I know it's totally opposite of the romance I normally write, but I really wanted to do this. Read and review! I really appreciate the support!
Can disembodied heads sleep? Because this one can apparently.
Days were going by quickly. So quickly that the head of the once proud man realized it had been much longer than a couple days. By now it had been several years, just sitting there, unable to move or do anything. It wasn't uncommon to have strange visions of his body, still alive and roaming around, headless. He was locked in a room somewhere, he did not know where, but the room was rather spacious and had a bonfire in the middle. It was almost as if he couldn't find his way out, even though somehow he had gotten in.
On the days it was warm and sunny it wasn't to bad, but it was awfully boring. On the cold and wet days it was particularly miserable, though he managed to get through them all. Spending all his days staring at the boring rocks and grass, wondering what had become of the kingdom and the rest of the soldiers, he had really managed to calm down.
The first few days were frightening, not knowing what would become of him, or his body. Now, he couldn't really care less what happened to his body, as long as it stayed quiet and peaceful here. No one ever came by, only perhaps a small bird that would stop by and pick at the ground every now and then.
Today, however, was different. Today, there was a visitor. A human visitor. The figure came toward the small clearing, almost limping and panting heavily. He stared wide eyed as the knight in the light minty green armor fell to his knees in the middle of the clearing, directly in front of him. The stench of blood was very strong on him. Vengarl stared for a moment, until the knight finally stood and sheathed his weapon.
"Leave me be. I like it quiet, leave me be." Vengarl growled, startling the knight.
The tall man jumped, quickly drawing his sword once more. He looked around, unsure of where the voice had come from.
"What business do you have here, traveler?" He spoke up again, and the knight looked down at the pile of rubble his head rested on.
"Y-You- A-are you stuck? D-di you get buried right there? Do you need help?" The knight in the green armor didn't sound like a threat at all.
He sounded young and naive, most certainly not like any sort of threat. After another second, he sheathed his sword and kneeled down.
"No, I do not need help. I am not buried here." Vengarl answered, though he wished was only buried here for a moment.
"What? Then…" The knight stood again. "Are you just a head? How are you still alive? How are you speaking to me?"
Vengarl answered his questions, and as he spoke he realized something. There was someone here, and they were speaking to him. He wasn't alone anymore, and after being here for so long, he had grown quite lonely. It had been more than an hour before he noticed that he had just been talking and talking, mostly about the wars he had been in and warning the young traveler of his body.
The knight seemed interested, and he sat there and listened the whole time. He had sat down in front of the pile of rubble and removed his helm, setting it beside him. He looked a lot older than he sounded. He had quite a strong jaw, and a small patch of hair grew on his chin. His eyes were icy blue, close to the color of his armor, but his hair was fiery red and all pushed back. A peculiar teal pendant hung from his neck. He looked happy and content listening to Vengarl talk about all his past wars and what he spent his time thinking of.
The knight had introduced himself as Kieran, and told him all he knew about why he was here and how he happened upon the small clearing. He didn't have much to speak of, so he let Vengarl continue to talk. Soon he stretched and stood.
"I'm sorry, but I've got to go, I have to keep on my quest…" Kieran picked up his helmet as he looked down at Vengarl.
"Farwell. I will retire to my silence." Kieran felt rather disheartened as he heard the unmistakable sadness in the other's voice.
"Hey, I promise I'll come visit you as soon as I'm done here in the Shaded Woods. Before I leave I'll come and talk to you again." The knight placed his helm back on his head. "Okay?"
Vengarl stared up at him for a moment, before agreeing to his offer. He wondered how long Kieran would be gone, and wondered if he would be okay on his journey. He didn't really seem very capable of taking care of himself, as half the things he told Vengarl about were how he had to run away from almost everything he encountered.
Vengarl watched the knight leave the clearing and soon disappear into the misty woods. He was alone once again.
It was almost four days before Kieran had returned. Vengarl had given up hope that the knight would come back, and just tried to forget that he had promised that. Vengarl had managed to fall asleep after being awake all night, staring up at what he could see of the sky past his helm. It had been clear that night, so he spent it watching the stars, something he couldn't do often, since the mist almost never burnt away.
It was the new, sudden smell of flowers that woke Vengarl. Flowers didn't grow around the ruins where his head lie, and it had never smelt of flowers here before. His eyes opened slowly to see pink, white and lavender flower petals scattered around everywhere, mostly on the pile of rubble he sat on. It was confusing, to say the least.
