Skrr was confused.
She looked around, her antennas twitching wildly while he studied those around her, but she saw that not many shared her confusion. There was hesitation and fear, but definitely not much of the uncertainty that filled her mind.
They were all in a well-lit cave, deep beneath the surface. Skrr had actually been the one to dig it out, so she was quite proud of how perfectly round it was. No one had commended her, but She had still patted herself on back and smiled happily about it for a few minutes…
…until she saw the one she had almost mated with swallow ghosts.
When her mother had died, she hadn't had the maturity to understand what was going on, but now… it was the most traumatizing thing that had happened to her in centuries. The two of them had only talked occasionally, but she had still felt that there was a bond between them.
Skrr prayed to the Mother for you. Why is this happening? Skrr doesn't understand! Maybe it's fake, like when you caught Skrr? If that's true, I'll insist on mating you!
She said so because the idea of mating with her seemed to scare other humans. She had always found it amusing, so she had taken to using it as a threat… but now, it came out unbidden, and she hoped that the Godking could somehow hear her thoughts and change what she was seeing.
No such thing happened.
Around her, the others had been equally shocked. Her fellow Divine Cockroach had even tried to pass it off as something he could easily recover from, but as time passed and he remained under the clutch of the scary things, she had turned quiet, too, like the rest.
They had all watched, together, as the Godking's mate had gathered many of the forces of the continent and led them against the foe outside.
They had still watched when only half came limping back.
They were watching, even now, as the continent devolved into chaos while the ashes of the Godking's master drifted in the air and the body of his mate lay scorched at the center.
Why are we still sitting here? Skrr wants to fight! Fight and take revenge! Skrr could do nothing when mom died… But Skrr won't let enemies take away her friends and home! No way!
She stood up, startling those around her. One of the first things that her fellow Cockroach had taught her was the method to take human form, so now, she looked like a slender little girl with two antennas on her forehead. In the first few weeks, she had gone without clothes as that was how she had lived for years and years. She had even found the stares of the other members of the Order funny, but she had finally decided to don a close-fitting, black satin dress that matched the shade of her scales the most after being convinced by the old man they called the 'Head' that she was disrupting the training of others.
Those same scales shone as she transformed back into her real self and turned around to face everyone else.
"Skrr doesn't understand what we are waiting for! Why are we not out there, fighting? Soon, Skrr will not have any home if we stay here! Is that what we want?"
Her voice was innocent and high-pitched, but her words had truth to them. This became evident when a man walked forward from the rest and said, "You're right… but we were told to hold back as the last reinforcements, in case anything happens."
Skrr knew that this was the person from whom the Godking had taken his Shapeshifter bloodline. The bloodline had been perfected after that, but still, this was the man in whom it had been activated first to have it returned to the world in the first place.
He had been placed as the leader of all of them temporarily, and they had only accepted because he knew the Godking better than any of them. In fact, Skrr had heard that it was one of his talents to understand people much faster than anyone else, and many attributed this to his powers which needed him to be able to transform into anyone, anytime.
"Yes, Skrr is backup, but there is no one to call us! Skrr remembers the Godking patting her head and telling her that he's depending on her…Skrr doesn't want to let him down!"
This was the first time that she was speaking to a group, at-large, but she liked it. Standing in a corner, she had seen the Godking speak numerous times to his people. She had always wondered how it would feel to see her words have a profound effect on those who were listening, and now, she saw that there was a chance that it could happen.
There was a boulder nearby. Getting up on it, she tried to stop her antennas which were wriggling wildly due to her excitement. She failed, but she had the attention of all the people in the cave, so she let them be.
She had thought that she was just an innocent little being who didn't understand much… but what she saw all around her made her understand that rest were as clueless as her.
Skrr didn't like it. So she decided to change it.
"This is Skrr's home. Skrr is alive because of Skrr's mother giving her one command. 'Live'. Isn't all your blood the same? Skrr can feel her blood calling her to battle. Can't you all feel it, too? If your ancestors were standing here, they would feel ashamed…Skrr is still scared of her mother. There is no way that Skrr will give her any chance to admonish her! Whatever the rest of you do, Skrr is going to go out and fight. Cute lady Eloise also told us to stay as backups, but she is gone. There is no one else to give us the command. Skrr thinks that we might even have been forgotten…and Skrr hates that! No one should forget Skrr! Skrr was forgotten for thousands of years, and she didn't really like it! Skrr is not going to let that happen again! All right, Skrr's going!"
The words spilled out of her mouth like a flood. When she was done, she turned around to the wall. She even raised her leg as if she was going to walk out, but pausing, she secretly shot a glance back to see what was going on.
She realized that it wasn't very secret and that she might look like a little child threatening something and then acting as if she was going to carry out the threat, but that didn't matter as the others all seemed to be in deep thought.
Then, one by one, they rose.
The first was her fellow cockroach, who walked forward and bent down to let both of their antennas touch. It was a sign of affection between Divine Cockroaches, and she had missed it a lot as her mother had used to do it often.
After patting her head, she transformed into an enormous Cockroach with crimson scales.
All around them, the others who had had their bloodlines activated in one way or another transformed into their forefathers. Heaven-piercing Rhinos, Divine Crocodiles, Heavenly Hawks… All sorts of Godbeasts appeared, and for a moment, Skrr even felt as if she had been transported back to her childhood.
With a broad smile, she shouted, "Let's go!"
Walking forward, she disappeared, stepping into the teleportation formation that had been set up to let them enter the battle immediately if required. At first, she appeared alone at the northern part of the continent, but soon, she was surrounded by the Godbeasts of all shapes and sizes.
She had been taught to fly, too, but just as they were about to take to the air to reach their foe… they felt something to their left that made them pause.
A moment later, the vortex came into being. Its center was the center of the continent where the Godking's throne was supposed to be, but it had been enveloped so that nothing was visible.
"Is that wind? Who's casting the spell?" One of the Godbeasts asked, and the cockroach beside her said, "No…that's pure Energy. What's going on? Is it another devastating attack?"
The rest of the continent shared her doubt. Where before there had been chaos, calm was restored as Angaria took a collective breath and turned its gaze to the heart of the land.
And in all that silence, only a few seemed to understand what was going on. Even in them, no one spoke, so Skrr understood that it had fallen to her to educate the others.
So, raising her hands, she danced to her left, then right and shouted, "He broke through! Godking is on the same level as Skrr, now! Oh, if only he were a Cockroach! Our babies would have been little Godking Cockroaches! Oh, well…it's time to crush that bug outside, and Skrr is excited to watch!"