Chapter Text
You took a sigh as you entered through a passageway, gazing at the viridian leaves and the equally viridian creatures, some small, some large, and some hidden to your eyes. Sighing, you walked over to a patch of mounded land, easily stable enough to act as a bench for you to rest on. You kicked the ground, sensing if anything laid beneath the structure before collapsing on it, shuffling to get in a comfortable position.
It was extremely humid in this area, causing you to walk only in baggy pants tucked into socks within your sandals. Stop judging, these socks made it comfy to walk in these homemade shoes of yours. Finding an elastic rubber material that was able to last in a fight was a hard find, these being your third pair from within the year after your original pair of sneakers finally collapsed after a parkour session.
You eyed the brand new weapon attached to your waste, bandages wrapping around the handle to the very tip of the large appliance. The wrappings were apparently essential for letting the ink seals dry without any deformations, they needed to be perfect in order for them to work.
The writings on the giant weapon were written in english, something considered an ‘arcane’ language being that no one else knows or can speak it other than you. When done correctly with a lot of practice and accidental fuck ups, you were theoretically able to to turn this piece of carved wood into something greater.
The sound of marching shook you out of your thoughts, green cladded bugs stepping in sync with one another, pikes resting on even greener shoulder pads as they only now began peeking out of the tall grass.
You swore as leapt up and backwards from the seat, flipping behind the small mound and listened in to see if the footsteps got closer. You had honed your senses since the Abyss was so dark that you needed a small lanturn to navigate until about a week ago. Training with one of the warriors that fought with a mace had really helped hone your agility and spatial awareness.
‘Only when fighting.’ You duly noted in your head as you heard the splatoon grow farther away from you. You only waited to come out after the footsteps faded and only the ambience of the surrounding greenery remained. Letting out a sigh, you got back up on your feet and dusted off your pants, looking off in the direction of where the soldiers went to see if you can still view them from this far.
And as you look, you notice the silhouettes talking to other, taller silhouettes from within the foliage. It took you a moment to comprehend that, ‘oh shit, that's Unn’s children.’
But it was already too late before someone's head was cleaved in two…
══════════════════
There was a pause, save for the humming of busy streets and the gentle patter of rain. And like that, tension was building up between you and the guard, each not daring to make a move unless the other did so.
From either the speed enhancing charm, or pure dumb luck, you were able to leap up in a blur while avoiding the massive hand out to grab, landing a palm strike and a backhand to the giant cladded bug's pale face, causing it to crack from the momentum of your arm. Before you could fall, you hooked on to the guard’s chest plate and swung around to their backside, jumping off and landing into a sprint.
You heard the sudden noise of shouts and buzzing of wings behind you, a burning sensation overtook your throat at the sounds, as if molten lava poured through your vocal cords. Though you ignored both the feeling and noises in favor of running, dashing towards a back alley and scaling up a wall through a quick series of jumps, keeping the silver egg close to your chest as you hopped from the shallow buildings.
TING!
A pike head strike right near your foot, followed by three others which you had evaded by twirling out the way, landing on an adjacent wall and climbing upwards with one hand, the carvings allowing this body’s blunted claws to grip into the carving engraved into the structure.
Spear head stabbed at the stone beneath you, barely missing at times when the water made it hard to grip. Oh how glad you are that the carvings were chiseled downwards, it was just like rock climbing- or how you imagined it being.
You spied a bridge a few meters above you, talling and imposing with all the black railing framing the sides. Looking back, you formulated a plan in your head, calculating the distance you would need to jump and use your hook to swing to one of the foundations.
“Rabva!”
The burning in your throat escalated at the noise, but you ignored once again for the bug zooming towards you, wings flapping with a nail shaped like claw ready to skewer you. Or, at least you thought so, what is nail good for other than jousting and cutting ties? Jumping off the building, you planted your feet onto the flying sentry while pulling the chain wrapped around your neck. You jumped off again, landing onto a lanced wielding guard a few yards away and forcing them towards the bridge.
As you did, you clipped the chain’s end to the hook adhered to your belt, allowing you to whip the end piece into one of the bridge’s foundations and swing off the flying bug. You coughed as you did so though, acid burning in your throat only grew as the world blurred around you, the feeling of falling and the acid activated something deep, something foreign to you. You opened your mouth and screamed,
“ FALL! ”
It was sudden, glowing white strands shot out from your mouth, looking almost like specters by how their faces shone with sorrow and the way they soared towards the gaurds. They wrapped around the sentries buzzing after you, keeping them frozen until they began to lazily fall towards the ground. Your astonishment was shone through your lack of movement, almost making you miss the ledge if it wasn’t for the chain creaking, and you being propelled upwards. You grasped on a hollow bridge foundation, pulling yourself upwards while taking the hook out of the stone.
