Welcome to Gaia! ::

Now this is getting ridiculous... Wincing from the angered yelling, the drone finally set the journal aside before adjusting his scarred and scratched frames back into their correct place on his nose after they had been knocked off balance.

"Now there's an interesting question! Who. In. Deed?" Janzek retorted, tightening his grip while moving to stand at the same time. It didn't help much that the kid held the higher ground on the stairwell, forcing the drone's stance into a slight bow as he continued trying to peel the kid off. "Been puzzling over that just a whiles earlier actually... Philosophically, one could theorise that it was a result of our general collective!" He continued, gaining an edge in his voice with sarcastic undertones, "All the fuss and tumble of that needless bravado outside causing unneeded stress on a tired, aged body for which we all share a responsibility towards. Would that satisfy you for an answer, or are you wanting something a bit more concrete? In which case, following that same line of thought, blame would fall on Her deceased charge alone wouldn't it? But, no, I can already tell that that would only serve to anger you more... So let's keep it simple and say 'no one'. Not a single person laid a hand on her prior to her passing. And unless you wish to lose your hand, you'll let go!"

The aftermath of the battle against Aendal Volivi was utter chaos. The flames of the jadeblood's final, desperate attack devoured all of his precious plants; his life's work and passion. The flames were beginning to rage uncontrollably, threatening to take down Aendal's hive and whatever little evidence was left of his existence as they licked at the base of the greenhouse-like structure. There were urgent shouts telling the few young trolls that had ventured inside in search of the fabled Mother Grub to get out quickly- it didn't seem like the hive was going to hold much longer. As if on cue, one of the walls that had been heavily congested with vines began to crumble, sending a deep rumbling warning throughout the hive. It was probably for the best to evacuate the immediate area, but many trolls remained too injured to move- and not all of the damage was physical. The ordeal was over and done with; but the trauma was still fresh in their young minds. They had done this with their own hands.

Someone called out and gestured past the blazing weeds, out to the horizon. It was difficult to make out past all the smoke and floating ash, but several figures were rapidly approaching. It wasn't long before a half dozen or so rebel adults reached the scene of entropy, expressions of genuine shock painted on their faces as they drank in the blazing field before them. Their much younger leader was at the head of the party; taking brisk, urgent strides as they neared their new recruits. They barked a command over their shoulder, and immediately a couple adults scurried over to the sides of the injured with first aid kits in tow. As the wounded were attended to, the rebel leader turned their attention to the few conscious. Time for some damage control.

"What exactly happened here- who can tell me?" The leader's voice was calm, measured- they very darn well knew this was a delicate situation, that much was obvious. But what of their objective, and the Mother Grub? The jadeblood's hive was up in flames; it obviously hadn't gone quite as smoothly as the rebels had hoped. Still, it was crucial to gather accounts from the few that had witnessed what had happened. Currently a few of the adult scouts were combing through the immediate area, covering whatever little ground wasn't engulfed in flames. One had even braved into the crumbling hive, intent on pulling out any kids still inside. They would have a fairly precise account of what happened at any rate, but information was always more accurate straight from the source.

The rebel leader perused their lips, giving their head a slight shake as they spoke. "We saw the flare, but so did some military guards that were patrolling near our zone. We had to wait for them to pass- luckily it seems like they decided the flare wasn't worth checking up on. At any rate," There was a pained pause, as the young leader grasped at words that didn't often leave their tongue- they weren't too good with situations that called for any significant measure of tact. Dealing with high emotions was especially uncomfortable. "You have our sincerest apologies. I can see you could have used our help; I honestly wish we could have been here in time." Apologies seemed pointless- what could a few words possibly fix? Regardless, it seemed like the only thing they could offer at the moment.

Their leader fell silent, stern gaze lingering on each of the battered faces of the new recruits. Now all there was to do was listen, and hear what events had transpired up to this fiery destruction.

Taquin had not been resting for long before the urgent calls of trolls rushing past rang in his auricular sponge clots. The fire had managed to spread to the hive in which they had taken refuge and was in danger of collapsing under the flames. Groaning in as much annoyance as pain, he raised himself out of the vines and followed the rest to safety. Just one more bothersome task to perform to save his miserable life. He climbed the stairs and limped through the hallways rather robotically, allowing the more heedful trolls to hurry past him, but finally emerged into the open air and onto higher ground. He coughed into his bloodied wrist, clearing his lungs of smoke, and wearily peered back at the burning greenhouse. He saw the drone's body stream out of the wreckage and collapse in the sand. He was still diligently holding onto the matriorb. Taquin wondered if he should retrieve it, seeing as the drone was no longer conscious enough to guard it well, but no one else seemed to be bothering him. He allowed it to stay in the adult's arms for now, but would keep one eye focused on its safety. Looking back at the leaping flames, he thought it a shame that the poor mothergrub would most likely be eaten by this fire that they had driven the jadeblood into forging. It felt strange to see this blaze without the usual rose-tinted glasses to shade his eyes. He'd grown used to the adjustment of color and everything seemed much more green than it should be.

