The Land of Gods

[Stranger]

‘Jaica, it’s time.’ A voice called out across the empty clearing. Trees swayed, the grass shone with dew. The moon was high, illuminating the whole scene in a cold blue light. The scene was almost too perfect. The voice had seemingly come from nowhere, and the reply was the same. 

‘Has it really been so long already? Please tell me you’re joking, Kaisef.’ Jaica sighed. Time went by quickly. Not that it affected her of course. She would always be beyond such things. 

‘A hundred years isn’t that long. Come, we have work to do.’ Kaisef chided. Two figures finally appeared in the clearing, but they were glowing, ethereal. Jaica had bright green fur, strange antennae, and eyes that were the colour of the night sky. Kaisef was pure white, a fierce looking nicheling. His eyes were deep black too. As they walked, their pawsteps left what looked like stardust on the ground.

‘Must we? I always feel bad, sending them off like that.’ She argued. 

‘You know full well what will happen if we don’t send them off, Jaica.’ Irritation crept into Kaisefs voice. ‘They are constructs, not real nichelings. We are not killing them, since they were never alive in the first place. They are created by us, and thus must fulfil the purpose they were created for.’ 

‘I still feel bad. There must be a better way to go about keeping our island safe.’ She grumbled.

‘The alternative is using real, living nichelings. I hope that’s not on your mind.’ Kaisef rolled his eyes. 

‘Of course not! Let’s just… go.’ 

‘Do you still remember how to create a construct?’ Kaisef asked, touching his stardust covered paw to the ground, creating a circle.

‘Yes, I do.’ Jaica did the same. They closed their eyes, and then a bright flash of light filled the clearing. When the light faded, the clearing was empty. 

 

¬

 

Emi woke up to the sound of rushing waves. Their mind was blank. They felt only confusion as they looked out over the beautiful sea, foam cresting over water that glittered like a jewel. Touching a paw to their chest, they realised their chest was glowing with a warm red colour. They understood nothing of anything around them, knew almost nothing about themselves.

All they knew was that their name was Emi.

And their heart was a key.

 

(Hey guysss new niche playthrough time!!! For this its gonna be super story oriented, I think. Its going to follow Emi's journey, and the plot I have laid out in my head. The main story will be influenced by stuff that happens in game, but I'm taking huge liberties with the playthrough aspect, and will probably use commands a lot to fit the story I have in my head. Anyway yeah hopefully I don't abandon this.)

[Stranger]

‘What are you?’ Emi asked the strange gold thing. It was lazily swimming in the water nearby. The water that separated Emi and the mainland. They didn’t know why, but it felt like they were being pulled in that direction, a command they just couldn’t ignore. Perhaps the gold thing could help them. ‘Can you teach me how to swim? I need to get to the mainland.’

Rudely, the gold thing didn’t answer. Emi frowned and stuck their paw into the water. Maybe the gold thing couldn’t hear them through the water? Suddenly, it shot forward, biting down hard on Emi’s paw. Sharp pain spiked through their paw and they jumped back onto the sand, shaking their paw like crazy. 

‘Let me go! I’m sorry!’ They yelped, but the gold thing held fast. Emi finally decided it wasn’t friendly, so they wouldn’t be friendly to the gold thing either. They hit it off the sand twice, and the gold thing went limp, letting go. Anxiously, Emi scanned the water, looking for more of them. Two more were in the water nearby, but were swimming closer. Emi had to get to the mainland, whether they knew how to swim or not. They bounded forward, and jumped in. The water crashed over them, salt stinging their eyes and nose, water filling their mouth. Emi struggled back up to the surface, gasping for air. Maybe they should have closed their mouth before they jumped in. They managed to paddle the short distance there, barely keeping their head over the water. 

Gasping for breath, Emi flopped down onto the beach. At least no more of those gold things got to them. Standing up, they shook the sand off themselves, glancing around. The beach was empty, but they were half sure they smelled the scent of another nicheling. It smelt rotten, foul. But surely they were friendly, right? 

‘Hello?’ Emi called out warily. When no answer came, they walked forward a bit, finding two bushes in the grass.

‘What’re you doin here kid?’ Someone behind them scowled. 

‘Nothing!’ They jumped back. ‘I’m sorry, these are your bushes, aren’t they?’ He looked confused for a moment, and then smirked, his smile not reaching his eyes. His eyes were glassy and empty, and Emi unwittingly took a step back.

‘Yeah. Sure. My bushes.’ He took a step forward, glancing down warily at the red glow emanating from Emi’s chest. ‘Where you from? And what even are you?’

‘I’m a nicheling.’ Emi huffed, slightly offended. Suddenly, they realised they didn’t know where they were from. Uneasily, they glanced at the sandbank they had woken up on. ‘I’m meant to be going somewhere, on the other side of the island. Do you know the way?’

‘Pfft. Sure I do.’ 

‘...Could you tell me?’

‘Nah.’ He smirked again. ‘No fun in that, is there? Besides, you’re boring me. Get out of my territory, or you’ll regret it.’ 

