5 am

She didn't really remember much of the trials, once she emerged from them. She only remembered swaying, and the soft brush of fur against her tough, tough skin.

She was an indigoblood. Her lusus told her so, once they were away from the trials, once she was set up on the soft grass of a dark hill. It was always dark on this planet she had come to inhabit after hatching, and her eyes had already adjusted to it. It wasn't a big deal.

Her lusus was much bigger than her, at least at first. As she stood now, in the future, she was actually very tiny, but young her didn't think so. Her lusus looked down upon her with a gentle stare, and, calmly, began to purr.

Filled with intrigue, this was the first time the young indigoblood attempted to copy her lusus. Her chest ripped with a ferocious growling sound, broken only by sharp coughs, as if her body couldn't quite nail down the precious sounds. "ack-grrr."

Her lusus named her Aldwyn Garynn, in honor of her pitiful attempt at copycat.

Aldwyn did not know if her lusus had a name, but she knew that her lusus, despite her tiny disposition, was very strong. In comparison, Aldwyn was supposed to be strong herself, as a reflection of her lusus' abilities, and as her unique blood color on the hemospectrum ladder, which she learned later.

Aldwyn was a highblood, in a position of great riches and authority, which gave her a great advantage over the others of her species, the ones who were called trolls. But she had always felt disconnected from these people, and from herself, almost as if she had never been meant to survive to begin with. She was supposed to be strong, but there was something inside of her, sucking at her blood and forcing her down, down, down, as if she were the lowest she could possibly be on the hemoladder.

She felt terrible for feeling this way.

With her lusus' minor contributions, Aldwyn built herself a home to hide away in, and shut the doors, deciding that she would never let herself out to participate in what she was only beginning to learn would be an awful existence.

Food was easy to come-by when you were rich, and due to her age she did not yet need anyone to fill a quadrant for her. Something in the back of her head buzzed at her, told her that she needed to meet people that could help her with that task one day, but all Aldwyn could think about was the gross feeling she would get when someone looked at her, as if she wasn't really meant to exist. And that was hard to deal with.

She tried to let herself rot, but it was unrealistic to expect herself to do such things. Her lusus, who was sweet to her in all the ways a lusus should be, purred at her with a gentle voice, as if trying to soothe the beast inside her. She wanted to make her lusus happy, and guilt clawed at her for this unrelenting feeling of impending doom. As a sort of compromise, she one day decided to make a trollian account, between her endless viewing of Grubtube videos, which had become her new hobby when getting out of bed was too much. She set her name to strawBewwy [SB].

She didn't have any chums, however, and was once again filled with a sense of impending doom. For a long time her account lay there, inactive and forgotten, until one day her lusus refused to feed her any longer. With a firm stare and a sharp flick of her tail, her lusus - who had, by now, become her height, instead of being much taller - sent her off to the market.

It was a nerve-wracking experience for a troll who lived in her own head, and by the time she got there her palms were sweaty. She didn't even care what foods she was grabbing, she just grabbed. She pulled up to the line and knocked into a young troll, nearly knocking them over.

The young troll had twisty horns and fins on the side of their head. They were adorned in a violet sweater, and they flushed in embarrassment as she knocked into them. They muttered a quick apology and gathered their things. Before Aldwyn could think any better of the idea, she was blurting out, "do you have trollian?" The young violetblood stared at her for what seemed like forever before they swapped information, Aldwyn hastily writing squidArmegaddon [SA] on her hand before she could forget.

Later, after tossing her food carefully into her fridge, Aldwyn opened up trollian on her computer and put in her password.

strawBewwy [SB] began trolling squidArmegaddon [SA].

SB: omg hey!!!
SB: you're +ha+ kid from +he s+ore, righ+?
SB: larune?
SB: hello?

There was no response for a long time, and Aldwyn found herself discouraged. Many hours passed and soon she found herself asleep. When she woke up again, she had two new messages from her new friend (?).

SA: Please don't tell anyone my blood color.
SA: Please.

Teal. Their messages were teal.

They had fins.

They were a mutant.

Aldwyn's hands hesitated on the keys of her keyboard, unsure of what to say. It was obvious this troll had to have been very lonely, to have messaged her back like this, or to give this meeting any kind of thought at all.

SB: of course i won'+ +ell.
SB: i'm no+ a dick.

She felt her chest tighten as she anxiously awaited their reply.

