datadiving | hollow knight/rain world crossover content

hollow knight/rain world crossover content

[ five pebbles condescending to slugcatbugs about karma five hours unskippable]

His former citizens had been right about one thing; to get a taste of something was to want more of it. Unlike them, however, he's not as certain any more that it is a bad thing to be so attached.

His overseers have no trouble doing his bidding, going further afield than he's ever asked them to. They are simple creatures, but they seem to be delighted to extend themselves; he can feel something like primitive joy from being put to work.

Born to service, much like him. The irony does not escape him there.

His overseers report something of an infestation, much like there had been in the Memory Crypts; large, beaked creatures that stampede and scramble in flocks, with hypersensitivity to light. There is much cover to be had among the ruined debris and overhangs before the border to Eight Spools' Bound's territory, but he supposes he should warn Hornet anyway; he did point her in this direction, after all.

A yellow Overseer squeezes out of a crack in a wall near Hornet, flashing urgently to try and catch her attention.

Hornet's journey to Five Pebbles had been methodical, but focused. She wasn't rushing around carelessly, but she wasn't lingering in any one spot without good cause.

The journey away is a little different. She has a better understanding of this 'kingdom' and a clear goal in mind. So as she descends back down Five Pebbles, she indulges her curiosity a little. She studies the scavengers and the colorful roach-like creatures go about their lives. Stops to investigate the unfamiliar formations and graffiti that dot the side of the superstructure. Takes notes on the cycle of the rains. Starts a collection of the pearls she comes across, most of them white, but some of them shades ranging from red to green to violet. Discovers that the scavengers are deeply invested in acquiring pearls of their own, and whenever she offers them one the horned creatures eagerly pay her with a supply of sharpened metal sticks and... bombs?

She keeps the bombs.

Still, she doesn't dawdle. She still moves with purpose, and each new piece of information she gains makes her travels go that much smoother. Which is why she makes sure to pay attention whenever the Overseers pop up out of seemingly nowhere. The strange little creatures keep her on track, even when her curiosity guides her somewhat far afield. Normally, she spots them just fine on her own. The fact that this one feels the need to demand her attention with bright flashes... Hornet turns from the mural she's studying, giving her full attention to the little creature.

"I see you, little guide. I take it something is wrong?"

The scavenging creatures may be a primitive sort, a far cry from those bugs who built him, but there is no denying they have intelligence. That they use such ingenuity mostly to make explosives is...well. He supposes he could object to it, caught up in their endless struggles for survival as they are and unable to slip free of the Wheel, but he can't really fault it given the sheer amount of creatively modified beasts that have run rampant as all systems succumbed to age and wear.

The Overseer pings him once it's caught her attention. They are not capable of transmitting speech, only images and text, so he sends a few photographs over its feed.

It displays several pictures of large, wingless beasts with bright eyes and vicious beaks, stampeding in a blur over the wreck of some collapsed building or other. Several of the pictures are like this.

Two are of a single beast in the process of shaking around a centipede, then swallowing it whole.

Three are of various creatures, one of which looks similar to the thing that had shared Hornet's shelter upon her arrival here, in the process of throwing glowing blue plants at the beasts that appear to explode into bright light (enough to artifact the overseer's photos somewhat).

One is of an insensate beast, now running around blindly, its eyes shifting colours. The blue plant lies on the ground, now spent.

Is that enough? He considers this, and how best to ask. The overseer flashes a few question marks, rapidly rolling through symbols for 'danger' and 'information'.

Hornet will never complain about the Overseer's inability to transmit speech. She's encountered machines that can project sound and images, but the sound is often muffled and tinny, and the images are monochrome runes, or sometimes light projected through translucent parchment. In comparison, there's a stunning fidelity to the images the Overseers produce, even without considering that they seem to travel from Five Pebbles near instantaneously. Were she younger, and without an urgent task in front of her, she's certain she would lose hours to studying the little creatures.

Yet another item for her steadily growing list of things to see to later. Right now she needs to stay focused on the information being shared with her. The gangly, beaked creatures look formidable just from the images, their long beaks reminding Hornet of Greenpath's squits despite the lack of wings. That impression of danger is only sharpened when Hornet gets an idea of their scale; she's fended off several of those centipedes herself. Even without an accompanying explanation, it's clear to her what the source of the Overseer's alarm is.

