I have been rushing to get this one out and it feels to me as if that really shows. Forgive me!
Something that always bothers me in fanfictions (and this is entirely a personal problem) is the presence of original characters. I know a story can be well written and fun to read even with OCs in them, but I always shy from incorporating them into my stories. I am trying to break that because I believe Anna and Kratos' survival for X amount of years would have been considerably shorter without a little help from some other friends. Please, if you enjoy rating stories, let me know what you think of the OCs I am working on in this chapter.
Now then... to my wonderful reviewers:
Divine Wolfe: Ayayayai, I am so glad you like it! The fact you reviewed twice in a row cheers me on more than you know. I will try to continue to live up to your expectations!
Kiomori: I know she's being bull-headed when it comes to Kratos, but I really think he's a monster when it comes to hacking people to bits. I mean, he's been doing it for how many years now? The poor girl has seen him slaughter two groups of grown men in a few hours! Taking that into consideration, I'm not going to let her warm up entirely to him for a while, hehe. I am glad you like it so far, in story and in writing.
oursolemnhour49: I really did not expect such a fast reply! I am very, very glad you like it so far and it's most encouraging to have you reading. Thank you!
And as always to the readers who don't review (though you should!), thank you for reading.
Jnaso
Sea foam swept rhythmically from the shore and back again against his body soaked heavy with salt water. He twitched and startled by sudden movements, large gulls retreated from pecking hungrily at his fingers. Eldrich lifted his head to sputter and cough, choking on sand and sea. Washed upon the beach to his side was the pale and unconscious A012. He rolled over onto his back to face the high and blinding sun of midday. Screeching gulls circled above as he fumbled with his armor, removing the enchanted loose plate from his chest to ease the pressure from his lungs. It sunk into the sand as water greedily pulled at its shining surface.
Freed from the extra weight, he rose shakily, dizzy from tumbling through the rapids. How he made it out of the river's deadly undertow he couldn't remember but he refused to complain. He did reluctantly recall the bravery of his human target as he approached her. It was likely she was dead, he knew. She was sprawled on her stomach as he had been, covered with torn and woven fabric and looking like death.
Eldrich turned her over carefully and pressed an ear to her chest. A weak thumping came slow and unsteady to reassure him, though she failed to breathe. Her lungs had ceased to function and her blood pumped with the last of her energy, harsh and desperate. Eldrich grimaced but parted her lips and exhaled deeply, forcing the air inside her.
Immediately she convulsed, choking up water onto him and herself. After each gasp she coughed harder and spat up more until he feared the strain would kill her. She to held him at the arms until it subsided, breathing gratefully and steady.
"Thank... you... again..." she said between breaths.
Eldrich shrugged her arms from him and stood wordlessly. He eyed his armor, half buried beaneth sand and lapping waves, deciding to abandon it. He stared hard at the ocean ahead of him as he found himself conflicted. Distantly he was aware of Anna's voice but he didn't listen. His attention was to his memories... the few years in which he guarded section A before rising to his current rank... Brom... and Anna...
"Eldrich!" Her voice pierced his concentration. "Answer me!"
"What?" he muttered, turning to face her.
"Are you really going to do this? End me after everything that's happened?"
"You earnestly believe you have a chance out here? Even Brom failed escape. What right have you to thrive in his place?"
She winced. "What happened to Brom is terrible... but your actions will not restore him to life."
"Nor will yours."
Anna sat quietly in the sand tenderly fingering her broken ankle. She recalled times when Eldrich had been kind and almost nurturing. The man who stood before her now was nothing like the youth she admired from her cell. This Eldrich was sick with grief and grossly misled, the years of being conditioned by Desians having morphed him into the commander he was today.
"You saved me when I should have died, Eldrich," she reminded. "Twice you could have removed this stone and completed your task. Your words are fierce but your actions are not and I would wager you have not decided in your heart what you must do."
His face reddened visibly, voice raising a notch. "Do not presume to know what it is that I am feeling! You speak with his tongue and think with his mind. Brom is dead and yet you live on with speech and sense equal to his own! You should have been the one to die," he said bitterly before his voice softened at her pained expression. "However, I find it unbearable to do it myself..."
"So I am condemned to die at the hands of Kvar himself shortly after you carry me back to that hell?"
