The Hollow Knight tries to hide their urges to devour from the Pale King, to decidedly mixed results. This is a commission from MrUnKnownAlien on FA! Thank you much for your patronage.

---

Hollow knew that they weren’t supposed to hide secrets from their Father. They knew the Pale King expected so much of them, and the chief thing he wanted from his precious Vessel was for them to be Pure of thought and intent. Well, they had failed at both of those things - they had a great many thoughts swirling about their head, and they had an especially deep and secret desire that they never dared show to the light of day. That being, they wanted to devour things.

They remembered the first time it happened, some time after the King had saved them from the Abyss. The White Lady had made a great cake for their family and close associates, and she had made the mistake of leaving Hollow in the room with it alone unattended. Without really knowing why, they had moved towards the cake, wanting to take it into themselves for some deep-seated and desperate reason. By the time the Lady had returned, the entire thing had been absorbed, crumbs and all, as if it had never even existed.

Their Mother had come back into the room shocked, and spent the rest of the day looking for the thief who surely must have stolen her work. If she’d looked closer at Hollow though, she would’ve seen how they’d grown while she was away, becoming a bit taller, their stomach rounder.

And if she had spotted that small change in them all those years ago, they may not be here now, standing alongside the King as he prepared his first tour through the Kingdom of Hallownest in quite a few years. The Wyrm’s goal with this display was to parade through the City of Tears and show that, at long last, the Infection had met its match. Hollow was to attend, a warrior who he’d present as the one who would liberate them from the Infection. The Pale King thought this was a fantastic idea to get the public back on his side, but Hollow wasn’t quite as enthused, because they had a new secret. A secret that, if exposed, could ruin absolutely everything.

Hollow secretly rubbed their stomach, hoping that the retainers they’d eaten this morning weren’t showing too obviously on their stomach. They knew that they shouldn’t eat anyone, that doing so went against the King’s wishes for them to be a Pure Vessel, but it was impossible to fight those desires forever. That morning, they had been stalking along some dark corner of the White Palace, and they’d seen those several retainers huddling together, discussing plans for the day ahead. They’d made sure nobody was watching, and then fell on them in an instant, grappling two with Void tentacles and plunging directly onto the third with an open mouth.

The first bug had shrieked and kicked heartily as their upper body was greedily gulped down Hollow’s throat, his body bulging out their throat for a moment before sinking down with a heavy gulp to their stomach. The other two had followed shortly thereafter, with the Pure Vessel tossing them both down their throat with great force. Hollow hoped their stomach wasn’t being too loud as it churned and mulched those poor bugs, glorping them down into gutsludge within minutes and leaving nothing of them except some chubby Void on their body.
Now, they were being expected to do an entire citywide Tour while dealing with those secret urges to devour others. How were they expected to resist? Already their stomach was grumbling grumpily, demanding more sustenance. They stood tall and proud next to the Pale King, hoping that their doubts wouldn’t show.

Their father stood tall at the gate leading into the City of Tears, nodding at his subjects and giving vague phrases of comfort, trying to assuage all of their fears. When enough of a crowd had arrived, he patted the side of his Pure Vessel. “Fear not, my loyal citizens. For the knight you see standing before you here is my solution to our great problem. No longer will we live in fear of the Infection - it will be sealed away forevermore.”

Hollow stood tall and imposing, not letting themself move an inch. Everyone was watching. It’d be improper to do anything the King wouldn’t want them to do.

“Now, my subjects, let us walk the City of Tears, so we may walk in peace together.”

With that, the Pale King strode forwards, and everybody followed him. Hollow took even and measured steps, not wanting a single one to be out of place. But as they moved through the switchbacking hallways which lead down to the ground level of the City proper, Hollow’s stomach refused to be silent. By the time they walked out beneath the rain that poured from the cavern above, it was impossible for them to keep their focus.

All around them, such a tempting and delicious-looking crowd of bugs had gathered. It took a great measure of willpower to not absorb and devour all of them then and there. But no, they couldn’t, not in front of their father. They’d have to improvise something…

They began to fall back little-by-little. Their father was so absorbed in calming his subjects that he never realized that the space between him and Hollow was increasing, his Vessel falling a few inches behind him, then a few feet, until they were far back enough that he didn’t notice when they took a left when he did a right. The turn led them into a back alley, into which a gathering of confused bugs had followed them.

