Sparrow's Journey: Chapter Four

WRITTEN: 12 May 2012
==Chapter Four: The Hero of Strength==
Clearing his throat, Sparrow stepped forward interrupting the Pilgrim’s singing.
'Ah, I knew my lovely singing voice would bring the crowd,' the Pilgrim said, catching sight of Sparrow’s presence. She took one last swing of her drink and jumped off the pillar she had been sitting on. 'So, you're my escort then?’
‘Unfortunately,’ Sparrow said rudely.
The Pilgrim seemed insulted by his tone, so she turned to Shadow, who greeted her more enthusiastically than his master.
‘Hey there, boy!’ she said cheerfully as she patted him. ‘Oh, you're a strong handsome fellow, aren't you? I'll feel better having you in that cave, yes I will! What’s his name?’ she asked Sparrow.
‘Shadow.’
‘And you are?’
‘Sparrow.’
'I'm Sister Hannah,’ she said friendly. ‘Some people call me Hammer when they think they're being clever… they're not. Not that I that can do anything about it since monks make a solemn vow never to bash anyone's face in. Did my father mention that?'
'No, but funnily enough, I figured it out for myself,' Sparrow said, tapping his foot impatiently.
'Yeah… Whatever fighting's to be done in there, it's all yours,' Sister Hannah said somewhat sadly, before picking up a huge jug when she noticed how impatient Sparrow was.
We require a Hero, not a pacifist monk, said Theresa. We'll need her to find a reason to fight.
Sister Hannah suddenly looked around, frowning, before shrugging.
'I don't mind telling you, I'm a little envious,' Sister Hannah told Sparrow as they headed towards the caves’ entrance. 'You get all the excitement while I have to carry this bloody thing like some common mule! I mean, look at it! It's enormous! Golden or not, how much water does a bloody acorn need?' 
Sparrow did not answer as they entered the caves. He didn’t want to encourage her talking. Instead, he looked around the cave corridor they were in. It didn’t seem to be that dangerous. He glanced down at Shadow and saw that he was pretty relaxed. This actually disappointed Sparrow. He knew that it was likely to be boring guarding Sister Hannah, but he expected there to be danger to give him some enjoyment. However, now he had to conclude that the Abbott was just being an overprotective father.
While Sparrow looked highly disappointed and bored about the cave’s appearance, Sister Hannah was fascinated by her surroundings and was looking around, eyes full of excitement.
'It's amazing when you think about it,' she began as they walked deeper into the caves. 'No one else has been in here for maybe a hundred years. Well, no monks anyway. I guess an adventurer or two could have come in – but if they made it out alive, I didn't hear about it. Hmm, anyway…’ she said awkward when she noticed that Sparrow had nothing to say on the matter.
The trio continued to walk through the cavern in silence, something Sparrow was grateful for, until they came to a large opening with a thin, ragged, zigzagged path that led to the opposite side of the room, above a dark fog pit. Now, most people would be looking down at the path, to make sure they didn't fall off the edge to their death, but not Sister Hannah. She had to be looking up at the ceiling, which resulted in her nearly falling off the edge of the path.
‘Will you watch where you are going?’ Sparrow growled, grabbing hold of her arm and pulling her to the middle of the path. That’s all he needed was he dying on his watch because she was too careless.
‘Sorry, but they're lovely,' she said, looking back up at the ceiling. Sparrow grudgingly looked up to see what the big fuss was all about. All it was; was a number of bright blue balls of light.
It must be a girl thing, Sparrow thought, not understanding why they were so fascinating.
'I think they're called wisps, souls of the dead that never left this world,’ she continued. ‘It's actually rather sad, isn't it?'
Sparrow resisted the urge to groan. He wished she’d shut up about the wisps already.
'You are a quiet one,’ Sister Hannah commented. 'Watch your step, doggie. Looks a bit step in here.' 
‘Please take your own advice,’ Sparrow growled.
Sister Hannah fell silent again, looking at him a little warily. However, once they were inside the other cavern, she began talking again, making Sparrow groan, as they walked down its dark hall.
'Do you reckon we'll run into anything nasty in here? I mean a dark cave is one hell of a place for a holy spring, especially for an order of pacifists.' 
