"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself."
― Leo Tolstoy
Collision: Part five
The great tree was shining a pale white light into the chamber, and the room's occupants stood in awe of the beauty. It was not that they didn't know of the White Lady, former Queen of Hallownest, but only a few had ever actually seen her.
Sadly, this was not the White Lady; this was not the demi-god Queen that exiled herself out of shame for her sins. This was a pale white tree and the corpse of a Higher Being.
The chamber and the area around had been seized by thousands of branches, the vines all leading back to a central trunk of the old Queen's body. Her eyes were closed, and the Queen's grey bindings had been ripped apart; their threads lined the floor.
A soft, almost imperceptible smile rested upon the Queen's face.
There was another figure that demanded attention. She was smaller but of equal importance to the somber statue of hollownest's past. Hornet was kneeling at the base of her mother's corpse; her left hand rested upon the smooth bark, a humming light pulsing between her clawed fingers.
Hornet had not waited for a second since she woke from her sleep, only stopping to make sure her siblings were okay.
The red-clad Queen gave no mind to her compatriots as she focused her mind and soul. Images and voices ran through Hornet's memory as she put everything in order. Things were different; something had changed. Hornet suspected it was more than she even thought.
A voice was at the edge of her hearing, but it was not the voice of her council.
A parting gift, my daughter.
It was her mother's voice.
I apologize for the burden.
A memory, nothing more.
Hornet let go of the voice, turned to the warmth in her chest, and pushed. In response to her commands, the branches of the great tree began to wither, bulge, and break. It was not a smooth movement; the actions were slow and sluggish.
Hornet put more pressure on the source; sweat started to gather around on her. Hornet felt a weight that wasn't there press down upon her shoulders.
"Hornet!"
The voice broke her out of her concentration. Hornet turned around to face her council and winced. Her single-minded focus had forced the government of Hallownest to be a 'government in motion.' Even now, runners were coming and going from the chamber.
Her nail-sister Cho was standing in front of the gathered members alongside Quirrel.
"Sorry, my friends. An emergency I needed to handle."
No one tried to press the issue.
"Hornet," Lord Cho began, "what happened?"
A memory flashed through Hornet's mind. A Monster of gold, its eyes filled with hatred so probably it forced Hornet to her knees; a nail bathed in red flames coming for her neck.
Hornet clenched her fist and pushed past the vision. She looked back at each council member individually. Hornet could see worry and concern on all of them, even the Fool. The Voidseeker gave her a small, imperceivable nod, and Hornet began.
"We were attacked, or more precisely, the Void was. Those with strong connections to the divine were pulled into the battle. It's hard to describe what I saw, and I'm half-convinced that I only saw what my mind allowed me to understand. The Monster was strong, but eventually lost. Still, it was able to make one last, suicidal attack."
Hornet paused, looked back at the tree, and sighed.
Spring stepped forward and asked, "Oh, is that why we've been transported?"
.
..
…
"What do you mean, transported!"
There was a shuffling as the councilmembers looked to each other. Spring sighed; someone had to bear the bad news. "Approximately six hours ago when the Queen… passed out, Guard lookouts reported a bright light like fire engulfed the borders of the Kingdom. This coincided with major seismic activity at the edge of the Kingdom."
"It's as though someone cut through the rock like it was a cake," interrupted Mikel. The mender bugs were in the process of cleaning and excavating the collapsed caves at the extreme end of the Kingdom's Edge.
If she was peeved at the interruption, Spring did not show it.
"As I was saying, the event lasted a few minutes before it suddenly stopped. The effects were noticeable, to say the least. It appears as though the entirety of the Great Wastes has been replaced."
There was a moment of silence where Hornet just stared.
"Come again?"
"There's more, Hornet. We're not alone in this world."
"Explain."
Lord Cho looked to Spring as she gave the Martial Lord a list. "From the lookout towers, we were able to spot what we believe to be several towns and cities."
"I assume we have sent scouting parties?"
"What do you think I am, a brainless grub! Of course we've sent scouting parties. We've already found tiny homesteads and villages between us and the larger settlements."
"Have we made contact?"
There was shuffling as no one jumped to say anything. Hornet felt a migraine start to develop as she rubbed her temple.
