Time passed, as the little blue ant continued his training under his master's watchful eye, and with the help from his newest acquaintance. The trio quickly fell into a pleasant routine, Tiso would work with (and for) Oro on most days, and during his free time he would meet with God Tamer, to practice some more

Although she was still pretty annoying and kept toying with him, sessions with her proved vital for rooting out flaws overlooked by Oro, not that there were many, but still, it was helpful having a second opinion. During their sparring sessions, Tiso quickly came to realize just how dangerous an opponent ''Gold'' could truly be

Not that he thought she was harmless before, but seeing her in action so often… sometimes it was like watching a minor god of war. The way she moved, seamlessly, evading his blows with no fault nor effort… It made him feel something he couldn't properly name, like admiration but… different? It was a long time since he had admired someone, and he wasn't so sure it was a good idea to start again now

If nothing else, he'd have to face her in a real battle once he gets back to the arena, which only one of them could leave alive, so the logical thing would be to push these undesirable new feeling down and pretend they didn't exist, yea, the best course of action for sure

As for the red bug herself? She was still in it mostly for the fun and remained very vocal about this fact. Tiso had been kind of worried that one day she'd just get bored and won't show up anymore, but so far it didn't happen and Gold was definitely having tons of fun teasing him and cracking lame jokes all the time. It was unbearable at first, but over time he had grown used to it

Another surprising development was, they started talking, a lot. It was surprising how weirdly nice conversations with her were, even if they didn't have many common topics

It was all very nice, but he couldn't let himself be distracted from the real goal, becoming the mightiest warrior in this entire kingdom! Or at least the immediate area, when he started his tuition under Oro, he had promised himself he wouldn't go back to the colosseum until he was able to consistently defeat his master in battle, and now the same was true for Gold

This is why he had been working tirelessly on perfecting his skills, particularly his own unique fighting style. In the past, he had used his shield to catch opponents off guard with its unique abilities, but since it was damaged, he was forced to re-learn how to use nails and work them into his routine

It wasn't all bad, Nails, as it turned out, had many applications and were quite versatile, but he was still missing his old shield and it's hidden blades, especially the blades. It was high time for him to finally get it fixed

His new friend apparently shared this sentiment as well, since one day she asked him when she'd finally get a chance to see it in action again

Tiso pondered on the question for a while ~ Well first I'd need the right tools for the job, precise blacksmithing tools to be exact. But I don't have any. And I don't know where to find them, do you? ~

~ Uhhhh I dunno? Wait, let me think ~ She concentrated hard, trying to remember anything useful, and the air fell quiet. Tiso rather liked this for a change, he should ask her to remember things more often. Finally, she found what she was looking for and snapped her finger in a clique ''aha!' way

~ I know one place that might still have tools like that! It's quite far away tho. Used to be a decent blacksmith workshop back in the day. Supposedly the owner survived the world ending. But even if not, the tools should still be there.

~ You think he'll let me borrow them for a bit?

~I don't see why not! But better take some geo, if you have any. Despite the collapse of society, some bugs still like to be paid in cash

Tiso considered this option, it would be great to have his shield back in action. On the other hand, Oro definitely wouldn't like it if Tiso didn't return on time. He only had one free day at a time, after all.

He asked her ~ Where is it exactly?

~ The other end of the City of tears, there are signposts, you can't miss it

So not THAT far away then, if he made haste, Tiso could be there and back in one day. It was decided then, next time he had a free day, he'd find this blacksmith and/or his tools. Or rather they will go, as Gold was quite obviously wanting to tag along

Tiso was quick to object, but she was having none of it, ~ But who is going to protect you if you run into some infected? ~ she argued with a smirk, knowing full well what effect it would have on him

And sure enough ~ EXCUSE ME!? I don't need protection from anyone, least of all some mindless zombies! ~ He screamed in her face. She laughed at his outburst, having succeeded in ticking him off. When they first met, such toying would infuriate him even further. But now he only huffed angrily, knowing that it would do little but amuse her more. That, plus he had gotten kinda used to this by now. To be completely honest he didn't mind it so much anymore, no that he would ever admit it

