Chapter Text
The map Hornet had received from Cornifer wasn’t all she had hoped it would be. Instead of any normal landmarks or a legend of some sort to explain where she was in relation to everything else, she had been given a bit of paper with vague scribbles on it. Most of the hallways ended in open, empty space, leaving Hornet to feel lost even with her newly acquired tool. Not to mention just how windy the passageways still were! She found herself walking in circles, occasionally pausing to jump over a pit of spikes or strike down a Gruzzer or a Vengefly. In a few larger rooms, there were more Husks shambling around, but they were about as easy to dispatch as her ill-fated guide had been.
The worst room, however, was the one just next to where she had had her run-in with the mapmaker. It was a long, cavernous room, with spiked floors, stalactites, the occasional Vengefly, and all of those pulsing worms she had seen in the distance. Up close, they were absolutely enormous, and covered in spikes, or perhaps teeth. Hornet had been able to deftly swing over them without much trouble, but they were everywhere, and the noise of them sliding and scraping in and out of the stone had cemented itself in her ears.
The more Hornet walked, and jumped, and swang, the more tired she became. The nagging feeling in her brain was more forceful than it had ever been thus far, accentuating each ache of her heels or bad landing’s jolt in her knees. She didn’t know exactly where she could stop and rest in the Crossroads, but surely she’d find something eventually. If nothing else, she’d be able to loop back around to Dirtmouth once she got that lever open.
Eventually, muttering complaints to herself of her sore limbs, she found a room with a vertical shaft upwards, and a small space forwards. Hornet could see something glittering up above, so she decided to go investigate that. It would be much better to have Geo than to make a deal whoring herself out to any other shopkeepers or salesbugs she happened to meet.
Climbing the shaft, which did indeed ache like her entire journey had, Hornet found herself on a small ledge. In front of her, glittering, were three Geo deposits. Hornet breathed a sigh of relief at finally having some more currency, stuffing it into the pocket of her dress. She took a second to sit after she did so, considering this room seemed fairly safe. She could hear the quiet buzzing of some insects, some water dripping from stalactites…there was even some sort of waterfall nearby. Hornet thought about how on guard she had been for so long, between her sentinel duty and this new adventure she’d wound up in. It was nice to just take a second off her aching feet and relax, even for a moment.
Of course, eventually, she’d had enough of relaxing. She needed to keep moving, to keep exploring with this abysmally unhelpful map.
Hornet dropped back down through the shaft, wincing as the impact of her fall rattled through her legs, and continued forward into the room adjacent to where she’d come in from. She could still hear the waterfall, she could see the stalactite that was dripping, she could hear that buzzing, a bit louder now-
A door slammed shut behind Hornet.
She whirled around to stare at it. What kind of faulty machinery was that? Or… was this some sort of ambush? More Husks trying to attack her?
The buzzing grew louder, and Hornet turned to find a flying insect buzzing into the room from a large hole in the wall. It had a massive orange abdomen, one that outsized it’s upper body. This didn’t seem to affect it flying however. Another fly just like it buzzed into the room behind the first one, and the two of them fixed their eyes on Hornet.
It was then that Hornet recognized the bugs. Despite their swollen bodies, these were Aspids. Males, by the looks of them, which meant-
One of the Aspids jerked its head back for a second, and then spit a large glob of orange liquid directly at Hornet’s face. She quickly ducked the projectile, hearing it splat against the wall behind her. It appeared the plague had claimed even more bugs, in a way that was much more noticeable in the Aspids than it had been in any other bug she had seen before this.
Hornet drew her needle, jumping forward, and stabbing one of the Aspids cleanly through its head, down through its enlarged abdomen. The other one launched another projectile at her, which she quickly jumped back to get away from, accidentally dropping her needle in the process. The remaining Aspid buzzed forward, blocking her path to her weapon, and with barely any warning fired off another glob at her.
Hornet dodged yet again, trying to sidestep the Aspid. Unfortunately, as she had known the moment she recognized them, male Aspids were highly territorial hunters, and apparently that instinct was enhanced by their new plague-riddled forms. The Aspid just continued to close the distance between the two of them, each fired shot giving her even less time to jump or duck away from it. Eventually, it was so close that when she dodged out of the way, a bit of the goop grazed her arm.
