Silent Knight

The Part Where Things Happen

Darkness.

It always started this way when he died. The shock and pain of the gnawing abyss always came and went in what felt like an instant, but there was a brief moment before the golden ray of light snatched the grace-given knight back to the land of the living. It was these moments, as his phantom self materialized into reality at the Site of Grace, that he had time to reflect on more than trying to better survive whatever freakish horror had claimed his life. 

His memories before being called to the Lands Between were hazy at best, and nonexistent at worst. Sometimes he remembered fractured pieces of a past existence - a world before the one he had been called to. Other times it took all he had just to remember his name.

Speaking of...

Ah. Caelum. Caleum of... the lands he hailed from eluded him. 'Sir' Caelum would do for now. Maybe he would recall more in the next manifestation. If nothing else, he had always been able to remember at least part of his name.

That, and well... 

"Caelum should be here already... Did I come to the wrong spot? Dang it, I wish he'd talk more so we could figure this stuff out.."

A familar voice spoke from in front of him. He was still piecing things together, but he at least remembered they had been traveling together before his demise. He could feel himself solidifying now as whatever will binded the Tarnished to the Lands Between took hold of him, bringing him well and fully back into the world of the living. Unfortunately for his companion, the process of 'respawning' was eerily silent, so she didn't notice him, and he could see her tapping a finger to her chin in thought.

"Maybe I should check around... He could be in trouble again.."

Trouble. He remembered enough about himself to be offended at the notion at least, and an amused snort echoed from his helmet. The sound was enough to alert her, and Caelum almost mistook her for Those Who Live in Death the way she nearly jumped out of her skin; a startled yip escaping her before she turned to face him with her hand on her sword.

"WHOMST- OH, hey!" Yorkie, as he now recalled, looked up at him sheepishly, falling into a more relaxed stance. 

"You're back! I mean, obviously you're back, cause you're standing here, but you're back where I thought you'd be! We should really start planning this out by the way, I think I still have some rainbow stones in my pack if you wanna like, let me know where to look for you next time. Hey, were you that tall before you died or did you use some freaky incantations? I told you those warming stones didn't feel right! And another thing-"

Caelum tuned Yorkie out as she went on a tangent about the horrifying implications of being at the mercy of gods, and the spectulation that this was all secretly some big game. He was sure she'd have excelled as a investigator of some sort in another life. As it stood though, he inspected her as thoroughly as he could behind his helmet, and it seemed that the creature (or creatures, he pondered) had focused it's assault on him alone. In fact, from what he could tell, she looked a lot cleaner than before he'd died - her hair, which was often wild and unkempt, had been tied and now partially dangled on both sides of her head, and her tail appeared to have been washed of any grime or dirt accumilated throughout their adventures.

Why anyone would bother to try and look presentable in these lands was anyones guess, but it did give the typically mute knight a sense of satisfaction to see her appear unharmed. He had sworn himself to be her protector as she sought to repair the legendary Elden Ring, and even though they, as Tarnished, could seemingly return from death endlessly until their quest was fulfilled, he still gave his all to prevent his crossbred companion from suffering such a fate. 

"-Gurranq is probably secretly Maliketh, or maybe even-"

"You are alright." It came out almost garbled, but loud enough to interrupt Yorkie's tirade. She paused, then grinned, then went stoic and folded her arms, like she was trying to decide wether to be cocky or serious.

"Well, yeah! Don't worry though, I totally took care of that Runebear. After you fell it was half-dead already, so I just flung a couple of spells at it and it went down with no problem! Pretty cool, right?" 

She was just starting to do a mock flex when Caelum stepped past her, looking out into the Mistwood that stretched out ahead of them. He was starting to remember more now. They had gone into the Mistwood in search of a fort owned by a man proudly proclaiming himself as the rightful ruler of Limgrave, as if that meant much with the current state of affairs. He had 'conscripted' them to take care of a knight that had forcibly claimed the fort as his own, but failed to mention exactly where the fort was in the woods, nor that it was populated with bears as large as giants. So it was that they'd wandered in only to immediately be beset by not one, but two of the monstrosities. Caelum was sure to have words with the good ruler for forgetting such valuable information and putting Yorkie in danger.

The grass crunched  as she stood beside him, her hands on her hips in a defiant display. "So we're going back in? I think we know which way not to go, at least.. heh." 

"If you choose."

"Right. So, uh.. we'll go right this time! It's like they say, right is right, left is death. I assume they didn't go left though, otherwise they wouldn't be alive to make that quote. Or maybe they sent someone left and they never came back? Do you think Kalé knows? He seems to always have stories about weird stuff. Like that wolf guy! We're supposed to talk to him in here too, yeah?

"..."

Yorkie chuckled meekly and opted not to continue the conversation as she moved to enter the woods, with Caelum following close beside her. For the next few minutes their shared silence was only broken by the ambiance of their surroundings - the faint rustling of the leaves as the wind blew through the treeline, along with the more sinister groans and growls from the Runebears deeper within. This time, Caelum was ready, his battle-worn spear and greatshield slung from his back and gripped tightly in his hands. Yorkie tried to look more relaxed, but had unsheated her sword as well, and even had her staff prepared to cast a spell at a moments' notice. 

When they came upon the ruins it seemed fate smiled on them for once. Everything was destroyed, sure, but there also didn't seem to be any sign of hostility. Better yet, they heard the familiar howling of the half-wolf they now knew to be Blaidd, a man who Kalé had vouched for and given the means to contact. Yorkie prepared to snap her fingers and signal to the half-wolf when Caelum shushed her, pointing his spear to a sleeping Runebear further in the ruins. The howling had drowned out its snoring, giving it a presumably unintended camoflague from wandering adventures until they were right on top of it. 

Yorkie froze, then took on a confident grin. She waved her staff with a flourish in preperation to cast a spell, only for Caelum to once again stop his companion, this time crudely signaling that he intended to just walk up and jab it in the skull to ensure it didn't have time to alert whatever else might be lurking nearby. While she appeared confused, Caelum hoped that she at least understood to stand down and let him handle it, and began to creep towards the beast, using Blaidd's howling to his own advantage. As he grew closer, he raised his spear in preperation, only to hear the familar chime of magic and witnessed as a glintstone spell swirled past and impacted against the bear's back, leaving a blackened magical burn mark on the creature's fur.

This, however, ultimately proved as effective as tickling it. It rose from its slumber with an agitated growl, instantly locking on to it's closest assailant whom it deemed to blame for disturbing it's rest: Caelum. He raised his shield as it leapt forward, but there was no way he was going to be able to stop what was coming.

YOU DIED.

Damn. Once more then.