She's also deeply intrigued to see another one of those sleek creatures that she had sheltered with during her first cycle of rain. She had thought them simple beasts, no more intelligent or aggressive than the likes of the fertids of the Far Fields or the tiktiks of Hallownest. But for one of them to not just use its environment as a tool, but to do so to great effect while evading a predator? What a clever little bug! She'll have to investigate them more closely, and with more care, the next time she sees one.

While Hornet still can't properly read this land's script, she's come to recognizes these two symbols well enough. She offers a nod in response.

"I believe I understand. These large bugs are fast, vicious predators, though they have a critical vulnerability to bright lights. There are some of them nearby? Perhaps standing between myself and my destination?"

If she's lucky some of those blue plants are nearby as well... But just in case, she turns her attention to her pouch. She has several tools that emit light, and several among those that do so in bright flashes. Even if none of them will have the same impact, they might buy her precious seconds to act.

The Overseer transmits the words back to him, and Five Pebbles, unseen, can only approve. She is a quick learner indeed, though he supposes that must be the weight of experience; he cannot really tell how old she is, or how long she has been traveling.

A question to ask for another time...a question? Another time? He supposes he is more lonely than he thought, looking forward to conversations now instead of his endless calculation. It is, at least, something new, and he has been sorely lacking in that...

He puts his own ruminations on the inner workings of his mind aside (he's done quite enough thinking on his own inner workings lately) and turns to the current question at hand, sending another sequence of images.

Several images of the ruin-strewn landscape Hornet is about to cross, and then several images of those same landscapes with groups of the beaked bugs stampeding across it, chasing prey or spreading out to hunt. From the high vantage points of the Overseer, it's easy to see that they prefer to seek darker places in which to dig out their prey - which presents some issues, given that usually sealed shelters able to protect one from rain are more likely to be found there.

Five Pebbles shuffles through the images and sends a few more through: a few photos of winged bugs Hornet has likely seen before, masked and plumed and flapping blurrily through the sky, and then a few more of what seem to be larger cousins to those winged bugs, now equipped with a second pair of wings, a thicker neck, and spurs (or spikes?) poking out from a round body.

Another few images: that four-winged bug carrying away one of the beaked beasts, limp and impaled on its spurs, and then it and its smaller cousins being deterred from eating their prey or carrying it away by being stabbed with sharp pieces of metal or being caught in explosions.

Another flashing symbol for danger, caution, and then it stops. Rather than just zip away as many of the Overseers usually do, it waits; presumably, for any further questions Hornet might have.

The connection between shelter from the sun and shelter from the rain isn't lost on Hornet. She's already of a mind to hunt one of these things even if they no longer block her way—wouldn't Nuu be delighted, receiving notes on a bug from beyond Pharloom's borders?—but it's useful to know that killing them might be necessary no matter what.

Hornet pays just as much attention to the second set of images, particularly because now she's seeing creatures she recognizes. She's had a few encounters with the smaller of the masked, flying bugs. It doesn't shock her to see that their larger cousins are adept hunters on their own, nor that Five Pebbles seems to be implying that they aren't easily deterred from their hunts.

Though, she can't immediately piece together why she's also being shown these specimens. Are they also nearby? Or do the beaked bugs draw them in like a baited trap? Or should she simply be aware that she may be dealing with competition during her hunt, competition that can't be deterred by something as simple as a bright flash?

She's one the verge of asking when an unfamiliar sound reaches her ears. She turns her gaze in its direction, head tilted just so. The sound is muffled by distance, but there's a distinct sharpness to it. Snipping is the word that comes to mind; it reminds her of some of the silk reapers that inhabited Greymoor, the ones with the scissors. And since she recognizes the landscape that Five Pebbles showed her a moment ago as being quite nearby, it's not hard for her to guess what's happening.

"It seems I'll be putting your information to use even sooner than anticipated."

It's too bad she can't ask for clarification, but she's not troubled by it. She's gone into more dire situations with less knowledge at hand. She finishes rearranging her tools, leaving the volt vessels and claw mirrors within easy reach. Then she picks up her needle and stands, turning to regard the Overseer once more.