Unlike the fumes and goop she had already experienced from those infected by the plague, the goo that the Aspid shot burned her arm as soon as it touched her flesh, causing Hornet to hiss in pain as she jumped forwards, lunging and rolling to pick up her needle. In one fluid motion, she pulled it out of the first Aspid’s corpse, and then used her momentum to launch herself forward at the one that had wounded her, slashing it in half out of the air, separating its top half from the orange blob of its abdomen.
As Hornet watched the two halves of the Aspid hit the ground, she heard the buzzing resume behind her again. Turning around towards the hole that the two bugs had flown in from in the beginning of the fight, she saw three more male Aspids fly into the room. Immediately, they opened fire at her, requiring her to jump back to avoid more of the stinging acidic infection raining down on her.
Deftly, she hopped around the perimeter of the room, singling out one Aspid that was further back from the rest of them. She crouched, waited for it to shoot another blob at her, and then leapt forwards to impale it like she had the first time. She found herself on a platform in the wall, up above the other two Aspids. She was stood right next to the stalactite she had seen upon entering the room. As her remaining foes fired again at her, she watched their projectiles’ trajectory after she had dodged them. They went straight past her and hit the wall, in a surprisingly straight line. Gazing at the stalactite, she wondered if she could do a bit of return fire.
She quickly jumped back to where she had been standing previously, watching the Aspids. Given the pattern they had been following up until now, Hornet assumed that she only had a few moments before they had refilled enough to fire at her again. And she only had one shot at this… she followed the two bugs’ flight paths, watched them overlap for just a moment, and then she took her shot.
Hornet swung her needle out in front of her quickly, colliding with the stone stalactite in front of her with a jarring ping she felt in her shoulders, and then watched as her swing sent the stalactite soaring through the air, striking directly through both her attackers and bursting them in midair. As their entrails fell onto the floor below, Hornet watched in awe, amazed that her plan had actually worked. Then, around the room, the doors that had previously slammed shut raised themselves once more. She let out a quiet exhale of victory, wincing as the adrenaline began wearing off and she finally felt the pain in her arm, her legs, her feet, and really most of her body. This adventure was really doing a number on her like none other had before… why could that be? She was a seasoned adventurer…
Hornet wiped her needle off as best she could, and continued on out of the room, heading up one of the branching paths leading out of the room. The doorway in front of her was bathed in a cool white glow, along with the trickling waterfall noise she had heard earlier. She entered the room hesitantly, making sure there were no more Aspids or any other nasty things flying around. Luckily, she found nothing like that in the room.
Hornet found herself staring into a large, open space, with large statue-esque faces on the walls. The faces had water leaking from their mouths, explaining the trickling sound she was hearing. The water pooled together in the middle of the room, giving off the glowing light, as well as a good amount of heat. Hornet realized this was a hot spring, and immediately was flooded with joy. This was exactly what her body needed after all of this adventuring!
She stepped forwards, opting to remove her dress as she dipped a foot into the hot spring. Sure enough, it was nice and warm, especially on her tired and sore soles. She stepped further into the water, making sure to keep her needle on the edge of the spring next to her, and lowered herself in to about her chest. It felt, well, amazing really. Her whole body felt like it was recovering rapidly from the fight, and she almost felt like there was something tingling through her. The aching feeling in her head even quieted down for long enough that she could just sit and enjoy the sound of the water. This was exactly what she needed.
As Hornet spent longer in the hot spring, she decided she needed to plan out her journey a bit more seriously. She could probably find a stag station back to the palace, or perhaps one of these crossroads had a Tram. Her father had been very proud of those when he had introduced the kingdom to them, long before Hornet was born. Of course, not everyone liked them, but she had to admit they were very handy for getting from place to place. Or in this case, place to palace.
The other thing Hornet noticed as she spent longer in the hot spring was that all of her senses felt heightened. The air tingling on her shoulders outside the water, her hand on the rocks around her, the water lapping against her body, all of it felt enhanced in a way she hadn’t quite felt before. This water must have something in it. Hornet made a mental note to stop at hot springs like this whenever she could find them, perhaps even add them to this sad scrap of a map. It would do more good than what Cornifer had done for her when he’d made it.
As she mulled over the map, Hornet’s mind started to drift and wander to her deal with Cornifer, and how she’d acquired the map. The sex with him had been, honestly, more fantastic than she’d experienced in a long long while. It had even seemed to quell that heat she had been experiencing. Although, now that she thought of it… the hot spring was heightening a lot more than just her physical sensations. That ever-present nagging between her legs seemed to be liking this water very much… and maybe she might as well indulge it once more.
