Chapter Text
They shivered in leftover terror.
Ever so slowly, the fear faded as more moments passed without a trace of sentries coming after them.
The way behind them was blocked, but they had the persistent feeling that the attackers would somehow get through their barricade of dirt.
In hindsight, perhaps they were a bit reckless coming back to City.
Just because they had a nail, didn’t mean they knew how to use it.
That’s what I was saying.
They had a reason to come back, and they could feel the immediate difference in their body. They were finally healed.
There were no aches. There were no pains.
They felt, for once, comfortable in their own body.
They were somewhere dark, and very high up. They looked over the edge, down the large shaft of an elevator, then backed up until they hit the wall.
They trembled.
We need to go up. All the way up.
They looked up, a long, long way up. So long, they couldn’t see the top.
I have an idea. Instead of climbing all the way up, let’s scale down. It’s easier to go down then up. We’ll take the elevator back to the top.
They uncurled a bit from their position, scooting to the side of the platform. They had done too much falling lately, and reckoned their chances were better going down then precariously hanging from wall perpendicular to the ground. Even if it was far, they could actually see the floor.
If they had to go either up or down, they would choose down, for now.
It was better then waiting for the guards to find them.
Cautiously, they used their climb-dig method to ladder themselves down the elevator shaft. There was a sentry there, guarding the entrance with perfect form. It gripped a long and sharp nail. They wondered how much it would hurt to be skewered by it.
Actually, they had a pretty good idea.
They painstakingly crawled around them, moving silently in the shadows of the lantern lights. A pebble dislodged and hit the floor. They froze, holding their nonexistent breath.
The sentry shifted and hummed, but didn’t look around. Didn’t look to the side, just out of view, where their white mask surely stood out in the shadows.
They crept along the wall, and got into the elevator.
The sentry looked up in shock, just as the elevator started to ascend.
They waved, just as the wide eyed face slid out of view.
A giddy sort of anxiety filled them just then, they waited until they were far enough away to let their hands tremble.
When they reached the top, they were left with a split in the path.
Go left. The voice said.
They looked to the right, but it was only darkness. The lighter path was left.
They went left.
The cave opened up wide, like a gaping mouth, glowing an iridescent cyan. It led to a lake, rippling through with consecutive waves. The dock, off to the side, could barely be called a dock at all, all broken and rusted metal.
Blue Lake.
There was no time to waste. The guards would be on their tail soon, yet they couldn’t help but stop and marvel at the view.
They stared out across the clear blue waters, rippling and wavering over a great expanse. The chitin of various shelled bugs lined the rocky shore, some fossilized and some not. An odd, mildew smell drifted across the lake, along with a mild undertone that smelled of old rot.
Immediately, a movement caught their eye. Off a ways, just along the beach, was a hooded figure. It stood perpendicular to the lake.
It was an average shaped insect, at least from what they could tell.
Even from here they could see it was wearing a brilliantly colored cloak, a bright blue, maybe teal.
It was holding something, but from here they couldn’t make out what it was, besides that it was light in color.
It was far, almost on the other side of this expanse of water, connected by a half circle shore.
They watched curiously, despite their growing urge to leave the area, paranoid of followers. Still, they doubted they would be found so quickly, despite their dramatic exit.
At least a few moments more, they told themselves.
The bug stumbled down the rocks, until the calm waters were just lapping its feet. They were too far to shout, if shouting were even possible.
It wasn’t.
The voice was silent, but sent along an uneasy hum.
The bug placed its object on the bank slowly, then fiddled with the fabric around its neck. The cloak came undone, and they could see a short, gray-faced bug emerge from beneath. The far off figure placed its cloak along the shore with the object.
Go closer.
They started to walk.
The bug’s features slowly came into view. This bug had a three pronged mask, two shorter points on the sides and one sticking straight out the top. From this angle, they couldn’t see its front. Only its round and gray carapace was shown, as well as the back of its head.
It couldn’t see them, too caught up in the rippling blue waves.
They were still too far for it to hear their near silent footsteps crunching softly on the sand.
It took a step forward, into the water. Perhaps, they thought, the bug was going for a swim. They hadn’t had a pleasant time swimming, but weren’t sure what other bugs thought of the water.
The remembered that lumafly didn’t like the water at all.
They closed the distance quickly enough, but the other bug clearly didn’t care to look around.
In a motion so quick they almost doubted they saw it, the bug was gone with a splash. The bug was gone, and they were left blinking at the sudden absence.
They stopped, staring at the place where a bug once was. Numbly, they thought they had imagined one even standing there at all.
The lake was peaceful all around them, an apathetic witness. Only the sounds of water lapping at the shore could be heard, the patter of drops dripping on the lake from stalagmites lining the ceiling.
The bug didn’t come up for air, like they lumafly did. It had no-one to help it up this time.
It didn’t even occur to them to rush to the bug’s rescue.
If it had jumped, then it clearly didn’t want to be saved.
Finally, they continued walking when it was clear the other wasn’t going to surface. They didn’t need the voice to tell them that the bug wasn’t coming back at all.
They tried not to step on the shells and masks of dead bugs. It brought back memories of their birthplace. Of trying and failing not to step on the newly departed masks of their siblings. They wondered what their siblings would think if they saw them now.
Probably nothing. Since they were dead.
They stopped when they reached the point. Staring out, they could barely see where they had started. They carefully scaled the bank, searching. Searching.
