They didn't fear. No, it was never fear, because fear implies thought.
This was older. Sharper. A survival reflex built into the deepest part of their being: unsafe.
An instinct telling them that that thing in front of them… wasn't safe. That they would perish and end if they were to come in contact with it.
Though they didn't understand, they knew still that If they too were to come in contact with the net, they too would scream like their brother. And that definitely didn't feel comfortable to do. It didn't feel... safe.
That was enough. That was all I needed; that simple thought planted in their simple brains was all I needed.
They halted, an impossible thing, two falling catastrophes deciding to stop. Their descent slowed, curved, and then reversed. Their bodies angled upward, rising away from the planet as if the sky itself had shoved them back.
