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Ever since Ghost had disappeared into that old temple, never to return, Hornet had been quiet.
Tiso rented a house in Dirtmouth along with Cloth and Quirrel and gave her the spare room. It saw more use than any of the others. Hornet had secluded herself in her room, though there were times that Tiso found it empty, the window propped open. When interacting with others, her temper was short and her words were stiff and biting. She avoided most of Hallownest like the plague—she hadn’t picked up her needle in weeks. It was gathering dust in the closet, which remained firmly shut. Tiso didn’t even know if Hornet was eating, let alone sleeping.
Cloth said that she might need some time to grieve. Quirrel said that Hornet internalized a lot of her emotions, and had different ways of coping. Tiso didn’t understand. Everyone else was open with their emotions, even Ghost, when they had been around. Hornet didn’t show any. Maybe it made Tiso sound callous, but he didn’t think Hornet even had emotions . Not to mention she tried to kill Ghost twice!
He didn’t think she really cared. Not that he’d ever say it aloud, but it was true!
(He ignored his own hypocrisy, how he put on a mask of false bravado to hide the scared little ant underneath the armor and behind the shield.)
Tiso opened the door, not bothering to knock. Whether Hornet was in there or not, she never gave an answer. The room was empty, however, the window once again propped open to ensure that Hornet could climb back inside.
Her avoidance irked Tiso. He was never one for thinking things through, opting instead to act in the heat of the moment, so instead of walking away, he strode into the room and shut the window.
Someone else might have tried to enter the house through it, anyways. It was the safer option.
***
It had been four days, and Hornet hadn’t come back yet.
Tiso wondered with no small amount of frustration why she hadn’t just come up to the front door. It wasn’t hard! Just knock and someone would let you in! It would do her some good to interact with others, anyways.
Upon finding out what Tiso had done, Quirrel had lost it on him.
“What the hell is wrong with you?!” Quirrel shouted, completely different from the quiet, kindly pillbug he usually was.
“She can use the front door! Everyone else does!” Tiso retorted.
Cloth watched silently from where he was seated on the threadbare sofa in the living room, but Tiso could tell she was disappointed in him.
“Everyone has their own ways of grieving—Wyrm, we’ve been trying to tell you this for months! We’ve all been trying to tell you! Me, Cloth, Sly, Iselda—we’ve been trying to get you to give her a break!”
It was silent for a few moments as Quirrel caught his breath. The pillbug’s head hung low as he said, voice quiet once more, “If you can’t recognize that she’s struggling… no wonder she hasn’t come back.”
Quirrel hadn’t spoken to Tiso since. That was fine. Tiso didn’t want to talk to him either.
He decided to go for a walk to clear his head. With Ghost’s disappearance came a safer environment, so Tiso didn’t bother to bring his shield. Both Hornet and Quirrel had claimed that the peace that Ghost’s sacrifice brought was only temporary, but Tiso knew Ghost, and knew that the little squib wouldn’t have done what they did unless it fixed the problem for good.
(Again, Tiso ignored the little voice in the back of his mind telling him that he barely knew Ghost, that there was far more to the kid than he knew of.)
Tiso decided to check the old temple. He hadn’t ever seen it, and now that it was sealed up he shouldn’t be in any danger.
As he approached the door, he heard a quiet thump . Thinking there might be an issue, he peeked in, finding Hornet sitting on the steps and leaning against the door. The thump had been her weakly slamming a fist into it.
She didn’t seem to notice Tiso, nor the blood that was trickling down her fist from the force of the hit. Tiso didn’t want to think about how brittle her shell might have become for that sort of damage to occur.
(He didn’t want to think about the fact that Hornet was decidedly not fine.)
And then Hornet spoke, voice hoarse as if she had been screaming.
“Why… Why did you do it?”
She sounded so fragile. Tiso was confused.
(Was he? Was he really confused?)
“You did this. You knew it would be a temporary fix at best. Why did you take this path?” Hornet slammed her bleeding fist into the sealed door with each unanswered question, though each impact was weaker than the last.
“I can’t even be mad at you,” Hornet sighed. “You… you were just a little kid who didn’t know any better. You knew what you were made to do… no, you didn’t know. You were just a confused little kid who wanted to do something that made a difference.”
This… wasn’t something that should be interrupted. As Tiso backed away, the shoulder plate of his armor scraped against the doorway. Loudly.
Meeting eyes with Hornet in that moment would haunt Tiso’s dreams.
“Get out,” Hornet demanded, though it sounded more like a plea. Tiso didn’t move.
“Get out!” Hornet screamed through weak lungs and dulled mandibles, shakily rising to her feet and reaching for a weapon that wasn’t there, seemingly acting on muscle memory.
“This is no place for your disrespect,” Hornet snarled. “If you cannot grant me peace in the house, at least leave me this! This is not meant for you! Get out! Get out! ”
She lurched forward, stumbling even with her claws at the ready. Tiso scrambled back, fleeing from the temple.
As he pulled himself out of the well and back into Dirtmouth, Tiso bleakly wondered if he really knew anything about his friends at all.