The smell of the flowers blocked out most other scents, though he couldn't say he really minded it all that much. It was better than the smell of the rocks and skulls that had been here for ages. He looked around. Nobody was in the clearing that he could see. So now there were mysteriously flowers everywhere, and Kieran had completely forgotten about him.
He sighed and looked down at the broken tiles on the ground. It was then that he heard footsteps, and then a, now familiar, voice.
"Oh, you're awake!" He looked over in shock to see the knight in the minty armor come back, smiling happily and holding his helmet in one hand and a branch in the other. "I hope you don't mind the flowers, I had just found a whole bunch of them, and I didn't know what to do with them, so I set them around here."
The knight plopped down on the ground, setting the branch down as well. As he sat the flower petals near him were whisked up into the air. He chuckled and watched them fall back down. Kieran set the branch aside, which Vengarl could smell from where he was, even though he had set the branch quite a ways away. It seemed as though the smell was to much for him.
"I had started to think you forgot," Vengarl admit quietly.
"What?! No, never!" Kieran laughed light heartedly. "I just took a while, sorry. But I met this really cool guy, who was half scorpion! He gave me this branch and a really cool looking ring, and he even helped me fight this other scorpion lady. He was really nice, but he seemed very sad. Kind of like you."
Vengarl looked down. Did he really seem that depressed?
"No offense, or anything, it's just you look really sad a lot of the time." The knight looked worried he had offended Vengarl.
"I am not offended." He reassured the knight.
"Oh, good." Kieran sighed in relief.
They sat and talked again, until the sun had started setting and Kieran started falling asleep. It was nice to finally have someone friendly back. Kieran had quite a lot to talk about this time, and he told Vengarl all about everything that he did. He told the once proud warrior about how he was exploring up above and he came to a cliff where he could see this place, and Vengarl, and really wanted to come down here. After that he had finished exploring the area and came back here as soon as possible.
While Vengarl was asking him about the things he found, Kieran sat and laced many of the flowers together. He sat up and placed the crown of flowers on the top of Vengarl's helm, then sat back and smiled happily. He seemed very proud of himself for it as well. Having it there didn't bother Vengarl any, he actually kind of enjoyed that Kieran had made it for him.
"So… I told Tark, the scorpion guy I told you about, about you. He said that you seem interesting." Kieran nodded a little as he spoke.
Vengarl didn't reply, just looked at Kieran contentedly.
"You know, I could take you with me. I'm sure you wouldn't be very heavy." The knight's comment caught Vengarl off guard.
"What?" He had to ask.
"I could take you with me, if you wanted. You know, since I'm sure just sitting there is really boring." Kieran adjusted his position so he was sitting on his knees. "I go to a lot of different places; maybe we'd even find your body."
"No, I-I wish to stay here." Vengarl looked down as he spoke.
Though leaving this place would be wonderful, he didn't want to meet his body again, and he didn't want to have to burden Kieran with carrying him around.
"Oh… Well, if you ever change your mind, I'd be plenty happy to take you with me." Kieran shrugged, even though he seemed disheartened.
It was quite dark now, and Kieran was obviously very tired. He sat back once more and leaned back against the pile of rubble. He looked up at the sky, even though he couldn't quite see it through the mist. The knight didn't say anything else, just kept quiet and looked at the misty sky. Vengarl watched Kieran for a little while, wondering why he was suddenly so quiet.
Finally, Kieran spoke up. "I feel really bad for you…"
Vengarl didn't reply. He just stared in shock at Kieran. Why? Kieran sat up and turned around. He was holding a small, black sprite in one hand. He looked to be made from small roots, but Vengarl was fairly certain it wasn't. Kieran moved a little closer.
"It's my last one, but I want you to have it." The knight held out the effigy.
"No, I would have no use for it, you need it much more than I do. Keep it." The warrior denied him.
"I don't care if you want it or not, it's for you." Kieran stood up and leaned over.
Vengarl watched in confusion as the knight's gloved hands reached down and carefully lifted his head off the pile of rubble. Kieran sat down once more and placed his head there in his lap. Vengarl looked up at Kieran in confusion. The knight placed the effigy on the top of his helm, and a sudden, but warm feeling came over him.
