[ABANDONED] A Series of Oneshots

Hornet (Hollow Knight)

Finally, the vessel had defeated the adult Baldur guarding the way forward, blasting it with Vengeful Spirit whenever it let its guard down. The Baldur shrieked and fell forward. It dropped some Geo onto the floor, which the vessel quickly picked up.

Good, forward then, the vessel thought and walked past the corpse. His gray cloak shrouded most of his black body. His horned head gleamed white, and his pitch black eyes absorbed everything and nothing all at once. The vessel gripped his nail as he walked, certain the challenge had only just begun.

He found a flying bug, its stomach full of sticky orange goop. Four strikes, and the vessel swung his old nail. The bug didn't even get a chance to birth attackers before it fell dead. The force of the nail swings sent the new corpse flying into a strange liquid in a gap in the floor. The vessel peered over the edge of the floor and watched the liquid eat the corpse with a loud sizzle. It steamed and popped after its meal.

Huh. The vessel hopped over the gap and kept walking. As the path grew dense with green plants, the pools of liquid grew more frequent. The vessel encountered new, different bugs. They were hairy, one of them large and one of them small. The small one charged at him, but was quickly cut down.

The larger one ambled on its piece of land, spots of orange... something poking through its hair. It shuddered as the vessel approached. He managed two slashes before the bug released an orange gas.

Gah! He hopped back. The cloud engulfed the hairy bug and the area around it before dissipating. The vessel finished off the bug and collected its Geo.

Upon arriving in Greenpath, the first thing the vessel did was startle some bugs, who frantically flew away from him. I'm sorry! He wanted to yell after them, but they would not have understood.

Something squeaked and rustled under his feet. A part of the grass rose and started moving, searching with its orange eyes. The vessel moved out of its way and followed behind it.

What are you, bush or bug? He wondered. Either way, you are rather cute.

He almost missed the figure standing on higher ground at a distance. The vessel hopped onto lower ground, and the figure turned to face him.

She was a little taller than him, although part of that was the horns on her white head. She wore a red cloak and held a needle in her hand.

They stared at each other, neither of them saying a word. Then, the figure walked away.

Wait! Who are you? The vessel hopped after her, but he couldn't quite reach the ledge and fell down. I'll find another way.

The path led downward, and he followed it through the leaves and moss to a pool of the strange liquid. He jumped over it and continued forward.

The path twisted and turned, and the vessel was glad to find Cornifer, the mapmaker. He bought a map, and descended further.

Past a pool of liquid, the figure landed in front of him. She paid no attention to the vessel and threw her needle. She grabbed something trailing from the needle and flew away. What are you? The vessel wondered and followed her. In his brief glimpse of her, the vessel saw a black body. Are you like me?

He followed the retreating figure. He tried to catch up to her, to talk to her, but she kept a safe distance from him. He saw her above him and her black eyes looked through him. She jumped away, and he pursued her. You must be like me! The vessel decided. But are you skilled at combat like me?

Stone pillars poked out of the ground, but the vessel kept climbing. Enemies fell to his nail. They didn't have a chance of stopping him.

He came upon a mossy knight in a large room within the hanging leaves. The knight proved to be a challenge, compared to the hairy bugs. At the very least, he held a nail and a shield, and only swung after the vessel hit the shield.

Still, he fell too, but not without dealing some damage to the vessel. Keep your guard up, the vessel reminded himself. That bug may prove to be a challenge.

The moss gave way to a small cave, and the vessel heard the cries of someone being eaten. He saw a small bug, who looked a lot like him, in the jaws of a large fly. But, the vessel was focused on his goal, and left the bug to his fate.

Eventually, the vessel found a pillar with an opening in it. He jumped inside and found the figure. She stood in front of three large pillars and another figure. As the vessel approached, he saw the other figure was someone like him, but with a nail driven through its skull.

"Come no closer, ghost," the figure pointed her nail at the vessel (who shall be known as Ghost). "I've seen you, creeping through the undergrowth, stalking me."

I just want to know who you are, if I'm... if I'm not alone. Ghost remembered the bug he left behind. Oh no.

The figure couldn't hear him, so she continued, "This old kingdom... A terrible thing awakens. I can smell it in the air..."

"I know what you are. I know what you'd try to do. I can't allow it."

What am I doing? I don't know, but I'm doing something. What are—

The figure attacked. Ghost quickly dodged and struck back. The figure's, or Hornet's rather, movements were light, and the two danced together in battle. Hornet threw her needle, and Ghost jumped over it, only for it to come right back and hit him in the head.

Eventually, Ghost won the battle. Hornet panted for breath and, without another word, threw her needle and flew away.

Disappointed, Ghost turned and saw the corpse had been knocked down. He took its cloak, and was suddenly struck with a dream and three voices as one:

Would it seek to break the seals?

They cannot be undone.

They must be undone.

Let us sleep, little shadow. Return to your darkness. Allow us our peace.

Three ghostly figures appeared above Ghost, and he was knocked unconscious.