Colonies in my mind (Quills!)

[Anonymous]

She was glad to see her friend cheering up a little bit. "Not for an intelligent creature like Daze." She agreed. This was hopefully going to be the end of that particular discussions. She liked her friend of course, but having to reassure constantly about something this small wasn't bad...it was just...it wasn't something she was used to. Her friend needed that reassurance though, and Sesselav would give that to her.

The tiny hairs on her body reacted suddenly to the wind suddenly changing. At first it had started strong...but then it suddenly went soft. The dust being kicked up and suddenly stopped. She cast a glance toward her friend and smiled slightly. This had to be her doing to say the least. She seemed to have the control over the winds, and she was glad of that. It appeared that she'd be able to keep herself a little warm...though not as warm as she'd need to be. The warmth would stay for a little while longer, but eventually it'd all be gone and it would get quite cold.

"How are you feeling? Did that sleep help a little bit?" She still didn't know how much the swarm did for her friend. For all she knew, all the sleeping was...for Sesselav's benefit. That was actually an interesting idea, but she wasn't sure about it. It just didn't seem like her friend after all.

[Anonymous]

"Oh... Yes... It did... Thank you..." Hasea nodded happily, despite not expecting the question. She barely had to think about her answer, after all, since she was so comfortable with her friend. While she could get by on barely any sleep, it was amazing how much more easily she could think when she was getting enough. Everything just made a whole lot more sense these last couple of days! Before that, it had all seemed like such a blur. She didn't know how much of that was because she forgot bits of it, but she definitely remembered being confused at the time. With Sesselav around though, she could sleep easily and dream of hopes instead of worries.

Even stifling the wind hadn't totally removed the chill from the air, and she shivered again and wrapped her arms around herself for warmth. It would be so nice to curl up with Daze, bury her face in that lovely fluffy fur, but they had to keep travelling. The whole point of walking at night was that it would be easier without the heat of the desert sun, and besides, there was still comfort to be had. "May I... May I have a blanket now... Please?"

[Anonymous]

Sesselav gave a smile and a nod, glad that it had. It meant that her friend needed it in some way. She was glad to know that she was still human in that respect at least. It meant that putting Hasea to bed would be a beneficial thing and they weren't just wasting their time. That would be wholly wasteful for the both of them if they were just...fooling each other. She wouldn't honestly be surprised by that too, the two of them were just polite enough that it could happen.

When she noticed her friend shivering, she was about to get out the blanket for her when she spoke up, requesting it anyway. Sesselav smiled as she got out the blanket from the pack slung about her shoulder and helped Hasea wrap it about the woman. Once it was secure and snug she smiled and nodded. "There you go...now you'll warm up again. Good thing Daze doesn't seem cold." She looked to the dog in question, rather sure that even if she actually was, the dog really wouldn't care.  It didn't matter though, it was time to keep on walking.

[Anonymous]

"Mm, Daze has... She has all that fur..." agreed Hasea, snuggling gratefully into the thick blanket. "It's so lovely... And soft..." She could have been talking about either subject at that point, and it really didn't matter which. Both of them were wonderful, so why choose? They were both right here too. If she could have managed to lift the dog and carry her, she probably would have done. As it was, she was pretty sure she'd end up dropping her, which would be a very bad thing, so until they stopped for a rest there'd be no hugs for Daze.

With the landscape darkening as evening set in, she couldn't help but think of the leopard attack, and the Sesselav-shaped empty space that had protected her. Nights were dangerous, weren't they? Because that was when all the hunters came out. This was different, though; this was the desert, and there wasn't so much to eat. If there was anything big out here, it would be desperate, more desperate even than the cat, but... How would it have survived in the first place? No, nothing would be a threat to them here, and besides, they had Daze now. The dog would know what to avoid. The sun had dipped completely behind the horizon by the time she worked all this out in her head, and at last – more to reassure herself than her friend, who had no way to know what she was pondering in any case – she said, "Yes... We'll... We'll be fine..."

[Anonymous]

"Yes...that it is." She honestly wasn't sure if Hasea was talking about the blanket or if she was talking about the dog but agreeing was just easier than clarification. Making Hasea think on the subject probably wouldn't be completely nice, and she probably didn't want to have to choose anyway. Really, she didn't want to overtax her friend...even if it didn't make her think hard, she still didn't want to risk it. Besides, it didn't really matter did it?

