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The garden was filled with the floral scent of autumn flowers and the variety of bright comforting flowers. A girl, dressed in green , slowly treaded down a pathway, letting the cold air blow its brown hair out of her neck. This place was more beautiful than she had pictured, The Queen’s Garden. An old retreat for the queen of Hallownest, though with the passage of time it was slowly overtaken by none other than the mantises. Now, the garden is reserved only for the higher ups, Moss knew that well, but curiosity kept progressively itching her.
When she slipped through the silver bars separating Greenpath and the Gardens by the lake, it was as if the itch was cured. Everything was peaceful… but yet something peculiar kept bothering her on her walk.
In the south of the gardens, there are dark caves. Curiosity picked at her more, but everytime she would check the entrances were covered with either sticky white strings or boarded up by planks. That is until she took a detour home…
Caught in her sight was a cave without any signs of blockage, nearly hidden behind a mount of rose shrubs…
…
The girl cautiously shuffled through the stubborn thorns tugging her oversized sweater and scarf. She felt a graze on her cheek, but ignored it.
Laid ahead was an opening, the path nearly empty of flowers.
All she saw in the undergrowth were colors, something as dull as this was new to her. Greenpath has always been full of life afterall. She was only a few minutes away from home with plenty of time to spare… Wouldn’t hurt to check it out…
The opening was small and narrow, filled with overgrown vines, not a problem- the possible problem she didn’t realize until now was that it was a straight drop down.
Luckily, the vines growing here were long enough to use as a rope. There was no guarantee if it was completely secure, but it was better than a leap of faith… She snatched one of the vines curling around an old broken down bridge and tossed it off the ledge.
Moss stared down “Hope this works-” she whispered- to no one in particular.
She steadily began descending, focusing on her grip to make sure she didn’t slip. The more she climbed down the less flowers were visible- as if the garden was fading into other territory. Plants were paler than normal, like they’ve been unkempt.
There were footsteps growing louder from where she came from- She froze in her tracks, staring upwards, confused… There are other people out here..?
“—Hello, anyone there?” she nervously spoke up.
Only silence answered… Before the vine snapped. She tried grasping for any stems in reach but she was too slow-
She crashed to the ground on her sides. Moss laid there for a few seconds, processing what had happened before she slowly sat upright with the support of one arm. She winced, her chest tightening. The vine laid beside her, a clean cut.
She looked up from where she fell- a green light casting over a patch of grass that cushioned her fall.
What was that? What was she feeling just now? Those footsteps- was it another person? If so- her mother never told her about other people roaming around!
…
But that thing caused her to fall-
“Curses…” she mumbled to herself.
She nervously gazed around.
There was one, singular large cave only leading deeper in the darks.
Guess there’s no turning back now.
The girl slowly got up. She dusted her sweater and started limping down…
Moss took out a purple pouch filled with rocks. Loft with a gold cord. Her hands shook as she struggled to open it- it took a good minute. When she finally had it opened she shook the bag upside down over her palm, a few pebbles falling on her hand. She planned to use this to leave a trail behind, to not get lost in this maze. She was hoping she could find directions to the gardens, maybe a tool to help her climb out.
She never saw anything as monotone as this. The caves were small and narrow- Thick layers of cobwebs covered the surfaces. The only “Color” she’d come across are faint mauve lights. It felt suffocating, even if it never posed any danger. This confused her. Why did she feel…what was the word- The environment didn’t phase her…until she took a sharp turn, welcomed by a pile of corpses by her feet.
The remains were a mix of humanoid and bug variants of those cave crawlers, completely mutilated. Moss found herself staring for a bit too long… It felt her stomach twist into a knot in the sight. She forced her frozen hand to poke one of the dismembered arms. It squelched from the contact.
This mound of lifeless bodies didn't do any harm. What made her feel physically…hurt- made her want to run away- She wanted answers, and so she stood and began walking again.
The atmosphere felt more grim, like it was choking her- even though nothing changed.
As she turned to a corner, it could faintly see a blurry silhouette far ahead. It was something human like her, wearing a torn cloak. All it did was stare at her. Its eyes radiating a vague, unsettling orange glow. Moss’ eyes were orange too, but those felt more eerie. Maybe she should ask them questions about this place… The more she stared at it- the more it stared at her - The more dizzy she felt.
