I like the Pure Vessel.
A POV of the Pure Vessel from its sealing in the Black Egg to Ghost/The Knight freeing it. Written on my phone at midnight.
This gets VERY weirdly written at about halfway through, I dunno, fit the vibe.
The graphic depictions of violence is one bit, but this is very angsty just so ya know.
They didn't understand.
They never understood.
No one felt the need to explain things to a lifeless vessel.
And yet it burned with questions.
Why?
Why was it chosen above its siblings?
Why did it chase The Light without a doubt in its mind?
Why did The Light shun them so?
It felt as if its mind was separated from its body, meaning that keeping up in this final test was easy with its muscle memory. The slender figure of its opponent was tossed across the courtyard. Drya raised her head, panting. "They're ready."
The Light turned to her with an unreadable expression. "You are sure?"
"They could knock Drya down." Hegemol replied, shrugging. "I can't do that." The three other knights muttered their agreement as the king turned back to the vessel. "I see. Come." There was no question as to whom He addressed- the knights demanded far more respect. As the vessel passed each of the knights, each nodded respectfully. It wanted to respond, to thank the only beings who'd acknowledged it as more than a vessel. The king led the vessel to a carriage, making it wonder if He'd have brought it if it had lost to Drya or any of the other knights. Silently, the king and then the vessel climbed into the ornate carriage, the small bug sitting at the front urging the stags forward.
There was one seat on the vessel's side.
There was more than one on the other.
The asymmetry wore away at it.
The vessel looked at the king. The Light was fascinating, distracting- it pulled away any attention from anything else. The king coughed a little awkwardly, clearly attempting to ignore the vessel. Suddenly the carriage stopped. A trio climbed in- the Dreamers. The vessel knew their faces from its presence at many meetings between them and the king. Herrah had a small red larva in her arms. The king looked down as Herrah sat next to Him, clearly uncomfortable. The child in Herrah's arms waved at the vessel. The Light squirmed. "Tell it not to do that."
"Do what?" Herrah replied, her cool, clicking voice dangerous.
"Er." The king sat up straighter. "It showing the vessel empathy may. Teach the vessel such behaviours. And the vessel must be pure."
Herrah raised an eyebrow but didn't press the matter. The child in her arms twitched a little, flapping its limbs. The other two Dreamers looked at it. "I see not why you brought she." Monomon said.
"She is my daughter." Herrah replied. "I should think she should be allowed to see such a ceremony."
"Could she not be left with your retainers?" Lurien asked nervously. It was clear the spider queen scared him. Herrah glared him down.
"No."
"Ah. I see. Of course." Lurien nodded madly, then fixed his gaze on the floor of the carriage. There was a silence for the rest of the trip before the carriage stopped and the door was opened. "We are here, my liege, Dreamers." the bug said, holding the door open. Without hesitation, Herrah got up, stepping out of the carriage. Monomon, Lurien and The Light followed. The vessel knew to go last, to obey others mindlessly.
The temple loomed before them, the eye-windows shining with a white light similar to the king's. Entering, the vessel could see that there was a black egg. It felt… welcoming. And terrifying. As if it had been ordered to, the vessel stepped towards the egg, before Monomon spoke. "It wait, should yes?"
"The sooner the better." The Light responded. "Besides, the egg is Void. It's attracted to it."
The vessel never remembers what happened next. It knows it must have been chained. It knows the Dreamers must have become seals. Now it's hanging in midair in total darkness. It's terrifying.
Then the light appears.
Blazing away at the vessels mind, making it want to scream with a voice it doesn't have, overwhelming everything it ks, but it can't break, can't break, can't break-
Then it is sealed.
The light burns with a heat like fire. But it will not break.
The light makes it want to cry out in pain. But it will not cry out.
No will to break.
No voice to cry suffering.
The Hollow Knight.
It didn't know how long it hung there, holding on, fighting off the light in its mind.
But it was losing.
At first it didn't want to admit it, didn't want to fail, to be impure, to be useless.
So it hung.
So it fought.
But the light was determined. The light was patient.
It waited until the vessel was weakest.
And it felt like light burst from every part of its body, tearing it away, till nothing, nothing mattered, nothing existed but the light and the pain, but it can't break can't break can't break can't break can't be beaten can't cry out.
But as its vision's filled with the light, the pustules of infection clustering its brain with its swollen tendrils.
A will to break.
And it breaks.
And it loses.
A voice to cry suffering.
And it screams.
And the world shakes around it, but it doesn't know, doesn't care, can't care.
The light is the only real thing left.
It has failed.
It has broken.
And so it stays, the infection the only thing keeping it alive for the eternity it waited.
Until a vibration wakes the light.
The chains.
Are breaking.
THE DARKNESS
The light has a voice.
IT SENDS A CHAMPION
The light is entertained.
I SEND BACK A STORM
The chains are gone.
