AU NOTES
Let's go!
A Plea heard and answered.
Chapter 01: [The Hunter arrives on a strange land].
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"…may you find your worth in the waking world…"
The soothing voice of the doll echoed in his mind, granting him a pleasant awakening. Orion tried opening his eyes, but his body felt stiff and unresponsive. All he could sense around him was a dark void, a strange fog trying to wrap around him, whispers of unknown languages trying to worm their way inside his mind.
Their efforts were worthless, the Good Hunter merely focusing his mind further to proof him against their influence. Still, his Insight allowed him to grasp wisps of knowledge about these languages and strange wills. It was quite the dilemma to understand the situation by grasping at knowledge that wasn't yours, but it was nothing new to Orion.
Most of the information that he acquired like this was mostly useless without the needed context and backstory for it, but the hunter wasn't one to let himself be intimidated by lack of knowledge. Still, a few names did linger in his mind, igniting his curiosity. He was no bookworm like the scholars of Memphis or Byrgenwerth, but he was an investigative fella on his own right.
The Hunter felt his efforts pay off as the outside influences finally gave up on their meddling, his mind free of their useless assault. He felt his human-self relax as the protective layer cast upon him by his godly-self eased his entrance upon the Lands Between, Orion finally able to feel something more than unending void. His connection with his transcendent power felt somewhat muddled, but nothing that would truly impede him. Arcane arts weren't his specialty, although he could do the odd magick trick.
He felt fog pass over his skin, his foothold firmly now establishing itself on this new land. He felt his connection between his selves strengthen, his Insight allowing him to peer a bit deeper into the truth of this world. His body formed fully, the Good Hunter finally manifesting.
He first took a deep breath, filling his lungs with pure, untainted air. The Hunter's Dream did not have the stench of blood and beasts, but his godly-self cared little for those matters; his human-self however much appreciated not having his nostrils immediately clogged with the foul-scented scourges that previously plagued Yharnam. Orion opened his eyes and took in his surroundings, noticing that he was indoors. The building resembled a church of some kind, the architecture a rough looking thing carved in stone; practical and simple, without much pomp. Wooden pews were stacked close to the walls, the place looking thoroughly ransacked.
The hunter noticed that the wooden doors of this chapel were open, the scent left in the air fresh. He quickly did a check-up, satisfied that his belonging had not been looted while he was in stasis. It would leave a poor taste in my mouth if some dumb sod took my stuff while I was out. He mused, palming the handle of his longsword. The weapon remained hanging from his hip by a leather strip, the hunter satisfied with merely exploring his surroundings for the while. There wasn't much to look for in the building, so he took the open doors as invitation and set his foot outside.
The first thing Orion took notice was the rather enormous and divine looking golden tree that stood out unlike anything else. He took in the sight for sore eyes, appreciating the beauty for what it was. Visually it was splendid, but something about it made the hunter be suspicious of it. Golden particles fell from the skies like snowflakes, the visual something almost straight out of a fairy tale.
…Erdtree…
The hunter decided to follow through his path, descending a set of somewhat rickety looking stairs that led to an even shabbier looking rope bridge. Orion tested to see if the wood would manage to sustain his weight, the hunter carefully pressing one boot after the other, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. He could hear the sounds of battle happening nearby, stone walls hiding the conflict from his eyes; there was a small archway that led to what he suspected to be a small plaza, the hunter slowing down his pace and hugging the wall to allow himself a better look instead of simply jumping into the fray.
He was glad to have done so, the sight something that belonged in Yharnam. A monstrous-looking abomination of limbs had just attacked someone and managed to push the individual off the platform they were battling on, the person wounded by one of the many rapiers that this mass of limbs carried. There was a tattered and hooded cloak covering what seemed to be the controller of the ball of flesh, the abomination looking down from the edge of the drop and muttering something off.
Orion cared little for what it said. The creature smelled rotten, almost as if countless bodies had been stitched together to form such gross and foul looking abomination. It irked the hunter to see this blemish on the world, the taint and smell igniting something in his chest.
He held his blade and drew Evelyn out, slowly stepping away from the safety of his hiding spot and into the open field. The cobblestone under him gave his presence away, the being soon turning its would-be head towards him.
"Who thoesth be? I sense not the blessings of the Erdtree on thee…yet, thy strength is apparent. Are ye also Tarnished?" The being was soft-spoken, its voice akin to that of a maiden. It irked Orion, the Hunter tightening his grip upon the handle of Ludwig's Holy Blade. "Thou seems to be of good stock. Worry not, soon all needless thoughts shall cease and ye shall become one with us, through the blessing of the graft."
Orion didn't speak. He moved his right hand over his chest and lightly dipped his head towards the being; his mockery of a greeting done, he finally spoke his first words upon his arrival on the Lands Between.
"It seems that my luck is truly rotten. No matter where I go, I find madman willing to desecrate life." He spoke in a somber tone, his eyes focused not on the being that proclaimed that this…grafting was a blessing, but on the length of his longsword. The Good Hunter took one deep breath. "A Hunter must hunt…"
The Grafted Scion wondered if the new arrival was mad. He was speaking, yet she was sure that none of his words were truly directed at her. He was dressed in mostly leather-looking garbs, only bare hints of metal protected him; maybe a bandit or a merchant guard? It mattered not, as he did seem to be strong enough. She would test his skill and if she found it passing, maybe her liege would bless him with grafting union.
She raised one of her rapiers, stabbing straight with a quick move aimed at his head. She expected him to roll sideways, her shield-bearing arm ready to bash him since none were ever willing to be in front of a charging grafted. Once she saw him remain still, she felt disappointment. Maybe he had strength, for reflexes were most lacking. Or so she erroneously affirmed in her mind.
