The dark forest grew quiet as the large form of the bladed monster paca stalked through the trees towards a rock mound with grass overgrown on top.
It was another unsuccessful night of hunting. The late winter bleeding into early spring meant it was still just a bit too cold for other pacapillars to be out any later than sunset. The left side of his face throbbed with pain- a reminder that his core was starting to try and eject itself from his body again.
A sigh left his body as he started to glide his metal legs along a sharp-edged rock near the edge of a small clearing. It was a routine he picked up to make sure his blades stayed sharp even if he hadn’t used them in a couple of days. After taking the time to get all ten of his legs sharpened he started to get closer to the entrance of his rough nest, but once things became less blurry he froze.
There’s a basket sitting next to the entrance of his nest. He couldn’t quite make out the contents inside. He crept closer and crouched down to get a closer look. ‘An… egg? Why is it so-’
He abruptly stood up and backed away. It was a glistening egg. ‘Who left this here…? Who knew someone lives here…?’
His face fell into one that resembled annoyance. “Skye…” he grumbled to himself. He used his tail to grab the handle of the basket- uncaring that he was crushing the bow neatly placed on it. He started to make his way back the way he came and headed in the direction of Skye’s nest. He didn’t want this snekket and intended to take it back to whoever brought it to him.
Getting to the nest that Skye resided in didn’t take long. It wasn’t often he traveled this far away from the woods but he didn’t want to take a chance on this egg hatching around him. The basket was set near the entrance of the nest and he used his tail to reach into the hole.
His large claw-shaped appendage felt around the burrow. He felt a mass. ‘No… too fuzzy…’
The disturbance in the nest caused the fuzzy pacapillar to roll over and snuggle into Grimm’s tail like a blanket. “Go ahead and eat breakfast without me, Skye…” the voice mumbled below.
He groaned in frustration and yanked his tail away from the other pacapillar. He could only assume it was Skye’s burrowmate, Gibby. He had the brief thought of snatching him and fulfilling his hunting for the night but reminded himself of what Skye said; how if were to ever harm his friend he wouldn’t hesitate to try and take his core out of his body for him. He wasn’t afraid of Skye, but he knew with enough motivation he could pretty much achieve whatever was on his mind.
He moved his tail further and felt a new mass. He left around and took note of the feeler shape. ‘Gotcha.’ He wasted no time quickly snatching Skye from the burrow and holding him in front of his face so he was able to actually see the features of the standard pacapillar in his grasp.
A tired, lazy yawn left the smaller green pacapillar. His nubs sluggily moved and Grimm let out a frustrated growl, “You know I can’t understand you when you speak in nubs.” The deep rumble of Grimm’s voice must have rattled Skye because suddenly his eyes snapped open with a startled squeak. He thrashed around to try and break from the confinement he was in.
“Unlike you to attack me when I’m defenseless, Grimm,” Skye’s voice came through quietly as his struggles slowed down. For the first time in a few months, he made eye contact with the cyclops-eyed monster and seemed to try smothering the shock that went through his system. “You look… different…”
“Yeah, well,” Grimm started and dropped Skye onto the ground, ignoring the pained noise from the other as Skye began to cradle his head with his headfeelers. “Apparently the amount of magic in a winged pacapillars core is too much for my body to physically handle.”
“Why are you here?” Skye hissed softly as he adjusted to sit up. Immediately the basket Grimm had carried here was now sitting in front of him with a gentle thud. Skye stared wide-eyed at it, having never personally seen a glistening egg in person before.
“Take it back. I don’t want it,” Grimm stated- voice firm and demanding. He was met with a confused expression from the smaller one.
“What?”
“Take it back.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about- this is the first time I’ve seen a glistening egg in my life,” Skye replied, their voice almost just as firm, not appreciating the accusation being thrown at them.
“You are the only one who should know where I live. Who else would have dropped off a… baby… with pet supplies at my burrow.”
“I don’t know but it wasn’t me,” Skye said as he began to go through the contents of the basket. Snekkie snacks, a plushie, a blanket, and an unsigned note. Some pretty basic stuff but useful for a newborn. He looked up. Grimm was now walking away from him.
“Hey- Wha- Where are you going?!” He scrambled to run after the monster. His little nubs were doing their best to catch up to Grimm and his much longer legs.
“I’m going home.”
“You have to take that egg with you!” Skye said and hopped onto Grimm’s tail that was dragging along the meadow floor. He was quickly flipped off of the black and red appendage and the large monster turned back to look at him.
“I refuse to be responsible for another creature's life- a baby no less!” Grimm snapped down at him, fangs clinking together with the force that Grimm was speaking.
Skye backed away slightly- Grimm’s new look still being a little jarring for him. Though, he pushed back, “Surely you were chosen for a reason!”
“No, there was a mistake. I’m not taking this snekket,” Grimm rejected.
“If you’re not going to keep it at least let me help you find who left the basket so they can choose someone more fitting for the role of caring for the baby,” Skye offered. He didn’t quite agree with returning the basket but Grimm seemed so insistent on not keeping it.
He was only given a grunt in response and the larger pacapillar turned to make his way back to the burrow he was forcibly snatched from. Grimm stood next to the basket and stared at Skye. “Alright, where are we going, then?”
Skye made his way back to the basket and peered back into the contents. He pulled out the handmade plush and moved it around in their nubs. He spotted the tag, “Well. This snekket plush was made by Sachet. We could start there?”
“Fine by me,” Grimm replied and snatched up the basket. He began to walk towards the direction of the town and Skye couldn’t help the nervous feeling in his core as the sun began to break over the horizon. He leaned into the burrow, grabbed his pouch to store the snekket plush in, and told his three buncle goodbye before hurrying after the other pacapillar.