Hornet leaned against a rough stone wall, needle in hand, as she observed the members of the Undercourt. Her tale had just concluded, now to gauge their reactions.
Midwife was to her right, with the three sisters Hornet had travelled with beside her. The mercurial matron was settled onto a nest of webbing, and was idly knitting some form of clothing; a cloak, perhaps? Hornet wasn't fooled by the act, she knew that the older spider's attention remained focused on the others in the room. This was just an old game of hers that she kept up out of amusement.
To Hornet's left was an elder Weaver who had refused to give their name. They were flanked by two little Weavers, and all three silently studied the assembled bugs. Hornet was glad to see that the Weavers were not entirely gone from Hallownest. She had always liked visiting them in their Den. Though, she wondered if they would be upset that they were now cut off from the remainder of their kin? Hornet didn't know.
Directly across from Hornet was the Mask Maker, who was uncharacteristically silent. Not even Hornet knew what the elderly spider was thinking behind his mask. The Mask Maker had ever been an odd and inscrutable member of the Undercourt, valued and feared for his wisdom and insight. Hornet hoped that he would have some of that wisdom to offer up in this unprecedented scenario.
Midwife was the first to speak, her knitting not slowing down for a moment.
"Well, how interesting, dearie. Of course, we already knew most of this, word travels fast along the web, mmm. But still, it is good to hear the full story straight from the Princess' mouth. Yes, yes, very good."
The Mask Maker was the next to speak, head cocking to the side slightly.
"A new truth. An altered fate. So much to learn. So many masks to make. So little time." the Mask Maker paused, then said "My time is nearly here. I will train another to discern between truth and lies. Perhaps they will be found in this new land. Perhaps not. Who can say? I am glad to have seen the end of the infection, at least."
The Weaver, seeing that the Mask Maker had finished talking, simply said "Yes. I will miss my kin, but this is a new opportunity for the Weavers. We shall see what the future has in store for us."
Hornet nodded and pushed off of the wall.
"I intend to reclaim my father's throne. I want to unite all of the bugs of Hallownest behind a common goal. However, I do not intend to set myself up as an all powerful god-king like my father did. Nor do I want to rule Deepnest like my mother did."
Hornet knew that she had the undivided attention of the members of the Undercourt now. Midwife had even halted her knitting.
"I give to Deepnest the same offer I gave to the Mantis. One of formal alliance. Deepnest will remain largely separate from the main kingdom. There will be some laws and taxes that apply to all, but these would be decided by a council of the allied territories. I would not have sole jurisdiction over them. I also wish for the Undercourt to rule Deepnest in my stead."
Midwife let out a surprised chitter at that and said "You renounce Herrah's claim? Oh my...I would have thought you intended to claim her position, dearie."
Hornet shook her head.
"If I am to be Queen of Hallownest, I cannot give Deepnest the attention it needs. I would neglect the place of my birth, and in turn, Deepnest would turn against me. No...it would be better, for Deepnest, and the kingdom as a whole, if Deepnest rules itself, with minimal interference from me."
Hornet paused, then let out a low hiss and said "But do not forget. I am a spider too. I am of Herrah's blood, and I remember my mother's lessons well. Disloyalty and betrayal will not be tolerated. If you become the ally of Hallownest in this new land, then you will garner the benefits. If you try and stab me through the back, then there will be consequences. This may be my birthplace, but I would sooner flood these tunnels with fire and death than let Hallownest fall once more."
A thick tension filled the air at Hornet's words. Midwife, the Weaver, and the Mask Maker were silent, before the Mask Maker began to chitter loudly in amusement.
"Ah! A truth! A bold truth, and told so openly! Refreshing, yes; I regret that I will not live to see all of your rule, your Highness. Mmm. I agree to this plan."
The Weaver studied Hornet for a long moment before nodding.
"We have more to gain through working together than staying apart. The Weavers will stand with you, your Highness."
Midwife held up the completed article of clothing (a silver cloak, with embroidered designs of shells) and passed it off to Ibis. Her mask then split in half, allowing Hornet to see her true face beneath.
"Such words from the little princess, hmm? There is a part of me that wonders if she can back them up, but do not fret. Betrayal is so very staid, I am too old for it. Very well, your Highness. Deepnest will stand with you in allyship."
. . .
Cornifer hummed happily to himself as he worked on his latest map, the light of the burning orb blocked by a tall brown stalk with moss-like growths. It was the first map of this new land drawn by his claw. Oh, how exciting!
