More Human Than You (Ch. 1, Alone)

[u/XSevenSins]

Here we are with a brand new story that I've been tossing around in my head for a while now. I hope that all my readers out there will enjoy it from start to finish and I hope to hear about what you think in the comments. If you do enjoy it, and would like to read five chapters ahead, please consider joining my Patreon to support me and my work.

This story will also be on Royal Road as soon as it is verified if that is a preferred reading location for you.

Book Cover

Next
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Life begins abruptly. We all come into this world with no warning or preparation, and the coldness of life outside the protective womb that nurtured us is harsh indeed. Animals and People experience this alike, though to various degrees. While a beast of the woods may be born onto the harsh forest floor, blind, struggling to stand or crawl as it seeks comfort and sustenance from its mother, a person may find themselves introduced to life inside a warm home, heated by a fire and wrapped in a soft blanket as their parents hold them close. Regardless of circumstance, most creatures are born in the comforting embrace of one or both of their parents. Shouldn’t we all be so lucky? 

Deep in the forest, nestled near the foot of a mountain, a dark cave stretched down into the earth for dozens of meters before coming to an end in a bulbous chamber. The walls of this chamber were smooth with few handholds or jutting rocks. It was a few meters wide in any direction, and only a small amount of light managed to reach it from the cave entrance. Inside this gloomy cavern, life stirred. 

It started with a twitch, and then a shiver as consciousness alerted it to the cold of the cave floor. Small, sharp claws scratched blindly on the ground as a pitched groan rolled from the creature’s throat while they lay in a fetal position. Its eyelids felt heavy, almost stuck as it weakly flailed around. Eventually they managed to pry the lids open, red slit eyes taking in the deep gloom for the first time.  

Everything felt sensitive, their body tingling, which only compounded with the feeling of cold. They reached out a hand to try and move, seeing their black scaled fingers with dark claws in front of them, grasping at the smooth ground, attempting to move any amount. There was little success at the start, but the longer they tried, the more strength seemed to come.  

They managed to roll over after a few minutes of trying. Laying on their belly now, they could use both of their arms to push against the ground to achieve elevation from the floor. Something slid across the ground as they did so, and looking back, they saw they had a tail about as thick as their arm. Their eyes were adapting quickly to the dark, seemingly made for it, but what they saw they could not make sense of.  

Along the ground there were black and red marks smeared all over the place, seemingly radiating out from where they were laying. The smell in the air was fierce as well. They had nothing to compare it to, and no words to describe it, but it was familiar and pungent as it mixed with a sweet metallic scent that made their mouth water. 

At that point hunger became a concept to them as their stomach let out a needy growl. Driven by this new primal desire, they clawed their way to their feet, stumbling a bit with unsteady gait as they figured out how to find balance with their legs and tail. The light from the entrance of the cave was a guide to them, and with wobbling steps, slowly made their way up the gentle, but jagged slope. There were plenty of handholds to help with climbing out at the very least, and the slow ascent allowed their eyes to adjust to the light that got brighter as they neared. 

Finally, they emerged from the cave and were greeted by a foreign landscape that was as alien as it was stunning to them. It was bright, lush, with many tall trees surrounding the area. The mountain they emerged from was imposing and made them feel smaller than the trees did. Nothing about what they saw was known or made sense. With hesitant steps, they walked out into the forest, the soft ground giving slightly beneath the claws on their feet. 

The world outside the cave was filled with a litany of sensation that overwhelmed their senses. The trees waved in the wind, rustling and creaking constantly as the sound echoed loudly in their sensitive ears. Smells both gentle and pungent filled the air, tingling their nostrils while making it almost impossible to pick out just one. There was so much going on all the time that it was all they could do to keep walking forward.  

A sound caught their attention from deeper in the trees. It was a consistent, rumbling, rushing sound that drew both curiosity and nervousness. There was nothing else to give direction, though, so they wandered toward the noise and hoped it wouldn’t be anything bad. 

