Fuck I just jinxed myself. after thinking this I immediately look behind me and see nothing... it's better to be paranoid than being dead.
I make my way to the pipe at the other side of the pitch-dark corridor. My only sources of light being several flashbangs and green lightning crackling from the outside.
Exiting another pipe, I know I'm very close to the slime mold. I just have to do some parkour to get to it...
it would be easier to get to it if it weren't for the proto rot covering the easiest way to it.
I find myself climbing up poles and Rot vines. After a bit of climbing, I find myself high up on a ledge and look down seeing the faded orange glow from the slime mold below me. Getting into a pouncing stance I ready myself and leap off the ledge falling down right towards the slime mold.
Passing the Proto rot that was previously blocking my path I ready myself and hit the ground. I come out of it uninjured however since I angled myself and rolled on the ground not taking any injuries from the fall.
It took me many cycles to perfect how to survive from high heights like this… many broken legs and deaths…
Pushing these thoughts down I stand up and see the slime mold surrounding me.
'Time to eat…'
I start scarfing down the bitter slime mold. Slime mold doesn't really taste good… that's why I was happy getting that blue fruit earlier since that's one of the few good things I've eaten ever since waking up in this damn world.
After eating 5 slime molds, I feel full.
Knowing that all my pips are full right now I start making my way back to the shelter I woke up in.
'Ok Joseph… don't die to the proto rot this time'
I've died several times getting past this part. Mostly due to not grabbing the pole in time since the proto rot is right beneath the pole I need to grab onto to get out of here.
Climbing up a small space and jumping down on to a small cube platform I ready myself and pounce towards the pole that has proto rot beneath. Grabbing the pole and making sure I won't slip, I feel a little relieved.
'Ok now I just need to get back and I can chill for a bit'
Jumping towards the next pole then jumping down I crawl through the pipe that I exited through earlier. After walking down the pitch-dark corridor and going through another pipe I exit back out into the starting area of the wall.
'Still no lizards… not sure if that's a good or bad thing'
There's been plenty of times where a cyan or blue lizard has attacked me in this general area. Trying to fight a lizard with proto rot at your feet is extremely annoying.
Passing the corridor with the rot I climb back up to the surface where I killed the dropwig. As I'm about to walk past the dropwig I notice something… strange.
I look behind me at the dropwig and look closer at the dropwig's carcass…
"What… the hell" I say this out loud to myself.
I approach the dropwig's corpse… or at least what's left of it. A good portion of the flesh from the dropwig is gone, mostly leaving behind the endo skeleton of the dropwig.
'That's weird… lizards never eat out in the open… and I definitely didn't eat it'
I'm not capable of eating large creatures. I can only stick to fruits and small creatures to sustain myself. So either some new creature that eats in the open has suddenly appeared here or…
A slugcat…
And there's only one slugcat that should exist in a world like this…
'Actually, is Inv even a slugcat? I have no idea'
I'm not sure whether to be scared or excited at the prospect of being able to meet another being I can talk to after so long.
'Ok calm down Joseph this could be some other damn creature that will kill you on sight. Now's not the time to get excited'
Even after thinking about this however, I still can't help but feel a bit excited.
After taking a moment to calm down I continue making my way up to the shelter.
Crawling for a bit more up a tight crawlspace I find myself back to the corridor where the shelter is.
'Should I shelter this time? Hmmmm… nah, I'll chill up there and watch the clouds'
This time I decide to stay out of the shelter and take advantage of the fact that for some reason this area isn't affected by the cycle. This will give me some time to just chill and prepare myself to start trying to get to Five Pebbles again.
Making this decision I start climbing up another pole that leads to a huge metal surface. Jumping down onto the surface I make my way to the edge and sit down.
'There we go… chillax time'
I sit down and just watch the view in front of me. It's nothing much. Just dark grey clouds but in a way… it's just nice to watch. With this moment of peace and quiet that's pretty rare I quickly look behind me and make sure nothing is there. Seeing nothing I turn back and look down at my fur.
…
I still have no idea why the fuck I'm pink. It's not even a cool pink. It's literally the brightest pink you could ever imagine. This bright pink fur obviously makes it really easy to spot and target me. Why couldn't I have like… dark pink fur? That would've been way better…
Seeing the mess my fur is in, I start doing the only thing I can do to clean it. I start licking myself.
Yeah I'm licking myself like a damn cat, but what can I do, take a shower? The only source of water here kills you instantly, so I just have to settle with this…
At least I can somewhat efficiently clean myself now. After trying to clean myself with my tongue I found out it's the best method to keep me clean. And since I have Bright Pink fur it easily gets dirty.
Falling into the rhythm of cleaning my fur time passes by.
By the time I'm done cleaning my fur I can feel a slight rumble from the ground indicating that the cycle is almost over. Of course, I'm not really concerned about the cycle ending since the rain can't reach this area for some reason.