Monochild

"Find the warrior. Find the guardian. Find the beast, and find the witch. With these four united, you shall ascend to the crown and become the true Mono-Child." That was all the little one had heard before awakening. Confused, the small creature looked around, trying to comprehend its surreal surroundings. Somehow, it knew that it was literally just born! However, being born requires a parent... a mother, to be specific. The small creature looked around for anything that might be a larger version of itself. This in turn begs the question: what does "itself" even look like? The little one found a pond, filled with a viscous substance that was quite reflective. Finally, our tiny protagonist could see its true form! Except, it was really quite unexpected. Its body was impossibly black, with a very plump and round shape. Two stubby offshoots acted as legs for traversal. To top it all off, one huge white eye was in the middle to act as a mode of sight. That was really it. It was barely anything of a body. The weirdest detail was that, it didn't seem to posess a shadow of any kind. The little one looked around and saw many other creatures with much more complex anatomy that consisted of many eyes, limbs, and openings to breathe, eat, and hear. The little one looked at itself again. It could clearly hear everything, but it didn't seem to have any opening for entry of sound. In fact, it didn't seem to have any opening in its body at all! It had no organs for breathing, eating, hearing, or excreting. What was it!? It seemed literally impossible for such a creature like itself to exist. Surely, the little one had some parent or creature willing to answer its questions. Perhaps there were others similar to itself nearby? However, the little one still could not find anything that could possibly be its kin, or anything willing to approach it. Eventually, the little one decided that it should accept its existence and figure out how to survive in a land such as this. For once, it properly examined its surroundings. The terrain was uneven and dusty, with many indescribable creatures scuttling about, either eating or sleeping. There was no sign of plant life. Just a barren rocky area full of strange creatures... The little one looked up. It appeared that it was actually in a dusty cave, which explained the surroundings. There was little to no light, only lit up by the bioluminescene of the cave vines. After sitting idle for a while, the little one got up and started actually putting its stubby legs to use, trying to find an exit. Its mind drifted back to those words it heard. "Find the warrior. Find the guardian. Find the beast, and find the witch. With these four united, you shall ascend to the crown and become the true Mono-Child." It could not forget those strange words, having no idea what they meant. Despite these many questions, the little one continued to explore and venture, doing everything it could to leave this strange cavern. There were so many tunnels and twisting paths that seemed to just lead deeper into absolutely nowhere. Just before the little one was about to give up, it suddenly heard a loud rumbling. Now what could that be? A large grotesque being emerged from the ground. It was huge, perhaps fifteen times bigger than our protagonist! With two big black eyes, and a long sleek body coated in fur. So much fur that, in fact, its legs were not visible. Just a long body of fur with two black eyes. The little one did not think much of the creature and left it alone for its own actions. However, the creature continued to follow closely. Its eyes were never taken off of the little one. Despite this behavior, the little one still just kept walking. The creature suddenly stepped in front of it and made a sound that seemed to be threatening. Instead of feeling fear, the little one took this as strange behavior and simply walked around the obvious threat. The creature continued to pursue the little one, continuously making growls. After a stupid amount of staring at the creature, the little one finally came to the realization that this furry abomination was actually aggressive and was attempting an attack. Took it long enough! Rather than fear, the little one decided to process the situation logically. This creature was large but sleek and seemed to travel well on rocky uneven terrain. However, with its heavy amount of fur, it might be susceptible to strain and sweat. So, taking this into consideration, you'd think our clever and nimble protagonist would easily outsmart the creature... Except the exact opposite happened! In this world, you must strike bluntly and suddenly. No time for thinking. Our little protagonist learned that the hard way. The large creature struck hard, pinning the little one to the ground. Its dense fur made it hard for the little one to see and react. The jaws of the huge furry beast inched closer. Clearly, this was the end for our protagonist. To die so soon after birth. What an unfortunate plight! All that's left behind is a dead corpse of the furry beast... That's right! Did you really think the little one's life would end there? Fate had too much more in store for it to die yet! It got up, confused about why it was still alive. It looked around and finally saw what had happened. The large beast was now dead, engulfed by dark withering tendrils withering it away. Unsure what to do, the little one backed away before hearing a strange voice. "I saved you!" The little one turned around in response. It didn't know why, but somehow it could perfectly understand what those words meant without learning how to communicate. The little one tried to respond, but simply couldn't. No mouth, no throat, no voice. Instead, it just stared back at whatever supposedly helped it. A large serpent-like being stood before it. It was very black. Possibly even darker than darkness itself. It was like looking at a walking shadow. Its long coiled snake-like body seemed to have no end. It didn't have a visible source or end of its tail. Its head was pointed triangularly, with an eerily similar white eye in the middle of the head. The most peculiar detail, was that this being also didn't have a shadow. "Oh, you must be so confused, my friend..." The voice sounded very raspy and seemed to echo over and over again. "Oh, it's not me you should be afraid of... It's everyone else you should be afraid of... This world is very, very punishing for the weak... Especially the smaller ones..." The little one was very unsure about this sudden interaction. Its mind was running with scenarios, good or bad. "What if this creature attacks me? What if it proposes an alliance? Perhaps it was simply passing by?" All these questions only led to more questions in its mind... Noticing the little one's hesitation, the strange figure spoke. "Ah, you must be so confused, hmm? So lost... So weak in a world where everyone wants to hurt you. See, over time I myself got quite fed up with all this nonsense! What kind of world is one where the weak are left to dust, whilst the strong are on top? Shouldn't the strong protect the weak? That's why I saved you! That's why I want to help you..." The little one thought for a while. If what this figure said is true, then there will definitely be many more creatures like that earlier creature. Possibly, more powerful ones that could easily squish a small creature like itself. The little one decided to accept this alliance. "Wonderful… Just WONDERFUL!! Now... Let's get out of this dirty cavern... Just keep heading straight, and you will find an exit!" said the figure in response.