ORIGIN

Juggernaut had thought the time without his sisters would pass at an agonising crawl. He could not have imagine a life without their presence, physical or psychic - but Mother had kept them busy. Dontaceal also. He could not help but regard the creature with a petty suspicion. What had he done for them that Mother could not? The brief connection to the greater network had been a hurricane of similar thought, but none could come close to Mother's.

His emotional reaction had been strikingly similar to a child of a single parent who had just introduced their new partner. He'd warm up to the idea - eventually.

It was not to say Alcina and Bone's absence had not hurt - even as its injuries sealed over with new tissue, their loss had been a constant ache from within. It wondered if it had remembered how bleeding had felt from Bone's last moments. The grief felt like a damaged artery, always leaking.

It had spotted the glittering chrysalis amidst the sand, scuttling forth and settling by Alcina's side. his limbs tucked beneath him, he sat and waited for her return. His gaze settled on smaller things as he passed the time: The scuttling of a (smaller, inferior) crab on the sand, the circling of something winged from high above - he kept a pair of eyes on the rock outcroppings, in case the dragons would take offense to his presence. But even as his attention drifted, one eye remained fixed on where Alcina lay.

Mother would bring her back to him. Mother always repayed her debts.

All attention is ripped from its surroundings with the sudden trembling of the hollow stone. Should he help? Would he hinder, even hurt, if he tried? All he knew to do was wait just a little longer, to have faith in his sister.

It winced at her sudden expulsion, unable to do anything to soften the fall. It can only loom over, studying her form for any residual flaws. She seem smaller than it remembered her, more fragile. Its guilt rocked through it in waves - if he had succeeded, he wouldn't have to worry like this. It was through his failure that she had been harmed so greatly.

Alcina struggled to her feet, and Juggernaut can only hope this unsteadyness was simply an effect of the hibernation. Now, to explain... "Do not strain - you are safe. Be gentle. He echoed Mother's calm, or attempted to. "We lost this cave. You were hurt badly, by the creature Vargas." The guilt was not addressed directly, but present in its tone.

"We won the war." The only reassurance it can offer. It chose not to mention the absence of Bone's chrysalis, or how brutally they had been beaten in that fight. "You must be exhausted. What do you require?"

While it did not flinch at physical contact, feeling swirled at the sensation - it remained alien. Pleasant? Maybe. Neither of them could really manage a proper hug, not with the tools they had been given, and the practicality of the act was not lost on him: Alcina was weakened, and he was the closest supporting surface.

But it was... nice, he decided. To have his family at his side again.

Concern flickered through it again. It felt as though she had yet to leave the battle, with her words brave and her attitude bold: Both exhausting. "You should see Eridanus. I have not - but I've seen the echoes." Images sent down the line, which he reflected to her now - foggy like a dream. "When we visit, we will know it truly. I hope you will be with me." Half offer, half a vision shared.

Alcina was hungry, as it had expected. There was the logistics of the hunt that it had not yet confronted; Juggernaut was not built for stealth or given the speed to compensate. But they'd cross that bridge when they got to it. First was actually finding something to catch.

There was nothing large on land, but a flicker of smaller fish in the shallows caught a few of his eyes. "Fish?" He was not a picky eater himself, but he understood if his siblings could not stomach the things. While he enjoyed seafood, he got the sense it might be a niche taste.

The unique kind of ease in communication was present in all interactions with the Hive, but it found a unique sort in this moment. While all of them where his siblings, his truest family, he felt closer with his broodmates - Alcina in particular. They were different of course, with flesh comes diversity. He was gentler, passive, she was sharper, reactive; But they complimented each other in their variations. If they could not accommodate, they could at least understand.

Its mind flashed to Ace, and it decided that perhaps this bond was more incidental than it had assumed. Even blood could be difficult to relate to.

Its sister took a seat [the wobbling made it wince] and it scuttled to the ocean, the water lapping a quarter up its limbs. It took time for the fish to reacclimate, accept this bone white sentinel as part of the environment, unaware of the limb it held above the water's surface. When the time was right, it threw down its javelin, skewering a fish larger than anticipated. It moved back at a diagonal, its gait made awkward with the occupied leg.

With a shake, the fish slid gruesomely down its spear, landing with a muffled thud at Alcina's feet. Juggernaut awaited her approval.

The fish offered still felt like a measly compensation ['sorry you just died, here's a snack'], but there was little to give that could truly balance the injustice she'd suffered. So many had failed her on this beach.

Seeing her eat so eagerly brought him comfort at least. Her fierce will still burned beneath her weakened muscle, and that alone was confirmation enough that she'd recover. Juggernaut would be there to assist her, every step of the way.

"Your presence was missed greatly." He confessed in the words of a collective, unwilling to truly admit how much her chrysalis had destabilised him. His grief had been selfish, and there was no room for the self. "I can bring you home, unless you wish to remain longer."