"Keep your scouts at a considerable distance. Some of my tools may prove hazardous to them."

She's not going to be reckless with them, but the the volt vessels in particular are both indiscriminate and far reaching. She doesn't want to see what would happen to an Overseer caught in the crossfire.

The Overseer sways from side to side for a moment, its tendrils reaching out like little fronds before it blinks and squeezes away into a crack at her warning.

Five Pebbles notes the increased activity of this particular one, and reviews its behaviour; among the Overseers that he's vaguely ordered to follow Hornet in her further journeys, it seems to have taken the position of the one to bear his messages to her in particular, preferring to have the task above all the others...

It's not unheard of for Overseers to develop a certain preference for observing one type of creature over another; perhaps that is what's happened here. He makes another note of it, then puts the information aside for later.

Snipping is an apt word; a flock of beaked creatures crests over a nearby ridge, tripping and stomping and tumbling over each other in an ungainly forward motion that never quite seems to knock them off their feet. Their bright eyes are sharp despite their uncoordinated movements, however, and as they regain solid ground they begin to spread out, their scrambling efficiently covering the distance between them and potential hiding spots.

The jumble of collapsed buildings and decaying structures on what seems to have been some kind of flattened floodplain provides some cover, though - as Hornet might observe - sometimes it's not quite deep enough to serve as a hiding spot. One beast shoves its head into a tunnel and pulls back with a wriggling centipede; one snap crushes the creature in its jaws, almost cutting it in half.

The Overseer that Pebbles had noted as having an attachment pops up in a tangle of debris not far from Hornet, waving bright yellow tendrils. It blinks urgently, its body swaying as it looks between the incoming flock of hunters and her, standing not far from it.

The bugs' gangling movements go beyond uncoordinated in Hornet's mind. Inefficient feels like the more accurate description; an odd trait for predators on a hunt to exhibit. But rather than ease her nerves, the observation pets her more on edge. That inefficiency must not interfere with their effectiveness if such a trait to hasn't been bred out of their bloodlines by now.

She'll keep it in mind. Dealing with pack hunters is tricky even when their movements are predictable. She can go from managing the situation to being swarmed in an instant. She focuses on the one at the edge of the group, separated from its peers by both slight distance and the slumped ruins of some long collapsed building. It's currently preoccupied shoving its head into a deep crevice, probably in search of more centipedes. A good place to start.

She takes a step forward, then catches sight of the Overseer still lingering nearby. She stares at it for a moment, almost incredulous. She doubts Five Pebbles would order it to stay after her warning; if not out of care for the creatures, then at least because repairing or replacing damaged resources seems to be beyond his abilities. Is it lingering of its own volition...? That's not something she has time to sort out right now.

"Keep your distance, little one. I won't be able to mind your safety for you."

With that, she takes off. She winds as efficient a path as she can manage, running over whatever flat terrain she can, leaping nimbly over the debris blocking her way, and weaving in and out of cover as she draws closer to her target. Occasional glances at the rest of its pack show her that they're largely interested in their own hunts, though it seems that one of them has found something interesting enough to draw the attention of several of its kin. Something else for her to keep in mind.

She's almost upon her prey when it finally reels back from the crevice, clacking its empty beak in what Hornet reads as frustration. In an instant it's fixed its gaze on Hornet, and only a moment later it lunges-slash-stumbles forward. Hornet hurls her needle, silk thread trailing from the handle, at the massive bug. When the needle crunches into its shell where its neck meets its body she yanks on the trailing silk, hurling herself forward in turn. She could try to fight it from a distance, but now that it's seen her she suspects it's better to get inside its range, where it might struggle to twist around and bite her.

Though he's issued several warnings for it to retreat, the Overseer merely squishes itself into a crack, recording Hornet's feats of violence. Five Pebbles is not above admitting he's impressed with her prowess; this directed, refined sense for battle speaks to more experience than the frantic scuttling of most of the creatures that surround his shell.

(He supposes he can't fault this particular Overseer for being interested; she's likely the newest thing they've seen in some time.)

