How to train your vessel - Book one

Into the great beyond!

The endless green all blended together, the hive was easy to navigate because of it's design. Each hex was 5 feet across, each room was either a different size or had different bees moving through it, but this place had neither rhyme nor reason to it. All the frantic vessel saw was green with the few outliers of colored flowers. The roaring of the youth's pursuer was all but drowned out by the rustling of bushes and buzzing of flying bugs. The vessel came to find the green quickly turning blue and gray as it passed a similarly colored sign into a twisting and turning system of caves, unable to slowdown and process this development, the vessel only thought 'Thank Vespa I'm getting somewhere' and fluttered it's wings through the maze. The demons screeching only continued.

"I KNOW YOU'RE STILL HERE!" bellowed the exiled mantis. The vessel had no idea why it attacked, one minute he was asking himself 'where the hell am I?' Then the next he was being chased by a creature almost as big as some of the larger bees the hive had to offer.

 A flash of red pulled him from his thoughts long enough to send him face first into the wall he turned away from. Getting let him gaze upon a woman adorning a bright red cloak of ornate design. A poncho, the rim of which was decorated with gold markings, had another layer lined with the same markings and split down the middle that was attached to the collar . The intimidating figure turned around calmly as the six-eyed mantis stepped closer with it's four disfigured legs. Her 3 toes were tipped with a smooth claws that dug into the ground beneath, her torso (and much of her body for that matter) was wrapped in silk, perhaps using her own body as a giant spool of thread. 

Though the black exoskeleton underneath was almost completely obscured by her thread, white markings and runes revealed themselves at her joints, likely uncovered as not to inhibit her dexterity. Looking up, the left half of her face was adorned with similar markings in grey, the other half bore midnight black images; tendrils appearing as eye lashes, several markings alike the ones on the rest of her body appeared across her face (though looking to be runes of a darker origin then the rest), and painted black scales in a spiral design moved up her horn and ended in the reptilian face of something the little one didn't know was draconic in nature.

 She turned and held at her side a beautiful needle, rivaling that of the nail of the Pale Wanderer the vessel was looking for in it's quality and allure, but clearly she was not the ghost of Hallownest's depths. The mantis with five arms approached, two arms were held at the mutants chest, each ending in the species characteristic scythe, they seemed to be held in place by the ribs and exoskeleton directly. It was with these two arms that the beast lunged first, and the sentinel goddess of silk and determination expertly deflected. The arm on the back left of the mantis was next, also ending in a scythe, growing from the shoulder blade instead of the socket it's other arm was at. 

Hornet was as quick to block the vertical strike as she was the original two arms thrusts, she back dashed and changed stance as the monster tried to stab at her with the left arm that was actually supposed to be there. That arm had claws which held a spear of inferior quality to Hornets Pure needle, but still polished and clearly cared for, The change in the goddess's stance was explained by the seamless parry that followed the spear, only to be parried again by the right arm, massive and deformed with muscle and godly natural armor. It's opponent sent off balance, the tail the infection mutated into the mantis lashed out with it's dagger-like tip, but Hornet was blindingly quick to grab it, spin around, and sting the mantis in the side with it's own strike, crimson gushed all over while her blade clinked against the tails armor. 

Although the vessel would've loved to continue watching the beautiful goddess continue her dance with the attacker. He was on an important journey, he booked it through the winding tunnels and came across the bottom of a well, following the directions "ascend the caverns and travel far beyond Dirtmouth" as advised by his queen before he left to seek tutoring from the Pale Wanderer. 

Through the howling cliffs hummed the vessels wings, he looked back one last time, indescribably concerned about the beloved hive he was born into. Most of the hive had already been annexed by the invaders in only one attack. He was the only one other than the queen who had read the omens. 

The hive Mostly gathered it's pollen from the Queen's gardens, but the exiles had gotten increasingly aggressive as told by the bees who pollinated when asked why so few of them returned.  Then they'd been expanding beyond the gardens and closer to the hive, the vessel had never seen the outside of his homes wondrous golden walls until he decided he had to take action against the folowing assault. 

The hive knights and Monomon's apprentice were the reason the hive survived that first raid, as they were the ones to hold back the swarm while the entrances were walled off. Yet still the Exiles claimed so much. After that raid, the little shadow bee collected geo from the many fallen mantis's and bees, a mark of pride, his mothers hive blood, and one of a mantis's severed scythe arms. For the first time he ventured beyond his home only to find a world disgusting and dull in color compared to the hives endless shine, payed a talented nail smith to forge him a weapon from the mantis arm, and ventured out into the world he knew nothing about. 

The cliffs held no sign of the world outside getting better anytime soon, they were gray and held little life beyond weak bugs, feeling even more dead than the crossroads and fading town. It was time for the next step in his adventure to find the Pale wanderer, the queen told him stories of it when he was young(er): "A being birthed by god and void who embraced Hallownest's dreadful past to slay the evil goddess of light and blight." Surly that ancient ghost could teach him to guard his home the way it guarded free will from the Infection. So the young bee could only think back to what Vespa told him before he departed, "Don't worry about the hive, it will only suffer longer if you do, learn from the ghost of past and dark."

The Pale Wanderer was his hives only hope now, he must find them, no matter the cost.