chortles it made were new to him, but the shape of the creature was familiar to ones he had battled against long ago. Except, it looked like a twisted reflection of that. Mangled and unhealthy. 

Its hide was streaked in blanks that did not look natural, not like those who lived in the frozen lands. The only true colors were sparse bits that reminded him of an evening sky mixed with night. But the main thing that had his attention was the blood red skull with two eyes that studied him in turn.

He scowled, the King of Skars had marked his Pack Runners the same way. Blue Spine growled when the Mangled Runner began to circle him, its movements careful. There was a sense of wrongness to this, but he was unsure why. 

They stood at a standstill for some breaths more, then, with a roar, the Mangled Runner charged him. Closing the space between them in only a couple of strides. It leapt upwards, a cloud of smoke puffing out of its mouth. 

He let it come to him as he took the full weight of its assault. Claws slashed through his scales and teeth attempted to bite at his neck–he held strong, but getting a grip on it was difficult. It was fast. 

A roar parted from his jaws when it bit his neck, and he slammed his aggressor into the very wall it came out of. The act caused it to shift into reach, and he bit down on its front leg, yanking it off and on to the ground. 

Thinking the enemy was stunned, he raised a foot to stomp at its ribs, but was denied with a quick blast to the chest. The sheer force knocking him back. 

Shock filled his features. This was not normal, no Pack Runner had access to power like his or any other who could produce a breath. They only relied on numbers, teeth and claws. 

The two predators faced off, neither giving ground to each other. Blue Spine slammed his tail in warning to not attempt another attack, and the Mangled Runner let out that odd roar again, red smoke now fully coming out of its mouth.

Its head began to pulse with a bright, eye-catching red, with only a moment to blink before it rushed towards him, mouth alight with that odd thunder, serving to the side to try and aim for his side. 

He lunged forward to intercept, a snarl parting from his jaws. He wanted to aim for the neck, just like it had. 

Except, it deftly dodged the bite and lash of claws then swung its own tail to deal a powerful uppercut. Stunned, it left his chest and throat vulnerable.  

With malicious ferocity, the Mangled Runner dug its claws into the ground and dashed towards him. Finding purchase as its teeth dug into the softer skin of his neck and thrashed. 

Shrieking, Blue Spine dug his claws into the now exposed body, easily piercing through its hide. Finally able to land another blow, he reared up to full height, then came down on the enemy. 

The assailant let go once it made contact with the ground, thoroughly winded from his full weight having just been put on it. He dragged his claws from the sides to the underbelly, trying to wrestle it into submission. 

It fought brazenly beneath him to escape from the hold it was in. Blue Spine's underbelly and chest are taking the brunt of its harsh cuts. More than it was really worth, but he finally had the Mangled Runner pinned. 

Frustrated, he went for one of the front legs. His teeth sinking into awful tasting flesh and blood that made him want to let go, his disgust immeasurable. It felt like he was biting the Three Heads again. 

Its panic increased when Blue Spine held on. The strength of his bite increased more and more with each breath he took. He grasped the leg with one hand, then began to shake, just like it had. 

With it no longer able to properly swat at him, he spun in a circle. The force of his pull strong enough to where he heard a crack, then snap, the assailants wail the only thing to confirm he had dislocated its leg. 

Undeterred by its cry, he threw it at the wall with all his force, which was not much, but enough to have it struggling to find its footing. Its hyperactive aggression now utterly diminished. 

Blue Spine lumbered over, his steps heavier as he swayed side to side. Blood dripping from all the wounds on his body, ones he knew were survivable. 

It found its footing just in time for Blue Spine to lock his teeth and claws on its nape, the Mangled Runner desperately trying to break free, but he was strong enough to hold on. 

Body checking it to the floor, he placed a foot down on its flank. Its hindclaws slashing at the base of his tail to little effect as he then pulled the neck away from its shoulders. 

A whine left its throat, then it creaked, and finally, he heard the snap of bone. The Mangled Runner going limp beneath him.

