Chapter Text
As the Knight advanced towards the Howling Cliffs, they found Quirrel. The pillbug was sitting on the stretch of land where the bridge to King’s Pass used to be. It seemed that no matter where the Knight went, they ran into Quirrel, who never missed the chance to say hello to them.
“Oh—hello again!” said Quirrel. He sat cross-legged and was polishing his long nail, but he looked up when the Knight approached them.
“I didn’t expect to find you here...did you see the sky by any chance? I mean, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it.”
The Knight sat next to Quirrel, but a bit closer to the edge; their short and stubby legs barely dangled off the overhang.
“I wonder how much longer they’ll be here?”
Quirrel stopped attending to his nail and scoped the twinkling sky, looking at nothing in particular. The stars plastered the sky in such a way that they resembled a lengthy bridge—one that lay inverted against the heavens.
“This may be my first time seeing these objects, but I know about them. They’re stars, and they’re luminous bodies of great mass,” Quirrel explained. “Ha, but you know, us bugs must look like tiny specks next to them—I mean, imagine yourself next to a star?”
The Knight simply gazed at Quirrel.
“I don’t mean offense!” the bug clarified. “You’re a short one, so just think about it.”
And the Knight did think about it, but Quirrel couldn’t tell—he just assumed.
“I’m not sure how I know about these celestial bodies, but I do,” Quirrel admitted. “Perhaps it’s the same reason why I know about so many other things here in Hallownest.”
Grimmchild had been noiseless since he saw Jiji, but he flew over to Quirrel, who stared at him with interest. The pill bug didn’t miss the skittish glitter in his eyes.
“That’s an interesting companion you have there,” he said.
The Knight looked at the child, who nodded and wagged their tail.
“I’d ask how you two met, but I think my question might be met with the usual silent stoicism.”
Quirrel wasn’t wrong about that.
The pill bug resumed looking at the stars, and he glanced at the Knight out of the corner of his eye. They caught Quirrel staring and he laughed sheepishly.
“Sorry my friend, but I couldn’t help but notice the uncanny resemblance between you and these stars. Just look.”
He pointed towards the sky, and Grimmchild and the Knight traced his movements.
“They’re pale, small, and bright. They’re interesting like you are, though I haven’t heard you say a word since we first met, but still. Hmm, what else...oh and—”
Quirrel continued to ramble about the similarities he found, but the Knight made no moves to leave him; they sat there until Quirrel finished listing out all the resemblances.
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“Born from higher power,
They appear where there’s an absence of light
In a place—dark, scary, and misunderstood.
Stars are pale, bright, and significant.
There’s a lot of them, and they all look similar...they bear the same composition.
From what I know, all stars collapse, eventually.”