Feudal Phase

Off the Path

Aster woke up to find that Darter was gone. It was impossible to keep Darter from meandering, anyways, and they hadn't taken any snippers, but that was because for some reason Darter felt like they didn't need food. Aster figured they could do without Darter for the moment, descended the stairs, and found themself glowing slightly in the gloom in front of Elytron, brandishing another snipper in one hand and some vines they'd been gathering on the other. They had planned to have bugs for the exchange, too, but that could all be done later.

Aster placed it on the ground, but had their hands around it still. Something wrapped around it, this time Elytron's tail, and Aster kept their grip secure. Elytron's eyes locked with Aster's, the panta clicking with confusion, and Aster said, their voice shaking, "I'm here to make a deal with you."

Elytron clicked again. "What's a deal?"
"You're going to live in our basement, so, um, I thought we would have terms, so that you know what we expect out of you, and you know what to expect out of us. It would make it easier for us to live together," Aster explained. It sounded like something Cyspel would say, which made them proud. Drawing themselves to the fullest extent they could, they continued, "I want you to help us with some ropemaking. There's some good material around here, and we could start making rope and pillows and maybe even clothing, if I can kill something big, and it's a lot of work for two panta, so maybe, we thought, there could be three of us."

Elytron tilted their head, withdrawing their tail. "Why?"

"Because you could be good at it," Aster explained, pushing it to them. "And then you could help someone, and be a part of something."
"Why?" Elytron asked.

Aster exhaled. "How about because I'll go find you some bugs to eat?"

"I can eat any bugs I want. I want the interesting ones, the ones you don't eat," Elytron said.

Aster squinted. They couldn't tell if they had been given a "no" or a "yes". "I can get you a bunch of nettlemakers if you want. And there's the ones with the big colorful wings."

"What are those?" asked Elytron.

"Better than what you get in here," Aster promised. "There are all sorts of bugs, bugs with colors in them, bugs with thorns inside of them, no matter what kind of bugs you like, they're there, and I'll get them to you. You just got to do some weaving for us in exchange, occasionally. I'll show you how to do it."

A membrane went over Elytron's eyes and then withdrew itself. Aster could hear it better than they could see it, which disquieted them slightly. "Can I have the snipper?"
"Is that a yes?"

"I'll do it."
Aster tossed them the snipper. As Elytron dashed forwards and began cracking it open with their teeth, Aster tok a startled step back and began racing up the stairs. Darter was sitting in the windowsill, which, due to having no pane to speak of, was more of a nice nook. A variety of small insects clustered about Darter in a horde, buzzing away as soon as Aster drew near. It was incredible how Darter only seemed to attract pretty, colorful things. The only bugs that ever seemed to want to be anywhere near Aster were dark, humming demons that wanted to feast on their blood.

"I got Elytron to agree to help with the weaving, but now we've got to get bugs. Hey, Darter! How do you get all those bugs? Got any good ones?" Aster asked. "How do you even get all these bugs? They're always there, bugging you. Get it? Bugging you? They're bugs."

"I'm sweet," Darter explained, with an eye roll that suggested they did, in fact, get the joke. "They come to me because my spores are sweet."

"All my spores are good for is not growing my horns already," Aster said, sliding onto the windowsill. "Hey."
Darter looked up. "Hey."