The people were gathering around the center of their village for a festival. Of course, Y/N wasn't invited. She had always been an outcast, no one ever wanted her around. The people have said that the only thing she was good for was taking up space.

Y/N sat near a tree and hid her face in her knees. She didn't want to let it get to her, but she couldn't help but feel lonely. The only thing she wanted was to be loved, and she knew that dream would never come true in this village.

Y/N lifted her head to switch to a more comfortable resting position. Then her gaze focused on the wall. It was the wall that everyone was told never to cross. The boundary of the village.

Then, for a split-second, Y/N got a crazy idea. To cross the boundaries.

No.. no no no. It's way too dangerous! I could die.. Y/N thought to herself.

Then she turned to look at the people who were having fun in the middle of town.

I guess it's not like they would even notice I was gone, in fact, they'd probably prefer it that way...

Y/N looked back at the wall. It was a dark gray, and was only about 3 ft tall. It was a height that was very easy to climb over, but everyone knew not to cross it, so Y/N supposed it was only there to remind people of where the boundaries were.

Y/N stood up and walked over to it. She rested her hand on the top of its rough surface and looked out, beyond the boundaries. It was dark, with many trees and various other plants. From what the eye could see, it didn't seem scary or dangerous. But of course, she couldn't make the assumption that nothing was out there.

Y/N glanced back at the people of the village before looking back at the outside. Then she took in a deep breath.

Whatever's out there, it's got to be better than this. Maybe I'll even find the one for me...

One leg after the other, Y/N lifted herself over the wall. As her feet made contact with the ground, she looked back at the village she was about to leave behind. The ground was the same as the ground in the village, but the feeling of being on the outside felt much different.

She turned back around, facing the unknown, and began to walk forward. With each step, adrenaline began to pump through her veins. She had never been this excited before. Her life had usually consisted of just wandering around, finding food, and receiving disgusted looks from the people in the village. But now, she was free. Her pace began to quicken, so much so, that eventually she was running.

Time began to blur as she continued to run. Eventually, she had to slow down to catch her breath. The more she went, the fewer trees there were. Instead, there were many different plants that Y/N was unable to name. She sat down beside some of them and looked back from where she came. The village was nowhere in view.

Once Y/N was rested, she stood back up onto her feet and continued to walk. Looking in front of her she could see dim lights in the distance.

That must be a place that's safe to stay. Y/N thought.

As Y/N approached the lights, she was beginning to see dome-shaped buildings. There seemed to be about 4 buildings in total, with a bench between some of them. The light was cast by a series of decorative lamp posts, which lit up the small cluster of buildings.

Y/N looked around, amazed that people lived in places like this, apart from the village she was used to. Y/N looked to her left and saw a well, located just outside the small town. She began to walk in that direction, but then heard a voice from behind her, "Hello there,"

Startled, Y/N turned around quickly to see who had spoken to her. There was an old man with a kind expression, standing near the bench she had seen.

"Oh.. um, hello." Y/N returned the greeting and walked over to him. She felt slightly ashamed she hadn't seen him right away.

"What brings you here?" He asked, friendly.

"Oh.. well, I just left my old home to find somewhere new. Where people might like me...." Y/N's voice trailed off. She didn't know if she should be sharing everything with this person she had just met. He seemed nice, but Y/N was so used to hearing about how vicious the outside world was.

"Is that so?" The old man smiled, "Well you are more than welcome to stay here in Dirtmouth."

"Dirtmouth..?" Y/N questioned. That's a strange name.

"Yes. It may not be much anymore. But this here is Dirtmouth, the fading town." The old man told her.

Y/N looked around at the buildings as he spoke to her. It was a shame that this town was 'fading'. She thought about it, Maybe the town is fading because everyone thinks it's dangerous here.

"What's your name..?" Y/N asked the old man.

The old man smiled, "You can call me Elderbug."

That's also a very interesting name. Y/N thought.

"It's nice to meet you Elderbug," Y/N smiled back, "my name is Y/N."

"That is a very pretty name, Y/N." Elderbug said, "It's nice to have someone to talk to. If you want, that bench is a very nice place to take a rest if you're feeling tired."

