All right this is a new story and I am very new to this sight and don't know how to navigate it...
Dark Fable (Dark Souls SI)
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WolfBlaas
Lady of the Abyss
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All right this is a new story and I am very new to this sight and don't know how to navigate it. This is a story I thought of playing Dark Souls and I wanted to share it with people. It is only a first draft of it so there may be errors and such.
Chapter 1
The Undead Asylum was cold and damp. Situated on a large rock in the middle of the ocean the Asylum was home to a vast amount of Undead. Most were locked in their cells pacing back and forth, shaking the bars of their prison or reaching out between the bars in some insane attempt to escape. Those who were already outside of the cells were rocking back and forth, staring at the wall or clutching their head, having lost their mind eons ago and were now nothing but mindless zombies; no harm to any save themselves.
In the Asylum, amidst all the chaos, were two that did not belong. They were two women, both in separate cells that were connected together by a barred wall. Onlookers, if any present were still sane enough, would have guessed that they must have been siblings, as they looked very similar, both sharing the same midnight black hair colour and nose, though they wore it differently: one had long flowing hair the other had a short cut, ending just past her ears. What they didn't share were eye colours and age. The younger at 21, had bright golden eyes, reminiscent of some predatory animal, while the elder at 26, had a deep crystal blue.
Eventually, one of them, the younger one specifically, began to awaken.
Her head throbbed with a splitting headache, but the cool rock pressed against her forehead had helped numb the pain just a little. Sitting up and looking around, she wondered how the hell she had ended up in a place like this. Noticing her sister in the cell next to her she naturally began to panic.
"Isha. Isha, wake up!" She called to her sister, reaching out to her in desperation through the bars intending to shake her awake but not being able to reach far enough.
Luckily, Isha was woken by her yelling and began to slowly move. She moaned in pain and as she pushed herself onto her knees and clutched her aching head. As she pulled her hand away it came back stained red from a large laceration on her temple.
"…Arya? What the heck happened?" She questioned groggily, her voice a little weak from disuse.
The girl in question, Arya, shook her head. "I have no idea what happened, nor where we are; but wherever the fuck we are, it's cold and creepy. I mean, just look at your clothes."
Doing as requested, Isha looked at her attire only to find it was nothing like she remembered. Her jeans and jumper combo had been replaced with a dark red rough spun tunic and beige trousers with dark brown leather boots. To finish the medieval outfit she had on a very dark cloak with a hood.
"Well at least I match the décor... as do you apparently." She retorted.
Arya checked herself and found this to be true. She wore a dark blue, short-sleeved shirt with a high collar a white tunic was layered under this and on her arms were metal vambraces. She also wore dark brown trousers with leather boots and a black scarf around her neck, the outfit was finished with a black cloak with a hood and a cloth messenger bag around one shoulder. On her middle finger she wore one small golden band which was engraved minutely with indecipherable script. It was seemingly useless, but not altogether bad looking.
"Well admiring ourselves isn't going to get us out of here." Arya said sitting back and leaning against the cold stone wall of the cell. "It's not like we can open the door or pick the lock."
And with that said, something around Isha's waist felt heavy. Reaching back she grabbed hold of a large ring with many keys attached to it. It was a master key, used to open any basic locks. Pulling it off her belt, Isha gives a shy smile to her sister.
"Maybe we can use this?" she said dangling the keys in front of her, the keys clinking together by the swishing movement.
"Well, let's hope one of them opens this lock." Her sister agreed.
Forcing her body into a standing position, Isha's body protested with every movement, and she had to stop and grab the bars when the cell would not stop spinning. Her head was still hurting and it pulsed with pain in time with every beat of her heart adding to the pain already in effect. Fitting her arm through the bars, she isolated one key and fitted it into the lock, and while it fit, it didn't turn when prompted. Sighing Isha pulled it out and tried another, this one too failed. The routine continued until finally one key turned and with an audible 'click', unlocking the door to the cell.
When free Isha used the same key to unlock Arya's door, they both left the dark, cold, wet cells for a dark, cold and wet corridor with a few hollows wandering or generally being insane and passive. They were moaning loudly, clutching rocks or broken blades like lifelines, like they were too insane to function. Looking up and down both ways, the sisters could just about make out a figure in the distance. It was tall, and clanging as it moved. As it came closer they could make out the figure of a tall human in black armour. he walked with a slow confidence toward them. At least they were sure it was toward them, the corridor was only so wide and the only other things in it were the insane, harmless looking, Hollows.
Something about this Black Knight cause something to 'click' in Arya's mind, and memories of a half remembered afternoon with her friends surfaced. Recognising what it was, Arya quickly clamped a hand over her sister's mouth to stop her from screaming and pulled them both back into her cell. She dragged her into the very back of the cell hoping to avoid a confrontation with the Knight. A hollow lifted itself to its feet, apparently shrugging off its insanity long enough to have a hostile reaction, and engaged the Black Knight, running straight toward it with his dagger raised above his head. The Knight hefted his own, massive, sword wielding it with one hand, and with one swing cut the hollow in half vertically, right in front of the sibling's cell door. Both halves of the bloody mess that was the hollow cluttered to the floor with a wet 'thump'. It bled surprisingly much for something that looked so dried out, Arya noted in the back of her mind.
Arya was very glad that she had her hand over Isha's mouth as her sister made a muffled scream. Hearing the noise, the Knight turned to look straight at them.
Its horned helm had no eyes looking out of it, only an eerie, ghostly pale light in each slit where the eyes would be. It was looking right at them and, afraid of a confrontation in the small cell, Arya nearly tried to 'will' herself through the solid rock, but the Knight only continued to stare at them. Then hearing a noise like a pebble hitting a rock, the Knight quickly turned his head in the direction of the sudden noise. He turned his head back to them for a moment before deciding that they weren't worth the effort, maybe, and strode off down the corridor toward the noise.
Not believing their luck, Arya took her hand off her sister's mouth and went to the door to watch the supposedly fictional Black Knight of the supposedly fictional Lordran walk away from them.
"What the hell was that?" Isha asked in a frightened whisper.
Arya ignored her momentarily and asked "What's the last thing you remember?"
Isha pondered the question "…Uh, we were walking home in the rain, it was hard to see anything with how much was falling, when…Oh my god, that truck came out of nowhere and hit us!" She became panicked and her voice began to rise "We're dead aren't we!"
Realising that her sister was having a meltdown, Arya replaced the hand over her mouth a quietly explained. "I think I know where we are. You know how I am always at my friends?" she asked, Isha nodded "Well, lately, they are always playing this game called 'Dark Souls', and this place is one of the areas. That Knight? He's an enemy, and a very difficult and strong one at that." She removed the hand
"Okay, so say this is really happening. Are we dead?" Isha asked frightened, despite being the older sister she was not very adventurous, preferring to stay at home and read rather than explore.
"Well. There's only one way to be sure." She began, not looking at her sister anymore "We have to die, and if we are already dead, we come back to life. If not…Well." She left the sentence hanging.
Isha became more frightened. "No dying then. So you know this game well then?" She asked hopeful.
Arya sighed "I've never actually played it, only watched. So while I know a lot, I don't know everything."
"What do we do now then?"
Again Arya thought putting a hand on her face pinching the bridge of her nose. "First we need to get out of here-" kneeling down she picked up the dagger the Hollow had and after a little consideration added "-and get to the cell the Knight was guarding."
Isha gave her a confused look, but didn't comment. She had more knowledge of this world than Isha did and she was going to follow her lead. They quickly and as quietly as they could they half ran to the cell at the very end of the corridor. Freezing upon hearing gigantic feet hitting the ground causing slight tremors beneath their shoes, they panicked thinking that the Black Knight had returned, but what they saw was much more frightening. A huge demon with tiny wings and a disproportionate ass to head ratio with an even bigger hammer/axe, seemingly made of random stones, was wandering around in a contained area behind a stone wall and metal grate.
The Stray Demon.
It didn't pay them any mind, it just continued to wander about aimlessly.
Continuing on their way, the duo made it to the small cell where they found a strange, small doll. Arya walked to it and kneeling down, she picked up the doll from the floor. It must have been important, though for what, she wasn't sure. Watching her friend play the game, she knew that they always came back to the Asylum for the doll and a ring, but she didn't know what the doll was for. Just that it was important for something.
Putting the doll into her bag Isha and Arya departed and made their way down the corridor again. The Black Knight was coming back up the hall but Arya was behind Isha and didn't see it. Isha knew now that it was big trouble but now had no way to combat it. She didn't think the dagger would be enough. Unfortunately the Knight now saw them as a threat and charged them with sword drawn.
Isha stopped dead in her tracks and her sister nearly ran into her. Looking over her shoulder to see why she stopped so suddenly, her eyes nearly popped out of her skull when she saw the Knight charging. Pulling her sister behind her, Arya drew the dagger and prepared to meet the Knight head on.
The sword swung with a terrible strength that nearly brought Arya to her knees. If she wasn't bracing the sword with two hands she was sure her arms would have broken with the sheer force of the blow.
Turning back to her sister who was screaming with fear she yelled "What are you waiting for, RUN!"
Not needing another prompt, Isha ran past them both to the exit. She hoped to find a weapon or something to assist with the fight, but upon seeing the sister run past them, the Knight turned and reached for Isha. Taking the advantage of its back being turned, Arya pushed the sword away and drove her dagger right between the Knight's shoulder blades. It made a strange metallic scream in protest and reached behind to grip her arms and flung her over his shoulder into a wall.
The air was driven from her lungs and she was having trouble getting it back in. Seeing the Knight stalk past her toward her sister who was again frozen in fear at the end of the corridor, Arya struggled back to her feet. She was not going to let this thing harm her sister. Feeling a strange tingling heat in her hands, she unleashed all her fury at the Knight.
Somehow, a huge fireball was expelled from her hands and hit the Knight dead on. His armour was incinerated by the heat and force of the fire. The Knight screamed and with one final charge, drove its sword into Arya's stomach. The large blade was not very accurate and only lacerated the right side of her stomach.
She screamed in pain as the Black Knight died and exploded into a million tiny fragments of light, which she absorbed somehow. The Knight's sword was left behind and Arya picked it up and used it as a crutch to get to her sister. This thing was damn heavy, though she somehow managed it.
"Are you… alright…?" she asked near gasping in pain.
"Me!? I should be asking you that! You were just stabbed! And what was that fire that came out of your hands!?" She moved to inspect the wound, drawing upon all her knowledge of first aid.
She was glad to see that it would not kill her little sister, having missed anything particularly vital if those diagrams she'd seen were accurate, but if not treated would likely cause her to bleed out. Already blood was flowing out of it freely, though she was using her hand to stem all but the worst of it.
Isha gripped her sister's arm on her non-wounded side and supported her weight as they walked through the Asylum. Arya was still using the Black Knight sword as a crutch and hacked any hollow that came near them to bits, the Asylum was strangely silent, meeting only one or two hollow's throughout the journey. They managed to make it to the platform overlooking the bonfire when both of them heard person moaning. It wasn't a Hollow moaning, it was definitely one of pain.
They saw through a half broken gate in the wall a person lying on a bed of rocks under a large hole in the roof. It didn't take long for Arya to recognise who it was.
Oscar of Astora.
He was very much alive and not a mindless Hollow. But wasn't he supposed to die right after giving the Chosen an Estus Flask? They hobbled over into the area through a hole in the wall made by a rolling metal bolder a time before. As they approached the broken knight he turned hearing their feet splashing in the ankle deep water.
"Hello…" Oscar whispered, too tired to talk any louder. "… Why are you here?"
Arya let go of her sister and walked over to the fallen Knight. "You're Oscar, aren't you? What happened to you?"
He laughed, or tried to, but ended up coughing a little blood through his helmet. Isha removed it and they saw that he was a short haired blond. He looked to be in his early thirties, and very handsome, Isha thought. His mouth was covered in blood that was dripping out the side of his mouth. Isha used the side of her sleeve to wipe it off.
"You do not need to worry about me. I am already done for. I can not die as I am undead, but I fear that I may go hollow on you if I perish here." He said moving Isha's hand away from his face. "But to answer your question, I freed an undead, not too long ago, hoping that he was the chosen one destined to link the fires; but when I thought I was safe the Asylum Demon used his hammer and smashed me through the roof. The undead I freed met me here and I gave him my Estus Flask so he could continue on his journey.
"May I ask what two such as you are doing in this Asylum for the Undead? And why you are injured?" He questioned nodding slightly in Arya's direction.
Arya was the one who spoke "I had a... a scuffle with a... Black Knight. I won in the end, but got... 'nicked' in the side, though I recieved his sword as a trophy... what do you mean 'two such as us'?"
"I mean that you are not... undead. You do not belong here." Oscar said coughing once more.
Isha looked to her sister "There has to be something we can do?"
"I am afraid not. Once I die I shall go Hollow, and then…" He trailed off
Arya walked over to him with fire in her eyes, dropped the sword to the ground and stood next to him "You only go hollow if you let yourself give up hope!" She said with a fierceness in her voice Isha had never heard before. "Continue to fight for something, anything, and you will never go hollow."
Oscar gave her a long hard look, searching for any lie in her face. He found none. And he laughed, though it pained him to do so.
"You are right, my friend. Chosen Undead be Dammed, I am not letting my story end here... I owe you a debt that I can never repay, but nevertheless I will try. That will be my hope. That I can share an adventure with you and someday repay you for your inspiring words."
He tried to stand on his own and failed. "But it seems that I shall need assistance at this present moment. Oh and here-" He reached into a satchel pulled out a yellow gem and tossed it to Arya "-crush this in your hand and it should help with that cut. I am too far damaged and it would require too many to fix myself."
Arya did as instructed and crushed the Life Gem in her hand, feeling the fragments of crystal turn to powder which then slid up her arm and then down to the wound. She then felt the strange tingling of her torn skin knitting back together. Not enough to heal her completely, but enough to stop the bleeding. She nodded her thanks to Oscar and both she and Isha gripped his arms and carried him out of the cell, down the steps to the bonfire, where he died shortly after lighting it. They laid his unmoving and limp body next to the fire where they feared that he would not wake, but after a few minutes he opened his eyes again. They were pitch black, not even any white was visible, a darkens that stared into your soul, it was a little discomforting. His skin had decayed quickly into a horrid grey colour, and nearly hung off his skin.
There was a tense moment where the sisters feared Oscar had truly turned hollow as he said he would, until he smiled at them (or what was meant to be a smile they were sure) and pulled out a dark sprite wreathed in a white halo from a pouch in his belt and crushed it in his hand. When he offered this to the fire his skin began to regain life, filling out and he became 'human' again.
"You were right, milady. As soon as I lost hope I felt like I was going hollow. Now that I have something to live for, that... feeling is gone." He smiled and stashed his helmet in a small box. On its own the box would never have fit the helmet, but as he brought it closer the item became smaller and smaller until it was easily fit in the box.
"Have you never seen a bottomless box before?" Oscar asked when he saw their faces.
They shook their heads.
(BREAK)
After they were well rested the trio marched to the large doors that were supposed to house the Asylum Demon, but when they pushed the doors open they were met with a strange sight. The Asylum Demon was already dead and decaying on the floor of the room, great rends and gashes in it's thick, ugly hide visible all over it's lower half.
"Hmm, the Chosen One must have killed it already." Oscar said.
While the Demon was dead, there were still Hollows with sharp daggers in the corners of the room. Isha used the dagger form earlier, while Arya used the Black Knight's looted sword. Her swings were still slow and the blade felt heavy, but the more she used it the lighter it felt, almost to the point of feeling... natural.
They continued through the room but instead of going outside, Arya insisted that they go onto the roof; So back they went to the bonfire and up the stairs. On the roof Isha found a strange wooden staff, which Oscar told them was a Sorcerer's Catalyst. Isha immediately felt a connection to this weapon and decided to bring it with her, looping it through a holster she had found with it. Continuing on until they met a metal door protected by two Hollow Soldiers. After the fight, and after trying all of Isha's master keys to no effect, They were going to turn back when Arya grabbed the spear from one of the fallen 'soldiers'.
"What are you doing?" Isha asked as her sister jammed the spear tip into the bottom of the door.
"A little trick I learnt watching a friend. It's amazing what you hear when you are the only one not drinking at a party." She replied, somewhat to Oscar's confusion. "I will need some help though"
So all three of them forced the spear down lifting the door off its hinges and finally Oscar swung out with his foot, kicking the door away with a clang.
Arya walked as best she could though the now doorless opening and found a corpse with some rings on its fingers. Two Rusted Iron Rings to be precise.
"We came all this way for rusty rings?" Isha asked a little annoyed.
"Not just rusty rings, these will be very helpful on our journey."
And they left to go back to the large room with the decaying Demon and this time they left through the door on the other side of the chamber and took out the hollows outside too. The trick with the fire the time before eluded Arya, she wasn't sure how she did it in the first place, but tried to recall the state that brought it on and found that when she opened her eyes her hand was engulfed in flame. The flames didn't hurt, quite the opposite, they felt warm... it was a soothing feeling. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a torch-bearing hollow running toward them. Arya gathered more flames in her hand and threw it at the hollow.
It died in a riotous, coruscating barrage of red, blue and yellow flames.
Oscar was astounded, he was no expert had never witnessed a person use Pyromancy without a glove. It was a sheer impossibility. Yet here Arya was, using Pyromancy with nothing but her naked flesh, not being burnt... he resolved to keep an eye on her, and be careful of any more unexpected developments. She knew more than she let on, that was for sure.
Crossing to the end of the cliff the trio saw a huge nest. There couldn't possibly be a bird big enough to build this thing, it had to be a fake…
The sound of huge wings beating caught their attention. Both Arya and Isha paled and screamed their lungs off at the sight of a giant Crow flying toward them while Oscar looked on casually at it. The two sisters made a futile attempt to run, whilst Oscar almost looked bored.
The Crow swooped down and caught the sisters in its talons, one for each foot, and continued to fly back into the air with two screaming occupants.
Okay, that was the first chapter. Let me know if there are things to change and such.
Chapter 1
The Undead Asylum was cold and damp. Situated on a large rock in the middle of the ocean the Asylum was home to a vast amount of Undead. Most were locked in their cells pacing back and forth, shaking the bars of their prison or reaching out between the bars in some insane attempt to escape. Those who were already outside of the cells were rocking back and forth, staring at the wall or clutching their head, having lost their mind eons ago and were now nothing but mindless zombies; no harm to any save themselves.
In the Asylum, amidst all the chaos, were two that did not belong. They were two women, both in separate cells that were connected together by a barred wall. Onlookers, if any present were still sane enough, would have guessed that they must have been siblings, as they looked very similar, both sharing the same midnight black hair colour and nose, though they wore it differently: one had long flowing hair the other had a short cut, ending just past her ears. What they didn't share were eye colours and age. The younger at 21, had bright golden eyes, reminiscent of some predatory animal, while the elder at 26, had a deep crystal blue.
Eventually, one of them, the younger one specifically, began to awaken.
Her head throbbed with a splitting headache, but the cool rock pressed against her forehead had helped numb the pain just a little. Sitting up and looking around, she wondered how the hell she had ended up in a place like this. Noticing her sister in the cell next to her she naturally began to panic.
"Isha. Isha, wake up!" She called to her sister, reaching out to her in desperation through the bars intending to shake her awake but not being able to reach far enough.
Luckily, Isha was woken by her yelling and began to slowly move. She moaned in pain and as she pushed herself onto her knees and clutched her aching head. As she pulled her hand away it came back stained red from a large laceration on her temple.
"…Arya? What the heck happened?" She questioned groggily, her voice a little weak from disuse.
The girl in question, Arya, shook her head. "I have no idea what happened, nor where we are; but wherever the fuck we are, it's cold and creepy. I mean, just look at your clothes."
Doing as requested, Isha looked at her attire only to find it was nothing like she remembered. Her jeans and jumper combo had been replaced with a dark red rough spun tunic and beige trousers with dark brown leather boots. To finish the medieval outfit she had on a very dark cloak with a hood.
"Well at least I match the décor... as do you apparently." She retorted.
Arya checked herself and found this to be true. She wore a dark blue, short-sleeved shirt with a high collar a white tunic was layered under this and on her arms were metal vambraces. She also wore dark brown trousers with leather boots and a black scarf around her neck, the outfit was finished with a black cloak with a hood and a cloth messenger bag around one shoulder. On her middle finger she wore one small golden band which was engraved minutely with indecipherable script. It was seemingly useless, but not altogether bad looking.
"Well admiring ourselves isn't going to get us out of here." Arya said sitting back and leaning against the cold stone wall of the cell. "It's not like we can open the door or pick the lock."
And with that said, something around Isha's waist felt heavy. Reaching back she grabbed hold of a large ring with many keys attached to it. It was a master key, used to open any basic locks. Pulling it off her belt, Isha gives a shy smile to her sister.
"Maybe we can use this?" she said dangling the keys in front of her, the keys clinking together by the swishing movement.
"Well, let's hope one of them opens this lock." Her sister agreed.
Forcing her body into a standing position, Isha's body protested with every movement, and she had to stop and grab the bars when the cell would not stop spinning. Her head was still hurting and it pulsed with pain in time with every beat of her heart adding to the pain already in effect. Fitting her arm through the bars, she isolated one key and fitted it into the lock, and while it fit, it didn't turn when prompted. Sighing Isha pulled it out and tried another, this one too failed. The routine continued until finally one key turned and with an audible 'click', unlocking the door to the cell.
When free Isha used the same key to unlock Arya's door, they both left the dark, cold, wet cells for a dark, cold and wet corridor with a few hollows wandering or generally being insane and passive. They were moaning loudly, clutching rocks or broken blades like lifelines, like they were too insane to function. Looking up and down both ways, the sisters could just about make out a figure in the distance. It was tall, and clanging as it moved. As it came closer they could make out the figure of a tall human in black armour. he walked with a slow confidence toward them. At least they were sure it was toward them, the corridor was only so wide and the only other things in it were the insane, harmless looking, Hollows.
Something about this Black Knight cause something to 'click' in Arya's mind, and memories of a half remembered afternoon with her friends surfaced. Recognising what it was, Arya quickly clamped a hand over her sister's mouth to stop her from screaming and pulled them both back into her cell. She dragged her into the very back of the cell hoping to avoid a confrontation with the Knight. A hollow lifted itself to its feet, apparently shrugging off its insanity long enough to have a hostile reaction, and engaged the Black Knight, running straight toward it with his dagger raised above his head. The Knight hefted his own, massive, sword wielding it with one hand, and with one swing cut the hollow in half vertically, right in front of the sibling's cell door. Both halves of the bloody mess that was the hollow cluttered to the floor with a wet 'thump'. It bled surprisingly much for something that looked so dried out, Arya noted in the back of her mind.
Arya was very glad that she had her hand over Isha's mouth as her sister made a muffled scream. Hearing the noise, the Knight turned to look straight at them.