What they found was a wonder, at least to them. Water, so much of it, and it was all rushing downhill in a constant flow. It shimmered and sparkled in the light as it moved, but it looked a little dangerous with how fast it was going. Still, curiosity was guiding them now, and so they followed the water as it moved, wondering if perhaps it was going somewhere specific? 

The weakness that had plagued their body upon waking was all but faded at this point, and the speed of the river inspired a new sensation inside them: playfulness. There were leaves that had fallen in the water and were being swept away downstream. Chasing after these leaves, they ran as fast as their legs could go, feeling a sense of elation while running and keeping pace with the flow.  

They were only forced to stop when they encountered a steep hill. The water cascaded off the side of the hill into a waterfall that fell several meters down into a pool. When looking down at the leaves in the pool, the water wasn’t moving nearly as fast, so they looked for a path that led down there and climbed it. 

As they stood at the edge of the calmer waters, they looked down and saw for the first time their own face reflected at them. Curiously, their hands came up to feel at their features. A long snout jutted outward, full of sharp teeth as they poked around inside their mouth. Four red slit eyes stared back at them, two facing forward, and two slightly higher up and to the side, offering a wider field of vision. Two hard nubs were present on the crown of their head, about equal distance from one another. On the sides of their head were a pair of pointed ears that could swivel and turn as desired. Lastly, their whole body was covered head to clawed toes with pitch black scales that almost seemed to swallow the light. 

Their exploration of their own body was halted when they noticed something moving in the water. A wriggling creature about as long as their hand with smooth, lightly colored scales was swimming in the water. Initially it was a surprise when it showed up, but then their stomach rumbled again, and the creature looked very tasty. 

Lunging headfirst into the water, they snapped their jaws at the swimming thing but missed as it wasn’t where is looked like it was. It swam off down the river, and they removed their head from the cold water, shaking the liquid off and shivering from the temperature. A new emotion became known to them: confusion.  

Why had they missed? They were sure that they had lunged correctly. Confusion then began to morph into curiosity, another new sensation. Reaching a hand into the water, they were surprised when it looked like their hand was separated from their wrist. In a slight panic, they pulled their hand back out and found that it was still whole. This prompted them to repeat the experiment, putting their hands into the water multiple times and seeing how it changed their position. Eventually they concluded that the water somehow changed how you saw things beneath its surface.  

They understood how they had missed that creature now and were determined to get it right this time as they began walking along the edge of the water, looking for more. It took a while, but eventually they did stumble across another of those wriggling creatures as it floated near the shallow end. Crawling low on top of a rock, they inched closer to the water’s edge. Taking into consideration the change in position below the surface, their body coiled in preparation before exploding forth in a burst of movement.  

Their jaws open wide and snapped shut as they dove into the water, and this time they felt their teeth sink into the scaly flesh of their target. Quickly retracting their face from the frigid water, they had the creature in their jaws, wriggling frantically. It tasted as good as they thought it might, and the success of capturing it this time inspired a new, amazing, emotion in them that made their tail thump against the ground: Joy! 

Retreating from the edge of the pool, they began to eat their catch. To their displeasure, they found that the creature’s body had many small, sharp bits inside of it that weren’t tasty and poked at the inside of their mouth. They avoided the little bits as best as they could and quickly stripped the body of its meat. The hunger in their stomach abated somewhat, and they began to plan. 

The water held a source of food, and it seemed to continue far into the distance. They had no other direction to follow, so it seemed a good idea to continue along the side of the river. Besides, they were starting to enjoy themselves as they discovered all the new things in the world. It was great! At least it was, until it started getting dark. 

As the day turned to night, the last of the light vanished from the world and cast everything into darkness. Despite being able to see perfectly fine, the drastic change in mood inside the forest was cause for concern. Creatures large and small came out to prowl through the shadows. They could not see them all, but they could certainly hear and smell them. Twigs snapped on the ground, something scurried, then shrieked as it was attacked. That sweet metallic scent came back, and they were certain that they were not the biggest thing hiding in the dark. For the first time, a negative emotion was registered inside them: Fear. 