‘Territory?’ Emi frowned. ‘What’s that?’ The nicheling in front of them scowled.

‘Are you slow? Just go!’ He snarled, and swiped a paw at them. Emi took a step back, shocked, and the nicheling took a menacing step forward. 

Emi turned around and dashed away. They couldn’t hear themselves being followed, but then again they couldn’t hear much over the sound of their own harried breath. The land was so pretty, except they smelt no one elses scent, there were no distant sounds of other nichelings. What if Emi and the other nicheling were the only nichelings in existence? After all, up until now Emi had thought they were the only nicheling. Emi slowed down, stopping in a clearing. Their stomach grumbled, but they didn’t really know what that meant, so they lay down to rest. They were asleep within the minute.

 

[Stranger]

Over the next few days, Emis stomach started to hurt. Badly. They could still walk and look around, but the pain soon became unbearable. They felt hollow on the inside, becoming thinner by the day. But they didn’t know what was wrong with them or what they could do to fix it. They didn’t know how much time had passed at this point. Emi lay down quietly under a tree, willing the pain away. No matter how much they wanted to sleep, their body kept them at the brink of it, not asleep, but not awake either. The sun shone down brightly, and Emi screwed their eyes shut, curling up into a small ball. Suddenly, a shadow fell over them, but they were too weak to open their eyes. The sun no longer being in their eyes finally put them to sleep. 

They had a very blurry dream that night. Someone was beside them, giving them something. Emi remembered a very sweet taste, but that was it. The next day, they were strong enough to open their eyes. And were met with a very strange sight.

‘Sit still!’ The nicheling in front of them snapped, holding on tight to a small white creature. The creature was jumping around so quickly it almost seemed blurry, while the nicheling barely held on. The nicheling was thin as a blade of grass, and small too. He was white with strange brown stripes, and elegant curved horns. His face was also bright red with the effort of keeping his hold on the white thing. The creature gave one last kick, directly hitting the nichelings snout. ‘Ow!’ He let go, and massaged his snout, glaring after the white thing bounding away. Emi couldn’t help it, and laughed out loud. The nichelings eyes widened, as he looked Emi over. ‘You’re awake.’ He finally said.

‘I guess I am.’ Emi smiled. A sharp pain made the smile fade quickly. ‘I’m hurt, and I don’t know why, please help me.’ Emi asked quietly, though they got ready to get up and run. Maybe this nicheling would want them to get off his ‘territory’ as well.

‘You were starving when I found you.’ The nicheling frowned, walking over. ‘What do you mean you don’t know why you were hurting?’

‘What does ‘starving’ mean?’ Now it was Emi’s turn to be confused. The nicheling frown only deepened. 

‘I… I’ll explain later. Mayeb you got hit in the head or something. My name’s Jiki, what’s yours?’

‘Emi.’ Emis smile returned, glad they could at least answer one question. 

‘Emi. Okay. Do you remember anything?’

‘... Not really. I know I have to leave this island though.’ Emi stood up on shaky paws, facing the direction that the red glow in their chest showed them. ‘That way.’ Emi almost asked for help, but remembered what happened last time. 

‘Well, there is a port that way.’ Jiki mused.

‘Port?’

‘Nevermind, I’ll explain later.’ Jiki sighed, massaging his snout again. ‘Since we lost dinner, I’ll go find something to eat. Wait here Emi.’ He walked off into the grasses. The tug in Emis chest was only getting worse, almost physically pulling them in the direction they knew they needed to follow. Shaking their head, they stayed put. Jiki was helping them, and Emi wouldn’t just up and leave like that.

[Andromedapolly]

RAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I DIDNT NOTICE THIS BEFORE 

i love this so far though! your writing has definitely improved since the deadly isle! (not that the deadly isle was bad, lol)

[Stranger]

6 hours ago, Andromeda_ said:

RAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I DIDNT NOTICE THIS BEFORE 

i love this so far though! your writing has definitely improved since the deadly isle! (not that the deadly isle was bad, lol)

Ahhh thank you!!!! I spent a lot of time writing in between the two playthroughs so I hope I've improved 😭😭

[Stranger]

(no screenshots today)

Jiki wasn’t used to being around other nichelings. Let alone a nicheling who seemed to have severe memory loss. Emi didn’t know the simplest things, they didn’t know that they had to eat, sleep, and drink. It was almost strange how they had survived this long already, but Jiki chalked it down to luck. He lifted the rabbil, that had been plaguing his berry bush for the past few days, in his mouth. Emi would be excited to see the rabbil finally defeated, considering they liked the taste of the berries the rabbil kept stealing. Surprised, Jiki shook his head with a grumble. 

‘Thear nom sthaying here.’ He said out loud, his words muffled by rabbil. He’d just drop Emi off at the port once they were able to travel by themselves. This place was Jiki’s home, and he didn’t need it to be cluttered up by another nicheling. He liked the silence, the repetetiveness of it all. It was uniform. He didn’t want it to change. His pawtseps crushed the fallen leaves of the tree they had both been staying under. Stiffening, he realised Emis familiar shape was gone. 

