[Teal]

(Awk! I've lost half the italicising...)

Two

Jas, as Bea had named the young slig, was maturing quickly. His skin darkened off to a green and yellowish-olive, his eyes reddened, and his tentacles had turned into the equivalent of a third hand; he used them to examine things, as they were highly tactile. His long snout offered an acute sense of smell, his hearing wasn't too bad, and he could see well enough in daylight with those huge lantern eyes, but his eyesight was dreadful when it got dark. He spent a considerable portion of his time sleeping – either that or sunbathing, on the bare branches above Bea's hut.
The mudokons were slowly coming round to the idea of having an adolescent slig in their village; after all, when he bothered getting up he'd proved himself to be useful. Those long nimble hands were good at making short work of what would otherwise be long, fiddly tasks taking a mudokon hours, even with the right tools.
One problem was that he wasn't incredibly mobile; he could climb trees with remarkable ease, but that didn't help him move about at ground level, which in turn led to his getting frustrated very easily.
Bea shook her head, and watched as he hauled his way up to his favourite perch in her tree for sulking. He caught her gaze and scowled back, darkly; she gave him a wan smile, and went on to where she was headed, advising on the tutelage of the youngest members of the tribe.
Tam – one of the very youngest generation of mudokons, hatched just before Jas did – was busily trying to learn the mechanics of opening bird-portals when she arrived. She watched as the youngster managed to coax the portal open with a bit of help from one of the elders, an idea swiftly beginning to coalesce in her fertile old mind…

Jas slithered to the ground with a whump at hearing his name called. "What?" he asked, swinging his head from side to side, looking for the speaker.
It was Tam, marching unsteadily over with something big, heavy and made of dull metal in his arms. He jerked his head in a come-here motion.
The little slig crawled over. "Wha's matter?"
The young mudokon put the dark-metal thing down on the grass, and stretched his back. "One of the elders was teaching me to help the tribe open portals, and we managed to snag this."
"Yeah…? What is it?" Jas asked, crawling round the metal object and examining it with his tentacles.
"Legs," Tam said, watching the slig.
"Legs? Whose legs?" Jas asked, worriedly.
"Yours, if you want 'em."
He looked at the mudokon, perplexed.
The youngster sighed, picked him up and settled him into the harness. "This is what most of the other sligs back in the factories wear. So you don't need to crawl; starting to get the idea?"
"Oh," Jas managed one noisy, tottering step, and fell over. "How you meant to use 'em?"
"I don't know; I didn't wait for their owner to wake up to ask him. I just nicked 'em for you," Tam helped him back upright. "Maybe if you practise you'll get better…"
"Hm," Jas managed two steps this time before falling flat on his face.
Tam laughed, peeled him up off the floor and hauled him back to his feet. "Not the easiest things to balance in, huh?"
Jas grumbled something unintelligible, rubbed his snout and concentrated on trying to keep his balance…

After a good two week's worth of practising, Jas, although exhausted by the unaccustomed work, was able to charge about just as fast as the mudokons did, and was revelling in his new-found mobility.
One thorn in his side was Gar. For weeks now, he and his small gang of mudokons had been making the young slig's life difficult; it used to just be spiteful comments, but lately they'd been picking fights with him. Not fast enough to outrun them, he was getting better at holding his own, in spite of their usual jibe that he was helpless without a weapon, but they had strength of numbers and he always lost, in the end…
There was a babble of noise coming from behind a screen of trees; Jas sighed – it was them. He kept his head down and tried to pretend he hadn't seen them, wishing he didn't have to make such a noise when he walked – it invariably got their attention – when he put his foot down a concealed hole and fell flat on his face.
There were laughs, and jeers. "Hey, Spider, why don't you watch where you're goin'!" Gar sniggered.
Jas's face bunched up, crossly, as he picked himself up – that was a new one, 'Spider'. "Don't call me that," he grumbled.
"I can call you Spider if I want," the big mudokon said, ominously, swaggering over. "'Cause you look like one. All spindly legs. And ugly."
"I am not!" Jas folded his arms and scowled, and tried to walk off again.
"Hey, don't you get sassy with me, slug-boy," Gar pushed him over. "You're only here because senile old Bea's got a soft spot for you. If it was up to us, you'd have been fed to the fleeches long ago."
Jas hunched his shoulders, tried to look small, and didn't answer; maybe Gar would leave him alone, if he acted compliant…
Gar exchanged a look with the others, then looked back at Jas. "I'm beginning to think," he said to his peers, in a voice that would have etched steel, staring at the uncomfortable little creature that cowered in front. "That our little friend, here, is getting just a bit too disrespectful of us, don't you agree?"
There was a chorus of agreement. Jas swallowed hard over a sudden lump in his throat.
"What should we do about it, Gar?" One asked, snidely.
Gar just smiled. "I think he needs to be taught a lesson. Up on your feet, short-ass," he snapped.
Jas lurched upright, trying to keep himself from shaking…

