Tribal

2

She had assumed that her lumafly lantern would be enough to get through the darkness of Deepnest. She was wrong. Her lantern barely gave light a few paces in front of her; she was lucky to have the spider as her guide. "We're almost there, my lord." Finally, after hours of endless wandering through the shadows, they were coming up on their destination. How exciting! She would finally be able to meet the queen and the mysterious knight again. She shared Ash's ideas, at least some of them. She believed that they had much to gain from the kingdoms surrounding the wastes, but she shared other ideas with Clover. Such as how those without skill in combat do not deserve her attention; Deepnest was lucky that all of its citizens were born with strength, otherwise she would not pay any attention to those that passed her.

As they began to walk into the entrance to the distant village, she could begin to see lights in the village. It was much brighter compared to the claustrophobic tunnels she had been wandering through these past few hours. As she took in her surroundings—the hanging houses, strung up by the webs of the arachnids; the black lake under the village that she could not see the bottom of; the houses all made of webbing as well—she wondered how the creatures of this place could weave such impressive architecture. "This way, my lord." She was taken out of her amazement when her guide called her to a nearby elevator. "Apologies, I was admiring the skill of your architects," she tried her best but could not contain her excitement at seeing the wonderful village, the way that lights would glisten off of the silk houses, and how, should you look down, there seemed to be a bottomless pit. She was never afraid of heights, but seeing that made her sweat, just slightly.

The spider noticed her amazement and chuckled to himself. "You flatter us too much, my lord; just wait until you see our queen's home." At this, Acacia's eyes lit up. How could any home be greater than the ones she had just seen! It sounded impossible, but she was quickly disproven when she looked at the queen's home; it was massive, far larger than any other residence that she had ever seen before. Lights came from inside, and many spiders were conversing both in and out of the place. To call this behemoth of a webbed building a house was an understatement; it was more like a castle made of spider silk. Truly an awe-inspiring display of skill in architecture. Her amazement caused her jaw to drop; when the spider looked towards her, he audibly laughed aloud. "If you think this is something, you should visit the white palace. It is a wonder of a place." The mantis refused to believe that such a place existed.

"Ready to head inside?" The spider asked. When she heard this, she began fidgeting. Of course she wanted to see the inside! But she was a lord and must conduct herself as one. "Yes, let us enter," barely containing her excitement. She calmly walked inside. Inside the silk palace, she saw many things; furniture made of spider silk was expected, but there was also gilded strands. She was confused, as far as she knew, spiders only created white silk. Noticing her confusion, a nearby spider walked up to her. "You're wondering how we have colored thread, don't you?" The mantis wanted the answer but didn't wish to be rude, so she simply nodded. "Well, usually we just dye the silk, but to create that glittering effect, we have to use small, almost invisible gold flakes; they are inexpensive and easy to obtain, but they give such a beautiful visual, don't you think?" Acacia had her answer and was pleased. "Yes, your weavers must be very proud of themselves for producing these appealing items." The spider laughed. "These are simple things, darling; not much thought goes into them." The spider woman continued to chuckle slightly at the compliment. Acacia felt embarrassed; she was glad that the spider enjoyed the compliment, but others began to stare, and it made her face hot.

Noticing this, the woman commented. "Oh dear, don't be so red; I found your compliment to be quite sincere, and I'm very glad that you find us skilled. I often forget that many mantises do not leave their village often; I was simply surprised at how such a small thing was impressive to you. I meant no disrespect by my outburst." Acacia composed herself and began to chuckle at the situation herself. "I need no apology; many eyes on me is not common in the tribe; we are few, and most of the attention is directed at my older cousin Ash, who is head of the tribe." "Oh? And where is he?" Acacia sighed. "Unfortunately, he and the third lord, Clover, had many problems to deal with and could not make it today; however, they have sent their regards and gifts for the little ones." The woman seemed to be pleased with this answer. "Well, that is much appreciated. We hoped that all could see the little ones, but at least one of the three will suffice." The woman walked off and returned to her earlier conversation.

"My lord! This way, please!" She looked the other way and saw her guide. She made her way over to him. "Apologies, I was caught up in conversation." The spider looked over to her. "It is no issue at all; I merely assumed that you would wish to converse with the royals." Acacia suddenly became nervous; she assumed that many would be at the celebration, and many royals would appear as well, but she hadn't yet considered that she would have to speak with any others besides the queen and perhaps the knight if she was lucky. A mantis never shows fear, however, and stood up straight and entered the queen's chambers. Once inside, she immediately noticed the queen herself, relaxed laying in bed with her three children sound asleep in front of her. A nearby pillbug, who was presumed to be Quirrell, the young student of the late Monomon and husband to the queen, she noticed the current queen of the Hive, Daisy, who had gifted the queen a jar of royal jelly, a type of honey reserved for royalty only; it had many vitamins and plenty of nutrients to boost healthy growth in children. The nearby White Lady, previously the queen of Hallownest, now just the overseer of the Queen's gardens, Greenpath, and the Fog Canyon. She had gifted the children with a pale flower; it seemed to glow a soft white. The perfect nightlight for the children as the flower never wilted. The mayor of the surface village, Dirtmouth, had also appeared slowly behind her. "Ah, welcome Elderbug." The queen spoke.

"I appreciate the invitation, your highness." Elderbug had spoken in a very raspy voice. "Here is the gift that the citizens of Dirtmouth offer." Elderbug sat three small plush dolls of tiktiks in front of the children, who immediately grasped ahold of the dolls and fell soundly asleep once again. "I think they like them; we are gracious, Elderbug." Quirrell spoke. "I'm very glad; we had an expert craftsman create them using spider silk; we were lucky enough that our shopkeeper, Sly, knew such a craftsman." Elderbug slowly sat down next to the White Lady. Acacia walked up to the queen and her offspring and took a kneel. "Ah, one of the three mantis lords. So glad you could make it. A shame your fellow lords could not appear today." The queen said. Acacia noticed that the queen spoke softly, but there was a power behind her voice, one that demanded respect, and one that made you fear the consequences should you not deliver said respect. "It is unfortunate; however, my fellow lords send their congratulations on a healthy birth, and we three offer these gifts as a peace offering between nations and a celebration of new life." Acacia placed the gifts in front of the children: three sets of adolescent mantis wings. "Although your children are not mantises and have the ability to cling to surfaces, we offer these gifts. They may not function as regular wings, but they can be used as gliders. They are lightweight and easy to carry and use, should the children ever need them, or just for enjoyment."

The queen eyed the wings carefully then spoke, "Thank you for these. I can see my children finding much use in these. And the kingdom accepts your peace offering and wishes your kingdom well. Let us put our pasts behind us and continue to grow together as united kingdoms." Acacia lifted her head slowly and stood, bowing before the queen and her children. She went to sit next to the Hive queen Daisy when a very imposing figure walked into the room: he was the king of Hallownest. The White Lady saw her son and looked away; she still blames herself for the horrible things that happened to him and his siblings. The king did not look her way; instead, he kept his eyes on the spider queen. As he was walking, another walked into the room; had she not known that the captain of the guard and the king's personal knight wore that deep dark blue, she would not have known it was him. The mysterious silent knight.

The Ghost.