You stare at the strange, now apparently capable-of-speech bird person... thing. You wish you actually knew what they were; are they human? You really don't know what qualifies for 'human' around here, seeing as the term is also applied to that weird black sprite you stumbled upon earlier.
Wait, if this one can talk, and the rest aren't just rushing you on sight, why did the ones before? Did you surprise them and that was just what they did in a panic? Even if it was self-defense and you had no choice, killing isn't exactly something that you find pleasant. The guilt doesn't seem to weigh on you as much as it
really should, and you still aren't sure why. Did dying screw with your brain in some way? Would that even change anything, seeing as you're actually just a rock pretending to be a person? Maybe you should ask somebody about this? If it has something to do with the whole 'unkindled' nonsense, it would probably be something Hawkwood would know about. He seems to be an expert on the downsides to everything.
While you're seemingly distracted by confusion, Hawkwood decides to take the initiative.
"We were attacked first, which it seems has led to an... unfortunate misunderstanding."
The creature's ancient face has been stretched and thinned by the passage of time, yet manages to become all the worse to look at when you see the heartbroken expression that crosses its face.
"So it is as I feared then." It rumbles out. "Our flock grows ever smaller as the pain of this world takes us one by one. Why did we ever leave the painting?" It says, its voice more akin to a sob.
At its words, a few of the others turn to the figure and seem to grumble something at them.
"I guess they can still talk to each other?" You mumble to Hawkwood as part of the group seems to turn in on itself, while the rest remain to glare at you and block your way simply with their presence.
"Maybe that one is the only one that can speak our tongue." Hawkwood says with a shrug.
After a minute or so, the speaker turns back to you, "Life in this world becomes ever more unbearable as time itself is torn apart. It is all too easy to lose oneself in the depths of nostalgia and what ifs."
"You mentioned a painting, I believe?" Hawkwood asks.
"Yes, we are Corvians of the Painted World. Or we were, once." The figure says with a cough. "We ignored the warnings of the outside world and escaped here when madness took our home. Now we rot away out here, suffering the passage of eternity until madness claims each and every one of us. So little of who we once were is left..."
"Painted World?" You ask, confused, to which Hawkwood only shrugs.
"I... see." Hawkwood lies. "Well, is there any way that we can... clear up this misunderstanding?"
"Yes, of course. It's rather simple, for it is the custom of our home. Simply put, you must leave." The bird man says, to which Hawkwood simply stares at him blankly for a moment.
"Just to clarify, this is supposed to be a punishment, of a sort, correct?"
"Yes, well, normally the method of leaving is hurling yourself off a ledge and falling into a hole in the world itself, but asking you to do something like that here would simply end with your death."
Ah. Yes. Of course. Well, the place is called a 'painted world' right? Probably runs off the logic of abstract art or something.
"Well, uh, could we leave through the other side?" You ask earnestly.
"You wish to travel the Road?" The figure asks. "I cannot tell whether you are reckless or simply foolish, but no... this is perfect. A fitting punishment indeed." It says, nodding.
With a burst of strength it really shouldn't have, the creature raises its staff and slams it back down. You can't deny that you jump a little at the sudden loud noise. It turns to its fellows and lets out a loud squawk, to which the assembled bird people seem to acknowledge. How they actually feel about it probably isn't very good, judging by the hissing. Nevertheless, the crowd begins to drift away, and soon it's just you, Hawkwood, and the apparent leader.
"Follow me." He says, before he begins heading towards the fortress up ahead. Sharing a look with Hawkwood, you both hesitantly follow behind him. As soon as you're past the entrance, however, all of the strength seems to leave the birdman's body.
"I'm not sure how much longer this can go on." He mutters, before he turns back to face the two of you. "I'd like to apologize to the both of you, for what little it may be worth."
…What? Wasn't he just upset with you?
"I can't say I understand." Hawkwood says.
"I'm well aware of what likely happened. One of our number attacked you mindlessly, and you had little choice but to cut them down. It's something that I have the unfortunate responsibility of having to accept." He sighs, leaning ever more on his staff to continue standing. He doesn't just look tired, he looks utterly and completely exhausted, both physically as well as mentally. "All the others still cling to hope. Hope was what drove us to take the chance of leaving the painting, and now none wish to accept the truth: that we are doomed.
"So what was with the big performance before?" You ask.
"They might not understand what I say in this tongue, but they aren't fools. They would know if I simply let people go. I must still put on an air of authority for them to be willing to maintain their trust, though I sometimes wonder if doing so is worth it with how much has been lost."
"How long have you all been wandering?" Hawkwood inquires, curious.
