Chapter Text
If Mary didn’t know better, she would say that everything had been planned out.
That some spy had been watching the royal family’s movements. That their schedules had been stolen, that someone had been waiting for the perfect moment to get the Deepnest Princess nearly alone.
That someone had waited patiently for the small camping trip that had been allowed for the young princess.
Mary would have thought that, if it weren’t so obvious that it had all been so very opportunistic.
Hornet had begun to chaff underneath the love and protection of her parents and siblings.
Every trip into the tunnels was with an escort of guards or siblings. Every enemy was quickly dispatched by someone with faster reactions, sharper senses or just longer limbs.
All of her ‘Younger’ siblings had gone the way of the ‘Eldest’, out growing her in only a few short years. And with their height had come strength, speed, strange void abilities.
Not that Hornet had been left behind exactly.
She was trained both by the Weavers in the distant village, and the bees in the Hive. She had inherited her Father’s love and talent for building, mechanical wonders coming into being beneath her hands just as often as beautiful silken fabrics.
She was smart, strong, and untried.
She was the beloved younger sister of the Hollow Knight, the only child of Herrah the Beast. The only child of the Royal family that could die of mortal means.
She was heavily protected, not able to use her needle even when allowed to go hunting. All of her over protective siblings all rushing to her aid if for even a moment her shell was damaged.
None of her family could control their protective urges when faced with a threat to their smallest and most mortal child.
It was why Mary was the one here with her.
Mary was powerful, had influence on the populace. But was physically weak.
If need be, her Dreamcatchers would protect her, would protect Hornet.
But she wouldn’t be stealing any of the young princess’s kills, wouldn’t be more than a safety net to catch her.
It had been a compromise that Hornet had reluctantly agreed to.
And so, they had set out to a small, barren place, just past the Hive.
This place on edge of the kingdom, the Broken Road.
There were a few non-sentient bugs here, and none that were sentient at all. It had been scoped out by the Siblings, had been combed for any hidden threats, and upon finding none, been a place allowed for Hornet to exercise her hunting abilities.
The send off had been needlessly dramatic, the Pale King grooming his daughter’s horns, Hollow fretting behind Mary, and all four of the Siblings laying on the floor in protest at being left behind.
Hornet had finally managed to escape her father’s teeth, had carelessly stepped over and on her gangly siblings, dodging attempt to snatch her ankles and had stopped before Mary and Hollow.
Mary, in a plain black cloak and a mask with two round holes for her eyes, a disguise while she was out. Hollow in their full royal robes, decked out like a Prince as they held onto Mary’s shoulders, anxious to be separated from both Mary and Hornet.
Hornet had stood ramrod straight before the both of them, her bright red cloak swishing around her knees. She had bent at the waist, crossing an arm over her chest as she had proclaimed that she would “Safeguard your heart” to Hollow.
Mary remembered giggling at the dramatics even as Hollow had given a regal nod and released her shoulders.
Mary had been given a packed lunch, and Hornet had her needle sharpened, and the two of them had set out to wonder the ruins.
Mary had found some stone at a reasonable height to sit on while she carelessly strung a dreamcatcher, Hornet had begun stalking some slightly discolored creepers and there was peace for about two hours.
And then a small group of bugs walking next to a strange carriage had approached them.
It had not approached quickly, it had not approached quietly. The entire traveling party had been strung with bells and gold. Painted veils over their faces instead of masks, and as Mary had eventually seen, the walking bugs were carrying the large round . . . thing on their shoulders like a palanquin.
The group had looked rich, looked royal. Like the servants to a wealthy and worshiped individual.
But they were alone.
Nothing was within the round and exquisitely shaped palanquin.
Mary had not been concerned.
Hallownest had returned to its glory as a trade kingdom, had many bugs coming to it from all angles and territories.
These bugs must have come from farther than usual, form a more distant land than most. They had no weapons but their staffs that Mary could see, and none of them looked like trained warriors at all.
They were likely just merchants with a strange way of transporting goods, not the first nor the last that Mary had seen.
Mary had gotten to her feet, once deeming the traveling party close enough to approach. She had waked forward, a half-finished dreamcatcher in hand as she had approached the party.
She had planned to tell them what kingdom they had reached, to give them directions to either a different entrance or warn them of how to navigate the Hive.
She had not gotten there before the Princess.
Hornet, slightly put out by the approach of these bugs, but just as eager to accomplish a task that was usually denied to her, rushed ahead to speak to the bugs.
Mary had continued to approach, though at a slower pace, seeing no harm in letting Hornet be the first to speak to the travelers.
She had been too far away to hear what Hornet had said, the bug’s faces obscured in such a way that she couldn’t even see if they had spoken to the princess.
But she remembered the way that the strange golden palanquin had lit up, the way the door hard been opened so reverently by a veiled bug-
The way that silk had shot out and entangled the Princess, dragging her toward the open door. The Princess had given out a cry of shock and anger, striking at the glowing silk-
But a needle was not for cutting, rebounding off of the silk, only a few strands breaking.
