"Rem attacked you?"
"She thinks I'm with the Witch, she was talking about some sort of smell."
"Well, that's another problem on our hands. Best we keep this going and handle one thing at a time, however."
"You sure? Can't we just talk it out now?"
"You're vulnerable, and for now almost defenceless. Easy pickings for anyone. Better I defuse her before you get hurt."
"Ash, I'm not sure about this."
"Neither am I, bud, but this is the best plan I have."
They finally reached the village. Ash disappeared again and reappeared fully kitted out for battle, and passed the sword over to Subaru, who waved it around with a few shards of his innate swagger.
"Don't do that. That thing is much more dangerous than you think."
"Really?"
"Scavenged from the depths of Carthus. That curve is the most dangerous part of it. Of course, that poison infusion doesn't help, so don't get cut, ok?"
Subaru lowered the blade sheepishly, and Ash gave him a phantom of a smile from behind his helmet. Then he remembered he couldn't see it, and nodded instead.
Rem decided to interject.
"Don't we have something to do here?"
"Righto. Let's go, then. This way!"
Leaving the villagers kind of stumped, the trio rushed off into the forest. Ash pointed towards the clearing, and closely followed by Subaru and Rem, burst into it, surprising something in the bracken, causing it to rustle loudly. Ash wasted no time in jumping in that bush, and for the next few seconds a loud scuffle was heard, ending with a yip. Ash emerged spattered in blood, and both Subaru and Rem decided to not anger him anytime soon.
"Subaru, you take the kids. Rem, you come with me to find the last girl."
"I can very well escort him-"
"No. You come with me. He can handle himself."
Subaru took this chance and, with the two boys firmly gripped, took off into the forest. Rem was not pleased.
"On whose authority do you think you act on? Do you even know what he is?"
"The Witch, isn't it?"
Rem was stumped.
"Exactly. And if you know who he works for, then who are you affiliated with?"
"Noone. I work on my own. But that's not important. That's why you were looking for Subaru that night. He was a problem, and you intended to eradicate him, right?"
"You... How..."
"I know lots of things, my dear lady. But let me tell you one thing. That kid is not your enemy, and neither am I. He is cursed by the Witch, not working with her."
Rem cocked her head, processing this new information. Ash held his breath, awaiting a response. This was a gambit, but should he pull it off, they wouldn't be troubled by her any longer.
"Cursed?"
"Indeed. The Witch marked him with a peculiar stench, forcing him to wander to this day, lest he incur the wrath of the monsters of this land."
"But when he came here, he couldn't even read. So when did the Witch curse him, exactly?"
Her hand tightened around a misteriously appeared chain, and Ash hastily tried to snuff her doubt.
"At some random point during our travels. To be honest, we don't know when. We only know the monsters started attacking more frequently and viciously, and we were informed of the nature of this only recently. It doesn't have any other effects, as far as we know."
"Hmmm."
"Look, the kid's a bit dumb and rash, but he's not malicious. He's one of the kindest people I have met, and I trust him."
"Very well, then. For now I shall believe you. Still, there's the girl we're supposed to save, so let's move."
Ash wasted no time, and started following the recently butchered dog's trail. Paw prints, and not only its. This was a pack. The knight and the maid picked up the pace, steaming through the forest until they reached another clearing.
Bingo. Lying on the ground was the frail figure of the little Petra. Around her were multiple specimens of the dog Ash had eliminated before, and perched on top of a rock like a vulture, the puppy.
Not wasting any time, Ash pulled another of his tricks, somehow extracting a massive brass hammer out of his pocket, with which he started strategically deleting the angry canines. Rem didn't break stride and grabbed the little girl, dashing back off into the forest. Ash looked back at the escaping maid before turning on the rabid horde.
"Now the real fun starts."
