Sly watched from behind the counter as a group of beings walked in. They were taller than most hy'leens he'd seen, and differently proportioned. Their heads had some sort of flowing crest coming off of the back, much unlike the fluff that hy'leens or reeto had, and he could smell the river water from where he was sitting. An aquatic species, clearly; one that hadn't been seen in Dirtmouth before. Aquatic bugs were virtually unheard of in Hallownest, and these river-dwellers were even stranger.
But, still, they were in his shop, so Sly decided to treat them like customers.
"Looking for anything in particular?" Sly asked. The not-bugs looked at him, muttered amongst themselves, then back at the shop. One picked up a curved shortnail he had lying around and looked it over.
Sly kept a close on the aquatic interloper until it was clear that they weren't going to steal the shortnail. He didn't care if it'd cause a diplomatic incident, Geo was Geo...or weird crystals, but the point remained. He would not tolerate thieves in his shop.
Another not-bug came over to the display of charms and peered at them. Sly was near enough to see their strange yellow eyes up close as they poked at the five charms Sly currently had on sale. They looked very wet, which he supposed made sense for an aquatic species, but how did they see anything with such small eyes? Perhaps, as they lived in the water, they didn't rely on their eyes as much, instead using other senses; smell, maybe, though he couldn't spot their olfactory organs.
The not-bug looking at the charms picked up the Sprintmaster charm and turned to Sly, holding it out. He ignored the words, he couldn't understand them anyways, but the intent was clear.
Sly brought out his abacus and gave a demonstration of values quickly. Thankfully, the not-bug cottoned on quickly, and Sly slid 5 large beads to the right and tapped the charm. The not-bug made a loud, outraged sounding noise, and Sly buzzed.
"500 Geo...ru'pees, 500 ru'pees, no discounts."
The not-bug reached out and slid one large bead to the left. Sly gave them a long look and slid 8 medium beads to the right. The not-bug responded by sliding 5 medium beads to the left. Sly slid 2 medium beads back to the right and said "That's it. No lower. 450 is more than fair."
Sly conveniently left out that he normally sold this charm for 400 Geo. It wasn't like they could understand him anymore than he could them.
The aquatic customer looked dissatisfied with the final price, but they still reached into their money pouch and drew out four silver ru'pees and one purple and placed them on the table. Sly stuck out his claw, and the not-bug shook it. Such a strange custom, this grasping of claws, but he'd heard about it from Cornifer, and this was apparently how deals were made with the beings of this land.
The not-bug took their charm, and the next of their group stepped up to his counter, a finely made lumafly lantern in their claws...or whatever they were called. He didn't care; all he cared about was the money in their pouch.
Sly chittered, and quickly shuffled around his abacus.
"2500 ru'pees. No discounts."
. . .
Torfeau held the little pin in her hands and tried to see what made it so special. In front of her, Tottika was expressing incredulity and studying his own pin that he had bought.
"I can't believe that a lantern costs 2500 Rupees here! I only managed to haggle him down to 2200 as well! Admittedly, it was a really nice lantern, and gathering artifacts to present to King Dorephan as physical proof is a good idea, but 2200 Rupees!? No way I'm buying that! And then...400 for this little pin?!"
Behind both of them, Gruve said "Maybe they're special in some way? They look well made...could be magical. Kinda looks like a buncha those weird swords they use."
Tottika nearly dropped his pin.
"Wait, you think it could be harmful? What if it turns me into a bug! Oh, I should've gone with Lee and Lon to Tarrey Town!"
"It's not going to turn you into a bug." responded Gruve, deadpan.
"Hey, you don't know Gruve! There's stories about masks that can turn humans into Zora, who says this pin can't do the same!? It's weirdo bug magic!"
"I say it isn't going to happen because you're being a dumbass."
Torfeau scoffed, and pinned the little thing she was holding onto the woven strap of her cuirass. She rather doubted that the shopkeeper would sell something so dangerous to outsiders as what Tottika was suggesting. And if she did turn into a bug...well, she hoped she'd become a crab. She'd always liked crabs.
Nothing happened. Torfeau rolled her eyes and said "I put it on, I'm not a bug. You can stop worrying, Tottika."
Her fellow Zora warrior looked at her worriedly to assess her continued existence as a Zora before giving a considering look to his own pin.