Mary hadn’t had much time to think, screeching out curses and insults as she had run forward. She had managed to knock over one of the bugs, lunging forward to bury her hands in the silk, trying to tare the threads, to free the princess.
She had been foolish, she had been stupid.
Her fingers had been caught in the silk, and then just been pulled into the palanquin with the Princess.
Once Mary’s feet had cleared the doorway, it had been slammed shut behind her.
She had felt that slam in her soul.
Mary had felt the runes on the carriage coming to life, cutting off the world around them, creating a small little bubble, a pocket dimension, a curtain between the inside of the cage and the world.
For a moment Mary’s ears were filled with the sound of sheering metal and falling chains, a rattling that shivered up her spine.
And then things had gotten worse.
The Princess, Hornet, the small fire cracker child that Mary had played with and seen grow into a firecracker teenager-
Had gone still and silent.
She had lain there, the silk disappearing with the shutting of the door, like a puppet with her strings cut.
Mary had spent a few precious seconds trying to wake her up, trying to rouse the girl.
But nothing, no response, no reaction.
Mary had then turned to the kidnappers, hissing in her fury, growing louder and louder as she began to threaten them, to tell them what she would do to them, what the royal family would do to them-
And then one of the veiled bugs had reached through the bars, ripped off Mary’s mask and shoved a ball of silk into her mouth.
It had grown around her head, gagging her quite firmly, not budging no matter how her hands scrambled at the threads.
And that is how the story began, a series of unlucky events, of actions that were just enough to remove what power Mary had.
These bugs had no idea who she was, these bugs cared not for the rulers of the kingdom.
These bugs had come for a weaver, and were not going to listen to the screaming of a random bug for the rest of the trip.
Without her voice Mary could not convince them she had power. Without the eyes of Hornet, her hoops and string would do nothing.
Mary was trapped by their ignorance.
And so, Mary the Storyteller, savior of Hallownest, Binder of the Dream, Advisor of the Pale King, Lover of the Hollow Knight- was powerless as the palanquin was lifted once more, the veiled bugs simply turning around and walking back into the wastes.
The only evidence of there arrival at all being the slightly distended dust, and a single bell that had fallen from a staff.
The bug that Mary had pushed over in her attempt to reach the princess, not realizing that their staff no long rung as they walked.
Mary should not have survived the journey though the Wastes.
Time was hard, the sun not reaching through the cloud of sand, and at times completely unseen through the caverns that they crossed through.
So, Mary didn’t know how long they traveled, had no access to anything that would allow her to keep track of time.
But humans don’t survive long without water.
It was only luck that she had been carrying the packed lunch when they were kidnapped, only luck that she managed to wedge a straw past the silk bundle in her mouth. Only luck that she managed to survive on so little.
Mary, after the initial screaming fit, after the tantrum of rage-
Had spent as much of the trip as she could asleep.
She would spend less energy sleeping, would use less water sleeping.
She’d be able to lengthen her time while sleeping.
Replacing her mask to block her face from the sands and wind, curling up as tight as she could to conserve warmth from coolness of the breeze blown wastes.
She had wrapped her body around Hornet, had tucked the child beneath her cloak to hide her away from the winds and the eyes of the kidnappers.
She had spent as much time as she could asleep, trying to stay alive.
She didn’t want to die for a variety of reasons, didn’t want to leave Hollow behind, to go to a place they could not follow.
But more importantly, she didn’t want Hornet to wake up from her rune induced coma only to see Mary’s bloated corpse.
She had been haunted by the thoughts of what Hollow had done when they learned of her and Hornet’s absence. How the Pale King, Herrah, and the White Lady had would have responded. How the Siblings would react to the first major tragedy in their short little lives.
Mary’s waking moments had been haunted by the sounds of bells, the howling of the wind, the Princess’s needle strapped to the back of the Palanquin far out of reach of Mary’ arms.
By the taste of silk in her mouth, the ache of her forced open jaw.
Her dry throat and hungry stomach.
Mary had spent as much time as she possibly could asleep.
So that meant that Mary didn’t see how Hornet managed to awaken. Didn’t see how the runes had been broken, didn’t see what the princess had done to save them.
No.
Mary had just woken up while falling in the air, instinctively clutching tight to the body still in her arms, unable to scream as they had fallen through the air.
The fall went on for a long, long time.
Long enough for Mary to get her senses back, long enough for her to realize that there was NO way she was going to survive the impact.
But Hornet was awake, as the body clutched to her chest clutched back just as hard.
So that meant that there was a witness.
Mary forced a hand free, frantically reaching into her robes to extract the single half-finished dreamcatcher.
She managed to forced Hornet from her chest, looking down to see the frightened child who’s hands were still buried in her cloak.
