#godsought

i cannot say if i can breathe, but i am breathless.  struggling with every step, squirming away from whatever danger has yet to befall me, i imagine she is enjoying it.  what a show i must put on for her ----- what revelry!  pride, in it’s truest form, to know all of her demeaning was not cruel but correct.

no.  i refuse to prove her right.  i will fight as i always have, as i have always known.  for what she thinks i lack in strength, i’ve gained in cunning;  timing, precision, the patience to wait for an opening.  though the godseeker surely thinks i cannot dominate these pantheons, i know above all else that i can survive them.

my shell is one mistake away from breaking.  i stand tall, despite so imminent a demise.  the battlecry i am unable to voice is made manifest: a howl, scream.  it presents an opportunity.  my nail cleaves its way through the space between.  my opponent is struck, brought to her knees in surrender.  awoken from the dream we so briefly shared.

for my victory, little is won.  the blinding light envelops those who watch on and the dream changes.  a hallway, the seeker, and only i remain.  a brief repose to steel myself for the battles yet to come.

". . .”

Of all the things that had dragged themselves into Hallownest, These... bugs were amongst the few that he didn’t quite expect seeing with his own eyes. Though he couldn’t help but feel, extremely wary of them.  As he felt with almost, if not all bugs he did not know well. He gives them a cold gaze that he had long since mastered when he became King. Keeping his back straight and his hands steepled in front of him, he circled the godseeker, examining them. While wary, he was... curious about them. Considering a bug clad in gold was found in the junk pit of all places, he couldn’t help but want a few questions answered. 

“ It kills thee, does it not? ” 

     “ Always, ”  comes  his  cracking  whisper.   “ Not  a  day  goes  by  where  I  do  not  ache. ”  He  lifts  a  single  skeletal  hand  to  clutch  at  the  cracked  carapace  of  his  chest,  the  phantom  remnants  of  an  age - old  ache  burning  beneath  his  shell. 

“I suppose giving them something better to defend themself with isn’t a bad thing, given the mess they got themself into last time. Thank you, Godseeker.”

They would question how she got over here so fast, or why she wants a treat in the first place given how she is very much an adult bug, but... they don’t have the energy for that right now. Or ever. They may have survived the infection, sure, but it’s left them with quite low energy still; there’s a reason they aren’t nearly as good as a fighter as they once were.

So instead of questioning it, they simply slide over the best treat they can think of off the top of their head for someone who is too old for candy in their opinion; one of their old nails, from when they were still growing. It’s far too small for them now, but that’s not to say it’s actually small by any means. The thing is still quite big, and they even polished it a bit before handing it over.

Orange-filled eyes stared onwards towards Godseeker, the infected vessel’s gaze fixated only on one thing-- the weapon being pointed at them. There was no hint of recognition towards the other bug, and they hardly seemed to care about the disgust towards them in her tone. It should have been something that stirred even a faint memory within them, given how poorly the Godseeker had always treated them within the walls of Godhome, and yet...

Part of them was still well aware of how dangerous the blade being pointed at them was, the little knight having known how to wield the weapon very well before the light had overtaken them. As such, they didn’t move, waiting for Godseeker to move first-- waiting for an opening to take the weapon and run. They didn’t have any particular reason to bother with her apart from simply getting their nail back. Especially knowing that she had revered the light as perfect... there was no reason to do anything to her right now.

Blobs of the sweet-smelling goop dripped from them, and although the orange haze clouded their vision, they still found themselves speaking-- something they could never have done prior to the divine infection corrupting their form.