Silent City

15. The Troupe Master

 The Radiance had gone to visit Grimm at the beginning of the day, and was immediately met with contempt from the people in the lobby. She wasn't allowed to enter the building without any ID or proof that someone was expecting her, so, dejectedly, she walked back to her apartment and waited until night, since flying up into the sky during the day where anyone could see her didn't feel like a good idea.

Now, however, the whole city was under a lockdown. Someone had stirred up some trouble at the police station, and as soon as she found out it had something to do with the Hollow Knight, she kept up with everything happening. Somebody had gotten a video of Hornet standing outside the station in her authentic Hallownest garb, shouting confidently at the police to shoot at her. They did, and Hornet was able to perfectly deflect every single one of the bullets. The Radiance was impressed. She continued to watch the coverage of the escape, which told that the police followed Hornet to a parking garage near the middle of the city. The police had lost sight of the Hollow Knight before then. When they entered the parking garage, Hornet had disappeared. Ever since then, the city was locked down, while the police searched the streets for Hornet and the Hollow Knight. The Radiance figured they wouldn't find Hornet. If she didn't want to be found, she wouldn't be found. She did, however, wonder if they'd be able to find the Hollow Knight. Their will wasn't nearly as strong as Hornet's, and they probably wouldn't even mind if they got taken back in.

What confused Radi the most, though, was the fact that the coverage showed that Hornet was with another person— but nobody had gotten good footage of them. They looked young, judging by their height, but other than that she had no clue who they were. Hornet didn't like working with other people— she was entirely too independent, which made it even stranger that she was working with someone else.

Radi shook the thought from her mind. It didn't worry her. She had something more pressing on her mind.

As soon as the sun had set and the streetlights in the city turned on, she looked outside her window at the skyline. It was about time to pay the Troupe Master a visit.

She took a deep breath and unfurled her wings. She would have just opened the window and flown out, but there's no way her wings would be able to fit. So instead she placed her hand on the corner of the window, and felt her palm heat up. She dragged her hand up and around the outline of the window, leaving a hot streak of melted glass in its wake. The window hissed as she cut through it entirely, and pulled the glass back into the apartment. A gust of wind blew into her face as she peeked out of the window frame. It was just big enough for her to force her wings through, and spread them outside the building. She took in the cold air for a moment, before launching herself unceremoniously into the air.

She hadn't actually flown yet in this realm. She spread her wings and they caught on the air, but her first attempt at flying wasn't the prettiest. It took her a moment to realize what she was actually doing, before she landed on the ground. The landing wasn't too bad, but it really only mattered that she couldn't fly.

She let out a low growl as she got to her feet, and turned her eyes down the empty street. She began to get a running start, before jumping into the air, her wings catching. In a swift motion, she pushed herself upward, and before anyone could see her she was already in the air, soaring high above her apartment.

She savored the feeling of the wind in her hair as she flew high above the city. For a moment, she forgot where she was going, but her blissful experience was short-lived, as she quickly passed the building she was headed towards. The disadvantage of having such a quick mode of transportation was that you didn't have nearly as long to enjoy the ride.

She spread her wings and soared up to the top of the building, where she slowly floated down, soaring around the building like a corkscrew. She kept her eyes peeled for Grimm's vibrantly decorated residence, which the Radiance noticed resembled his old circus-like spiel he kept up centuries ago. She never quite understood his affinity for the color red, but at this point, that was the least of her questions she had for him.