"Days hardly ever pass any more. The sky changes when it deems it appropriate, rather than responding to time." He looks up at the horizon. "I cannot recall the last time it was night."
"Wait, wasn't it night earlier?" You ask.
"Up on the High Wall, yes, but that isn't the same as down here." Hawkwood says sagely, as if that made any sense.
"But... I can literally see it from here." You, say, literally
pointing at it off in the distance. "How exactly are you going to tell me that it was night
right over there and then it wasn't right here?"
"Young lady, this world is falling apart, and all that remains is stitched together. What is true in one part is not necessarily true in another, and soon it will no longer matter at all."
"But... I..." You groan. No. You already said you'd just accept the stupid rules of this place. It's not like any of it has made sense before this, so why would it start making sense now? You can't keep hoping that, down the line, sense will finally start being made when, at every step of the way, there has been none in production.
"Is... she okay?" You hear the birdman ask Hawkwood, surprisingly concerned.
"She never lived during the end of a cycle, so she doesn't seem to understand how odd things can get." Hawkwood explains, doing his best (and failing) to avoid sounding patronizing.
"Well, neither have I. I lived in the painted world, with entirely different rules. I just thought it wasn't that hard to understand." He says, to which Hawkwood merely shrugs.
"I can hear you two, you know." You huff out in annoyance.
"Well, I would certainly hope so. If you couldn't, I'd be even more concerned."
You want to smash your head into a wall, Hawkwood is doing his best to not laugh at your misery, and you hate the fact that this random bird man is being nice to you all of a sudden, which makes no sense, because you'd think that would be a good thing, right?
"Well, if you're unsure of how long it's been, do you know how many you've lost?"
"We once numbered three hundred and forty when we first departed the Painted World. Now we are a mere eighty-seven."
"And they haven't given up hope yet, despite losing around three quarters of your group?"
"We don't have much of anything. Hope is all that they have left, and for better for worse, they refuse to relinquish it." The bird man says, shaking his head.
"I see you have some other guests." A voice calls out to you.
You turn to look further down the path, and see a bonfire down a short staircase. Standing beside it are you two armored figures.
"I'm not sure 'guests' is the appropriate term." Hawkwood replies.
As the two figures get close, the first thing that stands out is one of their weapons. It looks like somebody saw a spear and thought it needed to be cooler, so they just tried to shove a sword onto the end and called it a day. It does not look at all practical, and this is even going by Hawkwood's wacky fight-flipping nonsense. Then again, what's one more weird thing around here? You just learned that the time of day can change every kilometer you travel, who's to say what other wacky nonsense is next? Maybe up will become down randomly, or the sun will start bleeding. You trying not to be surprised by this place, but it's hard when it just makes so little sense.
"Ah, my apologies." The Corvian says, bowing, or at least trying to without falling over. "Are you preparing to depart?"
"Just about, but then we heard the commotion and got curious." The speaker, the one with the bizarre weapon, is wearing a full suit of armor, a mixture of plate and chainmail, with a blue surcoat, although the cloth is no doubt covering metal. The only part that doesn't seem to be metal are the leather gloves.
"Would you be willing to see them to their destination, oh Knight of Astora."
"Like I said, you shouldn't feel the need to humble yourself so, especially not to me of all people."
"I... apologize. It's habitual more than anything."
"I understand. So what's this about destinations?"
"They seek to travel the Road." The birdman says.
"Interesting, that's our goal as well." The figure says.
"Then I will place them in your care." He says, before he begins to hobble away, likely back to the rest of his fellows. However, as he passes you, he seems to pause, and turns to look at you.
"Should you ever find yourself within, do not trust the Sister and her lies." He whispers ominously, before abruptly continuing his hobbling, much to your confusion. Sister? Within? What was he even talking about? Shaking your head, you turn back to the rest of the group, and see the armored figure offer Hawkwood their hand.
"Anri, of Astora."
"Hawkwood." He says, accepting the handshake. "And this is Sayaka."
"Hi." You say, waving.
Anri stares at you, then at Hawkwood, then turns to their (you honestly can't tell if they're a guy or a girl) companion, who still has yet to say anything, and then back at you.
"Well, I can't say I expected a child to be an Unkindled."
"Hey, I'm good in a fight, right Hawkwood?"
"I am refraining from commenting." He replies dryly.
"Wuh-" you freeze to turn and glare at him. "Hey, tell them about the dark knight-
"Darkwraith." He corrects.
"Yeah, that. I won that fight, remember?"
"I think that may have been the
only fight where you weren't grievously injured, oddly enough."
