Work Text:
Back straight, no matter how much their shoulders wanted to hunch forward.
Head high, no matter how much it wanted to sag.
Claws perfectly curled around the hilt of their ornate nail, no matter how much they wanted to twitch.
Mind empty, no matter how many thoughts they had.
Will unbreakable, obeying any command, no matter how much they wanted to rebel.
Silent, no matter how much they wanted to cry out.
That was the life of the Pale King’s “pure vessel;” a lie, posted around random areas of the palace, keeping “guard,” but really just decor.
At least, until their young half-sister darted around the corner, calling their name she had given them, “Hollow!”
Hollow stiffened at the volume, breaking their perfect stance to raise a claw to their nonexistent mouth.
“Sorry…” Hornet apologized guiltily, lowering to a still loud whisper, “so… you know how my mama said she’d teach me how to use a needle after my third molt, right?”
Hollow nodded, despite having known none of this until approximately three seconds ago.
“But I’m sick of waiting!” Hornet threw her hands into the air, “will you teach me?”
Hollow narrowed their eyes, hesitant. They knew they’d be in huge trouble if they were found out.
“Pleeeeeeease?” Hornet folded her claws together and extended her tiny fangs, gazing up at her sibling with wide eyes.
Hollow caved, and that knew if they had one, their heart would be melting.
They glanced down the hallway, then walked through it, raising a hand to gesture their sister to follow.
“YESSS!!” Hornet cheered, scrambling to follow their long-legged sibling.
But as they walked, Hollow heard footsteps approaching and froze.
They saw the shadow of a spiked head, and hooked their leg around Hornet, pulling her under their cloak.
“Hey-” Hornet started indignantly, but froze when she saw the figure.
However, luckily for them, it was only a Kingsmould, marching down the hall.
It glanced Hollow’s way, tapping its scythe in a sort of greeting to its fellow void creature, and continued.
Huh. Perhaps Hollow and their many dead siblings were not the king’s only failed experiments.
They relaxed and continued, Hornet still scuttling along under their cloak.
Soon, they reached a door that was carved with Hollow’s face.
They reached up, running their claw along the carving, over the ridges of their horns, over their dark eyes, devoid of any emotion.
“Hollow…?” Hornet started, “are you okay?”
Hollow glanced down and nodded before quickly opening the door and stepping in. Once Hornet was inside, they clicked it shut.
“Is this your room?” Hornet asked, looking around.
Hollow nodded again. Although, you couldn’t really call it a bedroom. All it had was a small bed they had rapidly outgrown, a basin of water, and a stool they sat on when servents came and polished their shell.
They slowly turned Hornet around to face the left wall, which held all their old nails, armor, and cloaks.
“Woahh…” Hornet breathed in awe.
Hollow ran a claw over the nails, six in total, remembering all their training sessions, sharpening their nail, going to the nailsmith to get a new one after every molt.
They reached the bottom and grabbed the hilt of one of their first: a small, wooden one.
“But that’s a practice nail!” Hornet protested as Hollow offered it.
Hollow pressed it into her claws. No matter how many times their sister extended her tiny fangs, there was no way they were risking Hornet harming herself.
Because her shell was real, not just hardened void. Hers could be scarred, whereas Hollow’s was replaced with every molt.
And Hornet was the princess, with a real future as queen of Deepnest ahead of her, whereas Hollow was doomed to an eternity in the Black Egg temple.
They were getting distracted again. Hollow shook themself and led Hornet to the center of their room large, empty room.
They pondered for a few seconds the first thing they should teach her. They didn’t want to teach her much, so no one got suspicious when she actually started training.
They snapped their claws as they figured out the best move: a parry and counter strike. They were very simple and easy to pick up, so it wouldn’t be odd if she got it quickly during her real training.
They preformed a parry, lowering into the perfected stance. One leg ahead of them, straight, the other, bent, their nail held at a perfect angle to reflect any blow without a jarring vibration.
They glanced at Hornet and nodded for her to copy them.
She did, carefully and slowly positioning her little legs, struggling to hold up the wooden nail that was still far too large for her.
“Like this, big sib?” If Hollow could, they would smile at the nickname.
Hollow stepped forward, circling the tiny spider, searching for imperfections. There was only one, as far as they could tell. Her stance was right, if not a bit wobbly, but that was likely from the weight of the weapon.
They carefully grabbed her hand and adjusted it, making the nail tilt at a more precise angle.
They did a final sweep, before stepping back and giving their sister a nod of approval.
She cheered, but stopped to watch as Hollow dropped back down into their parry.
They thunked one fist against the flat of their blade, representing a blow. After their fist was out of the way, they swung their nail into a counter swing.
They nodded for Hornet to try. She got into position, (this time angling her nail correctly,) and swung her nail in an arc.
It wasn’t quite the same as Hollow’s, and could use some polishing, but it would be effective nevertheless.
Hollow taught a few more basics, until realizing how much time must of passed.
They held out a hand for Hornet to stop her slashes and pointed to the far wall, which was closest to the outside, to Hornet, and to the door.
Any other bug probably would have been confused, but Hornet only deflated and sighed. “It’s late already?”
Hollow nodded. Hornet sighed again, her fangs clicking in annoyance.
She came forward and held up the nail. “Thanks for teaching me, big sib. And sorry for almost getting you in trouble a bunch…”
Hollow shook their head and pushed to nail back into Hornet’s grasp.
“Huh? You want me to keep it?” Hornet tilted her head.
Hollow nodded.
Hornet beamed, holding the nail close to her heart. “Thank you!”
She turned to leave, but before she made it to the door, Hollow suddenly turned her around and pulled her into an embrace.
Hornet, usually a chatterbox, returned the embrace as well as she could, only tightening her hold as black tears of void slowly dripped onto her pristine cloak.
Hollow clutched onto their sister, who they knew they needed to appreciate more.
After all, soon they will never see her again.