Cricketsong Chapter 7

THIS BOOK CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR HOLLOW KNIGHT(But not Silksong). Most lore of the game itself will not be explained in the book. It is targeted at people who have already played and are interested in the ship.

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Chapter 1 can be found here. READ IT FIRST, it also has an important disclaimer(Trigger warnings, etc) and important information. I won't be held accountable if you find something triggering because you didn't read the disclaimer. https://www.reddit.com/r/HollowKnight/comments/1o9kmz2/cricketsong_chapter_1_tisoquirrel/

Read on A03 here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/73467476/chapters/191514236

New chapter every 4 days!

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CHAPTER 7: QUIRREL QUIRREL QUIRREL

Quirrel woke up with a soft groan, feeling cold stones and pebbles under his head. He kept his eyes closed for a moment, recovering.

The fungal wastes... mantis lords... Tiso...

Tiso!!

He quickly sat up, coughing loudly. It was nearly pitch black all around, and the air had a moist scent. Quirrel quickly fumbled for the satchel around his waist, pulling out a lumafly lantern that he'd kept on him. Thank wyrm for that.

It almost looked like some kind of cave...? Or... Deepnest...? He'd been here before while exploring after his return to Hallownest. It was a dark and eerie place, filled with spiders and little infectious bugs that reanimated the dead. When he'd been here, he'd managed to find a hot spring to rest at...

He looked up to see Tiso sitting next to him, his shield missing. He was casually eating something. Well, at least he had been. He was licking his fingers now, suggesting that he'd finished. Where had he even found something to eat under current circumstances??

''Tiso-... Ugh, my head-'' Quirrel groaned, slowly standing up and leaning against one of the stone walls for support. He raised his head to look back up at Tiso. ''I think we're in Deepnest... And I lost my nail-''

Tiso nodded, standing up and leaning against a wall as well. ''Quirrel...'' He settled on after a moment of thinking and looking around.

Quirrel paused as Tiso addressed him like that. That was... odd. Maybe he had a concussion?? They really had to find their way out of here and to somewhere safer. This place had unstable ground and hidden foes at every corner.

''Tiso, we need to figure out where we are. I know that there's a hot spring somewhere down here, but-''

He cut himself off as Tiso pulled some moss off of the stone outcrop he was leaning on, shoving it in his mouth and letting out a slightly disgusted noise. ''Bad food...'' He grumbled, dropping the moss to the ground.

Quirrel just stared at Tiso in bewilderment. Why had he... done that?? He definitely had some sort of brain damage if he was trying to make a snack out of random plants on a wall... They really had to find a safe spot to recover. Fast.

''Come on, you're hurt...'' Quirrel said, grabbing Tiso's hand to make sure he didn't fall. Neither of them had weapons, which was a horrible thing to happen in Deepnest of all places.

Tiso followed almost limply, slumping against Quirrel as he was pulled towards him. Quirrel let out a slightly startled noise as the other bug slumped against his side. There was that odd feeling again... Almost like he was flustered, but not in a bad way where he didn't know what to say.

This was the second time he'd felt this, the other being when Tiso had touched his chest in the resting grounds. It didn't mean anything, obviously. It couldn't be... love... No way. Quirrel hadn't felt love at all, as far as he was aware. If he had then it was back in the memories he'd lost.

''Quirrel'' Tiso said again as he followed along behind him, his feet clattering noisily against the stones beneath them. He cracked his neck to the side before speaking again, although nothing new. ''Quirrel.''

'Quirrel Quirrel Quirrel' let out a slightly exasperated sigh. They'd been walking for about five minutes, and Tiso still hadn't graced him with a single snarky complaint or backhanded compliment.

''Tiso, are you alright...? I know you're hurt, but can you say... I don't know, something else...?'' Quirrel asked in concern, turning to face Tiso. The other bug had crouched down on the ground and was eating something.

When he didn't respond, Quirrel walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder, wanting to see what he was eating this time. He stumbled back in shock as he realized that it was a corpse. The corpse of a dead goddamned bug, half-decayed.

