There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it’s going to be a butterfly nor a moth.
All we see are voracious green creatures consuming whatever sustenance their tiny mouths can latch onto and devour.
These pests crawl the earth and ingest everything from plants and fruits to insects to even their own kind.
Once a brother on the leaf now dinner when there’s nothing else to feast upon.
They eat beyond their body weight hibernate in a chrysalis or cocoon while their body transmogrifies into its final form.
Up to three years pass whilst they are stuck in this limbo period between child and adult.
Until one particular moment.
The moment you find out what they have become.
Do they escape their prison and fly out into the horizon as a majestic butterfly or do they rip apart their temporary home and reveal the moth they were all along?
That escape does not only reveal their species, it reveals their future.
The butterfly gets to rejoice in the daylight while the moth has to slink into the shadows of the night.
For a few short weeks, the butterfly gets its moment in the sun. That golden glow illuminates its entire body.
The joy is short-lived though. It’s body begins to decay and its wings can barely flutter.
It does what every butterfly does. It uses the last energy it has and flies high into the air. When it cannot go any higher, the butterfly lets gravity overcome and goes into a freefall.
If the butterfly is lucky, it dies on Impact.
If not, there is no hero death here…
it fades away with the sun and it’s last moment is watching the moth it tried to consume when they were mere caterpillars take over his empire.
You see, the moth doesn’t put its energy into appearances. No, it makes sure it can withstand the year.
While the butterfly has long returned to the earth, the moth still lingers above him.
You don’t realize it yet but that is bound to be our story Grimwolf.
We were the caterpillars on that small leaf long ago.
We devoured foes large and small.
Then you tried to consume me to no avail.
At that moment, the world assumed you were the moth.
They assumed I would be the golden butterfly soaring high one day.
How wrong they were.
I was always the type to endure while you always wanted to show off.
When it came time to break free, I had to claw my way out of a golden cocoon and tear you from your Nekken chrysalis.
If I hadn’t done that, you would be drowning right now without ever getting a chance to fly.
You wouldn’t even get to feel that golden glow.
Now that it’s almost up, did you enjoy your moment in the sun?
Enjoy the few moments you have left.
When you fall and the night destroys the day, it is this moth’s turn to hold gold.
Rest assured, I won’t let it go as easily as you, my monarch butterfly friend.