Hollow Knight Oneshots (Requests open)

Female Grimm x Male!Reader

Requested by @TheRealPapaScorch.

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Your PoV:

You were just examining Sly's wares when you heard a commotion outside.

"What the-" You walked outside to see, and you realized why. Elderbug was standing off nervously to one side, staring at what had just appeared. Apparently there were three large scarlet and white tents that looked like they were screaming. Eerie music was drifting from the center tent. 

"What-What is that?" Elderbug stuttered when you walked over to him. 

"I don't know. Do you want me to go and see?" Without waiting for an answer, you strode off and into the middle and largest tent. Inside was dark, but there were black upside down claw-like lanterns containing scarlet flames lighting some areas. Halfway there, you saw the source of the music. There was a bug playing the accordion. He had a full face mask with lines over and under the eyeholes. The stranger had a dark red scarf-thing wrapped around his neck, and he was white and light gray.

"Mrmmm," he said when he saw you. "Master will want to see you. Mrmmmmm." Well THAT wasn't very helpful. Who and where was the master anyway? Should be farther in, perhaps. You kept walking and ended up in a large room with four lanterns in it. Suddenly, a burst of scarlet smoke, a tall figure appeared. 

She had a white, heart shaped face and large glowing scarlet eyes with the same lines over them as the bug you had met, the accordion player. She also had short, jet-black horns and wore a black and red cloak. The bug turned to look at you. 

"Greetings, visitor," she said in a calm (but slightly raspy-ish) voice. "I am Grimm, the master of this Troupe. I gather that it was not you who summoned us, but I have a feeling the Summoner will not be present for the Ritual." Grimm surveyed you with her odd eyes. 

Now that you looked at her closer, you noticed she was quite pretty, and you felt a light blush creep up on your cheeks, growing steadily darker the longer she talked. Luckily, Grimm didn't notice. 

"But don't fear, small one. For this you will not be alone," Grimm continued, somehow unaware of your face going out of control right beside her. "My child will guide you. Seek the flames and return to me once you have enough." As she spoke, a small bat-like creature appeared beside her. It resembled Grimm, but it had a tiny gray body and had black eyes, and its head ended in a single point at the back instead of having horns. 

It didn't seem to want to get close to you.

"Oh, you'll need this, by the way. It doesn't cost a lot of notches, so I think you'll be all right." Grimm handed you a charm, and you studied it. "I didn't catch your name, by the way."

"It-it's Y/N," you replied, slipping the charm into a small pouch where you kept your charms. So far, you only had Gathering Swarm, Lifeblood Heart and Wayward Compass. 

"Y/N," Grimm echoed thoughtfully. "Nice name."

****

Things weren't looking too good for you. The Grimmkin swooped and charged at you, giggling like mad. You jumped up and slashed down with your nail, successfully killing the little monster. It let out a scream and exploded into flames, which the Grimmchild then eagerly consumed. 

Drained from your latest battle, you wandered around Greenpath searching for the nearest Bench. Damn your empty pockets that you couldn't buy a map for this place. At last, you came across a Bench -- with a toll gate in front of it, and you groaned. Grimmchild gave a small "nyah". As you turned, you saw that it had some Geo in its mouth and it put the money in your hand. You inserted the Geo and the gate opened. In your haste to rest you flopped right onto the Bench face-first, forgetting that it was iron.

"Ow." Grimmchild squeaked softly, trying to see if you were all right. It did that ridiculously often, which you sometimes found annoying. 

"I'm fine, I'm fine." You peered into your pouch to see which Charms you should equip. After defeating a warrior wearing a burgundy-ish dress, you had gotten the Mothwing Cloak which allowed you to dash forwards a short distance, either on the ground or in the air. With the ability, you had gotten the Thorns of Agony Charm. Deciding you had enough Notches, you then equipped it. As you browsed through your Charms, your reckless streak kicked in and you Overcharmed yourself by adding Lifeblood Heart. So now, your Charm build was: Grimmchild, Wayward Compass (you couldn't go anywhere without this guy), Thorns of Agony, Gathering Swarm, and Lifeblood Heart. All five Charms took up a total of 7 notches, and your uneventful travels earned you 6 notches only. Perhaps it was time to go kill those Shrumal Ogres in Mushroom Land so you could wear more Charms. It wasn't pleasant being Overcharmed.

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Grimm PoV:

I waited inside my tent, wondering when Y/N would come pay me a visit. He was a handsome bug, and I really hoped he'd come back soon. It appeared that, er, liking someone (as a friend, of course, I kept telling myself, but I often doubted it) prevented one from doing certain things, such as keeping your heart rate normal. Finally, the impatience grew to be too much. I stood up and paced all around, even going into the well to work off my anxious energy. Would Y/N be all right? The bugs down here weren't too hard to handle, I thought as I burned one to a crisp. But I knew that these were only the weakest ones of this ruined land. 

As I approached a tunnel, I noticed that lush green plants and vines were starting to grow. There was a sign that read: 

Start of the Pilgrim's Way

Huh. Weird name. As I proceeded to enter the unknown area, I noticed that there were pools of acid below. And there was the familiar shape of a bug jumping gracefully from platform to platform, crossing over the acid easily.

"Y/N?" I called. He looked up.

"Grimm?! What are you doing here?" he asked, landing onto my ledge. Grimmchild flew towards me, squeaking happily.

"Aw, did you miss Mommy already?" I asked, spreading my arms. I sat down, and Grimmchild landed on my lap.

"I was waiting for you," I replied, hoping Y/N didn't see me blush. I stroked my son's head and he squeaked adorably. "But I got impatient and came here to work off my energy." We sat mostly in silence for a while, except for Grimmchild's "nyah"s.

"Hey, you didn't tell me flames were so hard to gather!" Y'N scolded me after a while, though he was smiling a bit. However, he quickly pouted when I looked at him. Grimmchild chirped.

"Well, I didn't think the Grimmkin Novices were that hard to kill. Not when you have fire, anyways." I cupped a small flame in my hands to demonstrate.

"Yeah, but you're forgetting something. Most of us don't have fire," Y/N pointed out, rolling his eyes. 

"Aw, but you have a little stabby thing," I replied. Y/N gave an exasperated sigh.

"It's called a nail." I shrugged.

"Nail, stabby thing, whatever."

"Hey, how many flames to I have to gather anyways?" he asked.

"Three," I said. Y/N groaned.

"I'm going to die before I make it back!" Grimmchild flapped over and nuzzled him.

"Well, you're going to have to gather nine total flames, just warning you." Y/N now looked as though he regretted all his life decisions.

****

Your PoV:

Nine. Nine total flames. How will you ever survive?

A/N: Sorry I had to cut this short. Instead of writing very long oneshots, I might take requests for second or third oneshot parts. Like, if you think this is incomplete (which it probably is), you can always request a part two to this. Thanks for requesting anyways.