Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

You don't remember how you ended up here, stranded upon the blindingly bright and glittering shores; the sand was a blinding reflection of the sun that beamed overhead, delivering an agonizing pain as you opened your eyes. The inside of your mouth felt like it were full of cotton, as though you had been unable to stop yourself from taking bites from your pillow during the night.

'the fuck happened...?'

Saying you had a headache was an understatement. The inside of your skull felt like someone had taken a hammer to it, a throbbing, pounding ache with nausea gurgling in your throat. A pain only intensified the longer you stared out towards the glistening sands, watching the gentle lapping of the ocean waves against the shore. 

'A beach? Since when did I...?'

The memories of the day before were... fuzzy, difficult to reach or understand, as every attempt to locate them drove them further and further from your reach, leaving the painful gap in awareness blindingly obvious.

You knew your name and that you had lived with your father and eldest sister. You remembered an animal of some kind—maybe there were multiple; that information was fuzzy. But you couldn't remember the faces of those you lived with, the name of the school you'd graduated from. You couldn't even remember what you'd had for breakfast.

Maybe it was from how disoriented you were or the headache that threatened to split your skull in twain. But as strange as it all felt like something had simply reached into your brain and scooped the information away like it was something unnecessary, you just couldn't be bothered to worry about it. 

As plush as the sand looked, you still felt your hands sinking into it, making the effort of heaving yourself to your feet far more complicated than it should've been. A task that should've only taken a few seconds at most, stretching into a several-minute-long affair.

... You were going to blame that on the headache and just ignore that ever happened. Thankfully there was nobody around to watch your struggle, right? Right.

Now at least somewhat stable against the sand, you turned your focus elsewhere. Sweeping your gaze across the beach around you—though it was mostly bare, with only a few small clumps of what you were assuming to be rocks near the shore. You could somewhat make out a larger shape a little ways off.

It didn't seem too far that walking to it wasn't appealing, but it definitely wasn't close enough that you could identify what it was. If you had to guess, it looked like some kind of entrance? Maybe to a cave of some sort. 

Making a note of that as your tentative destination, you turned your attention towards the rest of the beach you could see, sparing a glance down every few moments to make sure you weren't about to step on a really sharp rock or something similar. 

'Cause, that would really suck if I wasn't paying attention and stepped on a broken shell or something. Actually... Should I question not having shoes? Did I even have shoes before waking up here..?'

As distracted as you were by that line of thought, you almost missed the way the sand had started to steady under your steps—not nearly as waterlogged as the sand you'd been laying in before. In fact, it was solid enough that if you didn't know any better or couldn't feel the way you still somewhat sank into the sand, you'd think it was a huge, flat rock you were walking on.

But it seemed you'd crossed most of the distance, the long stretch of sand and sun broken up by the few spots of shade you managed to pass through—the welcoming areas of relief cast by what you assumed were trees further up the hill. Since there was no other place for said trees to be.— And another look confirmed your original assumptions of what you'd seen being some kind of entrance.

A cave entrance, to be exact.

Stepping into the mouth of the cave, you had to squint a bit to try and make out the inside, impatiently waiting for your eyes to adjust to the difference in light. The lack of any sounds urged you on, with the quiet rustling of sand quickly changing to the clear thumps of your feet against the worn stone.

It was relatively large inside, with a flat floor that seemed to hold a shallow divot towards the back of the cave. Bits and pieces of what may have been dried-up vegetation were scattered across the ground. All-in-all, it looked... okay. You could use it temporarily as shelter until you figure out how to possibly get home.

'or where I am...' you thought, grimacing as you turned your attention towards the walls. 

And yet, the more you squinted towards the stone, the less it looked natural, and more the cave seemed to be carved out of the very rocks surrounding it with some type of simple tool, or maybe explosives... Which, okay, was a little concerning. Truthfully, you assumed there wouldn't be much on the island that could pose much of a threat to you. 

Sure, you could've come across an Alpha of some kind; they'd be territorial as all fuck to an outsider, more than likely, but you doubted they'd actually attack you. You could've come across a Beta that might be just as territorial. 

