The cave was dark. The black holes would swallow any living being passing trough it. The only thing piercing them was the sound of footsteps. A single individual moved swiftly through the darkness.
It was a jade blooded troll bearing the Sign of the Virgin. Her dark hair reached right above her shoulders. It was slightly curly. Two differently shaped horns were decorating her locks. One of them was sharp at the top and the other was deformed slightly making it look like an arrow. Both of the horns were red at the bottom and were turning yellow to the top. Her gray skin was covered by a black dress with jade stripes highlighting the Virgo sign on her front.
Her name was Porrim Maryam. She was 10 sweeps old. She has been an auxiliatrice for barely one sweep. Even though she was young and inexperienced, she was a fast learner and somehow understood the Mothergrub's needs better than others. Because of this, she was favoured by her and disliked by the the other auxiliatrices. However, she didn't let this interfere with her work.
She was on an errand right now. She walked fast through the twisted corridors, not stopping once being confused about where she needs to turn next. In her right hand she held a letter she was supposed to deliver to another troll. She didn't like the fact that she was still considered good enough only for running around the place doing whatever others told her but she was a newcomer and it couldn't be helped.
Porrim reached her destination when she stepped in a big gallery. The Mothergrub was sleeping in the middle of it with a few unhatched grub eggs scattered across the room. Near one of the exits stood another auxiliatrice, an Attendent. One of the jade bloods on the top that you absolutely don't want to enrage. It appeared she just finished talking to someone when she turned around. Her expression was that of annoyance when her eyes spotted Porrim. She started walking fast towards the other troll.
"It took you long enough!" the Attendant shouted angrily as she snatched the letter from Porrim's hands. She quickly turned on her heel and left. Porrim stood there and watched her leave for a few minutes before she finally turned around. She decided she would return to her quarters for the day. As she made the first step her leg stumbled upon something. She looked down and in front of her stood a dark grey egg. Judging by the size of it, it wasn't long before it was supposed to hatch.
Porrim didn't finish her thoughts when on the egg appeared a small crack. She panicked for a second thinking her hitting it was the reason for it breaking. After the crack got bigger, Porrim realized it was hatching. She decided to sit down and watch. She always loved seeing how the little grubs crawl out of the shells. The egg was trembling and the crack was getting bigger and bigger. When it finally broke in half, from inside it a ball of black messy hair could be seen.
The jade blood smiled. The empty shells of the egg shifted again and the body of the grub was now revealed. Porrim's smile suddenly turned into a frown. A candy red grub was looking up at her. Its black hair was pierced by two orange bumps that came out of his small head. He had bright red eyes that looked at her in curiosity.
Porrim got closer and stared at the weird creature in front of her. It was strange, to say the least. She has never seen a color like that before and she quickly realized the cruel fate of the innocent grub that stood in front of her.
The auxiliatrice felt pity for it. She thought she could end its misery before it had to experience an even worse fate. That color wasn't on the Hemospectrum. That means that even if it managed to make it past the cave trials, it would be culled once the blood color would be found out. More than that, she thought there is no lusus that would take it. It was hopeless.
Porrim took the creature in her hands. It started struggling in her arms looking at her scared. The jade troll walked towards the cave's wall and turned her head away from the terrified grub.
It started screeching. The sounds it was making were loud and erratic. The grub started moving around like it knew what was about to happen to it.
The troll raised her arms in the air along with the grub. She started bringing it down with force, but before she was able to smash its head on the wall, Porrim made the mistake of looking at it. She stopped herself in midair.
The little grub had pale red tears in its eyes. It looked at her and she could see terror written all over its face. Porrim fell to her knees holding the grub close to her chest. She started crying and sobbing. She couldn't do it. She knew that she was supposed to; that it was the right thing, but she couldn't do it. She couldn't spare this poor grub of the hardships it was fated to experience in its life. When her tears finally dried on her pale face and she looked down at it, it was asleep. Her chest's warmth must have calmed him down.
She got to her feet and looked around to check if anyone has seen her. No one was in sight. While looking at her surroundings, her eyes landed on the Mothergrub. She was awake and was looking at her. Porrim dropped the grub from her arms.
