voicetest the voiceless

[focusedvoid]

They're not dead.

Less dead than they'd felt, at least. Their shell doesn't normally take so long to reform.

Then again. Their shell doesn't usually break of their own violation as they ascended in a boiling rage, ate at least one realm, a god, and all the Godseekers.

(That last point is debatable, actually. There's some odd sense, deep under their...shell? Void? Wherever they once stored things like Isma's Tear, much deeper now...that the sea-mind is still there, sluggish and held in a stasis. They're already adjusting enough, and they don't seem to be dying or trying to kill them, so that problem is neatly sorted as 'for later'.)

They push their body to stand. Their horn clangs uncomfortably loudly against the grate they've apparently woken up beneath. They're somewhere in the Royal Waterways. A quick check of the map--or, not so quick, as it takes time to locate where it had been--shows they've risen about halfway through, closer to the City of Tears than the White Palace. They'll go to the Stag Station in the City Storerooms next.

So they think. Complications arise on the way.

The Infection is gone, leaving dead Flukes, Pilflips, and Hwurmps in piles enough it takes time to force their way past. Their body seems too small. No, their body is fine--there's something wrong with perception itself. That will take time to adjust to.

Then, they discover the Monarch Wings now stretch and warp when used, twisting around the nearest pipes after landing before the Knight forcibly calls them back. Shade Wings, they decide to call these.

Once they're high enough to hear the rain above, they realize a noise they'd ascribed to water running in the distance is, in fact, something swirling behind their mask. Many somethings. All the fragments of Siblings with enough self left, staring out from their eyes. It's disconcerting.

By the time they actually get out of the Waterways, they're using their Shade Wings to grip ledges and drag themselves up, with those holding onto things better than their own arms are with the Mantis Claw. 

The Knight faceplants awkwardly onto the floor of the building Lemm's shop is in. If the City is the same as below, there's little left to try killing them in the area.

They'll just take a moment here, thanks.

Comments

[capitalcurator]

Lemm is distracted and paying none of the right attention, because he is trusted to be near someone small and fragile and impressionable, and he has gotten a bit lost in the woods. Everything else fades a bit beside this. It's so new.

This is why when his self-preservation instincts kick in they kick in suddenly and with no buffer. He whirls 180 degrees and sees debris showering from above and an armoured form among it, and with not even a millisecond wasted Lemm scrambles for cover--

-- leaving Greenhorn behind, no, not like that, he can't do that -

- his feet skid beneath him and he turns back, and lunges clumsily back to grab wildly at one of Greenhorn's shadowy tendrils, not even convinced he'll make contact. This, first. This first.

[focusedvoid]

The Knight twists around them both to head back to the Goam and Shriek at it, no matter it never worked before, they're seething and going to do it anyway.

Greenhorn doesn't know what's happening, suddenly the whole of everything moving too fast to even see. Lemm grabs them and they mindlessly wrap around his arm back, yanked along weightlessly, absolutely terrified.

[capitalcurator]

Greenhorn is caught and clutched to his chest and held there as Lemm dodges behind an old marker. It's nothing personal at first, shameful as it is, they might as well be a relic selfishly snatched from anywhere and held in silence to wait til the threat passes.

Luckily Lemm comes to his senses quick, and when he opens his eyes he's staring down at a shade. And they are not a relic, and they are not still, and they can not wait. The Knight is out there, too. The ground is trembling.

"Ah," he says, suddenly breathless.

There is a Shade here, and a Knight preoccupied, and him...

...responsible.

His grip just barely loosens, just enough to be secure and not panickingly tight.

"You," he says. There is a lot going on behind their hiding place. "Greenhorn. Stay. Stay here."

[focusedvoid]

Lemm mostly has a Shade. When he isn't holding on so tight, Greenhorn quickly stops being Greenhorn-shaped, a tangle of black wrapping fully around his arm like a rippling, numbing sleeve.

They're not going anywhere. They couldn't if they tried and they really don't want to try.

It's loud.

It's loud!

They don't know or like this loud. They don't like any loud, but most loud they've heard is something they know. They're pulled from Strongest Sibling but for a frantic thread of distress caught against a wall of irritation and they don't understand what came out from above that they're fighting.