With one last heave, two of Gar's friends deposited Jas roughly into the lake. The slig surfaced, coughing and spluttering up the water he'd swallowed, and swam awkwardly to the edge, where Gar stood, arms folded, laughing. Unashamedly, Jas flopped onto the rough sandy shore and just lay, groaning, the slightly brackish water getting into all his cuts and making them sting incessantly.
Gar smirked. "I'll look after these for you," he said, indicating Jas' metal limbs, which they'd taken before throwing him into the water.
"No…!" Jas groaned. "No, please…"
Gar smiled, smugly. "I'll leave them with Bea. After all, we don't know if they mix well with water, and you don't want to be getting electrocuted, do you?"
"Gar… it'll take me ages to crawl back to the village…" Jas whined, miserably.
"I know," Gar shrugged, watching as one of his friends picked up the mechanical legs and started back with them. "Think of it as a bit of exercise."
"Please, Gar…" Jas whimpered, his face crumpled.
"Don't look at me like that, Ugly," Gar said, coldly. "We ought to make you wear a mask, like all the rest of you sligs do. Then we wouldn't have to look at your ugly mug."
"Come on, Gar…!" a voice yelled.
He glanced back over his shoulder, briefly. "Yeah, yeah, coming!" he called back, then turned back to Jas for the last time. He grinned, nastily, and gave him a derisive pat on the head. "Be seeing you, short-ass," he said, idly, and galloped off after his peers.
Jas sighed, and decided he'd better set off if he wanted to get back before dusk fell…

"Bea," a plaintive voice said.
The elderly mudokon looked up from her weaving. "Yes, Jas; what is it?"
The young slig was just inside the doorway, arms dangling outside, flat on his chin on the floor, looking up at her with big, exhausted eyes. "Am I ugly?" he asked, mournfully, his face scrunched up as it always did when he was upset about something.
She gave him a look, noting the faint cuts on his snout. "What makes you say that, Jas?"
He hauled his way inside the hut and crawled over to her, then flopped bonelessly down by her side. "They all say I'm ugly. They want me to wear a mask, because I'm ugly."
She patted his head, and smiled, gently. "Oh, don't take any notice of them. They're just a bit wary of you, that's all."
"Huh. They don't sound wary. They sound nasty," he said, sulkily, and added, in a sniff; "And they chucked me in the lake again. They know I don't like getting wet…"
"They?" Bea echoed. "Let me guess – Gar and his friends?"
"Who else would it have been?" Jas moaned.
"I'll have a word with him, Jas."
"You could have had a word with him weeks ago," he said, in a hostile tone.
"I know," she sighed. "I didn't want him to get worse."
"How can you get worse than beating someone senseless?"
She stopped her weaving, abruptly. "I beg your pardon?"
He looked up at her, mournfully. "They're getting pretty good at catching me when there's no-one else around..."
"I'll have a word," she promised. "Today. Just as soon as I've finished this."
"Thanks," he sniffed, and added; "Am I ugly?"
"Well," she smiled, kindly. "I wouldn't say you were the prettiest little thing in the forest, but then I wouldn't say you were ugly, either."
He sat up, stared at her. "You think I'm ugly, too?" he asked, faintly.
"Oh Jas, don't be silly. I never said that," she told him, sternly. "I think you may be over reacting a little, that's all."
Jas hunched his bony shoulders, and sighed. "And here was me hoping for a bit of sympathy…" He slithered out of the door.
Bea sighed – why did he have to be so sensitive? "Jas…" she called after him, tiredly, but he didn't answer, and next second there was the sharp mechanical sound of his legs as he mooched away in the gathering dusk. She put down her weaving and went to the door…
She caught him just vanishing off into the stand of trees nearby – ah well; he'd calm down and be back, soon. Unless he was really annoyed, he never spent too long sulking. But… hm. There was Gar and co., looking suspect… And seemed to be following Jas. She frowned, watched them head into the stand of trees as well…

