-"Ahhhh.. Long day.."
THUD!
A sound echoed in the near distance as a giant took his seat, Yhorm, accompanied by Siegward-
-"Onion bro... Can you sit closer and block out the sun for me..?"
A lazy, disinterested and low voice spoke, had it not been for the open space they were in, his voice wouldn't have been heard.
His request was met with a hearty laugh from the other two, he didn't know what was funny, but, he just internally shrugged and waited.
-"My friend, of course! You just continue resting, we'll finish up the work later."
Siegward sat closer to Dino, a nice cool shadow casting over his body as Siegward did as asked, causing Dino to let out a contented sigh and continue resting.
"And don't worry, we'll make sure not to tell Dagruel."
Siegward reassured Dino, usually Dino had no worries in his life, but an angry Dagruel was a large nuisance to his much needed and deserved rest, which is why he was more active than usual in his speech to ensure Siegward doesn't tell Dagruel.
Yhorm, on his part, gave a thumbs up, then he continued his sitting with Siegward for a while, both of them recalling their past experiences.
"Ah.. Catarina, how time flies. Do you remember the army of knights we had at the ready?"
Siegward asked nostalgically, as Yhorm immediately understood his implication;
A contest of pride.
They, as best friends do, bickered like children quite a lot over who was stronger, who was smarter.
Yhorm always edged the physical side of the arguments, using his massive size as compared to Siegward's low height.
However, in the face of Siegward's retorts in every other aspect, Yhorm's flexing tapered and faded away like they were nothing to begin with.
They continued laughing and exchanging friendly insults, up until the voice of the conversationally forgotten Dino cut through their focused talk.
-"Ehh... Tree man, I have this question..."
Dino slowly shifted into a sitting position, moving to sit beside Siegward, his gaze cast upward to Yhorm, his eyes half lidded and barely open.
"You seem like you're hiding such a tremendous amount of chaos to the point that its concerning."
To his astute observation, Yhorm tilted his head, thinking for a second.
Now, fun times aside, both of the otherworlders were extremely disciplined and serious when push came to shove, and that was put on display by the fact the atmosphere itself seemed to mend around the current situation.
Siegward, answered for Yhorm, who was still thinking about a proper way to explain,
-"It is not due to his current state, he has always harbored immense power. For he was what we called in our world, for lack of a better term, a creature that caused immense fear in people."
Siegward began, speaking of a tale so ancient it would make a person cough dust.
His manner of speech when he was telling stories was very pulling, it would make any being, animal, human, god, demon, want to sit and listen.
"Mmm.. Once upon a time, in a city so divine, giants were the most terrifying of beings.
But as time passed and Yhorm came into existence, he swore to not harm humanity, and he held his promise by bequeathing the humans themselves one of the two blades that can bring even the giants to their knees. The Storm Ruler."
And, Siegward's tale was not wrong, whoever held the blade could have easily became the antithesis of giantkind and eviscerated them from existence, but, they held him to his word and existence continued.
Yhorm, stayed silent all throughout this conversation, choosing to not reveal his total identity to Dino. The boy was sharp, he knew he was, both sides of the conversation knew that he was.
To Siegward's and Yhorm's contentment, Dino stayed silent, nodding his head and going back to sleep, for what he was, he wasn't a pest. He had the bare minimum sense of awareness, knowing when to stay silent and when to continue talking.
He was laziness personified, yes, but even lazy people have consciousness.
As all quieted down, they stared at each other, a solemn silence speaking of deeper nostalgia than any of their spoken words could've brought.
"The gods be damned... What are we doing with ourselves, friend?
To what ends will we serve and be reborn? Will it last eternal? I only ask to die a death deserving of a knight such as I, but it seems our souls are bound. Bound to an everlasting fire that is now no more than a flickering, dying light."
Siegward's tone was very serious, anyone who heard it would understand such. He was not just a foolish happy-go-lucky knight. He had sworn an oath, as a knight of Catarina, to die for his causes and nothing else.
How would he fulfill his vow? In this.. Despicable reality they now live in?
Would their dreams and nightmares come to haunt them? Would they both have to return to the life of killing fiends over and over for however long they were chained in this realm of the strange?
