Creatures Caves

Early this morning, when I was checking the forums, I came across a topic which asked for the introductions to the main games of the Creatures trilogy. I found C1's intro online (and posted it in the forum), but when I watched it again a strange urge came over me. I felt like writing.

So here's a sort of novelization of the C1 introduction; I wrote it to the song "Here I Am" from the Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron soundtrack.

~*~ A New World ~*~

In a far off, distant world, a lonely butterfly beat its wings.

It was a yellow butterfly, with faint pink eyespots blushing on his long, dainty wings. The warm spring sun gave the insect an almost a comforting hue, highlighting the silent creature among the flora. Feeling that it was now warm enough to fly, the gentle creature fluttered upwards.

Gracefully circling the ground and caressing the wind, the butterfly danced over the dirt-path. Tall plants with bright-red stalks swayed gently. A nearby tree trunk had long since decayed, and was now the home of several small mosses and weeds. Purple mountains swirled with snow kissed the sky?a blue, endless plain with painted clouds, which gave the brilliant expanse a pleasant and welcoming texture.

But even in this colorful landscape of trees and green, there was something not-so-pretty disrupting the day. An abandoned building, tall and black, ominously stood among the world of color. The mighty towers of this seemingly enormous fortress had seen better days, standing rugged and crumbled to the blow of time. Torn flags waved pitifully in the gentle breeze, showing off banners which none of the peaceful creatures of this world fully understood. A mighty figurehead stood broken and crumbled above an entryway, as if ready to frighten away all trespassers.

If the butterfly were an intelligent being, it would understand that this place had once been inhabited by creatures far more powerful than the buzzing bees and the patient hummingbirds. An almighty race, ancient and forgotten, had once ruled this planet in the name of peace and science. Their constant struggle to create new life had gotten the better of them, though, and they left their planet in the search of another habitable world where they may find new DNA from extraterrestrial species.

To the butterfly, though, the world was as if they had never even existed. Undaunted and curious as to what could be inside, the creature beat its yellow wings and swerved into the building.

The creature fluttered into a large room made of brown and gray stone. Wide, dull stalactites hung from the ceiling as if to have been once used for an obscure purpose. Two antique torches were lit with a mystic fire that never goes out?one of the ancient race?s accomplishments. Though the last time they were seen by their eyes was many thousands of years ago, they looked as if they?ve been sparked only minutes before.

Drawn to the light, the butterfly took a stuttering turn to the right and flew close to the fire. Its dimming radiance was matched by its heat, however, and the butterfly felt that as it drew near. Survival instinct forced the insect to turn around and flutter to the other side of the room.

It looked down. The butterfly twitched its antennae at the change of ground. In the place where an antique elevator may have once run, there was a shaft leading downwards into a world with its own eerie light glowing out through the darkness.

Intrigued by the luminosity, the butterfly dove down and weaved its way through the violet-twined traction cables, veering up just in time to skim the cold stone path. Winding through a curving corridor, the insect entered a room hidden by time itself.

The secret lab of the ancient ones.

Real stalactites and stalagmites stretched in scattered places in this underground room, making the butterfly flit carefully between the jutting stone structures. Two more torches were lit in the room, but the butterfly knew now not to get too close.

It swerved again to the left corner of the small chamber, where it stumbled upon something it had never seen. Two massive machines were hooked together in an array of wires. One was broad, with many buttons long since shut off and a wide screen; the other was tall, with transparent doors. Inside the second device was an item the butterfly could only recognize as a rock.

If only it knew.

Turning away from the large machinery, it took a look to the far right. A small tunnel through the wall showed rays of sunshine streaming down onto the cracked floor. At any other time, the butterfly would go right towards the sunlight and back out into the world, but for some reason it stayed behind.

Something was competing with instinct; a strange regret, as if it had not done what it should. Something was beckoning to it, drawing it to the machine?

The butterfly couldn?t take it anymore. With a flit of wings, it did the only thing it could do:

It landed on a button.

All at once, the machine roared to life. Old lights turned on again, fueled by the new energy the butterfly unknowingly bestowed upon the ancient contraption. The screen flashed with words long since lost by the ancient ones. The other device, turned on with its companion, flashed back into reality as well. A small capsule on its side sparked with captive lightning. A large gauge at the top pointed shakily to red, as if to warn of possible danger.

Staring curiously at the screen, the butterfly watched as the text turned green and swerved to the right side of the monitor, making room for a three-dimensional grid-like animation of the seemingly dead rock in the incubator. As brilliant streams of electricity surged through the animation, the tamed lightning struck the rock-like structure in places on its bed of hay.