The Knight's Shriek echoes through the tunnel. Just as the Goam moved when it wasn't meant to, the Shriek does what it shouldn't and makes it reel back and retreat.

They keep aware of Sibling and Lemm enough not to completely disappear up the tunnel it left through, but they shoot up to follow enough to send a wild burst of Soul Shade as they cling onto stalactites, straight up after its vanishing form.

Go. Stay gone.

[capitalcurator]

After a second to acknowledge the darkness now cloaking his arm, he firmly quells the natural fear that wants him to try tearing it all off. Lemm tucks it behind his beard and more closely against his chest instead.

He dredges up every pithy reference he has, from those who've brought him relics or just from the records of those who left them behind... ...and it was as lengthy as this caravan, or bigger! - great biting thing with shell so thick my Nail couldn't - she never saw it coming, it hunted us blind -

The statue-marker isn't good cover, but Lemm is resisting the urge to run somewhere else - not courageously, but because the moment the Knight chased that thing back up into the earth this became the right course of action.

Lemm curls around the little mass of shadow clinging to his arm. Through the ringing in his hearing he listens for the Knight and tells himself in a mantra that the Lord of Shades can take care of themselves, and he wills himself to stay very, very still. Lemm is not much for heroics. Even less so when he's holding something so important.

[focusedvoid]

As quickly as it started, it's over.

The Knight slides down, unwinds tendrils from stalactites they don't recall wrapping them around to land heavily back on the natural platform below. The urge to chase is still there. Primarily from anger, alongside a tiny edge of getting it properly for the Hunter's Journal, which somehow irritates them further. They already have that.

They quash it. They have a job to do, people to protect, and they need to make sure it's been done.

It's not hard to find them; there are only so many places for someone Lemm-sized to hide nearby, even without the mindless waves of distress Greenhorn is sending.

They're so so scared but they're not alone, so they haven't fully dissolved into nothing like they could have. For the best, because if they disappear here, they don't know if they'll be able to come back right even if Strongest Sibling would be sure to save them.

The Knight hops and walks over, pausing once on the way.

When they make it there, they look over Lemm and Greenhorn to make sure they haven't been terribly injured, and carefully don't act on their urge to shove what they're holding forward. They gently hold the magnifying glass forward, dropped in the skirmish, with the metal edge around it bent just a little.

[capitalcurator]

Lemm is listening for them. And he trusts at least that they wouldn't be approaching at that pace if they didn't consider the situation solved. They're the warrior (and Shade Lord), after all.

So he uncurls a little by the time they're in front of him, though he's still sitting up against the marker, and though his guard is still all the way up he's surprisingly steady-looking. As the Knight looks him over they'll find themselves similarly scrutinised right back.

"There're few who would tackle that. I saw it clip you..."

His eyes come to settle on the magnifier. Lemm tentatively offers out his arm first, Greenhorn presumably still attached, to emphasise that there may be a problem here. His other hand plucks the magnifier from theirs, and he dips his horns in a gesture at the little shadow. What does he do. Is this normal. Are they okay.

He looks shaken - but not panicked.

[focusedvoid]

They're fine. See, it's obvious they're not limping.

Or gesturing. Or much of anything, now that they've handed over the dropped item and confirmed no fatal wounds. They're preoccupied with irrational seething.

Meanwhile, Greenhorn looks up at the glass changing hands and promptly condenses from a full sleeve to something like a chunky bracelet. The Knight's barely-pulled jab of disapproval doesn't help the situation.

Neither of them are up to reading into possible questions right now.

[capitalcurator]

"...Mmgh."

Lemm gets to his feet, picking up on the tension and disliking it immensely. Did they expect him to do more? He's an ordinary bug and he doesn't do that kind of thing! What was he supposed to do, run straight towards the beast and offer himself as a distraction? That's not... ...what's happening here, maybe.

The Knight is not like other people. Lemm tries to unwind the tight coil of reproach and decides that if he can't make sense of the oppressive atmosphere, maybe he shouldn't try and risk snapping at them.

He didn't outright ask to be responsible. But he wanted it, didn't he?

