The Lost and Found [Private]

She is not running away, instead of that she is calm and smiling at you, maybe you can be friends after all? You like the idea a lot, you are going to make an effort so you two can be friends, maybe you can get to explore together more often! That would be a good start.

-Good!- you smile a little -Well... my have is like a really big labyrinth, so when I was a wriggler I explored my own hive a lot, I got lost many times and also got hurt since I'm pretty clumsy- you shrug, it isn't a great matter for you -As I grew up I learned how to heal different types of injures and illnesses, I always carry homemade medicine with me.

You can remember teaching yourself about the fauna and flora of your forest by observation, you were always pretty intelligent so quickly developed some tricks and other things that helped you survive. You sigh as you try to shake off some bad memories, you definitely don't want to remember that.

-I'm pretty used to seeing blood also, so I don't really care...- you shrug again.

This girl knows quite a lot! You are thoroughly impressed. You would have to ask her for some pointers eventually. Her hive sounds like a bit of a pain though. Makes your life sound more boring than you previously thought. You can't imagine what she's done to see a lot of blood though.

Y0ur hive s0unds a l0t better than mine. My hive is small, but it is hard to 9et t0 it if y0u aren't with me. It's a simple dome surr0unded but by trees and a l0t 0f water.

You pause as you try to think of something else to say. Some wriggler experiences is what you'll go with.

As a wri99ler my lusus tau9ht me h0w t0 hide myself pretty well in the envir0nment. I spent a l0t 0f time...riddin9 my jun9le of wanderers.

You hunch your shoulders showing that you don't really care for those events in your life or the wrigglers that were involved. It has always been survival of the fittest for you and you were the fittest in those cases, most of them anyway. Occasionally you would get an opponent that banged you up pretty badly, but you were here and they weren't. It's funny how things work out.

-Trees and water? That's a great combination!- you smile -My hive is interesting and pretty big, though it is easy to get lost, my lusus had to help me a lot until I got used to it, but since I'm clumsy it took me like 3 sweeps...- you laugh a little when you remember that.

You remember other things you did when you were little, like the time when you first talked to an animal, also your first time swimming in the lake near your hive, and when you watched your lusus killing some trolls that tried to hurt you, you've killed since you were young so you are pretty used to seeing blood and corpses lying around.

-I know what you mean...- you sigh, not wanting to remember -You're good at hiding? That's pretty useful! I'm not really good at that, but I have a lot of strength and also a lot of pets that help me, like this one...- you glance at the wolf.

Yes, m0st d0n't expect hidden enemies, s0 it's the m0st strate9ical. Especially in a marsh jun9le where it is hard t0 9et thr0u9h.

It was such a struggle to get through your home as a wriggler. You try not to recount the times your salamomder had to save you from almost drowning.

As Aryane starts talking about her 'pets' you remember that there is a wolf indeed near you, but you aren't too afraid of it anymore.

Can you d0 that f0r all beasts?

You wouldn't be surprised if she could. You are already so impressed by her skills and you would be rather excited if she could.

-What a good strategy!-and you are saying the truth, you are bad at hiding for long periods of time, you don't like hurting other trolls, but if they attack you, you hide, watch, think and then attack. You have to do this fast, because you are so clumsy you might ruin all if you don't.

Like you said before, you don't like hurting other trolls. At least you don't like but your other side loves doing it, she enjoys killing others. You can't let her take control of you, that's why you stayed at the forest and that's also the reason you don't have friends, because you are afraid you might kill them.

-Hm?- you got distracted again, you have to stop doing that -Oh, sorry...- you smile kindly -Well, I guess it's not a secret anymore, so I'll tell you... Even though I'm a highblood and a seadweller I have this strange psionic that allows me  to talk with any beast or plant, though they only obey me when I befriend them...- you look at the wolf -I befriended this one just today, when I met you, I wasn't sure if would attack me or not so...- you smile feeling a little of shame.

You start thinking that you might be a exception to a lot of things, you are a highblood with psionics, you are a swadweller that lives alone in the forest, you are a violetblood that doesn't care about the hemospectrum... you sure are weird, but you don't really care about that. Your only objective is to keep her from complete awakening.

