Stone in a Silent Glade

[Grumble]

Closed to Leaf and Grumble

Silence can be loud, to someone who is not familiar with it.
For someone who has never heard the quiet stillness of nothing,
Silence becomes a deafening and disorientating shout.



Deep within the Forest of Concordia, a small glade was filled with all the quiet anticipation of a long held breath.

Indeed there was no wind that night that might invite the branches of the trees to dance,
no flowing voice in the air to encourage the leaves to clap. No melody of swaying bough or ever changing wind.
There was nothing.

It was a palpable absence of all things that should be.

There should have been the countless small noises of things living in the glade:
the orchestral symphonies of insects and night birds,
the soft muffled tap of woodland creatures moving in shadow,
as each one played its own part in the endless hunt,
some as prey, some as predator, some as both.
There should have been the sounds of things waking and of things sleeping.
The quiet sounds of existence.

But there were none of these things.

The glade was absent of everything, but the silence that filled it.

The only whisper was that of a sound normally too quiet to be heard, but it was clear in the glade that night, made loud in the echoing absence of things.
It was the voice of stone, and it spoke of something coming.

Shadows crept across the glade as the moon passed high above, they moved as if called from the trees to the sound of deep places.

Yet the sound was no longer as distant as it had been when it had been a whisper in the silence.
It had become a low rumble, the sort of sound you feel deep within you long before you hear it.
The sound filled the glade completely.

The shadows also seemed to fear the change as they gradually moved back to the trees, the moon retreated slowly below the horizon announcing the soon arrival of morning and of something else.

All the while the sound continued to grow; it did not grow louder but rather deeper.
This did not seem to be something the sound became, but rather something it had always been; though until now it could neither be heard nor felt. It was like the depth itself was rising, contradicting its very nature by coming up to the surface.

By the time the Sun began to peak across the horizon, the shadows had retreated entirely.
Left in the Shadows Wake was a curious thing, in the centre of the glade was a small round hill,
it had not been there the night before and unlike normal hills it moved. Indeed the Earth almost seemed to be breathing in time with the deep thrumming sound that came from beneath the hill.


With all the sharpness of a sudden break in music the sound stopped, the newly formed hill collapsing in a scattering of Earth and Stone.

Once again the glade was filled with the quiet anticipation of a held breath.
More so for the lack of the sound that had been.
Yet silence was no longer the only thing that held presence in the glade - for out of the ground had stepped something ancient and forgotten.

Out had stepped Grumble.

[Grumble]

As he moved he held with him all the depth and stillness of stone. He moved with the careful steady pace of patient things, filled with unknown age. Yet despite his care he collapsed to the ground with that first step.

As soon as he had moved his senses were assaulted by the sudden deafening silence of the never ending sky above him. It staggered him and disorientated him. In a single instinctual act of defence he lowered himself back into the ground, pulling the Earth around him within the tunnel before he dared to move again: else he would fall, up into the chasm that reached endlessly above him.

Curious, Grumble listened to the Earth around him; as soon as he could make out the soft accented stone he became completely immersed in the quiet song of the Earth in this place. It was singing to him of things completely unfamiliar, and he could have spent years simply listening to it weaving a picture of the world around him; the small intricate tunnels of roots and the weight and feel of trees that sat upon them, the peculiar sensation of growing grass and that of the gentle breeze. Yet he was more interested still in the absence above.

He was used to always hearing the soft voice of stone as it sang harmonies around him, each song accented depending on its kind. The sound had always surrounded him and though it had sometimes sounded distant, it could always be heard if he stopped and listened for it. At times it had sang to him of something new, of something he had never heard and he would stay a while memorising the sense and feel of it. Indeed, he had stopped for long years the first time he heard voices that were not of the stone. He had stayed for a long time then, listening intently and learning, eventually the voices moved on and content so did he.

Yet this was different; this song was disorientating, new even. The voice of stone seemed strangely accented and muted from what he was familiar with.

Intently he felt for the voice of stone far above him, seeking the faint voice in the void that would comfort him in its familiarity. He waited and he listened … yet only silence answered.

[Grumble]

The Sun however did not wait for Grumble.
Instead it chased the Moon across the Sky as it always had done since time forgotten, and it was near half way before Grumble noticed the change in the Earth Song. His focus had been so much on the un-ending void above that he had near forgotten the on-going song around him. There was warmth to the voices now, they seemed to change and grow more coherent as they were touched by the heat of the Sun.

