She felt trepidation looking into it. Her logical side told her that she didn’t need to worry now that she’d washed off the scent, but she kept having flashbacks of the swarm leering over her, mouths coming down to devour her. She shivered. She felt kind of bad for all the other creatures she’d subjected to the same fate.

She shook herself. They’d needed to eat. It was what it was. No use worrying about it now.

Steeling herself, she entered the cave.

And found it empty.

What? They should be back. It’s daytime.

She saw her piles of stuff over in a corner, right where she left it, but the others were nowhere in sight.

Then realization dawned on her.

I never made it back for the end of night hunt.

She had led them for the first, but they had another hunt every night. She’d been planning to sleep in-between the hunts and lead the swarm for both of them.

She hadn’t been here.

She was suddenly sprinting out the cave, scrambling in the direction of the tree eater, desperately sniffing the air for her siblings' scent.

Why was she running? Why should she care? They had betrayed her. Tried to kill her. They were not like her. They weren’t her siblings. She was so angry at them. So hurt at the betrayal. So scared it could happen again.

Her mind was awash with confused emotions as she came upon the scene. And there they all were, motionless. She could hear the thumping in the distance.

Some stood locked in time, mid-run or pounce, encased in clear icy crystal. Others simply lay on the ground, no movement, not even breath. She could feel the harsh chill in the air. She could see how many of them had cracked.

She… this was what she wanted, right? They deserved this for their betrayal. For their stubborn ignorance. For their stupid instincts. They had done this to themselves. She wouldn’t need to worry about them anymore.

It wasn’t nearly as bloody as some of their battles.

She reached for anger to smother the terrible feelings that were emerging.

She couldn’t find enough of it.

All of the shock and trauma she’d been fighting away with distraction surged forward.

She keened, curling up on the ground, not having the strength to stay standing. The mournful sound filling the air like her sadness made manifest.

I didn’t want them dead.

The sound continued, only interrupted by ragged breaths.

I just wanted kin.

She was lost in her sorrow, in all that had been taken.

After some time, she found herself quiet, exhausted by the whole ordeal. She was shivering fiercely at this point. She needed to go.

Slowly, she got up and padded back to the cave, forcing herself to stick to shadows and be properly cautious despite wanting to do nothing of the sort.

She hadn’t really internalized what had happened back then. It had all happened so fast and then she’d been almost immediately (from her perspective) thrust into the situation with the thinkers. She hadn’t really had a chance to dwell on it. She’d had thoughts but it had been more surface level.

Now the emotional blow had finally landed, and with this bunch of trauma added on top. It… wasn’t as bad as it could have been. She had never really liked her siblings. But they were all she’d ever had, and she didn’t want them dead. Even after they’d betrayed her. She mourned what might have been.

She rounded the corner to her cave, absent of other creatures, and looked upon her stockpile, the glowing blue crystal front and center. A small bit of happiness found it’s way back to her.

She… still had to work through this. But for now, there was a promise she needed to keep. A little bit of hope and wonder in all this tragedy couldn’t hurt the situation. She headed in and grabbed her crystal, then started off back towards the thinkers.

Kin can come in more than one form. She was sure of it.