But forget that, an unexpected volley of coughs ripped through Taquin's throat and pulled at his throbbing sides. He fell to the ground once again as a rusty mixture of sweat and blood dripped from his face into the dust below him. A new set of voices were heard over the battlefield, but he was trying too hard to catch his breath to spy upon the new arrivals. However, he didn't have to wait too long to find out who they were as a rebel leader with a medic kit approached him and began examining his wounds. The troll began pulling out rolls of gauze and sopor pads to wrap up Taquin's scratched and bleeding arms, but the resolute orange-blood silently signaled him not to bother. He may be beaten down and drained, but he was never in the mood to be coddled. He began wrapping the bandages himself, and after a bit of insistence the medic allowed him to do so and left to help with a more dire case nearby, leaving most of his materials behind for Taquin to treat himself with.

He watched the hooded troll struggle to cool a greenblood's burned and wailing face as another met the needs of his friend who sat by and sniffled as he cleaned the sand from his wounds. He wondered where their leaders had been while the chaos ensued. Why hadn't they arrived to stop this entire catastrophe from ever occurring in the first place? Where was their just and charismatic leader when there had been a jadeblood to recruit? He quickly got his answer as the tealblood's queries and apologies rang out among the injured. Oh, what cop-outs. How disgracingly irresponsible of them. He could almost get outraged all over again, but he could sooner grab a handful of sopor pills out of the med kit and swallow them all... which would be a lot more calming, come to think of it. No, he didn't have the energy and he was sure that if he tried to speak his esophagus would shred to ribbons with coughing. He sat calmly and quietly and seethed as he bandaged his damaged leg.

"We… don't have a lot of supplies, though…"

Those words had rang very true. As much as he hated it, Zeffer knew they couldn't take the trip back without restocking...and he hated it because they were gonna have to loot the fallen adult's hive. He wasn't exactly a model citizen, but he couldn't help but feel it would be disrespectful. Completely unaware of what had transpired within, in the basement, Zeffer had got up from the sand and turned back, jogging into the hive (that rightfully should not have been burning, since it had been covered with water-soaked vines. How did that work?). He tried to let his mind go blank as he swiftly filled his bag with much needed food and water, eyes wide, face expressionless. They were only doing what they needed to get out. He found another napsack and filled that as well before heading out, hands full of the plundered provisions, before he stopped in his tracks.


Their lovely leggy leader had finally, finally decided to show up. Adult trolls had already begun to scurry about, tending to the wounded, and Zeffer wandered up, scowling quietly as she made her explanation and posed the question. No one seemed very forthcoming with an answer, so Zeffer spoke out, brash, and still full of frustration of the events that had transpired. "The Jadeblood was here. He was trying to protect himself when the others pushed him into lashing out." the little blueblood snapped, adjusting the bag that was slung over his shoulder, a scowl on his face. "He died...we killed him." his teeth were bared. Her apologies were indeed useless, and all of a sudden he felt a heat rising to his face. Why, really, did he even care?? It was almost embarrassing, and he shrunk back down, features darkening. It was only one troll, after all. One had fallen so that their entire race could go on. Even if it was horribly senseless...even if the guy's death could have been so easily prevented. Zeffer could not help imagining how shitty it must have been to be that Jadeblood. To have been taken down by a crummy little ragtag bunch like themselves after so many years of evading everyone.

"I suppose we got what we came for, though. That's good, right? His lusus must be in there, somewhere..."

Despite their victory, there didn't seem to be a single shred of celebration. The entire rebel party remained somber, the delayed arrival of their older counterparts doing nothing to improve the mood clinging in the stinging hot air. The hooded rebels were solemn as they tended to the wounded recruits; while they had been prepared for such an outcome they hadn't honestly expected such drastic results from the youngsters. As the adults scurried around to patch head wounds and stitch together gashes, the final frenzied group of trolls that had been deep inside Aendal's hive burst forth from the flaming structure, gasping for clean air and causing quite a commotion in the otherwise listless atmosphere. A certain adult drone immediately stuck out among the crowd of the fleeing trolls, since he clutched the bloodied and unmistakable Matriorb protectively to his chest. Janzek fell to the ground, having collapsed with exhaustion, leaving it up to one of the hooded figures to pry the valuable ball from his grasp.

