Hoaxe never thought he'd see the Dead Lands bloom.
Not with their chill. Their dust and ash. Their monsters and plagues and poison and drought.
He had never expected much life to persist, unless it be twisted, hardened life sharpened against the harsh grindstones of starvation and peril. He himself bore testament enough to that reality.
And yet, lingering here in his strange pocket of between, tethered within the sapling he had died in, he beheld a miracle.
A garden.
A little, soft, glowing garden.
Pollen flecked the air, sparkling with some inner golden glow.
Soft plants sprung from the ground at the base of the everlasting tree, blanketing once hard rock with downy leaves.
Hoaxe had never thought he'd see the Dead Lands bloom - that any good could come of the barren place.
Looking down at the blooming garden, some cracked part of him finally quieted like an ache dissolving under hot water.
Hoaxe smiled to himself as he bore witness to a miracle and a victory.
He supposed he could be content with this, if this were his eternity.
Upon leaving the Sandcastle, a breathless and badly injured Zasp intercepts Team Snakemouth. He tries to explain, but can only get out “The Ant Kingdom–” before he’s hit by a dart from somewhere out of view and the trio is ambushed by a pair of cloaked bugs.
Leif picks out one as a jewel wasp, and the other is most certainly a mantis. The two proceed to kick Team Snakemouth’s teeth in and take their half of the key.
Before they can actually kill anyone, though, Astotheles shows up with the cricket and damselfly from earlier, and send the two running with a couple hefty strikes. Neither seem bothered.
The trio picks themselves out of the sand to see Astotheles helping a very groggy Zasp sit up, and the paper wasp informs them that someone else already stole the first half of the key from the Ant Kingdom, though not without a fight. Everyone is mostly fine, it wasn’t a full scale attack – it was the work of a cricket thief who they didn’t catch in time. Zasp attempted to tackle him on the way out and got a pair of heavy-handed hits, a cracked mandible, and a dislocated shoulder for his trouble.
Astotheles confirms that the two bugs that just ran off were indeed Xera and Lapido themselves, and that Zasp’s description of the thief sounds like one of his former bandits – not Chari himself, but one of his more dangerous dragonflies.
The next bit mimics the original plot – between the five of them (seven technically, but the captains are keeping watch), they conclude that these hooded folk are likely working from somewhere in the Far Grasslands, as that’s the most… untamed territory and the least monitored or known. It’s the most viable as a base of operations for whatever this strange group is. In a moment of realization mixed with speculation, Astotheles says he suspects these bugs may be a cult of some kind, and promptly does not elaborate.
Team Snakemouth manages to convince Astotheles to lend a hand here, as he’s knowledgeable on his former captain and knows as much or more than they do about this grey-cloak group. The bandit leader agrees (with significant reservation) to meet the trio at the Far Grasslands, but for obvious reasons can’t accompany them back to the Ant Kingdom. His captains offer to go in his stead or accompany him, but he gently declines, opting to leave them in charge of the hideout.
Team Snakemouth and Zasp head back to the Ant Kingdom to touch base with Queen Elizant II (and also to heal). Mothiva tries and fails to disguise her worry over Zasp, and clearly wasn’t thrilled about his little journey to begin with. The conversation proceeds, and Maki insists on accompanying them to the Far Grasslands (a worrying development for Team Snakemouth, but they opt not to mention Astotheles’ hand in things).
When they get there, things again proceed as normal for a while, with Astotheles following the team from cover.
The Devourer still happens, though it seems like it's been intentionally stirred up. Astotheles clearly also has Thoughts™ on Kabbu's decision, but doesn't really get a chance to voice them.
(I am... still on the fence on the writing there and whether or not I like how Kabbu's end was handled, but that's for another AU lol)
The Wasp Kingdom:
Now, the wasps aren’t the same level of antagonistic in this, but they aren’t quite friendly either. Initially, Maki recommends they try and sneak around the nest – his earlier scouting turned up promising routes for avoiding detection. Even so, that’s easier said than done with how high-alert the wasps are. They also rapidly conclude that the Wasp Kingdom is in some disarray. It seems like things are crumbling at the foundations – renegade groups, skittish guards, and a general feeling of unrest.
Consequently, Vanessa II has had most of her focus internal to the kingdom, and has apparently not noticed the grey-cloaks hiding in her backyard. The wasp guards are either unaware or silent, and neither option is good.
Team Snakemouth, of course, also has to avoid the grey-cloaks, and those routes Maki originally scouted are no longer viable. They realize quickly that they can’t sneak past these bugs – against any normal, sane probability, they’re better off trying to sneak through the city than around it. Enter stealth mission the second.
Maki accompanies team Snakemouth, and Astotheles is left to make use of his stealth to keep up. Astotheles mostly sticks with them, and uses his own stealth and sleight of hand to help the team get elsewhere, but it’s clear he’s having some difficulty both keeping up and not alerting Maki to his presence and staying hidden in general. All five get about halfway through without too much fuss.