Lemm catches himself staring at the dented magnifying lens for a little too long, and promptly shoves it in his bag and out of sight. This frees up his hand to come to rest timidly on the curl of Void around his wrist.

"Your Knight's very brave," he mutters haltingly. "But there's no shame in being sensible. Wise of you to stay out of it." He looks up and addresses the Knight in... much the same tone, actually. "You dealt with that well enough, but I know when this ruin has me beaten. I don't fancy meeting another of those today."

[focusedvoid]

The Knight's first instinct is to disagree, because they're right there.

...This would go against everything else they've been aiming for. They don't want Lemm to push himself. They don't want unnecessary danger. And they think--think--they heard a familiar bubbling hiss of acid in the next room. Reasonable, down to Fog Canyon. It's an area of far worse dangers that only appear less dramatic than a rampaging Goam.

They dip their head. That's correct.

Meanwhile, that isn't what Greenhorn's problem is. The Knight nudges them again, and paces a few steps back and forth to calm when they're hit with more distress. That barely works, but enough, after they slice down another plant to express frustration. It isn't their fault, it's not Lemm's fault, it's not their own fault.

Greenhorn isn't listening to me well currently. Are they hurting you?

[capitalcurator]

Lemm tracks the Knight's movements; now that he's given up trying to understand what's going on with them, he has to turn inwards instead. He's not sure how he ought to feel. Guilt usually isn't on his roster; he's lived for himself for a long time, which means he's gotten to skip it and jump straight to annoyance that anyone would expect better of him.

Except he wants the Knight to expect better. This is a jarring thought. Guilt it is, then, though he's careful not to let it show.

"No." It feels numb, but not like imminent pins and needles - more like there's no contact at all with anything else, including air, or his own shell. It's strange, but not a problem. Void is strange by nature. He's adjusting to that fact rather well now that he's spent some time around it already.

"Still have that coat?"

[focusedvoid]

Greenhorn stays where they are. Hopefully, Lemm wouldn't be fool enough to lie about that.

Although if he needs the coat...

Well. It isn't the warmest area, with breezes still able to sweep down through the tunnels. The Knight responds by producing it, quelling yet another twinge of irritation when that action leaves half the length draped on the ground.

[capitalcurator]

Lemm takes the coat and hangs it over his shoulders. He's not cold. He just paid a lot of attention, and he is a very pragmatic bug.

Lemm tucks his arm into the fabric to put Greenhorn in the dark. He's not sure. But theory is useless until it's tested, and it's not like he has any better ideas. (Nor the Knight, apparently. That is maybe the worst of this, but he'll confront that later.)

"Let's go. We've all had enough." With a sigh, Lemm starts walking. "Hallownest has a few new surprises, doesn't it?"

[focusedvoid]

If it was only them, they might allow it all to stew a while. But even being hidden in the dark isn't settling Greenhorn properly, and the Knight is still burning with an urge to do something drastic. Normally, they'd go fly across a tunnel at full blast with the Crystal Heart, but this isn't an option.

They have less solid consideration of responsibility of someone new in this case. But allowing bad air to fester before another trip and another ride would be the height of idiocy.

I need a few moments, and would like to scout to the west first. to take a walk alone. Is this acceptable?
+ Greenhorn would like reassurance you don't hate them for "breaking it".

The first part ends with a question. The second intentionally does not.

[capitalcurator]

Lemm stills to read, and looks sheepish.

"Oh. Yes. Go ahead, I- we'll wait for you." A pause for the cogs to turn.

...Ah, that.

The twinge of distress that runs through him at the reminder is just barely visible in the way he tenses. He'd been trying not to think about the lens. Trying very hard in fact.

What is the responsible thing to say? If this was anyone else he'd run them off with the rounded side of a journal.

"...I've no hate for the little one over an accident. I'll talk to them about it while you're gone." He'd love to not, but. Commitments. "Be careful with yourself, Knight. Today isn't the day to find out if the Lord of Shades is invincible."

[focusedvoid]

The Knight dips their head graciously. There's nothing in this kingdom that could keep them down for long before they were Lord, or King, or any title, but there's no need to point that out here.

