//------------------------------// // To Medical Bay // Story: Protective Broodmate // by CitreneSkys //------------------------------// “Thorax!” The young nymph jumped at the gruff voice. He looked up, seeing the adult changeling standing above him. His disapproving eyes glared. “Are you paying attention?” “Uh...” Thorax trailed off, not being sure if he should lie or not. His instructor sighed. “If you can’t focus, maybe we should pull you aside for one on one...again,” he muttered, clearly getting fed up with him. The changeling nymph stared down at the floor, nodding. His instructor turned to the rest of the brood, resuming what he’d been trying to teach to the younglings. A few other nymphs started to snicker, which only made Thorax shrink, flattening his ears to the side of his head. The young changeling did his best to listen to the instructor, fidgeting in place. Thorax didn’t quite understand anything the older changeling said, mostly he heard the word ‘intruder’ or ‘infiltrator’ dozens of time to the point that neither of the said words sounded like actual words anymore. Thorax mentally sighed, rubbing his forehooves together, anticipating when the lecture would be done. Everything the instructor said had been tuned out at this point, the young changeling was more focused on drawing awkward circles in the ground. Apparently, he had tuned out the lesson to the point where he didn’t realize that they were all done. A carved hoof tapped his shoulder, bringing him back to reality. Looking up, he saw his older broodmate standing in front of him, looking annoyed. “Instructor Tegmen said to stay for some extra lesson,” Pharynx said flatly. Thorax sighed, getting onto his hollowed out hooves, trotting over to older changeling. The instructor gave a annoyed glare down at the nymph. “I hope you were paying attention,” he jeered, his blue tinted wings buzzing with dissatisfaction. Sarcasm laced his tongue. “Your going to need it.” Thorax winced, drawing awkward air circles on the ground. “R-right....” His instructor waved a hoof in his older brother’s direction, beckoning him to leave. Pharynx simply nodded, keeping quiet as he left, leaving Thorax alone with the older changeling. Tegmen then looked back at the failing nymph, promptly lighting his horn with acid green magic, closing off the entrance way for the time being. “What is the first rule when it comes to infiltrating a new society?” Thorax blinked, ranking his brain for an answer. “Um...‘find an unsuspecting creature?’ I think...” His instructor sighed, shaking his head. Thorax deflated slightly, clicking his hooves on the floor nervously. “No. It was ‘learn about the society and gather information.’ We’ve gone over the plenty of times, do I have to shove it down your throat to make you remember?!” The volume of the changeling's voice increased, and Thorax suppresses his urge to shrink against the floor. He whimpered, knowing just how well this lesson would go. Thorax winced as he was pushed out of the cavern, limping. His back leg had been horribly twisted, misshapen to the point where he had no hope of it growing back normal. He’d just pray it didn’t mess things up for him. “And please! Never come back!” Instructor Tegmen screeched, making the nymph flatten his ears against his head. The adult changeling had been fuming with red to the point where it was bleeding off into the walls. Remembering that he was supposed to be back in his bedcave long before this, he limped and staggered his way towards one of the tunnels. All the tunnels looked exactly the same, so it took some trial and error before he found the right one. He’ll get the layout right eventually. He ignored the pain In his back leg. Sure, the bite mark was slowly making the pain numb from the venom, but he could handle it. He could ignore it. But he just couldn’t ignore the looks of passing changelings. “Ew, his leg is gross,” one of them said. “I bet he’d get thrown out of the hive. Why do we still keep him around?” another one questioned. “I’ve never seen Tegmen get this angry,” one of the older drones said while passing by. It was all humiliating. Thorax suppressed the urge to cry. He could do that later in his cave. Right now? He needed to get to said cave. The numbing pain in his leg was making him dizzy, but he could deal with that later. Right? Right? Pharynx walked along the walls of the tunnel, focusing on his stealth. The nymph had quietly stalked up the smooth walls, adhering to the surface like glue. It was when he had finally been able to climb up onto the ceiling that his stealth mission had truly begun. His compound eyes locked onto one of the unsuspecting adult drones that checked up on the nymphs daily. This one come by often. She was one of the more friendly drones, and seemed to actually like being around nymphs and larva. Mandible, if he’d remembered correctly. The stealth classes must’ve been paying off because Mandible had no idea that a youngling was coming for her. Pharynx kept himself flat to the ceiling, keeping his emotion low as to not alert the drone. He was right atop her, ready to pounce on the nursery drone when- “Uh, Pharynx? What are you doing up there?” Pharynx shot a glare at Thorax, who had just entered the chamber. Great, his brother just blew his cover. Mandible looked up, a sly grin forming on her face. “Ah, that’s when you went. I knew someone was missing,” she said, climbing onto the walls in an attempt to get discolored changeling nymph down. Usually, changelings would just fly, but Pharynx had noted that Mandible