This story is co-written by my friend peckers1 and 1.

Chapter 4

As Malenia slept, she dreamed once-more. But, unlike before, where she would dream of the battle of Aeonia, tonight was different. Maybe it had been from the training earlier in the night, or mayhaps simply from the fact she hadn't neared the Haligtree in what felt like forever. Whatever the reason though, her dreams tonight had felt far more.. Reserved. She dreamt of her childhood, of her dear, dear brother.

When the two of them had been little, things had been different in many ways. Her eyesight, for instance, was far better than it was now, where most things appeared as blurry shapes at most points. Although some aspects had stayed the same, had always proved to stay with her. The scarlet rot, had of course, plagued her from birth. The searing pain it brought was always present within her for as far back as she could remember. She could vividly remember as a child, always wanting to hold the hand of her dear brother Miquella when they played, only to often be refused as such by her mother. All for the fear that she could infect him with the rot. The fear was not unfounded, of course. But to a simple child such a thing felt as though it was the end of the world.

It always had eluded her, the warmth of another, her contact with others had been limited to only the use of her prosthetics. It was something she had always yearned for, whether it be from her mother, or her dear brother. This dream, while not one that filled her with regret, or guilt, had filled her with a feeling of longing. A feeling she had often done her best to push away, as it was but an unfulfillable dream. As any she touched with her flesh would be burned, hurt by the rot infesting every part of her being.

She had awoken from this dream, her eyes teary as she felt the emotion of her dream. She wipes them away with her prosthesis, before looking down, her Tarnished still resting softly on her lap. It truly was the closest she could get to physical contact with another, with the only barrier being the clothes she wore. She sat there, not wishing to move, both savoring the moment, and not wishing to wake her Tarnished from his rest, as he did look ever so peaceful as he lay there. She almost wished she could touch him, feel his face upon her hand.

She knew not, still, why she had felt so strongly towards this Tarnished. It was not a feeling she had much understanding of, for it often caused a heat within her chest. And lately, a red tinge to her cheeks. The closest thing to this was what she had felt with her dear brother. She could not place a name to the feeling however, which confused her further. She did her best however, to push these feelings aside. The time for dwelling on such trivial things is not now. As nice as it felt, she still had a duty to her brother. Whatever she felt was nothing next to his safety and well being. And so, she started shaking the Tarnished awake with her prosthesis.

"Awaken, Tarnished" she said to him "it is the morning, time for us to continue on"

Slowly, the Tarnished began waking up, looking up at Malenia as he was. More confused, than anything, as to why he had woken up upon her lap. She was equally as embarrassed to be sure, looking away at the ground and reaching for her helmet to cover her face. Unfortunately, it was a tad bit too far away, laying just out of reach. She attempts to hide the blush upon her face with her hands, sadly failing to do so.

"P-please rise, Tarnished, I must gather my belongings so that we might depart" she said, stumbling over her words as she spoke. Listening to her, the Tarnished stood up, before looking back to Malenia with an eyebrow raised, perhaps as if trying to ask a question.

"Y-yes, Tarnished?" she said, still stammering a bit out of embarrassment. "H-have you something to ask?"

The Tarnished nodded, before pointing back to her lap. Then acting as though he was asleep, placing his hands under his head and closing his eyes

"Yes Tarnished, you did indeed sleep there.. What of it?" she asked. He furrowed his brow, before repeating the motions again, and he then stuck two of his fingers out. Malenia, still confused, simply sat there for a moment, pondering what is what the Tarnished was attempting to say.

Seeing that she still did not fully understand what he was trying to say, the Tarnished quickly reached for his bag, digging around for something that would help make it more clear. After a moment, he comes out with a small, dried finger. He kneels down, using it to write some sort of message upon the ground. After he finishes, she goes over and looks.

Shockingly enough, it isn't a message, per say, rather a crude drawing of what seemed to be him sleeping upon her lap once more, along with what appeared to be a question mark beside it, if not a very strangely drawn one however. After a moment of contemplation, she speaks up.

"You.. wish to do this again?" she asked softly. She wouldn't be against the idea of her Tarnished doing so once more. Even if it felt odd at first, it was not entirely unenjoyable to her, and the Tarnished as it seemed. He nodded quickly in response, quickly bringing Malenia into a state of embarrassment once more.

"I suppose that w-would be fine, Tarnished.. If you wish, we may sleep this way at night if it is comforting to y-you." she said, stuttering on her words as they came out. He smiled in response, clearly happy that they may sleep that way once more. With her Tarnished pleased, he turned to begin packing up so that they may depart down further into the catacombs. Malenia turned as he did so, filled once more with a heat in her chest and a rather bubbly feeling about her. She still did not know exactly what these were, although she supposed they weren't bad feelings. She had no issue with them if they continued popping up.

As she thought, she knelt down grabbing her helmet off the ground, holding it in her hand. She looked it over for a moment, before looking back to the Tarnished. She reckoned she didn't need to wear it for a while, there would likely be no battle ahead if her Tarnished had come through here already, as it was the only way to enter the snowfields. So, she walked to the Tarnished, and placed it within his bag. He gave her an odd look for a moment, but otherwise paid it no real mind.

After a few more moments, the Tarnished was ready to depart, having grabbed his blade and placed it upon his back. He nodded to her, and thus they were off further into the catacombs. As they walked however, something had dawned upon Malenia. She had come to be calling him 'her' Tarnished as of late, hadn't she? She thought about it for a moment, it was likely from the new.. Kinship that had formed between the two? After all, she would be looking after him far more than he would be doing so for her upon this journey. It was only natural she became a tad possessive of him. It seemed to make perfect sense after all. She smiled, having resolved this thought for the time being, and kept moving forward with her Tarnished.

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.