The beaked bug does not expect such vicious resistance; sharp pain confuses it enough that it stumbles sideways at the sudden impact of Hornet's weapon. As she's assumed, it does try to bite her - but since she's far smaller and at an awkward angle, the sharp and frustrated snap-snap-snap of its beak closes on nothing but empty air. As it thrashes and screeches, it distracts some of the others, including the group gathered around a half-buried tangle of metal pipes.

As soon as their attention is drawn, something white and sleek pops free, darting across the exposed ground and running for its life. It looks rather like the small creature Hornet had seen when she first arrived here, in fact.

Hornet had been thinking to try to quickly dispatch this bug before moving on to its kin. Once again, she's forced to adjust her plans on the fly. Having the whole pack closing in on her location is hardly ideal, but perhaps she can wrangle an advantageous position out of the situation.

(She does, in fact, see that familiar little bug spring free of its hiding spot, and immediately resolves to ask after it once this situation has been handled.)

Hornet inches her way further up her flailing prey's neck; its violent thrashing makes her next step even more complicated, but now it's even more difficult for it to twist around and bite her. She fishes one of the volt vessels from her tool pouch, the spear immediately crackling to life in her hands. She keeps an eye on the approaching bugs, swiveling her head as needed to track their approach. She lets them draw closer than is perhaps wise, but right up until the very last moment there's no sign of urgency in her movements are body language. And at that very last moment?

She hurls the volt vessels at the ground. The tip drives into the ground and electricity crackles between the orbs adorning the stake. A moment later there's a brilliant flash and then a column of violet lightning crashes down atop the vessels. The light is so dazzling even Hornet turns her head to avoid looking directly at it. If these beasts are as sensitive to light as Five Pebbles made them seem, the lightning strike should be more than enough to disorient them.

The flash is blinding, and even the perhaps-too-curious Overseer has to blink to avoid a temporary corrosion of visual data. Five Pebbles reviews what little he can see of this new tool - stored lightning of some kind perhaps, or maybe taking advantage of some creature's natural capacity for electricity generation.

Interesting. He shuffles the thought and its branching thoughts into its own category. It's been so long since he's needed or had particularly new thoughts, so they're worth examining on their own.

A great cacophony of screeching and clacking and thumping ensues as soon as the volt vessel explodes, the entire flock of beasts reduced from competent, stalking predators to being frozen in place by their own reflexes. Their large eyes flash rapidly as they roll back, the sound of snipping beaks and raucous calls suddenly silenced, and the one Hornet is currently dealing with goes limp.

There is the sound of rapid tapping, metal on metal; the little bug from before hasn't fled entirely, it seems. It beckons to her from the relatively safety of an overhang too small for the scissor-beaked bugs to wedge into, apparently feeling the need to repay her help in rescuing it before.

The bugs freeze and vicious satisfaction surges through Hornet. She braces herself as her current mount falls; once it's prone and still, she drives her needle into its skull (is this a species with skulls? She supposes she's about to find out).

The tapping of metal on metal has her whirling around, ready for another opponent, but it's only that little bug from before, beckoning her to safety. She hesitates for a bare moment. Part of her—the Weaver part, the part that spent her earliest years in Deepnest—wants to press on with the hunt. Her prey is stunned and vulnerable. Even setting aside the satisfaction of a successful hunt, killing them now will make the rest of her journey much easier.

But she doesn't need to kill them, does she? And there are advantages to leaving them alive. By stepping back and observing she could gain all manner of information: how long they'll remain stunned, if they'll attempt to resume their hunt or flee once they've recovered, if they show any fear of the spent volt vessel once they've regained their senses. And then there's the larger flying bugs to consider...

Ultimately, it only takes a moment for a cooler line of thinking of prevail. She yanks her needle out of the beaked bug and turns, casting her gaze towards where she last saw the Overseer.

"Little scout, we can find safety this way."

Then she turns and leaps from her slain prey, dashing towards the overhang. She slows as she draws near, ever wary of traps or tricks. She's already observed that the little creature is clever, and while it might look soft it wouldn't be the first soft-but-vicious thing she's met in her travels. But when no attack comes she slips into its hiding place alongside it, pressing herself deep into the shadows of the overhang.

"My thanks, small one. I'm glad to see you escaped with your shell intact."

Can this thing even understand her? She has no idea, but it's better to not be rude to the little creature.