Aryane intrigued you a lot. A psionic? This is the first time you had ever meet one! You stare in awe at the troll before. You thought that was merely a lowblood thing. You then realize that you are staring at Aryane and direct your attention on the wolf she...controls... It makes you wonder if you had any special abilities, your lusus mentioned something like that when you were younger, but you can't recall it.  

You start shifting from one foot to the other unsure of what to say next. You don't feel like telling her anymore about yourself right now. You are also antsy to get back to looking for those stones you mentioned earlier. You realize this could be taken as rude. You don't care.

May we 9et back t0 expl0rin9 and l00kin9 f0r the st0nes? They are very imp0rtant t0 my wellbein9. They are pale br0wn r0cks that may be speckled with whatever black r0ck makes up this cave. R0und 0nes will pr0bably be embedded in the walls, these are used f0r jewelry. It sh0uldn't be t00 hard t0 9et them 0ut. The sharper 0nes used f0r weap0nry will be 9r0win9 fr0m the ceilin9. Th0se versi0ns cut deep s0 be sure t0 handle them with cauti0n.

It amazed you how easily you got bored. Just a few seconds ago you were drooling over Aryane, the magically psionic seadweller. Now you have gone back to focusing on your survival. You must expanded your social meter for the night.

You are filled with curiosity right now. She is a limeblood and you are fascinated with that color, you want to ask her a lot of thinks about that but you wont becasue that would be pretty rude and also because you don't want to upset her. Maybe if you become friends you will get to ask her someday.

Both of you stay in silence for a moment, you notice she is staring at you so you smile at her, she stops looking at you. The silence becomes awkward and you don't know what else to say, you have told her a lot of things about you but you don't really care about that. She intrigues you but you are afraid to ask. Fortunately she changes the topic.

-Oh, of course, I'll keep an eye on that, let's continue- you almost sigh in relief, you are eager to continue exploring the cave so you don't even think about refusing -Just be careful with your hand...- you say in low voice, it feels strange being worried for another troll, since the last troll that was your friend and you cared for... well, you killed him.

You shudder when you remember that. You eliminate the thought from your mind and you start walking without waiting for her, you don't want her to see you like that.

You are glad she took the change in topics well and didn't question you any further. You know there is something special about your blood caste and you personally, but you aren't too sure what it is nor have you taken the time to figure it out. Remembering the events may also have helped.

Yeah, I'll be careful.

You gently touch your bandaged hand that has been mended so well that you can't even see a staining of your hazardous blood. You couldn't guarantee that you would be careful with your hand. If it needed to be used then it would be used.

You noticed her slight change in tone, but you wouldn't dare to bring it up. As well your relationship with her is going, she is still a stranger of some sorts. The idea of angering a psionic unsettles you more than the idea of angering a seadweller. As Aryane moves to walk in front of you, you give her ample amount of space to search for the stones.

You expand your staff and begin tapping it gently against the wall of the cave. You are trying to find a depression in the cave that will develop into a new cave system. Once you had found a cavern with magnificent writings on the walls and floors. You still aren't sure what compelled you to go there.

You walk slowly, paying special attention to the walls and the ceiling. You repeat her words in your mind Pale brown... Round ones embedded in the walls... Sharper ones growing from the ceiling... you raise your eyes and you scrutinize it for a little while. You find nothing. You sigh and you continue searching, then another thought crosses your mind "They are very important to my wellbeing." she said... Maybe if I found some and gave them to her... maybe our relationship will improve! With that thought on your mind yo continue searching.

You keep searching for a little more until the wolf distracts you barking to you, you think you should give him a name... But what name? You aren't really good at that, maybe you can ask Ducita for an opinion. -Uhm... Ducita?- you ask her a little shyly, maybe you are being annoying? -Can you uhm... help me naiming this guy?... Only if you want, of course- maybe is a really bad idea distracting her with such an unimportant matter? But it is important for you. You look at her eyes.

