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Bloodborne belongs to FromSoftware, Horizon Zero Dawn belongs to Guerrilla Games
Chapter 14: Kidnapping Royalty
LOG: The Unknown: Data Corruption Moderate
Cyrus Bishop: It is a strange world that I live in. The Eldritch entities that I serve aren't known for their overly kind or overly harsh treatment of us. They are utterly indifferent. We are to them as ants are to us. Little more than specks of life beneath our boots. Insignificant in the grand scheme of the universe. All in all, it terrifies me. To think that there is so much out there that I can't know. To think that the world I've been immersed in for the past millennia or so is barely the tip of the iceberg. That's truly a sobering thought. If what I see now is so bad, how much worse is it further down? Especially in the light of being who couldn't care any less about us. It was once told to me that the opposite of love isn't hate, it's indifference. I understand exactly what that means more than most. At the same time, if they hated us, we'd already be dead.
…/…
Despite being called the Greenclimb, green isn't how Cyrus would have described it. Annoying? Absolutely. A climb? Most definitely. Green? Sure, but not exactly his first thought.
His climb along the sheer rock walls did lead him through a small, abandoned camp. Barely large enough for one man. Cyrus continued plodding along the path, casually drawing for The Burial Blade. Once could never be too careful in this world. The path led across an old rope bridge.
He heard the muffled twang of a bow string before he saw anything. Reacting on instinct more than anything else, Cyrus swung his blade up and slashed the arrow out of the air. However, considering where he had slashed it from, right over his shoulder, he figured it was more of a warning shot than anything else.
"If you wanted me dead, you've lost the element of surprise!" Cyrus called out.
"That was a warning. Next one is between the eyes." A male voice called back.
"Uthid, I'm guessing?" Cyrus responded, finishing his walk across the bridge.
"Depends on who wants to know." An older armored man said, emerging from the rocks, his bow still drawn and aimed at Cyrus.
Cyrus immediately noted the man's armor. It very much reminded him of the samurai armor of feudal Japan. An odd set piece in a world that doesn't remember the past.
"A friend of yours sent me after you." Cyrus answered. "Hearing Vanasha's plan has me convinced that you'd be a great help for causing a little chaos at Sunfall."
"So, you're not after my head?" Uthid asked cautiously.
"Uthid, if I wanted your head, I'd already have it." Cyrus said. "In that situation, you'd have made the mistake of allowing me to get too close. However, seeing as that isn't the case. How would you like to help kidnap Sunfall's royal family?"
"And make me an actual traitor? No thank you." Uthid replied.
"Hate to break it to you, they've already marked you as a traitor." Cyrus responded. "A number of bounty hunters left Sunfall, looking for you shortly before I did."
"Then why are you the first to find me?" Uthid questioned.
"Unlike them, I had a good source." Cyrus said. "Also, as we established, I'm not after your head."
"Ok then, how about you tell me why you want to kidnap the royal family in Sunfall?" Uthid said.
"I need to cause a little chaos. Sunfall is home to the next leg of a grand quest a friend of mine and I are on, but we don't really want the Eclipse to follow us in." Cyrus explained. "She's got her own mission; I figure that I can help."
"What would you do with Itamen and his mother?" Uthid questioned.
"That's the boy's name?" Cyrus asked.
Uthid nodded his head.
"Presumably, get them to Meridian." Cyrus said.
Before either man could say another word, and arrow pierced through Cyrus's shoulder. The Good Hunter fell back onto the cold ground. Uthid had immediately taken cover when Cyrus was hit. The Hunter growled as he tore the arrow from his shoulder and took cover near Uthid.
"I figured you'd find the traitor first!" A male voice called. "Just had to follow the right trail."
"Help me deal with these morons, and I'll return the favor." Uthid bargained.
"You have yourself a deal." Cyrus grinned as he glanced out from his cover.
