Book 3: The Witch
A chill breeze flowing through the wind, and Ranni the Witch rests in the nearby town. Hunter and Tarnished make it down the steps and enter Ordina Liturgical Town. Small spirits wander by and watch them as they walk through the town. The Hunter looked around with curiosity as this world was still unfamiliar to him. He even showed aggression toward the small spirit wolf as he's never seen docile and nice creatures.
"You can calm yourself, they will not strike you." The Tarnished states as they continue through the town. They approach the edge of the town before seeing her. Ranni the Witch, resting in a chair to the side. The Tarnished recognized her almost immediately as it is the one he loves. He quickly rushes to her side and shakes her awake. She jumps with a slight startle and stares at both him and The Hunter. Unlike other things, The Hunter doesn't show immediate anger towards Ranni, but more of compassion and longing. "A…Doll?" The Hunter states while looking directly at Ranni. He seems almost reminiscent of something else.
"R- Ranni… Why have you come here?" Tarnished asked with a worried look on his face. Not only did he not hear she would be here, she couldn't have chosen a worse time to appear. Ranni rises to her feet and composes herself before talking. "I am here to confirm if his existence is truly here." She says while focusing her attention to The Hunter. She takes some steps forward before being grabbed by Tarnished. "Be careful with this one. I know not where he comes from but he is powerful" He states while looking Ranni in her eye. But Ranni already understood fully well how powerful he is. She has heard stories of this beast of a person through Rennala. "You're the god hunter aren't you. The one of the nightmare.." She begins. The hunter's demeanor shifts as he hears this. "You can only be brought about through the Hunter's Bell and shant leave until you have completed your job. Is that who you are?"
Tarnished looks at the hunter in pure confusion. "God hunter? Not demigods? And nightmare?" He thought to himself. While he thought to himself, Ranni approached the hunter and grabbed his hand. ""Only the dead know how many gods these hands have slain... I have but one request for you, Hunter of the Nightmare," Ranni declares, clenching her hands. She releases them and bows deeply, "Please... slay the rulers of this world and return freedom to the people!" The hunter stares at Ranni and kneels down placing his hand on her shoulder. "I shall fulfill your demand, as it's what a hunter is supposed to do. Restore the peace." He says to her with a caring voice. The Tarnished stands amazed. Amazed at the fact that he is capable of compassion. Why is he only nice to Ranni? But better yet… What are they talking about?? Tarnished came up beside them and asked, "I don't mean to ruin the mood, but would you mind explaining this to me?" Ranni recomposes herself and faces the tarnished. "Long before this world came into order The great ones roamed free. Messing with things and affecting the people of this realm as they pleased. It wasn't necessarily always bad but it wasn't always good either. The people of that time period ended up growing restless for knowledge. That led to the murder of a great one known as Kos. A powerful being whose existence goes beyond this dimension. After its unrightful murder it cursed the lands to forever relieve a night. A night of plague and beast. They were fated to relive a nightmare for eternity. This carried on for centuries before The hunter finally truly became a hunter."
Tarnished stares in disbelief. Why has he only just heard about this? But does that mean the nightmare has ended? Nevertheless he now understands why the hunter carries such anger as well as why he is so wary. But there is another question that rests on his mind. "Where did the great ones go?" He asks Ranni. Instead of Ranni answering the question, The Hunter speaks up. "They continue to reside here. Some are resting, some are watching. And it would seem, some are waiting." He states while looking back at the staircase they just came down. Tarnished notices him staring off and decides to ask about it, "You claim they are here but I cannot see them. And I've noticed you staring off at random places since we departed. What are you looking at?" Ranni, now intrigued, awaits his answer. She has heard that great ones can't be seen by normal means so how? The hunter turns to tarnished and states. "Simply because you don't see them doesn't mean they aren't there. It means you do not carry the insight or divinity." Both Ranni and Tarnished stare in curiosity. They haven't the foggiest clue what he is talking about. The Hunter, figuring it should be easier to show them rather than tell them, hands them both a strange skull with a blue flame on it. Ranni takes the skull and immediately begins inspecting it. She has never seen anything like this! What is it? Tarnished hesitantly grabs the skull and looks at it. Before any more questions can be asked The hunter points up at the top of the stairs. "Break the skulls and look up there. But do not look for too long." He states to them both. Complying with the orders, they both break the skulls and look up at the stairs. The tarnished falls to his knees and Ranni's eyes widen. The see the outline of an amalgamation of a creature with multiple ligaments resting atop the oversee. They couldn't fully make it out but if one thing was sure, the amount of eyes on the creatures head was many. While they look at the creature, the creature snaps its head to look back at them. The Hunter immediately covers both their eyes and turns them away. The creature is still watching them as if trying to see if they truly saw it or not. The hunter turns to face the creature and it slowly turns its head back. Ranni stares at the ground with her eyes still widened. It's as if she looked into the cosmos and it stared back. Tarnished was in full disbelief. He whips back around to see it again but sees nothing. Nothing at all. But he can sense it now. He can sense their overwhelming presences.
