Enter the Dragon

Chapter 1: Settling in…

Breathing through my nose, I continued on my way, carrying the log upon my left shoulder as I moved across the wastes. This would make the eighth log gathered since I started, would net me another 1000 geo for my efforts.

Stepping down the Kings Pass, I made my way into Dirtmouth, carrying the heavy log, shifting it to my other shoulder as my left shoulder began to ache. I'm sure if I still had skin, I'd be able to see bruises from the weight, but the chitinous exoskeleton where my skin used to be hid the subtle aches from sight.

Various bugs walked past me, going about their business, either ignoring me or giving me a nod of approval. Carrying the log, I made my way to the carpenter, opening up the door with my free hand, stepping inside as the large beetle inside startled at my appearance, before standing up and saying "Oh, there you are. Come, come, I'll hold the door for you."

Following along, I wait as he opens the door to the back of his shop, and carefully set it on top of the pile of logs I had already acquired, putting them now at eight logs total. Stepping back into the lobby, the carpenter beetle (named, amusingly enough, Carver) counted out the geo, into a sack, saying "I must say, that amount of wood will keep us supplied for quite a while. If only we could get more reliable bugs like you around, would make this business even more profitable."

Once fully counted out, he hands me the bag, saying "Here you go, 1000 geo for the log. Stop on by anytime."

I nod, accepting the bag of geo, and turn to leave, saying "You're quite welcome." as I step out the door, into the cool air of Dirtmouth. Stuffing the sack of geo into my cloak, I begin heading to the nearest food vender.

After finding and paying for some gruz legs, I picked out an empty spot in the rest area, and eat on them, trying to decide my next course of action.

I had been in Dirtmouth for roughly two weeks now, having woken up in a cave off the path to the Kings Pass. I distinctly remember going to sleep in my human form, before waking up alone, inside said cave, now insectoid in appearance. And upon finding Dirtmouth, I figured out I had been Isekai'd into the world of Hollow Knight.

Which, reeks of contrived BS, but I'm not going to question it too much. I've already had my panic attack once, no point in working myself up to another one. My body was, changed. I could still feel my hard bones under my flesh, but my skin had been replaced by chitionous plates, giving me an insectoid appearance. I had no hair, my chiton being a dark, almost black-blue color, with the exception of my face, which was a porcelain white, mask like face, very much like the Hollow Knight or Hornet, angled up into a pair of long horns, with branching hooks at the ends. My eyes were black pits, with black chiton lens covering my eye, muting the colors of everything I looked at. A pair of antenna, the same color as the rest of my body, sat where my eyebrows would have been, and I had a pair of tiny holes where my nose should have been. My mouth consisted of 3 sets of jaws, one set being my original human jaws, hidden beneath the mask, while two pairs of mandibles extended down and forward, giving me the look of a sangheili from halo, or predator from predator, when fully extended, with shark like teeth lining the insides. Made eating food quite the adventure the first time, but I eventually figured it out.

The palms of my hands and feet were a dark grey color, and acted like the cling pads of a gecko, ensuring I had a strong grip. My fingers and toes had extendable claws, that when fully extended were nearly 3 inches long, almost cat like in their shape.

My body shape was mostly the same, with two main changes. I had a small abdomen attached at the back of my waist, extending out about two feet, covered in segmented plates, and ending in 3 different organs. The largest one, and most dangerous, was the stinger I now had, a long, needle like stinger, very much like a wasp. My anus was located between it and my sex organs, which was mostly hidden within my abdomen, thankfully. And on my back, was a dual pair of wings, which allowed my flight, although I couldn't fly for long, due to the extra weight of my bones.

Essentially, I was a wasp like bug, with the visual appearance of a mature vessel. Which I mostly hid under the cloak, being the first thing I bought from my first job. Within my cloak, I had a basic knife, geo bags, fire starting kit, and map I had bought of Hollownest.

Once done with my meal, I pull out the map, thinking my thoughts through. I knew that the time I had been brought in here, was before the infection had subsumed the kingdom, but I didn't know how much time before that I was at. I knew that the Radiance worked through dreams, but I hadn't dreamed once since awakening here, and I had been running ideas of how to possibly prevent the infection.