Grumble was startled by the change. This was familiar, but it was the familiarity of an old memory.
This was the similar to how the deep stone had sung of the source … it was not as strong a voice as that crashing upon the Sea of Stone but it felt ... related. Akin but distant.
He felt it then the heat of this second source high above him, warming him as he sat.

He relaxed then as realisation began to course through him with the heat of the Sun. Though he could not hear the voice of stone high above, it seemed reasonable that it still existed, it always had before, a firmament of Earth and Stone far above the reach of his senses. Distant but not unreachable. How else would the source above, this new second source, be held in suspension above him in the seemingly end-less void.

He was practical after all and this seemed the only sensible way to think.
That and he had heard of this place before.

This was The Eternal Cavern.

It was real and he had arrived. Not only that but the second source seemed to be real too …
Slowly and carefully Grumble emerged from his hole and felt around him.

This was the place; this was where he would finally find it!
He just had to work out how ..

Yet before he could organise his thoughts any further than that, the Earth spoke to him of yet more new things and these were coming his way …

[Leaf]

Snuffle. Snuffle, muffle, huffle - YUM!

"Hey, hold up!"

The breathless, excited and timid voice of Leaf van der Terra filtered through the trees. He was breathless because he was running, trying to keep up with those that had scented, and longed to devour the small treats they had found. He was excited because of the fact that they had found such good treasures, and he was timid because that was the way Leaf the faun always was. The quiet faun, the kind one, so unlike his half-sister. Or that was what those of Radasanth said.

Beneath his hooves twigs snapped and young saplings cracked, those that had barely had time to say 'hello' to the merry sun above. But this did not bother the man who was usually beloved of all life. In his heart he knew they would grow back. Branches also brushed past him with their sweet green leaves, some of them catching in his curly soft locks - but he did not stop to pull them out. Plants grew back, shootings rematured, blossoming into new buds, new life, once more ready to rejoice in the open sky. Every creature on the world stole life, whether it be vegetation or other meat, and then gave life in the form of their young or their assistance in pollination. The greatest cycle of life was ever revolving, much like Fortune's own wheel.

In addition, he was swiftly in a rush, in a desire to get to where the snuffles were coming from. Deftly he ran, gently he shouted, towards the small copse of oak trees where the snout awaited him.

Snuffle, muffle, huffle.

"Nooo," he chuckled, sweeping down. His arms slipped under the tiny creature's torso and lifted it into the air. Resting it, or rather he, against his chest, he smiled at the piglet, calling him by name. "You really don't know when to stop, do you Thor?"

Thor, the boar, who was the image of a tough, cute, brown piglet, squealed in protest about being picked up, and thrashed his tiny trotters. Straight into his mind he created a connection to the faun who held him, and spoke.

Yum yum there, he said, Smelled it, Leaf-daddy! Smelled it!

"I am sure you did," Leaf said, twisting his arm. It released his hand enough to scratch the piglet's belly. I am sure you did.

Chaos enshewed in the form of two other pint-sized creatures crashing into the scene. They were pigs too, younglings by sight, intelligent by nature and communicative by magic. Happily, with news and realisation that a 'yum yum' had been found, they raced around Leaf's hooves with eager anticipation. Snouts raised to the air they rejoiced in what they could smell.

Yum yum, yum yum, yum yum!

[Leaf]

With joy, he laughed. Paradise, it seemed, had come to this small woodland rest. Mostly convinced that Thor would not go and attempt to dig up the 'yum yum' - that was, a woodland truffle - he placed the largest boar on the ground. He merrily joined his two siblings, dancing in a slightly intoxicated fashion. It seemed they were drugged up somewhat on this particular scent, which was good news for Leaf. A more attractive smell of a truffle meant a more rare truffle, and for Leaf this meant more money.

Wiping his hands on his chest, covered in boar fur as they were, Leaf took a step forwards, over the encircling piglets. Letting them continue their antics he moved one hand to his belt, the only item that could be deemed "clothing" that he wore (due to his species nature) and took up the forked trowel - his key precision truffle-farming tool. Shifting it so the handle lay comfortably enough for a good while's dig, he bent down, debating with himself whether or not to go to his knees.

He decided to go to one, folding his awkward backwards-kneed faun legs into submission.

Yummmmmm ... The pigs hummed.

Leaf shook his head in amusement, his happiness resting in these pivotal moments of peace.

