The Mysterious Tree - A Niche Story

[orangesunrise]

Hello! I wrote a little story based on something that happened on a swampy hill island with a lone jungle tree on it. I hope that it is okay for me to post stories here!

Anyways, enjoy! If you have any suggestions that I can use to improve my writing, please tell me! 

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Important Characters:

Lais - A female nicheling with moss brown fur. She has two claws, medium body, short snout, and ram horns.

Kunuvan - A male nicheling with black fur. He has brown stripes, one runner's leg, one velvet paw, cracker jaw, and medium body.

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The Mysterious Tree // A Niche Story

A warm breeze blew across the island, causing reeds and grass to rustle. Lais felt the wind blow through her fur, causing it to ruffle up slightly. Suddenly, she heard a splash in the river. Finally, a fish I can catch! She thought. However, when she looked at the water, she didn’t see anything. Realizing her prey had swam away, Lais let out a sigh. Because of her claws, she was unable to pick berries and was skillful when it came to catching fish, fighting, and hunting. Even if she could gather berries, the skill wouldn’t be all that useful. She did not have poison resistance and could therefore not collect the toxic berries that were found on a majority of the bushes in her swampy home.

Lais continued to sit near the river, though she didn’t see, let alone catch, anymore fish. She scented the air and listened for movement in the reeds multiple times, though she could only detect the usual. No rabbils or stagmoles were nearby. At this point, she almost wished that a bearyena would show up. Why must no prey be present today? The sun was already high in the sky and she had been sitting in this same place since early in the morning. The young adult was desperately craving something to do.

What if I explore a bit? The thought suddenly came to her. Why hadn’t she thought of it earlier? If she explored around the outskirts of her tribe’s territory, her boredom could end and she might be able to find something to hunt.  The brown-furred nicheling walked away from the river and leaped onto a stump next to the beach. Now that she was on higher ground, she could get a better view of the area. Just beyond the territory, there were more reeds and thorns. Mixed in were a couple patches of grass. However, it wasn’t those things that caught her attention – it was something in the distance. A tree stood that was much taller than any she had ever seen. Its leaves appeared a different shade than those of a normal oak tree. They looked blue! Just then, a memory came to her. When she was a young child, hadn’t her grandfather, Kurota, told her a story of tall trees? Could this tree be the same type as the ones from his story? Even when she was younger, Lais had thought that they were just a myth! He had said that some of the trees held acorns while others didn’t. When they did, he had said that they tasted better than the ones that fell from regular oak trees. Though Lais had no cracking ability, she was curious as to what they tasted like. Still, there was one thing off – Kurota said that the tall trees could only be found in jungle biomes. This was a swamp! Either way, it piqued the interest of Lais.

Without hesitation, she stepped off the stump and began to walk along the beach. Suddenly, she heard a noise from behind her. She quickly turned around, half expecting something to come out of the shadows and try to attack her. Instead, she was greeted by the face of Kunuvan, another nicheling in her tribe. “Sorry if I scared you. You startled me!” Lais stated.

As the clawed nicheling spoke, Kunuvan had just finished opening a clam with his cracker jaw. Turning to face her, he said, “You didn’t scare me. I was just cracking open this clam.” He gestured towards it using his tail. “Anyways, where are you off to? Are you trying to catch some fish? Is there a bearyena nearby?” Lais was one of the strongest nichelings in the tribe. If a bearyena were to appear, she would be one of the first to help fight it. Kunuvan himself was quite weak. He wanted to be as far away from those beasts as possible. Since she was often by the river and rarely went towards the beach, he just wanted to make sure that there was no danger.

As for Lais, she was very excited to see Kunuvan. He could crack nuts! She would have told him that she was going to hunt a rabbil, but his cracker jaw could be useful on this expedition. “I’m going towards that tall tree in the distance. Want to join me?” The brown-furred nicheling gestured towards the tall tree so that he knew what she was talking about.

“I’m unsure. We’ll probably be gone for a few days. What if we run into any danger?” Kunuvan immediately realized that this was the wrong question to ask her. She could defeat a bearyena pretty easily. As for goldleeches, the two nichelings could lick them off of one another.

“I’m sure we’ll be fine. Plus, we can eat some delicious acorns!” Lais was unsure if the tree actually held acorns, no matter if it was of the same type as the ones from Kurota’s story or if it was a totally different type of tree.