There were so many new places to see and sketch, so many places that weren't dull grey desert and scoured rock. In every direction was some new fascinating place. He could barely wait to get to them all!
One thing at a time though. With a stroke of his claw, Cornifer finished off the addition to the map and let it rest on his lap to dry. He was tempted to place it in the direct light from the burning orb to dry faster, but he wasn't sure how the light would interact with the uoma ink. It would be better to test it out on something less valuable than his precious maps.
Cornifer withdrew a fresh piece of silkpaper from his satchel and doodled some simple pictures of Iselda, then placed the paper in a spot of direct light near where he was sitting. There; now he could test the effect of the light.
With that done, and no more mapping left to do while the one on his lap dried, Cornifer studied his surroundings. Beyond the shade of his stalk, teams of bugs were walking around the area, studying everything they came across. Cornifer saw one bug nibbling on a piece of the brown stalk before spitting it out, and another picking up small stones to tuck them into a bag.
Iselda walked up to where Cornifer was sitting and flopped down beside him.
"Well, here we all are, roaming around randomly all on the orders of someone who didn't even ask us if we wanted to do so." Iselda huffed in annoyance and leaned her head against Conifer. "I never wanted a leadership position. Ugh."
Cornifer laughed quietly and stroked his wife's antenna.
"I think the Queen, Princess, whatever she is, is just trying to do her best with what she's been given. And do you think that anyone in Dirtmouth is better at exploring than we are?"
Iselda gave her husband a fond, if exasperated look.
"You're the one who's good at mapping. I got stuck with selling things at the shop." Iselda said, stretching her legs out.
Cornifer ceased his petting of Iselda's antenna and said "And I'm very glad you did so. Thanks to the little knight, we made enough Geo to save up a decent nest egg."
Iselda grunted.
"A pity we can't just buy maps from our neighbors. It'd be so much faster than doing it-" Iselda sat straight upright and said "Hang on, why are we the ones doing our own mapping when we can just buy some from the beings that already live here?"
Cornifer crossed his forelegs and grumbled.
"But that takes all the fun out of it Izzy! Besides, I don't think they'll accept Geo as currency."
Iselda stood up and began pacing, excitement increasingly evident in her frame.
"We won't know until we ask! Besides, they know just as little about us as we know about them. We could trade them copies of the maps you made of Hallownest, Corny!"
Cornifer mulled that over for a few moments before he sighed.
"No, you're right, Izzy. I shouldn't be selfish, the Queen tasked us with finding out more about this new land. The easiest and fastest way to do that is to trade for it with those who already know this land." Cornifer paused, then perked up and said "An just because we'll get their maps doesn't mean we can't make our own and explore on our own. We still have to write them in our language, and make our own notes. Really, they will just be more of a helpful guide."
Iselda chittered and offered a claw to Cornifer, who took it. Cornifer rolled up the now dried map and tucked it into his satchel, then retrieved the silkpaper he'd placed in direct light. The ink looked to be nicely dried, and while the paper was warm, it seemed unharmed.
"Ah, excellent. This should speed things up." Cornifer said, then he called out "Hey! We're going to go up to the foreign town to see if we can buy or trade for maps! Albreh is in charge until we return!"
The working bugs paused, and Albreh, a rotund weevil, responded "Alright. Do you want someone to come with you?"
Cornifer waved him off.
"No need. Iselda is adept with her nail, and I'm no stranger to escaping from sticky situations. We'll be fine. Keep up the good work while we're gone."
And with that, the map-maker and his wife began walking towards the short mountain in the distance.
. . .
Link took another picture with the Sheikah Slate, making sure to capture the bugs in motion as they talked in that strange language of theirs. It would help to bring back evidence that they were not only intelligent, but also friendly.
He'd already taken several dozen such pictures. The bugs didn't quite seem to know what he was doing, and kept on staring at him, but the presence of the Hollow Knight beside him apparently gave him some form of legitimacy.
Speaking of the Hollow Knight, Link's thoughts turned to the strange, tall bug. He had been studying his temporary companion off and on as he explored the village. The Hollow Knight was, first of all, very tall. Link doubted that Sidon would even reach up to the bug's mid-chest (or mid-thorax, he supposed). They also were missing an arm, and had bandages (silk, he noted) wrapped around various parts of their body. They had been in a fight recently, but their arm was long since healed and came from an older wound.