The rapier did not pierce his flesh. The black-clad man had lazily tilted his head to the side, his lower face hidden by the cloth wrapped around it. And then, she felt a searing pain along her enlarged torso, his blade slicing into her with merciless swiftness. She backed off, unsure of what had happened.
That was a mistake.
He pursued her with quick steps, dodging a retaliatory blow with a mere sidestep. Then, his longsword came bearing down with a stab that would have hurt had she not quickly positioned her shield to protect herself. The Grafted Scion prided herself in her poise, but the blocked blow still managed to push her back and stagger her step, her many legs quickly trying to adjust themselves and steady her.
Two arms also armed with rapiers tried to push him back, but the man ducked under their blades and aimed another slash alongside her body. Blood spurted from the wound, the Scion shouting in pain and doing everything she could to get him to back off. He back stepped a couple of times, dodging the wild swings from her weapons, only having to parry once as one of the blades got too close for comfort.
The Grafted Scion walked back, reasserting herself and trying to fully get her bearings. This man was fast and his attacks hit true, but he was still no match for her. Maybe the earlier fight with the previous Tarnished threw her off due to how easy it was to repel him. She fixed her stance and watched the man, seeing him passively waiting for her next move.
"I admit that thee are skilled…" She said, but stopped once the sting of the open wounds got her attention. A few arms ripped off strips of cloth from her cloak and pressed against the cuts, hoping to staunch the bleeding. "Thy blade is sharp…my liege shall find joy in grafting thy limbs…"
The Good Hunter narrowed his eyes. He took another deep breath and reached inside himself, pulling on one of techniques from the Old Hunters. Then, he charged towards the monster, ready to slaughter it.
The Grafted Scion found herself cut short, the man clad in leather suddenly rushing her with renewed haste in his step. He was fast before, but now he was just short of a blur to her. She stood guard with her shield, ready to block and stop him. She lost sight of him, but she heard a distinct sound. Almost like metal striking at metal, something loudly clinked together and suddenly she found herself faced with a greatsword.
She had seen glimpses of the blade strapped on his back, but thought little of it since it had no handle. Maybe he was on a journey to repair the weapon or maybe it was a particular secular punishment to carry the heavy weapon on his back. None of the options were correct, the man bringing the blade down with speed and strength that far surpassed the reach of the common man.
The decorated greatsword came crashing down on her, cleaving through her shield and very nearly cutting off the limb holding the gear. She cried out loudly in pain, but took the chance. If she were to hesitate he might just finish the job with the viciousness that he was displaying. Her main hand moved to perform a perfect stab, her aim to skewer his neck and server his spine.
*BANG*
Thunder roared and pain flared further, the scion screaming out in pain as her hand exploded into a gory mess of mangled flesh, her rapier tossed aside in a bloody heap. She then spotted the man, his right hand missing any weapons. No metal gauntlet either, he had nothing more than leather gloves protecting him from the spurts of blood of her mangled and gnarly limb. And yet, nothing looked far more terror-inducing than that man's hand.
His hand was spread into a clawed grip, the pain and fear of the thunderous noise distracting the Scion from whatever the man seemed to be ready to do. And then, he plunged the entirety of his hand into her torso. Nay, the limb sank in her flesh until he was close to elbow deep in her innards, each inch of movement sending unending pain coursing through her body. Not even the first grafts had hurt this badly.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The scion's ears rang with a howl, the being unsure of the source of the noise. Then, her throat began to hurt and she realized that she was the source of the pained, prolonged shout.
Blood burst and drenched the man, but he still seemed to not be done with his cruelty. His hand moved in her flesh with ruthlessness, seemingly in the search of something in her flesh; She shivered in cold sweat as he grasped something in her insides, the pain increasing tenfold as he twisted…and pulled.
Blood showered him as he wrenched his arm out from her innards, his limb absolutely caked with her life fluid. The man stared at the mess of flesh in his hands, then moved his eyes to the mess who crumbled under the pain and blood loss; she flinched in horror as he squashed whatever organ he had pulled from her innards. He tossed the organ as if it were garbage, slowly making his way towards her, his steps echoing on the cobblestone as if the call of the black knives and destined death.
"B-b-back off, cruel fiend-d!" She shouted in a pained haze, blood painting the earth as it escaped from the gaping wound in her torso in a steady stream. Her limbs failed to raise any significant resistance, the grafted being dragging herself away from the terrifying man. "Y-ye k-know nothing about c-chivalry! W-w-w-w-what f-foul behavior is this?!
The hunter ignored all her words, his bloodied hand reaching for the greatsword stuck on the destroyed shield. He held the handle of the blade and placed one firm boot on the wrecked defensive gear, pulling the sword away, metal groaning as the hunter wrenched his blade free. He turned back to the abomination, the being now pathetically trying to flee. Orion aimed Evelyn a few paces off, the bullet cracking the stone brick that the monster was about to lay her hand on.
*BANG*
"H-hiiiihg!"
"Disgusting…" The hunter commented, the art of quickening fading away from his body. Slow and measured steps had him close to the being, the creature shivering and raising its various hands in surrender. It reminded him of that bastard spider, Patches. Orion placed the sheath-blade on the clasps on his back and unlocked the latch that connected the two, his long sword free and ready to act should the abomination try anything funny.
"F-f-f-foul Tarnished! What else is thy wish?! Brutish and uncouth, what other cruel behavior shall thee commit!"