They were alone back here now with around a dozen or so subjects. Everyone all looked around confusedly, not sure what was happening. They figured initially this was just part of the show, but as Hollow looked over them with those hungry eyes, taking now-lumbering steps towards them on their long and heavy legs, it became clear this was no act. Hollow leapt at them suddenly, void tendrils exploding from them like so many arms, and they grasped as many as they could, which thankfully, turned out to be all of them.

After that, the Hollow Knight had to work fast. Their screams were making such a racket, and all that noise was sure to attract new onlookers, or, even worse, their father. Hollow opened their mouth wide and shoved them all in, one after the other, silencing their cries before anyone was able to hear. Hollow gulped heavily as each new bug entered their mouth, sending each successive catch to their stomach.

Shouts of horror and shock were instantly muffled by their heavy Void as every single one of them landed in their stomach. They kicked and punched and squirmed, but that didn’t make much difference because Hollow’s Void simply absorbed all of the blows. They patted and rubbed their hands on their stomach, which had grown fat and wide as the alleyway, and knew that if anyone walked in on them like this, their cover would be blown!

They kneaded their stomach, then focused all of their energy into glorping the bugs in there as fast as possible. Pressing in with both hands, they clenched their stomach and used all the pressure of their unique body to devastating effect. There was a pause, and then a horrific screaming loud enough to be heard through their Void. As they pushed their hands in and clenched their stomach, there was a huge glorping and crushing sound that filled the alley, destroying Hollow’s hopes at stealth.

Hollow pulled in hard as they could, feeling everything in their stomach melting as their forms were broken down into a thick Void sludge in their gut. They felt with their hands as the solid bodies inside all but vanished as they were rapidly churned, becoming soft sloshy chyme, until all of their solidity was gone and there was nothing but a horrific gurgling as their body rapidly sucked all of that food from their stomach.

Voices approached at a rapid clip, and Hollow hid in the back of the alley, hoping to buy enough time for their body to finish absorbing all those nutrients by the time somebody found them. Their stomach worked rapidly, churning and gurgling violently. They held their cloak out at their sides, hoping that if anyone walked in on them, it would obscure the still-large stomach.

Bit-by-bit, the belly subsided, but not by enough. The voices were dreadfully close now. Standing tall with a jolt, Hollow pulled the cloak safe around them, hoping it’d disguise the fattened body underneath. They had only a second to check their body, and found mixed results with the obfuscation. Their stomach had fattened considerably, and was now roughly the size of several adult bugs, but their cloak did its best to hide that, and largely succeeded for the time being.

The bigger issue, they realized as the King turned the corner with panic in his expression, was that their hips and legs had grown considerably too, and were now much closer to those that one would find on a seductress than on a Pure Vessel. Panicked, they used their Void to try and drape a cloak of shadow over their lower half as they pulled the cloak tighter around them. And then the King was upon them, and there was no more time for changes.

“My Vessel! I see you’ve not come to harm!” He scanned the vacant alleyway and the space beyond. “One of our onlookers said you’d been pulled away with a crowd in tow! I see now that you must’ve merely gotten lost - though I must wonder what happened to those who followed you.”

Hollow stood as silent and tall as they were capable of. They were grateful for the dim light of the alleyway, which hid their new disposition. Eventually, the Pale King sighed, as if he had made his mind up about something. “They must’ve run off. Perhaps they tried some funny business, and ran off when it was clear you were no easy mark.” He nodded, showing that the matter had been mentally resolved.

“Come along now, my Pure Vessel, we have the rest of the day to attend to!”

A wave of cool relief poured over Hollow as they followed their father out of the alley. They’d never gotten away with eating so many bugs before! It was a miracle they hadn’t been caught. Better still, that indulgence had, for the time being, cooled their fiery hunger. Maybe they’d even make it through the rest of the day without feeling the need to devour anyone?

Initially, their wish seemed on the cusp of actualization. They passed through the streets part of the tour perfectly, and entered Lurien’s Spire without Hollow needing to cause another incident. It was once they were inside, that things became more complicated.

The first thing Hollow realized when they walked into the Spire was that the scent of food permeated everywhere. The Watcher had prepared a feast for the King and his trusted confidants, and it looked like the Pure Vessel was invited. The smell of delicious pastries and rich roasts filled every hallway, and all of it began to reignite Hollow’s hunger. Their stomach, still sloshing with the sludge of the previously-digested bugs, began to grumble.

If they had just gotten in and out of that forsaken place, then maybe things wouldn’t have progressed further than mere annoyance. But as the Pale King talked to diplomat after diplomat after bureaucrat after bureaucrat, Hollow’s hunger only grew. The smell of food was everywhere, and they were surrounded by food too, in a way. Every bug they passed began to look so delectable.

