Sunny was… Well… He wasn't sure what he was feeling.

On the one hand, the recital was coming up! It would all be over soon… The constant practice, Mari's frustrations, all of it would end and Sunny would be able to spend time with his friends again!

On the other hand, the recital was coming up. Sunny was terrified of what Mari would think if he messed up- what his friends would think- what everyone would think-

Come on, Sunny, he told himself. Breathe. It's not as scary as you think.

Either way, Sunny was both excited and scared at the same time. Was he scarecited? Exscared? Who knows.

Sunny sighed as he looked around at the surrounding woods. He had decided to take a walk through the woods behind his house in order to calm his mind- a wise decision that may have ended up working too well, because now his imagination was running wild, as it tended to do.

The birds were chirping love songs to each other, the grass underneath his feet was complaining about being stepped on, and the wind was having fun shaking the leaves.

Sunny smiled softly as he soaked in the world around him.

…

…

Thump.

Sunny blinked. What had that been?

He turned towards where the noise had come from. It had been very quiet- Barely able to be heard above the sound of the forest.

But he had heard it.

He carefully picked his way between a pair of trees, over a stump, and…

…

Nothing was there.

… Odd. He could have sworn he had heard-

Sunny caught a glimpse of black and white near the forest floor. He looked over.

There, laying on the side of a rock, was a bug. It was about three inches tall, and was spindly like a stick bug. But it definitely wasn't a stick bug, considering the black and white coloring.

Sunny kneeled down, getting a better look at the surprisingly big bug. He wasn't weirded out by most insects- that was mostly Hero- Sunny was only really scared of spiders for some reason. Of course, the humanoid nature of the bug helped to dissuade any fear Sunny would've had.

The bug's main body was completely black. It was as if it simply did not reflect light. Meanwhile, the strange, boomerang-shaped head atop its neck (bugs didn't have necks?) was perfectly white, almost like porcelain.

…Sunny blinked. Why would a bug have a head made of porcelain? It was almost like… A mask! Yeah! It was part of its little bug religion to wear a mask, and the tiny little cloak-

Wait… A cloak?

Sunny looked closer. Yeah… That was definitely a cloak it was wearing.

Oh! Maybe it was a medieval bug! With a sword, and magic!

…Actually, that was probably just his imagination running wild again. Magic wasn't real.

Santa's real, Sunny thinks to himself, and he uses magic.

Well, yeah, that's true.

Sunny focuses back on the bug in front of him, only to finally notice the massive crack in its mask and the lack of an arm.

Oh, no! The Knight had gotten hurt in combat!

…Was that orange juice leaking out of the crack? And looking closer, there were little bits of orange on the ground around the bug Knight. It looked too thick to be orange juice.

Slowly, Sunny reached down, and carefully touched the carapace of the bug knight-

- I SHALL NOT BE CONTAINED-

-And stumbled back, startled by the vision, landing on his butt a few feet away.

Sunny blinked.

Blinked again.

Had he… Seen that right? A giant, fluffy ball with legs and wings?

… Sunny wanted a plush of that. It looked soft.

Sunny turned his attention back to the bug Knight, which was- it was- it was moving!

The tiny- well, actually, for a bug, it was quite large- bug Knight had been knocked over when Sunny touched it, but now it was getting up! It was sitting up, like a person!

Sunny watched in fascination as the bug struggled to get into a sitting position, only for it to seemingly give up and lay back on the ground in defeat.

Sunny carefully moved his hand under the bug Knight. Hmm… bug Knight was a mouthful. Maybe just the Knight? Either way, Sunny picked up the Knight, letting it stay laid out on his palm.

Sunny pondered what to do. He couldn't just leave it here- the Knight was obviously wounded! Maybe he could bring it home?

Yeah… Yeah! He could make it healthy again, and then- and then-

Well, he'd figure that out once he got there.

Sunny nodded in determination, before standing up (making sure to be careful with the Knight) and made his way back home.

Mari had been having a pretty darn good week thus far.

Hero and her had finally kissed for the first time, her grades had been straight A's (prompting Mom and Dad to get her ice cream,) and she had finally perfected that one part in the song she just couldn't do consistently.

And then Sunny went missing.

Given, he had only been gone for about two hours, but he wasn't anywhere in the house, and he wasn't with any of the others, either, and he hadn't told her he was leaving!

Don't panic, Mari told herself as she paced back and forth through the living room. He's probably just taking a walk or something. He's been doing that a lot.

Mari breathed in, breathed out-

"Hi, Mari."

That was Sunny!

