"Oh how dark a day when the slaughter of the sinless is celebrated."
"I don't think they see the real picture, Mistress." Serafina kneeled before the stone door, her long dark hair fanned out behind her. Candlelight illuminated the ranks of humans on either side of her.
"Precisely the issue." The voice from the impossible space behind the door croaked. There was a scraping sound against the back of the door. "Gwyn has blinded thee with his 'splendor', and his air of pompous superiority. The Fire distracts all from the sins that doth permeate the shadows."
"We await your leadership, Mistress Velka."
"Blacken the skies, douse the Flame."
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Tomorrow was the Festival of Kindling, the anniversary of the day the First Flame ushered in the current Age. The moon hung huge and bright in the sky, and Gough sighed at the simple pleasure of observing it as he strolled the halls of Anor Londo.
Giants like him had been crucial in building this glorious city. They had an affinity for architecture, forging, and creation in general. While rather slow on average, their understanding of mathematics and physics was unrivaled. Gough was an oddity in the sense that he used his skills to calculate the path of his massive arrows to terrible effect.
As well, the internal clock of giants was a bit different from all others. They could remain awake and aware for an impressive amount of time, days even, but would need to sleep for about the same length of time they spent awake.
The Hawkeye turned a corner, expecting to see Gwyndolin meditating before the moon as he so often did. Instead, he almost ran over Ornstein.
"You're not Gwyndolin."
The Captain looked up at him. "And neither art thou. You search for him too?"
"I like to talk to the lad. He has an intriguing perspective."
He shook his head slightly and grunted. Gough did not have the kind of night vision that Ciaran's kind did, but it surpassed human sight. And what he could see with it surprised him.
"Great Lord, Ornstein! What's this?" He leaned down to inspect the Captain. "Your collar is up! Your shirt is untucked! Your…" He gasped. "Your hair is mussed!"
Ornstein made half-hearted attempts to fix the problems as they were pointed out to him, but gave up when it came to his hair. "I—I do appear to be a mess." He combed a strand of his red hair back. "But I suppose there aren't many out at this time of night to see me like this, so it matters little." He stumbled slightly and propped himself up with his spear.
The giant's jaw dropped. "Are you well?"
"I'm—I'm just tired is all. Exhausted really, and that simply won't do." He pulled himself up a bit straighter with visible effort. "I am Captain of the Guard, and I have a duty—"
"Go to bed, Ornstein. I shall look after the citadel."
"Nonsense Gough, I lead the…the Knights of Gwyn." He yawned massively and slumped.
The giant lifted him off of the ground. "And so it is my duty to make sure you can do thine job. To bed with thee!"
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"I really see no sense in this struggling, Captain. Perhaps you could escape my grasp were you rested, but you are not fit to do so now, let alone lead!"
They were only a few doors away from Ornstein's chambers. It was slow going, as the giant was doing his best to keep from waking everyone.
"Enough Gough! The citadel needs watching, and if you are to do it then you should get to it!"
He looked down at his weary prisoner. "Truly?"
"Yes. I was on my way back anyway."
The Dragonslayer was let down gently. "That's the way, off with you!" He turned to go, but had second thoughts. "Ah, Captain. Dost thou still possess that fine pair of binoculars? I meant to repair them yesterday."
Ornstein had his back to his door. "It's inside, I believe, but you can't come in just—"
"Fear not! I am able to multitask." The giant made to push the door open, but the Captain made no motion to get out of the way.
"I'm afraid your project will have to wait, Gough. I…I am entertaining a guest."
"And I have been so entertained." Queyla's voice floated out from the room, and the Hawkeye straightened up at it.
"Ah!" He grinned at Ornstein. "Then I shall leave thee be!" He chuckled to himself as he strode off with a spring in his step.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
It was a bright night, and Gough's eyesight was adequate for the job. He stood atop a parapet, surveying the city beyond the citadel. There was still business running out there, but it was much lesser activity than that of the day. As most might have guessed the home of the Lord of Sunlight was most active during the day.
He checked the eastern face, noting the portion that he had built himself. Since this was the eastern side, it was built so that the rising sun would cast shadows depicting scenes of the Kindling. He ran his rough hand along an engraved column. He was older than many of the buildings here, and he wondered if he was perhaps too old for his profession.
As if to answer him, his sharp eyes were telling him something was wrong with the picture he was seeing. What was it? The moonlight cast strips of shadows like black capes behind the columns, the stylized borders on the top of the far wall adding their own interesting shapes.
Perhaps too interesting.