No, no, they commanded themselves. They’d already risked so much already with that incident in the alleyway. Now, there’d be even less chance to hide, with all of those eyes around. Eating even a single insect here would be a terrible idea. Hollow was thankful the rumblings of the crowd around them covered up the gurgling of their stomach as it demanded more sustenance. They needed to be discreet, and hold their hunger until the tour of the tower was over and they were back in the dimly lit streets and able to sneak away. There was no other path forward.

Voices droned on around them, but one-by-one, they all filtered away as the tour continued. The Pale King talked to an endless procession of delicious-looking dignitaries and socialites, winning them all over with his patented charisma and conversational wit. He beamed with pride at Hollow, letting anybody who came within earshot know that they were the future of Hallownest, and the being who would lift it from its current crisis into a beautiful new era…

Eventually, even their father’s words went muffled in their ears as the hunger became consuming. It was impossible to think straight with this incessant grumbling in their gut, a rumbling that was only growing bigger now that they were surrounded by so much potential food. Hollow focused on just taking one step after another, trying to clear their mind of anything else but just moving forward along with the King, keeping their chunky body concealed under their suddenly too-small cloak…

It was a blessing when they all sat down around a lengthy table at the top floor of the Watcher’s Spire. Something like two dozen rather regal-looking bugs were arrayed all around, and at the head of the table, finally making his appearance, was Lurien the Watcher. He bowed gracefully when he saw the King, and immediately ran up to him to shake his hand. Through the thick haze of hunger, Hollow heard words such as “elegant,” “beautiful,” and “majestic.”

They had a hard time keeping track of what happened next. Some food was served to all the guests at the table, but it wasn’t anywhere near enough to fill the hole in Hollow’s stomach. They ate it, and then took a second and third plate. The delicious pastries and scrumptious delights just made the bugs around them look all the better.

Salvation arrived unexpectedly, when a retainer rushed up to the King’s side to whisper something in his near. The Pale King nodded, stood up, and said something to the collected guests about how Herrah the Beast was somewhere below, demanding to meet with him to discuss various matters. He would take his leave for a little while - say, an hour or so - and return refreshed and ready to continue the conversation.

The door closed with a thick thud as Hollow’s father left the room, leaving his child alone. They got up, and shoved a nearby couple of decorative dressers against the portal to barricade it. As the promise of food neared, their senses returned to them, and they heard the voices of the various bugs as they discussed dinner and the Vessel’s strange actions.

“Are they going to present a secret?”
“Why’d they close off the doors?”

“Hey, is it just me or do they look… heavier than they should be?”

Hollow wasn’t making an attempt to hide their body now. Their cloak flitted away from their body, showing how fat and round they were. There were grumbles of disquiet as the Pure Vessel turned back to them, the look on their face unreadable.

“Now, now, subjects,” Lurien said, waving his hands downwards as he threw his commanding voice across the room. “There is no need for alarm! I’m certain that the King’s perfect creation simply wants to show us something special. Is that right, friend?”

The Pure Vessel sure did have something special in store for them, alright. Soon as Lurien lowered his arms, they went on the hunt, their arms grasping up the two closest bugs and stuffing them down their gulping gullet before anyone had a chance to see or tell what was going on. By the time the insects in the room realized the danger they were all in, Hollow was already making their way down the table, trampling on it as they reached out with Void tendrils and tossed meal after meal towards their mouth, the hole in their stomach begging harder than ever.

A scream went up around the table as Hollow tossed everyone they could get their hands on down their throat. Their stomach grew with each body added to it, eventually growing wider than the table as at least a dozen forms kicked around inside.

Some bugs ducked for cover, while others tried to make it to the exit, but no route of escape worked. Hollow was on them like a wild animal, tendrils lashing out in all directions, their hunger so intense that they even cleaned the plates of food that had been laid out as they made their way down the table. Heavy gulps and muffled shouts filled the entire room, the forms of the devoured bugs making only a bulge on their throat as they vanished from sight, and descended down to the waiting stomach.

Lurien was pressing himself back up against the window of his spire in fear. Then, it dawned on him, and he gave a wry little chuckle. “Bravo!” he said, clapping his hands together as Hollow finished off the last few un-swallowed dignitaries. “What a spectacular performance you all gave - you really had me going for a minute there! I’m afraid the show is over now, and we must return to more serious matters. This is quite a phenomenal prank though - you really frightened me! You really do show off the power and genius of the Pale King.”

