Reji.

He reached out to her through the connection they shared with Mother. He wanted to talk.

Squelch slipped into Pallas' den and followed the cramped tunnel all the way down to the atrium, which housed a pulsing, white mass of Mother. He felt comforted by Her presence, and even more compelled to protect his own. Which is why what he wanted to discuss with Reji was of the upmost importance; her so-called brother, the snitch.

He sat in with his tail curled around him and waited, patiently. Besides the other original Hydra champions, Reji was perhaps the only one from the old cycles who truly understood what life was like under the Masters' claws, or in this case, hooves. To Squelch, that was no life worth living. The return of the old ways had to prevented at all costs.

All of his training, all that he had been through, it prepared him to pay those very costs.

And he was more than willing too.

Reji appeared from behind the fungal mass, blinking quizzically. She'd been asleep, and missed much of what Opal had been thinking; her own groggy wakening was clear enough to sense.

But Opal wanted to speak--that much she could tell, and after yawning, stretching and rolling her shoulders, she gave him a friendly nod. "We're here," she said, by way of offering an open ear. She and Mother, ever-here, ever-listening.

@Opal Three-Seven-Six

The Opal nodded in acknowledgement. "Rezik." He croaked. It had been awhile since he talked. "I'm going to kill him." He didn't bother to dance around the subject, not with the Hive. Their thoughts were too intertwined.

He wanted to kill him. In helping Astraea root out their old Hive, Rezik had proved himself to be a threat. He was like the Hydra-goers who cozied up to the Overseers, taking pleasure in the new power they had over others. Their prying eyes and loose lips spilled more blood than all the trials Opal ever attended put together. However, he wouldn't act without Mother's blessing.

He wasn't motived by revenge, although he shared in the Hive's collective hatred for him. Taking him out was tactical. "As far as I know, he might be one of Astraea's biggest assets, maybe his only one. The newer cycles do not seem so keen on supporting him." He turned his gaze away. "Things are.. very different now." He paused as his mind trailed off into distant memory; a time were they were raised as weapons and treated as such. He wished he had found Mother sooner.

Shock.

Reji stared at Opal.

Grief. Gratitude. Hatred--for her brother. Grief over what had happened. A flash of imagery, unbidden--Rezik, in his full and arrogant glory, turning and striding away, leaving a dying creature on the ground. He hadn't done it--that much Opal would know--but he'd facilitated it-... he'd never cared...

Reji took a breath, and nodded. "I'd encourage it," she told him, with vehemence. "But I don't know where the bastard is, or what sort of safeguards the Masters have put on him. He may not even be in the caves, any longer-..."

A brief push, urgent, from Mother's mind:

"But he is an asset. You have seen him, in Reji's mind, child: go forth, and bring him down. And if you do, you will be rewarded; we will all be very grateful."

That might have been that, but-... Reji sensed more behind it. She peered, studying Opal, catching snippets of its memories. Its current thoughts. Not revenge, but hatred. Trials... She didn't press, but instead, she asked: "-What drives you, Hive-brother?"

@Opal Three-Seven-Six

The Opal's eyes flicked back to Reji. What drove him? "The future." He said. Memories of the new gembounds he met flashed through his mind. Asimona, Imp, the other hive-members, The Children of Rot, and Septiezal with the neonate he made with another. All born free and lived freer. He admired that.

The Opal had lived his entire life under subjugation, he knew no other way. He needed a master- he needed Mother- to give him purpose. But these new gembounds, they made their own way. "I can't.. I won't.." He choked up, claws trembling as they gripped the dirt. This was very important to him. It was a passion that burned hotter than Hydra itself. " These.. gembounds.. they're special, Reji. They're not like you and me." Was it shameful to admit he lived vicariously through them? After all, they had what he always dreamed of but could never truly have. "They weren't made to serve the masters," Images of the last Trial stirred up. Gembounds struggling along side them. Blood on the sand as sandworms and vultures picked off those who never stood a chance. This was their fate. He balled his claw into a fist. "But they will be, unless something is done."

Of course, the future of the Hive was wrapped up in all this as well. If the masters took back control, the Hive -his found family- were as good as dead. They would not spare a single gem. The Opal knew they got lucky, but next time..? Well, he had to do everything in his power to make sure it wasn't just luck that saved them. He stood up. "I was a Champion of Hydra." The Opal raised his chin as he spoke. The title weighed heavy. Regret. Grief. Pain. "My entire life, I was taught to kill, maim, cheat, deceive- whatever it took to survive. I clawed my way to the top, over piles of corpses, friend and foe, just so I could please the masters, just so they would let me live another day." He shook is head, remembering all the waste of life; how meaningless it all seemed now.

Reji listened, and the more Opal spoke, the stronger her emotions became. They were near-palpable, through the link: open as a book to Opal himself.

Grief. Throbbing, pained sympathy. She'd been through this pain. She knew it. There was surprise, there, that he had served the Masters--she was almost impressed that he'd been one of the Champions. Or she was impressed--but also, a little frightened, or put off. It wasn't that she distrusted him... but to find out that he'd essentially been nearly one of the enemy... No. She pushed that thought aside. He'd been a victim, same as them... and they'd all lost people.

Reji crept forward, attempting to press her skull-like snout to Opal's slimier nose. There was desperate sympathy in it, like a mother wishing she could comfort a pained child. It said that he was loved. It said that she knew how he felt.

It said that she knew. How he had felt. She had lost, too, to the Masters--lost family... And she admired, lastly, his selflessness in this. His willingness to risk himself for the future of strangers.

None of it needed to be said. It was there, clear as crystal, and Reji stepped back and spoke hoarsely, while Mother remained solemnly quiet in the background of their thoughts. This was not Her moment--it was theirs.

"Good luck, then. Kill the bastard. And come back alive."

@Opal Three-Seven-Six

"-I can't let that happen again, I can't. Not to them."

When Reji's nose touched his, he paused, completely stunned. He never expected tenderness; he never experienced it before. For a moment, he wanted to push away, reject it. It was instinct, but as Reji's warm sympathy washed over him like a gentle wave, his tension ebbed away. She understood. He closed his eyes and leaned in. Gratitude. He had only known her for one cycle, but with all that they shared, the sense of closeness through Mother, he felt as if he had known her for ages. With her, he was not alone.

"Good luck, then. Kill the bastard. And come back alive"

The Opal opened his eyes and stepped back. His mouth parted to what looked like a toothy version of a smirk. "I plan to." The possibility of death was never far from his mind. There was a very real chance that he might not return at all. However, he had made peace with death a long time ago, and now, with something to live for, he was no longer a afraid to die. Rezik on the other hand, he'd best start making peace right now.

"You knew Rezik best. Is there is anything you know about him, anything at all? His habits, likes, dislikes, anything I can use against him?" Now, this it what he came for. Intel. The Opal did not survive the trials by being the strongest, nor fastest, or even the most cruel. All he had to be was clever.

@Game Master Dark

Reji considered this question for a very long moment, giving it its due. Finally, thoughtful, she began to list what she thought relevant. "He is arrogant. That is his greatest weakness; he's easy to draw out. But he's a coward, too. You won't see him risk himself in even a small fight. He's loyal to the Masters. And I don't think he can fight, not really. He has some magic--water, ice, that sort of thing--but I've never really seen him use it."

She paused, eyeing Opal, thinking. "If you can figure some way to set a trap and then use his pride to lure him into it, that might work best. But you'll have to destroy him entirely. He's got a nasty habit of turning into a rock," she finished, with a snarl of disgust.

@Opal Three-Seven-Six