The next days went by quickly, after the 'surprise renovation' Oro went much easier on Tiso, Only giving him comparably easier tasks. Although that might be because he couldn't think of anything harder at the moment

Predictably when Tiso informed him of his plans the big bug wasn't particularly interesting, merely acknowledging the fact and instructing the ant to hurry up. But when Tiso was just about to leave he heard his master's voice from behind

~ Be careful Tiso. Most of the residents of the city remain as weak in death as they were in life, but some of them might prove far more dangerous than they look

The ant acknowledged Oro's advice with a quick nod and started on his journey. He and Gold met up in the usual place and went on together. She was being her usual teasing self and he never failed to fall for her traps. Finally having enough Tiso started ignoring her, much to Gold's dismay.

When she attempts to get him going again failed, she piped down herself, allowing Tiso to enjoy the relative silence. She on her part used this quiet moment to do some self-reflection and decided that maybe she should rein in the teasing next time

Finally, they came to the deep canyon on the edge of… Kindom's edge. On the other side, the first signs of civilization could be seen, proof they were nearing their destination. The air was filled with buzzing from Booflies, hovering idly in places. Tiso's gaze wandered upwards, somewhere far above them the colosseum of fools stood. It was peaceful now, but he knew a new batch of bodies might start raining down any second. Bugs who dreamed of fame and fortune, hurdling down to their deaths, if they weren't dead already. Tiso shuddered at the thought 'It was almost my fate too…'

~Hey you okay? ~ Gold gently inquired, sensing a shift in his mood

~ Don't worry about it, let's better find a way across, maybe we could find a bridge or something like that…

Gold pondered about the question for a second, then a mischievous smile appeared on her face.

~ Watch and learn ~ Saying this, she dashed towards the edge. Just as Tiso thought she finally lost her mind, the red-clad bug leaped into the air, landing with elegance on the back of an unsuspecting Boofly. The barrel-shaped bug shrieked in terror and started flailing about, desperately trying to throw off the intruder. Gold was having none of it and inserted her blade deep inside her victim's exoskeleton. The Boofly ceased its fighting, still hovering with what little strength it had left. Gold masterfully steered it towards a rock shelf on the other side of the canyon as it started going down. When they were about to crash into a wall, she pulled her nail out and leaped off, landing with grace on the other side of the canyon. She turned around to Tiso, who was standing across with his mouth wide open in amazement.

~ Well what are you waiting for?! You know what to do! Get over here already! ~ Her shouting was barely heard on his side, but it succeeded in breaking Tiso out from his astonishment. 'That was probably the coolest thing I've ever seen' he thought to himself, his respect for the red bug has grown tremendously in the past ten seconds. Of course, if she could do it, then so must he! Tiso spotted another Boofly hovering close to the edge and prepared himself for the sickest maneuver of his life.

He sprinted towards the edge and jumped into the air, managing to land on the back of his target. However, that was the moment when things started going downhill for him.

Predictably the Boofly started frantically trying to throw him off, and Tiso quickly learned that keeping balance on the back of a scared animal looked much easier than it was in reality. Tiso stabbed the Boofly with his nail but didn't go far enough for the stab to be lethal, only causing the animal to trash even more desperately in pain. It almost succeeded in throwing him off, but finally, he inserted his nail again, this time deeper. Too deep this time, as it turned out, causing the Boofly to go down much faster than he'd like. He tried to steer it in the right direction, but they were losing altitude at an alarming rate, and Tiso knew they weren't gonna make it. He needed to jump if he were to save his life, but his blasted nail was stuck! The time was running out, and the critical moment to save his life would be gone in seconds! Finally, the Nail came out with a sickening Schlick, Tiso leaped off at the last second as the Boofly finally lost all the strength and fell straight down. The blue ant impacted the ground and tumbled a good distance, finally stopping, at a wall

Silence, broken by his companion's laughter, Tiso didn't even have the strength to get angry at her

She walked over to him and said ~ That was some landing! You need help getting up?