The hunter stopped right in front of the Scion. He raised Evelyn's barrel and pointed it to the being's head. The Grafted Scion flinched, another stream of pained whines leaving its mouth.
"Speak." He commanded, the multi-limbed being having a coughing fit, splattering crimson fluid on the stone and dirt.
"W-w-what are ye..- she was cut off as the heated barrel of the firearm touched her forehead.
"I ask the questions and you answer them. If not…" His threat was firmly stablished by the light motion his longsword, the blade coming to rest on one of the grafted limbs, the edge seemingly eager to bite into flesh and draw blood. "Do you understand it?"
She nodded, unwilling to be further punished by the foreign weapon he wielded. It was akin to a cannon, but no one had ever heard rumors of one so small and so precise.
"Good, then start talking…" Orion grilled the being for information, satiating his most imminent questions about this place.
The home beyond the fog, the Lands Between were a place apparently blessed by a magnanimous Outer God called the Greater Will. This god had blessed the land with the Erdtree and the power of runes and elevated a woman to godhood; Marika the Eternal. According to the being there were a few recent developments that happened: the shattering of an ancient and powerful artifact called the Elden Ring, which held runes of power that governed the laws of the world and dictated causality. It seemed that true death had become a foreign concept for these people as their souls - upon mortal expiration - would return to the roots of this Erdtree and rebirth them in golden glory.
There was a current ruling body called Golden Order that followed the commands of the Greater Will and worshipped the Erdtree, following orders to the extreme and suppressing anyone whose belief ran contrary to them.
That was the most that Orion managed to acquire as information from the abomination, her will depleted and strength gone after his visceral attack. Still, he had now some context on the previous information that his godly-self managed to acquire and implant in his mind. The Good Hunter raised his blade, the abomination tiredly raising its head to follow the arc of the blade.
"Merciless until the end, ye are, tarnished." Its voice was hoarse and weak, but it gathered not an ounce of sympathy from the hunter.
He swung the blade and decapitated the abomination with one clean slash, its head rolling off and away as blood pumped from the neck stump, its sight neither bringing excitement nor disgust to the hunter. At most he felt annoyance that such similar thing was happening both in Yharnam and here; the abomination proclaimed to be in service of the ruling king, its work to hunt down these Tarnished and bring the stronger ones to the king. It did not reveal the name of its liege, all it said was that he was the lord of all that is golden.
"Fat load of bullshit is what it is. You think this is somehow golden?" He spat out to the corpse, feeling a light rush as blood echoes and runes were granted to him. Orion glanced at the weapons that this abomination used, but found them to be unappealing to him. His Reiterpallasch combined more use and proper decorum, and the hunter refused to use the golden-plated weapons as they stunk something fierce.
Still, to say that he felt absolute no pity for this being was not entirely true. He'd still hunt down any that got in his way and slaughter them like the monsters they were, but this process of grafting…it was something terrible and worthy only of abhor. To think that someone would subject themselves so such artificial methods of strengthening, how much of a coward did one have to be to do this blasphemy?
Orion closed his eyes and sighed, taking in the scent of stale blood that caked the earth beneath him. He could hear it and were he anyone else, the man might thought to have imagined the whispers. The barest of sounds, which thanked him for freedom; for the liberation of such vile shackle.
The hunter left the small plaza, following through another stone arc way and heading toward a ledge on this small mountainous zone. It seemed that he was without any way to exit this place, only a foggy chasms being in sight as he looked from the ledge he was at. There was another one nearby with a message scribbled on the ground, but Orion noticed from afar the weakness of the stones. Besides, the trick of the shiny trinket on the edge of a cliff was much too obvious for him to fall for, again.
He wondered how he had not squashed that bastard human-headed spider the moment he saw it on the lecture hall.
Still, now with not a clue on where to go and no ways out that connected with land, Orion returned to the small plaza where the corpse of the abomination lay still. He tsk'ed at the sight and grumbled to himself, once more approaching the corpse. A quick rummage through the many pockets of his garb revealed a vial bottle filled with a murky brown-yellowish fluid corked with a bundle of dirty looking cloth. The hunter was quick to also produce a lighter from his pockets, his lavender-purple eyes staring down at the abomination. He was not a member of the choir and his investigations during the night of the hunt dealt more with their actions than their prayers, but the hunter knew a small one that always soothed him.
"May you find your worth in the waking world." He chanted, lighting the end of the cloth and tossing the lit object atop the corpse. It quickly burst into flames and spread to burn the entirety of the being, the hunter soon turning his back to it and letting it burn.
He checked that the ledge that abomination had been looking down at, being capable of seeing no more than foggy crags. Orion wondered for a moment if he should wait a few more moments, maybe another of these grafted would come to check on its brethren, but he quickly gave up on the idea.
A little help would be appreciated. He called to his other self, but received no reply. The Good Hunter frowned and sent another mental nudge, receiving only silence in return. Something seemed to be interfering with his mental link between his human and godly-selves, delaying it as best as it could. The hunter huffed, but closed his eyes and grasped the Radiant Sword Hunter Badge that hung among the others on his neck.
"Oh mentor, guider of my path. Illuminate my way, so that I may continue my duty." Finishing his request, Orion opened his eyes and felt the hum of power echo in his mind; strangely enough, it pointed to the chasm that he was close to. He rolled his eyes, leaning a bit over the edge and staring down at the fall.
"If I find Rom again…" Orion's complaints echoed in the wind, no one nearby to listen to the hunter. He then walked off the ledge, letting his body free fall.
