Board Thread:Roleplay/@comment-32885213-20180326044142/@comment-33719112-20180409051201

A Collaborative Effort by Janadian and Myself. We hope you like our short novella on Hollow's return.

A ringtone begins to blare from the radio, followed by, "YO, I'M ALIVE! Whoever's hearing this, stay where you are. Actually, feel free to move about a little, but don't teleport to the other side of the world. I'm gonna grab some stuff while I'm here, then I'll come right back to you!"

I run around the Trieste at a leisurely pace, collecting little bits and bobs and putting them back where they belonged in the large submarine, before finally making my way towards the launch shaft and taking off, this time flying the Holy Diver.

As I soared over the sea, the focus shifts to a different character; one left behind so long ago. The knight Hollow, rendered mute and almost formless, finds himself on a fairly large dirt road, in the middle of what appears to be a rather thickly wooded forest of...bamboo?

The armored figure reached into the nothing abyss that was inside of his faceplate, his arm engulfed all the way down to the elbow before he yanked it back out, patting his helmet into place, and feeling that all of himself was there. Breastplate, cuirass, greaves, all the way down to his sabatons, he was all there. Even the little banner that usually flapped about on his waist still was attached. His lizardman companion wasn't anywhere to be seen, a scary thought, but the fear passed when he realized that he was still regaining his consciousness in a strange and foreign place. He reached for his blade, until a voice spoke to him from seemingly nowhere, whispering strange words that were foreign to even him. He turned his attention to the familiar words, but couldn't place where he heard them before, or who was speaking them. His grasp caught nothing of his blade, and he could only claw at the sullen misplaced dirt underneath him in search of his sword.

Desperately clawing away at the ground, he found his blade, a little worse for wear, but still his livelihood. He brushed the dirt and rubbish off it, holding it in both of his palms. He sheathed it, and looked around him, taking a short scan of his immediate vicinity. Dark ground, most likely dirt. It's soft dirt, and surprisingly good at hiding things in it. He plucked a few more of his belongings from the dirt, the sun sigils, his travel pouch of holding, and a few sigils of his covenant.

With his blade and possessions back on his person, he doesn't care to ponder why he was where he was, he clearly didn't know the answer. Instead, he thought of something more productive for himself, walk down the dirt path. It was a path, eventually, one would find themselves reaching civilization. Despite his growling stomach, his mind had decided on action, and began to walk the path, rather than hunting or gathering.

As the knight traversed the crude road, he felt unseen eyes staring, unknown ears straining for his every footstep, figures hidden amongst the bamboo on either side of the road...But yet, no-one stepped forth, nothing leaped from hiding, nobody surged forward...not yet.

Hollow kept his trudge at pace, his armor jingling as he walked, conserving his energy if anything were to occur in the road ahead. He only kept his hand on his blade, a smooth curved thing that fit perfectly in his hand. Even as his trot continued, he couldn't help but listen, the gentle sounds of the alien forest within him, the rustle of stalks bending with the wind, and the crunch of feet on the ground below. He couldn't help but feel the presence of another hidden as he walked, matching his pace. The knight of Gwyn stopped in his tracks. He knew he was being followed, and in his world, those who followed wanted your flesh. He slowly unsheathed his blade, the sound of metal sliding across metal permeating the air. He waited expectantly, slowly getting the grips on his blade again, mentally going through what combat was like again.

A rod of bamboo shot forward through the air, at about four 'o clock (or 117°) relative to Hollow, aimed at the back of his right hand. It had the size of a spear or staff, but the aerial grace of some oversized arrow.

The rod hit it's mark, smacking his blade out of his hand. Scrambling for the blade, he rolled on the ground, snatching back his sword from the ground. He was on his knee, a foot sprawled outwards, slowly regaining him his own balance. He spun around, searching for his hidden foe in the thickets of bamboo.

A Ren Xiongmao made herself visible, wielding a similarly-sized bamboo pole. She twirled the weapon around and took up a fighting pose. Whatever kind of grace or elegance she had in that moment was ruined as a much smaller panda girl came running out of the forest with a pole raised above her head, yelling loudly and running straight at Hollow, intent on knocking him straight over his head. The older one quickly glanced towards the youngling and her eyes widened, throwing her weapon at Hollow to distract him while she made a running dive to stop the extremely inexperienced girl.

