I used Blink to travel directly into the human settlement. Inside was a mess of bodies and limbs, blood pooling on the ground and scattered remains all over the place; it almost reminded me of that one time I’d wandered into a wolves’ den, where the bones of all their captured prey were often dragged to be eaten and shared amongst themselves. This place was like that, only the human carcasses weren’t exactly eaten. ‘Such a waste….’

The scent of blood and excrement filled the air, and yet that wasn’t all.

Nyx stood in front of a large… structure of some kind; the humans obviously built it, because it looked similar to every other structure here, only this one was much larger than the others. Like all the others, however, human blood was splattered all over its surface, alongside guts and other things I probably wouldn’t eat unless I was very hungry and there was literally nothing else.

I turned slightly and glanced at my wounds. They were healing – very rapidly at that. Already, the blood had stopped flowing and cuts themselves were starting to close; I could hardly even feel the presence of injuries as opposed to the first few minutes of receiving them from that… misshapen thing. It was actually capable of hurting me; I could hardly even recall the last time anything hurt me, after I became something more than just a simple bear. Granted, I could’ve approached that fight with more caution and a lot more distance, but that was something for next time, I figured.

Oh, I knew, at the back of my mind, that there would be more of those things the farther up north we went. It was inevitable. Hopefully, I’d do a lot better next time.

Nyx hadn’t moved from her spot, merely staring at the human structure with her wide eyes – I wasn’t sure if she was waiting for something, studying it, or simply fascinated.

Well, the first two options were unlikely… right?

Aside from its size, however, I noted little else of note about it; why was Nyx fascinated by this thing? I’ll admit, I have absolutely no idea how the humans even built this thing. It seemed to be made of wood, but – unlike beaver dams – the wood had been flattened to form boards, which were then interlocked with each other using what appeared to be… other human-made things that were likely not made of wood. Well, if nothing else, this whole thing was fascinating… I guess.

No, I had no idea what drew her to this odd structure.

I walked towards her and stopped at her side. Her head tilted to the side. What are you doing, Nyx?

This whole place feels odd… it’s like it’s been touched by one of us, only distant, like an echo of a touch. Something’s been here – a relative, I suppose. But this isn’t my brother’s doing; he’s too dumb to come up with something as complicated as this....

Then who did it?

I honestly don’t know; it doesn’t feel as though it was intentional- we must investigate this further. If I have to bring back another wayward kid back to dad, I’m going to lose it!

So, you’re saying there could be four of us in this world?

Nyx stiffened and leapt up, landing right atop me. There could be; I am unsure as to what this means, but I would not discount the possibility of there being a fourth. You’re welcome to stay in this world, little one, as you were born here – the others must be brought back, otherwise I’ll have to deal with dad’s yapping for another billion years….

I see, then we should-

I paused and sniffed the air. The wind had shifted just the tiniest bit; the scents had been blowing in from the north this whole time, but then it’d shifted and come from the south, bringing in new scents that sent my senses on high alert. There is a group of humans headed towards us; I do not know how many there are, but… there’s a lot of them. We should leave, Nyx.

Well, she could just wave a hand and turn them all into stones, like she did with all the squirrels that were unfortunate enough to come our way. Poor little critters….

Okay, I’m not really fond of the humans in this world- though, they’re a lot more respectful in a few other planets. I’m pretty sure I have some kind of cult in this one world, Terra.

The humans were approaching fast, likely accompanied by other animals, whom they’ve bound to their service – horses, I think. There were too many of them and I found it unlikely that Nyx would even bother dealing with them, which meant I’d have to deal with them and… I don’t think I could… especially since they might’ve been carrying boom sticks and even Nyx said those things were dangerous. ‘Speaking of which….’

I turned and there, on the ground, was a boom stick with a hand still attached to it. I reached out with my mind and grabbed the weapon, before placing it on my back, right next to Nyx. Can you hold on to that for me, Nyx? I want to know more about it.

Sure, it’s actually quite simple – I think. I actually don’t know how the humans came up with this, but they always come up with this weapon, sooner or later no matter what world they’re in.

I blinked out of the human settlement in the direction that would take me far away from the approaching humans. I found myself in a field of grasses, but these ones were not uniform and the soil itself was much harder than the soil that lay close to the village, which was likely another human design – they really were fascinating creatures. The only others I could think of, who were fond of building things, were the beavers and their structures and creations were quite… primitive in comparison to whatever the humans built. Well, I guess bees also counted, since they built their own hives.

