cotillion-the-rope

[cotillion-the-rope]

Shade Lord Ghost Drabbles: Suspected

Summary: How would the poison get administered, by like a "gift" of food or something?

[A/N] This is a sequel to chapter/drabble 41.

~

The feast had failed but that was fine, Mari could try again. He waited a few days, pretending to be merely a follower of the Shade Lord’s, just in case he’d accidentally attracted suspicion from it or any of its true followers. Probably he hadn’t but it never hurt to be careful. Once he was sure he had everyone fooled though he set his next plan into action.

Cooking was the hardest part of it. He wasn’t usually hired for these kinds of jobs. Not that he’d never assassinated a god before but it was always minor gods, ones that it was fairly easy to get close enough to that sticking them with a tiny poison needle was feasible. Here, getting that close didn’t seem particularly wise if one didn’t intend it to be a suicide mission.

It took him three tries before he had a cauldron of stew that looked and smelled edible, maybe even a little good. Inserting the poison changed the colour a bit but not in away that made it look bad. Getting it into what seemed to be the Shade Lord’s main temple was easier said than done but with a little bit work and some help from a couple larger bugs, Mari managed.

The head of the temple was a large bug of a sort Mari had never seen before. Under different circumstance he might’ve been tempted to flirt with her as the gold of her carapace was alluring even in the darkened temple.

“Greetings, m’lady,” he said as he approached her, bowing slightly upon reaching her. “I bring a gift of stew for the Shade Lord for it blessed us with a feast several days ago. Its generosity moved and inspired me into making something for them. In a golden pot as befits the Shade Lord’s glorious station.” And to increase the chances that it would be interested.

The priestess, Seeker as many of the others had referred to her as when talking about her, looked unmoved. “The Shade Lord does not accept gifts and does not require food.”

“What kind of god doesn’t accept gifts?” Perhaps Mari shouldn’t have said that thought out loud but it was just utterly preposterous. Gods were known for being vain, the more powerful, the more vain, they liked being given things, especially shiny things.

“The Shade Lord.”

“Why?”

“It is not our place to question. Thou art encouraged to share thine gift with the temple folk. Food is always appreciated.”

Mari could argue, insist it go to the Shade Lord anyway but… it was clearly onto the idea that someone was trying to poison it. Why else would it instruct its head followers to deny gifts? How it had figured out was a mystery but gods were gods for a reason. All Mari could do was hope that he wasn’t suspected.

“Very well. I shall do that.” More like arrange for the stew to accidentally get spilled all over the ground and then as soon as he could, discretely flee Hallownest. Since the Shade Lord clearly knew someone was trying to poison it, there was no way it was happening. And if Mari continued to try, if he wasn’t already known as the would be culprit, he would be soon. He was done pushing his luck.

#my writing #hollow knight #shade lord ghost #shade lord ghost drabbles #hollow knight oc

[cotillion-the-rope]

Shade Lord Ghost Drabbles: Fascinating

Summary: I've been wondering what the opinions of other higher beings are towards Ghost; those who either come to visit the Shade Lord, or those wandering gods who come across the town? I'd largely imagine it would have to do with what kind of higher being is, with a higher being of light reacting differently to one of, say, darkness (if any). I also wonder if there are any higher beings, who have seen previous incarnations of the void sea (if there have been any)?

[A/N] Char is a trapdoor spider. And gosh, the list of OC's I have for this fic continues to grow. They're fun to come up with though.

~

Perhaps if bugs ever did finally internalize that if one valued living, the Void Sea was best not messed with, it would remain peaceful for eternity. Or perhaps, if left quiet too long, it would roil itself up into who knows how violent a state. Speculation on that was forever doomed to fruitlessness though as few ever left it alone once discovering it. The temptation of its potential, seemingly quietly waiting there to be taken was too much for many mortals and gods alike.

Combined, the Pale King and Radiance had done more than just roil it a little but had instead seemingly pushed it to its limit. Not the first void entity to Ascend to godhood but by far the strongest, the Shade Lord was a metaphorical tsunami in its power. Its connection to the Void Sea surpassed any prior void deity’s. One could argue the two were barely separate entities; the Shade Lord was the Void Sea given sentience.

