A/N: I wrote this in one evening, felt like it, and didn't feel like fussing over it for ages and ages. So have this. I have been searching for a Brute centric fic FOREVER, and now I just wrote one myself. Of course I am open to criticism, so fire up your crit-cannons!
High screeches from my body resound through the long corridors as I patrol the dark corridors. The darkness is everlasting, and the prisoners more quiet than ever before. For what purpose my Master sends me to murder a man, I don't know. I have wondered, and I have forgotten to care. A sudden roar rumbles through the castle, and I almost lose my footing, my blade waving through the air as I try to keep my balance.
A strange soft flesh forms beneath the soles of my feet, and I quickly pull my foot away from the offender. It has been like this the entire day, maybe even longer. Ever since our Master descended into the Inner sanctum, the castle has been shaking uncontrollably, red tissue spreading across the entire castle. I don't know what to think of it, and I don't particularly care.
A sound catches my ear, and I swivel around, blade at the ready. Who was I looking for again? Dee...do...Damien? Daniel? Well... His name doesn't matter. All I know is that my blade needs to cut into him until my Master tells me to stop.
I start walking again. Wasn't I looking for someone just now? I bring my hand to my face and let out a hollow groan, my ever present headache distracting me from the soft shuffling behind me. Maybe I will go to the sewers next, the cool water always helps against my headache...
Something falls over and a terrified gasp resounds from behind me. I don't even have to look to know that he is right behind me. With a snarl I turn around, the sharp edge of my blade missing the cowering man by inches and cutting into the wood of a fallen chair.
With a groan I pull my blade out of the wood, and start to chase after the whimpering mess running through the dungeons. He runs fast, but I run faster. I can hear high pitches moans of fear tangle in with panicked wheezes as I almost come close enough to strike him.
With a grunt I swing my blade at him, and this time I hit. I can hear him choke on his breath as my blade slices deeply into his right arm, but the battle is not over yet. Pale as a ghost, the one I chase lets himself fall into a nearby room, slamming the door shut in my face. I stumble backwards for a moment, rage coming to a boil as I feel a small trail of blood tickle from between my lopsided teeth and flesh foils.
With a bellow of rage I hack through the door in a single it, splinters and wood flying around the room as I storm in, ready to maul the fool that disturbed me. It's empty. An empty bed, a bookcase and loose rocks are all that greet me as I look into the tiny chamber.
I lower my blade, squinting into the dark with my single eye and stumbling around the small room in an attempt to find the one my Master wants. Where... how... where did he go? I let out a frustrated groan and lean my aching head in my non-bladed hand. I'm so tired... Where was my next patrol located again?... Ah yes... the sewers. Nice, cool waters, and calming surroundings.
If the man is not here, he must already be at the sewers! I grumble at myself, and after a last look through the small chamber I start making my way towards the sewers.
I fumble with the door, wishing it was not fortified with steel so that I could just smash it to pieces like any other door, but alas, such is life in Brennenburg.
I let out a long pleasured moan as the sewer water envelops my feet, and I splash some water on my face, feeling it drip down the gaping wound in my face and past my teeth. I stand idly in the sewers for a moment, having momentarily forgotten what I came to do, and enjoying the pleasant water too much to try and remember.
What are you doing, you fool! Daniel is coming closer! Stop him! He must not reach the Inner sanctum!
My master's voice cuts through my brain like a stab from a knife, and I groan as my headache gets worse with every word spoken.
Do not fail me again! Go stand guard by the exit of the sewers before the other servant activates the watermill, and do NOT leave your post!
I nod my head, though I know my Master cannot see me, and I splash through the sewer waters as fast as my legs can carry me. I duck beneath the watermill's blades, and my armor creaks and moans in protest, tearing large gashes into my flesh. Well. I know what I'll likely never doing again!
I feel so tired, but I cannot halt and rest. My Master's punishments are terrible, and lately he has only become more merciless in executing them. I do not want to end up like a lesser one, kept in a dungeon and pained until even screams stopped coming... No. I'd rather endure an endless headache while standing in a pool of cold water for hours and hours on end.
And that is exactly what I do. Second stretch to minutes, and minutes stretch to hours. It's excruciatingly boring, but I don't move a muscle.
The watermill comes to a halt with a loud clang, and I'm immediately on high alert. My legs twitch, and I ache to move again, but I stay rooted to the ground. He will have to pass by me if he wants to make it to the Inner Sanctuary anyway. There is no need for me to come to him. And I'm not about to let him pass! I vaguely remember him doing something to me... What was it again... A door?... Or was it a chair?... It does not matter. If he comes close, I will obliterate him. And then I can rest again. Cool my aching head and just... rest...
I slowly drift off again in idle thoughts, and I don't notice the soft sloshing of water from my right side slowly retreating.
What DOES catch my attention, is a loud splash from my left. For a split moment I'm in doubt. Which order was more important? Killing, or keeping guard? Killing or keeping guard?
KILL HIM! YOU FOOL! KILL HIM!
My master voice booms through my head and I break into a hurried dash through the water, not wanting to incur my master's wrath. I round the corner, blade raised, and hear splashing footsteps coming from where I stood guards just a moment ago.
I turn, and charge, chasing the man with all I have. No! He cannot go through that door! I'm too late. The door is thrown closed right in front of me and my blade hacks into the red cushioning of the door. I raise my arm to smash the door into pieces like I have done so many times before, but a terrifying roar once again shakes the castle, and before my very eyes, the red cushioning covering the door is joined by pulsating red meat.
