Dialog Types:

"Dialog"

(Gough's thoughts )

Magic/Dreams/Memories

- Chapter 2 : A tale under the twin moons -

- Tristain's academy's west courtyard: night-

It was a peaceful night in Helkeginia. Nothing could be heard in the zone reserved for large familiars aside from the light breath of the sleeping animals and the sound of a "small" knife cutting wood.

Hawkeye Gough was enjoying the night's fresh air while making one of his famous carvings. The school's staff was so kind to give him some of the firewood used in the kitchens when he mentioned his hobby to his new master.

Yes, his new master. What an interesting girl she was. She had clearly a little bit too much pride, but aside from that she had been very kind to him since his arrival. Even if he suspected the reason was what the teacher told him. If a mages familiar symbolises his strength then nothing could beat summoning a giant, aside for a real dragon that is.

Thinking about the pinkette brought up another issue though. They spoke a bit after the summoning and something about this place made the giant uneasy.

They spoke a language similar to the one in Vinheim so he could communicate quite well, but that was all the similarities he could find. Even sorceries worked differently here. They were based around the basic elements like water, fire, wind and earth and there was no mention of the use of souls or crystals.

Also they not only didn't know about any of the countries he was familiar with, they did not know about Gwyn, the age of fire, the ancient dragons, the chaos of Izalith, the curse of the undead. All their history amounted to a man named Brimir that taught them magic six thousand years ago and founded the society that lasted to this day and everything before was just selvage land without written testimony.

All this was keeping him from sleeping so he decided to start carving as a way of relaxing, his bow resting on a large tree and him sitting next to it.

He stopped however when he heard a female voice "What are you making?".

"sir Gough, what are you making?"

"Nothing in particular my lady. Just a little something to pass the time."

"Lady Gwynevere?!" asked Gough standing up quickly.

The black haired maid stepped back frightened "Ah! I am sorry sir if I bothered you, but my name is Siesta. Please don't squash me!"

Heard her words the Knight calmed down (Of course she is not her. Lady Gwynevere is still in Lordran. Her voice has a similar tone full of kindness, but they are different. I guess my old age is catching up.) "I am sorry lady Siesta. I was only surprised as thine voice resembles one of a woman I know. I am sorry for my behaviour and be at ease as I am no threat to thee." He the seated down.

"N-no I should be the one to apologise. I-I came here curious about the giant man that was summoned and everyone was talking about. I noticed you carving something and spoke without thinking."

"Then let us forget this accident and start over. What does thou think?"

"Yes, that would be wonderful." She cleared her throat "My name is Siesta and I work as a maid for the academy."

"And I am known as Gough. It is a pleasure to meet thee lady Siesta. As for the question you asked me before I am making what in my land are called 'sound carvings'. They make a sound when they hit something."

"Really? Can I try one?"

"Off course! Here this one is finished." He give her one he made a couple of minutes ago. "Simply throw it on the ground. Not much strength is needed."

The girl did as he described and when a sound came out "HELLO!" Immediately she exploded in a fit of giggles. "I-I am sorry. I hope you don't feel insulted, b-but is is really funny and I c-can't stop."

"On the contrary I feel thine laughter as an achievement. Thou has a very worm and pleasant laugh." said the giant while smiling behind his helm.

The girl blushed at the knight's words "T-thank you! So you are a sculptor then?"

"No, it is but a mere hobby of mine. I am a knight and an archer as thou can see from my bow right next to me."

"Oh, a knight! I am sorry I didn't notice." said Siesta while bowing apologetically.

"There is no reason to apologise. I have been retired for a lot of years by now anyway. An old and blind archer would be of little help I am afraid."

The expression on the girl's face changed in on of sadness "That is terrible. If it is not inopportune could you tell me how it happened?"

"Not at all. It is quite simple actually. In my land there were those that viewed me as a brute for my kind's renowned lack of intellect. One day someone packed the holes of my helm with resin hindering my vision forever."

"Wait! Doesn't that mean that you could see if you just removed you helm?"

"Ah! that is not possible. This helm was crafted specifically for me. It is a gift from my lord and I swore on my honour as a knight that I would wear it proudly until my final breath. Removing it is like spitting on his grave!" That last part came out more angry than he anticipated and Siesta flinched slightly "I am sorry if I startled thee, I did not mean it."