You start thinking maybe you are asking her for too much, after she isn't really your friend yet and you are kind of strangers! And she really needs those rocks... If only there were some plant here, you could ask them. Maybe you should say her to forget and continue searching... but you can't, you really want her to help you naming the wolf. You look at her with nervousness reflected in your eyes, even if you have a friend or two now... you're so bad at talking with others she might get tired of you.

Name the wolf? You suppose you could give it a hasty shot. You stop tapping the walls and look at the wolf.

The name Shield came t0 me first. He is y0ur shield after all. It is a name that makes sense f0r h0w y0u f0und it.

Honestly you felt like the name was too servitudinal, not exactly the cuddly name people expected for a pet. You thought about a name that would describe it's appearance, but nothing immediate stands out to you. You exhale as a sign of defeat.

I can't think 0f anythin9 better than that.

She isn't angry, she even gave you a name! You think about the name for a while. As she says, you remember how yo met both of them, the troll and the wolf. You think the name suits him perfectly.

-Shield- you repeat for yourself just to be sure, the wolf barks as a response. He likes the name.

-It's perfect, I love it!- you suddenly smile as you start feeling really happy. You feel the urge to hug her.

And you do it. You approach her really quickly and you suddenly jump over her, hugging her. You stop for a moment and start blushing as you realize what you have done. You separate as quickly as you hugged her and you get away from her, suddenly feeling nervous, ashamed and scared that she might be angry.

-Oh gog, I-I'm so sorry... I didn't... I-I'm so stupid...- you continue to distance yourself until you hit the cave's wall. You are kind of trapped now.

A memory invades you and you remember him, you remember the yellowblood you killed sweeps ago, he was the first and only person you had hugged... until you ruined everything. You feel like crying and running away.

You nod at her when she repeats the name. You open your mouth to tell her you're glad she likes the name you picked even though it was a rushed effort. But she hugs you...this is the first time you have ever been this close to another troll in a peaceful situation.

You...you aren't really sure what to do. You want to push away the foreign feeling, but you also just want to stand enveloped in it. Before you could push away she moves back. You stumble back a small amount from her retreat. Quickly, like a frightened little cheese beast, er, mouse.

N0!

The word leaves your mouth before you can stop it. You aren't sure if she heard you or not. You hope she didn't hear you. You would be so embarrassed if she heard you. You can even feel a slight blush on your cheeks. Even that feeling is a strange one to you.

Aryane presses her back against the wall, she looks sad. You reach out to her, but then use that hand to nervously rub the back of your neck. You breath slowly to try and slow your beating heart.

Y0u aren't stupid. It was a...sudden burst 0f em0ti0n....that y0u c0uldn't c0ntr0l and...

Your sentence falls short as you think about the feeling of the hug. You can tell that she has problems with this, but the hug was very nice... You don't want to press her on it so you just decide to let her calm down herself, unless she calls upon you of course. All the while your cheeks felt warm with a blush.

You let yourself slide down the wall until you're sitting on the floor, you hide your face with your arms. You heard her saying 'No' but you think your other half is just messing with you, trying to break you. More memories of him pass through your mind and this time you start crying, just a little. Purple tears flow from your eyes, you don't even shake, you just remain there silently trying to calm down.

You forget you are crying when she says that and you raise your head, she doen't looks angry, she's even blushing... and well, so you are -You are not angry?- you ask her in low voice, almost whispering -H-How can you say that...? Look at me, I'm a disgrace as a seadweller... I don't even care about the hemospectrum at all!... I'm just, a dumb crybaby... how did I even survive all this time?- you keep whispering, you're not even sure what you are saying, but you continue saying thing like that.

Shield sits at your side and tries to comfort you, you don't notice him at all. So... are you finished playing with her? She already thinks you are weak, why don't you kill her already? I'm not going to do that... And you know it. You are breaking already! Just let me control you... I can do it for you I won't let you... Go away. Fine, whatever, she is not that great of a prey... She finally leaves you alone, both of you are safe... for now.

