Firekeeper

Dreams are a strange thing. When one goes into a deep sleep every being has dreams. They say that dreams are a mirror into the minds of those they are from, for Loreane it’s a constant reminder of what she had and what she once was.

For her, dreams were always nightmares, even the good ones. Like this time around. She dreamed of at time back when she first met Lady Diana, before she became what she was today. She remembered the first time they met and dreamed of the entire time they spent together. One particular part stood out from all the rest, the first time she went with Diana to the old capital of Anor Londo.

It was the first time she felt cold air of the frigid north. She had never seen snow before. She wished so much to see the white crystals she heard bore so much beauty. Alas it was never meant to be. Being blind had many advantages, for one she never was worried about her looks, or what others looked like. Yet now, with her sight back she literally saw the world in a different light than she use too. She could still ‘see’ the way she always did, but it was like reading braille but seeing the pictures to compliment the braille.

She could ‘see’ the flowers, the birds, the trees, and ponies around her with her ‘sight’ she had as a blind Fire Keeper. A magical sense that helped her see things around her through their life energy, her figurative braille. Now, she could still sense things like she did before, but now she could see and appreciate the world around her more than she ever hoped possible.

With all this power of sight, she was still lacked a great amount of foresight.

Like now after the capture of her and her friends.

She awoke from a dreary sleep finding herself bound and gagged in the back of an open wagon. Beside her were Silver Spoon and Trixie, but Babs Seed was nowhere in sight. The wagon was a simple wooden wagon with a single alonne knight driving it with two horses pulling the reigns.

They were flanked by four more low knights on horseback with large su-yari, single bladed spears, as they marched through the forest and into a large ravine. Loreane recalled this area being called Galloping Gorge by Trixie once when they spoke. On one of the knights was the little jackalope that caught Loreane and party off guard. The little mutant bunny looked at Loreane with its beady little eyes and fluffed its chest fur before looking forward.

Loreane looked too, to see the wagon going deeper into a large garage that easily cut through the landscape like Ghastly Gorge near Ponyville. On the maps it was a massive scar on the planet that spanned for hundreds of mile in length and several miles wide at certain points. How deep was never documented as anypony who dared survey never returned.

The wagon traveled deep into the gorge cutting off from all light until the nights lit torches to see the path before them. Loreane dared look over as they traversed a narrow path that hugged the cliff. Seeing down Loreane saw nothing but oblivion with no end to it. She was sure if they fell here it would mean the end of their journey without a doubt.

She cleared her throat and got the attention of the driver who looked surprised at her being awake. He quickly snapped his fingers as two of the guards drew the su-yari and pointed them at her. Quickly Loreane held up her hands defensively.

“I’m not going to cause any trouble!” She said quickly.

The two guards watched her for a few seconds before taking their yari away from her. One stayed close and leaned towards her and spoke in a thick Japanese accent to her.

“What are you doing in our gorge?” He asked.

Not wanting to get on their bad side, Loreane decided to answer truthfully and openly to the knight.

“My companions and I are traveling to the frozen north. We seek the Crystal Empire. Our friend there are in great danger and we need to assist them.”

The alonne knight faced forward. After a few moments of contemplation he gently kicked the sides of his horse and sped up to meet with the driver of the wagon. He leaned over and spoke to him in their native tongue, one which Loreane wasn’t fluent in. After they spoke the rider came back beside the wagon in his first position and drew his sword without a word. The rest of the knights and the driver did so as well.

Then without warning the group truing and walked right through a magical barrier that was indistinguishable from the actual stone face.

Darkness drew over them ever more so it seemed than moments ago. Loreane felt a feeling of dread as the group of alonne knights marched along the passageways of interconnecting tunnels. The only sounds that could be heard aside from the deep breaths form Loreane, and the clopping of hooves, and wheels, was the occasional clicking noise one would associate with a bug. It was a gentle rhythmic clicking noise.

Every so often a large spider would be seen crawling on the walls. They were huge man sized things with large glowing red eyes and nasty scars all over their bodies. Some seemed to have a sort of magical presence to them that Loreane could scarcely sense.