Its horned helm had no eyes looking out of it, only an eerie, ghostly pale light in each slit where the eyes would be. It was looking right at them and, afraid of a confrontation in the small cell, Arya nearly tried to 'will' herself through the solid rock, but the Knight only continued to stare at them. Then hearing a noise like a pebble hitting a rock, the Knight quickly turned his head in the direction of the sudden noise. He turned his head back to them for a moment before deciding that they weren't worth the effort, maybe, and strode off down the corridor toward the noise.
Not believing their luck, Arya took her hand off her sister's mouth and went to the door to watch the supposedly fictional Black Knight of the supposedly fictional Lordran walk away from them.
"What the hell was that?" Isha asked in a frightened whisper.
Arya ignored her momentarily and asked "What's the last thing you remember?"
Isha pondered the question "…Uh, we were walking home in the rain, it was hard to see anything with how much was falling, when…Oh my god, that truck came out of nowhere and hit us!" She became panicked and her voice began to rise "We're dead aren't we!"
Realising that her sister was having a meltdown, Arya replaced the hand over her mouth a quietly explained. "I think I know where we are. You know how I am always at my friends?" she asked, Isha nodded "Well, lately, they are always playing this game called 'Dark Souls', and this place is one of the areas. That Knight? He's an enemy, and a very difficult and strong one at that." She removed the hand
"Okay, so say this is really happening. Are we dead?" Isha asked frightened, despite being the older sister she was not very adventurous, preferring to stay at home and read rather than explore.
"Well. There's only one way to be sure." She began, not looking at her sister anymore "We have to die, and if we are already dead, we come back to life. If not…Well." She left the sentence hanging.
Isha became more frightened. "No dying then. So you know this game well then?" She asked hopeful.
Arya sighed "I've never actually played it, only watched. So while I know a lot, I don't know everything."
"What do we do now then?"
Again Arya thought putting a hand on her face pinching the bridge of her nose. "First we need to get out of here-" kneeling down she picked up the dagger the Hollow had and after a little consideration added "-and get to the cell the Knight was guarding."
Isha gave her a confused look, but didn't comment. She had more knowledge of this world than Isha did and she was going to follow her lead. They quickly and as quietly as they could they half ran to the cell at the very end of the corridor. Freezing upon hearing gigantic feet hitting the ground causing slight tremors beneath their shoes, they panicked thinking that the Black Knight had returned, but what they saw was much more frightening. A huge demon with tiny wings and a disproportionate ass to head ratio with an even bigger hammer/axe, seemingly made of random stones, was wandering around in a contained area behind a stone wall and metal grate.
The Stray Demon.
It didn't pay them any mind, it just continued to wander about aimlessly.
Continuing on their way, the duo made it to the small cell where they found a strange, small doll. Arya walked to it and kneeling down, she picked up the doll from the floor. It must have been important, though for what, she wasn't sure. Watching her friend play the game, she knew that they always came back to the Asylum for the doll and a ring, but she didn't know what the doll was for. Just that it was important for something.
Putting the doll into her bag Isha and Arya departed and made their way down the corridor again. The Black Knight was coming back up the hall but Arya was behind Isha and didn't see it. Isha knew now that it was big trouble but now had no way to combat it. She didn't think the dagger would be enough. Unfortunately the Knight now saw them as a threat and charged them with sword drawn.
Isha stopped dead in her tracks and her sister nearly ran into her. Looking over her shoulder to see why she stopped so suddenly, her eyes nearly popped out of her skull when she saw the Knight charging. Pulling her sister behind her, Arya drew the dagger and prepared to meet the Knight head on.
The sword swung with a terrible strength that nearly brought Arya to her knees. If she wasn't bracing the sword with two hands she was sure her arms would have broken with the sheer force of the blow.
Turning back to her sister who was screaming with fear she yelled "What are you waiting for, RUN!"
Not needing another prompt, Isha ran past them both to the exit. She hoped to find a weapon or something to assist with the fight, but upon seeing the sister run past them, the Knight turned and reached for Isha. Taking the advantage of its back being turned, Arya pushed the sword away and drove her dagger right between the Knight's shoulder blades. It made a strange metallic scream in protest and reached behind to grip her arms and flung her over his shoulder into a wall.
The air was driven from her lungs and she was having trouble getting it back in. Seeing the Knight stalk past her toward her sister who was again frozen in fear at the end of the corridor, Arya struggled back to her feet. She was not going to let this thing harm her sister. Feeling a strange tingling heat in her hands, she unleashed all her fury at the Knight.
Somehow, a huge fireball was expelled from her hands and hit the Knight dead on. His armour was incinerated by the heat and force of the fire. The Knight screamed and with one final charge, drove its sword into Arya's stomach. The large blade was not very accurate and only lacerated the right side of her stomach.
She screamed in pain as the Black Knight died and exploded into a million tiny fragments of light, which she absorbed somehow. The Knight's sword was left behind and Arya picked it up and used it as a crutch to get to her sister. This thing was damn heavy, though she somehow managed it.
"Are you… alright…?" she asked near gasping in pain.
"Me!? I should be asking you that! You were just stabbed! And what was that fire that came out of your hands!?" She moved to inspect the wound, drawing upon all her knowledge of first aid.
She was glad to see that it would not kill her little sister, having missed anything particularly vital if those diagrams she'd seen were accurate, but if not treated would likely cause her to bleed out. Already blood was flowing out of it freely, though she was using her hand to stem all but the worst of it.
Isha gripped her sister's arm on her non-wounded side and supported her weight as they walked through the Asylum. Arya was still using the Black Knight sword as a crutch and hacked any hollow that came near them to bits, the Asylum was strangely silent, meeting only one or two hollow's throughout the journey. They managed to make it to the platform overlooking the bonfire when both of them heard person moaning. It wasn't a Hollow moaning, it was definitely one of pain.
They saw through a half broken gate in the wall a person lying on a bed of rocks under a large hole in the roof. It didn't take long for Arya to recognise who it was.
Oscar of Astora.
He was very much alive and not a mindless Hollow. But wasn't he supposed to die right after giving the Chosen an Estus Flask? They hobbled over into the area through a hole in the wall made by a rolling metal bolder a time before. As they approached the broken knight he turned hearing their feet splashing in the ankle deep water.
"Hello…" Oscar whispered, too tired to talk any louder. "… Why are you here?"
Arya let go of her sister and walked over to the fallen Knight. "You're Oscar, aren't you? What happened to you?"
He laughed, or tried to, but ended up coughing a little blood through his helmet. Isha removed it and they saw that he was a short haired blond. He looked to be in his early thirties, and very handsome, Isha thought. His mouth was covered in blood that was dripping out the side of his mouth. Isha used the side of her sleeve to wipe it off.
"You do not need to worry about me. I am already done for. I can not die as I am undead, but I fear that I may go hollow on you if I perish here." He said moving Isha's hand away from his face. "But to answer your question, I freed an undead, not too long ago, hoping that he was the chosen one destined to link the fires; but when I thought I was safe the Asylum Demon used his hammer and smashed me through the roof. The undead I freed met me here and I gave him my Estus Flask so he could continue on his journey.
"May I ask what two such as you are doing in this Asylum for the Undead? And why you are injured?" He questioned nodding slightly in Arya's direction.
Arya was the one who spoke "I had a... a scuffle with a... Black Knight. I won in the end, but got... 'nicked' in the side, though I recieved his sword as a trophy... what do you mean 'two such as us'?"
"I mean that you are not... undead. You do not belong here." Oscar said coughing once more.
Isha looked to her sister "There has to be something we can do?"
"I am afraid not. Once I die I shall go Hollow, and then…" He trailed off
Arya walked over to him with fire in her eyes, dropped the sword to the ground and stood next to him "You only go hollow if you let yourself give up hope!" She said with a fierceness in her voice Isha had never heard before. "Continue to fight for something, anything, and you will never go hollow."
Oscar gave her a long hard look, searching for any lie in her face. He found none. And he laughed, though it pained him to do so.
"You are right, my friend. Chosen Undead be Dammed, I am not letting my story end here... I owe you a debt that I can never repay, but nevertheless I will try. That will be my hope. That I can share an adventure with you and someday repay you for your inspiring words."
He tried to stand on his own and failed. "But it seems that I shall need assistance at this present moment. Oh and here-" He reached into a satchel pulled out a yellow gem and tossed it to Arya "-crush this in your hand and it should help with that cut. I am too far damaged and it would require too many to fix myself."
Arya did as instructed and crushed the Life Gem in her hand, feeling the fragments of crystal turn to powder which then slid up her arm and then down to the wound. She then felt the strange tingling of her torn skin knitting back together. Not enough to heal her completely, but enough to stop the bleeding. She nodded her thanks to Oscar and both she and Isha gripped his arms and carried him out of the cell, down the steps to the bonfire, where he died shortly after lighting it. They laid his unmoving and limp body next to the fire where they feared that he would not wake, but after a few minutes he opened his eyes again. They were pitch black, not even any white was visible, a darkens that stared into your soul, it was a little discomforting. His skin had decayed quickly into a horrid grey colour, and nearly hung off his skin.
There was a tense moment where the sisters feared Oscar had truly turned hollow as he said he would, until he smiled at them (or what was meant to be a smile they were sure) and pulled out a dark sprite wreathed in a white halo from a pouch in his belt and crushed it in his hand. When he offered this to the fire his skin began to regain life, filling out and he became 'human' again.
"You were right, milady. As soon as I lost hope I felt like I was going hollow. Now that I have something to live for, that... feeling is gone." He smiled and stashed his helmet in a small box. On its own the box would never have fit the helmet, but as he brought it closer the item became smaller and smaller until it was easily fit in the box.
"Have you never seen a bottomless box before?" Oscar asked when he saw their faces.
They shook their heads.
(BREAK)
After they were well rested the trio marched to the large doors that were supposed to house the Asylum Demon, but when they pushed the doors open they were met with a strange sight. The Asylum Demon was already dead and decaying on the floor of the room, great rends and gashes in it's thick, ugly hide visible all over it's lower half.
"Hmm, the Chosen One must have killed it already." Oscar said.
While the Demon was dead, there were still Hollows with sharp daggers in the corners of the room. Isha used the dagger form earlier, while Arya used the Black Knight's looted sword. Her swings were still slow and the blade felt heavy, but the more she used it the lighter it felt, almost to the point of feeling... natural.
They continued through the room but instead of going outside, Arya insisted that they go onto the roof; So back they went to the bonfire and up the stairs. On the roof Isha found a strange wooden staff, which Oscar told them was a Sorcerer's Catalyst. Isha immediately felt a connection to this weapon and decided to bring it with her, looping it through a holster she had found with it. Continuing on until they met a metal door protected by two Hollow Soldiers. After the fight, and after trying all of Isha's master keys to no effect, They were going to turn back when Arya grabbed the spear from one of the fallen 'soldiers'.
"What are you doing?" Isha asked as her sister jammed the spear tip into the bottom of the door.
"A little trick I learnt watching a friend. It's amazing what you hear when you are the only one not drinking at a party." She replied, somewhat to Oscar's confusion. "I will need some help though"
So all three of them forced the spear down lifting the door off its hinges and finally Oscar swung out with his foot, kicking the door away with a clang.
Arya walked as best she could though the now doorless opening and found a corpse with some rings on its fingers. Two Rusted Iron Rings to be precise.
"We came all this way for rusty rings?" Isha asked a little annoyed.
"Not just rusty rings, these will be very helpful on our journey."
And they left to go back to the large room with the decaying Demon and this time they left through the door on the other side of the chamber and took out the hollows outside too. The trick with the fire the time before eluded Arya, she wasn't sure how she did it in the first place, but tried to recall the state that brought it on and found that when she opened her eyes her hand was engulfed in flame. The flames didn't hurt, quite the opposite, they felt warm... it was a soothing feeling. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a torch-bearing hollow running toward them. Arya gathered more flames in her hand and threw it at the hollow.
It died in a riotous, coruscating barrage of red, blue and yellow flames.
Oscar was astounded, he was no expert had never witnessed a person use Pyromancy without a glove. It was a sheer impossibility. Yet here Arya was, using Pyromancy with nothing but her naked flesh, not being burnt... he resolved to keep an eye on her, and be careful of any more unexpected developments. She knew more than she let on, that was for sure.
Crossing to the end of the cliff the trio saw a huge nest. There couldn't possibly be a bird big enough to build this thing, it had to be a fake…
The sound of huge wings beating caught their attention. Both Arya and Isha paled and screamed their lungs off at the sight of a giant Crow flying toward them while Oscar looked on casually at it. The two sisters made a futile attempt to run, whilst Oscar almost looked bored.
The Crow swooped down and caught the sisters in its talons, one for each foot, and continued to fly back into the air with two screaming occupants.
Okay, that was the first chapter. Let me know if there are things to change and such.
DragooKnight11
[INAUDIBLE ANXIETY]
Hehehe looks like Arya forgot about Snuggly.
WolfBlaas
Lady of the Abyss
- Location
- Ireland
Yup. In this she was only in the room while her friends play it religiously. So she has no real experience of the game herself. I thought it would make it more interesting that way.
If nothing else, her reactions to some of the stuff should be hilarious.
LD1449
To the last; Kill them all
- Location
- The other side of the labyrinth.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Interesting. I know nothing at all about Dark Souls save that it's apparently very challenging to the point grimderp.
WolfBlaas
Lady of the Abyss
- Location
- Ireland
I cant wait to write that part. So far I have to Darkroot planned exactly.Cant wait to watch her reaction to ceaseless discharge
WolfBlaas
Lady of the Abyss
- Location
- Ireland
And here it is. The second chapter.
Anyway, I hope you are enjoying Arya and Isha's adventures in Lordran and let's see how they get on. As always I value your input to the chapters and want to hear your thoughts.
Break means Line break. I cant seem to find how to use this sight very well.
The large Crow dumped the heavy trio onto the ground roughly. They were very battered and bruised from their landing, but very much alive. Unfortunately, Arya's wound had reopened at the landing and she was yelling and swearing like a sailor. Her sister began to panic again, turning to Oscar she asked.
"You must have more of those Gem's! The one's that heled her last time!?" She begged clutching her sisters wound together with her only her hands.
Oscar looked at her sadly, "I'm afraid I do not, m'lady, I gave her the last one. I brought them when I came to this land and they are not found here. We would need the help of a cleric now."
"A cleric, you say?" A voice to the side said.
They looked to the right in the direction of the voice. The owner was a very Crestfallen Warrior. He was sitting on a small ledge leaning forward, his elbows resting on his knees. The armour he was wearing was full chainmail, a little rusted but still effective. He wore no Helm so they could clearly see his brooding, sad face and brown hair that just covered his equally brown eyes.
"Yes, a cleric is here in Firelink Shrine. Petrus is his name, if I recall. But he is not likely to help. He is more a coward that prefers to help himself." He said in a near monotone before pointing. "In that direction."
Isha wasted no time, she jumped to her feet and sprinted in the direction the Crestfallen Knight indicated. Coming to a building with no roof as it had decayed and fallen many years ago, she saw the man that mush have been the cleric. He was standing near the wall mace in one hand, shield in the other. His blond hair was cut in a pudding bowl fashion that somehow matched his cark brown cleric robes.
"Please, are you Petrus!?" Isha asked running up to him.
"Yes." He said moving back slightly from her afraid of the crazy woman rushing toward him.
"I need your help! My Sister is bleeding to death and I need your help!" She begged him.
"No." he replied in a bored voice.
Isha couldn't believe it, someone who was supposed to be a man of god was really not willing to help a person who was dying. Something inside Isha snapped, she gripped her Catalyst so tight that her knuckles turned white. She threw herself forward in a rage she had never felt before and forced Petrus against the nearby wall bracing the staff against his neck cutting off his air.
She leaned in close to him "Now you listen here. My sister is dying and I am no longer asking for your help, you are going to heal my sister using your cleric magic and you're going to do it, Now."
He nodded, or did as best he could with a large piece of wood against his neck.
Isha let him down and ran back to her sister making sure he was behind her. Arya had lost a lot of blood that was staining the ground near the bonfire, her face was white, her breathing laboured and she was cold to the touch. The cleric knelt down next to her and held out his talisman, he began saying a prayer to the gods and an otherworldly light was emitted from his talisman and Arya wound began to knit together until it was just a thin red line.
Her eyes began to open her eyes, the world was unfocused and fuzzy, but she made out the face of her sister and Oscar. And a newcomer she didn't recognize.
"What… happened…?" She asked in a week voice.
"Your wound reopened after the crow dropped you and I had to force this guy to heal you." Isha replied.
Her sister looked at her with a disbelieving look on her face "You are as gentle as a kitten. You couldn't threaten anyone."
"Well it wasn't for lack of trying, that's for sure." Petrus said.
"Well, thanks for healing me, I appreciate it."
He scoffed. "At least you have more manners than your sister."
And before Arya could make a horrible comment to him, he got up and left.
"Asshole…" Arya muttered.
Isha agreed wholeheartedly.
(BREAK)
They stayed at the shrine for a few hours near the fire so Arya could recover her lost blood and what Oscar called 'Inner Flame'. It seemed that using so much fire in one day wore Arya out a lot, so she needed to recover her 'Flame'. And swinging that huge sword didn't help either, she felt like her shoulders were going to detach from her arms. While recovering, she had a…'Wonderful', conversation with the Crestfallen Knight. He was so very depressing that Arya wanted to impale herself on her Black Knight sword. The only reason she didn't was because he had given her a book with notes on all the items of Lordran. It was the only bit of selfless humility she had ever seen from him.
When she was finally better and walking again she wandered away from the depressing knight and down to the steps leading to New Londo, her sister in tow. There she met the Fire Keeper, Anastasia of Astora. She was pretty with long blond hair tied in a bun on her head, but her eyes held a horrible sadness.
Arya sat down leaning against the rock column while Isha walked over to the Mute Firekeeper and held a hand in through the bars.
"Hi, I'm Isha." She said.
Anastasia looked up but didn't say anything, for obvious reasons, she didn't shake her hand either. Turning back to her sister for an answer or explanation as to the Firekeeper's strangeness.
"She can't talk, she has no tongue. It was cut out." Arya answered.
Isha was shocked and appalled that anyone would cut out a person's tongue. "How could anyone be that cruel?!" She exclaimed standing up.
The Fire Keeper looked up slightly as if to get a better view at someone this kind and hopeful. She silently wished that her childlike naivety would never leave. Though, in Lordran, that was not likely to happen.
"Well, I can wish you could talk. We'd learn a lot form you I'm sure." She said with a smile.
When Arya was finally recovered, they learnt from the Crestfallen Knight, that the Chosen was headed off to the undead Parish. He had pointed him in that direction saying that the bells needed to be rung.
"Well what are we going to do now?" Isha asked her younger sister.
Arya sighed. "I'm not going to tell you what to do. I don't even know myself." She looked off to the direction of the Berg. "The Hollows are weaker there."
"Well that settles it. Go to the Berg. Maybe you'll even meet the Chosen there." Oscar said from his place near the fire. "And take this-" he tossed a green item at them which Isha caught with a little fumbling "- it's an Estus Flask. I had the Fire Keeper make it for you and I filled it from the bonfire. I hope that it comes in handy and if you have any spare Humanity be sure to feed it to the fire's you meet along the way."
"Thanks, what are you going to do?" Arya asked him.
He put a hand to his chin, "I will go to the Catacombs, I was trained more to fight undead rather than monsters and demons. And even though I was trained by the holy order, I don't know many miracles. Maybe I will get some of Petrus." He said the last part more to himself.
So with little choice, the sisters walked away to the Berg.
Arya was right, the Hollow's were weaker, on the waterway bridge she was felling hollow's left and right, unfortunately her swings were very wide and it left her open to attacks unless she leapt backwards to avoid a hollow's sword. They made it to the under small restricted walk way where Isha heard something splashing in the water behind them. Turning, she screamed at the half rotting giant rat running right toward her.
She held out her Catalyst, knowing her sister was unable to pull her out of the way and impale it with her sword or fire, and a beam of energy was released from it. The energy headed straight into the rat, killing it.
Arya was stunned, when Isha said she felt something from the wood, she never really dreamt that her sister would be a sorcerer. Not that that was a bad thing. Now the duo balanced out nicely. Arya slow but strong attacking, and Isha, quick and ranged, with enough power to watch her sisters back dazing the Hollows letting Arya hack them to death.
The trip to the first bonfire in the Berg was much easier than she had expected. While they rested they rested the Hollow's injuries healed and they got back up. The deranged undead tried to get into the building where the two were staring wide eyed at the sight, they stopped at the entrance. The undead seemed to hit a wall that they couldn't penetrate. So the Bonfires were a safe haven then. Protected by some magic.
Frustrated at not being able to get at their prey, the Hollow's went back to standing at their posts.
"Hay, there's a merchant around here if memory serves. Want to make a challenge of getting there?" Arya asked a smirk on her face and a strange gleam in her eye.
"What kind of challenge?" Her sister asked getting a similar gleam.
"Target Practice. We only use Magic and Pyromancy, to kill the hollows from here to the Merchant. Agreed?" Arya asked putting out her hand.
Isha deliberated for a short time before taking her sisters hand. "Fine, but we use weapons in an emergency."
So the challenge began. Isha was at an advantage with her range and was not shy about using it. But Arya was no light weight. Her fire was powerful enough to kill a Hollow in one, though she was unable to keep repeating it, her sister couldn't say the same. The final tally came to a victory for Isha. Her accuracy was just too good, she could hit a Hollow twice in the time it took Arya to get close enough to hit it with a fire ball. Having kilt the two spear hollows the duo had to rest. Arya was sitting on the steps breathing heavily and Isha was doing the same leaning on her catalyst.
"I think… I'm in the lead…" Isha said smugly. They laughed at the result and at how tiredly Isha said it, in order to be smug, you have to look cool doing it.
After resting, Arya got up and swung her sword (by this point her arms were very sore) and easily broke apart the boxes that hid the path to the merchant. Following the stair's downwards and were surprised when a final Axe wielding Hollow broke out from a wooden wall. Arya went to call fire to her hand… And none would come, her inner flame was not rekindled. So with no other option she lunged forward and jabbed with her blade, hitting the hollow with such force that it was thrown backwards breaking more of the boxes it had hidden behind.
"And I think we are all tied up. Not bad, I'd have to say that your magic is getting much better. And my aim with my left hand is improving" Arya said, flexing her left hand and sheathing her Black Knight sword on her back.
"Don't forget about the Sword play. That must be getting better, you can swing faster and harder now." Isha complemented.
"True, I'd like to think that the blade is getting lighter. But my arms would disagree."
They both walked through a doorway and met another undead. This time Arya had to stop her sister from drawing her dagger and Catalyst and attacking the Merchant.
