"What is...?" Raphtalia said as she awoke, She saw that she was covered in a sash that was primarily red and patterned in gold silk, and it smelled somewhat horrid, Despite the sash, The room that she was in smelled...nice and she felt warm, looking around she saw that she was on a well-kempt apothecary made primarily of oak wood far from the cold, and disease-ridden caged of her captors, There were herbs and medicine of various kinds that were sorted with great thought, and looking to her left, she saw a sat burly, tattooed and ashen-skinned man with a pearly-white shield looking at her as if observing her actions, She remembered him, faintly, Though she did not remember why she remembered the man. Emerging from a small wooden door, she saw an aging woman with green motifs all over her, The woman seemed to be some kind of healer.
The aging woman reached out and felt Raphtalia forehead and after a moment's delay declared "You're all clear, now leave." That was not directed to her, Was it to the man sitting? Was he the one who brought her here? Why? He did not seem to be a Demi-human, so why? Many theories rushed through her mind but none came out fruitful. Looking to her top-left, she saw her name, but she seemed to have no slave-master, Why? Her master should be 'Beloukas' when she overheard from the Mercenaries. Did he...rescue her?
The tattooed man stood up and told her "Come, Girl." 'Girl'? She was called many things, vulgar things included but never 'girl',She obediently did and followed the strange man who marched head-forth into the forest path...
It was nearly an hour of following the mysterious man and it was nearing night-time, but they were still walking, Her legs were tired, how much longe-"We are here." She saw numerous amounts of spears,swords and bows scattered around the dirt ground.
GROWL
...crap, Raphtalia looked around and saw four wolves roaming around the two, What can- "Leave." With a simple command, The wolves quickly scurried away. The man then turned and looked at Raphtalia in the eyes and said "Get in the cave, It is shelter...for now." Heading into the cave she saw an unlit campfire and seemingly not much else.
She saw the shielded man sit down on the ground to light it.
Flck!
Raphtalia had nothing else to say other than "Are you... my master?"
The man abruptly paused his action and his eyes turned a faint red before it quickly turned back to it's normal colors and he said "No...No, i am not. You are free to go." If someone told Raphtalia that she was free about a month ago, She would be Jovial, But she now knew better, Her friends were either dead or captured, She had no-one to ask for help.
Flck!
The ashen man noticed the girls reaction or lack there of, and stated the obvious "You have no one to turn to?" The demi-human meekly nodded.
The man sighed before saying "You can stay with me." The girl again nodded rather meekly.
Flck!
The campfire had now been lit. The mysterious man stood up to leave, but not before informimg Raphtalia "I will gather our food, I will cook but you will have to skin it." The girl stared at the man rather oddly.
It had been about twenty minutes of doing nothing but staring at the fire before Raphtalia was interrupted at her fire-gazing by her 'Care-taker' dragging a deer by its hinds and dropping it at the cave-entrance. The man silently told Raphtalia "Skin it." She did as she was told and 'skinned' it by opening the main menu, and selecting the 'skin' option. The ashen-skinned man raised his brow at her actions and questioned her "Did you use Magic?"
Raphtalia turned her head side by side "No, It's an ability, Can you not do that?" The man only grunted before picking up the skinned meat and slowly cooking it at the lit campfire.
She eagerly awaited for the food and the man approached her to give a piece of hind leg of the deer, And she quickly tore through it, she was hungry, Her slavers and captors had not fed her particularly well only enough to keep her alive and it showed, Go- Hrck! She was choking because she ate too quickly, The Bearded Man looked at her and swiftly give a weak blow at her back, causing her to spit the food, she looked at the man "Thank you." A moment of silence passed then she questioned him "What is your name?"
His only response was "Kratos." Kratos headed towards the cave entrance to keep watch for any dangers but not before staring at her and telling her "You can sleep." The girl nodded and slept rather soundly on the rocky surface.
~Sometime Later~
Kratos observed the sleeping girl, and quietly covered her in his old sash to keep her warm. Kratos sighed at the situation that was brought to him, The girl was obviously not trained, He will have to...remedy that.
The girl had tossed and turned and even screamed while she slept, 'Nightmares.' Kratos thought knowing well of nightmares, and he slowly approached Raphtalia and unsure of what to do, Kratos sang an old Greek lullaby.
It seemed to have an effect on the girl as she had no longer screamed, He had nearly forgotten the old lullaby, The Self-Exiled Warrior then resumed his self-applied task of keeping watch of the cave.
~Day Time~
Kratos was looking at the woods, waiting for anything that might pose a danger to him or the girl, "Sir K-Kratos?" He turned to his back and saw Raphtalia covered in her dirty Rags and his old bloodied Sash.
"What is it, Girl?" He spoke in a light tone, a tone that Kratos had not used in a long, long time.
"Do you not know how to use the H-heads-up Display?" Raphtalia questioned Kratos on the subject. She was quite frankly shocked that Kratos had asked her to do a task that can be easily done with the Display
"I do not know what that is." Basically, Yes.
She hoped to teach her 'Savior' about a vital life skill "I-it can give you information about yourself such as your status, your equipments, your skills and even your friends. Look at your top-left" Kratos looked to his top-left and merely hummed. "You can see it more of it. All you have to do is think of the word, like Status." The girl chirply said.
Kratos grunted and thought of the word Status, and lo and behold there appeared a gray transparent bar before him with the text displaying in his lands tongue.
[Status Menu]
Name: Kratos
Class: Hero of the Shield
Sex: Male
Height: 193cm
Weight: 109kg
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Health: MAX
Kratos hummed everything seemed to be in order. Raphtalia seeing Kratos's Menu softly said "Think of skills." Kratos complied with the small girl and thought of the word 'Skills'.
[Skills Menu]
Spartan Rage
Description:The [User] can unleash an aggressive, and devastating attack with great speed. Restores health proportional to damage given to enemies.
Focused Regeneration
Description: If the [User] focuses on mending their wounds, It will regenerate faster and without scars.
Energy Absorption
Description: Vanquishing an enemy has a chance to give the [User] either [Health] or [Mana] or [Experience Points].
Kratos raised his eyebrow and questioned the Raphtalia "Girl,What is User? And Mana? and Skill Points?"
The brown haired girl thought for a moment and explained "Ehrm, User means You." Kratos nodded and the demi-human child explained further "Mana means your magic, and experience points can give you more skills to unlocks and make you stronger."
The Tattooed Man processed the information "That is all..." Kratos stood up in his full terrifying height "Follow me, Girl, I will train you." The girl meekly complied and she followed Kratos who left the cave, Kratos told her "Pick up a weapon." Raphtalia complied and looked around and picked up a small iron spear and followed the man into the forest path.
~END~
100 FOLLOWS, WOOAH YEAH! That's what i've waiting for! That's what it's all about! WOOH!
Also Author's Note: The HUD is vastly more minimal so it's why Kratos doesn't know about the HUD. The HUD is more bare like you can only see your health and MP and your teammates but you have to look to your top-left to see the HUD.
Update: This is not a bash story, Just a man living in isolation and taking care of a girl.
Reviews:
Kerrowe: Thanks! and as for the question, Yeah Kratos knows jack all about the Legendary Shield, or even the existance of the HUD.
Christopherprime22: Correct, It's inspired by the Leshen from Witcher 3.
Guest (December 17, 2022): I haven't decided if he'll get more companions and teammates, Kratos probably won't.