An unwelcome visitor had returned to Leo. Whether through fate, or simply bad luck for everyone else, Effluvium was here. It'd returned to Leo, on the day of its' children's hatching no less. It left a horrid, slimy trail in its wake. As before. Grains of sand stuck to its mucous body. Effluvium was unaware of the fact the chrysali would hatch today. It barely recognized the cave. The shore gave it a brief blip of recognition.

No further thought. After a good couple minutes spent traveling along the coast, fishing in the waters, Effluvium would settle along it. Tuck its limbs beneath. And gnaw on the pile of fish it'd managed to catch. It cruched noisily, making no effort to hide itself or its bounty. No effort to look for more to add to its pile.

Until, that is, its ears picked up the cracking. Its basal mind carded through the things it knew that could make that noise. Twigs snapping. Rocks falling. Urns smashing. Bone crunching. The last pair of ideas had it rise, with a deep grumble. Drool began to dribble from its amalgamate of jaws. The faces flexed, various emotions passing over them, none pleasing or safe. Food was food. It padded in the direction of the noise, eager to see what'd come to feed it.


"When I speak."

When I think.

@Creosote @Karambit @Terror
((Family time!))

The stone was inconspicuous- a blend mossy greens and browns tucked into the foliage of Leo's upper beach. The stone was nearly completely opaque, giving no clue as to what lay within it other than a large, vague shadow of a slumbering beast.

Said Beast was curled up rather contently, just awake enough to be somewhat aware of it's surroundings, but still too asleep to really care. Really, the only thing that bothered it was how cramped it was. Maybe if it shifted around a bit, it'd have more room?

Crrrrrrack

Suddenly, it had more room, a lot more room. But it was cold, and now, much more awake.

Multitudes of eyes squinted against the newfound brightness of it's surroundings. It pushed itself up into a more upright sitting position, it's wings spread open, talons digging experimentally into the dirt. It was covered in slime, shards of greenish gemstone and leaves and twigs and small rocks and dirt sticking to that slime. It looked very much like a pile of meat that had been left alone for so long it gained a mind of it's own. All raw-meat flesh and mold-fur, covered in useless baby-limbs and tendrils.

It was most definitely a monster, and it would only get even more so.

It sat, savoring the feeling of dirt and leaves and bugs between it's claws, before something else caught it's attention.

Closer to the shore- cracking and shuffling and many others. It's hodgepodge of a head turned in the direction of the noises, it's many eyes, now adjusted to the light, narrowing to focus on whatever was on the beach. It spotted several shapes, each as monstrous and horrifying as itself.

Family! It thought instinctively. Family! Family!
So, it toddled down to the beach with all the grace of a toddler, many of it's maws parted in eager, childish grins.

I let my horns grow longer
I observed my skin get redder

@Effluvium @Karambit @Terror

Life started for the creature in a befitting manner, surrounded by a symphony. Cracking. The shriek and squeal of stone grinding along fracture lines. Air seeped in, the crisp ocean scent stirring what slept encased. Its first noises were its own addition to the orchestra; the fattened crescent of a chrysalis pulsed alongside a growing whine, the sound blurred by a persistent buzz that caused forming shards of ruby to quiver.

That whine reached a peak. There was an explosion. Red rained down in splinters upon the sand. What followed was silence, fleeting as multiple eyes took in the sharp light that prodded at them. Mandibles flexed to chew over the sight.

Was it angry at being dragged from the darkness?

It screeched. Leathery wings yet unused flittered enough to beat up a storm. Gangly legs scrabbled at the loose ground to try and heave itself to a standing position. Unacquainted to such support being set on them, they collapsed. Another screech rang across the beach.

Maybe?

Tiny claws scraped away at the sand, digging down to propel itself forward. While the mass of jaws and tentacles at its tail tip grasped for a chrysalis remnant to sample, it clicked and keened at something that glistened still not entirely broken. The creature wailed over the chaotic sparkle it saw.

No, it wasn't anger but... excitement. Spurred by unbridled glee, its first set of legs pounded the ground, ignorant of how the repeated impact would make them ache.