Mary showed the child the dreamcatcher, made sure that the princess recognized what it was.
And then she pressed it to Hornet’s chest before clutching her close once more.
Mary didn’t have the words to explain, didn’t have the time to sign.
But she had the princess’s trust, and a history of miracles.
So as the both of them plummeted, as the half-finished dreamcatcher was pressed to their bodies-
Mary just had to believe that the child thought she could save them both.
After that, Mary had made the mistake of looking past Hornet, had seen the green ground approaching-
And the combination of the lack of food, and burst of fear knocked her right out.
When Mary woke up, she had first really wished that she hadn’t.
The first thing she had noticed was PAIN.
The second thing she had noticed was that she was alive.
But then the pain came back.
Mary managed to feel herself out, to figure out that the pain was pretty much everywhere, but that the PAIN was in her leg. Her absolutely broken leg.
Fuck.
Mary managed to force her eyes open, to look around.
She was in a stone room, a dark stone room.
Her mask was removed, the silk was gone from her mouth, and her broken leg had been wrapped up in silk like a cocooned meal.
And there was someone in the room with her.
A cloaked bug with a bulging figure, someone who was muttering as they poked at something in the corner of the room.
Mary’s first attempt at speaking ended with her coughing, which only made everything hurt even more as her throat jolted and tried to expel its own dry skin.
She was hunched over for a bit, trying not to jostle her leg even as her lungs tried to climb out of her throat.
The unknown bug approached her and uh . . .
Poked her with a stick?
It didn’t really stop her coughing, but at least she knew that she had gotten their attention.
Between painful coughs Mary managed to choke out a request.
“W-water- “
There was some rummaging, and then a bowl with water in it was place near Mary. She spilled some of the water on herself, but managed to swallow it all down, regaining the use of her throat.
Mary sat for a moment, letting her body absorb the water, letting herself come to terms with the fact that somehow, someway-
She had managed to survive.
Not unscathed, but she was still alive.
Mary took a deep breath, wrapped her nerves, her aches and pains and all the parts of her that just wanted to start crying for Hollow to come save her, and shoved them away.
She needed to learn more about what situation she was in.
Mary raised her head to look at the bug who had brought her the water.
The room was dim, the light only coming from the door that was far away and the soul luma fly that had been where the bug had been searching for something.
So, Mary couldn’t get a very good look at them. They were short, had a lumpy figure, and were wrapped in a cloak. But the light was too dim to look at their face, to see what expression they were wearing.
“Th-thank you for the water. Uhm, where- I had someone with me? Where are they, if- if you know?”
The figure shifted for a moment, before a voice like a mistuned instrument answered her, “The weaver child? I’m afraid that I cannot tell you where she has gone, only that she has promised to return. She managed to drag up here from below my chapel where you both had fallen.”
Mary did her best to not start cursing. She didn’t quite succeed.
“I wouldn’t worry so much. That girl has the air of a Hunter about her, the strength of a Weaver. She’ll keep her weapon drawn and shack this kingdom with her steps.”
The old bug turned her back on Mary, rummaging around once more.
The child, Hornet, was running around a strange place. She had her weapon at least, but so little experience-
But it wasn’t like Mary could do anything to help, like she could even walk out of this room unassisted.
If- when- Hornet returned, she would have to- to do something to curb her need to prove herself. At least give him a dreamcatcher for protection!
The very old bug came a little closer, dropping a small leaf wrapped something beside Mary. She was keeping out of arm’s reach, an understandable precaution for a stranger in her home.
Mary picked it up hesitantly, unwrapping it to find some kind of dried plant matter. Mary ate it, desperate for calories even if she wasn’t sure it was something she should eat.
But most things had been fine so far, so hopefully even in a different land her human stomach would manage to prevail.
“She made me swear on some silk woven around a bent stem to keep you safe, such a strange custom.”
Mary grit her teeth.
Right.
The bugs here, might not know about the Dreamcatchers. Didn’t know if the old bug was a reliable base line of knowledge.
Mary had a choice in this moment.
A decision to make.
Did she restart her lie? Did she try and convince this bug she was powerful?
But she had no proof. There was no Hornet here to give her words power, to back up what she said.
Any claim she made would have to be proven, and at this time, all the sing and hoops in the world wouldn’t convince this bug that they had any power.
That Mary had any power.
“Ah, it’s a charm from our home. A protective charm. I make them as my primary job actually.”
The old bug hummed a bit, “Oh? Perhaps you might be able to sell some to the Pilgrims as they come through on their way to the Citadel.”
Mary took a deep breath, trying to decide if it would be better to admit her ignorance or try and pretend she knew what the fuck the bug was talking about.
But Mary had a busted leg, was doing everything she could to ignore the pain, and needed information NOW.
“The what? I’m sorry, but I know very little about your land, if you wouldn’t mind tell me?”
And so Mary was regaled with tales from the Eternal Pharloom until she subsumed to sleep once more.