Blue Spine let go, and backed away from it. The disgusting blood made it barely worth eating at all, but this fight had been much harder without the use of his fire. He was still hungry, after all.   

Leaning forward, he opened his mouth and began to pull the little available energy from its still warm corpse. The patterns on its body illuminating in response to his feeding.

With every bit that flowed into him, he could feel the cuts inflicted beginning to heal just a bit quicker, the ache of his neck and body lightening to a bearable point. 

He was no longer wholly disoriented, at least with himself. The lethargy that he had felt the entire fight was now lesser, and the fire within was stronger, enough to be used but still limited.  

Blue Spine huffed, giving the Pack Runner one last look of pity, before he turned and walked away. He had slain one, but who knew what else was down here. 

He needed to feed more. 

It was hard to gauge what sort of realm this was, as all Blue Spine could understand is that at one point in a past beyond his time-or even in secret during the Many Battles, the Little Builders must have had constructed this place. He recognized the carved structures only their kin could create with such attention, the stone their testament to the weathering of time. 

While it made his task easier, he sighed with disapproval at the legacy these ones left behind. This must have been a lair for the Three Heads and King of Skars. Not only did it have various spots for the latter's followers to climb, but plenty of nooks and crannies the Little Builders who had sided with him could have used to avoid being crushed underfoot. 

Blue Spine snorted, a sardonic grin pulling at the edges of his mouth at the thought. They joined the pack of destroyers, were treated badly, and it was all in the search to strengthen themselves. Perhaps that was what happened in these ruins, with him simply finding the remnants that had survived. 

Walking around a large slab of rock then going up a small ledge, he came to a slow stop at another one before him, one side taller than the other. Additionally, the taller side was covered in sharp thorns that would no doubt cut into him. No chance he was going to go up that or waste his fire on it.  

There was also another tunnel, one that he eyed suspiciously. It looked moderately cramped, and if another monster were to leap out at him, depending on what it was, it could have an advantage he absolutely did not want to give. 

So, he went up the other one, wondering how it would scale compared to the colonies that dotted the coasts of the lands around the Sky Blessed. Surely they would look even more miniscule by comparison. The Mangled Runner could have destroyed an entire one, if given the time. 

Once he was up, he took a moment to observe his surroundings. There was a path around him, one that looked made for the Chest Beaters only. He wanted to burn it, able to easily see the King of Skars grinning at him from it, the weakling darting off after that. Same with the Three Heads, only, it would fight then run away. 

Turning back to the trail he was taking, he noticed that there was another tunnel, and he felt like there was some connection to the one below. 

He did not go to investigate. 

Continuing onwards, Blue Spine shook himself, licking his teeth. He wondered if this realm had any water. 

He went still when it hit him he was thinking about water. 

The one thing he had very rarely ever needed, much like the flesh of prey. 

Looking around, he attempted to sense for the flow of rivers, only to feel nothing. Then he tried the shifting rock, and the result was the same. Only the silence that surrounded him, save for his own noise. 

Blue Spine’s jaws parted as he began to think back to earlier, when he awakened. He had only managed to focus when the Mangled Runner.attacked him, which chased away the disorientation for a moment, then he consumed some sustenance… 

He bowed his head, a low moan leaving him. 

Winged Light’s gift was gone. Lost to whatever had happened in the travel-pit.  

Chapter Text

Blue Spine could only grieve the absence of his connection to WInged Light for so long before he had to continue moving. He needed to find a location he could gather energy in, and quickly, for if more monsters like the Mangled Runner hid in the walls and shadows, there was only so much time before he ran into a pack of unknown ones. 

He despised that he would continuously check behind him every few long-tails and steps. He had never needed to before, not since his young lights, when he was much more weak than he was now. Even beyond the fact he was hungry. Blue Spine barred his teeth, if he had known any less of how to clash… 

Stomping his foot into the ground with the intent to squash the very thought, he sighed. It would barely do him any good if he went into a whirlwind of his own faults. He would hold his own with his teeth and claws and tail, like he had against the Illness Clickers until the last moment, when fire was the only way to finish the female.

