Chapter 8: Awakening and New Feelings

MAX

Max was floating. He didn't know how or where, but he was aware that it was somewhere warm, safe and dark. What had happened to him? He didn't remember. Atleast he felt the presence of his sisters.

No, wait.

He was a hornet, not a Hiveling. How could he have forgot? Maybe spending too much time near his cousins' hivemind was confusing his own. Still, them being near probably meant that he was safe.

He tried remembering what had happened to him. He could recollect being with the spectral queen of the Hivelings, Vespa, and speaking about something. Then something had suddenly caused him to feel a lot of pain pain and pass out.

There had been someone else there too though. A female bug who wasn't a Hiveling.

Hornet? Yes, that was her name. Max remembered that she had broken them both out of the Pale King's dungeon. She had also carried him after he'd collapsed from being very hurt. What had been wrong with him though?

Wasn't it something about his hand, among other places?

Yeah, he remembered that it had changed somehow, becoming that of a bug. But he was already a bug: a proud hornet, wasn't he? One of his hands, the one that had transformed, had been, of course, covered by shell, but the other one had been covered by skin.

Human skin.

Human.

Suddenly, Max felt as if barrier had been lifted in his head, refilling his mind with memories that he'd momentarily forgotten for some reason. He remembered being captured and his life before that, having the mask forced on him, meeting Hornet and escaping with her, reaching the Hive and the things the queen had told him. About how he was turning into a hornet.

Max realized that this could have been why he had just thought himself to be a hornet just moments ago. Maybe the transformation had finished and he already was one. How long had he been out anyway?

And where was he? The surroundings were so dark that he couldn't even see himself. Yes, the strange thick liquid he was in felt warm and nice, but it also made him feel a little restricted. This feeling was amplified when he tried to move his arms and legs around and found that whatever he was in, it was really small. His limbs being basically unable to move without banging into the walls of this container.

Max started to feel claustrophobic. He had never been that keen on tight spaces, preferring to have some breathing room. It wasn't something that gave him panic attacks in a crowd or anything, but it still liked to tell him to keep in the open. There was also some new instinct, possibly from the hornet part of his mind, that told him that he had to get out as fast as possible.

He agreed.

Out! He started punching at the wall in front of him.

Out! He added his legs into the mix, kicking aswell.

Out! The wall cracked, then broke, making him fall onto the solid wax floor outside, the liquid he'd been inside of spilling out aswell.

At first, Max simply laid mask-first on the warmly colored floor, enjoying the feeling of fresh air on his shell.

Wait, shell?

He pushed himself onto his feet with the goal of being able to see where he was and what he actually looked like now. Standing up, it was obvious that his balance was much different than what it had been before, yet his apparent new hornet instincts told him excactly how to stand.

Turning around, he saw a broken ovate wax cocoon slightly taller than himself and still leaking out liquid, which he now recognized as honey, no, wait, Hiveblood.

His mind was confused again. He wanted to call it honey, but a part of him insisted that it was Hiveblood and nothing else.

Deciding to focus on something else, he then looked down at his hands to see that, despite still dripping with the sticky liquid, they were now both changed and covered by smooth black shell. Unlike in the cave, they felt stronger too, despite being slightly thinner than a human's.

Before he had a chance to get a good look at the rest of his new anatomy, Max heard the buzzing of multiple sets of wings. Looking up, he saw multiple Hivelings enter the room he was in. Having noticed the hornet, most of them quickly flew close and started inspecting him.

"New hornet awake!," one of them cheered.

"Are okay? Nothing hurt," another asked, concerned.

"Sisters, please give him some space," admonished the Hiveling that had stayed away. She was visibly larger than the others and had a white ribbon tied around her midsection. The smaller ones quickly obeyed, backing away from Max.

"Sorry, big sister."

"I know, I know," the bigger Hiveling spoke, before turning towards Max, "Are you feeling well, new-hornet?

"Uh, yeah, I guess," said the hornet, before asking: "Who are you?

"I," the ribbon-wearing bug declared, placing a foreleg on her midsection, "am one of the Hive's royal healers, Apisia, and the one responsible for ensuring your safe and painless transition into one of our cousins."

