Welcome to Hallownest.

(Eyooo, it's me. The announcement of Silksong made me want to write a hollow knight fanfic so here we are. It might take me a few chaps to get back into the groove of writing but we will see how it goes. More info in the author's note.)

— — —

Falling is the last thing I can remember.

I remember the feeling of falling into something akin to water.

I remember talking to someone after the fall. But I can only remember the first question I was asked.

"Do you want to live?"

— — —

I opened my eyes only to be greeted with rocks. My whole body ached as I realized that I was laying splattered on the ground.

Letting out a soft grunt, I pulled myself onto my feet, which allowed me to see the strange clothing I was wearing.

A dark blue cloak covered a pitch-black armor resembling an insect's carapace.

"Where the hell am I?"

But that question only brought another.

"Wait, who am I?"

It felt as if I had lost my entire identity. And I couldn't understand why, but I wasn't bothered by that feeling. All I knew was that I was here for a reason. I was here on a mission. A mission I didn't know the details of yet still felt compelled to finish.

"Well, the first step should be to get out of here."

I looked around my surroundings to see a closed door in front of me. And a weirdly shaped sword sticking out from the ground. It looked like a chunk of metal in the shape of a triangle with a handle and some cracks running through it. The edge was slightly dull but with its size, it could honestly be used as a blunt weapon.

Pulling the sword off the ground I realized that it was lighter than it looked. Or maybe I was stronger than I thought?

I walked toward the closed door in front of me and tried to open it, but it was locked. I pushed for a moment to consider what to do before lifting up the "Sword" and thinking.

'Well, here goes nothing.'

*BAM*

The sword impacted against the door causing it to explode into fragments. I was about to celebrate the fact that it had worked before I realized there was another door just like the first in front of me.

"Oh, you have to be kidding me," I said in a slightly annoyed tone before running towards the next door and hitting it just like the first, shattering it into pieces. But once again, I was greeted with another locked door.

"Jesus Christ, what do you need so many doors for!? It's one freaking hallway."

I swung the sword once again only to be greeted with another freaking door. I was going to run up to it to break it once again before my instincts told me to jump back.

In front of me was a dog-sized insect walking merrily in my direction without a care in the world. It was constantly opening and closing its mandibles as it approached me without changing its slow pace.

I raised the sword in my hands defensively ready to protect myself but the insect just kept on moving in my direction.

I slowly moved to the side of the hallway ready to dodge or parry any attack but the thing just kept on strutting along without a care in the world. Moving right past me and through the doors, I had broken.

"...Well… that thing seems nice." I said in a slightly confused tone.

Busting through the door once again I was met with another "Little Buddy" that just walked right past me. And thankfully after breaking through that fifth door I was greeted with something new. Something that was actually quite beautiful.

There was a cave opening in front of me full of small fireflies bringing light into the room. And some strange platforms connected to the cave wall that led up. Just hanging out on the ground was another little buddy that just seemed to be chilling as it kept on walking back and forth.

With my instincts telling me to go up I tried to jump to grab onto one of the platforms only to realize that I had jumped far higher than I had expected.

"This is going to be easier than I thought. Parkour!" I said out loud before getting adjusted to the height of my jumps.

Once I made my way up the platform I was greeted with shinning words engraved on a massive stone tablet which read.

"Higher beings, these words are for you alone.

Your great strength marks you amongst us.

Focus your soul and you shall achieve feats of which others can only dream."

But as I finished reading the words new letters began to appear at the bottom which appeared to be hastily written.

"But do not lose sight of who you are…"

And just as quickly as the words appeared they banished. Leaving no trace of them.

"What the?" I tried to ask before my thoughts were interrupted by a strange sound.

"Sqwak"

I raised my arm just in time to stop a flying cat-sized fly with mandibles.

The small flying nightmare of an insect bit into my arm bringing me some pain but after I punched it on its head it let go and moved back in a bit of a daze.

And taking the window of opportunity I grabbed the sword which was hanging on my back and used it like a baseball bat on the insect. Sending it flying and crashing against the floor lifeless.

I felt a sudden rush of energy enter my body the moment I struck the flying insect which left me in a bit of a daze. It felt like there was some sort of "core" inside of me that had trapped that energy inside of me. And as I closed my eyes I could feel that there was a small pool of snow-white liquid inside the core.

"This… please don't tell me this is a cultivation world. I don't think I can deal with young masters and sect leaders. I don't want to deal with every other person I meet asking me if I am courting death."

I looked at my left arm with a slightly concerned expression as I noticed the damage to the armor and the small amount of pain I felt. The insect's bite had enough force to dent the armor to the point where it was slightly crushing my arm.

