A Meeting in the Ruins

„What do you want from an old, stone-humped hag?"

Nothing. But we are both here, which means the other one can follow me. Hopefully he won't have to; hopefully I will find what I came for and return in time. But I have to make certain…

"Oh, go on ahead; no need to humour this old relict. I'm content just taking in the view."

You sound like an ancient soul; you've deserved to see the end of the world in peace. I will not disturb you, I have my own path to take. Goodbye. Maybe you'll watch over me from here should I fall, and then when I try again. Maybe she will watch me return with my task fulfilled. I'd like to think that's what will happen. I'd hope to see the snow again.

"It's magnificent, isn't it?"

Magnificent, yes. And chaotic, and dying. And hopefully still full of souls.

Maybe the old hag was still sitting there. It was impossible to tell: The ledge was so far above him now, he had to crane his neck to even see it. Maybe she had watched his entire way down. Or maybe the entire heap had shifted in the time he made his descent, and he was looking at a completely different piece of rubble. There was no telling what was possible in this place.

A horrible scream resounded over the ruins. No time for these musings: Gael dived behind a rock, as a beam of light hit the ground where he stood a moment ago. He froze behind his cover: A malformed shadow glided over his hiding place; the old knight could feel the creature's glare passing over him. He remained completely still; ready to jump again any second.

But there was no second scream: he saw the shadow turn, and seconds later it had left his little area. Gael peered out from behind his cover to watch it reclaim its prior position, hovering like a grotesque butterfly over the ruins. He cursed silently; by now he truly wished he had equipped a crossbow with more reach to finally remove this thing. Then again, even if he could somehow hit it that would probably just tickle the thing, if he judged the situation correctly. No, aggression was clearly not an option here; he would have to keep running.

The one positive was that the thing wasn't too bright. A long, nerve-wracking game of hide and seek later, he found himself within the confines of a giant earthen structure, shielded from the gaze of the Angel (at least that was how he referred to it in his mind, based on old Lothric tales of some kind of graceful flying creature. These tales had, however, failed to mention what a pain such things could be.) The old knight took a moment to gain his bearings: the structure he was in at present was vast, though largely collapsed. It also was the only place he hadn't yet explored, and the Angel was effectively preventing him from doing anything else.

The silver lining to this situation finally showed itself after he clambered over a mass of giant roots that had grown into the building, and suddenly found himself right before the welcome sight of a bonfire. It was with some fatigue that he sat down next to the crackling flames and allowed himself a moment of rest. The place was bathed in sunlight; the building seemed to have just broken apart, and the part that remained abruptly ended here in a fragile stone walkway, almost like a plank. When Gael walked onto that ledge with the utmost caution, a giant chasm came into view; a black hole within the stump of an ancient tree. The walkway abruptly ended over the chasm. If there had once been a path down, it had long since crumbled, and now, no matter in which direction he looked; there was no way left to go.

But there had to be. Gael took a few careful steps toward the edge. There had to be some place left he hadn't explored yet, he had to have missed something. When he peered down into the black, he thought for a second he could see a glow deep inside the tree; but the next moment it was gone, and he wondered whether he had just imagined it. To his left, the Angel was still hovering, still out of reach. His shoulders slumped a little: It all seemed futile. He had searched everywhere he could possibly reach, had fought anything a small human with a sword could. What more could he do?

Suddenly, the old knight became aware of a presence behind him. Right behind him. He had lowered his guard for a single moment. With a quick step he spun around, his feet on the brink of the chasm, drawing his sword in the same motion, and brought it down in a horizontal slash.

There was a hollow metallic sound. The greatsword made contact with a bronze-coloured breastplate and was deflected to the side, making him almost lose his balance. With an effort he regained his footing. The suit of armour that the breastplate belonged to took a hasty step back: "Ho! A good day to you, too!"

