Elden Ring: A Sword's Purpose

"Finally!" Amy dropped her fur bundled belongings on the ground and fell onto the grass beside it, the energetic girl too drained to run about. The other girls followed, dropping their stuff around the grassy clearing. Now that they were on foot and out of Caelid's dangerous territory, Jin led them through fields, up hills, and into forests rather than sticking to the main road, plenty of ground covered in a single day. Naturally, with the children walking alongside him, breaks were now necessary.

"How is this safe?" Mary questioned. Unlike the others, she hadn't dropped beside her stuff, instead choosing to keep her steel dagger on hand as she scanned the dark brush around them, eyes jumping to the slightest rustle. "Can't anything jump out at us?"

"The animals here aren't as aggressive as the ones you're used to." Jin assured her though that hardly did anything to quell the girl's worries. To jump from the secure tight spaces of a cave to spending the night in some random forest out in the open of a foreign land wouldn't be easy. Not for any of them and certainly not for Mary.

"Mary and I will stand guard. The rest of you get to work on starting a fire." He ordered while adjusting his hold on Polyanna.

Amy complained about being tired though got up just like the others. Used to surviving on their own they were making short work of the task, loose rocks and wood gathered up at the center of the clearing. Though Millicent was tripping over herself, her long unkempt hair not exactly helping in her adjustment to the new environment. There weren't so many things to worry about tripping over in a generally barren flatland like Caelid.

"Millicent, come here." Jin called for her, handing Polyanna over to Mary as Milicent ran over. "Turn around." She did as she was told and he began gathering up her hair. In record time he had it styled into a short ponytail though style might be too strong of a word. It was still a tangled mess and matted down with dirt, sweat, and everything in between. She and all the other girls could do with a proper bath. "You shouldn't trip over yourself anymore."

She messed with a few of the loose strands before smiling up at him. "Thank you, mister Jin."

"Why not just tell her to cut it?" Mary asked after Millicent went back to work. "It's what we usually do and that's a lot easier than doing whatever that is."

Jin shrugged.

Hardly a minute after Millicent returned to work Amy popped up in front of them. "Do my hair like that too!"

Children will be children he supposed. A quick gathering and some twists later and her hair was pulled into a ponytail slightly shorter than Millicent's. It wasn't long before Maureen joined in on the little trend.

"My hair gets in the way when I'm reading." She said rather plainly. He raised a brow; short as her hair was there's no way that was a real issue. Nevertheless, he complied and pulled hers into something of a messy bun.

Jin quirked an eyebrow at Mary once all the others were back at work and was rewarded with a scoff.

…

Stone ruins, dilapidated and worn down by time. Excluding the mushrooms and sickening sweet scent exuded by the Scarlet Rot, the building was quite similar to the ones in Caelid; the roof had all but given away, plenty of the stone showing signs of erosion. Plus, grass and flowers grew all throughout it.

Not a place worth calling home but better than nothing if someone was in search of temporary shelter.

"This isn't the place we're headed to right?" Mary questioned as they approached one of the openings in the structure's all but destroyed walls. The frown on her face more than revealed her dislike of the place.

"There's some things I need to pick up." Jin said.

Mary looked like she wanted to say more but was drawn to metallic twangs. The rhythmic sounds grew louder as they stepped into the ruins.

Eyes fell upon them and the developing tune came to an abrupt end. "Ah, greetings, my friend." Kale, a traveling merchant Jin was acquainted with, sat crisscrossed in the corner of the ruined structure, the stringed instrument in his gloved hands set aside as they neared.

Hands clenched Jin's pants leg, Amy hiding behind him while Maureen hovered near her. Millicent and Mary remained at his side, unperturbed by the new presence, though the later put up a strong glare, hand hovering near her dagger.

"I see…" Kale muttered after a quick look between the redheads. With most of his face covered and a cloth masking muffling his voice, it wasn't easy to pick up on the man's subtle shift in expression when he took notice of their golden eyes. Given how natives to the land treated Kale and his people, it was no real surprise he wouldn't take too kindly to so many suddenly showing up. Young or sick, the details didn't matter.