"Oi, now, come on! I'm just a simple Merchant, no need for violence" He said holding up his hands. He was well dead, with grey flesh hanging off his face and arms and his eye sockets were sunken into the back of his head and when he talked his mouth never seemed to move. Sitting cross legged with rags hanging off him and a bandana wrapped around his forehead, he had a mound of items laid out in front of him, obviously the wares he was selling.
When Isha put away the weapons he lowered his hands and began stroking a large empty bucket. "Right crazed one's we have here, Yulia." He said to it. "So anyway, what do you want? Besides killing me. You here to buy something? Everything's for sale, but I only trade in souls."
The sisters looked at each other. They were sure that they had accumulated some souls between them, but they had no idea how to give them to the merchant. First they would find out what they wanted to purchase before getting into money.
As Arya knew more about the items of Lordran as she was the resident researcher for her friends while they were playing so that they could find where something was and get to it, without ever having to put the controller down. And the book the Crestfallen Knight gave them helped immensely. She chose a Heater Shield for Isha as it was light weight with a hundred present damage and Fire protection, a new dagger as the old one was rusty and nicked, and one Bottomless Box.
Arya herself didn't need any new equipment. Oscar had given her his Crest Shield back at Firelink, but so far she hadn't really used it, she wasn't used to swinging her sword with one hand, and preferred to use two... Mainly because she was unable to wield it in one hanc. Even still her swings were wide and slow most of the time bringing her body with them. The shield was on her back being used for protection against back attacks and arrows.
"…Oh and we'll take the Residence Key and as many Repair Powders as we can." Arya added as an afterthought.
The merchant added up all the costs. "Okay that's three thousand, three hundred for the Key, Shield, Dagger and Box. How much have you left over for the powder?"
"Uhh…" They both looked at him with confusion and shyness on their faces.
The Undead sighed. "This is why I prefer to deal with other undead. It's just 'here you are and off you go'. Not with living, oh no, they have no clue." It seemed he was no longer talking to them but instead to his Bucket, imaginary pet, or the Uchigatana that was inside it… or the voices his head.
"Just hold out your hand and focus on the amount you want to give." He told them.
Doing as instructed Arya held out her hand as did he, and focused on the number she wanted to give him. Her palm was about an inch away from his and it tingled as the particles of souls was transferred to him.
"Well that's enough." He said and handed over the items. "I'll trade that rusty dagger for a repair powder, if you don't want it anymore."
(BREAK)
They left with all their new equipment and about ten Repair Powders. Which wasn't all bad considering that Arya's sword was nearing breaking point. She sprinkled the powder over the blade and watched as golden lines were present along it as it was repaired before her eyes. Its sharpness returned with a vengeance. She was nearly slicing Hollow Warriors in half with just the weight of the blade.
They continued over the bridge, running to avoid the Hollow's throwing fire bombs, and Arya threw a fireball at one while Isha soul arrowed the other. Continuing out, they quickly made it to the tower of Havel the Rock.
"Think my key will work on this door?" Isha asked, jingling her keys. She was becoming a little too accustomed to opening most doors with those things. If she wasn't careful she was going to become a regular thief.
"I wouldn't if I were you. Down there is Havel the Rock, a man with armour so thick that your dagger, Magic, my fire, hell, even my sword wouldn't pierce it. Not to mention that he wields a damn Dragon Tooth as a club. One hit with that and you are crushed into paste." Arya explained, stepping onto the stairs upwards.
She knew without looking that her sister would be running up the steps after her.
They only had to deal with one Hollow archer that was easily dispatched by Isha and her Magic. After it was dispatched the fog gate awaited.
"Well once we pass this we may not be able to get back. Only forward from here." Arya told her sister.
They both took a breath and Arya went through the fog first. She held her hand up and slowly went through, expecting some kind of resistance from it like in the game, she found none. Only caution was what made her slowly walk to the boss room.
The large walkway that acted as Lordran's border was strangely peaceful. When Isha was also through the fog they could see no sign of the boss. The sea was crashing against the rock wall and seagulls were flying about. They were the only birds that the duo had seen since the giant crow. They were actually beginning to believe the entire place was uninhabited by any animals. The air was tinged with salt and water.
As Isha took a few steps away from the tower across the walkway, Arya caught her arm and pulled her back.
"No, this is too easy, as soon as we cross something will happen. I can feel it." Arya began to look around, there was a ladder beside the entrance up to the top of the tower. "We need a higher vantage, let's go up."
Arya climbed up the cold, rusty ladder. The rust was flaking off in her hands staining them a reddish brown. Up on top there were two hollow soldiers with crossbows. Quickly ducking down to avoid a bolt to the head, Arya pulled out her shield and kept her body behind it. There were a lot of metal thuds that sent shockwaves through her arm. Luckily she was drawing their fire, which left Isha open to Soul Arrow one and give Arya enough time to bring her sword in an arch to take the second's head clean off his undead shoulders.
"I'll stay here and fire arrow's on anything that comes across the bridge." Isha said, taking a position near the edge of the tower.
Arya slid down the ladder, her knees nearly buckling as they hit the ground from the sudden stop. She slowly walked over the curving bridge, when she was nearly half way she turned to her sister, who was not more than a small figure on a huge structure. Isha waved in acknowledgement and Arya continued her trek.
Her boots were tapping against the stone, the sound seeming louder in the silence, she could no longer hear the ocean beat against the walls but could still feel it beneath her feet. When she neared the tower it was bared by more fog, she was sure that if she leaped through it, it would not hinder her and she would pass.
Unfortunately, she never got the chance. A large shadow blocked out the light overhead and looking up, Arya saw the cause. A huge bull headed Taurus Demon was on top of the tower glaring down at her with glowing yellow eyes through its skull like head, its curving horns only added to the intimidation. In its hands it gripped a huge Demon Greataxe, the axe was blunt as opposed to sharp designed more to crush than cut.
It leaped off the top of the tower, Arya had just enough time to roll back out of the way to avoid being crushed. The Demon's digitigrade legs absorbing the impact as designed. Its upper body was humanoid in appearance covered in coarse red/brown fur with a tail for balance, and its legs were not Hooves as Arya was expecting. It opened its mouth and let out an animal esk war cry before charging at her, axe raised.
Needing no further prompting, Arya legged it back to the tower where Isha was waiting with Soul Arrows. When the Demon was in range Isha let loose and fired a shot right at the Taurus Demon's face, and while the shot missed it intended target but it did hit its shoulder.
Arya took the advantage to gather fire in her palm and spun to fling it at the Demon's torso. It hit its mark and her nose was filled with the scent of burning fur. It cried out in pain and swung its huge axe at Arya, it narrowly missed her, but threw her off balance making her landing less than graceful, and the axe crashed into the small barrier dethatching many stones and sending them tumbling down to the ocean below.
When the Taurus cried out in pain, Arya did as well, she wasn't hit by the axe but still felt pain in her shoulder and chest.
Isha let loose rapid fire trio of Soul Arrow's that successfully hit their mark on the Taurus Demon's head and chest.
Arya also felt the pain of it.
She decided she was in pain from the fall and carried on.
The Demon looked up at Isha and walked over Arya to the tower. It bent its legs and leaped up onto the tower. Isha dived out of the way and landed hard on the ground near the ladder. Scrambling over to it, she went down it one rung at a time, giving the Demon on top ample time to realise its prey was going down.
Again it leaped off the roof and landed on the ground with ease.
Arya was ready this time and ran at its legs gripping her sword in both hands over her head, brought it down in an arch, cutting the Taurus Demon deep on its leg, aiming for its femoral artery. The attack brought both of them to their knees.
"Arya!" her sister screamed in panic and ran to her. She was afraid that the Demon had landed on her sister and crushed her to death.
Still firing Soul Arrows at the thing she ran to her and saw a small cut on the inside of her leg. It mirrored the one she gave to the Taurus Demon…
She pulled her sister up and they both ran (and hobbled) away from the angry demon that was looking over its shoulder at them unable to follow due to its injury.
"Hit it again." Arya asked through clenched teeth. She was in a lot of pain everywhere and hoped that her theory of why was wrong.
Doing as instructed, Isha let loose another Arrow, this time hitting the back of the Taurus's shoulder. Remarkably, Arya yelled and gripped her shoulder where the Demon was hit.
And in that moment, she knew that somehow she would have to avoid dishing out damage in the battle to avoid more injuries.
The Demon steadily got to its feet, intent on demolishing its prey. Nothing had given it this much hassle, not even the little undead from earlier who quickly dashed under its legs and through the fog gate on the other side. It stalked over to where they stood, virtually trapped. They tripped over a rock and fell to the ground utterly helpless.
Arya and Isha were afraid. Never before had they felt this kind of utter terror before. They knew that to fight back meant sacrificing Arya's life, as somehow both she and the Taurus Demon were linked. But not fighting also meant death. Either way death was coming.
The two sisters' clutched hands, their breathing came in quick short breaths as it felt like their throats had closed. They could hear their heartbeats in their ears as they stared wide eyed at the approaching Beast. The Adrenalin was so predominant in their bodies it was nearly assured that there would be no pain from the blow.
The Demon's footsteps uttered death with each thudding drop. When it was within striking distance it raised up its greataxe intent on quickly killing the two annoyances that had so rudely invaded its territory and attacked it. It would enjoy devouring them whole…or at least whatever was left of them.
Finally reaching her breaking point, Arya cried out in a final futile attempt to stop the attack.
"Wait, Stop!" She screamed throwing out her hands as if to catch the axe and stop it from crushing them. Her hands were shaking uncontrollably.
The Demon tilted its head and looked at the human not half its height curiously. It studied her for a moment before a great growl erupted from its chest and readying its greataxe for another attack intending to crush the girl.
"Stop It!" she yelled at it again with a slight quiver in her voice.
Miraculously, the Taurus Demon lowered its greataxe no longer intending to crush her to death. Arya stood not sure if it was all a ruse and it was playing with them, giving them hope before taking it away forever. She took a brave step forward close enough to the beast that if it wanted, it could crush her in his hand. The Demon did no such thing. Isha gasped and reached out slightly wanting to pull her younger sister away from the thing, but she was immobile in fear and afraid that any sudden movements would cause it to attack.
To the demon when the small human yelled out he heard a voice he thought long gone never to return… however… that voice.
That was the voice of its mother, it brought forth his memories of his birth in the searing flames of the bed of chaos… Had his mother returned?
He could not help but obey her command. The scent of fear and surprise and blood was rolling off of the two small humans, but… mother had told him to stop, and he stopped. His surprise was enough that he dropped the axe he had pieced together from the bones of greater demons he had vanquished.
Isha and Arya were very confused when the Demon not only hated its attack, but dropped the greataxe completely. And to top it off all the Demon had surprisingly, even lost control of the souls he had stolen from his prey, all of which drained into Arya.
Isha whispered "Tell it to go away!" from her place on the ground.
"You are going to let us pass?" She half asked feeling a little braver but unable to stop the shaking, putting her hand over the course fur of the things leg.
The Taurus Demon growled and did nothing.
"Then…Then you are going to go back to the Demon's Ruins and Lost Izalith" She told it.
'Go home'? … This bridge was his home, unless mother meant the Bed of Chaos…
The great beast shook its head and stomped the bridge with its foot, as if indicating 'this is my home'. Arya was a little confused as to why it left and was on the bridge in the first place and why it was so reluctant to leave. As if answering her question, it lowered itself onto its knees so she could pat its head.
"Well, this place is not your home. You home is back in the Demon's Ruins with your own kind, you don't belong here!" She near yelled at it stepping away in case it reacted violently. "Go back to where you belong and torment these people no longer!"
He decided he would need to inform his brethren of this development anyways. Retrieving his axe, he stood and leapt off the side of the walls and down into the depths below.
"How did you do that?" Isha near whispered, perplexed. She had panicked when her younger sister willingly dropped all her weapons and walked over to the beast. And even more so when the thing listened to her.
Arya shrugged as she walked over to pick up her weapon, it felt right having it back in her grip but she felt strange... somehow ashamed of herself "I- I don't really know how I did it. I knew when I was feeling its pain, that I had this connection to it, and hoped to god it would listen to me." She wasn't smiling, even though she should be happy that they had 'achieved victory' and somehow gained a huge amount of souls without killing the Taurus Demon.
They walked to the other end of the bridge, which was minus some fog blocking the door. And found a room full of barrels and down a set of stairs and out onto…Another bridge. With more Hollow Soldiers with spears on it. And what seemed like a viewing platform on the other end away from the bridge.
Since Arya was still a little injured they decided to rest at the viewing point before even attempting the bridge. Isha was worried, normally her sister was upbeat and a little serious, now she was very depressed about something. When they were two flights of stairs down, they noticed someone in full armour set.
His helmet was a bucket shape with a thin slit for vision and his armour bore a symbol of the Sun, around his shoulders he wore a green scarf like piece of cloth. His weapons were an Astora straight sword and a Sunlight shield.
Upon hearing their footsteps against the stone he turned to greet them.
"Hello friends, you don't look Hollow, far from it! I am Solaire of Astora, an adherent of the Lord of Sunlight. Now that I am undead, I have come to this great land, the birthplace of Lord Gwyn, to seek my very own sun! ...Do you find that strange? Well you should! No need to hide your reactions. I get those looks all the time! Hah hah hah!" He said, looking back to the setting sun. "Oh if only I could be so incandescent."
The two just shared a look before returning their gaze at him.
"You don't seem strange at all. Many people go on journeys to find their own 'suns'" Isha commented as her sister sat on a bench.
"I don't? Praise the Sun. A short time ago I dealt with an undead who happened to be the chosen. I gave him some advice and sent him on his merry way. But now he seems to have attracted the attention of that huge Drake on the Bridge. So now I am stuck here for a while. At least until it flies away again. I am thankful for your company." He took off his helmet as he spoke, he was a short blond haired whose hair appeared to be made of pure gold ending just past his ears, with very dramatic blue eyes as pure as the sky. He gave them a smile that would make any women swoon.
"Well, we are going to be heading in that direction as well. Do you want to travel together? We don't really have a set destination in mind." Arya asked the knight.
His smile grew if that was possible. "I would be honoured to travel with you fair maiden. After all, what kind of Knight would I be if I denied help to damsels in distress?"
"Okay. Let's just wait a few minutes while I recover…" Arya asked turning to the sunset.
"Is something the matter?" Solaire asked looking at the crestfallen woman.
"We were nearly crushed by the Taurus Demon. And I made it leave, but I was terrified…" She told them, tears in her eyes. "I was so afraid that I couldn't move! Damn it, I ashamed of myself, I should not have froze like that!" Tears were now falling down her cheeks.
"Being afraid in battle is not shameful. Fear is not 'Evil'. It is necessary to know your weakness." He said smiling at her "If you know your weakness you can become strong and kind. When you fear for someone else, you can become truly stronger, strength to protect is better than strength for one's self."
Solaire's pep talk had brought Arya out of her depression and back into reality. He was right. Next time she was not going to freeze, she was going to fight to protect her sister…no matter how childish it sounded.
Anyway, I hope you are enjoying Arya and Isha's adventures in Lordran and let's see how they get on. As always I value your input to the chapters and want to hear your thoughts.
Break means Line break. I cant seem to find how to use this sight very well.
Chapter 2
The large Crow dumped the heavy trio onto the ground roughly. They were very battered and bruised from their landing, but very much alive. Unfortunately, Arya's wound had reopened at the landing and she was yelling and swearing like a sailor. Her sister began to panic again, turning to Oscar she asked.
"You must have more of those Gem's! The one's that heled her last time!?" She begged clutching her sisters wound together with her only her hands.
Oscar looked at her sadly, "I'm afraid I do not, m'lady, I gave her the last one. I brought them when I came to this land and they are not found here. We would need the help of a cleric now."
"A cleric, you say?" A voice to the side said.
They looked to the right in the direction of the voice. The owner was a very Crestfallen Warrior. He was sitting on a small ledge leaning forward, his elbows resting on his knees. The armour he was wearing was full chainmail, a little rusted but still effective. He wore no Helm so they could clearly see his brooding, sad face and brown hair that just covered his equally brown eyes.
"Yes, a cleric is here in Firelink Shrine. Petrus is his name, if I recall. But he is not likely to help. He is more a coward that prefers to help himself." He said in a near monotone before pointing. "In that direction."
Isha wasted no time, she jumped to her feet and sprinted in the direction the Crestfallen Knight indicated. Coming to a building with no roof as it had decayed and fallen many years ago, she saw the man that mush have been the cleric. He was standing near the wall mace in one hand, shield in the other. His blond hair was cut in a pudding bowl fashion that somehow matched his cark brown cleric robes.
"Please, are you Petrus!?" Isha asked running up to him.
"Yes." He said moving back slightly from her afraid of the crazy woman rushing toward him.
"I need your help! My Sister is bleeding to death and I need your help!" She begged him.
"No." he replied in a bored voice.
Isha couldn't believe it, someone who was supposed to be a man of god was really not willing to help a person who was dying. Something inside Isha snapped, she gripped her Catalyst so tight that her knuckles turned white. She threw herself forward in a rage she had never felt before and forced Petrus against the nearby wall bracing the staff against his neck cutting off his air.
She leaned in close to him "Now you listen here. My sister is dying and I am no longer asking for your help, you are going to heal my sister using your cleric magic and you're going to do it, Now."
He nodded, or did as best he could with a large piece of wood against his neck.
Isha let him down and ran back to her sister making sure he was behind her. Arya had lost a lot of blood that was staining the ground near the bonfire, her face was white, her breathing laboured and she was cold to the touch. The cleric knelt down next to her and held out his talisman, he began saying a prayer to the gods and an otherworldly light was emitted from his talisman and Arya wound began to knit together until it was just a thin red line.
Her eyes began to open her eyes, the world was unfocused and fuzzy, but she made out the face of her sister and Oscar. And a newcomer she didn't recognize.
"What… happened…?" She asked in a week voice.
"Your wound reopened after the crow dropped you and I had to force this guy to heal you." Isha replied.
Her sister looked at her with a disbelieving look on her face "You are as gentle as a kitten. You couldn't threaten anyone."
"Well it wasn't for lack of trying, that's for sure." Petrus said.
"Well, thanks for healing me, I appreciate it."
He scoffed. "At least you have more manners than your sister."
And before Arya could make a horrible comment to him, he got up and left.
"Asshole…" Arya muttered.
Isha agreed wholeheartedly.
(BREAK)
They stayed at the shrine for a few hours near the fire so Arya could recover her lost blood and what Oscar called 'Inner Flame'. It seemed that using so much fire in one day wore Arya out a lot, so she needed to recover her 'Flame'. And swinging that huge sword didn't help either, she felt like her shoulders were going to detach from her arms. While recovering, she had a…'Wonderful', conversation with the Crestfallen Knight. He was so very depressing that Arya wanted to impale herself on her Black Knight sword. The only reason she didn't was because he had given her a book with notes on all the items of Lordran. It was the only bit of selfless humility she had ever seen from him.
When she was finally better and walking again she wandered away from the depressing knight and down to the steps leading to New Londo, her sister in tow. There she met the Fire Keeper, Anastasia of Astora. She was pretty with long blond hair tied in a bun on her head, but her eyes held a horrible sadness.
Arya sat down leaning against the rock column while Isha walked over to the Mute Firekeeper and held a hand in through the bars.
"Hi, I'm Isha." She said.
Anastasia looked up but didn't say anything, for obvious reasons, she didn't shake her hand either. Turning back to her sister for an answer or explanation as to the Firekeeper's strangeness.
"She can't talk, she has no tongue. It was cut out." Arya answered.
Isha was shocked and appalled that anyone would cut out a person's tongue. "How could anyone be that cruel?!" She exclaimed standing up.
The Fire Keeper looked up slightly as if to get a better view at someone this kind and hopeful. She silently wished that her childlike naivety would never leave. Though, in Lordran, that was not likely to happen.
"Well, I can wish you could talk. We'd learn a lot form you I'm sure." She said with a smile.
When Arya was finally recovered, they learnt from the Crestfallen Knight, that the Chosen was headed off to the undead Parish. He had pointed him in that direction saying that the bells needed to be rung.
"Well what are we going to do now?" Isha asked her younger sister.
Arya sighed. "I'm not going to tell you what to do. I don't even know myself." She looked off to the direction of the Berg. "The Hollows are weaker there."
"Well that settles it. Go to the Berg. Maybe you'll even meet the Chosen there." Oscar said from his place near the fire. "And take this-" he tossed a green item at them which Isha caught with a little fumbling "- it's an Estus Flask. I had the Fire Keeper make it for you and I filled it from the bonfire. I hope that it comes in handy and if you have any spare Humanity be sure to feed it to the fire's you meet along the way."
"Thanks, what are you going to do?" Arya asked him.
He put a hand to his chin, "I will go to the Catacombs, I was trained more to fight undead rather than monsters and demons. And even though I was trained by the holy order, I don't know many miracles. Maybe I will get some of Petrus." He said the last part more to himself.
So with little choice, the sisters walked away to the Berg.
Arya was right, the Hollow's were weaker, on the waterway bridge she was felling hollow's left and right, unfortunately her swings were very wide and it left her open to attacks unless she leapt backwards to avoid a hollow's sword. They made it to the under small restricted walk way where Isha heard something splashing in the water behind them. Turning, she screamed at the half rotting giant rat running right toward her.
She held out her Catalyst, knowing her sister was unable to pull her out of the way and impale it with her sword or fire, and a beam of energy was released from it. The energy headed straight into the rat, killing it.
Arya was stunned, when Isha said she felt something from the wood, she never really dreamt that her sister would be a sorcerer. Not that that was a bad thing. Now the duo balanced out nicely. Arya slow but strong attacking, and Isha, quick and ranged, with enough power to watch her sisters back dazing the Hollows letting Arya hack them to death.
The trip to the first bonfire in the Berg was much easier than she had expected. While they rested they rested the Hollow's injuries healed and they got back up. The deranged undead tried to get into the building where the two were staring wide eyed at the sight, they stopped at the entrance. The undead seemed to hit a wall that they couldn't penetrate. So the Bonfires were a safe haven then. Protected by some magic.
Frustrated at not being able to get at their prey, the Hollow's went back to standing at their posts.
"Hay, there's a merchant around here if memory serves. Want to make a challenge of getting there?" Arya asked a smirk on her face and a strange gleam in her eye.
"What kind of challenge?" Her sister asked getting a similar gleam.
"Target Practice. We only use Magic and Pyromancy, to kill the hollows from here to the Merchant. Agreed?" Arya asked putting out her hand.
Isha deliberated for a short time before taking her sisters hand. "Fine, but we use weapons in an emergency."
So the challenge began. Isha was at an advantage with her range and was not shy about using it. But Arya was no light weight. Her fire was powerful enough to kill a Hollow in one, though she was unable to keep repeating it, her sister couldn't say the same. The final tally came to a victory for Isha. Her accuracy was just too good, she could hit a Hollow twice in the time it took Arya to get close enough to hit it with a fire ball. Having kilt the two spear hollows the duo had to rest. Arya was sitting on the steps breathing heavily and Isha was doing the same leaning on her catalyst.