Eldrich knelt at her side and slid his hands above her ankle. A warm, colorful glow enveloped the joint and her bones repositioned and knit themselves back into harmony.
"That is my intention, yes."
"Damned coward," she said venomously, rubbing her freshly mended leg. The many cuts and scrapes from being pounded into rocks had also faded. She stood beside him unhappily, a prisoner to another yet again.
Eldrich initially guessed at their location but quickly assured himself. The wide river they had been swept down began in the hills and emptied into the belly of the ocean. He knew if they continued west they would eventually stumble upon a similar waterway, though much more narrow. That would be their pathway from the sea to Luin, where he knew he would be able to easily return to the Asgard ranch by following the path through the grasslands.
For the better part of midday he did his best to ignore the ragged breathing and stumbling of his captive, but it became impossible when she tripped over a tangle of roots mostly buried in sand. She cried out in frustration as she fell flat, exhausted and unmotivated.
"We should take a rest," he declared as he lifted her into his arms without protest. Her body was so light it made him grimace inwardly. She had gotten worse since the time he was stationed outside her cell, he found to his dismay. "When was the last time you had a meal?"
"Maybe... four hours before I escaped."
Eldrich forgot his composure momentarily. "That is terrible!"
Anna let out a burst of laughter. "Oh, Eldrich," she sighed, "I always was glad you inherited a human's temperment."
He grumbled a response incoherently while avoiding her gaze. He looked and acted so human that at times she found it hard to believe he was of elven blood at all. His ears held the faintest of points and his hair was not so pale as to suggest his unique blood. She brushed rogue strands from his eyes in kindness as he carried her from the shore into the shade of trees. Eldrich studiously ignored her and she smiled faintly.
Anna must have had an obsession with foliage, she realized as they entered the wood. The fascination for which she held the most common of leaves was disquieting to both her and her half-elf companion. It was as if color dripped from the world she had forgotten. Plants were so green, flowers so white, and the sky... oh, the sky was so blue it threatened to make her cry.
He lowered her gently to the ground. The thick smell of dirt and the passing rain was intoxicating. She looked to him, awaiting instruction.
"Stay here." It was scarcely a command.
"You are a terrible jailer," she teased, "relying on me to wait for you."
"Do you want a hot meal or not?" he grumbled before he disappeared into the growth making little sound.
Truth be told, Anna would never dare leave the slender man's side in wilderness such as this. Since her grand escape, she had managed to stumble into a battlefield, nearly perish due to her exsphere, fall down a rocky slope after having been whipped across the face by a branch of thorns, break her ankle, get strangled by an oaf of a half-elf, and get swept down white water river rapids to be relentlessly battered against its rocky bottom until nearly drowned. It was plain to see the world was going to continue to assault her and she would much rather be under the supervision of someone capable, at least until they stumbled upon civilization.
Anna wrung her hands nervously as time passed. There was hardly a breeze but she shook from the cold. Sitting quietly on a fallen trunk, she was finally able to turn to her thoughts. She frowned as she picked at the blackened bark. The Desians were hunting her down to kill her and if she didn't get away from Eldrich, he would lead her straight to them. And what of Kratos Aurion..? Perhaps he will come for me... Anna thought to herself wistfully.
Snap.
Her ears strained and she froze.
Snap. Snap. Crack!
Anna started to her feet, eyes darting widly. Was it Eldrich? Or Kratos? Or maybe the... the Desi...
A large animal of white advanced through the shrubs and trees, its paws caked with black mud and bits of leaves. Broad ears like wings fanned from its head and flicked as it stared at her with gleaming eyes. Its muzzle twitched and he sniffed the air around her. She did her best to hold completely still and smother her fear. The strange, dog-like animal pressed its furry head to her chest and whined pitifully. It stomped broad paws against the ground, spattering her legs with mud while it snuffled and snorted.
"Nice monster," Anna said cautiously earning what appeared to be offense. It shook its green-tipped ears at her and trotted toward the trees where it had entered. "Wait," she called, forgetting her fear, "I... didn't mean to upset you."
She felt silly when she apologized to the creature and played with her hands nervously before reaching out to touch its muzzle, slow and timid. It lowered its warm, furry chin into her cupped palm briefly before prancing about her, tromping through leaves and making quite a ruckus.
She studied the animal's strange, alert eyes. "Do you... want me to follow you?"
