(See end if the chapter for Author's Note)
((IMPORTANT: This is a note to let you know some context on how things like thoughts, different languages, etc, work in this AU.
"Words go here." Is Normal Dialogue, in the common bug language.
(Words go here.) With parentheses and Italics, this indicates thoughts in the current characters mind.
("Words go here, as well as .......") Indicates Vessel Signing. Signing (sign language basically) is best understood by those who have practiced it/ are forced to use it. (Example: Stinger has some understanding of Signing, while Hornet can understand Signing fluently.)
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"Wyrm, your attempt may prove futile, but your offer I could not refuse." Herrah the Beast
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The ride from the stag station in the Queen's Gardens back to the City of Tears would be time consuming, too time consuming for Pure and his wounded "captive". There was no way that Pure would arrive at the Healing Springs of the pleasure house before the mantis died of blood loss or the shock of its wounds. Instead, Pure told the Stag to bring him to the Crossroads Station.
With every bounce or shake during the ride, more blood spattered from the mantis' wounds onto Pure, the Stag, and the ground racing past below.
Pure tightened his grip on the mantis, praying for its life. How strange that earlier, it would have killed him and left his body, and he couldn't find it in himself to do the same.
They were so close now.
More blood flowed from the incision on the mantis, covering its cloak in dark red blots. If Pure hadn't seen so much already, that might've made him sick to his stomach, or at least made him queasy.
Looking ahead of the tunnel, Pure could see the light of lumafly lanterns ahead, indicating their proximity to the Crossroads Station.
Pure shivered as the Stag slowed to a crawling stop, hopping off without another word. There wasn't time. Pure could feel the mantis' life draining as each minute went on.
Clutching the body to his shoulder, it was inevitable the stains the cloak would end up bearing, likely for the rest of its lifetime. It wasn't long before, with each step, Pure could feel the blood that had soaked into his cloak, weighing heavy on his shoulder. He began to run faster, as fast as he could, through the winding paths of the Crossroads.
A sharp pain went through his leg, but he kept his stride, all the way to the hot spring.
The steaming water glimmered in front of him, and despite the emergency, he slowly set the mantis down, so as to keep them from further injury. Only after the mantis was lying with their wounds in the water did Pure sit to check his leg.
It seemed that it had twisted awkwardly, resulting in the pain earlier, which he had decided not to express despite the privacy of the Crossroads. Taking a deep breath, Pure grabbed his leg and snapped it back into place. Although it was painful for a second, Pure did not express it verbally, and instead cursed in his own head.
For a Pure Vessel, it was not a very pure thing to do. In his past, only Hornet had said curses around him, and then he had been locked away, hidden in the black egg. Eventually, the Radiance had taken him anyway.
An alien thought creeped into Pure's mind.
(No. Just because you can...)
(It never means you should.)
YOU ARE READING
Sting and Sear
FanfictionStinger, a foreign traveler to Hallownest, is called by an instinct to explore what was once a sprawling kingdom. Little does he know, he is going to help in rebuilding what was lost, and even build up a legacy of his own. The ideal audience is Yo...