But really, the only concern you had was coming across another Omega. It wasn't very likely to happen with such a small percentage of individuals that presented as one. 

'Though I'm pretty sure the number of is just a bit larger than the number of people who wake up on a weird beach without knowing how they got there.'

You weren't sure how long you spent lost in your head, broken from your reverie by the ache in your abdomen and the louder growl of protest from your stomach. Though it served to kick your focus back to where it needed to be, instead of the memories of all those shitty romance novels you'd somehow managed to end up with, despite never buying any for yourself.

"Right, food. That's a thing I need to worry about... where the hell am I supposed to find that?" Obviously, you knew it wouldn't already be in the cave, and as close as the ocean was to you, you lacked the patience or the finesse necessary to just go and grab a fish. 

Which meant you would have to venture further up into the island... Unless...? The brief pause in thought to think between the two options

'Go into the woods and try to find food now... or take a break and hope my head stops trying to explode itself?' the louder, more demanding growl from your stomach brought the grimace back to your face, 'Guess that settles it then. Stars, I hope no mosquitos are hiding up in there. That'd suck real bad.'

Forcing your achy limbs into motion, you made your way back out of the cave, unable to suppress the pained hiss as the light assaulted your poor, fragile eyes. Blinking the spots from your vision, you'd give another few moments for everything to look right again before looking towards the slow-rising ridge off to the side—the same one you'd followed on your way to the cave in the first place.

While the direction you'd initially come from didn't give away much of the greenery, the cave seemed to open up so you could easily see it; the entrance was angled in such a way that you could better see the path that led up and into the trees. 

Still, you weren't sure how you missed it, with how sharp the contrast the green shrubs and leaves were against the white sands and the pale sky above; it should've been obvious no matter where you were about the plant life that called this place home.

You could worry more about that when your stomach wasn't trying to reintroduce your other organs to itself.

---

Away from the ocean, the birdsongs were almost painfully loud, joyous songs only proceeding to amp up the ache in the back of your head. Though you were doing your best to ignore them, the pain was an annoying persistence. It made any turns a dizzying experience if you went slightly too fast and made you worry about losing whatever else might have been in your stomach, if anything.

As you walked, you took note of some brighter colors, the brilliant reds, the stunning blues, and even some beautiful purples of the wildflowers that sprouted randomly around the path you'd taken. You couldn't identify the flowers, but that didn't mean you couldn't appreciate them for just a few moments on your trek.

As captivating as the colors were, you didn't notice the fading of the birdsong. Nor did you see the blue that had started to creep around the trees. 

At least until you walked almost straight into a web of blue. The startled, panicked shout torn from your throat as you stumbled back, smacking at your arms and chest, fully expecting a spiderweb or something clinging to the fabric of your shirt.

Yet nothing hung there, and your eyes darted up to try and figure out what you'd touched. Pausing at the sheer amount of blue that filled your vision.

Deep, cobalt threads seemed to hang from the trees—wrapped around every limb you could see until they formed some kind of web—close enough to what you'd assumed to have walked through. The distant part of you that appreciated the arts could only fawn over the intricate weavings, with each knot around a branch seeming oh so delicate as if the slightest touch would make them break.

Though the longer you stood there, admiring the craftsmanship, bits and pieces of other... things started to show themselves, stuck to the threads themselves as simple bugs caught within a spider's web. The longer you spent staring towards the macabre display, the more you could feel the prying, crawling feeling of eyes upon your back.

A shrill, unholy shriek scattered the birds from the surrounding trees, quickly overwriting any sensible thoughts you had in your mind like it was a hog being startled. Perhaps it was somebody getting stabbed or attacked by a wild boar. 

But regardless of what it was, you found yourself in agreement with the birds, even wishing for that split second that you had wings to join them on their sudden flee from the situation.

You had to get out of there. 

You didn't notice the slight movement as you turned tail; your mind was too wrapped up in getting away from that sound to process the way the shadows blinked. 