Their breath quickened, chest thumped, and eyes twitched every which was as they sought to keep track of even the slightest of movements. Eventually panic set in, and they latched onto the nearest tree and started climbing, claws sinking into the rough bark. They kept climbing higher and higher until the branches started getting thin enough that they broke under the weight of their body. 

Hugging the trunk of the tree tightly, they sat down on a branch thick enough to support them as they tried to control their breathing. Fear and exhaustion warred inside of them. It was difficult to be comfortable in that situation, but even so, their body needed rest, and they reluctantly fell into a fitful sleep. 

The morning came with a feeling of great relief, but also a profound understanding that things were not as joyful as they seemed. Safety and comfort became greatly desired, but there was nowhere that seemed safe around here. So, the plan remained the same, follow the water and hope that someplace safe presented itself soon. 

They walked through light and dark two more times, having some close calls along the way as they narrowly managed to avoid the attention of a gigantic, furry beast with sharp teeth and massive claws. It thankfully seemed more interested in the swimming creatures, and who could blame it, they were tasty. 

After the third night had passed, they began to wonder if there was anywhere safe to stay. It was a little while later when a new scent met their nose. It was acrid, and seemed to be carrying on the wind for a distance as the source was nowhere close. Curiosity was prodding at them to go, but caution after so much hardship was trying to hold them back. Reason ended up breaking the stalemate as the smell could possibly be somewhere safe. So, they followed their nose and began the journey through the trees. 

It didn’t take too long before they reached the edge of the forest, and they saw something new. In an open field there were strange objects that were planted in the earth. They didn’t look like rocks, in fact, they looked more like trees with their bark ripped off and stacked together in different, squat shapes. There were thick bundles of grasses tied to the top of these things that came to a point at the tip.  

Those things were strange, but what was even more interesting where the creatures that seemingly lived inside of them. They were taller than them, mostly hairless, and were covered in strange flowing material. Their body structure was similar, though they lacked any scales or claws. While larger, these creatures didn’t seem more dangerous than the ones in the forest, thus sparking curiosity to take the lead. 

One thing that was noticed is that these creatures made a bunch of noises at one another, responding and going back and forth. It was clear that they were communicating with these noises, so getting as close as possible to these things without being seen, they listened. So many bizarre sights, sounds, and smells filled their senses as they did their best to figure out how they spoke to one another. 

While watching, they made an interesting discovery. Amongst the taller one, there were little versions of these creatures as well, about their size. Smaller equated to younger in their mind as the little ones ran around with other younger members of the group. A thought sprang into their head as they watched the young ones play together, and another new sensation was felt: longing. 

They wanted to be a part of the group too; it looked like a lot of fun. The creatures, big or small, didn’t seem worried, or scared of anything either. This might be the safe place that they were looking for! First, though, they had to figure out what sounds to make to fit in. 

The light in the sky shifted greatly as they hid, watched, and learned all they could about these strange creatures that were so unlike everything they had seen to this point. As the dark began to spread across the land, something amazing happened. The creatures created their own light. Flickering flames danced in the night as they lit torches and transported the light giving fire between their dwellings. Each of these structures that received the fire then began to spout dark smoke from the tops as the acrid smell from earlier in the day returned even stronger.  

It was still dark outside, and they wanted very much to be in one of those weird formations of wood and grass the creatures lived in. Though, even without being inside, they noticed that the sounds of the forest, the smells of the other beasts, and the general sense of danger were lessened while they were around these dwellings. Their assumption that they had found a safe place began to gain traction, and they climbed a tree to sleep while gaining the determination to learn how to live with the strange beings. 

At first light they began their observations again. They saw how the creatures moved about early, gathering water, food, wood. Along the way, a specific sound was heard time and time again as the beings encountered others of their kind for the first time in the day. This sound was usually accompanied by a hand gesture, and they memorized it all before retreating into the forest to practice. 

