The once-corrupted Coreless wouldn’t stop staring at me. It must have been unimaginable to him, being rescued from a Lesser Core’s enslavement and placed into the service of the Great Core. I stared back, giving him a little hiss of acknowledgement. As the Great Core’s Champion, it was important to make a good first impression.

I regretted that.

A horrible scent-taste pressed against my outstretched tongue, remnant bits of filth and more clinging to the still-healing Coreless. My tongue shot back in, and I sealed my mouth shut. I decided to let my Coreless deal with him instead, at least until the once-corrupted wasn’t so...that.

They made noises at each other, and I decided to patiently wait - elsewhere. Not-Needle seemed set on moving as close to the once-corrupted as possible, holding his hand in her own and baring her teeth, but that was the last thing that I wanted. I slithered away, eventually resting my coils on Needle’s shoulder instead.

She gave me an appreciative scratch. I graciously accepted her wordless praise, and encouraged further praise with a gentle touch of my head-scales.

At the same time, the-female-who-was-not-Needle continued to make soft noises at the once-corrupted; his face dripped with fluid, and the Coreless seemed almost amazed by that fact, reaching dirty fingers up to trail at his own face.

“I-It-It’s...really gone,” he hissed softly, the sound stuttering and sputtering, tripping over itself. “To think that I’d appreciate just being able to let myself cry again...thank you.” His voice broke for a moment, and he let out a heavy breath. “Just...thank you.”

He bared his teeth, the expression shaking and tremulous, before the-female-who-was-not-Needle wrapped her arms around him. He shook a little harder.

They spoke for a little while longer, pressed together like that and letting out soft noises that lay just at the edge of my hearing. Not-Needle didn’t appear to care about the once-corrupted’s awful scent-taste, letting his filthy flesh press against her ore-flesh skin.

Eventually, the shaking stopped. The quiet hisses stopped with it, and the Coreless-that-was-once-corrupted let out a final shudder as the two Coreless pulled themselves apart.

The once-corrupted looked around, his eyes catching mine for a moment, before settling on Will. He mumbled something; not-Needle leaned forward as if to catch it. Then, his eyes drooped, and she caught him as he slumped forward. A heavy snore quickly followed.

“I think that’s all we’ll get from him for now; I doubt that he’s had any chance to sleep for a while,” she said, turning her head towards Will. “He told me to say that he’s sorry, Erik.”

Will shook his head slowly, a deep noise ripping itself from his throat. “If anything, I’m the one that’s sorry. The way his bones just snapped…” he trailed off for a moment. “He’d be crippled for the rest of his life if it weren’t for the Guardian Statue. And the way that he just kept moving anyway…” he stopped and shuddered.

I felt varying degrees of [revulsion] drift through my Coreless’ connections. The idea of serving a Lesser Core, even unwillingly, was revolting so that was expected. However, there was still a bad-thing to deal with.

My mouth watered at the thought, and I flared a light towards the nest again.

Will rolled his shoulders back, shaking out his limbs. “Did you manage to get anything useful from him before he fell asleep, or am I going in blind again?”

“I did,” the-female-who-was-not-Needle made noises back. “He was the only person trapped in there, so you shouldn’t have to worry about being attacked again. The source should be in the back of the supply room, on the far left corner; it’s...well, it sounds like it’s not something that you can miss.”

She made a face; I didn’t catch what it meant quickly enough. “Just kill what’s left of the thing and drag it out; that’s the least that we can do.

“And remember not to breathe, no matter what you see.”

I caught it that time. It was [sadness].

Will walked back into the swirling mist, a line of thread trailing behind him.

It wasn’t long before a new wave of [HORROR] found me.

The body that Will eventually dragged out was broken and shattered, all twisted limbs and rotting flesh. I hardly even noticed that part, with everything else.

“Was that…” one of my Coreless made a noise. Someone else vomited. If anything, the scent-taste it added to the air was an improvement.

“His...his wife. Alice,” the-female-who-was-not-Needle replied, radiating the same [sadness] as before, only magnified. “She was injured and fell sick early in the Collapse, when the citizens were just beginning to truly panic. Too sick to run. Instead of leaving with the others, Garric - that’s the man’s name - decided to stay with her. They holed up in their shop, and he did his best to take care of her.

“Eventually she...started to lash out at him. Tried to bite him. Died doing it, too; tripped and fell, shattered her skull. By the time that it happened, he couldn’t get out, and couldn’t even reach the null-water to give her a final rest. By the time that he realized that he’d have to burn her corpse, well…” the-female-who-was-not-Needle motioned towards the abomination, the gesture seeming downtrodden even to my eyes.

It was mangled, I could tell. Will had done something to it before dragging it from the nest. Ripped it from its roots and pulped its flesh. Despite that, I could still find the hole in her chest where plant-flesh had torn through, growing out of the female Coreless’ corpse.

She was a tiny thing, at least compared to other Coreless. Withered away to a husk, as if sucked dry over time. She probably had been.

Her ribs were splayed out like petals, bits of them shattered by the force of the bad-thing’s growth. Her heart was just gone, melded into the giant mass of pulped plant-flesh that still faintly clung to the female Coreless’ flesh with threadlike roots.

It was a mottled green and black, just like the veins that it created, its surface dotted with innumerable little holes. Even now, the tiny openings shed spore after spore, spilling out as the mangled plant-flesh dangled free.

They were grey and dead, but the sight didn’t make me feel much better.

“That happened - and when the mist came with it, he was infected too. After that, he decided that he’d just stay with her until the end. Just the two of them, alone in their little shop. He didn’t last long.”

Not-Needle wiped at a drop of fluid that spilled from her eyes, clenching a fist. There was [anger] there, mixed with the [sadness]. “This awful fucking Core. They didn’t deserve this.”

Will grunted, filled with [anger] of his own, and ripped the plant-flesh free. He tossed it away, letting the brutalized plant-flesh bounce against the stone. I slithered down from my place on Needle’s shoulder, beginning my feast.

I devoured the offering, my Coreless talking among themselves all the while. It wasn’t as satisfying as I had imagined. Maybe it was the loss of a potential disciple.

I wasn’t sure.

Eventually, the thought-light flickered.

Level 4 Little Puppeteer Consumed.

Transferred to Core.

Blooded Trait Acquisition Progress: 1/5.

The once-corrupted Coreless was carried away from the damaged nest and placed on a pile of skins below the tail of the [Little Guardian’s Focus]. My Coreless whittled away at pieces of darkwood while he slept, eventually producing an acceptable carving.

A new [Little Guardian’s Totem] was made, attuned to the nearby [Little Guardian’s Focus] and placed around the sleeping Coreless’ neck.

A little more color returned to his flesh.

“When he wakes up again, we’ll take him out to the null-water. It shouldn’t be difficult to get back; I can still get my Totem to tug itself towards Orken’s Little Guardian Statue if I focus on it. We’ll follow its directions out to the null-water’s edge and then follow it back through the maze again. His wife will get her burial. They deserve that, at least, if nothing else,” not-Needle hissed.

“They deserve that.”