Slowly, careful not to disturb too much of nature around them, he touched the earth with the tip of a trowel prong.

Just as something in the distance ... exploded.

Or rather, erupted. Roots cracking, grass upsetting, mounds of soil moving. A clear sound of disturbance could be heard across the bright spring day's serenity; something uncomfortably close.

Immediately the piglets began running, their immaturity dying in that moment. Leaf, likewise, sat up, his slightly tapered ears twitching to the sounds of destruction. Their four faces turned to the east, and their four figures stilled, then rose, all silenced in that capture of time. Leaf's hands fell to his side, and his mouth opened as the sounds of breaking earth did not cease, but rather - got worse. A thick lump came to his throat at this horrible chaos in Eden, fearful for the life of the forest.

It was the echoes of the rocks falling, a tree creaking in agony, and vegetation weeping that caught his imagination. The three pigs were frozen in instinct, lost for the moment of indecision of what to do, of whether to fight or flight, confusion reigning over their hearts. But Leaf was more emotional. He was more furious at whatever thing was causing this disorder, that was not an earthquake, hardly natural due to the randomness of the sound, and so far from Alerar that it couldn't be one of their digging machines could it?

Leaf-daddy ... Thor said, worriedly.

Leaf stuck out a hand, stopping him, "I will deal with this," he said, firmly, physically.

And he stepped over them for the second time. Straight over them, right through the trees. Mad and livid he was determined to stop whatever it was who was ruining this forest, striking a discord in the melody of nature.

[Leaf]

With the intent to seem hopping mad with rage, he exploded onto the scene, sickle in hand and flourishing, after having drawn it out on his run here. His mop of curly hair was filled with leaves and his face was caked with dirt and scratches, making him look something like a forester, or else a child dressing as a highwayman.

The clearing was quiet and serene now, though its chaos was clearly defined, with mounds of earth and plants having been exploded, settling dust and exposed roots lying around the area that had been disturbed. There was a lack of birds singing, and a lack of movement, apart from the waving sun twinkling high above. Leaf came to a standstill, frozen as if encapsulated in ice, arms upraised, mouth open after roaring his discontent at the noise killing nature ... and his voice quietened, much like the birds.

Settled to silence, much like the singing warblers and bluejays and blackbirds.

Stunned to this statuesque quality was by no mere circumstance. His anger was well deserved for his reasoning - for indeed nature had been uprooted here. She had been upset, over-turned, mutliated, her peace unkept. Though, quite what had made it, had created it, was something rather not entirely evil or demonic. Nothing, such as a mechanical digging machine created by the engineers of tomorrow. Nothing as dangerous as a tiefling from Haden raging around this place. Nothing nearing a necromancer, raising corpses from their peaceful sleep in order to bring destruction to the world - nothing anywhere as near as terrible as this.

No, indeed. It was - well. It was.

It was a creature Leaf had never in his life seen before. And this was from the merchant-farmer who lived in Radasanth and had seen all life, from archangels to lizard-children.

Mouth slightly ajar he stared in wonder at the huge formation of stone-like flesh and oddly-formed limbs that had burst out of the ground like a newborn child. A thing which was looking around it with a pointed snout and invisible eyes, with great claws for front legs and a torso almost tall enough to block out the sun. Leaf's arms slowly fell and his mouth gaped wider, gazing at this - this thing who was - had to be alive for it moved, although gently. So calm and soundless, so strange and earth-full.

Certainly Philomel would be pleased by its qualities.

Suddenly the scene was upset by the piglets. Excited apparently, they burst from the foliage where apparently they had been hiding. Leaf, in his ignorance, had been too preoccupied with this new creature to even consider where the suidae tinies might be. No longer expressing rage, but instead full of joy, they rushed straight to this thing; the prepetrator of the destruction by where he sat in the middle, but a being as innocent as the next. So slow he - she - it moved, so confused he seemed, that it was beyond anything the faun knew to place him at fault.

The pigs snuffled around the stone giant, snouts scouring over what seemed to be a powerful hind leg. Trotters once or twice were placed on what had to be flesh - though it was something that reminded Leaf more of a cliff face - however the sniffing was far more of an interested action.

Smiling ever so slightly, the faun truffle-farmer began to approach, careful to avoid any sudden movements. He tried to catch its - his eye, though there was definitely not one. Even though this large creature, perhaps eight or nine feet in height, reminded Leaf definitely of a badger.