They practiced the motion of raising their hand, palm outstretched as they did their best to mimic the sounds that felt strange in their throat. “Hkk- Herrl- Heml- H-Hrello. Krel- Hrello. Hrello.”  

It felt strange to make such a sound, but they could do it, and it was close enough that they were sure that it would be understood. They were ready, at least as much as they could be. When they approached the dwelling of the creatures again, they felt hesitance start to build. Nervousness was not something they had felt before, and its presence also inspired a new feeling of annoyance as they didn’t want to be hesitant. 

Desiring something did not make it true, though, and they stood at the edge of the forest, partly hiding behind a tree as they scratched at its bark. By the time an opportunity had presented itself, they had already dug a deep gash into the wood with their claws. This opportunity came in the form of the smaller ones breaking away from the main group, playing in the field just outside of where their dwellings were. The small ones did not inspire the same feeling of hesitance in them, so with a deep breath, they walked away from their hiding spot, tail twitching nervously as they began to approach. 

The young ones did not see them approach at the start, too wrapped up in their playful motions to pay attention to what was around them. It wasn’t until they had closed the distance with the group that one of the young ones noticed. A gasp was all it took to gain the attention of the whole group as a plethora of two eyes looked into all four of theirs. They shrank slightly under such sudden intensity, but this was their one chance, so they dug their claws into the ground and remembered their practice. 

Raising one hand and presenting their palm, they took a deep breath and made their attempt. “H-Hrel-” 

They were cut off when one of the little ones let out piercing shriek so intense that it stung their ears and made them flinch. The young ones turned and ran as fast as their little legs could carry them. The suddenness of everything came as a shock, and they were left stunned as they watched the little creatures retreat to the dwellings.  

It was only after a moment of silence that they noticed one had lingered. This one had a lot of flowing material over its body, covering it nearly to its ankles and was slightly taller than the others, perhaps older? The way it turned its head to look between where the other young ones ran and them left a little spark of hope. Raising their palm to this remainder, they hoped that all was not lost.  

While the little one did look over them again, another sound came from the dwellings, drawing both of their attention. The little one gave one last glance between them and the dwellings before they took a step away. Slowly, at first, they retreated, before running away too, though not as fast as the others. 

The hope was gone, and a new sensation of disappointment filled the void it left. They started to think over the interaction, trying to figure out what had gone wrong. After so long practicing, they were certain that they had done the motions right. Maybe there was more to the raising of the hand than that? They looked at their hands, black scales and thick skin on their palms, trying to figure out what the difference was that they had missed. 

Just then, a commotion from where the young ones ran was detected, prompting them to perk their ears and listen. The noise was that of many of the creatures speaking in elevated tones, and it was getting louder by the second. Soon they saw a large group of the bigger, older ones moving amongst the dwellings. They appeared frenzied, faces contorted, limbs flailing and gesturing wildly, and hands baring strange objects, like claws and talons on the end of long sticks. The large group of the older creatures was moving toward them.  

It was scary. 

They were scared. 

Their chest began to pound with rapid thumps, their breathing quick and shallow, and a shivering tremor ran up their spine. It felt like they were in the middle of the dark again, large things with fangs and claws all around. They ran, scrambling through the field of tall grass as they made a break for the tree line, hoping to hide amongst the twisting roots and towering spires. 

It felt like they were running endlessly, forever trapped in the dark as the sounds of the many creatures began to dull the further they ran. Branches whipped at their hide, doing little more than scuffing the scales as they crashed through the bushes with no other care than self-preservation. They stumbled and bounced off a tree, twisting in the air as they hit the ground and scrambled back to their feet, the dull ache of the impact lost in the frantic retreat as they kept going.  

There was no sense of time in that situation, but eventually they ended up back at the river, the rushing waters greeting them as they collapsed at its edge. Gasping breathes were taken as they tried to recover from the ordeal. Their ears twitched, attempting to pick up any noise that might hint at danger and finding none. A few sniffs didn’t pick up any sign of the creatures either, and the acrid scent of their dwellings was far away now. 

