Who Knows At This Point

In their time being held at Aperture, the Knight learned how to understand English, but not sign language, which is a problem, because while Chell might not have been actually mute when she arrive at Aperture, between the trauma and the brain damage, she basically is now, but she already knew sign language, but is unable to find anything to write with/on that doesn't fall apart from age. But despite the communication issues, she manages to use charades to ask the Knight if they want to escape together, and the Knight agrees. Also the Knight goes up to about Chell's waist.

For the sake of speed and maneuverability while going through portals/solving puzzles, the Knight ends up climbing onto Chell's shoulders/back and using the upper half of her jumpsuit to tie themselves on. Thankfully they're rather light, and Chell isn't hampered too much.

When they encounter Potados, she is quite put out to discover that Chell is now traveling with a second dangerous mute lunatic. The dangerous part really gets driven home when they encounter turrets and the Knight absolutely decimates them. Eventually they make it out of Old Aperture, and through "Wheatley Laboratories". And defeat Wheatley together. The Knight manages to hold on and to not get lost to space, and GLaDOS decides that smart (emotional) thing to do is to let them go with Chell.

Chell and the Knight find themselves in a post Combine world and find that on the surface, there are a number of settlements made up of Humans, Former Combine Slaves, and Bugs humanish sizes (like the ones found in Hollownest and Pharloom). But the further underground/abroad they go, the more it's just bugs who've never encountered humans or aliens. But the original peoples they find outside of Aperture are a combination settlement who don't question the duo's existence (much), and, at least some of, whom speak English.

Chell and the Knight travel together for a long time, and along the way Chell acquires a spear, and a knife, and remembers an affinity for crafting things/that she had an engineering degree and a part time job as a mechanic, and makes things, most notably a grappling hook/harpoon gun thing, that she straps onto her left forearm, and that she'll eventually be able to use to make up for not having a mothwing cloak or monach wings. Also, Chell was motivated to make it by the loss of the portal gun, because she missed having clever movement. Chell also learns to understand and read and write and understand the bug language/what they will/do speak in Hollownest, but regardless of language, she'll remain selectively mute.

Also Chell picks up a guitar for reasons that will become relevant later. And the guitar, she was going to not take it because it was too bulky, but the Knight, seeing how much she wanted it, gets it for her anyway.

During the many years of traveling and fighting together, Chell never gives the Knight a name, and just refers to them as "friend" and honestly, it's several years until the Knight even learns Chell's name. Also both pick up journals and chalk and slates/handheld chalkboards to communicate with others, and Chell teaches the Knight ASL for easier communication between the two of them. Also, Chell doesn't age, or take permanent damage during this time because of the nanobots.

Eventually, the Knight gets the call from it's sibling, and Chell goes with them to Hollownest to answer their call. Thanks Elderbug's advice, they claim a house in Dirtmouth to be a home base, and to store their bulkier items, like Chell's guitar and crafting supplies. Then they set out to explore the Crossroads/Hollownest. They meet and befriend Quirel, and fight all the things, and are able to use Chell's harpoon gun to get to Brooding Maulek early and Salubra early. For whatever reason, only the Knight can pick up mask and vessel shards and because Chell can't use soul, only the Knight can gain spells.

Also the Knight dying/having to fight their shade mechanic is canon. And as for why the other dead vessels can't do this, uh, maybe it's thanks to something Aperture did to them.

Eventually, they make it to Greenpath, and to Hornet. (They both almost immediately regret saving Zote). The Knight, charging ahead, gets trapped in Hornet's arena alone. Hornet, thinking she's killed them permanently, then let's Chell in and challenges her to a fight, and tells her that if she doesn't leave Hollownest now, she'll kill her. Chell refuses and is forced to words (single words) when Hornet calls the Knight an it, Chell responds "they" and when Hornet calls them a dead traveling companion, Chell replies with "friend".

Anyway, Hornet, having decades if not centuries of more practice, is the better fighter, but she can't do enough damage, fast enough, to overwhelm Chell's nanobots/healing, so eventually Hornet is forced to retreat. (there may also be a bit of sexual tension during the fight ;). By this time, the Knight (now considering the name "Ghost") has returned, to refight Hornet, but after discussing with Chell, decides to wait, to give Hornet more time to recover after her fight with Chell. But eventually, though they take a few more deaths, the Knight does beat Hornet on their own, and they get the mothwing cloak and continue exploring Hollownest with Chell.

In the Crystal Peaks, they're able to find two (or more) golums and both acquire Crystal Hearts. When they find nail masters, Chell is able to adopt their teachings to her spear. Isma has two tears. When they reach the resting grounds, only Ghost is taken by the dreamers, and the Seer finds Chell panicking over their unconscious body, and has her carry them into her hut. Only Ghost can use the dream nail, and Chell is very upset that she can't help them with the dream fights/dream warriors. Chell gets even more pissed when she can't get shade dash and go through the shade gates.

When they get to the second Hornet fight, she makes it clear that she's only interested in testing Ghost, and no longer wishes to fight Chell. Both Ghost and Chell agree to this, and in-between Ghost's deaths/while they wait for them to return to the fight, Chell and Hornet talk, with the aid of Chell's slate/chalk, and get to know each other a bit. When Ghost finally beats Hornet for the second time, Hornet urges Chell to not follow them to the King's Brand, because the cavern is unstable. Chell doesn't listen, and Hornet ends up having to drag the both of them out.

When Ghost summons the troupe, both they and Chell grow very fond of Grimmchild. And when it come time for the first Grimm fight, Chell is very pissed to be faced with yet another fight she can't help her friend with. It only gets worse with the NKG fight. At least she could watch the first one.

