Chapter Text
Ghost is not an early riser.
Unlike Hornet, they take no pleasure in waking at hours only considered reasonable by Hollow and herself. Their bed was so comfy, and after spending so long resting on iron benches, it’d be a shame to not use it to its fullest.
That’s what they told Hornet, at least, when she’d asked them if they would ever bother to wake before mid-day. She’d accepted that with a scoff, one more affectionate than judgemental.
This morning is different. Ghost practically drags themselves out of bed. Sleepy, but no less excited, they kick off their blankets and pull their cloak over their head, stumbling as they try to do too many things at once. Of course their cloak had to choose this morning to get caught on their horns, causing them to spend a moment awkwardly hopping around trying to pull it down.
Finally, with a dramatic (but soundless) huff, their cloak settles comfortably over their shoulders. Ghost yanks open their bedroom door and dashes down the stairs, the lightless halls not a bother to them. Their dip into the Void had come with some benefits, after all, and they feared the shadows no longer.
Unsurprisingly, Hollow is already awake and moving about the house with far more clarity than Ghost thinks is fair. Though their own steps are light and enthusiastic, they still feel the fog of sleep slowing them down, and Hollow looks free of that.
“Why are you so awake?” Ghost complains, their void-speech slurring slightly. “It’s so early.”
Amused, Hollow stoops down to be closer to Ghost’s height. “I’ve been up for more than a moment, Ghost. Of course I’m awake.” They reach out and pat Ghost’s head, right in between their horns. “I’m used to waking up this early. Why are you awake?”
Ghost’s excitement, which has been slowly taking over the sleepiness, spikes at the question, and they bounce on their feet. “Hornet said she’ll take me hunting! If I woke up early enough, she said she’d bring me with her!”
Hollow nods, and stands up once more. “I’m surprised you’re up earlier than she is,” they muse, “usually she’s awake around the same time I am.” They make their way over to the cabinets, and take down some dried meat. Tiktik, if Ghost had to guess.
Vessels don’t need to eat, not really. They don’t feel hunger in the same way bugs do, and could live entirely off of soul. Hollow and Ghost enjoy eating, though, with so many fun tastes and foods to explore.
Ghost pulls themselves up onto a chair as Hollow sets some of the dried meat on the table for them. They sign a quick “thanks” and promptly stick the dried meat through their mask’s eye socket.
While the two vessels eat, Ghost swings their legs back and forth. They aren’t tall enough to reach the ground like Hollow, something they don’t really mind. It’s fun to swing their legs. They’d be quite sad if they were suddenly unable to.
“Do you think I’ll grow to be your size?” Ghost asks, while putting more tiktik meat through their mask.
Hollow shrugs. “Maybe eventually. It’ll take a lot of work, though.” Their tone shifts to be more light-hearted. “And wyrm knows you sleep so much, it’ll probably take you forever.”
Ghost would’ve pouted if they could’ve, looking up at Hollow. “Just you wait. I’m going to grow so tall I don’t even fit in here!” They pause for a moment, considering. “...actually, that wouldn’t be very fun.”
Hollow’s laugh, echoing through their void connection, is contagious, and Ghost can’t help but giggle. It’s such a shame Hornet can’t hear them laugh, Ghost thinks. Maybe then she’d laugh a little more.
Speaking of Hornet…
The stairs creak. Ghost turns around to see their sister descending, dressed as always in her red cloak. She looks more than a little surprised to see them up, her expression falling back into one of neutral curiosity after a moment. “Good morning, Ghost. Hollow.”
Ghost signs an excited hello, waving almost frantically at their sister. Hollow waves as well, though much more calmly.
Hornet blinks, then sighs and heads over to the cabinets to grab something to eat. “Well, you’re certainly excited. Please tell me you haven’t been up all night.”
Ghost shakes their head, leaning forward on the table as Hornet sits down with her food of choice. They tap on the table a few times to get her attention, before signing, you said hunting!
It takes Hornet a moment to understand what they were talking about, but when it clicks, she lets out another long sigh. “Ah. I suppose I did promise that to you, little Ghost. And you wish to go today?”
Ghost nods. Now? They sign, eager. After a moment, they add, please?
Hornet shakes her head, taking a bite of her food. “No, no, Ghost. Not now. Give me a moment to collect myself and get ready. Then we will go.”
Ghost slumps a little at the thought of waiting, but perks back up soon enough. Tiktik meat finished, they hop down from their chair and run to grab their nail. If they’re going to be hunting, they should make sure they're ready!
Perhaps they’ll go down to Deepnest and traverse the dangerous caverns! Maybe they’d even be hunting a garpede! Ghost tries to imagine killing one of those monstrous things… it feels impossible, heavily armored as they are, but if anyone knew how to kill one it would be Hornet.