He came to stand a far enough distance away as to be safe, but also friendly, right before what he assessed to be its head. Calmly, he called the piglets to stop.

"Sorry for them," he said, with an awkward grin, "They are um ... just curious. Yes." Pause. Breathe. Pause. Shakily, he raised a hand. "I am Leaf. These are Cookie, Thor and Popsy. Who - who are you?"

[Grumble]

Grumble listened with patience and gentle curiosity as the Faun and its dependants approached.
He could not see them, but rather felt their presence in the Earth itself, listening to the subtle changes that denoted their very nature.

Instead of appearance, he noted their weight and the way they trod upon the ground; he felt the three small ones as they patted the ground in a chaotic rhythm of four, he felt the one that moved on two, it pressed more upon the ground but it moved with more order than the others, it moved with the ground and disturbed it less ...
Yet it moved with urgency that he could not understand.

Indeed, it was a confusing thing, the faun’s rapid movement through the undergrowth left little time for Grumble to translate. The Surface song of the Earth was still a subtle thing to him and though he had waited and listened to it for some time now, this was the first he had heard something traverse across the top of it. This thing had not even kept to the usual rules of the song as he knew them and instead produced a chaotic staccato as it leaped across roots and fallen branches in rapid approach. For brief moments the faun had vanished from the Song and Grumble had lost track of him, brief moments of silence, before re-appearing again to trod the Earth once more …

The instability of it all shook Grumble … could creatures simply fall in and out of existence in this place … were things really as unstable as that?!

Grumble gripped the Earth slightly more firmly, worried that he too might disappear. He already feared falling into the chasm far above … now he feared his very existence falling away, how troubling this place was.

He pondered over this new dilemma to himself - must you move quickly to stay fixed upon the Earth like these ones did? He was not sure he could move that fast. He had certainly never tried … he was not sure he wanted to.
Troubling indeed …

It was not long until the creature stopped in front of him.

Grumble was startled, though he did not express it openly. He was not sure what he was more surprised at, the sudden change in the Song or the clarity of the thing that stood before him now, he could sense it but it also seemed to weigh more now and have more substance than it had on its approach. The same was true of the light ones … though not as significantly, as they continued to move rapidly around him.

Perhaps that is what it was … perhaps if you move too fast in this place you lose substance.
That made more sense to Grumble, when he thought about it more, the Air had moved with the creature when it had approached and the Earth did not move in such a way. Perhaps the creature had become more of the Air in that time and less of the Earth and now that it did not move it had returned to being of the Earth again …

Grumble was not familiar with such rapid changes of state, it made him uncomfortable.
Did it just apply to this creature or could it affect him as well in this place? Certainly he would not move as quickly as that creature had and he was more of the Earth than this thing … so he should not be at risk of losing his existence. Still, it was troubling …

He was still pondering this when the thing spoke … it spoke with the air and the sound carried to him with unfamiliar sharpness. The language was similar to that he had heard through the rock before when he had attempted to learn this language, but it was not like the dulled and subtle changes in sound he had heard through the Earth but short … unnecessarily loud noise. It took him aback and he wondered for a moment if he could speak in such tones. He had learned the muffled and accented tones through Earth … Not Air.

He wondered if he could communicate with such an oddity.
He supposed he must …

Grumble mustered his will and spoke with unnecessary breath.

"Hrmmm, Leaf … how do you not fall?"

The words he spoke were deep but soft in their utterance.
They felt like smooth stone and deep earth and spoke the fear of unfamiliarity.

He turned his head to the creature and asked again …

"How … you keep your … existence?"
"Hrmmm?"

[Leaf]

Leaf blinked for a moment, terribly confused. The piglets continued their curious snuffling, perusing this strange eye-less creature with a great interest like no other. The faun frowned, allowing his brow to wrinkle in bemusement before he paused, and then answered the giant stony being with like causality.

"I don't fall," he said, softly. "I just ran here? Pray tell," he noticed the way the monolith creature seemed to be using its ... hands to grasp the earth around him. "What manner of being are you?"

He is earthily, the first pig, Cookie, said. He raised his ginger body onto his back trotters and kicked his fores into he air. Snorting aloud he pivoted in some weird movement, not unlike a ritualistic dance, and ran his way back over to Leaf.

Deep earth! the second pig, Thor, declared. Raising his snout he oinked a decision, and attempted to climb the stony badger's leg. The great thing moved so slowly Leaf was unsure if it would even notice this ambitious boulder-er.