"...fine, but if I wake up as a cockroach tomorrow, I'm blaming you."
Torfeau watched as Tottika gingerly attached his own pin to his cuirass, and again, nothing noticeable happened.
Gruve scoffed, and he smacked Tottika on the back of the head.
"You kept on going on and on, and it was totally normal after all! I swear, you've got brainrot today, Tots."
Tottika growled and swung a hand at Gruve.
The resulting blow blew Gruve back ten paces and swept Tottika off of his feet. Torfeau, startled by the sudden movement, reeled backwards far faster than she should've been capable of and tripped over herself, landing on the ground as well.
Looking up at the sky as she heard the mutterings of bugs around her, Torfeau had just one thought.
"What in Nayru's name just happened?!"
. . .
Cornifer hummed happily to himself as he walked along a visible path. He had a broad hat woven out of native hy'rool plantlife on his head, which helped deflect the rays of the burning orb, and his supplies were stocked up (both mapping supplies and food supplies). Iselda was a short ways away, examining some kind of dark mushroom she'd found, while three other members of the exploration team followed.
Today would be a good day. They'd finished mapping out all the details of the low, wet area where Dirtmouth was located, and thus, the exploration team was moving out to further areas. Cornifer had decided to explore the mountain, the ruins, and the tall tower next to Crystal Peak, and they had set out once the orb crossed the tops of the mountains nearby to leave Dirtmouth.
The path, which was free of green shoots, abruptly stopped and became a cobbled road. Cornifer also faintly heard a loud but distant noise, like some great bug's snoring.
"Izzy, Obo, Hem, and...sorry, what was your name again?"
"Chai, sir."
"Yes, Chai, come, let's go find out what that snoring is coming from!" said Cornifer enthusiastically. Iselda drew her nail and took the front, protective of him as always, while his mapping minions...er, loyal team members followed after the two of them.
It didn't take them long to find the source of the sound. In an open area of a large cobbled square, there was a massive...thing. It reminded Cornifer of the one go'ron that he had seen, though this being was black, and far larger. In fact, it might even be taller than the Hollow Knight, who was the tallest bug Cornifer personally knew. It also stank profusely, far worse than any of the beings that Cornifer had met in hy'rool thus far. It reminded him of Ogrim's admittedly foul odor.
Iselda pushed her husband and their three underlings behind a nearby ruined statue (identical to many that dotted the area around Dirtmouth. Cornifer wondered what their purpose was) and said "Ok, I'm going to be the voice of reason here and say that we don't disturb whatever that is."
Cornifer gave a longing glance at the massive being and responded "But Izzy, what if it's a friend? Look, it's wearing clothing! It might know more about the area."
Iselda looked at her husband with mixed fondness and exasperation and said "First off, even if it is intelligent and friendly, it's also sleeping. It'd be rude to wake it up. Second off, it stinks, and if you end up getting any of that smell on you, you will be sleeping somewhere other than our bed tonight. Third off–why is the statue glowing?!"
The statue was indeed glowing, and a deep warbling noise emitted from within it. Cornifer saw the top section of the statue, what he now realized was a head of some kind, spin around, and a single eye looked down at them.
"Oh! I apologize, I didn't realize that you were sleeping!" Cornifer said. The being didn't respond, and a thin red beam emerged from their eye. Cornifer stumbled back, then stopped as it became clear that he wasn't harmed. Iselda had her nail ready to attack, but waited. A clicking sound came from the being.
"Cornifer, I don't think it's friendly."
"We don't know that! Don't attack, it hasn't done anything yet!" said Cornifer as the clicking sound began to speed up.
"I think it's a construct of some kind, Cornifer. Like the mining drones in Crystal Peak." interjected Chai. "Actually...I think...that uh...that kind of sounds like the beams the drones use…"
Iselda looked at the construct, then back at her husband, and she made a decision as the clicking reached a crescendo and the single eye began to glow ominously.
"Get behind cover!"
The group of five bugs scattered. Cornifer dove behind a ruined wall, and he felt a discharge of some kind pass over him, barely missing his shell. There was an explosion in the distance.
Iselda looked at her husband, who looked back at her sheepishly.
"...ok, you were right."
"Oh really?"
