Irredeemable

Fugitives

The two of them had been walking for quite some time. The tranquil atmosphere and scenery of the resting grounds had given way far back. Instead, they now found themselves in the kingdom's edge. While she had been content to just travel by their side for a while, Vayne started to doubt they knew where they were going.

"Hey, pal, stop for a moment. I need to ask you something."

Somewhat reluctantly, Gravel stopped plodding along and turned to face their companion.

"Bud, where the Wyrm are we going?"

Gravel thought about it for a bit before frantically trying to charade the name of the town. Realizing her mistake, Vayne quickly interrupted.

"Hey, hey, buddy, pal, give me a second, I've got a map, you can point to it."

Taking a map from her pack, Vayne unfurled the miniature Hallownest. Gravel was surprised by how much it had grown. Maybe the Infection had simply gone away. As they searched the map for their destination, they stumbled over every name of every town. Finally, they found it. Gravel put their hand on the town of Kingsport.

"Kingsport? I take it you don't get out much, do you?"

Gravel shook their head, before tilting it, to signal their asking why. Vayne sighed and drug a hand down her face.

"We're about as far from Kingsport as you can get, bud."

Gravel dropped their head in defeat. For some reason, it didn't surprise them that they were going the wrong way. They weren't exactly lucky. With their head still down, they started to walk the other way before Vayne stopped them.

"Wait, buddy, you don't wanna be outside here at night. The aspids get really active around dusk."

They had forgotten about the aspids. For some reason, it didn't really surprise them that they were still nuisances without even being infected.

"Let's stop by Hopper's Town for the night. We'll stock up and head back this way in the morning, sound good?"

With no better options, they nodded and Vayne led the way. While they weren't particularly fond of towns, the ones they had seen were all relatively small, so they weren't too worried about it.

There were a few booflies overhead, simply content to hover, as they always were. The pair of travelers did encounter a rather large number of hoppers, however. Perhaps that was why the town had been named after them.

After rounding a bend, Hopper's Town finally came into view. The town was massive, almost to the point it could pass for a city. At that moment, Gravel began to panic. Hopper's Town was easily the biggest town they'd seen, save for the Capital of course. Surely there were plenty of guards and kingsmoulds here. They wouldn't be able to hide. What if they were caught? What if they were brought to the king? What if they-

"Hey."

Gravel stopped thinking about it. They looked up at their companion. Had they really been that easy to read? Even with no features to convey emotion, Vayne had read the fear on their face. She finished her thought, slowly and calmly.

"Just follow my lead, alright?"

They nodded.

"Then come on, bud, the town awaits."

The pair pulled their hoods up and entered the town. While they were walking, Gravel couldn't help but notice how many hooded figures there were. They wondered to themselves how many of them might be in a similar situation. Looking to their left, they saw a guard standing in front of a shop. Panicked, they pulled on their hood to hide as much of their face as possible. A quick, light slap, corrected them.