Next to it, Char’s darkness looked like mere shadows. It could swallow her with barely a thought’s worth of effort. A good reason to leave now that she’d come and seen. But she’d traveled so far, from almost a full continent away to see it in person. It’d be a shame to leave as soon as she got here, right? She was no coward.

Plus, as a god of darkness she’d always been fascinated by the Void Sea. Not in the way the idiots who liked to try use it were, she’d been around far too long to be so stupid – though really, age had nothing to do with it, just that her arrogance hadn’t outgrown her wisdom… yet. No, she just liked to sit by it and watch it lap at the underground shores. Such shores were the most peaceful places in existence. But now it was alive, a being she could go talk to. Perhaps even form a friendship or at least alliance with if she were lucky.

It was supposedly benevolent. If the tales were to be believed, its rise to godhood was at least in part fueled by said benevolence. Certainly not all of it; its rise had been far too violent to not mostly come from the usual hate and anger. No one Ascended because they were a good person, that’s not how power worked.

And so, Char would go talk to it eventually. She’d watch from her newly dug burrow for a while before taking that risk, giving her time to change her mind. She would be watching with intense interest either way though, the Shade Lord was far too fascinating not to.

#my writing #hollow knight #shade lord ghost #shade lord ghost drabbles #hollow knight oc

[cotillion-the-rope]

Shad Lord Ghost 'Drabbles' Primal Aspid

'Summary': Ghost still is frightened of those godforsaken primal aspids, despite their newfound power. Everyone is even more confused + Can you do one where ghost goes absolutely feral over something? Whether it be murder feral or Loving feral. + Could we get ghost vs the now uninfected primal aspids?

[A/N] 3 requests in one, Let's Go! My first thought was to have Ghost killing a bunch of primal apsids but then I had an even funnier thought: what if it was just one single solitary primal aspid that was just minding its own business (its not Infected anymore so its less hostile) that Ghost got super pissed at the instant they spotted it? So that's what I went with.

#my art #hollow knight #shade lord ghost #shade lord ghost drabbles #primal aspid

[cotillion-the-rope]

Shade Lord Ghost 'Drabbles'

Summary: I'd like to request a drabble where Hollow visits Lurien and they both just sit down and reminisce about the past especially regarding PK. I imagine out of all these characters, Lurien and Hollow would have a hard time adapting to change and adjusting to slowly accept a new God ruling over Hallownest and mourn the loss of their old one whom they were so very loyal for so long.

#my art #hollow knight #shade lord ghost #shade lord ghost drabbles #the hollow knight #lurien

[cotillion-the-rope]

Winter is Awfully Harsh

Summary: Buddy, Elderbug, Hollow and Survivor hole up to keep warm through a snow storm.

Part of my Shade Lord Ghost series.

~

The snow fell hard and thick enough to obscure the sight of Ghost’s massive form up on Crystal Peak. It had started not long ago and yet Survivor was already struggling to walk through it. But for the first time in their life, they could call for help if they needed it. A quick mental ping to Ghost and they’d pop down to pull Survivor out of the snow and bring them wherever they pleased; having a god as a sibling had its perks. Such wasn’t needed for now though and they were used to getting by on their so they continued trudging onward.

Wind pushed against them, blowing snow into their eye holes. The void within absorbed it, making the usual cold of their being drop to freezing. Uncomfortable but with all their soft parts replaced with void, not dangerous to their health. So even if they did end up buried in snow, they’d be miserable but fine. Not that they’d stand for that for very long if they didn’t have to.

Luckily, before the threat of getting buried alive in snow could manifest as an actual possibility, Survivor reached their destination: Elderbug’s home. Buddy had invited them to wait out the storm here with them, Elderbug, and Hollow. Survivor had declined at the time, thinking the coming snowstorm wouldn’t be too bad. Turns out winters here were colder than they were used to. Hopefully the invitation still held.

With their arms full of kindling to add to the fire to aid in the keeping warm through the storm, they knocked the side of one of their horns into the door instead. Which probably made a louder knock that they could’ve easily achieved with their hands anyway.