"I think… I'm in the lead…" Isha said smugly. They laughed at the result and at how tiredly Isha said it, in order to be smug, you have to look cool doing it.
After resting, Arya got up and swung her sword (by this point her arms were very sore) and easily broke apart the boxes that hid the path to the merchant. Following the stair's downwards and were surprised when a final Axe wielding Hollow broke out from a wooden wall. Arya went to call fire to her hand… And none would come, her inner flame was not rekindled. So with no other option she lunged forward and jabbed with her blade, hitting the hollow with such force that it was thrown backwards breaking more of the boxes it had hidden behind.
"And I think we are all tied up. Not bad, I'd have to say that your magic is getting much better. And my aim with my left hand is improving" Arya said, flexing her left hand and sheathing her Black Knight sword on her back.
"Don't forget about the Sword play. That must be getting better, you can swing faster and harder now." Isha complemented.
"True, I'd like to think that the blade is getting lighter. But my arms would disagree."
They both walked through a doorway and met another undead. This time Arya had to stop her sister from drawing her dagger and Catalyst and attacking the Merchant.
"Oi, now, come on! I'm just a simple Merchant, no need for violence" He said holding up his hands. He was well dead, with grey flesh hanging off his face and arms and his eye sockets were sunken into the back of his head and when he talked his mouth never seemed to move. Sitting cross legged with rags hanging off him and a bandana wrapped around his forehead, he had a mound of items laid out in front of him, obviously the wares he was selling.
When Isha put away the weapons he lowered his hands and began stroking a large empty bucket. "Right crazed one's we have here, Yulia." He said to it. "So anyway, what do you want? Besides killing me. You here to buy something? Everything's for sale, but I only trade in souls."
The sisters looked at each other. They were sure that they had accumulated some souls between them, but they had no idea how to give them to the merchant. First they would find out what they wanted to purchase before getting into money.
As Arya knew more about the items of Lordran as she was the resident researcher for her friends while they were playing so that they could find where something was and get to it, without ever having to put the controller down. And the book the Crestfallen Knight gave them helped immensely. She chose a Heater Shield for Isha as it was light weight with a hundred present damage and Fire protection, a new dagger as the old one was rusty and nicked, and one Bottomless Box.
Arya herself didn't need any new equipment. Oscar had given her his Crest Shield back at Firelink, but so far she hadn't really used it, she wasn't used to swinging her sword with one hand, and preferred to use two... Mainly because she was unable to wield it in one hanc. Even still her swings were wide and slow most of the time bringing her body with them. The shield was on her back being used for protection against back attacks and arrows.
"…Oh and we'll take the Residence Key and as many Repair Powders as we can." Arya added as an afterthought.
The merchant added up all the costs. "Okay that's three thousand, three hundred for the Key, Shield, Dagger and Box. How much have you left over for the powder?"
"Uhh…" They both looked at him with confusion and shyness on their faces.
The Undead sighed. "This is why I prefer to deal with other undead. It's just 'here you are and off you go'. Not with living, oh no, they have no clue." It seemed he was no longer talking to them but instead to his Bucket, imaginary pet, or the Uchigatana that was inside it… or the voices his head.
"Just hold out your hand and focus on the amount you want to give." He told them.
Doing as instructed Arya held out her hand as did he, and focused on the number she wanted to give him. Her palm was about an inch away from his and it tingled as the particles of souls was transferred to him.
"Well that's enough." He said and handed over the items. "I'll trade that rusty dagger for a repair powder, if you don't want it anymore."
(BREAK)
They left with all their new equipment and about ten Repair Powders. Which wasn't all bad considering that Arya's sword was nearing breaking point. She sprinkled the powder over the blade and watched as golden lines were present along it as it was repaired before her eyes. Its sharpness returned with a vengeance. She was nearly slicing Hollow Warriors in half with just the weight of the blade.
They continued over the bridge, running to avoid the Hollow's throwing fire bombs, and Arya threw a fireball at one while Isha soul arrowed the other. Continuing out, they quickly made it to the tower of Havel the Rock.
"Think my key will work on this door?" Isha asked, jingling her keys. She was becoming a little too accustomed to opening most doors with those things. If she wasn't careful she was going to become a regular thief.
"I wouldn't if I were you. Down there is Havel the Rock, a man with armour so thick that your dagger, Magic, my fire, hell, even my sword wouldn't pierce it. Not to mention that he wields a damn Dragon Tooth as a club. One hit with that and you are crushed into paste." Arya explained, stepping onto the stairs upwards.
She knew without looking that her sister would be running up the steps after her.
They only had to deal with one Hollow archer that was easily dispatched by Isha and her Magic. After it was dispatched the fog gate awaited.
"Well once we pass this we may not be able to get back. Only forward from here." Arya told her sister.
They both took a breath and Arya went through the fog first. She held her hand up and slowly went through, expecting some kind of resistance from it like in the game, she found none. Only caution was what made her slowly walk to the boss room.
The large walkway that acted as Lordran's border was strangely peaceful. When Isha was also through the fog they could see no sign of the boss. The sea was crashing against the rock wall and seagulls were flying about. They were the only birds that the duo had seen since the giant crow. They were actually beginning to believe the entire place was uninhabited by any animals. The air was tinged with salt and water.
As Isha took a few steps away from the tower across the walkway, Arya caught her arm and pulled her back.
"No, this is too easy, as soon as we cross something will happen. I can feel it." Arya began to look around, there was a ladder beside the entrance up to the top of the tower. "We need a higher vantage, let's go up."
Arya climbed up the cold, rusty ladder. The rust was flaking off in her hands staining them a reddish brown. Up on top there were two hollow soldiers with crossbows. Quickly ducking down to avoid a bolt to the head, Arya pulled out her shield and kept her body behind it. There were a lot of metal thuds that sent shockwaves through her arm. Luckily she was drawing their fire, which left Isha open to Soul Arrow one and give Arya enough time to bring her sword in an arch to take the second's head clean off his undead shoulders.
"I'll stay here and fire arrow's on anything that comes across the bridge." Isha said, taking a position near the edge of the tower.
Arya slid down the ladder, her knees nearly buckling as they hit the ground from the sudden stop. She slowly walked over the curving bridge, when she was nearly half way she turned to her sister, who was not more than a small figure on a huge structure. Isha waved in acknowledgement and Arya continued her trek.
Her boots were tapping against the stone, the sound seeming louder in the silence, she could no longer hear the ocean beat against the walls but could still feel it beneath her feet. When she neared the tower it was bared by more fog, she was sure that if she leaped through it, it would not hinder her and she would pass.
Unfortunately, she never got the chance. A large shadow blocked out the light overhead and looking up, Arya saw the cause. A huge bull headed Taurus Demon was on top of the tower glaring down at her with glowing yellow eyes through its skull like head, its curving horns only added to the intimidation. In its hands it gripped a huge Demon Greataxe, the axe was blunt as opposed to sharp designed more to crush than cut.
It leaped off the top of the tower, Arya had just enough time to roll back out of the way to avoid being crushed. The Demon's digitigrade legs absorbing the impact as designed. Its upper body was humanoid in appearance covered in coarse red/brown fur with a tail for balance, and its legs were not Hooves as Arya was expecting. It opened its mouth and let out an animal esk war cry before charging at her, axe raised.
Needing no further prompting, Arya legged it back to the tower where Isha was waiting with Soul Arrows. When the Demon was in range Isha let loose and fired a shot right at the Taurus Demon's face, and while the shot missed it intended target but it did hit its shoulder.
Arya took the advantage to gather fire in her palm and spun to fling it at the Demon's torso. It hit its mark and her nose was filled with the scent of burning fur. It cried out in pain and swung its huge axe at Arya, it narrowly missed her, but threw her off balance making her landing less than graceful, and the axe crashed into the small barrier dethatching many stones and sending them tumbling down to the ocean below.
When the Taurus cried out in pain, Arya did as well, she wasn't hit by the axe but still felt pain in her shoulder and chest.
Isha let loose rapid fire trio of Soul Arrow's that successfully hit their mark on the Taurus Demon's head and chest.
Arya also felt the pain of it.
She decided she was in pain from the fall and carried on.
The Demon looked up at Isha and walked over Arya to the tower. It bent its legs and leaped up onto the tower. Isha dived out of the way and landed hard on the ground near the ladder. Scrambling over to it, she went down it one rung at a time, giving the Demon on top ample time to realise its prey was going down.
Again it leaped off the roof and landed on the ground with ease.
Arya was ready this time and ran at its legs gripping her sword in both hands over her head, brought it down in an arch, cutting the Taurus Demon deep on its leg, aiming for its femoral artery. The attack brought both of them to their knees.
"Arya!" her sister screamed in panic and ran to her. She was afraid that the Demon had landed on her sister and crushed her to death.
Still firing Soul Arrows at the thing she ran to her and saw a small cut on the inside of her leg. It mirrored the one she gave to the Taurus Demon…
She pulled her sister up and they both ran (and hobbled) away from the angry demon that was looking over its shoulder at them unable to follow due to its injury.
"Hit it again." Arya asked through clenched teeth. She was in a lot of pain everywhere and hoped that her theory of why was wrong.
Doing as instructed, Isha let loose another Arrow, this time hitting the back of the Taurus's shoulder. Remarkably, Arya yelled and gripped her shoulder where the Demon was hit.
And in that moment, she knew that somehow she would have to avoid dishing out damage in the battle to avoid more injuries.
The Demon steadily got to its feet, intent on demolishing its prey. Nothing had given it this much hassle, not even the little undead from earlier who quickly dashed under its legs and through the fog gate on the other side. It stalked over to where they stood, virtually trapped. They tripped over a rock and fell to the ground utterly helpless.
Arya and Isha were afraid. Never before had they felt this kind of utter terror before. They knew that to fight back meant sacrificing Arya's life, as somehow both she and the Taurus Demon were linked. But not fighting also meant death. Either way death was coming.
The two sisters' clutched hands, their breathing came in quick short breaths as it felt like their throats had closed. They could hear their heartbeats in their ears as they stared wide eyed at the approaching Beast. The Adrenalin was so predominant in their bodies it was nearly assured that there would be no pain from the blow.
The Demon's footsteps uttered death with each thudding drop. When it was within striking distance it raised up its greataxe intent on quickly killing the two annoyances that had so rudely invaded its territory and attacked it. It would enjoy devouring them whole…or at least whatever was left of them.
Finally reaching her breaking point, Arya cried out in a final futile attempt to stop the attack.
"Wait, Stop!" She screamed throwing out her hands as if to catch the axe and stop it from crushing them. Her hands were shaking uncontrollably.
The Demon tilted its head and looked at the human not half its height curiously. It studied her for a moment before a great growl erupted from its chest and readying its greataxe for another attack intending to crush the girl.
"Stop It!" she yelled at it again with a slight quiver in her voice.
Miraculously, the Taurus Demon lowered its greataxe no longer intending to crush her to death. Arya stood not sure if it was all a ruse and it was playing with them, giving them hope before taking it away forever. She took a brave step forward close enough to the beast that if it wanted, it could crush her in his hand. The Demon did no such thing. Isha gasped and reached out slightly wanting to pull her younger sister away from the thing, but she was immobile in fear and afraid that any sudden movements would cause it to attack.
To the demon when the small human yelled out he heard a voice he thought long gone never to return… however… that voice.
That was the voice of its mother, it brought forth his memories of his birth in the searing flames of the bed of chaos… Had his mother returned?
He could not help but obey her command. The scent of fear and surprise and blood was rolling off of the two small humans, but… mother had told him to stop, and he stopped. His surprise was enough that he dropped the axe he had pieced together from the bones of greater demons he had vanquished.
Isha and Arya were very confused when the Demon not only hated its attack, but dropped the greataxe completely. And to top it off all the Demon had surprisingly, even lost control of the souls he had stolen from his prey, all of which drained into Arya.
Isha whispered "Tell it to go away!" from her place on the ground.
"You are going to let us pass?" She half asked feeling a little braver but unable to stop the shaking, putting her hand over the course fur of the things leg.
The Taurus Demon growled and did nothing.
"Then…Then you are going to go back to the Demon's Ruins and Lost Izalith" She told it.
'Go home'? … This bridge was his home, unless mother meant the Bed of Chaos…
The great beast shook its head and stomped the bridge with its foot, as if indicating 'this is my home'. Arya was a little confused as to why it left and was on the bridge in the first place and why it was so reluctant to leave. As if answering her question, it lowered itself onto its knees so she could pat its head.
"Well, this place is not your home. You home is back in the Demon's Ruins with your own kind, you don't belong here!" She near yelled at it stepping away in case it reacted violently. "Go back to where you belong and torment these people no longer!"
He decided he would need to inform his brethren of this development anyways. Retrieving his axe, he stood and leapt off the side of the walls and down into the depths below.
"How did you do that?" Isha near whispered, perplexed. She had panicked when her younger sister willingly dropped all her weapons and walked over to the beast. And even more so when the thing listened to her.
Arya shrugged as she walked over to pick up her weapon, it felt right having it back in her grip but she felt strange... somehow ashamed of herself "I- I don't really know how I did it. I knew when I was feeling its pain, that I had this connection to it, and hoped to god it would listen to me." She wasn't smiling, even though she should be happy that they had 'achieved victory' and somehow gained a huge amount of souls without killing the Taurus Demon.
They walked to the other end of the bridge, which was minus some fog blocking the door. And found a room full of barrels and down a set of stairs and out onto…Another bridge. With more Hollow Soldiers with spears on it. And what seemed like a viewing platform on the other end away from the bridge.
Since Arya was still a little injured they decided to rest at the viewing point before even attempting the bridge. Isha was worried, normally her sister was upbeat and a little serious, now she was very depressed about something. When they were two flights of stairs down, they noticed someone in full armour set.
His helmet was a bucket shape with a thin slit for vision and his armour bore a symbol of the Sun, around his shoulders he wore a green scarf like piece of cloth. His weapons were an Astora straight sword and a Sunlight shield.
Upon hearing their footsteps against the stone he turned to greet them.
"Hello friends, you don't look Hollow, far from it! I am Solaire of Astora, an adherent of the Lord of Sunlight. Now that I am undead, I have come to this great land, the birthplace of Lord Gwyn, to seek my very own sun! ...Do you find that strange? Well you should! No need to hide your reactions. I get those looks all the time! Hah hah hah!" He said, looking back to the setting sun. "Oh if only I could be so incandescent."
The two just shared a look before returning their gaze at him.
"You don't seem strange at all. Many people go on journeys to find their own 'suns'" Isha commented as her sister sat on a bench.
"I don't? Praise the Sun. A short time ago I dealt with an undead who happened to be the chosen. I gave him some advice and sent him on his merry way. But now he seems to have attracted the attention of that huge Drake on the Bridge. So now I am stuck here for a while. At least until it flies away again. I am thankful for your company." He took off his helmet as he spoke, he was a short blond haired whose hair appeared to be made of pure gold ending just past his ears, with very dramatic blue eyes as pure as the sky. He gave them a smile that would make any women swoon.
"Well, we are going to be heading in that direction as well. Do you want to travel together? We don't really have a set destination in mind." Arya asked the knight.
His smile grew if that was possible. "I would be honoured to travel with you fair maiden. After all, what kind of Knight would I be if I denied help to damsels in distress?"
"Okay. Let's just wait a few minutes while I recover…" Arya asked turning to the sunset.
"Is something the matter?" Solaire asked looking at the crestfallen woman.
"We were nearly crushed by the Taurus Demon. And I made it leave, but I was terrified…" She told them, tears in her eyes. "I was so afraid that I couldn't move! Damn it, I ashamed of myself, I should not have froze like that!" Tears were now falling down her cheeks.
"Being afraid in battle is not shameful. Fear is not 'Evil'. It is necessary to know your weakness." He said smiling at her "If you know your weakness you can become strong and kind. When you fear for someone else, you can become truly stronger, strength to protect is better than strength for one's self."
Solaire's pep talk had brought Arya out of her depression and back into reality. He was right. Next time she was not going to freeze, she was going to fight to protect her sister…no matter how childish it sounded.
BlackoutSampler
So Easily Forgotten
I cant wait until they meet the Chosen Undead... who greets them by dodge rolling around them for a few seconds and doing the "well what of it" emote, and then pulls out his Binoculars to compare the sister's chests sizes.
but for serious, watched.
but for serious, watched.
WolfBlaas
Lady of the Abyss
- Location
- Ireland
This story already has a few chapters completed but I may have to add that somewhere
HarakoniWarhawk
Striking from the Skies
- Location
- Holy Terra
- Pronouns
- She/Her
It seems that Arya has a link to the Life soul of the Witch of Izalith. I daresay she may be able to use Flame Sorcery if she has a talk with the Demon Firesage. Is there any chance that they would join Solaire's Covenant and engage in Jolly Cooperation!
WolfBlaas
Lady of the Abyss
- Location
- Ireland
This why I love this site. I never though of her joining in Solaire's covenant. That could be an interesting thing to do.
WolfBlaas
Lady of the Abyss
- Location
- Ireland
All right you've waited enough. Sorry for the wait. But thanks for all the positive remarks.
If I make any changes to any of the earlier chapters I will say 'There's a change in chapter 'XY&Z''
Once again (BREAK) means there should be a line break. I still dont know how to put that in here.
"Well friends, we seen to be in luck today. That Drake is nowhere to be seen, so let's press on." Solaire said with too much enthusiasm. He was the only person to step onto the wooden and stone bridge.
With much caution Arya and Isha followed him keeping an eye out for anything that would surprise them. The bridge was occupied by a few spear Hollows and further in the back were crossbow Hollows. Luckily they hadn't seen them on the bridge or were waiting for them to get closer before opening fire. The two spear soldiers raised their shields and slowly marched forward.
Arya was all healed and fired up for a battle, Solaire's worlds really got her encouraged to become stronger. Her sword still sheathed on her back she charged forward gathering all the flame she could into her clenched fist and punched the first Hollow's shield making a massive dent and causing it to stagger backwards lowering its guard. She wasted no time in swinging her sword from her back in a two handed fashion ending the hollow before it had hit the ground.
Solaire and Isha had tag teamed the other hollow with Isha stunning it with a well placed Soul Spear, she may not be the strongest with her magic, but her reach and aim were second to none and when the Hollow was stunned, Solaire was quick to close the distance and kill it with a swing of his sword.
He was much more graceful that Arya with his sword play, his swings were accurate and neat, while Arya's were wide and slow. Solaire noted that the blade was too big for she girl, she was unable to wield it effectively, even though she had the strength and stamina to wield it, it was not made for her. His blade, while made from a standard Astora straight sword template, was measured to his grip and height. Making the blade suited to himself.
But it was clear that Arya's blade was something that was found not made. The grip was too big and even for a greatsword the blade was much too big and wide for her. It was like a Zweihander or claymore was to a normal warrior. If she wanted a blade made to fit her, she would need to visit a blacksmith.
When the two Spear Hollow's were defeated they continued onward. Further onto the wooden bridge. The bridge itself was covered in what looked like oil and many scorch marks. This large pile of wood had seen many battles.
Their boots made thunking noises as they hit the base and the day was relatively quiet. Even the wind was calm. It was eerie but never the less they had to continue.
When they came within range, the crossbowmen began firing on them. Bringing out their shields, Solaire and Arya formed a wall while Isha charged a spell. With her command the wall split and she released two simulations Soul Arrows and, while not very strong, was enough to stun them a little. It was ample time for Solaire and Arya to rush forward, cross their paths and confuse the hollows who were not sure who to aim at. They sliced their blades across the hollows chests felling them in one blow.
Before they could celebrate a rushing of wings could be heard and a torrent of wind was felt.
The Drake was back.
They couldn't reflect on the return on the Hellkite Drakes' return either as another Hollow with a sword and shield was hiding behind the stone pillars and had its sword raised ready to strike at Solaire's unprotected back.
"Solaire! Behind you!" Arya shouted afraid that her new friend was going to be stabbed.
But the warning was enough and his knight reflexes and training took over. He spun on his heel, narrowly avoiding the sword before bashing it away with his Sunlight Shield and drove his own blade through the hollows chest burying the blade to the hilt. It fell to its knees where Solaire braced his foot on its shoulder and pulled out his blade.
"We must move quickly." He yelled as the Drake landed on the huge building on the other side of the bridge.
Its growling could be heard even from where it was perched. Its massive tail was swinging lazily from side to side acting as a counter balance. It saw the trio on its bridge but did nothing about it, it just continued to observe them. And they didn't move, hoping that they would not attack unless provoked or that its eyesight was based on movement… They didn't hold much hope for the latter.
"Well Solaire, what do we do now?" Arya questioned willing the dragon to fly away without burning them to a crisp.
"I think we should run for that set of stairs on the right." He retorted indicating to them with a slight head inclination.
"Then let's move sooner rather than later. I don't want to be burnt to ash and die." Arya turned her head slightly and prepared herself for a dead sprint. "Isha you run first, then Solaire and I will follow, you are the most vulnerable with no heat resistance, Solaire has armour and I seem to have more resistance with my Pyromancy."
They seemed to be in agreement.
Solaire began a quiet countdown "Three…Two…One…NOW!"
Every one of them bolted from where they were standing and made toward the stairs. Solaire in his heavy armour was slower than Arya and Isha but was not over encumbered by the weight and was still light enough for his sprint.
At their movement the huge Drake spread his wings and raised his head, preparing to rain fire down on them. Decimating a moving target was much more fun.
Isha was at the stairs and threw herself down them knowing that she would have bruises, Solaire was level with Arya and would not make it to the shelter in time. She knew this as did Solaire, so she sheathed her sword on her back and pushed him down the steps with all her strength.
And without looking at his astounded face as he fell, Arya jump rolled backward into the middle of the bridge. She bent her knees and brought her hands together as if in prayer but pointed forward instead of up. As the wall of fire came closer to her, she thrust her hands forward splitting the fire with the tips of her fingers.
As soon as the fire ended, Arya threw herself down the stairs, rolling painfully as she hit the wood. When she was safely down and off her adrenalin high, she felt the full extent of her wounds. The dragon fire had badly burnt her hands, they were blistered and bloody…And in pain. She was screaming bloody murder and swearing from the pain.
Isha immediately ran and lifted her sister to her knees. The smell of her burnt flesh was enough to make her vomit. Solaire was much more attuned to the sight and smell of death, went to the woman and pulled her hands away from her chest and gave them a through look over. He pulled out an Estus flask and opened the cap with his teeth and sit the cork to the ground.
"Lady Arya, I am going to put the Estus onto your hands, it will sting while it heals but your wounds will heal." She told her.
Arya glared at him and screamed "I don't give a fuck! My hands are fucking charred! Do it already!!"