He just glared at her before painfully standing up on his own ~ Next time, we are soooo looking for a bridge

~ Oh don't be like that ~ She playfully punched his arm, causing him to hiss in pain ~ Sorry, but at least it was fast! You did pretty well, all things considered, when I tried this maneuver for the first time, I almost impaled myself on a stalactite! Or was it a stalagmite? I can never remember…

He just rolled his eyes and made a hmph sound to underline his intellectual superiority, everybody knew stalagmites were the ones hanging from the roof!

From there it wasn't much further until they reached the city, after navigating dark caves and putting up with some merry suicide bombers, the ant duo emerged at an abandoned stag station

Tiso briefly remembered telling some bug that such luxuries were for weaklings and real warriors would never use them. Well, he still thought taking a stag everywhere would make you weak, or at least lazy, but maybe if you were in a hurry…

But the station was in ruin, and the stag lines didn't go to the Kingdom's edge anyway, so there was no use in pondering on this

The city itself was just as wet as ever, It was a miracle that the whole thing didn't flood yet, where all that rain was going was another of Hallownest's mysteries. It certainly didn't make things easy, all that water made for extremely slippery surfaces, so one had to be extremely carefull not to take a plunge

It was fortunate then that the enemies they faced on their journey weren't exactly demanding. Mostly just husks of what once were the wealthy upper class of society. Fat, cowardly, and weak. 'If this is what the ruling class looked like' Tiso thought to himself 'Then no wonder this kingdom fell'

As dull as those enemies were, his companion still came up with an idea on how to get a fun challenge out of them. Or, well, fun for her and Tiso at last, as it was basically just a competition on who can manage to take down more of the infected bugs. Tiso briefly wondered if they should find such fun in taking down what once were sentient beings, but Gold was quick to point out the 'past-tense' in his logic. The things that now roamed the flooded streets were little more than animated corpses at this point, and probably couldn't even feel pain. Or maybe they were doing them a favor? Releasing them from the prisons of their own minds

This argument convinced Tiso of the nobility of their cause, and the two of them quickly came down with a rather bad case of schadenfreude, waltzing through the streets, dispatching husks of all shapes and sizes. Thin, fat, or average, none stood a chance against the ant duo. The counts of their kills begun to rise rapidly, both ants taking and losing the lead quite often. Tiso was having boatloads of fun, this wasn't like any other competition he's ever been in. There were no high stakes here. no grand prize, no winners and losers. Well, technically the last one wasn't true, but he stopped counting a long time ago, now he was just having fun with a friend!

This thought made Tiso stop in his tracks

'... A ... friend…?' When did this happen? It's like moments ago she was just another bug he knew, and so suddenly… or maybe he was just slow to realize…?

~ Hey what gives? ~ He was snapped out of his thoughts by Gold's voice, she noticed he had stopped ~ What's the matter? Winded? Or maybe fear has at last gotten to you? C'mon, I thought we were in a hurry!

Tiso, once again, wasn't nearly as offended by her teasing as he'd be if it was anyone else

~ Well, feel free to catch up once you catch your breath! ~ He watched her disappear into the rain

'Huh… I guess she is'

Tiso grinned to himself as he took off after her

Soon enough they spotted the first signs pointing towards their destination, they were fairly simple, shaped like nails, with ''The Nailsmith'' written in big, clear letters. They followed the path marked by them and soon found themselves in what appeared to be the outskirts of the city

Tiso had thought the Nailsmith's shop would be somewhere closer to the city center and briefly wondered if the quality of his tools wouldn't turn out to be a disappointment. Nevertheless, the duo ventured on and soon found themselves looking at an unimpressive hut, shaped kind of like a horned beetle's head

