Crickets and Kindness
How long has it been? I've been... No. We've been here... How long? Centuries, perhaps? Longer? No, stop. Must not think. Thinking gives Her strength. Gives Her control. Control She shouldn’t have. Control over bugs that She thinks She owns. Stop. A Vessel must be hollow. A Vessel must contain the Infection. A Vessel must. Not. Think.
...
...
Crickets?
Black eyes shot open and limbs flailed as sleep gave way to the waking world. Panic set in not long after. The world blurred as the Knight found herself rolling over onto her back, trying to escape the agonizing pain filling her entire being. Nail. She needed her Nail. Her hand shot out for her closest belonging, finding only grass instead. She frantically pawed about mindlessly for it, even as she forced herself to scoot backwards some few meters, only stopping when she slammed into a tree trunk.
No! No! No! Where is it?! Where could it be!?
The Knight froze.
Where was she? She blinked, forcing herself to pause for a moment and take in her surroundings.
There were trees around her, lush and vibrant, alive, unlike those in the Kingdom. Small bugs, tinier than she ever remembered, danced in the air like little yellow torches. Crickets chirped all around her. And in the distance, she swore, she heard the sound of running water. But not Her.
She didn’t hear Her anymore.
The thought brought a cold chill to the Knight’s form, instinctively bringing her knees to her chest. Panic started to set in, and she felt her breathing pick up as her heart hammered at the idea of her prisoner being free. She didn’t remember anything that might could’ve caused this. All her adult life she’d spent in that bastion of solitude, suspended by chains and tasked by her father to contain the greatest threat known to bug kind. Her father.
The somber reminder of her liege was enough to ease her thoughts for a moment. Calmer, just a little, she turned her attention to the nearby brook. Cold, crisp water running over the riverbed stones, running its current by her. The sound, that constant bubbling melody crept into her ears and held her mind at home. Growing up in a radiant castle. Training with the Great Knights to build the resolve needed for her task. Long nights spent learning new techniques to better wield a Nail and the arcane.
A chill ran down her spine as the Knight felt her panic subside. She blinked, taking a moment to look down at herself. What she saw only confused her.
Expecting to see the familiar orange tumors dotting her form, instead she saw only the blackness of her body. Her cloak’s original grey was even back. Her eyes narrowed at the sight. Where was the Infection? Why couldn’t she feel Her anymore?
Her thoughts were cut short when she heard a rustling in the bushes off to her left.
Leaves and thin branches parted to reveal the snout of a creature, along with a pair of glowing emerald eyes. A low growl accompanied it as the owner crept its way out from the shadows, revealing itself to be...
“What in His name are you?”
Between the surprise of seeing this creature made entirely of wood crawling out of the bushes, to hearing her own voice again, the Knight wasn’t sure what to expect next. Whatever it might’ve been, it wasn’t the pounce the creature made towards her with a snarl of sharpened thorn and claw.
Her instincts took over and in a brilliant flash of light, she vanished.
Reappearing on the ground a good twenty feet away from the animated plant like creature, the Knight nearly lost her balance when she felt her feet touch the ground. She hadn’t moved in so long she’d nearly forgotten how to.
“Stop! I’m not your enemy!” she called out once she regained some measure of composure.
Howling, the strange wooden beast rounded on her and glared at her with hateful emerald eyes. It snapped its hinged jaws and leaked a thick sappy fluid from its innards. No intelligence burned within its form, the Knight thought.
Beginning to paw towards her, the beast made a show of lowering itself to the ground. Despite facing a foe easily three times its size, it showed only eagerness to tear its prey apart.
“I said stop!” the Knight called to the thing once more, desperately wishing to avoid a conflict. The last thing she needed now was to waste energy she didn’t know for sure she had.
Once again her plea went unnoticed, as the pace of the creature seemed to pick up. It was rapidly closing the distance between the two of them, and the closer it got, the more it seemed to bare those sharpened bits of wood that made up its teeth.
The Knight took an instinctive step back, pointed foot pressing itself into the grass beneath.
“I’m warning you!”
Ignoring what would be the last warning it would be given, the wooden monster howled and launched itself at the Knight.
