2024-07-12 - Hunger in a New Colour

Mother is hungry. This is not new, or alarming, or even particularly notable - her hunger returns at regular intervals and it was one of the first things Neath had ever been aware of. In a way it's comforting. Though it no longer tracks time by her hunger, it's still a reassuring constant in its life when so little else has remained the same.

It has never given much thought to how her hunger is sated before now, but with Gwillanth putting extra emphasis onto thinking about where it comes from Neath can't help but pay curious attention. She calls it a herdbeast. She seems to relish the smell of it, the way it feels under her claws, but she worries about... Something. Rationing. Neath doesn't know what that is. It remembers the Holders being mentioned before, but never in this context. Are they where her food comes from? If they've been damaged but not enough to guarantee their destruction, why does Mother worry so about them?

It realises why in a flash of alarm: if her food comes from somewhere, there can only be so much of it. Is it like dragons, where they only lay clutches every so now and then? Do they eat the gold herdbeasts? The bronzes? They're the biggest, it's sure, but can they afford to eat them when they need more so badly? Do the colours taste different? It tries to reach into Gwillanth's mind to see what colour it is, but she's focused on eating it rather than what colour it is, and Neath gives up with mild frustration. It hopes the nicest herdbeasts are green.