Cotillion The Rope

I'm DeckofDragons on Ao3. Welcome to my Hollow Knight and Silksong blog!

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Shade Lord Ghost Drabbles Hornet and Lace Fighting/Flirting

Prompt: Hornet and Lace are either flirting or fighting. No one is sure which

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Shade Lord Ghost Drabbles: Path of Pain

Prompt: based off of the previous chapter, do one where pure vessel finds path of pain memory

+

i second this, although you dont have to if you dont want to, but it'd be cool

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Shade Lord Ghost Drabbles: Ghost vs. Grandmother Silk

Summary: Idea: Lace meets The Shade Lord and Grimm, I want to see how She feels About Ghost, Will she be Afraid? Or will She be Happy that there's a way for her to escape her Mother's "Harpy Hare like" personality through Ghost killing her Mother. + Can we have Shade Lord meeting Lace and recognizing the energy of a god emanating from her? + HAVE GHOST BITCH SLAP GRANDMOTHER SILK!!!!

[A/N] 3 in 1, let's go!

~

The Void God was huge. Not surprising considering how powerful it was. The question of its intent in coming to Pharloom was important but maybe, just maybe, this was an opportunity. The scream the Radiance had let out as it killed her indicated it had great capacity for violence. In a direct confrontation Mother would almost certainly lose. Allow for trickery and whatnot and she might stand a chance. Such would likely still leave her weak and vulnerable though. She’d have to hole up, hide herself away for a while to recover. Either way, Lace should be able to get away from her finally.

Void taking over Pharloom would be bad of course. Not just for the mortals – a minor issue as far as Lace was concerned – but likely for Lace and Phantom too. Making dealing with it a risk. She could figure out how to deal with and/or prevent that if and when she got there though. This opportunity couldn’t be passed up.

***

The little bug – if bug she could be called because there was something distinctively off about her – emanated power. Not a god herself but she’d clearly been made by one. Interesting and a clear indicator that she was important in some way.

“Greetings Shade Lord,” she said as she approached, her voice high and almost musical. “Might I perhaps inquire about your presence here in Pharloom?”

“I’m looking for the one who tried to kidnap my sister. I believe they are here somewhere.”

“Hmm… hmm… I might just know who you’re looking for. I could be wrong of course but I can’t imagine who else around here might kidnap the sister of one such as you.”

“Who? And where are they?”

***

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Shade Lord Ghost 'Drabbles': Meeting

Prompt: I've been wondering how a meeting between the crew and gormond and Zaza would go.

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Shade Lord Ghost Drabbles: Quite Cozy

Summary: Will Ghost ever encounter a being of 'Light' that would have that metaphysical feeling of 'warmth', 'Sanctuary (not the religion kind, but the feeling of 'being safe'), and 'home'? Idk, just had that one passing thought, of KH Sora's Heart being of Light, is a sanctuary and healing mender of lost Hearts, and was described in BBS in one certain character route, as 'being so warm (not the bad kind)'.

~

Oak was supposedly a similar being to the White Lady but Ghost wouldn’t have guessed it if they hadn’t been told. He was firmly rooted and judging based off his size had clearly been so for a very long time. The hollowed out space inside him was large enough to house Ghost, as long as they stayed at their smaller size anyway. It was warm and the subtle glow coming from the walls made the space quite cozy.

“I’m not hurting you by being in here?” they asked because was this really okay? Oak’s followers had invited them in on his behalf but their opposite natures surely wasn’t something that could just be ignored, was it?

“You could if you wanted.” Oak’s voice was deep and slow, coming from all around. “I could hurt you too.” To have grown as tall as he was, he’d had to have been around for a long time. And to have lived that long while remaining stationary, he had to be quite powerful. A fight between the two of them would be unfortunate for everyone nearby. Luckily, that didn’t seem likely.

“I don’t wish to hurt you. Do you know the White Lady? She’s also a tree god.”

