Chrysalis

[I don’t know what I was expecting, but it sure wasn't this.]

Jim, the large and ever floppy worm, slithered through the tunnels beside the hulking, menacing form of his friend, Sarah. The two former humans had achieved their goal, a long cherished one for the worm, of escaping from their gilded cage amongst the Golgari. When Anthony had first arrived amongst them, they hadn't known what to make of him, but he'd done it, pulled off the seemingly impossible escape, and brought them back to his home.

And what a home it turned out to be. Vaulted chambers, beautiful carvings, a surprisingly stunning array of statues, most of which were dedicated to Anthony, all lovingly crafted in intricate detail, were just some of the startling features of the ant nest.

[Are you getting more comfortable being around all of these ants?] Sarah asked, sounding concerned.

[It's still a struggle, if I'm being honest,] he admitted, [my coils can't help but shiver whenever they crawl over me. Gyah!]

It just so happened, at that moment a host of ants skittered out of a side tunnel and made their way over the big worm's body. He stilled his body and tried not to writhe too much as their claws pinched his skin. If he reacted badly and actually hurt one of the colony members, who knows what would happen to him. In the outer tunnels of the nest, there was far less traffic, so the two of them had found their way out here in order to stretch their legs and coils, take in some air and try to decide what they should do next.

The heavy traffic found in the inner sections of the nest was noticeably lighter here, but that didn't mean Jim didn't tense up every now and again as their hosts made their way over him as they went about their business.

[We're certainly safe here,] Sarah said, a little hesitantly, [I haven't even seen a monster other than the ants since we got here. And the defences around the nest were certainly impressive.]

Jim wiggled non-committedly.

[Is that really what you want? To hide behind the protection that someone else is willing to offer you? Aren't you just putting yourself back in the cage you escaped from?]

Sarah was silent for a moment and Jim hastened to console her.

[Ah! I'm not judging you or anything, I know that it's hard for you to fight and that you'd rather not. I just don't want to see you go back into your shell and give up your independence, just after you got it back.]

She absorbed that and considered her own feelings before she responded.

[You might be right, Jim. I guess, I still feel scared. I'm relieved to get away from the Golgari after what they forced me to do, but I don't know if I'm ready to go back into the Dungeon…]

[We could do it together,] he encouraged her, [just in little bits. Go out for ten minutes a day, build up immunity to it over time. We could head out with the - GYAHAHA!!]

ants crawled across him, paying no mind to his sudden

few hours ago with a big escort of ants. I asked around and apparently she goes

fur and muscle packed frame looked down

ants? I didn't think you'd want to

afraid of

didn't want

a little as the sudden anger

back before we start working

of things to worry about now that he's back here,] Sarah chided him. [We can't

with the war

realising too late what he'd

slowly. [What war are you talking

in his mind. He wasn't really keeping it a secret, but he hadn't told her when he'd found out and then hadn't been sure what

to a few of the ants with names, though I wasn't able to get a hold of them for long. Vibrant in particular was… fast. From what I gather, the Colony doesn't expect the Golgari to let them

[You mean … us?]

Colony believes that they can still be followed, so eventually they'll come here in force to exterminate them. That's why things have

tried to straighten out their tangled thoughts. Sarah

have saved us, but they don't need us for their war. And the Golgari aren't after us. We can take a few days to help you get

[Jim…]

you don't want to fight, and nobody has the right

that, and you know it,] Sarah cut him off sternly. [They saved us. I'm not going

back a

know what that means, right? You'll have to fight. You might

a conflict was enough to set the

just run away forever, right? At some point, I have to fight. The Colony hasn't done anything wrong to me or you, why should they suffer for us? I - I think I'm going to stay. I'll

[You might die, Sarah.]

shrink away