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…
Melina had just placed the Crimson Flask close to the Tarnished when Torrent whined and huffed, his previous calm demeanor now changed into a desire to leave immediately. The woman climbed down from the spectral steed and gave him a few pats along his neck, trying to settle him down.
"What is it, Torrent?" She questioned, but the horse seemed more interested in fleeing the area with her than trying to offer explanations. Explanations that suddenly were unneeded as something almost crashed atop her, only her rapid rolls to the side saving her from being squashed under a body. Had the Grafted Scion defeated another Tarnished?
"Fuck, that is heavy on the knees." A male voice echoed in the sodden cave, the woman backing off and observing from a safe distance this newcomer. His clothing consisted of black leather garbs, his face hidden under a thick cloth mask and a stylized hat adorned his head, the endings resembling feathers. He had no weapon on his hand, but Melina could see a sword hanging from his hip on a leather strip and something akin to the blade of a great sword seemed to be hanging from his back.
He patted his coat and took a vial of a viscous red fluid, turning it and immediately pressing it to his leg, the vial quickly drained of the contents. Melina noticed that his vigor seemed to immediately return, much to her surprise. He didn't seem to possess a Crimson Flask himself, so it made the maiden wonder what was in the glass vial that he used. Still, the man seemed to carry himself with confidence, it being either the mark of confidence or arrogance.
"I know that you can see me." He spoke aloud, turning his gaze from the floor – where Torrent's chosen tarnished lay unconscious – to her cloaked frame. She hadn't exactly hid from sight, more interested in learning the reasons of his arrival. Still, the black-clad man didn't seem bothered by her quietude. He once more turned to look at the tarnished, also noticing the flasks by his feet. He knelt and grasped the flasks, his strange-colored eyes brimming with curiosity about the items.
"Those are not for you." Finally, Melina intervened, hoping to avoid the man pilfering the flasks. It wouldn't be terribly hard to find substitutes, but she hoped to avoid such trouble.
The man hummed, still holding the items. He glanced at the Tarnished and then back at her. "…Tarnished, huh?" The hunter knelt back again, just about returning the items back where he found them, but he stopped his hand, tantalizing the maiden. "How about a bargain? You certainly seem keen on gifting this…Tarnished these flasks."
The maiden narrowed her eye at the man. It would be her luck to find a stranger with a sharp tongue. She glanced at Torrent, wondering why had hadn't returned to the spectral world. Her partner seemed to be…was he scared of this foreign man? She discreetly palmed the handle of her blade, wondering if she should simply vanish or continue to engage in conversation.
"Speak your mind, stranger."
The man nodded, slowly sitting by the Tarnished's side. "I came from a far land, following a certain call to fix things. I don't know the history of these lands and all these titles that people seem so found of throwing around. I could do with a bit of teaching."
"Following a call, you say?" The maiden cut some of the distance short, approaching her mount and running a soothing hand on the animal's neck. "I see. Maybe you are tarnished too. Perhaps another warrior willing to restore the Elden Ring. It is in your nature to seek such."
The man sighed in disappointment, bringing one blood-stained gloved hand to lower the cloth mask around his face. Melina didn't know what exactly to expect, but he was not the worse man she had laid eyes upon. A rugged fellow, perhaps a veteran warrior?
"You could begin with that Tarnished stuff…" Orion stated, moving his hand in circles as a display of his frustration about the title.
Melina stayed silent for a while, the shortened distance allowing the hunter to notice that one of her eyes was shut, a placid expression painting her fair features. She also had her left eye shut, a strange tattoo painted over the entirety of her eyelid skin, ending near her cheekbones. It sort of resembled a crow's claw, but it also made the hunter remember one of the more dangerous hunter techniques at his arsenal. Still, he kept calm; the probability of her turning into a scourge beast was none, her clean smell reminding the hunter of his first encounter with Eileen. She didn't lower her hood, so the hunter had limited view of her features.
"Would you be willing to make an accord with me?" She then spoke after a short while.
The hunter cocked a brow up. Dodging questions, are we? "What would be the terms of your accord?"
The cloaked woman seemed to relax a bit after his question. "Should you…help this Tarnished strengthen their resolve and self, I shall guide you to the one who has the answers you might need. I ask of thee, only this much."
The hunter glanced back at the defeated person wearing simple armor. It doesn't seem too bad of a quest, he mused, teach the Tarnished a couple of tricks and babysit for a while. I have had worse. "I suppose I could teach someone to hunt."
His answer had the cloaked lady tilt her head to the side. "Are you some sort of hunter?"
That got Orion to perk up, a smile splitting his lips. "Aye, that I am. A hunter of beasts and nightmares." His smile must have been too aggressive, the woman backing a few steps off, her hand hovering over the handle of the blade that she thought she was hiding from his eyes. She took a few more moments to compose herself, now maintaining the increased distance between the two of them.
"I see…" She then moved to face the stirrups of the saddle of her strange horse. "Very well then, Noble Tarnished Hunter. We have formed an accord." She made to climb the horse, yet before she could do so the hunter spoke.
"No."
Melina glanced at him with her open eye visibly tightened, her visible fair face also drawn tight. "What is thy reason behind your refusal of our accord?"
The hunter dusted his gloves hands and slowly began to rise from his seat, each move careful to avoid unsettling the lady. She was already ready to fight, but the hunter stood back, free hands patting one area of his garb in particular.
"I don't know how things are settled here in these lands, but from where I come from we like to firm our accords with written proof of our words and with testimony; to avoid any of the parties involved from cheating the other out of any rewards or obligations. It is merely a formality, but one that I'd like us to honor." The hunter explained, still moving slowly as to avoid bringing any more suspicion out of the lady. His gloved hand pulled out of his garb not a weapon, but a simple leather-bound book and a fancy fountain-ink pen.