Gael had overcome his surprise and was facing the intruder in a fighting stance, the sword's tip pointed right at his heart. He surveyed him over the tip: Smooth armour made of thick plates, barely a gap between each. The helmet, a long, heavy thing, was covering his entire face, except for two small eye slits. Not easy to find weak points. The entire thing had to way a ton; how this one could have approached him so silently was beyond Gael. And now he was just standing there, almost causally. He had not even drawn his weapon, a black blade with a long hilt that was strapped to his back. He behaved as if he had just casually greeted Gael, not snuck up on him on the brink of a chasm. "Hello?" he greeted the strange fellow.

"Hello." The muffled voice sounded oddly cheerful.

Gael did not lower his guard. "What do you want?"

"I don't know." the man replied. "I just saw you walk onto this ledge, and decided to follow you. I must have had some good reason, right?"

There was a moment's silence before Gael asked: "And?"

"And what?"

"And what reason would that be?"

"Couldn't tell you for the life of me. It just felt- right, you know what I mean?" He laughed at Gael's narrowed eyes: "Come now, you forgive an old Hollow his bad memory! If it comes back to me, I'll tell you, truly."

This was a very strange encounter. "You don't sound hollow, friend." He seemed to have his wits about him well enough. Then again, loss of memory was one of the first signs of Hollowing, and probably the worst in Gael's opinion. It didn't make people any less dangerous, though. And all that presupposed that the intruder's claim was even sincere.

"Neither do you, friend." The suit stretched out his armoured hand: "Always nice to meet someone sane who has made it to the end of the world. Call me Lapp."

Gael was so perplexed that he shook it, expecting a sudden move at any moment. Nothing happened. Well. "Gael. You do remember you name, then."

"No. But Lapp sounds nice, I guess." There was a hollow laughing sound behind the metal helmet.

If this was a trick to get him killed, this Lapp was putting a lot of effort into his charade. Gael was beginning to believe that he was sincere, suspicious though his initial behaviour was. He lowered his sword, just a little: "Condemn me, but I tend to be a little suspicious of people who sneak up on me. Especially in locations like this."

Lapp raised his hands: "Couldn't blame you; my apologies. I tend to do these things, they just come over me. Just glad you haven't fallen off, fellow."

This strange conversation was not really going anywhere, and it didn't help his present predicament. Gael cast his eyes away from the stranger for the first time and over the surrounding rubble. He had searched every place he could reach, and except for this odd Hollow and the old lady above he hadn't found a single soul worth his while. The only place left where he hadn't yet looked was down that dark hole in the tree. But a second look confirmed his first impression: There was no safe way to get down there, not without breaking every bone in his body.

"Looking for something, are you?"

He hummed a vague confirmation, glancing at the armoured figure. Lapp didn't really seem hostile, after all, but there was still no need for him to know why exactly Gael was here.

He heard the armour clinking: "Well, till you've found it, why don't we share a drink, the two of us?" Lapp produced a flask and cup from somewhere. "Can't remember where I got it from, but that doesn't diminish its flavour."

Gael turned away from the abyss and regarded the sitting fellow. This was really not what he had expected in this heap of rubble. But it was beginning to look like a somewhat nice surprise, and he was in no great hurry to attempt a potentially fatal leap: He sheathed his sword and sat down next to the odd man, accepting the offered drink. They must make a strange sight; sharing a flask right next to the abyss. Lapp raised his cup: "To your sword, my…ah, you know how it goes. Drink up!"

"To my Lady." Gael replied. They drank. It was a good drink indeed, if only because it actually had a flavour. The knight felt some energy return to his body after the long rush down to this place.

"Oh my, you're one of those with a cause, aren't you?"

Lapp's voice suddenly sounded sharp; indeed, there suddenly was a kind of maliciousness to it that almost made the old knight reach for his sword again. But again, this change felt too sudden to be intentional. Gael looked at Lapp carefully. Maybe that was the Hollowing progressing. He wished he could see past the headpiece, to have any hint of what he was dealing with, but it covered every inch of his face. Then Lapp took another sip and began to hum a tune; carefree as before.

Maybe he had just misjudged. Not likely, but a possibility. Let's see…Gael gave a quick smile: "Indeed I am." He scrutinized his host: "So must you be, if you made it all the way here."