‘Memi?’ He called, before dropping the rabbil. ‘Emi!? This is a stupid joke!’ No one came out of the bushes to scare him, or tell him they were just exploring. A bearyena could have eaten them. A rogue male might have killed them. Jiki’s head was getting more and more crowded as he ran around the clearing, looking for traces of Emi. The silence around him suddenly wasn’t as comforting as it had been. The realisation dawned upon him that they might have went to the port. Leaving the rabbil, he sprinted in that direction. 

A short moment later, he stumbled across Emi. They were walking as if in a trance, slowly, their pawsteps sure even though Emi wasn’t looking where they were going.

‘Emi!’ Jiki snapped. Emi jumped, and then looked over to him. They smiled, before confusion crossed their face. ‘Why did you just run off like that, I thought you were dead or eaten or something-’ 

‘I’m sorry, what happened?’ Emi whispered, still slightly confused.

‘You walked off by yourself!’ Jiki sat down with a huff. 

‘I think I remember now.’ Emi nodded, now looking slightly guilty. ‘I’m sorry, I just couldn’t help it. I was sitting still for too long, and I know I just need to get to that port, I have to. But why are you upset?’

‘I’m not-’ He started, before closing his mouth. He had been upset. He’d only known Emi for a few days, so why did he care? ‘I wasn’t that upset.’ He shrugged. ‘Just kind of worried. Look, let’s just get back, okay?’

Emi vehemently shook their head. ‘We can’t. I can’t. Whatever is glowing inside me… It’s not a tug anymore, It almost hurts. I just can’t go in the opposite direction Jiki.’ 

Jiki frowned, leaning forward a little. ‘You sure this isn’t something to do with your head damage? We can-’

‘It’s not!’ Emi snapped, before guiltily glancing at the ground. ‘Thank you for your help, but I need to go now.’ They stood up and walked away into the grasses. Jiki’s heart sank, but he ignored it, scowling instead. If Emi wanted to leave, he couldn’t stop them. And he didn’t want to stop them. He would do just fine by himself, like he always did.

[Stranger]

Also don't be afraid to comment or react a lot if you want, it tricks my brain into working harder lol

[CosmicChaos21]

I really love the writing and idea behind this! Emi my beloved little creature, I already love them and hope they'll be okay :3 Though Jiki is also really interesting, not to mention he has really cool patterns too.

Excited to see more of this story and can't wait to see how the whole thing unfolds!

[Stranger]

The day passed as normal, but Jiki grew more irritated by each passing second. Dejectedly chewing on the rabbil he had caught earlier, he looked around the clearing he had lived in for his entire life. He didn’t remember much of his parents, only the fact that they left him here once he was old enough to walk. It’s not like he needed them anyway. For all these moons, he had done just fine by himself. Yet without Emi, the clearing was eerily quiet. He liked being alone. He got up, sighing quietly. But he hated being lonely. And maybe Emi would need his help to cross the ports. And then he could come back here, not feeling like he had abandoned the strange nicheling. Less than a second had passed before he bounded off into the grass, a new resolve in him.

 

~

 

Emi leapt onto the port, the flowers casting petals up into the air. Bees buzzed lazily around, and Emi giggled as one landed on their nose. Shoving their snout into the flower carpet, they inhaled the sweet scent, promptly sneezing very loudly. Suddenly, a sharp tug in their chest reminded them of why they were here. Walking closer to the rock at the front of the port, they tilted their head slightly. Emis eyes widened as they rested their paw on the rock. It was warm. Peering down into the water, they thought they could make out a shape coming from… under the island? In the distance, Emi could just about make out another landmass. Would they have to swim? Puffing out their chest, Emi took a bold step forward.

‘Emi, what are you doing!?’ Jiki shouted from behind them, still a little while away. Emi turned around with a broad smile.

‘Jiki! You’re here!’ 

‘I’m here.’ Jiki panted, collapsing onto the ground. ‘Please don’t tell me you were going to swim.’ 

‘How else am I supposed to get there?’ Emi walked over to him, happily flopping down beside him. As he kept panting, concern clouded Emis face. ‘Are you okay?’

‘I’m tired.’ Jiki raised an eyebrow. At Emis blank expression, he explained further. ‘Tired? I ran too much, and now I’m out of breath and my paws hurt. Don’t you get tired?’ Emi paused for a moment, before shaking their head.

‘I don’t think so. Why are you here anyway?’ 

‘I figured you might need my help. Being an amnesiac and all.’ He muttered, shrugging slightly. If it was possible, Emi smiled even more brightly than before.

‘That’s very good, I was sad you didn’t want to come with me! Now we can go together!’

Frowning at how openly Emi talked about how they felt, Jiki hurriedly corrected them. ‘Not forever. I’ll just get you to the next island and then go, okay?’ 

Emis face fell a little at that, but they nodded. They both sat there for a little while, as Jiki got his breath back. Getting up, he gestured at the port. ‘Okay, let me show you how this works.’ He put his paws on the rock, and then pushed with all his might. At first, nothing happened. A moment later, the island started moving. Emi gasped, rushing over. 