The clicking sound started up again, and Cornifer peeked over the wall to see the construct targeting Obo this time, who was cowering behind a piece of masonry too small to cover him entirely.
"Obo! Come over here with us, it's pointed at you!"
The pillbug scrambled over the cobblestones as he tried to get to Cornifer and Iselda before the construct fired. Cornifer also became aware of a loud thumping, and he peeked further over the wall to see the large black being wake up, a single massive yellow eye opening up on its face.
"Oh good, maybe this one will help us!"
But it was not to be so. As soon as the black giant saw the bugs, they grunted and headed towards them, not the construct, which barely missed killing Obo as he dove behind the same wall as Cornifer and Iselda. Another explosion sounded out, and the clicking started up again, once again centered on Cornifer as his head was visible over the wall.
The black being raised their forelegs up in the air, moments away from smashing all of them, and Cornifer yelled "Scatter!"
Isela, Obo, and Cornifer ran, narrowly avoiding the same fate as their protective wall, which was reduced to rubble and dust.
"Corny, get to cover! Hem, you can fly, distract the construct from the air! I'll deal with the black one!" Iselda ordered.
Cornifer found a tall brown stalk to hide behind and he frantically observed the ensuing battle. Hem, flying beetle that she was, lacked the agility of many other fliers, but she had been able to avoid the explosive beams from the construct so far. Iselda, on the other claw, was having a tough time fighting the black giant. His wife was skilled with the nail compared to many, but the giant's shell was tough, Iselda's nail not being able to penetrate no matter what she did. And more concerning, if his wife got hit even once, she would almost certainly die.
Cornifer thought furiously as his wife dodged another massive blow, then he took in a sharp breath through his spiracles.
"The construct...that's it!" Cornifer pushed himself up and yelled "Izzy, lead it on a straight path towards the construct! Hem, dodge at the last moment, make the beam hit the giant!"
Hem dodged out of the way of another blast and buzzed angrily.
"You want me to what?!"
"Izzy's not having any luck hurting it and you've managed to avoid the blasts so far! It's our only shot at taking down the big one!"
Hem buzzed even louder, but she flew between the construct and the giant and held in place. Iselda ran in a line back towards the construct, the giant following closely behind. The clicking reached a crescendo and Cornifer yelled "Now!"
Hem dropped to the ground, and the beam fired. The giant took the blast straight to its face, and it slowly toppled to the ground, its face a ruined, smoking mess. Iselda, seeing that it was dead (or at least disabled), sprang forwards towards the construct and drove her nail straight into its eye, the blade spearing deep into its head and sticking inside.
The construct began to twitch, and it gave off a loud keening sound as its head began to move erratically. Iselda wrenched her nail out as the glowing marks began to pulse.
"It's gonna blow!" yelled Chai. Iselda and Hem beat a hasty retreat, and the construct exploded behind them, raining down bits of metal down on them.
Cornifer took in deep gulping breaths as the cobblestone square settled into silence. Nearby, Iselda and Hem also caught their breath. Cornifer became aware of an even worse stench than before, likely emenanting from the smoldering corpse of the giant.
"...well...at least now we know what all the statues are."
The glare that Iselda sent towards Cornifer made him physically flinch.
Author's Note:
Hey, thanks for tuning in to the chapter. Couple things.
First, as anyone who's played BotW and been to the Torin Wetlands can attest, there are multiple active Guardians in the area. I decided to just ignore that, because I really didn't want Dirtmouth to instantly be ganked by lasers as soon as they landed. Link killed them the last time he was in Tarrey Town for that rich guy and the blood moon hadn't happened, fair enough? Thus, this is the first time a Hallownest citizen has encountered a Guardian (or a Hinox).
Second, yes, charms do work for all Hyruleans, though the effects can be stronger or weaker depending on who wears them. A Goron, for example, would be able to use Baldur Shell to great extent, but would find Thorns of Agony to be basically useless. Additionally, allies spawned from charms are somewhat like hard light constructs; Weaversong and Glowing Womb don't literally created life. The sole exception to this is Grimmchild, which is a summoning charm. Unlike in the game, when the Charm isn't equipped Grimmchild just kind of wanders around and sets stuff on fire instead of de-spawning. Wearing the charm just means he'll be summoned, stay near you, and set your enemies on fire.