ORIGIN

Someone was calling.

Sergei was outside--perhaps the others, too; Legion was close by, this time, resting in his quadrapedal shape atop some nearby roots. Reji listened from within the den, and then sent out the call, quiet, along the Hive link. It was tentative. Who were all these strangers who kept coming to their hiding place-? Worry thrummed through it.

"Could someone find out who that is? And what they want..."

Reji slipped up from her den, blinking down at the small creature before her. There was a sort of elegance to it, despite its small size--black, sleek, graceful. She herself was normally so pretty--prettier, perhaps--but now she felt a little ragged, with her caked-mud disguise matting her fur.

Reji didn't know who the Bonebound was, or were; but if the Children of Rot's leader had sent this one, and if she knew enough to ensure she wasn't being followed, well--that was good enough for her. And the mention of Rezik had her ears pricked up in an instant.

"I'm Reji. Nice to meet you, Wilder. I don't know who Bonebound are, I think? But what's this about Rezik?"

Reji stared, for a very long moment, and she might have been thinking anything.

What she gave, however, was a weary "Well, shit." With a soft sigh she pulled herself forward and sat before Wilder, eyeing the cat with a sort of tired exasperation. There was no hostility in it, but straightforwardness, as she added--"I guess you better tell me everything."

Reji listened, and her mind reeled a little. She commented darkly, when Wilder spoke of Rezik being nice to her, a black-humor bitterness in her tone. "Oh, yeah, Rezik's wonderful to anyone he thinks is in power. He looks out for himself, the brown-nosing little shit. I'm guessing he turned prick after he realized you weren't his superior..?"

Reji studied the cat as she shivered, and wondered about that, but Wilder's words were rushing onward and her mind struggled to even keep up. Undoubtedly all of this conversation flowed freely with the Hive, in the background--they would hear it all, of course, though it'd be less distinct to those farther off and in Fornax--but Reji didn't mind it being overheard. They were family, after all; they were One.

Reji snorted. "No, I don't think anyone has ever liked Rezik. The Masters tolerate him because he feeds them information. Who's hiding where. Who's plotting what. They don't really care, but they have to pay lip service to loyalty, I guess." She paused, and added--"Or maybe they don't have to, but they wanted to set an example, after all the rebellion. 'This is what happens to good little creatures' sort of thing. I don't know for sure."

Reji paused again, studying Wilder as the cat got to the part about her brother turning nasty, about having woken him up. She considered this, and sighed. "I don't blame you, I guess. You didn't know any better and it woke me up, too, though I guess you didn't know that at the time. So thanks, I probably wouldn't be here otherwise." And Mother wouldn't be properly served and strengthened, she added, mentally, but she did not voice that bit of gratitude aloud.

"So, wait, was he talking about me or what? How'd you know to find me?" Reji asked, rocking back and scratching irritably at the mud caked behind one ear. "He's my brother, but I wouldn't put it past him trying to send assassins after me and shit. He's a traitor, you know. A real traitor. The rest of us just wanted to live. I had a lover," she added bluntly, not bothering to mince words--she'd retold this a few times, now, and it was beginning to lose its... not its pain, that would always linger in terrible agony, a knowledge that she would never see him again. But it had lost some of its edge, at least. It let her anger come forth to blunt her grief on her end--and sharpen it on the other. "N'chard. He was a leader, a natural-born. Kind, intelligent, strong. He listened to what everyone said. He really wanted the best for us. Rezik-..." Her breath hitched. Okay, maybe she wasn't as capable of discussing it cleanly as she'd thought, but she pressed on. "We think Rezik killed him. They went off together, he came back alone. Said one of the Overseers overheard them talking, and very tragically he'd have to take control of our group, for the greater good, and so on. The others were too grief-stricken to care. I was furious, but what could I do-? I should have killed him," she added, and that honed blade made an appearance in a flash of her eyes, a growl in her tone.

"Anyway, all this shit is his fault, not yours, kid. Don't worry about it." This was said more quietly, and as Reji calmed, she briefly studied Wilder.

She might be useful to the Hive--hell, anyone would be--but would it be a good idea to try and change the Children of Rot yet? She didn't think so. Their numbers weren't strong enough yet (whispered Mother's voice in her mind, sickly-sweet); maybe once the 'Sea Kingdom' was converted. Well, that didn't stop her asking questions, at least. "You said he's working with Astraea? Do you know what it is they're doing?" Reji asked, her face taut with worry, and with long-simmered anger.