In The Land of Ancients: Chapter 4
Written By Kiyotoe
"So, how's it fit?" Amy asked, perching herself up atop a broken pillar.
"Well, it's a bit loose, but that's not a problem since I can use the rags I came here in as a belt for now." I grumbled, trying the tattered cloth into a knot. I was dressed in a brown tattered attire, the sleeves barely clinging to my somewhat bulky arms, a makeshift cloth hood draped over my head to keep the sun out of my eyes, I still hadn't gotten used to everything being so bright. I sported a loose brown cloth robe, although it seemed more like a jacket than anything, the front had been sewn closed and past my waist it split open, covering the back of my legs. And below that, Amy had lent me some pouches that clung against my hips, along with a pair of loose brown cloth pants that I had just tighten around my waist with even more cloth. Also, I wore black leather boots.
Funny how cloth seemed to be the only thing I could use at the moment, and not anything useful, like armor or leather vests. Had to be cloth. I bet if someone were to swing a weapon at me, my clothing would just burst into flames!
Sighing, I looked up at her, looking her over. She wore armor, a shame she didn't feel like sharing. "Let me guess, my weapon of choice is either going to be a stick or a rock isn't it?" I grumbled, watching her as she started giggling.
"Oh come on, it's not that bad! Plus, it makes your fur doesn't it? And mmm, don't you look sexy in it." She said before she burst out laughing, clutching her stomach as tears started to form around the corners of her eyes.
"It's a shame you're not a hyena, you fit that rule rather nicely." I replied, grinning as she gave me a hateful glare.
"Truce, alright? Now, are you ready to head out?" She asked as she hopped off her pillar, landing a few feet from me.
"Don't I get a weapon?" I asked her back, frowning.
"Yes, but not from me. Right up the steps over there, their are a few hollowed soldiers. I've been keeping an eye on them since I got here, and they never come near this place. One of them has an axe, the other five have swords. But, only one of the sword wielders have an actual sword that's not broken. And has a shield too." She explained, heading off toward the stairs she just mentioned.
"Alright, I'm not going to ask why you haven't dealt with them yet since you seem to have so much free time as to stalk them, and I'll let you fetch me that axe and shield, deal?" I said as I walked up beside her, the both of us starting up the stairs.
"Oh good, I finally get to show off!" She cheered, bouncing up and down in excitement.
"Anyone ever tell you that you have way too much energy?" I asked her, raising an eye brow.
"Yeah, but he's dead now." Was her reply.
"What?"
"Alrighty, let me handle them." She grinned as she ran up the last few steps. Getting to the top, I saw she was running at two of them, one wearing a metal chest plate while the other wore a badly damaged leather vest. To the left of them, was yet again another stair case. Why does this place have so many damn stairs? I figured the other four were up at the top of them, since I couldn't see past it from where I was standing.
Turning my attention back to my strange new companion, I gulped as she had already dealt with the two, and was now jogging back carrying a shield. "Miss me much?" She smirked as she handed it to me.
"Na, not really" I grinned back, taking the shield from her to examine it. It was in pretty good condition, it was steel, long and kite shaped, it was painted black, and had a tribal cross marked on it. "This will do rather nicely." I muttered to myself, gripping its handle as Amy led the way up the second stair case.
Then she stopped, holding out her paw as she pressed it against my chest to keep me from going any further. She pointed at me, then to the ground. With a sigh and a roll of my eyes, she took off again. What was it she had said yesterday? 'I can't do it by myself?' She seems more than capable of defending herself, unless this church bell is surrounded by more of those demons. And normally I would not, but now, I'm not so sure.
"Well, here's your new axe mister!" She cheered as she handed to me. I could tell she struggled a bit when she lifted it, seeing her arms shake slightly from her muscles tensing up. Nodding my thanks to her, I took it, testing its weight. I could easily swing this around with one arm, meaning she wasn't that strong, although a hell of a lot quicker than I was. "Jeeze, you make that thing look like it doesn't weigh anything!" She yipped, surprised.
Smirking, I took it as a complement. The axe was large, the whole piece was made of stainless steel. The grip was a bit faded and the blade a bit dull, but besides that, the weapon seemed just fine. Well, at least I had better equipment now.
Following Amy, we headed up yet again, another damn stair case, but this time it lead into a sewer line. I started thinking I should make up a game and count all the steps I saw along our trip, just to see how many miles worth of god forsaken stairs there were. The two of us made our way out of the sewer, and up again, stairs. My legs burned and cramped as we made our way up them. After years of sitting on my ass in a cell doing nothing, this was NOT something I would ever look forward to doing again.
"You tired already?" She asked, seeing my discomfort.
"So many fucking stairs... why are there so many?" I groaned, feeling my calf's cramp up.
"There are a lot of stairs aren't there? Huh, just noticed that. Well, I'm sure that these stairs won't be around for much long. Come on, we need to make more progress." She said as she wrapped her arm around mine, dragging me forward as we made our way atop the stair case. But, as we reached the top, we were greeted by the sight of many, many armed hollows. And they had been waiting for us.