He came to a pause at what seemed to be another one of those odd egg-caves, his trek finally presenting him some more or less even ground instead of a continuous climb. These ones seemed to be smaller than the one the Mangled Runner had been birthed from, by a good amount. Which meant they had less way of hurting him if hatched alone.

Remembering that he could see the shape of his now dead opponent from inside, Blue Spine approached one of the eggs. The glow harsher here due to the reflective quality they possessed alongside the tree roots. It was hurting his head, but he refused to turn his back to the pit in case a stray Long Climber or another foe came. 

The creature’s true form was hard to see exactly, since it was curled up so tightly. Its head however, he could make out, and reminded him of those small meat-eaters he saw many seasons ago in the land where the lone Long Climber now resided. He also remembered the packs back during the Great Battles.

Blue Spine knew them as the Self-Devourers, who would eat their own without mercy if they even showed a shred of fragility. These ones, however, looked healthier than any he had seen in his life. He could sort of see all the plumage that covered their body, from head to tail. 

He also remembered that they ate everything in sight aside from themselves. The memory of the King of Skars using them to take out many Scale-Blood nest grounds came back, and he growled. His spines flickered with the sparks of his fire. 

Without warning, he tore into the egg, teeth now embedded into the Self-Devourer’s body. Its blood was just as awful as the Mangled Runner. Its flesh-if he could even call it that, reminded him of rotting meat. Meant only for the hardiest of scavengers. 

He yanked the pack hunter out, and ripped it apart with his claws. There was no cry of terror or pain from it, only his hateful growls and hisses as he enacted his plan to destroy what remained of this lair. 

Once satisfied that its body was crushed beneath his onslaught, he dropped it. Leaving it as a physical reminder to any Long Climbers or Little Builders that still lived down here.

It appeared to also have some energy replenishment for him, so he took that, too. He then moved on to the next, repeating the same process. Smash his head in, grab, tug, raze, then leave the cut up body.

Each one had pathetic amounts that barely did anything to quell the hunger and cold he still felt, but it was better than true starvation. It would allow him to actually use his fire in bursts, too. 

For those that managed to hatch before he could get to them, he engaged in battle. From crushing blows of his tail and feet, to swatting at them with his claws. Few of them landed any meaningful hits anyway. 

It would not deter him, but Blue Spine supposed he could grant those ones quicker deaths. For example, one that attempted to climb for his throat was grabbed–by his left hand–then had its neck snapped with a quick bite. 

As the numbers began to dwindle, Blue Spine saw that the survivors were losing courage like any other pack would, and soon enough, they ran away. Leaving him alone in their nesting ground. 

Now with the moment to breathe, Blue Spin looked at the trail of dead Scale-Bloods he left in his wake. He felt better, to say the least. It was a shame all of them would rot alone since no scavenger or plant would get their fill. 

He began to make after the Self-Devourers, only to pause when he heard movement behind him. A low, odd sound, like a serpent slithering across stone. 

Pivoting on his heel, Blue Spine growled to warn whatever had approached that he was healthy. Hoping that would deter whatever it was, despite it being a bluff.

When he saw it, he immediately knew the beast before him was bold, much like the Mangled Runner. It simply began to gather all the bodies with its many tails, barely paying any mind to him aside its own brief gurgle of warning. 

Blue Spine blinked when it did, what was a Strangle Tide doing so far away from water? He knew the one he rescued preferred to stay in the Deep Below, and could go on land, but not without great discomfort to its abilities.

Despite that, this one seemed to be barely affected, if not at all entirely. 

Mentally checking where he stood with its kind, he recalled that the Strangle-Tides had remained more or less neutral throughout the Great Battles, remembering the few who sided with him, and against him. Perhaps this was simply one who resided here, eating the abnormal monsters. 

It definitely smelled different compared to the ones he traded tooth and claw with. This one smelled… like dirt and stone that had been under rainfall. Cleaner and all around better. 

While the Strangle-Tide continued to eat, he took a slow step backwards, then another, until there was a good distance between them where he could turn around properly. 

