"You can't be serious!? A kingdom of bugs appearing in Akkala? This is nonsense!"
"Link trusts his word, and we can send scouts to investigate! Within a week's time we'll know the veracity of these claims. Two days if we just send Elm or Rali."
Zelda massaged her temples while the Sheikah elders continued to argue. She was still processing what the Rito, Fyson, had told her.
There was a new, entirely foreign kingdom on Hyrule's soil...or, rather, under Hyrule's soil. It was a complete unknown, which was extremely dangerous in this precarious time. The bugs didn't speak their language, and apparently had access to some form of mind magic. And according to Fyson, there were at least several hundred of them. There could be millions of them in caves far underground, for all they knew.
Privately, Zelda wondered if this was a spiteful last act of Ganon's. A way to make her suffer even with his defeat.
"I won't trust this claim until I've laid eyes on these so-called bugs myself! We have too many things to do to waste resources on what is clearly-"
"Enough!"
The room fell silent at Impa's order. The chieftain had been silent during most of the meeting thus far, letting the other elders contribute information. Now though, she took center stage.
"This discussion is pointless. We already have a way to verify the information brought to us by Mister Fyson." Impa ponderously turned her gaze onto Link. "The Sheikah Slate can be used by Link to teleport to many locations across Hyrule. If I recall correctly, there is a Shrine near where this Tarrey Town is located. What's more, the Slate can take pictures, which should quiet any remaining doubts some of us have."
Link nodded in confirmation, and unhooked the Slate from his belt. Before he did anything though, he looked at Zelda and arched an eyebrow.
Zelda waved him away and said "I'll be just here fine and you know it. Be safe, Link, and try to be back by nightfall."
Link nodded once again, and was about to leave, but then he stopped. He tucked the Sheikah Slate under his arm and signed to Zelda {There's cream puff shells in the oven and the filling is chilling on top of one of my Frostblades. Have someone finish making them. But don't let them eat any. Those are for you and me, Princess.}
With that, Link untucked the Sheikah Slate and was soon dissipating into a cloud of blue particles. A potential country of alien bugs was no reason to let his hard work in the kitchen go to waste.
. . .
Hornet crept through Deepnest, the three spider sisters behind her. Her ancestral home was as claustrophobic and unpleasant as ever; not even the absence of the Infection had changed that. The only difference was that there were slightly less wild bugs trying to eat them.
There was a loud crunching noise from behind her, and Hornet ignored it. If one of the sisters wanted to eat on the move, it was no business of hers. She was well used to it, even if she preferred her own food unmoving and fully cooked.
They moved in complete silence. Sound was just one more way for the predators of Deepnest to find their prey.
Thankfully, it didn't take them long to reach Spider territory. Soon enough, Hornet and the sisters were ducking into the Midwife's preferred cave, and Hornet called out for her.
"Midwife? Are you there?"
There was silence for a long moment, then, there came the sound of scuttling legs.
"Hoh? The little Princess has returned. Mmm, yes. Not so little now, mmm? Bigger. Stronger. Tastier."
There was rapid movement, above and to her left. Hornet gripped her needle and spun around. The sharpened tip pointed directly at one of Midwife's eyes through the slits in her mask.
"Aah? She has not forgotten how to show her fangs? Mmm, yes, good. How have you been, dearie?" the Midwife asked, already acting like she hadn't tried to eat Hornet.
Hornet repressed any outward emotion with the ease of long practice and relaxed her hold on her needle, though she kept the tip pointed in the Midwife's general direction.
"I've come to meet with the Undercourt. Whatever is left of it."
The Midwife hummed in thought as she reclined onto a web covered rock. Ibis, Ibex, and Ibik moved to sit beside her.
"Yes, yes, I know that. Gossip moves fast, hmm? What news, what news! The Infection gone, a strange new world, and dear Herrah's daughter ready to take the throne. Oh, it does this old heart good to see you come into your prime!" The Midwife chittered, then hummed in thought and said "As for the old court, well, not too many of us are left, dearie. There's a single elder Weaver in the ruins of their old den. The Mask Maker too, lives near the borders to the Gardens. I'll send some of my children to invite them over. In the meantime, do you want to stay for dinner, dearie? I'm sure I can scrounge up something for us to eat."