‘For your sake, you should hope not,’ Sparrow said before thinking, For I might leave you to deal with the creature yourself. Maybe it can shut you up.
'You know… I've heard of monks in the north that believe to transcend violence you have to understand it first,’ Sister Hannah said conversationally. ‘So instead of praying, they train to fight every day. They think that's the path to inner peace. Sometimes I wonder if the bloke who foundered the Temple of Light believed that. Or what if I had been adopted by the warrior monks, instead of my dad? My life would be completely different right now. Exactly the same person, just change where I was brought up and I'd get totally different beliefs, and it that's true, our beliefs aren't really worth a toss, are they? Yet even though I know that… I still can't imagine ever breaking my vows.'
She's quite insightful… for a monk. But this pledge of peace will not do. It is not the time for peace! Theresa said.
‘It must seem a bit stupid to you,' Sister Hannah muttered when Sparrow still didn’t participate in her conversation, though she was looking around again, confused. 
‘You read me like an open book,’ Sparrow said rudely.
Sister Hannah was a little hurt by his rudeness, but she pretended as though what he said had no effect on her.
'Alright, this should be the central chamber,' she said as they entered an average sized room with three locked gates. 'Wow… I've never seen anything like this… ever!’
That’s not surprising, thought Sparrow.
‘Now,' she continued, 'according to my father, we need to go through these three doors in order to collect the water. Putting weight on the pressure plates will open the doors. This one’s first.’ 
She walked over and stood on a pressure plate in front of the first door. The moment she stood on the pressure plate, the gate began to open.
'There you go,' she said. 'The plates require more and more weight as we go on. Luckily, I've got something unbelievably heavy right here. All we have to do is add a bit of water from the fountain in the room up ahead; at least it should be in the room up ahead.' 
‘It better be,’ Sparrow said hotly, leading the way once more.
They walked in silence until they reached another large opening with a thin, ragged, zigzagged path that lead to the opposite side of the room, above a dark fog pit. Wisps were hovering above them.
‘Keep your eyes on the path!’ Sparrow warned Sister Hannah. He didn’t need her looking at the wisps again.
'Steep in here as well!’ said Sister Hannah, not letting on if she heard Sparrow or not. ‘This cave really is quite dangerous!' 
Sparrow snorted.
'Not that I've been in many caves,' she said, now embarrassed. 'I bet you have, haven't you? Probably found all sorts of interesting things, treasure and that.' She fell silent for a while before saying, 'What do you reckon is down there, in the dark, down the bottom? Bodies, maybe? Or bones of all the poor buggers who have taken a bad step?'
'Or maybe they were like you and were stupid enough to look over the edge or up at the stupid wisps!’ Sparrow said angrily. ‘Do you have a death wish?’
‘Jeez, relax would you. You worry too much.’
‘Trust me, I’m not worried,’ Sparrow snapped, storming off with an amused Sister Hannah following him with Shadow.
Moments later, they arrived at the first spring. The fountain that gave the water was in the middle of the room on a platform with two pressure plates next to it. The platform was surrounded by knee high water.
'Now, there are two plates in this room,' Sister Hannah explained as she waded through the water, towards the fountain, with Sparrow hot on her heels. 'It will take both of us to get the water flowing.' She was now standing next to the fountain. 'I stand here so I can catch it, and you need to stand on that one.’ She pointed to the plate next to her.
Sparrow nodded his understanding and waited until she was bending down on her plate with the jug at the ready, before he stood on the one next to her with his arms crossed. The moment he stood on the pressure plate, water came out of the fountain, landing neatly into the jug.
'Oh yeah, I can feel this thing getting even heavier,' Sister Hannah groaned as the water began to fill up the jug. 'I really hope they find someone else to do this next time. Mind you, I'll be an old lady by then, so I'm probably off the hook. You know, this is probably going to be the highlight of my life.' She continued to whine. '"The day I carried a jug through a cave". Hardly epic poem stuff, is it?'
Sparrow didn’t reply, mostly because he wasn’t listening, since he was currently trying to think of ways to stop her talking to him.
'Did you hear something?' Sister Hannah asked suddenly.