‘You’re moving the island!’ Their eyes were filled with wonder, and Jiki couldn’t help but laugh a little.

‘No I’m not. It’s the whale. Don’t you remember?’ Jiki asked. It was extremely basic knowledge, but then again Emi had forgotten what eating was.

‘What whale? What’s a whale?’ 

‘This island, like every other island, is on top of a whale. It carries the island, and in return its lifeforce is nourished by the life that inhabits the island. The island and the whale work together. This port is a fin. If I push it hard enough, the whale will feel it, and turn that way, towards the other island-whale.’ Jiki explained, still leaning on the fin. Emi nodded vigorously, soaking all the information in. They also leant onto the fin. Jiki glanced at them quizzically.

‘If two of us lean on the fin, then the whale will feel it more and move faster.’ They explained. Jiki smiled at that. He didn’t do that often, Emi had noticed. Now that they really looked, the water seemed to be moving very slowly in one direction. Emi had assumed that’s how water worked, but it must be because of the whale. ‘Do we just stay like this?’ 

‘Pretty much.’ Jiki moved so he was leaning against the fin, while also resting. Emi watched carefully, then copied what he did. 

‘So why do you need to get to that island?’

‘I… don’t know. I just need to.’ Emi muttered, their mood dropping. They didn’t know why their heart seemed to glow, when Jikis obviously didn’t. They didn’t know why the tugging started to hurt if they ignored it. They just knew that it was incredibly important. Perhaps one of the most important things in their life.

[Stranger]

I'm going to be going away for 2 weeks, so no updates until I come back, sorry!

[Stranger]

 

The water splashed pleasantly around Emi’s paws as they jumped onto the next island. Jiki followed quickly, and the island they previously had been on started swimming further away again. They thought they heard something, so they dunked their head underwater. The song was impossibly beautiful. Notes flowed together like water, soft and high, almost keening. Zipping out of the water over to Jiki, Emi pointed down at the whale. 

‘The whale was singing Jiki! It was so beautiful, you need to listen!’ 

‘Whales always sing? It’s nothing special.’ Jiki frowned. Emi’s ears flattened against their head. 

‘Even if it happens a lot, it doesn’t make it less special.’ They couldn’t understand how Jiki could treat something so stunning as commonplace. Jiki shrugged.

‘Whatever. Let’s just get you to the next port, It’s only half a days walk away.’

‘Where does it lead?’ Emi looked around at the island. Nothing had really changed. The grass was filled with buzzing insects, the trees were swaying softly in the breeze and they could hear the trickle of a stream somewhere nearby. It was smaller, but that was it. Jiki hesitated for a second. They started walking in the direction of the tug.

‘I’m not sure. It’s in the direction where you want to go. The islands don’t really communicate with each other.’

‘The islands talk?!’ Emi exclaimed, astonished. It made sense really, if whales could sing they could also talk. Jiki laughed at that.

‘Not the islands, the nichelings on the islands.’ Jiki shook his head. ‘There’s more nichelings out there than just us, Emi.’ 

‘I know that.’ They reddened slightly, embarrassed at Jiki laughing at them. Of course, they hadn’t known there were any more nichelings, but they weren’t about to admit that. 

The flowers of another port appeared in the distance after a little while of walking. Jiki hopped onto the port and moved towards the fin.

‘Here’s your stop.’

‘So you’re going now?’ Emi’s ears drooped. He opened his mouth to reply, but Emi interrupted him with a yell. ‘Behind you there’s a gold thing!’ Jiki’s face twisted in confusion, before he gave a sharp yelp. His tail had been half submerged in water, and a goldleech was now clinging onto it with reckless abandon. Jiki hit it with his paw a few times, but it only clung on tighter, making him wince. A sly grin crept over Emi’s face. ‘I can take it off for you, but you have to come with me for just one more island.’ 

‘Seriously?’ Jiki said drily. He could easily take the goldleech off himself, with a little time. But would it really hurt to just lead Emi to one more island? It would be an adventure for him as well. ‘Fine.’ Emi happily perked up, and tore the leech off of him in an instant. The two leant agains the whale fin again. ‘I could easily have taken that off myself, you know.’ Jiki raised an eyebrow.

‘I know.’ Emi’s smile was warm and bright. Jiki couldn’t understand how they were so upbeat. Almost starving to death a day ago hadn’t even phased them. And what was stranger, was that Emi seemed to have recovered completely. While Jiki had tired a little, Emi’s energy was boundless.

 

~

 

Kait stared at the ports. They never changed. Always the same, day in, day out. It could drive someone mad. Maybe she was mad already. Could boredom make you crazy? She groaned loudly and rolled upside down, throwing the nut she was holding up into the air. Predictably, it fell down and hit her nose. Massaging her snout with her paw, she looked at the ports from the new, upside-down angle. Two nichelings stood there, one black as night, the other in a pattern of brown and white. Kait immediately jolted to attention, creeping back into the grasses. Unease spread through her. Those two were still young, about her age. Would Mother choose to sacrifice them as well? Kait reassured herself that Mother would probably let them go, as she sped through the grasses to report the newcomers arrival to the rest of her tribe. But still, Gacim always happened at the end of the spring season, every year. There had been no newcomers other than these two, and if Kait’s tribe was desperate enough…. Kait shook her head again. All she had ever wanted was to be a warrior. Gacim would bring her that.

