Wading Heart

The Wading Heart split from its ancestor. Sometimes mistakenly called “Waiting Heart” due to the slow, patient method by which it hunts, the Wading Heart is named for its habit of hunting gilltails and other marine prey in shallow areas. The Wading Heart retains the powerful muscles which give its ancestor a distinctive heart-shaped upper proboscis. These muscles control two long tusks which can be used to spear or grab prey which comes too close. On males these tusks have a black band around them, which is used for mating. The light-sensitive eyestrils of female Wading Hearts can easily pick out the dark black bands on a male and follow them. Males will perform a complex series of motions with their tusks for females, displaying their dexterity and stamina. Both are important because a Wading Heart without good tusks is helpless. The Wading Heart has longer and more slender legs than its ancestor. The powerful muscles which allow the Hearthead to achieve tremendous speeds are less valuable to a hunter like the Wading Heart. Thinner legs are less heavy and don’t sink into mud as much. The organism also lacks feathers around its legs, as these are liable to become waterlogged in shallow water and slow it down. The hooves of Wading Hearts are splayed, which helps it walk on muddy swamp beds. The body of the Wading Heart is overall more slim and streamlined. Living in warmer climates than the Hearthead, it has shorter feathers and a smaller set of back plates. The Wading Heart rarely needs to sprint like the Hearthead, so the smaller openings to its microlungs is no problem. The bluish-grey and white coloration of the Wading Heart helps it blend in and surprise swimming prey. Mating pairs of Wading Hearts live alone, generally, although there are instances of several pairs living in close proximity if prey is abundant. A mating pair with a female that is gravid will locate a section of floating dead flora to construct an egg cradle. Those nearer the coast will often make use of discarded or damaged pieces of Seashrog nests, while pairs further inland rely on trunks or branches knocked down by storms, floods, disease or old age. With their powerful tusks the pair will carve out a hollow area in the flora, which they will fill with dry grass, feathers and other materials that will help incubate their eggs. The egg cradle is kept in a dry area and watched by one of the two once the eggs are laid and the larva will spend their first weeks there as well. Besides keeping eggs warm, these cradles also protect eggs and larva from sudden floods, floating like canoes when waters rise.