A/N: Chapter took a bit longer then I wanted, but I spent some time to fix some errors in the previous ones plus Iv been having less time to actually work on this. Still hoping people are enjoying this so far, make sure you review to keep motivation up and point out errors (I'm sure there will be)

Chapter: 4

Death is a strange thing, even after seeing it so many times, it is always different. Sparrow slowly opened his eyes to see nothing but white emptiness, he was laying on his back looking upward. With no idea were he was, Sparrow decided to stay on his back and wait for anything. The hero had no idea how much time passed but he didn't care, figuring that when dead, time had no meaning anyway.

Just as he was about to close his eyes to drift off again, he heard soft footsteps in front of him. He sat up and looked to see what made the sound. He was greeted with an angelic voice that he hadn't heard in years.

"So, little Sparrow, you finally decided to wake up." Sparrow saw a figure approaching from the blank surroundings. It was a young girl, wearing dirty rags for clothing and pig tails in her hair. Seeing the girl brought a stream of tears to the hero's eyes, it was his dead sister, Rose.

Sparrow couldn't move, he was frozen in disbelief . When she was standing over him he looked into her eyes, it really was Rose. He got onto his knees and quickly grabbed her in a hug. They both stayed there, Sparrow didn't want to let go out of fear he would lose her again. After a time, Rose slowly pushed the hero off of her and he stood up.

"Rose." Sparrow was chocking on her name, still filled with emotion. Rose looked at him with a large smile.

"I'm so proud of you little brother, you have done so much for so many people. You never lost hope and you defeated Lucien. Who would have thought you were a hero." What she said made Sparrow realize where he was and what happened to him.

"Rose, I've missed you so much, your death haunted me for so many years, but now we are together again." Rose's smile faded into a frown, she turned away from him for a moment then looked back into his eyes.

"I'm sorry Sparrow, you shouldn't feel bad about what happened. Death isn't that bad, there are no worries here, no sorrows. I even get to see Mom and Dad again, they wish they could see you now too, but only I am allowed." A flicker of a smile appeared on Sparrows face but soon disappeared after his sister was done.

"What do you mean?"

"We both are only here so I can tell you this. The world will soon be under attack by an ancient evil, it is powerful, no other hero has ever had to face a threat like this. You need to stop it or else all is lost, you have seen a demonstration of this power with that masked man. Believe me brother, what you saw is nothing compared to what will happen." What Rose said fully hit Sparrow, that seeing his sister wouldn't last.

"No, please no Rose." He fell to his knees in front of her, more tears formed in his eyes. "It has been too long, please don't tell me I have to leave you again." She raised him to his feet and gave him a long hug, she looked up to him and gave a smile.

"Do not worry brother, I'm not going anywhere and its not your time yet. You must go and be a hero again, save everyone from the evil and live your life to the fullest. Goodbye for now little Sparrow." Rose pressed her hand against his chest near his heart. They both stood there for a moment, looking into the vastness of each other's eyes.

Then Sparrow felt a powerful push against his chest and was knocked onto his back. His sister was looking over him, mouthing the word 'Goodbye'. He closed his eyes tight from the pain and felt a sinking feeling wash over him. Sparrow opened his eyes again, he saw someone looking over him, it wasn't his sister this time. It was a much older woman, about his own age, with long red hair tied at the top.

"So the lazy hero decided to finally wake up." A smile formed across her face, but Sparrow didn't care. He wanted to just lay there, the joy of seeing his sister again and the sadness of having it taken away had left him feeling hollow inside. Soon he felt a hand grip his shoulder and yank him into a sitting position.

"What's the big idea?" The annoyance in his voice was evident. In his new position he could see the woman more clearly. She stood tall, large muscles came across her arms. She wore white robes that reached her knees, belts went around her waist and chest, on her hands and feet were matching strapped boots and gloves, and there was armor plating going up and down her left arm.

"Are you serious? Only a few years and you completely forget about me?" With her hands at her hips, she made a pouting face. Sparrow looked down and saw a large stone hammer laying near her feet, it soon registered to him who the woman was.

"Hannah?" A look of displeasure replaced the pout on the woman's face.

"I thought you understood that I am to be called Hammer now." Sparrow just laughed in response, earning a quick glare from the warrior monk.

"You still go by that? I figured you would want to change back from your hero name, I went back to mine." He looked around at where he was, he was sitting on a large blanket, a few supplies dotted the area. His own bag was next to him along with his coat, hat, and pistol. The surrounding area seemed to be a forest, large trees circled around them.

"So, Hammer, what happened and where are we?" Sparrow attempted to stand up but the pain in his chest caused him to stop and groan. She gave him a worried look as he opened his shirt and saw the bandaged wound.

