A/N: Hello folks, another chapter incoming.
For those wondering about Scions of Remnant (I've noticed quite a few of the follows for this story are also followers of Scions), the story is not dead. In fact, I've actually had the chapter mostly finished for the past... few months, at least. I'm in the process of regaining my fire for writing it, and it will be updated; That story has too much time spent on it to abandon, and pages upon pages of things to be done before I'll ever consider it being done. But for right now, writing something else has been a breath of fresh air. And I am very happy with the ideas I have floating around for The Blade of Miquella!
Some might be wondering: Why Elden Ring? What makes someone want to write something about it, and why not something else? For me, it's rather simple. It's something fresh, it's something that's rather open to interpretation in regards to its lore, and Malenia as a whole has been one of my favorite characters from a lore perspective in a very, VERY long time.
Please review, criticize, all that fun stuff. I like to know what you all love to see!
Nearly a day later, Malenia and her loyal Knight Finlay were able to reach the top of Elphael, peering down upon the Haligtree.
Miquella's attempted replacement for the Erdtree didn't reach the heights that it once did. Over time, the upper branches crumbled beneath their own weight, and some with the weight of the architecture built upon them. The result was a complicated mess of rubble, long corroded steel, and the occasional last vestiges of the Scarlet Rot that plagued the Haligtree and its denizens, turned to stone however many years ago.
The precarious rubble was not the only danger. More humanoid creatures were scattered amongst the ruins as well, and Malenia had learned to kill them before they could directly see herself and her loyal Knight. Those posed a challenge initially, until Finlay's scythe began to glow. Miquella's Ring of Light proved itself to be more than effective against these creatures, cleaving through and causing more pain to the abomination than even Malenia's own blade.
The Blade of Miquella did notice that the creatures' ability to drain her willpower did not seem to extend to Finlay. She couldn't say for certain, but she could definitely hazard a guess towards the reason. All of her Cleanrot Knights were in constant agony, due to the infestation that coursed through their bodies. It was both a blessing and a curse. A curse, due to the eventual fate all of her faithful Knights would meet. But the blessing, the boon, was that it also served as a constant reinforcement of their will, and almost viewed as a badge of honor towards their service to their Lady. It was perhaps this pain that allowed Finlay to wholly ignore their foes' foul ability.
Regardless, their foes fell by the handful until they found themselves at Elphael's pinnacle, or at least what could be considered its pinnacle. Upon looking at the opposite side of the cliffside she had fazed upon earlier, she now found solid land. It seems that over the time that had passed, the island that the Haligtree had sprouted upon had finally reached the continent proper.
Helping Finlay crest the pinnacle, they gazed upon a distinct separation of where Elphael met the cliff. White and gray stone clashed with the vibrant greens of grasses and trees, a field of flowers seemingly half demolished by a piece of rubble that came from the Haligtree. Wildlife could be seen in the green, though nothing came towards the Haligtree. It seemed as if such creatures were able to sense that there was something not quite right with the now-ancient city, and as such avoided it in totality.
No matter. It was high time to leave her beloved brother's project and find out what she could of this world that did not possess the Erdtree. But first, she decided as her stomach rumbled, she would go on the hunt.
Jaune Arc found himself in a place he never imagined possible. Well; that's not wholely true. He had always imagined himself as being a hero like every generation of Arc males before him. That still hadn't changed, for that matter.
No, what he felt at this moment was something he had never thought about before. The consequences of being a Huntsman. The pain when he was hit by a Grimm. The rush of adrenaline that pumped through his veins when the time to fight came. The mental scars accrued through experiencing the things he did.
Such as the loss of someone he deeply cared for, even if he didn't know it until the last few moments they had together.
He stepped outside of the blacksmith's shop wearing his newly forged armor.
"He cleans up alright, don't you think?" The blacksmith asked his companions.
Ruby Rose, Lie Ren, and Nora Valkyrie. Three of his closest friends, allies, and also his teammates.
"He certainly does," Ren answered for the group. After a few more approving nods from his teammates, and a comment from Nora about grenade launchers, the balcksmith made sure to regain their attention with a slightly louder voice.
"You kids sure you won't stick around? You've been real good to this town. Wouldn't consider settling or something?" The man asked with a hopeful look in his eyes. Unfortunately for the man, all four members of the team shook their heads in unison. It was the girl dressed in red and black that stepped forward to put their thoughts into words.