"I had thought your request odd but it now makes sense." Kale said, stowing any animosity in favor of professionalism, and pulling a number of things from the packs attached to the skinny donkey at his side. He set the items -one tied pouch and four small chained lanterns- down beside his low campfire. "All that you're owed."

"Stay here." Jin told the girls as he handed Polyanna over to Millicent before joining the man at the campfire, mirroring his crisscrossed legs.

The bag was filled with preserving boluses, small edible balls made to combat the Scarlet Rot. Useless to him when compared to his abilities and unable to cure those already afflicted by the sickness. Though while it couldn't stop the spread it helped to ease the pain of their symptoms for a time.

"You are aware of the Scarlet Rots effects, no?" Kalé questioned lowly as Jin examined the small lanterns. He continued after a nod from Jin. "Then you know there is no cure. Those children-"

"We are even." Jin stated as he collected the items and stood up. He made sure to give the man a slight bow of respect before heading back to the girls who followed him out of the dilapidated building.

"Who was that?" Mary asked.

"A traveling merchant." Jin said. "We trade from time to time."

"Oh! Can I get a sword from him?" Amy jumped in.

"Not today."

"Ahhh, but-"

"Not today." He repeated, looking her way. Amy deflated. He didn't often use any real sternness with her as she was bubbly by nature and he saw no reason to punish her for simply being herself. There were times when that childishness needed to be put on a leash however.

And today was definitely one of those times.

…

Jin fastened one of the recently obtained lanterns to the belt around Amy's waist and stepped back. She and the other girls, excluding Polyanna of course, were examining the metal objects hanging off them.

"Turn the nob near the top and it will light." Jin said. They did so, the faint glow from the lanterns illuminating the area around them. The lights weren't especially strong but it would be more than enough in enclosed spaces. Perfect for what laid ahead.

They stood right outside of a cave. Formed inside one Limgraves many hills and hidden within a dense forest, the place hadn't been the easiest to find.

Jin unsheathed his katana as he approached the cave's entrance. "Mary, follow behind me and take down anything that gets past. Amy, stay behind her. Millicent and Maureen will protect you and Polyanna." He said. His orders were met with yeses and nods, the girls falling in behind him as they entered the dark cave.

The initial tunnel was narrow, not much room to swing around a weapon, but didn't carry on very far before opening up to a much bigger chamber. Dark green moss grew on its stone walls and a damp scent hung in the air. Along with something else.

Jin swung his katana just as a pair of wolves, covered in white fur and growling, leaped from the shadows and into the light of their lanterns. He sliced open their necks with that single swing and twisted on his heel, charging forward and skewering the head of one who made a lunge at the kids rather than him.

The distant patter of paws hitting the ground echoed throughout the cave.

Jin spared a glance to the girls; given their upbringing, while tense none of them were overwhelmed by fear, sticking to his orders.

Good.

Focusing most of his attention on the incoming threats, he took down the opportunistic predators with fatal slashes and stabs, none allowed to slip past. As he pushed deeper into the cave, the chamber broke up into several different paths that opened up to chambers of their own, some connected to each other.

He cleared the place out easily enough, not a single one of the wolves that once called it home able to get close to the girls.

…

Jin tossed a pair of wolf carcasses off his shoulders and into an isolated pile just outside of the cave. Mary, just off to his side, pushed the one she was dragging with the rest. Their pelts, bones, and other parts might come in handy but for now they were focused on cleaning out the inside of the cave system.

Wind blew through the forest, blowing through their hair and carrying off the scent of blood for a moment.

"This place is nice." Mary said. No surprise that she was a fan of the cave, dirty as it was. She'd taken upon herself to thoroughly examine the place multiple times over after he told them it was safe. The assurance of unmoving walls was far more familiar to her than the freedom offered by Limgrave's vast lands. "Thank you for taking us here."

Gratitude instead of attitude? That was a first.

She abruptly took off to join the others in the cave, likely too embarrassed to face him.

Jin chuckled.

Maybe this endeavor of his was meaningless but…but it didn't feel that way.