 

[Stranger]

Been feeling pretty overwhelmed lately, so I'm putting this on break for a little while. I'll come back to it when I'm feeling recharged 👍

[Stranger]

(Hey I didn't forget about this. Still, updates gonna be extremely sporadic 👍👍👍👍👍)

 

This part of the island was dry. Very dry. The crackly grass scratched Emi’s face as they walked through it, their fur keeping them uncomfortably hot. The sun beat down harshly, keeping both theirs and Jiki’s throats so parched they wondered if they would ever feel cool again. 

‘How much longer?’ Emi panted. They couldn’t wait to be off this island. Even the strange insects and deep orange colour of some parts of the island couldn’t distract them today. They just wanted to be away from the heat. Jiki was doing visibly better.

‘I don’t know.’ He said after a pause. ‘I’ve never been to this island before. I know a tribe inhabits this place, but that’s it.’ He frowned as he looked Emi over. ‘Maybe we should get you out of the sun.’

‘Why aren’t you so hot?’ Despite the awful weather, Emi’s curiosity endured. Jiki raised an eyebrow. He liked doing that, it seemed. 

‘My fur’s thinner? Your fur is for cold climates.’ 

‘Cold? That’s like when you go underwater, and it’s not hot, right?’

‘Something like that.’ Jiki glared ahead of them, trying to see past the suns light. ‘You still aren’t remembering anything? Your memory should be returning.’ Emi shook their head vigorously. A rustle in the grass caused them both to turn quickly towards the sound, but while Jiki recoiled and sprung up to defend himself, Emi bounded forward at the prospect of finding something new. The rustle darted away from Emi, much faster than either they or Jiki could run. Emi’s run petered out after a few steps. Jiki dragged them away.

‘Remember what I said about the other tribe? They live here! If that was one of them, we could be in danger.’ Jiki hurriedly explained. He gestured at an incredibly strange, spiky looking tree. ‘Rest here, you’re exhausted.’ Emi gratefully flopped down under the tree.

‘Why would they hurt us?’ Emi asked, but promptly remembered the first nicheling they had met. Jiki had explained what territory was since then, so perhaps that was what they were mad about. 

‘Lot of reasons. Let’s just try leave quick, okay?’

‘Alright.’ Emi yawned, their eyes slowly closing. ‘What am I supposed to be remembering, Jiki? Because I still don’t think anything is happening.’ 

‘I don’t know, stuff about your family. Where you lived. Your life before you washed up on that beach.’ Jiki shrugged.

‘So what do you remember?’

‘It’s not important.’ Jiki said curtly. He hadn’t ever mentioned his family just leaving him to anyone else, and he didn’t plan to. It was a stupid subject, one he didn’t care about. 

‘But you must have lived somewhere. And done things, right?’ Emi perked up slightly. Jiki put a paw on their head and gently pushed them back down.

‘Go to sleep Emi.’ Emi watched him for another minute, and then eventually surrendered to the exhaustion the day had brang.

 

~

 

‘And it was me, mother!’ Kait was puffed out like a peacock, her mother proudly ruffling the fur on her head.

‘Of course it was you Kait. I expected nothing less.’ Kait’s mother gave her a broad smile. ‘Thanks to you Gacim can go ahead.’ Kait and her mother looked almost nothing alike, but they acted just like each other. While Kait was already big for her age, and with one of her paws being feathered, her mother was slim, her paw harboring fearsome claws. A little way away the tribe was bustling, nichelings going about their day. A few younger nichelings were zipping around nearby, their laughter drowning out the sounds of nichelings talking to each other further off. 

‘Because of me, every young nicheling on this island has a chance at becoming a warrior this year. Imagine if they had to wait until next year!’

‘The hunt is the most important part of course. If it’s like you say, and there are only two newcomers, then only two young nichelings can become warriors. I expect you to be one of them.’ 

‘Yeah, I know.’ Kait’s enthusiasm slightly faded. The thought of having to kill another nicheling felt wrong to her, especially when they were her age. But she had to to become a warrior. That was the only way. Her mother walked over and comfortingly placed a paw on her shoulder. 

‘This is to test your resolve, Kait. If you can do this for your tribe, you can do anything for them. You will deserve your title.’ With that, Kait’s mother left the room. Shrugging her shoulders back, Kait shoved her doubts to the side. She could do this.

[CosmicChaos21]

On 1/2/2025 at 4:50 PM, Stranger said:

(Hey I didn't forget about this. Still, updates gonna be extremely sporadic 👍👍👍👍👍)

 

This part of the island was dry. Very dry. The crackly grass scratched Emi’s face as they walked through it, their fur keeping them uncomfortably hot. The sun beat down harshly, keeping both theirs and Jiki’s throats so parched they wondered if they would ever feel cool again. 

