This is a fanfic based on the game Hollow Knight.
Hollow Knight is owned by Team Cherry and is not my property.
I only own one OC, that being Holly Nigh (yes, original, I know)
With this out of the way, let's begin:
Chapter 1
"Come on, play Hollow Knight! It's awesome!" said most people, me not being one of them. To be honest, with all the things going on in the world, playing a tough video game that was basically a 2-dimensional Dark Souls was not on my priority list. But curiosity finally struck and I decided to play the full version on the PS4... and I was stunned at how great it was! It was not only much more fair than Dark Souls due to the 2-D plane, but it also had some amazing lore and boss fights, my favorites consisting of the unique ones found in the Pantheon of the Knight such as Sly and the Pure Vessel.
Despite that, I found out that the game's ultimate challenge of getting the final boss of the pantheon defeated was a big chore. Going through every boss in the game before finally beating the best boss in the game in Absolute Radiance was extremely tough, and it took m 30 different tries to even reach it. And an extra 10 times to try and beat it. But after all of that, I finally did it, earning me the platinume trophy!
"Ah... that was tough, but worth it," I literally said out loud after I finished the game, me feeling a sense of accomplishment. My name is Holly Nigh, which is the main reason why people kept pestering me to play the game, just because of my name. And being the subject of bullying for my entire school session, it made me more hesitant to beat it than most, considering that everyone kept telling me to play it.
But after having finally defeated the game in its entirety, I fully understood the hype behind it. Sure, the game has a few flaws, but it was more than made up with the overwhelming positives. I even decided that, after having defeated Absolute Radiance that I'd start the game again, but this time on a harder difficulty!
"Why don't you go to bed first and play it in the morning, hon?" my mother asked me with a smile. I then looked at the clock and saw it was almost midnight. She was right... and I hated that. After all, I did have to go to my first day of community college in the morning. Why not a regular college? Look at the price difference and ask me again.
"Okay, I'll do that," I smiled, deciding that I'd just get a new file started in the morning. I then went and turned the game off, brushed my teeth, and then went to sleep on my bed, which was conveniently next to the tv... but when I pulled the covers over my head... I couldn't help but feel that there was something off. I heard some kind of thumping noise, almost like a heartbeat. I got the covers off my face and didn't see anything out of the ordinary... so I ignored the noise.
After a bit, the noise got louder... and faster. I then looked out of the covers again... and saw something shocking. Somehow, I was surrounded by nothing but orange puss all over my bedroom! And then I saw that it forced the tv to turn on! But the orange puss looked strikingly similar to the very same stuff that was in the game! And when the tv turned on, I gasped as a bright flash of light happened and I shrieked at what happened next. My body was suddenly warped directly into the television!
"NO! THIS ISN'T REAL! IT'S A DREAM! IT HAS TO B-" I was about to shout... before my face collided into nothing but dirt. "Ow..." I groaned as I then got off the ground... and saw that my body was coated in some black armor... I then felt my back... and felt a sword?... No. When I held it in front of me, I saw it was actually a nail! The weapon of choice from the game! I instinctively felt my face and, thank god, it was the same as before, same with my hair coming from behind my head of light blue dye with purple highlights. I then saw a mask on the ground that made me surprised. It was the same as the Hollow Knight, and just my size.
"What the... is this real?" I asked as I then poked myself with the nail and felt pain, me frowning. "It is... oh god... how the hell do I get out of this mess?!" I asked aloud, me wondering what to do now that I was suddenly in this situation. Either I'd been teleported to the world of Hollow Knight and placed in the shoes of the main character... or I was in the most vivid, realistic dream I'd ever experienced before... but then, I heard a voice.
"What is she?..." I heard a familiar voice say, me looking in that direction and seeing the sight of silk hide behind a rock. It was Hornet, that much was for sure.
