Well I hadn't planned to make it anything more than a one-off, but why not...
PS: don't ask why it locked itself... my PC kept crashing every time I tried to correct the errors in the first post.
It took me a week to forget about that woman. Her face lingered in my mind, taunting my dreams. Combined with the fact that I knew nothing of the local terrain, my situation was growing more dangerous and ditressing by the hour. Occasionally I would stumble into a small gaggle of Beastmen, or Goblins, but for the most part I escaped anything too perilous. I thanked the Lady constantly for her protection.
Finally, as my supplies grew few, my nostrils were assaulted by the smell of cooking meat. I had never smelt anything so horrible in my life, yet knowing how meagre my own rations had grown, I approached.
There was a large, wide bowl, bigger than a shield. it had been filled with water, which was bubbling fiercely. A figure, covered in blood, was boiling meat in it. I approached with caution, unsure of what I would find, when the figure turned.
"Back off!" she barked, sword raised against me.
I was stunned, it was the same woman whose face had haunted my dreams.
"...Lady Peregrin?"
She lowered her blade, "well bugger me with a broadsword! The bret's back!"
We both laughed at the obsurdity of the moment. Fate, it seemed, wished us to be together. I believed that this warrior-woman may be some incarnation of the Lady, a vassal sent to test my faith and devotion, and watch over me in the final trails. The thought gave me much comfort.
She beckoned me to sit, and began poking at her cooking dish with a long metal fork.
"Want some? It's Ogre meat. Crap stuff truth be told, but out here the pickings are slim."
"Thankyou, Lady."
She laughed, "I'm no Lady. I wouldn't mind being a Lord one day... but I'm a fair way of Baron yet! Sir will do if you're being formal... "Peregrin" if you're feeling casual, but I prefer "Lisia" in all circumstances."
"Very well, Lisia... wait, how can you be a 'sir'? Surely-"
"I'm a knight. Where I come from, we call Knights Sir, unless they are of equal or lesser rank."
"Ah..."
She dished out the foul-smelling meat, which was suprisingly edible.
"So..." my mind fished around for a topic of conversation. Normally this would not be difficult, but she was quite intimidating, and the traditional fall-back of recalling heroic endevours seemed rather foolish, "...is this what you came here for?" I regretted it instantly.
"No," she replied casually, "Ogres aren't really up there in the 'things to slay' competition. Three maybe... all at once... yeah, that'd do it. Overall, it's Trolls I'd like. Yeah... nice big Troll. Big, tough, and as smart as a penguin."
I paused, "what's a penguin?"
"Not a bloody clue, but my father told my mother about them once. Said they waddle around up in the cold north. They're birds, but they swim instead of flying."
"Ah... no doubt tainted by Chaos."
"He said they were cute."
"Possibly the cold was getting to him."
"Or he was drunk."
Silence followed, as we both tried to birds swimming around happily in the cold oceans of the Sea of Chaos. As one, we fell into fits of laughter.
"He was always drunk," she continued, "but then, she was John Dragonheart's brother, so I suppose it's in his blood."
I noticed the sadness in her voice, "He is dead?"
She shrugged, "He's gone somewhere. Went off on a Paladin Quest like mine while I was still inside my mother. I was born, raised... he never came home. Nothing was heard of him. All we know is that he went east, following the paths of the Ivory Road."
"You must miss him terribly."
She paused, then took a bite out of the boiled meat. She chewed it over for some time, perhaps thinking of her father.
"No," she said at last, "but I think I'd have rather been a Dragonheart than a Peregrin. I've seen James, my cousin, and the things he gets up to... he's married now, to Lord Gryphon's daughter. Hell, I've been out drinking with him, and he sure knows how to have fun! He's my kind of company. Problem is, there's nobody like that in the Mercury Order. Sure, they have fun, but all the real nut-jobs are Dragons."
She glanced across at my now-empty plate, and nodded to the Ogre meat-bowl. I helped myself to more.
"So why are you here, Bret?"
I swallowed a chewy morsal, "I seek the Grail. I dream of someday becoming a Grail Knight, to stand by the side of the Lady, and guard her sacred places."
"Wow... we do have a lot in common..."
I looked across at her, puzzled. She sighed, "When I was thirteen, I tried to become a Praetorian, one of the royal guards to the King of Arms, and keeper of the Lores of Alyx. They make you stand in a stone chamber that's cold as a winter's morning, stripped save for your breeches, and they bring in a red-hot sword. You've got to hold the sword whilst reciting the Oath of the Praetorian. If you do that, they'll brand their symbol onto your chest, and you're one of them. It's hard, and most people don't get more than half way through..."
"How did you do?"
Her voice trembled as she sighed, "I couldn't even start. It hurt so much. I dropped it, crying from the pain. They never let you try again, so all I have are these..." she showed me the palms of her hands, tanned the colour of terracotta, "burned forever to show the world my failure..."
She stood up, and wandered over to the lip of the hill we had used for shelter. She looked out to the west, towards her homeland.
"I'm a disgrace. I failed my family, and myself. I'll tell you the truth, Bretonnian: I didn't come out here to become a Paladin, I came out here to die. This way, everyone will believe I died with honour, and that my spirit will live on forever in the Halls of Alyx. No-one has to be cursed with me... you should go too, before my curse brings your quest to ruin."
I rose, "I choose my own company, Lisia, and I do not believe you to be ill-chosen. Indeed, I-"
"Just get the hell out of my sight!"
I was shocked by her sudden change in temprement. Gathering my things, I turned away from her, and carried on. It seemed the Lady had not chosen her to guide me after all...