The Soul-Warden
Chapter 2 – Introductions
Ardias stared up at the stranger who had saved the lives of his men and himself. The stranger turned to face Ardias. He had emerald green eyes, a kind face and looked like he was in his mid-twenties. He only looked at Ardias when he saw Ardias gawking at him.
"Are you real or just a figment of my imagination?" Ardias though out load.
"Who are you talking to?" Marcus asked.
"That man over there." Ardias replied pointing towards the stranger.
"Ardias there's no-one there." Marcus replied with a little bit of concern in his voice.
"Wait, you can't see him?" Ardias asked as he returned to his feet. Before he could get an answer, the stranger beckoned him to follow him as he walk away. "I'll be back in a minute. In the meantime, Marcus round up all those who are still alive and get them back to the keep. I'll meet you there soon."
"Where are you going sir?" Christopher asked.
"To get some answers." Ardias replied. He began to walk off after the stranger.
After they were some distance away from the battle field the stranger turned to him and spoke. ""You are the first person that I've met in this world who has been able to see me. That is most curious." The stranger said.
"So, judging by what you just said, does that mean you're a spirit?" Ardias asked.
"In a sense. My name is Gakorou Hanzo and I am a Shinigami."
A puzzled look appeared on Ardias's face. "A what now?"
"Ah, I've encounter my first problem. Dialog with the locals. How should I put this." Gakorou brought his finger and thumb to his chin and tried to think of how to explain. "Basically, I'm what you could call a Soul Reaper."
"You may have to explain yourself further Spirit." Ardias replied, hand reaching for his blade.
"I mean you no harm." Gakorou responded, also reaching for his own weapon, which took the form of a combat knife. "My job is to protect the souls of those who have died from evil souls, like that one you saw moments ago, called Hollows and escort them to the Seir… the Soul Society."
"I don't know what sort of spirit you are, but the Chantry has never taught about Soul Reapers or any Soul Society. The Maker protects." Ardias replied angrily, hand almost around the handle of his blade. "But they also don't teach of these hollow monster you speak of, yet I saw one with my own eyes." He lowered his arm to his side. "Speak quickly, I must return to my men as soon as possible."
"Thank you." Gakorou lowered his hand also. "The reason why this Chantry that you speak of doesn't talk about us is because we are not from your world." Gakorou began to explain how a batch of Hollows had entered into Ardias's world and how he had followed them. He said that he'd been here for a few days now and had managed to find and purify three of the hollows, including the one that attacked him.
"So, what does any of this have to do with me?" Ardias finally asked after Gakorou had finished.
"These Hollows seem to be attracted to those, Dawkspawn I think you called them, but why I'm not sure. All I know is today was the first incident that I've experienced when they went after living people, such as you and your men."
"I think I can answer that." Ardias replied. "My men and I are Grey Wardens. Basically we're the same as the Dawkspawn, only our job is to stop them from destroying our home. We have taken in the Dawkspawn taint and have not turned. This gives us the ability to sense Dawkspawn and we're the only ones who can kill their leader during an event called The Blight, the Archdemon. However, becoming a Grey Warden is a death sentence as the taint inside us will eventually kill us. That's probably why that Hollow attacked me and my men. It was hunting the Dawkspawn that we killed, sensed the taint inside us and attacked us. That's when you came and killed it."
"I guess that makes sense." Gakorou responded. "From what I can tell, this taint kills any who consume it, whether it's straight away or after a few years. That explains this strange spiritual pressure that I feel emanating off you and those Dawkspawn."
"If these things are after my men and the Dawkspawn, what will be your next course of action? Ardias asked.
"I'll go back to hunting the Hollows down. Once I'm done, I'll be leaving." And with that he began to walk away.
"Wouldn't it be easier to wait for the Hollows to come to you?" Ardias suggested, stopping Gakorou in his tracks.
"What do you mean?"
"If they're attacking both Dawkspawn and Grey Wardens then just wait for them to attack us. If they attack the Dawkspawn, they'll most likely kill them, meaning that there's less for my men and I to deal with. From time to time, most likely during a Dawkspawn attack, they might come after us. Then you can strike them down with one swing of your…" He stopped when he saw Gakorou's weapon. He started to snigger.
"Shut it." Gakorou responded.
"But it's sooooo tiny!" Ardias said inbetween giggles.
"I said shut it." Gakorou repeated.
"But look at it! It is sooo small! I bet it's funny to miss." Before Ardias could make another comment, Gakorou had drawn his blade and pointed it at Ardias.
"Do you want me to cut you?" He shouted, causing Ardias to snap out of his giggling fit.
"Sorry. As I was saying, you could wait for them to come to us, then strike them all down in one attack, or as many attempts as it takes."
"I don't know." Gakorou shrugged. "It might take too long."
"Well, if that's the way you feel, I won't stop you." He turned and began to walk away. "Though, I thought it would have made more sense to rest and wait in the laps of luxury for them to attack us rather than go out and attack them when you have a half-ass idea of where you are."
"Wait a minute. What's this about "laps of luxury"?" Gakorou asked. Ardias stopped walking and a large grin appeared on Ardias's face, though Gakorou couldn't see it.
"Didn't I mention, we're staying at our newly rebuild castle in this region, near the ruins of Ostagar, with servants, especially many fine young maidens, on hand to fulfil any requests my lieutenants and I have. I though you would have liked that? But if you want to go dancing in the cold, damp, dark woods, be my guest." He continued to walk away.
"Wait, I've changed my mind. I'll stay with you and your men, if the offers still open."
"Of course it's still open!" Ardias replied. (Knew I could get him to join me) He thought out load.
"What did you say?"
"Oh, nothing. But before you can follow me back to the castle, you might want to change into something a little more…fleshy."
Gakorou looked down at his body and nodded. "Yeah, good point. I'll be back in a minute." And with that he disappeared behind a bush. After half an hour he reappeared, only now he wore ropes found some Chasind. "How do I look?" He asked.
"To be honest, you look the same as you did before hand." Ardias admitted, though he could sense that something was different. He looked heavier than he did a few minutes before hand.
"Good. I'm glad that I brought my Gigai with me." Gakorou smirked before glancing at Ardias who, once again, had a confused look on his face.
"Huh?"
"Basically I used a device called a Gigai, which is basically a fake body that we soul reapers can use to interact with humans who can't see us in our spirit forms. It also conceals my spiritual pressure, meaning that the Hollows that I am after won't be able to detect me, allowing me to easily hunt them down and kill them when they appear."
"Ah huh, and where did you get the ropes from?" Ardias asked before picking up a strange smell coming from the garments and dreading to know the answer.
"I found them not too far from here. I'm sure that he won't mind me taking them."
"Ah man, you stole the clothes of a dead man?"
"What? No, of course not! He had plenty of others for sale."
"So you stole it from a merchant. Right, that makes sense, there has to be a settlement around here, though that doesn't explain the smell."
"Yeah, I fell in something on my way back here."
"Oh, well we can get that cleaned up when we get back to the keep. I've been gone long enough, my men will be wondering where I am. We can talk more after we've had a bite to eat, and you can explain more about these hollows and soul reapers you were talking about." Ardias began to walk away and beckoned Gakorou to follow him.
And so begins out tale of a Grey Warden and a Soul Reaper that will span, not only in this world, but also the next.