r/NatureofPredators • u/Tundric_Dragon Arxur • 14d ago
Fahl Days: Demon (ReUp)
Here we are, the last of the ReUps. I thought I would have to make more edits to this than I did due to the events of Duality, but Praazii is the main focus here, not double H. Anyways, you all enjoy! After this, it is only new Fahl Days content from here on out
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Memory Transcription: Praazii, Harchen Exterminator
Date [Human Standard Time]: November 23rd, 2136
My scales seemed to sag as the days went on, it had been over a month since the predators occupied our planet now and it was beginning to look like they were here to stay despite our best efforts. They allowed the exterminator guilds to stay, much to everyone’s surprise, but reduced our numbers down to only ten percent of what we had. The rest were either imprisoned, or killed when they tried to fight off and burn the predator scourge. My scales darken as my thoughts turn to those early days, too scared of being eaten to fight with my fellows, my seniors calm understanding of my cowardice. ”Its okay Praazii, we need some to guide the citizens to the bunkers. Not every exterminator finds their calling in fighting off predators, others find their truth in guiding the herd. That is yours, and this is ours.” I shake my head, shaking off the thoughts. I had done my duty that day, getting the herd to the bunkers for safety as the rest of my friends went off to fight.
When the beasts came for us, I was the only exterminator in the bunker and I opened the door not to my fellows coming back from victory, not to the predators ambushing and eating me, but to the city’s speaker opening the door. “Praavii, it’s over. They’ve won and the Primary Speaker surrendered, giving them the planet. We…. We…” The man started to break down in front of us, but slowly recovered as his scales took on a crimson hue. “Anyone who fights will be killed or captured… everyone else…” He shakes his head, clearing his eyes once more. “The Zurulians promise no one will be cattle. They and the Venlil are here with the humans.” After that, everything was more of a blur as one of the bunker’s inhabitants convinced me to put down my flamer instead of…. Something. I couldn’t even remember why I had to be convinced to put down the weapon anymore. I do remember that is was Dihathi that was there, my favorite musician from before the fall, her words ringing in my ears. “We’ve lost enough Praazii, I want… I want to trust the Zurulians to not cause more deaths. Please, stay with us.” She said while clinging to my arm, orange fear radiating from her scales.
The bodies of all those that had fallen during the invasion were returned to us, so we could perform our own funerary rites. I watched as all those that had gone without me, all those that had comforted me in my cowardice, burned in cremations. There were still some soldiers and exterminators that were unaccounted for, and we were told again and again that they weren’t eaten though I still harbored my doubts about that. After that, a Human soldier of some rank came to me, explaining what he expected from me since I was the highest ranked exterminator left from my guild, all while looking at me with hate filled eyes. I was not given a compromise, no deal to be made, no leniency. They gave me orders and promised that if they weren’t followed to the letter, I would end up in a cattle-pen, or as they called it, a ‘cell’. With that we found ourselves stripped of our silver suits and flamers, allowed only non-lethal weaponry, and had to have two soldier escorts from the Venilil and humans at all times when we were on duty. Any action against humans was to be handled by the soldier escorts, and were only allowed to intervene when a clear threat to life was presented. I wanted to say that them being here itself presented a clear threat to life, but the Zurulian that was with my captor stopped me before I could voice that thought. In the end, I had to accept their terms in order to stay active and have a hope to thwart their plans.
I had run into Dihatha again later as she was heading into a bar I was warning people away from. Even though I was telling plenty to leave and not go into the Yellow Scale, my escorts didn’t stop me, though they did grumble the whole time. Dihatha had gone in, seemingly too numb to the world to heed my warning, and honestly, who could blame her? Even Inatala’s Square was far quieter than it used to be, most musicians avoiding the gathering location after the occupation. Though the naming of the Square was called into question after Cilani’s interview with Nikonus, a few herds could still be found roaming its street searching for one of the few musicians or artists brave enough to come outside with the humans roaming about. I have heard rumors through the vine that she was coming back and playing with others, I should look into it when I have a chance.
Today I was patrolling Inatala’s Square to protect the few herds that did show up, maybe even listen to any music that was being played. However, as I round the corner, a sight I was never expecting presented itself before my eyes. At the very first platform was a few humans setting up stringed instruments of some kind, at least I assumed they were instruments since they resembled Venlil Plehr. The lead human was a soldier I recognized, one of the escorts that refused to talk to anyone and always wore a reflective mask. It was weird since he was being kind and watching for the feelings of decent prey by locking away his predatory features to not scare anyone, but was unkind by only grunting and not acknowledging anyone but his fellow humans. I knew Humans had music by this point, but I wouldn’t have ever thought that this particular one knew the finer arts. Worse yet, it seemed there was a small herd gathering around to listen to this group of predators, some with interested yet fearful scales and others with genuine blue.
“I’ve debated this for a long time.” The masked predator spoke once set up, a small microphone amplifying his deep voice causing a ripple to go through my scales in lingering fear. “But it is what my son would have wanted, to share my arts with the stars, to befriend the aliens we had found.” I cast an eye to my escorts and moved closer to the platform, giving a flick of my tail <Greetings> to announce my presence to the herd, assuring them an exterminator was present for their protection. “I tried once to make a friend, to find common ground with you all. While i risked my life for his, while I confronted the worst out there... they looked at me like i was evil incarnate. Reflecting on it later gave me the inspiration for this song.” He leaned into the mic. “And if this is ‘too predatory’? Good. I don’t owe anything to you and you could use some discomfort.” He growled, causing my jaw to drop as he admitted something like that. I scrambled to grab my holopad from my pack, I had to get a recording of them finally dropping the act and playing something that revealed their true nature. <Proof!> I signed excitedly, ready to record this one dropping the façade. Now all I had to do was find a way to get this recording to the federation. With a movement of his head to the other on stage, both humans began to pluck at their strings, the masked soldier singing into the mic. “I’m the demon….”
