Trik - Hollow Knight Character + Story by Applestream on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

"Higher beings, these words are for you alone.

These blasted plains stretch never-ending. There is no world
beyond.

These foolish enough to traverse this void must pay the toll and
relinquish the precious mind this kingdom grants."

~=------------------------------------------------------------------------------=~

Outisde of the kingdom of Hallownest, in the storms of the empty lands, a certain bug crawled and hopped about in his daily attempt to survive these unreal conditions. The grasshopper was just a simple bug, driven by his instincts. He ate, slept, and fled from dangers.

One day, he woke up with immense hunger. He looked around him, but the plants were all withered, there was nothing left to eat. He strolled around the area, all he needed was a bit of grass to get through the day... The winds were pushing against his atenna, and the fog was enveloping his surroundings, making it hard to see. After a while of continous crawling through the mist, he spots something... there were blades of grass, tall ones even. But he was not the first to find them, a smaller, but winged bug got hold of them and ripped them out of the ground, staring to munch on them.

Usually, he flees if he encounters other bugs, but this time... it was different. It was for his survival, he had to get the grass or he risks starvation. So he kneeled down, and prepared for a leap. The winged bug didn't notice, and unknowingly kept eating. But then it got disturbed by the grasshopper jumping on top of it, trying to snatch the nutrious food away from it. Of course, it did not want to let go of it, so it shaked off the grasshopper and sprinted away. But he wouldn't give up this easily, with his strong legs the grasshopper could pursue the winged bug.

The bug took off the ground, but underestimated the strengh of the wind. The grasshopper saw the bug being dragged away in a different direction, he followed up.

He kept chasing for a good while, until they reached a range of mountains. They traversed a valley, and the bug finally landed on the ground again, expecting to have gotten rid of his pursuer. But the grasshopper did not give up this easily, he waited behind a rock. When the bug took a bit off the grass, the grasshopper came out of his hiding spot, menacingly jumped high and landed in front of the bug. He cut off the escape routes, he could easily overpower the bug now. What the grasshopper didn't expect though is that the harsh impact would crack the ground. He looked down, there was a tear where he stood. And right after, the whole ground collapsed. rocks falling down, one hit him on the head, he fell unconcious...

...Some time passed, the grasshopper woke up again. He opened his eyes, and stood up in pain. His head thumped. He looked around, the other bug and the grass was nowhere in sight. He looked up, and saw the light entering the hole from above. He had fallen into a cave... but something was different. He touched his head, and felt his skin. He looked at his hands. Then, in the back of his mind a question rose.

"Where am I?"

He became concious. Unknowingly, he was now in the kingdom of Hallownest. And was granted with the gift of mind. The grasshopper took a few steps. The cave had multiple paths, there was a possibility for him to get out.

"so... hungry..."

No path seemed to lead upwards, all seemed to only lead further into the depths below. He wanted to get out of here... but something in him sparked. It was curiousity. Thoughts formed in his mind, more and more frequently.

"Maybe... food is down there?"

He kept crawling down the cave system. The stone was wet... and cold. But the air was weirdly fresh. As if it was coming from below. Tiny pebbles rolled down the tunnels whenever he took a step. He could hear the echo of them. Then, they hit the floor, he could cearly hear it . At the end of the tunnel, there must be a larger chasm. But the tunnel became more and more steep. Yet he kept going.

He grabbed a stone in the wall to hold onto, while decending, but it was loose, ripped it out, and he fell once more. He let out a short screech, and landed on the hard stone floor, it was not too high, so he was uninjured. He was now in the chasm. He turned around in circles, to see everything... There was a small pond of glowing water. It caught his curiosity. He kneeled down in front of the water, and stared at it's shine. The pond was still, and he saw the reflection of himself in the water. His green body, his antenna and his large black eyes.

"Me..."

He sank his head, to drink from it. He was exhausted, but after a short rest he could keep going for sure. The water he drank was cold, it was relaxing. He felt as if he even absorbed energy from it. The grasshopper stood up again. He looked at his reflection again, slightly moving his head left and right.

"I..."

His mind was still young, but it started to develop. He was aware of his existence. He still had to obtain self-awareness, reasoning and critical thinking. He stepped back from the pond, stretched, and kept exploring the chasm. There were even more paths to take from here, smaller tunnels, more chasms. And at this point, he made his first concious decision.

"I will explore this place."