The cloaked woman stayed on her guard, but eventually nodded her head along. "I suppose it is only fair." She touched the horse on its flank, the animal whining as she took a few steps to approach the hunter once more.
"It is a simple contract, stating our requests to each other and stablishing that we found fitting reward for the work that I shall be doing. Nothing extravagant - flowery language isn't exactly my forte you see – but something to firm our deal." Orion said while he penned down on the yellow page of his notebook. It was not long until he finished his contract, penning down his name as the worker and then drawing a straight line for his contractor's. "Please do sign your name in a visible manner on the drawn line."
He offered the book to the lady, seeing that she tensed up at the thought of further approaching him. Seeing this, Orion then spoke in a joking, mocking tone.
"Relax; if I wanted you dead, there would be little that you would be able to do to stop it, hehehe." He chuckled on the end, then stopped once he noticed that he had done a rather perfect imitation of his first encounter with Gehrman, minus the lewd innuendo. The Old Hunter had been quite the expressive lecher when his mind was stable, for however little time that happened.
His words did not settle the lady's worries. If anything, it might have further heightened her sense of danger as she stood still, tension growing between the two due to the silence. Orion thought about reaching for his pistol, but in the end decided not to. The two stared at each other, the hunter wondering if his words had offended the cloaked lady. He hoped to avoid a clash so soon, it felt good talking with people that weren't trying to immediately shank him.
"Very well, I shall trust you." She spoke in her velvety voice, approaching with calm and measured steps. Orion offered the notebook and pen with both hands, a simple demonstration that he wasn't just waiting the opportunity to jump at her. Her cloak parted very little, just enough for the lady to extend her arms out of her gray cloak and grasp the offered items, her single eye scanning the contents of the contract and seemingly finding it to be acceptable as the pen was soon scribbling near the page's end. She returned the book to the hunter, grasping the edges of her cloak to once more hide behind it. "Is this acceptable, oh Tarnished Hunter?"
Orion nodded his head, turning the notebook to himself and eyeing the name written on line. Melina, huh… He ripped the page off the book and closed it, putting the leather-bound book away in his garb and lightly blowing air on the separated page, drying the lightly red ink.
"Our contract is established, Lady Melina." He tried to keep the amusement out of his voice, but it some still managed to slip through. Still, he'd best try to avoid offending the woman, so he dips his head and crosses his arm over his chest, lightly bowing down to offer her respect.
Melina then backed away, finally climbing atop her mount. "I shall wait for your progress, oh Tarnished Hunter." She lightly grasped the reigns of the horse, a small movement getting the animal to move.
"Lady Melina…" Orion called out, the woman stopping her mount, yet not turning around. "Please, do refer to me without that title. I am no Tarnished, but a mere Hunter; a Good Hunter, but no more than that."
The woman still did not turn around to face Orion. The horse began to move once more, but the fair lady did deign him with one last answer. "Very well…I desire thee a bountiful hunt, Good Hunter."
[XXX]
[XXX]
"Come on, wake up already Sleeping Beauty." Orion spoke in a jovial tone, pouring down some of the murky water he collected in an empty vial on the unconscious Tarnished, the stream aimed at their face. The Tarnished immediately woke while sputtering, the language spoken not something the hunter had heard before. He understood Melina due to the previous wisps of knowledge imparted on him by His godly-self, but the method was not perfect and there was only so much knowledge one could glimpse from another world.
The Tarnished immediately rolled away from the Hunter and took a defensive stance, drawing a longsword from the scabbard on their hip, a shield and halberd left aside not too far. The helm impeded the hunter from seeing whoever was inside the suit of armor, but he tried to put on a friendly face. It was understandable for the Tarnished to be on guard, especially if their first encounter had been that abomination that Orion had slain.
"I'm not your enemy." The hunter calmly stated, taking his hat off and holding it on his chest. "Put down that sword before you hurt yourself."
The metal-clad Tarnished ignored his words, grasping at their neck in a hurry and noticing that something seemed to be missing. Orion could see very little besides the Tarnished's eyes under the metal strip of the helm, but it was clear that they were clouded with anger; most surely misplaced anger, but it was clear that they would not listen to reason (words had long failed in their case).
Orion sighed and placed his hat back atop his head, then lightly stepped backwards to dodge the incoming swing of the Tarnished's blade. It was a fairly good attempt, all things considered, but the Good Hunter found himself unharmed. A couple more standard swings followed, Orion side stepping them, yet not retaliating even as the Tarnished's back was exposed once they overextended one of their swings.
"Too heavy and too slow; form is good, but you could do more in less cumbersome armor." He commented even while knowing his words wouldn't be understood. Nonetheless, the Ascended Hunter maintained some distance from the knightly-dressed Tarnished, the two circling around each other and trying to gauge something. The armor-clad Tarnished then began running at the hunter, sword maintained in a tight grip between their hands, Orion still unarmed.
The Tarnished tried a shoulder-tackle, the hunter side-stepping to dodge and avoid kissing metal shoulder pads, no second step needed for the following swing of the blade. The hunter merely leaned a bit backwards, the blade slashing at nothing but air, the Good Hunter closing his hands in a hammer fist and then rapidly spinning to gain enough momentum; it barely took a singular spin, his gloved hands then striking with mighty force the helm on the side, the impact immediately flooring the armor-clad Tarnished on the ground, their longsword clattering uselessly on the water accumulated on the cave's floor.