You kept your breaths shallow as you hid behind the pillar, lifting up the smiley face mask and grasping at the weird sensation that flared on your cheeks. Your mind was reeling, because that wasn’t a charm, or seal, or anything you could think of. It was stated that you would never gain anything regarding hereditary or natural abilities, your body just wasn’t compatible with soul.
But that's what you had used, right? Those white things had been soul, the faces, the white hue, the lingering smell, all the factors had matched perfectly. It s.
You leaned across the wall in a heap, clutching the egg close while listening to the ambient bustling. Breathe in, 1-2-3-4, Hold, 1-2-3-4, Release 1-2-3-4. You repeated the steps in your head, using your fingers to count the time while breathing through your mouth to calm your racing heart. Oh, how glad you were to have still functioning lungs and not tracheae like a bugs. You were about to move from your position and hopefully scope out some of the city, but a familiar voice stopped you in your tracks.
“ Hello. ”
A gaseous, black ghost with haunting pale eyes appeared to your left, waving a black tendril in greeting.
“ Hello to you too, Shade Lord. .. ” you greeted in kind, voice hoarse.
“I see that you are doing well, assuming that everything has gone to plan so far?” You nodded, pushing off the wall to fully face the Ghost.
“ Yes, so far I had not run into any inconveniences so far, the sentries seemed to incompetent to even keep up with me. ” Which was true, the guards seemed to have a minimal amount of training, though they wouldn’t expect someone like you to run rampant around the city. But, this does not excuse the Pale King and his lackluster fighting prowess, the bastard didn’t even try to defend himself! Just relying on his soul like a backbone, as soon as you shatter it, he's disabled for life.
“Excellent, though, I'm sure you're wondering why I had chosen to appear in front of you.” You didn’t verbally answer, but you nodded all the same.
“You see, I may have forgotten to mention some commodities to you, specifically concerning the new body you are inhabiting. ” The void being almost sounded sheepish, but you couldn’t tell since their face remained an impassive mask. Though, the declaration intrigued you since you were just thinking upon the topic mere minutes earlier.
“Well, I had already experienced one of the ‘commodities’, it being a spell using actual soul magic. ” If the Shade Lord was peeved, they didn’t show it. And besides, they know about your dilemma with soul, might have been important to mention the first time.
“I do apologize for that, though I did remember mentioning what this body was previously to your inhabitance, ‘a shaman that could use her voice to weave into the minds of many’ was an actual descriptor for her. She utilizes a hereditary spell that could channel soul into her voice, allowing her to manipulate those with weak enough wills.
Though the butterfly had suffered some unfortunate torment, wings getting clipped off, or the massive impact crater located upon the chest, decapitation.” Your hand idly goes to inspect the wound on your torso, but you couldn’t feel a thing, Why?
As if reading your mind, the Ghost replies, “Bodies constructed from the void function differently from one created from organic material. For now, the pain of your wounds wouldn’t mentally register until your body had deemed a task is completed; the Void is non-Newtonian in nature, the potential of utilizing it is limitless. Usually, void abilities are gained through experience during combat or survival, though this specific power must be taught being that a void entity wouldn’t normally need this in their usual habitat.
Void constructs are in possession of a skill called ‘hammerspace’, which allows objects to permeate through your carapace, the void within acting as a pocket space for your belongings.”
You blinked, tilting your head towards the specter before setting your gaze downwards at your form. “ And how shall I perform this ability? ”
“Just the thought of storing the egg should activate the Hammerspace” You nodded, shuffling the cloak and unbuttoning the charm from your shoulder. Rotating the egg, you slowly pushed into your torso, imagining the zygote phasing through and staying place within your chest. After a second, you felt the egg vanish from your grasp and something in the back of your mind appeared, like some sort of pressure weighing it down. You opened your eyes to the sight of empty hands and a black shadow, whose eyes were currently curved into something you assumed to be a smile.
Abruptly, a voice cracked through the air, loud and demanding. It made you swiftly clip the charm back and crouch to make yourself less visible. The Shadow looked over to you and pointed a ghostly tendrill towards the top of the bridge, “The nearest exit is on the bridge and into the building, take a right, go down, take another right, go up a elevator, and follow the signs to a place called ‘Fungal Wastes’, a map seller should be in that area.”