NO! YOU LET HIM ESCAPE! YOU FOOL!
I cringe at my Master's scream of rage, and hack at the red tissue covering the door in an attempt to right my terrible mistake. The red does not yield, not even under my most powerful of slashes, and at the end I find myself completely exhausted and not a single step further, but I still do not stop.
I cannot abandon my orders! I cannot! My Master knows the ways of agony, and I do not want him to demonstrate it on me!
I return to hacking away at the red stuff, my own roars joining the earth-shaking rumbles that accompany the red. Once again seconds stretch into hours, and everything has quieted down. The mill is quiet, the water no longer flows and the roaring is only a faint rumble from far away. I do not hear my master. I know he is present, for even his silence has a voice, but he does not give orders, nor does he scold me. My slashes have long since become mere weak scrapings over the red flesh, and I can feel the muscles in my legs strain from retaining balance on the wobbling red tissue. How long have I been standing here again, bashing against the unyielding door? …
The castle trembles beneath my feet, and further into the castle I can hear that strange roaring again. A string of red tissue tries to wrap itself around my feet, and I stumble backwards, landing on a large patch of red meat, feeling it latch onto my skin at a frightening rate.
I jump up with a groan of pain as the red stuff claims a patch of my skin. I moan tiredly, and start making my way to the door again, not yet willing to give up on my master's orders.
Just as I am about to continue my fight with the unyielding red flesh, the most shaking roar as of yet shakes the entire castle. Rocks tumble down and splash into the water, the red meat pulsating wildly and glowing eerily.
My head seems to split in two for the second time in my life as my Master screeches out a terrible sound that becomes less and less human the longer it stretches on. Can feel the red creeping over my legs and torso as I writhe on the ground, rocks and stones pummeling me, and my Master's screaming crippling my mind.
And then, all of a sudden, all of it is gone.
The rumbling stops, my master's voice is gone, the ceiling only rains fine sand, and the red tissue wilts away before my very eye. I can hear the water start streaming again, almost hesitantly in its proportions, and I slowly stand up, head still aching and fingers shaking.
What does this mean?
I whimper quietly. Master? Master do you hear me? What do you need me to do? He is not present. The voice that I have heard ever since I came into this world has gone to where I can't follow.
What do I do?
I charge at the now flesh-less door, and obliterate it in a single hit, coming face-to-face with the remains of a ladder hanging several meters above me. A dead end.
I let out a large bellow once again, and I turn around, running at the sewer's exit. There is nowhere else to go but up back the way I came. I do not see my kin, and even the water dwellers that usually growl throughout the whole day are deathly silent. Door after door goes down by my blade, each room looking more disheveled by corpses and the remains of the red meat. I find some of my kin lying dead and silent under a layer of disintegrating red flesh, or torn apart in small pieces, but none are alive.
Debris lies everywhere, but the way to the surface is strangely untouched besides the red flesh lying about. My run slows into a half-jogging walk as I stumble towards what hope is salvation. It's a part of the castle I haven't been to before, on the same level as the ground, with a huge door leading to what I think must be the outside.
Outside.
Relief floods through me as realization comes to me. Master needs more prisoners! As long as Master does not change his orders, we will follow the old ones! The schedule! He'll have to come back once there are more prisoners, that speaks for itself! I walk to the door, pull it open and flinch back at the harsh sunlight assaulting my one eye.
So bright, almost painfully so! That's not right... Not the right time to find what the Master seeks... What is right then? I patiently wait for my Master to answer, but my head remains quiet.
I stand still and stare at the path outside. Waiting. Waiting... No, hold on. Why am I waiting? For wha purpose? The answer is silence. The sun is feels pleasant on my skin, and the fresh breeze rolling in from outside is like soft fabric stroking over the side of my head... I let out a long sigh, that for once doesn't echo back to me, and instead floats through the forest idly. Free.
Master always ordered us to stay inside during the day, but the urge to go outside is too great. I hesitate, set a single trembling foot outside the door, feel hot gravel beneath the soles of my feet... and then... I'm unstoppable. The voice of my master is but a vague memory of a voice lingering in the depths of my mind as the fresh breeze strokes over my whole body, blowing away my thoughts and worries. I break into a run, letting out a long cry as I experience the outside world for the first time in my existence.
Brennenburg slowly disappears behind the treetops as I venture further and further into the forest. My legs ache, and I slow down to stand on the path, simply enjoying my surroundings as the only hobby I ever truly had.
What am I doing here?
No voice reminds me of my purpose. The path stretches out before me, curling around the hundreds of trees littering the forest. A red splotch in the middle of vibrant green catches my attention, and I walk into the forest. Each discovery brings upon many, many more undiscovered mysteries lying just out of sight, and I wander through the forest in wonder and awe, a thousand questions running through my mind at each sighting.
I stand still as I reach the edge of the forest, and find a small carriage standing by the hobbling path. A man sits besides it, peacefully looking at the sky.
A long stretched moan slips from my throat, and a pair of eyes stares me right in the face. A mouth stretches open in a wide scream, and my blade shimmers in the sunlight as I raise it above my head. I am forgetful of many things, but a bloodied blade works better as a reminder to what my purpose is than one would think.