just the two of us - Printable Version

The beests awoke suddenly, a startling gasp from one breathing life into their shared lungs. Tangled limbs kicked and struggled with no coordination, thrashing at the marbled jasper that caged it.

Their combined strength-- their shared strength-- formed a crack in the stone, and with it the ichorous embryonic fluid surged forth, gushing into open air, and bringing air into the stone. Another breath, this one half fluid and half oxygen, dazed half of the beest. The air outside was not cold, but the warm wet made even a temperate breeze nip.

A cry came from the stunned half, but the other felt the crack it had made, and claws scrabbled at the opening, until with an unceremonious plop, the entangled things tumbled into the grass. Gills flared, gasping at air, and brilliant violet eyes blinked the dappled light of the forest into focus.

"H...heh!" Squeaked one of the two maws the thing possessed, much to the surprise of the opposite head, who jerked toward the sound. Two skulls smacked together with a thunk, and then both began to sound an alarm: a weh, weh, wah wah! of two newborns that had immediately injured their shared body.

The Jasper didn't notice the other child with either set of crying heads, continuing their combined song of wailing. It wasn't until the strange hands of another being brushed the cheek of one head that the chorus turned into a solo. Silenced, the head closest to Opal turned, wide purple eyes fixated on the new creature.

And so: the two siblings stared, dumbfounded, at one another, while the Jasper's second head continued its whimpering: wahh! wahh!

The head cradled in delicate, pudgy baby fingers opened its mouth once more, but this time not to cry. Instead, it moved slowly and purposefully, attempting to harmlessly gum the Opal's hand with its mouth.

It could have been described as a greeting, as much as the wordless staring had been. One of the beest's forelimbs, short and stubby, pawed at the air, not quite coordinated or long enough to reach Opal. Still, at least half of the beest seemed soothed-- or bewildered into silence-- by the other's efforts.

It was time.

It had been a full cycle since it had first put life into the gemstones. Now it was time to reap what it had sowed.

It stood sentry on the other side of the clearing- giving it's soon-to-be spawn plenty of space to tumble into the world. It's gaze would occasionally deviate to stare into the woods- typically after some alarming crunch or rustle- but otherwise it stayed focused on the three chrysalises. Watching the cracks spiderweb across three disparate surfaces. It wondered what the creatures inside would be like.

Above anything, they would have to be good soldiers.

It should probably go and hunt something for it's ~~children~~ spawn to eat when they hatch, but it was afraid to leave them alone for that long. As if they'd start to hatch the second it got out of earshot, and then sprint into the woods as soon as they got their feet on the ground. It wasn't impossible, but it wasn't likely. And with it as a ~~parent~~ lifegiver, they would probably leave a trail of oil wherever they went.

It would be fine.

But it still didn't risk it.

It sat, it watched, and it waited until first hatchling emerged. A shaggy two-headed beast, uncoordinated and loud. A second quickly joined it- resembling The Labradorite itself but with two faces on a single head. It would watch the two newborns for a moment, thinking of the other other two-headed beast it knew of.

It tried to ignore the memories of violence that followed.

The spawn- the two that had hatched- were... fighting? No, playing. It remembered, vaguely, of doing the same when it was younger. They were not born monsters. They would have to be trained.

But not now.

It would move forward to curl around it's spawn and the unhatched chrysalis. Frowning at the half-crying beast, it would nudge the Jasper's crying head with it's comparative large snout. "Be Quiet. Be Calm." It spoke- a low rumble. "You are safe, I will protect you."

The mouthing and tasting of the Valk-fae's fingers was met with squeal and cheerful giggling, and the Beest responded to this by pushing its tongue between the individual digits, curling around a thumb. The four eyes that were fixated on Opal squinted with the opposite hand beginning to pat it, and a deep rumble churned down its throat into their shared chest.

Which might have caught the attention of the rest of the two-headed Beest, but as it turned out, the other head was suddenly made aware of a separate entity all together: A massive oil-hound of vibrant crimson highlights loomed, dripping the same substance that oozed from the newborn. Yes-- it didn't take much for the connection to be made in the young one's mind. This was Kin.

The larger snout of Labradorite gently nuzzled the awe-struck child, a soft and deep rumbling speaking the first words that the Jasper would hear. Hushing words, filled with a promise.

"Proppep..." The baby would sputter, lips puttering with the effort of communicating. "Pppbbbt!" The injury was quickly forgotten with this new concept of language, and the wonder of a bigger version of itself.

The chew-toy slash hand that the other hand was slobbering over was removed without much warning or fanfare to instead reach for Labradorite's attention. The Beest that had been preoccupied suddenly noticed the black shadow that swathed them with a peep, "eep!" Thankfully, that was all that happened, as the gem between the heads sparked with a flicker of energy, before sputtering out completely.

It was at this point, however, that the two heads noticed each other properly for the first time since their collision and consequential chorus of wailing. It might have been one sided, if not for the back that the Beest head that peeped began to mouth the protrusion that came from the babbling one's cheek.

"Phepf!! Ppbtt! Proppbeppt!" The sputtering became more of a protest at this, trying to strain away from the head that was literally attached to it by the shoulder, leaning into the big, inky parental creature that had promised protection.

The crying stopped. Good.

It regarded the two-headed child. The spluttering, babbling sounds that poured from the head that stared up at it with.. wonder? awe? ~~love?~~ It took it a moment to realize the sounds were an attempt at speech. "Pro-tect." It repeated, slower, breaking the word into bite-sized chunks. It wondered how long it would take for them to learn words. Understand their situation and place in the world.

Not now. Not yet.

It's attention turned towards the other spawn- arms stretched upwards, grasping for something. Labradorite, it's ~~parent~~ protector? It would carefully press it's nose into the hands. It's claws- it's upper ones, the paddle-shaped claws that were formerly simple fins- remained pressed close to it's chest. It did not trust it's claws to be gentle. It was not as careful as others- like the Zoisite, picking flowers and tending it's garden.

It would eventually remove it's snout from Opal's hands, noticing the... argument happening. The Jasper chewing and spluttering. One side leaning backwards, into it's oily flank. It carefully lifted one of it's claws- the lower ones, the front of it's weight-bearing 'taur half- and maneuvered it carefully between the two heads. All the overly aware of the weight and power of the limb, the sharpness of it's claws and the spikes protruding from it's forearm. The limb would draw back quickly, hopefully after resolving the 'fight.'

The Pallasite still hadn't hatched. It was still smooth-surfaced, without any cracks. It regarded the third spawn for a long moment. What was wrong? Did it need help? Or had Labradorite done something wrong. Had it killed that crow twice, like Oil and blood clouding water. Smokey quartz cracking under the strain of a foreign spark.

Teeth ground into teeth. It forced it's jaws open, breathing out a sigh. It should say something, to the ones that were here. "You are-" It immediately ground to a halt. It did not know what to say, in a way the fresh spawn may or may not understand. "You are my Spawn. You are part of the chaos forge, as am I. You will learn, and be strong." Another beat. "Are you hungry?"

It wasn't sure how it felt, about leaving the Pallasite behind. Maybe it was just late. Maybe it would hatch while Labradorite and it's other two spawn were away. Maybe it would be gone, forever.

Maybe it already was.