Jas sat down hard on an old fallen branch at the base of a tree, and sighed. No-one understood him. He thought Bea did, but ultimately she was just a mudokon as well… how could he expect her to think differently? They all thought he was some kind of… some kind of hideous monster, just waiting for the time when he could slaughter them all in their beds… He sniffed, and angrily swiped away a tear.
"Oh, there you are," a voice said, soft with implied menace.
Jas's heart sank – Gar. He looked up as the small group of mudokons approached, warily. "What?" he managed, but his throat was tight.
Gar smiled a dangerous smile, and leaned against the trunk of a nearby tree. "Oh, nothing," he said, and spread his hands, idly. "Just, ahem… got a present for you."
Jas swallowed over a dry throat. "I don't like the sound of that," he whispered.
Suddenly a pair of strong hands seized him from behind. He gave a yelp and kicked futilely as one of them picked him up and, laughing, pinned his arms behind him. Another grabbed his head, held it still.
Gar smirked, and sauntered over to where the helpless slig squirmed and pleaded with them to let him go. "Something wrong, Spider?" he asked, feigning concern, and flicked something dark and leathery idly about in one hand.
"No no no…!" Jas whimpered, trying to turn his face away, but the mudokon holding him still dug his nails into his jaw, making him whine but stop squirming. "Let me go, please, let me go…!"
Gar just smiled, nastily, and pulled the whatever-it-was-that-he-held-in-his-hand firmly over the captive slig's lean snout and tentacles. It was rough, and scratchy, and hurt the sensitive skin of Jas' face, made him whimper; sensing a victory, Gar yanked it savagely tight, making the youngster squeal in pain.
The mudokons holding Jas captive abruptly dropped him; he landed in a tangle of legs and arms at their feet, whimpering. He blinked through the holes in the mask and tried to pull it free, but it was painfully tight, and pulling at it made it chafe his skin at the edges, and he couldn't find the catch holding it in place to release it. "Owowow… please – take it off me, it hurts…" he wept, tugging at it. "Please, I promise I'll not annoy you any more, just take it off…!"
"Ah ah," Gar said, unkindly, shaking his head and wagging a finger. "Now you're a proper slig. So you can go back home."
"But here is home…!"
"Not any more; you belong with your own kind, not scrounging off our generosity. So go on, beat it!"
"But I…"
"Go on, scat! Or else you're fleech food!"
He gave them a pleading look. "But I don't… I can't… I mean, I… I don't know where to go, or…!"
"I'll give you until a count of ten. If you're not gone by then, well… let's just say you won't enjoy it much," Gar snapped. "One… two… three… four…"
On the "five", Jas decided it wasn't worth it. His narrow shoulders hunched, he turned away, and set off, not knowing where he was going.
The laughter that chased him out of the glade was almost as painful as the ill-fitting mask that pinched his face and rubbed at his skin…

It was getting dark steadily. Bea sat in the doorway to her hut, worrying; no sign of Jas coming back yet. He was usually back before now, even if he'd been in the foulest of moods when setting out – his eyesight was dreadful in the dark, and he hated not being able to see. Perhaps she ought to go look for him… No, wait – there was Gar, again – looking excessively pleased with himself, and bragging about something to his friends, no doubt. She narrowed her eyes, suspiciously; watched as he went into one of the low buildings, then slid to the floor, and followed…
He didn't answer when she called his name, so she cleared her throat, delicately, and barked; "Gar…!"
Gar looked up, a little startled. "Yeah? Wha's matter, Bea?"
"Would you happen to know where Jas is?" she stood in the doorway with her arms folded, staring at him with her most discomforting gaze.
"Er…" Gar frowned exaggeratedly. "Nope. Haven't seen him."
"You're sure?" she raised an eyebrow.
"I think I'd be sure about a thing like that, Bea."
"So, if you didn't see him, why did I see you following him a short while ago?"
"Er. Um," he scratched his head, looking away. "Well, you see… that'd be because… uhm… don't know. I didn't see 'im, though. Must have been a coincidence," he asserted, boldly.
Bea gave him a hard-as-nails defy-me-if-you-dare look. "I would advise," she said, softly. "That you don't stretch my patience any further, Gar…"
"Bea," he complained. "Look, okay, so I saw him, but he was goin' into the woods, and I was goin' to the lake, and-"
"Funny. The lake is in the opposite direction."
"So I got lost!"
"You've lived here for years. How could you get lost?"
"I…" he shrugged, sensing he was about to lose the argument quite badly. "Does it matter?"
"Yes, Gar, it matters. I want to know what you did to him, and where he is now."
"I didn't do anything to him!!"
Bea sighed, and turned away. "Fine. If that's the way you want to play… you're on the cleaning detail for the next five weeks. Or until you decide to tell me what happened, when I may rethink your punishment."
"Aw, come on, Bea…" he whined – the cleaners had a universally unliked job. It was dirty and smelly and occasionally dangerous, clearing up old glukkon rubbish tips and preparing the land to be regrown, and usually mudokons took turns at it, never having to do more than a few days at a time. "You know me well enough by now, don't you…? I wouldn't hurt the little shrimp…"
She smiled in a dangerously reassuring way. "Yes, Gar; at least part of that's true."
He relaxed with a sigh of relief.
"I know you only too well," she went on. "You must think I'm blind, or deaf, or both. I've seen you tormenting him these past few weeks. I hesitated to step in, knowing that mentioning it to you would only make you worse. Now I see perhaps I should have, after he tells me what else you've been doing. I'm ashamed of you, Gar – I thought you were old enough to know better."
"All right, all right…" Gar groaned, trying anything to get her to shut up and stop humiliating him in front of his peers. "So… I told him that I didn't want him here any more, and sent him packing. He'll have gone to the factories," he scowled, and added, in a quiet, belligerent voice that he hoped Bea wouldn't hear, "Where he belongs."
She smiled at him, satisfied. "Thank you, Gar. That wasn't so painful, was it?"
He scowled at her patronising tone, but wisely kept his mouth shut, staring at the tabletop.
"And, as you've told me what happened, at last, I've decided to rethink your punishment."
He looked up, hopefully.
She smiled back. "You're getting ten weeks instead. Enjoy it."