They go. It isn't an intentional move, leaving them alone together, but any particular true danger distress would be enough to call them back. It's necessary to calm. Their presence would not help.

In the meantime, Greenhorn is still a mess of black around his lower arm. They heard that. They still feel terrible. They've never, ever--done any of this before. Travelled around outside. Got an interesting thing to hold onto. And this first time they broke it.

They're just...it's awful. It's almost like scared, but not. It's not being scared about dying or getting hurt again.

(A first experience of anything difficult is, naturally, the worst experience of that thing someone has dealt with to that point. In their fragments of existence, Greenhorn has never had reason to feel genuine guilt before.)

[capitalcurator]

Lemm is not an idiot, and he's not going to have this... probably rather lopsided conversation around a series of conspicuous tunnelled holes right after seeing what came out of one. He turns the opposite way and trudges slowly to where the cavern narrows, and he stops by a wall. The ground's less churned up here. Hopefully that's a good sign, because he's also not stupid enough to wander all the way out of sight with someone else's family on his arm.

Lemm takes a deep breath, steels himself for the terrible job he's sure he's about to do, and lets his free hand come to rest lightly over Greenhorn in what he hopes is reassurance.

"Is that what you're fussing about, then." His tone is gentle, though not so much more than usual. Maybe the best he can do is try to convince them it's a non-issue. "A frightening thing like that happens and you're lingering on the small things. Pah! I'm not upset about a lens." He is. But the next part is true: "I'd be upset if that thing took a bite out of you, but it didn't and we're here to say so. Thanks to your Knight, no less."

[focusedvoid]

It doesn't feel like a small thing. They knew it was dangerous. They expected the dangerous! This was a whole different...threat. A threat they made? They didn't mean to. They weren't trying to be dangerous to the thing Lemm let them hold.

But there was something worse. It would've made him feel worse if they got hurt.

...Maybe they're still scared about the dangerous, too. They're scared and guilty in a very unpleasant mix they don't know what to do with. But what he's saying is...lots of what he says is smart. They like learning from him, even some stuff they already know a little about. This is more learning.

Str--the Knight did help. They kept both of them from getting broken. Bitten. They stopped it from being worse. It's quiet now, just Lemm's voice humming.

They ripple around his arm and press tentatively up, almost a three-horned shape against his fingers.

[capitalcurator]

Lemm's hand almost lifts away in surprise when the shadow shifts, but this seems like a positive enough development. Which means his talk is... working? It's working. Relief blossoms in his chest. Could have gone so badly. He is used to it going badly.

Maybe it's this that prods him to dig a little deeper.

"I can replace a glass like that. Or fix it, maybe." Not easily, but also not the point. "Saved up Geo for an age to get my first proper relic, or it felt that long. Then I found a seam on the thing and realised I'd been had by a fake. You can imagine. The point is, stuff comes and goes. Don't get bogged down in it."

He thinks he can feel (numbly) horns under his hand, though he isn't about to shrug off the cloak to double-check. Very gingerly, his thumb strokes back and forth against what he estimates is probably their forehead. He's not sure of himself, and it occurs to him that in this state he doesn't know what might hurt them. The motion stops as soon as it starts.

"You've done nothing wrong, and I'm... grateful... to the Knight for the... the protection." Oh, that was a struggle and a half. "Nothing's owed. Understand? Our safety for a little magnifier - s'a fair trade."

[focusedvoid]

Fix it! Of course he can fix it. They didn't think about that. Maybe they can try to fix it, if they're allowed to touch it again. Maybe they can help when he does, at least...?

The thing about a fake relic is absorbed. They don't...really understand most of it, and can't ask. They're a little confused about what a relic is. It's something from Hallownest to look at and learn from, as far as they understand. Lemm came from somewhere outside, though, and they guess someone pretended something was from here when it wasn't. But now he has lots of relics. That must make him feel better.

And Greenhorn's suddenly feeling better too. Safety for a magnifier, and a fake relic for getting more good relics later, and they didn't do anything so terrible as to not be allowed to do anything again with him being so mad. He's not.

They coalesce into proper Greenhorn-shape and stick their head out of the cloak, bringing his fingers with them. Hi, Lemm!