You hide your head again, maybe she will leave you alone now that she saw how patetic you can be... Maybe that's for the best? But you don't want her to leave, you want her to stay and say you something to comfort you... What are you even thinking? You two aren't moirails... you aren't even friends... Why are you expecting all this? Stop being so masochistic!

She's having a breakdown. Aryane, the psionic seadweller, is having a breakdown. Something must have happened. You couldn't understand my a hug evoked so much emotion out of you and even more out of her, but you guess whatever happened is why she is having a hard time right now. You aren't sure how to fix these situations, you're surprised you had fixed the other situation.

Staying in the exact spot you lower yourself onto your knees, then you move to sit cross legged. You breath slowly, trying to relax yourself and giving Aryane some time to calm down.

I am n0t mad, 0nly surprised. I was n0t expectin9 s0methin9 like that fr0m an0ther tr0ll.

This situation doesn't look good to you at all, but you do your best to remain calm. You continue talking to her.

Y0u are n0t weak. Y0u are st0n9. A psi0nic seadweller that has adapted to the land...that s0unds like a decent c0mbination f0r survival. It adds an element 0f surprise.

You look around trying to find more words to say.

I'm 9lad y0u d0n't care ab0ut the hem0spectrum 0r I w0uld be dead. I'm sure you c0uld've taken me d0wn with y0ur scythe in a matter 0f minutes. I w0uld never underestimate any tr0ll, their abilities can 0utwei9h their appearance 0r their backst0ry...just as y0urs d0.

You didn't like entertaining the thought of your death, but you would for Aryane...or probably any troll. It depends on the situation.

You stiffen when she sits in front of you, thinking she was going to harm you or something, but when she doesn't you relax... kind of. As she talks you start relaxing, you feel comforted and you slowly stop crying. You raise your head again and you look into her eyes, she's not mad... and it doen't looks like she is lying. You sigh and then you smile, is a small and shy smile, but is the best you can do right now, your cheeks are wet and your eyes still sting you a little, but well... you don't really care about that.

-You really aren't mad?- you ask with hoarse voice, your throat hurts since you were holding out -I guess not all trolls jump over others to hug them...- you sigh again... you really are good at ruining everything, what are you even saying now?

-I guess you are right...- you laugh a little, then you wince because of the pain your feeling in your throat, though you can take it -But I won't do something like that, because you are nice... a nice troll - you smile at her, though you're not sure if that is a good compliment... -Thanks... I feel better now.

You lower your eyes and start blushing again-Can I.... get another hug?...- you ask shyly, but you want another hug, just as simple as that. If she says no... well, at least you tried, she has already seen you this miserable, it can't be worse... Well, it can but you'll make sure that doesn't happens.

You widened your eyes slightly when she calls you nice. Just a troll you met probably a few hours or so ago has called you nice. She's very nice too, you fail to understand why she would dislike herself for that. She sounds hoarse, you wish you had some drink you could give her. When she says she feels better you nod in satisfaction.

I'm 9lad y0u feel alri9ht. Please try n0t t0 strain y0ur v0ice any further.

You lean back, relieved that you made Aryane to feel better. You have never been able to get another troll to feel better in the past. It felt refreshing. Maybe that was the point of companionship, to make the others forget about the violence that surrounded them nightly and to provide relaxation.

She throws you off when she asks for another hug. Is she positive that she is okay to do this? You don't want her to freak out again, but she wants a hug so why not? You open your arms so she can hug you. You are really nervous about this, but you liked the hug from last time. You think you did anyway, you are still unsure about the feelings you felt there.

You nod when she says that, you'll avoid talking unless necessary. Your eyes widen, you giggle and you also blush a little when she opens her arms, she's letting you hug her! You smile at her with surprise and you jump over her, hugging her again. It feels really comfortable and warm, you like her heat, since you are a swadweller you are always kind of cold, but you don't like cold so you are always wearing your cape.

After a few minutes you finally get off of her and stand up, then you help her standing up. You just remembered she really needs those pale brown rocks, and you will make sure you find some. You take your notebook from your sylladex, but that breaks the balance so it drops your pen over your head, you complain over that and then you pick it up. You start writing.