Down, down, down, deep! the third pig, Popsy, concluded, wriggling around in delight. Using her muzzle she tried to snuggle underneath the arm of the questioner. Between side and arm there was the underneath of the elbow, that snuggly warm part that was excellent for cuddles. Though this being was hard of skin she could tell he was soft of nature and thus she tried to get closer, calling, Pet, pet, pet!

"They say you smell of ... the deep earth?" Leaf said, "How can this be?"

Overall this was a bizarre situation. As far as Leaf knew there was the surface of the world and then that was all. Beyond the darkness of the mines that faun kid were told horror stories about, there was supposed to be naught - naught but the heart of the beating world and the core of all existence. It was likely, in fact, that not even the deep-dwelling dwarves knew what was down there. Whether it be more soil, more rock, more love, more warmth, Leaf did not know but he could certainly guess. Or imagine.

Though ... though this being lived to shake all that apparently. Coming up from the underneath, smelling of a deepness beyond reality, or what reality this faun knew.

"Where do you come from?"

[Grumble]

There was a long silence before Grumble responded. His mind was occupied with far too much, all the world was filled with a new and unfamiliar music and the voice of the one who moved on two was just a subtle part in the cacophony that surrounded him.

Grumble struggled to focus on the creature’s speech. It was much easier to listen to the size, weight and movement of the one who moved on two, than decipher the complex subtly of his voice of air which flowed like a gentle breeze as Leaf attempted to comfort him.

The dependents too, the ones who moved on four, were a complex rhythm of weight and movement all over and around him. He felt their presence and the gentle whisper of heat and life from them much more strongly, as they attempted to climb upon him. They spoke too with the ever changing voice of air, yet they were more like miniature gales in their excitement than the gentle voice of the faun. It confused and bewildered Grumble as he tried to decipher the cacophony.

He was patient and methodical in his approach, however, and decided to answer all of the voices in turn.

First he answered the Voices of Stone and he sat with all of his weight upon the Earth and made no movement, for he was yet unsure that the creatures held meaning in their movements and how they pressed upon the Earth and he did not want to confuse things with unintended meaning.

Indeed sometimes they had no presence on the Earth at all - though perhaps that was just his perception. Could it just be that they had no weight upon the Earth when they had moved?

Indeed, if they could change their weight like he could then perhaps they could reduce it to a negligible or no weight, not that he had ever tried such a thing, he would have had to have negligible or no size for that to be the case and that sounded too much like non-existence. They were however much lighter than they should be for their size, perhaps then they could get to no-weight before they became no-size, but then they felt more like soil than rock ... but not much like soil either ... more like water ... but even that felt incorrect somehow - though he could not put his mind on how. The little ones seemed to prove it though with their boundless energy, small size and small weight while the one on two was moving only a little, was larger and had more weight.

At very least the disappearance appeared to be a conscious decision when these creatures 'ran' or 'lost' weight. Grumble intended to do neither and so he pressed his full weight upon the Earth and did not move and slowly ... carefully removed his grip. He waited ... and he did not fall.

He then thought back to the Voices of Air... It had asked him 'how he smelled of the Deep Earth ..?'

This was an aspect of the language that he did not understand; Grumble did not have a sense of smell, at least not in the way that these creatures meant it. Grumble could no more smell than he could see the world around him, yet that did not make him blind for he could hear and sense the Earth around him. So he assumed Smell was related to what he knew, Sense or Hearing … perhaps with these creatures who speak with the voice of air rather than the voice of Earth it is how they sense the voice and music of the Wind?

But then what does the Wind know of the Deep Earth?

That was not to say that Wind did not exist in the deep places.
It was in the deep chasms and in the movement of a falling stone but it was not the same voice as that which the creatures spoke but Grumble answered as well as he could:

‘Hrmmph, I am Deep Earth and I am from Deep Earth …’

[Leaf]

Immediately many questions began filling Leaf's mind.

He circled the creature - or at least leaned left and right in order to gain a better picutre of him. The narrowing muzzle was downwards facing, and its ... mouth of sorts (at least there was a seam) did seem to be making movements when he spoke in that strange defining voice. The whole assemblage of this mighty being was grey-brown, mottled and somewhat varying over his huge mantle. It spoke even more of the earth, the stone, the very source from which all is born, making Leaf gawp slightly.

