[LOC] The Root

[Sypon]

The Root was perfect. When Aerona had heard about it weeks ago, she just knew she had to get up in that building and climb around in it. The mountains of Busthind were one thing, but a hivestem? That was epic. Convincing her lusus the same was a bit of a different story. It was dangerous! It was unexpected! You might get hurt; why don't you climb the mountains? There are highbloods there that will... On and on. After a while, the good advice got boring. Aerona had set her little pump biscuit on scaling the building, even if it meant scrapping with some dumb kid looters. She just wanted to get to the top of the building, after all... No more than that!

Finally, Sophitia conceded. Scuttling close to her charge and holding her gloved hand with her little claws, she nervously through glances every direction. "If anything dangerous happens, we go home!" Squeaked Sophitia, clacking her jaws. Aerona looked straight ahead. Soon, the mammoth building came into view. It was still fenced off with tape, even now.

She'd steeled herself for the twisted metal, smell of bodies and funny looks, but she hadn't expected this much... Destruction. "Whoa, creepy..." Aerona whispered. She released her lusus' hand and rushed towards the building, biting her lip with anticipation. Sophitia yelped with a start and rushed after, but Aerona zipped along the ground with impressive speed.

She pranced in place, her boots clomping against the ground. The excitement began to build. Something shiny caught her eye. A grubdog cart! "Oh man..." Mumbled Aerona. She snorted a little at the strange sight, and rushed closer. Squeakbeasts fled at the sight of her. "Suuuucks." She inspected the wheels of the cart, then took a curious peek into the belly of the cooker. Unable to contain herself, Aerona took a sniff inside.

"OH, GROSS!" She reeled back gagging and pinched her freckled nose.  

[DraconicFeline]

Keionx is exploring with Odette!


Keionx didn't entirely understand why she was in Civisect. It was only briefly. She had come for an errand, and ended up staying a little longer. There was something about the place as it was now that made her need to stay, and the ruined place, the 'root' as it was called, dragged to it by the contradiction. New and old, old and new, ruined and shining... And she had made it that way, hadn't she? With blood and sweat and tears, and confidence.

A confidence she had no right to have. She stood on the root and knew that the city around her was her doing... and the stain of it now lingered on her soul. Happenstance took her deep into the root, and she saw a familiar shape. Too familiar.

But too familiar in a good way.

”Odette?” she called, almost hopeful. She had known Odette was alive for some time, but the fear was still fresh enough to give her a trill of joy whenever she saw or heard of the girl.... to know that the sacrifices that the dancer had made in Aendal's lair for her had not been wholly in vain, or even whole. ”Odette, is that you?!”

Kimbley Kitty

It seems we've stumbled onto an event, also a hug

Hivestuck

PAR TAY

 

[Hivestuck]

DraconicFeline

“Coo…Coo…” A distressed sound reaches your sponge clots. On the bottom floor of the root, a pigeon nest has been smashed - the remnants have tumbled every which way, and you see that one of the most recently fallen structures has caused a mother pigeon to suffer from great loss. One of the abandoned baby birds sits pitifully on the ground, flapping helplessly from under a tarp pinned by wood structures. If you choose to retrieve the bird, it may just imprint on you…  

[zeflamigo]

"Kei?" Odette turned towards the familiar voice. From far away, Odette was certain that she had mistaken the voice. This troll was much too big to be little Kei. Still, Odette walked closer, despite the possible danger of it being a stranger. She was relieved to notice the girl's freckled face, and ran to her with glee. "Kei!" She repeated, throwing her arms around the girl. "It's so good to see you," She said, tightening her hug. She had seen the girl when she returned to Vremea's after the Chittentown conflict, but she hardly spent much time with the girl.

She pulled away from the girl, delighted. "You've grown so much!" She said, giggling at the fact that the other girl was now taller than her. "I trust you've been well?" She asked. Observing Keionx, she couldn't help but smile sweetly. Keionx had grown to be so lovely, and Odette couldn't even express the pride she was feeling for her. "What are you doing here?" She asked, "Oh, never mind. I'm asking you too much. I'm just so glad to see you."

Hearing a soft flapping, Odette couldn't help but rush over to investigate the sound. She saw the body of the mother pigeon first, and sucked in her breath at the sight. But she quickly turned her attention to the tarp, and whatever was flapping underneath it. Slowly, she got down on her knees and lifted the tarp enough to see the little bird. "Kei! Come help! There's a baby pigeon stuck over here!" She motioned to Kei. "It'll be okay, little friend. We'll get you out safe," She said to the little bird, doing her best to soothe him.  