Ranni slowly looks at the hunter. "How is it that you can easily see them? Why do you seem to have more of a presence than those things?!" She asks aggressively. The tarnished ,curious as well, turns his attention to The Hunter. Both Ranni and Tarnished are in complete disarray. Did they really see that? Have they been there the whole time? What are they? How come we never noticed? Do the demigods know of their existence? Is any of this real? Is it real? Is it real- The hunter, one by one, tilts their head back and makes them drink a sedative. The two slowly come back to their senses as the madness fades away. The tarnished passes out collapsing to the ground and Ranni is now sitting. The hunter goes into one of the towns houses and sees that Ranni is inside. He drags the hunter into the building and drops him in a corner. He then sits by the doorway and watches both of them while also cleaning his weapon and seeing to it. Moments of silence go by until Ranni finally speaks. "You… You're a great one. Aren't you?" The hunter stares at Ranni before continuing to tend his weapon. But even without an answer Ranni already knew. She could tell now. "You should be more careful with Tarnished." She says while looking over to him. "He is my beloved after all." The hunter looks over at the tarnished and back down. "He's a fool…" He begins. "Even on the way back, instead of killing those in his path he avoids them. That won't make you stronger, nor will it make the problem disappear." Ranni stares at the hunter in anguish. He is right. No matter what she thinks or believes, he is right. She has been watching the tarnished, and he hasn't exactly been the most courageous. He sneaks, avoids, and cheats most of his battles. Like back at the Radahn fight. If not for the jar and Blaidd, Tarnished wouldn't even be standing here now. But alas she still cares for him. "Hunter.." Ranni begins, " Can you and the tarnished meet me back in my tower? It is located behind the Caria Manor. You can ask the Tarnished for directions" The hunter nods. Ranni continues, "There we can regroup with some others and think of a plan. Mohg has already set out to inform the others of your existence, so tis only a matter of time." Ranni finishes speaking and rises to her feet. Slowly she begins to dissipate as if she is teleporting. "I hope to see you soon." She states as a goodbye for now. The hunter watches as she disappears and continues to tend to his weapon. The blood from Mohg damaged it pretty severely so he may need to use something else until he is done with repairs. Now, it is just the waiting game for the tarnished to awaken.
Many…Many moments later, The tarnished finally wakes up. He shoots up to his feet and notices that Ranni is gone. The hunter stares at him with a tired and irritated look. It's as if he is judging him by looking alone. He quickly catches the Hunter up on the details and he now understands where Ranni went and where they must go. They go to the edge of the town and prepare to depart. Tarnished takes out a ring and blows it, summoning the horse torrent. He mounts the horse and notices that the hunter doesn't have such means of travel. How has he got around before now with no mode of transportation? Anyways, Tarnished offers to let the hunter ride on torrent with him. He has the map so he knows where to go anyways. The hunter stares at the tarnished with disgust on his face. As if he just asked to be defiled or something. He snatches the map from the tarnished and looks at it himself. First, they must leave this snowfield and make their way to Altus. The hunter takes note of the path and takes a running position. The tarnished stares in clear disbelief. "I know he's fast but does he think he's faster than a horse? Torrent of all things?" He thinks to himself. Oh well. Tarnished takes off on torrent and starts the trail to leave. He figured the Hunter saw the path so he could figure it out- The hunter sprints clean past him and torrent leaving a snow cloud behind him. Both torrent and Tarnished jaws drop as he runs past them. They both think, "Honestly, What IS this guy??"
--
--