Mother Grub (On Hold)

Chapter 1

Laying in your comfortable place in the cave, you watched as the itty-bitty grubs played and fought and smiled and laughed. Not just any itty-bitty grubs, but your grubs. Your little cuties, whom each had a piece of you heart. You were the kindest known mother grub every heard of by the jade bloods, usually mother grubs just had their children and went about their day and ignoring what they had created. You on the other hand, made every grub feel like your favorite, and you had heard that some trolls would try to get into the brooding caverns to visit 'mommy' again, even after getting a lusus. It broke your heart when your babies were taken away, or when they tried to get back but couldn't. You wanted to be the lusus of each and every one of them, even if it was impossible. You counted at least a few hundred grubs as of now. Even you couldn't take care of that many.

Even though your heart broke with every grub taken, you continued to do your job, for the good of Trollkind. You became noticeably sadder, less energized, even though you kept on loving your grubs like before. But slowly, the world started to seem less colorful, the sounds that you used to love hearing, laughter and music, stopped making you happy. You couldn't even attempt to enjoy the taste of your favorite food. You thought that you were dying, especially as the day that your current grubs would leave neared. Crystal-like jade tears streamed down your face as you said goodbye to each and every one, and the jade bloods took them to their trials. You lay there, after, and waited until the buckets of rainbow would be delivered and used to help create more grubs. More grubs that would grow, and leave, and die. Grubs who would live out in the violent cruel world of Alternia. The thought broke your heart. The tears kept streaming and you soon fell asleep.

A few months later

The tiny newborns squeaked and wriggled around, vying for attention, and scrambling to the places that were warmest and most protected to sleep in.

"Now, now little ones, there is plenty of room for everyone." You patiently state, using your feelers to pull all of them closer as they cooed and screeched. You counted then, and noted their blood color. A fuchsia blooded female- sad, she wouldn't last long. Quite a few indigo and purples. Many blue bloods too. Then there were lower castes- a couple of teals, nothing lower. Except... that one grub. There. A jade blooded female who was politely letting others get the warm spaces closest to you. And immediately upon seeing her, you felt something you had never felt so strongly before. You had to care for this grub. This was your grub, and yours alone. She was not like any other grub you'd had. This one was special, and you wanted nothing more than to pick her up and go, far away to a safe place, and care for her. The instinct was so strong that without thinking you snatched her up and put her closest to you, cuddling her with your feelers. A jade blood nearby looked slightly alarmed- this was unlike you, to pick a favorite so suddenly-you never, ever had favorites. The little grub seemed alarmed too, at suddenly being snatched, but accepted it, cuddling you. The world seemed lighter, laughter from the grubs made you happy again. You would keep this grub as your own, no matter what it took.