Once he opened his eyes again, he saw Kieran smiling at him. He had used the human effigy on him, and from what he felt, he was human again. He felt lighter; he didn't feel like he was slowly dying anymore. It didn't feel as if his own skin was just simply rotting away. Kieran didn't say any more, and picked him up again.
A warm blush came across the warrior's cheeks as Kieran cradled his head between his arms and chest. Nothing more was said as Kieran slowly fell asleep, holding his head. It was a very strange feeling, to be held like that. It was rather warm there in Kieran's arms, but it was a different kind of warm. Not the kind he felt when the sun broke through the mist, but the kind that meant there was someone there with him. The kind that meant he wasn't alone anymore.
Morning seemed to come extremely fast, and soon Kieran was mumbling something about the light getting in his eyes and Vengarl felt the knight's arms tighten around his head. He looked up at the red-haired knight expecting him to be up, but he wasn't quite awake yet. It took a couple more minutes before he was even opening his eyes.
Vengarl looked up at him as he stretched again and used one hand to block the faint sunlight from getting in his eyes any more. He looked down at the head in his arms.
"You're already awake?" Kieran sounded very tired still.
"I never fell asleep." Vengarl answered.
"Oh… It's because I'm holding you, isn't it?" The knight's face twisted in sadness.
"No." The warrior replied. "It was not because of you."
"Good." Kieran sighed and sat up carefully. "I have to go very soon though… But I'll tell you what. I'll come and visit you every other day, so you don't get lonely again."
Kieran lifted his head so they were eye level with each other. It was strange to actually make direct eye contact with someone after so long. Kieran stared at him for a second longer, but then smiled happily. For some reason, the warrior felt his cheeks heat again.
"How did you get that scar?" Kieran asked, looking at the long scar that crossed his entire face, starting from just above his right eye and stretched across diagonally to the other side of his face.
"Just in battle," Vengarl answered, breaking their eye contact in hopes he would stop blushing.
"Oh, well I guess I should have been able to guess that." Kieran scoffed at himself.
They talked for a short while, the whole time Kieran held onto his head and placed small flowers on his helm. Kieran told him that he was on his way to a place called Brightstone Cove Tseldora, and that he had a friend who lived there who was being hunted down by a murderer. Kieran told him that he planned on helping his friend, who he had said was named Pate, fight off this murderer.
The knight said that he met this man who was hunting down Pate here just before the woods, but hasn't seen him since. Vengarl didn't recall ever seeing someone besides Kieran here in the woods, so the man must not have come to this side of the woods.
After speaking of his friend, Kieran stood up and held Vengarl's head with one arm. The head of the warrior watched as Kieran pulled a decent sized red cloth from the pack he carried with him. He set it down in the rubble where Vengarl had been resting before.
"Here, that will be more comfortable, I'm sure." Kieran carefully set Vengarl back down where he had been before and stood upright. "I'm sorry I have to go again, but I promise you I'll come visit every other day." Kieran knelt down.
"Thank you, Kieran. For all you have done for me. I know it has not been much, but it means quite a lot to me." Vengarl received a small smile in return.
"I'm glad I could help. No body deserves to suffer. No body." Kieran brushed the flower petals off his beast-like helm as he spoke.
Vengarl wanted to thank him again, over and over again. He felt a lot of gratitude toward the knight now, and wished he had some way to repay him. Though somehow he knew Kieran didn't mind there was nothing he could do. He watched the knight pick up his helm and put it back on.
"Well… I'll see you in a couple days." The knight made sure his sword was securely fastened to his belt before turning and looking into the misty trees.
"Farewell. May we meet again, sometime soon." Vengarl couldn't see his face, but he was certain that Kieran was smiling.
It had been two days now. Today was the day Kieran was supposed to come visit. So, Vengarl waited patiently for Kieran to show up. He knew it could take him a little while to show up, so he wasn't to worried that he hadn't shown yet. But soon it was drawing near sunset, and Kieran hadn't shown up.
Vengarl sighed. Kieran was late last time; maybe he would be late this time as well. He didn't know how far away Tseldora was, so maybe he was still on his way here. He stayed awake all through the night, hoping Kieran would show up. The sun started rising when Vengarl realized he was to tired to stay awake any longer. He let himself fall asleep, hoping that Kieran would be there when he woke up.