had an oddly mangled wing that made it impossible to fly. Rolling his eyes, Pharynx popped himself of the celling. He buzzed down on to the floor, staring daggers at his young broodmate. “Did you have to sell me out like that?” he said in a gruff voice. Thorax blue eyes grew wide, just realizing that Pharynx had been practicing something. “S-sorry...I didn’t know you were-“ “Yeah yeah, whatever shrimp,” Pharynx said sarcastically, giving a sharp poke to Thorax’s chitin. He’d expected the younger nymph to say ‘stop it Pharynx, that hurts’ or something similar in his stupidly squeaky voice. What he didn’t expect was for Thorax to lose his balance and fall to his side. And he definitely didn’t anticipate the loud shriek that followed thereafter. If Pharynx being on the ceiling didn’t catch everylings’ attention, the shrill sound definitely did. Pharynx briefly wondered if he had poke Thorax too hard, but he quickly ruled that out. His pokes were the same as always. Thorax never reacted like this. “Thorax?” Pharynx lightly tapped his brother's shoulder, trying his best to hide his own anxiety from the otherlings. Mandible had come running towards the nymph, concern in her eyes. “What’s wrong?” The drone asked, crouching down beside the nymph in pain. Thorax bit his lip, trying his best to suppress his tears. The waves of agony leaked off the nymph that it was almost overpowering. “M-my...leg...” he sniffed, trying to stand, and then failed to do so. Pharynx eyes trailed back to one of Thorax’s legs, which he found to be twisted and mangled. Bruises were forming on the hoof, and two definitive holes were apparent angst the black chitin. Pharynx stiffened when he saw how badly his brother was injured. “In..trustor Tegmen was getting really mad at me a-and...” Thorax trailed off, seemingly to be lost in his own mind. His older broodmate hissed. “Instructor Tegmen did this?!” He inquired, throwing his hooves at the wounded leg. Thorax simply nodded, tears welling up in the corners of his eyes. The sheer pain the had engulfed Thorax’s emotions were nauseating, and for once Pharynx could not blame him. Pharynx growled. His, their, instructor had done this to his younger brother. He had even bit the changeling nymph, no doubt knowing his venom could very well kill Thorax! Pharynx knew his brother was a wimp, but this was taking it to far. The nursery drone eyes widen when told what happened, concern welling up inside her body. The discolored changeling could see the emotion leaking out into the air, mingling with Thorax’s purple agony. The emotions were too strong that some of the otherlings have retreated into their caves, repelled by the strong, icky emotion in the area, Pharynx, however, stayed by his crying broodmate’s side. His fury was just boiling under the surface, but he kept it hidden, not letting a single drop leak. Mandible stood up, pointing the older brother. “Take Thorax to Medical Bay, have him see one of the healers. I’ll go deal with Tegmen.” Pharynx was briefly disappointed that he didn’t get to go rip his instructor apart himself, but complied, supporting his brother’s weight while he tried to stand. Thorax made a groaning noise, his eyes screwed shut. Pharynx sighed, a slight amount of pity was felt in the middle of his heart. Thorax is mostly pressed against Pharynx as the older nymph leads him out of the nesting chamber. Thorax was quiet for the majority of the time, only making squeaks of pain as his injured leg brushed against the surface of the hive’s tunnels. Pharynx, though he loved-lIKED....liked his brother, couldn’t help but feel embarrassed as he passed other changeling nymphs and drone, clearly judging him for helping his broodmate. He suppressed those feelings, however, his concerns for his brother’s health was much more important at the moment. Pharynx thought the injuries were minor. Or...at least, that’s what he hoped. Boy was he wrong. Thorax had finally succumbed to the exhaustion and pain, fainting. His body crumbled, and Pharynx had to do a double-take to make sure his brother was still alive. His leg looked worse as the venom spreading, making a black hole in the nymph’s leg. The older nymph hauled his brother onto his carapace, making sure to avoid poking him with the odd spike that jutted out of it. He didn’t have time to deal with the judgmental looks of other changelings, he was getting his brother to the healers, and he was getting him to them now. It was a race against time. He wasn’t sure how fast the venom was spreading, but he had to assume that Thorax could hold on a little longer. His little brother had stopped leaking any emotive pain, which worried Pharynx more than he’d like to admit. He let his instincts tell him where Medical Bay was, Pharynx always did have a better time remembering the layout of the hive. His hollows put hooves took him deep into the heart of the hive, descending down further then most nymphs were allowed to go when they weren’t accompanied with a drone. He was lucky that he had a reputation of ‘the good nymph’ or else he’d probably be caught and sent back to the nursery. That or they drones just couldn’t keep up with his lighting fast speed. He skidded to a halt at the base of the hive. It no longer had any of the green lights that hung from the ceiling. Instead, the walls were lined with a calming cyan flame that made the cavern slightly warmer than the rest of the hive. Casting his violet eyes to his unconscious brother, he bolted for the entrance. He shoved the vines that covered the entryway of the