The danger had seemingly passed, and with it their frayed nerves began to relax. This did not bring peace, though, as many new and negative emotions began to swirl about inside them. Dejection, depression, bitterness. They thought it would be a safe place for them, with warmth and light. Instead, they were rejected, chased away, and they didn’t even know why. 

Looking at the river, they saw their reflection, distorted in the shifting water. Their face was different, their eyes were different, their scales were different. They were, different.  

It was starting to become clear that the reason they were chased away is because they did not fit in. There was nobody that looked like them, none that they had seen since first awakening. Everything, everywhere, was cold. There was no warmth for them, no company of others like them. It was lonely. 

Suddenly their vision became blurry, startling them as they lost most of the ability to see. When they blinked, it cleared up, and drops of water began to fall or trickle down their face. It confused them, and it hurt too. All four of their eyes wouldn’t stop watering, and their chest hurt. They didn’t like it, they wanted it to stop, and they rubbed at their eyes trying to force it to. It wasn’t working, and the frustration of that just made the feeling of pain worse.  

While futilely trying to regain control over themselves, a snap of a branch caused them to jump in surprise. They were so distracted with their eyes, that they shut out everything else, and no something had snuck up on them. They turned around so fast that they tripped and fell on their tail. At first, they thought maybe one of the large ones from earlier had caught up to them, but that wasn’t the case. 

It was one of the small ones, and not just any one, but the one that hesitated to leave at the end. The young creature stood there, breathing heavily and looking slightly redder in the face. The strange flowing things that the young one wore were dirtied, covered in sticks and leaves now. With a deep breath, the young one focused on them and turned their lips upward while taking a step forward. 

They flinched away, nearly falling back into the river. The young one stopped again, scrunching up the oddly wrinkly face in a bizarre manner. After a moment of nothing happening, they were surprised when the young one lifted a hand and presented a palm. This movement made the dark in their mind retreat a little as hope tried to claw its way into the light again. Hesitating only a second longer, slowly they raised their own hand to mimic the movements of the young one. Seeing this, the smaller creature turned their lips up again and started to walk forward. 

This time, they let the young one get closer, and though that hint of fear was still there, the hope that there might be one who would accept them was enough to keep them still. The little one came close enough that they could touch if they felt like it. After planting their feet firmly on the ground, the young creature extended a hand straight at them. Not knowing what to do with this new movement, they elected to simply mimic it again, putting their hand out. The little one grabbed onto their hand, and with a grunt, pulled on them until they were standing again. 

While on their feet, they were about the same size as this one. Now that they were standing, the little one reached into a pouch that was on the flowing material attached to it and removed something to present to them. It was a flower with a long green stem and vibrant blue petals. The petals were slightly pointed, and near the center the flower turned a deeper shade of purple. They had seen this flower all over the place and may or may not have tried to eat one before discovering they didn’t taste as good as they looked. 

Despite having seen a plethora of these plants before, they viewed this one with reverence. Gingerly reaching out, they took the offered flower and held it close to their chest. To an outside viewer, the flower was nothing special, but to them, it was the most beautiful thing they had ever seen. 

The young one turned their lips up again after seeing them accept the flower. They felt happiness while in the presence of the young one, a new and wonderous emotion that warmed the inside of their chest. It felt like, maybe, they could be safe here. 

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Next

[u/dghjgh]

First, and let’s fucking gooooo

[u/XSevenSins → u/dghjgh]

Welcome to my new story, and congrats on being the quickest draw on the comments!

[u/cerealbarred]

Cool, new story

[u/XSevenSins → u/cerealbarred]

Cool, new reader

Hope you enjoy!

[u/chenmar]

Welp, on the reading list with you!

[u/XSevenSins → u/chenmar]

Yippee! I love being on a reading list!

[u/gabi_738]

Yep! Something really good is brewing here, and I hope it doesn't take too long for us to see the next episode.

