𝕮𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑟𝑜𝑡—𝕷𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑠ㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤ“Is the Redmane castle. Beyond it is a desert where General Radahn, or what is left of him, stays. I heard a festival is to be held in the next few days.”

ㅤㅤ•° she's quite interested in it herself, though she doubts that they would let someone like her join.
ㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤ•° she pointed at a castle on a piece of land separated from most of caelid, connected through a bridge and guarded by soldiers fighting rotted birds and dogs. The regular sight for someone like her.

—&—

ㅤㅤ•° it was unspoken, of course, but they do not attack each other unless needed. She personally found them rather disgusting, and would happily hunt them down if truly needed.

ㅤㅤ“Over there,”

—&—

ㅤㅤ•° she led him down a stone road, occasionally tugging at his arm to walk on the red grass and dirt to avoid any direct conflicts with the children of rot. Dangerous and invasive as they were, the Cleanrots and them have reached a sort of ... middle ground.

—&—

ㅤㅤ“The war against the rot never stopped. It may not be able to be purged, but so it will be controlled.”

ㅤㅤ•° by flame, by human hands, by moving as if oneself was a flowing water.

—&—

ㅤㅤ•° she momentarily stopped in front of one, taking in the heat and feeling the rot crawl back to her core. If she were alone and feeling rather brave, she would pick one of the stones and carry it with her, but this one looked to be half-melted, and would be dangerous for her.

—&—

ㅤㅤ“You'd be correct. They were built and burnt by the Redmanes, General Radahn's army, to stop most creatures of rot from advancing beyond Caelid.”

ㅤㅤ•° despite the danger, she found them to be reassuring. No one beyond the borders would suffer the same fate as her, if they keep away.

—&—

ㅤㅤ
ㅤㅤ•° the knight's head turned to look at the walls of burning rocks and plants. Short and small as they are, they make for decent defenses against the creatures that live in these lands. That sort of included her, with how rotted she is, unfortunately.

—&—

Playing cards scattered, edited with purple tint

Dark gothic castle with purple tinted lightning crossing the sky

♠️Temp Pin♠️

𝔑𝔞𝔪𝔢: Lucian Sebastian Asphodel

𝔑𝔦𝔠𝔨𝔫𝔞𝔪𝔢: Lucy

𝔄𝔤𝔢: 72

𝔓𝔯𝔬𝔫𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔰: He/Him

𝔖𝔭𝔢𝔠𝔦𝔢𝔰: Vampire

ℑ𝔡𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔦𝔱𝔶: Gay cis man

ㅤㅤ“Runes can be used to strengthen oneself, if one has a maiden to help them. Alas, they usually only serve the Tarnished.”

ㅤㅤ•° the knight pocketed the runes, adding to her total. Three bags now.

ㅤㅤ“Every living being drop runes. We'll just have to hunt them down.”

ㅤㅤ
ㅤㅤ“Currency .. runes, you mean.ᐣ”

ㅤㅤ•° she straightened her hunched back and looked around, before gesturing at the ground where the giant children of rot once were, before they dissipated into air.

ㅤㅤ•° she picked up a few runes from the ground, dropped by them.

—&—

ㅤㅤ
ㅤㅤ“A nomad ... ”

ㅤㅤ•° she could probably count herself as one, with how many times she's traveled out of Caelid all by herself.

ㅤㅤ“I see.”

ㅤㅤ•° she paid no mind to the corn, instead solely focused on the flame in front of her.

ㅤㅤ“I hardly ever see nomadic paladins."
ㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤ“The usual merchant that sells me these is further in. His name is Kalé.“

ㅤㅤ•° opening her pouch, she checked for the amount of runes. Barely enough for two bags. Good enough.
ㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤ•° she moved forward on shaky legs, her body on slowly recovering from the scarlet rot's advances. She looked back momentarily, gesturing at the captain to follow, then continued her walk forward.

ㅤㅤ•° eventually the red sky made way to a calm blue, and they were now in Limgrave.

—&—

ㅤㅤ
ㅤㅤ•° she nodded, slowly standing up. Her legs felt weak, but they could at least support her body and walk.

ㅤㅤ“Come on. Our plan to buy flour and get clean water stays the same.”

ㅤㅤ•° had it been somewhere else, sometime else, she would sound like she was only getting groceries.

—&—

ㅤㅤ“My deepest gratitude to you, captain ... ”

ㅤㅤ•° she instead said, slightly bowing down to him.
ㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤ•° the knight's head turned to the captain, a look of utter gratitude appearing in an instant. Though from her position, she could almost, 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 see the face within the void. She almost reached out, but her mind righted itself before she could even move her hand.