Meanwhile, the leader patiently waited for someone to speak up. Arms crossed tightly around their waist, they shifted their focus from one exhausted face to the next. Few seemed willing, if capable, of speaking up. Finally a blueblood did, curtly filling the others in on what had transpired. The head rebel felt a weight drop through their stomach; it was their worst fear, and yet somehow exactly what they had expected upon seeing the jadeblood's fields ablaze. They remained silent, grasping for just the right words to respond to Zeffer with.

As if on cue, a rather bulky looking scout jogged over to the small crowd gathered around their leader. The smaller rebel visibly perked up, straightening as the Matiorb was rushed to their side. Taking a brief moment to peer down at the horned ball, they cleared their throat and turned their attention once more to the new recruits. It was a delicate situation, and it was easy to read the mistrust brewing in the young faces. Those that didn't seem suspicious were half beaten into the ground at any rate, which wasn't much better. But what was done was done- and at least now they had the Matriorb. Words began to flow as the young leader was hit with a sudden wave of inspiration, rekindled upon seeing the Matriorb in their possession.

"What's done is done, I'm sure I don't have to tell you that. While I obviously can't tell you if what happened here tonight was just or not, I can assure you that the jadeblood's death will not go in vain." There was a small gesture towards the Matriorb that remained clutched by the broad shouldered rebel. "His sacrifice is monumental to both the rebel cause and the troll race as a whole, and that will not be forgotten. Did any of you manage to find out his name?" A simple question, yet judging by the outcome it might have been too much to ask for.

"Now that we have the Matriorb, the entire troll populace isn't controlled by the royal one anymore. I think it goes without saying how significant this is. What's more, is that it seems like Marian's troops are pulling from the brooding caverns. Intel says they have managed to keep their grip on their own Mother Grub- which is great news for us, as they won't come looking for this." The leader jutted a thumb over to the dripping ball of horns. "We thank you for all your efforts. As I've said none of this will be in vain; in fact, this is a huge step forward. Without you-"

The leader stopped mid sentence, jaw visibly dropping under their shadowy hood as something caught their attention. There was a shrill scream accompanied by a few urgent shouts as the northern wall of what was left of Aendal Volivi's hive began to completely collapse. Support beams crumbled, threatening to bring down the entire main structure down if they fell. Giant fissures began to climb the pale walls, sending large chunks of stone and blazing vines raining down to the ground below. Most of the area was clear, or at least the trolls that had been closer to the trembling building already fled the immediate area or had been dragged away by someone. That was, save a small trio of girls that remained huddled together as they sobbed among themselves, too worn out and traumatized to register the immediate danger they were in. Witch a sickening crack, one of the support beams gave way and snapped in half, sending itself toppling over where Athene, Vremea, and Odette sat obliviously.

"Look out!" Was all the rebel had time to shout before the mass of stone began to whizz down above the girls, heading towards them at an alarming rate. The warning seemed futile, but there was nothing else anyone could do.

[tag for kimbley kitty]

The leader's next words were nothing but a slurry of sand to Taquin's ears. He didn't want to listen any longer. He wanted to trek straight home to his lusus, like he should have when he decided to take that course earlier. Curiosity lured in the purrbeast and brutally injured its body and ego. He had no more energy left to care what happened here. The rebels had claimed the matriorb, for better or for worse, and he'd rather attend to his business someplace else. His wounds were all patched to the best of his ability and the small sopor caplets were doing a good enough job at dulling the pain. His ribs twinged as he stood, but he could walk almost painlessly, at the very least. Just don't put too much weight on that left leg.

He began to limp aimlessly towards the direction he thought Chittontown to be in, blocking out the sounds of crackling flames and yelling trolls. The town was probably miles away, but there was no reason he should waste anymore time here in this dreadful place. As he went to wipe the gritty sweat from his eyes, a familiar glint in the sand prodded for his attention. He nudged a rose-tinted piece of glass with his foot and uncovered his bent and cracked spectacles out of the dust. What a delightful surprise, he thought sorely. How very kind of the universe. Just as he slid them crookedly onto his face, a loud crack sounded from the hive behind him and screams of alarm broke into his pan. He turned to see everything finally in the right colors, a group of trolls cowering, having narrowly survived a collapse of some sort, and some very shocked stares. Turning back towards the horizon, Taquin wondered how long they had until daybreak.