Max's eyes widened. "Thank you," he said, "I just dug myself out of that cocoon. Does that mean that the transformation is finished?"

"It does appear so, yes," replied Apisia, looking him over. "Have you not seen yourself yet," she then asked.

Max nodded. "Yeah, do you have some kind of mirror?"

The healer looked confused for a second, before nodding, saying: "Oh, a mirror. Yes, of course. We have one of those in the bathing chamber. You'll be able to wash off the Hiveblood there as well."

She turned towards the other Hivelings, her antennae moving slightly. Her smaller sisters all nodded and started flying towards the doorway. Apisia motioned for Max to follow them, before turning to leave herself.

They moved through the corridors without saying anything. Max knew that they didn't have to. He could feel the conversations in his new relatives' Hivemind as a quiet buzz in the back of his head.

The level they were on must have been one of the lower ones, as there weren't any large halls, but rather smaller chambers and passageways. Walking behind his flying guides, Max caught glimpses of these rooms, which housed other Hivelings who, instead of working, were resting, playing or seemingly just chatting. He understood that these must have been the living spaces for the workers.

After traveling for some time, the group finally came to a stop in front of a doorway at the end of a short corridor. Apisia looked at Max.

"The bathing chamber is through here. You can find a mirror in the side room. Us Hivelings do not care too much about our appearances so there's only one."

"I don't think I'll need any more. Thanks for your help," said Max as he walked into through the doorway.

"It was our pleasure, new-hornet," the healer shouted, unkowingly reminding him of his new, permanent condition.

The room he now found himself in was much taller than any other he'd seen on this level. It was also clear that it was built into the outer edge of the Hive, as the curved wall of the chamber had large spots with rock not covered by wax. It was clear why the bathing chamber was situated here, since there was a wide hole in a visible portion of the cliff from which water cascaded into a large circular pool in the center of the room. There weren't any hivelings present at the moment so the only audible sound was that of the waterfall.

Max made his way around the pool and towards a small doorway that he figured must have lead into the side room. He entered the tiny space and looked around. There really wasn't much there, except for a floor lamp, the mirror and a large wooden closet that took up an entire corner.

In the lamp's light, Max finally got to look at his new body. In addition to his arms and legs, which had already changed before he was put into the cocoon, the rest of him had also undergone drastic alterations. His head was now a much different, smaller shape and his mask had changed too, its small horns appearing sharper and its overall build being less round, giving it a more threathening appearance. That was further helped by the previously present puppet-esque mouth having disappeared and black colored streaks having appeared, going down the bone white of the mask.

His chest, or rather midsection, was thin and skeletal, but felt strong. The colors of his mask carried over as yellow and black stripes. Both his arms and legs were also attached to the thorax. They no longer had the coarse texture like before, instead appearing a healthy, smooth and shiny black.

The part most different from his old form was his abdomen, which descended from his waist just behind his legs and, to his limited knowledge, was now supposed to hold most of his organs. It had a rounded shape and the shell covering it was striped with the same colors as his midsection.

Max turned his body, looking at himself from multiple angles. It was obvious that he was now built to be a predator. In addition to his threatening mask and tall build, he felt like he could do more. His senses were definetly sharper now that he thought about it. He could probably sniff out prey blindfolded.

Still, he felt a little estranged. Not because all of this felt so new, but because it didn't. For some reason, it seemed as though he had always been this way. The body felt familiar, too familiar. His thoughts seemed to be slightly different too. Just another moment ago, he'd been thinking about catching prey as if it was an everyday thing. But wasn't it though? His kin were hunters after all.

This change in his mind showed itself again the next moment, when he finally noticed that he had spent his entire time awake completely unclothed. That didn't seem strange or taboo to him either, despite him knowing that it should. It made sense though. Even if he could still kind of wear his shirt, his legs had changed too much for human pants to even fit around them.

Having properly seen his hornet form now, Max then decided to head back to the larger chamber to wash off the remaining Hiveblood. A lot of it had dripped off during the trip here, but some of it still stained his abdomen.

