"So, what brings you back here, Dizzo? Thought you would'a left us all alone if you survived. Had no idea you'd end up with another changeling hive." Shriek's form bounced around the small cave that he had made into his home, surprisingly agile for his shape.

Aranna kept close to the cave's exit, while Thorn settled into a sitting position at the cave's center and Eclipse skirted along the walls, looking at the various 'decorations' Shriek had put up. Apparently, a glop of dirt that was a slightly different color from the surrounding wall was decorative.

"You like it? Made it myself." Shriek said. "I don't mean to brag, but I got the talent from the old lady, you know?"

Eclipse simply walked away, slowly shaking his head.

"Pfft. Whatever, bro. Modern art's where it's at!"

"Shriek." Thorn said, driving the conversation back on track with all the subtlety of a hammer. "If Icewind fell, how did you survive?"

"Out collecting 'shrooms for some stew. Have to be careful, don't wanna get any of those wacky ones that mess with your head." Shriek let out a goofy laugh. "Reminds me, we heard that some other guys used 'em on purpose. Minotaurs or something. Crazy, am I right?"

"Mushroom stew." Eclipse muttered. "I can feel my tongue trying to kill itself already..."

"Don't knock it till you try it. Besides, the 'shrooms were on the side. It was cabbage soup."

"I hate cabbage." Eclipse muttered.

"Cabbage hates you." Shriek fired back. "And your ugly glasses, too." He added as an afterthought.

Eclipse rolled his eyes. "It's always the HUD unit."

"And now that we've established the feelings surrounding a certain type of leaf," Aranna said, cutting in. ",can we please get back to what we were talking about?"

Shriek shrugged nonchalantly. "Nexus came in fast and hard, like me." He flashed a grin, seconds before both Aranna and Eclipse gave him death-glares. "By the time I got back, place was a ruin. There might be a few other Icewinders around, but you won't find em without taking out Nexus first."

Thorn stood up, wings spread. "Any hints as to how we can perform such an act?"

"Simply put, you can't." Shriek sighed. "Sorry, bro. Even after fifteen years I still love ya', but it's not happening. If there are other survivors somewhere, they'd tell ya like it is, and like it is ain't pretty."

"Shriek, you have to understand; I was too much of a coward to come back without a good reason. But now, a reason fell into my lap. If there is any chance my parents are still alive, I have to make it up to them."

Eclipse waved his hoof. "Yeah, uh, hey. Can we possibly get some filler for that? Still in the dark, here."

"Another time." Thorn said with a swipe of his hoof, cutting off any further argument. "Help me, Shriek. You may know a backdoor into Nexus hive."

Shriek groaned. "Yeah, yeah, fine. It's your life to throw away. If those two are with you, just take em to Icewind's old cave. I did some investigating when I came back with the shrooms and found a new tunnel. Led right to Nexus hive. I was lucky to get out with my all my chitin."

"Thank you." Thorn turned and trotted back towards the exit, Eclipse following.

"Hey, Dizzo?"

Thorn turned while Eclipse continued on, leaving the cave with Aranna.

"Kindra, your old flame? They got her."

Thorn blinked several times, the name bringing up painful memories.

"She was one of the ones who chased me, Dizzo. Just... just be careful, alright? You already vanished once and I don't want your mindless shell coming after me in my sleep."

Thorn grimaced. "I have no intention of letting them ensnare another changeling in their hive mind."

"You still won't use conjunctions, huh?" Shriek smiled, recalling the day Thorn had sworn against the use of the so-called 'language shortcuts'.

"Not since before I left."

"Never change, Dizzo."

Thorn entered the cave system of Icewind hive, Eclipse and Aranna following suit.

The opening was nothing more than a simple hole in the rock, growing darker the further one went into the tunnel.

As the trio delved further into the cave, Aranna leaned over to whisper to Eclipse. "So, your guess about his secret was pretty accurate, huh?"

"I suppose." Eclipse said, frowning. "Besides, Shriek confirmed that Nexus forces other changelings into its hive mind. I understand that Thorn is a pacifist anyway, but if he gets shaken up by his parents showing up under Nexus' command... Well, it won't be good news for us."

The two fell silent when they almost ran into Thorn, standing still where the tunnel opened up into a far larger cavern.

Eclipse trotted past him, seeing patches of glowing fungi growing in patches in the cave, painting the walls a deep blue. Unlike Blackreach, which had carved out rock when it needed a new building or room, Icewind's buildings were made of stone that had been mined out, cut into bricks and laid upon foundations, with some buildings hanging from the ceiling or clinging to the walls of the cavern, which was easily the size of Blackreach hive's entirety.

"Building's from the ceiling. Remind you of home?" Eclipse asked, speaking to Aranna.

The red and yellow griffin let her gaze slide over the area, nodding slowly as she mentally compared it to Vangar, which had similarly constructed buildings. The only thing that was missing was the bustling of pegasi and griffins across the ground and through the air. "Home isn't quite so empty..."

Thorn let out a long sigh. "Once, they would have welcomed any visitor. A warm smile and hot food would be what that they wanted to be remembered for. Now it is a ruin, albeit one that has not yet begun to crumble." He took a step forward, the first step he had made in Icewind for nearly half of his life. "I do not regret leaving, but I also should not have waited so long to come back."

As she looked over the empty windows of the buildings, Aranna's claw slowly edged closer to her sword and her shield arm braced itself. "It doesn't feel right. Something's very, very wrong here."

"Yeah, I feel it too." Eclipse murmured, keeping his voice low.

Thorn's wings buzzed, his tail slowly swinging back and forth. "Wait... Eclipse?"

"Yeah?"

"Why would Shriek have stayed so close if he wanted to get away from Nexus hive so much?"

Aranna and Eclipse slowly turned to face him, shock and realization mixing on their faces. As a unit, the group turned to flee back out of Icewind hive, but found themselves facing Shriek, standing no less than fifty feet down the tunnel's length.

The changeling was no longer round, but emaciated, as if he hadn't eaten properly in weeks, perhaps months. His eyes were hollow and white, his mouth hanging open.

Eclipse's shoulders sagged. "Well, fuck."

Shriek let out a high-pitched wail, rivaling the power of a banshee's scream. The roof of the tunnel caved in between him and the group, burying their only escape underneath thousands of pounds of rock and stone.

Aranna stood up, having fallen down. One of her ears was bleeding, but she was otherwise unhurt. Thorn's wings buzzed sporadically, his vision swirling. Eclipse had turned away from the cave-in, facing the rest of Icewind hive. He checked his HUD, but it wasn't registering any odd movement. Yet.

There was always that one 'yet' hanging around.

It did register that his heart rate and breathing were on the rise, however. Being trapped in a dark cave, with fungus as the main light source and an entire hive of changelings undoubtedly hunting for him did not likely help.

"We have but one choice." Thorn said, swallowing. "We must face the darkness of Icewind."

Author's Notes:

No seriously. Check Thorn's dialogue if you want, but I have purposefully avoided conjunctions for him.

If anyone thought his speech was a little off, that's probably why.

Also, I know that I've already established the whole 'chaos magic' color as red in this story, but that was before I got this thing to remotely resemble something with a plot line and the color yellow seems to be much more appropriate. So, should the color remain red, or be changed to yellow? This will affect all chapters, both past and future.