“Alright, alright. I’ll join,” Kunuvan answered. He was afraid that he would hurt her feelings if he said no.

“Thank you for coming along!” Lais’s voice was filled with happiness. Without waiting from a response from the striped nicheling, she began to run along the beach in the direction of the tree.

Kunuvan grabbed the open clam in his jaw. Acorns or no acorns, they would need food on this mission. Afterwards, he followed after Lais and soon caught up to her. Due to his one runner’s leg, he was the faster one. However, he didn’t dare to take the lead. He made sure to stay just behind her as the two ventured.

-

Lais stopped next to a patch of reeds right next to another part of the river. Kunuvan and she were near the tree at this point. It was closer than either of them had expected. All they had to do was cross the river and get through another patch of reeds and grass. Then, they would arrive at their destination. Though she didn’t want to admit it, she was quite tired. By now, the sun had set and the star of night were shining in the clear sky. When she looked behind her, Lais could see that Kunuvan was tired as well. “I suppose we shall stop here for the night?” she stated.

Kunuvan felt relieved when Lais finally stopped. Was she tired as well? “That sounds like a good plan. Anyways, are you hungry? I brought this,” he had dropped the clam in front of him.

She took a step towards him and the clam. At his mention of food, she realized just how hungry she was. The last time she had eaten was the previous night. “Thank you,” she replied, taking part of the clam. Kunuvan took the other part. After the two ate, they fell asleep on the beach.

-

The next morning, the two woke up as the sun was beginning to rise. At this time, the sky was painted with shades of orange, pink and purple. The blue of day had not yet shown.

Lais turned towards her companion. “Ready to start travelling again?” she asked. Now that it was day, her usual energy was restored.

“Okay,” Kunuvan responded. The next part of their journey was crossing the river.

The pair ran up to the stream. Though Lais had gone fishing many times, she had never actually swam. The brown-furred nicheling jumped into the water. She resurfaced a few moments later and climbed back onto the shore. Now it was Kunuvan’s turn. He did the same as his tribemate, jumping into the stream and resurfacing a few moments later. Once they were both on the other side, the pair shook the water out of their fur and began to run again. However, Kunuvan thought he noticed something on Lais’s shoulder. At that moment, he stopped. “Wait! Lais!” he called.

“What is it?” she asked, turning around.

The striped nicheling walked closer to her so that the two were only a few steps apart. Now that she wasn’t running, he could see her shoulder more clearly. He realized that his observation was correct. “There’s a goldleech on your shoulder,” he responded.

At his words, she looked down at her shoulder. Sure enough, she had picked up a leech while swimming. It was a good thing that Kunuvan had noticed, as things would otherwise get bad for Lais. She moved the shoulder with the leech on it towards him.

At the gesture, Kunuvan picked the parasite off her shoulder and tossed the now dead leech onto the beach. “There,” he stated. As soon as he had said those words, his companion took off running again. Letting out a sigh, he followed. She’s really excited about that tree. Speaking of the tree, they were now very close to it.

-

Now that the two young adults had arrived at the mysterious tree, it appeared larger and taller than ever. There were a few patches of dark green grass, some of which ended in odd twirls, surrounding it. Though the island was a swamp, this was a small patch of jungle grass. Therefore, the tree was definitely of the same type as the ones from Kurota’s story. If only he were here now!

Once Lais looked up, her eyes widened in amazement. She couldn’t help but stare. “Wow,” she breathed. The tall tree looked nice at a distance, but it was absolutely stunning close up. While its leaves appeared blueish from far away, they were more of a blue-green close up. It reminded her of the ocean. Plus, a few vines hung off of its branches.

Finally looking away from the tree, she glanced towards Kunuvan. “We have to tell the rest of the tribe about this!” she exclaimed. They would surely be awed by this, just as she had been. Why hadn’t anyone else explored this area before? Anyways, there was still one thing left to do – shake the tree. Using both of her claws, Lais gave it a nice hard push. Within a few moments, a couple of acorns fell and landed on the ground. Despite the tree’s size, the nuts looked identical to the ones that fell from normal oak trees.

As for Kunuvan, he didn’t look up at the tree for very long. Gazing at it for more than a couple of moments made him feel dizzy. However, he agreed with Lais – it was pretty. To him, the grass surrounding them was the best part of the island’s jungle patch. The twirly grass was especially beautiful. A smile appeared on his face as he thought of mother nichelings using that grass to build a nest where they would give birth to and raise children.

