>>5841041>>5841059>>5841256>>5841260>>5841278>>5841282>Stand your ground. This thing may be bigger than you, and older, but you shan't be cowed so early on.You don't back down. Neither do you attack. Your very first interaction in this world is already hostile, and you're swiftly forced to prove your cautious nature. From sensing their mind, your sibling’s intent becomes clearer: they’re looking for submission. You won’t give it to them.
As they come closer, their orange eyes bore into yours. You freeze up and convey a silent challenge. The pit of anger within you struggles to erupt, but you force it down, knowing that you would lose a fight. Just when you think they’re about to turn away, however, your head explodes with pain.
One of your sibling’s whips have struck you across the face. No blood is drawn, but you immediately cry out in pain. It’s a sharp keening noise that you barely recognize as your own voice. The hatchling lashes you again, then pounces at you and begins battering you with their limbs. You panic and attempt to push them aside, but you’re too weak to repel such an assault.
Just then, a mental presence paralyses the both of you with its full enormity, by merely focusing its attention on your conflict. Your sibling freezes up, attempting to escape notice, while you quiver in your curled up position. A tendril the thickness of your entire body slithers into the nest and captures your sibling. It pulls them out of sight, and the next thing you know, your vision is being filled with a colossal shape. A yellow eye stares out amidst it.
You feel an immediate sense of safety and understanding. Parent. This is your mother. The assault is over.
~~
You’ve received no actual injuries, and your survival as a hatchling isn't jeopardised. But you’ve failed to show your sibling that you’re not to be messed with. Life with them will be tough because of this, and you can only hope that you grow faster and stronger than them.
After ensuring that the beating has stopped, your mother recedes. You gaze up at her colossal form as she moves. Her body takes up most of the rocky space, and her back is a mass of tendrils. They look far more matted and tangled than your own, yet boast distinct power. Her body is stocky and dense, with a low posture, and a fan of spikes are spread across the back of her head. You feel an instinctive sense of safety as you watch her move towards the entrance of the chamber, back towards the light.
Where to now?
>Follow your mother. Her mind is so vast and alien that you can barely communicate with it. You’d like to see where she’s going and hang around her more. >Stay with the eggs. There are several more. You’d like to give them a better welcome than your sibling did for you. >Search for your sibling. Your mother placed them somewhere in the cave. This isn’t over. You may have just lost, but you weren’t exactly fighting either. Challenge them and attempt to remedy this. 