Their kin were greatly varied, which came to no surprise as individuals rarely looked like their parents at all. Though, the one feeding behind him was a very odd looking one. Perhaps it was because it somehow became used to being land bound.

He wondered if it could change its hide shade at all. The dark plant shade was clearly meant for the dim light of this realm, but he had seen the glimpses of sky shade across its underbelly.

The part he ignored was that it had the same dulled scales Three Heads’ body did whenever he became weak in their clashes. He saw that the ends of its tails were also covered in odd spikes. A deadly foe indeed. 

Blue Spine was thankful he did not have to fight–more so relieved that it let him go without a fuss. Maybe the land Strangle-Tides were like Corpse Breakers? Only fighting when they hunted or defended their nests. 

He hoped to not see it again. 

He figured out quickly that the tunnel he was walking in–aside from the two mysterious ones behind him back at the climb–was the Self-Devourer's nesting ground. Frankly, he had not imagined it to be this large. 

Blue Spine knew that some beasts reproduced en masse, such as the Illness Clickers, Pack Runners and Scale-Bloods. For every duo he killed, there was at least another trio waiting ahead. 

It was exhausting in action and irritating in thought. If Old Stone was here, Blue Spine could have asked the ancient Mountainback to simply cave in the entire tunnel with some stomps. 

His grumbling wishes for aid died down when he came to a very, very steep slope. The scent of Self-Devourer was still present here, and this must have been where the ones from earlier had fled. 

He still wanted water, too. The puddles found within the nesting grounds were awful tasting things, like a river cloudy with kicked up dust and mud. He could not wait to be rid of the monsters in this realm. 

With a huff, Blue Spine began to climb the ramp by leaning forward and using his claws to speed up the process. The Long Climbers simply had to make everything more difficult than it needed to be. No doubt the King of Skars had some say where everything was built. 

Once he reached the midway point, he paused when he caught the scent. His head moved this way and that to make sure he was not deceived by his own snout. 

Water. 

Blue Spine scrambled to the top, nearly tripping over himself as he stood on his hind legs. Unable to believe his eyes as he listened to its flow, the sound that was not his own or the deafening silence was a very welcomed change. 

A small waterfall and river, with grass and roots and trees that glowed softly unlike the eggs inside the maw of this realm. The plants were different to what he knew of the Long Climbers’ original home, so he assumed this was what the Three Heads envisioned. 

Blue Spine warily stepped towards the stream, each step tender as he tried to see if there were any others by scent. Which there was, but it was a distant stench, far enough away where it would need to travel. 

He crouched to the point he was stances in a crawl, and submerged his jaws first and foremost. Then, when there were no others he could hear, he lay down, wallowing in the mud and stone so he could clean himself of his dried blood. 

The stones were smooth, yet chilly against his flank. They scratched the itches and silenced them. He flexed his throat, the muscles pleased by the stream's motion. 

He sighed to himself, opening his jaws as he lay on his side. Letting true water enter his mouth. It tasted like the fresh bodies found across the lands, untouched by the Little Builders due to being outside of their reach. 

Once he was satisfied, Blue Spine rose to his feet. More content than he had been in a while, as he could not remember the last time he rolled around like he was still in his young lights.

Thinking of light now, he turned his focus to the distance, where he could not even tell how much time had passed. It felt like the ever lasting shadow and storm Three Heads and Torn Wing brought wherever they went. 

In his inspection of the area before him, this seemed much more akin to the Storm Rival's liking than a Long Climbers. It was too cold, too far into the dark with barely any light. 

Blue Spine walked through the stream, then up the hill that appeared to lead into what could be the beginning of a small forest. He noticed that the scent of the Self-Devourers abruptly stopped at the water, as well. 

He stared at the ground, not seeing any signs of struggle, nor any footprints. It was as if they simply disappeared at the water's edge. No tracks of a Strangle-Tide or a Mangled Runner, either. 

Thoughts of his prey aside, Blue Spine could not see anything of particular interest here in the open field. At least, when it came to the monsters he was looking for. 

Everything else, however, was what caught his attention. 