Within the screen, the butterfly saw the picture of a small being inside the elliptic figure. But how, pray tell, would a butterfly understand that? When the lightning stopped, the glass doors opened, and the computer screen turned off, the insect only flitted inside and landed on the rock.

All of a sudden, the rock shook on its bed, tipping a little and crunching on the hay. The butterfly fluttered upwards and watched.

The entire top of the egg?for that is what it really was?cracked off.

Two large, green eyes peered upward as the butterfly landed on the top of the shell. With a shake and a squirm, the animal inside shoved some more of the top bits of eggshell off. Though the force would not be much to the creature, it was certainly a great deal for a butterfly. Flung away by the push of the newborn being, the very dizzy insect fluttered for a moment in absolute confusion.

?BWUUH!?

With a hard push, the young creature?s egg stumbled to the floor and shattered against the stone. The little creature cried in bewilderment, wondering why he now hurt so much. Staring from its grip on a stalagmite, the butterfly examined this new animal. It was small and squat with leathery brown skin and floppy ears. Small hands with blunt claws and opposable thumbs pounded impatiently with the infant?s struggle to get out of the remnants of his shell. Its blunt-clawed feet were tangled with its tail, and small horns on its head indicated that the creature was male.

Another new feeling washed over the butterfly. It did not know what just happened, nor that it had brought this long-forgotten experiment to life. But as the little boy rolled over in his eggshell and sobbed quietly to himself, the insect could see that he was helpless on his own.

The butterfly suppressed its instincts to fly away through the small hole and escape to the world. In one graceful wing beat, it flew over the infant. The creature?s eyes widened with astonishment. Had the butterfly been creative, it would have compared his eyes to a grassy field in the springtime sun?but, alas, it was but an insect.

?Heh bweh!? He rolled on his back into a sitting position, trying to reach for the enchanting butterfly. Slightly alarmed but still wanting to guide the young creature, the butterfly fluttered just out of reach.

He put his hands on the ground and stood up, wobbling slightly on his knobby knees. Unbalanced but determined, the hatchling placed one foot forward and made another attempt to grab the butterfly. With a slip, a drop, and a cry of newborn pain, the boy toppled forward and landed on the cold, wet stone.

The butterfly fluttered more over his head, beckoning his eyes to open. With a small, uncoordinated hand, the boy pushed aside one of his droopy ears which had gotten in the way of his eyes. The young creature, beguiled by the insect?s enchanting circles, placed both his hands and feet on the ground. Crawling cautiously, the baby approached the butterfly, stumbling over the moist rocks.

Seeing an opportunity to fly towards the sun, the butterfly flitted into the tunnel. Its gentle slope and warm sunlight made it seem perfect for a young, new life-form to climb up and be introduced to the world.

The little boy looked up the hole. Curious as to what wonders lay beyond (and still wanting to follow the butterfly), he slowly and laboriously began to climb up the clumpy, dirt tunnel. He batted away at small roots and continued to reach for the butterfly.

He stumbled, nearly tumbling down and having to restart his journey out of the lab. The butterfly quickly dove down in front of his head, spinning in dizzying circles. Almost naturally, the boy grabbed for the butterfly, and managed to latch on to a root which was poking out of the ground. Then he continued his way up the winding tunnel and into the light.

After twenty minutes of long trekking, the little boy was greeted by a stunning flash of light. Astonished, he reached upward and climbed out of the hole, blinking in order to filter out the nearly blinding sunlight.

He opened his eyes?

The little boy gasped. In front of him was the entire world expanding wide before his very eyes. Huge valleys, steaming jungles, spectacular waterfalls, and rolling hills stretched in front of him like his greatest of dreams. The yellow butterfly, pleased at a job well done, flew around the little boy one more time and took to the sky.

He watched. The butterfly flitted away?a spirit of light, born free to a world of beauty and nature. Though he was created in a laboratory, like all other living beings, he accepted the land into which he was born (or, in this case, brought to life).

He was one with the world.

?Nrrrrr? nrrrrrr? norn?.? The little boy stopped and tasted the word on his tongue. Norn. It felt nice. Norn. It felt magic. Norn.

It felt like something he could call himself.

?Norn!? He called. With a shaky but eager shuffle, the little norn waddled into the depths of his world.

--

The sun shone all the brighter on the very day the first norn was created in a land he came to call Albia. The birds chirped, the trees danced, and the very wind seemed to be chanting a new song. Alive with the beating of this boy?s heart, just as he had accepted the world, the world had accepted him.

He was one. He was one of the world.

And in his heart of hearts, he wouldn?t have it any other way.

~*~ Exeunt ~*~

Comments? Feedback? Nitpicky mistakes? I would be happy to hear what you think and would love to have suggestions for improvement.