The apocalypse has come and gone, and against all odds, Pharloom remains standing. The time has come for Hornet to return to Hallownest, accompanied by friends and allies: Shakra hopes to explore the mythical land beyond the wastes, and properly lay to rest a member of her own tribe; Lace fears unraveling without the aid of a Weaver, while contending with the immensity of a future free of her motherโs threads; and the Green Prince lives only only to spite the Citadel, passively seeking a more honorable end than might be found in the rubble of his homeland.
Meanwhile, Hornet returns from Pharloom with magic and knowledge that might aid in the slow recovery of Hallownest and Deepnestโand perhaps offer the chance to call home the sibling she once thought lost to her forever.
Chapter 9: Trust Treads the Line Between Wisdom and Folly
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We're just gonna... detour away from whatever conversation the Green Prince is having with the Mantis Lord. Don't worry, it's a secret tool that'll help us later. Instead, we get a conversation between Hornet and Vise about the distance between gods and mortals.
My beta readers were MVPs this chapter (and every chapter). I just wholesale cribbed how @sandflakedraws portrays playing a harp in their webcomic, The Touch of Sunlight. And if you're wondering what's going on with Hollow's cloak in the flashback sequences, snowleopardferret made a diagram over on Bluesky about proper vessel care and husbandry.
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Hollow Knight Fanart Masterpost
Transcript:
Page 1
Vise: ...Auntie? Do you think me a fool?
Hornet: At times. But I consider it one of your better qualities.
Hornet: .... *sigh*
Hornet: You wish to know why I did not speak for myself against the Prince's accusations. Had you witnessed the devastation wrought upon his lands, I doubt you would be so quick to come to my defense.
Vise: ...but you--
Hornet: Your personal affection for I and my kin blinds you to our imminence.
Hornet: You think us benign... benevolent even.. you may even be correct.
Hornet: However.
Page 2
Hornet: As a prospective leader of this tribe, it is imperative you never forget--
Vise: !?
Vise: !!!
Hornet: A god's blessing is oft indistinguishable from its curse.
Vise: !!!
SFX: snap snap snap
Vise: ....
Vise: ...though a fool in full I may seem, I have met with ill intent throughout my life, and know well the tenor of spite...
Page 3
Vise: My confidence is not so easily won.
Vise: I give my trust not to some great and mighty god...
Vise: But to the warrior who willingly sacrificed body and mind to stay a plague...
Vise: ...and to the sister who wept...
Vise: ...and toiled...
Vise: ...to see them whole.
Vise: You proffered kindness to an orphaned traitor's child...
Vise: Do you deny it now?
Hornet: ...no.
Vise: Then I shall gladly risk playing the fool, to keep your wisdom and council, Auntie.
Vise: A final question, if I may be so bold--
Page 4
Vise: The Lady... Is she truly so terrible?
Hornet: ....
Hornet: ...she is a being both ancient and alien, whose survival oft necessitates indifference or cruelty.
Hornet: But in equal parts has sure sought to reject that nature. Imperfectly... Tragically... Time and time again... she chooses to love.
Page 5
Lace: To what do I owe this audience, your majesty?
The White Lady: There is no occasion...
The White Lady: ...merely surprise to find you apart from your friends.
Lace: My companion is skilled in song and scrivening, but unlike some... I find no entertainment watching ink dry... so I sought to create my own.
Lace: I fear this serenity will leave dull both I and my pin.
The White Lady: It would be a shame to blunt such keenness, when for so long my Gardens have felt the loss of their protector.
Lace: There were none to assume the mantle of Hollow the Knight?
The White Lady: No.
The White Lady: ....
The White Lady: they were never mine.
Page 6
The White Lady: I speak of Dryya of the Five... one of the Great Knights of that Kingdom Gone.
The White Lady: Fierce and wise was she... though with your skill, I could see you her apprentice, if not her peer.
The White Lady: ....
The White Lady: ...you intend to accompany the Gendered Child to Deepnest, do you not?
The White Lady: I would urge caution. Danger lurks beyond my verge--
Lace: Please. Spare me your condescension.
Lace: Do you issue the spider such inane warnings? Or is this concern exclusive to one such as I?
Lace: I was spun to life in the Weavers' Cradle-- I will not shrink from whatever poor imitation exists in these lands.
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