Today it was heavily clouded and most grumpuses from Snaxburg would stay inside their huts. Not that it makes a difference for a spirit like Morrigen. For several months her sibling Averie was staying on the island and received a crucial note to solve Lizbert's disappearance. Morrigen couldn't help but feeling proud of her twin. However, she could still feel the pain that they go through after her death, and it was only a matter of time until all the bottled up emotions would break out.

The spirit sighed as she was still disappointed to not find a way to communicate with them. The so called shaman...-Shelda was her name...- turned out not to be a spiritual as she admitted to, which frustrated the orange spirit even more. No, not a chance. The townspeople would have to solve their personal matters on their own. But at least there was a light of hope.

Making her way to Simmering Springs Morrigen discovered another spirit. Someone she had grown close over the past months. Reddish-brown colour, thick neck fur and horns were the characteristics to recognize her new friend. The orange spirit made her way to the primal and silently sits down next to him.

"Hey Askar." she greeted him. As usual goop was dripping constantly from the spirit's eyes and mouth. Small pink specks looked to the female grumpus and a small smile showed on Askar's face. "Morri...good to see you..." His eyes went back to the ocean, as if just got out of deep thoughts.

"I must say...your twin has a lot of determination." he rumbled. "Not giving up...willing to help the people from their predicament...maybe you are right and...this time all of them escape from this forsaken place."

A not uncomfortable silence befell the two spirits as they stared to the ocean. After some time passed, Morrigen felt a paw on her shoulder, glancing to the reddish-brown grumpus.

"I guess you want to know my story...right?" Askar glanced over to Morrigen. Now that he mentioned that, Morrigen remembered to tell him her story and how the circumstances have brought her to this island. But the time she got to spent with the primal grumpus she realized she didn't know much about him. Only that he lived in a time where grumpuses used to have horns. The orange spirit nodded after a while, remaining quiet as she listened to the primal.

"I used to be the chief of my tribe." Askar started and reminisced about the past. "Had a mate...was going to have a child. Big herds roamed the wide fields of the tundra. However...one day herds became scarce and we had to wander far distances." Morrigen processed what he said before, confirming the hunch that Askar was, indeed, from primeval times.

"There was this long ice area and we crossed it...and then arrived on this island." he continued, his head then following an invisible trail from he ocean to the sands. "We have wondered why there were no herds...until one of my hunters came across meat...that moved...but then held still." A small smile crossed the primal's face. "My tribe got enough food, saved from starvation. And soon my tribe was bestowed with a healthy son."

Morrigen listened intently how good things happened for the tribe at first, and a bit about Askar's son. This was until an unexpected turn of events caused everything to go downhill. How Askar witnessed the first of his tribemates to lose their life and turn into these critters. Then followed by another one. One by one, until only very few of them got left.

"One day the creatures went into a frenzy and...forced themselves on the rest of my tribemates." Askar huffed, gritting his teeth. "I had only one thing in mind; saving my son! I grabbed him, placed him in a crib...and letting him float into the ocean." Morrigen followed Askar's gaze as he looked out to the ocean, grief was showing on his face. "It was either taking the risk...or him ending up like the rest of my tribe." The reddish-brown grumpus gulped. "I already felt weak...with the critters starting to take over my body...but I wasn't willing to hand them over my son. Thus...a long battle ensued. One by one I ate them, hit them...squished them..."

Morrigen shuddered, expecting of what is going to follow next. "In the far horizon...a boat...small boat...and my son's crib. That...that was the last thing I was able to see before I...succumbed to the Bugsnax...and became this."

Askar allowed Morrigen to let the story sink through her mind. She couldn't help but feel...pity for the primal spirit. Having to witness several cultures to rise and fall on Snaktooth Island, always getting reminded what those critters were capable of. The orange spirit decided to slide a bit closer to the primal grumpus and leaning into him, offering some comfort. Askar accepted the gesture and in return leaned gently against the smaller spirit.

"You're not alone anymore, Askar." she whispered to the reddish-grown grumpus. "I...I will help you find a way to...join the Beyond...that's what...friends do after all..."

Askar twitched slightly, but then sighed, gently rubbing the head fur of Morrigen. "I...guess you are right...with the friends part..."

As spirits they were alone, not able to communicate with the living.

But no one said they can't be alone together.

---

Bringing some context: I came up with an idea how the ghosts of deceased grumpuses, who succumbed to the Bugsnax, would look like. This is where Askar comes into play, where he used to be part of a tribe of primal grumpuses and set foot on Snaktooth way before the first Bugsnax Queen emerged. He and most of his tribemates didn't make it, but a few of them, like his son, made it to safety. Askar would witness how civilizations rise and fall, how the "wrathful", then the "benevolent" queen came to be, up until the point where the grumpuses of the present time arrive there.

Both ghosts now know what's at stake, but they can't communicate with the living, not even Morrigen. So the only hope for them is for the crew is the third Bugsnax Queen to give a warning sign in time. Until then both can't do much but keep an eye on the living. Morrigen could go to the "Beyond", but Askar is bound to this island, just like most of the ghosts here.