The Ghost’s form began to dissipate, leaving you to pick up your hook and grapple onto the black railing of the bridge above you, pulling yourself as swarms of bugs began scattering in fear, guards running past you while some barricaded the bridge's endpoint, three regular sized sentries came rushing in to try and detain you directly. You jump upwards while evading a jab from a nail, handstanding over the attackers shoulders and landing on your feet, ducking under another swing by the 2nd sentry next in line whilst back kicking the first adversary. Deflecting a second swing with your hand, you took the chance to punch and palm strike an unarmored patch of chitin, ending the attack with a backhand to the chin.
You flowed from the backhand into a roundhouse kick to the final guard’s chest, momentum allowing the chestplate to crack. Grabbing the guard’s hand, you propelled them into the first guard, who was still trying to recover themselves from your back kick. You heard a crash and a bunch of angry yelling as you went over to the remaining 2 guards, who were slightly bigger than the three you just weaved past.
Guard #1 charged against you, keeping their nail straight like a lance. In retaliation, you gripped your chain and parried the incoming attack, bouncing off the nail corkscrewing over the guard’s shoulder while using the other end of the chain like a whip to strike the back of their head, making them collapse. Your eyes locked on Guard #2, swinging your hook and sending your weapon out to stab into their offhand’s elbow. You pulled yourself closer while severing the tendons, sliding into their guard and avoiding a huge swing as you blasted off into a dark hallway.
══════════════════
Guards Pov
══════════════════
A Shade blasted through the dark corridors like a predator in the night, picking off anyone who dared to stand in its way.
Three soldiers tried going in to detain it, a flying, heavy, and regular sentry coming to hopefully overwhelm it, but the smiley faced creature simply slid into their guards as easy as sliding on ice, using that hook of its to dance while slicing at their joints with a flawless ease.
The Shade landed on the wall, flying from adjacent walls like a leaping spider, weaving in and out of the sentries sights like a phantom. A guard was smashed onto the ground and promptly picked up and thrown like a ragdoll at another, both collapsing in a heap. Piked sentry tried coming in for a hit, but the shade ducked and twirled out the way, its hook wrapping around its own arm while it kicked the weapon out of the bug’s hands.
It grabbed the sentry by the wrist, pulling it in and landing palm strikes to his gut, each one harder than the last. The shade let go of the bug, rotating around to deliver a roundhouse kick that sent the soldier flying. The phantom-like bug then sprinted towards an elevator, pushing the top lever before any more guards could reach it in time.
“G-Get back here!” a sentry shouted, out of breath and wheezing while her nail waved lazily in her hand. The other five sentries, each different sizes and positions, were trailing behind slowly, injuries varying from a scratch upon their shell, to an entire limb missing and concave body parts. Fortunately, no permanent damage had been dealt to them, a quick check up and a molt would get them back up to hundred percent.
But, the damage wasn't just physical, they had been humiliated, that bug had been toying with them.
“How.. ugh.. are they so fast?”
“And.. huff.. so.. strong..?”
That was the question on all of their minds, the shade had been heavily outnumbered to the point where it should have been an easy capture and stroll to one of many jail houses in the outskirts of the city. Their appearance was meek at a first glance, a taller frame than most sentries but still by all means tiny, a hooded black cloak covered their shoulders, hiding everything apart from their legs and face. Despite the clothing, it had been obvious that they seemed to be carrying something at the first glance.
So a small, defenseless, hindered, bug should’ve been an easy catch.
But, everyone had witnessed the bug soar up high and strike a Great Sentry with speed that can rival a dragonfly and agility that can outmaneuver a spider, sprinting past the giant while the guards took a moment to react. And holy Wyrm they were fast, outspeeding flying sentries even with something burdening them to move.
It had been a spectacle, watching the bug climb a constantly raining building while being chased by flying soldiers, it looked like something an author of a fantasy novel would come up with. Most guards were rushing into position by now, keeping watch on the little chase scene that was happening on the side of a skyscraper. And then in an unexpected twist, the cloaked bug pulled out a chain, thin metal bars hooked into one another with tiny rings on each end. And not only that, they had jump on top of a sentry mid flight, bouncing off to another one while shuffling underneath their robes.
A hook had shot out, a yell, and suddenly everyone's legs felt like gelatin for a good five minutes. It wasn’t until the mysterious bug had hopped on a bridge up high, and the rest is history.
