Zef hesitated then walked towards the little white blob of rubber. The little one held out its hands as if it wanted to be carried.

Zef’s looked with a puzzled face.

This thing is like a child, a very non-human child but a child nonetheless.

He hesitated then carried it from its armpits but kept it away from his chest, observing it skeptically. “Cute little sand beetle aren't you," he thought.

Zef stared at its two huge amber opal-shaped eyes, which stared at him in a gentle but curious demeanor.

I can't sense a heartbeat or smell its scent, but there’s a presence in these eyes. How strange?

A nostalgic feeling crept up his chest, and he remembered the wonderful monster pets he used to raise on his portable gamepad.

Zef shook his head from side to side and tried to look stoic but noticed that the creature mimicked his exact movement. He couldn’t stop himself and half-smiled. He tried to hide it; there too many close calls recently, but something about this creature made him put down his guard.

He realized he had to make a decision, either he left it here and sought out an exit alongside searching for food and water or take it with him and take on whatever repercussions it might bring upon him; like the fact that it could be a brain eater just waiting for him to fall asleep, then smashing a big rock on to his head before it got to its slurping business.

He shivered at that image, but his heart thought differently.

“To hell with it,” he said out loud, going through with an idea he didn’t want to perform, but he had to be sure.

He hesitated for a moment, then dropped the creature on the violet carpeted ground, and Zef himself descended to a squatting position.

He ignored the long stalks of grass that tickled his tense hamstrings and focused on the creature. He started moving the antennas on top of his head, and the little monster looked at it, focusing on its movement. Then it tried to do the same with its antennas, just not as fast.

Meanwhile, Zef’s left hand gently kept the monster from moving towards him, while his other hand pointed at it using his index finger, which slowly lengthened to a claw with a thought.

He stared at the creature to see its reaction. His claw pointing at its head. Zef watched it stare back at his dark golden eyes and then his claw, yet it did nothing.

Not a cry or even a display of concern. It stood still like a statue. The only life visible was exhibited through its amber eyes.

Zef shifted his feet uncomfortably, his legs tensed with effort as he got ready to leap at a moment’s notice. Any whiff of danger and he would pounce away like a wild cat,

He moved his claw towards its target ever so slowly until it stopped in front of its left eye.

The whole situation felt nerve-wracking, and he felt stupid, “but this was a needed measure,” he reasoned to himself. Until a scene appeared in his mind, hundreds of quills morphed out of the tiny ball of white he currently held and shot numerous holes into his body.

He gulped and was about to withdraw his claw; by then, it was too late as the tiny white creature suddenly lunged for his finger with its baby arms. Zef’s heart skipped a beat and fell onto his behind, strength leaving his legs. Had he jumped, he would have clawed its eye off.

Relief overtook him as he watched the tiny monster bounce over between his legs and triumphantly seize his hand, and initiated a wrestling match with his finger looking for his claw.

“Scoprian’s sting,” he cursed, yet also relieved.

He then looked at the creature and said hesitantly, "Forgive me, small one.” The ball of white didn’t even respond and continued its wrestling match with his finger.

He grunted and checked himself; his muscled body littered with scars and crusty dried blood while his white blubbery counterpart ignored all the signs that Zef could be a predator of some sort. Instead, it rather seemed to be enjoying itself now that it had found a playmate.

It doesn't appear to be terrified of me. I don't know if I should feel offended or not.

Zef scratched his scalp and looked at it; he recalled how it formed antennas out of his head by copying his. Whatever that ability was, he could imagine it being a lot more useful if it had the right imagination.

I guess it’s not experienced or intelligent enough.

With that thought in his head, his subconscious just bolstered the idea that it probably was a clueless and harmless creature.

“If there are more of your kind here, let’s hope they’re as nice as you,” he stated as he stared around him, then continued, “Meantime, let’s give you a name. Umm, how about Tamelle, it means whiteness in my language”.

Tamelle cooed back at him in response, more so enjoying the wrestling match, trying to find the hidden claw. Zef looked dubiously at it, then shrugged.

Zef got up and left his bag of rations, he left his sword within his kilt and picked up Tamelle which cooed in sudden delight from the sudden lift. Zef carried it on one arm, his other hand on his sword. He chose a path and started walking.

He took a circular route around the pond. It was weird; the inside of this large structure was just a purple grassy landscape with a white milky pond centered in the middle. There were pockets of trees lumped together here and there, and they seemed distinct from each other.

He walked to the nearest grove and found the trees odd. The grove in front of him had a tropical look, like something you would see in the jungles of the Amazon or the Congo. Zef only experienced the harsh climates of the desert and the comfort of the Oasis but did recall the different types of plantation and animals he watched in nature shows.

He pursed his lips, looking for an entrance. Meanwhile, Tamelle, too, stared quietly at the trees in front of him. Zef finally found a spot big enough for him to enter between two large tropical trees and stepped cautiously between them when sudden moisture and humidity engulfed him and Tamelle. His antennas flicked left and right, tasting the air, signaling water to his brain.

It was as if he entered a bubble and another world availed to him. Ahead of him was a multitude of trees that looked tropical and in the center of his view were multi-colored bamboo trees whose lengths were from a few inches up to eighty feet long. Scant light came from the treetops, yet it was enough for him to use diverse bamboo colors. They looked quite surreal, as if reaped from a rainbow.

Zef took a few steps forward to inspect the bamboo trees in wonder when Tamelle suddenly cooed in distress, waving its arms, and stared between Zef and the taller-looking bamboo trees. Zef, confused, studied Tamelle’s face, which was blank due o the lack of nose and mouth. But its eyes shouted danger as it looked back between Zef and a certain point between two large trees.

He followed its line of vision, barely perceived a shadow form suddenly shift between the large stalks.

Whatever it was, it made Tamelle very nervous, and his instincts agreed with Tamelle, so he chose to exit from the way he came in, when his breathing suddenly froze, his body tensed, and his eyes bulged as large veins the size of earthworms surfaced on his forehead.

Tamelle didn't notice the sudden change in Zef's troubled face. It was staring at the bamboo stalks waving its hands erratically.

Zef, who was walking backward earlier, stared at the back of Tamelle’s head, eyes wide. It was no longer Tamelle’s head he was looking at. Instead, it was the tiny head of a dark brown curly braided child. Two of its tails brushed his arm. Zef's stomach rolled at the sight of a cracked skull on her scalp.

He knew her. He could feel and smell her, the scent of blood mixed with jasmine, her fragrance. The child he knew and loved more than himself and Zef was completely mortified; he didn't even have the strength to drop her as she turned to look at him.

Quickly, Zef snapped his eyes shut, he tried to swallow, but he felt as if his throat was held in a death grip as if someone had him in a chokehold. He could only stand there in distraught as she called his name.

"Zef...Zef.. put me down, let's play bandit and...", she didn't continue as her words drifted and were replaced by soft cooing sounds.

A rubbery hand touched his face, which made him flinch. More cooing sound entered his ears, and he felt the touch of another soft elastic hand stroking his arm.

Zef gasped for air, afraid to look, but the cooing sounds gave him some courage. Slowly he cracked open his eyes to stare at large amber eyes staring back at him. He took another breath as beads of sweat trickled down his forehead down to his hawk-like nose.

These nightmares no longer appear in my sleep. I can't go on like this.