A few seconds passed before the door opened. Just a crack at first, allowing Buddy to peek through at them. Upon spotting Survivor, they stepped back, opening the door further as they gestured for them to enter.

“Oh, hello,” Elderbug said as he looked up from where he sat huddled by his fire in the center of the main room. “The winter is awfully harsh, huh? It almost makes me miss the stasis.”

As Buddy closed the door, Survivor went over to the corner where the kindling was stacked to put their tied up bundle on top. Hollow sat next to the pile and looked at them but otherwise didn’t move. They were an odd one, not that Survivor could blame them after hearing their tale.

Survivor nodded to them in greeting before turning to join Elderbug and Buddy sitting near the fire. Just because the cold couldn’t harm them didn’t mean the warmth of the fire wasn’t immensely nice. The company was nice too though, making waiting for the storm pass more bearable.

It would still be cold in the morning but less horrendously so. And with the snow settled, they could build stuff with it if they wanted. Buddy liked art so they would probably be into that idea and likely was already aware of the possibility. That would be for tomorrow though, waiting out the storm with friends in a warm place came first.

#my writing #hollow kinght #broken vessel #elderbug #the hollow knight #vessel OC

[cotillion-the-rope]

The texture change is because I cut myself pretty bad with the exacto knife I was using and then changed tools because of it. I wish I had just started with the dremel. It has its own drawbacks, namely noise and dust (which was a large part of the reason I didn't start with it, the other reason being I like the texture hand etching brought, it's not better than the smoothness of the dremel but I think it's got a neat vibe to it) but it's so much faster and I'm much less likely to hurt myself with it. Lesson learned.

#my art #hollow knight #lost kin #broken vessel #jack o lantern #halloween #halloween 2023

[cotillion-the-rope]

Happy 16th day of Halloween!

Also, new icon because it's past time I get a new one.

#my art #hollow knight #grimmchild #grimm troupe #halloween #halloween 2023

[cotillion-the-rope]

#my art #hollow knight #nightmare king grimm #nkg #grimm troupe #halloween #halloween 2023

[cotillion-the-rope]

Shade Lord Ghost Drabbles: Make People Listen

Summary: ghost smacks some sense into a group of bugs who blame Hollow for the infection

~

Buddy, somewhere up in Dirtmouth or very near it, poked at Ghost’s mind. Ghost turned their attention onto them. What news did they have to share?

Some bugs thought that Hollow was at least in part to blame for the Infection. Buddy had tried to correct that misinformation but as the folk talking about it weren’t among Ghost’s followers they hadn’t been willing to listen. So Buddy figured Ghost should know since they could make people listen. Hollow had been through enough already without adding on such rumors.

Ghost’s anger at that was even stronger than Buddy’s. It was a struggle to keep it contained within their own mind but they were getting better at such things. Where were these fools?

With Buddy. They were following them, unnoticed. It was a group of three wannabe scholars. They didn’t have all the facts of the Infection and so speculated on how all the facts they did have were linked.

Ghost teleported to Buddy’s location. It was indeed up in Dirtmouth nearing the well leading to Hallownest proper. The three bugs Buddy was following gasped and flinched at Ghost’s sudden appearance. Before they could potentially try to run, Ghost snaked a couple tentacles around to block their escape route.

“Stop blaming Hollow. The Infection was the Radiance and only the Radiance.”

The wannabe scholars cowered. One of them, seemingly braver than the other two, nodded. “Uh… okay. Got it. Is there anything else you can share about the story of Hallownest’s past?”

“Ask Lemm,” even after finally getting more information about the history of Hallownest, it was still his favourite subject to study, “or Quirrel and Monomon.” The two of them had it all written down. There was no reason for anyone to speculate on anything when they could just go to the Archives instead.

Not waiting for a response, Ghost left.

#my writing #hollow knight #shade lord ghost #shade lord ghost drabbles #lost kin

[cotillion-the-rope]

Shade Lord Ghost 'Drabbles': Flower for the Seer

Summary: Mmm ghost remembers the seer?

