ORIGIN

Yellow almost couldn't remember when the caves had been normal. Had it ever been normal, or had there always been some weird weather events going on? Just when they'd thought the drama was over with the Eyes' water levels returning to normal, it started to get crazy hot. Even for someone used to it, Eridanus became unbearable.

They guessed that was alright, though, as long as it was temporary. After all, they had a whole family in one of the coolest places out there! It was about time they visited again. In fact, Yellow thought, maybe they should just... move there. Wouldn't it be great to be near their family forever? Maybe Sebastian would even decide to take a vacation to Ursa, too, and then they might meet him there!

The thought made them gloriously happy. Dreams of a family reunion, not having to worry about the stifling heat: could anything in the world be better?

So they'd packed up their stuff and moved. Well, tried to, anyway. When you were a lemur built for swinging and leaping through the trees with all four arms, it was a bit difficult to carry belongings that weighed a ridiculous amount compared to your own weight. The metal kaleidoscope, for example. And the banner many times their size. The sifaka had struggled fruitlessly with moving it all, and then nearly cried from the combined exhaustion and heat. To have to leave behind their gift from the sentient magic? Or the ones from Mother herself, the ones they'd so loved?

Luckily, Mother had reassured and soothed them, and even sent friends to help. Family! A quartet of flying pitch rats, with their endearing eyes and crooked teeth. Like a messy toddler, if those messy toddlers were helping you move and there was no way to clean them up. It gave Yellow a nagging, irritated kind of feeling, but they did their best to ignore it. The bats were being so very kind, after all.

"Mom, I'm home!" they called when they reached the tunnels--they still weren't used to talking purely through their mind. There were always stray thoughts running through their head: distractions, scents and sounds, screaming birds, thoughts of dinner, etc. The nearby Lessers in Eridanus never minded when they appeared to be conversing with thin air, anyway, so it didn't matter too much.

For the bat friends, the sifaka concentrated, conjuring a banana. They offered this to the nearest sibling, who had deposited their music box by their side. "Thanks," Yellow cooed, very deliberately not looking at their mouth and fangs. It made them feel a little bad--but could the bat feel their warm gratitude passing through the link? Did it enjoy the banana? Hopefully, it would forgive them.

At first, Mother's soothing greeting would be near-wordless. When Yellow had first taken her Gift from Pallas, Her voice had been faint, distant. It had been a murmur of emotion, a tantalizing whisper. Over the last cycle and a bit, it had strengthened: periodically the ever-present (and ever-stronger) presence in the back of Yellow's mind had begun to offer guidance, or approval, or warning.

When they had found trouble in transporting their gifts back to Ursa, Mother's voice had been a little clearer: she had met the idea of Yellow's return with warmth, and offered her servants to carry both they and the gifts, if desired. The gift of banana was met with gratitude from the bats, and warm approval from Mother herself.

Yellow was offered shelter, of course--food if needed, or the company of a Woolly Deer who shared Mother's Gift and a warm pelt. But still, though Yellow was brought into the tunnels, they were not allowed to venture farther in--they were given only the cold, empty outer reaches of the tunnels in which to wander. Only now, a couple days after their arrival, when a full two cycles had passed from the day of their infection--and Mother's hold on Yellow was at last iron-clad--did her voice come again and offer something... more.

"Yellow," came this voice, purring through their mind in a moment of respite, "would you like to visit me in person?" There was no urgency to it. There wasn't even any need, really. Their bond now was unbreakable, strong; they were family forever.

But the offer... if Yellow wanted it... was there.

@Yellow

Oh, Yellow didn't mind waiting--not at all. She knew she had a big family, and it was logical to ease into it little by little, so she wouldn't get overwhelmed! She was sure her siblings appreciated the time, too, having been told before that they were rather shy.

It was very kind of Mother to give her all this space: a guest room, if you will, where she could get used to her new surroundings in private. It wasn't an easy transition from 'rainforest struck with climate change' to 'tunnels under an icy mountain', after all. Yellow appreciated Mother's consideration, and the company of the woolly deer. She liked to fold her scarlet-gold blanket, and drape it over the deer's back as a sort of decoration.

The invitation to visit came when she and the woolly deer were snuggled against each other on the floor, her hands combing gently through its fur. Yellow responded at once, as eager to meet Mother as she was any other family member or friend. "Yeah!" she murmured into the deer's side, extracting her fingers from its shaggy fur. "I'd love to!"

"I will send you an escort," and these words--trilling through Yellow's mind--were rife with love, with warmth, with pleasure that her child had accepted such an invitation!

The Praetor that arrived came slowly, clicks of feet on floor, dipping down to allow its rider to clamber on board. "This one will carry you," Mother assured.

There was no sign of a gemstone on this one--but the glassy carapace held glints of light within, like chips of bright mica. Was it ice? Was one of those, perhaps, a stone? Or maybe the white webbing, stranded through the body, was a gemstone--or the entire carapace, itself? It was difficult to tell, but the creature was cold to the touch, and moved with insectoid precision.

The path would be a long one--an hour or more's delving into the depths, curling deeper through the tunnels and farther out toward Ursa's edges. More than once the Praetor doubled back as it travelled, or squeezed down abandoned-looking and -smelling side tunnels only just wide enough to allow it passage. And more than once, they passed other Praetors--standing guard, or seeming to wait in side-tunnels for Yellow to pass by so they could continue their own travels and duties.

They did not pass any of the eerie statues: perhaps none had been created this far down, however they'd been made.

At last, however, the tunnel curved up, a little--Mother's warmth, and her excitement, swelling along the link. They passed a pair of Praetors, and another, and a third; and at last Yellow's mighty steed swept into a cave at the very end.

It was large--webbed top to bottom, side to side, with white. It was pulsating with fungus, too, and an immense creature--some double a Praetor's size, if not more--lay throbbing at its center. This ~~ugly~~ beautiful and ~~unnatural~~ divine creature was Mother: insectoid but swathed in the silks of her fungus, crowed with the pale light of stones strung along the ceiling, surrounded by her Cleaners and her Praetors.

This room was perfectly symmetrical, and ringed with honeycombed holes--a Cleaner at each side was busy making symmetrical new divots in the rock. Already, many were webbed off, or pulsating with growing, new life--capped with ice or transparent stone, or something similar.

But through it all there was that sense of love, of warmth, and Mother greeted Yellow sweetly--with a voice, and a clicking of mandibles, along with the swell of emotion in their mind (a flood of chemicals to assure them they were loved). "My child... at last, we meet. Tell me: are you happy here?" she asked, worry flickering mind-to-mind.

Mother wanted her children to be happy, of course.

@Yellow

Yellow

Game Master Dark

Yellow

Game Master Dark