As he was exiting the side room, Max noticed a bug standing on the edge bathing chamber's pool, their back turned towards him. From the slight scent and the tiny, but visible stinger at the tip of their sleek abdomen, he could immediately tell that it was a female. Traveling up the sleek, athletic looking body, his eyes widened with recognition once he saw her mask. Nobody, especially him, could have forgotten that sharp crescent shape. It was Hornet.

And she looked nice.

Maybe even slightly more than nice.

Max watched with silent curiosity as she crouched over the water and started to clean herself. He noticed that the red cloak she normally wore was placed on the ground away from the water, neatly folded.

Beginning to feel a bit embarassed for staring at her like this, Max decided to make approach and make contact. He walked up to her, though she didn't seem to notice.

"Hi, Hor-"

His greeting was cut short, as the other bug yelped loudly, before quickly turning around, pulling on his feet, making him fall onto the floor and then pinning him down.

"Who are you and how did you get in here," she hissed, pressing down on his shoulders.

"Wait, Hornet, It's me. Please stop," Max coughed, breathless from the sudden impact with the floor.

The female bug's eyes widened and she lessened her grip on his shoulders.

"Max," she stated, "you're awake."

The hornet slowly nodded.

"And your changes have finished."

Another nod.

Hornet, eyes still widened, looked at him for a few moments, before her mask showed anger again.

"That still gives you no good reason to approach me this way. Have you no manners?"

She released her hold on the hornet and stood up, allowing him to do the same. Max took a few steps back, now feeling even more embarassed. For a few seconds, both of them just stood just stood there, looking at each other.

"Well," Hornet eventually demanded, "explain yourself."

"Look, I- I shouldn't have walked up to you like that, okay. I'm sorry, "Max stuttered.

"Indeed, you should be," said Hornet sternly, "know that if someone else did that, I'd not let them leave uninjured."

"Although," she continued, her expression and tone becoming friendlier, "it is good to see you awake and well."

"Thanks," responded Max, "It's good to see you too."

The moment he said that, he, for some reason, felt his mask heat up. Why had that sounded so awkward?

Thankfully, any further awkwardness was avoided, as a small Hiveling flew into the chamber.

"Mother ask me to get you," she said, before asking: "am interrupting something?"

"No, not at all," Max quickly responded, seeing the opportunity to get out of the situation, "come on, Hornet, the queen wants us to be present."

"You may go ahead," said the other bug, "I shall get myself robed and follow up soon."

"Okay, see you," called the hornet, before inwardly cursing himself. Why'd he said it like that? They were probably going to meet again in ten minutes at the most. Following the Hiveling out of the bathing chamber, he also remembered that there hadn't been a chance for him to actually get clean in the pool, but it didn't seem right to keep queen Vespa waiting, so he just hoped she wouldn't see the stains and promised himself to do it later.

HORNET

For a few moments, Hornet stood staring at the doorway through which the now changed Max had left with the Hiveling. She felt strange. Of course there was that small bit of anger, not at him, of course, though sneaking up behind someone like that in such a place did show a lack of tact, but rather herself. She'd been distracted enough to not noticed him getting close.

Still, there was that strange thing she'd felt when first laying her eyes on Max's new from. Hornet didn't even know what to call it. It had been like a sudden warmth in her face. The next moment though, she'd begun chiding him and the feeling had dissipated.

She shook her head and headed to pick up her cloak. Queen Vespa was waiting and getting distracted by her thoughts just stalled her. Hornet unfolded the silken garment and proceeded to put it on. As she did so, she couldn't help but think of her companion's new appearance.

His changed body was something, to say the least. The agility and vicious appearance of a predator really showed with him, which made the hornets' relation with the friendly Hivelings a tad ironic. In the day and a half that Max had spent in the healing chambers, she'd taken a bit of time to read about the extinct tribe and, having actually seen one now, really found herself liking how they looked: the lines on his mask, the contrast between the yellow and black of his shell and the overall good build of his body.

He looked nice.

Maybe even slightly more than nice.

Suddenly, Hornet felt her face become warm again, this time much more than previously. What was it? She leaned over the edge of the pool to check if her reflection showed anything and was taken aback when she saw a weird reddish hue on the cheeks of her mask. Now the warrior was concerned. Had she caught some strange fever?