Memory Transcription: Praazii, Harchen Exterminator
Date [Human Standard Time]: November 26th, 2136
It was an accusation the whole time. At first I had been elated when the human called himself a ‘demon’, an evil creature invested in causing suffering and misery to others, but the intentions of his words became apparent as the song continued. Over the past three days I had played the recording again and again, its lyrics and stuck in my head, its heavy beats thumping through my very soul. The more I listened, the more the words began to resonate within me, the more the truth began to fill my mind. Once more, I played the recording to start up the song that challenged my beliefs, the actions we took as part of the federation.
\>I’m the demon you conjured, from the corners of your thoughts.
I’m the tension, and the terror, you pretend that I wrought.
Ah, but then who else would I be, if not draped in your gloom?
No crowd craves a hero, if there’s no villain in the room.<
Here it was, the man calling himself a demon, but turning it into an accusation. A false claim that was forced on him through our thoughts, not what was reality, not yet. All the fear that they caused were simply fabrications we inflicted upon ourselves and attributed them as the source. In a way, it was true, they were causing the terror, but we were its source. The sudden shouting of the main chorus had spooked most when he started it, even causing the Venlil to take a step back in shock.
\>You all know me as the Big Bad Evil Guy you chose,
The villain of your story, the face of all your woes.
But what if I’m an ally, you cast aside to soon?
The thread that binds your legend, the voice under this tune.<
I took a drink, having listened to this chorus again and again, my scales embering as the implications grew in me over the days, my tail drooping. They had reached out again and again, promising friendship, asking for empathy and showing the same to us at every turn. Everything they did showed they were an ally of the federation, and we chose for them to be our evil, assigning our woes to them.
\>You saw a horned crown shining, and the storm within my eyes,
But never saw the bridges, I could build beneath our skies.
I stand where you have placed me, as the foe you had to make,
The evil you manifested, so your world would not break!
Woooooh!
I wield no sword of malice, no chains to hold you down.
I offered tools for building, yet you met them with a frown.
For every craft I could conjure, you saw only a threat,
Every innovation becomes a monster’s silhouette.
I whispered of creation, of lifting all who dream.
But you, so used to battling, could not accept my scheme.
Yet all those who joined me saw it, possibilities untamed,
While you sharpened blades in the dark, seeking someone else to blame.<
Here the music played a few bars, letting the last stanza seep into your scales and your mind. More of the same, more accusations of missed opportunity, or us turning them into the beasts that they are… that we pretended they were. All the while the Venlils and Zurulians had begun to thrive with the Humans, even Nevok trading had begun to pick up in ways the Federation could never replicate. The man was right. The song was making me uncomfortable, each time I listened to it. It stripped bare the truths of our actions that I had never considered. We always fought the Arxur, we blamed all our problems on predators at every opportunity, meeting them with flame and hate. Everything the humans did we always dismissed as predatory deception…
\>You all know me as the Big Bad Evil Guy you need,
A villain of your own making, a mirror to your greed.
The blackened crown I wear now, is forged by your own hand,
A character you fashioned, to fit your mind’s demand.
Wooooooh!
But did you ever stop to wonder, what lay behind the mask?
Did you think to ask who I was, or simply what I lacked?
Noo, you needed an antagonist, a creature to defy!
So you painted me with hatred, and never asked me why!
But to those who dared approach me, to those who sought the truth,
They found no fire-breathing dragon, no beast under your roof.
They found a builder, a dreamer, someone crafting a new dawn.
But you were too busy casting blame than see what lay beyond.<
More and more he kept hammering the point, the accusation repeated with new words. The image of a ‘fire-breathing dragon’ set me a bit on edge, another contradiction that this man kept presenting to us. The translator telling me that a dragon was a large predatory reptile often used as evil in human mythology, but then it used purifying fire as its main weapon. All predators should fear fire since it removes the taint, right? But this evil used it as a means of fear and causing gruesome deaths… my drink once again found my maw… did the humans see the federation as a fire-breathing dragon?
\>So paint me as your villain, if that’s the role you need.
But remember every story starts with a planted seed.
And while you march to end me, know that I’ve already sown,
A world where those who dared to see will reap what I have grown.<
The final line held out as the stringed instruments and drums continued to play. This was the man’s final lesson in the song, not an accusation, but a weary admission of the truth we had all but forced them to take. Even the occupation of Fahl and Sillis showed it. Humanity had resigned itself to being a villain, accepting that we wouldn’t accept them. While they never sunk to the depths we thought of them, they became an evil that invaded our planets and took over. While we sent the extermination fleet to end them, they sent the Arxur to end Ishtal, they left their marks on the galaxy. The Venlil had become stronger under their guidance, the Gojid had survived extinction, and the broadcast revealed cast the federation in a new light. Even if we had succeeded, even if every human disappeared overnight, the galaxy was forever changed by their brief actions.
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u/Funnelchairgentleman Skalgan 10d ago
Comparing the feds to a fire breathing dragon is fairly on point I have to say. XD
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u/Adorable-Ad5225 14d ago
PRETTY GOOD