Worm

Unnamed children (presumed deceased)

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“The moth don't care if the flame burns low
The moth believes in the afterglow."

― Les Deux Love Orchestra, The Moth & The Flame

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A bug named after a bug.

Friendly, mischievous, and a little silly goofy, Worm is an optimistic insect that finds fun and beauty in every new experience. They enjoy helping others and will not hesitate to share all the materials, labour, advice and care they can possibly give. Worm is loves to tease anyone who they see as a friend, often using their small stature to their advantage for pranks. Of course, Worm understands that not everyone enjoys that type of friendship, and will often apologise in the form of gifts if someone says they crossed a line.

Despite suffering from the loss of their eclipse, Worm tries their best to keep a positive outlook. A moth's life expectancy is short and they believe that that time should be spent celebrating life rather than mourning it. They just hope that some of their eggs and larvae survived, and that their species will not die with them.

Worm is a unique species of moth, dubbed **Tetti moths**, that evolved in a rather odd way. While appearing very similar to other moth origins, as they adopted an anthropomorphic stature and are in the **Lepidoptera** family, their species also has a lot of shared traits with the superfamily **Cicadoidea**. These similarities extend to their life cycle, as Tetti larvae will live under ground for years before pupation, then—unlike cicadas and even other moth species—the Tetti can live another three years after reaching imago. Some moths have been known to live longer, with the longest lifespan in the eclipse's history being 15 years from hatching to dying, but this is rare. Worm themself is roughly 8 years old, a young adult in the life of a Tetti moth.

### Appearance

Worm is a moth large for their species. They have light brown fur over most of their body, four segmented arms, yellow feathered antennae, gold tarsal claws, and a thin fur covered tail. Their wings bare heavy resemblance to the pre-Aberration lunar silk moth, though their tailed hindwings have a pattern closer to that of a pandora pine moth.

Worm wears pants made of a green canvas material with a black wolf's head on one leg, a handsewn patch to signify the first being they ever met upon arriving to the surface, and belt made of bundled together twine. They wear a scarf made of the same fabric as their pants which they use as a makeshift bag to help carry extra items, as well as a small over-the shoulder bag. They constantly carry around a backpack decorated with homemade patches and small trinkets to commemorate the experiences they've had, one made with specialised straps so that it can fit on their back without impeding flight.

### Tetti Biology

Tetti larvae have strong front legs that give them excellent digging and climbing capabilities, which they use to feast upon the sap of azalea tree roots and glow berry juice. Tetti larvae will stay under ground for a 5-7 year period before moving somewhere warm to spin their cocoons, then after a two week pupation the newly emerged imago will dry out their wings and join their eclipse as an adult moth.

Adult Tetti moths can live up to three years post-pupation, though there have been a few outliers able to live double that. Tetti moths are a species of moth that retains their digestive system post-pupation, and they must eat fibrous foods to survive. Egg clutches will often be incredibly large, as an eclipse will strategically reproduce to use their own larvae's silk production as a food source. When unable to reproduce or find suitable plant life underground, Tetti have also been known to hunt other insects such as spiders and silverfish in order to harvest compounds that can be made into edible material. Tetti that live above ground such as Worm tend to favour growing crops like sweet berries, apples, and sugarcane over scavenging for plants that can grow underground, as well as cultivating less dangerous insects like the Chorus-native silk moths.

Additionally, Tetti moths possess a tymbal organ like that of a cicada, though they are proportionally not as large as a cicada's. Because of this organ, Tetti moths are able to make the same 'click' or 'buzz' noise, which they use to communicate through large caverns and tunnels. Typically however this is quite quiet, as the noise is dampened by the moth's fur and doesn't travel as well outside of enclosed spaces.

Behaviourally, Tetti moths have similar instincts to hive making insects. They create homes in any available location, ranging from sprawling underground warrens to small nests within the walls of a home. Regardless of the location these homes will often have networks of tunnels extending out, dug by both the adult Tetti that creates the hive and any larvae they rear. Adult Tetti do not grow out of the propensity for digging that the larvae have even after losing their digging appendages in pupation, leading to the development of tool use.

### Backstory

Worm was born as part of a large shared clutch, raised by the eclipse as a whole from larvae to imago. Upon reaching adulthood they took on the role of a homemaker, building and repairing homes for the eclipse, as well as harvesting the next generation of larvae for their silk. They worked and lived in tandem with their fellow moth, the every moth sharing their meagre possessions and caring for one another. Death wasn't uncommon. Dodging falling rocks and run ins with dangerous mobs were a daily occurrence, and it wasn't rare for young moths to clip their wings on the jagged rock walls only to meet an unfortunately positioned pool of lava. But that only happened when you left the warren to explore new caves, and exploring was a risk everyone understood. Every generation was told by those previous about the dangers of the surface, how the humans our ancestors once lived alongside were wiped out by powers beyond their comprehension. Monsters larger than the moths knew ruled the surface and they were content to be confined to their dark if it meant they were away from the dangers. Life underground, so far from the surface, was hard but safe.

Until it wasn't.

Nobody had realised sculk was growing under their feet until it was too late. One elder moth dying was enough to feed the fungus and in the blink of an eye it overran their homes. Sculk ate away at the supports built up to protect the warren and caused a cave in, crushing many of the eclipse and scattering those who managed to move out of the way. It wasn't only the falling rocks that caused deaths, however, as when the ceiling collapsed it opened a passage into the cavern above. Water flooded the cavern in a near instant, filling their homes and drowning anyone left who hadn't managed to fly to an escape tunnel before the water got to their wings or the falling rocks covered them all up. Worm was one of the lucky who weren't killed in the cave in, and instead found themself trapped and alone in one of the many tunnels leading away from their home.

Stranded without a pickaxe to try dig their way back to their destroyed home, Worm's only option was to follow the path ahead. They caught a distant glimpse of light reflecting off the cave walls and followed it, unsure and uncaring of whether it was death or salvation, watching as it grew brighter the closer they crawled. It was brighter than any glow berry or small lantern they were used to lighting the paths. Near blinded, Worm emerged from a ravine to a strange breeze. They breathed in deep, The air had none of the musky, damp, deep cave smell they were used to. It tasted... Fresh. Clean. The sun, the most beautiful light they'd ever seen, brought a warmth to their body they'd never experienced before. Everything was bright and beautiful, with colours and sounds and smells they'd not even imagined to exist in their days underground.

Worm decided then and there that the dangers of the surface were worth facing.