Without any alternative, the Knight raised her hand and channeled a portion of magic within herself. Seven shimmering daggers, each over two feet long, burst into being and fired away at her would be attacker. They skewered it through and through, impaling it from all angles and tearing it to pieces when they shot on through its body. A single, agonized howl filled the air as random parts from the now destroyed creature harmlessly landed around her.
Regret set into the Knight's mind as she realized what she’d just done. She’d killed another creature. Another living being. Something with a life that hadn’t bore the Infection. Her eyes softened as she knelt down before the wreckage that was once the creature’s body. Up close it resembled random bits of wood and plant life, all woven together in the shape of a quadruped thing. It didn’t remind her of any bug she’d ever seen.
“I’m sorry,” she eventually breathed out.
The Knight remained by the body of her foe for some time, coming to terms with the reality she found herself in.
No Infection, no chains, no Dome. She couldn’t feel Her presence anymore, and her Nail was nowhere to be found. What could’ve happened to bring about this situation? Was it one of Her tricks? Was this just the latest in Her attempts at freedom? She wasn’t strong enough to break free, not by Herself. The Knight knew that much.
Standing up on shaky legs, she glanced around the glade and sighed.
“Oh father, I wish you were here to offer some wisdom, like you always did,” she muttered to herself.
“I think I saw it this way! Oh, Angel, be careful!”
The unexpected sound of someone else’s voice caused the Knight to jump. Her mask swiveled around to glimpse the form of someone, or something approaching from a clearing in the glade not too far from her.
Someone else was here?
Thoughts filled her mind as she tried to work out what to do next. She could stay and face whoever, or whatever, it was. Or she could run. Until she knew where she was, making her presence known could cause problems later on. Her eyes drifted to where the wooden creature had come from. If she could just make her way through the bushes...
“Angel? Where’d you go? Angel?”
The voice was right on top of her now. In an instant her attention was drawn to the entrance to the glade, and for the second time, she found herself facing something entirely alien in shape and form.
Another quadruped, this creature was covered in soft yellow fur. It reminded the Knight of the fuzz on some bugs. Its head came up to about her waist, and had a curious line of pink hair running down the center of its scalp. Wandering blue eyes searched the relatively dark, moonlit glade for something, this Angel perhaps, only stopping when they spotted the Knight. In an instant they widened, and the creature squeaked and recoiled in fright. Wings on her back flared, preparing to send her off into the air.
“Wait!”
The furry being paused, either too stunned or caught off guard to move.
“W-What?”
“Please, wait. I don’t mean you harm.”
Holding her hand up as a sign of good will, the Knight attempted to approach the frightened creature. She winced when she didn’t make it more than a step before another squeak of terror filled the air.
What’s wrong now?
“Can you understand me?”she tried, taking a step back.
Evidentially she did, as the yellow creature’s posture changed slightly and her wings, though still unfurled, lowered somewhat. Those enormous blue eyes remained the size of dinner plates, however.
“Y-You can talk?” she stammered out.
Could she talk? The Knight frowned at the insult. Of course she could talk. Every bug could. Every bug. Vessels couldn’t. Or weren’t supposed to. Her shoulders slumped at the thought, causing some of her confidence to waver.
“Are you alright?”
“No. No, I’m not,” the Knight sighed out, shaking her head. “I don’t know where I am, how I got here, and...” her hand motioned to the pile of wooden parts beside her. “I haven’t been here ten minutes and already things are going to-“
“Language!” the small creature said.
“W-What?”
“Watch your language! Angel’s nearby! I don’t want him hearing-Eep!”
With a shriek the yellow furred creature launched herself into the air upon hearing the rustling of bushes behind her. The Knight tensed and narrowed her eyes, summoning up another line of daggers in case another of those creatures intended to harm either of them. She was met with surprise when a small white furred animal came out from the bushes, an angry look on its face and what looked to be a carrot in its mouth. It looked at both the Knight and the daggers with an unimpressed expression.
“T-Timberwolves!” the yellow furred creature shrieked from her place inside the branches of a nearby tree.
Timberwolves?
Making an educated guess, the Knight supposed that Timberwolves were the same thing as the creature she murdered a few minutes back. Another pang of guilt grew in her chest. It wasn’t nice by any means, but it beat the burning of the Infection, and Her presence.
