Hunger, The Primal Drive

Back in the safety of shelter, once Kane had verified their tunnel was devoid of monsters, he pulled Kai'Sa in front of him.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"My hand hurts."

"Is that all?"

Her eyes welled up, "It's... more than that. I feel terrible inside."

Sorrow washed over her features. She knew such emotions were a luxury in this harsh environment, but how resilient can a child be expected to be? She showed her vulnerability to Kane because she trusted him.

"Don't cry now, or you'll make me start," Kane joked lightly, trying to lift her spirits.

He gave her time to bare her soul, knowing she wouldn't keep anything from him.

"My hand has become so frightening, as if licked by a cat's tongue... a dense bed of needles," Kai'Sa confessed, clenching her fist. The pain was bearable, but it was sharp, persistent, and unrelenting.

"Pain can be eased, but you must acclimate to it. Power comes at a cost. Pain is proof of life, a sign you can still experience beauty," Kane said, his gaze calming the living armor on Kai'Sa's arm.

"Touch feels different now... My hand seems like an instrument of murder," Kai'Sa said bitterly, throwing a punch that sent shards flying and left an imprint on the rock wall.

She was, after all, just a ten-year-old girl.

Kane sighed and unfolded her clenched fist, reminding her of the true purpose of hands.

Holding the disheartened Kai'Sa close, he whispered in her ear:

"I hear the whispers of the carapace in my mind, telling me its tales as it grows, longing to consume my whole body."

"That's madness! You'll go insane!"

Kai'Sa's attention was fully absorbed by the depths in Kane's eyes.

She stared into the abyss, and playfully, the abyss winked back at her.

"I won't go mad, because I'm not alone."

As their monstrous claws clasped each other, Kai'Sa realized her new skin was not solely an organ of pain.

Those beautiful sensations couldn't be obstructed by an ugly outer layer.

It's the cold, hopeless heart that truly repels beauty...

No words needed to be said; she hugged Kane tightly, greedily drawing in his warmth.

The void remained an ever-present shadow, but from another angle, it was a constant reminder that they were never alone.

The oppressive dark squeezed them together, the bone-chilling cold forced them to cling to one another, yet it seemed, with each other's company, nothing was insurmountable.

Was it true, though?

The Void was far more than what they had encountered thus far.

Would their belief withstand the harsher trials that lay ahead?

That remained to be seen.

"Are you hungry?"

After the psychological counseling, Kane reached for the pouch slung over his shoulder.

As he extracted some leftover jerky and a water skin, Kai'Sa shook her head.

"I'm not hungry."

"Are you sure? Don't lie to me now."

"I'm not lying, or you can spank me."

Hearing her defense, Kane chuckled, wondering if she thought he had some peculiar fixation on spanking.

"Just have it as a snack then."

"I won't. It's not tasty, it's dry and hard. And it'll make you want to... go."

Suddenly, Kai'Sa's cheeks turned red. She was no delicate princess; she'd often been ordered by her mother to clean the sheep pens and was not overly squeamish about bodily functions.

But!

The very thought of doing such a thing in front of Kane was absolutely, positively unbearable!

She'd rather bash her head on the wall!

And underground, without any toilet paper, the aftermath was daunting.

So, after much consideration, Kai'Sa decided against eating. No food, no problem.

"Oh, I see what's bothering you."

Kane smirked mischievously, thinking how the girl was caught up in unnecessary details.

After symbiosis with the void carapace, the digestive systems of host and armor remained separate. Host and carapace digested their intake independently.

For instance, if the host consumes meat, it breaks down into nutrients and waste within the digestive system. The body absorbs the nutrients, and waste gets expelled—though the conversion is inefficient.

When the carapace devours organic matter, it fully decomposes it, reconstructing it into essential nutrients and energy for growth.

There's a complete absence of metabolic waste—100% efficient, not a bit wasted!

This explains why void creatures don't need to breathe or excrete, surviving unhampered even in space.

No record exists of a void creature dying of old age; the complete assimilation and conversion of material are the cornerstones of their rapid growth and potential immortality.

Structures that normal beings evolve over eons, they can evolve in years, even minutes.

With sufficient external impetus and ample nutrition, they evolve bizarre forms and functions to consume and overpower all.

A ceaseless hunger drives them.

Hunger is the primal force of life in the Void.

They embody a natural disaster of hunger, their presence a catastrophic threat to the ecology of Runeterra, hence the native life's abhorrence of the Void.

However, in symbiosis, the carapace can't selfishly live just to satiate its hunger.

The host's death means deactivation for them too.

To ensure the host's survival, the carapace feeds part of the consumed nourishment back to the host as needed.

It's a symbiosis where both thrive or suffer together. If the host refuses to feed, the carapace will draw nutrients from the host instead.

Kai'Sa's decade of survival underground, without food or drink, is due to this relationship.

As long as she continues to kill and feed the hearts to her void armor, it sustains her.

And Kane's desire to become a monster is to replace his digestive system with the carapace to obtain sustenance.

However, this doesn't mean that the body's own organs, replaced by more efficient armor, will atrophy from disuse.

They are well cared for, ready to perform when needed again.

After all, some things the carapace simply can't replace.

Seeing Kai'Sa refuse food, Kane took a swig of water and started munching on the jerky.

"Munch munch munch..."

In just a few days, he had almost forgotten the taste of meat. Realizing he might not see meat again for years, the hard, dry jerky suddenly became delectable.

He hadn't understood before, having once prayed for an iron stomach that could handle anything due to his digestive troubles.

He grasped how true the saying "being able to eat is a blessing" was.

In this environment, where wanting to eat was a luxury, his understanding deepened.

Watching Kane relish the jerky, Kai'Sa couldn't resist trying a piece herself.

But after a few chews, she frowned.

"Wow, it's still so salty!"

"Hmph, youth! Give it a few days, and you'll be licking the sweat off your arms just for a taste of salt."