This place at least seemed barren and rather...well, devoid of monsters. Well, not monsters but that large predatory cat was pretty bad to say the least. She didn't really like the idea of being attacked one more, but then again who would? She really hoped they wouldn't have any such encounter tonight...they at least had Daze, which would help to stop most things from coming close. Then again...if they got into real trouble, she could just pump out a bunch of pheromones and hope for the best. She should have tried that before with the animal but...she wasn't that on top of things yet.

Soon though.

It was actually good though that none of them really had to eat. The swarm could do as they pleased and feed Hasea, while Sesselav didn't need to eat so much. Daze of course probably knew how to hunt so...if they needed some food then...that would come in handy.

[Anonymous]

Walking through the night, a comfortable silence hung over the group like the soft blanket about Hasea's shoulders. Though the landscape barely changed, her thoughts were enough to occupy her. There was just a sliver of a moon in the sky, but it seemed larger here than anywhere else and with the lack of clouds it gave more than enough light for her to see by as her eyes adjusted to the gloom. The sand that had been so yellow in the daylight now had a monochrome cast of white and silver, prompting her to look over at Sesselav's wings, and she giggled happily to herself. They looked so delicate and pretty in the pale light of the moon – not that they weren't pretty all the time, of course! They were just even nicer now, was all.

Even the swarm was quiet and sparse, fanned out across miles of desert in an effort to find objects of interest. A short way ahead of the trio, a few oddly square stumps of rock wedged in the ground drew no more attention than any other trivial landmark in this barren place. They gave no heed to manmade things new or old, and they couldn't comprehend the inscriptions carved deeply enough to still be half-visible in the weathered stone. Whatever they had been didn't concern the insects, and whether the women would care when they stumbled across them later didn't concern them either. They were just rocks, invisible and pointless. To them, anyway.

[Anonymous]

The desert was as alive for Sesselav as it was for the swarm no doubt. She saw many different colours around her, many different scents floating around her. Hasea, the blanket, the swarm, Daze, the desert, the sands, ground, and many...many different things that she couldn't identify. It was nice though, to know this world was still so alive even though it looked so barren. She looked to her friend, hearing a small giggle from her friend and just smiled. She didn't know why she giggled but...this was Hasea, who knew why she did a lot of things.

When they came upon a small rise in the dirt and sand, Sesselav had to stare at the strange rocks cropping out of the ground. It was completely strange to see, and it looked...she wasn't sure if it was natural or man made, but it looked...out of place. Like it shouldn't be there. "What is that..." Sesselav said with hushed tones as she started her approach straight for the rocks.

[Anonymous]

"Huh?" Hasea blinked, roused from her daydreaming as Sesselav spoke, and broke into a skip to try to keep up with her friend's sudden increased pace. The equally spaced-out dog beside her, however, wasn't quite so easily distracted and trailed along behind them, oblivious as usual – not that Hasea was much more observant.

She peered around, trying to work out what her friend was so focused on. It was still too dark for her to see the carvings from here, and she hadn't noted the regular shape and spacing of the rocks as anything odd, nor the slight depression in the sand between them. If it wasn't for the ant woman's reaction, she would have passed them by without comment. With a puzzled smile she turned to Sesselav, gave in and asked, "What... What are we... Looking at?"

[Anonymous]

She was surprised that her friend hurried along to follow her, while the distracted Daze simply kept walking slowly after them. Or maybe she was just walking in a straight line...both were equally possible with the dog. It was adorable and tragic at the same time. She could only wonder why she was acting just like her friend Hasea...couldn't have been a swarm at least, which was good news.

"The rocks...there's...I'm not sure but I see things on them." As she got close to the rocks she peered at them curiously, running a hand over the runes, her fingers going between the carved letters to try and see if she recognized them. She wouldn't doubt that they would probably be in a completely different language than any that she knew. "This is...very odd...I don't think these are natural...well. The rocks are natural but...ahem." It was best to just...leave that be.

[Anonymous]

Tilting her head slightly in confusion, Hasea followed Sesselav closer to the rocks. She still didn't see what was so weird and unnatural about them. They were just... Rocks! Still, her friend was usually right about things like this, so she crouched down and copied the ant woman's movements, feeling the rough surface. And... There was indeed something odd about it. It wasn't totally flat, but it wasn't as randomly craggy as most of the other rocks in the desert either. The holes made lines, that joined up like pictures. Or words. Pushing her face towards the symbols, she strained her eyes in the dim light to try and make out what they were. "Oh..."