It jolted awake and made a small surprise noise while looking up at her.
The Mothergrub switched her gaze from her to the grub. Porrim stood in place not knowing how to react. She looked at the Mothergrub trying to decipher what to do. No hints were written on her face but the jade troll could see something else in her eyes. Affection. That was a gaze she had only when looking at some of her offspring.
Light jade tears started sliding down her cheeks when she realised what it meant. For the Mothergrub it was all the same. Whether it was the Heiress herself or a mere mutant she loved them all. That meant that it could be possible. It could be possible to live in a world where everyone would be equal. If the Mothergrub, the creature their entire species needed to exist, didn't discriminate why were they?
Porrim wiped her tears and looked back at the red grub. She crouched again and put her hand on his small head. It looked curiously at her. She had to do it. She couldn't let this poor grub go into that cruel world alone.
The young auxiliatrice took the grub in her arms and wrapped him around her dress. He didn't object this time, knowing he was safe. She made sure he was asleep before she started walking fast towards her quarters.
When she entered her room she put the grub down on a rug she found lying around. She moved quickly around the room putting anything that might be useful in a sack. Money and food were the most important but it would be good if she could fit in the sack some clothes for the first winter that will come soon. She strapped her bag with a leather belt and put it on her shoulders. She wrapped the grub in a large black piece of fabric and ran out the door.
What she was about to do was extremely risky and dangerous. If she was caught she would definitely get culled along with the grub. Porrim wouldn't allow that, though. This grub had a right to live just like any other troll. She would protect him even if it means her own death. They will fight through everything that would come their way.
She walked down the long corridors again, turning left or right every so often. Soon, Porrim found herself at the exit of the cave and fresh air filled her nostrils for the first time in a long time. She was lucky. It appears that there were no guards. It was something that doesn't usually happened, but the jade troll took advantage of that to run fast away from the containment of the cave.
It was dark outside. The pink moon could be easily seen and Porrim stopped for a second to look at it. The green moon was slowly rising in the sky on the west side. That means it was still early in the night and she wouldn't have to worry about daylight. She started walking away from the cave. It would be troublesome if another troll would see her now.
She walked for a few kilometers, the cool wind embracing her body. The stars were beautiful that night. There were no clouds and everything could be seen clearly. The sand was dry, but it also seemed welcoming, being more gentle than in other, harsher nights. Porrim knew that the nature was celebrating the birth of this different grub. He was special. He would, one day prove to the whole world that hate is not what their kind was supposed to feel towards one another.
It was almost morning when she reached an oasis. She sat down near a tree making sure its branches would shield them from the cruel sun of the day. She closed her eyes and was about to fall asleep after a long night, but she felt some movement in her arms. She opened her eyes and looked over to the red grub.
He was awake. He looked up at her with big eyes, confused as to where he is. Porrim smiled at him.
"Hello, little one," Porrim whispered. "Are you hungry?"
The red grub screeched in response. Porrim reached into her bag and took out a grubloaf. She took a small piece and brought it to the grub's mouth.
He started munching on it. Porrim continued feeding him until he seemed satisfied.
"I'm going to have to give you a name." There were a lot of names to choose from. One that stood out was from a story she heard a long time ago.
The first troll to ever talk about equality between the lowbloods and highbloods. He was a threshecutioner who believed that lowbloods shouldn't be culled just to satisfy the highbloods' boredom.
He tried talking and negotiating with the Subjugglators and the Condesce, but he was executed on the spot. After that, speaking of him was forbidden because it might give the trolls motivation to revolt. Anyone who broke this rule was culled. Even so, he was never forgotten. Lowbloods passed down the story and in the present only very few know the name of the troll considered a hero because he died for the good of his people. His name was Kankri.
Porrim knew that their lives won't be easy from now on. It would be worse than hell to live in this world, but they will make it. They will definitely make it.
"Kankri. Do you like that name?"
The grub laughed and Porrim started crying for the third time that day. This creature was so beautiful, so complex and yet so simple.
This day will always be a day that Porrim will remember for it is the day she ran away from her duties to raise a mutant. The day in which the individual who will change Alternia forever was born. The day Kankri hatched. And the day his story began.