Your body refused to listen to you until you'd sprinted almost the entire way back to the cave, your lungs burning as you fought to take in enough air from the sudden flurry of activity you'd flung yourself into. 

'What the fuck'

(??? pov)

The stranger had gone back to the beach, sprinting their way through the jungle like they were being chased—which they weren't, he checked.

As curious as he was to follow, the itch in his magic urging him forward, the duller scent around the area kept him back—the reminder of the other Monster that called the beach his territory enough to ward him away for now.

Something about them was familiar, prodding at something deep in his mind that didn't want to reveal itself. Though he'd keep his distance, sockets dark to keep himself hidden among the brush that offered him shelter against the brisk ocean winds.

He didn't know if they could see well at all, it didn't seem that way when they made their mad dash through the forest, barely avoiding crashing into him, but he didn't want to risk it. Anything new could be dangerous. He'd settled himself in for a great deal of watching. He could deal with not moving for as long as he needed to if it was for the pack's safety.

Even with the small fire that crackled at the very mouth of the cave, one that gradually grew weaker as time passed, he could see them meandering about the once-abandoned den. Throwing leaves around on the ground—attempting to make some kind of shitty nest, though he supposed as shitty of a nest it was, he understood. Circumstances were rough. 

They'd have to make do with the few materials they had time to gather. There hadn't been much time from them stepping into the jungle and finding Error's territory marks to collect anything that could be properly usable. 

Only once the fire had long died out and the soul within had stopped their meandering and nesting did he raise from where he'd tucked himself away into the bushes and risk his own trek down the slope. Careful of keeping his steps quiet and slowing his pace the closer he drew to the mouth of the cave.

It... was more depressing up close. The nest they'd made consisted almost entirely of dried-up vines and moss that he could only assume had long been within the cave. 

A loud growl broke the silence—magic sparking in his bones in preparation for an attack, though nothing came. The stranger's breathing remained steady, and they remained still within the nest. Their chest's rhythmic rise and fall as the only movement within the cave. 

He would've been embarrassed if anyone else had been with him, his mind not entirely understanding the sound of hunger for longer than he wanted to admit. Though it did make sense in his time simply waiting, he hadn't seen them eat anything nor when they'd been in the jungle.

Perhaps, he'd wait a little longer to let the pack know what he'd found. Just to figure out whether they were indeed a threat.

At least, he had to see what food he could find to drop off for them first. Stranger or no—threat or no, he knew at least one among his pack would sooner strangle him than let someone go hungry.

Chapter Text

A part of you wondered when the darkness became so comforting; at what moment did staring into the endless abyss become something you looked forward to? When had you begun to see it as an escape instead of something to be afraid of? 

The darkness always seemed so warm, so full of something despite clearly holding nothing within it.

And now, despite all logic, you could hear them. Faint enough, you could barely make out the cacophony of sounds. Gentle sweeping lulls of music with breaks and silences were placed oddly within the measured beats, while others were layered over and over until their very tunes changed to dissonant screams.

But one among them seemed to draw closer, growing louder with the unseen distance steadily shortening. Drowning out the agony that brought an ache to your heart. The stuttering and jumping song was of suspicion, apprehension, and very thinly veiled concern.

'I hear you! I see you! Come to me, its okay!' your soul called, reaching toward the source of fear, seeking desperately to soothe it.

Silence swallowed the songs as though the darkness were holding its breath with anticipation.

'...?'

The sound of crashing waves against the shore pulled you from the comforting darkness you'd fallen to, though the thought of opening your eyes pulled a throb of protest from the lingering headache at the back of your head. But the pain would have to be ignored, as the clawing ache in your stomach forced itself to the forefront of your mind with the roar of a reminder that you hadn't eaten the day before. Possibly even the day before that, you weren't entirely sure.

Gritting your teeth against the blinding, searing sensation against your eyes from where the sunlight managed to pierce into the cave, it took you an almost embarrassing amount of time to realize why everything suddenly seemed... different. At least compared to how it had been when you'd finally forced yourself to sleep on the uncomfortable and harsh floor of the cave.