The idea here is that before going off to become the Shade Lord, Ghost left a flower in the Seer's hut. I could've drawn them doing that but wanted to experiment a little by doing it like this instead.

#my art #hollow knight #shade lord ghost #shade lord ghost drabbles #the seer

[cotillion-the-rope]

Shade Lord Ghost 'Drabbles': Quiet Moment

Summary: Um…could I possibly request Hollow and Ghost having a quiet moment together, just chilling and being siblings in a quiet corner of the dark basin? Hollow could possibly be hesitant/terrified of returning, and ghost helps them out?

#my art #hollow knight #shade lord ghost #shade lord ghost drabbles #the hollow knight #shade lord

[cotillion-the-rope]

Shade Lord Ghost Drabbles: Go Away

Summary: if you're still taking suggestions, maybe something where Ghost and da bois (Grimm, Myla, Sly, Tiso, ect) are having a campfire kinda gathering and then get interrupted by Ghost's cult. Nobody dies, but they won't be bothering them for a while...

~

It had only been a matter of time before their meeting spot got found out especially once it had become somewhat of a hangout spot than just solely a place to meet for sparring practice, resulting in Ghost inviting more folk to it. It was probably Zote’s fault, he had the biggest mouth and liked to complain about how no one could match his strength and skill in combat, claiming that that was why he never participated in the sparring matches, he’d kill his opponent every time if he did. Or perhaps Sly had sold the information for a profit. Cloth’s money was on Zote though. Perhaps due to bias as she didn’t understand why Ghost seemed to like him. But who was she to question a god? Even if said god was a friend.

Regardless of who was at fault though, they’d been found out. At first only one or two of Ghost’s followers had shown up, not great but manageable. Especially since, outnumbered, they’d kept to themselves out of the way, easily ignored. More and more had shown up over time though and now Cloth and friends were the ones out numbered.

Ghost being their god and a kind one at that, they were all vying for their attention. Many of them had questions and concerns that they simply seemed to have to voice. “How does one gain the honor to being invited to such a gathering?” “Are those gathered here the Shade Lord’s chosen high priests?” “Are they the start of your glorious army?” “I volunteer to be among them!” And other such stuff, much of it lost as everyone tried to speak at once.

Ghost, ever a quiet fellow even now that they had voice, stood there, taking it. Normally they left when they weren’t in the mood to deal with their worshipers. Not this time though. What they were thinking and feeling was impossible for Cloth to even guess but if they were having trouble socially maybe she should help. Finally a little bit of return favor for all the times they’d helped her.

She took a breath as she raised club into the air, intending to let out a shout as she brought it back down to get everyone’s attention so she could tell them to fuck off. Before her club was even all the way in the air though, Ghost finally spoke.

“Hush.” Their voice wasn’t particularly loud or forceful and just as emotionless as always but everyone immediately hushed anyway. This was their god after all so of course they obeyed. “Go away.”

“But…” a faceless bug in the crowd spoke up before being interrupted.

“Go away.”

“Why?”

“I am not in the mood for you. Go away.”

The group shifted as a murmur of discontented confusion ran through them. “So you don’t like us?”

“That’s not what they said and you know it,” Hornet cut in. “You are the ones who chose to worship them. They aren’t you friend, but your god. So when they are spending time with those they chose to consider as friends, you aren’t invited. They owe you nothing. Despite that they have repeatedly indulged and assisted all of you in numerous ways simply because you are their followers and you asked them to. So kindly, do as your god has commanded and let them have some space.”

With another murmur, this time with an undercurrent of shame and embarrassment, Ghost’s followers finally turned and started filing out. It took a few minutes but eventually it was just Ghost and friends again.

“That’s why I’m not a god,” Tiso said with a chuckle. “It is far too much of a bother to deal with worshipers. I do not envy you pal.”

Ghost was silent for a few minutes. “I miss being small sometimes. Not being ignored all the time is good but too much attention is bad. Thank you, Hornet.”

“That should keep them away for a little while though,” Cloth said, putting on her best optimistic tone. “And if not and any of them try to come back, bashing a couple of them over the head with my club should do the trick instead.”