He heard the buzz of those flying many-legs who produced the thick good-blood in their nest. The light croaks and groans of water-hoppers, who tell each other who was strongest. 

His jaws parted in surprise when he saw a many-legs fly past him, dismissing his presence for the favor of rushing by. Its belly was swollen with some sort of green blood. 

He followed it to see what it would do, and in giving it almost all his focus, he nearly stepped on a blood and fire shaded water-hopper. Petulantly, it growled at him, swelling to the biggest size it could. 

Blue Spine moaned in apology and took a step back, crouching to see the small one better. While not very intimidating, it seemed to be doing a good job at showing its health. 

It would have a successful season when the time came for it to create young, he thinks. Though he wondered how loud it was going to be with how much it shook, most water-hoppers would have calmed by now instead of bloating further–

Then it exploded. 

Directly into his eyes. 

Blue Spine reeled back with a shriek, brushing his head with his claws to rid himself of the hot not-water that it sprayed him with. 

While his scales were fine with it, his eyes burned painfully, like when the Rift-Swimmer and the Serpent sprayed him. This one was less direct, but still. 

Quickly taking on a crawl stance, he began to rub his head across the chilly ground. Using the dirt to absorb the not-water from his head. If the burn-hopper was still there he was going to eat it. 

Which, unfortunately, he would not be able to do, as once he regained his sight, he would discover it had burrowed into the dirt. Far out of his reach. 

Huffing, Blue Spine kicked dirt over the hole in hopes it was crushed. Best to avoid the burn-hoppers for now unless he could use his fire to burn them then and there. 

And he lost where the many-legs had gone. 

Turning around, he was relieved to know that the Long Climbers had never been able to use them. Those would have been especially annoying to deal with in tight spaces. 

Must have moved in when whatever had partially destroyed the realm left, or were freed small ones when the Little Builders abandoned this place. It could go either way, in his opinion. 

It was not aligned with his enemies, which added on to the already small pack of beings who were not down here. First the Strangle-Tide, then the swollen many-legs and the normal ones, and now the burn-hopper. 

Blue Spine sighed, turning towards the sound of more water. A proper river, from the sounds of it. 

Perhaps some more thinking was required.  

There were two other kinds of hoppers that did different things, he discovered.  

Freeze-hoppers were shaded like bolts of thunder and had stripes on their faces, these ones released freeze clouds that made it hard to move. His tail still felt odd. Like he accidentally let a boulder fall on it. 

The other one–he was unsure of which of the trio was the worst already–could put oneself to sleep if they inhaled the cloud. He was lucky there was no monster around to take advantage, and that his only company was tiny fish. 

Blue Spine lapped at the water, still under the debate of whether or not he should raze the realm to nothing but a barren land like the Long Climbers’ original home or leave it alone. 

He supposed this was a bit different by comparison. This place was already in ruins, but there had been no loss of life, and even if there had been, those who fought tooth and claw managed to make this a home.

Blowing bubbles in his snout, it looked like the idea of leaving this realm alone was winning, and admittedly, he had been thinking with hatred for past enemies that obviously could no longer reach this place. He had made sure of that. 

It still did not prove what was wrong with this place wholly. Why there were unnatural eggs on the walls, why the monsters looked as they did. Yes, he could simply leave it as the Little Builders, Three Heads and Long Climbers’ involvement, yet… 

There was no sign of the first one, and he knew their kind were powerful enough to survive. He had seen them endure the harsh ways of the many lands and realms to the point where they thrived in the face of it. 

He rose, his hide darker than before thanks to the time spent soaking. While it was not the deep-waters or a body of shallow-water, it would do. He now had a proper idea in mind. Or so he thinks, at least. 

He would investigate the forest, and then the upper levels of this one, to see if this realm was any larger than it let on. He would destroy all entrances and exits until there were only three that only him and Winged Light would know of when he told her later. 

At the thought of his now dead companion, his stance loosened for a breath. She would know how to handle this better than he could. All Blue Spine hoped for was that he was doing this correctly. 

