Captured Threads#

The tale begins in a grim and desperate moment.
Hornet, once the agile guardian who roamed the sacred halls of Hallownest, is no longer the hunter — she is the prey.
Bound in a cold metal cage, she is escorted by strange, faceless creatures across a desolate land.
It is a brutal abduction. Yet Hornet is not one to surrender quietly.

When the caravan crosses a narrow bridge, fate intervenes.
A mysterious seal shatters, and Hornet unleashes her silken power — the bridge collapses, the cage falls, and she plummets into the abyss below.
It is both her downfall and her escape.
When she awakens in an unfamiliar wasteland, exhaustion finally grips her — only to be rescued by a kind church attendant.

Hornet, ever the warrior, wastes no time in mourning or confusion.
Driven by instinct and purpose, she sets out to uncover the truth of her abduction.
Her first step: ascend.
Soon, she discovers this new land — Pharloom, the Kingdom of Silk and Song.

The Kingdom of Pharloom#

Pharloom is a strange place, with a society that seems both simplistic and deeply unsettling.
Every bug, old or young, shares the same obsession — climbing upward, toward a towering citadel in the clouds known as the Sacred Citadel.
They call themselves Pilgrims, believing that reaching the citadel will grant ultimate salvation.
Even the currency of this land — prayer beads — is an object of worship.
Here, faith is not just belief; it is economy itself.

During her climb, Hornet meets a small boy named Sherma, who prays before an ancient sealed door, singing to the gods behind it.
Without shattering his faith with words, Hornet simply acts — using her needle to pry open the gate.
Soon after, she encounters Shakra, a warrior-cartographer in search of someone dear to him.
He warns Hornet: Many pilgrims lose their minds halfway to the Citadel, turning into soulless beasts.

Why would a holy pilgrimage drive its followers to madness?
What secret festers within the walls of the Sacred Citadel?

Hornet now knows the path forward — to uncover the truth of her capture, she must reach the top of the mountain and see the heart of Pharloom herself.

Web of Madness#

In the outskirts of the Citadel, Hornet crosses blades with a new adversary — Lace, a lithe warrior whose every strike flows like a deadly dance.
Yet beneath the grace lies venom; Lace knows who Hornet is.
Her words drip with pity and superiority.
She calls Hornet’s fate “a tragedy foretold,” claiming that her bloodline — half god, half insect — is cursed.

The duel ends with Lace retreating into the shadows, leaving Hornet with questions burning in her heart.
Why did Lace speak of her lineage with such certainty?
And what connection does her mixed heritage hold with the gods of Pharloom?

Hornet ascends further.
Through wind and ash, she reaches the midlands, where rain falls endlessly from gray skies — as if the kingdom itself weeps.
Here, she meets two rebels: the old knight Garmond and his small steed Zaza.
Their village, too, has been destroyed by the mysterious “Thread Curse.”
They, like Hornet, journey toward the Citadel seeking truth and justice.

The City of Threads#

Crossing the misty wetlands of Grey Marsh, Hornet arrives at Central Town, a place that should be a refuge.
Instead, she finds horror — the town is wrapped in dense layers of silk.
Its inhabitants hang suspended like marionettes, motionless, bound by unseen strings.
This is Threadblight — unlike the mindless infection of the Holy Kingdom, this curse is cold, deliberate, and purposeful.

Guided by Shakra, Hornet learns that the source lies in Jamulin, a nearby settlement.
There, atop its spire, she meets the puppeteer behind this nightmare — a deranged cultist known as the Black Widow.
He plucks at his threads like strings of a wicked instrument, sending vibrations that enslave the minds of the living.
Every strand of silk carries his will; the entire town dances to his twisted melody.

When he sees Hornet, he does not attack — he exults.
“The descendant of the runaway has returned!” he cries.
In his madness, he recognizes her blood — the blood of the White Wyrm and the Weaver Queen.
He reveals a truth that shakes Hornet to her core:
Her mother, Herrah the Beast, once fled Pharloom.
Hornet’s capture was not random — her body, woven of divine thread and mortal flesh, is the perfect vessel to be sacrificed to the Mother of Gods.

It is a revelation that rewrites everything we knew about Hallownest’s history.
The White Wyrm, once thought only a ruler of the Holy Kingdom, was also an exile.
And Pharloom — the land Herrah escaped from — hides a horror older than Hallownest itself.

Enraged and resolute, Hornet strikes down the Black Widow.
The silk binding the city dissolves, and the puppets are freed.
From his remains, Hornet inherits a new power — the String Needle, granting her the ability to weave silk into resonant chords, to speak with the world itself.

Among the ruins, a cunning antique dealer shows Hornet an ancient royal decree —
an Edict of the Sacred Legion, ordering all soldiers of Pharloom to capture the Half-Silk of the Wyrm’s Domain.
The target, of course, is Hornet herself.

The edict’s final line chills her:

“Expect resistance. Use a runic cage for containment.”

The same Runic Cage that imprisoned her at the start.
Every thread connects.
Every mystery unravels.

Hornet finally understands — her capture was no accident.
Her lineage is the key, and the enemy that seeks her blood waits atop the Sacred Citadel: the Mother of Silk herself.

With purpose renewed, Hornet begins her final ascent toward the heavens.

This story is a retelling inspired by the world of Hollow Knight: Silksong,
crafted to explore its themes of destiny, creation, and self-determination.