“We might want to move locations though,” Quirrel said. “Just in case.”

That was probably a good idea. Hopefully the next spot would stay a secret and whoever was responsible for letting this location slip would feel bad enough to not do it again.

#my writing #hollow knight #shade lord ghost #shade lord ghost drabbles

[cotillion-the-rope]

Shade Lord Ghost Drabbles: Solitude

Summary: [Ghost] getting protected by a sibling army

~

It was nigh on impossible to find any kind of solitude when actively traveling. The fact that Ghost was leading the group thus making it so they couldn’t lag behind or go too far ahead made it even more difficult. They didn’t complain but they did a poor job hiding their annoyance with their followers pestering them all the time whenever they communed with Buddy. And so Buddy was going to do something about it anyway.

They could act as a screen and stop anyone from going forward to talk to Ghost at the front of the column. If something important came up they could let Ghost know telepathically. By themself, they couldn’t do much though, they were too small and voiceless to have much of a stopping presence. Survivor volunteered to help but they had the same issue; they couldn’t make themself heard or seen enough to do much either.

“Hollow could help,” they suggested shortly after camp had been set that night.

Buddy hadn’t wanted to bother Hollow but they certainly had more presence than Buddy and Survivor combined. Many seemed to find them intimidating. And with help, they’d gotten better about saying ‘no’ if they didn’t want to do something. So it would probably be okay to ask them.

Finding them was easy; they liked to travel at the back of the group. Buddy quickly laid out their idea on how they could help Ghost by acting as a screen between them and their followers for at least some of the days they spent traveling. Hollow was silent for a several moments before nodding their agreement to help. Awesome.

Except, the next day wasn’t much more of a success. Despite Ghost’s encouragement that everyone learn sign language, not everyone did. Despite Hollow’s stronger presence, many still went past the three of them to pester Ghost. Eager for attention and approval from their god and too trapped in their own head to realize that Ghost didn’t always want to talk to all of them all the time. Ghost normally just left in such circumstances but they couldn’t when leading the group.

If Buddy’s idea was to work, they needed someone with a voice that could make themselves heard even by those who didn’t want to listen. One bug in particular was an obvious choice to ask.

Hornet listened in silence while Buddy signed it all out to her. “I need solitude too.” she said once they were done.

“We all do.” And all of them could get it fairly easily even when traveling in such a large group. Ghost only could after camp had been set. Which they always took advantage of but they deserved a few days of being left alone too. “It won’t be every day. Just some days.”

“Very well, I suppose I owe Ghost more than enough to help with such an endeavor. Tomorrow I’ll join you in attempting to protect them from their more zealous followers.”

“Thank you!”

#my writing #hollow knight #shade lord ghost #shade lord ghost drabbles

[cotillion-the-rope]

Shade Lord Ghost Drabbles: They Need Help?

Summary: Maybe one where we have ghost being a protective sibling and going from fierce to cuddly or the other way.

~

Ghost sent suddenly still, letting the hum of their needle harp fade out. Hornet stopped playing too as she looked up at them. Only Grimmchild kept going on his harp, a proper handheld one borrowed from someone in his Troupe.

“Something’s happening?” Hornet couldn’t sense anything herself beyond the weight of Ghost’s presence on her senses.

Ghost was silent for several seconds, presumably paying more attention to whatever had caught their attention, before replying. “Someone’s trying to hurt Hollow and Buddy.”

“They need help?” Grimmchild asked, still playing his harp.

“I don’t know.” Which would be why Ghost hadn’t moved yet. They were waiting to see if they would be needed. Apparently they were taking to heart Buddy’s insistence that they need not immediately jump to solving all their siblings’ conflicts.

“Perhaps we should…” Hornet began before cutting off as Ghost vanished in large puff of void smoke, teleporting presumably off to wherever Hollow and Buddy were being attacked. She sighed instead. It’d be real nice if she could teleport too.

“I know where they went,” Grimmchild said as he stood, his stance a bit wobbly as his legs were still fairly new to him. “I’ll take you.”