No, that couldn't have been the case. She knew that her relation to the Pale King should havemade it nearly impossible for her to get sick. So what was wrong with her face?
Hornet shook her head again. Why was she getting so distracted all of a sudden? Right now, she had to hurry up. Feelings could be dealt with later. The warmth in her face had disappeared again anyway.

The warrior went through the doorway and started running down the corridor, her destination being one of the upwards tunnels that lead to the higher levels and the queen's throne room. Having reached the one closest to the bathing chamber, she quickly started climbing up its side. The Hive didn't have any stairs, since most of its occupants could fly.

She rushed through the upper halls, already trying to think of an apology for stalling. The Hive Soldiers curiously looked at her as she dashed towards the corridor leading to Vespa's body. Right at its entrance, she ran into Max and his little guide.

"Hey, Hornet, we were just waiting for you before going in," the hornet said, "are you okay? You were running pretty fast."

"I am fine," Hornet responded, panting, "though I apologize for making you wait."

"It's fine," Max spoke, "a few minutes aren't going to hurt anybody."

The three bugs started down the long corridor. Both Hornet and Max stayed completely quiet during the short walk while the Hiveling in front of them quietly hummed some kind of work tune. Eventually, they reached the walkway where Vespa's spectre already floated, waiting.

"Good day, Hornet. Greetings, Maximillian," she welcomed the two, then looked at the Hiveling, who nodded and turned to leave. While Hornet then simply bowed her head in greeting, to her surprise, Max lowered himself onto one knee.

"Well," the queen spoke, "this is certainly unexpected."

Max stood up, looking confused at his own action. "Sorry, queen Vespa, I don't know what came over me."

"Oh, you needn't apologize for something that you cannot control," said Vespa comfortingly, "I am fairly certain this isn't the first thing that you've noticed being differet about your mind."

Hornet was confused. What did she mean by that?

"No, not at all," Max said, his voice wavering, "I haven't even been awake for long and I already feel so different. When I woke up in the cocoon, I couldn't even remember being a human at first. I thought I'd always been a hornet."

"Please," Vespa comforted, "there's no need to be alarmed."

She floated closer to Max and Hornet. "This short loss of memory," she explained, "was an effect that was added by the Pale King into the mask's ancient magic, which created a barrier that temporarily stopped you from remembering being a human. Thankfully, it was weak enough for you to overcome yourself."

She paused a little looking straight at the changed hyu-man, saying: "The magic from the mask didn't only change your body, but your mind as well, which is why you might have found yourself thinking of some things differently than before."

Max chuckled slightly, looking aside. "Yeah, I think I've noticed that already," he muttered.

"Really," Vespa, with a surprisingly interested tone, asked, "Whatever do you mean by that?"

"Oh, nothing much," Max quickly responded, his tone suddenly uneasy for some reason, "you and your children have just seemed much more familiar to me and also I, uh, thought of hunting live prey."

He seemed to recoil slightly as he said it. Hornet didn't understand why. To her, catching prey was natural. Did his previous kin keep livestock like Hallownest's bugs? Strangely enough though, as he had been speaking, she thought she noticed that Max's cheeks seemed to have gained a red hue similar to the one she'd had before.

"There's something I don't understand though," Max then said, snapping Hornet out of her thoughts.

"I shall attempt to answer any questions you may have, "Vespa responded.

"Well," he began, "If the mask was made by the Pale King then why did it turn me into a hornet? He clearly hates my kin and even had me thrown into the dungeons with Hornet. What went wrong?"

"That is a question my healers and I have had ever since you were placed in one of their cocoons," Vespa answered, "it is truly puzzling, but it seems as though the hornet that you now are came from, well, you. It seems as if something had laid dormant within you and the presence of a mask awakened it. This strange force also seemed to have protected you from the worst of the Pale King's magic."

Max gasped loudly and Hornet's eyes widened with surprise.

"What," the male bug exclaimed, "how is that possible?"

"That is something that we wish to figure out," the Hiveling responded, "this was either a rouge piece of magic that attached itself to you when you entered Hallownest or something that has stayed hidden within you for a much longer time."

"But humans don't have magic," said Max, "At least I think they don't."

