(I Died and got Reincarnated) My New Life as a Saltwater Crocodile Begins

CH•22 - "A Fellow Human In An Animal's Body"

The pain of having numerous rocks fall over my head and back is unbearable, even though I have a hard scaly armor protecting me. Their impacts still leave behind a numbing sensation in me that I find hard to recover from. Though, since I can feel pain, it must mean that I'm still alive. To think pain would be useful in confirming whether you're dead or alive. Ow..... Pain is still painful, despite its uses. Ow, ow.... I just wish I'll be able to sleep this off. Wait, what happened to baby snake and the falcon? Are they safe?

I frantically check under me. They're still there, and still moving. Oh, thank goodness. The falcon immediately flies and perches on my head again. The snake also crawls back up on my shoulder. As for me, I flop down in place. Whew.... I'm beat. I'll just rest up for now and figure out what to do next later.

Hm? This smell... it's water. There's water nearby. Looking around us, there's nothing but rocks from up to down. Are we.... in a cave? Was I sent to a different place in time again or am I still in Egypt? Are there even animals for us to prey on in this cave? I'll be alright since I can last without food for several days, but what am I gonna do with these two? Let's hope the falcon doesn't make a meal out of the baby snake when he reaches his limit from hunger. Baby snake needs nutrition too since he's still just a baby, or rather, a hatchling.

Hmm...... I'll just go dip myself in the water while I think this through.

"H-Hello?"

Huh? What? Where'd that come from? I look around me and there's no one there. Did I just imagine it?

"Wait, you can hear me too?"

There it is again. Confused, I look up and there I see a bat hovering just below the cave ceiling a few meters away from me. Wha-...? Is that where the voice is coming from?

"You must be confused. I'd be too. In fact, I'm as confused as you"

............ I turn and head to the water. I must've hit myself really hard in the head that I've started hallucinating. Best to ignore it.

"Wait, don't leave me here! If you can hear my thoughts, I want to ask you something!"

Stay sane, stay sane, stay sane, me. It's probably just a silhouette of a bat in the dark and these voices are all just in my head, but it doesn't mean the voices are coming from the bat directly. Right, that's probably it. This must've been caused by my long time of not having proper conversations with humans for so long that I'm starting to hear things. And besides, it's dark in here, one is bound to start seeing things by mistake and misunderstand them for something else. It'll come to pass eventua-.....

"Are you a human too?"

......... Eh? What... did he just say...? That one question, for some reason, made me turn back, and before I realized it, I was looking at the bat again.

Don't tell me... you're also....

"...... Just like you"

But, that's... this is.... this is unbelievable. I sort of expected that there would be others like me out there somewhere, but I didn't think I'd meet one of them this soon. Wait a minute.... there's also a chance that all of this could just be in my head, and I'm still hearing things.

Hey you, if you're real, show me proof.

"Huh? How am I supposed to do that?"

Good question. Maybe fly in a circle, or tell me something I don't know.

"...... Did you know the first French Fries weren't actually cooked in France? They were cooked in Greece"

What?

"What do you call someone with no body and no nose? Nobody knows"

What the heck?!

"How do you tell the difference between a frog and a horny toad? A frog says, 'Ribbit, ribbit' and a horny toad says, 'Rub it, rub it'."

Aaaaaaaah!! Enough! It's true that I don't know these things, but STOP!!!
Hah... hah~..... So you're one of those old-timers who give terrible dad jokes to kids, huh. Why did someone like you even end up like this.

"That's what I want to know too. I'm pretty sure I was supposed to be dead, but the next thing I knew, I found myself stuck in this dark cave as a bat, and I've been searching for the exit sinc-... waah!"

All of a sudden, the falcon throws himself in between me and the bat, then he snatches him with his talons and drags him down.

"Argh! Aaaaargh!!"

The falcon has the bat's whole body pinned down and he's slowly crushing him. I can hear the bat's voice screaming in my head, but the only screams coming out of his actual mouth are high-pitched squeaks and it's currently echoing back and forth around the entire cave.

Hmm.... the falcon must be hungry. He didn't eat the hippo meat I shared to him so I haven't seen him eat anything today. Does that mean falcons only eat once a day? If so, that'll help us with our shortage of food. Hopefully we can find more as we venture through this cave.

"Gaargh!! C-Can't breathe...!"

......... (*sigh*) I slam my tail on the ground with great force, shaking the whole cave. The shock spooked the falcon which made him loosen his grip, allowing the bat to breathe again. My eyes stare directly at the falcon, and without any need for words, the falcon comes flying back on my head.

Sorry, but we'll find another prey you can munch on, I promise.

The falcon doesn't show any response. As silent as ever, this bird. I still wonder if he can hear my thoughts like that bat. Speaking of the bat...

You okay over there?

"B-Barely...."

So, I was wondering. Since you're practically the first other human I've met who also woke up as an animal like me, maybe we could work together to find a way out of this cave. What do you say?

"I... I'd want to, but are you sure your bird friend isn't gonna assault me again? Or will that snake try to eat me next?"

Don't worry, I'll keep them in check. So, what'll it be? Will you join our band of predators that could eat you anytime? Or, would you rather stay safe and travel alone? Though, the first option isn't as dangerous as it sounds. In fact, it's the opposite.

"Huh?"

...... If you come with us, that'll make you part of the team, which means you'll have a team of carnivorous predators backing you up. That should reassure you a bit, right?

"I don't know... there's hardly any dangers in this cave. You're the first dangerous ones I've encountered so far"

Wait, we are? You serious?

"Very. But... I'll go with you anyway. It's... lonely being all alone"

Alright. That settles that then. Welcome to the crew. Now, let's go find some food.

"Wait. What's your name?"

My name? I'm........ Eh? T-That's weird... I.... I don't know my own name.