Hornet adjusted her seat in the water, spreading her legs. With nothing on, she had all the freedom of movement to brace herself against the edge of the spring and begin slowly teasing herself under the water. Each touch felt electric even without her going inside whatsoever, the enhancing effects of the spring assisting her goal. She couldn’t help herself but moan giddily, the sound echoing back to her along with the quiet splashing of the water she displaced with her movements. She continued simply rubbing around the outside of her entrance, laying her head back on the edge of the pool and closing her eyes.
Eventually, when she couldn’t take waiting for even a second longer, Hornet slid two fingers into herself and began kneading and pressing, then thrusting in and out. She moaned more, louder, still in the thrall the springwater created in her mind, pressing ever-deeper, engaging more of her insides as her brain continued to turn itself off. Without really thinking about it, she leaned herself back further in her seat, stretching her legs wider, submerging herself a bit further down. Her other hand reached itself up to her breasts, squeezing and playing with her nipples in rhythm with her thrusting fingers. Her eyes were scrunched shut at this point, just her and the euphoric feelings pumping through her veins.
Hornet arched her back, propping herself up with one leg lying on the edge of the spring and the other in the water supporting her. Now her pussy was partially exposed to the cavern air, the moisture of the spring dripping down her and chilling at the exposure to the elements. Like everything else, it broke her brain just a little bit more. She knew she was hurtling towards an orgasm at this point, it felt like her ears were roaring. So she just kept at it, working her fingers and teasing her clit, pinching at her nipples, moaning loudly and enjoying how it sounded repeated back from the stone. Every part of her body was clenching, her breathing was getting heavier, she was so close… so so close…
And then finally, moaning and gasping and shaking, Hornet orgasmed once more, possibly harder than she ever had before. Her brain went entirely blank, the world around her melting away except for the feeling of her juices gushing out around her fingers, squirting a bit into the pool and mixing with the water. After she came back to herself a bit, Hornet cracked her eyes open, taking a moment to catch her breath. She slid her fingers out of herself, bringing them to her mouth to lick and suck them clean once more, as she sank back down into the water. Even the taste of her arousal on her fingers seemed heightened. And that wasn’t the only thing, normally Hornet would be completely finished once she had orgasmed like this. But with the springwater, it seemed like her body was instantly rejuvenated. Perhaps she could go again… although that position was a little uncomfortable.
Hornet got out of the water and sat next to the edge of the springs, laying down and planting her feet firmly spread on either side of her. She could reach the water with a hand, dipping her fingers into it before returning them to her pussy. The water’s effects didn’t seem as potent when there wasn’t as much of it, but it still worked well as liquid to keep her thrusting going. In fact, she herself was still damp from that squirting. So she continued to finger herself, playing with her clit and smushing her breasts, the afterglow of her previous orgasm blending with this new pleasure. Outside of the pool, the quiet squelching of her fingers was magnified by the acoustics of the room, all around her. Despite just finishing only a minute or two before, she could feel herself drawing close again. In her pleasure-drunk haze, she contemplated fitting more fingers into herself. All of her previous engagements had had some length, but girth was in short supply. So, Hornet attempted to fit a third finger into herself as she continued playing with herself, then a fourth. It was working, mounting her pleasure even more as she felt herself stretching to fit them in. Gods, it felt so good… so good she was going to…
Hornet tensed and shook once more, squirting juice out of herself once again onto the floor of the springs. She could feel the way it dripped down out of her onto the backs of her thighs, forming a small puddle on the ground. The hand inside her slowly slid out once more, as her other hand also slid its way off of her breasts and both flopped down on the ground on either side of her. Her stomach heaved as she breathed in and out, bathing for just a few moments more in that delicious pleasure she had found herself craving. This time, she was definitely finished. She guessed that being outside of the spring had helped, with its strange recuperation powers not being able to work their magic on her.
After a bit longer, she propped herself up with her dry hand, again sucking the juices off the other, and got to her feet, slipping her dress back on. She opened up the map, trying to relocate where she would go next. This map truly wasn’t what she had hoped one would be, but then, how much of the kingdom was the same as it had been before? If the whole place was in ruin now, maybe scribbles like this were the best she could hope for. That lever from earlier had to be close, close enough that she would have some semblance of where to go. So, that’s where she decided to keep going. Just after she rested a little bit longer in this hot spring…