Medical Bay open, leading the way into very alert and very concerned healers. “Please help my brother.” Thorax's head hurt, badly. The pain everywhere, mostly from his back leg, and half his body felt numb. He almost wanted to give up on life. Almost. Dispute the stabbing pain in the back of his head, he managed to peel back his eyelids, letting cyan compound eyes assess the room around him. It was dark, only a few flames of blue that hung from the ceiling admitted a dim light. It didn’t take long for his eyes to adjust to the lighting, peering around the room. He sat on a soft mattress of leaves and feathers, cradling his body as to not let the hard ground harm him. A small reservoir of water was in the center of it all, waves of steam coming off from it. Medical Bay, Thorax recognized. I’m in Medical Bay. How did I get here? He pushed himself to his hooves, an effort to right himself up, before collapsing onto the soft bedding. He let out a groan, annoyed that he still wasn’t recovered enough to stand. “Owwie,” Thorax quietly muttered, but it was loud enough for one of the healers to hear him. Chitin clacked against the surface of the hive, alerting Thorax of their presence. “How are you feeling?” She asked, her voice soothing. Thorax looked up to meet her blue eyes. They were darker than his, and her carapace had an indentation in it. She also had a scarab necklace around her neck, the nettle jewel shined in the blue lighting. “I’m fine, a little sore,” Thorax remarked, stretching his legs and feeling a satisfying pop of his joints. “How long was I out?” “Two days.” Thorax eyebrow shot up, staring at the healer as his jaw dropped. “Two....days?” Thorax parroted, disbelief clear in his voice. The healer chuckled, given the nymph a soothing smile. “Don’t worry, we managed to get your instructors to give you some time off to catch up on your learning.” “That’s...not what I’m worried....about,” Thorax mind trailed to Pharynx. The last thing he remembered was his older broodmate taking him down a tunnel before he inevitably passed out. Is Pharynx okay? Is he worried? Or will he tell him to step up his game in class or shrug it off like it’s no big deal? As if on cue, the discolored changeling nymph stepped into the cavern, his purpled eyes trailing along the walls before landing them on his now conscious brother. His brother showed no emotions as he turned to the healer next to Thorax. “..I’ll leave you two to discuss,” she excused herself awkwardly, exiting the room. The nymphs stared at each other. Thorax, excited to see Pharynx, heaved himself to his hooves once again and managed to take a couple of steps before he fell over. “Ack! Um...hey Pharynx,” the younger nymph shyly greeted, pulling himself onto his stomach. Pharynx cold, hard gaze was still a cold, hard gaze even as he approached Thorax. For a moment, the young nymph thought Pharynx was mad at him. Then Pharynx let his eyes soften. A calming blue color swallowed his brother, and Thorax was taken aback. Pharynx never let his emotions overcome him unless it was anger or frustration. “...I’m glad you’re alive,” Pharynx stated, his relief bleeding into the ground. “Me too, although my left side is really numb right now.” “I’m not surprised, considering that they had to amputate your leg,” the older changeling nymph deadpanned, and Thorax had to double-take what he had said. “They what?” Thorax looked back at his leg. The insured leg was gone, leaving a small little numb that’s was still healing. Cautiously, he moved his hind joint, letting it stretch. “So...how long will it take to grow back?” “The healer said about a month and a half.” Well, I better start getting used to it, Thorax thought, frowning. He looked up at his big brother, and his frown turned it a shy smile. Pharynx rolled his eyes. “How’s the last two days been?” Thorax inquired. “Has anything happen that I should know about?” Pharynx tapped his chin with a chitinous hoof, thinking. “Instructor Tegmen was given off duty for a week. Shame, really. I hoped he’d get thrown out of the hive or something.” Thorax poked at Pharynx’s chitin, given him a stern look. Well... as stern as his timid disposition would ever allow him to be. “Don’t say that!” “Why not?” Pharynx cocked an eyebrow. The young nymph clicked his hooves together. “It’s not nice.” “Wow,” the discolored changeling snorted. “You’re too nice for your own good.” “So I’ve been told,” Thorax retorted, having heard that about him a least every week. The sat in awkward silence. Really, neither of them know how to communicate well. Thorax splashes the steaming water of the underground spring, before pulling back from the heat. “..How much work do I have to catch up on?” Thorax asked, filling the gap of empty air. Pharynx chuckled. “Well, you missed out on a lot of Instructor Halter’s sparring class, a lot of history, mimicry class...Coxa had turned into a Tatzlwurm, but it’s was tiny, oh and there was a lot of invasion classes with Substitute Elytra-“ “I get it,” Thorax interrupted, rubbing his temples with a groan. He tapped the hive floor, making clicking noises. “When do I leave Medical Bay?” “As soon as you are awake,” Pharynx lifted himself to his feet. “The healers said you were probably going to be fine, so you can leave anytime.” “Great!” The younger nymph cheered. He got onto his wobbly feet, staggering a few steps. Forgetting that his back leg was missing, he tumbled into the hot spring. Pharynx laughed when Thorax remerged from the pool, drenched and unhappy. “As soon as I relearn how to walk.”