A/N: Greetings reader! Thank you for taking an interest in my story. I'm a bit of a beginner in writing, which you will likely be able to tell with my one fan fiction and the writing that will follow this author's note. Until Silksong releases, there will be no clear answer as to how Hornet ended up in Farloom, nor is there a definitive answer to which ending Silksong proceeds. I took the creative liberty to abridge the gap until we get more information, so do note that this was made before Silksong. Now then, I of course do not own the rights to Hollow Knight or any of Team Cherries and would like to thank them for making my favorite game of all time. You guys rock. Now, on with the story!

Chapter 1: Royal Reunion

Hornet stood idle in the front of the Black Egg Temple. After seeing the little ghost pop out of the abyss, she knew that they would be ready to truly tackle the radiance head-on, so she immediately made way towards the Black Egg in preparation for the battle. She waited. She started watching the aspids meander through the air. She watched a vengefly forget the "fly" part of its name. She took out her needle, weaved a little figure of the ghost as well as a figure of the vessel, made them duel, then broke them apart. What was taking them so long? She had likely been sitting there for at least a day. Stag stations dotted almost every inch of the kingdom, all of which were opened by the little ghost. They had to be aware of what was coming for them, right?... What was the little ghost even aware of?

The void certainly had some sort of mind, though the blank facade of any vessel seemed to imply otherwise. Considering that, Hornet wondered why her father had chosen the Hollow Knight out of all the vessels to seal the Radiance. They walked with a sense of purpose, making it much more distinguishable from the other vessels, but wouldn't a sense of purpose be the opposite for what the Pale King sought? A mind would only guarantee the eventual escape of the Radiance, and right from the start, the Hollow Knight was showing attributes of awareness. On top of the awareness that they were showing off, the Pale King kept reminding them of their role in the world. Shouldering that much responsibility made Hornet suffocate a bit. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to hold off the Radiance. Having a light that turned someone's psyche into a mindless husk; the Radiance having that much power made it sound near unbeatable. Was her plan of tackling the Radiance head on a good idea? What would the little ghost need to ascend to the likes of the Radiance? Unfaltering resilience seemed to be a trait that this new vessel showed, but there had to be another way around it. Perhaps the influence of another higher being could help? Hornet didn't know of anything stronger than the Radiance, but the combined power of void and another higher being had the potential to produce something near monstrous. Well, she could only sit here and wait in hopes that the plan she had would work out.

Hornet decided to take another look around the temple. Yes, that was the vine in the same place it was at several hours ago, pulsing orange with infection. Hornet watched it quiver as it slowly… changed colors? The vine stopped pulsing and turned into a still black. Was that its original color? She whipped her head around. All the overgrowth of the infected vines turned into the same still black as the other vine. A slow wave washed through the temple, going out into the open area of the infected crossroads, which was also slowly fading into its former self. The infection was... dying?

Hornet went to step forward, but no sooner did she glue herself to the floor when she heard a loud thump, followed by the clattering of some chains. Deep inside the Black egg, Hornet sensed something stir, and she only hoped that it wasn't true. Some more thuds followed the initial sound, and she found the earth started to shake below her. The chains dragged along with each clatter; the unmistakable sound of scraping metal grated at the ears of the half-god. Fear. Pure, unadulterated fear was all that was introduced with each passing quake.

Hornet had fond memories of her older half-sibling. They would sit quietly and watch as hornet tried her best to make little figurines of the two of them together. They would tilt his head in a manner of fascination as she played make-pretend duels between the two of them. They would pull his nail out and ready themselves, to which hornet would always cower back in fear. Looking back, it made sense that they took things literally. They were made of void after all; their nature was much more calculating than that of the regular bug. Still, there was certainly a sense that they always knew what was going on. They would put their nail away and approach hornet, extending a hand to try and comfort her. She would hug them, or rather she would hug their legs. Being two heads taller than Hornet, the Hollow Knight was more than intimidating, but the bond of family can go beyond the barriers of discomfort. That sense of humanity that was being put only further guaranteed the peril of Hallownest, but for the blissfully ignorant Hornet, she only found the care of her sibling. For something with even an ounce of humanity to endure the tortures of the Radiance being stuck in their mind, surely there was nothing more guaranteed then insanity. Whatever might be approaching her from behind was no longer her brother, but a thing that saw nothing more than a world full of anger and pain; a world that needed destruction.

One final thump, one final scratch of chains on the ground, and hornet found her back on one of the most well-trained Knights in Hollownest. She jumped a little when she heard the sound of metal scrape into the ground, and she heard the cracking of the floor of the temple behind her. She drew her needle, readied herself, then whipped around. What stood before her was a beaten-up version of the Hollow Knight. Their cape had been torn to pieces, and cracks covered a good majority of their shell. The top of one of their horns was broken altogether, showing off the void that laid behind the mask. The cracks of their shell oozed with liquid void. Streaks of black went down their face and the rest floated into tiny orbs in the air. The Knight hunkered down on their massive nail like a cane. If there was any strength in them, they were likely using it to try and prop themselves up. The scene was… shocking. The damage could've been done from several things. The Radiance could've tried squirming its way through the shell of the knight and torn the mask in the process. The knight might have cracked it while struggling their way through the chains keeping them captive. They could've done it themselves out of madness. It could have been a combination of 2 or all 3 of those things together! Whatever the case was, Hornet almost got lost in the beat-up look of her sibling that she didn't even realize that they hadn't advanced yet.

The Knight quavered for a moment. Their shoulder shook, and they removed some of their digits off the hilt of their nail. Their hand followed suit, removing itself from the nail to form an open palm towards hornet. Open, accepting, ready to greet a family member. Hornet knew that hand all too well, but still found herself stuck to the floor. The Knight bent their elbow, void seeped from the gashes that marked alongside it, and they began to extend their arm out. The process was painful to watch, and surely much more painful to bear, but hornet couldn't find herself able to move from her ready stance. All of it was so much to take it, no long-winded movement could get hornet to react. She needed something sudden. A nail swing, a charge, a void tendril, anything that wasn't a hand asking for help. She got her answer when the Knight fell under its nail and collapsed onto the ground.

"Veil!" Hornet had somehow never forgotten the nickname she had dubbed the Knight with. It might have seemed childish, she was only a small bug when she made it after all, but it was the only moniker that the Knight might recognize, so she would just have to settle with it for now. She rushed over to the Knight to see if they had sustained any more damage from the fall. Albeit still in horrible conditions, it seemed that nothing more was sustained from the fall. Her mind became full of Hivelings as she scrambled for some way to patch them up. They couldn't focus, they were passed out after all, and even if they could while unconscious, they'd likely used up all the soul to focus when they contained the Radiance. They were far too large to transport; any type of dragging would only cause them more damage and the nearest hot spring would likely take 20 or so minutes to travel to. She didn't have that type of time. Lifeblood!

Hornet jumped up and dashed towards the door. There was a lifeblood sac located not too far from here. She could feed it to them to give them a bit of strength, then help escort them to the hot spring so that they could fully recuperate. Her feet dug into the ground of the forgotten crossroad. She slung a web forward and launched herself into the uninfected pathway towards the direction of the lifeblood sac. Everything was going to be okay.

A/N: Hey folks. I'm not certain whether this will send out to the people that are following the story, but I revised the first chapter a bit more since I noticed the retention rate was really low from the first chapter to the next. I polished the grammar up a bit, added a few more parts to make it a bit more cohesive, and made a few adjustments to the wording as well. I'd recommend giving it a reread, I'm feeling especially proud of it now! Alright, take care, and thank you for all the reception.