Hollow Knight : Reborn

The Ghost of Hallownest nimbly dodged an orb of light, striking its pure weapon at the godly moth. More shimmering missles of energy followed the vessel in pursuit as it jumped again, but ethereal wings boosted the void bug out of their way and it slashed downwards again. The small bug was weak, and dripping the black sustenance it was made of. But it knew that the fight was close to being over. Platform to platform, it skipped, until finally, with one last sweep of its nail, the Radience screamed in defeat as tentacles of Void latched around her. Tides of darkness swam upwards, the Ghosts shell disappearing among it, and with the inky black, a large shade emerged. One with a familiar crack on its forehead, outlined in shining white. The Hollow Knight. It glided up, and grabbed the Radience's eyes, ripping them apart and letting the Old Light shine out. It looked at its sibling, and nodded slightly. Now.

The Ghost of Hallownest's shade, which had been hovering there, morphed into something else. Something bigger, and more powerful. It raised a tentacle, and swiped at the Radience. It ran its spiky claws over the moths face, again and again, rendering the Light and Dreams to dust.

And with a final sweep of Void, the Light was no more.

Or so it seemed.

But oh, the Radience was very, very smart...

-

A flash of Void ripped through the old kingdom, resounding through every place dreams had dwelled. All the bugs of Hallownest felt it resounding in their shells.

However, the faintest of light, the smallest of dreams, mere particles, drifted down from the Black Egg, and weaved throughout the Crossroads. It floated past Salubra's shop, and past the Blue Lake. Next to the Stag Station of the Resting Grounds, it settled, and started concentrating together.

In a faint flash of light, a white and yellow egg appeared, glowing faintly. And it was silent and unmoving. It was undisturbed, for quite a while. Barely anything moved through the grounds anymore. And through that time, it matured.

And soon, there was a crack.

-

Wailing filled the StagWays, startling the Old Stag from a nap in DirtMouth. A child? Near the StagWays? The Old Stag thundered down the roads, down to the Resting Grounds where the cries were loudest. He looked around, his bleary eyesight hindering him, until he caught sight of a small, golden bug.

It had two long horns atop its head, and a tiny third one in the middle, above an open screeching mouth. It had a lot of golden fluff, and two wings where it started as soft and ended in clear, fly-like tips. It had little arms and legs, colored pale yellow. Its eyes were completely black.

The Stag knew it couldnt just leave a child there. So he raced back to Dirtmouth, and started calling to the residents.

Iselda, being right next to the Station, heard the Stags hoarse and desperate cries. She opened the door and stretched, thankful for the chance to move her limbs and be outside the little cramped house. She stepped into the Stag Station, and hopped onto the little platform. "What is it, Old Stag?" Iselda asked, seeing the wave of relief wash over the Stag's face as he saw the lanky shopkeeper. "There's a child out there, next to a Stag Station. Can you hear it?" Iselda leaned near, and could indeed hear the cries of a newly hatched bug crying.

"Well, what are we doing, standing here? Let's go." Iselda hopped upon the Stag, and without a word, he took off.

Soon enough, the Stag pulled into the peaceful Resting Grounds again and Iselda hopped off, immediately running towards the crying child. She awkwardly picked it up, unsure of what position to hold it in.

"It seems to be a male," she noted, after studying him for a while. The child writhed a little in her uncomfortable grip. "Stag, let's go back. Cornifer might know what to do." Iselda climbed onto it carefully, and the Stag went back to Dirtmouth considerably slower.

Iselda hopped out of the station, and heard the familiar voice of the Elderbug. "Ho! Iselda, do you have a child?"

"The Stag found it," the tall bug replied, adjusting her grip on the newly hatched insect.

"It's a beautiful child," he remarked. "I hope you find its parents."

Iselda nodded and ducked into the little shop, hearing Cornifers loud snores.

"Corny?" She whispered. He was fast asleep, and didn' hear his wife. "Corny. Cornifer, wake up." She jostled him a bit, and soon the mapper's eyes blinked open. He grabbed for his glasses, and while he adjusted them onto his face, Iselda held up the tiny bug up to him. Cornifer stared, and then moved to wipe his glasses, but Iselda stopped him. "Yes, I am holding a child."

"How did you get it? Who's child is it?"

"The Stag found him. I don't know of his guardians, currently."

"Well, what are we going to do with it?" Cornifer asked.

"We'll just have to watch it, and ask the various bugs of Hallownest if they lost a child," Iselda stated, pulling her finger away from the infant as he tried to eat it, and he started to wail again. Cornifer grabbed him, and started rocking him. "Hopefully we find the parents soon... but what if his parents abandoned him?" Cornifer asked.

"Well, we'd finally have a child." Iselda reflected painfully on the few times they had tried to have a child, which always resulted in stillborn eggs. She looked at the baby bug with a new fondness. Cornifer considered it. "That would make me very happy. Yes, we should watch over this little one."

"Well, the first step is always a name. What do you want to call him?"

"I don't know, my dear. You were the one who brought him here, what would you like to name him?"

"If it weren't for the Old Stag, he would have died. How about we let him do the honors?"

"Makes sense, my dear."

The couple went down to the Stag Station again, with the child. The Stag perked up as they descended. "Hello again, you two."

"Greetings, Old Stag."

"Could I be of any assistance to you?"

"We decided that since you found the child, you should be the one to name it." The Stag's eyes widened. "Me? You want me to name the child?"

"Yes. Without you, it would have died alone."

"I am honored. I never thought I could name something." The Stag pondered for a while, and then seemed to figure something out he leaned his head near it, and breathed out, "His name will be Dillion."

-

A few years had passed, and Dillion was able to walk on his own. He also knew a lot of words, which Cornifer and Iselda were ecstatic about. The little moth (they had finally found out his species after lots of extensive research) was sitting on the bench, swinging his legs and playing with a rock. Elderbug, old as ever, stood besides the bench. Dillion glanced over, and noticed Elderbug had taken a strange, white flower carefully out from under his cloak and into his hands.

"Eldybeg!" Dillion said. He wasnt very good with pronunciation yet. "Whazzat?"

Elderbug looked up, surprised. "Hmm?"

"That white thingy. Whats is it?"

"Oh, this? A flower."

"Its pretty."

"It definitely is."

"Can I hold it?"

"...Yes, but please, be very, very careful. It is delicate."

Dillion snatched it and looked at the softly glowing white petals. "Ooooh." He tossed it up in the air, and caught it. A panicked Elderbug quickly took the flower back.

"Be careful! This is a gift."

"From who?" Dillion asked innocently.

"An.... an old friend."

"Whats their name?"

"...i dont remember..."

Did the small pale bug with the arching horns ever tell Elderbug their name? No, they never spoke. They were constantly quiet. He knew the flower must have been an important mission for the young bug. Usually when they hopped up from the well, they were scarred and... dripping, occasionally. But they had been in good health the time they came with the flower, practically spotless, and had given it to Elderbug. He knew it must have been important for them.

When Elderbug finished remembering, he saw Dillion had lost interest and had gone to bother somebody else. He sighed. It had been so long since there was a child in the village. He had wished the town would prosper again, but knew that they would all die out as long as the Plague lasted. But now the Infection was gone, and the residents were slowly increasing.

Maybe dreams weren't such bad things after all.

-