"Okay, what happened?"
Spring answered, "Well, the scouts were under strict orders to not be seen, but we've met some problems with the denizens of this forest."
"What problems?"
"These... well, actually we don't know what they are, keep running into the Guard stations. These Fluke like creatures just kind of stumble across the King's Road, or were sleeping within eyesight of Dirtmouth."
"Flukes?"
"Yes, they look kind of like a Vessel or Beetle but completely made of flesh. We've been keeping them in Dirtmouth. The Shamans have made progress with understanding their language."
It was at that point the lone Snail Shaman spoke: "It has been difficult, but we feel with a few dives into their dreams we may be able to break the barrier. A weird species, I must admit."
Hornet made a mental note to head for Dirtmouth right away. She focused her attention back on to Cho. "Have there been any problems with the scout parties?"
"No, actually. I hate to admit it, but I am surprised; these little devices Quirrel developed have been a great help in the organization effort." She held up the Monomon device.
"Sadly, we're running into a range problem on the devices. Hopefully, with a peaceful first contact, I can study their technology."
He brought out a small rectangular device with some sort of crystal side. Hornet felt a minor case of deja vu; the thing looked reasonably familiar to a Monomon device. It was, however, quite a thin piece of equipment.
"We have been confiscating these things from the not-flukes. I believe they call them 'fones', a good name. It's not just this; the scouts have been reporting some strange things."
Hornet took a moment to sit as she thought about the situation. There was a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it. After a minute of contemplation, Hornet began to speak again in a more level, commanding tone.
"We need to get ahead of this. Without the Great Wastes, all these cities probably communicate with each other, maybe even belong to a single kingdom. We need to initiate contact, and it needs to be peaceful. Alright, here's what we're going to do."
Hornet pointed to Quirrel. "Help the Shamans get a workable dialogue with the creatures. Once we can do that, we can begin reaching out to the nearby kings. Until then"—Hornet pointed at Cho—"we hold."
Hornet went through every council member, giving orders to each. They accepted without hesitation or rebuke. Smiling, Hornet stood from her position.
"The most important thing is to keep things calm. Panic will only hurt us at this moment. Now go, and for the representatives, I will give a speech to the citizens in... two hours. Those that can should come. Voidspeaker?"
"Yes, Sister of the Void?"
"I think we need to have a little talk back in my office."
That was not a suggestion. The high priestess of the Voidspeakers bowed and exited the room. Soon everyone else did, except for Quirrel. The unspoken question hung in the air.
"I'm fine, Quirrel, just need a minute."
"You'll know where to find me."
Hornet gave her friend a smile as he left. She sighed as she waited there, looking back up to her mother.
Suddenly she was back there.
A lake of golden fire; her family, barely standing upon its banks.
The thing screaming a shrill call. Hatred, fear, and insanity rolled off the figure of gold and red as the Ghost of Hallownest plunged his nail into the creature's chest. As the nail sunk into the crystalline flesh the creature lost more and more of itself.
Unn was the first to notice.
Something's wrong!
Hornet could feel the dread increase in the air, and a pulsing light emanated from the creature as it started flailing in the golden water. Hornet turned to her mother.
What is it doing!
The White Lady was the first to respond.
Void, watch OUT!
Hornet clutched the fabric above her heart and looked up to her mother.
"Well, I guess this is goodbye, mom. I hope you are with the Void now, and-"
Hornet did not finish the statement, unsure of what to say. The third time she had lost a mother, and Hornet still felt lost. Wiping a small tear from her eye, Hornet turned for the door. There was so much to do; she didn't have time.
The new beings, her Kingdom, and her citizens were all concerns that needed action. She needed to find out where her Sibling had been blasted off to as well. She could feel the Void, so at least he was still alive.
Once she found her sibling, then Hornet could get some solid answers.
What was that thing?
Were there any more?
Hornet gripped the pommel of her nail as she left the chamber.
She needs to be prepared.
A/N: a small chapter today, sorry for the small wait.
Note: I am going to be moving at the end of the week. Due to this, I won't have a very solid release schedule for the next two weeks. I'm going to try to get out a few more in the next couple of days. Once I do finish my move I'm going to have far more time to work on this project.