Not needing any more encouragement he poured the contents of the Estus onto her hands. The liquid stung as if Iodine or Salt had been poured onto the wounds. She cried from the pain when Solaire rubbed the Estus into the charred skin. The pain was excruciating.
Finally after a few minutes, Arya's hands were mainly healed from the burns but were by no means completely healed. She would have difficulty using her sword.
"Hay, I found a ladder back to the burg's fireplace. We can rest there and refill the Estus so Arya can heal her hands." Isha said pointing to a doorway a few meters away.
Deciding it was the best course of action, the trio made their way to the ladder, Solaire kicked the mechanism and lowered the metal rungs and was the first to slide down. Isha went second and attempted to slide as Solaire had but went to fast and her legs buckled from the impact, causing her to fall on her ass. The sun knight was kind enough to help her up…After laughing first. Arya followed but she jumped down to the broken stairs so she wouldn't have to use her hands.
After drinking the last of the Estus, they refilled it from the fire. Everyone was seated around the bonfire, the two sisters were sitting together while Solaire took one on the other side. Arya's hands were a lot better thanks to the Estus earlier, but they still were in pain and blistered red and raw from the burning. Isha saw this and took her sisters hand's in her own.
"Isha, your hands are cold, really cold." She commented. It was true her hands were like ice. Not that Arya was going to complain, the cold was soothing her burns.
"Really, they feel fine to me." Isha replied smiling.
"Friends, I think that if we have some humanity, we could raise the amount of Estus we can collect. As of now, we can get enough for five drinks. But we can add five for every humanity we use." Solaire told them.
Thinking back, the sisters had obtained some humanity off the undead soldiers. They had found a small black sprite upon the bodies of a few that they had killed. They pocketed them and put them in their pouches. Taking one out, they passed it to the knight and he in turned crushed it and let the liquid fall between his fingers onto the flame. The reaction was instantaneous, the fire's flame grew and was tinted black for a moment before it faded back to red and orange.
Things were silent for a while as they cooked some meat on the fire and they each drank their fill of the Estus as it constantly replenished from the fire. Solaire stored his helm back into his bottomless box and turned his gaze to Arya.
"Forgive me for being so forward but I have never seen anyone throw fire the way you do." He said looking for something within Arya's eyes. "Every Pyromancer I have come across has needs an enchanted glove, yet you summon it from your very soul. How did you come to gain this power?"
"I don't know. I've always had it, I guess." She answered honestly. Ever since she came to Lordran she had the ability to cast fire, the first time was against the black knight in the Undead Asylum. "Why do you ask?"
"Mainly curiosity, the only rumours of wielders of fire like yours is from the Witch of Izalith and her Daughters of Chaos. Who, using the Lord's Flame, were capable of weaving great Firestorms. Not much is known now about her, and the only ones to truly know the story lay in Blighttown." He told them. "And I am the only person to wield Lightning in a similar fashion…"
"What? Why didn't you mention this before? It seems a little important?" Isha spoke tilting her head and raising a brow. She was not trying to be accusatory, though it may have come across as.
"Well, I don't use it as often as I should. To be able to form Lightning from nothing, not even a talisman is very strange indeed. Many have called me demon, heretic or even tried to kill me outright." The usually chipper knight was downcast as he repeated his tale. "I don't know why I have this power, or where it came from. That was the reason for my questions. Since I have met another that can summon without the need of traditional mediums, I hoped to get closer to the answer."
(BREAK)
After their rest they continued on to the bridge, they went under the dragon so they could avoid the dragon's fire. Arya was unsure if she could replicate her last miracle of splitting the fire… That and her hands would never survive another onslaught. So under they went, meeting little resistance save for an undead knight and a spear knight that was easily pushed off the edge with Isha's magic.
Arya wished for a bow to shoot the Dragon's Tail… As revenge for her hands. Sadly she was bow-less.
The group had a little trouble with the undead rats. The three half decayed rats were pushing them off the bridge. Isha managed to kill one outright with a well placed Soul Arrow which gave Solaire and Arya the chance to stab their own targets. Solaire's large shield was a good cover, they hid behind it before slamming it on the rats head and driving their swords threw the rats skulls.
Finally they ascended the ladder into the Parish. And after the first Soldier came face to face with a huge metal plated Boar.
"How do we get past that?!" Arya whispered.
Solaire was at a loss and Isha had a hand on her chin.
"Maybe…" She began "If you too go on first and draw its attention I can focus on hitting its flank with my magic and the one who wasn't targeted can take out the other Undead Soldiers. And when that is done we can regroup, and scatter when it charges, we'll be stationed near a wall so it ram's into it, disorienting itself. Then we attack its unprotected flanks." Isha planned.
Solaire beamed "It seems we have the makings of an excellent tactician" He encouraged.
So they began to carry out Isha's plan. She stayed behind at the top of the steps and waited for her moment to let loose her magic. Arya, who had her shield out, and Solaire stood at either side of the opening and waited for the Boar to charge. The beast charged at Solaire intending to impale him on its tusks, he was faster and rolled to the side forcing the Boar to skid as it stopped.
Arya went to the alcove where a Spear hollow while the Boar was distracted. She raised her shield as the hollow thrust forward, the spear glanced off the shield and she, in her right hand, blasted her Fire ball at the opening. Her hand stung from the heat of her own spell, it was still unhealed.
She ignored the pain and returned to the fray. The Boar was enraged at Isha throwing spells at his back, turned to charge at her. Solaire and Arya kept up the attack and slashed at its back, returning the focus to them. Arya ran to the stairs with the beast hot on her heals. It smashed in the pillars breaking and denting them. While it was stuck, she readied her Pyromancy and threw it at its face, but it was Isha that delivered the killing blow. She drew her dagger and stuck it into its neck twisting the blade. It didn't take long for the thing to fall to the ground dead, exploding into millions of Souls.
"Wow, your plan was good… to a point." Arya told her sister.
She huffed "You can't account for everything, you have to be flexible."
But she couldn't keep her angry face and it grew into a smile before both of them laughed at each other.
(BREAK)
The rest of the journey was easy compared to the Boar. The soldier archer's were easily taken out by Isha and Solaire and Arya ran to the underground. They began clearing out the hollows with ease.
Making it to the outside bridge they made it threw to a narrow walkway. Two Hollows, a new type with more armour and a spear soldier behind them boxing them in.
Isha immediately took charge "Solaire, front. Arya, back." She ordered.
Doing as instructed Solaire turned to face the Balder Knight and Arya the spear knight. With his experience, the Balder Knight was easy for Solaire to take on his own, while Arya and Isha tag teamed the spear Hollow. Isha sent a barrage of soul Arrows at it that bashed its shield with such force that forced it to stagger, that gave Arya the opening she needed to rush forward and cut the hollow down.
Turning they saw that Solaire was just finished with the Balder Knight, he managed a shield bash and a riposte, stabbing his sword threw its chest. The light glowing in its eyes faded as it died.
"Moving on." The sun knight said.
They opened the gate to the area where they fought the boar and cleared out the three Balder Knights in the first area of the church when they ran out and engaged them. Going back around, they crossed the bridge and the rickety wooden planks, and quickly killed the three hollow soldiers. Arya was very tired from swinging her sword all day. Solaire was right, the thing was too big for her.
Entering the side door to the church they admired the ancient yet crumbling architecture. But before they could wander too far into the building, a large shadow loomed from the right. Solaire pushed them out of the way before rolling himself to dodge the giant mace that crashed into the floor causing a huge dent.
The group made it back outside the church to the open area. The Tower Knight followed wielding his shield and mace. The shield was nearly as big as he was.
"Spread out!" Solaire shouted. Doing as bid the two sisters made a triangle with Solaire, surrounding the knight who was focused on the Sun Knight.
It charged, its mace over its shoulder running at Solaire. He rolled to the side to avoid the swing and getting behind the Tower Knight, leaped onto its back, stabbing it. Arya, two handing her Black Knight Sword, ran and spun to get more speed on her swing and slashed at the knight's unprotected side. It cried out in pain but refused to go down.
Reaching up over its shoulder, the Tower Knight grabbed Solaire and threw him to the ground, winding him.
While he struggled to his feet, the Tower Knight turned to Arya. She was breathing heavily and leaning on her sword as the knight sauntered forward raising his mace. Before he could swing, he was hit with a trio of powerful spells in rapid succession. Isha continued her barrage forcing the knight slowly backwards…toward the edge of the ledge.
With each spell she fired, her power diminished and her speed decreased. When it was on the edge she gathered all her energy, but the knight seeing this weakness regained his steady feet and went to sprint forward, but Solaire and Arya ran at him from both sides and slashed at his flanks, preventing him from carrying forward.
With her power storied Isha screamed "MOVE!" and swinging her catalyst as if it was a sword threw a huge ball of magic energy. It hit the knight on the chest and he lost his footing, swinging his arms he tried in vain to prevent his fall. He went over the edge with a ferocious yell.
(BREAK)
They decided to rest before going back into the church, which was a great idea since Arya and Isha were completely tuckered out.
But when they did enter to church again they were nearly got a heavy soul Arrow to the chest. Isha grabbed Arya's collar and pulled her backwards to the entrance as the magic projectile flew past her.
Arya, taking more caution, looked around the corner to the balcony. There she saw a strange creature taller than a man, but with a similar appearance, donning robes of a peculiar design with a helm with six eyes and wielding a trident. He started doing a strange dance and chant, hopping from foot to foot with his trident in his both hands.
"What is that thing?" Arya whispered.
"Maybe it's in that book the Crestfallen Knight gave us." Isha reminded her. Rummaging around in her pack she pulled out a worn leather bound book, unclasped the latch and began flicking through it. "Ah, here it is. 'Channeler, "Snatchers", as they were often called, are servants of Seath the Scaleless. They travelled far in search of suitable specimens for Seath's experiments. The design on their helms allow Seath to supervise from afar.' Oh there's a note in the edge… Non respawning."
The edge of the wall exploded from the impact of the Soul Arrow.
"Hmm. There seems to be a lag between one arrow and the next. We need to use that gap to move to those stairs." Isha directed, pointing to the far corner where a set of stairs were. "You two go first, I'll provide cover fire and when you two are safely in, that's when I'll make my sprint."
Waiting for the gap Solaire ran forward, Arya followed with a little hesitation, she was not willing to run to her death. When they made it to the stairs, Solaire took charge and continued to rush up the steps. He was nearly decapitated by a Balder Knight. If not for his trained reflexes, he would be minus one. But he brought up his sword and met the blade with his own.
As he was on the lower ground he was at a disadvantage, and would have been beaten if not for a voice from the bottom of the stairs shouting "Solaire, Duck!"
Doing as bid the knight crouched and a mass of soul energy was released and flung over his head hitting the Balder Knight right on his helm, disorientating him. Solaire used the distraction to swing his sword over his head and cut down the knight.
Finally reaching the top of the stairs and the narrow corridor the trio were nearly defeated by the sheer numbers of Hollow's. They were being powered up by the Channeler and were a handful, if it weren't for the narrow corridor forcing them into a near single file, they would have been overwhelmed.
When they were all dead…Well, deader. Arya looked through the thin window to the balcony where the robed mage was standing and saw that it was doing its strange dance again. This didn't disturb her, but the blue glow of the recently felled hollows did. The thing was reviving them… So, taking a literal leap of faith, Arya threw herself from the window to the Channeler. Her hands ablaze, she gripped the front of his robe and burned right through it. The momentum of her jump forced the Channeler on his back, disrupting his spell and causing the trident to fall from his hand.
Something was clutched in Arya's hand. When she gripped the mage's jacket, something was in his pocket. Her fire was so hot that is completely burnt away the clothes and left the oval thing in her hand. It felt like a stone of some kind. Not taking the time to examine it, Arya clenched her still flame coated hand around the rock and began beating the Channeller with it. When it went to reach for its trident (so it could release another Soul Arrow no doubt). But before it could reach it, Arya pulled her sword from her back and stabbed the thing in it chest.
It released a surprised noise before dying and exploding into millions of soul fragments.
"You just leaped out of the window!? Are you insane!?" Isha shouted at her lifting her off the ground and embracing her crazy sister. "I would have been all alone if you died…" She whispered the last part.
Solaire had rushed around the corner and shouted "Praise the Sun! You were magnificent, though that was a very risky move, it paid out well in the end. And these Channeler do not become reborn. So we are very fortunate in that!" He laughed.
"Looks like you'll need more Estus." Isha spoke after looking at her sisters bloody and broken hand's "What's clenched in your hand?"
Slowly unclenching what could only be her broken hand she revealed an oval-ish gem. It was uncut so it had jagged edges that had cut into her palm. The gem looked to be some kind of Ruby, though it was a little hard to tell with all of Arya's blood on it, inside the gem was a small flame. How it got there was a mystery, but Arya and Isha were in a game world right now so anything was possible.
"Wow, this is a special gemstone." Solaire told her, taking the gem from her hand and pouring Estus on the wound. "While the Channeller's are more known for capturing young Maiden's they do carry all sorts of magical paraphernalia on their possession. You also seem to have embedded it with your Pyromancy, hence the flame within."
"Where do we go now? We know that the Channeller isn't coming back, so do we double back to the bonfire? Or move forward?" Isha questioned.
"Actually, there might be some important or helpful items here, plus we have no idea where the next bonfire is. I say we search the place." Arya said, hoping to get to search the place. She remembered that there was someone important locked away in the attic here. Though she couldn't remember who or why they were important.
Isha readily agreed, she could read her sister's intensions and knew that there was something she wanted to see in the church. Solaire also agreed being more an avid follower and guide then a leader.
So the group travelled back downstairs and found a Firekeeper's Soul on a corpse that sat on the alter that the Balder Knight was guarding, and with it in their possession they roamed the upper floors of the church, (finding a Souls of a nameless soldier and a Humanity) coming to a boarded off door, they had Solaire break it down with ease. At the top of the stairs they met a knight in full golden armour behind bars.
"Oh? still human, are you? Though you look a little worse for wear." He said to the group barely lifting his head "Then I am in luck. I am Knight Lautrec of Carim. Could you help me? As you can see I am stuck, without recourse."
"Why should we? You must be here for a reason." Arya boldly replied, though she knew it was easier to be confident on this side of a locked cell.
"Please, I have duties to fulfil, and I will reward you handsomely." He bribed "Well? I am certain you stand to benefit."
The trio turned away from him and began to confer between themselves. "I don't like this. He would not be here for no reason…" Isha ever the voice of reason began.
"True, but I have heard tales of this knight. He would make a fine addition in our adventure should we be in a fight." Solaire argued.
It was Arya's turn to weigh in, "I think Solaire is right. He seems like a good fighter. Though we shouldn't let our guards down with him."
Turning around, Isha held out her Master key to free the knight. "Alright Lautrec, we'll free you, IF, you agree to accompany us for a shot while. We are headed into the unknown and could do with the extra manpower."
The Golden Knight 'hmm'ed and slowly rose to his feet, then he pulled off the helm that adorned his head. He lowered it to his side as he shook his chin length dirty blond hair away from eyes which were a dark steel grey. "I accept. I will join you for a short time.
Isha unlocked the door allowing the knight to step free. He took a long breath, revelling in his new-found freedom. "Where too?"
(BREAK)
They climbed a ladder and arrived at the top of the Church. A wall of fog blocked the path to the roof. Arya and Isha stood back from it.
"What's wrong? Scared of a little fog?" Lautrec teased.
"No. The last time we went through a fog door like this, there was a giant Taurus Demon waiting for us." Isha told him.
The golden knight scoffed and with no hesitation, traversed the fog. The others followed quickly.
The roof was mainly slanted and tiled with slates, many of them were thrown from the roof. There must have been a big battle here. Recently. Over toward the far edge of the roof there was a corpse of a stone gargoyle. Before they could examine it, the bell on the church roof rang loudly. Turning sharply at the sound they saw a figure standing at the edge of the bell tower, looking down at them.
It was the Chosen Undead. He stood in Elite Knight armour similar to Oscar's with few differences. Oh his back was a large shield and in his and was a longsword. He quickly pulled out a homeward bone and crushed it in his hand. Returning to the last bonfire he rested at.
"Well, that was pointless." Lautrec sneered. "That damn chosen walk right past my cell and now he leaves me here with two 'girls' and a worthless excuse for a knight."
"Well, if it weren't for these 'girls' you'd still be rotting in that cell." Arya reminded him walking over to a dead Gargoyle that was leaning precariously on the edge of the roof.
"I would take that tail if I were you." The golden Knight spoke. "The raw material can be used to make a 'Gargoyle Tail Axe'. As long as you take it to a competent Smith."
Doing as recommended Arya and Solaire cut off the tail and put it into the Bottomless Box before heading into the bell tower. It was empty, to no one's surprise and they all looked around.
"Greetings." A voice from behind them spoke causing them all to jump and Lautrec and Solaire to draw their weapons. "I am Oswald of Carim, the pardoner. Thou art a friend. For thee, a warm welcome. Cometh thou to confess? Or to accuse? For indeed all sin is my domain." He stood arms outstretched as if waiting for an embrace, was wearing a large black cleric robe with matching gloves and boots, and a helm that covered most of his face, save his mouth.
"Ah, Lautrec, didn't think I'd be seeing you so soon." Oswald said. The knight refused to reply.
"That was the Chosen Undead, wasn't it?" Arya asked him nodding toward the top of the tower.
"Indeed it was. I may not have had the pleasure to speak with him though I am sure that he will come here in time. After all, it is only human to commit a sin... Hehehehehe."
The group left shortly after that thoroughly creepy laugh.
Exiting the church they went down a previously unexplored area, they walked over a large stone walkway and into a ruined building. Taking the wooden stairs that were at the edge of the building, they began to hear the sound of metal hitting metal. When they reached the end of the stairs and came to a large open area, Arya lit the non-lighting bonfire with a flick of her wrist and a fireball. Each of them drew their weapons before heading down again.
Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs they found the source of the noise. It was an elderly man, with a huge grey beard, wearing no shirt and sitting behind an anvil. He was hitting a glowing hot piece of metal with his hammer. Noticing that he wasn't alone he looked up from his work and surveyed the group. There was a tense silence before…
"Andrey! Praise the Sun, is it really you Andrey?" Solaire shouted rushing forward and bringing the man into a tight hug.
"Ah Solaire. Yes it really is." Andrey replied, returning the hug. "I see that you still can't keep out of trouble."
After the introductions were out of the way, Andrey turned to Arya. "You girl." He began "That blade, it wasn't made for you was it?"
"Why does everyone keep saying that!" Arya exclaimed.
"Because it looks too big and awkward in your hands. Give it to me and I'll forge you a new one from it." He took the blade from her hands and began to appraise it. "Hmmm, this is a Black Knight Sword. You actually managed to kill one of those? Well, as impressive as that is, this blade was tempered in the Kiln of the First flame and that'll make it more difficult to reforge. But-" he said. "-There's never been a blade that I couldn't bend to my hammer."
If I make any changes to any of the earlier chapters I will say 'There's a change in chapter 'XY&Z''
Once again (BREAK) means there should be a line break. I still dont know how to put that in here.
Chapter 3
"Well friends, we seen to be in luck today. That Drake is nowhere to be seen, so let's press on." Solaire said with too much enthusiasm. He was the only person to step onto the wooden and stone bridge.
With much caution Arya and Isha followed him keeping an eye out for anything that would surprise them. The bridge was occupied by a few spear Hollows and further in the back were crossbow Hollows. Luckily they hadn't seen them on the bridge or were waiting for them to get closer before opening fire. The two spear soldiers raised their shields and slowly marched forward.
Arya was all healed and fired up for a battle, Solaire's worlds really got her encouraged to become stronger. Her sword still sheathed on her back she charged forward gathering all the flame she could into her clenched fist and punched the first Hollow's shield making a massive dent and causing it to stagger backwards lowering its guard. She wasted no time in swinging her sword from her back in a two handed fashion ending the hollow before it had hit the ground.
Solaire and Isha had tag teamed the other hollow with Isha stunning it with a well placed Soul Spear, she may not be the strongest with her magic, but her reach and aim were second to none and when the Hollow was stunned, Solaire was quick to close the distance and kill it with a swing of his sword.
He was much more graceful that Arya with his sword play, his swings were accurate and neat, while Arya's were wide and slow. Solaire noted that the blade was too big for she girl, she was unable to wield it effectively, even though she had the strength and stamina to wield it, it was not made for her. His blade, while made from a standard Astora straight sword template, was measured to his grip and height. Making the blade suited to himself.
But it was clear that Arya's blade was something that was found not made. The grip was too big and even for a greatsword the blade was much too big and wide for her. It was like a Zweihander or claymore was to a normal warrior. If she wanted a blade made to fit her, she would need to visit a blacksmith.
When the two Spear Hollow's were defeated they continued onward. Further onto the wooden bridge. The bridge itself was covered in what looked like oil and many scorch marks. This large pile of wood had seen many battles.
Their boots made thunking noises as they hit the base and the day was relatively quiet. Even the wind was calm. It was eerie but never the less they had to continue.
When they came within range, the crossbowmen began firing on them. Bringing out their shields, Solaire and Arya formed a wall while Isha charged a spell. With her command the wall split and she released two simulations Soul Arrows and, while not very strong, was enough to stun them a little. It was ample time for Solaire and Arya to rush forward, cross their paths and confuse the hollows who were not sure who to aim at. They sliced their blades across the hollows chests felling them in one blow.
Before they could celebrate a rushing of wings could be heard and a torrent of wind was felt.
The Drake was back.
They couldn't reflect on the return on the Hellkite Drakes' return either as another Hollow with a sword and shield was hiding behind the stone pillars and had its sword raised ready to strike at Solaire's unprotected back.
"Solaire! Behind you!" Arya shouted afraid that her new friend was going to be stabbed.
But the warning was enough and his knight reflexes and training took over. He spun on his heel, narrowly avoiding the sword before bashing it away with his Sunlight Shield and drove his own blade through the hollows chest burying the blade to the hilt. It fell to its knees where Solaire braced his foot on its shoulder and pulled out his blade.
"We must move quickly." He yelled as the Drake landed on the huge building on the other side of the bridge.
Its growling could be heard even from where it was perched. Its massive tail was swinging lazily from side to side acting as a counter balance. It saw the trio on its bridge but did nothing about it, it just continued to observe them. And they didn't move, hoping that they would not attack unless provoked or that its eyesight was based on movement… They didn't hold much hope for the latter.
"Well Solaire, what do we do now?" Arya questioned willing the dragon to fly away without burning them to a crisp.
"I think we should run for that set of stairs on the right." He retorted indicating to them with a slight head inclination.
"Then let's move sooner rather than later. I don't want to be burnt to ash and die." Arya turned her head slightly and prepared herself for a dead sprint. "Isha you run first, then Solaire and I will follow, you are the most vulnerable with no heat resistance, Solaire has armour and I seem to have more resistance with my Pyromancy."