It was only then, seeing his friend's mind filling with the most negative of thoughts that tainted his brightness and vibrancy, that Yhorm spoke.
His voice was deep, deep enough to make the ground rumble, he was a true giant, the one you'd imagine whilst reading a book.
-"Siegward, put your mind at ease. Answers will come, it is far too early to decide our fate."
Siegward, hearing his friend speak in such a collected tone, took a deep sigh.
Yhorm was right. He had gotten far too lost in his own thoughts to consider the fact they have an entire world to explore, if they even can fully do so.
Dino, still hearing this conversation, stayed silent.
As much as he actually wanted to understand what they were saying, he couldn't.
Not because he was too lazy, no, he was fully interested, but because what they spoke of, their world, was a far too confusing of a concept to comprehend.
A world of death and rebirth, bloodshed and peace.
Of fire and ash.
He sat up, moving himself beside Siegward, staring at the two as they spoke, which earned him a pause from them, their gazes turned downcast to him.
Speaking up, Dino cleared his throat, trying to sound professional and formal for once.
-"..Continue, mind not my existence. I am merely a fly on the wall for this conversation."
Both Siegward and Yhorm stared at eachother, simultaneously baffled and delighted that their newfound friend seemed actually interested in something, causing them to chuckle slightly.
They had intended to continue, but Dagruel had returned.
Dino froze, hoping to dear Veldanava that he didn't comment.
The incoming giant crossed his arms, fixing Dino with an analyzing stare.
-"You, Dino, speaking of your own volition? How miraculous. Maybe these two kind guests of ours can move your heartless heart into actually being useful."
-"Keep dreaming, I was just changing my way of resting."
Terrible mistake, Dino.
-"So you haven't actually done anything?"
If Dino had froze earlier, he was now at absolute zero. His entire existence seemed to pause in what could be fear.
Thankfully he had two very good friends to back him up.
-"Worry not, Dagruel, he had helped us, telling us where to place materials and did move a little."
That single line of words made Dino eternally indebted to Siegward, they were his best buddies now, he'll never let go.
Buuuuut Dagruel isn't stupid, he'll keep it to himself for now, he knows they're covering for Dino and that he didn't do anything whatsoever.
It was good in fact that he kept it to himself, because he felt a disturbance.
From the direction Dagruel saw Siegward and Yhorm coming from, he felt a mass of low-magicule forces moving, had Luminas finally gone mad? Was she seriously sending a force to his land?
His crossed arms tightened together, his hands clenching his biceps in annoyance, which was taken into note by the three watching him.
He immediately went to see what was this act of foolishness that was approaching his sanctum.
It wasn't a force of humans.
It wasn't anything he knew.
-"..Hollows. So they exist here too? Those damned accursed that never cease, I thought they were ridden of, mindless monsters."
Siegward took out his blade, his dear Stormblade, Yhorm stayed back at his spot with Dino, standing guard in case something happened.
"They never move in hordes, what is this? Is someone commanding them?!"
His disgruntlement was very apparent, his hatred for his old world's entities seeping through his grip on his sword.
Dagruel placed a hand on his shoulder, attempting to calm him down as much as he could, he needed answers aswell.
-"What do you know of these walkers? I implore you to speak so we could help each other as much as possible."
Returning to his normal nature, Siegward lightened his grip on his blade, looking towards Dagruel, maintaining a side eye at the horde.
-"They aren't any major threat, they are the bottom of the barrel in terms of entities. They are those who cling to life due to a curse, I wonder if that curse applies here or is it unbound.
We need to put them to rest, forever. I need not see those wretched souls in my existence again."
Dagruel nodded, and stepped forward, cracking his fists.
-"Careful, then. Let the extermination begin, but maintain your awareness, you do not know if they are stronger than they were back in your reality."
The knight beside him raised his blade, charging it with power harvested from the air itself.
Siegward felt different about it, it felt much easier to charge than back in his own world, the plentiful particles of magic in the air allowing him ease of access.
-"Sever the storms, destroy all those who oppose my presence, eviscerate all who might threaten my footing, STORMRULER!"