The next evening Porrim woke up from her deep sleep. The blinding sun was barely setting when her tired jade eyes opened. The nightmares troubled her sleep, like every time, but she was used to it by now. They didn't bother her so much anymore.

The sleepiness, however was quickly run over by worry when she couldn't feel Kankri's weight in her arms. The jade troll stood up and looked around. Her beating heart only calmed down when she saw the grub curiously examining a leaf a few meters away from her. Her lips curled upwards in a loving smile as she walked over to him.

When she picked him up, he made a small surprise noise. Porrim turned him over so he could rest on his back. Kankri's eyes lit up and he smiled after he saw the familiar face that fed him a night before.

Porrim went back to the tree and sat down near it. She reached in her bag and got another grubloaf from which she took small pieces to feed her grub. He almost ate the whole loaf until he decided he was full. After, the jade troll heard her own stomach grumble she checked the bag to see how much food was left. Only after making sure it was enough she allowed herself to finished the small piece left from Kankri's grubloaf.

She finished eating quickly and after she gave some water to the grub and drank some herself, she continued the long road. She decided that her old hive will be their destination. It would be a good place for Kankri to pupate and even if it has been raided by the rogue trolls it could give them shelter for the winters that will come soon.

The walk was long and exhausting. For their journey to take as little as possible, Porrim walked during the days too. She made sure Kankri was well protected from the sun while she would tolerate it. It did bother her but it didn't blind her like it did to other trolls. It had something to do with the color of her blood, she was sure. During the journey most of the food went to Kankri, who was a grub preparing for pupation. He had to eat as much as possible, leaving Porrim with little to no food.

After about five days of walking, the jade troll finally had the hunger and exhaustion catch up to her. The sun was up in the sky and the scorching heat of the desert was too much to bear. Porrim was sure she would have fallen to the ground right then and there if luck hadn't smiled upon her. Right in front of her, about 40 meters away stood the remains of what appeared to be a carriage.

She started walking faster trying her best not to trip. Her long dress wasn't helping her with this. When Porrim finally reached the broken pieces of wood she fell down in their shadows and passed out instantly.

When she woke up the air around her was cool. She sighed in pleasure as she opened her eyes. She stood up and looked around her. Only now she noticed that the sand was stained. Instead of the blinding white that shone even during the night there was a giant, horrendous splotch of bronze and yellow. Porrim didn't know what happened there but she could guess. The blood stains were still fresh so it must have happened just a while back.

Porrim stood up and looked inside the carriage. There was a sack that she took and opened. Inside there were about a dozen fruits. Not believing her eyes she reached inside the bag and took out a green fruit with soft skin. These were krihiaples. A kind of fruit with a soft, green skin and bitter taste that were really expensive.

Without hesitation, the jade troll took a big bite from the fruit. In a few minutes the krihiaple she held in her hand was already gone and her hunger disappeared. She put Kankri on the still warm sand and put every fruit in her bag. It was heavier now but she will have to carry it. She still had some food but she was out of water and these fruits would work perfectly as a substitute.

Deciding she shouldn't keep hanging around in case someone returned for what they lost, Porrim started walking again. She reached her hive 10 days later. The hive looked almost the same. Except it wasn't as tidy and it was obvious that someone has been there after she left. The door was wide open, for example. When the troll reached it she stopped in front of it.

She took a deep breath and stepped inside not letting her guard down for a second. She didn't close the door in case she had to escape. With slow and steady steps, Porrim walked through the place she once called home. She held Kankri close to her chest making sure to protect him.

The jade blood looked around the first floor of the hive to make sure it was safe. The place was a mess. Furniture was overturned everywhere and the floor was full of dust. Porrim could tell that no one has been there for a while but she couldn't risk it.

She kept exploring until she made sure the first floor was clear of any enemies. When she checked every block and every corner she made her way up the stairs. She looked into every single room, even though she knew some of them had been empty. When she still lived here she thought that all of those extra blocks were useless and left them with nothing in them, but most of the things she used to deposit in there were stolen.

There was only one block she didn't look in: her respiteblock where she used to spend most of her time in. When she opened the door countless flashbacks appeared in her mind about all the things she did here, by herself or with her lusus and some friends. She wondered if they were still alive. If they were, were they leading a good life? She doubted it. Most of her friends were lowbloods, after all.

Porrim finally let down her guard. The block looked the same but also different. It was a big area with pale green walls and a window on the opposite wall of where she was standing. Right below it, there was a desk with a chair that was on the floor. In the far, right corner, stood what remained of her recuperacoon. Near it a small nightstand that had gathered a lot of dust. In the other side of the room there was a closet as big as the wall. Porrim walked to it and opened it. There was still a few torn pieces of fabric but all of the clothes she had to leave behind were gone.

She walked over to her desk and put Kankri down on it. He was still asleep. She opened the first drawer and used her claws to lift the fake bottom that her rust blooded friend made for her a long time ago. From there she took the spare key and ran downstairs to lock the door. For the first time in a few weeks she finally felt safe.

She went and checked every window to make sure it was closed and when the jade troll returned upstairs she found Kankri awake, almost falling off the desk. Porrim walked over to him and sat down on the chair, after picking it up. She opened her sack and took out the last two krihiaples. She gave one to Kankri and ate one herself.

She finished it quickly and her gaze started following the small grub's every movement as he was munching on the bitter fruit she gave him. After he was done, he looked up at her with his big, red eyes. Porrim smiled, her fangs showing slightly.

She was really tired. She walked around the block and tried to make a comfortable sleeping place out of everything she could find. When she was done, the light outside her window told her that she should get some sleep. She picked up Kankri and put him near her after she lay down. She made sure he was asleep. Only then, Porrim let the sweet world of nightmares overtake her.

When her eyes opened, the place was covered in darkness once again. The pink moon was giving it a little bit of light. The jade blood looked beside her, only to realize that her little grub wasn't there. She sat up, rubbing the sleep off her eyes. She scanned the block and her eyes landed on a strange structure that wasn't there before.

She walked over to it and she noticed how the light of the moon reflected off it. In the middle, there was a small hole and as she got closer she noticed something red moving. By the time she was near it, the hole was almost sealed but there was enough space to see a few locks of black hair and after a few more seconds, everything turned to crystal.

Porrim touched the substance and noticed that it was wet and slimy. She looked back to where the hole used to be and a small, loving smile appeared on her face. Her little grub would soon become a wiggler. He began his pupation and in a few perigees he would learn to walk and speak and survive.

The jade troll started pacing her respiteblock thinking about what to do next. She stopped when she noticed the view outside her window. She approached it and took in everything she saw. The sky was clear and hundreds of thousands of stars stretched throughout the horizon. The time seemed to stop as Porrim convinced herself once again that they would make it. They will be able to survive in this world, no matter what.