“An old acquaintance. Why I wished to meet you. How is she?”

“Alive. Rooted last I heard. I don’t like her.” The vessel plan may not have been her idea but she’d let it happen, helped with it. Her feeling bad and sorry for it didn’t fix it.

“That is fair.”

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Shade Lord Ghost Drabbles: Strays

Summary: Can little moth meet the spider god? I want ghost’s god buddies to meet, and am curious about how they would view eachother.

~

Char was old, her fur visually faded and gray. For a god, even a minor deity such as her, to look so old they had to be very old indeed. Was she older than Ghost? Would it be rude of Aer to ask? Best not to risk it just in case it was. They pushed out their wings a little and did their best formal greeting bow instead.

“Ooh, very polite.” Char’s voice was raspy with age.

“I try to be.”

“Of the admittedly few I’ve met, the Shade Lord doesn’t usually take in polite strays. It’s a nice change of pace.”

This wasn’t the first time Aer had heard of Ghost ‘taking in strays’. Not everyone worded it so politely but the general gist of it was the same; Ghost liked company and thus sometimes just decided someone, mortal or god, was their friend. Some bugs apparently sought out that position but as far as anyone knew, they were never taken in. It was an honor to have been pulled into such even if it was a bit scary. And it was also an honor to meet some of Ghost’s other friends because of it.

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Shade Lord Ghost Drabbles: Wouldn't Have Thought

Summary: I look forward to the future, and potentially the Cartographers interacting

~

Given their differences Iselda wouldn’t have thought Cornifer and Shakra would get along but somehow they were. Their chatter as they discussed the finer points of map making filled the little shop as she went about the process of setting up to open up shop for the first time.

The bellhome was more spacious than the old shop in Dirtmouth had been but not by a whole lot. She still had to shoo one and then both of them out her way as she went about it. Designed to be a shop from the very start, there were already shelves and a counter. She’d put everything up last night, requiring she only double check this morning and adjust a few things to make them perfect.

Once done, she set up the sign out front and propped the door open before planting herself behind the counter. Soon Cornifer and/or Shakra would decide to head to start mapping again. Until then though, Iselda would enjoy the company.

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Shade Lord Ghost Drabbles: Could Anyone Blame Them?

Summary: Can we get a follow up with the friendly nosk Zed from chapter 54? Their "I don't know what I'm doing, but I'm terrified and improvising" energy really stuck with me, poor guy deserves a hug for the scare they endured. (Also, I'm kinda curious how you'd portray the nosk species when not subject to the infection.)

~

“I’m Ghost. Sorry, again,” the massive tentacled Void God said before vanishing, teleporting off to who knows where with its freaky god magic powers.

Zed could only blink at where it had resided as the void fog it had left behind slowly dissipated. What had that been about? It had broken into their den, found their hiding spot, dragged them out to dangle in front of its face, only to have a brief conversation about evil before leaving? Was that really it? Would it come back? Was this some kind of test? If so, were they passing it? Did it want Zed to be evil? What did that even mean to it if it didn’t know?

Shaking out their limbs, Zed straightened themself out a little more. They then set into doing a lap around the den, working out some nervous energy via checking their various traps and food stores. They had enough of the latter to not have to venture out for another couple weeks at least, meaning they could hide in case the Void God came back. That had been their best hiding spot though and it wasn’t enough!

They would have to make another one then. A better one with more twists, turns, and false walls. Perhaps they’d even make it into an exit, allowing them to get all the way out should they ever find themself in such a scenario again. Hopefully they wouldn’t, especially after how hard they’d flailed and fumbled that whole interaction – could anyone blame them for that though? They should do their best to avoid that in the future. Decision made, they got to work.

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Shade Lord Ghost Drabbles: Like and Unlike

Summary: Perhaps I should do one featuring Ghost returning their attention to the stars post them becoming the Shade Lord? + I would love that. <3

[A/N] And the saga of Ghost being interested in space continues.