“They had to at least be on par with one of the more skilled knights, maybe one of White Palace status” A guard said, checking his stomach to see the full extent of the beating, he winced at the cracks mauring his shell.
“Indeed,” another sentry said, lifting wounded guard over their shoulder, “Though, I do wonder what style of combat they had used.”
The other sent them a confused look, so they elaborated, “That bug had not used any instinctual or natural attacks, purposefully using non-lethal but powerful attacks to blunder us.”
“It wasn’t only raw power they had attacked with,” The armored bug raised her nail over her shoulder, slouching. “They used agility to maneuver us, aiming at our unguarded areas and effectively taking down every- no, any one that got in their way.”
That was a good point, in a sense of what the context implied. The bug had focussed on disabling them instead of gunning it for the exit, taking time to injure and imobile while still making a swift exit. No bystanders were hurt in any of the confrontations, just slipping silently past them.
“I guess so…” A flying sentry silently remarked, rubbing their sore neck; being choke slammed is not fun. “But… who is going to inform the Sergeant about this..?”
“...”
“...”
“...”
“...We will all meet with her in the south-east tower next to the capital,” a guard of higher position stated, “she most likely already know of the altercation, she is just like that…”
“Indeed I do!” A chipper voice stated, enthusiasm practically oozing from the high pitched noise. The sentries froze like statues, slowly turning towards their head and the 2nd in command, who was currently standing at the exact elevator the escapee left in, did that mean…?
“No, the perpetrator had not been caught,” the Sergeant states, strutting past in a nonchalant manner despite her small frame, “I am only here to inform you that we are postponing the meeting after the shift change due to some royal matters, please enlighten your fellow sentries after they arrive.”
The Guards nodded curtly as they watched the small bug walk through a corridor, taking a corner before disappearing from their sights. The six visibly relaxed now that they aren't in the tiny arthropod’s sights, though they knew it would not last.
══════════════════
5 minutes prior
The Pale Queen
══════════════════
If one would define the Pale Queen in a few words, they would be kind, wise and methodical.
But, if you had asked her this question directly, she would tell you the complete opposite of what her persona is. The White Lady is selfish in that she only speaks to others with a calm voice that sounds fake even to herself. Gradually surrounding the palace garden with her somnolence pollen in order for those to leave her alone. The only reason the patch of foliage was there was so she didn’t have to be so far away from her Wyrm.
She wasn’t smart, nor wise, for she lacked the intelligence of her husband and the problem solving of her knights, speaking mere common sense whenever prompted.
The White Lady was naturally a nervous creature, her fidgeting was only hidden through her bindings and drowsiness. She wasn’t one to deceive herself into believing these neatly folded lies, but they were necessary in maintaining the kingdom's hierarchy.
Though, neither she or the people would have believed she was fast.
The moment she had felt her Wyrms soul signature dim through her half of the Kingsoul charm, something that shouldn’t happen through any circumstance imaginable since he prides himself in own light and even has a limitless amount of soul to spare, she had came from out of her bindings and crawled with haste, desperation fueling each grapple upon the ground.
She knew her wyrm was powerful enough to defend himself, even if the method of doing so was macabre in that he would willingly let his attacker strike first rather than evade like a regular. But the only explanation she can think of is that he willingly let himself be attacked, and his regeneration had failed .
The thought only made her quicken, focusing on his location through the charm like a hawk. The Living Tree scaled through the bare cavern with long silvery tendrils, digging holes into the floor as she hastened. She didn’t care about the environment now that she wasn’t on palace grounds, her surroundings blurring around her as she propelled herself.
After what felt like an eternity, she made it to her wyrm and took in his state; he was laying on a stony floor, arms unfurled from his blood stained robes with his hands loosely holding a piece of metal debris. Not sensing anything malicious from the surroundings, she stretched out her roots to gently pick up his unmoving form, checking his pulse and breathing which, thankfully, were both unheaded, though concerningly slow..
As the Pale Root made it back to the White Palace, she kept her Wyrm close to her, sending an icy glare to anyone who dared to approach the pair, hunching over like some sort of beast from a fictional story book rather than the kind, wise and gentle queen she was known for.
That day the entire palace had seen another side of their queen, wide crystalline blue eyes stared ahead, unmoving…unblinking, the roots upon her head swivel every which way, her steps were slow, but the surest anyone had ever seen of her, and the presence, she exited one worthy for her title.
It really did remind them of her title, The Pale Queen of Hallownest .
