Chapter C: What doesn’t kill you. ~Ruth’Moor.

I get the impression my victory in that exchange was lessor that it should have been. The bright one seems too shrewd a tactician for what resources we ended up exchanging in our agreement. We had half expected the pureblood’s interest to be a diversion so they could lever more concession from the hive, but it was not so. His earnestness was a beacon that called to me amongst the flickering light common to human deceptions.

But there was more to him as well. A hidden danger lurking beneath his surface, one I’d not felt since dealing with the Progenitors face to face. His potential is unrefined in the extreme, but among the purebloods I’ve encountered, his was the only one that made my teeth and claws squirm. It is a good thing that I have been assigned this area, because with his mate so close with such a thick heat pouring from her, a lesser mind may have done something unfortunate.

This team on whole, is a frightening opponent. The cursed one never allowed inattention to distract his awareness of me, or his surroundings. The bright one fluttered in and out of the conversation, snatching information and building a web whose purpose I still do not understand. Carved in stone, it seems I got the better end of the deal, but the way it happened makes me feel as though I am indebted should nothing go wrong.

Perhaps that answers this feeling. There are known unknowns they have kept from me, things that make failure more likely on my end. But I know they were not familiar with my kind, all except for the one who withdrew. Too silent by halves, I can’t even recall when it was that he left, but I could tell he fed only minimal information near the introduction. So, if they do not know the Mu’Reign, there must be something wrong with the Haunt, its Omen, or the land’s Titan.

I was planning on leaving behind my God form and bring only my Heroes, but if I need to test myself against a Titan to earn passage… A potential spawning ground or even something as grand as a playground is too significant to leave to chance with less than my full efforts.

I reach the stables and my wholeness comes into being once more, my Heroes frolic and play, stretching themselves after their torpor. Meanwhile, my God thinks deep thoughts with my mind having time and space to digest our meal.

My God is ready to birth me anew, should failure and death come from my mission, but after the incident with the wandering Titan, much of our strength is lessened and still in recovery despite how much time has passed. Critical species took severe losses that will require years of passive growth, stuck as I am in a human settlement so far from the nearest preserve.

I sigh as the decision settles within me to bring my God to the mountain with us. My connection to the Pantheon is so thin that at most I’ll only be able to report failure. Though perhaps, should the worst come to pass, my next self may end up contacting this team once more.

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I believe I grasp why the terms were weighted so heavily in my favor. The haunt is undergoing a species change. The tense conversation with the Titan of this place was made easier when I made it clear the presence of my God self wasn’t a Challenge, merely the consolidation of limited resources.

The phoenix was quite interested in my insights as he escorted me to the boundary. Throughout his travels, he had never experienced any ‘dungeon’ going through such a metamorphosis. But having been through one myself, I recognize the System’s touch upon the flows of Mana and Mako, even with such a different patient.

I cannot be sure, and I shared as much, when this dreamland cocoon will end. There were signs among the younger and weaker of our race that those of us who hatched first were able to watch and study. But translating such an experience to something as vast as a haunt may be beyond even our full collective’s capabilities were they present.

Beyond that, there is both good news and bad. With my Heroes and God waiting for me outside the delineation I was able to briefly explore some of the outer edge of this place. Yet, even in my least threatening form, I quickly caught the attention of an Omen. Once it noticed me, its focus rapidly built to a debilitating degree. Never before, not even when in front of the Queen Herself, have I experienced as many eyes upon me. It was as though each piece of me were being watched separately, and yet all at once.

I offered a gift of fang and bone and in the silence of the forest’s gaze, there were birds of power that fluttered from branch to branch. Closing in on me, surrounding me except for a path outside and away. I spoke in the languages I knew, once again pointing towards the sacrifice of bone and fang, even distancing myself from them. There was a weight upon those pieces for a time as they lay upon the ground, but no other action I could perceive.

The birds stayed upon their trees, and the unseen eyes never diverted from their vigil. Time moved strangely until the sounds of the forest awoke once more. The weight of the watcher fell away, but each minute breath of movement was catalogued, nonetheless. I was merely no longer of sufficient interest to hold their full attention, even despite the full awareness of my positions and actions continuing to be known to them.

There wasn’t a feeling of dismissal, but neither was there much other communication. As I looked around once more, I began to feel vulnerable for the first time in many years. Stuck there by indecision, under the careful watch of dozens of birds, some of which even individually could damage my Voice, my face…

When I moved to retrieve the fang and bone left untouched upon the floor, two such birds swooped down between us. One of them, a smaller bird of heat, while the other was far larger in beak, feather and with a strong grasp of rot. They interposed themselves between me and my offerings, but did not move to take them, themselves. Despite their actions, they seem mostly as mere birds, and I get the impression that something wishes to speak with me, but that these forms are not up to the task.

