The Desolate Devotion

I

A feeling of dread washed over the crater where a body rested flatly. Her magenta/red cloak was dusty and torn, she was thought to be dead until her body flinched thus waking her up. Hornet's vision was blurry, her head felt like it was spinning as she weakly raised up from the ground. Her forearms shook, staring at the stone floor beneath her. Her body ached as she sat on her knees, coughing from the dust around her that quietly enclosed her. She then waved the dust away, the cave around her opening. It appeared the Black Egg itself had gotten completely destroyed after the fight. Hornet stood up as the particles cleared, she looked around as the thought of the Knight came into her mind. Panic rose in her as she looked about the scene, searching for any sign of life. She began to stumble about, noticing her needle and painfully bending down to pick it up. As she picked it up, she felt the tip touch something. Her vision trailed over to the point where it was poking some object, as she looked over horror came down upon her as she realized the object was the broken mask of her half sibling. She dropped the hilt of her needle, her hands trembled as she gently placed them around the rounded form of the shell. It was cracked almost perfectly through the center, going entirely around making it halved. She carefully picked up the pieces in her shaky hands, feeling an overwhelming amount of emotions flow through her. She pushed away her sentimental feelings and looked back over to her needle. She took some silk and tied it around her needle, she then gently put it around her neck so it rested behind her. She picked up the mask's pieces and stood up, she began to stagger out of the old prison. She had no idea where she was going, her legs were simply taking her somewhere.

She found herself entering Dirtmouth, all of the bugs had left their homes along with shops and had congregated near a bench. She could hear all of their worried voices, Elder Bug's gaze had gone from the crowd to where Hornet was approaching. His voice died down and his expression changed to that of grief. As the bugs around him questioned his look, they also turned to see what he was staring at. At the sight of Hornet, all of the voices paused. Their expressions all changed to the shared anguish as their eyes peered down to the shell in her hands.
"Th... they... they did it." She muttered, feeling weakness start to drag her down. She felt herself start to fall but Iselda, a shopkeeper and the wife of the known cartographer Cornifer, quickly came to her aid and caught her.
"It's alright, Princess." Iselda said softly as she helped her continue to walk. She then came more towards the crowd, noticing the familiar faces of Elder Bug, Sly, Zote, Bretta along with the aforementioned Iselda and her husband.
"The infection... I-it's gone, it's destroyed." At her words the bugs around her lit up with surprise, other than Zote who appeared to look disgruntled at the information.
"It's gone?" Sly echoed to which Hornet nodded, she held up the broken mask in her hands.
"They did it." She repeated, all of the bugs around stared solemnly at the sight. Zote, however, did not appear accepting of the answer in front of him.
"The infection? Stopped by some puny cur? It was my job to-" as he spoke all the bugs around him turned their heads to him, staring at him intensely. Even Bretta appeared to reciprocate. "To..."
"Say anything more and I'll gut you myself." Hornet bluntly growled. Zote then stood awkwardly, Hornet suddenly stepped forward quickly which made him spring backward then run off. The scuttling of his feet became quieter as he disappeared from the scene, she could have sworn he tripped as a pitiful grunt was heard before more scuttling. Hornet fixed her posture and looked at the shell, breathing in. Iselda had been carefully holding onto her, but Hornet began to walk away and towards a now lonely bench. She sat on it and began to produce silk, tying it around the mask to hopefully keep it together.
"All of the bugs that were turned mindless have died." Hornet said as she continued, the remaining bugs mourning quietly to themselves.
"The inside of the temple was destroyed, the plant life lost its sickly orange glow." At that she finished wrapping the silk around the shell, staring at it dejectedly. She then stood up and turned around, carefully placing the mask on the old iron. Her hand gently traced down its form, despite her more challenging demeanor in the beginning respect grew for the small vessel.
"It did not come without a price." She said, turning back around to the townsfolk and started to tread away.
"Where are you going?" Cornifer asked, Hornet slightly turned her head back.
"Away, for now. Please, watch them for me." She said more softly, continuing down the path back to the well. All the townsfolk appeared to follow her for a few seconds as they watched her leave, Elder Bug waving to her though she was unaware.
She reentered the Forgotten Crossroads, a place that once became rampant with orange pustules of new sprouting infection now resembled its original look. It had more broken stones and cracks, she could see the corpses of certain bugs such as tiktiks and even the once explosive furious vengeflies. She still avoided those bodies due to habit. She started wandering back to the temple, unbeknownst to herself. As she entered the shattered arena that simply left a crater, she sat down at an edge. She took off her needle and carefully held it in her hands, staring at the pale metal. She took out a cloth she had always carried around and began to wipe off the weapon, with water it would be cleaned off better but she decided to use what she had. She could somewhat see her reflection, as it appeared to her she noticed there was a crack in her mask. She gently felt it, it did not hurt her physical form but the sight made her feel slightly anxious. She made a plan to visit the mask maker to get it repaired, it would require her having to take it off which gave her discomfort. She placed the needle behind her then carefully rested herself onto the cold stone below, feeling exhaustion take her over as she closed her eyes.