Remember that Falcom owns Legend of Heroes and Hollow Knight is owned by Team Cherry.
"Shit." cursed Rean Schwarzer hearing a dead signal come from his ARCUS. He seemed to be stranded in a dark and rocky place that seems desolate in every angle. "Why can't I contact anybody..."
It was a few minutes since he woke up in this new environment with no one else. The last thing he remembered before he did, was traveling with Alisa, Emma, Gaius, and Jusis to the Nord Highlands. They were in the middle of uncovering the culprits of the attack on the Imperial watchtower and the base in Calvard with a strange blue-haired girl called Millilium.
They had made it inside an ancient quarry with the help of Milllium's "companion" which she called Lammy. The five stormed the place looking for the terrorists until they fought some more monsters near a ravine. Rean stood too close to the edge of it so when a giant spider came to attack him, he lost his footing and they both fell in the hole as all of them yelled out for him when he did. When Rean came to, he saw the spider unmoving in this new place.
"Alisa! Gaius! Emma! Jusis! Millium! Is anyone up there?!" he called out unable to get a response back.
"It doesn't seems like my ARCUS can't give a call...dammit." he huffed as he looked up to see where he fell from but he just saw a black hazy sky instead. "What the heck is going on...there's got to be a opening from where I fell from." Suddenly, the spider came back to life behind him screeching. It tried to pounce on Rean but he quickly dodged.
"Crap, I thought it was dead!" Rean quickly dispatched his tachi to finish it off before a dark shadow overcame the insect. A bone-headed humanoid thrusted his blade into the spider killing it instantly surprising Rean. "What!?"
The humanoid quickly looked at Rean before lunging right at him causing him to block the strike. Rean quickly retaliated with a strike of his own, a slash across the bone-headed midsection, but the figure jumped away a few feet then jumped over Rean's head in a downward slash.
"Why are you attacking me!?" Rean asked parrying the blow. The figure only responded with a another attempt of a slice. Rean sighed before releasing his breath. "Fourth Form: Autumn Leaf Cutter!" He charged at the figure with a barrage of blows passing right past the bone-headed humanoid. A moment of silence passed as both were hit by each others attacks.
Rean kneeled in the ground with a cut on his cheek while the humanoid figure fell to the ground weakened.
"Oww..." Rean groaned putting a hand on his cheek to reveal some blood before looking back at the figure. "Hey, are you alright?" He asked in concern standing up before walking up to the figure slumped down unconscious. It was two feet smaller than Rean but wielded what looks like a gigantic old nail. "I think I might have overdone it..."
"I wonder where am I?" Rean asked himself seeing nothing but rocks and what looks like mollusk shells. However not too far away, looked like a town with a few lanterns lighting the way. Maybe there they can have some help for the both of them. There was some grass and destroyed structures scattered about. He dragged the bone-faced figure to the strange town until Rean noticed something.
"That's strange, nobody is outside. Infact it looks like nobody even lives here. It looks like most of it is abandoned." he muttered to himself as he go closer. A few seconds later, he saw a lone figure standing out in a streetlight next to a bench. The figure wore a thick cloak looking very similar to the knight he was dragging round.
"Hello sir...My name is Rean Schwarzer. Do you know where I am?" Rean said walking towards him hoping that he was peaceful. Another bone-faced head looked at him not scaring him much. "Wait, they don't have mouths, so that's why they can't talk..."
"You don't seem like you are from here...you are not one of us." the humanoid responded breaking Rean's train of thought.
"Oh, that's right. You see it's kind of a long story..." Rean said before explaining his predicament and his encounter with tattered-caped knight. The bone-faced figure nodded when he was finished.
"You certainly look like the type to get into some kind of trouble. But I never seen a kind of creature as yourself. What do you identify yourself as?" the figure asked gruffly.
"I'm a human? I'm afraid I can't answer that very well, sorry." Rean told it. "But do you know a way I can get back to the Nord Highlands?"
"Nord Highlands...?" the bug repeated. "I'm afraid there is no such place down here. However, you are here in Dirtmouth, if it helps any tiny bit."