Thankfully the creature had no eyes, else he may have been offended. It could not be known of the culture of him if gawping meant ill or not, for the creature was very new to Leaf and all his comtemporaries he knew - but if if gawping was, well. It was silent.

Silent as nature around them as all of the birds stopped their singing to watch also. To gawp also, in utter wonder.

Quietly, in his and their minds, Leaf called back the pigs. Cookie was good enough to have stayed already by the faun's side, Popsy left it/him right direct. Thor, however, seemed to find it amusing to continue to attempt to climb this new mountain. Leaf sighed, and walked over to lift the piglet right from the leg of ... the deep earth mole.

"Very nice to meet you," he decided was the best response to everything. "I am a faun ... I am of earth too. So we are like kin ...?"

[Grumble]

Months could have passed in the Silence that followed the Fauns words.

Instead of immediately responding Grumble continued to sit, quietly contemplating the words and the world around him.
He had felt a slight sense of loss as the small creature was lifted from him, to the extent that he even moved his head ever so slightly in the direction it had gone, as if to be sure the excitable four legs was safe. This in itself was a peculiar sensation he had no particular connection with the creature, indeed its restless energy had predominately confused him at first, but it had not been afraid. It was a mere pebble to him and yet it had not feared falling from the world as he had and that alone had inspired a modicum of confidence in the Terran. From that slight sense of security he had re-assessed the world around him and his place within it and he had felt very alone.

Though he was used to being by himself in the deep places, he was not used to feeling alone. He missed the song of the Deep Earth which was to him his true kin.
The two legs though had offered words of comfort and kindness and he was fond of the four legs so he felt re-assured and pleased at the meeting.

'Good Meeting ... Earth Kin'

He seemed to taste the words as he spoke them unsure of how to put his thoughts across.

'Hmm... You say that you are of the Earth yet you move and speak with the Wind ... Yet there is something of the Earth about you … Faun ... but if Earth you are your song is strange and unfamiliar to me’

He stopped and fell deep in thought, trying to search his memory for something long forgotten.

'Hrmmmmph ... deep deep deep relation .... perhaps .... hmmph '

After a moment longer he gave up searching his memories and seemed to remember again where he was and looked up as if towards the Faun and his dependents.

'Oh ... you need not move the little ones ... I do not mind them ...'

[Leaf]

Leaf watched the strange badger-stone-creature with curiosity as he spoke. It occurred to him that this was literally the time of stone itself - a long period of slow movement. Or maybe more language of the deep-earth, beyond the crust which Philomel knew of more than him. Of course, he knew of soil and dirt, being a farmer, but beyond that, in association to the magics of the earth itself he was dumb.

Beyond that, in association with Drys. The mother of all fauns, the goddess of trees.

He paused, thinking many things whilst Grumble spoke. But whereas he had patience, the piglets had none.

Popsy broke away from the group, turning her little curled tail to leap and prance over the grasses. Her tiny pink trotters were muddy but they were still visible as being pink as she ran. At first it looked as if she might head straight for Leaf, and he even bent down to open his arms to welcome her. Yet - yet.

He could sense from her extreme excitement. Boredom had grown in relation to the strange stone creature, but interest ad grown in the previous prize, the scent of scents. She picked up the smell of the truffle again and flew towards where it might be, oinking with renewed excitement. Meanwhile her brothers were in a daze, between confusion of following her and sticking with the deep-earth being.

[Grumble]

Grumble watched the tiny creature disappearing off into the bushes at the far end of the glade with an expression somewhere between gentle amusement and deep loss, yet deeper still lay a curiosity like that of the young pig.

It was like watching an ancient hermit, old beyond counting and tired beyond measure, coming across a memory of days long ago, when movement was not a chore, the world was new and exciting and the sky never ending .... a sensation somewhere between joy and misery of age and youthful discovery.

This was not conveyed by mere surface expression, a gentle smile or a glance.
Though the creature had done these things.

Nor was it a look in the eye ... for the creature had none.

This was a sensation deep in the Earth itself, felt more like a sound, like the Earth was trying to express a deep emotion on behalf of the creature who knew not how.

With a great effort Grumble moved. Lifted himself up on to his hind legs; stone, gravel and dirt falling away and spreading across the glade as he climbed completely out of the hole. The hesitance he had originally shown temporarily stayed by his curiosity as he took a heavy step towards the excitable pig and the surface world.

'Hrmmmpph ... What have you found ... tiny thing ?