Ghost groaned as they reached the mess of thorns ahead of them, remembering their first time there. It was possible to skip the trek past the durandas and overgrown plants -and they were planning to take it- but it required a precisely angled jump on their part.
So the vessel leapt into the air and hooked onto the wall using their mantis claw. They let themself slide then sprung back to their original position a few times while they formulated how to make their next jump. It was easy for an experienced traveller like them to land correctly.
They then quickly traversed the long corridor through the uncontained energy of the crystal heart. Next, they hopped their way to the iscolated hut. Ghost skidded their way into the artist's quarters and bobbed excitedly up and down.
"Hi Sheo!" they greeted happily.
"Little vessel!? What brings you and your new voice here?"
"Well, I just came to bring news"
"Which would be?..." Sheo indicated to keep going with his hand.
"We're recrafting Mato's nail"
"A couple of questions: We? When was it even damaged? Why feel the need to inform me? Is this the project my partner had to work on?"
"Um" Ghost took a large inhale, "Me and Oro, some kind of past squabble I think- you'll have to ask one of them, I wanted to tell you cause I thought you could be there when we present it and yes I thought he could be the only one able to do it properly"
"You have plans for this 'presentation'?" Ghost smirked at that.
"Of course I do..."
Quiz sat gently down next to a large totem that glowed with the aura of soul. They could strike it and gain some soul but it wouldn't be of much use- the Resting Ground's was one of the safest places in the whole kingdom. They could take a break in peace here.
Well they thought they could...
"Er hi there, are you one of the vessels staying here?" a soft spoken voice asked. Quiz jumped and held a hand in their cloak ready to grab a nail if needed. They continued to examine their surroundings until a glowing figure came into view a short distance away.
Quiz held up a hand to get a clearer view and they saw a nervous looking spirit of a green moth. "Sorry if I startled you I erm just wanted to meet you" Quiz relaxed slightly and stood up straighter. "Hi I'm Quiz and me and my sibling Tweet are staying here as you know." they introduced.
"Hi to you too, I'm Thistlewind."
"So I'm assuming your grave was the empty one?"
Thistlewind blinked surprised then answered, "I presume so I've been wandering quite a bit recently. "
"What happened to you?" Thistlewind shuffled a bit and Quiz saw their expession go slightly blank.
"Thistlewind?"
"Yeh, sorry.." Great job now Quiz, you've upset one of the first few bugs you've met here they thought.
"Yes Quiz, but really he should answer."
"Its his choice, despite how curious I may be... Wait..." Quiz turned and saw a smirking dark thing.
"What are you?"
"You, duh! Didn't you know? But anyway, listen up buddy" it pointed a claw at Thistlewind, "What happened to you? We wanna know so you should say"
"You think he really wants to answer?"
"You two?"
"Shut up moth unless your gonna start talkin'! Now since you have so obviously failed to figure out the infomation you want, I'll have to do your stupid job for you"
"But that's not fair! Besides I'm not really sure I want to anymore..."
"coward.."
"I'm n-not! I could do it if I wanted to"
"But you don't coz you dont wanna face the consequenses"
"I would but is it fair on Thistlewind"
"Ever thought of resolving this with me?"the ghost in question questioned.
"I said shut up while we talk ghosty!" it yelled while Quiz glanced apologetically at Thistlewind.
"I guess not.." the spirit muttered too quietly for it to hear.
"He is a part of this you know!" Quiz tried annoyed.
"Yeah but its your fault he doesn't want to talk"
"Why? Because I don't want to ask a sensetive question anymore?"
"Its your fault for starting it! But really this backing out stuff? Are you even Quiz anymore if you don't want to be inquizitive?" it said cooly through a smirk and narrowed eyes.
"That's it! I can still ask questions and be myself. I just have to be more aware! That's why you're dodging my questions to you about how its fair!" It looked at them alarmed and started shaking slightly.
"N-no!"
"Oh I'm sure that's what you want to believe. Get out of here and leave me and my new friend alone!" It started to flicker before gasping slightly and fading into white.
"Sorry..." it rasped before disappearing completely.
"And I'm sorry too, Thistlewind, I should have known better then to ask such a sensitive question"
"Really its ok, I should have helped you more as well. Still friends?"
"That's what I claimed before" The pair started laughing happily together after that, glad everything was resolved.
Toothy decided that it was now late enough in the village to head outside and start their day. So they got up quietly as to not disturb Est from their thoughts. The other vessel sat like that a lot; it was a technique Alyssa had taught them to obtain focus and calmness. Toothy supposed if it helped Est then it was good idea.
So the happy vessel stepped outside into the bustling sight of the Mantis Village. They walked down the street to see Cassia -they got breakfast with her each morning to start the day in a good way so they could be better in training- excitedly. They frowned slightly as they were met with a jeering voice however.