I guess we should continue searching, you need those rocks after all, I'll help you!

You show her the message and then you start writing again.

I have an idea, we need to find an animal or a plant that lives here, then I can ask them about the cave, maybe they know something about the rocks.

You smile at her, she helped you, now you are going to help her, so you get to be friends definetly... and also, maybe even moirails... after all, she knows more about you than your other seadweller friend, though you met her first... but well whatever, that's not the point here! You have to conventrate and search that rocks. You look at Shield and he happily looks at you too, you really like his name.

She pretty much dives into your arms. You think you like hugs more than you dislike hugs, but you still aren't sure how to respond well enough. You hug her back lightly. You felt extremely awkward and you aren't sure of when you were supposed to let go. So you just stop hugging when she gets up, she then helps you get off of the ground. You could've gotten up yourself, but you don't refuse her help. At least you didn't have to worry about your hand too much.

You watch as she removes things her sylladex and you try to hide a giggle when a pen drops on her head. She quickly scribbles messages on a notepad, you resist the urge to peek over at what she's writing. You don't want to seem nosy.

When she shows you the notepad you quickly scan over it.

There may be animals in 0ther branches 0f the cave system. I d0n't kn0w if we will find plants here, but there c0uld be s0me in the cracks and crevices.

You can hear her giggle, but you pretend you don't because you don't want to make her feel uncomfortable, both of you aren't used to get along with other trolls, it's better not to hasten things. You smile at her as you start writing again, thanks gog she understands your writting, because it is pretty bad. Why do you keep forgetting bringing your tablet with you? Oh well.

Then we should keep searching for the rocks until we get to meet a beast or a plant, I guess is the best we can do now... I can get Shield to explore little places, since he is little (I know I'm small too... but not that small), though I don't know if I want him to go to unknown places alone...

You sigh, making this kind of decision that involve your pets are quite difficult for you, it's kind of special with Shield because it was a friend who named him... or at least you think you're friends by now.

Though I guess I can try it if it's for your sake.

You smile at her, somehow you are not feeling to afraid or shy to speak with the truth in front of her, you guess that is because you trust her and because she is pretty nice and friendly.

When Aryane shows you the notepad again you realize even more that she doesn't just use beasts for protection, she also treats them as companions. She cares for these beasts. This makes you put a little more trust in her. You feel like you've been unfair in terms of trading stories with one another. Perhaps you should be more open with her when an opportunity presents itself.

You remain silent when you see that she is willing to let Shield go into the unknown for you. You look at the beast you named, it looks like it could handle itself. You think the beast will be fine on it's own for a moment without it's new owner, regardless of it's size. It had to get around somehow without her before. Even so you stay silent, you wouldn't want Aryane to force herself to let the wolf explore for you all and have something bad happen to it. You would feel all too responsible if that happened.

You must find something to distract yourself from the silence. You start tapping against walls with your staff again, attempting to look for other branches of the cave. One spot seems softer than the others and you tap your staff against that spot even harder. This carries on with you hitting the staff against the wall progressively harder.  The wall crumbles away making dust and bits of rock fly. When you are done you stand back as the dust clears. You have revealed another tunnel and it seems to be housing a broken lantern at it's entrance.

Hm. Interestin9

You peek your head into the tunnel, fanning some extra dust away from you. You can't see inside very well so you use your light stick to help light up somethings. You are amazed by what you see. There are inscriptions in the walls and further back into the cave you see cracked pillars that look to be holding something that you can't see up.

0h...wow.

Both of you continue with what you were doing before. You examine the walls and the ceiling carefully, you don't want to miss some important rocks there, you advance some more, this time looking at the floor. You spot some cracks in the floor, you follow them and you notice they become bigger until you find a shaft, it's not big enough for you to crawl in, but you know Shield can do it. You look at the shaft with wariness and then you turn your attention to Shield, he looks at you willingly to go in there, you sigh.