~

Upon Ghost’s first visit of this mountain top kingdom, not long before heading to Hallownest, the observatory had felt big, grand, and mysterious. The latter still held true and advancements had been made that resulted in the former two being technically even more true than before as well. But they themself were so much bigger, everything felt smaller in comparison, including the massive telescope. It had to be the pinnacle of this kingdom’s achievements. The means to see and study the very stars themselves.

Getting access to that telescope was far easier this time. All they had to do was ask. Everyone being afraid to say ‘no’ to them was still new enough to be surprising and less than ideal but they would happily take advantage of it in this instance.

They were big enough to be able to manipulate the telescope’s various pulleys and levers now too, meaning they could move it and change its focus. All without even having to look up from it. It took a little bit of getting used to but they had time and more than enough patience to figure it while also being careful not to break anything.

The stars and whole other planets were of course fascinating all by themselves. Their secrets only just barely being dug into by the diligent bugs working here, they were gorgeous and mysterious. Like before though, the space between the stars held Ghost’s attention at least as much, if not more. It was nothingness. A void, like and unlike their own.

They were the Void now but not that void. Separate but similar, it was all the more enticing for that. Could they perhaps one day gain mastery or become a part of that void too? Enough to travel it perhaps? See other places so vastly different from their own?

Were there any bugs on any of those planets? Or perhaps some other form of sentient life. What about gods? And how much void was there? Was there an end to it or did it go on forever? What did forever even truly look like? Mysteries and secrets galore. Going forward, Ghost would have to ensure this kingdom remained intact so they could continue their forays in observing and learning about space.

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Shade Lord Ghost Drabbles: Peace?

Summary: Now I imagine a God who had only heard of Ghost via their Godly Murder and who's super scared but ready to throw down to protect their people only for Ghost to just… Not attack them at all.

[A/N] Small is a giant centipede, both in terms of bug type but also size. I am also experimenting with writing neo-pronouns, specifically xe/xer in this case.

~

The Radiance’s killer was all but already on Small’s doorstep. She of course had undoubtedly deserved it. Every time a powerful god died they deserved it because no one would bother to go through the effort of killing a powerful someone who was merely annoying or kind of shitty. Also Small had met her once and thus knew on a personal level that she for sure deserved it in particular. So the Void God having killed her wasn’t an issue. The problem was that it was now headed xyr way, the last place xe would’ve liked it and its followers to go.

Hiding and waiting for it to pass was an option. One that might’ve been tempting except for the fact that that would leave the bugs that resided within Burrow defenseless. They couldn’t all hide and Small was more responsible for than not for their collective well being and had already allotted a lot of time and effort into building the kingdom, up to and including doing most of the burrowing xemself. The lands between kingdoms were cold and barren but xe’d turned the little cave xe’d found into a vast sprawling network of tunnels that was well on its way to becoming a thriving kingdom. Xe would go down defending it if xe had to. Hopefully such wouldn’t be necessary.

After sending everyone below, xe coiled their segments up and down the tunnels so that only a small portion of xemself came out of the ground, making xem look far smaller than they were in truth. Such a tactic had worked to xyr advantage in the past. Xe then set in to wait, their antennas twitching in anticipation until the Void God arrived on xyr doorstep in truth.

It was massive and made of the purest void, looked almost like a large vaguely bug shaped hole in reality. Small lifted xyr head up to meet it, flexing xyr mandibles in preparation. Being the first to attack in such a scenario would be unwise so xe stuck to maintaining their ground, ready to retaliate.

The Void God lifted a tentacle in an almost wave like gesture. “Hello.”

“We’re not here to fight,” another voice said. It was… Grimm. An incarnation of him, not the one Small had known. He was young, not quite fully grown yet, meaning he’d ritually reincarnated himself recently. “And from what I am recalling of you, you’re not much interested in unnecessary conflict either, correct?”