Vespa let out a small laugh. "Altough I understand where you are coming from, given the society your previous tribe lived in," she spoke, "I must tell you that every living being has magical potential, however small it may be. The magic of the humans seems to have simply laid dormant for a long time."

"Whoa. So you're saying that humans can use magic," the hornet asked, his face full of awe.

The Hiveling queen just nodded, smiling.

"Wait," Max said, seemingly to realizing something, "how do you know of how humans live? I never told you about that."

That made Vespa look slightly apprehensive.

"I shall tell you," she said, "but I ask that you do not get angry with me because of it."

She sighed.

"While you were in your artificial slumber I used my spectral nature and knowledge of magic to enter your mind and view your memories. I did so to try and find the reason for your transformation into a hornet and ease some of the stress caused by it."

Max's eyes narrowed slightly. "So you went into my head," he asked, a bit of sharpness in his tone.

"Yes," Vespa responded, hanging her head, "but please understand that I did so only to observe and help you. Unlike the Pale King, I would never seek to influence someone's thoughts and memories against their will."

"Okay," Max said, "I think I understand. But what did you mean when you said that it was 'unlike the king'? What was he going to do?"

"Something that your fellow humans sadly weren't able to avoid," the queen spoke, "since they did not have the hornet's magic protecting them, the full influences of both the mask and the king made themselves present. They appear to have been made into subjects fitting into the Wyrm's twisted vision."

She then looked at Hornet and motioned for her to come forward.

"Yesterday, while you were changing, Hornet managed to convinve me into letting her survey the caves on the condition that she stayed completely hidden."

The warrior nodded, before starting: "Ye-"

"Sorry, one more question," Max cut in, "how long was I asleep?"

"A day and a half," Hornet responded, annoyed, before continuing: "Now, as I was about to say, yesterday, after managing to get queen Vespa to understand that I am perfectly capable of managing myself, even without a weapon, I set off to look around the borders of Hallownest."

With that, Hornet started telling about the things she had seen the previous evening.

After she'd been talked into only leaving in the early evening and even then ensuring Vespa at least five times that she would be fine, the warrior had set off. Still, in order to make sure she wouldn't be seen, Hornet had exited the Hive from the top and started climbing up the caves east of the kingdom's wall. During the short journey through the ash-lit caves, the aspids, who had been local pests even before the Infection, had taken notice of her and started attacking in small groups. Vespa had warned that now the beasts' minds weren't impaired anymore, making them a serious threat to all intelligent bugs again.

Luckily, Hornet had managed to dodge their acidic spit and had made it to a high, but small ledge of the ravine that separated the walls and the wilderness beyond. A good leap later, she had made it to the old capital's side. That's where she had needed to use caution though, since there'd been small groups of sentries guarding their city's borders. Her goal had been to reach a tunnel that lead above the city.

Before she could make her way to one, Hornet had heard a lot of movement coming from a lower level of the chasm that she remembered as having a bridge connecting it to the city. She had decided to see what was happening and had gotten low to the ground, peeking down.

The first thing she had noticed was that the stone bridge appeared to have somehow collapsed, with only the edges of the narrow walkway left standing. Built over the remains of the old had been a new one made out of shellwood and rope. It had looked incredibly shoddy, having probably been built with a minimal amount of time. Appearing on the side opposite to the wall, had been a numerous amount of sentries escorting what appeared to be about ten figures.

Even though she had been quite a distance away, it had been clear that the creatures weren't bugs. Instead, with their bodies being mostly covered by visible clothing, the light colour of their shells that she believed were as soft as Max's and their much different build, Hornet had deducted that they were other hyu-mans, forcefully brought there from their village.

The sentries surrounding the hyu-mans had then started forcing them to cross the rope bridge. While they had been doing so, the soldiers with wings had hovered in the air, attentively looking around. Despite wishing to liberate Max's fellow kin, Hornet had had to keep moving. Even with a needle, she would not have been able to take on all of the guards.

Passing through the dark caverns above the city, she had eventually reached the Blue Lake and, instead of swimming across, had decided to go around. Her journey through the Crossroads that once housed the commonfolk of Hallownest had been eventless at first. When she'd decided to go and have a look at the well to Dirtmouth, Hornet had seen something interesting.

