To the Past

The Sea Dwellers

Meulin led us to a well disguised hive in the forest. Without warning she reached out and rapped her knuckles on the wood.

"Shit," A voice said.

It might have just been the wood distorting the voice, but it didn't sound like the boy we ran into.

I carefully followed as Meulin opened the door and walked inside. The sea dweller was curled up on a low cushion in the arms of a larger troll.

A much larger troll. At about six sweeps the boy was tiny and fit comfortably into his... companion's lap.

The older troll was closer to nine and had the size to match.

While the younger had his fins pinned back and teeth barely peeking out in a snarl. The older was flared up and growling, all teeth bared.

Then I noticed that his face was flushed and his breathing was hard and rattling. Each breath was short and seemed to cause the boy some degree of pain.

I studied their faces and found eerie degrees of similarity: dark hair that was pushed up and away from their faces, sharp noses, and high cheekbones. Not to mention the horns on their heads were identical. Every bit of them was creepily familiar and very nearly were mirror images of one another. They were likely dancestors.

Both sea dwellers took their gaze off of us when the older one went into a coughing fit. The sheer amount of powerful medicine made more sense now. Sea trolls were notoriously sturdy and had quick metabolism, He would probably go through this medicine in less than half of a perigee.

The younger boy had given a half panicked shriek and began scrambling at his dancestor's shoulders. His face was terrified, I had never seen a high blood so desperate.

Despite this the older one still had him tucked safely into his arms, out of our reach.

I stepped forward, gaining a snarl and a panicked glare. I ignored it and reached forward to see if he was alright.

My time in the brooding caverns meant that I knew what temperature different castes held at. Instead of being violet cold to the touch, he was closer to a cobalt's.

Tremors were running through him, even as he pressed his cheek farther into my hand.

I'm not sure why, but the sight of that was pitiful.

I could hear Mituna groan, "I take it we're staying?"

I smiled and nodded, noticing now that Meulin and Kankri had gone to put there things down in another area of the hive.

The little one had finally calmed a little, watching me warily.

I smiled at him, "Hello dear I am Porrim, but most call me Dolorosa."

"Or mom," I heard Kankri yell from the back.

I chuckled, "And that would be Kankri, or the Signless."

"I'm Mituna," I heard a grumble from him, "I'm the Psiioniic, just call me Psii."

"And I'm Meulin, but purrhaps you'd rather call me Disciple?" She said, retuning to the room.

The younger stared, still watching with a half scared look.

Slowly the older lifted his head again, "I'm... Ampora and this is Eridan."

He hesitated before giving his name, probably didn't want us to know. He did give us something and that would have to be enough.

"Alright then," I smiled, "Let's get your temperature down."