Its whine mixed with a snort and it padded into the brush before looking back at her. Suddenly, its large ears pricked and the animal bounded off without warning.
"What was all the noise?" Eldrich asked as he emerged from the greenery.
"What noise?"
"Never mind it," he sighed before he placed a freshly slain doe near her feet. He pulled his blade from his side to skin the hide from it, unconcerned of how Anna felt of his bloody work. "Fetch some wood for a fire and make certain it is dry."
She stood awkwardly, scanning the forest, uncertain. "Oh... alright."
It felt impossible to find wood untouched by the previous night's storm. The woods were humid and the air sang with the humming of insects. Honeyed flowers of white and pale yellow grew in bunches dotting the forest floor, lush from drinking their fill. After squishing about, she glimpsed the ghostly pale figure of the strange animal darting amidst trees. She picked up pace forward, greeting the beast with a smile and a pat.
"How am I supposed to find kindling in this mess?" Anna muttered to it absently. She brushed some some stray webs and dirt from the dry, coarse coat.
The "dog" shuffled forward into a thicket, scratching at the barbs with fearsome paws. Buried beneath a bundle of spindly leaves was a den of dry branches, a nest composed by some sort of animal. Anna reached in and pulled out what she deemed appropriate before covering it once again with barbed vines, doing her best to not provoke the resident.
"Thank you very much," she said as she stood. Looking about, she realized she must have gotten turned around. The area appeared untouched, betraying nothing of the direction of camp. She frowned, frustrated. "Now how do I get back?"
A nudge pushed her to the left. She turned her head questioningly to her new friend and received a reassuring whine. She smiled and pushed forward back through the trees, thoughtful but without complaint about the animal's notable intelligence and bizarre arrival. It wasn't long before she spotted Eldrich, striking his blade with a chip of black rock to create sparks. They danced on the ground upon impact. He had already prepared the raw meat and gathered his own fuel, she realized, embarrassed. She glanced over her shoulder to see if the creature had followed her, but saw nothing but the darkened wood, shaded by the canopy above.
Eldrich lifted the thin branches from her arms and placed them on the small flame he'd been nurturing. "Thank you."
The fire was crackling happily before long and chunks of skewered, roasting meat were held lazily above the flames. Anna tried her best to hold her arms steady, mimicking her half-elf companion's expertise. The smell that drifted from the charring chunks was heavenly and her stomach growled in anticipation. When Eldrich finally deemed the meal fully cooked, she was so excited that she burnt her mouth on the pieces before allowing them to cool.
"Very charming," Eldrich said sarcastically, munching carefully on a piece of the juicy deer.
Anna ignored him and nibbled quickly, devouring her portion in minutes. He handed her what remained of his skewers kindly, taking care to remove the chips of bark that remained from the sticks they had roasted on. She gobbled them up gratefully. This had been the most satisfying meal she had ever had.
Not long after she had eaten her fill, Anna asked, "Why feed me if you are going to have me killed?"
Eldrich was cleaning his blade quietly at her side. Smoke rose from the small fire that had extinguished shortly after the meal, as calm as snowfall. The forest was darkening with the end of midday and when it seemed he would never speak, he replied, "I am taking you to Luin."
"...Luin? But why?"
"I will release you there. It is what he would have wanted me to do."
"It is what you want to do," she sighed, exasperated. "You said yourself you had not the stomach to slay me. Why do you not admit it?"
"What I want to do," he said as he stood, lifting her chin with his gleaming blade, "is take that exsphere and return it to Kvar so I may rise in rank again. What I want is to become a Grand Cardinal. Now, get up. I would like to arrive before nightfall."
As they walked silently, Anna could have sworn by the goddess she heard the distant sound of trickling waters. Eldrich altered their course to that direction and soon they were beside a beautiful stream of bubbling blue and white. It was unmistakably different than the one she had been swept down, she noted, watching the waters flow gracefully over and between slick and shining stones. Fish darted through the current like a flock of morning doves as birds sang their beautiful songs from the surrounding branches.
When the sun had begun to sink below the trees, Eldrich abandoned the riverside in favor of the concealment yielded by the canopy once again. Somewhere off in the distance beyond the river and the rolling plains, Anna spied spires of smoke curling into the sky, as eerie as fingers from a hand reaching for the coming stars. After a quick detour from the previous path, visible beyond a thin layer of branches were the bridges and buildings of Luin, Anna's birthplace and hometown. Surrounding it was the snaking waterway they had followed to it's door.