They sit down by the door, nail in their lap as they start to polish the sharp blade. Oh, they were so excited to go hunting! Even if they didn’t catch anything, spending time with Hornet would be fun. They don’t do that enough, in Ghost’s opinion.
“I wonder what a garpede tastes like…” Ghost muses to themselves, and to Hollow.
Hollow turns to look at them, tilting their head slightly. “I think you might be misunderstanding what hunting is like. Also, they taste bad.”
Ghost ignores the first statement in order to jump up and properly express their shock over the second one. “You’ve eaten a garpede?!” they exclaim, waving their arms frantically. “How? How’d you do it?”
“Ghost!” Hornet stands up from the table. “You shouldn’t be jumping around like that when your nail is in your lap! For the love of all things woven and sewn, I’m surprised you haven’t accidentally chopped off a limb yet.”
Ah. Oops.
Thoroughly cowed, all thoughts of garpede flavors gone, Ghost bows their head and sits down, careful as they pull their nail close again. Sorry, they sign. Can we still go hunting?
Hornet sighs. “Yes, Ghost, we can still go hunting. I’ll gather my supplies now.” She brushes past Hollow, who sits up straight and watches her disappear back upstairs.
“Sister is warm,” they comment idly.
Ghost tilts their head. “Isn’t she usually?”
Hollow’s eyes narrow ever-so-slightly. “I think so. That’s normal for bugs, right? Being warm?”
Ghost thinks for a moment, and nods. “Mato is warm. Elderbug, too. And Quirrel, and Myla, and–”
Hollow holds up their hand. “Yes, yes, okay. Bugs are warm. Thank you.”
Hornet comes back downstairs after a few minutes, her needle in hand and her toolpouch slung over her shoulder. “Alright, Ghost. Are you ready?”
Ghost carefully sets their nail to the side before jumping up excitedly, nodding.
“Hollow.” Their taller sibling is still sitting at the table, though they had long since finished their breakfast. They look over at Hornet curiously. “Are you alright to watch over the house for a few hours? Ghost and I are going hunting and should be back later, but don’t worry if we’re gone a little longer. I have a feeling we might get distracted and end up taking a few detours with this one.”
Hollow nods. If you’re not back by nightfall, I’m leading a search party.
Hornet squints. “...I can never tell if you’re being sarcastic or not. We’ll be fine, Hollow. And we’ll be back soon.” She steps toward the front door. “Come, Ghost. Let's go hunting.”
Nail in hand, Ghost bounces out the door, giving Hollow one last wave goodbye.
They couldn’t wait.
Hunting was not what Ghost thought it would be.
There are no dangerous, death-defying hunts through claustrophobic caverns or dark tunnels. No thrilling chases through the underbrush. Ghost probably didn’t even need to bring their nail, for how little they were using it!
Hunting, as they were swiftly learning, is a lot of sitting around and waiting. Ghost kicks a pebble as Hornet sets up another one of her traps, watching it skitter across the ground.
“You can always return home, if you’re unhappy,” Hornet says. There’s an air of amusement to her voice, as if she had been expecting this. “I did tell you it was going to be like this.”
Well, yes, she had. But Ghost hadn’t been listening! They were so excited over the prospect of spending time with their sister that they forgot to pay attention to what it was that they’d be doing. That was hardly their fault!
Still, Ghost shakes their head. Even if it wasn’t too fun, it was still time spent with Hornet. Besides, they didn’t want to leave her alone, letting her hunt by herself. She was probably just as bored as they were, and it’d be worse if they left!
…and something else is bothering them. They’d leaned against Hornet earlier and felt her warmth. Most bugs, Hornet included, were warm. They had beating hearts to pump their blood through their bodies, and that kept them nice and cozy. But she felt different. Heat was radiating off her, as if she’d just taken a nice long dip in a hot spring.
But the morning air was cool against their mask. So it wasn’t an external source. Perhaps it was something Hornet did in the mornings, to be so lively and awake.
Ghost claps their hands together to get Hornet’s attention. Sister warm? they sign, curious.
Hornet frowns. “I’m fine, Ghost.”
Okay. Instant denial. So something was definitely wrong.
Ghost crosses their arms. Hornet sighs, and relents. “Alright. Fine. I appear to be slightly under the weather, but I am fine. I have survived much more serious wounds and illnesses. Do not worry for me.”
Ghost is more than a little hesitant to accept that, but what choice do they have? They don’t know much about normal bugs anyway. Hornet knows herself better than they do, so they’ll just have to trust her.
After another hour of trap-setting and making the rounds to see if anything was caught, Hornet turns to Ghost. “Alright. You’ve been very patient, how about we do something a little more fun?”
Ghost perks up. They like the sound of that. Nodding fervently, Ghost draws their nail and taps it on the ground in question.
Hornet grins. “Yes, Ghost. What do you say we do some real hunting?”