Having finally swallowed all of those in attendance except for Lurien, Hollow looked at the Watcher with confusion. Did he think this was some sort of joke? He had kept them in hunger for so long, having his friends and compatriots talking on and on while tempting the Pure Vessel with all of this delicious food, and he thought that this was all a joke? The Pure Vessel stepped towards Lurien, their belly wobbling with the forms of dozens of bugs. Those poor innocents squirmed and wriggled around in their stomach, and Hollow grasped their stomach with both hands, salivating as they finally felt full.

Lurien looked left and right, hoping that someone would come out and call an end to the whole charade. When no one materialized, his mood darkened. “Well, I must say this is not how I’d expect the King or someone representing him to act! I command you cease- Wait. Why are you coming towards me like that? Stay away! I swear I will– MMPH!”

Annoyed by Lurien’s insistent chattering, Hollow pressed him up against the end of the room with their stomach. They surrounded his entire long length with that belly, and then they pressed in, making absolutely sure that Lurien would feel what was about to happen. If the Watcher thought that their dire hunger was all some sort of fun show, well, the Pure Vessel would give him something to watch, all right.

They grinded their belly up against the wall, feeling the dozens of bugs struggling within, their kicks and punches getting absorbed by all of their thick Void. Soon, every last one of them would be nothing but chub on their once-lithe body, and Hollow beamed at the thought. Somewhere, buried under all those cries for help and struggling movements, was Lurien, who raged panickedly, now knowing that this was no prank, and something was very wrong.

The Hollow Knight placed their hands on their midsection, and pressed in, using the force of their Void to clench and crush their gut. The horrible sounds of bugs being digested swallowed up the chamber, filling it all with a heavy gurgling as the Pure Vessel’s gut got to work on them all. Shouts for help would rise, only to be silenced moments later as Hollow focused all of their energy on processing the food in their gut, feeling their stomach growing sloshier by the minute as so many of those in there churned into chyme.

Dire glorping and crushing sounds emanate from Hollow’s gut as they continued their work, pressing Lurien tighter against the wall and grinding their stomach against him further, working their midsection against him and hoping that he felt every last bit of what was happening in their stomach. Their guts pumped loudly as the fresh gutsludge in their belly was sucked away, destined to get turned into fat, only a short time away now from making them so thick and round and squishy. It was better than what they deserved, Hollow thought.

Gradually, their tummy began to shrink back down as the solid forms in it decreased, the few remaining shouts and cries for help now only barely audible beyond the sounds of their body processing so many nutrients. Hollow felt their body expand, their hips and ass practically exploding in size as the first of the melted bugs made their way there. Some small part of them wondered how they’d explain this to their father, but the rest of them was too focused on Lurien the Watcher.

They reached their long arms around their stomach, and pulled Lurien’s body deeper into their now-soft belly. It sloshed and gurgled like an engine, and anything the poor Watcher was trying to say got covered up by that terrible noise. Hollow pulled him in close, wanting him to feel those dignitaries and other assorted royals he’d unintentionally taunted them with get reduced into naught but weight. They kneaded him against their gut, hoping that he was hearing every last gurgle and glorp.

Hollow kept working like that, sandwiching Lurien between themselves and the wall as every part of their body got fatter. It was only when the last bug was sucked from their stomach with a pathetic little gurglorp! that their thoughts turned to the obvious question of what they were going to do to cover up all this new weight that they’d put on. Dropping Lurien from the wall, the Pure Vessel turned, hoping to examine their new weight and make a plan of action.

“Monster…” Lurien croaked, his body crumpled on the floor. Hollow ignored him, and was shocked to see that they’d grown even fatter than they’d expected. Their hips were now wider than the double doors they’d walked in through, giving them quite the feminine figure. Speaking of, Hollow’s ass was now too large for any chair they’d ever seen and it was clear a great many bugs had gone right there. Their stomach wobbled like waves with every step, and it was huge enough that it would’ve filled a good deal of the room-spanning table if they’d laid it down on its surface.

Sheepishly, they pulled their cloak tight around them - but it didn’t even make it to their front anymore. It was unable to conceal their newfound thickness and girth at all, their Void had grown so much. Scrambling, they mentally went through plans to explain their new gains, and landed on the only option available. They’d eat all the food here, and pretend everyone else had run off. There was no other way to get through this.

Within moments, their Void tendrils had whipped all the available food down their gullet. The table of delicacies was nothing for them after eating so many entire insects. They scarfed down plates of cake and greenery and boofly until nothing was left: every plate was emptied.

