Chapter 76

Despite how little your screwup seems to matter after everything was done and finished, you still vouch to yourself that you would do better in the future. For you honestly didn't believe that you could live with a second Failure of such Magnitude, as you weren't blind to how annoyingly soft you've become when you look back at how torn you were over fixing your Mistakes. But while you would have to swiftly improve, the same was true for your Companion, as he didn't fail any less by not stripping himself of his Cloak once he saw that it was of no Help in neither the Reach nor the Vale.

It was a Surprise that so few People on your Journey actually respected the Strength behind the golden Lion that adorns the Banners, Tents, and Cloaks of House Lannister each time you look back on all the Ambushes. You supposed that it was just one of those things that no one realises till long after the Fact, but as a trained Professional when it comes to moving swiftly and silently, you really should have seen that Cloak for the massive problem it was long before you could have stumbled across the Boy.

You probably overlooked the whole Issue since all Thoughts of moving stealthily had been so thoroughly wrecked by your Companion's massive Frame and his Tendency to clad himself in deep red by other far more disgusting means. But a good Excuse is still just that, an Excuse, and so you stripped your Companion of all red besides his Gambeson as that couldn't really be replaced and might still have some use beyond simply keeping him alive. Yes, some kind of tall Tale of how the Gambeson was actually dyed by the Blood of a few dozen unlucky Clansmen would certainly be outlandish and boastful enough to make up for some of his social Shortcomings, wouldn't it?

Sigh, you were honestly not sure how good you could work around his lack of Speech, but having him around if Stealth should fail you, would most certainly be worth the Effort of dragging him along, especially if you consider how many Knights would stand between you and the good Lord Arryn. Your Companion for his Part took the loss of his Cloak with a surprising Amount of Dignity, though you could tell that he most certainly wasn't happy about the Change, as you could hear how his Footsteps became even more brisk and heavier.

But looking back on it, it was actually kind of adorable how much Attachment he showed to his Blood soaked Treasure of a Cloak when he stashed the thing away. Though you knew better than to say anything about it as you had to make similar Sacrifices of Comfort in the past where a Mission or two required you to change your Equipment spontaneously. Not to mention that you didn't even know anything about the Story behind the Gear and thus his Bond with it, beyond the Fact that all the black Knights you saw wore the same Equipment.

Leaving things as they were wasn't optimal, but you could tell that your Companion wasn't safe to be around as he was forging a Path through the Forest as if he was going to flatten the first potential Enemy he would stumble across. And said Enemy would probably be followed by the second and the third till he finally finds a moment of Clarity to refocus on your Mission once more. Which was all things considered a surprisingly boyish Reaction you honestly hadn't anticipated, as he didn't feel like the kind of Person that would seethe with such Anger over something so minor.

But seeing as you have no Way to actually gauge his Reactions while he's silently hiding his Expressions under that Armour of his, there's very little you could do to really get through to him even if you were willing to risk it. Sometimes this Companion of yours really feels more like a Force of Nature rather than a proper Human Being, with how he's either completely indifferent while he pursues his Orders with just a Sprinkle of Personality hidden under all the Steel. Only for him to become completely unstable and nearly unstoppable once he actually gets even a tiny bit invested, as if he was more Spirit than Man, and that Change in Personality you could observe before you was more than a bit disconcerting.

It was by now pretty normal for you to simply wait till he's finished when he's immersing himself in Bloodshed, as you wouldn't be able to stop him anyway, but those Spouts of Bloodlust are normally not all that malicious. That neutral, somewhat bestial kind of Bloodlust is why you sometimes see him more as a Monster or perhaps a Wolf rather than the Knight that he so obviously tries to be. But the kind of Anger he is currently showing doesn't have so much as a Shred of that neutral kind of Bloodlust you were used to in it, it's like he's actually holding genuine Love for his Equipment under all that Steel as if the Blood soaked thing was an actual Treasure.

Thinking about it, there's a pretty good Chance that he was truly some kind of Spirit if you consider that you never actually saw your Companion eat or sleep on your Journey. And while you could somewhat understand that most People wouldn't like to sleep or eat in the Presence of an Assassin, no matter how small, that didn't really sound like the Monster that caught you all those Months ago. It wasn't impossible that he did so once you've fallen asleep, but when you think about his massive Height in combination with the Strength to throw around fully loaded Wagons, that didn't sound right. And then there was the Fact that your Master had claimed that he had worked together with Spirits before, it doesn't sound all that unbelievable anymore, it might even be fun now that you think about it.

"Say, would you tell me if you were actually some kind of Spirit, you trusty old Companion of mine?"

"..."

"Well?"

"..."

"Come now, don't just stand there silently, you big old steely Mute, you even quelled your Anger when I asked you this innocent little Question of mine, so no Excuses."

"..."

"Could it be that Spirits can't actually talk, and that's why you're still tongue-tied?"

"..."

"Okay then, the giant black Spirit in the Forest says nothing!"

"..."

"I knew it!"

"..."