Needless to say, neither of the ants was particularly impressed

~ Do you think he'll at least let me borrow his tools for free? ~ Tiso asked

~ Uhhhh…. I don't think that will be a problem ~ Gold responded, pointing at an odd shape, floating in the water nearby. Upon closer examination, Tiso realized that it was, in fact, the Nailsmith's in person, or at least his body. Unless it was some other beetle with its head shaped exactly like the hut, but Tiso somehow doubted that would be the case

~ Well, it's not like we should be surprised ~ Tiso finally stated, as he advanced towards the hut. Contrary to their fears, its contents turned out to be pleasantly surprised. The Hut itself was little more than a fragile dome made of dirt, but the tools and materials were first class, and the nails lining the walls looked remarkably sharp.

Gold immediately got interested in the latter, while Tiso inspected the forge and tools, yes, those were more than sufficient. As the blue ant took his cracked shield off his back and prepared it for the repairs, he briefly mused on the disparity of the Nailsmith's accommodations and his workplace. If his work was of such quality, surely he'd be able to afford much better housing than what they were currently in? It seemed like he wasn't particularly keen on selling his nails either. Why was that?

Maybe the Nailsmith was so preoccupied with his work that he forgot or didn't care to enjoy the fruits of it, it strangely reminded Tiso of himself in a way… He shuddered at the thought and went back to preparations

As the blue ant began taking his shield apart, God Tamer was admiring the wide variety of nails that could be found inside the hut. All very sharp, and though nothing could replace her longnail back home, she already decided she would be taking a few of them back with her

The sound coming from Tiso told her that her companion already started working on his shield. She decided not to disturb him, even if it would be pretty funny, and instead took the sharpest nail in the hut outside, for a little ''quality control''

A few husks and other creatures that were hanging around the area became unwilling test subjects, and the nail seemed to slice through their chitin and flesh almost effortlessly, truly it was almost perfect, or at least the most perfect nail that she'd ever seen

Eventually, she got bored though and went back to the hut, where Tiso could still be heard fixing his weapon. God Tamer approached his hunched figure and took a peek over his shoulder. The shield was partially disassembled now, and she could see the complicated mechanism governing the blades inside

Okay, it wasn't THAT complicated, but still, she was impressed. She let out an impressed whistle, causing Tiso to look at her

~ What?

~ Oh nothing, I just didn't think you could be so savvy with tools!

Tiso pretended to be upset at this, but couldn't keep up the act for long, he couldn't wait to feel the reassuring weight of his shield in hand again

~ So tell me ~ She crouched next to him ~ Where did you find it? Your shield I mean

A tiny smirk appeared on Tiso's face ~ Would you believe me if I told you I made it myself?

She tried to hide it, but her eyes were wide open with amazement ~ Really? That's cool, what gave you the idea for something like that?

Tiso cast his mind back to these long-gone days, revisiting old memories he'd long since buried deep within his memory. He always thought he'd never tell them to anyone else, but now that thought didn't seem so daunting anymore, perhaps enough time has passed?

~ That's quite a long story ~ he said turning to Gold ~ You sure you want to hear it all?

~ Why not? ~ she answered as she sat next to him ~ Looks like we'll be here a while longer anyway, so you might as well tell me. Unless you would rather not, don't worry I understa-

~ No, no it's okay ~ He cut in ~ It's just a long tale, that's all. Alright, where to begin….

For a while, the room was silent as Tiso was trying to form the right sentence and find some grand way to begin his story. Sadly the ant was never so good with words, so he just started talking

~ Do you know the legends of the first ant goddess? The ever-present queen?

~ The one that supposedly ruled over the first ant kingdom with her illustrious hivemind? I'd be surprised if there was an ant who didn't hear of her

~ Yeah, the whole 'hivemind' prospect doesn't seem so great now that I'm no longer a larva, but our queen never outgrew that phase apparently. I don't know if she thought she'd become a goddess too, or was just stupid, but for whatever reason she wanted her kingdom to be just like that. Of course, she didn't have any of the goddess's powers, so the best she could do was to heavily discourage any signs of individuality within her kingdom

~ Woah, really? Sound like a real nutjob, I can't imagine your kingdom survived very long?

