Chapter Text
A cold wind swept through the Crossroads from the well above. Drops of moisture pitter-pattered on the stone floor and walls, echoing within the lonely chambers. Small tufts of grass - growing despite a lack of sunlight - swayed gently, situated between the cracks of the rocky platforms. The Crossroads were quiet, and dead. No longer were there the passing conversations of excited travelers, the relieved sighs of residents of the town above coming back home. Not that there had been for a long time. Now, the animated corpses of once-lively bugs trudged through the empty catacombs, instilled with nothing but a blinding light and an instinct to kill.
The eerie silence was broken by the thundering of quick footsteps running down the corridor.
Grunts of exertion sounded from a tall, blue-armoured bug, waving his shield around wildly. Infected bugs leaped out from the shadows and threw themselves at him from all sides - their thirst for murder kept at bay only by the thick layer of shell pushing them back.
"Blasted things..." The blue bug muttered, voice harsh and raspy. He frowned, moreso at himself than the creatures attacking him - disappointed at the effort it was taking him to keep them at bay. He began hacking away at their weak bodies, slicing through their shells, orange bursts of infection leaking onto the tiled floor. The empty carcasses laid still until different bugs jumped atop them and shoved them away, disappearing into the shadows.
The blue bug leaped up onto a stone platform, blades protruding out of the sides of his shield. He launched the weapon towards the pile of creatures scrambling to reach him - the blades spun madly, hacking away at the mass of bodies and leaving a trail of infection along the floor as it flew straight back into his open hand. He quickly turned to bat away the vengeflies swarming above his head.
And then, there was a bang.
The blue bug snapped to attention, turning to the corridor the echoes of the sound continued to travel through. The remaining infected bugs continued to claw at the air below his feet, seemingly deaf to the increasingly loud thundering coming from behind.
He watched hesitantly as whatever it was approached, drawing his shield in front of him protectively. The noise grew louder, and rubble began bouncing on the stony floor with each step whatever it was took towards him.
His grip on his shield faltered ever-so-slightly.
Finally, the massive creature burst through the open doorframe, smacking against the wall. It let out an agitated growl, writhing to try to turn around. The spines lining its back retracted and protruded erratically, and scraped across the walls. Its dagger-like claws dug into the ground beneath it tightly. The blue bug stood cautiously atop his platform, noting the monster's strange behavior. It seemed irritated, almost afraid, he discerned. It knocked into several pillars and crumbling statues as it swayed backwards, giving up on swiveling its entire body around. It seemed to be making a beeline for the other exit.
Was it running away from something?
And suddenly, just as the creature began to rush towards him in a misguided attempt to escape, something leaped into the room.
A flash of colour blazed past his vision.
A booming groan sounded from below him.
And then, the monster was lying on its side, dead - its spined back piercing the floor like daggers. Its clawed fingers twitched for a second before stilling, and its body ever-so-slightly curled.
What.
Was that.
"Oh, hello!" Came a voice from right beside him, scaring the ever-loving daylights out of the blue bug. He jumped, before spinning around to face the source of the chipper greeting.
A strange bug stood before him, with a pale face and some sort of mask hanging over his eyes. He was also standing on two legs, and could speak, so he probably wasn't one of the infected ones. Yet. It usually didn't take long.
"My apologies, I didn't see you there at first." The bug continued. Though he didn't have a visible mouth, he was still very obviously smiling pleasantly. The blue bug raised an eyebrow, staring at him in silence. He began analysing what he could see and had witnessed before, connecting the dots.
"You killed that thing." He spoke, a simple statement. He appeared to be debating something internally.
"Ah....yes, I did." The bug replied, seeming confused. He stood in place for a short while, waiting to see if the other would say anything else. "My name is Quirrel, and I'm an explorer. I'm sorry you had to witness that - I felt I had to get rid of that thing before it attacked someone else."