"D-don't worry I am fine. Then what about removing the resin?"

"That is also difficult. The resin of the Royal Wood's trees becomes as hard as stone when dry. The only solution would be melting it, but the heat required would cook my head like a turkey." Added Gough laughing softly.

" I understand now. Thank you for sharing that. It is a difficult topic for you and I am sorry you had to think back at it because of my curiosity." Concluded Siesta with a bow.

Gough spent a minute thinking before saying "Then, Thou can make up for it by doing me a favour."

"Yes, I'll be happy to help. What is it?"

"Can thou describe me how the sky is tonight? As you know I can't see it."

Siesta smiled and responded with a kind voice "Of course. There are no clouds in the sky, the stars are brighter than ever and the moons shine with their red and blue lights bathing the school in a soft and relaxing atmosphere."

The giant raised his head as if looking up and pictured the sky inside his head "Yes, a really pleasant night indeed." he paused for a couple of seconds " Wait a moment! Did thou just say moons?"

The maid was confused by the question "Yes. The two moons that have been in the sky since the dawn of time. Why?"

"Well, in my land there has always been only one moon, not even of the same colour as the ones you describe. It is not like I don't believe thee. On the contrary I think thou helped me figure out a lot of things that have worried me since my arrival. It seems I came here from a different world entirely. I thank thee!"

Once again Siesta blushed "Y-you are welcome! You know my real mother also talked about being form a world with only one moon."

the giant raised an eyebrow at that "Interesting! Is thou willing to enlighten me about it?"

"Yes, I see no problem with that." She took a moment to focus before beginning "You see, I grow up in a village named Tarbes, but it is not there I was born. One day My mother came to the tillage when I was just an infant. She had a strange illness nobody knew how to cure and she passed on some months after her arrival. I was adopted by a family of farmers that lived there. They sometimes told me about her. They said I have black hair like her, which is uncommon in this lands. They also spoke of how she kept telling them stories about the 'Other world' she was from, but they thought she was delirious."

"That is understandable. Is there something else thou knows about her?"

"Yes, in the time she spent in convalescence she wrote me a letter."

"What did it say?"

"Nobody knows. She explicitly said it was only for me to read. She also said I could not do it until I 'witnessed the power of Gwyn's miracles'. Nobody know what she meant or who this Gwyn is."

"I might be able to assist thee with that."

"What do you mean?" Asked a perplexed Siesta.

"I know of Gwyn more than anybody else in this world and some could say even in mine. If thou wishes it I could narrate to you his story. The story of the world both me and thine mother came from. Is thou interested?"

The girl couldn't believe what she just heard. Right here was one person who was related to her mother. For all her life she was filled with curiosity about her. She was glad for her foster parents love and the thing they taught her, but nobody could fill the void that her mother's death left inside her. Nobody until now. Knowing this the obvious answer came out of her mouth as fast as the tears out her eyes "Yes, please tell me everything you know."

And so Gough began to narrate the tale of Gwyn and his knight, of the age of fire and the end of the dragon kind, starting from the very beginning "In the Age of Ancients the world was unformed, shrouded by fog. A land of grey crags, Archtrees and Everlasting Dragons. But then there was Fire and with fire came disparity...".

- end chapter -

So, what do you think?

The chapter is a little bit shorter but I felt any other scene would brake the mood so I ended it there. I also changed my mind on the language difference.

I admit I took some liberties with Siesta back-story, mainly her mother being the one from another world instead of her grandfather. I also hope not everyone figures out what I have in mind for her before i make the reveal and if you think you do don't spoil it to anybody, OK? ;)

I also hope you like my take on Gough's blindness. I really think him smart enough to notice the resin in his helm, since he always seemed the "wise" kind of character to me. I read online a theory where they say that maybe the giant race has a tradition of never taking off and changed it a bit to him swearing to his lord to never take it off. I came up with the reason being too hard to remove on my own though.

And I would like to remind everyone that this fanfiction id a way for me to let out some steam. I will probably take decisions a lot of people my not agree with, but this is my story and I give the rules. Everyone is welcome to try writing something better, this site really lacks Gough related content.

Until next time! bye!

Also thank you RustKnight for editing the chapter.