That took care of just about anything, and not a moment too soon. For at that moment, Hollow heard heavy footsteps approaching from somewhere below. They panicked, and steeled themselves, hiding in a dark corner and hoping the shadow would conceal some of their new weight. On the way to their passing spot, they plucked up Lurien, who let out a desperate “My King, help!” as Hollow stuffed him unceremoniously down their throat.

The double doors at the end of the room clapped open, and the King strove in, already speechifying to the presumably-gathered guests. “I return! Thank you all… for your… patience?”

He turned left and right, seeing nobody in sight. The entire room was empty now from his perspective, with every plate cleared. Had they’d all eaten and left without him? He crossed his arms and huffed, and that was when he saw Hollow in the nearby corner, much enlarged.

“By the light! You really let yourself go, my Vessel! No wonder they all left - you ate everything!” He chuckled. “Well, I suppose I never did teach you table manners. This is my fault I see, I must apologize to Lurien later. I should’ve known you wouldn’t know when to stop eating. You always clear everything back at the Palace too.”

He beckoned them with a hand. “Look at me now, talking to a Pure Vessel. Well, I suppose I have my connections. I have just one more stop on the tour and then I can go home! I think my biggest problem now is going to be having my Vessel lose all this weight.”

Lurien was struggling and yelling with much effort in Hollow’s stomach, but they’d grown so fat that not a single bit of it showed. It was like he already didn’t exist, like he may as well have already been fat on the Vessel’s curves. The Pale King did not even hear him, didn’t even notice his existence, despite him being so close to the presence of his loyal Watcher.

Squeezing out of the room proved to be a great challenge for Hollow, which was beginning to be a very inappropriate name for them. With how full and heavy they’d become, they were anything but empty. Maneuvering down the elevators and through the cramped hallways of the Watcher’s Spire back down to the ground below was a near-impossible task - not that the King recognized it as one. He was oblivious to his Vessel’s struggles as he talked to various bugs of importance, setting up the final meeting for the night - a final dinner with Herrah the Beast.

In a way, the Pure Vessel was thankful that the Pale King had been so distracted tonight. If he’d been on his A-game, he’d surely have seen through the charade by now. Still though, dozens of bugs, plus Lurien as a dessert, would hold them over until they made it home to the White Palace. From here on, things would be easy…

The trek out of the Watcher’s Spire went as well as it could have, considering the circumstances. Somewhere along the line, Hollow bumped particularly hard into a rough wall, and Lurien let out a thick glorp! as his already-digesting body was bwomphed by the pressure, reducing him into the same chyme as the rest of those the Vessel had eaten. And soon, he’d be a part of the same fat too.


The morsel kept them satiated as the Pure Vessel diligently followed their Father through the City of Tears. They walked down more hallways, the King shaking hands with everyone he saw, and everyone they saw looking at Hollow with a strange look. Had the Vessel been so… large earlier that day? Some bugs edged nervously away from them, even as they drinked in the King’s attention.

When the first hunger pang started up, Hollow instinctively smacked their stomach, hoping to cut it out before it got started. Most didn’t notice - they were too busy following the Pale King towards his final destination, a large domed building where he would meet with Herrah the Beast. Those few who did see it thought it little more than the Vessel swatting away some small creature, but the truth was much more dire.

They were becoming hungry again, and just minutes before entering the final meeting of the night. Hollow tried to toss the thoughts from their mind, focusing only on what was in front of them. There’d be food here too, doubtlessly, but all they could do was hope there wasn’t as much as there had been in the Spire.

The domed meeting hall was a relatively new addition to the Capital of Hallownest. It had been constructed to be a meeting place for the various races of the Kingdom, giving them a place to discuss political matters and hash out policy disputes. As a result, it was all very formal. The outside lacked the sort of decoration the other buildings in the City received, being rather unadorned. The inside, as Hollow soon learned, was much the same. Large, dark-rock hallways leading to spacious dining spaces and rooms with many tables and chairs.

Hollow, who was growing hungrier by the moment, felt like thanking their Father when they were led into the final meeting room of the night and found it, too, rather empty. There were some plates here and there, but only enough to feed the dozen or so bugs in attendance, two of which were the Pure Vessel and Pale King. The smell wasn’t as powerful or thorough as it had been in the Spire either, due to the incredibly large room they were seated in.

When the King sat down, the Pure Vessel took their place beside him, their chair creaking like it was about to fall apart under their weight. It didn’t even fit their rear anymore, it had grown so large and bountiful. Across the table from them sat Herrah the Beast, with Hornet at her side. The two eyed the Pure Vessel, unsure as to how the supposedly-thin creature had grown so large since their scouts had first seen them this morning.

