Dragon's Dogma - A Forgotten Tale of the Arisen and his Pawn Chapter 3: Change, a dragon's dogma fanfic

Chapter 3: Change

"Fell a monster down a cliff and it won't soon return Arisen"

He kept thinking that was her way of making jokes and livening their conversation.

"Just as you fell the Cyclops at the fort" she added.

"Yes, taking their eyes and allowing their misstep to be their downfall is a good way to take down a giant I suppose. But you should tell me what you're thinking when we go head first into danger." He exclaimed, somewhat outraged at the thought of past events

"Yes, Master"

He thought he saw a smile somewhere on her face or maybe it was just his imagination.

He was still bitter remembering the time he faced three Cyclops with his pawn at the fort. He wanted to think that his idea was pretty good in taking the Cyclops vision. His thoughts were: He would only take down one and let the Corps handle the other two which in turn would allow her to escape to safety. In truth, she was the one behind his steady jumps; she had been a sorceress all along and didn't bother to tell him that she would control his jumps as he went from one Cyclops to the next. A brilliant idea, but reckless nonetheless, he was of course praised by the Enlistment Corp and word of their victories had now reached the dukes ears. Making promotions and access to information at the great library as easy as walking in and taking it; it was also thanks to this winning streak that she had learned new things and experienced the knowledge of life the way humans did. She was becoming different from the pawns walking on the streets of Gran Soren, lifeless and dull, it made hiring them seem as store material; bringing them back once they were used. So for now it was just him and her since hiring pawns was convenient but the feeling of guilt lingered in his mouth when he said he didn't need them anymore. Besides they just finished thwarting a goblin attack at the fort and driving away an army of goblins is no easy feat. Night was upon them, they would rest at the capital for the time being and set off sometime in the morning before venturing out on their next errand.

‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰

***Dream***

"DO YOU REMEMBER HUMAN? DO YOU REMEMBER YOUR PURPOSE?"

The massive figure called out to him in his sleep, he knew he was still dreaming, otherwise the capital would have been in ruins by just his presence.

"AWAKEN!"

***Dream End***

He woke up again in the night not sweating or panicking just wondering why he heard the voice again after that fateful day in Cassardis when the Dragon struck the village. He looked around his room at the inn and noticed that she wasn't in her own bed across his like she usually was. His first thoughts were that she had abandoned him and gone back to the rift, as all the other pawns, but it seemed irrational to think that way. She was not like the other pawns, if she wanted to leave she would have done so many nights ago, he was sure she had her reasons to leave his side; which made him wonder if he had become accustomed to her presence as much as he had become accustomed to wielding his weapons. Going back to sleep seemed fairly reasonable and easy but curiosity had the better of him so instead he set off to see if he could go find her hiding place.

He had been searching for her since he left the inn, deceiving his mind into thinking that he did not care if she went back; he was going to go shop for rarities at the scrivener or maybe visit the red light district to see what he could find.

"Who cares where she goes?" dumping her in the nearest rift was what he wanted to do for leaving his side without warning. He knew his mind was playing tricks on him as his concerned turned to hate, it was the reason he did not care for any other, if he did not concern himself over someone he would never hate them.

"Maybe she's off on a tryst with her pawn lover; she could have at least said something"

His thoughts were becoming disoriented as he crossed the people walking in the dark alleys, the cheating husbands at the red light, the lonely soldiers who only "look" at the women and pawns as they sell their soul to give them comfort, the petty brawls on the streets as onlookers cheered and placed bets. The night life was beginning to annoy him he wanted to find refuge from the filth he saw in others.

"Chaos on the battlefield and now there is chaos here too" he found himself speaking out loud.

He wanted to find a calm place to rest his uneasy mind, to let go of his discomforts but there were no shops or ale houses opened at the hour. To which he headed for the noble district, at least the cathedral's big garden near the noble quarters would bring him the silence he yearned for.

"Maybe the cathedral is still open" he was tired of searching for something meaningless and he was also tired of the night life, he was at his limit with speculation and discouragement.

Luckily the cathedral was always open; he could wait there and leave the eyes of the world for a moment. His aim was fixed on the back seats to which he would be alone and pretend that maybe he was on a spiritual quest to find enlightenment leaving those around him to their own business. But the familiar figure at the front of the seats made him take more steps than he intended.

It was her, what was she doing in a place like this? Trying to find enlightenment? Was she looking for something in the afterlife? Too many conclusions drawn from just one look. He was obliged to go to her side and demand an answer, after all she was his pawn and pawns don't feel any kind of emotion so why was she here? It was the question he wanted answered. He slowly made his way toward her expecting her to be in the company of another, waiting to see if she was perhaps waiting for someone that wasn't him.

"Trying to find enlightenment or maybe you're trying to become a nun?" he said jokingly as he walked up to her.

"Master?" Although she was surprised there was no expression on her face when she turned to him.

"You were gone when I awoke, so I thought you may have gone back to the rift"

"No master I would never leave your side"

"But didn't you?"

She had contradicted her own words without realizing and was frantically trying to explain her strange behavior.

"No master… I mean you are correct I am sorry master"

"You don't have to apologize, you wanted to go somewhere and you have every right to do so, you're not my property. I was just concerned because it's not something I've seen in you before"

"Master I am…" he stopped her before she continued.

"May I join you?"

"Of course master" she slid over making his seat obviously close to hers.

"So what are you doing here?" he asked forgetting about the disgusted feeling he had a few moments ago after experiencing the night life.

"I wanted to know of this place master. You humans certainly do make a lot of expressions but when humans are here they all look the same."

"So you thought you could be a normal human with the same expression everyone else had if you came here?" he had cut her off again.

"No master, I know I am not human, I am a pawn and I accept what I am"

"Then you are very fortunate, my dear pawn, because I am human and I cannot accept who I am"

"But I wish to be more like a human, they laugh when they are happy and I feel the expression on them but I cannot feel it on myself. I see them when they are sad but I cannot feel the sadness in me only in them…"

He didn't understand; feeling emotion is something of a curse in his opinion. What good could come from something that made you hesitate?

"I want to feel as a human does."

"Why would you want something that nobody else wants?"

She paused and looked at him.

"I want to feel what you feel master"

"Believe me; I would rather not feel at all, would you really like such a curse?"

"Yes master" he was rather surprised she did not hesitate in her answer.

"Master, I see when you are alone and can only feel it within you; I also see when you are happy but I cannot share with your happiness, I see when you are angry but I cannot take it away from you, and when you're sad I cannot comfort you."

He was at a loss for words for any man may have been weak to hear this. Did she do this on purpose or was she really a pawn? Although she was a pawn, if he would have been in any other situation he would have taken her right there and then. All his disgust from earlier had disappeared like the night sky in the morning sun and felt like his heart was calling out to him once more from the very bottom of the belly of the beast.

"Thank you"

"For what master?"

"You are more human than you think you are" she was confused and he was sure of it, it made a mutual feeling between them.

"It looks like dawn has arrived are you well rested?"

"Yes master"

"Then let us be off on our next errand"