He moved down river, back to the barren field he had come from as he had felt something earlier. He could have inspected it, but the priority to rethink his approach had come first. 

There was a clear difference in his speed, he felt–clearly faster by some amount despite the still clear hunger still at the back of his mind. Fed enough to ignore, but not forget. 

Blue Spine guessed the Mangled Runner and Self-Devourers did more for him than he thought. So he would have to eat more of them, if he could take some down. All of those monsters were fast and he was still slow. 

No where to perform an ambush either. 

Coming to the tail end of the river, Blue Spine took to his right, where some odd looking bushes were. Perhaps they could point him towards a herd of some sort he could follow.

At a distance the cluster appeared to be stripped bare to the branches, though when he approached, they looked more like those rock formations after vicious thunder strikes in the sand lands.

Cautiously crouching to see it–because he was tired of things exploding in his face–he nudged the odd stone. Finding that it was brittle to the touch, with the most tender of touches causing it to collapse. 

While his idea had failed there, another one came when he looked to the ground and saw that it thrummed with energy. Energy that moved in response to him, like water that was disturbed. 

Tentatively, he pressed a claw to it, lightly scratching it to see what would happen. At most it should simply just brighten in response like the rest of the world below– 

The ground brightened, and he immediately backed up as it exploded, creating a far smaller rock bush than the one he broke some breaths ago. Why did everything here explode? Why did it need to? 

He returned to the previous position, and while he was now more hesitant to really try it, he opened his mouth, wondering if this odd colored energy worked the same as in the other realms. 

The glow came back, and in it, he could see it gathering in response to his pull before surging into him. While sustenance usually had no taste to him, at least outside of the one made by the Little Builders which were okay to bad, this was…

This was filling, but he would rather simply eat something then pull the energy from the body. This tasted like the blood and flesh of the Mangled Runners and Self-Devourers, yet different enough.  

Cutting it off once satisfied, he shook himself. Disliking how it still buzzed in his body in a smaller way, like the explosion the Little Builder had used to heal his wounds. The energy here was definitely not something he would seek compared to a normal realm. 

It also heightened his hunger for flesh, he noticed. Which only added on to the definitive no, he would not be coming back here unless desperate. At least he could use his fire again, now that he felt properly full on that. 

Blue Spine turned, walking for the river again so he could indulge in one more brief soaking before he left the miniature forest. He also needed to find a way to burn off the excess buzz of energy in him. 

That's when he felt it from above, a source of burning heat that stood so starkly against the cool area around him, it felt like a wildfire. 

He snapped his head up, trying to look into the shadow. Unable to really see past the dim glow of the leaves at the tallest branches. But it was unmistakable.

There was another one here with him, now. 

He remained silent as a roar that boomed like air and fire combined filled his ears, followed then by the beat of two large wings circling around him. 

Blue Spine waited until he heard the tell tale noise that meant it was diving or coming in talons first. He knew the beast was simply checking his strength from a distance– 

There. The flapping stopped. 

He stepped to the side quickly when a blur of white stripes and pale blood shade dropped down like a boulder from a cliff. The beast's shriek of frustration filled him with satisfaction. 

Unfortunately, he forgot that the ground was sensitive to physical contact, so when it exploded because of the beast, he was knocked backwards. 

Blue Spine snarled, digging his feet into the ground as he thumped his tail in challenge. 

It responded by rearing back and flaring its wings, the natural patterns hidden by the odd white shade stripes. Like the ones the Mangled Runner had, but far more clean. 

It sort of looked like a Rift Swimmer with its spiked tail and talons, but the similarities ended there. It had no hands on its wings, only more claws. 

As for its head, he had never seen something like it before–at least properly. With a partial beak and armored head, it was utterly new to him. 

So he would have to fight carefully, though his immediate thought was to break its wings more than they already were. 

Perhaps it had gotten into a fight earlier? He was unsure of where it came from. He could see a few fresh cuts, but they were small. 

Stamping his feet, Blue Spine inhaled, then released his own torrential roar. 

One that he knew made even elders tremble.