Hornet turned and whispered to her Mother. “So that’s the Pure Vessel? The one that’s supposedly going to save us all? I don’t know about you - but I think that’s quite preposterous.”

Herrah shook her head. “Looks can be deceiving, dear. Perhaps Void just processes food differently? Either way, we would be fools to disrespect or underestimate any child of the Pale King.”

“I see you two are already making gossip,” the King said, taking a sip from the cup of water that’d been laid out for him. “Perhaps you two could put your minds to other ends? My Vessel has simply been constantly clearing their plate today. Is this any way to act in an event where my very own wife, the White Lady, will be in attendance?”

Before Pale King could admonish them any further, one of his assistants walked in and whispered in his ear. The Hollow Knight was sitting close enough this time to eat the chatter, and from what they could make out, it had to do with a string of disappearances that’d occurred in the City of Tears during the tour. Hollow stood very still, and ignored the distant rumblings of the last of Lurien struggling and glunking.

Sighing, the King got up from the table. “I’m afraid that I must remove myself once again. But you two must behave yourselves,” he said, leveling a finger at Hornet and Herrah. “My wife will be here any moment, and you would be wise to not embarrass the Deepnest in front of her. I will return shortly.”

Hollow stood and stared, listening to the King retreating. This gathering was much smaller than the one in the Spire had been, with only a dozen or so bugs in total. It’d be so easy for all of them to vanish down their gullet before the King returned or the White Lady got here. And then they’d finally be full. How could they not be, after eating one as large as Herrah the Beast? It’d solve all of their problems…

“So, are you capable of speech?” Hornet said, breaking the awkward silence that followed the King’s departure. The other dignitaries around the table, who were rather small and thin, chittered and shuffled in their chairs.

“Hornet, you simply must put things more delicately, dear,” Herrah said. “Don’t mind her, though I must admit, I share her curiosity. We know you’re supposed to be a Pure Vessel, free of will and mind, but we can keep a secret. Is there anything going on in that head of yours?”

They’d made it this far without getting caught. If they traipsed over that line again, it’d all be over. There’d be no hiding it this time - the dishes were too paltry to cover the weight they’d surely gain eating everyone here. Unleashing themselves would mean blowing their cover, no questions. No. It wasn’t worth it to eat them, no matter how delicious and tempting they seemed. No matter how their gut grumbled and cried out for more, and more, and more…

Hornet got up from her chair, and came around to them. “I’m struck by how large you are in the flesh. From all accounts, you were quite thin and lithe. Unless, this is a recent addition? I have a theory, and I want to hear what you think of it.”

Gods, she was so close now. Hollow could reach out and devour her in a single gulp, their fat arm reaching out and conveying her to their mouth before she could reach for a weapon or anything else that could be used to defend herself. It took every ounce of their self-control to not eat her, to not mulch her in their stomach like they had so many others.

“You’re locked up in the Palace, never leaving, with every physical report of your trained form coming back the same. Then, you leave for the City of Tears, and bugs there start vanishing? While your form swells, as if you’d eaten a dozen feasts?”

“Hornet! You will insinuate no such thing!” Herrah said, appalled by her daughter’s lack of manners.

“What, Mother? Afraid of pointing out the obvious? Do you fear they will eat you too-?”

It was over in a flash. The second Hornet made the mistake of revealing she knew the truth, her fate was sealed. Hollow grasped her with an arm, and opened their mouth wide. She had only the time to utter a little shocked cry before their Void throat was all around her, pulling her in, deeper and deeper down their gullet, until she was all gone and in their stomach. From there, they acted quickly, the ground shaking under their huge body as tendrils erupted from them, pulling in all of those minor dignitaries and stuffing them down, finishing them all off in a few heavy and full gulps.

Within the space of half a minute, the room was empty except for Hollow and Herrah, who stood and prepared for action. Hollow knew they had to move quickly - that the King or the Lady would be back any time, and so they had little time to eat and digest all of them. Their body was now larger than Herrah’s, wider and thicker and also a bit taller, so it wasn’t hard to rush her down, pinning her to the wall with their gut and kneading it against her. Hollow was frustrated Hornet had found them out so easily, and they intended to take some of that frustration out with the little time they had.