Hollow held his blade steady and arranged his feet into a fighting stance, ready to repel his attacker until she found it fit to leave him alone. His body tensed in preparation until a little voice rose up from their hiding place to assault him. Hollow's eyes widened, or would if he had any, and almost silently watched as the older Ren Xiongmao started towards the younger one. The knight caught the bamboo staff out of the air, dropping it to the ground and sheathing his sword. He fished around his pouch of carrying and glanced to the young mamono. He always kept a few of these on him just in case he ever saw any kids. Hollow approached the two, unveiling his fist from his magical pouch, his closed fist palm up to them. He knelt to their level, and opened his palm, a small paper wrapped candy with the symbol of the sun pressed into it's shape. He sat now, stoically, and unmoving.

The younger Ren Xiongmao's eyes fell upon the candy, and her paws fell down at her sides, the oversized pole clattering to the dirt. Her older sister knelt down behind her, throwing an arm around her to keep her from approaching the stranger. She glanced down at the candy in his hand, then at her little sister. Cautiously, she opened her arms, letting the smaller one timidly shuffle towards the mysterious knight.

Adamant about giving her the sweet, he restlessly rolled his shoulders back, presenting the sweet honey-flavored hard candy to her. He reached to his chalkboard with his unoccupied arm, but found that it wasn't there. Very odd. He was sure that he would've found it during his search, so it clearly wasn't with him. He would have to try and get by silently. He made 'eye' contact with the older sister, before turning his attention back to the youngling. He was glad that a little bit of candy based diplomacy might come in handy every once in a while, when he wasn't facing off against imposing Darkwraiths and the strange creatures of the realm he had left behind long ago.(edited)

The smaller one tentatively reached out for the candy, snatching her hand back in fear when she had it in her grasp. The older one stood up, watched as her little sister unwrapped the sugary treat and popped it into her mouth. "It's really sweet, like honey..." Her eyes widened as the possibility of Alraune Nectar loomed overhead, but the candy didn't have any surprises in store. She turned back to the knight, and glared at her bamboo pole. She looked back at him, impatiently.

He stood up, nodding to both sisters. He offered a hand to the older sister, and slammed his other fist into his chest, a metallic clanking sound resounding from within his breastplate. He tried to do something he hadn't in a while. Mustering what little energy he could, a nearly silent, almost shrill sound came from within his visor, the mere power of his 'voice' sending a shudder through his helm. He couldn't face the two bear-people like that, his attempt at a "Hello" coming off as nothing more than a harsh breeze flushing from within his armor.

She threw a protective arm around her counterpart, finally speaking up, "Are you alright? Sound of mind?"

He took back his hand, and crouched to the dirt ground. He unsheathed his blade slowly, as to show them the deliberateness in doing so. He traced a small humanlike figure in the dirt with the tip of his sword, then crossed out where the mouth would be on the little stick man. He tapped the cross, then sheathed his sword.

The older one nodded. "I see. Did one of those wretched Order 'heroes' do this to you? Their hatred for anyone but their own is abominable..."

Hollow shook his head, unsheathing his sword again. He tapped his foot on the ground in thought, trying to conjure a way to convey his message without speaking. Suddenly realizing what an idiot he was, he traced his sword lightly in the dirt again. "Can you read this?"

She nods. "Yes. Our father taught me a little (insert language here), when I was little. Illiteracy is a terrible disadvantage." The littler one finishes the candy and briskly walks over to Hollow. "Thank you! That tasted really good!"

"A relief" he traces. He beams at the child's compliment to his candy. "Sun candy. Comes from home." He washes his foot over his messages, and begins to write again. "I am Hollow." He traces a line through that. "My name is Hollow. I come from far, far away. I have been in this land before, but I know not where my friends here are. I remember a voice saying that they'll come to me. Do you know of these strange voices?"

"Only once, from a man raving about the 'voice of the Chief Goddess' and stuff. I sent him to the ground."

"I don't think I'll be doing any raving soon, lucky me." Hollow wrote, before tracing a final letter. "Do you know where town is? Or more specifically, a group of adventurers followed by a following of..." He couldn't come up with the last word. "What do you call yourself? You're not quite a woman as I would imagine, you're not human. You are a __" He looked up to the older Ren Xiongmao, before writing again. "A group of adventurers with a large following. Have you seen them? Or a nearby village?"

She added, "We are known collectively as monster girls, or mamono. Me and my sister are Ren Xiongmao. And I have not seen any adventurers nearby. There is a town, just along this road."

"What an inappropriate name. Monsters from my world are large limping things ready to tear you limb from limb." He shuddered at the thought. "Would you like to walk with me to town then?"

She glanced down at the youngling, then faced Hollow again and nodded. "You seem to be of good character. Unlike so many armoured in your fashion."

He simply nodded, and waved them to follow, letting the older Ren Xiongmao lead them into town.