Even with his underground hive, the young troll still generally had a somewhat busy time when he woke. Sneakmom insisted on him checking the tunnels himself, nevermind the fact that she would probably be more efficient in defending them; still, mom's orders were mom's orders, so he begrudgingly made his way down the dark corridors, pausing occasionally to kick back into place the smooth stones he was slowly collecting to line the floor.
The main rooms were properly outfitted, of course, with proper flooring and amenities - even if some of them were a bit outdated - but the tunnels were created later and, as such, the young one had neither the funds nor the know-how to lay actual flooring and walls. The most he'd managed was collecting smooth, flat rocks to line some of the ones he used most. It made the patrols a little less dusty on his legs, at least!
Generally, there was something wrong somewhere - enough that Amicae was beginning to wonder if his lusus was setting things up just to give him something to deal with ... or scare him, as the case may have been. This day, however, was nearly complete with almost no happenings besides a tiny digbeast popping out in front of him, and who was he to complain about a snack for Sneakmom? So, fuzzy handful in tow, the little troll rounded what should have been the last bit of his morning patrol, heading right back to his recreation chamber.
That was when he heard it.
The low creak was strange, but it didn't concern him at first; after all, being not too far outside of a large city meant he did get travelers overhead from time to time! As it got louder and he drew closer to the main hive block, however, his eyes went wide and he picked up his pace a bit as it dawned on him the noise was coming from directly above the chamber! The recreation room was somewhat small, mostly filled with piles of books that lacked proper shelving, but it was one of his favorites because of the unusual architecture; it was very near the surface, and in the few sweeps since his hive was constructed, a tree's roots had penetrated through the thin ceiling and begun growing across the smooth plane. It gave the room a sort of charming, natural feel, even if he did have to pick up broken tile now and then.
Those roots, however, were suddenly a point of worry as the young troll realized they were moving! With a startled yell, he dropped the ramshackle shield and the unmoving digbeast he'd been carrying, instead lifting his arms to wave frantically as he jumped and shouted futilely once the events taking place clicked in his mind.
"W-what are you doing?! That's my roof!"
It was too little, too late, however, as even as the words left his mouth a trickle of moonlight filtered in from a fresh hole in the dirt.
Daekie
I hope this works for what we were discussing. |D