"Do you mean... Do you think... There are people here..?" she asked at last, a mixture of hope and apprehension in her voice. People might mean new friends, but they were also complicated and they could get upset with her, and that was scary! If they were nice like Sesselav it would turn out all right... She was pretty sure she wouldn't meet anyone else who was very much like her friend, though. Besides, the rest of the area didn't look a whole lot like anyone lived here. Apart from the rocks, there wasn't any sign of people at all, and if there weren't any people then what were the carvings for? This was kind of making her head hurt...

[Anonymous]

It was incredibly odd and strange feeling to say the least. Sesselav couldn't read them, they weren't a language she knew, but then again she didn't know a lot of written languages. It was definitely strange feeling, and it wasn't as if she could see them all too well. They just...were strange symbols on rocks. She decided to stare at the rocks, just looking at them and hoping that they somehow would make sense to her. They didn't though...they were just...strange and alien to her. However they weren't doing anything. They were just...she didn't even know. She couldn't figure it out, nor was she wanting to in the end.

"I don't...think it does. I can't say for sure of course..." She really couldn't say anything else. They were just there. She couldn't read them, she couldn't figure them out. They were just...symbols on rocks. That's all it really was.

"Maybe we should just keep moving...if it does mean people, they could be anywhere around us..." but they knew which way they had to keep walking. Straight toward where they were going. South.

[Anonymous]

"Good... Good idea..." nodded Hasea, giving the rock one last pat as she stood. No matter what mystery they posed, it was obvious enough that they wouldn't find anybody here. It was best, as always, to keep moving. Anything could be beyond the next hill, beyond the horizon. If she just kept walking, with Sesselav, everything would work out.

The sand shifted under her feet, a normal occurrence on the slopes of this landscape – the fact that they were on relatively flat ground now escaped her: for a few moments, that was. Ahead of them the earth moved again, more violently this time, and a black shape began to rise against the twilight sky, sand spilling from it as it revealed itself to them. An enormous spider-like creature emerged, and though Hasea couldn't be sure in her sudden terror and in the dark, it seemed like it had too many legs. There wasn't time for her to get drawn into pondering such things, though, as it fixed its gaze on the pair and began to rub its front limbs together, giving out a nerve-wracking rattling noise.

"Sesselav... What... Do we... I don't think... I'm scared..." she whispered, at last managing to voice an entire thought. For one, that thing didn't really look like it would want to be friends with them... Daze caught up now, bumping gently into the backs of her legs and peeking around her in confusion, only to shrink back with a whimper. If even the dog was worried, this couldn't be good...

[Anonymous]

It was a mystery that they wouldn't solve any time soon now would they? Neither of them could read the language, and in the end it was a trivial matter. It probably didn't say anything of importance, because if it did it would probably be written in more current languages. Even if it did say something important in an ancient language, the information probably wasn't relevant. For Sesselav she was really just going to ignore it and let it escape from her mind. It was of no consequence to her in the end.

Until the ground started moving.

The dirt and sand shifted under their feet. It didn't feel natural. Sesselav could feel the tiny tremors and movement of something that wasn't just the sands shifting. This was very...bad perhaps. It was a monstrous bug of some sort, and Sesselav's wings were out already just in case she had to flee suddenly. She'd grab her friend and pull her as far as could be, but Daze would have to be on her own. She could only hope the dumb dog would run in terror instead of trying to nuzzle the large monster before them

"It's okay Hasea, it's okay..." Even the whimpering of Daze got Sesselav worried. How could this possibly be a good thing? Sesselav would have to try something extreme. Her wings beating fast she suddenly vaulted herself upward toward the strange beast. It was just another insect, and she'd had relative success before with the swarm and other creatures with both her pheromone and her mental abilities. She would just have to...combine the two...hopefully it would work.

[Anonymous]

"Oh... Be... Look out..." Hasea called after Sesselav as her friend launched herself towards the monster. It seemed awfully dangerous, but she knew what she was doing, right? She wouldn't do anything silly. All the woman could do was hang back and watch, cowering against the sand. After all, she wasn't agile and strong and tough like her friend, and she'd only get hurt. There was always her magic, which she readied in case it was needed, but until she knew it wouldn't interfere with her friend's plan she kept the wind quiet, still.