‘How much longer?’ Emi panted. They couldn’t wait to be off this island. Even the strange insects and deep orange colour of some parts of the island couldn’t distract them today. They just wanted to be away from the heat. Jiki was doing visibly better.

‘I don’t know.’ He said after a pause. ‘I’ve never been to this island before. I know a tribe inhabits this place, but that’s it.’ He frowned as he looked Emi over. ‘Maybe we should get you out of the sun.’

‘Why aren’t you so hot?’ Despite the awful weather, Emi’s curiosity endured. Jiki raised an eyebrow. He liked doing that, it seemed. 

‘My fur’s thinner? Your fur is for cold climates.’ 

‘Cold? That’s like when you go underwater, and it’s not hot, right?’

‘Something like that.’ Jiki glared ahead of them, trying to see past the suns light. ‘You still aren’t remembering anything? Your memory should be returning.’ Emi shook their head vigorously. A rustle in the grass caused them both to turn quickly towards the sound, but while Jiki recoiled and sprung up to defend himself, Emi bounded forward at the prospect of finding something new. The rustle darted away from Emi, much faster than either they or Jiki could run. Emi’s run petered out after a few steps. Jiki dragged them away.

‘Remember what I said about the other tribe? They live here! If that was one of them, we could be in danger.’ Jiki hurriedly explained. He gestured at an incredibly strange, spiky looking tree. ‘Rest here, you’re exhausted.’ Emi gratefully flopped down under the tree.

‘Why would they hurt us?’ Emi asked, but promptly remembered the first nicheling they had met. Jiki had explained what territory was since then, so perhaps that was what they were mad about. 

‘Lot of reasons. Let’s just try leave quick, okay?’

‘Alright.’ Emi yawned, their eyes slowly closing. ‘What am I supposed to be remembering, Jiki? Because I still don’t think anything is happening.’ 

‘I don’t know, stuff about your family. Where you lived. Your life before you washed up on that beach.’ Jiki shrugged.

‘So what do you remember?’

‘It’s not important.’ Jiki said curtly. He hadn’t ever mentioned his family just leaving him to anyone else, and he didn’t plan to. It was a stupid subject, one he didn’t care about. 

‘But you must have lived somewhere. And done things, right?’ Emi perked up slightly. Jiki put a paw on their head and gently pushed them back down.

‘Go to sleep Emi.’ Emi watched him for another minute, and then eventually surrendered to the exhaustion the day had brang.

 

~

 

‘And it was me, mother!’ Kait was puffed out like a peacock, her mother proudly ruffling the fur on her head.

‘Of course it was you Kait. I expected nothing less.’ Kait’s mother gave her a broad smile. ‘Thanks to you Gacim can go ahead.’ Kait and her mother looked almost nothing alike, but they acted just like each other. While Kait was already big for her age, and with one of her paws being feathered, her mother was slim, her paw harboring fearsome claws. A little way away the tribe was bustling, nichelings going about their day. A few younger nichelings were zipping around nearby, their laughter drowning out the sounds of nichelings talking to each other further off. 

‘Because of me, every young nicheling on this island has a chance at becoming a warrior this year. Imagine if they had to wait until next year!’

‘The hunt is the most important part of course. If it’s like you say, and there are only two newcomers, then only two young nichelings can become warriors. I expect you to be one of them.’ 

‘Yeah, I know.’ Kait’s enthusiasm slightly faded. The thought of having to kill another nicheling felt wrong to her, especially when they were her age. But she had to to become a warrior. That was the only way. Her mother walked over and comfortingly placed a paw on her shoulder. 

‘This is to test your resolve, Kait. If you can do this for your tribe, you can do anything for them. You will deserve your title.’ With that, Kait’s mother left the room. Shrugging her shoulders back, Kait shoved her doubts to the side. She could do this.

LAND OF GODS UPDATE TIME! I'm thrilled to see another bit and this has actually given me motivation too-

[Stranger]

(guys pretend like it's raining in game 😜)

The next day the rain was coming down in buckets. Droves of it poured down from the heavens, running down the rocks and grass, the strange tree above Jiki and Emi doing nothing to protect them from it. Emi was watching the rain fall with eyes full of glittering wonder, their face slack with the discovery that water could fall from the sky. Jiki couldn’t help but smile a little at their wonder. It was like they were experiencing everything in the world for the first time. He went right back to frowning once he caught sight of the ground they had to traverse to keep walking to the next ports. The rain had churned the dry earth to mud, making it dangerously slippery. Jiki was more worried about the fact they would get the mud stuck in both their furs. Emi finally snapped out of their stupor and immediately jumped up to run around in it. 

‘You didn’t tell me this could happen! This is amazing! Can I drink it?’ Without waiting for an answer, Emi stuck their tongue out to try and catch the droplets. Jiki sighed as he looked up for any sign the rain would stop soon.

‘Remind me again how old you are?’ Jiki was actually curious about this, because while Emi looked about his age, they acted so much younger. He didn’t necessarily mind it, guessing it was probably just another one of their strange quirks. 

