Delta, as Orthoclase-Delta, splayed across the floor, watched its body like a nightmare it couldn't wake up from. Its body was smashed against the stones, claws torn free, and the whole time they could only yell uselessly at each other. Panic peaked, as its body mewled and screamed and pleaded, unable to do anything. Its magic didn't come to its aid. It couldn't do anything.

"You did it," I did it, "you did it," I did it, "fix it" fix fix fix--

Every breath was crushed back out of its lungs, like it was being kicked in the side over, and over, and over again. Its lurid green eyes bulged, as blame was thrown back into its face. If it was its fault, why did it feel so helpless? Why couldn't it fix it?! Its magic must have backfired, must have misfired, Alpha was the one who had attacked it-

or maybe you just don't want to let go, its thoughts whispered darkly, you could walk out now, go speak to Master Vargas as his Overseer... Everything screamed. It wanted to wake up.

"I can't," it answered, digging its heels in further, pleading the fifth while every second was dragged out like entrails before it. "I didn't. I can't breathe. Stop."

The Garnet's body was being torn apart, and it couldn't even make a move to stop it. "... stop... stop. STOP." Its voice rose to a roar, so loud that it startled itself. It brought up its limbs to its face, dangerous hooks turned away from the eyes it couldn't close as it shoved its snout under, sputtering with each unhinged breath.

@Orthoclase-Alpha

permission to have bodyswap and our misery finally end: granted

Content Warning
This post contains potentially sensitive material:

violence

strong language

vomit

It heaved even though nothing but acid came up to burn through hoarse throat and gritted teeth. The bile mixed with the spittle forming at the edges of its mouth, dribbling out in fat gobs. Every retching motion sent another pulse of nausea and fury—oh, it was sick with fury!—thundering through its tiny, fucking pathetic form. Bleeding quicks stung with the vomit on them, eyes burning with the refusal to keep showing such fear. Garnet-Alpha sublimated every feeling to rage; no theft of it's body could change that.

Yet, it shook. It quivered. Prey instinct told it to run further from the growling mass on the ground, burying head behind claws. Get your distance, it wailed like the sirens indicating a reactor's meltdown. But, the little alien was already against the wall; its tail was crushed painfully between its rear and stone, fur rubbing the wrong way. Alpha didn't ease up on it, but it did arch its back, trying to compress, compress, compress.

Somewhere, a rubberband pulled—










—and snapped back.

Weight piled onto its being, perceptions twisting in a dizzying spiral. Cramped, seared agony traded itself for a pair of lungs starved of oxygen, limbs being crushed beneath barrel-chests—eyes burning from a lack of blinking. Quills sore from rattling. Every bit of musculature sore from scrambling and strain, even sprawled across the floor. Quills. Quills. Quills. QuillsQuillsQuillsQUILLSQUILLS—

The orthoclase (the orthoclase!) staggered as it shoved to its feet, rocking in starts and stops. It felt out with every limb, familiar muscle memory trickling in with every motion. This. This body. Alpha's body. Orthoclase-Alpha. A hooked claw pricked against one joint, and it huffed at the reactive sting of blood being drawn. It swung its head to the side, reassessing the Warren from this dizzyingly high angle; and, it gasped for air. Filling either set of lungs with bellowing inhales.

Then, the rage.

Its mind spun as it swung its head around, reassessing the Warren from this now-new angle. There, it'd cowered there—and Alpha bellowed, "YOU." A dazed step forward, baleful noise escaping from its jaws. "YOU—" and why couldn't it put words to this? It got halfway to roaring through its strained throat before realizing that would draw attention. In this state? Exhausted, now strung-out, furious? The orthoclase knew that was stupid.

So, it spat from its place just outside the alcove, hatred burning in its eyes despite the haunted tiredness in them. "Don't do that again." Surely, Delta would've felt how worn-down the kaiju was, running off the bare minimum of food, sleep, and water. Teeth snapped in the garnet's direction, just shy of the hole's opening. Alpha hissed again, "I'll kill you." Quills rattled up and up even as it swayed on the spot.

"Don't follow me, Garnet-Delta," and that name was spat like a curse.

Alpha hooked its claws into the rock and dragged them downward; they made a reverberating shhhhhhrr-eeeEEEE! as they went. It growled again, and staggered away from the Warren. Stiff in the limbs, it'd find somewhere else to sleep—once it'd curbed that destructive desire raging through it—somewhere far from that traitorous fucking pebble.

exit, unless stopped
@Garnet-Delta

Content Warning
This post contains potentially sensitive material:

violence

strong language

vomit

traumatic response

For Delta, the sensation was less like a rubberband and more like jolting awake out of a nightmare, only to fall out of bed into a face full of glass.

Before it realized, it tried to mewl again, only to bite its tongue on the gagging it was in the middle of, coughing and spitting on the acid in its throat. Its body slumped for a moment, relief and pain exhausting it as its heart raced on, ignorant and full of adrenaline still.

The nightmare was over, everything burned. Its fur was singed, its wings battered, its claws shredded on stone, hunched over in a pile of its own vomit. Disoriented and numb, it-- "YOU." The beast bellowed, "YOU--" Head snapped up to attention, bright red eyes wide as suddenly the Orthoclase, who seemed all the more gigantic and monstrous, stood over its only exit.

The threat of being killed was not an idle one.

Garnet-Delta, for a brief moment, knew the power behind those teeth. It had felt the strength, staggered by it. Just then, under the oppressive stare of hatred-- deserved even in denial-- it was made a child again.

Small, weak, frightened. Its ears pinned back against the sound of talons tearing up stone like it was merely flesh, enough to make its fur stand on end and its body quiver. It remained perfectly still, unable to process anything but the natural, feral emotions that forced it still and silent.

Garnet-Delta's body melted away, vanishing-- it didn't want to see the blood on its paws, barely able to stomach the smell of bile and its own piss. At least when it retched again, there was nothing that could come up.

It waited. Eventually, its blood grew cold, and its panic subsided into a numb emptiness. It waited some more. Finally, it crawled out from the disgusting smear of bodily fluids, splintered nails and shredded fur and slunk off to a different part of the Warrens. It had wounds to lick and a whole pile of trauma to start filing away under 'CLASSIFIED: DO NOT READ'. Better to never speak of this again. Easier to not think of the consequences. Impossible to know what to do with the knowledge garnered, and too dangerous to entertain the thought.

Besides, it was tired and sore. Its Master needed it better... needed it functional, sooner, rather than later.

@Orthoclase-Alpha for your viewing pleasure, exit