They kept their distance scurrying about the walls and ceilings, the knights kept their heads on a swivel never letting their guard down. Finally after what felt like hours the group emerged into a hidden valley deep in the canyon.

Loreane was wide awake but Trixie, and Silver Spoon were still out cold and missed the initial shock of how beautiful a place it was. A small town lost in time was the only way Loreane could think of it. An ancient Asian town with a very Japanese style hidden deep in the ravine in a large oasis that spanned for miles all around. A perfect valley of pure green untainted by the trouble of the world above. Men and women walked along small dirt roads carrying on with their lives as the Alonne Knights came through with their prisoners.

To Loreanes surprise there were no ponies around, but instead more of the large clydesdales trotting around the town with the humans and a few threshal. The entire town carried on but kept an eye on the wagon with Loreane, Trixie, and Silver Spoon as they were brought to a large four story Japanese styled fort.

The fort was very impressive. Though small compared to the country sized walls of Lothric it’s simplicity and beauty came from its Asian design. A simple moat surrounded the fort with three small ponds forming a misshapen triangle around the fort filled with coy fish.

The horseback knights broke away from the wagon and left it alone to finish the last leg of its journey to the fort. After coming to a stop near the main gate of the fort, the driver knight jumped from his seat as the two clydesdale unhinged themselves and trotted away without a word.

Loreane was instructed to carry her two pony friends with her into the fort. She did so without question. She knew angering these knights would spell doom for her and her companions, it was best to do as she was told without any questions. She stepped out of the wagon as the guard handed her sleeping companions to her. Three alonne guard captains approached the driver and spoke to him in their native tongue. After the short exchange the driver and Loreane were escorted into the fort.

Through the large ornate gate the walked into the fort while several handmaids were busy cleaning, but stopped to bow to the knights as they passed by. As they reached the first stairwell a young handmaid was wobbly walking down with towels in her hands. It was stacked so high she couldn’t see the knights approaching. Suddenly se ran into them and screamed as she fell over dropping the towels all over the place.

The captain the handmaid ran into swore loudly and struck her across the face. The strike sent her to the floor yelping in pain. Loreane tried to step forward to help but was pushed back by another guard while the third drew his sword and trailed her with the pointed tip of his katana.

The fire keeper backed off as the knights berated the young woman for her clumsiness. She bowed apologetically and hurried off afterwards. The knights then ascended the stairs pushing Loreane along with them to keep her moving. She was forcefully lead to the top floor where the captains came upon a door and stood to the right side of it in a single line, allowing the driver and Loreane to enter.

Inside the wall of ornate paper walls was an impressive figure. Someone that Loreane had once heard about long ago. A hero, scholar, warrior, artist, poet, and founder of the Alonne Knights. A warrior whose skill was said to be unmatched. A warrior who was said to have taught a whole generation of knights that created the foundation of the Alonne Knights Order.

The man sat cross legged on a tatami style mat. His massive figure shadowed the very room where he sat. A small table lay before him. On the table he was practicing his calligraphy with a large brush in his left hand, and supported it with his right hand, as he guided the brush across the paper with smooth graceful strokes. At his side was a sword easily twice his height in length sitting sheathed in the light. Behind him was an open balcony that allowed the sunlight to fill the room creating a glowing aura around him as he worked. Loreane was forced to her knees, dropping Trixie and Silver Spoon at the base of the table, still asleep.

The man stopped when the two ponies hit the floor and slowly looked up at Loreane. She bore a worried look, eyeing his sword from time to time. She could sense a unusual calmness to him, almost like there was a void of emotion. Then suddenly there was a rise of positive emotions from the man as he stood up and offered his hand to her.

Loreane took his hand and allowed him to lift her to her feet. He towered over her by at least a foot and looked down on her, his masked helm looked sinister, but the feelings he emanated were nothing but joyous as he greeted her.

"Greetings, I am Sir Alonne Hiryō," He said gesturing to himself with a heavy accent. "And welcome to my home. Fire keeper."