Before Hornet could protest and say she’d rather just be told so she could make her own way there, he was taking hold of her wrist and magicking both of them off. He could only jump a short distance, especially with her in tow, so it took several sickeningly disorienting hops before they finally arrived just outside the little hut at the edge of Dirtmouth Hollow had claimed as theirs.

They were just in time to watch void tendrils shoot through the backs of the last two bugs that had seemingly been trying to flee. Void overwhelmed their bodies, shaking them as it poured out of every crack in their carapaces. A quick death but not instant, if they screamed though, it was drowned in the void.

Several other corpses leaking void littered the ground around Hollow, Buddy, and Ghost. Great, Hornet had missed basically everything so there’d been no point to Grimmchild rushing her here. Still though, it was good to see Hollow and Buddy were safe. Not that that was ever in doubt with Ghost in charge of their rescue.

Ghost hovered over both of them, their tentacles making a protective ring around them. Much like they had Hornet when Ghost had saved her from that cage a while back. Presumably, Ghost was telepathically communicating with them, making sure they were all right.

Hornet would’ve liked to be included in that conversation but the one time Ghost had tried to communicate with her like that, their thoughts hadn’t made much sense, leaving her disoriented. So alas, she would have to wait for them to be done to be filled in on what exactly happened. Likely, neither Buddy nor Hollow were hurt though, else Ghost would’ve been rushing to do something about it. So that was good news.

#my writing #hollow knight #shade lord ghost #shade lord ghost drabbles #hornet #grimmchild #ghost

[cotillion-the-rope]

#my art #hollow knight #the nailsmith #pride month 2023 #gay pride

[cotillion-the-rope]

I've had this idea for a long while, ever first swimming down into the Void Sea in Rain World.

#my art #rain world #hollow knight #crossover art

[cotillion-the-rope]

Shade Lord Ghost Drabbles - Thorns

Summary: Could you have one where Ghost introduces shows the mantis lords where the the traitor lord and his followers graves/remains are? Since the mantises are a proud bunch they would likely want to make sure the traitors have been properly dealt with.

~

Navigating through the twisting corridors of the overgrown Queen’s Gardens was in some ways easier and in some ways harder with Ghost’s new form. The thorns were no longer painful to touch but being able to move over and through them in addition to being so much bigger made it harder to keep track of where the safe paths through them were. Which would’ve been fine if they were on their own but the Mantis Lords’ chosen representatives needed those paths in order to keep following.

Could Ghost just pick them up in their hands and tentacles or would that be rude? When they’d been small they’d certainly never liked being picked up. The offer had always been insulting as well so… Ghost wouldn’t here either even if it would be easier to get them to where they wanted to go.

How different everything appeared from their new vantage point also made it difficult to navigate. There were several rooms so overgrown with plants and thorns they had to loosen their form to flow through. The sensation of being able to become a mix of void liquid and fog at will was something they were still getting used it and it was harder to keep their bearings in such a state.

They were making a fool of themself, weren’t they? When the mantises reported back to their Lords’, they were probably going to mention Ghost had somehow gotten them lost despite claiming to know the way. And then Ghost would lose some of the Mantis Lords’ respect.

None of the mantises said anything but they had to have noticed this was the third time Ghost had lead them into this room. It was for sure close to where the Traitor Lord’s body should be though so… Ghost kept going without pausing.

Finally they were in luck as they were soon in another familiar passage that also had a path through the thorns that could be navigated. From there, it was only one more turning before they were heading up into the room Cloth and Ghost had killed the Traitor Lord in.

There wasn’t much left of his body other than the husk. It had been rotted through with Infection that was now gone, leaving nothing but dark deflated goop behind that still leaked out of the holes in the husk.

“This is him,” the appointed leader of the mantis group confirmed upon examining the husk’s face. “Thank you Shade Lord.” She bowed to Ghost, the rest of the group following suit. “Now if you will excuse, we’ve been instructed to bury him and as many of his followers’ remains as we can find.”

Maybe Ghost should offer to help with that. But they’d already made such a fool of themself getting lost so instead they took the opportunity to flee.

#my writing #hollow knight #shade lord ghost #shade lord ghost drabbles #ghost