THE GIGAS

Scavenging

I had dug my temporary den for the day. The harsh light from the solar system's sole star is brutal against my skin. If I am not careful it will dry and crack my outer most layer compromising my homeostasis.

Why couldn't I have been relegated to the planet's more temperate climates?

Sigh. Its alright I have something keeping me going, a secret that must be kept from other males of my species. I gently unfurl my hand in the dark. The cloth inside my palm is delicate and lightly scented. It belongs to an alien female whom I have followed since I was sent to this area many years ago.

I have to dig a new den everyday while following the small caravan and every night I get rid of pesky nuisances. Tiring......

Just being able to absorb the chemical signature of my beloved, the only one for me, through my skin makes me shiver with anticipation. She is nearing proper maturity physiologically. Soon....Very Soon.

The dark red and orange dirt around me is cooling and therapeutic. I want to go to sleep but I am restless. I have scented her from afar. Her delicate scent had slowly transformed into a seductive heavy spice. I hope the others have not noticed her changing scent.

It has taken everything within me to not just snatch her away. She and her group seem to be doing well enough. She looks quite happy, I wonder if she would be just as happy if she looked upon our brood that way I could certainly hope for that.

I leave her gifts all the time near the places she stops at. Everything from corpses to nick nacks that she might like and use.

She hasn't rejected any of them and has often used them on herself or the others. A broad smile leaped to my lips. I want to please her.

I put my nostrils to the cloth to take a deep whiff of her scent, memorizing it and imagining her smaller delicate form.

I fall asleep curled up and my skin does what it usually does, it forms a thick layer of mucous to preserve itself during the sleep cycle.

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Sleep afforded me much comfort though it was dreamless. My body tenses as it senses that something is wrong as soon as consciousness forces me from my sleep cycle.

I made sure to scout the surrounding hills for any unwelcome trespassers. 25 miles in diameter from my future mate is my limit so that is the distance that I measure my scouting. I wonder what is wrong. My senses haven't failed me yet.

I climb out to the crisp cold night air. Its a welcome relief from the scorching day, the rocks are still hot from the daylight. Earlier I had to rip out of the mucous cocoon I enveloped myself in to get out of the den. A light breeze teases my newly dewy skin.

The wind blows again against my skin, traces of a nest pheromone linger.

On full alert I sniff the air. A nest must be moving to a new location, the wind is picking up the female matriarchs strong scent.

I whip around breaking into a fast run toward the hard black ground that my future mate tends to follow. I press my nose to the black ground, closing my eyes to concentrate.

Her scent is faint but enough for me to follow, its been several hours since she passed by. Running bipedally affords me stamina for long distance treks. I need speed so I hunch over to my four legged position. I do not know how close or far away the moving nest is from the small caravan.

My limbs adjust to the gait and I push my body harder. I need to find her.

I stop under some trees after running for an hour or so. The scent lingers strongly here. She must have stopped to rest and left not too long ago.

I sniff the ground once again to strengthen my body's awareness of her scent. The landscape becomes a blur my nose following the seductive spice that my body longs for. The large black ground slowing shrinks to one small strip.

An abandoned village that stinks of death hides the scent i' ve been following. They must have gone through here but which way did they go?

Unsure of what to do, I sit with my legs resting under neath my bottom.

It would be foolish to go down every street. I do not have that kind of time.

A distant scream shatters the otherwise serene night. I recognize the voice, the youngest of the group. I have seen the care and love they put into protecting the small one. Even though he does not talk in the hushed tones of the others often, he makes sounds sometimes.

I am wary of that one. I do not know how the littlest manages to detect my presence, so straying to close for too long alerts them to my presence through him.

I stretch out my arms in front of me as my legs push off the ground with as much force as I can for a jolt of added speed to my running gait.

I run through the village, ignoring the stench. Fear courses through my veins and my heart hammers against my chest.

I hope it does not mean what I think it means. My skin secretes an extra mucous layer which it readies for a possible fight.

Please be ok, I haven't spent all these years carefully protecting them to just find their bodies lifeless.

Well, first off whoa there lover boy try to woo the lady of your interest BEFORE claiming her as yours. Second, obssessive much?? Please comment, share, and like. He really loves her though, just saying.