Lovers, Dreamers, and Me [Hollow Knight x Reader]

[Your Obedient Servant] Pt. 3

"Truly, I don't wish to sound rude but really? Thats it?" Curiously laughing out, the Light Lorde's assistant wielded a significantly small nail, It was just about the length of their forearm and strangely it had some varying tints in its build. Little intricate designs speckled and swirled about the blade. Occasionally looking down at the unusual nail, the moth kept their gaze affixed on the towering, armored out guard. Fumbling with his own nail Ermine rested his claws upon the handle of his weapon. A subtle nod followed by a low hum emitted from him. Xero was still around but now keeping to himself. Having already spent much of his time bickering and fooling around with the newcomer, he found himself heading back to doing what he originally came to do, train. War cries, the swift swoosh of his two nails, and brutal hits to the training dummies echoed out in the open, empty space. Paying no mind to him now, [Name] and Ermine resided a good distance away from Xero, just to leave him be.

Twitching antennas, one raised upwards while the other lie flat against the moth's fluffy head like a leaf resting against the blades of grass. Minimal effort to keep it up and yet it falls just perfectly in place. Observing the nail, they flipped it over one side to the other. Their unimpressed tone bled through their words and straight onto their expression, like when you layer marker ink on thin paper. "Mind not it's appearance, it works just like any other nail." And much like any other nail, it really shouldn't be in this realm. Of course having this weighted weapon rest in one's hands can give quite the boost of confidence, but the power that comes with such a thing, it can be terrifying. Though it comes with the job, so it's better to not fight it and learn how to use it before anything goes wrong, or prevent things from going haywire. 

"Now," Starting back up once more, Ermine held the blade up. The light cascading down shone off the nail's sleek surface. Polished to perfection and sharpened oh so very finely, dream essence floating near the two was met with a blurred mirroring image following down from the armor and weapons scratch-less faces. the tip pointed upwards, Ermine took one step back and looked at the nail, it was just about level with his gaze. "when using your nail, with this particular type, all you have to do is slash forward. Our nails can not hurt or effect the corporeal, no matter how much you try." Tilting their head, the armorless moth seemed particularly interested. "No matter what?" Turning back to look at the shorter of the two, a clank filled nod was fired back from Ermine. 

The next thing to come had truly made the assistant run cold, almost instantly. Not having expected the ever timid guard to pull such a stunt as a sort of example, before they even knew it,  Ermine pointed the short nail at himself and thrusted it into his chest plate. Eyes widening to the size of saucers, [Name] stood there absolutely petrified, watching Ermine fish the blade out from him and holding it up while gesturing to it like it was some sort of fun toy confused the absolute heck out of them. What was there to say? "Glad- to know for sure. But- please, never do that again?" Shuddering, you could almost see a twinge of regret in how Ermine shifted uncomfortably. Violence wasn't a normal occurrence. Moths didn't worry much about being killed left and right. You could say that their kind could be one of the most care free when it came to their security, which could be rather concerning. Latching entrances to homes shut before resting, or roaming alone in the night. There wasn't much to anything to worry about since the dream realm might just be one of the most secure places to exist. With her ever luminescent Radiance in charge, besides the near war that had broken out, nothing came as a threat, well- there can be come malicious souls in the resting grounds that refuse to rest, but they can't effect residents physically.

"That is all?" "That is all." Mirroring the same response, but now only in a more reassuring tone, Ermine held out the nail to them. Hesitant, the royal retainer outreached their feelers and curled it around the handle. Taking the dagger like weapon into their care, it seemed to give off a light glow whenever shifting wildly, as Ermine demonstrated earlier. Set in the middle was the brightly glowing insignia of the natural essence of the dream realm. Interrupting your unbreakable starring contest between the nail and your gaze, the light scrapes of armor indicated that the moth guard had turned in one direction. Looking up from your now nail, Ermine appeared to be looked back at the open arches leading back inside to the palace. "Now that you know how to maneuver your nail, best I bring you to her majesty." Of course, she did say that this morning she, you, and post likely a few guards accompanying the group will be making their merry way to the middle grounds for a ball. Nodding in agreement, Ermine began to lead the way back indoors. Following from behind, with nail in hand, you knew this place all too well, so much so that if you were to be left to your own devices, you could easily make your way around, though it was Ermine's job to make sure that nothing goes wrong. That includes assuring the safety of others. "I know how alien it can be to wield a nail, apologies for that, I shouldn't have given you such a fright." Breaking the silence, Ermine spoke just barely above a whisper, the only thing amplifying his voice was that helmet of his.

"Apology accepted, and before I forget, thank you for helping me." One way or another, they had to learn how this nail functioned. Surely an example wouldn't have been so extreme but the guard got the message across, despite nearly giving the novice assistant a heart attack. Having used a nail for quite some time now, even with how easy it is to frighten the towering guard, he was rather numb to the presence to weaponry. When he was training to grow higher in the ranks,  of course he had to eventually learn to wield such a thing. So he most definitely could understand the firsthand discomfort, his only mistake was growing too comfortable and forgetting that this was someone who didn't have a choice in this matter of owing something that could potentially cause harm. Luckily, nails that originate from this realm cannot cause any harm, but they wouldn't have known that. His nail was created in the middle ground, the second realm from the dream, most anything there could be lethal since it has the chance of effecting corporeal forms.

Of course residents of the dream realm have been in the middle realms one way or another, but despite all that, the majority of the vote prefers to reside within the dreamscape of a safe haven. [Name] most definitely was looking forward to the ball, but imagining of the journey to was something that'd make their stomach twist to knots. 

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[Aha-- apologies to such a delay in updating, all. ^^" It's most definitely been some time since the last installment, my bad. But at least I have half the mind to still pick up where I last left off and keep on pushing forward. Im gonna try and make entries less lengthy so it'll be more easy on the eyes for you folks. No doodles this time since, man oh man its been some time. Following with the conversation of artwork, next time I slip in a new part you can maybe see some changes in the stylization. That's all for now folks. Stay tuned and please be safe out there!!]

[4/12/20]