Chapter Text
It turns out while Elderbug was wandering, he somehow got to an odd opening in the city. There was nothing else there except for a fountain. Adding on to the oddness, he noticed that it was seemingly the only place in the city that was well-lit. Very cool fountain though. It had three figures surrounding some weird kind of bug with big horns. The rain was starting to make the beautiful sculpture look depressing. Kind of reminded Elderbug of his small friend.
A minute more of admiring the fountain, he realized there was a smaller bug standing there with him. Talk about coincidence, the bug next to him was the small knight themself! They were just staring at the fountain as if they looked away then the whole thing would manage to run away. Did they even know that Elderbug was next to them..?
“Um, little knight? Are you there?”
It seems like they didn’t know of anything else besides the fountain, the scene was pretty ominous. While trying to ignore the unnerving stature of the knight, Elderbug noticed that there was a plaque placed on the front of the sculpture.
In the Black Vault far above
Through its sacrifice Saladnest lasts eternal
Welp he has no idea what that could possibly mean. Regardless of what Elderbug thinks, it must be important! No one would put a big frickin fountain in the middle of the heart of the kingdom for no reason.
“Aye! What are you doing just staring at them? Don’t you know that is extremely creepy??” an annoyed voice came from somewhere behind the two bugs.
Elderbug turned around to a third bug with a couple of horns that reminded him of a thing called a rhino. The bug also looked like he had a case of resting bitch face.
“Uh. I’m just..Oh I guess I am just staring at them.” Elderbug said sheepishly.
“Do you know them or are you just being weird?”
“The Knight?”
“Yes, who else would I be talking about to you?”
“I mean, I do know them, it’s not by much though..”
Elderbug hadn’t known the..bug personally. He doesn’t really know what they are, and the rest of Dirtmouth seems to have as much of a clue as he does. They occasionally pass through Dirtmouth, sometimes to buy stuff from Sly or Iselda, or sit on the bench. Every so often they just stare at the other residents of the town. It’s really creepy. Even with The Knight’s strange traits and inconsistency, everyone seems to accept them as part of the village.
Without much to say, the two of them were just awkwardly staring at each other. As if on cue, The Knight snapped out of their trance and started staring at Elderbug.
“Oh, finally back to the world, are we?” the other bug questioned.
The Knight, small and shyly shifted ever so closer to Elderbug. Shy was never really a thing the pale wander portrayed, and such a small action almost made them seem childlike. Actually, that would explain their size. Who is letting their child roam such a dangerous kingdom alone??? Eh, does it really matter?
“If you were planning on finding out what they were doing, don’t bother, they won’t tell me anything.”
“Ah..I see,” he stated.
The knight was lightly tugging on his cloak trying to get him to move. Of course being old, Elderbug didn’t notice.
“Oh! Before I forget, what’s your name? I was a bit distracted earlier, sorry.”
“Lemm, Relic Seeker Lemm”
“Well met Relic Seeker, I’m Elderbug.”
Elderbug stared in shock at where the Relic Seeker was. Instead of exiting like a normal person, Lemm disappeared in a cloud of cheetos dust. Wait, what are cheetos? Whatever, that doesn’t matter. The more important issue is how the fuck he just did that. Apparently Lemm is a ninja or some shit because no way in hell normal bugs can do that.
Welp, ignore whatever the fuck that was, turns out The Knight was still pulling on Elderbug’s cloak. They were trying to move him somewhere but it wasn’t really working because of their size difference. The Knight wasn’t too much smaller than Elderbug, they were a little bit more than half his height but it was still hard to move someone that big.
“Oh? Do you want to show me something, small wanderer?” he asked.
The Knight nodded furiously while they were still trying to drag Elderbug away somewhere. Begrudgingly he gave in and started following the tiny knight. It wouldn’t hurt to take a small detour, right? Hopefully this won’t take too incredibly long because someone may or may not be dying right now. Only idiots would come into this kingdom without a weapon and only fools would go down here without knowing how to use one. Let’s just hope that whoever else was down here wasn’t either of those things.
Both bugs passed through what seemed to be the richer side of the city. Though it isn’t quite possible, this place reeked of stingy rich people. The two avoided some pretty hefty looking sentries, probably in favor of good ol’ grandpa. The Knight seemingly glided through this place with wings Elderbug had no idea they possessed. The latter less so, mostly because Elderbug was well..an elder and the fact that he didn’t have wings. He could’ve sworn that this child didn’t have any other appendages when they first met. How does one just grow wings? Is that even possible or did Elderbug just not notice them? Why does he ask so many questions no one is going to answer? Whatever, there are more important matters at hand. For example: where the hell was this wanderer taking him?
Eventually the pair arrived at a somehow still open Stag Station. Something told Elderbug that this might be the fault of his small companion. Anway, if what other travelers told him was true, then this would be the King’s Station. Even in its diminished state it was quite a sight. It was almost as if the whole place was shining. The Knight eagerly yanked on Elderbug’s cloak. Dang, guess there was no time to admire anything right now.
“Oh, hello my small friend. Who’s this with you?” the beast greeted them. The stag greeted The Knight, not Elderbug. I am being ignored? The Knight in question was making haphazard movements and somehow for a minute turned into a slug version of themself. These bizarre charades went on until the giant bug seemed to understand whatever The Knight was trying to say.
Elderbug just stood there for a few moments puzzled on what the frickity frick The Knight just did, but went along with it anyway.
“Ah, I see. Shall we be off now?”the stag rumbled.
The Knight simply just nodded and gestured for Elderbug to hop on the giant bug. Now these two bugs are going to Elderbug knows where and hopefully it’s not somewhere insanely deadly.