Sparrow glanced at her, before listening intently. He couldn’t hear anything abnormal. He looked down at Shadow, who was currently lying down at his feet, completely unconcerned. Sparrow looked back at Sister Hannah, eyebrows raised.
'Probably just my imagination,' she said, before looking Sparrow up and down. 'Don't talk much, do you?'
‘That’s because I don’t feel the need for petty conversations,’ he replied coldly as the water stopped.
'Right,' Sister Hannah said, sounding a little hurt by Sparrow’s coldness. 'I reckon that's all the water we will get from that one.'
Sparrow then led the way back to the central chamber, but when the companions arrived at the opening with the wisps, their pleasant journey was over. As they walked out onto the path, many wisps fell down into the path and some strange creatures took their place. They looked like human skeletons in rags with blue light shining from the place where their eyes should be.
'I didn't know they did that!' said Sister Hannah, taking a step back. 'They must be trying to protect the water…'
‘Well they better start protecting themselves from me,’ Sparrow said with a strange gleam in his eyes. Finally, the fun had begun.
He ran at the advancing enemies, drawing his sword as he went.  All his blows were quick and precise; shattering skeleton bones and turning them into dust. 
‘You were fantastic!' exclaimed Sister Hannah, walking over to the victorious Sparrow. ‘Those hollow men didn't stand a chance! Have you ever fought them before?'
‘No. I didn’t even know what they were,’ Sparrow admitted as he brushed hollow men dust off his clothes.
'Really? Well, it sure looked like you had fought them before!' Sister Hannah said sounding very impressed and surprised. 'You must be a very fast learner!'
‘They are no different to fighting bandits,’ Sparrow shrugged as they continued to the central chamber. ‘Once you have mastered the blade, you can defeat any enemy.’
‘You sound and looked quite experienced with one. How long have you trained?’
‘Since I was three years old when I got a toy sword,’ Sparrow said with another shrug when he saw Sister Hannah’s jaw drop.
‘No wonder you are so good,’ she said as they entered the central chamber, ‘having had so much practice.’
‘That’s one reason,’ Sparrow said, stopping in front of the second door. ‘Right… second door, second plate.’
Sister Hannah looked like she wanted to question Sparrow more, but decided against it. Instead she silently stood on the second plate, opening the door to the second spring.
'I'm glad I have you with me,' she told Sparrow quietly as they headed to the second chamber. 'What if you weren't here? How in the world would two defenceless monks get through this place alive? It doesn't make any sense! I'd give anything to be rid of this stupid vow!’ she added bitterly, making Sparrow glance at her thoughtfully.
Promising.
‘If you hate your vow that much, why don’t you break it?’ asked Sparrow.
‘Because I can’t,’ she replied, as though it explained everything.
‘There’s no such thing as “can’t”,’ Sparrow said, quoting Theresa, before groaning when he realised what he had just said. Theresa made an amused sound through the Guild Seal.
‘Is this the second chamber?’ he asked hurriedly, when they arrived in the second chamber, to avoid Sister Hannah asking why he groaned as he saw her open her mouth with a curious look on her face.
‘Yes,’ she replied. 'I'll stand by the fountain same as before. The other pressure plate is up those stairs.'
Sparrow nodded his head, hurried up a nearby staircase and along a platform towards the pressure plate. By the time he reached the pressure plate, Sister Hannah was already in position. All he had to do was stand on his pressure plate without waiting.
'Ah, brilliant,’ Sister Hannah said as the water began to fall into the jug. ‘Just have to wait till this thing stops running. You'd think that they would make this thing with a flat bottom in case you wanted to have a rest! But as it is, it would just tip over and then where would we be?'
‘Don’t you dare let it tip over!’ Sparrow growled warningly. ‘I don’t want to spend any more time in here than I have to!’
'Don’t worry, I won't - oh bugger! Here they come!' 
At first Sparrow had no idea what she was talking about, but when he saw some hollow men appear, he understood immediately. Now, at first he didn’t react for he was torn between the need and responsibility to protect Sister Hannah, and the yearning to get this stupid ritual over. He knew that if he was to kill two birds with one stone; he’d have to use a range attack. However, he seriously doubted his rifle would have much effect against them for they had no flesh to wound and to lodge the bullet. That only left one option; his Will.