The stunned Tarnished fell close to the other arms Orion had seen previously, their hand already reaching for the polearm. Before the weapon could be lifted from the ground, Orion was already upon the Tarnished, stepping firmly on the wooden length and then pointing the tip of his own sword under the Tarnished's helm, right on the division between the head gear and chest piece.
"Touché." Orion stated in a dry tone, the fight clearly a boring issue for him. The Tarnished seemed to think otherwise about the duel, shouting back at the Hunter even while clearly under the effects of a concussion. The Hunter ignored it, wondering how to best contour the situation.
[*****]
A gurgle echoed in his mind, the sound belonging to only one being. You took your sweet time answering. What is it, having too much fun with the doll? The hunter questioned with some annoyance in his mind, the following answer not helping much matters. The fuck do you mean by that? Someone is holding back the stars? How does that make sense? How does it stop you from answering me?
[*****]
Don't you fucking talk back to me, you fake-fish!
[*****]
Arhhh, forget it. Just help me out with this one. Can we share knowledge? Like that stuff we did before we separated?
[****]
Won't that just vaporize them?
[*****]
As I said, what the fuck does "holding back the stars" has to do with this? How that is even a possibility?
[***]
You know what? Fuck it, I'll do it.
Orion rummaged through the coats of his garb, one boot still firmly pressing the halberd's handle on the floor while he searched for his treasure. The Tarnished saw a chance to do something and released the polearm, one gauntlet-clad hand immediately lashing in a back fist to try and sweep the Hunter down. Even while searching his pockets, Orion just lifted his foot up, the fist harmlessly passing by; only for the Hunter to immediately bring his boot on the arm, pinning it down, his other knee descending down on the chest piece and soliciting a metal whine from it.
"Found it!" The Hunter exclaimed, not bothered by the futile resistance of the Tarnished. To the foreigner the object was a strange living thing which resembled some sort of slug or parasite, the sight of it igniting a dull pain in the Tarnished's mind and causing a terrible aversion to it. To the Hunter, it was merely a tool. Orion grasped the phantasm by the head tendrils, the long and sinuous body lightly glowing a soft green light, and he shoved the long body of the phantasm inside the helm of the Tarnished, commanding the tool to activate.
The Tarnished – whose struggle had ceased to stare curiously at the actions of the Hunter – renewed their struggle rather fiercely, gagging and choking as the phantasm forced its way past their lips and down their throat, not inconvenienced the resistance the Tarnished offered.
"Just relax. I know it is painful and fucking weird, but the less you struggle the quicker we can finish." Orion stated, focused and with his eyes closed. He had noticed that indeed something was different in the spectral state of this world. A use of [A Call from Beyond] would normally result in the immediate birth and death of a star, the energy caused by the supernova momentarily obeying the caster until it was expended. The original use was to try and communicate with the Great Old Ones in the Outer Cosmos; the goal which was failed by the Healing Church, was now being accomplished by the Ascended Hunter, human mind communicating flawlessly with the godly being intended for the call.
He guided the knowledge and words that came from his Great Form, translating as much as possible into his own mind before pushing it through his connection with the phantasm and the Tarnished.
"GGGGHUUUACK!-" Gagging and choking left the Tarnished's throat, but the Hunter was just about done with his exoteric form of communication. He finished imparting knowledge about his language to the Tarnished, not taking anything from their mind (there was the small temptation, for it was knowledge about this person's past) and with one pull he extracted the phantasm from the Tarnished's throat.
"There, there, it is all done now." Orion tried to sound as sympathetic as possible, immediately stashing the phantasm away and helping the Tarnished into a better position. The Tarnished gagged and spat out, removing their helmet and chucking it away, coughing all the while Orion stood by their side, trying to pat a soothing hand on their back (the effect more mental than physical, considering the layer of metal armor protecting the Tarnished).
"W-what s-sort of fiend are you-u?" The Tarnished spoke up, Orion finally understanding the words of the…female? The knightly-dressed person grasped at her throat, staring at the Hunter with a mix of anger and fear in her brown-colored eyes. He took to correct her slight mistake.
"I'm not a fiend, Tarnished. I am Orion, The Good Hunter." Orion calmly stated, giving the still-unnamed Tarnished woman some space. He stood in front of her and did his usual salutation.
The female knight finally stopped gagging and coughing, and managed to stand up. She grabbed the edge of her collared cloak and wiped some spittle that had accumulated around her lips, unsure what to say to such a brutish man who dared to not honor the spirit of chivalry.
"Well, Hunter, now that we seem to understand each other, would thee do the honorable action and return mine medallion?" The Tarnished asked, aware that the man that stood before her was much more skilled than he let on. It certainly took great skill to toy with her, one of the knights of...nay, she was no knight anymore. She was no better than a common vagabond or one of those masterless warriors from the land of the reeds. Still, she might not have honor anymore, but she would have her memento, it was much too precious.
The so called hunter simply stood there, a brow lifted upwards. "Well, that will be quite the hard task to complete then, considering I am not in possession of your medallion." He stated, opening one button on his black-leather garb and pulling from it a thin silver neck-chain, various unknown badges hanging from it. "You are free to look at any of them, but I reckon that none are your pretty trinket."
The Female Knight clenched her hands and bared her teeth towards the Hunter, but took a deep breath to maintain her calm demeanor. "I certainly had it before on my person, even during my fall. I find it hard to believe that I'd lose it like that, and not due to a suspicious stranger that claims to be an innocent Hunter."
Orion rolled his eyes and tucked in his chain. "If it calms you down I'll help you look for it. Already signed up for the job, might as well start it now."
