A figure stands calmly at the edge of a vast and ancient forest, the gargantuan, dusky pines dwarfing their intangible height. The figure wears a horrible mask with the visage of a terrifying demon, with three sharp horns rising from its crest, but it is the eyeholes of the mask that are the most daunting of its features.
Twin pools of endless darkness threaten to spill forth from the voids hidden within their depths, spilling out into the world in front of them and drowning it in shadows.
They wear a suit of powerful-looking armor with spiked gauntlets that fit the tyrannical presence the figure emanates effortlessly, the material of which seems to be somewhere between stone and steel.
The very forest is uneasy at their presence; the trees are tense, the animals along its edge are jumpy or have long fled, and the cacophony of shrieking bird cries has inexplicably fallen silent. The very air seems thick enough to be cut by a blade, and the normally peaceful, lively atmosphere is subdued, quiet, and full of taut, nervous tension.
The interior looks much darker than it should, as though in welcome.
The figure leans casually on the length of a giant odachi forged of black steel, resting their chin upon the hands layered on the bottom of its hilt, pointed towards and lightly piercing the earth. The blade emanates a visceral feeling of sharpness, as though capable of cutting more than the material world. The metal of the blade is so dark it is near impossible to notice the faint imprint of a long, twisting snake that blends in and stretches along the length of its blade.
The gaze of the figure pierces the needled branches, as though trying to look past the seemingly endless expanse of trees and grasp something even further away.
Then, the figure shifts suddenly, the long, shoulder blade-length raven black hair tied behind their head swinging lightly with the smooth, sublime grace of their movements as they effortlessly pluck the odachi from the earth and lay it to rest upon an armored shoulder, which leaves a small plume of dust as it escapes from its temporary sheath.
Sunny sighed quietly behind Weaver's Mask.
He was so damned bored.
He had spent the better part of a week traveling across the desert, only to meet a new, just as annoying obstacle in his path.
This god's damned forest.
And the god's were dead, too!
He had only ever seen a forest capable of rivaling this one once, during his lengthy travels leading away from the Forgotten Shore.
That deadly place had damn near killed him a dozen times over.
Unfortunately, he hadn't exactly been presented with a neat, tidied up-pamphlet with luxury travel destinations upon his arrival in the unnamed desert,
not that he'd ever seen such a thing,
and no matter how much time he spent skirting the forest, he just never seemed to find where the damn thing ended, in either direction. And so, he had decided, reluctantly, to enter it.
Maybe there were lands with actual civilized populations past its borders. His mouth drooled for a plate of fresh-cooked waffles, but he doubted that this seemingly primitive world had such a delicacy.
Well, anything besides lizard!
He shuddered at the thought of forcing down another single bite of the repulsive flesh, which had become his main staple of food during his travels. The spices from the Marvelous Mimic, which he had used to prepare meals and rest in on occasion throughout the week, had done nothing to improve the flavor.
And he had eaten rotten devil before!
It was such a waste. They were the good, expensive kind of spices, too! He didn't know how long it was going to be before he could restock, but, thankfully, he had done so before leaving for Godgrave on the Ivory Tower, so he was technically overreacting. After all, there was a whole restaurants' worth of spice stock in its cupboards.
But who cared, they were good spices, gone to waste...
If he had it his way, he wouldn't be eating meat ever again.
He had already felt several odd and fleeting presences on the periphery of shadow sense as he skirted the barrier of the trees, though it was somehow being blocked by an intangible force he couldn't seem to grasp, that, by his estimation, lay upon the forest in his entirety.
He grimaced.
It had been a long time since he had come into contact with someone capable of nullifying Shadow Senses' capabilities enough for him to not sense more than a vague figure- and those had consisted of the highest tier of Saints among Valor, who were able to suppress their presence sufficiently through a concentration of their essence. And someone who's influence extended over this giant forest...
Sunny might just have had an unknown Sovereign on his hands, as far as he knew.
With Serpent resting on his shoulder in preparation for what he felt might just be an inevitable clash between him and the guardians of this forest, he stepped into the dark expanse of trees.
Immediately, he was shrouded by the shadows of the giant trees. These were ancient, plentiful, and deep, so much so that Sunny almost felt like he was safely back inside the comfort of his Divine Shadow Fragment.
They greeted his touch eagerly.
Even without him consciously manipulating them, with the mere touch of Shadow Sense, they reacted excitedly, similarly awakening like the scarce few he had come across in the desert.
But these shadows were even more interested, awed, intrigued, and affected by his presence, almost as though they, as more ancient and powerful, could sense more of it. The greatest amongst them he happened upon actually tried to touch his feet, moving sluggishly to form faint tendrils of wispy shadow that reached for his legs in reverence.
He had to resist batting them away or kicking them into non existance, since they would just from back together eventually anyways.
Gloomy, who still remained at his feet, was following behind him with a smug look on his face, ignoring for the most part but sometimes sneering at the wild shadows that also reached towards him at times, though he mostly remained aloof.
Well, it wasn't like his Shadow had a face, but he was pretty sure if he turned him into avatar form right now, he would be looking a bit too much like haughty.
Creepy was currently augmenting the Mantle of the Underworld, but even in that state he seemed intrigued by the reactions of the wild shadows, even trying to slip of several times before Gloomy gave him a wake-up slap.
All of these happenings were indistinguishable from the normal workings of the world to anyone but him, drowning in shadows as he moved through the forest of giant, dusky pines.