They make the same nodding motion with their fist, signing yes! while jumping slightly. Yes, yes, finally! Something fun!
“Try to keep up, little Ghost.” With that, Hornet throws her needle, and zips off.
Ghost crouches, charging up a crystal dash. They blast off, following close behind Hornet as she practically flies through the foliage. If they had a voice, they’d be shrieking in excitement as they chase their sister, but they settle for internal cheering as they cancel their dash to catch the twists and turns Hornet makes.
She must know Hallownest better than anyone else does, Ghost realizes, as they make their way into an area they’ve never been to before. Even if they have chanced upon this place, they can’t remember it off the top of their head, and they didn’t bother bringing their map with them.
Hornet finally stops, stumbling and breathing hard as she hits the mossy ground. She takes a moment before straightening up with a soft laugh. “Wasn’t that fun, Ghost?” At their happy nods, she sighs, and relaxes just the slightest bit. “Alright. I’ve been tracking a creature for some time now– nothing dangerous, from my observations, but it’s been disrupting the local wildlife.” She holds her needle in front of her, at the ready. “I’ve been wanting to subdue it before it became a greater threat to the region, but I realized that my strength alone wouldn’t be enough to safely lay it low.”
Ghost must look mighty concerned for an unfeeling vessel, so Hornet continues, “It shouldn’t prove a challenge at all with the two of us. I doubt it would be deadly to myself, had I encountered it alone. But I knew it would leave me with injuries I don’t want to deal with.” She shrugs. “The smarter option would be to take either you or Hollow with me to kill it. It’s quite fortunate that you woke up early enough to join me in my endeavors, because I doubt Hollow would be willing to take up their nail once more.”
Ghost tilts their head. You would’ve fought this alone if I hadn’t woken up?
Hornet nods. “Indeed, little Ghost. I would’ve. Don’t be alarmed, I would’ve been fine. Injured, but fine. Don’t give me that look, I’ve come back home injured more times than you know.”
That was a concerning prospect. One Ghost wasn’t too happy about. But they don’t know how to explain their worries, their fears, in a way that Hornet won’t dismiss with a short “I can take care of myself”.
They don’t have the time, anyway. The ground shakes. Ghost braces themselves, drawing their nail and pointing it at the bushes, trying to challenge what they can’t see. Hornet brandishes her needle, standing near Ghost in a defensive position.
From the foliage, out jumps something that oddly resembles a gigantic mosscreep. Were it not for the scaled, solid quality of its chitin, and the fact that it had deadly-looking mandibles, and the 7 extra eyes…
Okay. It doesn’t look very much like a gigantic mosscreep at all, except for the fact that it’s mostly green. But it looks dangerous, and it is big, and something’s wrong with Hornet, so… whatever it is, Ghost isn’t about to underestimate it.
Hornet shouts a challenge, silk flying around her. The creature roars back, rearing up on its large hind legs, before landing back on all fours and charging.
Ghost jumps, using their needle to strike down on the creature and gain more height. The scales are tougher than they anticipated, and it takes more strength than they thought to pierce through. They land on the other side of the creature with a stumble, turning around to see Hornet land a solid hit on its flank.
From there, the fight becomes something like a dance. A very, very, dangerous dance. Though nothing like the Mantis Lords (Ghost should go back and challenge them again. That would be fun!), there’s a certain rhythm that comes with battle. Especially fighting alongside Hornet.
Ghost pauses for a moment to watch their sister fly through the air. She’s so fast, and they once again find themselves in awe of her. Beating her twice hadn’t done anything to lessen how cool they thought she was (though she would no doubt refuse to listen were they to try and tell her that).
They also wanted to duel her again. Hollow had advised against it, though– the two had spoken privately, and decided that it would be too easy to accidentally hurt her. Strong as she was, she was still part mortal.
The battle continues.
Between the two of them, it doesn’t take long to wear the creature down. Victory is all but certain, as Ghost throws out spells and Hornet uses her spike traps to injure the beast further.
But something goes wrong.
Hornet stumbles at a critical moment. The creature’s mandibles, sharp as a nail, make contact.
Ghost has never heard Hornet scream like that. The sound sends chills through their shell. It’s horrifying.
No. No!
Ghost doesn’t remember anything after that. They only know that the creature dies, and they are covered in the blood and viscera of the thing that dared to hurt their sister. They rush over to where she’s lying, curled in on herself and trembling as blue and black blood seeps out from a large gash in her side.
“Worry not… little Ghost…” she gets out, pressing her hands to the wound, “just give me a moment… I will be fine.”
She passes out a moment later, and now Ghost is really panicking.
They dump out their pockets, searching for something they could use to patch up Hornet’s wound. Surely they had some kind of bandage that they picked up on the roads at some point!