"This sucks, am I going to have to take off my armor? I don't want to lose circulation on my arm."

But as I focused on the pain I felt the white liquid inside my core stir for a moment and begin to boil.

A warm flow of energy made its way to my arm, and before my eyes, the dent in the armor disappeared and the small amount of pain I felt vanished. But as I focused on my core I noticed that all of the white liquid insides had vanished.

"Ah, there goes my cultivation." I said in a joking tone before looking up at the platforms.

I made my way up the platforms with ease until I stumbled onto another of the flying insects. But just like the one that came before it one good smack from the dull weapon was enough to crush it against the floor.

And just like before I felt the white energy appear on my core.

"I think the white energy is called soul… I mean I focused and it healed me. But can I do anything else with it?"

I wanted to begin experimenting with it but I knew it wasn't the time. I had to get out of here first. And I needed the extra soul in case I got attacked again.

Continuing my way up I stumbled upon a gigantic glowing blue cocoon hanging from the ceiling.

I approached it cautiously, but it didn't appear to be dangerous.

I poked it lightly a couple of times with my sword before deciding to move on. If there was something dangerous inside I didn't want to release it by accident and get myself killed. I will just make a mental note to check it again later.

I continued to make my way through the cave with relative ease in search of an exit. And just as I thought I saw a huge door in the distance I felt the floor below me crack. And before I could back up it collapsed under me sending me falling down.

I prepared myself to land and readied for the pain but as my feet touched the ground I didn't feel anything. It was a bit of a harsh landing but all the impact did was give me a scare.

Looking up the fall should have probably messed me up a little.

"I am stronger than before, I can jump higher than before. Maybe I can fall from higher distances and be fine? I'll have to test that later."

Looking at the path ahead of me I was greeted with spikes on the floor. A lot of spikes. But there were some conveniently placed platforms ahead of me.

"I am beginning to think that I am in some sort of platformer. So far the placement of everything has been pretty strange… Very convenient…"

Jumping through the platforms I saw a fork on the road. One way led up and one kept going straight ahead. I wanted to keep going up but my instincts were telling me that I would find something useful ahead of me.

Wait? Since when did I have such strong instincts?

First, they lead me in the direction of what I assume is the exit. And now I can tell that I will find something useful ahead of me?

Screw it, I will just trust them for now. After all, it is all I have.

The room ahead seemed to have a big amount of spikes on the floor without any platforms to jump on. It looked longer than I could reasonably jump. But if I used the wall to gain some more distance before jumping I feel as if I could make it. I had enough soul to heal myself once, so it was at least worth a try.

Taking a running start I jumped towards the wall and then quickly jumped again using the wall. And thankfully it was enough to make it across the gap.

This path led me to stumble across another stone tablet that read.

"Higher beings, these words are for you alone.

Within our lands do not hide your true form. Let all bask in your majesty, for only this kingdom could produce ones such as you."

"Well, isn't this flattering?" I thought out loud before promptly ignoring the tablet for the more interesting find, a chest.

Smacking the chest with my foot the lid popped open revealing a small circular object inside. It was a red face with what appeared to be flames for hair. It sort of resembled a pin.

"Neat!" I thought before placing the pin on the inside of my cloak. And as I did that I felt a surge of energy and the pin becoming stuck to the cloak.

"Neat!" I thought once again.

I turned to look at the strange gigantic skull-like object near the chest before turning around and walking away.

'I didn't see anything…' I thought to myself as I tried to ignore the chance that I might have to deal with something like that in the future. If the skull itself was already multiple times bigger than my body I didn't want to think about the actual size of that creature.

"Now… how do I get back?"

— — —

After spending a while making my way through the caves once again I took the path up to the exit and I was greeted with another stone tablet and a gigantic door.

The stone tablet glowed for a moment as the words shined.

"Higher beings, these words are for you alone.

Beyond this point, you enter the land of King and Creator.

Step across this threshold and obey our laws.

Bear witness to the last and only civilization, the eternal Kingdom.

Hallownest."

And just like on the first stone tablet new words appeared on the bottom before they quickly vanished.

"Protect them…"

I looked at the gate and saw no handle or any way to open it. So I simply lifted my sword and began smacking the door with all of my strength until it collapsed.

And ahead of me, I saw two things.

The first was what appeared to be a small town in the distance.

And the second was the fact that I was currently on a really high place without any way to get down.

"I have resistance against falling… right?" I said to myself as I looked over the edge of where I was standing.

"Right?" I said once again before letting out a deep sigh.

"This sucks," I muttered before strapping my sword on my back and beginning my slow climb down the wall.