At the very front, just barely on the actual stone—and tucked close to where the remains of your poor excuse of a campfire once sat, was a moderate-sized pile of something. Which begged some kind of examination. Was this just stuff the wind managed to bring in? Did you end up getting a night-time visitor?

'Yea, no, let's stop that train of thought right there. Don't wanna think about someone or something being in here when I was sleeping.'

The amount of time it took for you to work up the drive to actually get out of your crappy pile of twigs and other vegetation debris that was once lying around the cave was almost too much. The delay was long enough that you honestly weighed the pros and cons of going back to sleep for a few seconds, even with the furious raging of your stomach.

But with another roar of protest, your need for food ultimately got you climbing back to your feet. Wincing at the aches flaring up in your joints from the uncomfortable sleeping position you'd taken during the night. Though there wasn't much you could've done about that, as soon as the sun had fallen in the sky, everything grew fucking cold. Curling up in the fetal position was all you could do to maintain what little bit of body heat you had.

Wary of what might lay between the messy layers of leaves(?), you made sure to bring one of the sturdier sticks that you hadn't slept on from your nest with you to the mouth of the cave. Squatting just low enough that you could prod towards the pile without needing to move too much, your aching muscles already tensed and ready to spring away if so much as a fly made itself known.

As your pokes and prodding drew no response, you'd look a little closer at the bundle, finally noticing the dark berries that had started to spill out from the side opposite you.

"What in the..." The cave only echoed the confusion you hadn't realized you'd voiced aloud. While you had to get a bit of an awkward angle with your arm and the stick, you did scoot a couple of the berries close enough to where you could pick them up. As recognition sparked, your soul gave a relieved, almost excited jolt in your chest.

Blueberries! 

Sure they could've been any other similar berry. Still, you'd grown up wandering around the woods in your own backyard enough you were confident you knew what you were looking at.

The berry was a tiny little thing, dark enough that it almost looked black, but it lacked that plastic shine, seeming far more like someone had dipped it into a matte glaze and left it to dry. Though you'd eye it a little closer as you turned it over in your hand, playing into that caution that someone had hammered into you at a young age. 

It still had a crown, which had definitely ruled out any Nightshade berries from being there. The revelation lifted a heavy weight from your shoulders as you wasted no time in popping the berry into your mouth-

Oh yeah, that was a blueberry. 

As wrapped up in the relief as you were, you almost missed the warmer feeling that settled in your chest, a sensation that you'd long set as the intent of safety. As weird as that was to think about coming from a blueberry, it made more sense when you mentally stepped back. Taking the time to align the feeling to how having at least some kind of food made this island feel a little bit safer.

Yeah, that made sense. That was rational that the feeling of safety was because you wouldn't have to worry as hard about finding food immediately. Sure, you'd have to go and actually see where the berries came from, but still. This assured you they were indeed somewhere here on the island.

Turning your attention back towards the pile once more, you reunited with the only tool you'd ever loved on this island. The stick that somehow managed to survive being slept on overnight and set to poking the layers apart. No longer bothering to try and hide the delight at finding more of the same blueberries hiding in the mound of... surprisingly soft leaves?

Though you'd focus on that once you were confident you had all the berries freed and set up in a little pile to the side that you could keep snacking on as you looked through it. A process that didn't take all that long. Really all you had to do was wiggle the mound about a few times until you stopped hearing the bouncing berries and scoot them around until they were all neatly rolled together.

Once you'd finished that task, next came the examination of the other things that had turned up at the food of your safety cave. Some of the leaves wrapped up in the pile would just keep unfolding, growing larger and larger until you held quite a few that you could guess were about a foot and a half, maybe even two feet wide. 

Some part of you almost recognized the leaf shape, as if you'd seen them before. But the longer you stared, the less familiar it grew, with the edges wanting to curl in too far to be the plant you were familiar with. And while it did bring that slight ache back to your chest, the feeling would be tossed away just as fast as the leaves were set to the side, thrown just a little further than the blueberry pile to keep from scattering them.

