Chapter Text
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Waking up was an experience.
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But it was lonely.
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The siblings weren't present anymore.
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It was bright and cold.
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After being suspended in blissful blankness since memory began, colour in any form was alien and beckoning. The swirling luminous energies that danced around and between them.
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Sound came next. A gentle hum, vibrations lulling and soft, brushed points where the outside ended and they began. The clattering of other entities moving about around them made them shiver.
They could feel some of them up against them. Palms and appendages touching and handling them.
They were limp.
That didn't feel right.
"...-oAH! Hey! Calm down! You'll hurt yourself! Someone get th-..."
Actually, come to think of it...
None of this felt right-
P A I N
They'd hit something. Something cold. They'd fallen from somewhere.
"-estraints! Damage it in any way and we're fucked!"
"I know-ACK!! But it won't stop-HNK! fucking-SSK! flailing!!"
"I got the clamps."
"Hold it down, then!"
"I said-OW!! I can't!-"
*Easy, easy- Oof! These are heavy as fuck!"
"Quickly!"
Restricted.
The world felt too tight.
The acidic air burned their senses and clogged their budding thoughts. Metal clamps weighed on their form, eating at their strength.
The ground was cold and smooth, uninviting. Before long, they could feel it move under them with intermittent scrapes.
"Don't drag it like that! The clamps are bad enough, do you want to tarnish it more?!"
"It's heavy!"
"Oh, please, it's a fucking child!"
They were moved onto another cool surface, their weight hitting it with a resounding clang. The vibrations hurt.
"Yeah, a child covered in 20 kilogram weights!"
"Shoulda brought a better trolley then."
...
A... child?
The... people were... talking about them...
But as an... "it"...?
"It" didn't feel right...
And neither did "they".
"Oh hey! Look! It's stopped seizing!"
"Must have learned it's lesson quick!"
"... ha, funny..."
What lesson? Nothing was being taught.
"Oh cheer up, you sod!"
"Hey fella! You ready to cooperate, now?"
Fella...
"Fella" is normally masculine, right?... That fits.
He nodded his... shape.
He was a shape.
That also fits.
"Ah! It's conscious and cognizant! Wonderful!"
"Oh Tree, it's actually alive... It's sentient... This is messed up-"
"It's better than what it was, Koda!"
He tried to move again but was quickly worn out by the heavy clamps. They were pushing him down a corridor. The cold light buzzed and the wheels on the trolley groaned. Where to? He had no clue. He'd never seen anything like the buzzing overhead lanterns. The walls emitted grey and the floors emitted white. Everything felt oddly uniform. The repetition felt familiar.
The sound of doors opening drew his attention. The parent and twin energies being emitted from behind it urged him to struggle, to join them.
"Woah, ok. This is freaky."
He felt one of the energies pull closer.
"Stop fidgeting for once! Please!"
He was unceremoniously pushed onto something wet and stringy. The clamps gave a dull clang, hitting the soft ground. It was warmer than the metal but still cold. The mulch beneath was squidgy. He wanted to stick his hands into it.
Grass
These are plants.
More hands. Unfamiliar but the presence was so ingrained into his being, it was almost his own. Sibling was trying to pull off the restraints. He shook his head. They pressed against him instead but all he did was tip him over over with a loud thud.
He felt amusement from them and he sent the same back, though not as enthusiastically. His head was spinning.
"Now look. They're going to hurt each other and we'll still get in trouble!"
"Its... kinda cute, but there's... something oddly horrifying about it."
"Stop being pessimistic! Now come on, we've overstayed our visit..."
He felt them leave and the sound of the door closing.
"Sibling? Why are you all locked up?"
Speech...
He-... He didn't know how to do that.
No, he did! He did! But he was missing something, something important.
"... Can't you speak?"
He hesitantly shook his head. Sibling sent sympathy though their touch as they pulled him back into a sitting position.
"That's alright! We'll teach you! Youngest was the same!"
He sent his thanks through their bond but yelped as they hauled him across the grass.
"Yikes! Is that all really necessary?!" Other Sibling "What did you do?!"
He fidgeted as they approached, cringing at the disdain they felt through the bond.
"You must be really twitchy then! I was a bit when I woke up, but they only gave me hugs."
He shrugged again and let Sibling and Other Sibling drag him further towards Parent and Youngest.
The air in this place was warm and didn't have that acidic feel. It was clean and light. He found it much more enjoyable here. There were sweet scents around too! His siblings would accidentally smack him against a leafy plant occasionally and the smell would go everywhere. It was nice; all fresh and dainty. But, no doubt, the bulky clamps were disturbing the patches of the sweet plants. He didn't like that.
"Eldest is here!"
He felt the last Sibling approach.
"Yep! They chucked him in just now!"
"Oh... That's not very nice."
"I know, and look at what they did to him!"
He could sense Youngest Sibling poke and prod at the clamps .
"That's awful! How'd you get those?"
Again, he shrugged. He was just enjoying having everyone back together.
"Aww, but that's so sweet! How could they do that to you when you're so harmless?"
"They must have just decided to be mean."
"But that's mean!"
"Exactly."
The 4 of them shared a giggle.
"Right! Now everyone's here, we should go talk to Parent! I'm sure they'll want to see you, Brother!
He perked up and wriggled in his restraints, drawing a laugh from the other's.
"Someone's excited!"
"I would be too for a chance to get out of those clunky bolts of his!"
"Heh! Then let's get a move on!"
. . . . .
"Hey. You need to calm down-"
"calm d- CALM DOWN?! HOW IN THE FUCK AM I MEANT TO CALM DOWN?!"
"I understand that you've been through a lot-"
"Understatement of the FUCKING CENTURY!! EVERYONE'S GONE!! IT'S BEEN 80 YEARS!!"
Blixer pulled on his ears how could he have forgotten such important details?! The more he thought about it, the worse he felt and the more his energy was lashing out.
"HOW COULD i LET THIS HAPPEN?!"
Trapped. He'd been trapped with the Tree for 8 decades. He'd lost everything.The world had evolved beyond his recognition in that time- and to think that he had almost been manipulated into killing his own people!! And his siblings- Oh Tree, what if they were like him?! They have killed people!!
"There's nothing you can do for them now!! You have to keep pushing forward!! So please!! Stop destroying what's left!!"
What?
Looking around, it was clear that he was indeed destroying the architecture around him with the patterns he was unconsciously producing. Agonizingly slowly, Blixer reigned himself in, causing the Pink General to sigh with relief. Members of the Council had followed him out too. They had raised shields in an effort to minimize the damage but it didn't seem to have worked.
"I don't understand... Why am I losing everyone?!"
Empathetic, the General crouched to his level.
"Well... You have us now, I suppose..."
Confused, Blixer peered up at her, his eye watery.
"... But-... The Council just told me how much they hated me 5 minutes ago..."
"Yeah, well, no one knew about this 5 minutes ago."
She gestured to his new shape and his pink hands. When he didn't seem convinced, the General sat with him.
"You saved my life, Blixer... even without knowing why you ever wanted to and I am... grateful to you for that. No wonder they made you a hero."
Ears pricking up, she directed his gaze to a black statue lit up on top of the Council Hall. Even from a distance, he could recognize the axe and the posture he got reprimanded for as a Hero. It all made sense now. He stared with such wonder that she burst into laughter beside him.
"You- But I got everyone killed!"
"No, Blixer. You got further in than anyone ever had before. It took the Tree years to keep us down afterwards."
He didn't know what to say. After he stopped saying anything, The Pink Leader stood up.
"Come. Let's catch you up then."