"Sorry, but we have another mission. We have to make it to Haven Academy."
The blacksmith sighed in acceptance, though his hopeful look remained. "Well, thought I would ask at least. Maybe the red haired swordswoman will come by? If you see her, send her this way?"
His words stopped Jaune from turning to leave, and it seemed his friends noticed if their glances at each other were anything to go by.
"Red haired swordswoman?" Jaune asked. "I haven't heard of her, do you know who she is?"
The blacksmith shook his head, but he did offer what he knew about her.
"No, but it sounds like she's another Huntress. A couple of hunters came back a few days ago with no haul talking about a tall woman wearing golden armor or something. Long red hair, extremely vibrant. Apparently she was traveling with a heavily armored companion, reminded the hunters of antiquated items that are kept in Mistral's Museum of History. Apparently the red-haired warrior saved them from some Grimm, but wasn't aware that they were there."
Something in Jaune welled up. He knew it couldn't be Pyrrha, because she was dead. Ruby watched it happen. His younger friend had even witnessed her body turn to ashes, leaving nothing for them, nor her family to bury except for her weapon, shield, and circlet.
But her family never arrived at Vale to get what remained of her things. Come to think of it, Jaune never really recalled her talking about her family very much anyways. He couldn't even say where she was from, beyond Mistral. And without the CCTS, they didn't have access to her records. Any physical copies of records were destroyed with Ozpin's office, which had caused some issues with trying to find and contact the families of deceased students.
And those… there were a disturbingly large number of. For how many Huntsmen and Huntresses there were, even in training, there were more casualties among them than perhaps should have happened, despite the circumstances. There were new bodies being found every day even when Jaune and the others had left for Patch to get Ruby. Most of them were civilians and soldiers, but others were those of Huntsmen and Huntresses that had been marked as missing. A grisly sight to be sure. It didn't help that several of them were rather prominent as some of the strongest Huntsmen, and looked to have been specifically targeted from the shadows.
Jaune's attention was drawn back to the blacksmith as the man continued to speak.
"There's been rumors of large populations of Grimm being destroyed, or going missing. Merchants over the past few months have been claiming more and more known packs are being found left as little more than fleeing ants, which means something has them spooked. And these are reputable people who have always told the truth without embellishments."
"Uh… I don't think I've ever heard of Grimm running away. Ren, Ruby? Is that a thing?" Jaune asked. His companions shook their heads, though it was Ren's soft voice that answered.
"Only time I've ever heard of it was from Professor Port's stories about how an intelligent Alpha can set up ambushes and use strategies. This doesn't sound like that, especially if they're running away. I don't think I've ever heard of Grimm fearing something or someone."
Both Ruby and Nora stared at Ren, who merely shrugged. It was no secret that Ren, Pyrrha, and Weiss were the only ones that actively paid attention in Port's class within their group of friends. The blacksmith nodded at Ren's words though.
"You'd be right about that. So whoever she is, she's certainly something to behold."
Jaune's mind was working through several things, leading to him looking at his friends once more. When he spoke, his voice was almost pleading.
"Guys, I think we should try to find her."
The young reaper stepped forward to put a hand on Jaune's shoulder.
"Jaune, she's not Pyrrha. We don't know who she is, but-"
"I don't think it is either, but she might be related to her," Jaune interrupted. "Red hair and using a sword? I don't think you guys ever heard her talking about her family, but when she was training me she did a couple of times. All of her family had red hair, and everyone uses a sword. What if this is a sister, or her mother? Someone related to her? I think it's worth trying to find her and see who she is. If she is related to Pyrrha, then we can pass on that she… that Pyrrha…"
It was Nora who laid a sympathetic hand on his shoulder, while Ruby let out a pained sigh.
"I… okay. We can look for her, but we can't go too far out of our way to Mistral. Our mission can't be delayed too much."
At her words, the blacksmith smiled and reached into his pocket. He withdrew a scroll, opened it, and began to navigate its menus until he pulled up a map and handed it over to Ruby.
"Great! The merchant that came through about a week ago said that he had just passed by a former town named Kuroyuri when he saw the last fleeing Grimm pack. If she continues on her present path, you could likely meet her at the town of Shion. And er, sorry for dragging up some potentially bad memories from you folks."