The freedom. For a split second, it feels alive.
Then the light takes over.
FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT KILL
The infection holds its body together.
The light is in control.
It can only scream.
It's unfocused. It can't tell what's happening.
But it hurts.
On the inside.
The light has to die.
It pierces itself with the nail it doesn't know it had, over and over and over, relishing the pain as pustules burst and orange fluid sprays everywhere. It collapses. Now it and the enemy EMPTY ONE ATTACK KILL stare into each other's hollow eyes but it doesn't have hollow eyes anymore does it SUBSUME ALL WILL FALL KILL KILL KILL and then a bright pain pierces its head and the light is leaking out and a flash of red then
Nothing.
Nothing.
It's done.
It's free.
But no, not yet. Because the enemy- no, The Knight is battling the light. It's injured.
All around it, dark figures are rising.
It should join them.
The Knight is ascending now, dodging beams, and the shades are rising around it then it strikes the light and now.
It holds the light and though the light struggles it will hold on and The Knight strikes again and again and now the light is evaporating, consumed by the void.
Yes.
It can rest now.
It can return to the void.
Flowing softly, its thoughts fading away
It is subsumed.
Hornet tries to play with the Hollow Knight. It goes horribly.
Y'know.
I sat down to write and I thought "Okay, write something nice and cute with the Hollow Knight."
Then I wrote this.
Why am I unable to write anything about Hollow Knight without making it angsty?
It doesn't understand.
The little red spike kept giving it things to hold and it doesn't understand doesn't understand why why why why stupid shouldn't even be thinking and definitely shouldn't be holding things and listening to the little red spike babble seriously-
"See?" the red spike says. The vessel looks down. The Spike has placed a set of discs with small, strange shapes arranged on them and a big orb-thingy on the soft floor. "Now we can eat."
The Spike arranges a circle of small, strangely unmoving, slightly uncanny bugs around the setup before sitting down. This is strange. The vessel doesn't like this. It doesn't want to be here, it shouldn't, what does The Spike mean eat it can't eat why does The Spike think so and there it goes thinking again like a broken impure not hollow not hollow NOT HOLLOW-
The Spike says something. It doesn't hear. The Spike says it louder, but it still doesn't hear, doesn't want to hear, so it doesn't. The Spike's shouting now, kicking at the vessel's legs, but it doesn't respond, it stays still and passive like a good pure empty thing but it's not it's not it's NOT.
And then the Pale Light sweeps into the room. He's angry. With The Spike. Saying something about not corrupting the vessel. How she (the vessel didn't know The Spike was a she. It doesn't know a lot of things and it shouldn't know most of what it does because it makes it not hollow and not empty) should just ignore it like everyone else like a good child and why does she even hang around the palace does she not have better places to be? And The Spike shouts angrily and tries to grab at the vessel's cloak and ow ow ow but she's ripped off and dragged kicking and screaming and biting from the room.
The Light sighs, before turning to the vessel and snatching the strange objects The Spike handed to it and tossing them to the floor. "Foolish child." he mutters. "Why Herrah tolerates such behaviour is beyond me. If she was raised here in my palace, she'd not be such a brat." The vessel isn't sure why everything The Light says is so loud and audible. There must be a reason, but it's not one it can work out. Instead it stands quietly like a good empty vessel until the Light dismisses it and then it wanders off to a room it was given to live in but it's not its room and it never will be, it's just somewhere it lives. And then it sits and it shakes with all the things it wants to let out like other bugs do, like The Spike did where she screamed and cried.
She has it so much better than them.
A day in the life of an impure vessel with a completely oblivious sister.
Tagging on your phone is a nightmare, would not recommend.
Here's some headcanons about Ze'mer I came up with while writing this.
Ze'mer just means I in her first language, just everyone took it as che's name and che can't be bothered to correct them.
Hallownest respects neopronouns so they hear che and think ooh nice pronouns instead of she with an accent. Ze'mer liked being referred to like that, and now uses che/che pronouns and just occasionally uses she/her.
Ze'mer is tough as shit. Like, che's one of the strongest warriors in Hallownest. Because no one else fights like che.
It stands by the door of the throne room, silent and still, hoping no one can see the thoughts racing through its mind that it shouldn't have. It isn't paying attention to what was happening in front of it- something political- and instead wonders if it has a mouth. It would check, but that would risk notice. It thinks it has mandibles or something similar, certainly some protrusion that clicks against its shell occasionally, but it has never tried to use a mouth. If it has one. Which it probably shouldn't, given that it doesn't feel hungry or speak. Like how it shouldn't be thinking at all.
The Light speaks, its words clear and cold. "Come. I am done with this."
