Granté had to fight to keep the smile off of his face.
He had grown up with two scientists as parents. A not-insignificant part of his childhood was spent learning about the Ancient Sheikah. Their technology, their history, their culture, and their writing system. Granté was, quite possibly, one of the most knowledgeable scholars of the Ancient Sheikah. He was certainly within the top five (not that there as much competition these days).
His knowledge didn't end with the Sheikah, either. Before settling in Tarrey Town, Granté had travelled the length and breadth of Hyrule. He knew a smattering of Gerudo, had studied ancient Zora monoliths, participated in the festivals of the Rito, and he'd sat at the feet of Goron storytellers. History was arguably a greater passion of his than technology. He had an abiding love for the subject.
Today was like Sage's Day come early.
"Le kerek tis? Tis chatsuda! Gamo'a, sudo alem mera."
"Lafenu pana? Galamatu'nakema! Malo'batu unis, Corneefer!"
The bug who had named himself as Corneefer was arguing with the bug who had fainted upon seeing Granté and his fellow Tarrey Town residents. Perhaps they were related, or married? Perhaps she was the village chieftain.
Though, if Granté had to place his money on someone being the leader, he'd put it on that horned bug wearing the red cloak.
Ever since entering the town, the red cloaked bug hadn't taken their eyes off of the Hyrulean party. Wherever they moved, the bug's head followed them. The spear the bug grasped never pointed directly at any of them, but Grané could feel the tension in the air.
"Che!" It seemed the tension had finally become too much. With that snapped order (possibly a 'stop' or 'enough'?) the red cloaked bug put an end to the heated argument between Corneefer and his partner.
Yes, Granté would definitely put money on this bug being some form of leader.
. . .
"Enough!" barked Hornet.
Cornifer and Iselda ceased their little spat upon hearing her voice. Cornifer looked relieved, and suitably chastised, while Iselda looked to be biting her pedipalps.
As for herself, Hornet was fighting off a headache. This day was truly too much.
The Infection was gone. Her sibling was gone. Her other sibling was free, but wounded. Hallownest had been transported to some strange foreign land. And the sweet on top of the dung ball were these...alien things.
She didn't know what else to call them. They weren't bugs. They didn't move like bugs, their bodies weren't built like bugs. Whatever they were, they were new. And new things could be very dangerous.
"Cornifer. Did they understand anything you said?"
The cartographer shook his head and responded "No my lady. Not with scent or sound."
Hornet cursed internally. A language barrier. How annoying. Perhaps they could find a linguist down in the broken ruins of Hallownest. Hornet almost laughed out loud at that. As if. However, the Teacher's archives might help. It'd take a fair amount of time to get to Fog Canyon, but she could handle it. But that would mean leaving Hollow and the villagers behind, and she'd be damned if she-
Hornet tensed at the claw that tapped on her thorax, then relaxed upon realizing it was Hollow.
"You should be resting."
Hollow shook their head, then pointedly looked at the foreign not-bugs, then back to Hornet. They pointed at their eyes with their remaining arm.
"I don't see...oh. Oh. Hmmm." Hornet considered the idea. It could work. Hollow's...unique method of communication was rather disorienting, but it wasn't really words or a recognizable language.
Hornet came to a decision and turned to the villagers.
"Hollow is going to try to communicate with them. They...aren't exactly a normal bug. The foreigners might not take this attempt very well, so be prepared for them to attack, but don't do anything other than defend yourselves."
Iselda and Elderbug both gave off incredulous scents, while Cornifer just seemed excited to possibly have a way past the language barrier. Hornet chittered under her mask and nodded to Hollow, who stood up. The foreigners all took steps back, and some of them raised their weapons in fear. It was clear that none of them had realized just how tall Hollow was until now.
Hornet hoped her decision wasn't about to start a war. Hallownest did NOT need that right now.
. . .
"Nayru's tits, he's huge."
No one objected to the mild blasphemy from Hudson, as they were all thinking the same thing. All of the bugs so far had been around the height of a Hylian, maybe larger or smaller, but still fairly normal sized. The bug now standing had honestly faded into the background when compared to the arguing couple, the red cloaked spear carrier, or even the round one with the sad eyes. Hudson had noted the size of his horned head upon seeing him, but as he hadn't been moving around or looking at them, he'd dismissed him.
Now, Hudson realized that that had been a mistake. The horned head was proportional to the body. Long, lanky, black legs extended up into a black abdomen and thorax, upon which rested that enormous bone-white horned head. Hudson estimated that the average Gerudo would only come up to his chest. Calamity take him, the bug might even be as tall as the legendary King Dorephan, whom Hudson had never seen in person, but who was, according to Kapson, more than twice as tall as he was.