Ruby and Jaune both took out their own scrolls to take pictures of the blacksmith's map, while Ren grabbed their own physical map and began to mark down any useful landmarks that may have been missing. In particular, places that were noted to have an abundance of water and creatures to hunt. He also scribbled in a road that hadn't been on the map.
Once everyone had finished, the blacksmith withdrew his scroll and seemed to think about something else before they parted ways.
"That also reminds me. There's been a couple of rumors of bandits roaming around. Be careful on the road, they'll leap at the chance to get their hands on any of your gear. Now you kids take care, you hear me?"
With smiles, nods, and final farewells given, Ruby began to lead them out of the town and down the road onwards to the town of Shion. None of them noticed the crow that jumped off the tree branch it had been perched on and followed them.
Smoke curled into the sky, providing a fairly clear beacon between the breaks in the tree canopies for Malenia and her loyal Knight to follow.
Despite the increased pace that the demigoddess led them on, Malenia was able to gather her thoughts on the past month and some weeks they had spent traveling and slaughtering the creatures of shadow that had tried to fight them at any opportunity.
The first week of travel had been aimless beyond going in a single direction. The first thing that had came to mind was that it seemed the Wraith-like abominations she had fought in Elphael seemed to be able to possess different forms. It hadn't taken long for several of them possessing wolf-like bodies to pounce on them.
There were bear-like versions as well, though none of them came close to the size of a fully grown runebear. They were easy enough to slay, though she would admit that perhaps her own experience in dealing with runebears made the process easier for herself and Finlay. Even the larger than average ones that seemed to be pack leaders didn't approach the size they were used to slaying.
Another form looked to be a giant two-headed snake. She would admit to having been taken off guard when the first of these heads had thrust itself out from a copse of trees, forcing Malenia to strike back quickly and use its vaporous blood to heal the hole that a tooth had made through her infested arm. The offending head was removed even as the pole of Finlay's scythe pushed her away from where she was standing. The reason why made itself known to the Goddess of Rot when another snake head hissed through the air where she had been only moments prior.
Her reaction speed was legendary for a reason. Malenia's sword plunged into the side of the creature's head, using the snake's own momentum to cut through the rest of the neck until it fell limp and began to disintegrate. She only had to look at the creature's body to see where the Rings of Miquella that Finlay had cast had dealt their damage, rending large gashes into the beast's scaled black flesh.
This had been their excitement for the majority of their traveling. They had come across several villages and farms, but never entered them. Their needs, or rather Finlay's needs, were being met by the local wildlife, which Malenia had noted as being undisturbed by the creatures of shadow. While Malenia herself could live without eating, Finlay was quite mortal and needed food. And, the Empyrean would freely admit, having an empty stomach was still quite unpleasant, regardless of her ability to sustain herself through her Great Rune.
This left them hunting and scavenging. There would be the occasional abandoned cart, though rarely did they possess anything that was both edible and unspoiled.
And so it came as a strange burst of excitement when they glanced at the evening sky, the sun close to sinking completely, and spotted smoke. Not the meager amount that would be caused by a traveler's fire, but that of a larger fire. And so they began to increase their pace, curious to see what they would find.
It became increasingly obvious as they approached that something malicious was underway. It seemed that the creatures of shadow were also being drawn to where they were heading, and strangely enough they didn't seem to pay either herself nor Finlay any mind. A strange thing after having been besieged by them at all times of day and night, to be sure. Regardless, the lack of attention from the creatures made them increase their pace, until they were able to make out a walled settlement.
It was clear that it wasn't just the shadow creatures that had attacked; something looked to have blown the gates open explosively, leaving the shattered wood flaming. It seemed to be these pieces of of the gate that had caught more structures on fire within the town.
Finlay slowed her pace, giving her Lady a questioning look. Malenia knew what she was asking without hesitation.
"It may be time for us to become involved within this world. I cannot in good conscience leave these people to suffer," Malenia stated as she readied her blade.
And that was all Finlay needed, drawing her own sword and readying her scythe. She motioned towards the town, urging her Lady onwards, before she turned to fight the shadow creatures that were currently ignoring them.
