Dear kin, we seem surrounded
As decay is closing in
And the kiss of deadly silence
Has been placed upon my skin
For the code we're bound to follow
You have led my last crusade
Now we're swallowed by the city
As it fades

I will shield you from the sickness
When the walls around us quake
I will hold back all the monsters
Until my bones begin to break
When I've lost I'll have to leave you
And the tears, they'll fall like rain
If I'm taken by the brilliance
I will spare you from the pain

Cry a requiem for our kind
Hide away now from the spark
To me the angered dream is calling
Tearing me apart
Somehow the whispers do command me
When the infection's taken hold
Now carry on in glory
When I grow cold

I will shield you from the sickness
When the walls around us quake
I will hold back all the monsters
Until my bones begin to break
When I've lost I'll have to leave you
And the tears, they'll fall like rain
If I'm taken by the brilliance
I will spare you from the pain

Foolishly I left the plague creeping
In this restless ruin my soul is bleeding
I confess to you the light
Has taken me prisoner
I am corrupt beyond any rescue
I've forsaken my vow to protect you
Oh, end these horrors
Face the mother of the radiant

If the fight's over
I will sacrifice my mind
Just to know you'll still be breathing
When the years have been unkind
So continue on without me
Guard my body and my flame
Keep a watch over the wasteland
When the world forgets my name

I will shield you from the sickness
When the walls around us quake
I will hold back all the monsters
Until my bones begin to break
When I've lost I'll have to leave you
And the tears, they'll fall like rain
If I'm taken by the brilliance
I will spare you from the pain

"Song of the Abyss" - Aviators
(lyrics slightly altered by me)


It is finally done. This is a huge project I've been working on for six days now and boi was it a wild ride. This image was heavily inspired by the mentioned song. As much as I love it in regards to its original story, I couldn't help but also make a connection between the song and Hollow's story. Doesn't help that my mate and I agree Team Cherry managed to make a character (Hollow) that is basically Artorias and Sif combined, rip.
As some might already know, I care a lot about these characters, and especially Hollow since they've been through so much undeserved shit. This song just feels so much like them that I couldn't help but try to illustrate something to go along with it, and most fittingly was of course the brutal scene of Hollow stabbing themself in a final desperate attempt to fight the infection within. I've seen fanart of it before, but the first time I actually saw it in game it ended up being a gut punch because I thought it would just be one stab, likely the final one. I did not expect them to do it repeatedly and with such ferocity, such desperation. So that and the birthplace cutscene are pretty much the toughest moments for me in the game. But it shows that despite being taken over by infection, despite literally having a raging goddess contained within them, Hollow did not give up, they fought until the bitter end.

As such the most painful part for me from the song is "Keep a watch over the wasteland when the world forgets my name", because technically Hollow doesn't even have a name, it's always just been a title, a purpose. In the history of their world, the only sign of Hollow's existence is that one fountain that tells us nothing about them except that they were The Hollow Knight and have made some kind of sacrifice, and yet the bugs of Hallownest never even learned what said sacrifice was, or if they have then there is no one left anymore to remember it. So Hollow's whole legacy just boils down to being the unknown sacrifice and that is all they will be remembered for. The sacrifice of a deed long forgotten and a kingdom long dead. It truly is a tragedy...

So that is another reason why I felt compelled to work so hard on this piece, because if nothing else the fandom knows and will remember them for what they did and who they were. And if I gotta be stuck in this swamp of feels then I'm taking all of y'all with me.


Characters and story © Team Cherry