"You think just cause you have nowhere else to go you can stay here?! Its not the mantis way! Have our lords no honour?!" a mantis warrior yelled exhasperated.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you or your traditions" they tried apologetically.
"Stop apologizing and stand your ground coward!" Toothy felt a temper rising at that point.
"Fine then! Leave me alone! I'm here due to being invited by your lords who could beat any of you commoners easily if either of the three of them wanted to!" The mantis huffed and left with an annoyed, "Know your place, weakling". Toothy frowned at that though. Them being here had never been a problem before... It would be one to talk to Cassia about when they got to her.
It wasn't far to the meeting place of the pair now and Toothy completed the rest the journey in deep thought. They were so entwined in their mind they didn't even notice when Cassia showed up. She coughed deliberately and waved a claw in front of them. Toothy jumped and grinned nervously at her.
"Ah, sorry Cassia. I was just thinking"
"About what?" the lord asked once they were on their way to the dining hall for the Lords and their guests.
"Well, I was on my to our meeting place when I encountered a mantis who seemed to be having problems with me and probably Est as well staying here as we are not mantis and don't have your traditions." Cassia's expression hardned and Toothy felt sorry for the floor which currently had daggers being glared into it.
"So they think its acceptable to talk to you rudely because you are not of the same species as us! They think you weak for not being one of us despite all the hardships your kind has gone through. I wouldn't see any of them climbing up a tall pit in the complete darkness risking death as soon as their born- let alone coming back and facing the cruelty that killed them head on." she spat bitterly. Toothy just stared quietly at the floor. Cassia continued to mutter annoyed before clearing her throat.
"I'm going to have to postpone our training. I need to talk to my sisters.." With that the mantis strode stiffly off.
Toothy wasn't sure what to think of the situation so they went to find Est. The vessel was still where they left them, still quiet.
"Hi Est" they started unsure of Est's reaction to being disturbed. Even though vessels couldn't open or close their eyes, Toothy could tell Est had done the equivilant of bat one eye open to see who it was. They sighed then got up slowly as to not futher damage their many injuries.
"What is it Toothy?" they answered dryly.
"Well, I just wanted to know if any mantis have been acting strange or rude to you"
"There were a couple that seemed to have a problem with me but I stuffed void in their mouths" the taller vessel smirked.
"That'll of taught them!" Toothy laughed.
"I have not seen them since then. But anyway, why are you asking?"
"Oh, I was insulted on my way to meeting Cassia for not being a mantis."
"Don't let them get to you, Little T" Toothy smiled thankfully at the nickname.
"Yeah... Its just when I told Cassia about it she got really mad and said she needed to talk to her sisters."
"Its probably fine. Just let mantises be mantises." Est paused for a moment and a dark shadow loomed across their face, "They're our family now"
Toothy didn't need to be a psychic to know what Est was thinking of then.
"He can't come for us here" they said comfortingly, "And if he does, you can just beat him! You won last time you fought!"
"Yes, the wyrm wouldn't stand a chance" The vessel shuddered at the waves of dark substance leaking off of their older sibling in their rage. Luckily Est seemed to notice their discomfort and relaxed slightly.
It was at that moment that all three lords decided to come in. Alyssa stood proud and tall at the front with a cool expression across her face. Next to her stood Iris who was seething and as a result grinding the sharp edges of her claws together. Behind both of them was Cassia who looked concerned and hurt. The eldest lord was the first to speak and she did so with surprising warmth and kindness, "Come vessels we have need of you". Toothy glanced at Est who was looking Alyssa dead in the eye and nodding. The smaller vessel gulped and followed the retreating figures out.
There stood a crowd -large enough to be most of the village- waiting.
"It has been brought to our attention that some of you have been treating our new citizens with rude words not the acceptance we expect." Alyssa spoke with ice laced into her words.
"Yes, it is dishonerable to prey on your kin!" Iris shouted to them. The crowd looked uncomfortable at these words.
"So, that is why we have decided to let the vessels prove themselves to you. Is there anyone who dares challenge them?" the first lord continued with a challenging glint in her eye. Toothy looked uncertainly over to Cassia who smiled encouragingly. Right. They'd been training here for a while now; they could take a few mantis on!
Soon a tall mantis with a quick step stood forward. Toothy recognized them as the mantis who'd spoken to them earlier and started this whole mess.
"I challenge them my lord!" Toothy shifted closer to Est who whispered, "Go get them Little T, you take this one" to them. "I accept your duel" Toothy answered with slightly more confidence than they actually had.
"Well, let the match begin!" Cassia smiled.