It is the last of its siblings to emerge from the rock. The red fire opal it is encased in is just transparent enough to show the movement of something within; something awakening, slowly, but surely. Movement writhes from within—a tentacle presses against the rock from inside and squirms, suckers latching on tight to the stone before tearing away.

It is awake. It is alive. It wants out.

And out it will be, as inevitably, under its efforts, the fire opal rocks and cracks and shatters.

The creature that falls out looks... rather like a puppy, if one squinted and tilted their head a little and looked at it from the back. There's even a soft little fleshy nub that acts as a tail, way on their back; a tail that begins to wag expectantly as childish instinct floods in.

It sees the shambling mound of meat coming towards it not as a threat, but as a parent, imprinting strong enough to override any thought of 'big creature means predator' in its head.

And so the newborn is the second of its siblings to attempt to come closer, its strong front legs all but dragging it down the beach as its weaker back set of legs lags behind, creating the illusion of something sluglike as maws snap and grin with attempted affection.

"Mama! Mama!", the newborn calls, elated for life.

stare in the darkness; is there air? will you drown?

@Effluvium

Effluvium arrives at the tail end of the hatching. When all the children are freed from their chrysalis. It sees the shards. It sees the children. But Effluvium doesn't see them. All it sees food. Small shapes, filled with blood and nutrients. Easy to overpower and eat. It does not see the resemblance they share.

Terror's elated squeaks of 'mama' nothing more than the sound of a newborn lesser left alone. And like a true scavenger, it goes for the weakest one it can see. Karambit's flopping and screeching drew its attention the most. It was reminiscent of a lesser in pain. The easiest to take down. Effluvium stepped forward. Silent. This was the first sign something was wrong. It ignored Terror. Not even an eye on them. A predator on the hunt, Effluvium creeps toward Karambit.

There was no doubt the children's view of their parent would metamorphose into something dark, and unfit for the role of a parent. Without warning, once it was close enough to Karambit, its jaws would spread. Then, it would attempt to snap them shut on one of its' limbs. Not with the force of a curious predator investigating, but an attempt to remove a limb for itself.


"When I speak."

When I think.

@Karambit @Terror @Creosote

Throughout shaking anticipation, the creature's mind was split between observing the fire opal and toying with the unfortunately tasteless chrysalis shard a mouth had latched onto. Ultimately, sibling loyalty prevailed. As the pretty prison fragmented, its wails did not cease. Ground pounding continued, joined by its tail stabbing the shard it held into the sand with each enthused slam. Happiness was a rush of blood across the body, surging up to tease twitching antennae and down to tickle skittering feet.

The sensation demanded action, expression of the feeling that flooded it. If its puppy-like sibling had not moved away, it might have been the first subject of such delight. Instead it writhed. A front leg arced and reaped a weak clump of vegetation with its claws. Discovery of the small bit of destruction led to another strike at its surroundings. And another. It became consumed by this, falling into a frenzy.

All the while, the noises that left it remained loud and agonizing. Apparently the creature was utterly incapable of shutting up.

Joy, joy, joy. Claw marks riddled the sand at all possible depths. They crisscrossed at varying angles. It refused to stop. That was when one of its middle legs crunched and squelched quite abruptly. An emotion intruded with the unexpected bite, sharp as wicked fangs. There was a tang to it unlike being happy but intoxicating nonetheless, especially when mingled with the former.

It wanted more. It needed more. And it wanted to thank the giver in kind for this lovely gift.

Gratitude was expressed much like anything else it'd done so far: shrilly and accompanied by much flailing. What good manners.

The child chirruped and squealed and giggled with glee, unaware of any malevolent intent. It wobbled further, wings spread out for balance as it babbled out noises. It was clumsy on it's feet, often tripping and stumbling, but that was to be expected of someone so new to the concept of walking at all.

It didn't notice it's parents silence, the way it crept forward like a predator. Didn't notice any ill intention until, by the time it was at the edge of the beach, It's parent's jaws clamped on the insectoid leg of it's sibling.

It froze, eye's wide with horror as it watched it's sibling flail about, shrieking shrilly in what it assumed to be pain and fear. It's eyes darted from parent to sibling to sibling, looking for guidance.