He had built part of this area, and could accurately draw the rest down to minute details from memory. That shadow should not look like that.
He ran some quick calculations in his head to determine the precise location of the offender. If he was correct, someone's head was poking out from behind a carving atop the far wall by a half foot. As he watched, the shadow reverted to its normal form so slowly that he again wondered if he were just old.
He drew his greatbow to be on the safe side and raised his voice.
"I have found thee out, and I believe you are aware of that. Please, let us do this quietly. There are people sleeping."
There was no answer in the clear night air, and he could almost feel the eyes of the silver knights nearby.
"If harm is thine intention, know that I rarely miss. But that would be rather rude, as we have not even yet introduced one another."
Shadows blurred, and there were two figures before him. They were approximately human-sized, and wore a familiar armor set and matching porcelain masks. The giant kept his bow drawn and pointed at the taller of the two, face grim.
"The Lord's Blades are forbidden from entering Anor Londo by the authority of the Great Lord." Six silver knights had surrounded the two, shields locked into place and swords at the ready. No one relaxed as the two raised their hands above their heads.
"Remain calm." The shorter of the two said.
"I'm impressed by your powers of observation, giant. It is fortunate that we did not appear as enemies."
Gough frowned. "Enemies or nay, I cannot permit thee here."
"Now now, Gough, is that polite?"
"It's more than you deserve." Ciaran had arrived in a similar manner with her hands hanging by her tracer hilts.
"If it isn't the loose thread. Where is your sweetheart Smough?"
"Almost as far from my favor as you. What are you doing here?"
"We missed you so." When this drew a sour look, the other one spoke. "There's some information you should be privy to."
"This is the best way to tell me?"
"You never write."
"You never visit."
They looked at each other, and the taller one spoke again. "And it's much more fun to do it this way. I've missed doing the Anor Londo crawl."
Artorias entered from behind them, shield up and greatsword drawn. "I heard some commotion, and I find we have guests! I would have changed." He was in a simple sleeveless shirt and long pants, sleepwear.
Both visitors looked over their shoulders. The shorter one spoke first.
"Ooh, who's the dashing one?"
"That's the new Knight, remember. He is easy to look at."
"You could do better than Smough, Ciaran."
"Much better."
"If you find yourself with free time, Artorias…"
Ciaran drew her tracers. "Enough! Give me your information and be on your way!"
The two looked at each other again. "Darkness festers in New Londo."
"And has for some time."
"We would have warned you but, as you know, most of our order is not welcome here."
Artorias furrowed his brow. "Truly? The Great Lord doesn't permit the Lord's Blades in his city?"
The shorter one angled her chin up to look at him. "It's because we're too provocative."
Ciaran hadn't put her tracers away. "It's because we've become too clever for our own good. Now if that's all…"
"It is."
"We'll be seeing you soon."
Shadows danced, and the two sprang nimbly in and joined them. The silver knights formed a wall between where they had last been seen and the citadel, but they were nowhere to be seen.
Ciaran sheathed her tracers and began walking briskly. "Don't bother looking for them, they're long gone."
Artorias caught up with her. "Are all Lord's Blades like that?"
She raised an eyebrow as she tightened the straps on her armor. "Am I like that?"
"Good point. You knew those two?"
"They sent those two on purpose," she huffed "we had somewhat of a rivalry."
"So I take it that your being chosen was not received well by the order?"
She gave a mirthless laugh. "You could say that."
He was quiet for a moment as they walked towards her chambers, striding only once for every two or so of hers. "I suppose that it doesn't matter what they believe. You've earned your place here."
"Doesn't matter?" heat crept into her voice and she stopped outside her door to face him. "I grew up amongst them, Artorias, they are my peers and basically my family! It wasn't just an easy decision to walk out on them! I still question my decision sometimes." She lapsed into silence suddenly, not originally intending to spill intimate details. There was just something about Artorias that loosened the tongue.
"Ciaran." He put one hand on her shoulder, and the other one her opposite once she didn't resist. "I understand what it's like to leave your family behind. Growing up was…difficult towards the end, but I'm sure you're aware of that. But the choices I made, I rethink often. I would be worried if you never had any doubts." He smiled endearingly, and she felt her heartbeat speed up.
"Well, I assume you've heard enough out of me. You likely have preparations to make." He turned to go.
"You're not getting off that easy, Artorias."
He looked back, eyebrows raised.
She crossed her arms, and the ghost of a smile touched her lips. "You need to prepare too. The best training is on the job, and we're leaving tomorrow night."