Before even reaching the hall where the well's bottom was, she had heard the sounds of hammers. When she'd peeked into the large corridor, Hornet had seen that three bugs working at the bottom of the upright passage with a lone sentrybug guarding them. Two of them had been pill bugs and the third she had recognized as a member of the Menderbugs' Guild. They'd appeared to be building a wooden staircase up the well. Her curiosity having been sated, Hornet had then headed back down, intent on seeing the Fungal Wastes and how the Mantis tribe was faring, since her mother and, by extention, she had had fairly good relations with them.

Hornet had used a secret passage in the Crossroads and dropped straight into the foggy caves. While making her way past the large archive, she'd noticed a light in one of its windows, meaning that someone, likely Monomon's student who she'd met the night before the appearance of him, had already become active in there.

Right as she had passed the doorway of the giant structure, Hornet had heard quickly approaching footsteps, prompting her to hide in the surrounding thick bushes. The bug that had then run into the fog-filled cave was of a species she hadn't seen before. On closer inspection though, they had appeared to be a slim male beetle. What'd been unusual, was the vibrant colour of his shell. Hornet hadn't even been able to understand if it had been blue or green. Aside from his unusual hue, the bug had had a usual looking rounded mask. He'd also been carrying a brown satchel.

Despite the strange shell colour of the bug, Hornet had recognized the bag as one that the messengers of Hallownest used to carry. Running past her hiding spot, he had stopped in front of the archive's entrace, catching his breath, before running through the doorway and out of sight.

Hornet had then continued towards the wastes, planning on reaching it through Queen's Station. Of course, she'd needed to use caution, since it had been more than likely that the place was guarded. Because of this, to get to the other side, she'd crawled into narrow pipe just large enough to fit her situated near the western entrance. The pipe had once been part of the ventilation system, though with the mechanisms that made air move gone, it'd become the perfect passage for anyone who wanted to move unseen. It also meant that, every once in a while, the wall on one side would have a grated panel, giving a view of the station's main hall.

Making her way through, Hornet had been surprised at how many sentries she could see in the larger space. There'd been at least thirty present. There had even been some of the king's constructs standing by the walls. Having gotten a feeling that something was going on, Hornet had hastened her pace, eventually reaching the other end of the pipe and dropping out.

Navigating around the acid pools, it had immediately been clear to her that something was wrong. Aside from the bubbling of the dangerous liquid, there usually were many more sounds audible in the shroom-filled caves: the hissing caused by the fungoons and their young moving around with their gas, the scurrying of amblooms and shrumelings and distant blasts of the sporgs' spores, which they used in their explosive method of catching prey.

Now though, it had been silent. Hornet had began running down to the Mantises' village, using hidden shortcuts to be faster and to remain unseen in case there was a stray group of sentries. In one cave, she'd stopped for a moment to catch her breath. As she had done so, she had gotten the feeling that someone was watching her. Carefully looking around, she'd noticed quite a lot of the Fungal Tribe's folk, now free of the Infection, hiding behind larger rocks and in the darker corners of the cavern, huddled together.

As she'd looked straight at a few behind a rock too small to conceal all of them, they'd shrunk even further together, shivering and whispering in their language. Hornet hadn't been able to understand what they were saying, since no bug who didn't carry a special charm could, but it had been clear that they were very scared.

Hornet had continued her path, disturbed by the fear she'd seen the Shrumals in. She'd had to reach the Mantises as quickly as possible. At the main entrance, she'd at first thought to barge into the village right away, but had noticed that there weren't any of the tribe's members guarding it. Deciding to try a stealthier approach, she had made her way to a small hatch that also lead into their territory.

Just after dropping down, Hornet had already heard voices and they hadn't been the accented ones of the Mantises. She'd quickly gotten low on one of the raised platforms of the village and looked down. The first thing she'd seen were the six sentries standing guard and talking to one another. Though right after that, she'd noticed who they'd been guarding. At the Hallownesters' feet had been laying many of the Mantises, tied down with ropes, battered and seemingly unable to move. None of them had even been struggling or trying to say anything so it'd been safe to say that they'd laid there for some time. Most of them had appeared to be the hatchlings and the youths of the tribe.