"Wait, you beat a darkwraith?" Anri says, surprised.
"Barely. She almost got the two of us killed. Me more so than her."
"Okay, but we still beat it, didn't we?"
"Even if we did, I wouldn't go around trying to brag about it when we barely managed to do it in the first place."
"But we
did beat it."
"Regardless of whether it was close or not, defeating a darkwraith is an accomplishment to be celebrated." Anri says, nodding.
"Please don't encourage her. She's still a teenager..." He pauses, before he turns to you. "Actually, how old
are you, anyhow?"
"Fourteen." You reply. His response is to put his hands to his face and take a deep breath.
"It isn't surprising, but actually having the number just really just made me feel worse."
"Well, it isn't like I have much of a choice at this point." You say with a shrug.
"That isn't-"
"Are you two always like this?"
You both pause to look at Anri, confused.
"Is there something wrong?" Hawkwood asks, to which Anri seems almost amused.
"No, if anything it's sort of comforting. You don't get much genuine human interaction anymore, at least none that isn't a morose lament of some kind."
"What about your friend there?" You ask, gesturing to the other figure. This one is covered in a bulky black suit of steel armor with, oddly enough, a cape on the back. In contrast to Anri's bizarre combination weapon, he's armed with a halberd. So not exactly a simpler weapon, but at least it's one that makes sense.
"Oh, Horace? He... doesn't talk very much."
Horace turns to look at Anri, who stops. "Alright, alright, I won't." You both share a look of confusion, before Anri turns back to both of you.
"How much do you know of Aldritch, self-proclaimed Saint of the Deep?" Anri asks.
"Isn't he, like, a big slime because he ate a bunch of people?" You ask.
"That... certainly is the gist of it, yes." Anri replies with a nod. "Well, suffice it to say that me and Horace are currently after him. As fellow unkindled, I'm sure you understand."
"Wait, both of you are also unkindled?" You turn to Hawkwood. "I thought you said there weren't any others."
"I never said that, I said all of the others I knew about gave up. They aren't even the first other Unkindled we've run into so far."
"There was another?"
"Yes, the strange man with a deathwish in the onion-like armor."
"Ah, I see you two have met Siegward as well. Interesting man, isn't he?" Anri says with a chuckle.
"I think he said he was from Catarina. I've never actually met anyone from Catarina before this," Hawkwood says. "Come to think of it, I don't think I've met anyone from Astora either. The last I'd heard, it was under attack by some monster or another."
Anri pauses, before slowly nodding. "Yes, an Evil Eye. They regularly assault Astora, but are beaten back every time, though at massive cost."
The other armored figure, the one Anri called Horace, lets out a groan towards them, to which Anri turns back to stare at them. Horace just shakes his head, to which Anri seems to give a small shrug.
"If it's a recurring issue, wouldn't it be wise to try and prevent it in some way?"
"The only way to 'prevent' it would be to abandon the land entirely. Does the idea of people abandoning their homes bring you some measure of happiness?"
"Of course not, but believe me, I'm well aware of how stubborn people can be despite being in the worst situations imaginable."
Anri stares at Hawkwood closely, examining him carefully.
"You're a member of the Undead Legion, aren't you?"
"I was. Not exactly trying too hard to hide it, but it's difficult to still be one after I deserted."
"And a deserter ended up an Unkindled?"
"It's... a long story." Hawkwood says sheepishly, to which Anri gives a slow nod.
"Fair enough. You didn't try to pry earlier, so I'll extend the same courtesy to you."
"Much appreciated. It's not something I'm fond of reminiscing on." Hawkwood says.
Horace lets out a grunt, interrupting the conversation.
"Ah, yes, you're right as usual, Horace." Anri says with a shake of their head. "We should get moving. The Crucifixion Woods is right below us, and from there the path splits between the Cathedral of the Deep and Farron proper." They turn to look at Hawkwood. "I'm assuming that you likely want to go to Farron first?"
"...Somewhat. At the same time, I'd like more than anything to never go back there again. There's... a lot of mixed feelings, to say the least."
"Well, if the two of you would be alright coming with us to the Cathedral, we'd be more than happy helping you afterwards."
[ ] Agree to join Anri and Horace and head for the Cathedral of the Deep.
[ ] Decline the offer, and head towards Farron first.
[ ] Write in
175/2250 Corruption
Author's Note: I've written like three versions of the same "I take too long to post updates but this one was actually quick" joke only to immediately delete them because none of them have been even remotely funny. But yeah, happy to get this one out at a reasonable pace for the first time in a
long time. Here's hoping that continues to be the case.