Rem was once again blazing through the forest like a freight train, until she heard the sounds of conflict on her right. She decided to investigate quickly and came across Subaru, nervously stepping away from a secondary pack of wolves. With her free hand she grabbed her Morningstar and pasted one of them, before turning to Subaru.
"Where are the kids?"
"Back at the village. I was coming back to help you."
"You want to help? Grab her."
And she tossed Petra in Subaru's arms.
"Wha?"
Rem didn't answer, and resumed turning canines into small puddles. Subaru sighed and ran off towards the village to put Petra down. When he finally reached it, out of breath, Ram and Emilia were there waiting for him in the square.
"What's going on? Why is everyone so panicky?"
"Barrier's down. Some kids got abducted, but they're safe now."
He left the unconscious girl in the hands of a man, her father.
"Thank you so much! We've been worried sick! But where are your associates?"
"They're still in there. I have to help them!"
He started towards the forest for the third time, but Ram was quick on the intercept.
"Rem's in there? I'm coming with you."
Subaru could see by her expression that she wouls not take no for an answer. He sighed and started running.
Ash wasn't exactly having a good time. In a manner quite similar to Aldrich's followers, the Deacons of the Deep, the wolves just didn't stop coming. The puppy was looking on, with a feral smugness he didn't know a dog could convey. Sure, he was used to rotting bags of bones and skin, but he knew it was unnatural enough. Animals shouldn't be that happy to see him slaughtered.
He had lost the massive hammer, and was now bent on fighting with the greatsword he had plundered from the two guys in Farron Swamp. Ash gritted his teeth and started another quick rotation. Like a ballerina of death, he spun rapidly with the blade on his shoulder, slashing anything that got too close.
He knew he couldn't fight forever. Sooner or later he would make a mistake, and that would be the end of it. Regaining his footing, he drew a deep breath, more to calm himself more than everything else, then flew sideways as an unidentified something smashed into him from the side. Spiky and spherical. Rapidly jumping to his feet, Ash could see Rem standing in front of him, her head lowered.
"You do realize I'm not your target, right?"
He fell silent as he noted the horn on her head. When she finally raised her head, her face was one of a person gone mad. She started cackling and cracking her chain-ball like a whip.
"Oya, guess I have to do this too."
Ash raised his greatsword and stretched his leg, in an awaiting position, ideal for intercepting anything headed his way. A quick glance across the battlefield confirmed that reinforcements had finally ran out, but that one little bundle of hatred was still perched on top of that rock, gleefully observing the new turn of events.
Rem did not waste her chance, and in a flash, burned through the distance separating them, slashing diagonally at Ash's torso. His massive blade descended, and deflected the blow, and leaped forward, towards his opponent's legs. She sidestepped, however, and didn't leave him any chance of harming her.
The heavy Morningstar whipped back around, and Ash only barely dodged the main ball, earning a long gash in his leg. That would leave a scar, but hey, one to add to the pile. At that moment, almost on cue, Subaru and Ram burst from the bracken.
"Ash!"
"Subaru, my friend! Care to tell me why my supposed colleague is currently trying to kill me?"
Ram butted in before Subaru could respond.
"She's gone mad from the demonic power within her. She doesn't recognize just about anyone at the moment."
Ash dodged another close call, then one more for good measure.
"Doesn't look very demonic to me. That aside, any idea how to stop her?"
"You need to hit the horn, hard. Without breaking her skull, please."
That last part, even if it sounded like a joke, had a small whimpering sound to it that convinced Ash of the opposite. She was her sister after all, so it made sense. He gripped his weapon, recalculating and changing his strategy. He was fighting an opponent he didn't want to fight, during another quite critical situation, and he wasn't allowed to kill her. Great.
He spared a quick glance at Subaru, who stood next to Ram, with his curved sword still in hand. He made up a new plan.
"Subaru, how are you with that sword?"
"Not very good, you should know."
"Can you at least whack things?"
"Yes?"