Focusing its large central eyes on the small shapes before it, the creature was momentarily confused when one began hurtling towards it. This wasn't usual, and it wasn't quite sure what the little insect was doing, but if the food wanted to come to it then it supposed letting that happen might not be a bad idea. And for some reason, it was feeling oddly... Friendly... Towards the tiny things... But for now, dinner was more pressing. Keeping its gaze firmly on Sesselav, it brought its front legs up and together in a pincer movement, aiming to snag her with the sticky barbs on its feet.

Unable to watch her friend's peril, Hasea squeaked and covered her eyes. No, she had to pay attention! If Sesselav really was in trouble, she'd have to know so that she could use her magic! Peeking out from between her fingers, she noticed the black cloud of the swarm gathering around the scene, pouring back in from across the desert. Their host was in danger, and they needed to act. Quickly, they streamed towards the monster and covered it with a second buzzing skin, exploring it for sensitive orifices they could block, as they had with the leopard. They'd found nothing so far, but everything had to breathe.

[Anonymous]

Her concern was probably well warranted, but she was the one who was supposed to protect her friend right? She was a queen, and Hasea was her...princess? She didn't dare want to say drone, that would make herself feel bad, as if she were taking advantage of the woman. No, She was not one to do that! Definitely not.

The rather large beast was staring at her, and it was...definitely something strange to see. However, it wasn't attacking her right now. It was...well it paused for a moment, it had hesitation, which meant that she could act! Of course, the legs were a little bit of a problem, and she was going to have to avoid them...and she just barely managed to avoid it, her wings going a little faster as she felt the leg swish underneath her.

THAT had been too close.

It was really strange how the swarm was helping to fight too. She could only watch from above as the swarm went down over the other insect and try to...do something to it. Would they be able to do anything like that anyway? It was awfully large to say the least. She had to help though, she had to see what she could do! Sesselav swooped down, landing on the head of the creature behind the eyes, trying to get a focus on it. Sesselav tried to assert her will onto it, trying to see if it had a sense of reason or how great it's mind was.

"This has to work." The ant queen muttered to herself. If not, she'd grab her friend and then...run.

[Anonymous]

Sounding like the dog, Hasea whimpered when her friend disappeared out of sight between the creature's legs... And then almost immediately reappeared on top of its head, completely unharmed. Of course Sesselav would be fine! She was too wonderful not to be! Forgetting the danger for a moment in her relief, the woman smiled and clapped, calling out, "You're... You're too cool... Sesselav..."

The monster paused again when its target went out of view. Where had the little fly gone? An itch on top of its head caught its attention and it raised its front leg again to try to wipe it off, but the movement of the tiny figure on the ground made it change its mind. Oh yes, there was other food, wasn't there? Food that seemed like it might be slower, and easier to catch. It fixed its eyes on its new quarry and shifted its legs forward to start a rush, but stopped dead in its tracks. There was a weird feeling inside its head, like its ideas were tickling it, and it kind of seemed like it... Didn't want to eat the small white thing after all? This was new, and strange, and confusing, and it didn't like it one bit.

It was staring at her. The creature was staring at her and all Hasea could do was stare right back, unmoving. She was so stupid! Her friend hadn't really needed her encouragement – she was doing so well on her own – and all it had done had brought the monster's attention onto her and given Sesselav more to worry about! She had to help now, but what could she do to it that wouldn't put her friend in danger also? Even the swarm seemed to have found something, packing themselves in under its belly.

Tearing her gaze away from the creature's, she looked around her and an idea slowly formed in her mind. Trembling, she twitched her fingers, coaxing the air between her and it into a small whirlwind which started to pull in loose sand from the ground. It wasn't enough yet, but she hoped it would help.

[Anonymous]

Sesselav was pretty focused on her work at hand...but she could hear something from Hasea on the ground. Too cool? Oh, right, she thought that she was fabulous? Was that what it meant? It meant something...right now she was a little more focused on the fact that the great spider was wiping a leg over its head at her. Sesselav was prepared to jump and fly above it but...it stopped for some reason. She stared at confusion as the spider just...

Oh no. Hasea.

She had to do something...she had to...what the hell was going on? The swarm was doing something, she could hear their thoughts too. Something was off...they were doing something to the giant spider. She was rather confused by all of this but...she had to focus on what she was doing. Her mind opened and expanded, trying to instill a sense of friendship. Her pheromones were going wild too, she was doing everything she could to try and just...make everyone friends. "Come on...come on...." If Sesselav could close her eyes, she would, trying to focus all her energy, all her mind on one specific task.

