Chapter 3: Chapter 3: Don’t Get Cocky

After days of sensory deprivation, I found myself overwhelmed with the wealth of information flowing in through my newfound senses. my compound eyes, with nearly 360 degrees of vision, gave me a view of massive swarms of giant bugs, and grass that appeared the size of trees. I tried to walk, to shake myself out of my daze, but my heightened Field of View disoriented me, and I tripped over my own three pairs of legs. My antennae smelled the earth intensely, and a barrage of pheromones washed over them, shouting in a language I had never heard.

And yet, I was overjoyed. Limbs! Eyes! Smells! How I've missed thee!

Before I could get too excited at my triumph, a stray thought interrupted me. I couldn't be sure if my mother and father had returned from their investigation. The numerous swarms flying overhead suggested they hadn't been back yet, but they could have been in too much of a panic looking for me to bother emptying the flytraps. They might have gotten half the village involved in a search party.

I hate being a burden. To the village, and especially those who cared for me.

I got moving as quickly as possible. I had observed enough insects in my youth to learn how they usually walked. The tripod gait should have been simple. Unfortunately, a problem immediately made itself known.

I never had so many limbs to coordinate. I could envision my humanoid legs as my back pair of legs, and my humanoid arms as my front legs, so moving those was straightforward. The issue was the pair of legs in the middle. My human body had no extra set of limbs for me to naturally associate them with and move. I could alternate which legs I regarded as what limbs, but the process of switching took a minute. To get any feedback from the two middle legs at the same time as the other four, I had to constantly mentally envision each muscle, and how they moved when the leg did (and vice versa). Even then, I could only get faint twitches out of the limbs.

I had heard of those with similar experiences. Those who gained extra limbs had to learn to connect to and use them. For them, the process tended to take weeks or months. Some Mind-aligned powereds could speed the process significantly, but I doubted I could get access to one any time soon.

I cut my losses and let my middle legs dangle. Learning to increase the number of usable appendages could wait. What I really needed was a way to get around or escape quickly. My newfound wings should do the trick. Of course, there was no guarantee wings wouldn't be too far removed from arms and legs to properly associate, but it was worth a try.

I shifted the image of myself in my mind's eye again. I let my front legs go limp, and associated my old human arms with my front wings. The same was done with my legs and the back pair of wings. All I could get was light twitching. I was about to resign my wings as incompatible, but the front pair of wings' mild twitching gradually changed into wild spasms. It took hours for me to move them in moderation, but I was able to somewhat gain control over them. The back pair of wings, however, were a lost cause. The difference in location and range of movement compared to my legs was too much to overcome.

Not willing to take the extra time to perfect my connection to the back wings, I hoped one pair would be enough. It's time to fly.

I smiled at that. Flight was an immensely useful ability that most were never able to use. Their power either wasn't naturally compatible with it, or their power wasn't strong or consistent enough for flight. After all, humanoids tend to be a rather heavy thing to carry into the air, and a far enough fall meant death. And yet here I am, days into gaining a power, and I'm already about to fly.

I unfurled my wings, flapping them faster and faster. Just before I got airborne, I kicked off, and flew a foot into the air. "Take that gravi—" I was mere moments into my next session of internal gloating before my body leaned forwards, and I nosedived into the ground.

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It took until sunset to learn to remain aloft for any amount of time. With only two wings to work with, I had significant trouble moving around with any sort of speed. I was moving less than half the speed of the other roaches flying around, and could remain aloft less than half the duration.

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If I wanted to survive, speed would not be my ally. What could I do then? Hiding and feeding off of carcasses might work, but if any predators spotted me, I would have no recourse.

Or would I? How long does it take to transform? I'm not conscious when it happens, so I don't actually know. Also, can I even do so again? Can I go back to being the Ostean giant flytrap? Is there a limit to how many times I can transform? If there is, I can't afford to waste that limit going back and forth testing it out.

If speed doesn't work, and hiding isn't enough, then what other option do I have? I looked up at the answer: The swarms all around me. There is strength in numbers. A base truth instilled within nearly every man, woman, and insect.

I looked around for a swarm that would satisfy my needs. It was night time, but my cockroach eyes were well adapted to the dark. I was specifically looking for cockroaches. I liked my odds a lot more around them than insects of any other species.

Finding one, I flew into the middle of the pack. They seemed like they sensed food nearby, and I was thankful for the help locating it. If I was lucky, whatever it was would trigger another transformation when I ate it.

They flew straight, and I found myself too slow to keep up. I was flying half-winged, and am inexperienced with flight. Before they could leave me behind, I gripped one of my fellow roaches with my hind legs, and kept flapping. The other roach didn't seem to mind much. Together, we were just barely able to keep up with the swarm.

Haha! Gravity may be able to hold me back, but a "freeloader" like myself can always find a way to piggyback off of others' hard work!

A minute passed, and I saw the swarm ahead of me had stopped and were crawling around on something. Thousands of bugs appeared to be on whatever it was, and its scent was enticing. Dangerously so. I realized what I was headed towards a moment too late.

Snap!

Wall surrounded me, teeth closed above me, and a sticky and acidic liquid sloshed all around. I was consumed by an Ostean Giant Flytrap.

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