Ash didn't answer, and this time leaped towards Rem, tackling her in a crushing bearhug. He felt her breath being squeezed out with a loud wheeze as he pushed her on the ground, winding her completely. Subaru finally realized his role, and sprinted towards the two. He then raised his sword, and plunged it.
Rem was on the ground, unconscious. Her horn had disappeared, and she almost looked peaceful. Ram was kneeling on the ground next to her, looking up at the duo with a hard expression.
"End this."
Ash stepped up, and pointed at the puppy, now holding a mildly bemused expression.
"You've done quite enough. Now die."
The small dog went still, then ejected a large cloud of smoke, covering the entire clearing. Ash stood his ground, unflinching. When the smoke cleared, the minute puppy had turned into a massive wolf, at least ten times the size of the others. A large shit-eating grin popped on Ash's face.
"Finally. An actual boss around here. Let's have some fun before I get rusty."
He pulled his feet together, then raised his sword in a ritualistic gesture, as if presenting his weapon to his adversary. The giant canine surprisingly seemed to understand the gesture and flexed his front legs, in a mocking bow.
"Good, good. Now let's get to business."
Ash opened the dance, flinging himself forward, under the beast's legs and whirling around, opening a gash on each of the monster's legs. The dog roared, and jumped back, biting down to where Ash would be. Unfortunately, the warrior expected this sort of move, and the wolf's teeth met the sharp metal of the large blade.
With a snap and a howl, one of the beast's canines flew off. The monster huddled down, and Ash readied himself for a mad charge. Instead, the wolf flicked his paw on the ground, sending a cloud of dust into Ash's face. Even if his eyes wouldn't be damaged, the dust still obstructed his vision, so he didn't see the attack coming from above.
With one move, the beast bit down on Ash's body, lifting him up and shaking him a few times, before chucking him into a tree, lodging him inside it like a nail through a plank. Subaru gasped, and got the large wolf's attention. It started charging, and Subaru very nearly dodged the incoming fangs. He desperately hacked away with his sword, earning a yelp and a retreat from the beast.
He had opened a few new wounds in the front leg and now the wolf was limping. Ash, while still stuck in the tree, managed to fix himself to watch the ongoing fight.
"WHEN HE ATTACKS, AIM FOR THE CHEST! HE'LL LOWER HIS BALANCE WITH THAT WOUND!"
Subaru managed to catch his words, even through the whining of the wolf. As soon as it started moving towards him again, he knew what to do. He lunged forward with all his strength and... sank his sword deep in the monster's chest. He backpedalled, watching as the beast collapsed.
"Is it dead? Did I kill it?"
Almost on cue, the massive predator started picking himself up, and the last shred of hope Subaru had flickered out of existence like a candle. He was unarmed, defenseless, and he had made his enormous enemy very angry. He could hear the blood thundering in his ears hard, and started seeing spots in his vision. This wasn't fear anymore. This was pure terror.
He was so afraid, he almost didn't notice when the entire body of the wolf exploded, and Roswall landed in front of him.
"You did a fine job, Subaru. Thank you for that."
"H-Huh?"
"I said, you did a fine job while I was away. Do you need it repeated for a third time? Where's your friend, by the way? He deserves my thanks as much as you."
"He's over there. He deserves thanks much more than I do, he did all the work."
Ash had gotten himself out of the tree, and was hobbling towards them.
"Good job, kid. You did well enough, for your condition."
"And you, my dear knight. Subaru here says you did all the heavy lifting."
"I did my duty. No need for flattery."
"Oh, come on. Give yourself a little credit. And don't overwork yourself, you're getting wrinkles."
Ash's unbeating heart froze.
"Come again?"
"You're getting wrinkles. On your face. They weren't there before. Are you sure you're keeping yourself up properly? I don't want to be known as an abusive master."
Now it was Ash's turn to be filled with terror. His honed mind made the connection. He was going Hollow. And for the first time in recorded history, an Undead actually fainted from pure fear.