wisdom of the crocodiles

Deluge stepped cautiously onto the barren shores of the desolate island, her senses immediately assaulted by the harsh, unforgiving landscape that stretched out before her. The air was heavy with the scent of salt and decay, as if she had accidentally stumbled into a predators den. The whole atmosphere put the girl on edge.

The island was almost entirely devoid of vegetation, save for the occasional stunted, gnarled trees and scrub grasses that somehow managed to eke out an existence in the poor soils below. These hardy plants twisted and contorted themselves into unnatural shapes, their roots clawing desperately at the rocky earth in search of sustenance.

Flat, rocky outcroppings covered much of the ground, their jagged edges resembling the overlapping scales of some ancient reptilian beast. Deluge could almost imagine the island itself as the back of a massive creature, lying dormant beneath the harsh glare of the sun. As if only formed to shelter its offspring, large lizards scuttled across the barren ground, their scales glinting in the harsh sunlight as they hunted for prey amongst the rocks. Snakes slithered through the crevices, their sinuous bodies disappearing into the shadows as they pursued their elusive quarry, but it was clearly the crocodiles that truly ruled this desolate realm. She hoped they were more focused on sunning and digestion than attempting to hunt on land. This wasn't their element after all, though it did make her wonder just how she would get back to the mainland unscathed.

“Speech”