Looking around, trying to spot the adults, Hornet had caught whiff of a foul scent. Right after, eyes had been caught by a large ditch that appeared to be freshly dug into the muddy ground by the side of the village's center. Quickly repositioning herself right over the hole, she had looked in it and-

Hornet stopped speaking. She just couldn't bring herself recount it. Killing was part of her life, since she was a predator and predators had to catch weaker prey. That was how the balance of nature worked. She also fought for honor, in the name of her family and to protect the ruins of Hallownest from evildoers. She knew that sometimes, when the tribes fought, many bugs would die. But what she'd seen in that hole wasn't natural, honourable or anywhere near good.

Hornet hung her head solemnly.

"I can't go on. After seeing that, I quickly came back to the Hive anyway," she muttered.

"Wait, are you saying that in there-, they-," Max started to ask, before realization hit his face and he couldn't do anything but stare, abashed.

"Most of the village's adults were in there, yes," said Vespa, her tone serious, "they had likely resisted too much and were used as examples."

"That is just," the hornet seemed to be at a loss for words, "sick!"

"Truly, you are right, Max," the queen began, "and it is not all either. My scouts have informed me that the Mosskin who inhabit the lush caves where my workers travel to collect nectar have been occupied as well, fortunately with less casualties, same with the edges of Deepnest."

She turned her head towards Hornet, a sympathetic look in her eyes, before continuing: "Aside from the invasions, I've also no doubt that some of the bugs Hornet encountered yesterday, especially the strangely colored beetle, were once humans. I hope you can understand that this gives us all the more reason to conspire against the Wyrm."

"What d'you mean," Max asked, "What is there to do?"

"I am afraid," the queen responded, "that the only way of overcoming this threat is gathering any members of the tribes still free and going to war with the forces of Hallownest."

"I agree," said Hornet. She really did, too. Of course, bringing the tribal bugs together would likely prove to be difficult, but with Vespa's skill in diplomacy, their chances were beginning to look better.

"I just, I- I think I need a minute," Max stuttered, turning to stare at the large hall beside the walkway. The queen nodded and fell silent as well. Hornet couldn't have blamed him for wanting a break. This was a difficult topic, even more so for him. He must have had a lot on his mind. She racked her head too, thinking of the ways to fight against this threat. She would have to get a new weapon, of course, and train herself to be stronger against the king's constructs. The sentries, though mildly skilled in battle, usually got the upper hand by surrounding their targets and that was something that she wouldn't allow herself to fall for. Despite this, a battle plan would also be neccessary.

Still, Hornet found herself thinking about Max. How would he fare? From what she understood, the male didn't have almost any skill in fighting. These upcoming times of struggle would likely be too much for him. Despite her willingness to do so if needed, it was likely going to be impossible for her to always be there to protect him. Hornet knew how to fight, both with and without a blade in her hands, meaning that she could teach to do so as well.

That was it, she'd made up her mind.

"Max," she said, making him turn back around and look at her.

"I know the road ahead may seem difficult to you," she continued, "but know that I-, we're going to be here to make sure you don't have to face it unprepared."

"Thanks, I guess," the hornet responded, "what exactly do you mean by that?

"Yes, I would like to know as well," queen Vespa added.

"I am going to train you to fight, Max, so you could live up to the name of your new tribe and rescue your old one," Hornet declared.

MAX

"What," Max exclaimed.

"Oh, Hornet, that is a fantastic idea," said Vespa, putting her hands together.

Max turned towards her, asking: "Wait, you approve of this?"

Had she really just meant that? The talks of war a few moments ago had already been unnerving, yet actually fighting in one seemed to be on a whole different level. But was it though? The more he worked his mind over it though, the more it made sense to him. He wanted to contribute, help the queen and Hornet with fighting against the creature that had caused suffering for not only him and the residents of Elsewhere, but many other bugs as well.

"I honestly see no problem with it," the queen responded, "Max, you are a hornet and hornets fight. I know you might feel slightly apprehensive towards it, but sooner or later, we shall all have to face the forces of the Pale King."