They seemed to be in agreement.
Solaire began a quiet countdown "Three…Two…One…NOW!"
Every one of them bolted from where they were standing and made toward the stairs. Solaire in his heavy armour was slower than Arya and Isha but was not over encumbered by the weight and was still light enough for his sprint.
At their movement the huge Drake spread his wings and raised his head, preparing to rain fire down on them. Decimating a moving target was much more fun.
Isha was at the stairs and threw herself down them knowing that she would have bruises, Solaire was level with Arya and would not make it to the shelter in time. She knew this as did Solaire, so she sheathed her sword on her back and pushed him down the steps with all her strength.
And without looking at his astounded face as he fell, Arya jump rolled backward into the middle of the bridge. She bent her knees and brought her hands together as if in prayer but pointed forward instead of up. As the wall of fire came closer to her, she thrust her hands forward splitting the fire with the tips of her fingers.
As soon as the fire ended, Arya threw herself down the stairs, rolling painfully as she hit the wood. When she was safely down and off her adrenalin high, she felt the full extent of her wounds. The dragon fire had badly burnt her hands, they were blistered and bloody…And in pain. She was screaming bloody murder and swearing from the pain.
Isha immediately ran and lifted her sister to her knees. The smell of her burnt flesh was enough to make her vomit. Solaire was much more attuned to the sight and smell of death, went to the woman and pulled her hands away from her chest and gave them a through look over. He pulled out an Estus flask and opened the cap with his teeth and sit the cork to the ground.
"Lady Arya, I am going to put the Estus onto your hands, it will sting while it heals but your wounds will heal." She told her.
Arya glared at him and screamed "I don't give a fuck! My hands are fucking charred! Do it already!!"
Not needing any more encouragement he poured the contents of the Estus onto her hands. The liquid stung as if Iodine or Salt had been poured onto the wounds. She cried from the pain when Solaire rubbed the Estus into the charred skin. The pain was excruciating.
Finally after a few minutes, Arya's hands were mainly healed from the burns but were by no means completely healed. She would have difficulty using her sword.
"Hay, I found a ladder back to the burg's fireplace. We can rest there and refill the Estus so Arya can heal her hands." Isha said pointing to a doorway a few meters away.
Deciding it was the best course of action, the trio made their way to the ladder, Solaire kicked the mechanism and lowered the metal rungs and was the first to slide down. Isha went second and attempted to slide as Solaire had but went to fast and her legs buckled from the impact, causing her to fall on her ass. The sun knight was kind enough to help her up…After laughing first. Arya followed but she jumped down to the broken stairs so she wouldn't have to use her hands.
After drinking the last of the Estus, they refilled it from the fire. Everyone was seated around the bonfire, the two sisters were sitting together while Solaire took one on the other side. Arya's hands were a lot better thanks to the Estus earlier, but they still were in pain and blistered red and raw from the burning. Isha saw this and took her sisters hand's in her own.
"Isha, your hands are cold, really cold." She commented. It was true her hands were like ice. Not that Arya was going to complain, the cold was soothing her burns.
"Really, they feel fine to me." Isha replied smiling.
"Friends, I think that if we have some humanity, we could raise the amount of Estus we can collect. As of now, we can get enough for five drinks. But we can add five for every humanity we use." Solaire told them.
Thinking back, the sisters had obtained some humanity off the undead soldiers. They had found a small black sprite upon the bodies of a few that they had killed. They pocketed them and put them in their pouches. Taking one out, they passed it to the knight and he in turned crushed it and let the liquid fall between his fingers onto the flame. The reaction was instantaneous, the fire's flame grew and was tinted black for a moment before it faded back to red and orange.
Things were silent for a while as they cooked some meat on the fire and they each drank their fill of the Estus as it constantly replenished from the fire. Solaire stored his helm back into his bottomless box and turned his gaze to Arya.
"Forgive me for being so forward but I have never seen anyone throw fire the way you do." He said looking for something within Arya's eyes. "Every Pyromancer I have come across has needs an enchanted glove, yet you summon it from your very soul. How did you come to gain this power?"
"I don't know. I've always had it, I guess." She answered honestly. Ever since she came to Lordran she had the ability to cast fire, the first time was against the black knight in the Undead Asylum. "Why do you ask?"
"Mainly curiosity, the only rumours of wielders of fire like yours is from the Witch of Izalith and her Daughters of Chaos. Who, using the Lord's Flame, were capable of weaving great Firestorms. Not much is known now about her, and the only ones to truly know the story lay in Blighttown." He told them. "And I am the only person to wield Lightning in a similar fashion…"
"What? Why didn't you mention this before? It seems a little important?" Isha spoke tilting her head and raising a brow. She was not trying to be accusatory, though it may have come across as.
"Well, I don't use it as often as I should. To be able to form Lightning from nothing, not even a talisman is very strange indeed. Many have called me demon, heretic or even tried to kill me outright." The usually chipper knight was downcast as he repeated his tale. "I don't know why I have this power, or where it came from. That was the reason for my questions. Since I have met another that can summon without the need of traditional mediums, I hoped to get closer to the answer."
(BREAK)
After their rest they continued on to the bridge, they went under the dragon so they could avoid the dragon's fire. Arya was unsure if she could replicate her last miracle of splitting the fire… That and her hands would never survive another onslaught. So under they went, meeting little resistance save for an undead knight and a spear knight that was easily pushed off the edge with Isha's magic.
Arya wished for a bow to shoot the Dragon's Tail… As revenge for her hands. Sadly she was bow-less.
The group had a little trouble with the undead rats. The three half decayed rats were pushing them off the bridge. Isha managed to kill one outright with a well placed Soul Arrow which gave Solaire and Arya the chance to stab their own targets. Solaire's large shield was a good cover, they hid behind it before slamming it on the rats head and driving their swords threw the rats skulls.
Finally they ascended the ladder into the Parish. And after the first Soldier came face to face with a huge metal plated Boar.
"How do we get past that?!" Arya whispered.
Solaire was at a loss and Isha had a hand on her chin.
"Maybe…" She began "If you too go on first and draw its attention I can focus on hitting its flank with my magic and the one who wasn't targeted can take out the other Undead Soldiers. And when that is done we can regroup, and scatter when it charges, we'll be stationed near a wall so it ram's into it, disorienting itself. Then we attack its unprotected flanks." Isha planned.
Solaire beamed "It seems we have the makings of an excellent tactician" He encouraged.
So they began to carry out Isha's plan. She stayed behind at the top of the steps and waited for her moment to let loose her magic. Arya, who had her shield out, and Solaire stood at either side of the opening and waited for the Boar to charge. The beast charged at Solaire intending to impale him on its tusks, he was faster and rolled to the side forcing the Boar to skid as it stopped.
Arya went to the alcove where a Spear hollow while the Boar was distracted. She raised her shield as the hollow thrust forward, the spear glanced off the shield and she, in her right hand, blasted her Fire ball at the opening. Her hand stung from the heat of her own spell, it was still unhealed.
She ignored the pain and returned to the fray. The Boar was enraged at Isha throwing spells at his back, turned to charge at her. Solaire and Arya kept up the attack and slashed at its back, returning the focus to them. Arya ran to the stairs with the beast hot on her heals. It smashed in the pillars breaking and denting them. While it was stuck, she readied her Pyromancy and threw it at its face, but it was Isha that delivered the killing blow. She drew her dagger and stuck it into its neck twisting the blade. It didn't take long for the thing to fall to the ground dead, exploding into millions of Souls.
"Wow, your plan was good… to a point." Arya told her sister.
She huffed "You can't account for everything, you have to be flexible."
But she couldn't keep her angry face and it grew into a smile before both of them laughed at each other.
(BREAK)
The rest of the journey was easy compared to the Boar. The soldier archer's were easily taken out by Isha and Solaire and Arya ran to the underground. They began clearing out the hollows with ease.
Making it to the outside bridge they made it threw to a narrow walkway. Two Hollows, a new type with more armour and a spear soldier behind them boxing them in.
Isha immediately took charge "Solaire, front. Arya, back." She ordered.
Doing as instructed Solaire turned to face the Balder Knight and Arya the spear knight. With his experience, the Balder Knight was easy for Solaire to take on his own, while Arya and Isha tag teamed the spear Hollow. Isha sent a barrage of soul Arrows at it that bashed its shield with such force that forced it to stagger, that gave Arya the opening she needed to rush forward and cut the hollow down.
Turning they saw that Solaire was just finished with the Balder Knight, he managed a shield bash and a riposte, stabbing his sword threw its chest. The light glowing in its eyes faded as it died.
"Moving on." The sun knight said.
They opened the gate to the area where they fought the boar and cleared out the three Balder Knights in the first area of the church when they ran out and engaged them. Going back around, they crossed the bridge and the rickety wooden planks, and quickly killed the three hollow soldiers. Arya was very tired from swinging her sword all day. Solaire was right, the thing was too big for her.
Entering the side door to the church they admired the ancient yet crumbling architecture. But before they could wander too far into the building, a large shadow loomed from the right. Solaire pushed them out of the way before rolling himself to dodge the giant mace that crashed into the floor causing a huge dent.
The group made it back outside the church to the open area. The Tower Knight followed wielding his shield and mace. The shield was nearly as big as he was.
"Spread out!" Solaire shouted. Doing as bid the two sisters made a triangle with Solaire, surrounding the knight who was focused on the Sun Knight.
It charged, its mace over its shoulder running at Solaire. He rolled to the side to avoid the swing and getting behind the Tower Knight, leaped onto its back, stabbing it. Arya, two handing her Black Knight Sword, ran and spun to get more speed on her swing and slashed at the knight's unprotected side. It cried out in pain but refused to go down.
Reaching up over its shoulder, the Tower Knight grabbed Solaire and threw him to the ground, winding him.
While he struggled to his feet, the Tower Knight turned to Arya. She was breathing heavily and leaning on her sword as the knight sauntered forward raising his mace. Before he could swing, he was hit with a trio of powerful spells in rapid succession. Isha continued her barrage forcing the knight slowly backwards…toward the edge of the ledge.
With each spell she fired, her power diminished and her speed decreased. When it was on the edge she gathered all her energy, but the knight seeing this weakness regained his steady feet and went to sprint forward, but Solaire and Arya ran at him from both sides and slashed at his flanks, preventing him from carrying forward.
With her power storied Isha screamed "MOVE!" and swinging her catalyst as if it was a sword threw a huge ball of magic energy. It hit the knight on the chest and he lost his footing, swinging his arms he tried in vain to prevent his fall. He went over the edge with a ferocious yell.
(BREAK)
They decided to rest before going back into the church, which was a great idea since Arya and Isha were completely tuckered out.
But when they did enter to church again they were nearly got a heavy soul Arrow to the chest. Isha grabbed Arya's collar and pulled her backwards to the entrance as the magic projectile flew past her.
Arya, taking more caution, looked around the corner to the balcony. There she saw a strange creature taller than a man, but with a similar appearance, donning robes of a peculiar design with a helm with six eyes and wielding a trident. He started doing a strange dance and chant, hopping from foot to foot with his trident in his both hands.
"What is that thing?" Arya whispered.
"Maybe it's in that book the Crestfallen Knight gave us." Isha reminded her. Rummaging around in her pack she pulled out a worn leather bound book, unclasped the latch and began flicking through it. "Ah, here it is. 'Channeler, "Snatchers", as they were often called, are servants of Seath the Scaleless. They travelled far in search of suitable specimens for Seath's experiments. The design on their helms allow Seath to supervise from afar.' Oh there's a note in the edge… Non respawning."
The edge of the wall exploded from the impact of the Soul Arrow.
"Hmm. There seems to be a lag between one arrow and the next. We need to use that gap to move to those stairs." Isha directed, pointing to the far corner where a set of stairs were. "You two go first, I'll provide cover fire and when you two are safely in, that's when I'll make my sprint."
Waiting for the gap Solaire ran forward, Arya followed with a little hesitation, she was not willing to run to her death. When they made it to the stairs, Solaire took charge and continued to rush up the steps. He was nearly decapitated by a Balder Knight. If not for his trained reflexes, he would be minus one. But he brought up his sword and met the blade with his own.
As he was on the lower ground he was at a disadvantage, and would have been beaten if not for a voice from the bottom of the stairs shouting "Solaire, Duck!"
Doing as bid the knight crouched and a mass of soul energy was released and flung over his head hitting the Balder Knight right on his helm, disorientating him. Solaire used the distraction to swing his sword over his head and cut down the knight.
Finally reaching the top of the stairs and the narrow corridor the trio were nearly defeated by the sheer numbers of Hollow's. They were being powered up by the Channeler and were a handful, if it weren't for the narrow corridor forcing them into a near single file, they would have been overwhelmed.
When they were all dead…Well, deader. Arya looked through the thin window to the balcony where the robed mage was standing and saw that it was doing its strange dance again. This didn't disturb her, but the blue glow of the recently felled hollows did. The thing was reviving them… So, taking a literal leap of faith, Arya threw herself from the window to the Channeler. Her hands ablaze, she gripped the front of his robe and burned right through it. The momentum of her jump forced the Channeler on his back, disrupting his spell and causing the trident to fall from his hand.
Something was clutched in Arya's hand. When she gripped the mage's jacket, something was in his pocket. Her fire was so hot that is completely burnt away the clothes and left the oval thing in her hand. It felt like a stone of some kind. Not taking the time to examine it, Arya clenched her still flame coated hand around the rock and began beating the Channeller with it. When it went to reach for its trident (so it could release another Soul Arrow no doubt). But before it could reach it, Arya pulled her sword from her back and stabbed the thing in it chest.
It released a surprised noise before dying and exploding into millions of soul fragments.
"You just leaped out of the window!? Are you insane!?" Isha shouted at her lifting her off the ground and embracing her crazy sister. "I would have been all alone if you died…" She whispered the last part.
Solaire had rushed around the corner and shouted "Praise the Sun! You were magnificent, though that was a very risky move, it paid out well in the end. And these Channeler do not become reborn. So we are very fortunate in that!" He laughed.
"Looks like you'll need more Estus." Isha spoke after looking at her sisters bloody and broken hand's "What's clenched in your hand?"
Slowly unclenching what could only be her broken hand she revealed an oval-ish gem. It was uncut so it had jagged edges that had cut into her palm. The gem looked to be some kind of Ruby, though it was a little hard to tell with all of Arya's blood on it, inside the gem was a small flame. How it got there was a mystery, but Arya and Isha were in a game world right now so anything was possible.
"Wow, this is a special gemstone." Solaire told her, taking the gem from her hand and pouring Estus on the wound. "While the Channeller's are more known for capturing young Maiden's they do carry all sorts of magical paraphernalia on their possession. You also seem to have embedded it with your Pyromancy, hence the flame within."
"Where do we go now? We know that the Channeller isn't coming back, so do we double back to the bonfire? Or move forward?" Isha questioned.
"Actually, there might be some important or helpful items here, plus we have no idea where the next bonfire is. I say we search the place." Arya said, hoping to get to search the place. She remembered that there was someone important locked away in the attic here. Though she couldn't remember who or why they were important.
Isha readily agreed, she could read her sister's intensions and knew that there was something she wanted to see in the church. Solaire also agreed being more an avid follower and guide then a leader.
So the group travelled back downstairs and found a Firekeeper's Soul on a corpse that sat on the alter that the Balder Knight was guarding, and with it in their possession they roamed the upper floors of the church, (finding a Souls of a nameless soldier and a Humanity) coming to a boarded off door, they had Solaire break it down with ease. At the top of the stairs they met a knight in full golden armour behind bars.
"Oh? still human, are you? Though you look a little worse for wear." He said to the group barely lifting his head "Then I am in luck. I am Knight Lautrec of Carim. Could you help me? As you can see I am stuck, without recourse."
"Why should we? You must be here for a reason." Arya boldly replied, though she knew it was easier to be confident on this side of a locked cell.
"Please, I have duties to fulfil, and I will reward you handsomely." He bribed "Well? I am certain you stand to benefit."
The trio turned away from him and began to confer between themselves. "I don't like this. He would not be here for no reason…" Isha ever the voice of reason began.
"True, but I have heard tales of this knight. He would make a fine addition in our adventure should we be in a fight." Solaire argued.
It was Arya's turn to weigh in, "I think Solaire is right. He seems like a good fighter. Though we shouldn't let our guards down with him."
Turning around, Isha held out her Master key to free the knight. "Alright Lautrec, we'll free you, IF, you agree to accompany us for a shot while. We are headed into the unknown and could do with the extra manpower."
The Golden Knight 'hmm'ed and slowly rose to his feet, then he pulled off the helm that adorned his head. He lowered it to his side as he shook his chin length dirty blond hair away from eyes which were a dark steel grey. "I accept. I will join you for a short time.
Isha unlocked the door allowing the knight to step free. He took a long breath, revelling in his new-found freedom. "Where too?"
(BREAK)
They climbed a ladder and arrived at the top of the Church. A wall of fog blocked the path to the roof. Arya and Isha stood back from it.
"What's wrong? Scared of a little fog?" Lautrec teased.
"No. The last time we went through a fog door like this, there was a giant Taurus Demon waiting for us." Isha told him.
The golden knight scoffed and with no hesitation, traversed the fog. The others followed quickly.
The roof was mainly slanted and tiled with slates, many of them were thrown from the roof. There must have been a big battle here. Recently. Over toward the far edge of the roof there was a corpse of a stone gargoyle. Before they could examine it, the bell on the church roof rang loudly. Turning sharply at the sound they saw a figure standing at the edge of the bell tower, looking down at them.
It was the Chosen Undead. He stood in Elite Knight armour similar to Oscar's with few differences. Oh his back was a large shield and in his and was a longsword. He quickly pulled out a homeward bone and crushed it in his hand. Returning to the last bonfire he rested at.
"Well, that was pointless." Lautrec sneered. "That damn chosen walk right past my cell and now he leaves me here with two 'girls' and a worthless excuse for a knight."
"Well, if it weren't for these 'girls' you'd still be rotting in that cell." Arya reminded him walking over to a dead Gargoyle that was leaning precariously on the edge of the roof.
"I would take that tail if I were you." The golden Knight spoke. "The raw material can be used to make a 'Gargoyle Tail Axe'. As long as you take it to a competent Smith."
Doing as recommended Arya and Solaire cut off the tail and put it into the Bottomless Box before heading into the bell tower. It was empty, to no one's surprise and they all looked around.
"Greetings." A voice from behind them spoke causing them all to jump and Lautrec and Solaire to draw their weapons. "I am Oswald of Carim, the pardoner. Thou art a friend. For thee, a warm welcome. Cometh thou to confess? Or to accuse? For indeed all sin is my domain." He stood arms outstretched as if waiting for an embrace, was wearing a large black cleric robe with matching gloves and boots, and a helm that covered most of his face, save his mouth.
"Ah, Lautrec, didn't think I'd be seeing you so soon." Oswald said. The knight refused to reply.
"That was the Chosen Undead, wasn't it?" Arya asked him nodding toward the top of the tower.
"Indeed it was. I may not have had the pleasure to speak with him though I am sure that he will come here in time. After all, it is only human to commit a sin... Hehehehehe."
The group left shortly after that thoroughly creepy laugh.
Exiting the church they went down a previously unexplored area, they walked over a large stone walkway and into a ruined building. Taking the wooden stairs that were at the edge of the building, they began to hear the sound of metal hitting metal. When they reached the end of the stairs and came to a large open area, Arya lit the non-lighting bonfire with a flick of her wrist and a fireball. Each of them drew their weapons before heading down again.
Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs they found the source of the noise. It was an elderly man, with a huge grey beard, wearing no shirt and sitting behind an anvil. He was hitting a glowing hot piece of metal with his hammer. Noticing that he wasn't alone he looked up from his work and surveyed the group. There was a tense silence before…
"Andrey! Praise the Sun, is it really you Andrey?" Solaire shouted rushing forward and bringing the man into a tight hug.
"Ah Solaire. Yes it really is." Andrey replied, returning the hug. "I see that you still can't keep out of trouble."
After the introductions were out of the way, Andrey turned to Arya. "You girl." He began "That blade, it wasn't made for you was it?"
"Why does everyone keep saying that!" Arya exclaimed.
"Because it looks too big and awkward in your hands. Give it to me and I'll forge you a new one from it." He took the blade from her hands and began to appraise it. "Hmmm, this is a Black Knight Sword. You actually managed to kill one of those? Well, as impressive as that is, this blade was tempered in the Kiln of the First flame and that'll make it more difficult to reforge. But-" he said. "-There's never been a blade that I couldn't bend to my hammer."
WolfBlaas
Lady of the Abyss
- Location
- Ireland
And it turns out I had not updated a chapter I had finished.... Well im an idiot. Here is the 4th chapter.
And Again, BREAK means a line break since I still cant use this site. (sad panda)
"Of course. Ill even make you a good deal, since you know Solaire so well. It'll be tough, no doubt about that. This is special steel with special properties." He sail looking at the blade and running his thumb along the edge. "First we need to find out what type of blade you want."
Arya looked at the sword in his hands. "One like that." She said simply.
Every man in the room cringed, even Lautrec.
"You really are a green wench aren't you?" The gold clad knight said in a mocking tone. "There are many different types of blade. For example you have a straight sword like the sun knight here, or a curved blade like my own."
The blacksmith stood and turned to the wall behind him and taking a large straight blade off the wall, he tossed it to Arya who struggled to catch it in one hand. "Try that out, see how you like the feel, the weight. Well, sing it around then."
And so she did, but the blade (an Astora Straight Sword) was a little too long. So with the help of the only experienced knights, Arya tested out many different swords that Andrey had lined on his wall and she finally decided on a model for her sword.
While she was on the second floor with the bonfire swinging a practice blade to improve her strength and technique since the others told her just how bad her fighting was. In fact Lautrec had compared it to a blind butcher with three fingers swinging at hallucinations above their head. She had been training, going through forms like the others had shown her when the Ruby from before fell out of her pocket. As she went to pick it up, Lautrec's hand reached forward and grabbed it first.
"Hmm, what have we here? Keeping valuable things like this hidden are we?" He appraised the gem before he tossed it to the blacksmith who had only just walked up the steps. "What do you think of that, Smith?"
Andrey looked at the gem also. "I think I can use this in the smithing process. Might actually be of some use, aside from looking good. It is high quality and has some magical properties."
While Arya was a little miffed at losing a good rare gem, she was placated at the notion that it was going to decorate her new blade. So with renewed vigour, she continued practicing.
"Now, girl. Come with me." Lautrec said grabbing her by the scruff of her high blue collar and dragged her backwards down the steps where Solaire and her sister were waiting by the door near Andrey's workspace.
"What the hell! Let go!" She yelled while trying to dislodge his grip while walking backwards and nearly tripping multiple times.