A significant number of tribesmen were running down the path at them. Cyrus leapt from his hiding place and planted his blade in the heart of the first man to reach them. As blood flowed from the wound and the echoes absorbed into him. Cyrus's grin turned slightly crazed. He could faintly hear the twanging of Uthid's bowstring, but that didn't matter in the face of battle.
Uthid on the other hand, was slightly disturbed to see the smile on his new compatriot's face. No normal man should have a smile like that. Still, he was helping him deal with the problem in Sunfall.
More of the tribesmen came and fell before Cyrus's blade. It was as if the man was possessed. More bounty hunters fell, and the Good Hunter bathed in their blood. Before long, enemies stopped coming. A pile of dead bodies lay in front of him. The bloodlust faded from his eyes as he looked around. Seeing no one other than Uthid, Cyrus sheathed his blade.
"That was… slightly disturbing." Uthid commented.
"Just the life of a Hunter." Cyrus easily replied. "Now, we have a queen and a prince to kidnap."
"Did you have to phrase it like that?" Uthid questioned. "It really doesn't make me sound like a good guy."
"No, but what else are we doing?" Cyrus asked.
"A royal rescue." Uthid deadpanned.
Cyrus shrugged as the two began to make their way down the Greenclimb. Another group ambushed them. They were easily dealt with.
"Bahavas thinks he has enough fodder to stop us." Uthid stated as the last bounty hunter fell dead.
"If he thinks cannon fodder can stop me, then he is a fool." Cyrus stated.
"No one accused him of being wise." Uthid joked.
"And many have accused you of being a traitor!" A new voice called.
The priest that Cyrus had seen back in Sunfall, speaking for the child king, walked up to the edge of the cliff.
"I had to come here myself" The man began. "To end your suffering and mine. The outlanders led us here and now that -"
A loud bang cut off the priest. Uthid glanced over at the Hunter. The look of annoyance on his face was rather telling. The priest fell back, dead.
"I hate priests and their useless posturing." Cyrus grunted.
"Well… that cause a little more chaos in Sunfall." Uthid muttered.
They continued their climb down. The climb down was a little more interesting than the climb up. If only because of the periodic bounty hunters that showed up. They fell as easily as the previous groups.
The sun was slowly descending as they reached the bottom of the climb. At the base of the mountain, Cyrus noted that his mount was gone. He whistled for the machine. Nothing came.
"Who are you calling for?" Uthid questioned.
"My mount. It would seem that it has abandoned me. Oh well, how far is it to the Cleft?" Cyrus asked.
"A short walk south from here.." Uthid answered.
They started walking. Cyrus kept his blade at the ready. Nothing ambushed them, but Cyrus wasn't taking any chances.
"You have questions." Cyrus stated.
"One, really." Uthid said. "Why are you so trusting of me? You don't know me; you don't even know what I did to be considered a traitor."
"Quite frankly, I don't trust you." Cyrus stated. "But, I don't have to trust someone to work with them. There are three beings alive that I actually do trust right now. Only one of them do I trust implicitly. As for your background, I simply do not care. You could be a mass murdered for all I know. Either way, you are helping me destabilize Sunfall. I don't need to trust you to accomplish that."
"Fair enough." Uthid muttered.
The moon had long since begun its ascent across the sky. It shone brightly down on them. Cyrus muttered a quiet prayer that the night would end as they entered the Cleft.
"I was beginning to think you wouldn't show up." He heard Vanasha say as they dropped into the earthen scar.
"There was just a blustering priest and a few bounty hunters in the way." Uthid answered.
"Uthid." Vanasha greeted.
"So, did you manage to smuggle the royals out of Sunfall?" Cyrus asked.
"Yeah. They're waiting down by the water. A ship from Meridian should be here sometime soon." Vanasha said.
"Great. What now?" Cyrus asked.
"We hold off the approaching Shadow Carja so that the royals may leave." Vanasha stated.
"They found you out." Uthid stated.
"Unfortunately, yes." Vanasha admitted. "But it is causing more than a little chaos at Sunfall."
