silence

The first god who interacted with humans was PK, only because he’s in the most accessible location to them.

Lumaflies! When it’s early in the ‘day’ (i.e when the lumaflies wake up) their glow is incredibly bright and it slowly dims over time until the moment that they go to sleep.

They’d probably just think that it was similar to molting, taking off a piece of their ‘shell’ to let the new one grow.

Animals are able to come to Hallownest! It’s just a case of most people who are aware of the ravine aren’t going to try and carry/bring their animals down with them should they go exploring.

Sorry for the amount of time this event has taken, I know it’s going on it’s 4th month but I’m slowly losing my motivation to work on everything I have planned.

The king had been toiling over his notes these past few months, mostly on the effects of void on humans. He’d been successful in his work, but trying to complete his everyday tasks while taking care of the three voidlings in his grasp began to make it harder on him.

He’d thought of many ways to remedy this, send them back into the abyss, but that risked them communicating and possibly the loss of his perfect vessel. Perhaps he could hand them over to someone else, that risked the possibility that they would find out what he had done, and leave the kingdom.

It eventually came down to a few choices, throw them back into that pitch black sea. Or perhaps, just maybe this would work, bring them outside the kingdom. A barren wasteland where the lost forget themselves the longer they stay away from his power. He already knew that the curse of his kingdom affected humans, some of his court members had mentioned gaps in their memories upon arriving in Hallownest.

He knew what had to be done, he’d take a kingsmould or two and bring them to the wastelands. He’d need to be careful, while the rest of the kingdom slept, he’d execute his plan.

Slowly, he figured out ways to get them out of the kingdom, through the entrance would be the most plausible option, but who’s to say that no one would spot him leaving? So, he’d do it when the lanterns in the crossroads went out. He needed to keep them separate, so he’d hand one to each kingsmould, and then split them up, far away so they’d never meet.

And then, after a week he’d go and retrieve them, hopefully his thrall and sunk deep enough into their minds already to call them back to the entrance of the kingdom.

A week after the last experiments he had done on his latest voidlings, he placed them in one of the many containers he had for living beings. A reinforced cage meant for the voidlings exclusively, and began his walk to the gates, guards in tow. It didn’t take him long to make the trip, the lifts going from the palace grounds into the city, and then to the crossroads only took him an hour.

He’d need to move faster, lest his experiments get too rowdy, they were already slamming their hands into the glass to no avail. So, he ran, up and up platforms and stairs until he reached the tiny village. He walked quickly past the building the doctor had taken their patients into, before he made it into the cliffs.

The king slowed down once he reached them, little to no bugs lived in the harsh conditions the cliffs brought, so he didn’t need to worry. Eventually they had walked so far to where even the familiar glow of the lumaflies weren’t visible through the heavy fog layering the ground.

Slowly setting the cage down, he retrieved one, and left it to his guards to take the others. The king may have needed to travel far, but that hardly mattered enough to him. So he kept walking, eventually taking to the skies to find the perfect place to leave them. On a ledge not that far off from the ground, he sets them down.

They hiss and growl at him, odd noises that he wouldn’t expect any proper citizen to make, but that didn’t matter now. In a matter of time they’d forget who they were. So, he started the long flight back to the gates, it didn’t matter if his kingsmoulds were lost, they’d either find their way back or die. They were disposable, something he could replace with no difficulties.

After a few hours, he managed to return to the gates of his kingdom, outside stood one kingsmould, the other missing. He unsealed the gates, walking through with his guard, before closing them again. He commanded them to stay waiting in the pass to retrieve the voidlings once they’ve reached Hallownest again. Then, he began the walk back to the palace, after all, he had more important things do be doing.

It was so cold, and the silence of this place was unbearable. There was no one around, just the howling winds that threatened to knock them off their feet and carry them away. Yet somehow, they couldn’t remember how they got here, surely they had come here for a reason.

They just couldn’t recall why, mind devoid of memories. All they knew was something was pulling them forward, so they carried on their path. They would only stop when they couldn’t walk anymore, legs about to crumble beneath them. But they were so close, they could feel it, something comforting awaited them when they arrived to where they were headed.

Slowly but surely, they walked on, and eventually they started to see signs of life. Large, bird-like creatures flew above, gliding on the strong winds of the area. It was difficult to get where they needed, scraping and tearing their hands on the rough stones of the cliff-side. The pull was stronger now tugging at them no matter how much they wanted to stop and rest. They ran, avoiding the larger creatures that walked along the stones, sometimes using them to haul themselves up ledges. They had to be more careful when the drops got steeper as they got closer.

They finally arrived to what seemed to be the source of that pull, and standing at the entrance was two others. They weren’t sure why, but for some reason they felt a feeling of kinship towards them, and they ran up to them. They weren’t quite sure what the others felt exactly, but they swore they could see them go through the same thoughts that lead to that same feeling.

One of them turned to peer into the gate entrance, into the caldera that ended thousands of feet below them. They were distracted by the groaning of chains as they moved, heaving something up the side. A large figure stood in the lift, who donned white armor adorned with spikes.

Within the next few seconds, they had all been picked up, squirming and trying to get away. Their hold didn’t let up, and they marched quickly into a building. Ringing a bell, a large, saddled creature sprinted into the building from a tunnel in the side of the wall. They were dropped into a bag that rested on its side, before climbing onto its back and given it an order to move.

It was dizzying, they moved so fast through various different tunnels, sometimes coming to abrupt stops to let another pass by. But eventually they stopped in a dull, grey building. Once more they were picked back up and carried into a large, shining white building.

It was too bright, and they tried to curl into themselves to shield their eyes at the very least. It didn’t help much, it still hurt no matter how much they tried to hide. The three were all eventually sat down on the floor, in front of a large throne, a pale figure resting upon it.

They stood up, before stopping just in front of them, and lifting them up. “Greetings. I’d like to know what brought you here, to my palace. After all, it’s not everyday we have human visitors.”

They tried to speak, but as they tried, their words came out jumbled. Even if they could get out a coherent sentence, their voice crackled, almost like static, making it near impossible to hear anything.

The being looked at them, “Well, I suppose I must introduce myself. I am the Pale King, ruler of this kingdom, Hallownest. My guard brought you here, did you wander in through that gate?” He looked at them expectantly, before realizing that they wouldn’t speak to him, “Well, if you cannot speak, I will do the talking for you.”

He sat them back down on the arm of the throne, before calling over a servant to stand by him. “I offer you protection from the creatures outside, I’m sure you saw them when you arrived. Quite dangerous for ones your size. But, I can teach you how to defend yourself. All I ask for in return is for you to join my court, pledge your loyalty to me. A small price to pay.”

Slowly, after looking amongst themselves, seeing how the others would react. They each nodded, one by one.

Chapters: 10/10 Fandom: Hollow Knight (Video Game) Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence Characters: The Pale King (Hollow Knight), Hollow Knight OCs Additional Tags: Big Bugs AU, surgery without anaesthesia, Dissection, Surgery, Gore, Angst Summary:

All Chapters for the story 'Clipped Wings' for the History Repeats event @bigbugs-au on tumblr.

The contents of each one was the same, families bringing relatives to hospitals, only to come back the next morning to see them with orange eyes, oozing pustules covering their bodies.

The king would send someone to the city and villages to calm them down, assure them that everything was under control. Tell them he’d fix this soon, hopefully. For now, he’d set up weak barriers around populated areas, just to give them some piece of mind.