By the time you had finished sorting through the pile, you were surrounded by a few smaller but still intimidating piles. There were, of course, the Blueberries, the pile now much smaller than you had started out with. The giant leaves in their varying heart shapes and what you had tried to identify as anything other than pelts, but their almost silky feeling solidified the idea in your head.

'I mean... they're soft... and they look pretty warm. I guess I could maybe throw them into the bed? It's better than sleeping on just plain rock.'

Nodding to yourself, you carefully gathered your new goodies into your arms. You made your way towards the back of your cave, taking the time to drop and arrange the small bits of fur and larger leaves into something you hoped would be more comfortable than before.

Standing back to appraise your hard work, the self-satisfied hum came unbidden to your throat; nodding your head in your own approval before turning your attention back towards the mouth of the cave, squinting to see through the sun's harsh reflections on the sand.

The blueberries had almost entirely settled your stomach, which thankfully did help in easing the headache that continued to throb and build at the back of your skull. 

Now the immediate concern was finding a water source.

But that would mean you'd have to return to the island, where there were all those weird giant webs. You could try drinking the ocean water, but that wouldn't work. Honestly, you'd rather not deal with the slow and painful descent into madness that the salt water would cause before you inevitably withered up and died of dehydration.

Sure it'd be amazing if there was one close to your cave so you wouldn't have to go out all that far whenever you needed a drink. Still, you doubted whatever caused the island to form would've conveniently placed a pond or something near your humble little cave.

It had taken you a bit longer to work up the courage to actually make your way back up the sandy ramp and into the jungle proper. Still, at least you managed not to trip on your way up, even if you had come close a couple times.

Though the moment you stepped into the cool shade of the trees, it felt like there were eyes on you, boring into the very depths of your soul. A glance around hadn't revealed anything odd, but that didn't solve much; you didn't know what was strange in this place.

The giant blue webs you'd found the day before were quite unsettling, if not artistically beautiful in some macabre way. But in that same vein, they may have a reason to be on the island other than unsettling someone who randomly got stranded.

So all you could do was grit your teeth, square your shoulders, and push the feeling of being watched out of your mind. Even though the eyes you were feeling on you might have belonged to some kind of predatory animal seeing you as easy prey. You'd still rather deal with it than whatever madness you'd end up succumbing to without access to anything other than salt water.

You followed the path you'd taken before, still somewhat able to see where you had sprinted from the forest in your hurry the day before. At least this time, you could adequately steel yourself to the gradual fade-in of the winding blue webs.

... Though you weren't sure if it was just a trick of your eyes, or if they actually looked... cleaner? There didn't seem to be nearly the same amount of leaves clinging to the cobalt surfaces or any of the bark that had been pried free from the wind's constant touch.

You couldn't deny that the webs didn't still look rather beautiful, able to see a bit better the way the light shimmered against the simple strands. Bouncing from one strand to the next until the trees and plant life around you were dappled by the faint blue reflections.

Still, the need for water urged you onward, and your trek would continue, following the web line to find somewhere that such careful weaves weren't as iron-tight. You didn't want to tear them down; no matter what created the webs, the task had undoubtedly taken hours to complete.

Every few minutes, you'd stop to check around, straining to listen past the birdsongs for anything that could've been following you, as the feeling of eyes never faded from your back. Instead, the sensation of being watched grew stronger, but you knew at least some of the laws of the forest.

Everything would grow quiet whenever a predator lurked as if the land would hold its breath and wait to watch everything play out. Hearing the birds continue to sing as they were was enough to relax your shoulders and release the tension that had steadily been brewing.

It didn't take all that long to find something that even remotely resembled a pond, a dip in the ground that barely had a stream feeding into it. But at least such a thing told you that you were headed in the right direction. All you had to do was adjust your route to follow the tiny stream, and you'd be golden!

However, the trek to follow the stream took a bit longer. The muscles in your legs screamed at you with every step you took uphill. Finally, the ground would level out to something remotely flat, and the source of running water that had steadily been growing louder was finally in front of you.

A river curving and twisting down the hill you'd been climbing, veering off farther than you could immediately make out, with smaller streams branching off of it, like the one you had followed.

