[AlexFili]

Silpher's Pack
Chapter 1: The Youth

I open my eyes. They sting as the harsh artificial lighting temporarily blinds me. I squint and see a shadowy figure above me. A hand with thin fingers stretches out, I move away, squirming.

"Now now little one, let's see how you are", a creature said. I try to speak, but mumbling noises come out. Well, to be honest, I wasn't surprised at this. This is my first day of life after all.

A week later, I was allowed to be given a name. I decided to call myself Silpher. Over the next year, I learned about how I was created and discovered some important lessons of life and survival.

Part Scrab, part Slig... Whoever created me must have a purpose for me, but I didn't find out that day, or any other day. I guess it's just a mystery to me so far. Maybe when we are older, we will be told our purpose.

I don't look like a Scrab at all. My upper body resembles a Slig, but with more muscles. My body was a crimson color. I have four face tentacles, which I can grab objects with if I have to, a neck which can twist and flex, two compound eyes, hidden beneath a leathery mask. My lower body is just a thin torso which tapers off into a tail.

My behavior is a mixture of Slig and Scrab. I have all of the intelligence and cleverness of a Slig, but my smell and hearing are above average. I have a craving for meat, which I need to satisfy at least once a week or I will feel some stomach pains and withdrawal symptoms.

After a few months of life, I was given the opportunity to socialize with others of my kind. There were about thirteen of us. I've only seen a couple so far, but I think that about half of us are female, judging from their smaller size and kinder attitude.

I have three good friends at the moment, there's Magnus... I'd say he's my best friend in this place. He is brave, kind... I'm sure he's one of the strongest of us as well. I bet he could win in a fight if he had to. He is taller than me and has an orange skin color.

There's Tulia, she's probably the nicest of the females. She often cheers me up when I am depressed and she is very good at sharing. We're still young so a lot of the talking is quite innocent. We did kiss once, but it was just for a dare, we both ran away fast squealing and laughing. She is shorter than me and is a lighter shade of red.

Finally, there's Lorn. He is wise and compassionate. He knows what to do in any given situation. I look up to him the most. He's like a father figure to me... He is good at dispensing advice, I always listen to him. Lorn is one of the tallest of us. He is a dark grey in color.

A couple of years later. I train my body and mind. We all grow to about three feet tall (not including pants).

I make my way to the facilities in the rest area. I think I'll see if Tulia is in the Jacuzzi again. I spot a fellow female, Inna. "Hey handsome, you looking for Tulia again?", she was being overly flirtatious today. I blushed, "Inna you're not wearing, a... bra", "I know, I feel much more comfortable without one". I gulped, her light-blue body was quite alluring, the light reflecting from her chest, she smiled, "Oh come on, it's not like you haven't seen anything new". I suppose this was true, each male did have a bath with every female at least once.

I rolled my eyes, "Well can you tell me where Tulia is?". She grinned, "She's in the Jacuzzi, I respect your dedication to her, she must be quite the lucky lady". I smiled, "Yeah she is. I admire your rebellious attitude by the way; I think that you're probably the Alpha female". She seemed shocked, "Really? I didn't think that I was that good! Oh well, see you later", she gave me a friendly kiss on the cheek and then left.

Flattery will get you everywhere.

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I dedicate this chapter to the brilliant Oddworld author Sl'Askia who's Spiders stories have inspired me to look more into pack behaviour. Hope you like it so far.