The Void Strikes

"Hornet, is that the..." Link began.

"The Hollow Knight, yes," said Hornet. "But why is it-" she ducked and leapt back as it swung its nail at her. "Why is it here?" she said, moving next to Link.

"Don't ask me," said Link. Both of them jumped back from a nail swing. "I only know what you told me," he continued, "what should we do?" He blocked an attack.

"Let's just restrain it for now," said Hornet, jumping over a swipe.

"Got it," said Link. He rolled under a swing of the Hollow Knight's nail and made a shallow cut on one of its legs. It drew back and made an attempt to counter, but Link kicked its other leg, sending it falling to the ground. Hornet, as it was falling, lassoed it with her thread, binding it as soon as it hit the ground. She drove her needle into the ground to keep it secured.

"Poor thing," said Link, watching it struggle in its bindings.

"Indeed," said Hornet. She looked back at the Black egg. "How strange... The infection seems to be gone, but how?"

"Weird," said Link, bending down to look at the Hollow Knight. Suddenly, some faint expression of recognition appeared in the Hollow Knight's eyes, and it began trying to back away. "Can it... talk? Did you ever meet it before?"

Hornet looked down, thinking. "It is not supposed to be able to speak, no. But then again, it was not supposed to be able to think either. I did meet it once, yes, when I was very young, but that was long ago. I doubt it remembers me."

"It seems to know me for some reason. Looks scared."

"Yes, how strange. Perhaps we should go-" Hornet started, but was interrupted when the ground began shaking. The shaking managed to break one of the threads on the Hollow Knight, and it instantly broke out and began stumbling around. As soon as the shaking stopped, it dann out the door to the temple.

"What the- Hey, where's it going?" said Link.

"I don't know," said Hornet. "Let us follow it."

They ran out after it and saw it leaving the cavern through the exit to their right. It ran through a few caverns, then into Greenpath. They tried to keep following it, but it turned a corner and disappeared into the brush.

"Dang, it got away," said Link, stopping. "Where do you think it's going?"

"I imagine to the palace," said Hornet. "That is the closest place to a home it ever knew."

"The palace disappeared, though, didn't it?" Link asked. "How long has it been in that temple?"

"A very long time," Hornet replied. "I suspect it will have quite the rude awakening when it arrives at the palace. The Pale King is long gone, as well as most of the Kingdom. Hmph. Let us go to the palace, then."

"Wait," Link said, as she began walking. She turned back around. "Look at the ground," he said, pointing. And indeed, on one patch of the normally vibrant grass and brush, it had an odd yellow color. It was faint at first, but slowly, it grew darker, and eventually the entire patch withered and died. "What's happening?" he said, standing up. "There's another patch over there," he continued, waving in the direction Hornet was about to walk. "I wonder what's happening."

"This isn't good," said Hornet. "We must hurry to the palace. Come on."

"Got it," said Link. They ran through Greenpath and down into the Queen's Station. Link rang the bell, and soon the Stag arrived. They got on and rode down to the hidden station by the palace, then got off and ran out into the palace chamber. Nothing seemed unusual at first, but after a moment it was noticeable. "Doesn't it seem a little... bright in here?" said Link.

"Yes, it is," said Hornet. "Nowhere near as bright as it was when the palace was actually present, but the darkness used to be pervading." She suddenly looked up, as if shocked. "Link, the void is gone!"

"What?"

"Void once seeped up into this chamber from the abyss below," said Hornet. "If it has stopped, then something must be wrong. Hurry, to the Abyss!"

They ran down the short path through the Ancient Basin to the entrance of the Abyss and stepped out onto the small balcony. The Abyss was just as dark as it had always been.

"Hmm..." said Hornet. "I know something is wrong here. Wait here, and I will descend and look around." She threw her needle into the wall, then swung down.

"Fine by me," said Link, sitting down. "This had better be a really big deal."

A few minutes later, Hornet swung back up. "I do not know why," she said, "but the void seems to be perfectly still and calm. This is very strange... I have no idea what we should do."

Just at that moment, the ground shook again, but this time, it felt as if it was coming from above. "This is bad," said Hornet. "The void is normally extremely chaotic, and lashes out at all life around it..." She made a small gasp. "The void must have been what was killing the plants in Greenpath."

"Makes sense," said Link, thinking. "Weren't there more of them the closer we got to the city?"

"Yes, there were," said Hornet. "Let's go there, then."

They went back up to the stag station and got on, but as they thundered up to the King's Station, the stag suddenly stopped. "What's wrong?" Link asked.

"The tunnel has collapsed ahead," said the stag. "It's too narrow for me to proceed."

"Alright," said Link, jumping off. "We'll keep going from here. I can use the goron mask to dig us through.

Link put on the mask and began pushing stones out of the way, making way for he and Hornet to crawl through. After a while of pushing through the rubble, they came out into a dark space with a slanted ceiling. There was rubble on the floor, and a small exit to the left, where it seemed to be raining outside. They went through, coming out into a massive cavern full of rubble and smashed buildings under black rain. Farther off, there were more buildings that were still standing, and it became obvious that they were in the city.

"What happened here?" said Link.

Suddenly, a black hand tore through one of the buildings with a crash, and the top half went careening to the ground, revealing a gargantuan, four-armed black creature with eight burning white eyes.