"Woah, now, let's calm down. We don't want to make our new neighbors angry." said Granté. Hudson flicked his eyes towards the Sheikah, ready to snarl at him, because the bug was huge and he was standing up and his eyes were big and black and empty...but then he looked around.
The other bugs were noticeably tense, but none of them had drawn weapons yet. Not even that one in the red cloak with the nasty looking spear. Meanwhile, Hudson could see that everyone from Tarrey Town had drawn their weapons, aside from Granté. Fyson had an arrow nocked and pointed at the big bug, Rhondson held naked steel, and Greyson...well, Greyson just looked frightened. Maybe he had a phobia of insects.
Hudson eased his white-knuckled grip on the sledgehammer in his hands, and grunted.
"Weapons down, like he said. Haven't attacked us yet, he's just...really tall. Ain't a crime."
The others, after a moment, complied with his orders, and Hudson breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn't cut out to be a leader or chieftain. He was just a carpenter. How in Hylia's name had he ended up as the defacto leader of Tarrey Town.
With his fellows and his wife calmed down, Hudson turned back to the tall bug and attempted to smile at him.
"Sorry about that, we just got a little startled is-"
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Hudson's eyes widened as he felt...something at the back of his mind. They weren't words, they were thoughts. They were...he didn't have the words for this. It didn't feel right.
Fyson stiffened at foreign concepts that invaded his mind. Rhondson grit her teeth and glared hatefully at the beast. Greyson began to shiver uncontrollably. And Granté…
"Wait! They're trying to communicate with us!"
Granté leapt in front of his fellow residents as Rhondson began her forward movement.
"Get out of the way, Sheikah, the beast violated my mind! I'll have its head for that!"
"Look, I know it felt awful, but it worked. Didn't it? Didn't you all get the same message that I did?"
Hudson stroked his mustache rapidly in an attempt to calm down. Greyson looked like he wanted to bolt, and Rhondson was now trying to force her way past Granté. The bugs in front of them watched on silently.
"He...has a point you know." interjected Fyson.
Rhondson whirled around and glared at the Rito.
"That doesn't make it right!"
"No it doesn't, for a Hyrulean. We know that. We have laws about mind magics. But do they? The Hollow Knight was just trying to talk to us." Fyson blinked. "Oh, that's their name. Weird."
Rhondson looked around for support. Fyson and Granté seemed to be on one side, while Greyson was simply scared. Rhondson turned to her husband.
Hudson looked at his wife and the question in her eyes and shrugged helplessly.
"He...they did just ask us to call them friend. I agree with you, honey, but maybe let's...not kill them. If'n Granté wants to talk then he should be the one to talk to them, though. As for me, and I think the rest of ya, I'll be glad if'n I never experience that ever again."
Rhondson worked her jaw for a few moments and glanced at Granté, who didn't look like he could settle on relief, excitement, or apprehension. Finally, she grunted, and sheathed her sword.
"Fine. But if the Hollow Knight invades my mind again I will not be so lenient next time."
Hudson relaxed slightly, and moved next to his wife to put a hand on her taller shoulder. Rhondson scoffed gently and turned her face away.
"Good idea on letting the harebrained voe be the one to 'talk' with the Hollow Knight though."
Granté cleared his throat nervously, then turned to the Hollow Knight.
"So...uh...hi. How does this...work. Um. Hollow Knight?"
. . .
The burning orb had slipped past the horizon, and the sky was a familiar shade of black, like the ceiling of a tall room, though with curious little lumaflies stuck in there. Hornet had rarely gone to the surface, and had never seen the sky be cloudless, but perhaps this was normal for the sky to act this way. She'd have to ask one of the villagers later.
With the orb's absence, the foreigners had made their farewells and returned to their village. Hollow had only been able to converse with the one named Great One for a short time, but it had been informative, if confusing, due to using Hollow as a translator, and how their conceptual thought-speak mangled certain things.
Great One lived in The Town of Tardiness. His friends were Son of the Spirit, Son of Flying, Son of Grey, and Son of Grain. There were many more sons in the Town of Tardiness as well. Hornet wondered where all the females were.
This new land was the land of Highest Rulership. Hornet chittered in amusement at that. It seemed all kingdoms were destined to see themselves as the best kingdom that had ever existed. Hallownest certainly had.
Highest Rulership was also like Hallownest in that it had suffered from a Great Calamity. Some kind of evil being, who almost sounded like the Void, had plagued this land for a mantis' lifespan. Many beings had died at the claws of the Calamity.
