I curled upon myself, the Great Core’s light splayed across my scale-flesh. The warm glow bounced from the surface of my coils, filling the air around me with its brilliance.

I hissed, relaxed and at ease. Safe.

There was a knocking on the walls that kept the outside away, something that wanted in. Its hunger only grew with each forceful strike, a hunger that I could hear in the roars that slipped between the tiny wall-cracks.

[SUBMIT]

I hissed again, telling the beast to go away. It didn’t belong here. It was other.

It went away, barred from the light of the Great Core. I let myself fall back into the place between sleep and not-sleep. Relaxed. Safe.

It knocked on the walls again, striking differently this time. Searching for a way in. Frustrated.

The roars changed, becoming something a little less demanding, becoming something a little more sly. They shifted forms, trying to angle through the wall-cracks, unable to break through the wall that kept us safe.

I hissed again, telling the beast to go away.

It didn’t.

A sharp, bone tipped limb shoved itself through the gaps in the wall-cracks, reaching for me.

Reaching for us.

Another broke through, and then another.

The disgusting, wrong limbs stretched out, trying to bring me back to their master. I curled upon myself; there was nowhere else to go.

They were coming for me.

Coming for us.

[SEARCH/FIND/SUBMIT]

I twitched, and my vision flashed, flickering verdant green.

Lesser Core Skill: [Little Guardian’s Focus I] Increased.

[Little Guardian’s Focus II] Acquired.

Lesser Core Skill: [Little Guardian’s Focus II] Increased.

[Little Guardian’s Focus III] Acquired.

I twitched, jerking away from Tiamat’s thought-hiss, unwinding my coils rapidly and preparing to slither away. A sharp glow pierced at my eyes; warm, relaxing, safe. I looked around carefully.

Tiamat wasn’t here, nor were her disgusting creations. It was just a dream - or a warning, maybe?

“Hey, little cutie.” I heard a familiar mangled hiss, and allowed myself to relax just a little bit more. The-female-who-was-not-Needle stared at me, her eyes shining in the light of the [Little Guardian’s Focus]. Her mouth was split wide, teeth bared. “Done sleeping?” she hissed again.

Still sleepy, I reached out, checking the [Little Guardian’s Totem] that I could feel somewhere on her. My fangs sunk deep, and I tasted the [excitement/adoration/happiness] that was reflected in her eyes.

It was nice.

The-female-who-was-not-Needle shuffled closer and, after a moment of thought, I decided to reward her faith and adoration. I lifted up slightly, moving my head a little closer and allowing her to scratch my head-scales.

Her [Little Guardian’s Totem] bloomed with the taste of [satisfaction] and [happiness], accompanied by some sort of high-pitched squeal.

It was somewhat annoying, but that was my not-Needle, I supposed. A mix of annoying and occasionally-acceptable.

The scratches were rather nice, though, so I let my annoyance pass.

She hissed again, but the unintelligible sounds were interrupted by a series of joyful squeals and shouts. These ones were equally high-pitched, but somehow less annoying than the-female-who-was-not-Needle’s.

I raked my fangs across the incoming connections, basking in my tiny Coreless’ [joy] and [excitement]. As they always were when not sad or afraid, they were an energetic bunch- they squealed and hissed and reached out at me with their tiny little fingers.

Something about the surety they held - the innocence, the utter faith that I could taste from their emotions - never failed to affect me. They were the Great Core’s tiny Coreless, some of its most precious faithful. Its most ardent believers.

My favorites.

I gave them a hiss of greeting. Amusingly enough, some of them hissed back - not with the unintelligible mix of Coreless-words and hissing that the-female-who-was-not-Needle always attempted, but something closer to a copy of my own. I was sure that they were just mimicking me, unable to understand the meaning behind it, but it was...cute.

I tried to push worries of Tiamat and her disgusting creations from my mind, enjoying the moment while it lasted.

They would come for us - for me.

Hopefully, on that day, my cute and tiny Coreless would still feel the same.