Some frantic searching reveals they do not. There’s only one other option, and Ghost is very glad they aren’t a very modest bug. Shrugging off their cloak, they quickly use their nail to cut off excess fabric, pressing it into Hornet’s side.
Ghost reaches out through their connection to Hollow, their not-words thrumming through the void that binds them both. “Hollow. Hollow. Can you hear me? Hollow, Hornet got hurt. I need help. I can’t carry her back by myself.” Please, please, let them not be too far apart for their words to reach Hollow.
A reply from Hollow nearly makes them collapse from relief. “Where? What happened?” Their anxiety is clear in their voice, though it is faint from distance. Ghost can picture them scrambling up and grabbing their nail, rushing out the door before they can even tell their twin where they are.
“We went through Greenpath– can you follow our trail?” After Hollow confirms that they can, Ghost returns to tearing more fabric off their cloak and pressing it against Hornet’s side. “Bring bandages if you can.”
Hornet moans softly, shuddering under Ghost’s hands. They pause, peering at her mask, leaning close to see if she was conscious. They don’t want to take their hands away from their attempts to stop the bleeding to sign, so all they can do is wait.
She doesn’t make another sound after that, the only indication that she still lives being the shaky rise and fall of her chest.
Ghost is scared. No, they’re terrified. Hornet has never, ever been this hurt before. And the blood… there’s so much. Was she even supposed to have that much blood in her? She certainly wasn’t supposed to have that much coming out of her.
They should’ve kept her safe. They’re stronger, more hearty. And she was sick! How could they have failed in such a critical way?
Hollow arrives faster than Ghost thought possible. They waste no time in speaking, kneeling by their sister and pulling out the bandages they’d brought. “I need help, Ghost. Please.”
Ghost nods, helping Hollow tear off some bandages and wrap them snuggly around Hornet’s midsection. The job is far from perfect, but they’re just trying to stop the bleeding. As soon as Hollow is satisfied with it, they carefully scoop Hornet up, doing their best not to jostle her too badly.
Ghost grabs the remains of their cloak, slipping it on over their shoulders before charging up a crystal dash. Hollow has already started moving, and Ghost is hard-pressed to keep up with their much shorter legs.
The trip back to their house in Dirtmouth is a tense one. Hollow asks what happened, and Ghost gives the best summary they can– they were hunting, and Hornet brought them to Greenpath to fight an invasive beast, and she’d been caught in its jaws after a stumble.
“I should’ve protected her,” Ghost mourns, as Hollow carefully lays Hornet down on the couch. “I should’ve been able to stop it from hurting her.”
Hollow shakes their head. “She’s hurt now. We need to do what we can to help.”
Under Hollow’s direction, Ghost grabs a pail of clean soul water from the kitchen, and a soft silk cloth that Hornet herself had made. When they get back, Hollow is carefully peeling away the blood-soaked bandages and fabric. Ghost is grateful Hornet is unconscious. The wound looks painful, still steadily oozing blood despite their best efforts.
Ghost hands Hollow the cloth, and Hollow carefully begins to try and clean the area around the wound. It’s only after a tense moment that Hollow admits, “I don’t– I don’t know how to do this. We would always mend our injuries with soul, but… it doesn’t work on Hornet, does it?”
Ghost shakes their head. “She has to refine soul into silk to heal, I think. She talked about it once, a while ago.” They lean against the couch, peering over Hollow’s arm to look at Hornet. “I think you’re doing it right. Quirrel’s talked about having to clean wounds before.”
“I remember seeing some trainees doing this, if someone was hurt in a spar. But…” Hollow’s voice becomes shaky, their anxiety palpable, “the wounds were never this bad. If they were, father would step in and heal them. He could transfer his soul to others. I never got to learn how.” Their hand is shaking. “What if I’m hurting her?”
“You’re not!” Ghost insists, though they aren’t too sure themselves. They’ve never had to clean a wound like this, either. “I’m sure this is what you’re supposed to do, probably.”
“Probably?!”
Ghost shuts up.
Hollow continues to clean the wound until the only blood is what’s oozing from the gash itself. “Okay. Okay, we’ll just… rewrap these bandages. Ghost, go get more, they’re in the washroom.”
Ghost is quick to scramble to their feet and into the washroom, climbing onto the sink to reach the medicine cabinet. There are several rolls of silken bandages, and they grab them all.
By the time they get back, Hollow has finished rewrapping the bandages to the best of their ability. “The fact they’re bloody means they’re working,” Hollow says, with no small amount of uncertainty.
Ghost nods. “That’s how they draw out all the bad stuff,” they say matter-of-factly, as they tear off some fresh bandages and begin to wrap them around the bloodied ones.
A moment later, Hornet stirs, groaning. The two vessels freeze as she blearily blinks open her eyes. “I am,” she says, words slurring until they’re almost unrecognizable, “in an incredible amount of pain.”
Declaration made, she promptly passes out again.