It tilts its head, gazing up at her with gleaming dark eyes. No mask, this one, and a softer, spotted body - more like a grub or some kind of larva. Perhaps it's young, or its kind has no shells - its body glistens faintly with some kind of mucus, small frills on its limbs, sides and tail presumably aiding in squeezing through tunnels and cracks.

It doesn't seem to comprehend her words, but there's a sense of watchfulness to it all the same. It does wave its claws around a little, as if responding to the sound of her voice. It peers around her as the clacking starts up again, shivering somewhat, but by the frustrated snipping and squawking the creatures are making, stunning them had disoriented them entirely, causing them to lose track of their prey.

So they can communicate, Pebbles muses as the Overseer pops up again in their temporary shelter. It's not a changed one, like the other of its kind I was sent, so they must have some true capability for thought.

Speaking of shelter...he brings up his records of Eight Spools' precipitation patterns. If her systems follow their pattern - and there is no reason that they should not - another downpour will be arriving quite soon. The handful of other Overseers exploring the area report their findings at his command - he dismisses most of it as useless, but an older shelter and outpost, not yet eroded by time, is not far from Hornet's current position.

Her only barrier is a crumbling, precarious bridge across what was once a large, deep canal - more of a ravine now as the constant cycle of rain eroded its edges - but she seems capable enough. He sends an instruction to that overly curious Overseer, and it begins flashing the symbol for shelter and an arrow to point her in the right direction.

Hornet, too, turns to observe the beaked bugs as they stir, taking careful note of their behavior and movements. But it seems the need for such caution has passed. She watches as they disperse with their stumbling, uncoordinated steps, noting that they make no effort to retrieve their fallen kin's corpse. Simple beasts, then. Now she can focus on the sleek little bug in front of her.

Young is the first assumption that comes to Hornet's mind, though she hasn't committed to it just yet. It definitely looks different from the one she saw her first night here. That one had seemed to have fur, though she hadn't gotten close enough to confirm it, and she doesn't recall seeing any frills on it. Young is still a possibility, of course, but perhaps it's just a slightly different species—or even simply of a different bloodline. Or perhaps it's actually older. She has no way of being sure unless it can speak.

And it doesn't seem that it can. It clearly recognizes that she's communicating with it, but it's too soon to say if it actually understands her. It makes her think if the developing minds of young fleas, though this little creature is certainly a bit less... exuberant? Reckless? Than the many juvenile fleas she saw back to Mooshka's caravan. It may be clever, yes, but cleverness and intelligence are two different things. She'll have to observe a while longer to see how much of the latter is possesses.

But it seems such an opportunity may come sooner than later. The symbol for shelter is perfectly familiar to Hornet by now. Even seeing it out of the corner of her eye is enough to pull her attention to the Overseer. She turns her gaze to the sky, noting that it does seem as though the clouds are starting to grow heavy with impending rain. A shame; she hates to leave the slain bug's corpse to rot, especially knowing that she might be able to extract valuable resources from it with a bit of effort, but she hates the idea of drowning more.

"I'll be seeking shelter from the rain," she explains, turning to regard the little frilled bug once more. "You may join me, if you wish, but we must move swiftly."

And true to her word, Hornet steps away from the overhang and out into the open once more. She's observed that most bugs native to this region make themselves scarce as the rain approaches, but she keeps a wary eye out all the same. Those roach-like creatures are never far, and they're surprisingly stealthy despite their vividly colored heads.

Thankfully, even the hardier roach-like creatures seem to have fled at the approach of rain - or perhaps they were fleeing the other snapping beasts; their jaw strength certainly seems enough to do some serious damage to even their tough shell.

As Hornet follows the Overseer's direction, so too does this other creature follow Hornet; there's the soft clack of rock against rock as it picks up a stone for, apparently, safety's sake. It scrambles to keep up with her, but keep up it does, even over the falling-apart bridge.

Unlike many of the sealed shelters that still exist in this crumbling place, this one is far larger; a proper building, rather than a cramped chamber, with a wide, tall set of sealing doors. Seemingly, it owes its preservation to being in the shadow of larger structures, and thus being somewhat shielded from the slow erosion of harsh weather.