Pressing Herrah there, silencing her bestial cries with their strong stomach, Hollow made sure all of her was covered before clenching and crushing their gut with as much force as they could muster. They put all of their pressure there, and the effect was immediate. The room was filled with the sounds of all those bugs being crushed and mulched by their stomach, a sound that only intensified as they grinded their stomach against Herrah, using her body to help reduce everything in there to a thick sludge. They glorped and gurgled heavily against Herrah.
They kept kneading and pushing and grinding their belly up against Herrah until they felt it go all soft and sloshy, everyone in there surely by now reduced to chyme. The process didn’t take all that long, but it helped blow off the steam of almost getting caught, but it meant they had to rush the next part even more. Pulling away from Herrah, her body collapsed to the ground, but she pushed herself back up and charged at them with a horrifying animal roar that was full of anguish and disgust. After all, she’d just felt Hornet get churned up with all those other bugs.

The Hollow Knight was ready for her though, and they grasped her with an array of Void tendrils as she leapt, and opened wide as they directed her to their mouth. Herrah did nothing but scream angrily as the Pure Vessel tossed their head upwards, shoving the Beast deeper in as they gulped heavily. She was their biggest meal yet by far, and she took the most effort to put down. They swallowed hard and used both hands to pull her body deeper down their throat, all the while feeling her struggling like a feral animal until, at last, she ended up in their stomach.

From the very moment she hit their stomach, Hollow focused all of their energy on digesting her fast as possible. But Herrah wasn’t going down without a fight. As they clenched and kneaded their stomach, hoping to melt her quicker, the Beast was wrangling about in there like a windstorm, throwing herself at their walls and yelling loud enough to be heard even through their thick Void. Even when their stomach started getting to work on her in earnest, her fierce resistance slowed for not even a moment.

Slowly but surely, Herrah began to melt away in their stomach. Her struggles began to soften, and the sounds of glorping and gurgling began to overtake her cries of anger. But she’d taken up so much of their time, that they were in really dire straits now. The sounds of her melting would absolutely give them away if someone walked in, not to mention the fact that their body would be growing so much from this latest meal.

They focused. Hollow had to think of a way to digest the rest of her as fast as possible. They stood up, and pressed their hands on their stomach, Herrah still kicking around inside. If they concentrated all of the pressure of their Void on their stomach, would that do away with her quicker? Their body had many properties they’d never experimented with, and if there was a time to see what they could really do, now would be it…

“Hollow? What is this?”

The Pure Vessel froze. It was over. Turning their head over, they saw the White Lady enter the room, her thick and huge body standing still as she covered her mouth with a hand. Her eyes looked at the bulge in their stomach, and then at the cleared table, with all the guests gone but the food still there. Then she saw Hollow’s body swelling and growing, their hips becoming wider than Herrah’s entire body had been, and a rear large enough to rival her own. She looked at them, eyes desperately searching for any answer to the conundrum that wasn’t the obvious.

They stood up, the Beast still sloshing around inside their gut. Then, they pressed their hands on their stomach, focusing all the pressure and power on their Void there. Hollow felt their stomach shrink from the pressure, and Herrah let out a horrified cry as her body was suddenly and horribly mulched, reduced into sludge as the pressure mounted. They kept pressing, the rapid digestion kicking in as their body pumped what was left of her away, their stuffed guts pumping fast and hard, processing her so fast that with each moment, their curves swelled.

From a few paces away, their Mother watched on in fear and confoundment. Hollow’s hips, which had already been quite impressive, grew to the size of a Boofly. Their thighs grew too, each one becoming nearly as wide as Herrah the Beast had been. Their stomach, which was now shrinking back down now that the Beast’s body was nearly entirely turned to fat, was larger than most bugs.

And as Herrah vanished from their stomach with a last gurglorp!, Hollow looked at the White Lady and knew that she’d have to be eaten too. It was the only way to protect their secret. Besides, they thought hungrily as they lumbered towards her, wouldn’t those curves do better on them than on her?

They fell on her as the White Lady let out a panicked and terrified cry. Before she could get up or get away, dozens of Void tendrils latched around her, and pulled her up into the air. Hollow opened wide, and lowered her into their maw. The White Lady shouted out “Hollow, stop this!” but they weren’t listening. They were so hungry, and the Lady was so large and heavy. All they could think was that maybe she would be the one to finally satiate their hunger.

Pure Vessel lowered her down their throat, her long legs kicking in their air as her heavy body slowly dropped down. Each gulped lowered her further, and Hollow’s tongue tasted her delicious body as it descended. It ran around her thick and meaty thighs, and their stomach groaned as they wondered how good those hips would look on their body. Her savory form vanished deeper down their gullet, though Hollow did struggle to swallow more once they reached her huge thighs and massive rear. They had to press down on them with both hands and multiple Void tendrils several times before they made progress, swallowing them down deliciously before raising their head up to gulp the rest of her delicious legs.

