The Blankets

The creatures called "Falling Blankets" were the first alien life form I ever invented. While the Stareaters may or may not be living, we only became aware of their existence; we didn't directly encounter one. In the beginning of Part 2 of Rome's Revolution, we are introduced to 'falling blankets' by Fridone as Rei begins his trek back to the fallen Ark.

     “You must be on alert here,” Fridone said. “There are some animals that can hurt you if you are not careful.”
     “What kind?” Rei asked. “What are they like?”
     “They are not like animals from Earth. They do not have distinct form,” answered Fridone. “They are more like living cloth or blankets. They are slow but they are strong. Sometimes, they climb the trees…” Fridone pointed up. “They sit up there and if you walk underneath, they drop onto you. The larger ones are big enough to completely cover you up. They can suffocate you and then eat you in tiny, tiny pieces. Do you see the poles there?”
     Fridone pointed to some men in their hunting party that had tall sticks shaped like gaffes. Rei squinted but could not see anything.
“They watch for the ‘falling blankets.’ They move them, they can pull them off. If you are paying attention, you will not be in any danger. They are very slow. If you are with someone, you will be all right.”

Of course, all of this is before we learned in Rome's Evolution that the 'blankets' were really semi-sentient. At least as a species they are. They were descended from a true, sentient species that made the conscious, genetic decision to devolve into the form described above because they just did not have the ability for stop death from raining down upon them whenever the meteors came. They decided the simpler form and simpler brains would enjoy what little life was afforded to them as much as possible.

P.S. Happy Birthday to Rei Bierak. He will be born in 2042, 28 years from now.