══════════════════
The Shade had gotten through the gate, fabric tearing off from the gate's sudden closure. The shade remained unheaded however; running towards them with speed a bug of their size shouldn’t have. This bug was tall and lean, yet it was not possible for someone to have this much power within themselves.
The first guard on the bridge took advantage of the sudden movement from the smiling shade, chipping off a piece of their porcelain white mask with the edge of her blade. Though that only seemed to work for a moment, being that the shade lifted their leg up high to plant down the nail to the ground, hooking the other leg around the guard's neck and twirling around them in a blur of motion, stopping when the guard had her face planted downwards.
The cloaked bug flew towards the second guard, landing on the ground before wrapping an arm around her neck and flipping backwards, diving her body forward into the ground in a heap. The first guard had reorientated herself, shouting after the shadowy phantom, but it had already disappeared before she could utter a word.
“And then we finished the rest of our shifts before coming here, as per standard.” The sentry curtly finished, trying her best to not wither under the stares of her peers and uppers
2 hours later
Sentry meeting
“Alright! Are there any questions?” Sergeant asked, clasping her hands together in a friendly manner, yet it did not deter the absolute silence of the room in front of her. Honestly, she wondered the day any of these newbie sentries to come out of their metaphorical shells, would have made these meetings much more entertaining.
“Okay, you may be seated Ms. Crystal, Crystalline.” Both sentries bowed before taking a seat, heads already swiveling back towards the Sergeant. Though the tiny bug was not peeved by their gazes, she knew her capabilities, she was enough, debatably stronger than Commander Lurien despite her size.
While Luriens strengths were focused in magic, hers were focused in her smarts, the trait was the sole reason she made it so far and climbed so high. Her ability to form strategies mid battle had been one of the deciding factors of her role. She could've been an archivist, hell, Monomon still invites her to those study sessions whenever she was free, but she had chosen this path and refused to leave it.
“So now that we are all caught up, let's discuss this tier ten wanted criminal.” The sentries in the room stayed silent, she could see how the entire guard tensed, the smell of fear permeating through the air at a rapid pace. Violations were usually ranked by tiers, one being equivalent to theft of a lower class position to ten being that of war criminal. These levels were usually assigned to bugs who have committed a crime, staying that certain level until they commit a greater atrocity. And, over Hallownests history, there had only been one who had ruined the trend of keeping the kingdom under a level four crime.
That had been years ago, treason against the throne after a high ranking Knight tried attacking the throne. That individual had been stated to be possessed, out of their own mind. There was an execution for that bug, though the felony was tier nine in rankings, so this brand new person, whose abilities no one had ever heard of or seen before, had committed an atrocity that would colicet such a wanted level.
To one who relied on studying everything upon their opponents, yet came up with nothing…
It was terrifying
“Pardon the intrusion ma’am,” a red cladded bug to the right room raised their hand, their other fiddling with the handle of their nail, “What did this bug do exactly?”
“Unfortunately, the White Palace has refused to elaborate on why their status is so, but we are expected to locate this person for immediate execution. And that brings us to our next topic, Mary, you had stated that they used blunt force when confronted, would you elaborate for everyone here?”
A blue armored bug stood from her seat, flipping her nail to be pointed downwards, “Yes, they indeed used blunt force, but instead of utilizing a traditional weapon, they had used their hands to redirect and attack each of us. In addition, they seemed able to manipulate sou magic in order to cast a spell.”
A Heavy sentry raised his hand, “If so, then how did they deal so much damage to all of you?” He remarked and the guard seemed to fumble over her own words, so the Sergeant answered the question for her.
“None of us are certain, it could have been explained by soul manipulation, but the damages dealt didn’t have the lingering after effect that soul usually has, so that's out of the way. Fortunately, I had taken the time to look through some of the archives on martial arts over the years and what I found seems to explain most of what we saw.
The style used is called ‘Hand to Hand’ combat, first being utilized during the Void Wars when an unnamed species of bug had used it to defend a trio of hatchlings. The first half technique can only be performed by one with hands, focusing on curling them into fists striking with fingers first. While the second half requires one to have full control of legs to be able to strike with adequate accuracy.”
“But Ma’am, the perpetrator didn’t use the first technique you had mentioned, they hit their open palms.” A pale masked flying sentry inquired.
“That could simply be explained by the accuracy, age, and or relevance of the archive, unrecorded documents are presented all the time in Pre-Hallownest History, so we would have to speculate on the why’s and how’s of the mystery fighting style. But that is a topic for scholars to figure out and not us. Mary you may be seated” The blue cladded bug sat as the Sergeant pressed a button located under the meeting lounge’s table, a misty projection with a hue appearing from the center.