When he woke he was disappointed to find that Kieran wasn't there. So, since there wasn't really anything else he could do, he continued to wait. Eventually, after about a week of patiently waiting, he decided to push Kieran and how he was supposed to visit to the back of his mind. He sat and stared with half closed eyes at what he could see of the red cloth Kieran left.
Once again, he was left alone. Left there to be forgotten. That week turned into a month, and the whole time Vengarl kept finding himself looking over excitedly at the entrance to the ruins when there was ever any movement. It was never Kieran though, and no matter how much he wished he would show, he never did.
Vengarl sat and watched the flower petals wilt and die, and with them his fond thoughts and memories of Kieran wilted and died as well. There wasn't anything else he could do, but sit and watch. Soon enough, all the flowers and their petals that Kieran had brought had died and were blown away, leaving him there with only the cloth and his memories of the knight to comfort him.
There his head sat once more, forgotten. He didn't have a heart to be able to say that it felt cold and twisted in sadness, but those feelings certainly were there, and he certainly felt them. More time passed, more months went by, and each one seemed to go on for eons. Everything slowed down and seemed so empty. The cloth he sat on had lost the scent of the knight long ago, and now almost held no special value to him. It was now just a cloth that was left there.
No matter how hard he tried to forget about the kind knight, the memories of him stayed fresh in his mind. He remembered how happy he had felt when Kieran fell asleep holding him, and how kind it was of the knight to bring him all the flowers. Vengarl tried so very hard to keep those thoughts away, but they stayed. He managed to keep them in the back of his mind, but they were still there, and they were still strong and meaningful.
Finally, after seven months passed, there were footsteps heard in the woods. Vengarl looked over at the entrance to the ruins in hope. Please be Kieran, please. He thought frantically. He knew that if it were Kieran, he would probably lose it and maybe even cry, but he was horribly disheartened as a tall, slender man wearing brown leather armor walked into the clearing.
This man stopped just at the circular ruin and scanned the area. His amber eyes rested on Vengarl and the pile of rubble he sat in. The man was holding a large, black greatshield and a spear, but also had something else with him. Something that Vengarl recognized immediately.
"Are you Vengarl?" The man's voice was surprisingly comforting and he sounded like a kind and trustworthy person.
"Where did you get that pendant?" Vengarl snapped, knowing full well that it was Kieran's.
"Yes, you must be. My name is Pate, and your friend, Kieran, gave this to me." Pate walked over with the pendant in his hand.
"What happened to Kieran? Where is he?"
Why had Kieran given this man his pendant? And why hasn't Kieran come to visit him?
"Kieran gave me his pendant to do something with it, but unfortunately he… Well, he never quite managed to tell me." Pate looked at the pendant's teal gem. "But I thought you might want it, since it was his. It's not like you'll ever see him again, anyways."
The man's last words shocked Vengarl. What did he mean by that? Did something happen to Kieran?
"What happened? Is Kieran hurt?" The warrior's head demanded frantically.
The man dropped the pendant in front of Vengarl's face. "Worried about your friend? Well I hate to tell you that poor little Kieran is dead. It's a shame he had to intervene in our fight, really. He didn't stand a chance against both of us. Yes, poor little Kieran indeed."
Vengarl looked at the pendant, then to Pate in horror. Kieran was really dead? And he killed him?! Kieran had said that this man was his friend, what happened that this man turned on him like that? A great overwhelming sadness came over Vengarl, thinking that he would never see Kieran again.
"That pendant is worthless, so I figure I'd just give it to you. You seem like you needed a little something more to remember him by." The man chuckled and left, leaving him there alone.
Vengarl looked down at the pendant. The aqua gem in the middle was chipped, but it didn't look to be in to bad of condition. He just kept staring at it in sadness. Kieran was really gone, and he was really alone again. He would never see the kind knight smile at him, he wouldn't bring anymore nice smelling flowers, and there would be no more nights being held while he slept. He would just stay here in silence, remembering that man for the rest of his days. Remembering that one man who brought him happiness.
Vengarl's eyes closed tightly, and for the first time in his life, he felt a warm tear slide down the side of his face.
The Faraam set is so fucking beautiful
And Kieran just kinda got those flowers from nowhere, since you don't really find any pretty flower places. So, he found a place with flowers and grabbed a whole bunch. Oh, and I called the 'Bearer of the Curse' Kieran because that's the name of my dude in DS2. Also his description in this one is what he looks like too.
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