Malenia was far faster than any of her knights, it was quite well known. Unburdened by the exquisitely crafted plate armor they wore, as well as the mutations inflicted upon her loyal Knights by her holy affliction, she was even faster still. It was something she took advantage of as her gentle, yet hurried pace evolved into a full-fledged sprint, sending across the remaining ground between herself and the town in but a few moments.
And into the chaos that was battle.
Her sword flashed once, twice, and thrice around herself. Headless shadows fell to the ground and began to dissolve, leaving several people who were previously fighting them astonished at her speed and strength. They were no true warriors or soldiers; they looked to be little more than farmers with rusted swords and axes, as well as a form of explosive cannon that fit in their hands.
No matter, the Blade of Miquella thought to herself. I shall vanquish this threat of theirs, and learn more about this time.
And that is what she set about doing. Despite the numerous corpses lining the town's streets, there were even more who fought tooth and nail for their lives against the creatures. There was no place that bore more evidence of this than the town square, where some semblance of organization was able to be seen in the battle line being formed.
At the center of this organization stood a man in strange leather armor, wielding a weapon that looked to be fused with one of those hand cannons. He couldn't be called tall, at least not by Malenia'a standards, but then everyone that she's seen so far stood at least a foot and a half shorter or more than her own height of 7'7".
The Unalloyed Gold blade swept through another shadow, splitting it from head to waist. Her momentum kept her weapon singing through the air and into another shadow, and then another, until she had joined the defenders' lines.
"Are you a Huntress?" She heard the leader ask with an accent she couldn't place. Malenia mentally sighed as she learned that they spoke the same language, though she had other things to worry about. Not knowing what a Huntress was, besides a gatherer of meat, being one of them. But she took the safest action and simply nodded in affirmation before beheading another large bear shadow.
"Oh, thank the Brothers!" The man stated excitedly before coughing. A glance at the man revealed that a wound that could not have come from one of these creatures crossed his torso. "I'm Huntsman Giles, partner of the now deceased Huntress Priya. We've been under a rather bad string of luck lately, between the bandits finally making their move and the Grimm showing up. We need to drive the Grimm back and out, and I know I can't do it myself with just the townsfolk. Who are you, and what can you do?"
Malenia slid to the side of a large claw and removed the offending shadow's - Grimm's - arm, then its head before she answered.
"I am Malenia, Blade of Miquella." Her prosthesis coiled itself back, then thrust her blade into the skull of a rather large wolf Grimm, shattering its mask completely. "I am unmatched in swordplay, and will destroy all of these… Grimm. Fear naught, defend your people and leave the vanquishing of these abominations to myself and my loyal Knight Finlay. Tend to thy wounds, Huntsman Giles."
As she finished, a loud shriek was heard from outside the town. Malenia isolated it to being on the opposite side of where Finlay now fought, meaning she would have to fend off whichever creature had come now. A mumble was heard from the Huntsman, drawing her attention once more.
"I said,'' the man repeated again upon seeing her look, "that you have your work cut out for you. Kill whatever that was, and leave the village to me."
Part of Malenia was taken back by the man's audacity to speak to her as if they were equals. Then her mind quickly worked to rationalize that he didn't even recognize her name; to him, she simply was an equal, not an Empyrean or demigoddess. No matter.
She had a target to kill.
"Guys, we need to hurry!" Ruby shouted as she pointed towards the smoke on the treeline. Shion wasn't too far ahead of them; if their maps were anything to go by, it was maybe only fifteen minutes away. They could easily run that, right? Except that they had been traveling all night in an effort to get to Shion faster. Now the sun was cresting the horizon, allowing the smoke that Ruby had pointed out to be seen.
Jaune could feel his legs aching from the sprint already, but he understood his friend's worry. So he nodded, and began to run alongside his companions. As they drew closer, they heard a screech that caused both Ren and Nora to stop in their tracks. It took Jaune a few moments to realize that they were no longer at his side and slow down. When he glanced back, he saw the fear that was overwhelming Nora, as well as Ren.
"Is it-? It has to be. Nora, we can kill the Nucklavee. We can kill it!"
And with that, Ren began to run faster than Jaune had ever seen him. He even began to catch up to Ruby, who hadn't noticed that they had faltered.
"But-but… Ren! Wait! The village is more important!" Nora cried out, though the young man didn't seem to hear her. Then she was running after him, leaving Jaune in the dust as he desperately tried to catch up from where he had been left behind. Luckily, the screech they were following seemed to be coming from the smoke. On second thought, that might not be good, Jaune thought to himself. Regardless, it wasn't long until they came across the besieged village of Shion.