"Me? Oh no, no; no cause for me." Lapp's voice was back to normal; he gave no indication that he was aware anything had happened. "I'm just sort of wandering about, meeting folk, maybe find some riches…No, wait." He hit the metal plate over his forehead: "Damned memory! Yes, I know; I wanted to go fix that, finally. There's supposed to be a cure, somewhere deep down below in the Ringed City; that's where I was going! The Purging Monument, if it then exists." He grunted: "Maybe I'll have to write that down somewhere."

The Ringed City, once again. "The old woman up there mentioned it as well." Gael recalled.

Lapp visibly brightened up: "The old hag's still moving? She provided me with this magnificent blade, as it happens." He raised the black hilt and spun it once above their heads. "She also insists on calling me a 'clamouring old tin can', but otherwise I quite liked her."

"An apt description." Gael said, his thoughts far away. The Ringed City; that ancient legend about the place at world's end. Well, this here well looked like the world's end. If the city was more than a legend, after all… The home of the pygmies…

"You still haven't told me why you're here." Lapp pointed out after a moment's silence. "Found what you were looking for yet?"

Gael glanced at the dark hole below. Maybe.

The Hollow followed his gaze. "Down there?" He laughed: "You're even madder than I am, I see. Not that should stop an Undead." He drank the last of his cup. "I'd be careful, though: I saw something glowing down there earlier. I'd say it was treasure, but knowing this place I sooner expect it to be another of those horrible angels." Just then, a strange noise rose up from the hole. "Oh, and there's something big moving down there." Lapp added cheerfully.

Gael peered down into the abyss. It was a long way down. But yet- if the dark souls of the pygmies might be found there, he had to risk it. He would find no better pigment, no matter how long he searched. He turned back to Lapp, who seemed to be watching him expectantly.

Maybe just this once… "Seeing as we have the same destination, what do you say we make our way down there together? If the Ringed City exists somewhere, it would be down there." Or maybe he just wanted it to be. Not that it made a difference; he had to try.

Lapp thought on it. "You sound mad and reasonable at the same time, fellow. I suppose it's possible... And if not, then I can still say I've fallen from the highest ledge there is. Nothing to lose." He clapped: "That's why it's always good to meet people! Can't think of everything yourself. Especially as an amnesiastic Hollow." His armour clinked as he got to his feet and took up his weapons.

Gael stood up as well, watching him walk towards the brink. He seemed to have misjudged him: Even though he was hollowing out, Lapp still appeared like a good soul. And very optimistic in the face of losing everything. Losing everything…

Can I be so selfish not to tell him? Yes. I have to be.

"You know that this world will end, soon?" he asked, surprising himself. Lapp stopped and turned his helmet in his direction. "The fire is going out. Even if you should find you're cure, you won't be able to savour it for long." He hesitated: "But there is…"

"But I'll be there when the world dies." Lapp said. There was something new in his voice: pride. "I'll still be there when the Great Ones are long rotting in the ground; a little Hollow outliving them all." He strapped his shield onto his back and raised the sword in a mock salute. "And who knows, maybe the Darkness isn't as bad as they say; maybe I'll just live through that as well, ey? I've yet to find something that could kill me for good!"

And with that he took a step backward and disappeared from view. When Gael stepped to the brink, he could see him getting smaller fast, disappearing into the black. After a long while, a tiny flame appeared on the spot where he had vanished; maybe a torch. Then it began to move. He couldn't see it, but he imagined Lapp was waving for him to follow.

He took his own sword from its sheath. It was beginning to grow dull, no matter how much he honed it, but it still served its purpose. He cut of another piece of his worn red cloak and fastened it to the very edge of the ledge. As a path marker for the other Ash. Gael hoped he had followed. He had begun to like this Lapp, but he couldn't share his confidence that they would indeed make it back.

Down below, a black shadow and a fiery mass were moving around the little dot of light that was his temporary companion. The old knight took a steep back. He looked up to the sky once, tightened the grip on his sword and made the leap into the chasm.

Was I the only one who expected Patches to appear behind me when I saw that ledge?

Anyway, I wanted to write about Gael for some time, and Lapp is legitimately one of my favourite things from the DLC, so this is the result. Have a good read.