(A/N: Updated auxiliary chapter with two new entries.)
XOXO
The soul. One's very essence. The core of every living being, sentient or otherwise.
To perceive a soul was to see its owner whole. Basic needs. Primal instincts and the values given birth by higher level thought. The good and the bad. A soul's shape revealed all there was to know about a person no matter how deeply buried. The only limitation was the viewer's ability to understand what it was they were seeing.
And Onyx was intimately familiar with his soul.
His premature reincarnation had left it drained, yes, but it was otherwise untouched, no damage to be found. Given time it would be restored, but he wasn't content to just sit around waiting for the problem to solve itself. If he wanted access to his magic sooner rather than later, he needed to speed the process along.
He took another slow, deep breath. Then another. And another.
All else ceased to be, his breathing the only thing that kept him anchored within this new world. His soul responded in kind, swelling and deflating in sync with inhales and exhales. Each repeat of the motion restored just a little of the weight his soul should've had.
In time he would-
Onyx's eyes shot open.
Straight ahead, just beyond the ruins he chose to use as a meditation site, a pair brushed against his senses. He might not be able to see them, nothing other than trees, grass, and wildlife ahead, but he knew them to be there.
He'd felt the same pair back on the beach.
The first was simple in nature but powerful. The soul of some kind of mythical animal.
The other was not so easy to label. Drained as he was, the brief flashes he got when they approached weren't enough to decipher a more complicated soul so foreign to him. At times it felt hot, a great conflagration in the making. But just as often it felt…he was tempted to say cold but that wouldn't be right. Numb fit better, the soul expressing a sort of absence.
The most intriguing thing about that soul was the underlying warmth he felt from it. It was so similar to the presence that drew him towards this world that he'd nearly mistaken it for that being.
After a moment he dropped his stare. He picked up no malicious intent from whoever it was that was watching him, so he'd let it be for now. Not like he could realistically do much until his soul recovered. Not without risk.
Onyx stood, rolling his shoulders and stretching before grabbing the rusted falchion beside him.
Thankfully, while he had been busy cleaning out the cave system, Boc had managed to throw some clothes together for him. It was nothing special, a patchwork of dark leathers making up rough pants and a gathering of furs that he kept around his waist at the moment. A simple pouch, not made by Boc, but taken from the demi-humans stockpile hung around the back of his waist just below the fur.
He could've done with an actual shirt but hey, at least he didn't have to sit his bare ass on the grass while he meditated.
He spared a glance at the stony corpse and the flaming altar.
A pulse rippled through his soul.
Problematic as they often made his lives, he hoped dragons weren't wiped out in this world. They always had a knack for making things more interesting.
He took off from the ruins, enjoying the cool breeze blowing through his hair and the solid dirt beneath his feet before he made it back into the darkened cave system that ran below. Even after having pulled out the bodies and beginning a crude clean up, the place still smelled. Plenty of work would be needed before the place could be considered truly livable or even safe but it would serve as shelter in the worse weather.
Water splashed around his feet as he stepped into main chambers, a campfire they kept going providing dim lighting.
"S-Sir Onyx." Boc exclaimed, running over from the campfire. He held up a shoddily made wrapping with string attached to it, head bowed slightly. "This is for you."
It took Onyx a moment to realize that it was a sheath, the perfect length to keep his pilfered sword protected from the elements. "Thank you." He said as he took the sheath and placed his sword within it. He didn't intend on keeping this blade but there was no point in letting Boc's earnest efforts be wasted while he had it.
"What do you plan to do from here?" Onyx questioned curiously. Between Boc's sowing and him cleaning up while getting acquainted with the place, they hadn't been much room for conversation. With the day soon coming to end, it was about time to tackle that topic.
He had no qualms with sharing the cave. Even if he had been kicked out by his people this place had technically been Boc's home less than a day ago. Its not like someone as skittish as Boc would have the courage to tell him to leave, especially not after seeing so many of his tormentors killed first-hand, but if by some impossibly slim chance that happened…eh, he wouldn't leave tonight but it wouldn't be particularly difficult to put together something of a hut beside the ruin on that island.
That actually doesn't sound like a bad idea. Onyx thought, mentally nodding to himself. That decided it. Whether or not Boc wanted him around, he'd make that hut a top priority in the coming days.
"I'm not sure." Boc admitted, gaze turned downwards.
Kicked out his home by his own kind only to be stuck with the same person who cut them all down. Onyx would've been surprised by any other answer.