Soon, though, they run out of diggable ground and have to stealth the normal-bug way, and in so doing run into Jayde. Her Bug Ranger enthusiasm still gives them a mask (she gives Maki a pass as “a friend of the Rangers is a friend of mine!”). She mentions that someone must have heard her pleas, because she’s been worried about the kingdom. It’s not that bad yet, but she’s not confident it’ll stay that way. The queen, while aware of the unrest, doesn't seem sure how to manage it. The wasp soldiers are agitated, and there have been some… disappearances. Soldiers who never reported back in, civilians who should be here and aren’t, even whole groups of wasps that just… vanished. Some had murmured about leaving and “offers” and “opportunities,” others had never said anything remotely close. Team Snakemouth suspects that this is the same sort of split that befell the bandits, but Astotheles later remarks that some of those disappearances smell of a different sort of trouble.
As they’re trying to sneak out, Team Snakemouth spots Xera talking to General Fuff. Outwardly, Fuff is cold and professional. Once the jewel wasp leaves, saying something about “consider my offer,” he seems… perturbed. He slumps a bit and he’s evidently uneasy. He also catches on to Team Snakemouth’s presence fairly quick and demands they show themselves. He’s extremely wary and not thrilled about their sneaking around, but evidently isn’t as bothered about them as he is about the wasp he was talking to. He refuses to let them pass without more information, though, and threatens to call the troops on them if they don't start talking.
Vanessa II arrives at this point upon hearing the commotion, and is curious as to their mission. She is intrigued to hear their explanation, but not before inquiring about the “fifth friend in the shadows.” Astotheles emerges very reluctantly, with one eye on Maki. The mantis wisely opts to save his questions for later.
Fuff suggests they move somewhere a little more private, glancing warily at the exit Xera left through, and Vanessa II ushers them to her own room.
After Team Snakemouth cautiously tells General Fuff and Vanessa II about their current situation, Fuff relaxes a bit. He and Vanessa II are still clearly wary of them, but more optimistic about Team Snakemouth (if only because they’re allied with another kingdom rather than a mysterious group of questionable bugs).
Much of the information about the grey-cloaks is new to Vanessa II, though Fuff is more up to speed on them and had been trying to figure out how to inform her. The queen is also perturbed by their relay from Jayde, and assures them that she's trying to iron out the instabilities, though her success is so far middling. She suspects that maybe, just maybe, the introduction of a common threat in these cloaked bugs could help unify the kingdom, though she's not sure about it.
After some more discussion, Vanessa II agrees to let them pass, directing Fuff to escort them to the nearest (and safest) exit so they can bypass the grey-cloaks. She also mentions an interest in perhaps conversing with one of the other queens by way of advice, though only as an issue for later.
Once they leave, Team Snakemouth gets a little ways onward, but their hooded opponents are waiting for them not far off, and Xera and Lapido are conspicuously absent. These others are clearly trying to keep Team Snakemouth busy, something Astotheles catches on to quickly. He and Team Snakemouth manage to free Maki up enough from the fight for the royal blade to bolt back to the Ant Kingdom (shortened via tunnels), and between the four of them they finish the fight and race back themselves (after quickly debriefing General Fuff on the reason for the commotion).
He also had no concept of the sort, so he didn't mind much.
“Names” were pictures in charcoal to tell him about other things. Plenty of things had that sort of name.
He didn't, though. He had no need of one.
He hadn’t considered that these other bugs he'd found might try to give him one, though, and try they did. Whatever they'd decided on wasn't a name he could use, though – it was some strange jumble of sounds instead.
Not that it mattered, it was for their use, not his.
…He assumed it was a name, at least. They seemed pleased when he responded to it, at any rate, and only used it when they wanted his attention.
He thought, though he wasn't sure, that they might have other names for him, but he could never quite tell.
Most of them made do with a wave anyways.
—◃◈▹—
He had never spoken his sound-name before.
This was proving to be an oversight, a mistake, and a considerable inconvenience, because there were four bugs staring at him in bewilderment, and he had a distinct hunch that an introduction might help.
Unfortunately, the sound-chains used by the others were not something he knew how to use, and while pictures usually got the point across for other things, they didn't exactly work here.
The bugs didn't smell like these lands, either – they smelled strange, walked strange, looked strange, and had strange noise-jumbles and sound-names that were a different sort of weird from the bugs he already knew. The feeling was probably mutual, if he was being realistic. Still annoying to deal with. He rolled his eyes at their wibbly nonsense-sounds and turned towards the village. Maybe the other sound-namers could understand them.
As he began to walk, the group of four hesitated, looking between each other again. He waved his hand impatiently, hoping “follow” was at least a marginally universal gesture.
Close enough. They came with.
A growl rumbled out from the darkness, and his hand shot to his sling. The group of four immediately started making more sound, the fools–
Oh. They'd never met the dark-bugs before, had they?