[DraconicFeline]

Kimbley Kitty

Hivestuck

It WAS her!

Keionx hugged Odette back, a big, honest grin spreading across her face. Despite the memories this place brought back, Odette was just something good, definitely good. ”It's always good to see you!” Keionx replied, smiling at her as the hug, naturally, loosened and they pulled apart.Keionx was tall, taller than Odette and likely to get another growth spurt still, but Odette was still about as tall as the pedestal Keionx had mentally put her on. She was about to answer Odette's question and continue the small talk, when Odette made her discovery.

Keionx's eyes widened as she saw what it was, and hero mode kicked in. ”Ah!” she said, surprised, already moving towards her, ”Of course!”

She saw the problem and began to work the tarp and wood upward, careful to keep a good hold on it. She smiled at the little bird. ”Yes, we shall help thee.” she said, ”Odette, is it... all right?” she asked, as she held its restraining structures up and away, ”I have this...”  

[seekingCylem]

[ New Hemisect! So big! So shiny! So... temperate? Sascha hadn't stopped marveling since the train had left the desert. Bagwormother had initially been skeptical about taking Sascha out of Chittentown, seeing how easy he was to lose in his own home. However, this outing had turned out quite nicely in her favor. With Sascha as preoccupied by mundane things such as a lack of sand, he was much easier to keep track of. Now she could only hope the newness of so many highbloods would fail to overshadow the appeal of buildings not built into cliff sides.

Bagwormother felt herself taking those words back as Sascha seemingly chose the absolute most dangerous building-not-built-into-a-cliff-side to gravitate towards. Maybe there was a nice highblood around he could introduce himself too, instead of climbing up an obviously condemned building like he was so obviously going to do.

To Bagwormother's infinite relief, Sascha veered off at the last second upon spotting another young troll standing near some of the hivestem's wreckage. She practically yipped in celebration when the strange child turned out to also be a lowblood. However, she was too winded from all her running to properly convey her enthusiasm.

Thankfully, Sascha was there to compensate for the both of them. "Yo! What happened here!" He called out with zero hesitation. ]

 

[zeflamigo]

Odette is exploring with Keionx!

Odette scooped the little featherbeast into her hands, trying her best to hold back her tears, but to no avail. She scratched his chin with her pinky, hoping that comforting him would bring her some comfort, too. "It's okay, little one," she whispered, fearful of scaring him. "I'm sorry about your mother. It's terribly sad, I would know... We've got a lot in common." Odette said, choking hard on her words as she cried. She wanted to wipe the tears away, but she couldn't while she was holding the little pigeon. She turned back to Keionx, hoping she could handle the featherbeast.

"Keionx? Would you like to hold him?" She said, holding him out to the orangeblood. She stood carefully, shaking the rubble off of her knees. Odette smiled. She had finally achieved what she wished when she first came to the root— to help the survivors.

Hivestuck

for rolling 24

DraconicFeline

 

[Hivestuck]

The nest is empty...! Who emptied it?

Kimbley Kitty

You did of course!

coo  

[Sypon]

A yellowblood suddenly materialized next to Aerona. She started for a moment, assessed his blood color, and then smirked. "You mean to the building, or the hot dog stand? 'Cos I think it's pretty obvious what went down." She paused and jerked her thumb behind her. "That building. You ain't heard of it?"

She did a quick hop on her foot and circled around Sascha. He seemed decent enough; he clearly wasn't from around here. Just like her. Sophitia regarded the other lusus and child with caution, taking quick scuttling steps towards her charge. After deeming Bagwormother as equally concerned about and for her child, she calmed down enough to chitter behind Aerona concerning her next move. Don't be rude!

"That's The Root. Big hivestem that went kablooey for some reason."

Introduce yourself!

"I'm Aerona. I came her from Busthind to climb this sucker. You from around here?"

She stood with her hands on her hips, beaming at the boy in front of her. Sophitia just seemed pleased enough that she had asked a follow-up question.  

[seekingCylem]

[ Sascha wasn't the least bit surprised by the redblood's match of his enthusiasm. Exploded buildings were cool! New Hemisect was great.