SA: Thank you!!! I appreciate it.
SA: What pronouns do you use?

Thank God.

SB: pronouns? i didn'+ know you could choose +hem.
SB: my lusus uses she/her.
SA: That's good for her, but what about you? Do you use she/her?
SB: i guess i haven'+ +hough+ abou+ i+.
SB: i don'+ dislike she/her.
SB: what pronouns do you use?
SA: They/them.
SB: you can do +ha+?
SA: Yes. You can use any and as many as you would like.
SB: +hen i +hink i'd like +o go by she/her and he/him, if +ha+'s okay wi+h you, larune.
SA: Of course it is. What is your name?
SB: aldwyn garynn. bu+ i don'+ like aldwyn very much.
SA: I can call you GARYNN, if you would prefer.
SB: i'd like +ha+.

They'd talk like that until well after the moon sunk below the horizon.

Many weeks passed like that, and Garynn began to grow comfortable learning about her new friend. Larune happened to be amazing company and kept Garynn busy in the hours where she would have otherwise been preoccupied only with fanfiction and Grubtube videos.

Garynn learned, as Larune’s friend, that Larune enjoyed a variety of interests. They shared a love for video games, and Garynn soon found herself in some of Larune’s multiplayer sessions. (She had never played a multiplayer game before, and it made her feel very giddy once it occured). Larune also enjoyed things such as photography and music - most notably they liked to listen to a foreign band from outer space called My Chemical Romance. They also listened to music by hit singer Marvus Xoloto.

SB: you know, i never really asked you, bu+
SB: why did you pu+ your messages in +eal, if you wan+ed +o keep your blood color a secre+?
SB: no+ judging, jus+ curious.
SA: I tend to use this account for my work business. I am in training to be a LEGISLACERATOR, so that I can hopefully decree that mutants like myself be given more freedoms.
SA: I would like to give lowbloods rights as well, if possible.
SB: how do you pass in public as a +ealblood with your fins???
SA: Fashion.
SB: fashion?
SA: Yes. I wear a headband or hat when I am at my job.
SB: +ha+’s so cool!!! bu+ if you can pass, +hen why do you hide your color a+ all?
SA: I don’t when I am in the office.
SA: But I tend to do so in public so I may pose as a lowblood rights activist.
SA: Violetbloods are less likely to be culled for their political views, after all.
SB: +ha+’s +rue… i+ s+ill doesn’+ make i+ righ+ +hough :[
SA: I agree :[
SA: I’ll tell you what, GARYNN,
SA: why don’t you attend a lowblood rights protest with me?
SA: You’ve said you aren’t comfortable with concerts just yet, so this could be practice for that.
SB: wouldn’+ i be in danger?
SA: Not as a highblood, no.

Garynn paused from her typing. It still felt risky, but… it was for such a good cause.

It had grown obvious over the past few months that if someone didn’t stand up to the empress, no one would.

SB: okay. i’ll do i+.
SA: Really?
SA: I honestly expected you to say no ^;;
SB: haha, why?
SA: Well, these gatherings aren’t exactly known for their hospitality.
SA: Plus, the leader of the lowbloods rights movement is matespirits with a fuschiablood.
SA: He isn’t very nice :[
SB: oh no!!!
SB: what’s his name?
SA: LEXUL TRETUN. His matespirit is SORLAH EURLIN.
SA: I’m surprised you haven’t heard of them, GARYNN, they’re all over the news.
SB: i don’+ wa+ch +he news! or leave my hive :[
SB: is lexul an ac+ivis+ +oo?
SA: Eh, not really.
SA: He shows up because SORLAH is there.
SA: That’s it.
SB: oh.
SA: Yeah.
SB: do you know sorlah?
SA: I’ve met her a few times.
SA: Again, she leads the movement, so we bump into each other occasionally by coincidence.
SB: maybe i can mee+ her :]
SA: I wouldn’t bet on it, friend.
SA: She’s a very busy person.
SB: ah, fair.
SB: when is +his mee+up supposed +o happen?
SA: I’ll send you a link with the information on it, give me a moment.
SB: okay.

A link was sent her way, and she clicked it. It opened a pretty bronze-colored page with a picture of a soft-looking girl on it. In all caps was the title “LOWBLOOD RIGHTS MEETING: TONIGHT AT 11 PM.” Garynn chewed on her bottom lip with one sharp tooth as she scrolled through the information.