This Story is co-written by my friend peckers1 and I.

Chapter 2

As the Tarnished trained off on the other side of the grotto, Malenia returned to her slumber. She returned to her deep sleep, and the dreams that had accompanied it. She had returned to her battle with General Radhan. With every rest, every slumber, she always returned to this dream, this moment, this battle. More specifically, the moment that she 'bloomed'. All distinct, vivid, and painful memories forever etched into her mind. The most notable of which being the searing pain she felt at the moment that the flower had bloomed around and within her. It felt akin to a compound of months, even years, of the daily pains caused by her affliction, all ravaging her senses at once. It felt as though it lasted an eternity, that pain. But in reality, moments after, she collapsed, asleep. The battlefield, her half-brother, all the earth around them and all their soldiers, decimated beyond repair, due to her foolish actions, her inability to hold back.

The dream, the memory, painful in both body and mind to her, caused Malenia to jolt awake. Her eyes blurry, not only from the calcification caused by the ever growing rot, but from tears as well. She wiped them away with her prosthesis, looking at her other arm, the remaining limb she had. She looked at it with disdain, with hatred, with nothing but malice towards what has consumed her. Nearly every waking moment, she had wished to be free of this curse, to be liberated. All it had ever done was hurt those around her, whether it be those in the land of Cealid, or even her dear brother Miquella. She had wished, maybe, that she had been better, been... Stronger, for her brother.

Malenia was pulled from her thoughts however. The loud sound of a broken branch falling to the ground. echoing across the grotto. She looked over to where the Tarnished had been training when she was last awake only to see him face down in the dirt, sword in hand and softly asleep. A portion of the roots were cut up, some having fallen to the ground, likely the product of his training. She stood up, readjusting her prosthesis as she did so, and began to walk over to the sleeping Tarnished. As she approached, she looked down to him, thinking of how he trained as she slept. She truly did find it admirable, the will and motivation to keep trying despite his new situation. Of which, she now felt guilty for, truly. He had not deserved the loss of a limb, much less the one with which he had wielded his blade.

She tried to shake these thoughts aside for the moment however, kneeling down and attempting to shake her awake with her prosthetic.

"Awaken, Tarnished, it is time we rise and speak, before departing." she said to him. In reply, he rolled over onto his back, letting out what could best be described as a silent sigh. After a moment of simply staring upwards, he sat up, looking at Malenia with his dirt covered face. She could not help but let out a soft chuckle at his appearance.

"Tarnished, do please clean your face with the water here, this appearance does not befit one such as yourself." She said to him, He looked embarrassed for a moment, before attempting to get up, struggling without the support of his other arm. Seeing this, Malenia offered him her prosthetic hand as help to him stand. He takes her help, nodding to her in thanks before going to wash his face off.

It was an odd feeling, as ever, using her prosthesis, it had no real feeling to it. Simply weight, and the cold of the metal against her stump, along with the pulling for when she helped the tarnished. She gripped its hand, truly wondering what it would be like if she had been able to use a hand of flesh again. Wondering what it would feel to have the sensation of touch again with that arm and hand,

After a moment of her thinking, the Tarnished returned, freshly cleaned of dirt. He quickly picked up his blade which was left on the ground, placing it in a sheath held on his back. He then turned to her, hopefully, ready to speak. Malenia looked to him, preparing her line of questioning

"Now, Tarnished, would you care to explain what you know? In… whatever you may?" she asked, genuinely very interested not only in the contents of his information, but how he may convey it. To her surprise, he nodded, before reaching into the bag on his side and pulling out 4 items. A small dagger, one of simple design, a white mask, one often worn by the war surgeons, a bloody finger, of which she knew not its origin, nor did she wish to truly know its purpose, and a small, red medal, although chipped and broken in many places.

He began by handing her the medal to inspect. She took it in her prosthetic hand, looking it over for a moment. As she observed it, she noted an unknown insignia. More confused, she handed it back to the tarnished. After a moment of thinking, the tarnished took the dagger, quickly pricking his thumb to draw blood. Then, using the blood from his finger, he began to smear it on the white mask. When he had finished, she observed that he had simply… drawn what appeared to be angry eyebrows upon it, along with a small frown. She tilted her head, simply baffled at what the Tarnished was attempting to get across.

Grabbing the now blood smeared mask, he held it near his face, as if he was in a conversation with it. Then, after a moment, he placed the mask against a nearby root, propping it up so it was still at the level of his face. With his now free arm, he motioned to the mask, before picking up both the medal and the finger in his hand. Motioning to himself with them

"Are you implying that this masked figure had given you these items?" she asked, with it being the only real conclusion she could come to with this game of charades he was putting on. He nodded in response, she sighed in relief, finally feeling as if she was getting somewhere. He then put away the finger, holding only the medal in his hand. He then pointed towards the large hole in the roots above them both. He looked to her as he did this, as if waiting for a response.

"Did.. someone with the medal do this?" she asked. He paused for a moment, and shrugged a little, before beckoning back to the mask.

"Did the person in the mask do this?" she had to assume as such, based on his actions. He nodded his head sideways, before putting up two of his fingers.

"Did two people do this? Including the white mask?" she asked, going to observe the mask more closely. She grabbed it in her prosthesis, turning it over and inspecting it, not seeing anything outwardly revealing. She then put the mask down, looking back to the Tarnished. He nodded in response to her question.

It seems like he was stolen.. My dear Miquella... She thought to herself. She looks to the tarnished once more, only one more question to ask.

"Do you know where to find the people who did this?" she asked sternly. A fire lit within her, a deep, strong motivation to find her dear brother, she finally had a chance to save him, to save the one who had always been there for her. The Tarnished nodded slowly, putting all the items back into his bag, before pulling out a map. He walked over beside her, pointing to the map. Seemingly, both the thieves and her brother's captors, were located within Liurnia, at what seemed to be a broken-down church as shown on the map.

Malenia felt... Relief, she felt more like she had actual hope, for the first time in years. Hope that she could save her brother, that her one, true companion in life could return to her. She looked to the Tarnished, the one who so graciously has given her this information, this hope. She almost reached forward with her left hand, thankfully stopping herself before she did so. Instead using her prosthetic hand, putting it on his shoulder.

"I thank you, Tarnished, I.. appreciate this" she said. She knew not why she felt embarrassed to admit her thanks, but regardless of it, she expressed it all the same. The Tarnished smiled at her as she thanked him, making her question this odd feeling even more so now. For only a moment however, she pushed them aside as best she could, returning to the topic of the conversation.

"With this information then, I believe it is time we depart, the forces of the haligtree shall not hassle us as long as I am at your side, but outside of here the lands should be treacherous, although I feel as though you already are aware of this." she said. He nodded quickly in response, clearly well travelled, she expected no less at this point from her new Tarnished acquaintance.

"Good then" she said, going to pick up her helmet. "Gather your things then, Tarnished, let us go."

We've got a discord to talk about the story, feel free to drop by.

discord . gg / b8bkCrM9KH (Just remove the spaces from the link.)