Darkwood carvings brushed against my scale-flesh; I slithered through the gaps between them, leaving a gentle glow to light my trail. [Little Guardian’s Totem] took hardly any effort, after growing so much stronger than it had once been. The weave of mana that it formed was just as complex - just as beautiful - as before, but it somehow took less. What had initially required a vast amount of my available mana, and a notable amount of my time, now took but a drop and an instant.

The pattern formed again, a single droplet of mana twisting into a beautiful shape and pushing into a nascent [Little Guardian’s Totem]. Then again, and again.

I hit the bottom of the pile and began to move outwards, forming a coiled path. By the time that I was done, my vision was filled with a wonderful glow. A hand reached towards me, and I accepted the offered limb.

“Wonderful, just wonderful!” an overweight Coreless cheered. I couldn’t taste the emotions from his [Little Guardian’s Totem]; he was wearing one, but it rested against the strange skins that the Coreless liked to cover themselves with. I felt nothing from it.

Still, I was becoming more familiar with the Coreless. I could recognize the tones they used, if not the meanings themselves, and I could understand the [satisfaction] and [excitement] in his widely-bared teeth.

He kept talking, and I draped my length across the-female-who-was-not-Needle’s shoulder. She reached towards me and I rewarded her by leaning in ever-so-slightly, allowing her to scratch my head-scales. She had done well with my tiny Coreless, earlier. Made them happier somehow, using a string of gestures and words that I hadn’t been able to understand. I leaned in a little more as the overweight Coreless continued speaking.

“These...[Little Guardian’s Totem] was the term, correct? Yes, these [Little Guardian’s Totem]s should do quite nicely. It’s just a shame that the newest benefits appear to require being near that Statue. We could sell them for quite a bit more, if that weren’t the case. You know, it was partly my idea to commission that Statue, so in a way…”

The overweight Coreless chattered on and on; I started to get a sense of [resignation] and [impatience] from the-female-who-was-not-Needle. It increased over time, building upon itself, and then she finally interrupted with a sharp cough, one hand raised to cover her mouth.

“I apologize, Councilman. Something caught in my throat,” she said.

“Oh, that’s quite alright, Miss Valera. Now, as I was -” the Coreless tried to continue. Tasting the rising [impatience] from not-Needle again, and feeling a bit of my own, I hissed loudly. He stopped.

“I apologize, Councilman. I think something may have caught in his throat as well,” the-female-who-was-not-Needle said, [amusement] flashing across her [Little Guardian’s Totem] and the edges of her lips beginning to turn upwards.

“Eh hem. That’s quite alright, Miss Valera. I suppose we can discuss this another time. Orken thanks you for your assistance,” the Coreless said, one hand rubbing stiffly at his face. He picked up the pile of newly-created [Little Guardian’s Totem]s, now placed inside of a giant skin-mouth, and walked away. He staggered a little under the weight, not nearly as strong as my warrior Coreless - and far more annoying, honestly. I could only handle so much inane babble; even the-female-who-was-not-Needle, able to actually understand it, had been becoming annoyed.

Still, I was sure that - like many of my Coreless - he could be useful in his own way. As long as he worked to spread the Great Core’s light to other Coreless many-nests as he seemed to be doing, I would try to bear with it.

The-female-who-was-not-Needle made some noises at me, scratching my head-scales lightly. When I checked, [amusement] and [approval] radiated from her Totem.

“We make a good team, little cutie. It takes a powerful duo to make Councilman Port stop rambling, especially when he’s trying to brag about something. I swear, the man never misses an attempt to make himself look better.” She made a sound that pushed out from somewhere in her throat; a light taste of [annoyance] flashed across her [Little Guardian’s Totem] again. “As if he predicted anything about what you could do...Skies above, I’m not even sure you knew - but of course, the wise Councilman was ten steps ahead of everyone. Nevermind that he’s the one who was so insistent on putting that muzzle on you before.”

She continued to ramble on as we walked out of the nest but, unlike the overweight Coreless from earlier, I didn’t find it all that annoying. Her shoulder vibrated ever-so-slightly with each and every noise she made, a steady rubbing against my scale-flesh.

No, it wasn’t that annoying. It was a little nice, actually. I let her continue on uninterrupted.

Despite Tiamat’s threatening thought-hisses, I was in a good mood.

I decided to enjoy it while it lasted.