Ground Zero

Were it any of his other children who had asked to come to these sorts of places, Artorias would have been hesitant to bring them. Talyssa, for all her love of exploration, was far too sweet and naive to be exposed to the kinds of dark stories that came with places like this. Thorn had his adventurous spirit, but the boy was far more interested in racing than exploring. Dusk, however... she was his wild child, and she reminded him so much of himself as a pup, yearning to get out and run and explore for himself. In many ways, Dusk's soul felt like it had been fabricated from a part of his own, and their kindred spirits bonded father and daughter in special and unique ways. Artorias would always love all of his children, but little Dusky would always have a special piece of his heart with her.

Approaching the base of the dormant volcano, Dusk's enthusiastic and endless questions which the sire wolf did his best to answer for her gradually tapered off into obedient silence. He felt her presence around his paws. Father and daughter maneuvered around the base of the mountain, leaving behind a matching pair of trails, giant dire and tiny puppy paw prints etched into the ancient volcanic ash that dusted the ground. The air was silent around them. No birds flew overhead, the nearest songs coming from the nearby trees that receded from the volcano as if it emanated a wave of malice to keep life away from it. The air stank of lingering brimstone and pumice. All in all, it was not a very pleasant place to be. No wonder Oxx had enjoyed it out here so much...

"I'm going to tell you a story, Dusky. A very important story with a very important lesson to it." The dire wolf looked down to his daughter at his side, giving her a gentle, loving smile despite the clouds that lingered in his bright eyes. "Once upon a time, there was a terrible monster that roamed these lands. This monster was a wolf, just like you and me, but he was a violent and evil creature. He lived to hurt others, taking pleasure in others' pain. For a long time he stalked these lands, hunting anyone he could. Eventually he set his sights on his next targets—" Artorias glanced down at Dusk again. "Us."

The Carpathian brute spotted a slope along one of the ledges of the mountainside, gentle enough for the two wolves to walk up and continue exploring. Art guided their path that way, leading Dusk closer up the mountain to let her experience more of the land. "He attacked our family numerous times. Each time we came back stronger. Eventually, we hunted him down, cornered him on this mountain, and killed him. We made the world a little safer that day and delivered justice to a violent criminal." Artorias paused the story for a moment, briefly wondering if this was too dark to tell to his half a year old daughter. Oh well, too late to go back now. "That monster was once a member of our family. He turned against us, twisted and corrupted. The lesson of this story is this: sometimes our greatest enemies are the ones closest to us, and sometimes we have to make difficult choices against our own for the right reasons."

Artorias did not recall which specific ledge he had slew Oxx on. It had been dark, he had been disoriented, and in the end he supposed it didn't really matter. What mattered was that justice had been dealt on this mountain not so long ago, and a harsh lesson had been learned. He just prayed his own children would never have to face such challenges in their lives. The young father wished only for peace, prosperity, and happiness in their lifetimes.

"Artorias" | "Carpathian"