Much of the way forward was clear; there were no sprawling woodlands or tall mountains that blocked my view. It was open grassland, filled with colorful meadows and rolling plains as far as the eye could see. The nearest tree line was so far away that I’d actually have to make an effort to go there and I honestly didn’t want to. I’ve never seen such an open place, before and it was quite refreshing, compared to my usual view of undergrowth and trees.

And so I walked onwards. Nyx had curled up atop my furs and hugged the boom stick on my back. She’d fallen asleep, but I heard neither snore nor breath from her, and her chest never really rose up and down the same way other creatures’ chests usually would – not that she needed to breathe, of course. It was really very easy to forget her presence there, since she was both weightless and silent; the only thing I’d really notice was the weight of the boom stick.

The sun slowly dipped and darkness shrouded the land. I do not know how long I had walked, though I felt neither exhaustion nor hunger, which was good, since I didn’t think there was anything here to eat and I certainly wasn’t in the mood to hunt. Well, I guess I could just pull in prey with my mind if I really wanted to.

We were alone, I could smell no other creature around us for vast distances – well, not unless I counted the various insects in the grass as potential threats. I stopped and plopped down on the ground. My wounds had already fully healed. Even the damaged fur had returned. Now, it was as though I had never been injured to begin with. ‘I’ll have to be careful not to underestimate those creatures. They’re a lot stronger than I thought… and I’ll have to avoid fighting more than one of them at a time, considering how fast just one of them was.’

It was really quite easy to gather the clues and connect them with each other; whatever, or whoever, we were looking for was likely the cause of… whatever affliction had befallen that mangled, misshapen husk of a human. Whether it was Nyx’s brother or some other wayward family member was the lingering question. If there was another one and Nyx wasn’t even aware, could there be more? The world was a large place, as I’ve come to understand, and there were cracks and crevices for creatures to hide in; considering Nyx’s ability to turn into a cat, I wouldn’t be surprised if one of her relatives was walking around in the shape of a rat or a raccoon.

You’re going to rest?

Yes, though I have no need to do so; I’m simply tired of walking.

Very well, I’m going to look around for a bit; I’ll be back in the morning.

Okay

She leapt from her furry perch and willed herself forward, appearing hundreds of miles away from the infant who was stuck in that large, furry form. Nyx found herself standing on stone ground, likely a human-made structure of some kind. They called these things roads, she recalled; humans were fond of making them, since their feet and their little wheeled contraptions didn’t work so well on muddy or rocky ground.

The woodlands were much closer here. The road was built right next to the tree line, a treacherous line, where nature and architecture met. It would’ve been oddly pretty if it had been properly maintained; the road itself was slick and caked in dried mud and dirt, vines and dandelions growing between the flattened rocks. Then again, she wasn’t entirely sure what ‘beauty’ even meant.

Nyx blinked and, within the next moment, every single weed and clump of dirt on the road simply disappeared – ceased to be as though they were never there. Ah, much better.

The sudden cleansing revealed the road’s ugly defects – cracks and crevices, bumps and imperfections. The humans of this reality were the most primitive bunch; sure, they’ve arrived at the eventual human contraption that was the firearm, but she’d encountered human civilizations that dotted the stars and conquered their own universes – she preferred visiting those realities. They were far more dangerous, but also far more exciting.

She would’ve sighed if she’d given this form an actual respiratory system as most living creatures often had – the little one was still under the impression that he needed to breathe to stay alive, which… well, he’ll grow out of it someday.

Wait, why did she come here- ah

She willed herself towards the source of the putrid, but all-too familiar smell that’d pervaded her senses from the moment they came across that village. A scent that only those of her kind could ever make out, though Ursus was a special case. It blotted the land, filling the air with an annoying, but familiar stink. She knew what it was, of course; all she needed to know was who.

Because it certainly wasn’t her brother.

When next she felt her senses, Nyx found herself standing in front of a well. Its stone structure was cracked and ancient, thick vines, weeds, and roots grew all over it. There were even flowers sprouting from its cracks and crevices. None of that, however, truly caught her attention; true, she’d never really examined a well up close before.

No, what drew in her senses were the vivid colors that rippled outwards and altered every other color around it – even the plants looked wrong with their spiraling rainbow patterns and blues and reds. A familiar color bloomed outwards from the hole of the well. Nyx leapt up and landed on the edge of the circular stone structure. Moving around in this form was quite fun - a lot more fun than she'd first considered.

She peered down.

And a churning mass of colors peered back at her.

Son of a bitch….