The projection showed the wanted criminal up close, the smiley faced mask with hemolymph splattered across it unnerved most of the soldiers present. “Unfortunately, none of her could garner anything from the bug’s appearance, though the spindaly appearance might indicate something of dark origin, like a Nosk or something similar to a spider mutation upon inspection.”
A lanky bug with a cape hung around their shoulders and a nail attached to their hip spoke up, “Why assume that they come from the dark? They look to be closer to a Hallownest bug rather than one of Deepnest.” The Sergeant pressed a button again, causing the misty projection to fade as she turned towards the bug.
“Deepnest’s own Queen Herrah, is also unaware of the dark places below her hidden villages, and the information she is willing to reveal has been redacted by the Pale King. So what we are seeing could be the result of the hidden Depths of Deepnest, creatures similar to the Nosks could be plentiful down there, but that is mere speculation.
But what we know for a fact is that they are dangerous, the skills that they have shone, along with the lack of knowledge could be the deaths of many if they so choose to. There is always a reason to everything, just like how we have a reason to pick up our nails and fight for this city. Don’t let the tag fool you, don’t let your fear consume you, don’t let your thoughts deceive you, for we are Hallownest’s Guards. Back before Hallownest, Guards had instilled fear into the population, oppression had thrived through those villages' veins. But now we bring faith into our people, no matter the species, social status, or age. The city is counting on us to keep them safe.”
“You are all dismissed.” Sergeant calmly ended, hopping off the chair as everyone exited the room. Her mind raced with thoughts and theories to this mysterious individual, and how she couldn’t gleam anything from them. Everything was just so plain, so basic about them, the oversized black robe, the smiley faced mask, the hook and the chain. It seems too generic for there to be nothing more. But she couldn’t, for how they stood, walked, fought, they all seemed empty, just doing meaningless actions as if they had been repeated on a loop.
Most importantly, she can’t see one weakness in sight, everything was the definition of perfection.
It terrified her.
══════════════════
SHIEK
SHANK
SHLANK
TSSSSS
You held a corpse over a pit of acid, making sure to add some detail to this ‘death’.
While you were running, you had thought about the situation you had gotten yourself into, along with the subsequent consequences of said situation. You had genuinely stopped banging your head against a stone wall, regretting your ignorance of the situation at hand. You know the Pale Twat was gonna snitch, and now you probably have a wanted poster with some sort of bounty on your head because the city sentries were the epitome of incompetence. Why hadn’t you just ran past them like a normal person?, you just had to be dramatic.
You slid your hand across the smooth surface of your mask, feeling the tiny curvature of your horns while you breathed out exasperatedly. Your eye wandered around the surroundings; you had never seen the fungal wastes in person, mainly because it didn’t exist during your time. The landscape was interesting to say the least, it definitely gave off the same feeling of discovery akin that of when you first played Hollow Knight.
As you gazed at your surroundings, you spotted somethings that might’ve concerned any normal person, but for you; an idea had popped into your head. There was a bundle of corpses that laid gathered in a circle formation, each varying in species and size. Though there was one that caught your eye, long and spindly limbs were curled up along a wall.
You looked around, turning left, to right, to behind, and to left again. The area was completely lifeless, no fungi that can potentially out you as the egg thief, or any bystanders that will scream and shout at your appearance. Slowlying stalking towards the corpse, you picked it up head first and forcefully unlocked its joints back into place, leaving it in a splayed position rather than fetal one from before. You unclipped the charm, pulling the cloth to the side while grabbing the body by its head, slowly pushing it into your hammer space.
You felt the pressure within your mind tighten, and once it was finished, you began wobbling under the strain. But you knew it was going to be worth it in the end.
And that is how you ended up here, next to a secluded acid river adjacent to a path directly leading to the crossroads, playing dress up with a corpse as if it was a barbie doll. You had taken off the robe and mask, and fastened to the corpses attire, making sure to add some meaningless details that would confuse those who were trying to find out what killed the Egg thief.
Stabbings here, slashes there, some acid burn around somewhere, the more injuries would make those bugs even more confused. The art of confusion was in your veins, as Sun Tzu once said, “The whole secret lies in confusing the enemy, so that he cannot fathom our real intent.”
You tucked the body into a corner while tossing the hook somewhere adjacent, making it seem like someone did a sloppy job of hiding the body after landing a kill. Idly, you wondered how long it was going to take for this body to be discovered and later to be public news.