"No. I'll be waiting at the Beast's Den. We'll hold this meeting of the Undercourt in the amphitheatre." With that, Hornet turned to leave. She didn't look back, but she did keep her needle pointed behind her in a reverse grip.
Appearance and deception was everything in Deepnest.
. . .
Link looked down at the bug village from the cliffs of Tarrey Town. He'd already met with Hudson, Rhondson, and Granté to get their impressions of their neighbors. Granté in particular had been informative, as he had been the one to 'speak' with the Hollow Knight.
Honestly, at this point his mission was completed. He had verified everything that Fyson had claimed. He had pictures of the village taken from Tarrey Town. There wasn't any real need to delay any longer.
...but, well, Zelda had said to return to Kakariko by nightfall. It would still be a few hours before the sun set, and Link enjoyed exploring and meeting new people. The bugs had been, if not friendly, then at least neutral when Hudson's group had visited, according to Granté.
Mind made up, Link retrieved his paraglider from the Sheikah Slate and began gliding down to the little village.
He was spotted long before entering the village proper. By the time he landed, there was already a group of bugs assembled to greet him.
They were a diverse bunch. One was tiny, 4 feet tall at most, with large black eyes and small antenna. Link thought they looked like a fly. One was slightly larger, around Link's height, and looked old. They had horns, and Link cautiously identified them as some kind of beetle. The last bug was the largest, and had some sort of shell-turban on their head. Or perhaps it was part of their head? Link didn't know, and their long cloak and turban obscured almost all of their features.
Link raised a hand and waved. The bugs looked at each other briefly.
"Nah minobis. Ma'churo, ehbemin emel?"
Ah, yes. The language barrier. How intriguing.
Link attempted to sign a few words at the bugs, but they didn't visibly react much aside from muttering to each other.
Pity. Still, he had expected as much, and he was quite good at charades. A visual aid could help though.
. . .
"What are they doing?" asked Sly, cocking his head to the side. "Do you think this is another way of communicating? Or perhaps they are trying to use SOUL?"
Confessor Jiji chirped as she looked closer at the Highest Ruler in front of them.
"No, I don't think so. Their SOUL is strong, incredibly so, but it does not bear the marks of those who use SOUL in any active fashion. Though there is more there…" Jiji leaned even closer and said "What's this? There are four imprints on this one's SOUL, and each one pulses with power all its own. Fascinating! This one has many regrets as well, though they have come to terms with them. The soul is also old, yet young at the same time...most unusual. I will have to study the SOULs of more of these hy'leens."
Elderbug studied the visitor as well, and noticed that they had stopped their hand movements and retrieved some sort of object from their abdomen (or was it their thorax? These beings didn't have much distinction between them).
When the object lit up and showed an image of Dirtmouth from a distance, Elderbug took in a sharp breath through his spiracles.
"Oh my! What is this strange device? This looks like something the Archivists would come up with. It can display images and store them?"
The hy'leen (or was it Highest Ruler?) pointed to the image of Dirtmouth, then to themselves. They then walked off a short distance, towards the village, then came back, and pointed to a different picture of Dirtmouth, and walked off again before returning.
Sly was the first one to puzzle out their meaning.
"I think they're asking if they can walk around Dirtmouth."
Elderbug scratched at his elytra and considered it. The stranger was alone, and looked quite small. They had no visible weapons, and Confessor Jiji had said that they couldn't use SOUL. They seemed friendly enough.
"I see no harm in it. But someone should keep an eye on them, for their own safety. I don't know all of the bugs that Ogrim brought up from Hallownest, and some of them have a mean look about them. I wouldn't want our visitor to get hurt."
Sly shrugged.
"I have things to sell to all these new customers, and I'm too old to grubsit anyways. Why don't you tell that tall bug that came with the Princess to look after them? Last I saw Hollow, they weren't doing anything anyways, and idle claws don't earn Geo."
Elderbug turned to talk to Sly about that, but the diminutive shopkeeper was already gone. He instead turned to Jiji to get their opinion.
"It's none of my business, but the tall one looked quite capable of defending this hy'leen. Their wounds are bound and don't seem to trouble them at all, and they are quite frightening, if I do say so myself. Sly's idea has merit."
Elderbug sighed and nodded.
"I'll go speak with them, then. Oh, and can you remind those squabbling nobles that we are assigning housing based on need, not on former class or Geo."
Jiji chittered and said "It will be my pleasure, elder."
