The Sekin Cartographer

Walking alongside the Hunter in the silent tunnels of the Deeplattice. His mind wandered. They were headed somewhere. Were they taking the Cartographer home? He could only assume. The Cartographer smelled nothing but good intentions from his peculiar new… friend? Why not? 

He took some time at the beginning of their walk to try to communicate: he started with the basic whisper-speak of the Upper Lattice. No good. He was a cartographer, not a linguist; he gave up after his written language was unknown amongst the Darkin.

Even in his short time with them, he found their ways of speaking to one another worlds apart from his own. They communicated mostly by finger-tapping. But on the rare occasion where they spoke verbally, they used their vocal chords! Upper Lattice Seronai, being as sensitive as they are to vibrations, found even their own voices startling. So they use whisper-speak: a language with no voiced syllables. Every word was made only by using their mouth and tongue to affect their exhalation.

Momentarily, the Hunter stopped dead in his tracks, gazing through the blackness at something that the Cartographer couldn’t see. The Darkin dropped into a hunting stance and skittered onto the wall, leaving the Cartographer alone and confused.

~-~-~-~-~

The Rokin Miner

Trying to find his way home in the dark labyrinth he found himself in. No light or sound gave him any clue as to his whereabouts. Only the soft hissing of his acidic mucus dissolving rock stood between him and absolute silence. It was unnerving. 

With nothing around to draw his attention, the Miner’s mind started to wander. He remembered stories about why the Seronai gave up on expanding down here. Predators… What did they look like, he wondered? Were they like centipedes, with one big eye in the middle? Maybe they had wings. What if they were not one organism, but a swarm of insects? The Miner smiled; he should write these down! They would make a delightful story. His fear was replaced with pride in his creativity; but not for long.

Something the Miner thought was a shadow shifted. All of his fears returned in a cold wave and as if going along with the analogy, he froze.

Where did it go? He lost it. What was it? The centipede monster?

He heard a soft noise from behind him. He slowly turned around.

~-~-~-~-~

The Darkin Hunter

Crouching in front of the Seronai. Another one! What was going on, here? Two tiny Seronai in one day! A shrill sound assaulted the Hunter’s antennae, emanating from the startled creature. “Ehhi!”, It breathed.

A call came from the tunnel behind. The Cartographer emerged into the cave chamber. The second Seronai, with his gaze still on the Hunter, said something back. They started talking in that whispery language of the Upper Lattice. The Cartographer gestured toward the Hunter and kept talking. Once the short, screechy Seronai was calm, the Cartographer approached the Hunter and they touched antennae. This was a friend. Also lost.

The Miner beckoned the two down a tunnel. A way out? Probably the way he came in. They followed him and his trail of melted rock.

The Hunter led the way, and the two Upper Lattice-dwellers had to follow with one hand on the wall trail. The Hunter could feel the Miner’s eyes on him, and he could hear them whispering to each other.

Eventually, they made their way to a dusty room with a  hole leading to the light. The Hunter had no problem climbing to the ceiling and helping the others up.

~-~-~-~-~

The Rokin Miner

Grateful to be back in the light. He looked down at the Hunter after helping the Cartographer up into the mine tunnel. He unconsciously rummaged through his bag for something. Any token of gratitude. He found his brand. Well, half a brand. The fall must have done more damage than it first looked. The handle had come off completely. He handed the brand-part to the Hunter, touching antennae to transmit a ‘thanks’ smell. Smiling to himself about how even more memories were now in the brand and its handle than ever before. Then the Hunter was gone.

He had fallen into an abandoned level of the Lattice and came back with the Cartographer. He would have to ask him all about it.

What a memorable day…

~-~-~-~-~

The Sekin Cartographer

With eyes still adjusting to the blue light of the glow vines. He had set out to map some deeper parts of the Lattice and ended up lost. Then found by a long-forgotten tribe of deep-dwelling Seronai. They had a strange culture and even more peculiar language, but they braved the dark and got him and his friend the Miner home. He wondered if he’d ever encounter the Hunter again.

What an exciting day…

~-~-~-~-~

The Darkin Hunter

Strolling thoughtfully through the dark tunnels of the Deeplattice. In one day, he had run into two short Seronai of the Upper Lattice. He learned a lot about how the language of the Upper Lattice sounds, and how those speaking it wrote. He had delivered the outsiders back to their home, and received a surprisingly heavy gift. He wondered what it was, or once was a long time ago. He wondered if he would ever see them again.

What a curious day…