"Thank you." Y/N walked over to the bench and sat down. She found it to be surprisingly comfortable, considering it was made of metal. Then she looked over at the well again. Turning to Elderbug, she asked, "What's that well for?"

"The well..? Oh.. that leads to the Crossroads down below."

The crossroads, huh? Y/N thought that might be where the 'danger' lurks. Being a curious one, Y/N decided to check it out. She sat up from the bench and waved to Elderbug before making her way to the well.

Once she got there, she looked down the well, That's a very long way down.

Y/N looked over at Elderbug, who was watching her from a distance, and gave him a thumbs up.

Am I just supposed to jump down there?? Y/N thought to herself.

After standing by the well for a few minutes, she took a deep breath and just decided to go for it.

Maybe it's not as far down as it looks.

With that, Y/N jumped into well.

Immediate regret.

She felt as though her stomach dropped. And her eyes widened with fear as she neared the bottom of the well. She squeezed her eyes shut, dreading the impact awaiting her.

Y/N landed in a bellyflop, knocking the air out of her. She layed there, without having enough strength to bring herself to her feet.

"How pathetic." Y/N heard a voice coming from above her. She turned her head to reveal a young man fully protected in armor, wielding a circular shaped shield. He was wearing a hood that casted a dark shadow over his face, yet you could still see his bright white, intimidating eyes.

Y/N panicked a bit and felt her face heat up in embarrassment, as she struggled to get up onto her feet. Once she was standing, she looked at the ground, "I'm sorry, I probably looked like an idiot."

"Yeah, you did."

That didn't make Y/N feel any better.

She nervously laughed it off, then awkwardly held out her hand, "Um, my name's Y/N. What's yours..?"

"I'm Tiso, and I'm on my way to fight for glory in the Colosseum of Fools." Refusing to accept her handshake, he looked Y/N up and down, making her slightly uncomfortable, then he took a step closer to her, "You don't look that much of a warrior, Y/N. You shouldn't be venturing in Hallownest if you're weak."

Hallownest..?

"Oh, well, uh, I'm not actually here for adventuring." Y/N brought back her arm and rubbed the back of her neck. "I'm just trying to find a place to stay."

Tiso turned his head away and scoffed, "Well, you are clearly not looking in the right place." He walked passed Y/N shoving her to the side a bit, "Be gone, weakling."

As Tiso walked away, Y/N sighed and thought to herself, What an arrogant jerk.

Y/N didn't feel like following him, so she started wandering off in the other direction. There were giant bug-like creatures crawling around everywhere. It made her shiver. She walked through an opening in the wall to reveal a very tall room with chubby, fly-like creatures bumping into everything. Y/N looked down, this drop was even farther than the well. She knew she'd have to use metal platforms to reach the bottom. So, carefully she began to jump to each lower platform, trying her best to avoid the flying creatures. Once she got to the bottom, there was another hole in the ground. Just my luck, how am I ever gonna be able to leave? She thought to herself.

When she dropped through the hole, luckily, she didn't fall too far before lading on a platform. Then she heard a tune, coming from somewhere below. Someone was.... humming?

Y/N looked down, off of the platform to see a man with small glasses, writing on some papers. He was humming a cheerful melody.

Y/N carefully climbed down from the platforms and approached him. The man looked up and smiled, "Oh, hello there young traveler! My name is Cornifer, what about you?"

"I'm Y/N. Nice to meet you," I smiled. It was good to meet another kind person like Elderbug.

"What a lovely name, it's nice to meet you as well." Cornifer replied, "It can be easy to get lost down here, would you like to purchase a map?"

"Oh... um. Well the thing is, I don't have any money.."

"Running a little low on Geo?" Cornifer asked.

Geo? Must be the currency here... Y/N thought.

"Uh, yeah." She said, looking at the ground nervously.

"Hm, tell you what. You seem like a new customer, I'll let it slide and give you a map for free." Cornifer smiled, "But don't tell anyone alright? My wife and I have a shop up in Dirtmouth. You can buy maps of different areas in Hallownest, along with various mapping tools up there."

"Oh, thank you." Y/N was a bit surprised by his generosity.

Cornifer handed Y/N a map of the area she was in. There was a title accross the top, written in fancy, black lettering:

The Forgotten Crossroads