With a final and horrible swallow, the White Lady disappeared down their gullet.

The White Lady cried and struggled about in their stomach, much like Herrah the Beast had. But she had little of the might as that ruler, she was more trained in diplomacy than in fighting. Hollow, finally feeling full, realized that they had precious little time now before the Pale King walked in. They’d have to digest the Lady quickly to have a chance of escaping this unscathed.

Their Mother’s heavy body wriggled around in their stomach, her punches and kicks hardly showing up against the massive amount of fat they’d accrued. With how fat and strong they’d become today, Hollow thought, they’d have little issue digesting her quickly. They stood up, and followed the same procedure as before. Hollow put their hands on their stomach, and focused all of the pressure of their Void there, hoping to rapid digest her before they experienced any more interruptions.

The effect was immediate and dire. The White Lady cried out as the stomach suddenly clenched and churned violently around her. Hollow grasped their gut with both hands, pushing in as they focused hard as they could. The room was once more filled with the sounds of their stomach churning and glurging, as well as vague crushing sounds, as their gut worked on the White Lady. Her shouts for help from the Pale King were swallowed up by churning warbles, and as Hollow repeatedly pressed in and clenched their gut, they found her already beginning to break down, which was an encouraging sign.

They stood up tall, and grasped their gut with both hands, before beginning to push in as hard as they could. The churnging and gurgling of their stomach reached a fever pitch as the White Lady was rapidly gurgled, her body crushed and digested faster than any previous bug had been in by them. Their stomach continued shrinking as they pressed in, the sounds in there growing increasingly dire as the poor White Lady was melted. She stubbornly held on, shouting something that Hollow didn’t bother listening to. They didn’t have time for this!

Out of time, Hollow clenched their gut as hard as they could, and a crushing sound filled the room as the White Lady was pulped, finally ready to be turned into fat. What was left of her was swiftly churned down into thick gutsludge as Hollow continued pressing in, feeling their guts working hard to pump and suck all of that delicious chyme from their stomach and process it into weight.

Glorping what was left of their Mother away, Hollow felt all of their curves swell significantly. They would take all of their beauty and make it their own. The Pure Vessel backed up, and admired themselves as they grew. Posing, they put a hand on their hips as they took all of the White Lady in, growing to be twice her size, large enough that they’d have to break down any set of double doors just to get through them.

Turning, they admired their thighs, each one wide as the White Lady had been now, and together big enough that they looked like the Fertility Goddess instead of her. And of course, there was their rear, which had benefited greatly from her contributions. It was now so huge that their cloak couldn’t even cover it, and it instead came to a rest atop those great globes. As they moved back to where they began, clearing the paltry plates as they went, Hollow held their stomach, big enough not to be used as their own bed. Some part of them was aware that this had crossed the line, and that there’d be no way to hide all of this now. The rest of themselves, the part that admired their new body, didn’t care.

They got back into position just as the King walked back into the room. He hardly seemed surprised this time as he came back, as if this had been expected. When he gazed at Hollow, his eyes were wide and shocked for a moment, but then he composed himself, like he’d been telling himself it was going to happen this exact way, and now he had to just let things play themselves out.

“I see they’ve all run off again,” he said, wondering how he was going to get his massive Vessel out of the room without breaking everything. “I see you’ve made quite the impression on the citizens of Hallownest tonight.”

Hollow stood still as they could again, sensing the subtext of the King’s words. Of course, he wasn’t that stupid. He was going to see through it all eventually.

“Though, I say this might be for the best,” he said, looking at Hollow and gazing at their curves for a few moments more than was necessary. “In more ways than one.”

This was what shocked the Pure Vessel out of their stillness. They gazed at the King, shocked. Really? After going behind his back and eating so many, he wasn’t going to turn on them? Had he… expected this? Was this a contingency plan of some kind?

“Oh there’s no need to worry, my Vessel,” he said. “I know about your secret - and I’m even willing to overlook all of the feasting you’ve been doing! Including what you did to the White Lady, who I must say looks quite dashing in her new looks. Because you know what I think?”

Hollow shook their head, mystified.

“I think there’s more than one way to seal the Light away,” the King said with a giggle, patting Hollow’s stomach.

Please login to post a comment.

No comments yet, make a comment please