Gathering his Will, Sparrow shot balls of fire at each hollow man that was heading towards Sister Hannah. They seemed to have decided that she was the easy target and that they shouldn’t worry about Sparrow even though he was the greatest threat in the room.
'Wow, I've never seen someone do that before!' Sister Hannah exclaimed, looking up at Sparrow in amazement. ‘You’re full of surprises, aren’t you?’
She was then shocked when he grinned at her. The first friendly gesture she had seen him make. She then watched in amazement as he shot fire ball after fire ball at the hollow men. She couldn’t believe how talented he was. She had never heard of or had ever seen an adventurer like him before.
She was that lost in her own thoughts about Sparrow that she didn’t realise the water had stopped flowing, but Sparrow had. He jumped off the platform and walked casually towards her.
‘Are you just going to kneel there all day, or are you going to come with me to the central chamber?’ he asked, looking down at her.
‘What?’ Sister Hannah was startled to find Sparrow standing above her when she came back to reality.
‘Come on,’ Sparrow said impatiently, grabbing her by the arm and leaving the chamber. ‘You can daydream about me on your own time.’
‘I wasn’t daydreaming about you!’ Sister Hannah exclaimed, going slightly red.
‘Uh huh? Then why were you staring at me weirdly and why are you going red?’ Sparrow sounded amused.
‘I was trying to recall if I had heard of any adventurers as talented as you before,’ she replied hotly.
‘Trust me when I say I’m not a mere adventurer,’ Sparrow said mysteriously, sparking Sister Hannah’s interest, but she decided not to ask him about it for he seemed rather private about his life.
‘Well, there should only be one more room left to go, so we’re nearly finished,’ she said instead.
That's often the point where the ground falls out from underneath your feet. Be cautious! Theresa warned, making Sparrow roll his eyes.
He didn’t know what he was meant to be cautious of. The only things down there were hollow men, and it wasn’t as though they were dangerous.
‘Did you hear that?’ Sister Hannah asked, looking around again.
‘Hear what?’ asked Sparrow, tiredly.
‘That voice, a female’s voice. I keep hearing it.’
‘Hearing voices is the first sign of madness,’ Sparrow said serious even though he knew that she was hearing Theresa through the Guild Seal as only a Hero could.
Sister Hannah did not look convinced.
As Sister Hannah, Sparrow and Shadow entered the central chamber for a final time, they heard a loud, but muffled roar. Sparrow quickly drew his sword and peered through the final gate. He couldn’t see anything.
'What in the world was that?' asked Sister Hannah, stopping just before the third pressure plate. 
‘I… don’t know,’ muttered Sparrow. It didn’t sound as though it was a hollow man.
'Are you ready for… whatever that was?'
'A better question would be, "is it ready for me?".' 
Sister Hannah glanced over at Sparrow and visibly relaxed a little. She knew that as long as she was with this mysterious adventurer, she would all right. For some reason, she felt safe with him and felt as though she could trust him. 
She went and stood on the final pressure plate, but, for reasons unknown, the gate only opened a fraction of the way. 
‘That’s helpful,’ Sparrow said sarcastically, going over and looking at the locking mechanism to see if he could find the reason why the door would not open.
As he was looking at the mechanisms, Shadow cocked his head, before crawling underneath the gate and running off, completely unnoticed by his master, bit not unnoticed by Sister Hannah. 
‘Hey! Come back! Who knows what's on the other side!' Sister Hannah yelled; alerting Sparrow to Shadow’s disappearance.
‘Shadow!’ Sparrow yelled. ‘Get back here!’
Shadow ignored Sparrow’s command, something he had never done before.
Sparrow swore loudly and began working on the mechanisms. Then, just as Sparrow fixed the door, Shadow came into sight, running back with a hollow man’s head in his mouth.
'Oh, that is disgusting!' said Sister Hannah
‘Don’t you dare run off like that again, Shadow!’ Sparrow growled at the dog, something he had never done before. 
Shadow dropped his head and whined, but Sparrow ignored him. Didn’t Shadow realise how worried he had been about him?