Hurt. It thought, watching the blood trickle down onto the sand, Hurt bad. Must Help.
And so, It charged forward, trying to push Effluvium's head back, away from it's sibling. However, the shove was weak at best, barely only nudging the beast, and likely only making it angrier. It's wings flared outward, protectively over it's insectoid sibling, determined to protect even if it wasn't particularly strong.

I let my horns grow longer
I observed my skin get redder

Mother steps past them, all towering body and slimy gait, something red left in its trail. Mother steps past the newborn, and it quickly turns in an attempt to adjust its path back towards it, still calling all the while, deformed mouths and vocal chords calling with a chorusing voice: "Mama! Mama!"

There is silence. No response, no voice that comes from the creature of flesh and blood—it tries, at length, to make contact with their mother, attempting to bump against one of their many legs, tentacles twisting away from their collar formation with a squirming tip, trying to make purchase. The creature, the newborn, seeks physical contact; seeks love, as childish instinct dictates.

It is left with nothing but air, as their mother walks with a bloody purpose.

They stumble to a stop, canine haunches tilting back as they sit back on the sand, a whine threatening to split their voice. Why is mother ignoring them? Why is mother not giving them love? It wants love...

...it does not get love. It does not get pain, either, but that is not an upside; visceral maws so much bigger than its own, sloughing and piled atop each other like dough, open and snap shut.

Its first lesson in life is blood. Coppery and strong; it fills the air like the screeching that comes from its sibling. Something crunches between rows of teeth—horror dictates the newborn as it gets a front-row view of what it looks like when a limb is crushed like being caught in a rockslide.

Is it betrayal that it feels? Hurt? Maybe later on, when it has a chance to process these emotions (if it has a chance to process these emotions); in the moment, all it knows is a sense of steady wrongness, boiling over into protectiveness.

This is wrong. It shouldn't be like this; this is not what its waking moments should be.

It expresses this in a surprisingly childlike reaction—it jolts up from its sitting position, claws scrabbling on the stone, as with a gurgling yip and a snarl it decides it needs to set things right.

It bares all the teeth set within its jaws as it runs up to what was supposed to be its mother (what is not its mother) and attempts to gain purchase on flesh.

stare in the darkness; is there air? will you drown?

@Effluvium

The sensation of flesh being gripped, along with the attempted shove was wholly uncomfortable. It was being assaulted by something else. Its gaze flickered around it, and it was surprised to find the two other prey there, attacking it. Or, at least trying in the case of Creosote. Effluvium was having trouble processing why prey was defending each other. It gripped Karambit silently as the gears in its brain turned. Ultimately the gears halted on nothing. The assault and the screeches blotting out what little thought it had managed.

Effluvium bared its teeth, a growl rippling through it. It would take out its anger on the first thing it saw. Which, sadly for it, happened to be Creosote. It switched targets, the only warning its pupils switching to glare at Creosote. Effluvium ripped its jaws from Karambit. It widened its jaws, then launched itself at Creosote, prepared to bite at any part of the newborn it could reach.

"When I speak."

When I think.

@Karambit @Terror @Creosote

The chaos was a flurry of many sets of many limbs from many different monstrous creatures. The screeching of it's injured sibling and the indifferent silence of it's 'parent.' The enraged snarling of it's other sibling and it's own panicked, primal noises. Flashing of teeth and gnashing of jaws. Flailing of limbs and glinting of claws.

It was so much happening so quick all at once that it hadn't noticed Effluvium's attention shift until jaws snapped around it's arm. It screeched, eyes widening with pained panic while it's wings battered uselessly at the air. Pain was a new and unwelcome sensation, one it shouldn't be experiencing so soon and so harshly.

Stop stop stop. It thought, it's claw rose to strike down on any of Effluvium's maws. Stop stop stop stop. It thought, it's free claw slamming down on the set of jaws that had bitten it, its other arm joining it once freed. Stop It thought with every strike it managed to land. It attacked with all the fear and fury of a child betrayed by its protector- which was exactly what it is.

I let my horns grow longer
I observed my skin get redder