[PRP] Technically a Caveworm is an Arthropod [Strike/B.End]

[Jun D]

First Strike did not think of herself as a weak doe. Weakness was anathemic, to First Strike. And yet, it had happened, a moment of weakness. A buck she had never thought to meet again. The father of children she would never see again.

After so long she had travelled with Swarm, she knew, she had driven them away.

After so long she had travelled with Swarm, she could admit: she missed them.

Her daughters, dark and light.

The sacs she carried within herself - for she knew, of course, she was not an idiot - would not be the same. But she missed them, and she had never thought she'd meet that buck again. It had been a moment of weakness.

And still, she could admit this only to herself.  

[Maxx D]

It was the sound of rustling leaves that came first, before the giant caveworm emerged from the brush, a faint glow illuminating its gently clasped claws.

It swung up to her, rising, as the lower half carried it along to her, and peered, feelers shifting.  

[Jun D]

First Strike looked down.

For the longest time she stood there, staring.

Then she sighed.

"You're not," she said, "a caveworm."  

[Maxx D]

It looked almost disappointed - the head drooped slightly, and claws opened to a vague, helpless gesture. If it had shoulders, it might have shrugged.

You're super pregnant.  

[Jun D]

"I am only moderately pregnant," she snapped.  

[Maxx D]

The caveworm wiggled, as if laughing. Clearly, it thought itself very clever.

I've seen your kind before. You get really bitter when you get a blessing. So I'll have to give it to you. What would you like? Health? Beauty? Intellect? The little claws folded in and out, steepling and clicking.  

[Jun D]

This was a pretty irritating Legendary.

But then, perhaps that was for the best.

"Tell me," she said, "Legendary with a caveworm soul. What would a caveworm do? Would a wasp ask for a blessing? Would a mantis miss her children?"  

[Maxx D]

Then it was a mare, with a sly grin, decorated by all her teeth. The scaled mare tilted her head, eyes glowing as intently as before, and said, "The caveworm, the wasp, and the mantis aimlessly live to carry a legacy they can never articulate." So she had learnt from her scientist friend. "And so will you. May your children survive, may they be fit, and may you all live, as you would."

All at once, the mare was a caveworm again. It bowed, an exaggerated sweep of its limb, and shuffled off with the speed of a worm when faced with a mantis.  

[Jun D]

She would have said more, but - obviously - she couldn't.

And it was clear from the mare's form that her first soul had been a caiman, anyway, which left her feeling rather cheated.

But still...better a blessing than not, she supposed. Her daughters could have done with a blessing, to help them where she patently did not.

First Strike did not think of herself as a sentimental doe. She would not think of these children as a second chance, or a wrong to make right. She made no promises. She had a chamber heart. She had a moment of weakness. These children had a blessing.

It would have to do.

END