"Id like to know that myself Sparrow. I came to Oakfield and saw what appeared to be an attack. When I met up with James he said something had happened and you were gone, I went searching for you. After a few hours I ran into your dog who lead me down the river to where you were. You had a large cut through your chest, consider yourself lucky, it barley missed your heart." He slowly opened the bandages and looked at the wound, Sparrow could see that the cut was only inches away. A chill ran across his back when he noticed how the cut went through the old scar he had there. The small circular scar that was left by Lucien when he had shot him, twice.

"I doubt its luck, I think Death just has a sick sense of humor." Hammer gave a light laugh, not knowing if she was supposed to or not.

"As for where we are, its Brightwood. I'm not sure how deep we are though, we never needed to go this far." Hammer sat down next to Sparrow, he closed his shirt and began telling her what happened in Oakfield. Even the powerful Hero of Strength seemed to be scared as he described the masked man. After he was done Sparrow could hear a familiar bark nearby as his dog ran up to them, he licked his master first before turning to Hammer and attacked her as well. She was overjoyed to see her favorite animal.

"Hey boy, your finally back, I'm sure you've missed your master. Wow Sparrow, I cant believe how much he looks like your old dog." He grinned at her, he had forgotten about writing to her about his dog.

"Well Hammer, that's because he is that dog." Her smile disappeared into a questioning look.

"What? How can that be, Lucien shot him didn't he?"

"He did, and yes he died that night, but weeks after the Spire incident I received word of an ancient tomb on the island of Knothole." He then told her the story of how he went to the crypt of Cheet-ur, a strange man who valued the lives of dogs over people. While the crypt didn't hold the body of Cheet-ur himself, it did contain the ability to resurrect any dog with the sacrifice of a human. Though the idea to have his long lost friend back was wonderful to the hero, he couldn't bring himself to sacrifice an innocent. An idea had hit him, he ran from the village and out into the wilderness, he eventually ran into a large group of Hollow Men. Quickly dispatching the living corpses, Sparrow left one alive, he shot both of it's arms off and dragged it to the crypt. Throwing it into the tomb, he shut the doors on it and waited, after a large flash the doors reopened and out ran his beloved canine. When Sparrow was finished, Hammer began to laugh.

"So it sounds like you cheated Cheet-ur." It took him a moment to realize the joke and began to laugh himself, stopping suddenly as the pain in his chest grew. Hammer gave him a worried look but a reassuring smile from him helped her.

"Well, now that we know I'm not dead, we should get out of this forest."

"So what do you think we should do? I think Oakfield will need us now, but I'm worried about letting a madman go without chasing after him." It didn't take long for Sparrow to figure out the answer.

"I don't think we need to worry about the masked man for the time being, we have no idea who he is or what he will be up to. We will have to wait for a sign from either him or Theresa, if she sees it necessary. As for Oakfield, we will head there and see what we can do to help. But first, we will need to head to Bowerstone, if we don't get there soon then I might as well of died in the river since Alex will kill me herself." Sparrow attempted to get up, pushing past the pain blazing in his chest while letting out groans to match. Halfway through Hammer pushed him back down hard, while he gave her a dirty look, she was rummaging through her bag eventually pulling out a small glass bottle.

"Here," she said while handing him the bottle, "special medicine from the monks, it wont really heal you but it will numb the pain enough for you to at least walk, we would use it after sparing matches." Sparrow opened the bottle and smelt the contents, he took a small sip but quickly spat it out and made chocking noises over the foul liquid. Hammer gave a simple giggle and smirk to him while he just glared in response, he forced the rest of it down his throat. Almost immediately he felt the pain in his chest ease and he could easily stand.

"Well I suppose we should get going now if we are to make it to Bowerstone before nightfall." Upon hearing this Hammer gave a loud laugh.

"Maybe you should rest some more Sparrow, if you think we can cover that distance in just a few hours. We are after all, deep in Brightwood, that alone will probably take three days to find our way out." Sparrow copied her laugh while he put on his clothing and bag.

"Don't worry, I have my own means of travel." He tapped a finger against a symbol he had tied to the center of his belt with a smile, it was the guild seal Theresa had given him the day he became a hero. His dog instinctively placed his paws on Sparrow's feet and sat there while the hero held out his hand to Hammer. She picked up her own items and hesitantly grabbed his hand. Sparrow placed his free hand on the seal and a bright blue light swirled around and engulfed the three figures.

A/N: I had planned to make this chapter longer but with the delayed time Iv had with updating, I figured this would be a good stop for the chapter.