Mari spun around, watching as Sunny carefully came through the back door, something held in his hand.

"Sunny! Where have you been!?" She said, slightly frustrated.

"Um. Walking. In the woods. But. Um. Look what I found!" Sunny said, holding up a stick bug.

"That's nice, Sunny, but in the future, I need you to tell me before you leave like that! I was worried sick!"

"... Sorry. But. Can I keep it?" Sunny said, pointing at the bug in his palm.

"Sunny, now's not the time-"

"But. It's hurt."

Mari pursed her lip. "Don't interrupt me! You know I don't like being interrupted."

"Mari, please?"

She blinked. "Please what?" She hadn't really been paying attention.

"Can I keep it?" He said, holding the bug out again.

Mari frowned. A part of her- the annoyed-with-Sunny part- wanted to say 'no,' simply to spite him. But…

She looked closer at the bug. It was pitch-black, had a white, cracked, boomerang-shaped head, and was curled up in a ball in a very similar motion to a scared human. And… was that a cloak it was wearing?

This was definitely not a normal bug.

Mari sighed. "Alright, fine. But only if Mom and Dad say yes, and only if you don't vanish like that again."

Sunny smiled- God, did Mari love his smile, it came so rarely, but was so honest - and rushed off to find their parents.

Mari shook her head in exasperation, trying not to smile.

Later that same day, Sunny carried a heavy terrarium (bought with his own allowance!) through the house and up to his and Mari's room. He placed the large glass container on the recently-cleared-out table.

Sunny glanced at the shoebox that currently held the Knight. It was filled with tissues as bedding, which the Knight had taken to lying down on to rest. Sunny smiled a bit at the sight.

He turned back around, before rushing down the stairs, grabbing two small bags of dirt, (from his own yard,) rushing back upstairs, and pouring the dirt into the terrarium. He spread the dirt around the bottom, making sure there was a consistent half-inch coat of dirt on the 'ground' of the terrarium.

Then, he pulled out the rest of the things that he had grabbed to help decorate the Knight's new home- a few rocks, a few sticks and twigs, and a small, empty half-log that made for good cover in case the Knight needed some space, like Sunny did sometimes.

Sunny placed all the decorations in the terrarium, before pulling out and placing down the magnum opus of ideas- a dollhouse bed, perfectly sized for the Knight to sleep on!

He scootched it under the big half-log. There. Now the Knight had privacy while he slept.

Now to put in the final piece!

Sunny reached into the shoebox, carefully picked up the Knight, carried it over to the terrarium, and placed it on the bed.

The Knight shifted slightly. Good. Sunny would've been quite sad if the Knight had succumbed to it's wounds while he was making this big home for them.

Sunny glanced at his alarm clock. It was nearly nine- time to head to bed!

That night, Sunny dreamed of dancing Orange lights.

Do not think.

Do not feel.

Do not hope.

It was not meant to be alive.

It was not meant to survive.

It was not meant to have many things.

It hadn't been fully lucid for a while. It had caught glimpses- glimpses of great beings, bigger than even full-grown wyrms- glimpses of places and devices it didn't understand.

But it wasn't meant to understand. It didn't need to understand.

But, when it finally fully awakened,it did not recognize its surroundings. Certainly not anywhere in Hallownest.

It was on a bed, one that was a good size for it, and was inside of a large… log? Yes, a giant, wooden structure that resembled a hollow log.

It slowly raised its head to glance at what was outside of the log.

There appeared to be some trees and some rocks, but for the most part, it was purely dirt.

It lowered its head. It needed to heal so it could be of use to whoever had found it.

It focused its Soul into the various injuries across its body- the ones that had come from when the infection… Had…

The infection! It wasn't containing it anymore! It… It couldn't hear her voice…

…

Ah. This was one of the dreams she created. That… That made things make more sense.

How cruel.

…

…

Do not think.

Do not feel.

Do not hope.

Do not…

…

(They wanted Father.)

Ghost popped into existence… Somewhere.

The vessel wasn't exactly sure where they were. The area was bleak, gray, and covered in stony walls. Gross-smelling bags made of a strange material filled the area, and loud voices in a language Ghost couldn't understand filled the area.

Ghost started pulling things out of their body, checking to make sure they had everything.

Charms… check.

Nail… check.

Map supplies… check.

Various other things… check.

Looks like everything had grown along with them when they became a god.

… hm. That was going to take a while to get used to. Hopefully, they didn't crush any bugs. That would make them feel really bad. Unless they were infected or mindless. Then they wouldn't really feel that bad.

Ghost stepped out of the dark, bleak, and gray space, and into the light.