Small lowered xemself. Xe preferred not to speak if xe could help it but… “Peace?” The Void God had come in peace? There was no threat despite how violently it had torn the Radiance apart? Her scream had been so loud, full of pain and fury, it was hard not to assume her killer wasn’t the peaceful type. Such could be the case though, not every powerful god was overly violent.

“Peace,” the Void God echoed, their many eyes smiling.

“Yes, peace,” Grimm confirmed.

Small would have to keep an eye on them but as long as violence wasn’t on the table this morning, xe had things to get back to. Xe shifted xyr rear segments, putting xemself in position to start reversing xemself back down into the tunnels. Before telling everyone it was safe to come out of hiding, xe’d wait a bit but the Grimm xe’d known was more trustworthy than not and thus this one was likely also telling the truth. If the Void God wanted violence or to conquer anything, there was no need for it to trick anyone into pretending to be peaceful.

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Shade Lord Ghost Drabbles: Current Rumor

Summary: I love the idea that anyone with a bit of magic heard the Radiance getting torn a new one and expecting a fearsome wrathful God of Gods terrible to behold and then... They find Ghost being a lil cryptid and not giving a singular fuck about what anyone thinks a God should do. The mental whiplash is hilarious. Until someone tries to harm someone Ghost cares about and then everyone with the vincinity gets a reminder that nope still the powerful eldricth being who can and will kill you if you decide to fuck around.

+

I'd love to see more of Val and friends :)

[A/N] A two for one, let's go! Also, I question why I gave Val three friends. Four whole distinct characters in a single drabble is a lot. But that is the bed I made as part of my drabble based whims back then so sometimes I do just have to lie in it.

~

The cage had been destroyed, probably with ease if Val had to guess. It was a shame they’d arrived too late to witness the battle, if it could even be called such. The bodies of the cage bearers were scattered around, only two in positions that implied an attempt to flee, neither had gotten far. They were hollowed out and still oozing void.

“I wonder what made them think that was a good idea,” Ash said as they stepped up next to Val.

“Maybe they didn’t know she’s the Shade Lord’s sister,” Ria suggested. “She doesn’t exactly look like them.”

“Or maybe they thought the Shade Lord wouldn’t care?” Val could see where that conclusion might come from. The Shade Lord was a weird fellow. Such was to be expected from a being made of pure void of course but it did make them somewhat unpredictable. And given the violence with which they’d ripped apart the Radiance followed immediately by them doing nothing else of substantial note to advance their position any further, it’d be pretty easy to assume that they didn’t care much about what anyone else got up to as long as they themself were left alone. They weren’t like that though. Someone had captured and caged their sister and thus vengeance had had to be wrought.

“Maybe,” Ash said. “I think we might be going to the kingdom they came from now though to like… kill everyone involved or something like that.”

“Where’d you hear that?” Lor had joined them now too.

“It’s just what folks are saying. It’s the current rumor going around. People think the Shade Lord might be out for more vengeance.”

That was possible. Given the scene currently laid out before them, it was very possible. The Shade Lord might not be satisfied with just these deaths and thus might indeed want to seek out the ones who’d ordered Hornet’s capture in the first place. It was hard to know for sure when they could go from being laid back and calm to violent in the blink of an eye. Only time would tell probably.

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Shade Lord Ghost Drabbles: Pretty Funny

Summary: I think it would be really funny if some overzealous newbie tried to recruit them… while not realizing they're The Shade Lord's siblings. XD

[A/N] We haven't seen much of Survivor lately so here some more of them.

~

Being under the metaphorical wing of any powerful god had its perks, Ghost was no exception, but they were an odd fellow and mortals were instinctively wary of Void. The end result of which was Ghost’s most adherent followers tended to be a bit strange. Sometimes in a bad way but usually it was endearing or at least neutral. Handing carved tablets about the Shade Lord was probably neutral, giving one each to Buddy, Hollow, and Survivor was endearing.