There was also the matter of their thought-speech. If Link had to compare it to something he was familiar with, he would say it was most like the 'words' he heard whenever he prayed at a statue to Hylia. It was words that weren't, combining feelings and thoughts into something more pure and primal. Though, the Hollow Knight's speech lacked the 'feelings', and seemed to be pure thought. A sort of...conceptual psychic link, Princess Zelda would likely call it.
It wasn't his area of expertise. The Hollow Knight had a way to communicate with Link, and even if that method mangled some of the conversation, it was still better than charades and guesswork. That was good enough for Link.
Looking at the sky, Link saw that the sun was setting, and he grunted. He would need to be going; a pity, he did love to explore new places. He hadn't even gotten to go down into the Kingdom of Hallowed Nest proper!
Ah well. Zelda would want to visit this place in the near future to meet with the bugs herself. He could explore then.
Link turned to the Hollow Knight and stared into their empty eyes.
[It's getting late. I need to return to my Princess. Thank you for walking with me around Dirtmouth.]
[Ǘ̷̩̋̕n̷̨̛̳̤̔͊ḏ̵̰̙̎e̶͈̼̞̅͠r̶͕̫͠ŝ̵̬̑ẗ̸̩̹́a̸̦̲͆ͅn̷̫̕ḑ̴̜͒͑͝i̶̘̬̒̚n̴͖͓̏̎̚g̵̱̖̦̔͗.̸̮̼̾͂̄ ̷̫̼͆͂̃S̵̺͗á̷̪̥͑̈́ͅd̷̤͙̫̍̊n̶͙̳̱̽e̴̺͕̅͛̈͜ś̴̡̫̬s̵͚̾͌͝.̴̞̭͖̐̅ ̷̜̈Q̸̞͚̺̿u̶͖͗ẽ̴̱́͝r̸̹̫̍̈́̍y̷̳͓̿̏͝:̶̱́̉ ̴̟̻͊̊R̸̭̜͊e̷͚͓̥͋̈́̓t̵̪̒̋u̴̧̗͇̇͛͝ř̷̟ṋ̶̨̞͠?̸͎̥̬͒̈́]
[Oh, I'm sure she'll want to come by soon enough. She loves to learn new things. It won't be long until I see you again, Hollow. Until next time.]
Link flipped through the menus on his Slate until he reached the map and navigated to Kakariko Village. As he was dissipating into blue threads, Link waved goodbye to Hollow.
As he was currently discorporated and already halfway to Dirtmouth, Link wasn't around to hear the shocked gasps and chitters from the bugs who saw him leave. They soon began gossiping about the strange hy'leen who had vanished into thin air.
Hollow, meanwhile, stared at the spot where Link had formerly stood, thinking. They were curious; that hadn't felt or looked like SOUL teleportation. Could it be Essence? It was blue. Perhaps the people of these lands had found a way to travel using the power of Lifeblood.
What strange beings. Their minds were different than bugs minds. More defined. Link's mind had been more different than any of the others. Focused. Sharp. Like Sibling Hornet's.
Hollow wondered when Link would return. They allowed themselves to wonder. They allowed themselves to feel anticipation.
It was nice, being able to (do not) think and (do not) feel. They were (a failure and a disgrace to the kingdom)...no, they were free, Sibling Hornet had said so.
Hollow allowed themself to feel happiness at that.
Author's Note:
Hey, thanks for reading the chapter, now let's talk about the usage and capabilities of Sheikah tech.
I think it's fairly clear from what we've seen of BotW that Sheikah tech is not pure technology, it is magitech. Zelda in general is a soft magic world, with no clearly defined rules for what magic can and can't do, which somewhat complicates things, because we don't know what the limitations Sheikah tech then are. Just in the Slate alone we've got teleportation, pocket dimension storage, high definition cameras, a fully functional GPS map, the ability to STOP TIME, the ability to lift several tons of magnetic material, the ability to freeze huge blocks of ice, and the ability to create bombs out of nothing ad infinium.
Outside of the Slate, we've got the Guardians, which are fully functional autonomous robots with frikkin lasers. We've got hard light weapons, shields, and arrows. We've got levitation from the Shrines, along with all sorts of mechanisms like conveyor belts and fans. We've got thousand-ton stone behemoths in the Divine Beasts, each of which have their own abilities. And we've got the time travel from Age of Calamity.
Yeah...I'm being VERY careful in how I integrate Sheikah Tech into widespread use, because this stuff has the potential to completely break the setting. So don't expect to see bugs running around with Slates of their own...ever. Tech progression will happen but it is gonna happen slowly, after years or decades.