"No, it's fine," said Max, "I don't know if it's my new side acting up again, but I want to do this. I want to learn how to help"

"You do," Hornet perked up, surprisingly happy at the answer, "that's great. Shall we begin, then?"

"Wait a second, right here?" Max was suddenly having second thoughts.

"Of course," she said, "this is a good, wide area and there's no reason to postpone."

The warrior then looked at the queen, saying: "Assuming that you allow us to, queen Vespa."

"As you said, Hornet," she responded, "it is better to start right away. Altough, I must ask both of you to try and not toss one other off the bridge. This is still just an exercise."

"Understood," said Hornet, before lowering her stance and looking at Max, who still felt hesitant about the whole thing and it must've showed.

"Max, you don't need to worry, I will go easy on you for this one. Now, ready yourself!"

"But what if I hurt you," the hornet asked.

Hornet rolled her eyes. "That is the point of fighting," she insisted, "my shell is strong and I am able to withstand pain. I'd worry more about you. Now ready up!"

Okay, they were really doing this.

Hornet shot forward and went for a strike from with her left hand, making Max bring up his right to try and block it. The blow was quite powerful, making him step back. Interestingly however, altough he definetly felt the pain, it wasn't as intense as he thought it would be. Instead, it gave him a rush of adrenaline and something else. It suddenly felt as if his left hand was moving on its own, punching forward.

Hornet blocked the attack and hastily countered it with another one, which managed to connect with his midsection and forced him to step backwards again. Finding himself unwilling to give up any more ground, the hornet went on the offensive, blocking two more punches, all while slowly stepping forward.

As he tried to hit the opponent himself, she dodged downwards and kicked one of his legs, making him fall backwards. It wasn't over though, as before she could pounce on him, he rolled to the side. Still, the hornet couldn't get back on his feet, as the female recovered quickly and finally pinned him to the ground, getting on top.

"That wasn't the worst I've seen," she said, smirking, "your instincts shall be a great asset."

"Thanks," Max responded, his wheezing much more loud, "that was surprisingly fun."

A moment later, he noticed the rather compromising position they were in.

"Could you, um, get off me now," he asked, feeling his face become warm.

It seemed to take Hornet a few seconds to understand what he meant, when she did so however, her bedy recoiled back.

"Of course, sorry about that," she said, standing up and allowing Max to do the same. As he was pushing himself to his feet, he noticed a slight pinkish hue on her mask.

He didn't have much time to think about it though, since queen Vespa approached the two.

"Max, I have to say that for your first fight, that was actually very good," she congratulated, "especially against an opponent like Hornet."

"Well," the warrior commented, "as I said: I was holding back."

"Yeah," Max added, "and to be honest, I had no Idea of what I was doing for most of the fight. It was like my body moved on its own."

"That is understandable," Vespa replied, "it was simply the innate skills that all hornets shared. In time, you'll train enough to be able to use your skills in tandem with your instincts."

"I promise to train you until you become my equal," Hornet said, looking directly at him, " and also to teach you the mannerisms fitting for a warrior."

Max could only nod. He knew that if someone had told him about becoming a warrior back when he was human, he'd have turned the other way and walked out, but now it truly felt like something he wanted. Plus, even though he found it strange, he really liked being around Hornet now. Maybe when it came to actual battle, they'd be able to fight as partners.

"Sadly," the queen said, "I must ask for you to leave for now. I wish to start assigning my scouts to try and contact any tribal bugs who may still be free. Though, if you wish, you may continue your training in another chamber. Just make sure it doesn't bother any of my daughters."

"As you wish, queen Vespa," Hornet responded, before turning around and starting to make her way into the corridor.

"Follow me, Max," she called, "I know a chamber that used to be fairly empty. We can continue there."

"Got it, right behind you," the hornet answered, running after her with a smile.

Despite the scary talks of war and the looming threat of the Pale King, he at least had her to help him get through it.

Isn't getting your brain rewritten to comprehend an entirely new set of attractive traits just wonderful? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the direction the story is taking. Next up, we're going back to the humans.

Also, if it's not clear yet, I try to upload every other week.

R&R