Survivor held theirs under the light by the bench, skimming through it. It detailed Ghost’s rise to power via killing the Radiance. Their siblings were mentioned but only those lost in the Abyss and the Hollow Knight. People not recognizing Hollow as the Hollow Knight wasn’t anything new. Most people who didn’t know wouldn’t have guessed it. Their stooped posture and lack of knightly accouterments made them seem like not a knight at all. Assuming they didn’t mind, such mistakes could be pretty funny at times such as now.

Maybe they and Buddy would be open to going along with Survivor in pretending to be new followers of the Shade Lord. How long would it be before someone realized they were Ghost’s siblings? Probably not long but when that was revealed it would probably be pretty funny.

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Shade Lord Ghost Drabbles: Lost Again

Summary: I feel like Tiso would be a better student… And perhaps like I'd like to see how it goes?

Sequel to chapter 79.

~

Tiso had lost again. Yes it had been a near thing and only a sparring session this time but a loss was a loss no matter how well he’d done in the fight before being knocked down. Hallownest was cursed, plain and simple. Things were rigged against him.

Nailmaster Mato stepped up to stand before him. “You’re too cocky. If you can get that arrogance under control, you’d likely fare a lot better.” He extended a hand, offering to help Tiso to his feet.

Tiso didn’t take it but instead used his nail to help himself stand. “Again.”

With a skeptical look, Nailmaster Mato took a step back. “You sure?”

“Yes.” Tiso had only agreed to Ghost suggesting this training session to show he didn’t need it. If he’d lost though then maybe, just maybe he did. In which case one lost sparring session wasn’t enough. He needed to go until he won, got his edge back, beat Hallownest’s curse. Whatever it took, he was not going to stand for this any longer.

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Shade Lord Ghost Drabbles: A Good Reminder

Summary: Someone sees this and QUICKLY remembers no matter how friendly they r they r still a god + Could I request more of the void fishers and val?

[A/N] A twofer, let's go! And the 'this' being referred to is chapter 51 when Ghost kills a primal aspid for old that grudge's sake.

~

Up until now the Shade Lord had been more friendly than not, certainly never violent. But the aspid had seemingly done nothing but fly too close and that was apparently a crime worthy of death. Yes, it was a non-sentient bug but still the disdain with which the Shade Lord flicked its corpse of its tentacle seemed to indicate a deep personal dislike.

Val would have to be careful to never inspire such anger. Not that she’d have ever planned to test angering it in the first place but it was still a good reminder to take pains not to.

“Those things annoyed me a lot when I was small,” the Shade Lord said in explanation as it seemed to realize the sudden uncomfortable silence was triggered by its act of violence. “They spit three projectiles and dodging one almost always had me getting hit by one of the others. I didn’t like it.”

And old grudge then. Val understood those. Nonetheless the reminder not to get too comfortable was one best not ignored.

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Shade Lord Ghost Drabbles: Time to Flee

Summary: I was wondering what happened to the other bugs not affected by the infection eg. salubra, mask maker, millibelle, grubfather, emilitia, etc)

[A/N] I chose to focus on Millibelle for this because I came up with a funny idea for it. ~

The little bug’s Ascension to godhood was about the worst thing that could’ve possibly happened to Millibelle. Surely their vengeance would be far grander and greater now that they’d gained so much power. And so she hid. It was only a matter of time before they found her and thus also only a matter of time before their wrath did too but what more could she do?

Her food supplies were dwindling though. Soon she’d have to venture out for more or perhaps it was time to flee entirely. … Yes it was time to flee. Gather up the last of her supplies and leave Hallownest for good. Would day or night be better for such a flight though? Well the Void was of darkness right? That didn’t necessarily mean beings made of it would be more active or vigilante or night but it might. It’d be easier to see in the daytime anyway.

