Physically I am here but mentally I am picturing a baby Hornet whose found her way into some trouble. She got away from her caretakers and into some little tunnels in deepnest. The little weaver finds this quite fun, as she is very small and can get into these tunnels to explore, and the caretakers cannot force her to go back home! So she's free to explore, following the tunnels down, down, down. She feels something calling to her, and she soon finds a really big pit! It's deep, and dark. It almost scares her, but she's Brave. She wants to see what's at the bottom, so she tries to climb down the sides.
Only- the wall gives way. And the baby weaver finds herself falling far further down than she thought possible. She flails and tries to find her balance, but still takes a pretty hard landing. She hits one of her legs pretty badly. Is it broken? It might be. She can't really tell, all she knows is it hurts.
And now she's alone, in a deep pit, where her caretakers cannot find her, and she's hurt. Her first thought is that this might not've as bright an idea as it first seemed.
Her second thought is to be silent, because she just saw something move. She is not alone. She thinks that might be worse.
A pitch black form slowly drifts over. It reminds her of a Fungoon, with how it floats. The shape of it's horns are strange, as is the substance it's made of. It doesn't seem to have a shell, not like hers, but it does have white wide eyes.
Despite her attempts to stay quiet, the creature spots her, and floats closer. The little weaver feels... a strange familiarity with the creature. They remind her of Hollow. She doesn't want to think about Hollow right now. She misses them. But it's hard not to feel a similar energy coming from the creature.
"Hello?" She tries, and though the creature startles a little bit, it doesn't attack her. "I'm Herrah's daughter. I don't have a name yet, do you have one?"
The creature regards her for a long moment before shaking their head. That makes sense, they do seem fairly small. They drift closer. Now that they're closer, Hornet can tell that they're cold. Just like Hollow was. The familiarity is stronger. She wonders.
"Are you... Do you know Hollow? They felt a lot like you. They're my sibling." A pause. "Are you my sibling too?"
The creature seems to light up with her words, nodding eagerly. Sibling. She feels echoed back at her. As if they too are discovering this.
The little weaver finds it strange that nobody told her she had more siblings, but then again, nobody every told her about Hollow either. She had to find them all on her own.
The prospect of a new sibling is exciting, so exciting, that the little weaver tries to move towards them. Only to let out a cry of pain, suddenly reminded of the poor state of her leg.
Her new sibling is alarmed, they lunge forward, trying to catch her. But the moment their dripping shell touches hers, it burns. The little weaver cannot help her scream, even as her sibling flinches back.
She curls in on herself, trying to breathe through the pain. Her sibling- Oh. There are more of them. There are so many more of them. All of them are at a distance. She can feel their worry, but they do not try to approach again. Instead, seeming to have a discussion amongst themselves.
After a few long moments, the little weaver regains herself.
"It's okay. I'm- I'm not upset. I just- I fell. And I hurt my leg. I don't- I don't think I can walk." It pains her to admit that much, she hates to be weak. To be vulnerable. But these are her siblings. Hollow never judged her or got upset when she was weak. So maybe they won't either?
Her siblings seem to buzz, flitting around, before one of them seems to have an idea. In the blink of an eye, they've picked up something off the ground- a skull? Now that she looks around, the little weaver sees the ground is covered in skulls and broken shells. They look a lot like her siblings. How strange.
The sibling with the skull moves closer, moving slowly, and... scoops her up in it?
It hurts a bit, jostling her leg, but it doesn't hurt like their touch did before.
"Oh. This works? I think?" And she meant to direct them to the tunnels, but her sibling is carrying her upwards towards... a building? Are there other bugs down here? The little weaver is wary. She doesn't want to get in trouble, and if her caretakers find out she got hurt, they'll be upset.
Inside the building, there are no other bugs. But there are big lanterns full of soul. The sibling carrying her brings her right up to the lantern. And oh-
The little weaver isn't perfect at healing yet, but... there is an awful lot of soul here. She reaches out her little claws, pulling some of into herself and trying to focus. To replicate what she saw Hollow doing.
"Fren" she mutters, and the magic surges forth. It takes two more attempts, but her leg is better! She can move it and everything!
"It worked!" She exclaims, delighted as she shows her now healed leg off to her sibling. They seem happy too! All of them- the others are still here, watching over her.
The little weaver really wants to talk to her new siblings, to learn about them and where she is, but it seems patching up her leg took a lot out of her. She feels very tired. And a bit cold.
"Thank you-" She can't help but yawn. The tiredness is sinking into her shell so quickly. "Tha'k y'u for h'lp'ng. I th'nk 'm g'nna t'ke a n'p"
She can barely finish her words before her vision is blurring. What little she can still see of her siblings is a bit worrying, they seem panicked. But she's too tired to try to reassure them. Oh well, she'll tell them when she wakes up.
