IMPERIUM INSECTUM

“how long am I going to be in this damn forest!” I have been walking for God knows how long, and this Forrest looks nowhere close to ending. I’m starting to think following the river wasn’t a good idea. The thing is, even if I wanted to deviate from the river, I would still be in the same situation. I let out a deep sigh.

<skrik?>

“Is everything okay, mother?”

I looked towards my shoulder, Where one of my children were hovering above it. I summoned him earlier from my living nest to help keep me company. I let out a smile and brought him closer.

<SKreiik, scraa.>

“I’m fine, just a bit angry. I've been walking for a few hours now, and this Forrest doesn’t seem like its going to end, I can only watch the same trees go past me before I go insane.”  

<Skreek, tik,tik>

“Even if mother went insane, I would still love you.”

I gave his head a gentle rub.

<Ehk, scraa>

“Thank you, but I don’t plan on going insane yet.” I continued rubbing his head as I walked through the forest. I looked up at the canopy and let out a deep sigh.

<scriek, tik>

“If only I could get a view from above the canopy, then I could easily find my way out of here.”

<Ehk>

“I could have a look for you, mother.”

<Krik>

“You could, but I wouldn’t be able to hear you up there, and my pheromones would be disturbed by the wind.”

He let out a sad chirp. He’s so adorable when he does that.

<ehk, Tik>

“Don’t be sad little one. It's not your fault.” I raised my hand and stroked him on the head again. “If only I could go with you, it would make things so much easier.” I stopped dead in my tracks as a thought rushed through my head. I quickly brought up the description for Living nest.

-----

 

• Living nest

A queen and her nest are one and the same. Wherever she goes, her nest must as well.

(Inside your body is a small personal nest that can store certain types of insects. You can summon from this nest at any time. Current capacity 200. See hive management for more details.)

----

The part that had my interest the most, was where it stated that, a queen and her nest are one and the same. If we were to take this in the literal sense, would this mean that me and him are…

<Skrk>

“Mother, why have we stopped?”

I snapped out of my trance and put my attention back on him. I gave his yellow and green striped body a little stroke. He shuddered in my hands.

<scree>

“Oh, It's nothing, just having a think. By the way, can you come here for a second? I want to try something.”

He flew off from my palm and started hovering in front of my face. I closed my eyes and focused on him. If we are one and the same. Then I should just be able to reach out to him mentally. I focused my mind on him, looking for something I could latch on to. Slowly but surely, I felt a connection form. It was weak and uncoordinated, to begin with, so I focused on It more. I soon realised I could mould and shape the connection. So I started cleaning It up and refining it. Turning it from a vague web of thoughts, ideas and feelings. Into a refined, singular thread that could relay any and all information from him. I opened my eyes, and I found myself looking at him and looking at myself at the same time. Honestly, being in 2 places at once was a bit confusing.

<Skraa>

“Mother! You are so close; I can feel you everywhere. All around me.” He said gleefully.  

My real body chuckled.

“Yes, indeed, it feels nice to be around you as well. Now can you please help me get out of this forest.” I said from inside his mind.

He took off like a bullet towards the Forrest canopy. Dodging and diving in between the branches and through the tree leaves. I was shocked at how fast he could move, his tiny wings shouldn’t be able to propel him this fast, And yet he was doing so with complete ease. In a few minutes, we were through the leaves and soaring through the sky.

<Skrick>

“Mother, what are we looking for?”

“Any signs of civilisation. Such as smoke, buildings, or anything that doesn’t fit in with the nature around us.”

He started searching from the sky. Whilst he did that, I could finally see how vast this Forrest is. There were Miles and miles of rolling trees that went all the way up to the horizon. Large rocky mountains towered in the west. I don’t think Forrests like this could even exist on earth.

<Skrack!>

“Mother! what’s that over there.”

Looked towards a long continuous gap amongst the trees.

“I’m not sure? Fly a bit closer.”

His small wings Buzzed at incredible speed. Getting us above the gap in record time.

<ehk, scraa>

“Is this what you were looking for, mother?”

He had taken me to a long dirt road that cut through the forest. If I’m lucky, I’ll find some sort of civilisation on or at the end of the road.

“YES! This is exactly what I was looking for. You truly are an amazing child.”

He started shaking again. I could feel him struggling to keep his joy contained.

“It's okay, you can let it out. Once you're done, fly us back to our body.”

He instantly took off higher into the sky, doing loads of excited barrel rolls.

<EHIIIIK!>

“I Made mother happy, and She’s happy because of me. I can't wait to make her more happy!”

This same sort of Excited praise continued on our journey back to our body.

“Did you get it out of your system?”

<Ehk!>

“Yes, mother!”

“That’s good.”

I focused on the thread between the two of us and severed it. The connection we had was still there, but it was a lot weaker.

<Skreek?>

“Mother, why did you leave? Are you angry at me?”

I saw the excitement fade out of his body,  as he slowly started dropping to the ground. I placed my hand under him for him to land on. He fell onto my hand, looking incredibly downtrodden.  I rubbed his back once more.

<skraa>

“No matter what you do, I could never be angry at you. Now go back to your siblings and get some rest.”

He happily chirped and excitedly flew back inside of me.

-----

New ability added: Hive Link

The bond between mother and her hive is so close they may as well be one.

(You can now see through the eyes of members of your hive. No matter How far away they are.)

-----

I can think of hundreds of uses for this one skill alone. I looked up towards the sky. The sun was still above me, signalling it was midday. Assuming there are 24 hours in a day in this world. I thought about the distance to the road. I will have to pick up the pace if I want to make it there before nightfall.

I turned east from the river and started walking. To pass the time, I could take a look at the hive management section of my status. I’m very curious about what my children can do.

*********

Meanwhile, inside the nest……

“Mother is so nice! She is the best ever!” I yelled, as I was making my way back to the nest. I’m so glad mother chose to spend her time with me. I love the way mother always caressed my back, whilst giving me one of her warm, beautiful smiles. I started shaking again. I promised myself I would stop, but every time I think of her, I get this amazing, sparkly feeling in my body, that I can’t stop myself from shaking. I flew into the nest, and was met with all my siblings looking at me. Before I could greet them, They assaulted me with questions.

“What was it like?”

“What shade of green are mothers eyes?”

“How is mother feeling today? I hope she is happy.”

“What did mother smell like up close?”

“What colour are mothers feet?”

“is it true mother has a small green blemish on her cheeks?”

I tried to answer as many questions as I could, but there were so many.

“What was the best thing that happened?” an older sibling asked me. He was born 2 minutes before I was, and he had green and yellow spots all over his back.

“The best thing that happened was when mother shared my body with her.”

“WHAT!!!!?” the entire nest said in unison.

They all suddenly jumped me, smothering me with even more questions.

“EEEEEEEKKKK!!!!!, MOTHER HELP!!!!!!.”