(In the meantime, the Knight is floating in an acid pool, having a sulk. Greenhorn's burst of cheer is almost insulting. They're careful not let that sentiment out enough to be noticed.)

[capitalcurator]

Lemm does not think he'd have been able to face the Knight if this had gone in the opposite direction. More than that - and this is a very unfamiliar feeling and it sits awkwardly in him like there isn't really space for it - he was worried about Greenhorn. Worried! He knows so little about Void (and so, so little about children) and in addition he finds he quite likes the little shade's company, and that's new, too, and it all compounded unpleasantly into a worry that maybe they weren't going to be okay.

But they're bouncing back, apparently. It is enough of a relief that Lemm forgets to put the walls back up.

"There you are! I don't really go in for wearing jewellery, but I was starting to think I'd have to make a permanent exception." He does not pull his fingers away, but he does waggle them slightly. "First things first you'll let the Knight know you're listening when they come back, won't you? They were worried you weren't."

[focusedvoid]

Oh, right. They were...being extra separate there. They don't need to wait! Greenhorn takes a moment to deliberately poke at their sibling, and they get a trickle of check on Lemm alongside the idea of their being wrapped around his arm in response.

Greenhorn's not too worried by their concern, but they make sure to reach up and pat where they were tangled around once or twice to check. For...wounds? There's definitely no cracks or melting, but the Knight doesn't elaborate from where they are, so they settle into contentment. They're both fine!

[capitalcurator]

Lemm isn't sure what they're doing at first, but when the understanding sets in he mildly tries to extricate his arm from their little inspection and snickers, going to pat them on the head instead.

"Ah, aren't you fussy. No, you'll find I'm a sturdy old thing... What about you, then? I hardly know where to look, or what to do about it if I found anything."

Lemm peers at the little shade and searches for signs, his hand lingering and sort of gently nudging them to turn this way and that. He really doesn't know what he's looking for. Maybe he should ask the Knight about that, but already he's doubting there will be a next time, so maybe there's no point.

[focusedvoid]

Greenhorn wiggles about in the ways Lemm nudges, offering their scraggly limbs for him to look over. There's not anything new to see now, but it'd nice to let him know he doesn't need to be concerned either. No bites or cracks or melting!

Finally, the Knight drags their body back up onto land. They're somewhat less irritable from the time spent to sort out their feelings, and heartily helped by Greenhorn's cheer seeping through despite themselves.

They write out a note in advance before they amble back and hand the paper over, completely ignorant how they reek from being directly atop acid for a while.

It looks like that way is a dead end without acid resistance, which I'll assume you're unequipped with. I could possibly dig through it in a larger form, but I'm not sure if that's worth the risk of destabilizing tunnels or luring other Goam.
-Goam weren't smart enough to ambush or give chase while Infected. It would make sense that survivors are. I was angry about the surprise and that I hadn't thought of it.

My apologies.

Greenhorn doesn't read it, but the Knight offers apology to them as well, which they accept without thinking on it too hard. They're enjoying poking the cloak's ruff now.

[capitalcurator]

Lemm is more attuned to the sound of the Knight's footsteps than he realises, because even as they faintly fade into earshot he's already patting Greenhorn on the cheek with finality and turning to wait for their approach. As they near, though, he is suddenly rather reluctant to be in the same personal bubble.

Eyes narrowed, he reaches out and plucks the paper from their grasp at arm's length. A quick scan and his demeanor softens again, but he still can't let exactly let it slide.

"No, I'm not equipped to weather acid, so that's a write-off. But apparently you are," he says disapprovingly, "since you smell like a chemical test! Urgh, and it wouldn't be the first time! You'll be washing that off before you touch a thing in my shop, Knight, make no mistake."

...His fingers tighten against the paper and he whips it down to his side like he's done with it, but this is followed by a stiff, pointed stare off to one side and then Lemm forces himself to look the Knight in the face.

"If that's - what that was about. I know who I've had as my guard today, don't think I've forgotten. I doubt anyone else could chase off one of those things, so - don't go telling yourself off for a job well done. Ugh, let's just..." He gestures back the way they came.