To Be Determined

by xXLostChangelingsXx

Chapter 2

Still half-in, half-out of the hive tunnel, I drop down as the sand snake, one of the creatures most dangerous to us changelings out in the open, whips its head back and forth at the stings the fiery spells the older scouts throw at it, hitting Upeck's upper half towards me. I barely manage not to get my head taken off as Upeck slams into the tunnel behind me, his entrails hanging from what's left of his body. I try not to gag, seeing someling killed before my eyes for the first time. Steeling myself, I shoot forward to catch the falling half-body before it can fall into the sight of the changelings going about their business in the rather busy hive below.

Three or four warriors charge past me, either having sensed the immediate and unpredicted change in emotion from all the scouts (most likely my own, though, being the closest to them) or they saw me working to keep the insides of Upeck from dripping all over and down to where hatchlings will see, even though it leaves me quite open to an attack from above. The slamming sounds I hear soon after they pass makes me think they felt the emotions change and decided to head up to help. The second-oldest changeling of the group, the next scout after Gradeen , Yemar, zips down to help me hold Upeck together. So far, noling except the warriors have spotted the blood dripping from above, which is okay with me. Until Yemar starts struggling to keep aloft, as well.

"We're just going to have to drop down, and hope noling sees us," he tells me, struggling just as much as I am, despite him being stronger than I.

"But then what are we going to do about what falls out while we fall down?"

"We're going to have to go down on top of him, unpleasant as that may seem, to keep most of him inside where it belongs."

I'm already covered in more orangey-red blood than I'm comfortable with, so I just nod, maneuvering myself so that when I stopped flying, Upeck would be beneath me. As well as all his squishy things. I can't help but shudder at that, Yemar with me. He gives me a nod, and I nod back. After a few seconds, we drop. Even through my hard, sandy-colored carapace, I can feel the innards tickling at my stomach and chest, and the warm wetness that I know is blood, being pushed up my face by the wind our fall is making. The bottom of the cave is drawing ever closer, and I close my eyes, not wanting to see what might happen when Yemar and I land on the already-squishy squishiness that used to be Upeck.

But I hear it. Upeck is lucky he died when that sand snake bit most of him off. Just the sound of our impact, which manages to crack the carapace of my left foreleg a bit, makes me wish I wasn't there to hear it. Cracking open an eye, I quickly scramble off of the mess below me, backing away, shaking my legs and wings out, trying to shake off at least a little of the blood and-- is that-- Something that should stay inside the body is draped across my back, and I hurriedly shake it off, trying not to throw up whatever's in my stomach.

"W-we should get up there and see if there's anything left to do to that thing," Yemar tells me, shaking himself out. He managed to stay free of any entrails, probably because he was closer to Upeck's head, and not the open end like I was.

"Yeah, okay." Several warriors are making their way over to us, probably to collect the mess that was once a well-respected changeling. "I'm good with that."

We both take off, our wings buzzing as we accelerate to leave the hive behind. When our heads pop up over the edge, we can see that, no, there isn't anything left to do to the sand snake and, yes, the other scouts managed not to be killed, now just hovering around the corpse of the sand snake. Thankfully the corpse was all in one piece.

"There you two are! We were beginning to wonder if the snake had gotten you, too. Upeck?" Gradeen asks, flying over to us, genuine concern emanating from him in waves far stronger than the desert heat. He glances at the blood all over our carapaces, but there's still a sliver of hope in there somewhere.

"No. There's no way he would have made it with just half a body, and he was dead before Slip and I got him. Warriors down there are taking care of him," Yemar says, glancing back down the tunnel to the hidden hive. Then he shakes himself. "Anyways, we should get going. I know we just lost a great scout, but I'm thinking we shouldn't stay here. The Queen is expecting the all-clear so that she can move out with the guards."

Gradeen nods. "RIght. Everyling! Spread out! We've got to make sure nothing will harm our Queen during this journey! Go!"

The seven other scouts fly off, instantly disappearing into the desert sand, camouflaged perfectly. As I start to take off, Gradeen puts a hoof on my shoulder. "Don't go just yet. We need you to run a message down to the Queen when the reports come back. Yemar will take Upeck's place for now."

Yemar nods and takes off, sending a string of sympathy towards me. He's seen many deaths before, and he probably knows what's going through my head right about now.

"Gonna be okay, 'ling?"

"Y-yeah, I'll be okay in a little bit. It's just.... I've known Upeck since I was hatched. Then, first time out of the hive, I see him bit in half and dead, got his blood all over me.... Does this happen a lot? Scouts getting killed before they even get a hoof away from the hive?"

The older changeling sighs and nods. "Sadly, yes. We can't keep the predators away from us, only protect against. I'm afraid you'll see far more deaths before we reach the other hive."

"Oh.... I was kind of hoping I would be able to go through my first mission without anyling dying.... I guess not...."

Gradeen smiles a little bit, and I feel a teeny bit of amusement bubble up in him. "Well, at least noling's been maimed, yet."

"The others aren't even back yet, we can't say 'noling's been maimed, yet.'"

"Ah, sharp as those weapons you make. Glad we'll be able to call you part of the team, soon."

Something sends up a spray of sand behind where I'm standing, and I turn, fully expecting to see something deadly. I don't.

"Hey, we've got plenty of safe ground to the east, which is pretty much the direction the Queen's travelling," Tumbleweed says, nodding at my reaction. "Good, swift turn, Slip. Guess being as slippery as you are is good out here on the sand."

"Ha, ha, very funny," I retort, rolling my orange eyes. Gradeen stifles a chuckle behind me. "Anyways, is everyling else coming back, now?"

"Looks like it, here come the rest."

Sure enough, the other seven scouts land in a spray of sand. They all say the same thing, that the coast is plenty clear for an easy flight today. I hop back down into the hive to tell the Queen that we're good to go.

She's waiting for the all-clear, so all I do is nod, and all fifteen warriors form a protective shield around her, and take off all at once, in perfect unison. I've heard that the warriors have some kind of telepathy thing going on in their groups. I'm pretty sure they do, since they're so creepily in tune with each other.

Gradeen's voice echoes down the tunnel as he speaks with the Queen, but I can't clearly hear it from beneath all of the warriors blocking my way back up. All I can tell is that their progress speeds up exponentially and I can rejoin the scouts. The sun is reaching its peak in the sky when I glance back. I can't see the hive entrance anymore, and I know that today, I'm unofficially an official scout.

Comments

[Diamond Sparkle]

You write well.

[xXLostChangelingsXx]

5275248 Aw, thanks! This is kinda just what I'm working on until I get inspiration to keep my other stories going