‘I’m not sure.’ Emi opened their mouth wide as they stood under one of the spikes of the tree, hoping to catch a large droplet. 

‘We should-’ Jiki didn’t even have the chance to finish his sentence, as five nichelings his age raced out from behind them. A hard swipe cracked against Emi’s jaw and they hit the dirt, their vision going white for a second. Their scream pierced the calm scene and a couple of birds startled from the grass. Emi tried to jump back up, but two paws pinned them down and shoved their face into the mud, making them gasp for breath. The rain came down harder. 

‘Jiki!’ Emi screamed again. 

‘Quiet!’ A harsh voice hissed from above Emi. She was their age, about. They heard a squelch right next to them just as they saw a flash of white and brown fur, and they knew Jiki had been thrown down beside them.

‘Now what Frayt?’ A slightly nervous sounding voice asked.

‘Easy. I get one of them, and you four fight for the rest. Not that you’re going to manage to get one Yare.’ Frayt answered, the owner of the harsh voice. 

‘T-that’s not fair.’ Yare stammered. 

‘Yeah! We did just as much work as you!’ An angry voice cut in.

‘You wanna kill one of them now Kait? Be my guest!’ Frayt snapped. Kait quietened down, but the two remaining nichelings didn’t seem to agree. Emi felt a weight lift off their shoulders and they lifted their head immediately, gasping for breath. Just as they did they turned and saw what was probably Frayt and another nicheling at each other’s throats. Yare had been standing to Emi’s right, and the moment he saw the fight his eyes widened and he zipped towards Emi. He was thrown down by the other unknown nicheling, maybe Kait. Jiki was covered in mud, and his eyes were wide and afraid. Emi could see their own reflection in them.

‘Come on!’ Jiki whisper-yelled as he pulled them up. Emi nodded frantically as they ran off into the grass, checking back to see if Jiki was following. The rain was falling into both their eyes and the mud squelched and moved under their paws as if it was trying to swallow them whole. Emi stumbled to a stop at a steep slope that seemed to drop off into a small canyon. 

‘Now where?!’ They turned around to Jiki. All their fur was standing on end, and Jiki could feel his own panic rising in his throat.

‘Uh-’

‘Now you two decide between yourselves who wants to come with me.’ The owner of Kait’s voice had crept up behind them. While the others had been hiding, Kait had cleverly followed them. She had pink fur, and was built much bigger than either Emi or Jiki. Emi couldn’t make out much more detail than that through the rain, but right now they weren’t focused on that.

‘What do you want?! Leave us alone!’ Emi cried, taking a step back. Jiki moved a little so he was partly in front of Emi. Despite the situation, Emi felt a warmth in their strange red gem that he would do something like that, even though they had only been friends for a little while. 

‘Step away from the canyon.’ Kait said smoothly, but there was a nervousness to the way she walked. ‘Just come with me. They want to hurt you, but I don’t yeah? I chose not to kill you guys.’ 

‘Yeah right!’ Jiki spat. ‘There’s two of us and one of you. None of us are coming with you.’ 

‘I’m so afraid of a tiny runt and a shadow who can only scream and cower.’ Kait scoffed, taking another step forward. 

‘Leave us alone!’ Emi tried to take another step back, but the slope started there. Kait didn’t seem to notice that, still prowling forward. A heat started to build in Emi’s gem and the world started to seem blurry. The cold rain seemed to fizzle out on their fur, sparkling like a million red stars as it fell from the sky, so slowly. Everything was so slow. And then Kait leaped at them, her claws tearing at Emi and Jiki. 

They never connected.

The red glow exploded, the droplets now avoiding Emi as they fell, forming almost a dome around them. They felt like they were on fire. They were on fire. Kait hit the ground to the left hard. Her fur was too wet for the strange, fiery explosion to catch it on fire, but she grunted in pain regardless. The flash went out, and Emi felt normal again. Their breath was harried. No one moved for the next few seconds. Except for the wet slope that had been disturbed by the explosion. The three of them screamed as the slope gave out under them and they fell into the gaping mouth of the canyon.

[Stranger]

Just realised in game Emi has green gems bc I switched computers damn 🫠

[Stranger]

(I KEEP FORGETTING TO FIX THE GEMS)

 

A lone bird soared over the canyon. Water dripped from the rocks around them, forming puddles. A cricket chirped nearby as it announced the end of the downpour, eager to see the sun peek out from behind the clouds again. Though it would be tough to see that from down here. Emi’s head was so blurry, and they struggled to stand up. Their legs were badly trembling under them. They heard Jiki groan from somewhere nearby, and the other nicheling too. Struggling to keep their eyes open, they stumbled towards Jiki.

‘Wake up!’ They managed hoarsely. Their throat was raw, sore. They shook Jiki and tried again. ‘Wake up Jiki!’ Finally his eyes seemed to flutter. He looked around the canyon, looked at Kait, looked at the canyon again, then finally looked at Emi. His eyes widened as he remembered what happened before they fell.

‘How did you do that?!’ He hissed as he weakly tried to scramble further away. He was still unsteady, so he didn’t get too far.