"What job are you referring to?" The Tarnished's suspicion increased instantaneously. The Good Hunter sighed in exasperation.
"You must be delightful in parties, huh?" His mocking tone brought the Tarnished towards him, the female knight waving her fist at him in a vague attempt at intimidation.
"A knight's duty is to his liege! I stood guard and protected milord, twas not my job to make merry and enter a drunken stupor, you oaf! What do you take a knight's pride for?"
Orion looked very much not impressed with her spiel. He decided to busy himself with more important matters, such as searching the pretty babble that the Tarnished was looking for. Speaking of which: "Miss knight-in-shining armor, do you have a name?"
The armor-clad woman scoffed at him, going towards her helm and picking up the armor piece to wear it again. It had collected some of the murky water that was present on the floor, but the woman seemed to not be put off by it, merely dumping the liquid off and placing her gear on. "My name is surely wasted in the likes of you. Simply calling me Tarnished shall suffice, Hunter."
Orion let his brow cock up further, the Ascended Hunter remembering the one person with this sort of attitude. It would do no good to clash head-on against it, his first encounter with the Queen of the Vilebloods an experience that taught him how to deal with these sorts of haughty noble types. He suppressed a sigh and scanned the area where he had dropped on, moving to search through the mud and murky waters. There was some sort of further ravine or hole on the right edge of the cave and a set of stone stairs close on north of their location; the hunter did not hesitate to lower his knees to the water to search for the trinket, constantly aware of the female Tarnished's eyes on his back, trying to hide her presence and remain unnoticed while she approached his back. He pretended to be unaware of her slow approach, the female knight already taking possession of her previous sword.
Orion sighed in disappointment, but his fingers brushed against something half buried within the muddy earth, the Hunter grasping the object and pulling free. His discovery was a round medallion encrusted with four red gems, most likely the so requested item. He would have returned it, but had to roll forward to avoid a heavy downwards slice that definitively intended to split his head open like a rotten dog's skull.
He heard the Tarnished's frustrated growl and smirked, standing up with the medallion grasped tightly in his right hand. "Now now, that wasn't very noble-like of you, Tarnished. Attacking an unaware man from behind like a thief in the night, what would your liege say?" He picked on her mannerism quickly enough. It didn't help that this lass behaved like the tales of knights from the books of Cainhurst; all talks of knightly conduct and honor, willing to be bastions and paragons of what justice should be. At the end of the day they were little different from the common Yharnam citizen intoxicated by blood and fire of the hunt, succumbing to their base desires and going past the line that divided man from beast.
Sure, the Tarnished might not be suddenly going to turn into a bestial monster, but Orion appreciated honesty. The Hunter was a bit pleased that when the going got tough that the armor clad lass seemed to be willing to step away from all that honor bullshit, but for her to previously proclaim to be his "better" and then act like this, it got the hunter into a sour mood. His fingers danced atop the hilt of his longsword, but the Hunter relented and took a calming breath.
"Return it to me, Hunter! I shan't ask again!"
Orion walked backwards, approaching the hole that he noticed previously. She wanted the medallion so bad? Well, he certainly found little use for the trinket.
"If you want your pretty babble, then you will have to earn it; but I suspect that you already knew it, didn't you?" He sardonically asked, a creepy grin spreading his lips wide open.
The Tarnished charged at him, seemingly forgetting the earlier occurrences. The Hunter was very happy to remind her that he was the faster between the two. He didn't even need to reach for the Art of Quickening, a simple side step had him behind the armor clad lass, the temptation to stun and perform a Visceral Attack tickling his fingertips.
*STOMP*
"Aieehhh!?"
Luckily for Tarnished, Orion wasn't in the mood to perform field improvised organ extractions on her. He raised a boot and firmly planted it on her behind, kicking the woman down on the hole a few meters under. The secondary cave didn't seem to be too deep, the noise of the female knight's body hitting the stone ground not too bad. The Hunter had noticed that there was a draft of air flowing form the cave, which meant that there was another way out that the Tarnished woman could use to escape from her predicament. That Orion could also hear and smell other people down there told him that a fight was most likely to happen and that the armor-clad lass would have to fight her way out.
"Hunter!" She shouted, face planted down, the sight comical to the hunter.
"That was for trying to cross me, lass! You gain points for change of tactics, but you also lose points for losing your cool and attacking someone clearly above your level. Pride doesn't do much to stop a blade or an axe from slashing you into pieces. However, take this as a lesson! If you manage to get out form down there and..." The hunter took a deep breath, filing his nostrils with as much air as he could. He could sense the fresh smell of dew and grass. How long had it been since he truly touched real grass? Well, he digressed. "reach outside, I'll give your medallion back!"
"Hunter!"
The Ascended Hunter merely shrugged his shoulders, leaving the edge of the hole and going towards the - in his humble opinion - strange chair that seemed to be forgotten near the edge of this hole. Orion could see a strange phantom sitting on it and he approached it. The ghostly apparition was muttering something to itself, but as soon as the Hunter approached it, the being stopped talking and raised its lowered head, staring straight at Orion. There were rare occasions in which the Good Hunter deemed to hear an old man cry pleasant, this time not being such an exception.
"Ahh, another shadow? Oh Greater Will, why are you so cruel with your subjects? Lady Marika, is this not enough? Why?" It cried and whimpered in a sort of strangled agony, reminding the hunter of Gehrman's pitiful, lucid dreams within the Dream. "When has another Demi-god been birthed? Ahh!" The ghostly man continued whimpering and crying, no will or lucidity left as the previous mutterings were now exchanged for these pitiful moans. It irked the Hunter, but also reminded him of the reason behind his arrival on the Lands Between.