“It’s not one of those things,” she eventually called out.
“W-What?”
“It’s something smaller. Furrier,” the Knight answered. “And it doesn’t seem to be phased by my magic,” she said, surprised.
“A-Angel?”
The yellow snout and blue eyes of the yellow creature poked out through the leaves of the tree, regarding both the Knight and her companion. When she spotted the daggers, her eyes shot wide open and she flew out from the tree like a yellow blur. One moment she’d been in the tree, the next she hovered only inches from the Knight’s mask, pressing a hoof into her chest.
“You put those away right this instant, you big meanie!” she huffed.
The Knight’s eyes widened a bit. She hadn’t expected such a dramatic shift in tone from the previously timid creature.
“I thought we were in danger,” she answered back, trying to justify herself.
“Well we’re not! Angel couldn’t harm a fly! So put those away!” the creature demanded, getting so close her snout pressed into the Knight’s mask.
Something about the forceful stare she gave made the Knight cringe inside. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but something about it reminded her of her father. That commanding, forceful presence that gave no alternative but to obey. With no other choice, the Knight banished her daggers with a gesture of her hand.
Seemingly satisfied with this, the furry creature hovered back and landed on the ground. Her angry demeanor turned into a smile, which she flashed unwavering up to the Knight.
“Thank you,” she hummed with a nod.
This creature was strange. Strange, but nice, the Knight decided as she returned the gesture with a slight bow.
“My apologies. I’m just... A little on edge from everything.”
“Oh my, what’s wrong?”
“I honestly don’t know,” the Knight responded. “Something is wrong. Everything. I shouldn’t be here. This place shouldn’t be here. She should be here, but I can’t I can’t feel Her anymore.”
“Who’s She?”
“Radiance.”
The muzzle of the small creature scrunched as she seemed to ponder the name. She tilted her head and pawed the ground momentarily with a hoof. Then shrugged.
“Sorry, but I don’t know anyone by that name.”
“No one should. It’s my, was, my job to keep it that way. I’m not sure if I failed, or if this is just one of Her tricks. Truthfully, I’m not sure if any of this is real,” the Knight admitted, looking up to the sky.
“Well, I’m real enough,” the creature pointed out, pressing a hoof into her fuzzy chest. “And I’m sure you’re real. Right?”
“I am. But which world this is determines just how real, real is,” the Knight pointed out. The stars here looked different than the ones in the Kingdom. Brighter, more alive. Almost like they were alive.
“I can’t really say anything about that, but I’m sure Twilight could help you. She knows all kinds of things about different worlds!”
Turning her head back down, the Knight looked at the small creature curiously. Her black eyes narrowed slightly, causing a quiet squeak to come from her conversation partner. She mulled it over, thinking on the potential risks. Then, she remembered, her duty. If something had indeed gone wrong, or if this was one of Her tricks, she was obligated to do whatever it took to fix it. Even if it meant playing along with whatever game She might be playing.
“Do you think your friend could really help?” she asked.
Despite the hesitation in her posture, the small creature nodded. “Oh yes,” she said. “Twilight’s the smartest pony I know! Well, maybe Celestia’s wiser, but, we can go see her in the morning if you want! Right now we should get inside, though. Or more Timberwolves might find us!”
“They hunt at night?”
“Yes. And this time of year they’re everywhere! I only came out here because I saw a bright flash of light in the forest a little while ago. I was worried somepony might be in trouble.”
“You put yourself in harm’s way for another person’s sake?”the Knight asked.
The creature nodded. “Of course! I couldn’t just sit by when somepony might be in danger!”
For what it was worth, the Knight was glad she met such a kind soul, despite the circumstances.
She knelt down in front of the creature, offering her hand.
“Thank you, miss...” she began, only to trail off once she realized she’d never caught this tiny creature’s name.
“Fluttershy,” she answered, reaching a hoof out to shake the offered hand. “My name’s Fluttershy. What’s yours?”
“I-I don’t have one. But my father always called me by one thing that I suppose could work,” the Knight answered.
“Oh?” Fluttershy asked, smiling softly. “What’s that?”
“The Hollow Knight.”