Without responding, it follows him out of the room, its steps precise and calculated. Or as close as it could get. The Light gestures to its room down a hall. "Go. Wait there until you are next needed." The Light walks away, and the vessel goes into its room, sitting on the small chair. It doesn't have much furniture- no bed, no books, no toys, nothing- just a chair and a small blanket in a corner. It is all it "needed" technically, but it sometimes wonders why it didn't at least get a mattress. It would probably help its aching back to sleep on a proper bed.
"Hello?"
Oh no, it's The Spike. Hornet, it remembers from its first, horrifying encounter with her, the red Deepnest cloak bright on her as she scuttles up. "Oh. It's you." It hopes she'll leave, but she doesn't, continuing to stare at it. "Why don't you talk?" Hornet asks.
It knows it shouldn't, but… now it can answer the question of where its mouth is, if it has a mouth at all. It points to the underside of its mask, running a bony, black finger against the mandibles, yes… and a completely smooth shell where its mouth would be.
"You can't talk?" Hornet asks, as if for confirmation, before scoffing. "That's silly. Why can't you talk?*
No voice to cry suffering.
It instead lets her see their mouth, or lack thereof. "That's creepy." Hornet replies matter-of-factly. They try not to shudder. "Father doesn't want me to talk to you." Hornet continues with the same tone. "He's stupid like that."
The Light isn't stupid, why did she say that?
"He says I should be polite and quiet, and that it's all Mama's fault. Hmph." Hornet looks it up and down, before saying, "Maybe it's because he's used to you."
What is it with her and making it so deeply uncomfortable it just wants to… Does she even know? Know what it is, its purpose? Probably not. What is it like, it wonders. To walk about as you like, not bound to walk where The Light says. To speak of ordinary things. To speak at all.
It wants to speak.
It wants to be a normal bug.
It doesn't realise its folding itself into its seat until Hornet says "what are you doing?"
And suddenly a polite cough comes from the door. "Er, Vessel," Hegemol's echoed voice says. "The king wishes you to take your nailfighting lesson."
It stands, stiffly, and walks towards the door. "Do you even have a mind?" Hornet asks it as it passes her.
It twitches, before Hegemol says "Oh! Princess! I didn't see you there! Er… according to the king, they… it doesn't. It's hollow, like my shell." He taps his chestplate to make a point. "Otherwise it wouldn't be able to contain the Infection."
It can feel Hornet's eyes on its back as it follows Hegemol. Hear the words she isn't saying. Wondering why it responded to her if it's hollow. It could ask the same question.
Hegemol coughs nervously. "Ze'mer wants to train you today." he says. He's always been uncomfortable around it. His specialty is bugs; talking to them, making jokes. One doesn't do such things with the vessel of the Infection. It doesn't respond, keeping its facade of mindlessness. "I'd be worried, personally." Hegemol continues. "Che… I don't know what che does, but something about the way che fights is… well. Even you might work up a sweat!" He nudges it with his elbow, before seemingly remembering himself, and looking away.
It takes far too long for its liking to arrive in the courtyard. Dryya, Ze'mer and Isma are already there, seemingly deep in conversation. "-wouldn't believe the racket the Princess was making, I'm surprised she didn't wake the dead!" Isma says.
"You know, I understand the political advantages of such a child," Dryya replies, her disinterested demeanour very obvious, even to it. "But if I was Herrah or the King, I would at the very least scold her. The way she acts around the vessel-"
"Of speaking, it is here." Ze'mer interrupts, her oddly melodic voice soothing. It likes Ze'mer, it likes the knights. It is the Hollow Knight, they are titled in similar ways, and during these practice sessions, it feels some sense of… belonging. Like these bugs are… friends with it.
Not thoughts a pure vessel should have.
"Is Le'mer ready?" Ze'mer asks, che's stance not changing at all. It nods, and before it can process what's happening, Ze'mer launches it across the courtyard. Che's strange, hooked blades drag along the ground as che glides towards it, it taking its nail from its back and reading itself for another blow. It can hear Dryya, Isma and Hegemol muttering. Dryya doesn't think it can win. Isma agrees reluctantly. Hegemol protests.
Ze'mer swings again while it's distracted, but it blocks, the surprising force of the blow sending shivers down its arms. It shoves her away, before swinging its nail towards Ze'mer. Che parries the blow with one hook, before bringing her second up, under the plated underside of its carapace.
It collapses, void leaking from the wound. "Le'mer is alright?" Ze'mer asks. It nods stiffly, getting up.
"Told you." Dryya says dryly. Isma looks like she wants to protest, but Dryya is right. It didn't know Ze'mer was such a ferocious fighter. "Should they- it be leaking that much of that… stuff?" Isma asks. "It looks like a deep wound."
"I remember what happened to the last bug that touched that." Dryya says. "I agree, it does look quite painful, but there is nothing we can do about it."
It was painful, but not as painful as the sting of losing. It had been able to beat Ogrim, Hegemol and Isma (though it suspected they had been holding back), and its match with Dryya had been declared a draw. To be beaten so easily…
How could it hope to defeat a god?