"Um... if you come out, I could explain... but I doubt anyone would believe me," I said, Hornet gasping before she then poked her nail out and started to shake it. "I'm not a threat, I promise... if anything, I'm terrified," I admitted, her then finally emerging and me seeing that she looked exactly like her game counterpart, but in a more realistic look. And by that, I meant that she had the same design, but she had a small mouth and she looked like she could be from the real world instead of a 2-d cartoon-like game.
"What are you?... You aren't a bug, since you don't have a carapace... so what are you?" she asked, me sighing at that.
"Do you know what a human is?" I asked, her thinking about it before shaking my head. "Well... imagine us being ridiculously huge, almost as tall as these very cliffs we're on. And we're so big that just stepping on a bug would crush them like a ripe tomato," I said, her looking at me as I saw her eyes then narrow.
"A wyrm... your kind has let this kingdom go to ruin! I WILL SLAY YOU!" Hornet shouted as she then rushed at me and I barely had the chance to dodge! I noted that the arena was much wider instead of 2-d, making this more like Dark Souls, but that didn't mean much when Hornet was trying to rush at me and kill me faster than in the game! "STAND STILL! YOU MONSTER!" she shouted as I then finally had enough of dodging and I proceeded to grab her nail with my hands and I then threw it out of her reach, Hornet growling as I then tackled her to the ground and pinned her down.
"I'm not going to kill you or harm you! Just stop, okay?! I don't want to die at the start of my adventure!" I shouted, her then trying to struggle, but me frowning. "If I wanted to kill you, then you'd be dead already, wouldn't you? Stop struggling and just explain to me what that meant. Because I have no flipping clue what these wyrms are," I said, her then frowning at me with angry eyes, but she finally did stop fighting my grip.
"Wyrms are notorious bug killers... the former king of this land... I was his retainer. He tried to make a wyrm his wife, because she did love him.. but when they enacted a ritual to have a kid, the wyrm gave the kingdom a plague unintentionally, which also infected the wyrm herself. I've hated them ever since..." Hornet said, me frowning at that as I finally got my arms off of her and sat down.
"I'm not one of those wyrms, that much I can say. If anything, I try to actively avoid stepping on bugs... but you're probably wondering why I'm so frigging small right now, huh?" I asked, Hornet then looking at me before nodding.
"Yeah, so... how are you so small for a wyrm?" she asked.
"That's the part you may not believe. I finished playing this game and went to bed shortly before midnight. And then I kept hearing what sounded like a heartbeat getting louder and louder. And when I opened the covers, I saw that there were giant orange puss balls all over my bedroom. And then, I suddenly got warped through a device and then ate dirt right in this spot," I said as I pointed the face-print in the ground of where I'd landed, her looking at me with a frown.
"It must be the former queen's work, then... the infection is caused by her, and this description of orange puss balls sounds like what this infection looks like... I've never seen it myself, but I'd heard it was very dangerous. If it touches you, it makes you crazy," she said, me nodding at that.
"Does it affect other wyrms?" I asked.
"I am unsure... wyrms have been decreasing in population lately... I want to go back to find the source of the infection and destroy it. Don't follow me," she said as she then let out some silk to snag her nail back. She dashed behind me shortly after and proceeded to jump to the west, towards the howling cliffs.
"Well, talk about cold shoulders... well, only one way forward for now... does this mean that I need to finish the game to get back home?... Fuck..." I groaned as I then walked forward before finding some nasty bugs, them being the ones that just walked back and forth. I then attacked them with the nail and found that it was easier to attack than in the game, as I have thumbs! I managed to attack like the quick slash and with more strength, managing to slay the grub in a single strike!
"Sweet!" I smirked widely as I then went and collected the goo, and it went into a purse that I saw was on my side. I then went even more forward until I finally found the big door, me then kneeling before it and raising my nail, the door then opening shortly after. I then put the helmet of the Hollow Knight on me. Why? Because I didn't want the regular bugs of Dirtmouth and below to be scared of my human appearance. It was an accident for Hornet, I didn't want to scare most, since I had a feeling they might kill me, such as Sly, the Nailmasters, Quirrel, and Zote... that is, if I even wanted to rescue that annoying insect.