The hunter went past the ghost of the seated man, his resolve to help further reinforced. He approached the decorated way carved out in white marble and opened the door with no struggle, following the tunnels that reminded him somewhat the structure of the chalice dungeons, except with less cursed death and monsters. He kept going at a sedated pace, taking the time to study the craftsmanship of the carved stones; one could glimpse and learn much from the way a society built their buildings.
Soon enough Orion found himself staring at…something. It was a bit hard to describe it as at a fast glance it seemed to be a mere bonfire. Yet, something about it attracted the Hunter to it, almost like how the Messenger Lanterns brought relief and comfort to him during the Night of the Hunt. He approached it cautiously, noticing that the light this bonfire released was not from fire itself, but from a luminous form that sort of resembled a silhouette. The Hunter almost stretched a hand to touch it, but thought better of it and did as usual and clicked his fingers, feeling the light body follow through and echo with power.
[Lost Grace Discovered!]
Orion inexplicably had a feeling of quietude and peace resonate within himself. Even with the few skeletons around him, the Hunter was not worried. He opted to forgo resting here, considering he wasn't truly tired. Before he went past the next archway and headed into the next room, he noticed a few items near a corpse. The hunter figured that he could use this as a test for the Tarnished and quickly scrambled a note that he left next to the strange fingers. He headed towards a structure that resembled the elevator in the Cathedral Ward, soon arriving at the top of the structure and heading through another series of decorated tunnels that led him to a large brass door.
He easily lifted it and upon opening it his eyes being blessed by the verdant sight of green blades of grass, trees with brilliant leaves shining gold and the at-first enchanting avatar of the golden Erdtree. He took his monocle from a hip pouch and did a quick scan of the area, noticing the many fortified structures that dotted the land. Orion also was quick to find another person standing around, seemingly waiting for someone. He pocketed his tool and began heading towards the man dressed in white robes.
Orion took his first steps out of the cave and immediately noticed the large wooden pole close to this mysterious figure, a person crucified. The only notable difference from the common cross was that this one had the planks for the arms in a curved, crescent shape akin to a half circle.
The Good Hunter began heading towards the robed man, noticing then that the person also wore a white mask. The man noted the Hunter's approach and began to rub his hands together in a manner not unlike that of merchants (or corpse looters after the spoils of soldiers). As soon as the Hunter reached talking distance, the white robed man began to talk.
"Oh yes…Tarnished, are we?" Yet even as the male spoke, his voice dipped from confident to somewhat doubtful. Orion was somewhat different from the common denominator that established what it meant to be a Tarnished for sure, but first he wanted to discover what being one meant. "Come to Lands Between for the Elden Ring, hmm?"
Orion grunted in acknowledgment. It seemed that this white masked fellow enjoying hearing the sound of his own voice, so the Hunter waited for a better opportunity to speak. This Elden Ring must be truly precious if everyone and their mothers were talking about it as much as Yharnamites talked about blood.
"Of course you have!" The man's confidence seemed to return in force after the Hunter's affirmation. "No shame in it!" The wind seemed to be in agreement with the white masked man, as it blew a bit harder around them, a metallic scent being carried to the Hunter's nostrils.
Orion clenched his teeth inside his mouth, thankful that he had fixed the cloth around his face, else he'd have been showing an aggressive expression towards this robed man. The scent of stale blood clung to him, a foul and putrid thing. The Hunter wanted to avoid making enemies of the first person in sight, so he held himself in check.
"Unfortunately, however, you are…" Orion very well damn nearly felt his body do an involuntary move to punch the man before he finished his sentence, but managed to stop himself on acting upon the strange desire. "…I find it hard to understand you. You seem to be maidenless, yet you also seem to be under the guiding of someone…hmm, most curious." The white masked fellow then crossed his arms, most likely thinking about Orion's origins.
Well, his curiosity was going to remain, since the Hunter planned on revealing as little as possible about himself and his home.
"I come from a very far land, ever farther than the reach of the fog." The Ascended Hunter spoke in a firm tone, still keeping his eyes trailed on the robed man. "I am currently on a contract, but I can assure you one thing. I am most certainly not maidenless." The Hunter strangely felt the need to point the idea out.
The white-mask man hummed. "Maybe you mistake my words, traveler. You see, without guidance, without the strength of runes, and without an invitation to the Roundtable Hold, one would be fated to die in obscurity, a rather common outcome in these lands. Yet, you…you who lack a guiding maiden, you seem strong; of course, the blessings of grace seek ones such as yourself." The robed man explained, nodding to himself.
Orion heard the mechanism of the elevator activate and perked up, turning his head back towards the entrance where he arrived from.
"Are you waiting for someone?"
The hunter nodded. "You'll see."
From the depths of the building emerged one armor-clad person. The knightly fellow seemed almost desperate in their search, scanning their surroundings and constantly changing their head's direction until it spotted the Good Hunter and the robed white-mask man. Then, the blue knight charged towards them, sprinting while sheathing their sword and grasping the shaft of the halberd that was strapped to their back.
"HHHHUUUUUUUUNNNNNNTTTTTTEEEEEERRRRRRR!"
[XXX]
[TO BE CONTINUE]
AU END NOTES
Oh rise, ye Tarnished! Who might follow a serious story, but who won't escape from a good rule!63. You might not have much renown now, but just you wait! Under the bloody cloak of the Good Hunter, ye shall become something else!
But first, let me read your thoughts on this chapter!