Sascha gave the Root an appraising glance, now that he knew the titillating details. He barely paid attention to what was happening in his own city, much less those across the desert. He was beginning to regret his lack of interest in the subject, though. After what he'd been hearing on the street about what had happened to the trolls investigating the drought back home, Sascha wasn't about to let himself get left out of another adventure.

Sascha turned back to Aerona with a devious grin. "Sascha. From Chittentown. You think that kind of excursion is entirely legal?" Sascha asked with a sly expression and level voice. It was easily the most energy he'd expended on anything all night. ]

 

[Sypon]

"What, you cluckbeast or somethin'?" Aerona taunted. She took a step toward him in friendly jest. "Everything's legal if you don't get caught! An' who's gonna stop us?"

She turned away. Aerona looked for a good spot to start her ascent, to the far right of the hotdog cart away from the mass of squeakbeasts. There was a downed beam jutting out like a stuck seesaw - a perfect ramp to get up to the next level. Since most of the ground floors had been crushed, there was plenty of infrastructure between them to use as handholds. She analyzed the crannies and took a quick glance back at Sascha, one foot and one hand on the mark for the beginning of her exploration.

"An' when I say us, I mean you're comin' with me, right Sascha? If you ain't scurred!" She grinned broadly and hefted herself up a level. Sophitia skittered after her, each claw penetrating a layer of filth and shrapnel. She squealed in relative distaste.  

[DraconicFeline]

Kimbley Kitty

Keionx's heart melted at Odette's soft words. The redblood was kind – she and Vremea and Milieu were some of the kindest, most wonderful trolls Keionx had ever met. Keionx was glad she knew them. She was glad Odette was alive.

With the baby bird freed from its prison, she let the rubble down gently and dusted off her hands before holding them out. ”Yes!” Keionx said, delighted at the honor as she accepted the small, feathered creature and tucked him to her chest. She stroked its soft feathers and smiled down at it's barely-fledgefeathered mass. "Mayhap we should get thee something to eat." she murmured, affectionately.

Here again, Odette had gone out of her way to protect a small, helpless creature. Keionx wanted to do that someday herself. That was what she felt she should do... and not just because it was heroic. Not anymore. She looked at Odette, noticing, with some startlement, the red-dyed tears on the other troll's face.

”Odette... are you all right?” she asked. She would have offered her a comforting hand, but her arms were full of the young bird. "Thou... art not hurt, are thee?"  

[seekingCylem]

[ Everything was coming up Sascha, wasn't it? Not only did this stranger, Aerona, answer him immediately and directly, but she was also straight-up heading into the Root to explore! And he was invited! Sascha tried not to focus on how rare of an experience that was and instead latched onto the elation it brought him.

"I'll show you scared!"

Bagwormother, immediately realized her mistake in being anything but horrified by the trolls her child chose to associate with. So much for a nice, quiet outing. It was like he could smell enablers. She began scampering after the children immediately.

Sascha was already scrambling up the side of the building into the nearest window. (Or perhaps, window-shaped hole.) Living in a cliff side, Sascha was no stranger to climbing things he shouldn't have been. His technique was reckless, but he tumbled into the open room in little time.

"Open" was definitely the best way to describe it. From this vantage point, the Root looked practically hollow.

"How the hell is even this much of the building still standing!?"

...Those were not words Bagwormother wanted to hear as she struggled to join her child. ]

 

[zeflamigo]

Odette looked at Keionx, wiping away her tears. She had to be strong for the younger troll, especially one like Keionx who looked up to her. "I'll be fine Keionx," She said, "But thank you for your concern." She fiddled with her hair, staring down again at the little nest. She approached closer, studying the area to make sure another baby hadn't suffered the same fate.

"When I came here last, with my mother..." Odette said, looking away from Keionx so she wouldn't cry again. "All I wanted was to help the survivors. I couldn't do much then. I was too little, and it was too late." She glanced at Keionx, but quickly looked away at the ground. "But with you," She said, "You helped me accomplish that dream. I couldn't be more thankful." Odette reached over to the little featherbeast, and gave him a tiny neck scratch. He'd be safe now, Odette was certain. She and Kei would take good care of the little guy.

Hivestuck

i can't believe this

DraconicFeline

 

[Hivestuck]

There continue to be no birds in this empty, empty nest. Maybe you should come back later. If you want to collect more birds. Or whatever it is you're trying to do.

Kimbley Kitty