The relief at seeing the water was almost palpable in the air; the delight that bubbled up in your chest had you momentarily forget about the ache in your limbs as you approached the shallow bank. 

As you gazed down at the Crystal Clear Waters with clear joy, it almost felt like your brain was being ransacked. Desperately searching for the bits of survival knowledge you knew from just general existence and learning through osmosis.

You remembered something urgent about water, regardless of how clear it was. Something about how it could still possibly make you sick... But truthfully, it was a risk you were willing to take, kneeling at the water's edge to scoop as much of the icy liquid as you could to gulp it down.

The more water you took, the sand-paper feeling you hadn't really processed in your mouth quickly disappeared. So wrapped up in the river, you had stopped paying attention to your surroundings, had missed the way the birds fell silent, and the forest held its breath.

Until the snapping of a twig forced you to move. Spinning around as fast as you dared to face the direction of the sound and coming face to face with... Was that a fucking boar??

You didn't know what kind of boar that could be. Could a boar even get that big? From your crouched position, it easily met your eye, armed with wicked tusks that curled back from its snout in a way almost akin to the horns of a ram.

Beady little eyes barely discernable from the black of its pelt glared back at you, just close enough you could see your own grungy, startled reflection.

You could fight it, knowing you could take a beating, but you didn't have a weapon. You didn't have anything beyond your own hands and teeth to defend yourself. While this beast held everything, the tusks to gore and maim, hooves that could easily break bones if desired.

You don't know how long you sat there, staring back at the burning eyes that shined only with what you could describe as hatred. You didn't know if boars got territorial. Still, whatever this thing felt, you were clearly irritating it by just continuing to exist.

Your soul clenched as it took one step forward— Fear replacing any logical thought you had in your head. You couldn't fight this thing. You couldn't patch yourself up properly. If you tried, you'd die.

You had to run; you had to run and hope to whatever celestial being was listening that it didn't follow you. 

Everything happened at once. The shrill, terrifying squeal of rage from the boar, the sudden lurching forward of its body as it launched towards you. The tension in your muscles as you practically threw yourself away from it— Back in the way you came.

You wasted little time scrambling to your feet, even as you stumbled over your own steps trying to sprint down the hill—away from the angry hog you could practically feel breathing down your neck. Your mind was hazy towards anything other than the need to get away.

'Shit shit shit shit shit!'

You don't pay much mind to your surroundings, knowing only you're going the right way when the blue webs are beginning to show up again. You can't stop yourself nearly fast enough to avoid crashing through one of the intricate weaves, even as your soul clenches further at the destruction.

You can hear the hog scream louder and angrier over the sound of your blood rushing through your veins. Though it grows more distant as you stumble against the ground, erupting from the jungle in a mess of cobalt webs and sand as you slip.

There's a dull ache where you land, stumbling to your feet regardless and practically diving into the safety of your cave.

You were not going back out there today.

______

( ??? POV )

His bones still ached from the hog, where his magic blatantly protested as he'd settled beneath bushes and other underbrush to stare towards the cave. He'd followed the stranger—no, the Omega— from the moment they'd stepped back into the forest, hidden within the treetops, just on the off chance they decided to look up.

Of course, they never did. Otherwise, they would've seen him watching them and likely would have fled much sooner back to that cave, thinking he wouldn't follow.

This time, despite the chill that filled the air, he found his eyelids sliding shut as though weighed down by rocks. What minuscule fight he put up against it would quickly end, knowing there wasn't much use in trying to stay awake when all his magic wanted to do was rest.

He could still smell the crackling fire, despite how the Omega hadn't lit another. And he knew he would wake up when the moon was high in the sky, and the night would be his camouflage. So he'd stop fighting, letting the familiar darkness sweep his consciousness away for as long as it would willingly keep him.

...

When he finally stirred, the air was colder; a sensation intensified by the harsher gusts off the ocean. 

Only when he was sure they had long fallen asleep would he make his way down the sands just as he had done the night before. The makeshift bundle of nesting things and a small number of blueberries he had left at the mouth of their den had disappeared, though he wasn't around to know what had happened to it.