"You've got plenty of time to figure it out." Onyx said. It wasn't his place to go offering advice when he hadn't the faintest clue about anything in this world.
Besides, come tomorrow he'd entirely focused on understanding and exploring said world.
XOXO
As a new day turned upon The Lands Between, the early morning hours found the Tarnished, Onyx he called himself, sitting cross legged before the altar. Melina had thought him a practitioner of dragon communion. There was little other reason for a person to spend time within the ruins that rested upon this island the caves below led to unless they worshipped dragons or desired their power.
The Tarnished paid the altar and the corpse no real reverence despite his choice to meditate beside them, his reasoning alluding her.
He displayed an extraordinary level of willpower and self-control, a silent hour passing without a twitch. As the sun began to peak over the horizon and beat back the darkness of the night, his meditation changed to a workout. Stretching, running, sit-ups, push-ups, swings of his sword. In another show of willpower, he gave himself no break between the various activities.
By the end of it sweat drenched his body, beads dripping his neck, down the center of his chest, between the lean muscles of his abs and-
Torrent neighed, shaking his head about as the man looked at the greenery they stood between. It happened too often to be a coincidence. He could not see them, she was sure of that. Rather, he had some sort of vague awareness of their presence. In depth examination of him always set off that sense of his.
Melina's attention drifted back up.
Compared to his first notice of them, his reactions weren't quite so…impactful. Dare she say there was almost a budding sense of familiarity despite a true meeting never taking place.
Another first.
Once the sun had fully risen, the Tarnished made his way through the caves and back to the mainland. Whether it be with exploration in mind, the natural need to hunt, or following the Grace of Gold so few of his kind could still perceive he soon found himself face to face with a threat that no demi-human could compare to.
A Tree Sentinel. A figure that demanded respect from all who revered the Erdtree.
XOXO
"Urrrgghh…"
Onyx slowed to a stop, brow raising.
After a short meditation session and some exercise, both things he intended to make routines to whip this lacking body of his into shape, he'd departed from the costal cave system shared between him and Boc to get a proper feel for the land. Boc had shared some things with him, such as humans being the dominant force here, but admitted to almost never leaving the cave himself.
Its not like anything other than first-hand experience would've satisfied him in the first place.
Flowers and mushrooms hidden amongst plain greenery. Persistent winds that swayed the abundant grass in these lands. Odd stone chucks that appeared to be fragments of something greater scattered about. Plenty of wildlife, from the crabs he saw back on the shores, small deer like creatures that fled at the sight of him, birds that soared overhead.
That natural beauty was decimated by the sight before him.
Not far from a set of ruins that caught his eye, he found himself coming to a stop at a tall wooden pole imbedded within the ground. And strapped to the very top of that pole was a person. Skin blackened by flames that lingered within their injuries, limbs gangly from malnourishment, and barely consciousness, unable to even look his way, he'd almost mistaken the person for a corpse.
"Urrrgghh…" Another groan confirmed it to be anything but.
There were more. All strung up and horribly burned, they were left to suffer a slow death at the hands of the elements.
It took merciless soul to do something like this to so many. Could they have done something to deserve such a fate?
The ground shook and Onyx glanced over to the source.
A sizable knight and steed, both dressed in thick golden armor, approached from a field of grass. With a faint pull of the reins the knight brought his mount's gander to a complete stop and brandished shield and halberd, both eclipsing Onyx in size. The whole time his helmeted gaze never left Onyx.
Not exactly what he'd call a friendly greeting, in fact, the knight was one step away from hostile, but no attack had come. Maybe there was room for conversation.
"Good morning." Onyx said, fully turning to the knight.
A traditional enough conversation starter. At least to him. The polite pleasantry was returned by the knight rising his halberd into the air as his steed reared up.
Onyx signed.
Combat it is. He thought, resigning himself to his fate. Here I thought knights were all about honor and codes. Must not be the case in this world.
The rearing horse, defying all logic, leap straight into the air, blocking out the sun and casting a dark shadow over him. Onyx threw himself into a roll, hooves and halberd crashing into the ground, the dirt he'd been standing on torn apart.
He unsheathed his blade while backpedaling.
The knight had a powerful steed, all the benefits that came from a size advantage, and a proper weapon.
All he had was a rusty and chipped sword.
The horse rushed forward while the knight prepared a wide swing. What distant he managed to put between was quickly close, Onyx once more forced to roll away from the knight's halberd. As the horse skidded to a stop, managing to keep him in range, several more swings from that weapon followed.