It slowly turned it away from her, seamlessly disappearing out of her vision. Her body instinctively wanted to move farther away but she refused. Her steps grew slow and wary- she continuously left more colourful stones behind.
By the time she reached the end the figure was gone. Maybe she should try to keep up…
Moss felt an empty space in her pockets,
she ran out of rocks.
No- this was too risky. Maybe she should come back later with her brothers- she turned around, decided she should focus on climbing ou—
There’s a hand.
In the corner from where she just came from there was a hand gripping on one of her colorful stones. It quickly snatched them before moving away.
Moss rushed over, heaving. The trail of rocks had been replaced with various trinkets. The same figure as before was knelt down, they were intrigued by the scattered rocks- how did they get behind her? Didn’t they run away in the opposite direction?
When she took a step forward, the figure’s head snapped in her direction. Staring at the corner of their wide eyes. Moss was pretty sure her eyes looked just as wide, just as haunted . She went to greet them but a lump in her throat prevented her from doing so. That feeling making her body feel like pins and needles kept amplifying-
They rapidly got up, screaming. Before Moss could properly think they darted out of her sight. The florist began running after them- she tried crying out to them but her throat continued closing up. Her racing heart made everything look blurry, similar to a canvas smudged with paint.
Just then, the cave split into three parts, and just on her right was the figure. Their back turned away from her in the middle of a larger room that smelt of something decaying... Weren’t they running up ahead? Moss forced herself closer. The aching in her chest returned, the same one as before-
Yes, Moss most definitely confirmed there are other wanderers like her.
The remaining question lingering in her head, that she isn’t sure she wants to know the answer to anymore is; are they all nice?
A sudden crack made her jolt. The figure had returned, and was shuddering violently, but It didn’t make her eyes peel away from the scene, but something else did. She heard something similar to a twang of a taught string- when she turned around she saw that her only escape was blocked off by a large pile of bones, large skulls and small arms clattering to the ground.
She coughed at the large amount of dust that spreaded by the ruckage. It felt really dry and putrid in her lungs- Moss felt her eyes tear up from the fight for air- it was getting too difficult to tell what was going o–
Sounds of muffled thumping and slamming from the barricaded exit snapped her from its daze; it was the same cries as before.
“NO- STOP, RUN! DO SOMETHING, OTHER THAN STANDING THERE! ”
How could that be- wasn’t the figure behind her? Did she hit her head too hard or…
She felt compelled to turn, however, as its curiosity took the better of her, she soon regretted it. Through the heavy dust she saw this figure’s neck swell and bulge, and soon split open violently, suddenly expanding to over five times Moss’ height. Orange, fluorescent blood splattered the ground around it, coating the floor all across the cavern, as her body tensed even more. Why couldn't she move? What was this feeling of… she knows it, but how, and from where? A past experience ?
The creature kept mutating and changing rapidly, gaining four extra limbs, each one spindly and gaunt. Spider-like legs shuddered from its now bloating body, stamping the ground in an awkward fashion. A large, spined tail that expanded outwards at the end in a small, mace like object. A large, bulbous stomach rapidly filled with a glowing, yet seemingly volatile liquid, a bright orange like her eyes… was this an infected creature, or some other unholy concoction?
Its true head bent down, the face upside down and gaunt from inner torsions. Before she could even flinch, it snapped into two pieces, old rotting chunks of skin and coagulated blood slathering her face from its… ungodly roar.
This… thing, whatever it was, was a disguised abomination upon the very gods themselves… she could not move from the sheer horror of the monstrosity… yet her body screamed at her to run, but why?
Her skin crawled, she couldn’t breathe. Her foot stepped back as her body screeched at her wrought mind…
"..fear..”
That’s what the feeling is called.
She felt fear. Utter. Primal. Fear.
The abomination reeled back onto its hind legs, towering over her small frame by a minimum of ten of herself, bellowing out a high pitch roar out to the cavern, which bounced off the walls, reverberating into her very soul. It scratched through her skull and rang with the other protests. She wanted to run… no.