When they go after the dreamers, and reach Herrah, Chell is surprised to see Hornet show up while Ghost is still unconscious, but Hornet doesn't say anything, and Chell doesn't take out her slate to ask. But after Ghost wakes up, and Hornet explains about her mother, instead of leaving immediately, like Hornet asked, Chell can't quite bring herself to hug Hornet, but does grab her hands and squeezes them comfortingly.

Chell initially is upset that she can't follow Ghost into the White Palace, but is rather mollified when they explain what how much it reminded them of Aperture. Stark white, and filled with an unnecessary amount of deadly things and tricky puzzles/platforming. When they meet the White Lady, Ghost has to stop Chell from punching her.

When they reach the Black Egg Temple, Hornet greets them and explains how neither she nor Chell could survive. Chell is pissed, and thinks she since she survived the poisons of Aperture she should be able to survive the temple, but relents when Ghosts begs her to stay out. Instead, Chell resolves to go to sleep, reasoning that since Radiance infects people in their dreams, if she dreams, she should be able to partake in the final battle, and Chell is nothing if not stubborn. And well, it works, and since it's Chell's dreams, she can bring her dream elements into the fight.

And most of Chell's dreams are nightmares. And most of those nightmares are about Aperture, so she's able to use the Portal gun to help Ghost get into better positions and to redirect some of Radiance's attacks against herself. Ghost's shade, alongside the Hollow Knight's, gets the final blow.

Hornet wakes up in the Black Egg Temple. She finds Ghost's shell split in two, and Hollow alive, but barely. As she starts to help Hollow out, Ghost's shell dissolves, and an alive Ghost runs in from the bench, and attacks their shade, and they're alive too. The three of them leave the temple to find Chell still unconscious outside of it. Ghost rushes to her side to try and rouse her. Hornet carefully places Hollow down so she can check on Chell too. Eventually Chell rouses, and whispers "apple", in English, as she does so. This does nothing to assure anyone there that she's actually okay. Chell brushes it off as being a long story.

Despite having just been dreaming, Chell's exhausted, and struggles to get to her feet. But once she's up, she insists on helping Hornet with Hollow. They all go to the hot spring in a now infection free Crossroads and heal and rest for a while.

Then they return to Dirtmouth, and Hornet and Hollow end up moving in with Chell and Ghost, into the house they claimed. Hollow has lost their arm, and remains otherwise disabled, and Chell is able to make a prosthetic and other disability aids for them.

And in the years between Hollow Knight and Silksong, Chell and Hornet get closer. And, to my great disappointment, I googled how spiders reproduce, and learned that in many species the female will coat web strands with pheromones, and the males will respond by vibrating their web in a specific way. And I image that when encountering Midwife, and Herrah needing the Pale King's help to have a daughter gets brought up, Chell asks what's involved and learns more than she wanted to about Weavers mating rituals, but that means that when one day, post beating Radiance, when Hornet throws strands of silk at her that smell different, Chell has a pretty good idea of what's up.

Chell decides the best way to respond is by combining Weaver courtship rituals and human ones, and uses the special silk to restring her guitar and "vibrate" the webs by playing a song(s) for Hornet. Chell has to explain what she's doing, but eventually the two of them do get together.

About 7-8 years after Radiance was defeated, Hornet asks Chell if she'd be willing to show her where she came from, so the two of them set out across the wilds towards where Chell's hometown was (unfortunately near Aperture, but that'll be important soon). On the way, they get ambushed by the bugs that kidnapped Hornet in the Silksong opening cutscene. They're able to overwhelm the two of them, and they get Hornet, and leave Chell for dead. Chell is not dead, and starts following them. Shortly into Act 1, Hornet and Chell reunite, and stick together for the rest of Silksong (I'm not very far into Silksong, so I can't really do this out the way I did Hollow Knight).

Eventually, Ghost and Hollow realize they should have been back by now, and go looking. They find the ambush site, and the trail Chell left for Ghost. And, while near Aperture, they find GLaDOS, in an android body who has gotten bored and wanted to explore around her home. As Ghost wasn't actually there for any of the times GLaDOS tried to kill Chell, and only there for the times that she was their ally, they ask her to help them look for Chell and Hornet, and GLaDOS agrees. Also Hollow is carrying Chell's guitar, which she left behind because it was too bulky.

Eventually the three of them make it Pharloom, and catch up to Chell and Hornet late in act two. GLaDOS, in her infinite wisdom, announces her presence by making a comment about Chell's weight, and Chell immediately grabs her spear. Ghost is able to get everyone to calm down.

At some point Chell starts playing something stupid on her guitar, like the mii theme song, and GLaDOS complains and tells her to play something else. Chell then does her best to play the turret opera from memory. GLaDOS begs her to stop. Chell then admits that she took Italian in high school and asks if GLaDOS meant to call her daughter. After shorting out a bit, GLaDOS asks to speak to Chell in private, and Chell agrees.

GLaDOS then explains that it was Caroline who wrote the song, not her, and admits that she didn't actually delete Caroline. Chell admits that she figured as much. GLaDOS then explains that Caroline wrote the song for her daughter that she gave abandoned partially because the baby was a product of a rape, and partially because she didn't want the child to interfere with her career.* GLaDOS then insists that just because Caroline is a part of her doesn't mean that she is Caroline or that she is Chell's mother, but does admit to feeling some kind of familial affection for Chell. Chell says that in a way they're both Caroline's unwanted progeny, and asks if that makes them sisters. GLaDOS agrees to be sisters.

And then the five of them get Silksong's true ending.

*I don't actually agree with the theory that Caroline is Chell's mother, but I think it works here. Especially since while I normally ship Chelldos, it's not happening in this fic.

Shiori’s Shadow & Persona