Page 69 of Citrine

"It's better for the survival of all of us if only the strong ones grow to adulthood," he responds.

"You can't just do that."

Damn, his species is brutal. That's eugenics. If we cherry-picked and plotted out the survival of the fittest, I highly doubt the human race would have survived.

The wind is picking up now, and we are nearing the edge of the water.

"Your species is clearly intelligent, you have a language, but as far as I can tell, you have a sparse population, don't you?"

"I can't know that," he replies, trying to tug me into the water.

I'm not ready yet, so I let me mind analyze as the wind whips around us.

"Right. I guess not. Your lack of unity must mean you're still a primitive species yet to develop the concept of tribes. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, given how violent and driven you are. You are strong, Wroahk, and with that strength might come leadership. You have to develop the concept of community first."

"Why? What's that? Wait. It doesn't matter, let's get in the water."

"No. Community is something important. Something very important, and I think you already know it is. It's probably the reason you haven't killed me. It's something every species eventually figures out. The strength that comes from being around others. Community."

"But I am not like you. Why would I need it?"

He pulls on me with his tentacles, but I resist, digging my feet into the sand. I know from the growing wind speed that I'll need to give this conversation up, but there is time yet.

"Think about it, Wroahk. Even plants are rarely alone. For most species to breed, they need a multiple of two. Community is a basic need of every living thing, even if their culture tries to resist it. Sentientbeings seek out things like them. If you don't develop this concept as a species, your kind will die out, Wroahk, no matter how many offspring you have."

He just stares at me, silent, like he's computing the words I just said.

I'm not even sure why I'm lecturing him, I just know it's really important that he understands this concept.

Plus, I can't stand the thought of abandoning kids. Humans continue to survive because they choose to care for our young and elderly. Most animals don't abandon their offspring, and I need him to be better than that.

It's crucial.

The pain in my sides worsens, and I start to get dizzy, like I'm suffocating. I tell him this and he urges me to come with him inside the water.

I just shake my head, every human instinct telling me deep water is death.

But the weather doesn't give me much of a choice a few minutes later. The sky rumbles and the earth shakes with lighting strikes. The skies adopt a deeper shade of purple, looking like the Earth's skies before rain.

From the pressure in the wind, it's going to be more than just rain, though.

Just as he wraps his tentacles around me, there's a giant crack of lightning, and a rumble shakes the ground. From behind, I hear something falling. Turning around, my eyes widen as I see one of the giant trees slowly bending, then with a groan, it breaks.

Wroahk stops asking and instead drags us both into the water. My head is still turned to the cove, so when the next rumble hits, I see another tree fall.

I know I can't stay out here, but when I whip my head back to the lake, the image of the Many Teeth trying to kill me pulls up a scream.

We reach the edge of the water and he pulls me in without hesitation. It's cold, and it hits me dead in the face. I gasp, my human instincts kicking in immediately. I scream at Wroahk, kicking and flailing in the water.

Trying desperately to stay in the shallow water.

"I'm going to drown, Wroahk!"

"You are not," his clicks are deeper, echoing in my head. "Believe that you will not drown."

In theory, I have gills so I should be able to breathe underwater. But what if they're not functional? What if this is how I die?

He doesn't give me time to think and just pulls me under. Air escapes me in bubbles and the suffocating feeling is back. I float, suspended in the water, with Wroahk's tentacles still around me. He's still looking at me, waiting for something.

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