"No, you are making me want to beat you to death with how terrible you form is. If you want to learn how to use a sword properly, then you have two people here who are going to teach you." The Gold Clad knight flung her forward and she landed painfully on her tail bone. "But first we'll have to clear out this room. There isn't enough space in this tiny tower.
So after getting to her feet, Arya grabbed her practice sword and followed the two knights in. The room was nearly three times as large as the tower and in the middle of the room was a blackened statue with one leg, one arm and no head… That moved.
The Titanite Demon raised its one arm and the Catch pole and charged what appeared to be lightning in it, before it threw it toward them. Everyone rolled out of the way and Solaire shouted to Arya.
"Use your Fire. Get close while we distract it, then fire as much as you can at it!"
The two others ran forward while Isha stayed back to fire Soul Arrows and Arya ran to the side hoping to catch it off guard. While the Titanite Demon somehow knew where everyone was despite not having a head, it was at a loss as for where to aim. So weighing its options, it charged its lightning energy and fired it at the two knights, Lautrec was able to dodge, but Solaire was not so lucky. The sun knight caught the full blast of the lightning strike and was brought to his knees with the pain and the electricity was forcing his muscles to contract.
Arya was on the Demons flank and brought her hands together over her head and gathered as much fire as she could. When it was as large as a basketball, the young Pyro threw it with all her might, hitting the demon on the neck where its head would sit. It made a noise in anger and what must have been pain as it turned to Arya.
Then, bracing itself on its few remaining limbs, the living statue leaped into the air and nearly landed on Arya. She was so exhausted after using so much fire that she had little energy left to roll away, instead of the demon crushing her, it jabbed her around the middle with its catch pole and lifted her into the air. It seemed to study her as if the girl was something special that a child might have found on the floor.
The two knights took advantage of its distraction and hacked and slashed at the Demon, it made a noise in pain and swatted the two knights with its tail. Arya took out her practice sword and japed it in the hand and as it raised her to throw her to the ground, something hit it dead centre of the chest.
The force of the impact caused the Titanite Demon to drop its captive in shock. It looked down at its chest where a red wound began to spread out like a spider's web till it shattered.
"What the hell. Ow…" Arya complained as she rubbed her lower back, the damn Demon had dropped her right on her tail bone. The two knights were looking at Isha who stood slightly bent over as she had used a lot of energy in that last attack, her catalyst was steaming at the top. With the room now clear, Lautrec pulled Arya to her feet by the scruff of her shirt.
"Now we are going to train." The gold knight told the girl.
(BREAK)
A couple of weeks had passed and both Lautrec and Solaire were happy at Arya's sword progression. She went from having no form at all, to being able to deflect most of the Golden Knight's duel sword techniques. She was in the middle of training with a huge practice sword swinging it in various ways to improve her arm strength and swing, when Andrey the Blacksmith came in a huge smile on his face.
"You're sword is finished." He told the girl in front of him. "It might just be the finest blade I have ever created."
Arya was so excited that she was nearly skipping as she followed Andre back up the steps to his workshop where upon his anvil was something wrapped in cloth. She picked it up and unwrapped the cloth revealing her new sword. It was a jet black blade much like the one before it, and was a straight blade unlike before which was wide at the hilt and became thinner and pointed. The guard was a wing like design that came down to the user's hands a little before pointing out to the blade while the ruby gem with the fire still retained in it was set in the centre of the blade about 20 cm's from the guard. The blade itself curved up and out near the base, then curved in again before running straight to the end and the final point. When Arya looked closer, she saw a rippling effect in the metal. It must have been folded and refolded a dozen times for this effect to appear.
"It's perfectly balanced and sized for you, but it would still count as a greatsword. There is also a little growing room in it so should you happen to grow and not stay a little tyke forever, the sword won't have to be reforged again." Andrey told her.
"Hay, Im not small!" She retaliated. "I. Drink. Milk." Swinging the sword, she found it was much lighter, or at least felt that way, even though it was still nearly as tall as she was. 'Yay, no more feeling like my arms are going to rip from their sockets.' She thought.
"Here, take this as well." The Smith tossed them a circular disk. "That's the Crest of Artorias. It should be of some use in the forest. It is usually worth twenty thousand souls. But I'll give it to you at a discount."
"Wow thanks." Arya said astounded that the smith was being so kind to people he barely knew. "Let's give this a test run", smiling as she raised her.
(BREAK)
Arya and Isha decided to go to the Darkroot Garden by themselves to test out Arya's new blade. They expected to find a few trees and hack them to bits. Maybe even a few undead to test its metal. The garden itself was open and dark as if always in the shadow of something. But it was also so different to the normal open world in Lordran, it was more tropical and warm in the forest.
"Is there any explanation for there to be this forest here?" Arya asked her sister who was the more logical of the two.
"Is there any reason you'd think that I'd know the answer to that question?" Isha replied, her hand on her staff and the other on the dagger on her belt.
"Well-" The younger sibling started before an owl startled her and she turned to in the direction of the noise. This forest was teaming with life and not all of it was good, of that the sisters were sure.
"-Well. You are the more….logical of us. I am the 'charge in and kill things' person, you are the 'stop and think before charging in and killing things,' person. Aren't we a good team?" She had to be sarcastic at the end. It was a requirement.
The forest had a musty scent to it, as if all the flora was mixing together with the flowing water and causing it to be thrown into the air far and wide. The two sisters trekked through the dense growth of trees and ferns and passed by a big bush …that then decided that it didn't want to stay in the ground and came to life. They leaped into the air and out of the ground and whipped out their long spindly limbs toward them, Arya leapt in front of her sister and took the brunt on the hit using her shield to block the attack, but was unable to stop the pain running up her arm from the shock.
Arya sheathed her sword and summoned her fire in her hand before throwing it toward the living hedge watching as it caught fire easily.
"Does everything here want to kill us? I mean even the TREES are against us?!" Arya asked as she caught her breath.
The sisters continued onwards together, with Isha's long range being of great use in the forest and she had gotten very good at aiming from a distance. In Lordran it was learn fast or die. They neared a cliff with a very narrow walkway where three more bushes decided to attack them all of which were easily dispatched by Arya new forged blade and Pyromancy. As they travelled over a short cliff side hoping that nothing would attack them since falling would lead to imminent death, they managed to find a door that was sealed with a magical energy. They left it alone as to them it was more unknown they would take the path that they could see down.
When they were about to move off Arya turned back.
"Wait I hear something." She said before walking back to the door. "It sounds like a bonfire." Walking up to a wall next to the door she began to inspect it tapping it with her knuckles trying to find some kind of weakness. Finally she gave up and decided to break it down with brute strength and unsheathed her blade and swung it at the wall. It was met with a little resistance but not nearly as much as there should have been. The blade went through the wall leaving no marks on it and sinking through it. Once the illusionary wall was gone another small alcove was reviled with a bonfire waiting for them.
The duo rested at the fire and restocked their Estus before moving onwards.
The rocks towered over them and made them feel cramped. They passed an opening to a circular area that they ignored even though the treasure on a corpse was very tempting. But they regretted not having gone for it as before they had moved a few meters there was a rustling noise and the sound of twigs being broken and strained.
Tuning they were met with three Demonic Foliage's charging toward them, Isha was caught by the whipping vines as she was behind and closer to them then Arya. Seeing that her sister was in trouble the woman brought as much fire as she could in her two hands and threw it over head like one would a Rugby ball straight to the bush. It caught fire like a dried out Christmas tree. While it died the other two that were left decided that it would be a good time to attack Arya while she needed to get her energy back. They both whipped out their vine like appendages and whipped Arya across various parts of her body leaving large lacerations and cuts where they hit.
She tried to bring up her shield to protect herself, but the vines were able to hit the metal and 'flex' around it hitting her even with her guard up. There was loud pop and the whipping halted. Looking over the shield she saw that Isha had let loose a soul arrow on the back of one of the Demonic Foliage's, not quite killing it, but it was strong enough to force it off its feat.
Arya's sister didn't let up her attacks though, she continued her volley of soul arrows until they were both dead using her range to her advantage.
Once they were dead Isha sprinted over to Arya and began to look over all her injuries as any older sibling would. After seeing the extent of the damage she took out the Estus flask and handed it to her sister.
"Here, drink this and heal yourself." Seeing the look that dared her to try and fight back, Arya accepted the loss and took a drink of the Estus. Enjoying the warm yet somehow still cool liquid burnt and soothed as it travelled down her throat healing her injuries though the sting of them was still there.
When she was healed enough that she was able to continue on their trek through the forest they first went over to the dead bushes and were able to find some Purple and Red Moss on some of them. As they moved further onwards they were much more cautious and happened to get a 'Large soul of a Nameless Soldier' from the area that the Demonic Foliage's had come from. Move onwards they came to a wide open area full of trees and more bushes. Hopefully they were the normal kind and not the 'came alive and attacked you' kind.
The whole area was alight by strange flowers littered across the open expanse. And the air was much cleaner here than anywhere else the siblings had come across. The slight breeze was cool and crisp with some water vapour that hung in the air like a curtain yet didn't make the ground nor the trees wet.
"Want to try and hug the wall? That way we avoid the chance that any more things will sneak up on us?" Isha asked as she pointed to the wall.
"… Yeah, that might work."
Traveling along the wall they used the pointed rock wall as a guide so they would be less likely to run into anything. The path lead them to a huge tree Arya wanted to pass it by when her sister grabbed her sleeve and stopped her.
"This tree, it's strange." She told her sister as her head was turned in the direction of the strange flora in question.
Her sister was confused and took another look at the suspect tree. "I don't see anything wrong with it."
"Well, I think there is. It is making a strange noise like a 'creek' or something and I think its roots are moving…"
Arya was very close to laughing at her sister but didn't out of affection for her sibling. "So 'cough' what do you want to do about it?"
"Let's hack it down!" It was strangely violent for Isha but her sister didn't really care, she only wanted a reason to use her new sword.
So that was exactly what she did. Arya hacked and slashed at the tree until it exploded into thousands of little souls and revealed a new path for them which they took. The new path was just as narrow as the previous one but there were new monsters in this area.
They met something like a Frog and a Manta ray, it had a frog face with a flat manta ray body and it leapt at them attacking them with its long tongue. Isha used her magic to attack it mid air and it was blasted off course before falling on its back, Arya ran forward to finish it ramming her sword into its soft underbelly.
When the Manta ray-frog was dead the duo continued to follow the trail when they came upon another living tree which Arya burnt down easily when led into a large open area full of trees and toward the middle was a large stone statue laying on the forest floor covered in moss and the like. It was wearing stone armour reminiscent of a knight. Isha went forward to inspect it when it decided to get up making the sibling leap into the air and try to run away.
"What the-! Why is a statue MOVEING!?" Isha shouted as she ran back to her sister's location.
Arya brought her hands together and charged a large amount of Fire into them before she threw it at the Statue. It flinched and cringed but it didn't stop it completely. The Stone Knight brought both hands to the handle of his stone sword and raised it to the air and sent out a pulse of energy that hit Arya.
Isha was far enough away that it didn't hit her.
"HA! That did nothing you big stone bastard!" Arya shouted and went to jump backwards from its fast approaching form only to find that her body was slow and unresponsive.
The stone Knight was quickly in front of her and raised its arm to hack at her with its stone sword when a powerful soul arrow hit it directly in the chest. Isha knew that if she timed her attacks she would be able to make the stone giant flinch and interrupt its attack giving her sister time to hack at it from close up.
Seeing what her sister had in mind Arya did hack at it with her own blade. She went for the back of its legs hoping that it was susceptible to some form of pain. It had the desired effect as when she landed it through the back of the leg and could feel the stone give way when it was forced to one knee though she was unable to feel any sort of victory as it swiped at her, backhanding her and sending her flying as she hit the ground hard.
Isha used its distraction to her advantage and dealt a finishing blow to it.
Arya was relatively unhurt, though the same could not be said for her pride. "Why is it I seem to be the punching bag for everything in Lordran?" She asked.
With the way finally clear they followed the narrow path to their prize. A ring with a wolf symbol on it. Looking it up in their book they read the description.
'One of the special rings granted to the four knights of Gwyn. The wolf ring belongs to Artorias the Abysswalker. Artorias had an unbendable will of steel, and was unmatched with a greatsword'
Isha handed the ring to her sister. "Unmatched with a greatsword, sounds like you should have this."
She took it with a smile and put it on her right middle finger to mirror the rusted iron ring on her left and the duo travelled back to the large open area. They quickly noticed something that they hadn't before.
"Tell me those aren't…" Arya questioned pointing to a large pile of rocks.
Her sister nodded. "They are more Stone Knights." Isha ever the tactician came up with an idea to avoid them all together. They couldn't be sure how they knew people were near them but they DID know that if they went near them, the giants would awaken. The younger sibling followed the older and Isha gladly led the way to a broken stone building. They were a few meters away when the ground shook behind them, looking back it was a Stone Knight marching its way to them.
The sisters sprinted into the building and thought they were safe until the Stone Giant knelt down and reached inside trying to grab them. The two went back as far as they could, knocking down a small bush in the process and Arya saw a summon sign on the ground.
"Isha! We can get help! Look here, this summon sign can let us call someone to fight with us" Arya beckoned to her sister.
They stood on either side of the sign and held their hands together over it and began to chant the summoning spell like Solaire had taught them. He mentioned that they could come across these signs in Lordran and taught them both how to use them.
Within seconds a figure began to materialize, they were small and appeared young though with their huge hat over their head it was hard to tell. In their hand was a large Catalyst telling them that they were a mage and from their attire it was clear they were female. When the summoning was finished the newly summoned woman was no longer translucent and took one quick glance at the two that summoned her and another at the Stone Knight before knowing exactly what to do.
The witch brought her Catalyst up to the air and hit the Stone Knight with a powerful great heavy soul arrow and followed up with a homing Soul mass. The Stone giant was unable to withstand the onslaught and exploded into a mass of souls. The witch turned to the ones who summoned her and bowed.
"I am the Witch Beatrice, thank you for summoning me. I don't remember much of where I was before I came here but I know it was dark and cold." She told them lifting her hat so they could get a better look at her. She was indeed young, in her late teens to early 20's with midnight black hair cut short and her outfit was mainly one long dress with a small black cape. On the arm that wasn't holding the Catalyst was a cracked round shield to which Arya quickly replaced with a better one.
"I assume you are heading to the top to dispatch the Moonlight Butterfly?" Beatrice asked tilting her head.
The sisters looked at each other before Isha answered "Not really, we were mainly here for practice with our teamwork. But I guess we may as well kill it."
"I agree, this forest is not its natural home, though it once came from here it was experimented on and when it escaped its confinements followed its instincts to this dark humid forest to feed from the plants and nectar here." Beatrice told them a smile on her face as she wandered up the steps making the others follow her if they wanted to stay with someone powerful.
At the top of the stairs was a fog door, all three of them went through it and they heard the flapping of gigantic wings. As they turned their heads to the noise the form of a huge butterfly with a massive horn froing from its head appeared before them glowing a luminescent green. It took them for intruders and attacked them from a distance with powerful magic.
Every one of them had to dodge the attack. It was clear that Arya was not going to be much help in this battle and moved out of the ranged mages way hoping to draw the luminescent bug's attacks away from the others. The two charged up their magic in their Catalysts and blasted the butterfly with Soul Arrows and Great Heavy Soul Arrows. It took a fair amount of damage but retaliated with magic of its own and sent another barrage of attacks toward them.
Arya was doing a fine job of keeping the Butterfly's attention as she kept throwing fire at it nearly reaching but not quite hitting it. It sent a focused energy blast at her which she blocked with her shield but the force sent her off balance, she swung her arms hoping to regain her it but ultimately fell backwards off the bridge, she would have fallen to her death had she not jammed her sword into the stone cracks of the bridge. Now she was dangling from it trying not to move too much lest she accidentally loosen the swords hold to the wall yet she was trying to grasp the wall or the vines near her with her free hand so she'd have a good perch to pull herself back up.
Beatrice and Isha had seen her fall and the witch, being the closest to her was the one able to go to the ledge where Arya fell. She was relieved to see the woman hanging there and Beatrice summoned a Homing Soul Mass to protect her back while she reached down to help Arya back up. While she was helping the younger sister, the other was not idle. Isha was still firing as many soul arrows as she was able at the bug to make sure it wouldn't attack Beatrice while her back was turned.
Once Arya was back up she knelt on the stone, happy to be back on solid ground and the others waited for the butterfly to land as it wouldn't be able to keep up this pace of attacks for much longer. True to its nature it landed on the ledge to replenish its magic and energy with nectar from plants growing from the stone. Arya used this chance to attack while the other two also rested to replenish their Mana. The younger hot blooded sister sent a barrage of two handed power swings at the head of the butterfly. The rest of the battle was a bit repetitive as when the huge Bug flew into the air the two mages easily attacked it with their magic once more. It did send a Homing energy blast at Isha and as her shield wasn't as good at magic deflection as Arya's the younger sibling threw herself in front of the blast and had the wind knocked out of her by the sheer force of it. To finish the fight the two mages attacked simultaneously and the butterfly was unable to withstand the continuous attacks and fell to the trio giving them a huge amount of soul's and opening a way across the bridge to what must have been an endless staircase which had a petrified Blacksmith holding a Devine Ember and a watchtower basement key at the top.
Beatrice looked at her hands. Expecting herself to disappear but she was still as physical as she was before.
"Why aren't you disappearing?" Arya asked, not trying to be harsh but coming across as. Solaire had told them that once the summoned person had fulfilled their duty they faded back to the land whence they came from.
"I am not sure. It must have been your magic's. Somehow they were so strong that I was fully brought into this world, I am now as much a part of this word as you or anyone in this world is." The witch told them.
"So… you want to travel with us then?" The younger sibling askes as she sheathed her sword.
"I would like that very much. I am curious about your magic's."
(BREAK)
As they travelled the path back to the Undead Parish, Beatrice told them about what she could remember about their life.
"I am from a clan of witches, we didn't conform to the Vinheim Dragon Schools rules and lived in this very forest many years ago. While I am not exactly sure what happened, I know that this place is different to what I remember. It is darker and older. Much older." She had a distant look in her eyes as her hat was pulled back on her head. "My home was corrupted by something dark and my mother left to battle it, looking for some way to stop it. When she couldn't, I stepped in.
"There was a knight sent to our home to try and prevent the spread of the corruption and I followed his path into the heart of the blackness I don't know how long I wandered, time seemed to be meaningless in that dark abyss, but I made it to the end and could see the light of day, when I was attacked by four men… Not men anymore, they had sold their souls for power. And that's all I remember." The young woman finished.
She followed up with some questions of her own for the two siblings. She wanted to know where they had learnt their magic and where they had come from. They were reluctant to say where they had come from as they knew saying that they come from an alternate dimension would not go over well, even if time in Lordran was convoluted and summoning people from different dimensions was common place but aside from the fact that they had died in their own world, the sisters were unable to recall any more about their lives.
When Beatrice learnt that Isha had no formal training, she enthusiastically offered to train her in the ways of magic.
"Your magic is powerful but it is unfocused. It is like a vast lake and you are draining it fast like a waterfall on simple remedial spells. You need to learn how to use less energy to achieve the same results. Then if you move onto more powerful spells like my Great Heavy Soul Arrow or Homing Soul Mass." When she continued to talk to Isha about magic Arya shook her head and walked slightly faster than them not wanting to be part of the conversation.
When they arrived back at the hidden bonfire next to the magically sealed door, Arya took a long look at it before taking out the Crest of Artorias. "You think this is the key to the door?" She asked her sister and Beatrice who were sitting around the fire.
"Give it a go, might be." Beatrice told her.
Arya walked up to the great door with magic flowing all around it, she held out the round crest and held it to the door. There was a circle shape that she pushed the crest into and the magic dispelled as the door opened to a new section of forest. The two at the fire stood and quickly moved to Arya's side.
Beatrice was the first to break the silence. "Let's move forward. After all, what is life without adventure?"
With that piece of encouragement, the group entered the new area and walked down the stone stairs. This area of the woods was more densely covered in trees and was much darker as the strange plants whose tips were glowing a luminous blue/white were not present here as they were in the other area. Leaves crunched under their feet as they marched hesitantly forward. A breeze from ahead brought with it a cooling and soothing sensation that was mixed with the fresh scent of the forest.
They moved cautiously forward expecting anything to come out and jump them. As in this world it seemed to happen a lot, as a general rule the siblings decided that if it moved, it was trying to kill them.
As they went deeper into the forest something felt off. Like they were being watched. They could see to what seemed to be a decrepit building at the end of the forest and the beginning of a bridge at the end of that. Something to their right moved and a huge crunch of branches and trees breaking and being uprooted resounded through the forest. The trio dashed forward to the noise looking for its source and the closer they got to it the more sounds they could hear. People were shouting and screaming at something.
Breaking through the trees they came upon an open area that would have been full of life and trees except they had been uprooted by the thing in the centre and the ground under its feet was covered in thick black tar. There was a troupe of people surrounding the creature, all were wearing different armour and one moved like a shadow almost transparent, there was one in the back with a large feathered hat with a black ebony bow firing arrows and one next to them with a Sorcerers Catalyst was another person. In the front lines was more soldiers, one of which had a large red shield with a spider on it, another wore cleric robes like Petrus and a final knight was in samurai style armour with a large lion head on the left shoulder and a massive sword in his right which he was swinging at the creature.
The creature in question was standing at the centre of the black tar, it was somewhat humanoid in appearance with Digi grade legs like some wolf or cat while its shoulders were too large for its body and where its head would be was some circular ball with a collar forming upwards to protect its head. Its eyes were the colour of blood and it roared with a great open mouth full of sharp pointed teeth.
Arya, Isha and Beatrice didn't hesitate in throwing themselves into the battle. Arya, reckless as ever went straight in charging full force swinging her blade down with as much force as she was able to muster into the creature's leg. It did a little damage but it wasn't much compared to the vast amount of health the thing had. It swung its long arm and knocked Arya along with a few of the others backwards and they landed hard onto the ground.
The sorcerers and the Archer sent a barrage of magic and arrows toward the creature hitting it with enough force to make it stumble a little.
Arya rose to her feet, bruised and angered. Her power seemed to rise with her frustration, it felt like her blood was boiling. The woman wanted to be weak no longer. She was tired or being pushed around by everything in this world. Fire emanated from her and the others around her backed away so they wouldn't be burnt by the flames licking at her body though not burning her or her clothes. Arya slashed her sword down and concentrated the flames in her sword through the ruby that contained some of her own flame from her fight with the Channeler. With her sword alight she once more charged forward, this time in more of a blind rage unaware of anything else around her. Gripping her blade with both hands she swung the blade and her entire body at the creature's leg, this time she was able to leave a substantial slice and burn to it.