"You will sit...and...be...GOOD!!!!!" The scream was of frustrating, but the psychic shout that went out would probably make quite a few insects in range suddenly go prone or sit back in obedience. She had to succeed, she couldn't let the swarm kill it, and she couldn't let Hasea be eaten. She would never forgive herself if anyone died.

[Anonymous]

Desperately, Hasea flicked her fingers faster, drawing the mini-cyclone into a more rapid spin and sucking up larger and larger quantities of dirt. Quickly it bulked up to the size of a person, and she guided it to one side to see if it had worked. The monster seemed to follow it at first, bobbing towards it to see what this new moving target was, but there was one thing missing. Heat. No warmer than the air around it, it couldn't be alive and so it wasn't a suitable dinner. Disregarding the distraction, the spider fixed its sights again on the little mage, and she shrank back with a frightened squeak.

This was it. She'd failed her friend, and now she was going to get eaten. The dog probably wouldn't be too happy with her either, come to think of it. "I'm... I'm sorry..." she whispered, shutting her eyes, when Sesselav shouted out. Even though it wasn't meant for her, Hasea immediately found herself cross-legged on the ground. If she'd ever doubted that the ant woman was a queen (and she never would!), this would be proof.

Stunned into obedience, the creature shuffled its back legs oddly, tangling them together in an effort to sit down like it was told to. It didn't know how to sit, didn't even know what sitting was, but what it did know was that right now, it had to do this strange new thing. Eventually it managed a kind of facsimile of a human seated position, its limbs angled forward and its abdomen touching the ground, and stayed there. It still kind of wanted to eat something... Just not these things. How bizarre!

The swarm, too, slunk out from underneath the monster and settled into a thick black sheet on the ground. They kept buzzing, though, even louder than usual, like a sulking teenager slamming a door. With them down, there wasn't a sentient life form in the area that wasn't paying attention to Sesselav. Even Daze had her ears pricked forward. All eyes, ears, and various sensory organs were on the ant woman now.

[Anonymous]

Sesselav didn't have a lot of time to watch what her friend was up to. She was too busy holding onto the monster and invading its mind. If it was going to get close to eating Hasea, she would have to jump, but for now it just seemed like it was really confused by something strange. She didn't have time to figure out what it was, but she could feel a change in the wind...the air was...different. It wasn't something she could worry about though...

Things worked out though...

The large creature beneath her started to move and she held on as best she could, crouching low. At first she thought something bad was happening but...there were no screams...and there was nothing bad going on beneath her. It slowly stopped moving, and she noticed that they were much closer to the ground. Carefully she spread her wings and jumped from the large creature, propelling herself to land near her friend with a worried look on her face. She was okay though...just...sitting. Daze was sitting...the large creature was sitting...even the swarm was upon the ground in a thick black sheet.

Sesselav looked around before she helped Hasea up. "Sorry, I didn't meant you Hasea...I just...was scared something bad might happen." And something almost had but...luckily everything was okay in the end. She turned her gaze to look at the large creature sitting before them. "What...what should we do with it...?"

[Anonymous]

"You were just... So... Commanding..." blushed Hasea, taking her friend's hand and allowing her to pull her to her feet. Trust Sesselav to get a great big monster to do what she said! That was why she was so wonderful. She had all these mysterious powers, and she only ever used them for good. If she could make something like that behave itself, she could probably do all kinds of things.

Although she did have to remember that it was still there, and her friend's question was something she should have been thinking too.

"I don't... I don't know..." she mused. They certainly didn't want to hurt it, and sending it away would be mean too, since it seemed to live here. There was the option of trying to really make friends with it, but even if it worked she didn't like the idea of it maybe taking a dog-shaped snack while nobody was looking. She felt a little bad for thinking so unkindly of it but, well, it had just tried to eat her. This time, she was probably justified. "I think... He would be too dangerous to... To ride..."

A big spidery Ray would be nice, but it wouldn't be so funny and cute if it was trying to eat more than just plants. It wouldn't really be like Ray at all then, would it? Not that she was looking to replace him, of course not! He was unique and lovely and this was not the time to be getting distracted by a horse that wasn't even here. Sighing, she glanced back at the creature. "Maybe... We just leave him... Leave him here..."