"What do you mean, I just fell down the ravi-" Rean said before pausing. "Wait, you mean there's no way of getting out of here?"
"I didn't say that. However, in Hallownest, we never had any "humans" come by...you might be in here for a while."
"W-what!? No, you don't understand...my friends need me! We need to stop a war from happening from occurring within two countries! I need to get back them!" Rean shouted getting anxious. "There's got to be a way to let me go back to Nord!"
"I cannot do anything to help you, I am too old to go adventuring anymore, but perhaps something down there can help you." he pointed to the ground with his foot. Rean looked down with worry as the old bug kept talking. "But be warned, many residents have gone down and dissapeared."
"I'll do it. I'll go down if it means I can get back to my friends." Rean swore with determination. "But, I need to take care of my companion, maybe we can work together. Do you have a doctor?"
"Lay him down on the bench, he shall soon come to." the elder bug said. Rean placed the bone-faced warrior on the bench.
"What good will that do?!" Rean asked in confusion as he sat on the bench as well somewhat exhausted with the fights in the quarry as well as with the bone-faced knight. He was tapping the floor each second with a grimace. "Damn, I need to go back to the others fast! Who knows what might have happened to them?!"
"The bench is very comfortable, don't you think? Even though it is made out of iron, it is a nice place to relax and think about deep things." the elder bug said to the black-haired swordsman.
"Have you ever had anyone taken away from you?" Rean asked solemnly.
"..." the elder bug stayed silent with no emotion present on his face.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to revive bad memories, I mean...why did everyone leave this place?"
"Perhaps to seek some kind of purpose...is that not the reason why we all live? I remember the reason I did it was because of the thrill of battle and see what not the typical resident couldn't. When times were more colorful and vibrant." Just then, the ragged knight woke up before jumping to face Rean with his old nail.
"Look, there's been a misunderstanding. I didn't want to fight you at all." Rean said standing up to talk to the knight. The knight tilted his head in interest realizing this creature wasn't a threat. "Let's start over again. My name is Rean Schwarzer, I was raised in Ymir and am the adopted son of a noble."
"..." the knight said.
"Ok...look. I need your help, um...you know it would really helpful if I could have call you something by." Rean said awkwardly sweatdropping. The bone-faced knight showed no sign of acknowledgement. A minute passed until the knight used its nail to sketch something on the dirt. Rean looked down to see what was written.
"Knight...I guess that will have to do." Rean thought. "Knight, I need to get back to my friends and stop a war, though looking at how long this is going to take, it might be already over. I need your help, if you could offer it. I don't know what you could get out of this, but please."
"..." Knight stood quietly looking at Rean's eyes with his hidden ones before nodding. Rean smiled with relief as the two came to a common goal.
"Thank you. You don't know how much this means to me." he said gratefully. Knight placed his nail on his hip before walking away with Rean starting to follow him but the elder's voice halted them both.
"Used to be there was a great kingdom beneath our town. It's long fell to ruin, yet it draws folks into its depths. Wealth, glory, enlightenment, that darkness seems to promise all things, I'm sure you too seek your dreams and goals down there." He looked at Rean specifically when he said "goals". "Well watch out. Its a sickly air that fills the place. Creatures turn mad and travelers are robbed of their memories. Perhaps dreams aren't such great things after all..."
"No pressure right..." he chuckled nervously as he walked away from Dirtmouth and to a well close by. "What's this? A water well?"
"..." the knight pulled on the chain first to make sure it is firm and secure before sliding down on it. He looked at Rean telling him to do the same. As Rean held the chain to do so, his only thought carried him through what seems to be a treacherous trial.
"I hope you guys are alright when I come back. I promise I won't be long. No matter what, I will never give up. For my family, for my friends, and for myself."
You know, I just want to see more Legend of Heroes Crossovers. It is a truly great JRPG series that need more attention and praise. So here is what I'm offering. A Hollow Knight and Trails of Cold Steel fanfiction featuring Rean. Please, tell me what do you think about it. I want to keep trying to get better at writing and I need your help. I feel like I need more practice to be all the others I read, I need some to write. I'm still playing Hollow Knight, so I need to finish it. See you, next time.