Had they found it and incorporated the materials into their nest? Had something else weaseled the pile away? Curiosity nagged him closer, and caution bid him keep his pace slow.

With the light that managed to make its way into the cave from where the moon hung in the sky, he could make out the familiar leaves and some parts of the pelts from the mouth of the cave. Even if he did have to squint and strain his eyes to see even that far.

He didn't need to strain his eyes to see the pieces of thread still strung about, nor how some were still caught against the Omega. Something about the sight struck his fractured soul hard. He didn't quite realize he was making a quiet, rattling sound as the implications of such a sight settled in his mind.

The Omega found his magic comforting? The Omega knew he was the one to come to their aid? The Omega was Interested in him? Even without having encountered him beyond such a close call the night before?

Clearly, that was it. That was the only explanation! There was no other reason that the Omega would have thought to bring his magic to their den other than to indicate they wanted to see him prove his worth. 

Chapter Text

You weren't sure how long it had been since you'd woken up on the beach; your sense of time was skewed. Where you might've once thought to count how many times you'd seen the moon, you couldn't rely on it. It seemed like the sun had already risen every time you turned around.

Perhaps it was due to how stubbornly you'd stayed awake these days. Or rather, your mind started throwing out anything that didn't immediately relate to your survival. It truly seemed the longer you spent on the island, the less you could remember what you'd been pulled from. 

On the bright side, you'd been exploring further and further from your spot of safety. With only maybe one or two incidents even somewhat similar to that weird boar creature you'd fled from not too long ago.

The first incident occurred during your attempt to find an easier way up to the river, in hopes that if you found such a path, you'd be able to figure out a way to bring the water down towards your shelter. Something had bolted out from the bushes before you'd even made it halfway up the hill to your destination, startling the absolute fuck out of you with a shout.

... The morning after had something similar to the little rabbit-like creature set beside the bundling of fruits and leaves, leading you to believe that it might've been the same creature that had startled you before.

As tempting as it had been to add protein to your fruit-only diet, the uncertainty of where the rabbit exactly came from had you setting it aside. Sure it looked like it had only been killed a little bit before you woke up, but you couldn't be too sure. Besides, a little extra fruit never hurt anybody. 

Even if you got desperate, you could try seeing how dumb the fish were.

The Second incident had related more to sounds; even if you hadn't seen much beyond the wildflowers, the weird rabbits, and that one boar that you hadn't seen any other traces of since you'd first found the river, it didn't mean you were the only things on the island. Then again, that was pretty much a given considering all the 'gifts' you were being left at night...

It had seemed like anytime you were headed deeper into the jungle, there'd be a rattling ahead of you. It didn't always seem to happen, just if you'd passed the webbing. All the self-preservation you'd had in your body during the times you'd heard it would force you to turn and walk right back the way you came.

Ain't got time to deal with a giant snake on top of giant spiders. Nope, no way.

Thankfully, at least your explorations provided better information on the area you were in. It was definitely an island, that much you were sure of now. Probably one that humans either hadn't bothered to try and settle on or one that humans just hadn't found yet. 

The jungle you would trek through would only get denser if you kept walking towards the center of the island, though whether it would thin out again or fade into something else entirely, you obviously didn't know. Since, y'know, that meant you had to actually go and look. Which was something you didn't have the time for when paired with everything else. 

You found a more straightforward path up to the river, which wasn't too far from the cave you were calling your sanctuary for now. If you had just kept walking a little past your shelter on the beach, you'd find the spot where the river would lead out to the ocean and could follow it right up the slope from one of its thinner branches.

Not to mention that in your curious wandering and an in-the-moment decision to keep following the river, you'd found some kind of fruit grove! Which, at least for now, solved your need to find food... mostly sure, you still needed to figure out proteins, but hey, you had the rest under control.