~ Longer than you'd think, but that's because our previous rulers were better at their jobs and left her with a strong kingdom. But you're right, it wasn't long before our military was reduced to a pathetic mob, which used wave attack exclusively. Or so I was told, she was already a queen when I hatched

Tiso made a short pause to catch his breath and inspect his work. The shield was almost ready, he just had to put the last parts back together and close the whole thing up. He resumed his work and his story

~ Anyway, I was a worker, before I was transferred to the army. The neighboring kingdoms and tribes picked up on our weakness and we needed a lot of soldiers. When I saw the battle for the first time I was barely a young adult. See, back then I was very naive, after I somehow survived a few engagements, I figured there's got to be a better way to win a fight than just rushing forward and trusting in numbers. I was no strategist, but I could make things, I figured we could do use some better weapons. That's when I made this shield. Well, not this specifically, there were a few prototypes. I had to work in secret, I couldn't let anybody know until I was finished. And when I was, I didn't know what to do next! ~ Tiso let out a short laugh

~ Imagine that! I made what was probably the most advanced weapon in the whole kingdom, and I didn't think how to present it! Eventually, I just started talking to some bugs I knew, showing them my shield. It wasn't long before the news reached the court and I was brought before the queen, suffice to say, it didn't go at all how I imagined

God Tamer stared at Tiso with eyes wide-open, she thought his story would be something light-hearted, something she'll be able to tease him about from then on. She definitely was getting more than she bargained for

~ It was the first time I saw our queen up close, before I only saw her a few times from afar. She was… terrifying, definitely crazy, but it was that special kind of crazy that gets bugs to follow you. She wore a bright-red armor, impossible to ignore. She was the only one allowed to wear such colors, the rest of us had to do with much more dull clothes. You can imagine how it went from then on. I was accused of inciting rebellion, insurrection. Sowing discord and ferment within the ranks, and some other ridiculous crimes. Do you know what happened next? ~ He asked suddenly, looking at his audience

God Tamer was momentarily put off balance by this unexpected question, but quickly composed herself and pondered on the answer

~ Well, I imagine you got fired and then banished? ~ He gave a dry laugh at this

~ Gods, I wish! No, she had a different idea in mind, said that she needed to 'make an example for the rest of the kingdom' or something. Forgive me if I won't go into details, but by the time I was kicked out I had been beaten beyond recognition and humiliated like nobody else in history, in front of the entire kingdom no-less. The guards tossed my shield after me and told me never to return, and I guess that's about it

The silence that fell when he finished was deafening, Gold tamer just sat there speechless, not in a million years she would thought her Tiso had this kind of backstory. Finally, the quietness was punctuated by the final 'click' as the blue ant finished fixing his shield. He inspected it carefully, the crack on the surface much less visible than it was before. Tiso gently pressed the mechanism and released the blades, they came out smoothly with an elegant metallic sound, gleaming softly in the light.

This finally broke his companion ought of her state and she was quick to offer her condolences, but he just waved them away

~ It's fine, it was a long time ago, and a whole lot of other things happened since then, but thanks, it was… nice, in a way, sharing this story with another ant ~ Tiso said as he prepared to leave, the shield weighing reassuringly in his hand. He walked out the door and looked back at his companion, who barely moved from where she was sitting

~ seriously, you aren't gonna treat me like some fragile, emotionally unstable doll are you? Cause I think that'd be even worse than your bad jokes

The red ant sat there for a second longer before she registered just what Tiso had said

~ Hey! My jokes are not that bad!

He just sent her a sly grin and walked away, she huffed under her breath and said ~ I'll win you over yet ~ before running after him