MoM: Red Desert (Prologue)

(This story is from the Mother of Monsters Challenge I made (MoM Challenge). I had this story in my mind for quite a while, and decided to finally share it, along with the challenge I built around it. I had way too much fun writing this :D)

Red Desert: Prologue

In a strange and vibrant world, far removed and alien to our own, there lived an odd family of creatures. Beings of no past or future, nameless and timeless in their own space.

One of these beings was a fledgling, girl-like creature. Young among her peers and curious of the world around her.

She grew within among family members as strange and bizarre as herself. She played with nameless boy-like creatures, and was tutored by peers older than herself.

 

The world around her was beautiful and ethereal. Her peers spoke of Gods and Dimensions, worlds where creatures found sanctuary, and creatures who were so dangerous, the Gods had banished them in a world away from humanity.

They didn’t have names. They did not need one.

The girl-like thing was happy.

And then one day, as her curiosity brought her farther into a mystical forest, she found a strange device, hidden in nature.. A toy, carried far by the tide of the universe.

Intrigued by the scent of humanity on it, she wandered deeper into the forest following that strange smell. She wandered and wandered, deeper and deeper into the dark woods around her.

Finally, she arrived at a tree, where the scent was the strongest. Her curiosity got the better of her, and she placed her hands upon the large trunk. The wood trembled and sizzled under her eyes, shrieked and shook, awakened by the touch of the little, delighted girl. The bark split, stretched, ripped and opened like a maw, spilling that delicious smell of humanity from its bark. And without looking back, the little girl-thing walked inside.

She traveled for a long time in the dark, following that strange scent of humanity, delighted by this new adventure. She traveled and traveled, walking in the darkness between the stars, listening to nothing, seeing nothing, touching nothing, only smelling…

And then… there was light.

The girl-thing emerged, confused, surprised, surrounded by new sites and lights and smells, surrounded by a blue world.

She had followed the scent of humanity, and now it was all around her. And the girl-like thing didn’t know where she was, where this immense place was.

Behind her, the smell of her home echoed her back. She faltered, took an uneasy step back, then forward, wanting to return home, wanting to explore more. Just a few more steps, she told herself, just to see a bit more...

Bright lights from stars on poles shown down on her, as she made her way down this strange, real world, a cool breeze blew past her, and she felt cold for the first time in her life. She paused, stared heavenward, frighten and delighted by the immensity of this world.

She breathed in humanity -but not just- new smells floated around and within her: She smelled dew and vanilla, gas and rain, meat roasting in a late night barbecue and smoke from car engines. She waited there, breathing in and out, looking, watching the world around her.

A tall, human-thing approached her.

“Little girl? Are you lost?”

She stared at this new creature, human and alien to her. It’s mouth opening and closing bizarrely. The human thing made sounds and motions, that she regarded with curiosity. The more the human spoke, the more worried it looked. It asked her questions that she did not answer, and it pointed to directions that she did not follow. A small crowd of humans gathered around her, and she regarded them with curiosity. They had strange names and spoke with strange words.
A human dressed in blue knelled down in front of her, “What is your name? Where is your house?” it said, then it placed it’s hand upon her shoulder, which shocked her so much she took a step back. She regarded this human with surprise, her mind stopped, she panicked.

“Tindalos!” She cried, “I am Tindalos! I am from Tindalos.”

There was a silence, then the human beckoned for her to follow them. Curious the girl-thing of Tindalos followed. They brought her to geometric box-like thing, one of the humans opened a door on the side and told her to sit.
She considered the seat with curiosity, wondering if she should not head home now, maybe she'll just explore a bit more, and then she'll go home and tell her peers all about her adventure. She told herself.
The door closed, and suddenly the world around her spiraled away, at a speed she had not thought possible. She pressed her nose against the glass, watching as the outside changed and shifted into something unknown, bringing her far from the portal-tree, as the car sped into the night.
She would never see that tree again.

The following days was a succession of new places, new squared-like buildings, bizarre and unappetizing foods, new humans with strange names, who introduced themselves as ‘police’, ‘social worker’, ‘career’, ‘teacher’.

A succession of questions followed these introductions, as they placed her in home after home. No one seemed to know what to do with this strange girl, who did not have a name, did not have a history, did not have parents, and had the deepest, bluest eyes.

And then one day, a human had spoken the word “Orphanage” and the girl was once again placed inside a car, and driven far away. The landscape outside her window changed to a sunny, desert like land, that the girl quite liked.

“This is Oasis Spring” the social worker said, “It’s going to be your new home.”

Finally, she arrived to the gate of a large building, the Orphanage of Oasis Spring. The girl-thing considered this large strange building, she was pushed inside and another woman came up to her.

“Hello child, what’s your name?”

The girl considered the question for a moment, and then smiled,

“Red Desert, I like the name Red Desert.”

Over the following years Red lived in the orphanage, she had seen several children come and go, adopted by ‘forever homes’. The concept of human family fascinated Red, knowing that she would probably never return to her own family.

Red learned a lot about the world and humans from the other children, and she found that she was fascinated by infants. She learnt how to read and write from school, and how to think like a human, and conceal her evil nature.

She was already hatching a plan on what to do with the rest of her life: Red might never have been able to get back to her home, to her family in Tindalos, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t bring Tindalos to her.

Red wanted her freedom back, and the passing careers and soon-to-be-parents didn’t know what to do with this strange little girl that did not want their love and demanded her freedom. She spent several years in the orphanage.

And as she grew older, Red’s body started to change and morph to reflect her Tindalos genes. When her claws and markings started to appear, Red knew it was time for her to go.

She ran away from the orphanage, living in the deserts and streets of Oasis Spring, feeding of the plentiful fruits that grew in this country. She disappeared for a few years waiting for the right time to set her plan in motion.

Years later, Red reappeared, fully matured, after a life of living hidden away from society, she was ready to reintroduce herself to humanity.

Her instincts had emerged within her, and her desire to spread her genes throughout the world was strong. She was never going to find her old family, but she could certainly make her own.

She was going to be a Queen,

She was going to be the Mother of Monsters.

Oasis Spring didn’t know what had just hit them.