He couldn't risk dragging things out or pulling punches.
Rather than trying to create more distance, Onyx threw himself at the knight, easily avoiding the long reaching weapon and delivering quick slashes to the horses unarmored front legs. The skin proved unexpectedly tough, his blade leaving behind shallow cuts that stood no chance of disabling or slowing the creature.
As the horse did a little jump away and the knight pulled his halberd back, Onyx side-stepped, narrowly avoiding a slashed open side from the returning weapon.
While the horse galloped a circle around him as it's rider prepped another slash, Onyx gripped his sword's handle with both hands.
Vitals. Anything less with this crappy of a weapon wouldn't get him anywhere against an opponent like this.
The pair came back in for another charge, the knight's halberd raised and prepped for another slash. He waited. The pair neared, gallop not losing any speed this time. He took a breath.
The knight sent out his halberd and Onyx stepped forward, twisting his torso just enough to avoid the worse of the slash while his sword shot forward. Blood filled the air, Onyx brought clean off his feet, wind whipping past him as his world twisted and turned.
The knight's steed neighed and shook its head, run about wildly as it tried to shake Onyx lose. All fruitless attempts. Onyx buried his sword deeper into the horse's bloodied eye, having slipped it right between the thick armoring. Just as the knight prepped its shield, moving to bash him off, he swung his feet up onto the lower half of the saddle, steadied himself and pushed deep.
A crack and a twang filled the air as the blade snapped under the stress, Onyx hitting the ground and rolling through the grass. He recovered quickly, the momentum of his sudden fall used to throw himself back onto his feet.
He wasn't the only one that had hit the ground.
The horse had toppled over, sending it and the knight to the ground, their heavy armor uprooting vegetation and dirt as they skidded to a stop. The horse was completely motionless. Good. He'd managed to drive the old blade deep enough to reach the animal's brain before it snapped.
The knight stood, a momentary stare lingering on his fallen companion before he readied shield and halberd, taking lumbering steps toward Onyx.
Onyx dropped a hand to his side, blood immediately soaking it. The slash wasn't as deep as the knight intended but it wasn't some shallow wound that could be completely ignored.
It is what it is. Onyx thought, bringing his bloody hand up and once again gripping his snapped sword with both hands. Either he put an end to this knight in the next few exchanges or the blood loss would slow him, leaving him an easy target.
His heart drummed throughout his entire body.
Sweat dripped down his brow.
His breaths were uneven.
Onyx tried to steady his breathing as the lumbering knight closed in.
It'd been a long time since he felt a thrill like this.
XOXO
Bloodlust Melina was accustomed to.
She'd seen it on the faces of all sorts of people.
The Tarnished had shown an incredible sense for battle and skill to back it up in managing to bring down the Tree Sentinel's mount so quickly, but that gambit had cost him. Left with a bleeding side and the snapped remains of a sword, his death was all but assured. Whatever speed advantage he might've had wouldn't last long with a wound like that.
And yet, as he broke out into a sprint to close the distance between him and his much bigger and heavily armored foe, a grin had found its way onto his face. A grin that only grew as he narrowly avoided wide reaching slashes and precise stabs.
She seen the same expression on those who carelessly threw themselves into battle simply for the sake of spilling blood and nothing more. Except there was no tinge of madness in his eyes. No intense desire for victory or death. No need to prove his strength. No dark impulse demanding his attacker suffer.
That grin was one of pure enjoyment.
The Tarnished backpedaled, a slash for his stomach going wide, then shot forward. As the halberd was brought back, he leaped, jumping clean over weapon and shield, his entire body crashing into the knight. There was a shake, but the knight managed to keep his balance.
Until Onyx's broken blade found its way beneath his helmet and into his neck.
A slight stumble back was all that rewarded Onyx's strike. Just as it seemed the knight would managed to push him off, Onyx twisted the blade while at the same time pulling a sharpened bone from his hidden pouch, the makeshift weapon buried into one of the knight's eyes.
Brought to an unceremonious end by the primitive weapons, the knight fell back, collapsing into the dirt.
Had she not seen it herself Melina would not have believed the weak Tarnished would've been capable of such a feat but there he was, standing over a warrior few of his kind could fell.
Whether or not he turned out to be the source of that energy she'd felt, maybe he was the one she'd been searching for all this time.
In this age of stagnation and decay, perhaps it would take a different kind of soul to claim the title of Elden Lord.