Vespa was busy overseeing repairs to the northern sector when a hiveling barreled into the room, out of breath and near panicked.
"My queen- a strange creature of void has emerged from below the tramway. It- We do not know if it is hostile, but it has Herrah's daughter in it's grasp. We did not- We are not sure what to do."
It was hard for Vespa to even think as a panic overtook her, void was a vicious, monstrous thing. Herrah's daughter was pale, but she was young and fragile. She could not withstand it for long.
"I will see to it." She hissed, grip on her spear firm as she darted across her Hive, ignoring her subjects calling after her. She barreled out of the exitway, casting her eyes around
Of all the things Vespa could've expected to find, it was not what awaited her. Several of her hivelings were gathered several paces away from what certain was a creature of void. But it was not void alone. She could feel the soul within it, even from a distance. Wrym and root pulsed still. The shape of it only confirmed what she felt. Herrah's daughter was indeed here, cradled in a broken skull. One that likely once belonged to the creature holding her.
"Return to the Hive, tell all others to remain in there until my return." Was the only command she gave, and though she could tell they were reluctant, her subjects obeyed.
The creature eyed her warily. Vespa waited until her subjects were out of eyesight, before taking a deep breath. It was difficult, and went against her very nature, but she put down her blade. Took several steps away from it. Though the creature still seemed on guard, it did seem to relax just a bit. The gesture understood.
For just a moment, Vespa took in the child sleeping within the creature's arms. She still breathed, but her breathing was labored. No void seeped from her body, but shivers wracked her small form. No direct exposure then. Still, she could not stay near the void for much longer. Vespa had a feeling the creature before her was aware of that much.
"Hello, small thing." She greeted. It was awkward, but she did not wish to risk invoking any assumed name or heritage. Not when she knew the other could not tell her how it preferred to be called. "I am Queen Vespa of the Hive."
After a moment, the creature nodded. Still wary, but not hostile. It seemed to appreciate the introduction and took no offense at the title it'd been assigned. So Vespa pressed onward.
"The one you are carrying, your sister, I knew her mother well. I am one of those charged with her protection. I can see you have no ill intentions for her, but her body is not of void. She cannot be near you much longer, not without damage being done."
As Vespa spoke, she took a step closer, and then another one. The creature looked as if it wanted to flee, clutching the child close to itself, but it did not. It listened to her words, and gave a very reluctant nod. Good, it understood the danger here.
"May I take her from you? I give my word to you that I will see to her safety, just as I gave to Herrah. She is welcome in my Hive, and I would see no harm come to her."
Her arms stretched out, slowly and carefully, and she could see the voidling wanted to flinch away. To covert, to keep, to never let go. It was the nature of the void. To be expected.
But some things were more important than one's nature. The voidling did not flinch back. It steeled itself, and offered the skull to Vespa. Allowing her to take both it and the precious bundle within. Shrinking back only once the child was safe in her arms. The creature took one last longing look at it's kin, and turned to leave. Vespa found herself speaking without meaning to.
"Thank you." She said. It turned and nodded, before flitting off. Back towards the tramway where it had come from.
Vespa quickly brought the child into the Hive, dodging questions as best she could. Her knight was already bringing warm blankets, and the skull was carefully discarded by a shelf. Vespa would have to decide what to do with it later.
Much to her surprise, it was only a minute or two before the child woke up, sleep still clinging to her little eyes as she wiggled in her blankets.
"Lady Vespa?" The child asked, as she took in her surroundings.
"I'm here, little one." Vespa assured, voice soft in ways she'd deny in years to come.
"Oh- huh. How'd I..." The child glanced around, clearly confused. She would've been in deepnest previously if Vespa had to guess. Quite a long trip to make while asleep. "I had a re'lly weird dream."
"Oh?" Vespa prompted, even as she finally reached her own chambers, quieter space. One where secrets could be kept, and words would not travel so far. She wondered what the little weaver recalled.
"Yeah! I was... I was in the garpede tunnels, and I found a big pit. It was huge... and... filled with skulls? And I hurt my leg. But it was okay, because I had siblings there. A lot of them. And they helped me fix my leg. They felt like Hollow, and looked like Hollow too!"
The little weaver's voice grew sad, verging on tears.
"... I miss Hollow."
A cavern filled with skulls. Lost siblings. Puzzle pieces fell into place. She'd wondered how the Pale King had managed to get his perfect child in only one attempt. This made far more sense. Sickening sense, but sense all the same.
Still, that was not a burden for the child in her arms to bear. Not yet. Vespa let her voice soften, as she rocked the child gently. The other was still tired, and Vespa could tell her wakefulness would not last much longer.
"I know, little one. I am sure Hollow misses you too."
It was the best comfort she could offer, as she lulled the child back to sleep.