I could take a trip to Monomon's Archives, but I would rather stay out of the Pale King's radar, as it were. Deepnest was a no go, and I didn't want to go anywhere near the Soul Sanctum, given what I knew of the place from playing Hollow Knight.

Sighing, I packed up, and made my way to a Stag Station, deciding that before I do anything, I need to get a weapon. Which meant finding some pale ore, and going to the Nailsmith. If he's actually on the edge of the City of Tears, if he's not there, then I guess I'll have to settle for something else.

One stag station trip later, which was as unnerving as I expected, and I was in the City of Tears. And I hated it already. Holding my cloak close to my form, I begin exploring, reading the signs, following my way to eventually find a mining store. One thing I noticed while exploring, is that the City of Tears is much, much larger than the game made it out to be, being comparable to New York City. But underground.

Stepping into the lobby of the store, shaking as much water off of my cloak as possible, I step forward as the clerk in front of me straightened up, saying "Ah, hello welcome to the Miner's Union. How can I help you?" with a nasally voice that I instantly disliked.

I respond "Do you sell pale ore here?", my voice flowing out like silk (something I also disliked, but I could live without my original voice). The clerk nods, responding "Yes, we do, but it is quite expensive. Any particular kind of pale ore you require?"

"A pale ore suitable for use in creating a nail, would be preferred." I say, watching as the clerk steps back, saying "Of course, I'll be right back."

A few minutes later, the clerk comes back, huffing while carrying a shining piece of pale ore, setting it on the counter and pulls out a device, messing with it for a bit before turning to me, saying "For this piece, which is rated as nail worthy, the price will be 800 geo."

Pulling out one of my bags of geo, I count out the money, watching with some interest at how the clerk was seemingly expecting me to not have the money for such an expenditure.

Once fully counted out, I hand over the geo, and grab the piece of ore, lifting it with one hand, turning to leave as I say "Thank you." The clerk simply ignores me, gathering up the geo as I step out of the shop, back into the endless rain of the City of Tears.

Putting my ore into a one of the pockets, I begin heading towards where the Nailsmith is supposed to be, hoping he's still there when I get there.

Some jumps later, and I find the simple looking house, the clanging of metal coming from within. Smiling to myself, I step inside, the smell of metal in the air as the Nailsmith halts his current work, turning to me, saying "Yes, what do you want?"

I withdraw the piece of pale ore, and present it to him, saying "I would like for you to forge me a nail, long and thing, balanced on the hilt for ease of swinging.", handing it to him as he pulls out a scale, setting the ore on it, mumbling to himself before turning back to me, and says "Alright, I think this will be more than adequate. Standard price for a nail is 800 geo."

I simply nod, and hand over the geo, waiting as he counts it out. Once done, he puts the geo away, saying "I'll have it done within a day." and turns back to his current project, a clear dismissal.

I nod, turning around, exiting the house, and take a seat next to his house, pulling out my map as I make plans.

From what I remember of the game and it's lore, it appears that the infection hasn't happened at all yet, thankfully. Although I may have been lucky so far, so who knows if it is occurring, and I just haven't noticed yet. I know that in deepnest, at nosk's lair, a group of vessels escape. I know that the knight, or ghost, escapes at some point either before or just after the infection hits.

But what to do about the Radiance. I seemingly lack any magic power, with what little I've tried doing. I distinctly remember one fan fiction story, the Radiance's infection being stopped by dream catchers, so that's a possibility. There's also the dream nail, which I know is owned by Seer, although whether she's in the Resting Ground or not, is something I'll just have to find out myself.

Rolling up my map, I head back towards the City of Tears, intent on getting some dream catcher supplies, and then settling in for the night. And then I'll go from there, hopefully not dying in the process.

AN: Right, there we go, that's that. What do you guys think? Going for a combination of things. Not just human mind inserted into a bug, but more of a human brought to Hollownest and Bugified externally. Basically, the OC (Who is named Ray, it hadn't come up naturally in this chapter) has the internals (mostly) of a human, including bones, organs, etc, but has the exterior of a bug, with some other minor changes. I'll plying my artistic mind to making a drawing of Ray for a visual reference, but I don't promise anything on that.

Aside from that, this fic has several inspirations, including Belief and Strings, on Archive of our Own, as well as a couple of other fics involving Ghost traveling back in time to save everyone.

I do hope everyone enjoyed, and will be ready for the next chapter.