Elderbug then turned back to the patiently waiting hy'leen and gestured with his claw.
"Come, young one."
. . .
Link stared at the Hollow Knight. The Hollow Knight stared at Link.
[I̴̥̦̐d̶̻̎̋ė̴͖̇ṇ̴̾̕t̵̡̑͝i̸͉͑̂f̵̡̅i̶͕͛͜c̵͎͒̓a̴͇̓͠t̷̗̓̑i̶͇̼̓͑o̷̝̽͌n̷̞̅?̷͚̓]
Ah. That was quite disorienting, Granté had spoken the truth. But Link was used to strange things. Honestly, this didn't even crack his top 3. He stared the much, much taller bug in their empty eyes and tried to will his thoughts forward.
[Link. I am the protector of Princess Zelda, who is, or will be, the regent of this land, Hyrule. And you are the Hollow Knight?]
[A̸͎̓͘f̶͓̐f̸̩̓͝į̶̹̓̃r̷̤̋m̶̗͎̀͒ä̷̰̮t̵̰͙̓̃ĭ̶̼͚͆o̶̬̝͋͋n̸̺͍̓.̸̦̜̔̉ ̷̛͙́G̷̮̎̚r̶͎̀̾e̸͔̻͛͛ȩ̷̿͆t̷͙̳́i̴̤̱͛n̷̼͘g̴̱̗͛̒s̷͔͔̒̑,̵͇̮͛ ̴͉͈̊̎L̵͉̅̈́ị̷̄̋n̴̜̽͝k̵͓̕.̴̬́͠ ̷̮̆͛Q̷͚̎u̵̇́͜ẹ̸͓͛̔ś̵̖t̶̝̕ĭ̷̩o̴̞͇͑n̶͉̜̾̏:̷̘͔̈́ ̸̮͝P̶̻͈̄̀ũ̴̳̝r̷̢̭̂̚p̷̡̚ͅõ̶̜̉s̸̢̯͑͌è̴̝̌ͅ?̵̲̋]
Link took a few moments to parse that.
[I'm just here to explore. We wanted to know about our new neighbors, what they're like, why they're here, and where they came from. We wanted to know if you were friends or foes.]
The Hollow Knight cocked their head at Link.
[Ȉ̶̮͐n̴̪̬̔t̷͙̘̓é̸̢r̷̳̿ȇ̴͈s̵̟̪̀̓t̸̹̓.̵̺̲̉ ̵̤̉Ḁ̴̎̉g̵̻̎͝r̵͉̭̚ė̷̲̞̄e̶̦̼̐͠m̵̗̺̊͋ė̸͚̌n̵̼͆t̴̟̳́̕.̷̟̈́ ̸̣͐̒F̴̭̪̍r̵̮̰̈́͊i̴̧̍̐ͅe̵̜̱͗́ň̴͖d̴̦͖̅̏?̵͎̠͂͒]
Link smiled up at Hollow, his hands on his hips.
[Yes, friends. Excellent. Would you tell me about this place, please?]
Author's Note:
Yay, chapter is over, let's talk timekeeping in Hallownest.
As you may have noticed, I've been very careful not to use any recognizable time terminology for Hallownest. I might have slipped up once or twice (please point out any places I did so) but I wanted the bugs to not use standard seconds, minutes, hours, days, etc. There's a reason for this; Hallownest doesn't have a sun. Or, rather, the planet that Hallownest is on is tidally locked.
What this means is that one half of the planet is being constantly baked by the sun, while the other half is freezing cold. Hallownest itself is in the thin strip between the two sides, which is why it's liveable (though Hallownest is closer to the freezing side which is why it's so dark and the wastes outside are cold grey desert). This is also why Hallownest's sky is in a state of perpetual twilight; the sun is busy sterilizing half the planet, and Hallownest is just close enough to get a tiny bit of scattered light.
This lack of a cultural time touchstone has caused Hallownest, and most other bug civilzations (that are all also in the strip between burning and freezing), to not really have formalized time-keeping. Broadly, time doesn't matter. Bugs listen to their internal circadian rhythms, and have very broad terms for everything else time related. A short time is a moment. Several days is a period. And a few months is a cycle. You may remember that Hornet mentioned that Hollow contained the Infection for fifty cycles. Fifty cycles is around 10 years. I will be creating a more detailed timeline for Hallownest in the near future using this newly created scale.