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English
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HallowHome Zine
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Published:
2024-03-02
Words:
841
Chapters:
1/1
Comments:
6
Kudos:
44
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3
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175

False Winter

Summary:

Oro has never been outside these caverns. His pupil has, apparently.

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This was written for the HallowHome Zine!

Notes:

This zine was a pleasure to work on, so many talented people were working with me, I'm so glad I got to be a part of this!!!

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

Oro had never been particularly fond of visitors. He's never been fond of much of anything, and he doesn’t appreciate a little grub barging into his home and demanding to learn his nail art. He tells them that if they want to get lessons they have to pay for his time. He names his price, and they storm out upon counting their geo and coming up short. 

He's satisfied to be alone for a while until they march right in again a few hours later with the required amount of geo. He's annoyed, but he gave them guidelines and they followed them. He was a man of his word, so he spent a few days teaching them. They were an exceptionally quick learner, and there was power behind their strikes that shouldn't have existed in a bug their size. When his teaching was finished, he expected them to leave immediately. They don't, instead sitting for a while and meditating in what looked like Mato’s style. Ah, so they've visited his brother. 

When they finally seem content with their stay, they stand and walk over to him. He is confused for a second before they start tugging on his arm. It's less forceful than he knew they could be, but just as insistent. They drag him out of his hut, pulling him through the caverns surrounding it, and Oro thinks that they're going to drag him straight into the acid, but instead they begin climbing. While it had never been Oro’s strength, climbing was necessary in ravines such as this. It would have been easier if there weren't so many falling fools. He followed them up, and they stopped once they were about halfway to the top. They sat on a cliff, their legs dangling. Oro sat next to them. 

He hadn't said anything this entire trip, but now they were just staring upwards and not doing anything. He cleared his throat to get their attention. They did not turn.

“Why did you bring me here?” Oro thought it was a reasonable question. They shrugged and pointed up. A completely unreasonable response. Great. Oro looked up to where they pointed, only seeing rock and ash. “You must have some reason.”

His student tapped their chin thoughtfully. They then waggled their fingers while moving their hands down, then mimed shivering. Oro thinks he should be proud that he got even an inkling of what they were saying.

“...Snow?” They nodded fervently. “You think it looks like snow, huh? I've never been outside of these caverns, but I have heard stories about snow. I always thought it sounded nice.”

He looked down at them. They were staring intently, raptly paying attention. It made him a little self-conscious, and the lack of apparent eyes was not really helping.

“This is not snow, however. This is ash, blown from the east. There was a rumor, once, that this ash was molt. Molt from a giant creature, eroding for eternity. Don't think there's any truth to it, though.” Oro looked back up the ravine. He couldn't see the top. Ash floated down, and it might have been beautiful to him once. The moment was tarnished when the corpse of a fool plummeted past.

The small bug next to him watched as the fool's shell cracked on an outcropping, bounced minutely in the air, then continued its descent. They suddenly swung their legs back over the edge of the cliff and stood. Oro thought that this might mean they were done, ready to continue their journey and leave him alone. They, instead of beginning the climb down, walked away from the cliff towards a pile of ash. Oro sighed and followed.

“What now?” He asked, standing next to them. They were looking intently at the ash. 

He realized a second too late what said intentions were when they bent their legs and jumped. Oro scrambled to catch them before they made a mess, but they landed successfully in the ash pile, scattering it everywhere. Including him. He was about to start yelling at them, but they appeared from the newly dispersed pile absolutely covered in the stuff. It was sticking to their shell, their cloak, and he thought that there might've been some in the eyeholes of their mask. 

He couldn't help himself, he started laughing. Some ash drifted off of them when they put their hands on their hips in offense, making him laugh harder.

“You should have realized, my pupil, that that was not the best idea if you wanted to stay clean.” Their arms fell to their sides and they nodded solemnly. 

Oro attempted to dust himself off, but the ash in these caverns had always been an extreme pain to clean. It was surprisingly sticky. Resigning himself to finding ash in his clothes for the foreseeable future, he decided to go wash off. 

“Come back with me. I have water to clean yourself.” He said, looking over his shoulder as he turned to begin climbing down.

His pupil followed, trailing ash the whole way.

Notes:

I hope you enjoyed!!!