《Observation of a Demon Tortoise》Year 0 Month 0 Day 3 Oasis [4]

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The third day of the tortoise's continued existence has come upon it. Like before, it was in the process of heading towards the greenery that had caught its eye. It was close; close enough that it couldn't be an illusion. There was never a doubt in its mind.

The light from the starry sky lit the way. While the tortoise defied the celestials to go this way, the celestials did not abandon it and continued to illuminate its chosen path, even if it was the wrong one. Even on the day the tortoise became a demon, in the distant future, the celestials would not abandon the tortoise.

Let's not touch upon the topic of whether they tolerate this behavior or take millions of years to even react. The point is that there was enough light to travel during the night and the tortoise did. It wasn't the best idea for a cold-blooded animal and it'd be a better idea to rest and take up the morning torch. However, the internal clock of the tortoise has not adjusted yet.

This land is a confusing one where it's bad to travel during the night and the afternoon. The best times to travel are dusk and dawn. The tortoise did not understand this. It was not tired as it had slept through the afternoon and a better part of dusk. Besides, its very life started out by moving during the night to avoid predators. An out of whack biological clock was forgivable at this point.

The chill of the night still seeped into its very bones and made it harder to move. By the time it finally reached the destination, the sun had started to peek over the horizon, marking the start of the morning. What lied there were tall plants. To a baby tortoise, everything looked tall, but these were truly big plants. Trees, overgrown weeds, and man-sized cacti were lined up in the area.

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Even stranger was the soil; it was damp. The topsoil held a bit of moisture and caked itself around the tortoise's claws, refusing to leave. In this desert, there was a place where the ground was wet yet not a cloud was in sight. In all directions was blue skies with a faint reddish tint where the sun was currently rising into the sky. Nowhere for the water to fall from the sky.

The tall grass waved gently in the breeze, enticing a stray bite. Unfortunately, the tall, green grass was just as sharp and hard to eat as its brown cousins. Even more so as it was thicker and hard to chew through. The path the tortoise took zigzagged around the plants as it was near impossible to pass through them. It could try if it didn't mind being torn to shreds by these razorlike leaves. All of the plants in this land seemed to use their leaves as weapons.

A tree stood tall and out of place, with its sprawling roots tripping up the tortoise. These roots were as hard as rocks and popped out of the ground occasionally, spread far from their origin. Unlike the ground that gave way to the tortoise's path, the roots stood strong and resisted its advance. It climbed over the roots awkwardly, being forced up and down. Its own shell and body weight made this more of an obstacle than it should have been.

Further into this green wonderland was a small lake. A collection of stagnant water that either leaked from a much larger underground water system or formed from a hole and heavy rainfall that hadn't dried up yet. Its murky depths did not hold an answer to this question. The water was saturated with dirt and grime with untold numbers of bacteria, yet it could support life and a small ecosystem in this area. Water was the basis of life, no matter what state it was in. What was a bit of dirt and germs to life forms that survived in a veritable wasteland?

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The tortoise saw the water and instantly recognized it for what it was and went to take a drink from it. In a misstep, it actually went into the water partially. While the coolness of the water provided relief from the unbearable heat that was to come in just a few hours, it was also uncomfortable. The tortoise took a step back from the water, just as its ancestors did and lowered its head to drink the water.

Just like the plants that didn't care about the condition of the water, the baby tortoise chugged down as much water as it could. This would be stored within its body and allow it to survive without water for a long time. If it was older and larger, it could drink its fill here and survive maybe even years without water. As a baby, it's in its best interests not to test something like that out and keep close to such an easily accessible source of water.

And that's what it did. For a period of time, it stayed in this area that was rich in food and water. Even when the sun overlooked the world from the center of the heavens, the tortoise was not bothered. The slightly damp ground refused to become scorchingly hot. The breeze, instead of sapping all moisture from the air, distributed it as there was aplenty from the lake. And the tortoise would just take another drink of water whenever it felt too hot.

The day ended uneventfully. Once the sun passed its prime and things cooled down, the tortoise found and snacked upon a nearby cactus. And then, the tortoise just laid there, resting as it had gotten to its destination. All was well in the world from its perspective, with no need to go anywhere or do anything. Like this, the day slipped away.

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