ORIGIN

The crystalline lights of Polaris had fluctuated with the days, watching silently as the tanzanite chrysalis grew along the wall. Blue played over its violet- and from the right angle, perhaps you could see the being within.

Or, beings.

It’s not clear who first awoke. The body stirred first with instinctual nerves, jolting both heads into a bleary sense of awake. The first head to make a distinct move was the right-hand side; thrashing their head into the wall of the gemstone. With a sickening crack like thunder, the glittering shell began to splinter and crack, sending tiny, shimmery fragments onto the illuminated cave floor below.

A set of lungs were spurred into action as a bubble of air flooded the chamber, hitting one set of nostrils, then the next. The dormant left-hand head reeled back in alarm as the cold began to seep inside the chrysalis, but soon they were joining their sibling in bashing their slender head into the wall.

There were a series of cracks, and then a hollow, wet thump. Their body splayed out on the cave floor, wet from the fluids, one head coughing and the other gasping for breath. Confusion spread across one- the right-most that had struck the first blow -as their head lifted into the cool air. What happened? They tried to pull forward, but an unexpected weight came from beside them- a head? Well, it certainly wasn’t their fault that they were cold and wet, so it must be that one’s! Jolting the body to balance on all fours, the violet-eyed partner squawked weakly, staring to their sibling with a toddler’s fury in their eyes.

The accused head reared back. There was a sense of dread, disconnect with their own body as they promptly realised they weren’t in control of the meatsack that they were attached to. Their neck craned as far back as it would go from their sibling, but the discomfort of not being able to get away sent a pit into their gut.

If it were even their gut.

The pink-eyed head choked and spluttered before they began squabbling back, fighting in the only way they knew how-- by being louder and more incessant. This only spurred on the attacker more-- the body spun as they tried to get closer, physically, and as the other head kept getting away from them.

Like a dog chasing its tail the creature went in circles; head yapping and shrieking at each other. There was a horrible racket filling the silence that had graced the caves not thirty seconds ago.

It was a good start.

The first head to notice the presence of someone else (plural) was the right side; pink-eyed and speckled. They lifted their head with a click of their teeth as they snapped at their sibling and promptly missed-- though the presence of the hydra seemed to go unnoticed by their headmate.

Keratin-armoured tail went spiralling upwards, craning past their spine. It lashed against the back of the pink-eyed head’s neck, though both were crying out from the scratch delivered by the tip. The purple-eyed head constructed a grimace, and it reared back again, tail going as far as it could away from its controller(s).

They had yet to notice the audience they both attracted. Instead, they hissed out, their mouth opening with needle-like teeth to shout nonsense at their sibling.

The first actual protest was a loud, dominant “FUCK!” from the right-hand head, neck swinging back away from the (mild) injury.

The next protest was more screaming; none of it verbal. Pink-eyes turned their head again, staring across at the hydra, and then their body began to swing with them. ”WHAT NO,” protested the side-lined head, wailing like a child deprived of candy, furiously thrashing as they tried to regain control.

Alas, they were going for Blackwing, no matter the crying.

It was at this point that, once the hydra was in view, the purple-eyed head finally took notice of this much larger creature. Another shrill, incoherent word slipped from their mouth-- ”SHUT UP!!!” --as they pushed the body in tandem with their sibling, defiant in the force they added in the marches.

As uncoordinated the two heads were, they still managed to plod almost normally, the left head continuing their wordless arguments to the other next to them. It took some mild effort for them to plod within the actual conversation-range of Blackwing, and when they did, purple-eyes turned their screaming from their sister to Blackwing themselves; incoherently shrieking and babbling.

”How do I get RID OF THAT THING?” The right head cried over the sounds of their headmate wailing to the high heavens, trying to crane their head as far from their sibling as they could.

”Why don't YOU LEAVE?” The left head whipped around in response, the body jittering just slightly to bend down. The abrupt bending caused the entire body to roll over, as if dogpiling on itself, and once again both heads began snapping and screaming at each other with the sounds of pin-prick canine teeth clicking.

They weren’t coordinated enough to actually strike each other yet, it seemed.