When his companion spoke, the dark-furred nicheling turned back towards her. Once more, he agreed. The tribe could use this patch to their advantage. Once the acorns fell, Kunuvan cracked one of them. Though they looked normal, he was kind of scared. What if they happened to be poisonous? At the same time, his mind came up with another thought: Why would such a pretty tree produce something deadly? He was still a bit worried, though the idea eased his fears. After he was done, he pushed half of the food towards Lais. He kept the other half for himself.

The two nichelings savored every bit of food they ate. Kurota was right: these nuts tasted delicious! With stomachs full of the best food they had ever tasted, Lais and Kunuvan fell asleep shortly after they had finished their meal.

-

Just as the sky was beginning to gray with the light of dawn, a loud noise awoke the two nichelings. Assuming that a bearyena was behind it, Kunuvan immediately began scenting the air and listening for movements in the grasses. “Did you hear that?” he asked.

“I sure did,” Lais responded.

At that moment, they both heard the noise again. This time, the branches of the tree rattled and a couple of leaves fell onto them. “What is going on?” Kunuvan asked. Now he was beginning to get anxious. Why did the tree make such a weird noise? Had someone shook it? If so, why were they up this early in the morning? However, that idea was ruled out. When Lais shook the tree, it didn’t rattle this much. Was something or someone up in those branches? The tree seemed too tall for anything to live in it. Even bluehawks didn’t fly up that high.

“I don’t know,” Lais answered. Though she didn’t want to admit it, she was getting anxious as well. Looking up at the tree, she shouted, “Whoever or whatever you are, show yourself!” She was ready for something to come out of the tree, whether it be bluehawk, winged nicheling, or something else. The ‘something else’ idea was what worried her. What if a bird that was larger than bluehawk swooped down? Bluehawks could take away baby nichelings, but what would a larger bird be able to do? It might be able to take her and Kunuvan. Even with her high strength, Lais wouldn’t be able to fight something like that.

As their thoughts were spinning, the two nichelings suddenly heard a rustle within the grasses. Whatever had made the noise gave off an odd scent. It smelled similar to the acorns that fell from the tree, though the smell was a lot stronger. Plus, on top of the nut scent, it gave off a weird stench. Whatever it was, it was definitely not another nicheling or a bearyena.

Though her heart was beating quickly, Lais decided to investigate the smell. “Hello?” she called. Was it friendly? There was only one way to find out. At that moment, she spotted a large figure standing in the grass nearby. It seemed to be behind the odd smell. It was taller than both her and Kunuvan, as the top of its head was sticking out. Of course, the figure’s ears were adding to its height. They were big, even larger than those of a big-eared nicheling. Lais padded even closer to it. Now that she had a closer view of it, she could see it more clearly. The ears of the strange figure were green with yellow spots. They also had purple tips. The creature’s fur shared the same green color as its ears along with the yellow spots. She had never seen anything like this.

“Hello?”  the brown-furred nicheling called again. The green creature’s ears perked up and it turned around to face her. Its face and chest were gray. It let out a low grunt. To Lais, it seemed that it was hostile. She tried to attack the creature, though to her surprise, she barely scratched its skin. Anyways, she definitely made the creature angry. It launched a counterattack, causing Lais to let out a yelp of pain. It did more harm to her than she had done to it.

At that moment, the nicheling ran back to Kunuvan. While he hadn’t seen the strange figure, he had smelled it. He had also heard Lais’s yelp. If a creature could put a dent in a nicheling as strong as her, that creature was certainly dangerous. Kunuvan quickly walked up to her and licked her wound. “W-what attacked you?” he asked.

“Large creature, spotted, big ears, hostile,” Lais gave her companion a brief description of the animal she had just encountered.

Kunuvan and Lais would need to tell their tribe about their journey at the tall tree, however, their news was not positive.

[Jojo]

This is cool! Well done

[Lilytuft]

Really nice story! Is there gonna be a sequel?

[orangesunrise]

Thank you for the compliments!

@Lilytuft - I don't plan on writing a sequel for this one, though I might write more Niche stories in the future! 

[Lilytuft]

Just now, orangesunrise said:

Thank you for the compliments!

@Lilytuft - I don't plan on writing a sequel for this one, though I might write more Niche stories in the future! 

Can't wait!