—&—

ㅤㅤ•° she gasped for air, all while both of her hand reached out to the flame, close enough that it would lick her fingertips but not burn her through her armor. She felt relief like no other, like she was back to fully being human again. she wasn't, of course.

—&—

ㅤㅤ
ㅤㅤ•° one moment she was at the brink of death, turning into nothing but a blob of flesh, and in the next the rot retreated back to the furthest corners of her body, and she was saved from another near-death experience.

—&—

ㅤㅤ“Are you travelling alone.ᐣ”

ㅤㅤ•° she suddenly asked, turning her head towards him.
ㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤ
ㅤㅤ“Nay, I merely needed the heat of flame.”

ㅤㅤ•° she sat beside the flame, too close for it to be uncomfortable for anyone else, yet she found most comfortable. A tired sigh left her lips, as the flame licked her fingertips. The armor kept her safe while still transferring the heat.

—&—

ㅤㅤ
ㅤㅤ“Ah ... Your Majesty. My apologies.”

ㅤㅤ•° she bowed down briefly, eyes closed in concentration.

ㅤㅤ“I had assumed you were a mere lord or noble ... ”
ㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤ
ㅤㅤ•° the knight stepped forward through the bushes, deciding to present herself in front of the paladin after a long time fighting herself.

ㅤㅤ“Greetings. Wouldst thou mind if I stay here, for a night.ᐣ“
ㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤ
ㅤㅤ•° she shook her head, a slight look of sadness appearing on her face.

ㅤㅤ“Incurable, my liege.”

ㅤㅤ•° she shook her head once again, and the sadness dissipated.

ㅤㅤ“I am Shiyou of the Cleanrot Knights. A pleasure to meet you, my liege.”
ㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤ
ㅤㅤ“I advise you to not touch me.”

ㅤㅤ•° the warning was spoken with a soft voice, not meant to intimidate but only to alert.

ㅤㅤ“For I am cursed with a deadly affliction.”
ㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤ
ㅤㅤ•° a knight, half-rotted and more a Thing than human, stood watching from afar. She is attracted by the flame, but did not want to intrude on the paladin.
ㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤ
ㅤㅤ•° long red hair, golden armor ... a valkyrie, perhaps ... .ᐣ

ㅤㅤ•° not her lady, though.
ㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤ•° desperation to survive in tow, she stared into the abyss in front of her, and nodded, unable to even form a word from how painful everything was. Her limbs were seized, her shoulders stiff and fingers frozen.
ㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤ
ㅤㅤ“D-Don't ... touch me ... The rot ... ”

ㅤㅤ•° despite her words, she found no strength to even pull away. The rot spreading further and further to untouched places. She would be surprised if by the end of this damned thing, she would still be human.

—&—

"̷A̷̷n̷̷d̷ ̷I̷ ̷t̷̷h̷̷o̷̷u̷̷g̷̷h̷̷t̷ ̷I̷ ̷c̷̷o̷̷u̷̷l̷̷d̷ ̷i̷̷m̷̷p̷a̷̷r̷̷t̷ ̷t̷̷h̷a̷̷t̷ ̷w̷̷i̷̷s̷̷h̷ ̷i̷̷n̷ ̷s̷̷u̷̷c̷̷h̷ a̷ ̷l̷̷i̷̷t̷̷t̷̷l̷̷e̷ ̷t̷̷h̷̷i̷̷n̷̷g̷. ̷W̷̷h̷̷o̷ ̷k̷̷n̷̷e̷̷w̷ ̷t̷̷h̷a̷̷t̷ ̷i̷̷n̷ ̷t̷̷h̷̷e̷ ̷e̷̷n̷̷d̷, ̷I̷ a̷̷c̷̷t̷̷u̷a̷̷l̷̷l̷̷y̷ ̷f̷̷e̷̷l̷̷l̷ ̷i̷̷n̷̷l̷̷o̷̷v̷̷e̷ ̷w̷̷i̷̷t̷̷h̷ ̷t̷̷h̷̷e̷̷m̷ ̷s̷̷o̷ ̷t̷̷h̷̷i̷̷s̷ ̷o̷̷n̷̷e̷ ̷i̷̷s̷ ̷m̷̷y̷ ̷b̷̷i̷̷g̷̷g̷̷e̷̷s̷̷t̷ ̷r̷̷e̷̷g̷̷r̷̷e̷̷t̷."