And so she waited until morning, gathered her stuff and finally ventured out of the Bathhouse. And then up and up she went until she reached Dirtmouth. Called by the Ascension of a new god, it was almost bustling with newcomers now. Perfect to hide within. Traffic in and out of Hallownest was ideal for a sneaky getaway. The Void god would never find her. She was getting away.

***

Atop Crystal Peak, Ghost watched the ‘banker’ leave with a caravan. After all that time she’d spent hiding in the Bathhouse it was odd to see her out and about. Was she off to set up another bank scam somewhere? Surely she’d learned her lesson, right? Probably it was fine to let her go. Having her gone was preferable anyway.

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Shade Lord Ghost Drabbles: Fatal Flaw

Summary: Anyways, I thought about ghost bringing Hollow, Buddy, and Survivor to the dream white palace (if it's still standing) as I want to see their reactions to the large amount of buzz saws and spikes as I doubt that is what the Palace looked like during Hallownest's golden age 😅 ~

The White Palace was different. Unsurprising given the fact that it was in the Dream Realm now. That hadn’t been the case when Hollow had been sealed in the Black Egg Temple. Would it look more like how they remembered once Ghost followed through on their idea to drag it back into the Physical Realm? … Even if it did, it wouldn’t be the same in any way that mattered. Too much time had passed. Everyone who’d inhabited it was dead, including the Pale King.

Hollow wasn’t supposed to be able to care about that. They’d should’ve only been here because Buddy had brought them upon Survivor requesting a chance to explore while the place was still in the Dream. But well, their fatal flaw was that they did care. The place was different and they didn’t like that.

The halls were full of saws and spike traps, creating a cacophony of buzzing, whirring, and screeching that never stopped. Hollow had regained enough of their combat finesse to be able to navigate through them even if their size made it more difficult for them than their siblings following along behind them.

Why were they in the lead though? … Because they’d been here before? They had spent a lot of time here before being locked away. But the halls were twisted and rearranged. Some of it might’ve been familiar but if Hollow didn’t know this was the White Palace they wouldn’t have guessed it. So probably they shouldn’t be in the lead but they were so… whatever. Maybe somewhere in here would be proof the Pale King had felt something for them. … They should’ve asked Ghost about that before they’d headed off to let the three of them explore. Probably there wasn’t anyway so it hardly mattered. Onward they went regardless.

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Shade Lord Ghost Drabbles: Didn't Tell Them to Build That

Summary: Love this! Would love to see more of the interactions between Ghost and this new God. <333 + I like this moth god already

~

Most underground kingdoms had surface towns over top of them. Usually they were small, mere rest stops before entering into the kingdom proper. This was one was large though and old. The deeper in they went, the more ancient those buildings became. Less people seemed to live in these crumbling buildings, preferring the more intact ones further out.

At what was presumably the town’s center was a massive statue of the Shade Lord over looking a crumbling spiral staircase leading down into the kingdom proper. Its base had a plaque reading, ‘Welcome to Hallownest. The Void Remains Close’.

“I didn’t tell them to build that,” Ghost said. “They made it during one of my extended outings so I don’t know who did it.”

“Hmm… I like it,” Aer said. Mere stone obviously couldn’t capture the Shade Lord’s grandeur but the craftsmanship of it got as close as was likely possible.

“I didn’t say I disliked it, merely that I told no one to build it. Being vain is unwise.”

Aer would try to take that to heart. Their godhood was still fresh so any advice Ghost was willing to give was appreciated. They would do their best to remain humble enough to at least not order any statues build in their likeness. Speaking of new godhood though… “This is where you Ascended, correct?”

“Correct. It is ironic actually that its still thought of as ‘Hallownest’ because of my influence. One of my predecessors wished Hallownest to be eternal. It’s not, it’ll be forgotten one day, but it’s still here even if its form has changed so much and it still goes by that name for now. Let’s explore. I haven’t been in here in a while.” They started down the stair well.

Aer followed. A chance to explore such an historic place with a being who’d known it long, long ago was not to be passed up.