Voices of angry men could be heard in the distance. Alongside them, Cyrus could also hear the rhythmic stomping of a Thunderjaw approaching.
"We've got a few minutes before they arrive." Cyrus stated. "Vanasha, Uthid, one you will be with me, the other will protect the queen and her son."
Uthid and Vanasha glanced at each other. With a nod, Uthid turned and ran down through the cleft to the water's edge.
"You got any traps on you to make their life a little more difficult?" Vanasha asked.
"Nope. Where's the fun in that?" Cyrus smirked.
"Less chance of us dying." Vanasha muttered.
"Again, where's the fun in that?" Cyrus repeated. "Just be ready to attack."
The first group of Shadow Carja that came charging into the cleft were felled easily enough. Vanasha was slightly horrified by the utter glee of the madman she had brought on to help with this. Cyrus certainly didn't help his own image with each and every visceral kill he made. Each attack drenching him in blood.
His grin simply grew when the approaching Thunderjaw sounds yielded to the machine itself. He didn't notice as Vanasha quietly slipped away from the fight. With a twirl of his blade, Cyrus ran at the giant corrupted machine.
The Thunderjaw began firing at the Good Hunter. The launchers on its back fired. Discs flew into the air and began to lock onto the Hunter. The first disc was easily dodged. It exploded behind him. The second and third missed as well. Cyrus rolled to avoid the fourth and swung his blade up, slicing through the fifth.
The sixth impacted with the Hunter. Cyrus growled and forced himself back to his feet, just in time for the Thunderjaw to swipe at him with its tail. The Hunter was thrown back into the cliff wall, his Burial Blade flung to the side.. He stabbed a blood vial into his leg and stood up. He injected a second for good measure and withdrew Ludwig's Holy Blade.
"Ludwig's Moonlight, guide this blade." Cyrus uttered, running his hand across the weapon.
The Thunderjaw released a mechanical roar and charged at Cyrus. The Hunter rolled to the side and slashed at the machine's leg as it charged by. The Eldritch powered blade easily sliced through the metal and wires rendering the Thunderjaw down half a leg. The large machine fell sideways into the cliff wall.
It tried to stand, but the missing part of its leg kept it off balance. Cyrus smirked and approached the downed machine. He willed for Ludwig's Blade to concentrate Eldritch energy weaving around the metal. The Thunderjaw tried to fire at Cyrus, but the bullets didn't stop him.
He smirked and slammed the blade into the Thunderjaw's head. An explosion of Eldritch energy ensured the machine died. He sheathed the sword and injected a blood vial into his leg.
"I think that's the last of them." He called.
When no answer came, he turned and looked around. There was no one there. Cyrus walked down through the cleft. There was evidence of people down by the water, but no people. Cyrus shrugged and assumed they had already left. Fine by him, he needed to return to Sunfall. Hopefully, Aloy would have returned, or would soon be returning.
ERROR-DATA_CORRUPTION-BEGIN_FILE_RECOVERY…/…
Data Log TEH-014
Holy carp on a cracker. It has been a hectic couple of months. I moved out of my parent's house, got my dream job, realized it was more work than I initially anticipated, had no internet for a couple weeks, got my first paycheck, attended a small funeral for my sister's dog, and finally settled into a routine. Needless to say, with everything that has been happening in my life these past couple months, my hobby has been continually pushed to the wayside. I should be back on the whole for the foreseeable future. Granted, I might start updating The Endless Hunt every other week rather than every week. My other WIP story, The Daughter of Death has been cooking on the backburner and I finally have some inspiration for it again. So, I think I'll be alternating weeks. One week will be the Endless Hunt, the next will be the Daughter of Death.
So, once again, sorry about the unexpected hiatus. Life is hectic. I hope you are still enjoying my story.
Thank you to all who read this, your feedback and views are much appreciated.
Goodbye viewer; Fare thee well.
End Log S.T.K.