I'm glad to see that signups are still on. I'd really like to get in, or on the waiting list at least.
The hive grew restless. Not that any of them was restless individually; for slivers there is no “individually.” No, there is only the thoughts of the one, of the hive, and this is what troubled it. For hundreds of years this had been of no concern. There was the hive, and there was the land. The land was to be taken from, for it was not part of the hive and could be used as was needed. The plants, the animals, the strange things that walked on two legs, all these were the land. From the great mountains to the west to the teeth of the world in the East, the hive was and did as it pleased. The problem was stagnation. The land in the mountains was too hazardous for the hive to survive. The pillars of rock had, effectively, contained it. For the longest time, this had been of no consequence. The hive accepted the boundaries of their world, for nothing existed save the hive, and it could not envision that there was more land worth wanting on the outside of its domain.
Then, one day, a limb was taken away. There was a strange twist in the air, and the limb was suddenly in a strange place, surrounded by iron and stone. The hive knew that this limb had gone far away, but it remained connected. It felt the strange creatures poking and prodding, looking and experimenting. It saw what strange things occurred between the limb's captors, listening to the strange sounds they gave off. From these experiences, the hive learned. The first lesson was the hardest of all, and took years to determine was truth. It learned that there were others besides the hive, and this is what troubled it. It tried to deny it, but clearly these other things had some semblance of...something. Something hive-like. The idea of a different being was a strange one, not land, not hive. The hive remembered those strange parts of the land than had built things of stone, metal, and wood long before, when the hive had to struggle against the land. From all of these experiences, it grew afraid of these “others,” but more than that, it grew curious. And so, it decided to try something new, something dangerous.
First, the hive learned as much as it could from the captured limb. From the strange sounds emitting from the captors it learned language, though this was extremely confusing at first. Armed with this new weapon, it learned more about the outside world. Apparently, long ago, there was a great spell cast on the mountains to contain the hive. None connected to the hive could pass through and remain alive. So, to counter this, new limbs was grown; ones that were able to make sounds as the strange beings did, and that should be able to survive up in the high mountains without the adaptive abilities of others. And then, the hardest part, it attempted to make those limbs “others.”
The hive failed, again and again. The bodies let out strange screams when their connections were severed, and the hive could feel something incredibly small clawing at the edges of its mind, trying to find its way back. The limb would then spasm about before falling on the floor, twitching, and eventually moving no more. This process was repeated over 1000 times, each limb eventually failing. Until finally, one summer day, when the hive decided to try again, something strange happened.
He felt an incredible pain wracking through his body. That was the really strange part. “His” body. A new sense of being. But the pain of coming into the world alone was too great. He, again a strange and unwelcome sensation, tried to get back into the hive. His thoughts were too little, his senses too small. Everything was not right. He willed his mind to again become one with the many, but it was no use. There was nothing. Absolutely nothing. He screamed in pain, both physical and mental. But he would not be broken. He was hive. He willed it with every fiber of his being. He was HIVE!
The hive felt the break and was suddenly aware of something else. Some one else. The limb was back, but it was not part of the hive. Yet, at the same time, it was. They shared thoughts and feelings, yet they were separate. This was strange and new, and yet a wonderful experience. It confirmed all that was thought before. There was not just hive and land, there was other!
The years past and the hive experimented with the other. There were periods of separation, which he could barely stand, and yet there were periods of integration, where the other learned from the hive. The limb could only contain so much knowledge, yet it could take those experiences and look at them differently from the hive, though only when it was separate. Eventually, the hive and the other, as one, decided that it was time to explore.
The other broke its connection with the hive. Though this caused it terrible pain and difficulty, he learned to at the very least live with it. He crossed the mountains with great difficulty, and eventually came to a new land. There was so much to see, so much to explore, and so many beings to share his mind with. Experiments with smaller beasts that had managed to survive in the Land proved that the other could reach out and touch their minds. Though the true melding as with the hive was impossible, and minds completely hostile were closed to his touch, he could at least sense their presence and even a bit of their emotions. This comforted him, and gave him the strength to go forward and confront those who lay beyond the Land.
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Topic: MTG Adventures RTD - End. (Read 10892 times)