Ah, and that was another thing. Hornet now knew what each of the not-bugs was called.
Son of the Spirit was a Highest Ruler. That explained why he led their party. The Great One was one of the Shadow Folk. That was curious, he looked nothing like a Void Vessel. Son of Flying was a Bird...Hornet had no idea what a Bird was, but Hollow had been quite insistent that that was what he was. Thoughts-speak had its disadvantages.
Son of Grey was a Living Stone, which was confusing for a whole different set of reasons that Hornet chose not to dwell on. And finally, Son of Grain was a Desert Spirit, which surprised Hornet, as he didn't look like his form was very well adapted to the harshness of the desert at all.
Hornet's swirling thoughts were interrupted by the smell of fresh food, and she felt the emptiness in her stomach make itself known. She saw Elderbug approaching with some bowls of steaming soup, and she accepted one gratefully. Moving her mask out of the way just enough, she began to gulp down the soup greedily.
"So. What did you think of our strange visitors, your highness?"
Hornet was too busy eating to snap at Elderbug, but she did release a scent of displeasure, which Elderbug ignored.
"I know you asked to not be called that, but it is the truth. The Pale King is gone. You wear the King's Brand. You are the heir to the throne."
Hornet swallowed and readjusted her mask, placing down the empty bowl.
"I know. That doesn't mean it feels real. For so long, I have lived as a warrior, a protector, a sentinel. Now that life is over, and I am expected to become a queen?" Hornet paused. "I will do it, yes, because I love my home, and I do not wish to see it become any more of a graveyard than it already is. But...how do I even start? What do I do with these new foreigners? I don't...I don't know what to do."
Elderbug sat silently and sipped at his own soup, thinking.
"Perhaps, then, you should have bugs beside you to advise you on what you should do. I may not be the ruler of anything, much less this village, but there have been times where I have been looked to as a leader. And in those moments, it is good to consult with others who have experience in different areas. Like Sly, or Cornifer. They are more travelled than I am, and I rely on their counsel."
Hornet mulled this over, then found herself nodding along.
"A council? Of advisors...that's...not a bad idea at all. Very well then. You will be my first pick."
Elderbug suddenly began coughing, his bowl falling to the ground and splashing soup everywhere.
"...ack...I beg your pardon, your highness, but I just told you I am no leader! I am an old fool who has never been further than the Forgotten Crossroads! Surely you want other, greater bugs to advise you on matters of importance!"
Hornet chittered in amusement, then said "No, I think I am making the right choice. I still remember the 'advisors' that surrounded my father. Soul-sucking leeches they were, more concerned with filling their coffers with Geo than with the affairs of the common bug. I will select other advisors to fill other roles, but you, Elderbug? You seem like one who is humble, and kind, and simple. There are very few bugs who has those qualities. If I am to rebuild Hallownest, I do not want to become disconnected like my father was."
Hornet paused, and with further amusement, stated "And as you said, I am the Queen, am I not?"
Elderbug opened his mouth to argue. Then stopped. Then he opened it again, then stopped again.
"Ah...well. Then...I suppose I must accept, when you put it like that. Your Highness."
Author's Note:
Thanks for reading the chapter, now let's talk Hallownest's population.
While Hallownest is far smaller than Hyrule in length and width, it's important to remember than it's around 5 miles deep (plus the Abyss which is an additional 2 miles. So while Hyrule is the size of New Zealand, Hallownest is like New York City...stacked on top of itself about thirty times. So, Hallownest at its peak would easily support a million bugs, with ample room for food growth, reclusive hermits, secrets, and all sorts of businesses.
Hallownest these days only has around 10,000 beings living in the entire kingdom, and that's including all of the ones that were just freed from the Infection. All the spiders, mantises, mushroom folk, bees, beetles, etc etc. Which leads me into my next talking point, which is that apparently all bugs can crossbreed. I mean, look at the relationships in canon. Not a single one is between two bugs that can confidently be called the same species by our taxonomical standards. The Pale King, who is some sort of Centipede God, was able to mate with a spider and a TREE for fucks sake. This leads me to believe that the bugs of Hallownest aren't exactly separate species like we would normally consider them, and more subspecies. They resemble Earth (or Hylian) bugs, but they are not actually mantises or bees.
So unless it's a question of, like, a mushroom and a bee, assume that any two bugs can have viable offspring which will combine aspects of both of their parents, which also explains why so many of Hallownest's citizens look nothing like any known Earth insect.