[GlacierDragon]

Flying Scrabs howl and shriek...

Anyone who has looked at my art thread (http://www.oddworldforums.net/showthread.php?t=16835) will know about Flying Scrabs.



EDIT: Since it's agaist the rules to double-post I'll just add the next chapter onto this one. And before you read it, Skeeters are flying insects that suck out your brains. They were made up by OWI but never put into the games. And the fact that Sligs have compound eyes was also said by OWI.

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Chapter 7

“What is your number?” Queen Skillya says to me, angrily. Her voice is smooth, and underneath it there is a distinct sibilant hiss. She isn’t wearing a mask, so I can see clearly the look of impatience on her face. It’s weird to think she’s my mother.

“5-12-3-27,” I answer, trying to keep the tremble from my voice. She’s about four times the size of me (not including my legs) and she’s got a huge abdomen that lays an egg every minute or so. Her face tentacles are proportionally longer than an ordinary Slig’s, and thinner too. It’s the same with her fingers. Her eyes are compound like the rest of us, but they are red rather than black. She’s got really long fingernails which look more like claws, and her skin has a slight bluish tint. There are a few Sligs tending to her eggs, moving them around and placing them on this conveyor belt which then carries them out of the cave. I guess the tower above us is a hatchery or something. There are also a couple of guard Sligs watching me. I don’t see any security cameras, though.

“5-12-3-27,” she growls, “why are you here?”

I gulp. “I – I refused to shoot a Mudokon slave who was trying to escape.”

“Why?”

I hesitate. “Well, it had no way to protect itself. I didn’t want to kill it if it had no means of defence. If it had a knife or a gun, then probably –”

“Silence.” She doesn’t raise her voice, but the hostile intent is there. “Everyone get out. Except for you.” She points at me, light glinting of her nails. I tremble inside. What’s she going to do?

“But my Queen,” objects one of the guards.

“I said, get out. Even you lot with my eggs, leave!”

All the Sligs start looking at each other in confusion.

“If I have to repeat myself one more time…” Queen Skillya threatens. Everyone besides me suddenly starts to leave through the tunnel I came through. Soon I hear the door close, and we are alone. I nervously glance at her.

“You’re telling me, that you willingly HELPED A SLAVE?” she screams. “Do you have any idea how this reflects on me? How this affects my reputation? Everywhere, they’ll all be saying, ‘Queen Skillya’s children have turned nice. Maybe she’s turned around how she treats them”! Surely you’re not stupid enough to even consider Mudokons worth helping? Are you?”

I remain silent, staring at the ground.

“ARE YOU?!” she howls.

Something inside me snaps. Before I can even consider what I’m doing, I raise my own voice. “I don’t care what you, or anyone else thinks. In my mind what I did was right, and that’s all that matters to me! Now STOP SHOUTING! I’M NOT DEAF, DAMMIT!”

Okay, now I’ve done it. I’m doomed. I’m so doomed. She’s going to cook me. She’s going to cook me alive. I’m going to have a slow, agonising death, and all because I couldn’t contain myself.

Skillya goes dangerously silent. She glares at me. I can practically feel the hate and anger radiating from her. Behind her, I see that she’s stopped laying eggs.

“How dare you,” she slowly hisses. “How dare you speak to your Queen like that?”

“You’re not my Queen,” I answer back. “I don’t know what you are, but you’re not my Queen.”

Now she’s getting really angry. If I wasn’t in a life or death situation, it would be funny. But if I’m going to die, I might as well insult her as much as I possibly can.

“And furthermore, if you think what I did was bad then you should hear what one of my friends has to say. You’ll really be screaming your head of then!”

“That’s it! Guards! Guards! Get back in here! Feed him to the Skeeters! Feed his flesh to the Fleeches and give his bones to the Slogs! I want him to die slowly and painfully! Strip off his skin and pull out his intestines! Gouge out his eyes and tare off his arms! AND MAKE SURE EVERY BEING ON THIS DAMN PLANET HEARS OF IT!!!!”

Over Skillya’s shrieking, I hear the guards come running. Quickly, deciding I want to live, I race behind the Queen and head for the conveyor belt that takes her eggs. Her abdomen is so big she can’t move, so all she can do is watch helplessly as I escape, screaming for the guards to hurry up.

I reach the conveyor belt and hop on, trying my best to dodge the bullets that come flying at me. I run along and duck through a hole in the cave wall that the conveyor leads through. I continue running through a tiny tunnel, forced down onto all-fours by the low ceiling. I angrily push eggs out of my way as I scramble towards a turning up ahead. It’s really dark and I trip over, but I hurriedly right myself and continue. I don’t have a clue where I’m going. Behind me I can hear Skillya bellowing and snarling like a rabid animal. All these years in an underground cave must have driven her mad, I decide.

I reach the turning, relieved. At least now there isn’t a chance that a Slig can shoot me from the tunnel entrance. I don’t rest, though. After all, it’s possible I’m being silently followed. I hear an alarm go off somewhere, and I realise that everyone will be looking for me.

And that’s when I also realise; I can never go back to society again.