[Survey] Mela Mela ink
Mela Mela ink
Silence. That’s what the small creature’s ear perceived while it walked slowly through the woods, carrying a small bag in its back that was ready to contain the deepest and smallest secrets of the forest inside. Though that silence wasn’t absolute: the soft rustling of the leaves brushed by the wind, the occasional chirping of plenty of creatures in the distance and, the subtle steps from the luminescent paws of the Xero that has decided to forage and the dry leaves and small sticks crunching under them created a natural and peaceful song that could be still considered a silence.
Ziggy’s claws sunk into the ground as he advanced through the ancient woods, round nostrils sniffling the fresh and cold air and distinguishing the smell of several plants, and even the wet ground recently soaked by the rain that fell some hours ago, just before the curious Xero arrived.
The fluffy creature jumped on top of a rock and stood on two legs, getting a wide but not complete view of the nature to behold. His antennae twitched slightly, trying to sense if something else was around. For his luck, Ziggy was alone in this place, allowed to enjoy the luxury of resting his voice, which was drained from all the chatter his throat had to endure with all the new Xeros that arrived. When he got tired from the view, the Xero descended towards the floor and resumed the exploration without a word, humming a song he heard once but which lyrics didn’t come to his mind.
His peaceful foraging brought him to a river, which water emanated from a huge and noisy waterfall that numbed all the sounds around that conformed the previous silence.
He took an empty bottle from the bag and approached with two small jumps the river, removing the cap and lowering it to get the fresh and delicious water, which seemed very clean and pure. His eyes, thought, caught a glimpse of a quick form moving in the water, following the river’s course to reach an unknown destiny. The Xero’s eyes widened in both surprise and curiosity, and he rushed to pursue the moving figure in order to catch, at least, a glimpse of it. On all fours, he sprinted towards all the path down towards the source of his curiosity, but its speed was fulminating. He could at least see the shape and a detail: a long, noodly body and two small wing-like appendages.
Ziggy stopped, exhausted and panting for air. He didn’t even notice that he left the bottle in the river, and it went down too, now lost in its quick waters.
Ziggy’s mind rushed with ideas, methods and solutions to find the creature, but the race got him too tired to keep going, and he decided to make something up. He threw the bag on the shore of the river, opening it and rummaging on the contents: he found a black, pear-like berry. It was hard like a coconut, and as dark as coal.
What was he supposed to do with a Mela Mela berry?
The wind blew softly again, some leaves danced with grace and crossed ways with his now tired eyes. One of the Xero’s antennae twitched again, as the alien’s brain finally got an idea. If he couldn’t reach the creature today, he would draw what he saw and remembers to research later with help. Where? In one of the leaves. How Mela Mela had a dense, black juice inside which could do perfectly as ink. Carefully, Ziggy brought the fruit against the big stone besides him and opened it, a loud “crack” sound making his ears fold back for a millisecond. The black liquid started dropping onto the floor, staining Ziggy’s yellow paw pads and making him quickly leave the fruit onto the floor in a good angle, so it didn’t drop out of the fruit’s shell.
Picking a leaf from the floor, the Xero reached for a small stick and drowned it as much as possible into the dark and sticky liquid, avoiding burying it too much so it didn’t reach his paw again. The stick was brought towards the leaf, and the substance started drawing a thin line that wouldn’t apparently go away soon. The creature’s arm moved carefully, tracing delicate lines that created a form that simulated the shape of the mysterious animal he saw in the waters. Content with the result, Ziggy grinned to himself and left the fruit and the stick on the floor before picking the leaf between both his hands, examining the artwork before leaving it to dry under the sun.
He allowed himself to rest on the shore of the river after that, humming again a silly song and taking a rest, before he went back home and finished the foraging.