This led you to the more confusing discovery of the existence of those Blueberry bushes and trees that grew what looked like Mangoes and peaches. You weren't a fruit farmer by any means, but you were pretty sure those fruits didn't grow anywhere near each other, let alone on the same tree. But hey, you weren't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Especially considering you'd already eaten some before that teeny fact had been processed as weird in your brain. 

Sure the grove was a bit of a walk from your cave, but you could deal with it. Maybe you could figure out somewhere else to bunk down as a shelter so that... thing would stop lingering near your den.

Which brought you back to now. Your eyes burned, squinting against the light as you scoured blinding sands for what you knew lay around. 

You knew something had been around your nestshelter. If you hadn't already known from the strange little 'gifts' left at the mouth of your cave, the prints you'd seen around the cave would've been enough to alarm you.

Sure, it hadn't approached beyond the entrance, but there was no guarantee that whatever your nightly visitor was would continue to be so polite—regardless of how creepy you found it. You hoped, at least, that it would be kept at bay by looking through each 'gift.'

So far, they'd mostly been the same. Consisting of various fruits—some you recognized and others you didn't. As well as a slowly increasing collection of leaves and scraps of fur.

Two of them, though, were different than the rest. Baring most of the same items, the glaring addition of the cobalt webbing being so delicately entwined within the bundles feeling far more like a threat than the hopeful charity gifts you'd first assumed them to be.

You'd carefully taken the time to separate the webbing from those ones. Even if some of the fronds were damaged to nearly unusable shreds in doing so. Of course, you knew it could've been a threat, but the tiniest voice you'd ever heard in the back of your head had cried and begged for you to hang onto the webbing—even if it was just casting them to the side, away from the fruits, leaves, and furs of the rest.

... You swore those nights, as you were just on the cusp of sleep, something would hiss and snarl—but just as the days had been, when you woke the next morning, a new bundle would be waiting for your attention at the very front of the cave, and nothing aside from the gifts would be amiss.

After the second bundle with the webbing had you setting the brilliant blue threads aside, the webs had disappeared from them. Some source of relief and hope that perhaps whatever was delivering the bundles wasn't out to feast on your flesh and simply had some kind of misunderstanding in scavenging out in the jungle.

Hopefully, having something out after my ass would be just my luck. Even though that tiny voice keeps yelling, 'that's not the case.' Not sure if I should be relieved that I still have some sense or concerned about how quickly I'm losing it if I'm already starting to hear voices...

By now, you at least knew it had been a couple of days—mentally confirmed as fact only when you knew you had watched the sun rise and set, to be replaced by the moon in the same way.

The almost gritty sandpaper feeling behind your eyelids every time you blinked was doing you no favors, the sensation practically begging you to just close them for a few minutes, to take a second and rest. But you couldn't do that. You knew it had stepped further into your den than before. You swore you felt it breathing on the back of your neck when you were almost asleep; you had heard the rapid tapping of something against the stone floor.

The fact there had been nothing when you bolted upright that night had done nothing to soothe you. The air in your cave had smelled wrong like it was burnt. The minor urge you had felt before to relocate your shelter quickly became the core of your focus, a pitiful ember doused in gasoline into a raging inferno.

I have to find somewhere else. The cave isn't safe anymore— It's getting bold.

Your vision swam as you turned your head just a smidge too fast, your hand darting out to stabilize yourself on the tree at your side. Everything in you was exhausted, begging to rest, but you couldn't risk it. Your safety was at risk if you went back to the cave, and you were in even more danger if you just collapsed out in the middle of the jungle like your body was threatening to do.

Even as you struggled to straighten your stance, the world only spun faster. As much as you fought against the darkness encroaching on your vision, you knew the fight was lost. Each attempt to open your eyes took longer and longer, barely a glimpse beyond your own eyelids as you felt your legs give out.

You weren't sure if your exhausted brain couldn't keep up with processing your surroundings or if it was painless to collapse onto the ground. Maybe if you were lucky, you'd wake again. If you weren't lucky, at least it'd be over when you couldn't feel anything.

As your senses fade, the encroaching black finally ensnaring your mind within its claws, the last things your brain can process is the feeling of something winding snug around you and the sound of rattling.