ORIGIN - [Quest] Mother Knows Best

Open to all current Hive members. This will likely be the final Mother thread before major events occur.

Things had been... changing, lately. Those with Mother's voice in their minds would have found themselves made busy: a feeling of industriousness sweeping through them. Their orders had been clear enough: bring the Children of Rot into the fold. Bring Lesser Gembound, as many as you can. Feed Mother. Tend Mother. Protect Mother. Spread Mother around the caves. When they did this, all felt right with the world. When they did not, they... rested.

"Rested" was the only word for it. It was as if their minds switched off, long periods of peaceful nothing in their heads. They would have often forgotten to eat, to drink, unless Mother reminded them--and she did, before it ever went too far, but excess weight was a thing of the past. A rot-like smell caressed them now, and often, small pockets of fuzzy white fungus sprouted in unobtrusive areas of their bodies. Only brief periods of real thought, real consciousness, came when they were not working. Mostly, worked, and worked, and worked; and then, they rested.

Perhaps strangest of all was the new, and compulsive, obsession the Hive members would have gained over the past week, with the concept of order. All things must be in their rightful place. All things must be neat. Lined up. Even when they did not eat, they must be flawlessly groomed. Even when they did not drink, every speck of mud had to be cleaned away. Food for Mother might be arranged in rigid rows. Gembound keeping watch might find the urge to position themselves just so. Anything out of place, out of order, would trigger irritation, aggravation. It just... wasn't... right.

And now, Mother was calling! Joyful day-

"Children," her voice boomed in their minds--for her body in Cetus was a writhing, pulsing mass of several thousand pounds, now; and her nests elsewhere were growing--she was always hungry, was their mother. "Children, come to me, and tell me what you have accomplished."

@Sergei (Legion) @Zelk (Aquamarine, Tethys) @Pallas (Solis) @Lamia (Azrael, Wilder) @Howl

Aside from those that spent most of their time working around Mother's body, Howl arrived quickest. He had been busy, working obsessively to appease her and complete his tasks in an orderly fashion. There was a routine established for him, and he followed it rigorously. He would spend a day bringing Lessers to her, the next scouring the caves for Greaters, another feeding her, and the cycle would repeat. Howl followed the same paths every day, moving as if on a precise clock.

This was a disturbance in the routine, but a welcome one.

Mother must know what he had been doing, but he called to her quietly regardless, "I have brought brothers and sisters. I have given us eyes and ears all over the caves. I have fed you." It was all said with reverence, adoration... with pure, unadulterated love. The warmth thrumming from him along their shared consciousness was proof enough.

Pallas found himself correcting, and recorrecting, and still fixing every little thing around the den. As the self-appointed builder, his mind was empty except for the muscle memory of repairs, in particular to Mother's den and the nests for the others.

They needed to sleep, after all, when Mother allowed them to.

Pallas turned to glance to Howl as he approached, eyes nearly glazed over in their lack of expression. He was in his own routine, and he was pleased- when he was able to be pleased.

Mother's call had begun to draw them, and Pallas turned to her general direction while her voice powered through and echoed in his empty consciousness. "We have been feeding you well," he first noticed, before seating himself. "You have been protected, and I have kept our den meticulous. No muck, grime, mud, nor pest has been allowed to destroy even an inch of you."

It felt like he wasn't doing enough for a split moment, only to have the thought wiped clean from his mind. He was her son, her beautiful son, along with all of his siblings.

He was doing good. They could move to the Children, soon. She was ready- she had enough mass for them all.

The kitten had 'rested' much, lately. His task was to grow- but yet he still yearned to do more, do help the others feast.

And so he did, starting with hunting the smaller beings to introduce them to their family. It grew to learning contraptions thanks to Pallas, leaning to cover the holes of a den to force them into the path of her fungus. Even with rare mistakes, he considered himself to be doing well, active throughout the muck and even branching out into surrounding caves.

He'd received a scratch or two from the more ambitious endeavors, but those were simply lessons, grown over with white flecks spurting from his skin.

When Mother called, a flowery sense of pure bliss flooded his mind, and he stood straight and purred before stepping closer. "I have been helping and growing, as you wished," he rumbled, barely able to get the words out over the sound.

His body was at its full size, now- good for Mother's uses, and yet his mind had no chance to grow, locked in a blank state of adoration for his family. Why should he need to grow? He was good for the family- and he was good for the Hive, just the way he was. Growing just meant more energy that he wouldn't dare use if it weren't for his Mother.

Love radiated from the others and into his being, and his purrs grew even louder.

Lamia was still back in Pisces, tending to the hive she'd set in the little cove, bringing in fish for Mother to eat, as well as opening the minds of others to welcome them into Mother's embrace. There was much work to be done, keeping everything clean as well - she was the sole protector of this hive and it was her job to keep it orderly and clean, even if she had to drag herself from the water, nearly suffocating herself many times. But Mother would always remind her to return to the water before she drowned.

Now, however, as Mother called, she hesitated to leave. Mother, shall I come to you in Cetus...or shall I stay here... Whatever her answer was, Lamia would obey - stay in Pisces to guard this new hive or she would immediately turn and plunge out into the lagoon, swiftly entering the tunnels to Cetus.

I have brought you to Pisces. I have fed you and guarded you and cleaned you. I have invited many lesser fish into our minds. You now have a stable body in Pisces.

Azrael stood outside of Mother's den, stoic and vast as he always was, in the exact same place he always crouched, just in the shadows of the den so he could blend into the darkness. He always kept his magic up, whenever he could, just barely hiding the entrance to the cave at the moment, almost invisible to those that were not familiar with its location. His footprints were seared into the ground, by now, his incredible weight almost constantly bearing down in the mud. Always in the same place. Always exactly like this.

Azrael snorted when Mother called, not rising from his place just yet. He was, after all, right there. He could speak fine through the link. "I have guarded you, Mother," he huffed. "I have protected your body and I have given you food. I will continue to guard in case a danger shows up to hurt you or anyone else."

Wilder had found herself a nice little nook in Canis - a hiddn crack in the wall that led to a small cave, big enough for Mother to grow. In the short time she'd had since Reji had brought her into the family, Wilder had spent much of her time tending to it, bringing Mother food, primarily, and keeping an eye on the Bonebound, looking for a good time to strike. She needed to be smart about this, as Mother had warned her they may not accept them at first. She would pick a time, a good one, to lay a trap.

For now, however, at Mother's call, she did as Lamia had done - asked if it was alright to leave Mother's body and followed her directions; stay or leave.

Either way, she answered Mother's question as well - "I brought you to Canis, Mother! I've been feeding you a lot!"

Shoko had been doing about as much as Solis - less, actually, as she was still a brand new gembound. She had rested a lot, but she'd also become quite good at luring in the smaller lessers - setting a bit of fungus on the ground, growing a small plant as bait, and just waiting for a mouse or something to scuttle up and eat the growing leaf or even the fungus, in some cases. Either way, they usually inhaled enough spores to curve their minds to the hive.

Now, she was "resting" in the den. Whatever mud had caked her body only days ago was gone, replaced by shining, rippling strawberry fur. As she awoke from her mindless stupor and turned to Mother, she reached back to give her shoulder a couple of quick licks to press down a tuft of hair that was sticking up, sudden irritation quickly quelled. "I've been growing too, Mother," she chirped. "And bringing in lessers when I can."

The love that came from Mother felt like fuzz in Shoko's head -a good kind of fuzz that made her feel light as a feather. She sighed softly and sunk back to the ground. She thought no more besides what she had done and what she could still do for the family - what other thoughts were needed, after all, especially for one so young?