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I spoke again to the forest, that I would call for a Hero to join me, there was a pulse of attention at my statement and a second when my call pulled one of my Heroes onto this side of the territory. But there was no other response I could notice. This place is strange and powerful and still everything I’ve seen thus far gives me hope.

My Hero arrives quickly, and I find calm with their presence and proximity. Having at least one of my talons on hand makes me feel like I could at least survive long enough to shift back towards my God if I were attacked. Even if there hasn’t been much hostility from this place, the weight of it and the skill its Omens have demonstrated have unnerved me as if I were a newly coalesced.

The time waiting for a change was… unpleasant.

Eventually though, many of the birds took flight at the same time. Scattering from this place back out into the rest of the forest. Shortly afterward my talon noticed a wellspring of Mana and Mako on its approach. I settle myselves even as I am relieved once again to have brought at least some measure of protection in for my Voice. It takes my soft hand far longer to notice the wellspring, even with the talon’s guidance.

What arrives is an exquisitely beautiful mouse of outstanding size and fluffiness. After she makes her way from behind one of the nearby trees, she uses it as a brace to rise and gives a little wave.

“Hello, little one. What’s your name?” My impromptu question serving to rouse me from the tidal wave of visual magic that crashed into me at their presence. Yet even now feeling and knowing that my mind is being affected, when her cute tail is grabbed and brought for a nibble at her mouth. My talon gasps out an, “Awww,” even as they salivate and shake with the need to pounce.

The mouse tilts its precious face to the side and after a moment lets out an adorable squeak. And then the rest of the world begins shifting back into focus. There are another few moments of lost time as I shake my head to clear it and notice that the mouse is now standing at the tree closest to my Voice. She holds out a paw, and while still beautiful, it no longer feels as if she’s the only thing that matters.

I take stock of my mentality once more before cautiously reaching a finger out to the creature, “”

The sending surprised me enough to break the connection. Though in response, she just wipes her face and cleans her whiskers before holding her paw out again. Now knowing what to expect, I rest one of my hands on my Hero and place a finger back in her dainty hand, “”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Cutest. If you’ll forgive me being so informal, but why did you not accept my sacrifice of fang and bone?”

Cutest glances back at the two pieces I placed a while ago when a pair of mice scurry from her and carry them back to us. Using her grip on my finger, she rotates my hand palm up and the teeny mice place their packages in my hand, “”

I pick up the tooth in my other hand, “If the problem is that it lives, I can crush these for you. I just wish to give proper tribute before I present my request.”

At my offer she shakes her head and squeaks in distress, reaching up to my other hand to stop me, “”

My confusion leaks out in my talon’s posture, “I’ve never heard of Rules like that. Though that may explain why my people have struggled so much to sustain our population since the change. My purpose in trying to meet with your dungeon was to see about arranging for a place for more of our children to be born, or even a place for them to develop and grow. What sort of Rules must I follow to facilitate that? I would do almost anything to complete my mission.”

Her fuzzy face turning downcast as she looks away, an answer even before her sending, “”

She looks back up at me and at the connection of our hands, “”

I squat down next to her and finally reabsorb my offerings as I ponder what to do next. She gives another squeak and makes contact again, “

I think on that revelation a bit more before I speak, “There is much I could offer, but also much more I cannot. This situation feels as though it either does require the explicit permissions of the haunt itself. Or it requires a deeper commitment than I am authorized… or quite frankly, willing to dedicate based on mere chance. I would gladly lay down my life for my people if I knew it would help. But I am too valuable a piece to gamble away.”

I stand again and look around at the strange forest, noting the subtle differences in the trees and leaves from deeper in that I can see, “This place has astounding potential. I’ll need to contact my people and see about getting some archivists and volunteers for testing. Our people aren’t dying out, not quite, but it is a far closer thing than it should be. When the Queen Herself changed us to end the war, she didn’t have much choice. We were already losing. We could have run and hid in the wilds, but that’s no way to really live as a society, so we had to adapt.”

I look down at the cutest mouse I’ve ever seen and smile again, “You and your siblings give me hope. If your Father is the kind of haunt to have made you, he might just be willing to help us too.”

The journey back home will be a long one. But a critical step to solving a problem is knowledge. Perhaps this information isn’t new to the hive, but if so, there could be other insights I’m lacking to complete my mission more effectively. It has been a while since I’ve returned to synchronize with the Pantheon. It will be good to see the family once more.