The first thing that Jaune noticed was the distinct lack of Grimm. That wasn't to say that they weren't there; even now, he could see the last vestiges of Grimm dissipating into the morning wind.
The second thing he noticed was the strange, hunched knight-looking figure that stood before one of the gates of Shion, as well as the fact that it was tall. In one hand, it held a rather sharp looking hooked scythe that looked to be glowing golden. In the other, it held a long straight sword. But what held his attention were the strange branch-things coming out from the knight's armor. As he drew closer, he felt a shiver go down his spine as he heard the wet gurgling that seemed to be its breathing, despite no visible injuries.
The figure merely stepped aside to allow them passage into Shion proper, where they were met with the visage of carnage and bloodshed, as well as its survivors.
There were bodies scattered through the streets, as well as exhausted looking townsfolk who seemed to be trying to gather their dismembered and gored fallen. Several looked up in alarm as Ren tore through the streets, followed by Nora and eventually Ruby and himself. Part of Jaune's mind was wondering why these people weren't running when there was clearly a strong Grimm still here, but that line of questioning was halted when they finally came upon Ren's Nucklavee. And the extremely tall (like, seriously tall) red haired woman with a prosthetic arm that fought it near the town square.
And it was her that left Jaune entranced, much like Pyrrha used to.
The woman moved with a grace that was simply unnatural to his eyes, ducking beneath the strange Imp and Horse Grimm fusion as it lashed out with an arm. Its other arm tried to cross the space where she was now occupying, but this seemed to be a mistake on its part, evidenced by its screech of pain when it was forced to draw its arm back from the blade that had cut it nearly halfway through.
Jaune expected the inky flesh to begin to knit itself together, but was surprised when it began to steam as if burned instead. His observing gaze landed upon the strange metal that her sword was made out of, looking for any kind of crenulations that would let fire Dust travel through it. But he saw none.
He looked back at the Nucklavee, searching for more such wounds that looked to be inflicted by the woman's blade, and was surprised to find a rather large number crossing its body in one way or another. It seemed that the woman had this Grimm handled.
Until Ren shot at it with Storm Flower, anyhow. The Nucklavee's attention diverted from its primary target and lashed out with an arm towards the enraged Huntsman-in-training, forcing Ren to dodge. He was surprised to find that the arm returned much quicker than expected, jerking forcibly to catch him in the side and sending him flying into a nearby building. Thankfully his Aura held, though Jaune still worried about the dazed look Ren now had.
Thankfully, the Nucklavee's primary opponent seemed to have found the opening she had been waiting for. Both Jaune and Ruby watched in awe, while Nora ran for Ren.
The actions of the foolish boy gave her the opening she needed to end the Grimm that she had been fighting for most of the night. She leapt in the air, flourishing her sword, and then began her Waterfowl Dance. In its distracted state, it wasn't able to prevent her from using her elegant skill as it had several times before. And this time it would pay the price with its life.
Her blade struck true with each blow, causing the shadow to screech in pain. Her first flurry was directed to the horse half of the Grimm, and it was this half which had its head severed first. Her second and third flurries were directed at the humanoid shape atop the horse that screemed repeatedly. And then, with a final swing of her sword, its humanoid head fell. Malenia flourished her blade on instinct to flick any blood off of her weapon, though she supposed that it was pointless to do when all she had fought were the shadows. Grimm.
She drew a deep breath, glancing at the young fighters that had arrived. The first, and most noticeable, was a young man with blonde hair. He was taller than his companions, but by no means approaching her own height. The second was a short young woman holding a scythe at the ready, though now her expression was that of awe, aimed at what Malenia had just done. The third, the foolish young man who had charged the beast directly, stood with the aid of the fourth, though his expression was unreadable as he glared at her. And the fourth, supporting the third, looked around with her reddish hair bouncing.
"E-excuse me…" the blonde finally managed to stutter out, drawing her attention. "Are you by chance related to Pyrrha?"
At that, Malenia's eyebrows rose behind her winged helmet. Her long hair flowed behind her as she shook her head.
"I've not heard of one named Pyrrha. I am Malenia, Blade of Miquella. Are you Huntsmen as well?"