Sister Hannah, feeling sorry for Shadow, said in a cheerful voice, ‘But you a good dog for attacking him. Who's a good boy? Who tears the heads off hollow men? Is it you? Is it you, boy?'
Storm barked and waged his tail at her.
Smiling, Sister Hannah turned to a disapproving Sparrow and said, 'Quite a companion you've got. Remind me never to let him lick me again.' 
‘As long as you don’t encourage him to misbehave,’ Sparrow said indifferently, heading towards the final chamber.
Shadow whined again, not liking his master’s tone. He knew it was directed at him.
'Just don't get too far ahead!’ Sister Hannah called out to Sparrow as she hurried to catch up with him. ‘I don't know what made that noise and I'm not keen to find out.'
‘Now who’s worrying?’ Sparrow asked mockingly.
‘I have a valid reason to worry!’ she huffed.
‘If you say so,’ Sparrow chuckled.
To get to the third chamber, they needed to walk through a room with an open gate at each exit. On the side of the room were locked gates with tombs and rubble behind them. The moment they entered the said room, the gates went down and were locked, trapping them inside. Next thing they knew, hollow men began to appear.
‘By the end of this, I’ll be able to add “Master Hollow Men Slayer,” to my talents list next to “Giant Beetle Slayer” and “Bandit Slayer”,’ Sparrow sighed.
‘Now’s not the time to be joking,’ Sister Hannah said firmly.
‘I wasn’t,’ Sparrow said simply, before taking care of the hollow men.
He noted that these hollow men seemed smarter than the last lot he fought. Why did he think that? Well, they divided their forces and went for Sister Hannah and him at the same time, hoping that they could get at least one of them if they were worried about the other person. This, of course, didn’t work, though it did prove to make the fight more interesting for Sparrow, regardless of the several new cuts he acquired from protecting the female monk. He wished she’d hurry up and break her vow.  
With the last few hollow men destroyed, Sparrow assumed that the doors would automatically open, leaving their way forward clear. Alas, this did not happen. Instead, a large, headless, hollow man appeared in the middle of the room and began to swing his weapons wildly around.
‘Oh my… you can get us out of here, can't you?' asked a worried Sister Hannah as she took several steps back.
‘Of course,’ Sparrow snorted. ‘It’s not like this one’s going to be hard to defeat. It can’t even hear or see us.’
He then walked forward confidently to dispatch the headless hollow man with his sword. However, his over confidence had serious flaws. He underestimated his enemy. When he went to attack it, it somehow knew that Sparrow was there and tried to electrocute him.
Sparrow let out a cry of pain, and Sister Hannah screamed, ‘Sparrow!’ before he was sent flying backwards into the wall next to Sister Hannah. Upon hitting the wall, he fell to the ground.
‘That – that hurt!’ Sparrow growled, getting to his feet, glaring at the headless hollow man. It was now blindly looking for him. 
‘How are you still alive?’ Sister Hannah exclaimed. ‘That should have killed you! It would have everyone else!’
‘I’m not like everyone else. I’m made of tougher material.’
Sparrow then sent several balls of fire at the hollow man and enjoyed watching it turn to dust.
‘You were brilliant!' Sister Hannah said sincerely.
‘As you keep telling me. I’m beginning to think that you really do have a crush on me,’ Sparrow said seriously, though he was actually joking.
‘I do not!’ exclaimed Sister Hannah, believing that he was actually being serious, but that was until he started laughing. This startled her at first seeing as she didn’t think he knew how to do such a thing.
‘Come on,’ Sparrow laughed, leading the way to the final chamber.
Upon arriving in the final room, and after a quick check for wisps, Sister Hannah and Sparrow quickly went to the relevant pressure plates.
'Lords of Light, bless this water,' said Sister Hannah as she was surrounded by light. 'So we may give rise to new life once more. As new life rises, so shall we -' 
At first Sparrow wondered why she stopped her blessing abruptly, but he soon understood when the gate at the end of the chamber opened to reveal an exhausted monk.
'Sister - Hannah…' he panted.
'Brother Robin! What is it?' asked a bewildered Sister Hannah. Sparrow, however, looked annoyed at the interruption.
This better be important, he thought angrily.