There are murals on the stone walls, painstakingly illustrated by some long-gone artisan; their colours have an almost eerie cast in the pale light of the blue and white plants that have sprouted and grown in the inside of this shelter. The scattered, shattered remnants of what might have been furnishings and left-behind belongings are proof enough that anything of the original inhabitants was either destroyed or picked over long ago, but the moss and grass creeping over parts of the shelter promise a vaguely comfortable rest, at least.

Hornet monitors the little bug for the first leg of their trip, making sure that it can actually keep pace with her. But it proves itself to be as determined as it is resilient. It makes her pace admirably despite its shorter legs and somewhat ungainly movements.

Descending into the shelter and finding it a proper shelter, rather than just a watertight box in the ground, is a welcome relief. She'd been concerned that it might be a tight fit between herself and her new companion, but they'll both have room to rest. Hornet herself will even have room to work! She can actually do something productive during the downpour, rather than having to wait until it passes just to waste precious moments that could be spent traveling.

While these thoughts are all in the back of her mind it is, unsurprisingly, the murals that truly capture her attention. She'd seen ones very much like these just before she'd met Five Pebbles. They were one of many subjects she'd declined to ask about in favor of matters she'd considered more important, but now she wishes she had. For them to be at the top of Five Pebbles's superstructure was one thing. For such carefully rendered copies to also be here speaks to something that may have once held much cultural significance.

"Little scout, are you still there?"

The Overseers always seem to disappear when the rains draw near, but just as equally never seem to be far.

"I'd like to ask Five Pebbles a question, if your messages can still reach him in the rain."

The smaller bug flops onto a patch of moss and rolls over, seemingly just happy to be out of the inevitable downpour and reveling in the space.

Overseers generally do not enter shelters; they do monitor what comes out, but it's rare for them to follow something in. This one, however, has; when Hornet calls for it, it wriggles out of a duct in the wall.

It blinks several times, then projects a image of Five Pebbles in his chamber briefly. It seems like it's not reacting negatively, so it should be fine to ask a question.

Well, at least her new companion is happy. The moss does look rather nice, but Hornet refrains from throwing herself down alongside the little bug. Instead, when she sees that Overseer is both still present and seems amendable to passing on her questions, she steps around the shattered remains of what may have once been a table and closer to the painted wall.

"I saw murals similar to these—nearly identical, in fact—in the chambers near the top of your structure. I'm wondered if they were simply art, or if they held some greater significance to the people of this land."

She and Five Pebbles can't speak directly, but Hornet has grown familiar with the Overseer and its method of communication. There's still plenty that's lost in translation, but she's confident she can get something out of this conversation. In fact, now that she has the murals in front of her again, she realizes that the symbol the Overseer uses to signal nearby predators looks like a combination of two of the symbols in the murals. Maybe she can start to learn the local language in earnest.

Ah, she's asking about the murals now, the first five stages of karma. He knows them well - even if they weren't engraved into his very shell, the components that channel power through the complex network of life that forms his systems, their rejection was upheld to lesser or greater degrees by his citizens.

He sends a sequence of images in response to her question; the first mural with one bug killing another, then two of the colourful roaches fighting. The symbol the Overseer uses for danger is flashed at her several times.

The second mural, then two large centipedes locked in what seems to be some kind of mating embrace.

The third mural, then two scavengers leaning against each other companionably, clearly walking somewhere.

The fourth mural, then a winged creature feasting on the body of a hard-headed roach. The Overseer flashes a symbol it's used before, to indicate something that's edible; then the symbol it uses for danger.

The fifth mural, then a sequence of images; scavengers searching for something, a red and scarred bug much like the one Hornet is sheltering with reaching for a blue 'fruit', various pictures of the native fauna in the business of living their lives.

He taps his claw against his cheek thoughtfully - how to associate this with the terms they'd talked of before, without proper speech? - and then begins to draw up a diagram of his own. Nothing more is sent for a few moments, and then finally, the Overseer displays a circle with the five symbols on the mural and five more, evenly spaced around it in some kind of order. The last and final symbol at the top, highlighted in gold, is a circle with a cross through it; the others are duller.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

hollow knight/rain world crossover content

en route to eight spools

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject