Ch 19 Sif and a rest.

(Artorias)" i don't understand, i am sure i left him near hear when i felt i could hold on no longer"

While Ciaran was comforting the man, Vyr was looking at a section of the wall that had none of the blue glow on it. She quickly figured out it was a hidden wall and hit it with an empty bottle revealing the passageway behind.

Artorias looked confused and said "I did not place that here. We should be ready, something or someone placed that here on purpose."

As they walked they took a line formation as the cave was very narrow. Artorias to the front followed by Vyr (much to her irritation) and finally Ciaran in the back. After a few minutes of walking they saw a cat laying in the path. Artorias sped up seeing the cat, but when he stepped within a few feet of it the cat vanished. When it did the path seemed to flicker, before the area ahead changed.

Now instead of a passageway they could see a room ahead where the path opened. In the center of the room was a golden light barrier with a wolf holding a sword in its mouth, was lying on a greatshield. Around the barrier a few of the humanities from the cavern were trying to get to the wolf.After they had dispatched the Humanities they went to check on the sleeping wolf.

Artorias tried waking the wolf. As soon as it heard Artorias's voice, Sif looked up and jumped to his feet in excitement.

Artorias opened his arms in expectation, but was shocked when the wolf ran right past him to Vyr. Vyr on the other hand, laughed at Artorias while petting Sif's fur.

"NO! Why! How?! What did you do?!" Artorias shouted in a heartbroken voice while pointing at Vyr.

Vyr who was petting the happy wolf said "Huh? I don't really know but i have an idea. I also don't really mind or care. He is now mine and you can do nothing about it. Muhahahah, Now you know my master plan!"

Ciaran just shook her head at the now crumpled form of artorias before saying "I think you better stop, or he may just cry."

Vyr laughed a bit more before saying "Fine, your right. Sif will you please go check if Artorias is ok? He was really worried about you, you know."

The wolf looked a bit sad and hurried over to Artorias and started to try and cheer him up. It didn't take long for his efforts to be rewarded as Artorias started cooing over the Wolf.

(Ciaran)"Why did Sif go to you first by the way? He shouldn't even know you, and he never really liked strangers before."

(Vyr)"Oh that's probably because of a few things. Like how he is connected to artorias and how I'm connected to Artorias. In a way I'm connected to Sif as well. Also I'm very connected with nature, so I make friends with animals easily. Plus I have always liked wolves as well so it makes it a bit easier to connect."

"Connected with nature? Is that some kind of magic?"

"Kinda in a way? It'd be easy for you to understand if i put it like this. A pyromancer and a flame. While that's not exactly true for me you should be able to understand it that way."

Ciaran nodded but seemed lost in thought before asking "And if you were to put it in a way that would be the most truthful. what that would be?"

"Hrmmm. Oh I know! You know how dragons are like the most powerful race more or less?" Vyr asked.

Ciaran nodded and motioned for her to continue, so Vyr said "My race could end the dragons here without breaking a sweat."

Ciaran laughed and said "you speak as if you're not human! Besides how could that be? The dragons ravaged the whole world!"

Vyr shrugged and replied "I'm not human. And yes while the dragons are powerful they aren't that strong in the grand scheme of things. My race is called the Prototypes. We are pretty much the forerunners of any and all races Dragons included. Like metal before being forged, we can under the right circumstances become anything, even dragons. We adapt and change ourselves to overcome any obstacle. Take my armor for example' Vyr said unforming and reforming her gauntlets, "these aren't made with metal or stone. My armor is made of my own body. It adapts to anything I want it to be or need it to be. The people of my race devour/absorb our defeated foes and can gain their strength. That fact alone makes us stronger than your dragons. But the truly scary thing is I might just be the last one left. An entire race of ever growing killing machines, who also are basically immortal by the way, and we just died out. Makes you wonder what could do that. What other things out there go bump in the night. Now then, while you think about that, i'm gonna go play with a fluffy wolfo."

Ciaran stood there shocked at what she had just heard. 'That can't be true! But she has no reason to lie either.But dragons being weak? That's preposterous! I have seen the destruction they can bring! Even Gwyn wouldn't look down on them, but she said it like they were ants, weak and nothing special!'

As Ciaran was lost in thought over what she had heard, Vyr was stealing Sif back from Artorias.

The man stood there shocked just like Ciaran but for a very different reason. He had been petting and apologising to his wolf companion. When sif suddenly jumped from his embrace and rushed towards Vyr who was walking over. He was stunned to see the normally antisocial wolf jump into his new leige's embrace once more as she sat down and played with him.

Vyr after having her fill of the excited and fluffy Sif said to the stunned couple "Hey! I think its time we headed back. Since we have scouted the whole cavern and taken everything that was worth something. I vote we take a break to rest and regroup before heading off to fight manus. Y'all good with that?"

The two broke out of their respective stupors and quickly nodded. Vyr seeing this led the group as Ciaran fell back into her thoughts and Artorias was trying to get more attention from Sif. Vyr led them on one final loop around the cavern to check for any missed loot before stopping once more at the bonfire. When they got there Vyr began pulling out utensils as sif came over and started sniffing the different pots and spoons.

(Artorias)"What are you doing? Are you going to make more of that liquid light we used?"

"No? I have plenty of forbidden slurp left. I was planning to make us a meal before we rest. I know I at least prefer to fight on a full stomach and it has been a while since I last ate."

"You brought food?!"

"Yeah? I mean i brought a stupid amout of forbbiden slurp and an entire armory. What makes you think i didn't bring food?"

"When you put it like that, it does seem like a normal thing. Do you require any assistance? I was trained how to roast food for camping after all."

Vyr looked at him and started laughing before saying "I doubt your roast and mine are the same. How about you let me handle the cooking and you go practice your swordplay with sif. I saw the sword he has with him. How about you teach him how to use it."

"A wolf learning swordplay? HA!"

"I wouldn't doubt him, he is smarter than you think. It would also do you good to remember where he came from, are you really sure he is just a wolf? Besides if you had taught him earlier he would have been able to help clear out the corrupted monsters."

Artorias gave it some thought before asking sif what he thought. He was met with a happy bark as sif bounded away to get his sword from where he left it.

After he walked away Ciaran walked up to her as she was pouring water into a pot and asked "Is what you said earlier really true? No matter how I think of it. It just cant be true."

*sigh*" that's because your world view is too small. Let me ask you if I put a farmer in front of a tome of magic could he cast spells?"

"Of course not."

"Exactly, it is the same situation with you. I'm not insulting you, I'm just pointing out there is much for you to learn. There is much for you to see. If you do decide on following me, you'll be quick to understand what I mean and how I see things. Here ill give you this to think over as well. If i told you i could wipe out all of anor londo all the way down to lost Izalith, with one spell. What would you say?"

"That's impossible."

"Yet if I told you I got the spell from Seath the scaleless?"

She didn't get a reply so Vyr turned to her, having finished what she was doing, only to realize Ciaran didn't have her mask on!

Seeing her face for the first time was quite a shock for Vyr. As she could have guessed Ciaran was a beautiful woman but she never would have guessed she was this beautiful! The woman seemed to be a mix of asian and european descent. She had long golden blond hair that went past her shoulders. Her dark brown eyes were wide with shock and her thin lips were parted as she was grasping for words. She had a narrow and pointed jaw as well. Altogether she had a beauty easily worthy of a model.

Shaking off her shock at seeing Ciaran's face for the first time, Vyr went back to making the group food. Ciaran stuck around after that and asked Vyr a few more questions while helping prep the food as well.

Needless to say she was one again stunned by the amount of effort and steps Vyr put into the food. Ciaran had been trained to eat hardtack and smoked or dried meat on missions. So she wasn't expecting Vyr to pull out fresh ingredients and even go so far as to use salt and valuable spices. She was quickly informed that to Vyr these weren't even worth that much.

Tired of having her worldview shook Ciaran thought to herself 'enough is enough! Anymore and i don't think i can be normal anymore. Just treat everything she does as normal. That way I can't be shocked any more.'

A few hours later as they were finishing eating Vyr asked "Hey artorias!"

"Mhm" he replied looking up from his fourth serving.

"You know i think it's about time you share what you remember about your fight with Manus."

Ciaran nodded her head and said "I agree if we are to fight I believe it would be best to know more."

"Oh y'all don't have to fight if you don't want to. Don't get me wrong I know you're good in a fight but i would like to try fighting him on my own as well. Either way it's up to you."

Artorias shook his head and replied " i like a good fight myself but believe it would be best for us to fight together. From what I can remember Manus wasn't a particularly skillful foe. He mostly relied on his overly large left arm to smash things like a brute. The only thing about that is his arm seemed to stretch and have no real bones so it could act as a whip as well. The real thing we must watch for is his magic. It seems to be the same kind as the spell casters we fought around the area. The difference being it was much more powerful and wide spread. Some of the spells also seemed to track where you moved. This time will be much harder than the last as my shield seems to have lost some of its properties and I also no longer have my pendant to protect against dark magics."

As he was saying this Vyr tossed him a silver necklace and said " I found it in the township. Try not to lose it again."

Seeing this Ciaran thought ' that is one of the treasures of Anor londo and she tosses it like it's worthless. I doubt she does not know it's value. Or is it just like those spices she used and it just isn't valuable to her?'

Vyr continued "was he weak to anything? Or could you not tell?"

"It would be hard to say if he had any glaring weakness. I know one thing for sure, the curse on my old sword did nothing to him. Though the blade worked well enough. He also would move a bit when too close to our torch. But i wouldn't call it a weakness."

"Well that at least lets me know I shouldn't use my scythes. I was wanting a change of pace anyway." Vyr said before storing her scythes in the inventory.

As the two watched, Vyr seemed to think for a few moments while waving her fingers through the air. When she stopped she made a gesture of poking something only she could see before reaching both hands forward and pulling out two greatSwords.

The two swords were exactly alike. Great black blades with cracks of red fire flowing through it. The only guard to speak of was a twisted tendral like mass of metal. They were only sharpened on one side and tapered to a point on the tips. (Ringed knight paired greatswords)

Artorias looked at them and said " which will you use? They seem to be the same to me."

Vyr grinned before standing and said "Both. they are a pair of swords meant to be used together."

Artorias went to scoff at her but stopped when he saw her swing both blades at once. In a show of power and fire Vyr launched attacks at the wall of the room to test her new weapons. She went through the full moveset before trying her own styles as well to see what fit.

Both of her human companions were slack jawed at the display. While Sif was eager to once again pick up his sword. As he ran over to her, sif motioned to get Vyr's attention. Vyr just laughed and started teaching the wolf as best she could.

After 20 minutes, a tired wolf went back to the fire followed by Vyr. (Sif is still not used to using a sword so his jaw was tired.) After she sat back down she rested against Sif and said " like i was saying, i don't mind if you join in but i'm still debating whether or not i want to fight manus."

Ciaran looked up at this and said " i thought it was your goal to kill him?"

Vyr nodded and said "Oh, it is. But honestly I can just kill him from a distance. There is no real reason to get close besides my own entertainment. Though it would be entertaining in a different way to just end him without him being able to fight back."

"You could do that this whole time?" artorias asked, looking irritated at how Vyr was using Sif as a backrest.

"Yep. But like i said it wouldn't be as fun. Plus I would likely lose out on his soul as well."

"Can we not just use that as a last resort?" Ciaran asked.

"I mean I can but I was just putting the option out there. I really just want to be done with this and finish the last thing on my list before heading home."

This seemed to catch the two's interest, so Artorias asked " and what would be the last task on this list of yours?"

Vyr smiled and said in a teasing voice "its a secret~"

Laying back even more Vyr said "Alright let's rest. When we get up I'll cook again and we will head to fight Manus. That good with you?"

The two nodded and made themselves comfortable as they could before resting.

(A/n ok thats the end of the chapter more or less but i'm gonna put a bit more here as a kinda half apology for the late chapter. This won't be too important for the story. it is just groundwork for the future. It also has a bit of foreshadowing of Vyr's past life.)

After about five hours of meditation while resting on the sleeping sif Vyr got up and moved to the fire to start preparing breakfast. As she was cutting some vegetables Ciaran walked over and asked "do you mind if i ask you a few more questions? It is still hard to believe all of what you are saying."

Vyr didn't look up and said " It's good you're asking. This will be a major turning point in your life. Besides, I'm not doing much anyways."

Ciaran nodded before sitting and watching Vyr work for a few minutes. Vyr just let her take her time as she worked.

Ciaran finally looked up and said " if what you said is true. And your race is so powerful. Why take us with you? What could we possibly offer you?"

Vyr laughed a bit before saying " as bad as it sounds, the reason i want you two to come with me is for entertainment. Now before you think about it too far, I don't mean in a sick twisted way. I just think your fates were a bit too unjust for you. I think it would be fun to see what you would become, what you will do. Like a story being told, or a song being sung."

"So you want me to believe you are doing this for fun?"

"Not really. You can believe what you want to believe. I just want to have fun. To me being bored is like what dying might be like to you. I can't stand it, I fear it. I have and would again die instead of it."

"Wait you have died?"

Vyr chuckled and said "yes. I took the great journey. And it may surprise you to know I was the one who killed myself."

"What! Why?!"

"Shhhhhhh. Don't wake them yet, they need the rest. But yes I was the one to end my own life. The reason is just like I told you. I was bored, I had nothing left to keep me going. So at the end when even my feelings and emotions were long gone and the cold reality of how i would always be bored seeped in. I ended what little life I had left."

Ciaran seemed thoughtful as she could hear the honesty in Vyr's voice before asking " can you tell me more. I mean if you don't mind."

Vyr chuckled softly before saying "Mabey in the future. To be honest i don't like to think of any of that."

Ciaran nodes and asks "ok, say i do join you. What would you have me do?"

"Depends really. I plan to move from place to place helping people whose fate I don't like and generally just entertain myself. Right now I plan, if you join of course, I would send you ahead of myself and make a cover story for places I plan to visit."

"Like an infiltration mission."

"Kinda but not really. Right now, like I said, you would need to learn some things before you could really be of use."

"So what would be my first assignment?"

"So you decided?"

"It was an easy choice to be honest. I don't like my life right now, and if you left so would artorias."

Vyr laughed again and said "Your first mission would be to rest and learn. I planned to go to a less dangerous world after I finish what I'm doing now. I would send you and artorias to the land as a rich couple who keep to themselves. I would send a piece of my magic to guide and instruct you so you don't stand out too much. Then ideally in a few months to a year I would show up as your daughter and do what I wished to."

"So our job would be to learn and blend in, then pretend to be your parents? Aren't you too old for that?"

"I already told you my race can change to suit our wishes. I can control my age at will."

Ciaran grumbled "Bullshit race … eternal youth… wasted on you" before facing Vyr and asking "And you think we can handle that?" like she wasn't just cursing Vyr under her breath.

"Like I said you would have a guide and instructions, so you should be fine. Plus it would be a whole new world. And for a few months it would be just you and Artorias. No missions, no monsters, no quests. Just you two alone in a house."

Ciaran looked like she was in bliss from the thought alone and said "Deal"

Vyr smiled and said "Oh yeah and sometimes sif."

Ciaran gritted her teeth and said " you did that on purpose didn't you."

Vyr just whistles a short tune to wake the others and said "I don't know what you mean" with a wry grin on her face.