Conflicting Conundrums

Too Much or Too Little

Right in this very moment, the Pale King did not truly know what to do and that seemed to be an annoying (and worrying) trend ever since he gained consciousness again.

The vessel in front of him cowered in fear, pressed up against the temporary barrier as much as they could. The Pale King pressed his luck and took a step forward slowly.

The vessel- child made a quiet whimper involuntarily and much like the first he encountered since regaining consciousness, they froze in shock that such a sound could be found from them. The Pale King briefly paused himself, allowing himself to wonder, but in the end, now was not the time for such things. The failed vessel in front of him realized that too but realized it too late for their own tastes. They moved backward on instinct and hit the barrier once more. That one reflex gave the Pale King enough time to quickly seize them.

The child struggles to no avail in his grasp. The Pale King did not think too far ahead this time, but what was there to think about this time around? There was no foothold this time around and when it came to mysteries there was no way telling how long the answer would stay until the mystery was already solved. When nobody he or his kin knew had any answers and strange occurrences kept happening, it was important to collect as much information as fast as possible, and rounding up the living ve- children was certainly a good way to do it.

(He would like to pretend he did not know why he got feelings of shame and guilt after admitting that is the reason he is searching for them to himself, but ignoring what he knows never did any good now did it?)

The Pale King looked down at them struggling in his arms, hitting him, trying to get from him the best they could. They were very brave and resolute, he had to admit, knowing how they felt about him.

Now that he had successfully gotten a hold of them, where could he possibly bring them in the meantime? After some quick thinking, he already started moving towards the destination. His root may not be in the state to look after anyone, but the area she trapped herself in should be more than enough to trap their living progeny in for now.

As the Pale King made his way back down towards his root, there was little sound.
Just acid gently hissing, the fallen king's footsteps, and the struggling of his child.

°•°•°•○●○•°•°•°

As the two of them walked by, Hornet noticed a house had its door wide open.

"Wait here."

And they were left alone again.

They were always one to follow someone else's wishes though, so they stayed as instructed. Right by the bug chattering about everything to nothing. Although they talked plenty, they ended up repeating the same things over and over again and Hallow had no choice to listen. Though, maybe they had a point on some of them?

"Precept One: 'Always Win Your Battles'. Losing a battle earns you nothing and teaches you nothing. Win your battles, or don't engage in them at all!" The people around them always talked about battle, and they are sure they would have disagreed with this statement, especially him.

Although they could never confirm for sure, they think their sentiments lined up with what Dryya said once, "The honour of battle is in the will to continue to fight and to give it your all, and to learn from both yourself and your opponent's mistakes." Only engaging in battles you knew you were going to win is a form of self-sabotage, at least that is the truth they knew.