Eldrich had been fumbling against his leathers with a pocket of his, drawing out a green pouch of fine velvet. He pressed the heavy purse of coins into her hand. His expression was mixed yet unreadable. "Just ahead is Luin. See to it you get your fill of rest and replenishment, but please be quick about it and do not let anyone get a good look at you. That is the first place Kvar will search for you once I return empty handed."
Upon seeing the beautiful distant city, her heart fluttered as if in a dream. Her eyes sparkled as she thanked him lightheartedly, "I am counting on you to save me again next time, alright Eldrich?"
Eldrich returned her smile with a true scowl. "Anna, I will not be able to pardon you whenever it suits you. The next time you are face to face with a Desian you will be captured or murdered or worse, be it by me or any other runt following orders, or even Kvar himself. Now, get the hell out of my sight."
Something gripped her heart and shook her like grief. The sensation made her stomach twist upset. She tried to reason with his anger. "Eldrich... I was just-"
"Go, for goddess' sake. Go," he interrupted. He was already turning from her and disappearing into the shade. "Fill yourself to capacity with what beauty you believe this twisted world can offer you. At least then you can share it with Brom when they tear your beating heart from it."
He was gone, leaving Anna with the promise that he would never be restored to the youth that she longed to see. She stared emptily at the growth where what was left of the man she knew once stood and quietly, slowly, sank to the grass-covered ground, tears of mourning streaking down her face.
...
The cobblestone streets of Luin had always been Anna's favorite. The clicking sound that carts and shoes made on its surface was as joyous as laughter. As a girl, she would hum tunes and trot along, matching the melody with her heels and toes. The memory of the childish game cheered her briefly before she returned to dark thoughts.
"Brom..." she murmured to herself.
She did her best to remain unnoticed, a skill developed after years of avoiding provoking the Desians. She drew the torn remains of Kratos' mantle around her shoulders and clutched the fabric over her neck to hide her exsphere, but it was horridly obvious that she did not fit in here. The townspeople were all dressed in colors and shades, clean and well fed. Anna looked like a monster, having just crawled from the depths of some muddied cave into the light of day for the first time in decades. Her bare, bony feet slapped almost silently against the stone, a sad song compared to the jolly clicking of the much-more-human human's shoes.
"What's wrong with them, mommy?" One child asked his mother who eyed her suspiciously as she walked by.
Another couple, a man and his wife watched her from the windows of their merry cottage painted with tints of cream and honey. Anna scurried passed as she tried to recall the location of the inn, crossing another bridge before finally coming to the doorstep. She tried smoothing her hair and dusting her clothes off, but to little progress. Cringing with dread, she slowly opened the door to welcome the scorn of those within.
"Welcome! Can I interest you in a..." the cheerful woman at the front desk trailed off as she looked up from her work, staring at Anna with shock and concern.
Anna fumbled with the velvet pouch, pulling out a handful of shining coins. "I would like a room and a bath, please," she said timidly, avoiding the woman's gaze. After a short pause she added, "Um, how much is it, please?"
"Oh, dear," she said hurrying around the counter to help her inside. "It's 300 gald and you have plenty. Come here, dear, let me help you up these pesky stairs and into your room and we'll get you a bath and a meal right away."
Anna felt awkward with the lady's arm around her as they ascended the stairs. Assistance felt so foreign to her. When they reached the room, Anna thanked her and handed her the coins, adding a little extra to quiet her concerns. She assured the inn keeper of her well being before she closed the door, grateful to be alone again after her parade across town.
"I'll send a maid up when your bath is drawn," the plump woman called through the door.
Anna could hear her plodding back down the stairs. "Thank you!"
The room was painted a cream color trimmed with white. Against the wall in the center of the room was a bed big enough for two covered in gray-blue blankets. Anna touched the fabric longingly and the softness seemed unreal. She sat on the bed as she played with the bedding in disbelief. Tears were welling up in her eyes. The weight of her imprisonment for the last few years was leaving her and the sensation was startling, amazing, and frightening.
A knock at the door broke her from her daze. Wiping her eyes, she stood and approached the handle, twisting it open.
She had expected the visitor to be the maid. Instead, the red headed mercenary stood over her with the plump inn keeper looking questioningly to Anna from behind him.