"...Tiso." The blue bug responded, still cupping his face in debate. An apology? What for? "And I am a warrior. The greatest, in fact. You th-" He spoke, being cut off by a loud grumbling. The floor began quaking without warning, shaking the platform beneath the two bugs' feet. Cracks appeared in the rocky ground, and they split open as creatures began pouring out of them, into the room.
"Ah. It appears the poor fellow had friends." The strange bug - Quirrel - spoke calmly. Tiso turned to him in annoyance, before turning back to the swarming floor beneath them.
"Whatever. I've got-" He began, and without even letting him finish, Quirrel leaped off the platform into the chaos below. Tiso grunted in frustration, before jumping down to join him in battle.
The creatures bore a striking resemblance to the one from before, albeit smaller, and far more aggressive. Upon hitting the ground, Quirrel began slicing skillfully in careful motions all around him - he kicked the corpses of the bugs into the ones behind them, slowing the masses of incoming attackers. Tiso opted to slide down the wall, concentrating as he swung his shield beneath his feet and dropped down on top of it, crushing the pile of bugs he landed on. He continued to slide across the crowd of bugs, clearing out a small area along the floor before stepping into it and holding his shield in a defensive position.
Blades suddenly protruded from the sides of the object, and he readied his arm, prepared to strike.
"Heh. See that? Can't reach that level of efficiency, can you?" He taunted, smirking. This bug's cheery persona and skill in battle were starting to irritate him - so, naturally, he was making it his job to be as insufferable as possible.
The bug in question turned to him briefly, but instead of getting distracted, or lashing out at him, or even trying to show off his fighting ability a little, he simply gave him a curious look, before returning to fighting in the exact same way he was before.
God, this guy was beginning to infuriate him.
He felt a presence against his leg, and he quickly realised that he had been distracted, and the bugs were beginning to clamber onto his lower body and attempt to take a bite. Panicked, he shook them off, waving his bladed shield around his legs and slicing the creatures in half.
He jumped up to a ledge hanging from the wall, and immediately turned to look at the other. His back was turned, so thankfully, he must not have seen. How humiliating. And of course, it was the other bug's fault he was distracted in the first place. Obviously.
"Reckon you could get out of that one, bug?" He called snarkily from the platform, readying his shield and attempting to calm his heartrate. The other turned to look at him, and actually jumped up onto a platform on the other side of the room. Tiso stared at him, trying to figure out what he was doing - was he actually bothered by this remark? Was he readying a snarky reply of his own? Was he overwhelmed with bugs, and needed rest? - he pondered, and without warning, Quirrel sent his nail whizzing straight towards him.
It smacked into the wall just above the tip of his hood, and Tiso felt the remains of a splattered creature slap onto his shoulders.
...
Tiso watched in astonishment as Quirrel dashed from platform to platform until he was standing in front of where he stood, still frozen in shock.
"My apologies. There was a bug coming for your head, and I didn't think you'd noticed it." He spoke, seemingly genuinely apologetic. He reached over, and gently brushed the remains of the bug off Tiso's shoulders.
The audacity.
"What the hell is your problem?!" He growled, shoving Quirrel's hand away. The masked bug's eyes widened ever-so-slightly at the action.
"I-- Of course I'd noticed it! You - you could've killed me with that! Oh, but I bet you're sooo confident-" Tiso spluttered, transitioning into an angry ramble. He stepped closer to Quirrel and leaned in aggressively.
"You're so annoying! You, and your stupid nail, and stupid fighting - I'm sick of it!" He continued, poking his finger into the other's chest, of whom remained still and silent. The lack of reaction was making him more pissed off, if he was honest, and he'd had enough. Angrily, he spun around on his heel, retracting the blades on his shield, and jumped off the platform, crushing a group of bugs with his shield as he hit the floor. They had stopped pouring out of the floor, and there were only a dozen or so left, so Tiso figured the other bug could handle them if he left. He was stupidly good at fighting, anyways. Tch.
Without a word from the other, and still clenching his fists in annoyance, Tiso stormed out, leaving the other bug alone in the rocky, corpse-littered room.