You took one last sight of the body, taking in the haggard appearance of the black cloak, coated in dirt and fungal wastes, the porcelain white mask splattered with blue blood across the face, stab marks mauring the forehead and neck. Satisfied with the work, you stumbled out of the little hidey hole, keeping your grip focussed onto the wall.
You swore internally. You remembered the Shade lord's words, how the void body began to feel pain once it registered a task as completed. Your chest, legs and arms had begun to ache, the pressure from bearing all your tools within your hammer made the situation worse, but you couldn’t stop now, you at least needed a place to rest.
Huffing, you followed a path, curving around the stream of green acidic liquid beside you, the other side of the river having black metal fences not unlike those from the city. You pondered if everything was made by the same people- no wait it was, those mender bugs that would repair the crossroads signs whenever the Knight would destroy them. You remembered when you had killed the last one, reading the bug’s diary about the simple love of repairing signs and how he was soon planning to profess his romantic feelings to a bug named Mender Berri.
A melody broke you out of your thoughts, something familiar that reminded you about another one of Hollow Knight’s characters, You set your gaze upon a bug singing on the other side of the river, taking their sweet time as they strolled past the secluded area.
══════════════════
3 Minutes Prior
A Common Bug
══════════════════
Nyla took a much needed walk through the Crossroads, moving past carriages and shops as she stretched her legs. The work in the mines were grueling, leaving her drained every time she hung up her cap and set down her pickaxe. The boss was merciless in having them mine the bright magenta shards, each swing feels like she is driving herself closer to insanity. The voiceless whispers within the crystals and the unresponsive miners clack-clack-clacking away did not help either.
But it isn't like she could do anything about it though, the bug that manages the mines themselves holds a high political position due to her being born a noble. Compared to herself, Nyla was merely a pebble while she was a toppling boulder, the boss can easily make Nyla an outcast if she so pleased. So she just accepts her fate, it wasn’t like she could afford any other hut in the crossroads. Even if the pay is only a measly 700 geo, it still keeps food on the table and an eviction notice off her door.
In a sudden decision, she decided to take a detour, venturing into the parts of the crossroads that blend into the Fungal Wastes. The path she took was an isolated piece between the two biomes, one without any voices, or the haunting noises of pickaxes that fill her dreams, or the pink crystalline shards that shone like blinding lights or… Nyla shook her head, she refused to think of that on her break time. She focuses on her thoughts, humming a melody, singing a tune. Mindless words flowed through her mask, escaping into the wistful air.
…Oh, bury my mother, pale and slight
Bury my father with his eyes shut tight!
Bury my sisters two by two
And then when you're done, let's bury me too…
…Ohh, bury the knight with her broken nail
Bury the lady, lovely and pale!
Bury the priest in his tattered gown
Then bury the beggar with his shining crown…
…Ohh, bury the vessels in the abyss below
Bury the wyrm died ages ago!
A shining creator, his dreams and his light
Let him be consumed by our new knight…
…Oh, bury my mother, pale and slight
Bury my father with his eyes shut tight!
Bury my sisters two by two
And then when you're done, let's bury me too…
She was lost in the melody entwined with her own voice, the bubbling of the acid from beyond the rails and the near silent dripping from the ceiling tuned out all the bad sensations, all the bad noises. For now, she could pretend she didn’t feel the calluses and scratch marks on her hand, she could pretend she didn’t hear the mindless clacking or the whispers from within the crystals, she could pretend she didn’t see the blinding light that mixed between whites, golds, and oranges.
She could…
There was another bug here…stout just like her, leaning on the black railway of the green acid. They muttered under their breath, rambling on and on, about light, blazing bright.The
‘Light, Blazing bright,
In the sky, a fiery fright.’
They kept speaking, ignoring her presence as the stared into the caustic acid with some sort of longing,
‘Shining gold eyes, a unbearable sight,
Glimpse the world with radiant might’.
The bug spazzed and shook, trembles wracking their body as she got closer,
‘Insanity's grip, a turbulent sea,
Yet amidst the chaos, a sanctuary be’ .
Their breathing became faster, emitting fear hormones by each ticking moment,
Curving carvings of destiny's decree,
Guide me through this perplexing spree.
Another step, breath, repeat, her joints were suddenly feeling stiff, as if moving through sand,
‘White blades cut through the darkest night,
As we seek a path toward the light.’