''T-Tiso-!!'' Quirrel cried in shock, his beady black eyes wide as he gripped the wall behind him. This was insane. This was terrifying. ''What in the wyrm's name are you doing?!''

The stone outcrop that Quirrel had been grasping at suddenly gave way, sending the pill bug toppling backwards. He let out a shaky cough, propping himself up on his hands and brushing cobwebs out of his eyes.

There, laying right in front of him with webbing wrapped around his mouth and torso, was... Tiso. But not the Tiso that had been following Quirrel this whole time. This one had the shield and Quirrel's nail laying next to him.

Quirrel whipped around to face the Tiso that had been accompanying him through Deepnest, his eyes widening in horror as whatever this shapeshifting beast was snapped its head around to look at him. Its head was now at an odd angle.

Unsure of what was happening but now knowing exactly who the real Tiso was, Quirrel darted over to the encased bug and grabbed his nail from beside him, quickly cutting the webbing from around his torso and then his mouth.

Tiso, the real one, let out a strangled gasp as his mouth was freed. ''Quirrel-!! This horrible monster grabbed me and took me here- I saw it, it looked like-'' He stammered out, grabbing his shield from the ground.

Before the hooded bug could finish his sentence, a long black leg with a sharp end reached out and snagged Quirrel, sending him flying into one of the many stone outcroppings. He let out a sharp gasp as the wind was knocked out of his already weakened lungs.

The creature that had impersonated Tiso had completely dropped its disguise. It stood there, towering over the two of them. It had a massive black body with four legs and a glowing bright orange torso made up of the infection. It had two dark teal frills that had once looked like Tiso's hood.

Quirrel quickly dodged to the side as the beast practically flung itself forward at them with a loud hiss. He grabbed Tiso as he rolled, just in time to avoid anyone getting trampled by the massive monster.

''Tiso, we should run!!'' Quirrel shouted over the thundering sound of the beast racing back and forth, looking for them at an alarming pace. He looked back at Tiso, who was shaking his head.

''No, we have to fight!'' Tiso protested, his white eyes wide behind his hood. He strapped his shield onto his wrist and peered out from behind the rock that they were hiding behind. ''It's blocking the exit, there's no other way through-''

Tiso was cut off as the towering creature suddenly leapt over the rock and slammed itself down between him and Quirrel. Quirrel's view of Tiso was momentarily blocked by its black body, and when he could see him again, he saw that the monster had stabbed Tiso's leg straight off.

''Tiso!!'' Quirrel cried in shock and horror, scrambling across the ground towards his friend and grabbing him, lifting him up. ''Tiso, come on- We're going to run- Augh-!''

The ravenous monster slammed into Quirrel yet again, running about the shadowed den like a boomerang, screeching and hissing as it ran back and forth. Quirrel let out a strangled noise as he hit the ground, quickly looking up and looking for Tiso.

Before he could catch a glimpse of the other bug, his vision was blocked by a blindingly bright orange light. The sticky mound of infection hit the side of his face and almost immediately started burning, causing him to let out a cry of pain. He'd been stabbed before, he'd nearly drowned before, but this hurt way worse than any of that.

He struggled to his feet, wiping the infection off his face as best as he could. He'd closed his eye before it'd hit him, and he had to keep both of his eyes closed to insure he wouldn't go blind. He reached out for Tiso when he found him through frantic blinks.

A pair of hands suddenly grabbed Quirrel by the waist and pulled him up, not that Quirrel could protest if he wanted to. It didn't feel like the sharp legs of the horrible creature. Tiso...?

But how was he... How was he walking...? He'd had his leg chopped clean off, he shouldn't have been able to! And Quirrel was meant to save him, not the other way around! This had all gone so horribly wrong-

Wait... Right... Tiso's right leg, it was prosthetic... That had been the one that was cut off, right? So he could put it back on and-...

And...

Quirrel did not finish that thought.