Hollow Knight Concepts · 8:09am May 26th, 2022

Note: These were ideas that I’ve had for a while. I’m kinda wanting to go through with at least one of them at some point. Might do it when I get done with Wolves of Night and Blade, but I have no idea at this moment. Anyways, here are the two starting scenes for each. Let me know which is your favorite in the comments.

P.S. Facing Writer’s Block with the Bionicle story. Don’t know when/if I’ll honestly get around to it. I thank you all for being so patient with me on that story

1. The Seven Children

Hollow looked down at the sheet of paper in his hand, his deep obsidian eyes scanning the intricate lines and dots jotted down. He turned the map over in his grip, trying to make sense of it as he clutched his nail in his other hand. Around him, he could sense the seven other bugs traveling with him, six cold auras matching his own.

Shade, formerly known as Little Ghost, pointed down the hall, attempting to help Hallow with the map. The precious Knight was grateful for his sibling’s assistance, looking back down at the map to make sure that they were on track.

“Are you sure this is the right way?” A feminine voice questioned from behind.

Hollow turned and stopped to look back at Hornet, the vessels’ half-sister, though she was regardless seen as family. The spiderling crossed her arms under her red cloak, her other two pairs of limbs rapping against the once finely polished floor of the tower. The six eye-holes of her bone-white mask centered on the Vessel in question.

Hollow shrugged and looked to Shade, the Lord of Void nodding. Hollow looked back to his sister. “I’m just the map holder.”

Hornet huffed, one of her limbs flicking toward the Vessel and snagging the map with a strand of silk, tugging it to her with a snap. Grasping the paper in hand, she looked it over… only to frown, hidden brows furrowed. “Ghost, this is nothing but scribbles. It can’t even be classified as a map!”

The half-god-spider tore the map asunder, the shreds falling to the floor. The other Vessels all looked at one another, many just as frustrated.

“So… we’ve been wandering aimlessly this whole time?!” Came the wispy voice of Flower, a female Vessel, horns almost creating a halo, if not for the centered three inch gap. She threw her arms up, her anger boiling over as whips of void lashed around her.

Shade could only shrug, being the only known mute in the family.

“Gah!” Flower then stomped over to an already ruined pillar, the former support only becoming further demolished under her furry.

Another Vessel, called Ruin by his siblings, slipped up to his enraged sister, his four long horns softly curving upward. “Uh, Flower? Are you better?”

“*Guuuurrrrr*… no, Ruin. I hate wasting time. And we just wandered around this tower’s upper levels for nothing.” The female grumbled, her void tendrils slipping back into her cloak.

“But there is no hurry…”

“I know. I just hate staying in one place for too long… the Abyss…”

“Don’t even mention that pit! I remember seeing you count the stones in the walls several times! I spent half my time just sitting, doing nothing!” Ruin suddenly burst, his timidness gone.

“54,890,531…” Flower mumbled with a hazy look in her eye. “I hate that place…”

“We all do.” Another voice scoffed, causing both bugs to turn, seeing another sibling with uneven horns, the left one having been sliced off.

“Way to state the obvious, Wither.” Flower huffed, crossing her arms.

Wither shrugged in a casual way, looking as if he was stating a fact. “You brought it up, not me.”

“Hey, guys! We’re off again.” Called the last sibling, Root, her horns resembling that of tree branches, winding and spiraling around one another. She was often complimented on her likeness to their mother, the Pale Lady. This was coupled with the fact that her shell was a pure white, unlike her siblings with their pitch black shells and white masks.

The unending rain pelted the cracked windows as the party moved on, the soft clicking of their exoskeletal feet echoing throughout the halls. Root took a moment to peek past a shredded door, spotting only a dusty room in shambles.

“Which tower is this again?” She asked, looking to Hornet.

Hornet rolled her many eyes in her mask. “Don’t ask me, I have no idea.”

“But… you were here longer than Shade…”

“True, but I was raised in Deepnest, not Hollownest. Ghost should know what this place is… but if I had to hazard a guess…” She looked over toward the Shade Lord, getting his attention with a shout. “HEY! What tower is this?”

Shade pondered how to answer for a minute, finally settling on extending two tendrils of void to act as another pair of arms, dancing around the hall like some mad fool. Both girls looked at each other in confusion.

That was, until Ruin stepped up next to them. “I think he means the Collector. What was it? The Love Tower, right?”

“Uh, yes. I think…” Hornet shook her head, still watching as Ghost continued to dance about, waving all four limbs in his strange little dance. “How has he remained sane?”

“That implies that he ever was…” Ruin chuckled, picking up his pace to catch Hollow. “So… been here before?”

Hollow shook his head, pulling his tattered cloak to try and keep what warmth it could store. “No, I was always training or studying with the K-… him.”

Flower huffed in the depths of her throat. “In short, the esteemed Knight knows nothing but proper manners and swordplay.”

“Meanwhile the rest of us grubs are dimwits.” Ruin snickered, gaining speed in his gait as Flower started marching toward him. The Vessel then broke out into a mad cackle and a full sprint as the enraged sister charged after him. “MUHAHA! YOU’LL NEVER CATCH— OW!!!!”

“You were saying dear brother?” Flower returned with Ruin in a headlock, the male Vessel struggling against her tendrils of Void.

“Flower is the greatest in all of Hollownest!” Ruin gasped, inwardly begging any Higher Being that would listen to remove him from this situation. “She’s the best at all there is and is to come!”

“And?” Flower urged, squeezing.

“And—“

“And she’s a total nut-case?” Wither whispered.

“Why you!” But before Flower could choke the life out of her other sibling, the air grew thick with an energy that was unfamiliar to the Vessels. The area around them distorted and twisted in on itself, shapes and volumes completely changing in seconds.