The bug slowly turned to her as she passed, eyes shining and sparkling with an overwhelming intensity.
“Bright and bold, with all our might,
We chase the Radiance, shining bright.”
Everything felt slow, those radiant eyes locking her in place, she was lost in those orange orbs. The bug turned themselves fully, revealing a concave torso, orange swellings and tubes filled their gut, they were missing half their face, mandibles barely hanging on while they bared their teeth at her, lunging forwards with their spindly broken arm. Do tell, do tell, will she be missed?, will she be found?, would they bury her?, what will her casket look like?, will she even have one? She guessed it was irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, maybe death was like sleeping, but forever. It would be nice, no stress, no voices, no noises.
It sounded nice…
She closed her eyes, expecting pain, expecting freedom, but what she wasn't expecting was a gruesome ripping noise that permeated through the air.
SHLEAk
A blade was suddenly inside one of those orange eyes of theirs, immediately coming out and stabbing back in ruthlessly, traveling down to their legs until the mystery figure stabbed them in the eye again, whirling around to toss them into the river of acid beyond the gate, effectively turning the carcass into nothing but ash.
Nyla was stunned, Nyla was amazed, who had come all this way for her? She, not even a middle class bug, had been saved by knight, but not blinged with shining armor, no. She set her gaze on her savior, who was suddenly in front of her, holding their thin, small, ebony black hand out. They bore a dark blue robe that outlined their arms, the giant machete barely peeking from beneath the cloth, a belt tied around their waist with a massive wooden something adhered to their back. But most important was their face, oh their face, it was the shadows personified, glossy black texture with lacking any features beside two dark pits that peered down at her
She hesitantly reached out, the shakiness in her limbs compared to the steady hand of savior was a mild contrast between them. She grasped the hand, feeling the frost that practically radiated from it. Though it did not deter her from pulling, bring herself forward before,
clack
Her savior fell to the floor, huffing and showing signs of struggle, using their hands to try and lift themselves up, but instead collapsed under their own weight. Nevertheless, she had gotten a quick at their arms, scarred with damaged chitin and exposed muscles. It was the same for their legs, baring injuries that felt as though it came from an torture chamber.
It made her heart clench, this bug had come all this way to rescue her from that thing while having these sorts of wounds. It must’ve put a lot of stress on their body to move that fast as well, moving with speed that can maybe rival someone of Lady Isma’s or Dryya’s.
Carefully, as to not startle the bug, she lifted them over her smaller frame, uncomfortably noticing how light they were for a bug of their size. Nyla carried the bug through the crossroads, ignoring the looks she received from the fellow bystanders and workers. The attention made her shrink in on herself, but she persevered anyways, making her way into the village residence where her home is located.
She fumbled with her pouch, rushing to take out her house key and open the door, a mess of parchment and scrap greeted her on her way in, but she ignored it to place her fallen savior upon her bed. She went around her room picking up stuff like soul ointment and gauze to treat the wounds. Nyla herself was a clumsy child, so she had made sure to supply herself in case of anything that might happen. She untied the belt and unclipped the charm keeping their robe together, hanging on the side of the bed so they can collect it once they awake. She applied the ointment and wrapped bandages around the cracked areas, watching as the chitin mend itself back together under the white tape.
Nyla sat back to take a look at her work, their upper body, forearms, and shins were all bandaged and subsequently healing, the waft of soul from the ointment present in the air. Now, all she needs to do is clean her home, having guests over with such clutter was foolish, not even mentioning that this was someone important as well.
So she had cleaned, putting pieces where they belong, throwing unneeded items into the trash where they belong. After everything was done, she sat down upon the stool next to her desk, silently staring at her savior's limp form upon her bed. The voices aren't present yet, nor the noises of endless working hours. She felt at ease, at peace. It was like this before wasn’t it? No burdens to bear, the tears to cry. She didn’t understand, but when looking at this bug she couldn’t help but feel something warm, like a burning fire standing strong from within a blizzard.
Words began to escape from her mask, quiet yet full with emotion.
“In the silence, I find my cherished prize,
No foreign voices within, just peaceful skies.
No more crystals to see, they're all confined,
No more voices to hear, I've left them behind.
In the absence of haunting, I find my release,
The quiet solitude, a balm for inner peace.
No sounds that once haunted my restless nights,
Just reverie and delight, as my spirit takes flight.
With the silence as my solace, I am freed,
No foreign voices in my head, a welcomed deed.
A savior with sight, guiding me on this quest,
In the stillness, I find true solace and rest.”