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Hornet locked the door to the bellhome that Pavo had forced upon her. Although she had added a practical desk, and some little lights to chase away the gloom. She had been considering the expense of a personal spa, but right now the thought of water to sit in made her uneasy. Possibly needed later to clean herself, but another water source would be faster to find for the moment.
She stowed away the key and then sat down upon her bed, and then dropped her masked head into her hands for a moment to just breathe. It was very rare for her to have days this bad, and given her life that was a grave condemnation of the day. Her shell still hurt from the "operation" she had resorted to in order to solve the problem, and yet the trial before that horrible moment was far worse. The sensation of something other moving within her without her consent or control, eating away at her very nature in an attempt to make her into itself, was likely among the fifty worst things she had faced.
With great care she lifted her head and then got to work. The day could not be quite over yet, not until she had truly checked the damage. Her cloak was removed carefully, and set close enough that she could quickly grab it if something did make it inside of the locked home. It no longer smelled, but the recent loss of it to those horrid jailers made it harder to be separated from the garment even in this place, however she needed to be able to see herself.
Her shell had a number of new holes in it at the front, already almost closed in a way that a mortal bug would not be able to match, which had the remains of both her hemolymph and what appeared to be sap around them. The mixture reminded her of the Vessels that she had killed, only without the oily Void corruption that had changed her siblings from their base nature. A combination of what it was like for the White Lady to bleed and what her father's blood looked like.
Hornet moved on quickly from the reminder that she bled more like a Wyrm than a Weaver to the part that actually concerned her. Along her back there were different wounds, or perhaps something else now. The holes that the Greyroot had dug into her body in order to emerge to act outside of her were not healing, in fact they were instead smoothing out into nicely rounded pores that looked as if she had gotten them from a molt, or perhaps from birth. Changed from an intrusion into her self into a part of it.
She needed to look away for a moment. The change that Hornet had not sought out but instead had forced upon her. The least of the remains of that parasite that had simply become another aspect of her nature. The part that no one else would see without her permission. Hornet glanced over at her cloak and reconsidered, no one would see without her permission and also survive.
Hornet, however, could not put off an investigation of the larger remnant. She had attempted to use it once so far on her way back to this partially safe location, had felt and saw the remaining roots reach out and consume the life of her targets, had felt that life go into her to restore her own wounds. Hornet had felt plant and fiber that was a part of her, an alien thing that was at the same time familiar. Most bugs had likely not considered life that was plant as able to be like bug, although with the Shellwood so close this town likely contained more exceptions than most places she had been.
Hornet had been partly raised by such a creature, although a Pale one that had a desire to spread seed widely instead of a creature with a parasite's nature. A lady of great power and knowledge, who had taken time to teach her about many things that it had seemed at the time she would never need. Hornet had never been sure if the White Lady's insights were from foresight or merely to pass along knowledge of great use to another Pale creature, but either way they had helped her many times in the past.
Here it was a more idle conversation that gave insight, a calm and almost happy time when Hornet had questioned what it was like to be a plant instead of a bug. A description of the way the White Lady moved that had made the day of both of them. One that looking back was clearly a moment the White Lady wished she could have shared with one who could use the knowledge, with a true child.
A root snaked out of a hole to rest in her claw as she reflected on that meeting. The color slightly different from what had invaded her, more her own now. Something she could not yet say brought her closer to the White Lady, but at least say let her approach that connection. A possibility that held the promise it could lessen the discomfort of this day in the future. Perhaps after Hornet had returned to Hallownest and seen the White Lady herself again she mused as she ran her claws over the new appendage.
Naturally the next step was to try to move another. However, that proved harder than she hoped as the first immediately retracted as soon as she tried to actively move it. More attempts brought out a number of them at once, and she was able to wave them around a bit before they naturally went back inside.
Hornet spent some more time trying to get some control over the new body parts, but it was quite clear that this would not be an easy skill to master. She knew that it likely did not help to continue to try and force herself while she was as tired as the ordeal had made her, but some progress or control would let her mind rest more easily.
This lasted until a knock on the door interrupted her, and she had her cloak back on and needle pointed at the door before her mind realized that it was a polite knock. "Miss traveler, are you awake?" Pavo said somewhat quietly from the other side.
"I am better than when we last spoke," Hornet replied steadily as she moved to unlock the door. "I apologize for not finding you on my return, but I needed rest after my affliction today."
Pavo had a small bundle of pond skipper meat and a large bell full of water, a rather common meal for Bellhart. "I am happy enough that you survived both that affliction and our outcast physician," he said with renewed cheer. "I brought along a meal as well. You are a resident of our town, and it is my duty to ensure you have what you need to recover."
"Thank you, Pavo. This is a most kind gift that I am happy to see at this time." Most times Hornet would turn down a meal that would be better used in the stomach of someone who needed to eat more regularly, but with many fresh wounds and new body parts she found this quite valuable.
"You are quite welcome. I will be by again later to see if you are still hungry," Pavo said grandly as he handed over the meal. "Please bring the bell back to the kitchens, ones that store water safely are not as easily found as many expect, and we ask that all who are here keep them in good condition."
"Then I shall, and I will keep an eye out for any more I see on my journeys as well," Hornet agreed easily. It was a minor concern and cost her little to maintain life here better.
She was soon once again alone, and with that the door was once more locked, although with a more casual reason now. With her spirit lifted she sat at her desk's chair and carefully set the bell of water on the floor where it would not tip while she opened the bundle and slowly began to eat the meat within. The food was the first she had eaten in quite a while, and she was safe enough to take her time eating it to enjoy the flavor. Something she often did when she ate because of how rarely it seemed to be a worthwhile task.
Midway through the meal she felt a strange sensation. As if she was drinking something, in fact as if she was drinking after quite a bit too long without any water. With a hint of unease Hornet looked down at the bell of water, and saw one of her new roots sticking into it and how that made the water level drain.
Dully she wondered if it would be easy or hard to at least get to the point where she could hide these new body parts effectively before she was in public again.