What was once the ruined and bleak halls of the tower transformed into warm red carpets, polished marble walls with gold trimming, and various overpriced furniture and decor.

“Well… this is new…” Ruin commented, having frozen in shock with the rest of the group.

The clattering of a weapon on the carpet alerted the bugs, all of them collectively turning and staring at a strange quadruped creature. It had a large head, an almost thin body and it was covered in a strange orange fur. It’s wide, large eyes reminding the Vessels and spider of a fly, yet it had pinpricks for pupils. It also had what appeared to be golden armor, it’s spear having slipped from it’s stumpy limb.

“Hello there!” Ruin cheerfully greeted from his headlock, extending a limb toward the terrified creature. “We come in pease.”

The poor creature slumped to the floor in a daze.

2. Former Gods

Well, that was a trip and a half.

Waking up with your face in the dirt is never a good thing. But I didn’t go to any parties or get drunk enough for this. I had fallen asleep at my apartment last I recalled, but I’d felt as if falling and then landing hard on something, but I couldn’t figure out if it was a dream of some kind. It felt too real. I’d caught a glimpse of some… giant moth, I think?

But upon opening my eyes, I was met with a meadow surrounded by a thick forest. Who ever had decided to drug, kidnap, and then dump me in the middle of nowhere really had it coming.

Feeling a massive headache coming, probably from the drugs, I lifted a hand to rub my head, only to freeze at what I saw in the corner of my vision. It was a hand, that much was true, but the hand had four fingers in total and was covered in a white carapace. Pale as fresh snow, the hand had long and sharp claws on the end of each digit, the arm attached to it draped in a pristine and silk sleeve. The sleeve expanded into a full robe, just as pure in color.

And that same robe was draped over me, along with a muddied white cape with a simple golden clasp.

Flexing my fingers, the claws did the same, the last inch of their length curling inward to create sort of hook. I felt as if the last two fingers on my hand had been fused into one, the alien feeling making my skin crawl… if I had any skin that was. Raising the other arm, the two limbs matching perfectly. Panic had long since set in, my hands shaking.

Reaching up, I grasped the collar of my robe and pulled back, the same white carapace covering my chest, stomach, and presumably everything else. To my horror, my eyes caught sight of two smaller arms, much like a mantis’ claws. Trying to focus on those two limbs, they managed to twitch. At this point, I was not willing to check bellow the belt. Shakily pulling the robe back over myself, I looked around the clearing again. Seeing nothing of note, aside from the fallen white tree laying next to a calm bubbling stream.

Standing took a minute to get used to, as I had digigrade legs and, oddly enough, a tail. Thick and about three feet long by my estimate, the tail was covered in an equally white shell. But upon looking at said tail, I felt and saw three pairs of clear, glistening wings on my back. They refracted the light and shined in the sunlight, a stunning two-foot sight to be sure. Turning back around to the stream, I steadily took a step forward, only to face-plant into the grass with a muffled grunt.

“Well, that sucked…” I mumbled into the dirt, only slightly shocked at the sound of my own voice. At this point, I had partially expected my voice would be different, seeing as I was in a weird bug’s body… I think. The voice in question almost had a double tone to it.

Pushing up, I got back to my knees, carefully rising and attempting again to walk. With all the control I had, I was able to stumble over to the brook.

“Ugh, that could’ve gone better…” I grumbled as I looked down into the pure, unpolluted water.

What stared back at me wasn’t what I had expected, the usual visage of an insect was still there but not entirely. The eyes were pure black, the soft pale skin blinking around the ebony orbs as a sign of my surprise. The head itself looked as if I wore some kind of mask, the only holes being for my eyes and vertical maw. The mask itself seemed to bend and contort with my mandibles, a long, slithering tongue escaping the dark cavern that was my throat. Black teeth lined the inside of my jaws, the mandibles acting as arms to pull any food I craved deeper into the abyss.

But my vision shifted upwards as the mask shot up like a deformed fork, the multiple sharp spikes creating a crown of sorts. Reaching up, I checked to see if the crown could be removed… it couldn’t. It was attached to my mask.

A mumble from behind brought me back from my observations, causing me to look over my shoulder at the prone white tree. Did that tree just… groan?

The tree began to move, lifting itself up on two thin arms, its pale blue eyes landing on me. The tree then stood, its -her?- body shrouded in a beautiful blue robe that matched her eyes. The now awake tree’s eyes locked onto me, an almost resentful look in them.

“Pale King, where are we?” She spoke with no apparent mouth, her silvery words entering my mind as if by telepathy.

“I… uh…” In school, I had gone to a class teaching theater, only to find that I was the worst actor of the class. But at the time, I’d seen it as something to try and see if I liked. IF I’D KNOWN THIS WOULD HAPPEN, I WOULD HAVE TRIED A LOT HARDER!!

But, knowing I couldn’t convince her I was the guy she thought she was speaking to… I could only tell the truth. Weather that would get me killed or not, was up to the universe to decide. “I’m, uh, n-not him… m-my name’s—“

My words stalled as the tree lady loomed over me, her once pearly bark becoming black. Her branches changed into something from horror movies, eyes turning red like blood. “Who are you? Where is the King? What did you do with him?”

“I… I…” My lips refused to make any sound, my heart pounding in terror. My mouth couldn’t get any words out, so I resigned myself to fate and curled up into a shivering ball.

But no pain or womanly fury came for me.

My shivering arm unveiled an eye, and to my shock, the tree lady returning to her former look, her calm eyes searching me. With a weary sigh, she spoke. “You are definitely not him. The Pale King would have stood against me, unfazed. But… whoever you are, you cower at my anger. Can you please tell me what happened to you, how you came to possess the King’s body?”

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