Sunny himself regarded their admiration, shock, and awe with an air of cold indifference, as though merely acknowledging their respect was beneath him. Strangely enough, this seemed to ignite their interest even more, and if he hadn't known for a fact that shadows weren't capable of making noise, he could have sworn he almost heard the echoes of faint whispers, calling out to him from the depths of the shadows of the trees where he walked...
He had to consciously repress a shiver.
'Impossible. Shadows don't make noise.'
But then he froze.
Blocking the line of his path he had been forging through the shadows of the forest, a dozen meters in front of him, stood a figure.
'I didn't even sense him!'
The figure was tall and thin, almost lithe, with a noble, almost-regal air about him. He wore a beautiful, finely crafted and embroidered robe that was colored a rich, deep green. On it was portrayed a beautiful, thin, twisting tree with many branches, embroidered in pale gold thread that wrapped around his torso. The branches and trunk presumably twisted across his back before reaching his shoulders and showering them in gold leaves. The hem of the robe was also trimmed in pale gold, as well as the ends of the sleeves. The hem just barely brushed the scattered needles of the forest floor, little enough that Sunny speculated if he remained in constant motion, even just a shifting of stance, it would never touch the ground.
The man also had a hood over his face, and there was a strange, shimmering veil in front of it, which served well in hiding his identity.
The quality was impeccable. There were no flaws, no loose threads, no mistakes in the stitching, nothing.
It was… beautiful.
All of a sudden, Sunny felt a burning desire to ask the man where he could get such a robe himself, but he stopped himself at the last second.
Because this man was strong.
Inconceivably powerful.
It took a lot to fool Sunny's Shadow sense, but that was not the only thing that tipped him off.
Unknown to the mysterious stranger, the silent shadows had grown restless jumpy.
So, instead of asking for directions to the shop where he'd gotten the fantastic robe…
'Though its probably a custom make, right? No way those things are made by the bunch. It'd be a crime to the word 'exclusitivity.' '
…he remained perfectly still, calm and relaxed in his stance, not moving the odachi from his shoulder.
From the figures perspective, the demon that had emerged from the shadows, as though borne from them, had almost leisurely slowed down to a stillness, the menacing odachi resting calmly on his shoulder, and was now staring at him with focused and chilling coldness in his eyes, as though waiting for him to move.
He didn't look like someone who was used to being denied.
"Greetings."
Said the stranger, spreading his arms at his sides as though participating in an act of benevolence. His voice was smooth and calm, perfectly at ease. He also sounded... aged, but not in the way Sunny was used to hearing age in one's voice.
It was because it sounded as if the word had rolled off the mans tongue thousands of millions of times, had been pondered about, agonized over, thought over and readjusted countless times to understand its true meaning.
'He has been talking for a long time.'
It was an odd notion, but one that he nevertheless felt was true. Perhaps even older than the forest itself.
Which would make them an ancient of the ancients.
Suddenly, Sunny came to the realization that this might not be a person he wanted to fight. Who knew what kind of powers he had? He'd had countless millennia to perfect his craft!
The figure paused for a moment, as though waiting for Sunny to reply in kind, but then continued as though there had been no pause at all when none was forthcoming.
'Damn, this guys good.'
"May I ask what brings you to my forest, Child of Shadows?"
Any other time, Sunny might have been annoyed to have been literally called a child, but for some reason it just felt appropriate here.
His own voice, stark and cold,
and to Sunny suddenly sounding a bit immature,
rang out through the silent forest in response.
"No."
Of course, Sunny would normally not have cared too much about revealing his intentions, if only to put the stranger at ease since he was only passing through, but he was also wearing Weavers' Mask. He couldn't take it off now, and he also wasn't sure he wanted someone as powerful as the figure knowing what he looked like.
The voice continued smoothly, and suddenly, he bowed slightly.
"Then I beg your forgiveness, Dark One, but I am afraid I must ask, if only to stay true to my life's ambition to watch over this forest and keep it and those who seek refuge here safe, for you to leave, then. If you would like, I can arrange an instantaneous trip between here and where you entered our dusky pines. Would that suffice?"
Sunny stared. He was such a smooth talker. He suddenly felt a random pang of envy.
'Wonder where that came from.'
He thought, distracted. And did he say he was taking care of this entire forest by himself, too? That was... ridiculous, really. Shadow Sense, at its limit, couldn't even cover a reasonable amount of this place. And, after all, Sunny technically was the intruder here... he wouldn't like it much if someone started prancing around the Nameless Temple that he'd never met before. He'd probably ask them to leave too.
After feeding them to the marvelous mimic, of course.
"...Who are you?"
He asked, voice chilly. Sunny was genuinely interested, though he didn't let it show in his voice. The figure raised himself from the slight bow and folded his hands over one another and let them rest at his waist.
"I have been called many things over the course of my life, but here I am known as Gilderian the Wise, the keeper of this forest and its inhabitants. I have been charged with overseeing the safety of our humble city."
Sunny's interest was piqued once more.
"There are more of you?"
The man responded in calm, gentle words.
"Of course. One cannot live alone, and be truly whole. And so, we live together, to make sure that we don't fall apart."
Sunny blinked. Well, he should have realized someone who had lived as long as he did would know a thing or two about loneliness.
"What you speak is nonsense. One does not need companionship to thrive."
Sunny could have sworn he heard a slight smile in the old man's voice.
"Surely you jest, Child of Shadows. It is they who wield the greatest of power who are the loneliest of all."
Sunny then made a decision. A difficult one.
The hooded figure tensed as Sunny reached towards his face with his left hand, then watched in silence as he slipped the mask of his face and let it fall to his side, watching it disintegrate into a rain of white sparks.
Sunny smiled.
"Do you think I could I impose on you for a drink, Master Gilderien?"