-Fine, but you have to return safe, understood? I'm only doing these because we're talking about Ducita here and she gave you a pretty cool name- you say in low voice, making sure you don't over do it.

He barks at you and then he enters the shaft, you can't see him anymore. You sigh and you return with Ducita just in time to see she has found something. You approach her in silence, not wanting to scare her, then you touch her shoulder to claim her attention. You show her your notebook.

Did you find something?

You ask with curiosity, you glance at the branch and your eyes widen. You take your light stick out and go in immediatly without thinking, you've been studying ancient lenguages for so long but this one is new to you. You examine the walls carefully as you start getting excited, this is what you've been searching for, you are so happy you forget about your throat.

-Come and watch this Ducita! It's so incredible, I've been studying a lot about ancient lenguages and civilizations but, this is completly new to me!- you look at her with excitement in your eyes, you are a little blushed because of the excitement and your eyes have a special gleam. You wince a little because of the pain, but you couldn't care less about that right now.

You have completely no idea what this stuff means. You feel like you should know what this stuff means, but you don't. Some explorer you are. Absolutely brilliant. Suddenly Aryane speeds in in front of you. She's started talking again, excited about the markings on the walls. You're glad someone can understand this gibberish, because you feel slightly useless.

What d0es this stuff say? At least a little part 0f it.

You look back expecting Shield to follow Aryane in. You don't see Shield, you guess she sent him to look for something else. You hope he will be alright, Aryane seemed to like him a lot.

You look closer at the wall like it will let you understand what the words on the wall are. You trace your fingers over the inscription on the wall in wonder. You start to feel somewhat dizzy and you pull your hand away from the wall. You wonder if it is some kind of warning for this room or something similar to that.

You take out a portable table from your sylladex and unfold it, placing it at the floor, shortly after some books fall from your sylladex on to the table, just in time, you've been practicing this kind of things during sweeps, because your modus is quite difficult to control sometimes.

-I'm working in that right now, just give me a moment...- you start searching in the books really fast, you already know them perfectly, so it won't take you long. You glance at her as she looks for Shield, you smile a little -Don't worry, he'll be alright, his name actually means protection, right? And since we have a bond I can hear her thoughts, if something happens, I'll go for her- you continue searching.

You keep passing pages until almost the end of the book, until you find what you're looking for -Found it! Though it will take me a while to translate it... You can explore if you want, just be careful, there can be traps...- you start writing in your notebook, while alternating your look between the book and the wall, you hope it won't take you long, maybe it is an advice of something important.

You start walking to look at the over inscriptions on the wall. You couldn't read it but you felt drawn to them. You started tracing your hand along the wall again, it didn't take much for you to disregard the dizziness in your head.

Soon you were walking around pretty zombified, something or somebody else was controlling you. You had your hand fully pressed on the wall, you were now feeling every crevice of the wall like you would get a better understanding through that method. Of course you wouldn't remember this, you never did. You wouldn't even be able to remember that things like this usually happened when you were charting.

You stumbled over to a pillar with some sort of drawing on it. With closer inspection it looks like a chart with tally marks. Someone was recording something that happened here.

Did..s0me0ne...live here?

As you translate the writing, the inscription starts to become clear, even though some parts are confusing and lost, you can tell that this is definitely some kind of spell, but you can't understand very well the effects, it is something about making you dizzy, making you fall asleep or maybe some kind of mind control. You hope the last one is just your imagination though.

Regardless of that, it's better if none of you touches them. Your turn around to speak to Ducita bur she isn't there anymore, she went to explore as you said. You turn around again and you start looking for her, you are worried she may have touched the wall, you don't want something bad happens to her because of your slowness at translating the wall.

-Ducita?- you ask as you search for her, you try to remain calm, but you quickly lose it -Ducita, where are you?!- you know you sound desesperate, but you don't care, because you are.

You keep walking faster until you see her -Oh gog, here you are- you approach her quickly and you give her a little hug, you were truly worried. You shake her a little, she seems a bit distracted -Are you okay? You look kind of lost... Oh gog, tell me you didn't touch the walls' inscriptions...- you say with alarm in your voice.