WE ARE MADE OF WORMS - Printable Version

- THE LEVIATHAN -

Of all of the ones he'd expected to speak, the tiny Episilon hadn't been among them. He peered at it, its almost chipper words briefly irritating him but he swallowed that down; it wasn't this thing's fault that he was annoyed. What confused him was why it was asking him, instead of Hemlocke, and so he asked.

"What is this task--why would it give us footholds; and why do I need to approve it, rather than Hemlocke?" It was a measured, if blunt, pair of questions: best to get to the meat of it.

Vargas had never been one for small talk.

- THE LEVIATHAN -

"Blueprints..?" Vargas echoed, baffled, and he didn't try to hide it. After a moment he shook his head, with a grunt, his words coming stern but not harsh. "You report to Hemlocke, not to me. You have my permission, but get Hemlocke's before you go. It will report to me regardless; there will be no miscommunication, but your... initiative, is noted," he added, and whether that was a good thing or a bad one was not quite clear.

But one point did bear a thoughtful addition, and after mulling it over for a brief moment he spoke on. "This uproar is a good time to fake hostile departure, you are right on that," and he considered it a moment longer, and could find no fault in that. Had it been its own thought, or Hemlocke's suggestion, or someone else's entirely? Vargas scrutinized it a moment, and decided to give it the benefit of the doubt. "Good thinking."

Another grunt, and a nod, and he left it to speak to Hemlocke instead. He himself turned, pacing away, looking for a place to hide this newest--and goriest--stone.

Nidhogg gave chase, biting at his heels, and though he kicked it twice, it scampered after him--hissing.

Ruby-Beta blinked with surprise at Alpha's command, tail flicking behind it. "Uh, okay..." it blurted out, more instinctive then anything and then flicked its eyes towards Master Vargas. Uh oh. Wrong thing to say. It cringed at the harsh tone it threw towards Alpha, taking a step back and lowering its head a bit, submissively. It had planned on retrieving the Labradorite itself, but it seemed that Master Vargas had other plans now.

It glanced at Alpha, watching it freeze as it stared at Zoisite, many pupiless eyes narrowing slightly. Why? It had always thought of its hatchmate as rather emotionless and stoic...but maybe there was something deeper that Beta had never bothered to probe. Perhaps there was vulnerability after all, hidden beneath all those layers. But Beta couldn't discern what was up with it. It was then that it realized how little it actually knew about Alpha - not just from the outside, but from the inside. Shouldn't siblings know each other? But, then again, they weren't exactly normal "siblings."

Either way, it now found itself with nothing to do. With the others separating for their own individual tasks and its own self-assigned mission now taken over by Alpha, Beta decided that it would simply...wait for Master Vargas. Surely they would be leaving soon, for the new location, or he would have a task for it them. Might as well sit down, maybe feign guard duty some more?

It turned and moved towards the wall, sitting down with its back against the sandy rock and sliding onto its stomach with a heavy thud. It curled its tail against itself, watching the last remnants of the Sentinels splitting off as it gazed off into the tunnel. It was strange, how calm it felt after all of that. It thought that it would be hard to keep together, that this new way of thinking that it had come up with as the Lord had literally tore some kid apart and dragged a new-hatched creation - a bomb, apparently - back to the surface. The surface! It thought it would be hard to know that its life was about to change completely, that it had completely given up all delusions of control in its life, to settle for nothing more then a servant of Master Vargas, a pawn on the table.

But...it didn't have to even try. Because it had all settled as naturally as anything in its head. Beta knew that it had an affinity for ease, but this was something else entirely. This was taking an existential crisis that it had literally been having for the last couple of cycles and just...throwing it away. And it was completely okay with that. The knowledge that it was fine was almost more disturbing, but a moment later, it shoved even that thought away. Because it was pointless. Useless. This was its choice and it was too late to leave it now. It would learn to live with this. It would learn.

*exit

Bloodstone was leaving, but they would be coming back, right? They didn't mean forever-- Koi wouldn't abandon them, right? The grub stared motionless as they were bumped by a snout, offered a few words that rang hollow in their young mind, and then the hydra was gone.

Master Vargas's booming voice shook the ground after Bloodstone, but no one actually stopped them. They were coming back, right?

A lot more was going on, but still, Zoisite could only focus on so much. They stared up longingly at their mom for direction, only for a sharp, stern correction to strike them down. ~~mom~~ no ~~life-giver~~ no ~~alpha~~ NO, Overseer.

Huge legs reached over them, and they crouched down lower to the ground as a mane of bristling quills swept overhead. Slowly, mandibles clicked shut, and they fell still.

They had done something wrong, and they didn't know what.