'It's your father… one of Lucien's men. He is holding him hostage at the Temple. He's got a gun!' Brother Robin explained.
Sister Hannah dropped the jug, spilling water everywhere.
‘I’m not getting more water,’ Sparrow muttered as he watched her run from the room, assumingly towards the Temple of Light. ‘Hero of Strength of not, she can do it by herself. Maybe then she’ll break he stupid vow.’
One of Lucien's agents has gone to the Temple. Go after her! Theresa ordered.
‘Why? She’s big enough and strong enough to look after herself,’ Sparrow said stubbornly. ‘No, Theresa. She can handle this one by herself. I’m going to the tavern for a drink. I’ll visit her in the morning.’
Sparrow!
But Sparrow would not hear it. He selfishly went to the tavern, had a few drinks, and went to bed, aware of what Sister Hannah was currently going through.
-----SPARROW’S JOURNEY-----
The next morning, Sparrow was rudely awoken by Theresa’s angry voice.
SPARROW! WAKE UP!
‘You better not make a habit out of this,’ Sparrow groaned, sitting up. ‘What?’
The Abbott is dead. He is being buried under the Golden Acorn. Sister Hannah will be there. I suggest you go to her.
‘If I must,’ Sparrow said, getting out of bed.
And Sparrow, you better buy her some flowers.
‘Why?
A peace making gift for not helping her.
‘Forget it,’ Sparrow said, not wanting to waste his money on something so trivial.
He left the Sandgoose and headed to the location where the Golden Acorn was being planted. He had to ask a local to give him directions.
As he approached the ritual, Sister Hannah’s voice met his ears.
'I'm sorry, Father,' she said sadly. 'Not that I broke my vow. I'm sorry I didn't break it sooner. I never did fit in at this place… we both knew that. And now, I'm making a vow. Lucien will die for what he did to you! I won't break this one!'
Sparrow couldn’t help but smile at that. So… she finally broke her vow.
'Sister Hannah, the blessing…' Brother Robin said gently.
'You do it,' she replied bitterly.
Brother Robin obliged. 
'As new life rises, so shall we. As the seed returns to the earth, so do we all.'
The monks then all turned and left the clearing, walking passed Sparrow, who was now standing inside the clearing, leaning carelessly against the fence with his arms crossed. Some of the monks spared him curious looks before hurrying off as Sister Hannah began to scream at the heavens.
'Is that it then?' she screamed. 'My father is gone and the Golden Oak is flourishing again. So life now goes on like before, does it?'
‘Yes, it does,’ Sparrow replied coldly.
Sister Hannah whipped around and looked at him.
‘You!’ she screamed. ‘How dare you show your face? How dare you! Why didn’t you help?’
‘My presence wouldn’t have made much difference,’ Sparrow said emotionlessly.
Sister Hannah stared at him. She couldn’t believe her ears. Why was he being so heartless? She thought that they had started to become friends, but clearly she had been mistaken.
‘Give me one reason not to break you in half,’ she growled, tears glistering in her beautiful blue eyes.
‘I’ll give you three,’ said Sparrow. ‘One: I’m quicker than you so you wouldn’t be able to catch me in order to “break me in half”. Two: You also wouldn’t want to get in trouble with the guards, and three: you need me.’
‘And why would I need you?’
‘Because your paths are now intertwined,’ said Theresa, appearing in blue light and walking over to Sister Hannah. 'The other monks may believe that life goes on like before, but your eyes have been opened.' Theresa came to a halt in front of Sister Hannah.
'Where did you come from? Who are you?' asked a startled Sister Hannah.
‘She is an annoying blind seer named Theresa, who is going to help us seek revenge on Lucien,’ Sparrow said bluntly.
‘Thank you, Sparrow,’ Theresa said sternly, before turning back to Sister Hannah. ‘I am someone who can tell you much about Lucien. Where he is, what his plans are and how you can gain revenge… if you will listen.'
Sister Hannah glanced at the indifferent Sparrow, still leaning against the fence with his arms crossed, before turning to Theresa and saying firmly, ‘I want to know everything.’
'Then come with me, Sister Hannah,' Theresa said, holding out her hand.
'Call me Hammer!' replied Sister Hannah, taking Theresa's hand.