They spotted it quickly—an out of place color—the teal cloak folded neatly on top of a flatter stone. They moved towards it, then reached out— hesitated.
They glanced towards the lake, the water clear and still.
I don’t think they’re coming back for it.
Before they could overthink it, they lifted the fabric, moving it aside. Beneath, lay a mask. Not one of those full head masks, but a simple flat disk of white.
They picked it up, turning it over in their hands.
The mask was pristine.
It must have been important.
The round eyes were curved up, as if in a smile. There was a large crack running through the center, though instead of being due to injury, they could tell it was intentional. The line was perfectly straight and centered.
Dried under the eyes and on the underside of the mask, was a concerning amount of dried orange substance. It easily flaked off when they rubbed a finger over it.
They dipped the mask into the clear waters, watching as the orange washed away like it was never even there.
If only the infection could be banished so easily.
They blinked in confusion, but the voice didn’t elaborate.
They picked the cloak up again, and it unraveled in their hands.
It was long. Longer than they were tall, even counting their crown of horns, but still they couldn’t take their eyes off of the brilliant color.
They had never seen a bug wear this color before, and they marveled at its brightness. It was almost the same color as the water itself.
It would be a shame to leave this here, only to have it rot and fade away into gray.
They hoped the bug wouldn’t mind, if they used it in their place. They had a feeling that the other wouldn’t come back for it anyway.
They draped the fabric over them in a way that covered their head and horns, double folding it so that the cloak wouldn’t drag. They took in the previously unseen clip, a little white thing that took on the form of a small and round lumafly.
They examined it excitedly at the reminder, and carefully pinned it in place, using it as a clasp for the cloak.
At last, they took in the mask.
It’s as good of a disguise as any.
They wondered what they meant by that.
If you cover your horns, and your face, then other bugs won’t recognize you.
They tilted their heads. Why not? They still sounded the same as always. They instinctively recognized other beings of void. It should be no different for them.
Bugs don’t rely on void to identify each other. Mostly, they rely on sight. Maybe smell, too.
It was a bit confusing, but they thought they got it. Bugs apparently couldn’t feel the void, like they could. They had assumed, since they could always feel it, that bugs could too.
Clearly that was wrong.
So, by covering their appearance, they could pass off as an entirely different bug.
Exactly.
They looked out into the lake once again, then glanced around.
There was a lot of stuff here. Maybe they could use some of it later?
Hoarder. The voice said.
But there was a hint of warm was there they had never sensed before.
It made them feel warm too.
They searched the beach for anything that caught their eye. They picked up some interesting looking fossils, and some type of carved token. They wondered if they could carve something like this out of stone, using their digging abilities.
That would be cool. Maybe they could make more tokens. Then maybe they could make a nail like the nailsmith made theirs, but without the hot forge they seemed to need.
They searched some more and found some rusty nails. They were nowhere near as good as the one they had, but they still stored them anyway.
They tried not to touch the shells of the dead bugs too much, but picked up some masks that looked as if they were not too fossilized.
The material of the masks were similar to stone and similar to chitin, but didn’t rot as fast or wear down it looked like. It was an interesting quality, and they wondered what they were made of. Some corpses seemed to have masks while others didn’t. They wondered about that too. Though, the only definite way to tell if it was a mask or not sometimes, was by the nature of its decomposition.
Shells rotted.
Masks fossilized.
Finally, they swam across the shallow lake, peering into the clear water for any treasure hidden in the depths.
They weren’t as scared of being swept away here, as they had been in City. The water was calm and clear.
They found another few nails that way. They took them because they could, even though most were probably useless.
They got about halfway across the lake when they saw the glint of something shiny.
At the bottom, half covered, was the form of some fallen warrior. Next to it was a large chest, which they only saw under the muck as they went to investigate the large, armored bug.
The metal from the armor must have been the shine that caught their eye.
They abandoned the warrior momentarily for the treasure chest at behest of the voice, though not after taking its shiny patterned nail. It was too large for them to use, but it looked very pretty.
The chest was harder to open than they expected, the weight of the water doing no favors, so they just dug the latch and pulled the top off.
Out came an abundance of small, coin-shaped fossils.
Was this Geo ?
Looks like it.
They would look out for more in the future, now that they knew the currency’s appearance.
It was important. The attendant bug certainly seemed to think so.
Besides, they needed it for if their nail broke. The nailsmith said that the next time they would have to pay.
They took the Geo, and even took the chest. They had to dig the chest, as it was too big to just hoover into their void pocket in one piece, like the nails.
They went back over to the warrior and took their armor too.
Hoarder. The voice said again.
They ignored it, though they felt that same warmth. It felt good.
They swam up to the surface, internally radiating happiness.
Good haul, if I say so.
It was, but the rest of their swim was uneventful. They found a few more things they decided to keep, like a small handheld statue made of metal, but nothing else of note.
They also absorbed some lake water into they void, seeing as it was possible from what they had experienced in the Hotsprings. It might be useful later, they reasoned.
They made sure not to mix it with the Hotspring water they still had.
Although, it was reasonable to assume each got their own separate part of their void, and that it wouldn’t mix if they didn’t want it to.
Now that they knew what to actually look for, they found some more Geo on the shore of the lake which they quickly pocketed.
Finally on the other side, they climbed up the ledge, then carefully scaled down the small drop that was revealed before them.
We finally made it into Crossroads.
Now, to find their way out.