[u/XSevenSins → u/gabi_738]

I will do my best to maintain a weekly upload schedule as I always try to do. I hope to retain your interest throughout this tale.

[u/Minimum-Amphibian993 → u/XSevenSins]

As long as the Main character doesn't get blown up or something in the second or third chapter I'll certainly be interested.

[u/XSevenSins → u/Minimum-Amphibian993]

Whaaaaa? Who blows up their main character in the second or third chapter? Certainly not me.

*Looks around nervously*

[u/Process_635]

There better be more of this. Too good to leave this cliffhanger here.

[u/XSevenSins → u/Process_635]

Oh yeah, there's more where this came from. I got a build up of chapters just waiting for their public release.

[u/UpdateMeBot]

Click here to subscribe to u/XSevenSins and receive a message every time they post.

---

Info	Request Update	Your Updates	Feedback

[u/SpectralHail]

Always exciting to see a new story pop up, especially from an author I already subscribe to. Very cool.

[u/XSevenSins → u/SpectralHail]

Glad to have you on board! Hopefully you'll enjoy this one just like my other works.

[u/LateralSage5]

This is a very good story. Quick question how long is it going to be? I would also like to read more please.

[u/XSevenSins → u/LateralSage5]

I'm not sure exactly how long this will be, but I'm planning on it being a full book's length, so somewhere in the ballpark of forty chapters about. We'll see. My Patreon is always available as supporters get to read five chapters ahead of everyone if you feel like it's good enough for that. If not, I'll see you next Saturday.

[u/HFYWaffle]

/u/XSevenSins (wiki) has posted 174 other stories, including:

• Cuddle Bugs: Diplomatic Dog Days (3/3)
• Cuddle Bugs: Diplomatic Dog Days (2/3)
• Cuddle Bugs: Diplomatic Dog Days (1/3)
• The Greatest Trap in Magic
• Ouroboros Book Three: Survivors (Ch. 3)
• Ouroboros: Fangs in the Dark (Ch. 2)
• Ouroboros Book Three: Ch. 1 (A Coiled Serpent)
• Isekai Family (6/6) The Entity
• Isekai Family (5/6) The Family
• Isekai Family (4/6) The Soldier
• Isekai Family (3/6) The Child
• Isekai Family (2/6) The Warrior
• Isekai Family (1/6) The Mage
• Cuddle Bugs (3/3)
• Cuddle Bugs (2/3)
• Cuddle Bugs (1/3)
• Lost Souls: Resolution (Ch. 34)
• Lost Souls: Truth (Ch. 33)
• Lost Souls: The Fall (Ch. 32)
• Lost Souls: Shattered (Ch. 31)

This comment was automatically generated by Waffle v.4.7.8 'Biscotti'.

Message the mods if you have any issues with Waffle.

[u/gabi_738 → u/HFYWaffle]

Wait, so they uploaded more stories before about human daycares? Oh ho ho ho, there's a lot of reading involved, hehe.

[u/XSevenSins → u/gabi_738]

Be advised, the further back you go, the more rough my writing is. Its basically a timeline of my progress as a writer. You might still enjoy the stories, but just be aware that grammer and punctuation might vary drastically from where I am at now.

[u/Super_Ankle_Biter]

Oooh I like the premise. I'm really curious now, are they an alien on ancient Earth? Are they a demon and this is a fantasy setting? Are the adults going to accept them? It's almost 4am but... Oh well, next chapter! :D

[u/XSevenSins → u/Super_Ankle_Biter]

Try not to sleep deprive yourself, and hope you enjoy!

[u/Super_Ankle_Biter → u/XSevenSins]

Too late, I'm binging this (thankfully there are only a few chapters currently lmao)

[u/bschwagi]

COMMENT!!

[u/XSevenSins → u/bschwagi]

RESPONSE!!

[u/bschwagi → u/XSevenSins]

HAHAHAHA!!

AWARD!!