The mantis warrior quickly came in for an attack reaching forward with a claw. Toothy breathed in and remembered their training. They then let the shadows meld with them once more and dropped into the ground creating their signature zig zag pattern. They mantis grunted, annoyed. They then rose and formed a set of sharp, void spikes around them. One grazed the mantis on the leg and they winced accordingly. Blinded with rage the warrior charged in but Toothy simply jumped into the air and created a spinning disk of soul. This was then used to rebound off of to stay in the air. It was too late for them once the mantis realized what Toothy was doing. Just like Cassia taught them, they dove down and struck with their nail. With that Toothy was declared the victor.
Their opponent groaned slightly and got up before limping towards Toothy. "Sorry little one, I think I underestimated you. I apologize for my past words.
"Apology accepted" they smiled before rushing over to a delighted Cassia and high fiving her.
"Great job Toothy! I knew you could do it!"
"Thank you for trining me Cassia" they paused then finished what they were going to say, "and thank you for being my friend"
"Wait Quiz let me get this right, you just faced some strange, shade clone thing of yourself, which Thistlewind could somehow see even though it's just a product of your mind, and are now just shrugging it off to go help me out with chores!?" Tweet gasped in awe at what Quiz had just told.
"Pretty much.." Tweet then started to lightly bang their head on the wall.
"What are you doing?" Quiz asked them clearly confused. Tweet blinked at them then sighed. Honestly sometimes their sibling could be silly. "I'm trying to knock some sense into myself so I dont conjour up some clone"
"I don't think that's how it works..."
"Well you said you beat it by telling it you understood other bug's feelings better, so pretty much anything is possible at this point"
"Whatever"
"You know if you're really that confused allow me to explain what happened" an unfamiliar voice to Tweet, said.
"Ah!" both vessels jumped in synch. Tweet saw a moth ghost -presumably Thistlewind- and shyly hid behind Quiz.
"Oh, hi Thistlewind" Quiz spoke up confirming Tweet's guess, "An explanation would be nice"
"Well, I think you conjured the creature as a product of your doubts in yourself. It simply voiced problems you had with yourself- that's why it looked like a shade of you. I could see it for two reasons: because I'm a Ghost and can see things most in the world of the living can't and also because I'm a moth and can literally read your mind and see your memories if I wanted to" Thistlewind explained. Tweet yawned slightly, bored at the story now.
"Ok, ok but that's practically old news now- can we move onto something more interesting" they voiced. At that Quiz started coughing shocked and Thistlewind laughing.
"I am so sorry for my sibling's" Quiz let out a mix between a cough and a sigh, "rude words"
Nymph swiftly turned on his heel when he heard the whimpering. From somewhere in the shrubbery a voice was crying out softly for help. Nymph followed its sound until he was led to a heavily injured mantis leant on the floor. Just who he was looking for.
"Are you ok there? What happened."
"I-I was infected. T-then I wasnt' but I was injured. I was fine for a bit then I tripped and broke my leg. I'm not sure what to do, I can't go back to my tribe like this!"
"Did you leave that journel?"
"J-journel? Uh y-yes, I did leave one." Nymph smiled as warmly as he could down at the mantis then offered her a hand. He could deal with this.
"Do you have somewhere to return to?"
"I w-was staying in a small shack with my friend"
"Do you think you could get there if I carried you?"
"Y-yes! I know the way. Thank you though"
"No problem" Nymph smiled as he hefted the mantis onto his back and fanned his wings to better support her weight. He then summoned vines of soul to reach out and keep her up.
"Will this be ok?"
"Yes"
So Nymph started off with the injured mantis. He could feel his soul reserves draining quickly but he had to get her home. It was still his duty.
"Left" she spoke softly as they approached a diversion in the path. Nymph nodded slightly and carried on. His legs protested and it was at this point he cursed the feelings Ghost had given them. He wouldn't of felt like this before! But the vessel was resilient, he would never give up that easily.
"Is it much futher?" he panted tired.
"N-no, just round the next corner to the right."
Nymph sighed quietly in relief then started off quicker than before. His soul reserverves were running lower than they had been had in a while and were beginning to sap his being. He could see her residence now though. It was just a few steps away...Just a bit futher...Just take one last ste-
Nymph didn't remember passing out but he must of done from the strain being put on his body from the weight of carrying the mantis and using so much soul. He regained consiousness on a small bed with the peering face of Misfortune. He jumped back slightly as she grinned and reached into her cloak. He knew what was coming...
The glitter.
He couldn't stop it now... It was already out...
"Yay! You're awake!" she smiled.
"Yes I'm awake for my noisy annoying sister." Misfortune huffed and he grinned. Another good job done then.
—-
So yes this is very late and I'm sorry but I just couldn't figure out how to write it properly. Thank you to everyone who has continued to read and/or favourite/follow- i really appreciate the support. Schedule should hopefully be back to normal now! Thank you again for your patience.