She NEEDED to. She HAS to run… now.
The being rushed forward towards her, screeching and spitting acidic bile as it ran, leaving a dust trail behind it… heading straight for her.
But what was that purple flash to her left?
Her head was still frozen on that… whatever it is… as its horrid jaws opened around her neck, about to clamp down…
Until something violently, and quite rapidly, leapt onto its face, screaming the entire time. The being was shoved to her right, missing her by mere inches… instead slamming head first into the stone wall, collapsing in a writhing heap of legs and acid… and soon blood.
The second figure was on the ground, getting up slowly as they shook their arms a bit.
"That was… rather fucking unpleasant- "
The figure managed to get up halfway, before gasping in shocked pain as their leg bent in the VERY wrong direction… that being sideways.
She blinked at the scene, the air in her lungs still missing.
The figure eventually noticed her, looking pained.
"... Who are you, what are you, and what in the void-cursed FUCK are you doing here?! "
…Breathe Moss. Breathe.
She swallowed the lump in her throat like a glob of lifeblood, her eyes slowly peeling off of the figure and to the mount of the limp…twitching horror.
The horror was writhing still, as the being on the ground rose up after a massive grunt, and a haphazardly made splint.
"Ghn… gods damned leg gave out at the worst time… whoever you are, thing, you need to get out of here… fast. Go back the way you came, and don't come back."
The figure then sighed a defeated sigh.
"For your own sake."
The florist continued to huff, the sickening air continuing to make her head throb and tying her stomach more…The smell of rot overbearing.
“...I… uh…”
A clean cut.
“...can’t…..”
The figure, now shown as a rather short woman due to her eyes adjusting slightly, and from her close proximity, tilts her head.
"Wh- what do you mean you 'Can't?!' It's as easy as turning around and going out one of the caves!"
She stopped, confused, lost and more ill.
Something rising from the earth again.
Moss made a sick noise in her throat, her eyes flickering away from the corpse and the figure, but that scene was still burnt in her screaming mind. Her hand went to her mouth, she choked, shut her eyes and moved to the side. A rush of burning fluid filled her mouth, before spilling all over the rubble.
The figure lept backwards, yelping in pain, then surprise.
"WH- O K A Y THEN, YOUR NOT A NOSK…"
The women inhales after a second-
"...are you ok?? How the fuck did you puke orange-"
…
…She threw up…
…She felt a little more sober, vivid orange seeping through her hand and sleeves.
“Gah… A…nosk? The orange…? Uhm…”
As she talked, the monster started to rise, as she and the woman both snapped to attention towards its sounds.
Not good.
The woman, this strangely short woman, then turned to her with a desperate cry.
"Go! I can stop it from chasing you for a few tikclicks! Just go!"
…How can she defend herself against that thing with a broken leg?
Moss wiped the infection dribbling down her chin…
“...but your leg…you…-”
"I don't care, just get out of this hell, anyway you can! You don't know me, and you sure as hell don't belong down here!"
“...I don’t wanna leave someone down here with that bad of an injury…”
The florist slowly stepped away from the rising spider.
The woman tried to do so slowly as well… thinking.
"W-well, That's pure of you, but I don't think you know this place well enough to get out alive alone…"
“...I uh… left a trail…out……?
The woman looked at her for a second, then quickly grabbed into her pocket… pulling out a mixture of Moss' rocks, and the trinkets she left as a replacement when she was scavenging.
"...I know where to go then. Can you help me?"
“...Mhm..!”
She smiles for once, instead of the grim expression.
"...Alright, get your arm under my shoulder, and help me run, ok?"
She stepped forward and did as told, moving her arm to support her weight. She was… surprisingly light , even for her.
"Ok, so I got in here from around that corner over there, it's a small crawl space big enough for us to fit under-"
She pointed frantically towards the corpse-ridden webs that were beside them, to a small bend behind the farest pillar. It seemed normal at first glance, but maybe it had more than it seems at first sight.
"-its over there!"
Moss nodded, before treading to the narrow space.
“...in here…?”
"Yes, its hidden below that pile of bo-"