‘I don’t know!’ Emi managed. ‘Please, don’t be scared. I don’t want you to be scared of me!’ 

Jiki paused for a long moment. He just stared. As if Emi was something unnatural. They were all too aware of their red gem glowing vibrantly, feeling the barest tug in it. The sound of gravel being disturbed made both of them look at where Kait was. She had been trying to leave, but two of her paws were bloody, and the pain was visible on her face as she tried to drag herself away. Emi instinctively took a step forward. They only wanted to help, despite Kait trying to kill them and Jiki earlier.

‘Stay away!’ Kait spat, trying to crouch down to defend herself. Emi froze and for the first time since they woke up on that beach, they felt a strange feeling welling up inside them. It was fiery and destructive, so similar to the explosion that had thrown them all down here.

Jiki sighed and quickly walked on ahead. Whether it was because of Kait or because of Emi, they didn’t know. ‘Jiki? You’re coming back, right?’ Emi called, but he didn’t answer. They steeled themselves. Right now they needed to deal with Kait. ‘Fine then.’ Emi shrugged at Kait. Maybe it looked a little over dramatic, but they doubted Kait would notice. ‘Stay down here. In this canyon. When you can barely move. No ones going to find you. I could help you, but if you want me to leave so bad…’ They walked forward a few steps, then turned around. ‘Or I could help you out of this canyon, and then someone else will find you.’ 

Kait glared for a few moments and then slightly lowered her head. It would be as much of a yes as there could be from her. Emi walked back over to her and let Kait lean against them as she walked. 

‘Your friend leave you behind?’ Kait huffed. Emi flattened their ears against their head. 

‘No he’s just… thinking.’ 

‘Pfft. I’d be thinking too. About what you are.’ 

‘I’m a nicheling.’ Emi couldn’t understand why Kait was acting like this. Emi was helping her, weren’t they?

‘Yeah. A nicheling that explodes fire, or whatever that was.’ Kait attempted a laugh, but winced with pain instead. Emi fixed their attention to the world around them instead. Now that the rain was over the world was slowly going back to being dry and crackly again. The difference between the two states was huge, but the island didn’t seem exactly healthy in either state. The dry cracked ground held no life in it, and instead of the rain replenishing the soil, it beat the world below it down. Emi wasn’t sure how they knew this was unnatural, they just knew it was. Kait was throwing more random insults, so Emi interrupted.

‘What’s wrong with your island?’

‘What?’ Kait pulled a face.

‘Your island. It feels… wrong.’

‘So, what? You’re a god now, is that it? You can feel what the whale is feeling?’ Kait scoffed. Emi stopped walking, forcing Kait to stop too. Emi met Kait’s eyes confidently, not letting their gaze waver. Eventually Kait looked away. ‘No clue. My mother says its been like this since she was little.’

‘And you can’t heal the whale?’

‘Why would I know?’ Kait got all defensive again, closing their conversation. 

The ground at the bottom of the canyon was still wet, and Kait grunted in pain everytime she stumbled a little. They still hadn’t found Jiki, and a sick feeling was growing in the pit of Emi’s stomach. He probably thought they were some kind of monster, and got out while he still could. Even though Emi was helping Kait, they could feel how tense Kait was. Maybe Emi wasn’t a nicheling, but a monster of some sort. They couldn’t blame Jiki for running off, but the tight feeling in their chest wouldn’t go away, and they couldn’t seem to focus on where they were walking.

‘Hey, shadow, you might want to stop.’ Kait said drily. Emi blinked a couple of times, and looked down at their paws. The ground just ahead of them gave way to another steep, muddy slope. They saw pawprints leading down the side, meaning Jiki had been here and he’d gone on ahead. 

‘Can you walk down?’ Emi tilted their head at Kait.

‘Sure I can, I have paws you know.’ Kait rolled her eyes and took a confident step forward, only to almost fall over as she put weight on her bad paw in the front. Her feathered one was okay, but the half grown feathers were more of a hindrance.

‘We’ll stay here for a little while.’ Emi gestured at a small overhang. Kait reluctantly hobbled over, and Emi tore a few branches off some nearby bushes for Kait to rest on, just as Jiki had done when Emi had met him. The leaves on bushes around them were all gone now but there were some back the way they had come. They started off that way only to hear Kait call out from behind them.

‘Where are you going?!’ Emi could swear they heard a small amount of fear in Kait’s voice.

‘For more branches.’ Emi pointed down the canyon. As they walked back up, they couldn’t help but wonder how Jiki and them had walked away from the fall just fine, but Kait had gotten herself hurt. Thinking about Jiki just made them more upset, so they focused on gathering the branches. 

For a moment it sounded like voices were echoing from the top of the canyon, but then they were gone.

[Stranger]

(random lore drop, for Kait I figured it would be way too restricting for her to have only one wing considering her role in the plot, so her 'wing' is actually a paw with a ton of smallish feathers growing out of it, but the feathers are weak and fall out easily. Idk I just felt like that would make more sense than one paw being an ordinary paw, and the other being a complete ahh wing.

Side note no update for a few days bc I won't have access to my computer.)