When it was cut the blood that flowed from it was the same as the tar surrounding it. Some of which fell onto Arya's arm and burnt while it stuck to her, much like boiling glue. She screamed at the pain and dropped her sword trying to scrape the tar off her arm with her other hand but even with it off the burn was still present and still the girl screamed in pain.
Isha was shocked at the fire that had emanated from her sister but couldn't focus on it as the creature was still alive, heavily injured but still alive. She and Beatrice threw two soul arrows simultaneously at the creature, the two magic's combined in mid flight to make a stronger arrow which pierced the creature making it fall to its back as it was unable to right itself due to the damage it received from Arya (who at this point had passed out from the pain and shock).
When it was floored, the knights from the forest all charged in and hacked at the creature. Once it was dead it exploded into a number of souls which Arya and Isha absorbed and with the main threat now taken care of there was nothing stopping Isha from rushing to her sister. When she was assured that her sister was still in fact breathing the elder sibling released a sigh of relief.
"You can't be the hero all the time. It is the job of the older sibling to take care of the younger." She chastised to he now sleeping Arya. She felt cold steal on her shoulder and turned her head to be met with the samurai.
"You two are trespassing and as such must be dealt with." He said in a light eastern accent.
"Yet Shiva, they helped us. And without that Pyromancer and those two Sorcerers we'd be well dead." The archer told them, not having been reviled to be a woman with her soft spoken voice and physique that only females had.
The man called Shiva lowered his blade as he thought this through "You are right Pharis. They did save us… Very well. Let's take them to Alvina. She can decide what to do, so."
(BREAK)
Isha and Beatrice were being shoved forward by Pharis while her sister was being carried by the ninja following close behind Shiva, the Ninja was nearly invisible making it seem like Arya was floating. They were escorted to the ruined building and were led down a secrete passageway at the back of the building under a trap door hidden to look like the grassy forest floor.
The inside was fairly deep down and the stone stairs were lined with torches to keep the place alight. Isha was worried about what would happen once they met with these people's leader. Would this Alvina want them dead or would she send them away?
Once at the bottom of the steps Isha saw the accommodation of these Forest ninja. The main gathering hall was wide and open with large open area's leading into what Isha saw as the Kitchen/ Dining area and the other lead into a living area. The entire building was underground and lined with a bright sandy coloured stone while it was lit predominately with torches Isha was able to feel a breeze from somewhere indicating that fresh air was flowing through the base.
Isha and Beatrice were pushed ahead into a different area. This one was darker as there were less torches lighting the area and eventually one of the people opened a door that led to a large room. There was a large table in this one and sitting in the centre of it was a large cat. Not looking like any ordinary cat though, its face was too elongated and its teeth were a little too pointed.
It raised its head and looks at the newcomers with intelligent yellow eyes. The Ninja carrying Arya stepped forward and placed her on the table in front of the cat. It got up and strode forward peering down at Isha's sister.
"What have we here? Three intruders? Why have they been brought before me?" The large smoky grey cat spoke with a meow noise in the background as she talked.
Isha leant over to Beatrice "The cats talking. Tell me I'm not dreaming this?"
"This is Lordran, stop being surprised." The witch replied a smile in her eyes and a teasing grin on her face.
"This one has been touched by the corruption. Tell me, what did happen outside these walls?" The cat asked.
"There was a huge earthquake outside and black tar began to rise from the ground, Alvina." Shiva stepped forward and spoke "We had no idea what to do then all of a sudden, this monster appeared from the ground. We were nearly loosing when this Pyromancer and these two mages appeared. They helped and this one got some of the creature's blood on her arm."
Alvina the cat 'Hmm'd' in response and took a closer look at Arya arm before she looked too her group of hunters. "Pharis." She called. "I need you to make a potion with the exact ingredients and measurements I give you." Alvina then hopped down from the table and walked out of the room with Pharis on her heels.
"But Alvina. What do we do with these two?" Shiva insisted taking a half step forward.
The cat stopped and half turned her head. "Leave them be. Till such a time when the other is healed, they are to be guests and treated as such."
It was clear that Shiva was disappointed.
(BREAK)
It took a few hours before Arya woke again. She was laying on one of the beds in a guest room, Isha and Beatrice were sitting in the room waiting for her to wake. As soon as she groaned, Isha was out of her seat and by Arya's side.
"What happened?" Arya asked, groggy and sleepy.
"That monster was killed and we were taken to the home of the Forest clan. Their leader Alvina made you potion to heal your arm." Isha explained.
Arya threw her legs over the edge of the bed and sat up straight she talked more and more with Isha and Beatrice finding out what happened and about the Forest clan themselves. When she was fully up to date the younger sibling stood and stretched testing her right arm. It seemed fine, no damage left behind, then she grabbed her sword which was resting against the end of the bed. As soon as it was in her hand the door opened and a nameless Forest Hunter entered.
"Alvina wants talk with you all when she is awake." He said.
The trio followed the Hunter through the base and to the meeting room where Alvina was last time sitting this time however she was sitting in an intricately weaved basket. She looked up at them from her comfortable position and rose pattering to the table and hopping up onto it before sitting straight waiting for them to stand at the foot of the table.
"So this is the one who dispatched the one made from darkness. Tis it not true that thou cometh to this forest by accident. Why? Why did thou help us? It was of no concern." She asked tilting her head as she did so.
"It was simple. There were people in trouble and we helped." Arya simply stated.
Alvina laughed opening her mouth and showing her sharp teeth. "Oh, so noble of thou. But this world tis full of selfish and disgraceful people. Tis nice to finally meet some who are still as kind and noble as you three." But her happy attitude left as quick as it came. "But I cannot let thou leave. Thee know too much and would be a liability to our clan… But if thou were to become a member of our clan, thee would be free to come and go as thee pleased."
The three looked at each other. "What would happen if we joined? If it for life?" Isha the sensible one questioned.
The grey cat chuckled and rubbed her ear once with a paw "No, it isn't for thine life. Thee may decide to leave the clan if thou choses. But know this. The secrets of the clan must never be told to outsiders. The clan leader shall know and divine judgment shall be brought down upon thee."
Once again the group looked at each other and had a quick debate deciding what to do. Eventually they decided on a path. "We accept." They all said together.
"Good. Then thou will be allowed to come and go unhindered by the Forest clan. Come hither and chant the binding words."
Doing as bid the trio stood before Alvina and repeated the words joining them to the clan.
"Should thou decide to leave the clan tis by thine own choice. No ill will shall be held against thee. The thee before me shall always be known as friends of the Forest clan."
Leave a review and tell me how the story is progressing. Can you guess where they are going next?
And Again, BREAK means a line break since I still cant use this site. (sad panda)
Chapter 4
"You'll really make me a custom blade!?" Arya asked a huge smile on her face excited at the idea that Andrey would make something for her.
"Of course. Ill even make you a good deal, since you know Solaire so well. It'll be tough, no doubt about that. This is special steel with special properties." He sail looking at the blade and running his thumb along the edge. "First we need to find out what type of blade you want."
Arya looked at the sword in his hands. "One like that." She said simply.
Every man in the room cringed, even Lautrec.
"You really are a green wench aren't you?" The gold clad knight said in a mocking tone. "There are many different types of blade. For example you have a straight sword like the sun knight here, or a curved blade like my own."
The blacksmith stood and turned to the wall behind him and taking a large straight blade off the wall, he tossed it to Arya who struggled to catch it in one hand. "Try that out, see how you like the feel, the weight. Well, sing it around then."
And so she did, but the blade (an Astora Straight Sword) was a little too long. So with the help of the only experienced knights, Arya tested out many different swords that Andrey had lined on his wall and she finally decided on a model for her sword.
While she was on the second floor with the bonfire swinging a practice blade to improve her strength and technique since the others told her just how bad her fighting was. In fact Lautrec had compared it to a blind butcher with three fingers swinging at hallucinations above their head. She had been training, going through forms like the others had shown her when the Ruby from before fell out of her pocket. As she went to pick it up, Lautrec's hand reached forward and grabbed it first.
"Hmm, what have we here? Keeping valuable things like this hidden are we?" He appraised the gem before he tossed it to the blacksmith who had only just walked up the steps. "What do you think of that, Smith?"
Andrey looked at the gem also. "I think I can use this in the smithing process. Might actually be of some use, aside from looking good. It is high quality and has some magical properties."
While Arya was a little miffed at losing a good rare gem, she was placated at the notion that it was going to decorate her new blade. So with renewed vigour, she continued practicing.
"Now, girl. Come with me." Lautrec said grabbing her by the scruff of her high blue collar and dragged her backwards down the steps where Solaire and her sister were waiting by the door near Andrey's workspace.
"What the hell! Let go!" She yelled while trying to dislodge his grip while walking backwards and nearly tripping multiple times.
"No, you are making me want to beat you to death with how terrible you form is. If you want to learn how to use a sword properly, then you have two people here who are going to teach you." The Gold Clad knight flung her forward and she landed painfully on her tail bone. "But first we'll have to clear out this room. There isn't enough space in this tiny tower.
So after getting to her feet, Arya grabbed her practice sword and followed the two knights in. The room was nearly three times as large as the tower and in the middle of the room was a blackened statue with one leg, one arm and no head… That moved.
The Titanite Demon raised its one arm and the Catch pole and charged what appeared to be lightning in it, before it threw it toward them. Everyone rolled out of the way and Solaire shouted to Arya.
"Use your Fire. Get close while we distract it, then fire as much as you can at it!"
The two others ran forward while Isha stayed back to fire Soul Arrows and Arya ran to the side hoping to catch it off guard. While the Titanite Demon somehow knew where everyone was despite not having a head, it was at a loss as for where to aim. So weighing its options, it charged its lightning energy and fired it at the two knights, Lautrec was able to dodge, but Solaire was not so lucky. The sun knight caught the full blast of the lightning strike and was brought to his knees with the pain and the electricity was forcing his muscles to contract.
Arya was on the Demons flank and brought her hands together over her head and gathered as much fire as she could. When it was as large as a basketball, the young Pyro threw it with all her might, hitting the demon on the neck where its head would sit. It made a noise in anger and what must have been pain as it turned to Arya.
Then, bracing itself on its few remaining limbs, the living statue leaped into the air and nearly landed on Arya. She was so exhausted after using so much fire that she had little energy left to roll away, instead of the demon crushing her, it jabbed her around the middle with its catch pole and lifted her into the air. It seemed to study her as if the girl was something special that a child might have found on the floor.
The two knights took advantage of its distraction and hacked and slashed at the Demon, it made a noise in pain and swatted the two knights with its tail. Arya took out her practice sword and japed it in the hand and as it raised her to throw her to the ground, something hit it dead centre of the chest.
The force of the impact caused the Titanite Demon to drop its captive in shock. It looked down at its chest where a red wound began to spread out like a spider's web till it shattered.
"What the hell. Ow…" Arya complained as she rubbed her lower back, the damn Demon had dropped her right on her tail bone. The two knights were looking at Isha who stood slightly bent over as she had used a lot of energy in that last attack, her catalyst was steaming at the top. With the room now clear, Lautrec pulled Arya to her feet by the scruff of her shirt.
"Now we are going to train." The gold knight told the girl.
(BREAK)
A couple of weeks had passed and both Lautrec and Solaire were happy at Arya's sword progression. She went from having no form at all, to being able to deflect most of the Golden Knight's duel sword techniques. She was in the middle of training with a huge practice sword swinging it in various ways to improve her arm strength and swing, when Andrey the Blacksmith came in a huge smile on his face.
"You're sword is finished." He told the girl in front of him. "It might just be the finest blade I have ever created."
Arya was so excited that she was nearly skipping as she followed Andre back up the steps to his workshop where upon his anvil was something wrapped in cloth. She picked it up and unwrapped the cloth revealing her new sword. It was a jet black blade much like the one before it, and was a straight blade unlike before which was wide at the hilt and became thinner and pointed. The guard was a wing like design that came down to the user's hands a little before pointing out to the blade while the ruby gem with the fire still retained in it was set in the centre of the blade about 20 cm's from the guard. The blade itself curved up and out near the base, then curved in again before running straight to the end and the final point. When Arya looked closer, she saw a rippling effect in the metal. It must have been folded and refolded a dozen times for this effect to appear.
"It's perfectly balanced and sized for you, but it would still count as a greatsword. There is also a little growing room in it so should you happen to grow and not stay a little tyke forever, the sword won't have to be reforged again." Andrey told her.
"Hay, Im not small!" She retaliated. "I. Drink. Milk." Swinging the sword, she found it was much lighter, or at least felt that way, even though it was still nearly as tall as she was. 'Yay, no more feeling like my arms are going to rip from their sockets.' She thought.
"Here, take this as well." The Smith tossed them a circular disk. "That's the Crest of Artorias. It should be of some use in the forest. It is usually worth twenty thousand souls. But I'll give it to you at a discount."
"Wow thanks." Arya said astounded that the smith was being so kind to people he barely knew. "Let's give this a test run", smiling as she raised her.
(BREAK)
Arya and Isha decided to go to the Darkroot Garden by themselves to test out Arya's new blade. They expected to find a few trees and hack them to bits. Maybe even a few undead to test its metal. The garden itself was open and dark as if always in the shadow of something. But it was also so different to the normal open world in Lordran, it was more tropical and warm in the forest.
"Is there any explanation for there to be this forest here?" Arya asked her sister who was the more logical of the two.
"Is there any reason you'd think that I'd know the answer to that question?" Isha replied, her hand on her staff and the other on the dagger on her belt.
"Well-" The younger sibling started before an owl startled her and she turned to in the direction of the noise. This forest was teaming with life and not all of it was good, of that the sisters were sure.
"-Well. You are the more….logical of us. I am the 'charge in and kill things' person, you are the 'stop and think before charging in and killing things,' person. Aren't we a good team?" She had to be sarcastic at the end. It was a requirement.
The forest had a musty scent to it, as if all the flora was mixing together with the flowing water and causing it to be thrown into the air far and wide. The two sisters trekked through the dense growth of trees and ferns and passed by a big bush …that then decided that it didn't want to stay in the ground and came to life. They leaped into the air and out of the ground and whipped out their long spindly limbs toward them, Arya leapt in front of her sister and took the brunt on the hit using her shield to block the attack, but was unable to stop the pain running up her arm from the shock.
Arya sheathed her sword and summoned her fire in her hand before throwing it toward the living hedge watching as it caught fire easily.
"Does everything here want to kill us? I mean even the TREES are against us?!" Arya asked as she caught her breath.
The sisters continued onwards together, with Isha's long range being of great use in the forest and she had gotten very good at aiming from a distance. In Lordran it was learn fast or die. They neared a cliff with a very narrow walkway where three more bushes decided to attack them all of which were easily dispatched by Arya new forged blade and Pyromancy. As they travelled over a short cliff side hoping that nothing would attack them since falling would lead to imminent death, they managed to find a door that was sealed with a magical energy. They left it alone as to them it was more unknown they would take the path that they could see down.
When they were about to move off Arya turned back.
"Wait I hear something." She said before walking back to the door. "It sounds like a bonfire." Walking up to a wall next to the door she began to inspect it tapping it with her knuckles trying to find some kind of weakness. Finally she gave up and decided to break it down with brute strength and unsheathed her blade and swung it at the wall. It was met with a little resistance but not nearly as much as there should have been. The blade went through the wall leaving no marks on it and sinking through it. Once the illusionary wall was gone another small alcove was reviled with a bonfire waiting for them.
The duo rested at the fire and restocked their Estus before moving onwards.
The rocks towered over them and made them feel cramped. They passed an opening to a circular area that they ignored even though the treasure on a corpse was very tempting. But they regretted not having gone for it as before they had moved a few meters there was a rustling noise and the sound of twigs being broken and strained.
Tuning they were met with three Demonic Foliage's charging toward them, Isha was caught by the whipping vines as she was behind and closer to them then Arya. Seeing that her sister was in trouble the woman brought as much fire as she could in her two hands and threw it over head like one would a Rugby ball straight to the bush. It caught fire like a dried out Christmas tree. While it died the other two that were left decided that it would be a good time to attack Arya while she needed to get her energy back. They both whipped out their vine like appendages and whipped Arya across various parts of her body leaving large lacerations and cuts where they hit.
She tried to bring up her shield to protect herself, but the vines were able to hit the metal and 'flex' around it hitting her even with her guard up. There was loud pop and the whipping halted. Looking over the shield she saw that Isha had let loose a soul arrow on the back of one of the Demonic Foliage's, not quite killing it, but it was strong enough to force it off its feat.
Arya's sister didn't let up her attacks though, she continued her volley of soul arrows until they were both dead using her range to her advantage.
Once they were dead Isha sprinted over to Arya and began to look over all her injuries as any older sibling would. After seeing the extent of the damage she took out the Estus flask and handed it to her sister.
"Here, drink this and heal yourself." Seeing the look that dared her to try and fight back, Arya accepted the loss and took a drink of the Estus. Enjoying the warm yet somehow still cool liquid burnt and soothed as it travelled down her throat healing her injuries though the sting of them was still there.
When she was healed enough that she was able to continue on their trek through the forest they first went over to the dead bushes and were able to find some Purple and Red Moss on some of them. As they moved further onwards they were much more cautious and happened to get a 'Large soul of a Nameless Soldier' from the area that the Demonic Foliage's had come from. Move onwards they came to a wide open area full of trees and more bushes. Hopefully they were the normal kind and not the 'came alive and attacked you' kind.
The whole area was alight by strange flowers littered across the open expanse. And the air was much cleaner here than anywhere else the siblings had come across. The slight breeze was cool and crisp with some water vapour that hung in the air like a curtain yet didn't make the ground nor the trees wet.
"Want to try and hug the wall? That way we avoid the chance that any more things will sneak up on us?" Isha asked as she pointed to the wall.
"… Yeah, that might work."
Traveling along the wall they used the pointed rock wall as a guide so they would be less likely to run into anything. The path lead them to a huge tree Arya wanted to pass it by when her sister grabbed her sleeve and stopped her.
"This tree, it's strange." She told her sister as her head was turned in the direction of the strange flora in question.
Her sister was confused and took another look at the suspect tree. "I don't see anything wrong with it."
"Well, I think there is. It is making a strange noise like a 'creek' or something and I think its roots are moving…"
Arya was very close to laughing at her sister but didn't out of affection for her sibling. "So 'cough' what do you want to do about it?"
"Let's hack it down!" It was strangely violent for Isha but her sister didn't really care, she only wanted a reason to use her new sword.
So that was exactly what she did. Arya hacked and slashed at the tree until it exploded into thousands of little souls and revealed a new path for them which they took. The new path was just as narrow as the previous one but there were new monsters in this area.
They met something like a Frog and a Manta ray, it had a frog face with a flat manta ray body and it leapt at them attacking them with its long tongue. Isha used her magic to attack it mid air and it was blasted off course before falling on its back, Arya ran forward to finish it ramming her sword into its soft underbelly.
When the Manta ray-frog was dead the duo continued to follow the trail when they came upon another living tree which Arya burnt down easily when led into a large open area full of trees and toward the middle was a large stone statue laying on the forest floor covered in moss and the like. It was wearing stone armour reminiscent of a knight. Isha went forward to inspect it when it decided to get up making the sibling leap into the air and try to run away.
"What the-! Why is a statue MOVEING!?" Isha shouted as she ran back to her sister's location.
Arya brought her hands together and charged a large amount of Fire into them before she threw it at the Statue. It flinched and cringed but it didn't stop it completely. The Stone Knight brought both hands to the handle of his stone sword and raised it to the air and sent out a pulse of energy that hit Arya.
Isha was far enough away that it didn't hit her.
"HA! That did nothing you big stone bastard!" Arya shouted and went to jump backwards from its fast approaching form only to find that her body was slow and unresponsive.
The stone Knight was quickly in front of her and raised its arm to hack at her with its stone sword when a powerful soul arrow hit it directly in the chest. Isha knew that if she timed her attacks she would be able to make the stone giant flinch and interrupt its attack giving her sister time to hack at it from close up.
Seeing what her sister had in mind Arya did hack at it with her own blade. She went for the back of its legs hoping that it was susceptible to some form of pain. It had the desired effect as when she landed it through the back of the leg and could feel the stone give way when it was forced to one knee though she was unable to feel any sort of victory as it swiped at her, backhanding her and sending her flying as she hit the ground hard.
Isha used its distraction to her advantage and dealt a finishing blow to it.
Arya was relatively unhurt, though the same could not be said for her pride. "Why is it I seem to be the punching bag for everything in Lordran?" She asked.
With the way finally clear they followed the narrow path to their prize. A ring with a wolf symbol on it. Looking it up in their book they read the description.
'One of the special rings granted to the four knights of Gwyn. The wolf ring belongs to Artorias the Abysswalker. Artorias had an unbendable will of steel, and was unmatched with a greatsword'
Isha handed the ring to her sister. "Unmatched with a greatsword, sounds like you should have this."
She took it with a smile and put it on her right middle finger to mirror the rusted iron ring on her left and the duo travelled back to the large open area. They quickly noticed something that they hadn't before.
"Tell me those aren't…" Arya questioned pointing to a large pile of rocks.
Her sister nodded. "They are more Stone Knights." Isha ever the tactician came up with an idea to avoid them all together. They couldn't be sure how they knew people were near them but they DID know that if they went near them, the giants would awaken. The younger sibling followed the older and Isha gladly led the way to a broken stone building. They were a few meters away when the ground shook behind them, looking back it was a Stone Knight marching its way to them.
The sisters sprinted into the building and thought they were safe until the Stone Giant knelt down and reached inside trying to grab them. The two went back as far as they could, knocking down a small bush in the process and Arya saw a summon sign on the ground.
"Isha! We can get help! Look here, this summon sign can let us call someone to fight with us" Arya beckoned to her sister.
They stood on either side of the sign and held their hands together over it and began to chant the summoning spell like Solaire had taught them. He mentioned that they could come across these signs in Lordran and taught them both how to use them.
Within seconds a figure began to materialize, they were small and appeared young though with their huge hat over their head it was hard to tell. In their hand was a large Catalyst telling them that they were a mage and from their attire it was clear they were female. When the summoning was finished the newly summoned woman was no longer translucent and took one quick glance at the two that summoned her and another at the Stone Knight before knowing exactly what to do.
The witch brought her Catalyst up to the air and hit the Stone Knight with a powerful great heavy soul arrow and followed up with a homing Soul mass. The Stone giant was unable to withstand the onslaught and exploded into a mass of souls. The witch turned to the ones who summoned her and bowed.
"I am the Witch Beatrice, thank you for summoning me. I don't remember much of where I was before I came here but I know it was dark and cold." She told them lifting her hat so they could get a better look at her. She was indeed young, in her late teens to early 20's with midnight black hair cut short and her outfit was mainly one long dress with a small black cape. On the arm that wasn't holding the Catalyst was a cracked round shield to which Arya quickly replaced with a better one.
"I assume you are heading to the top to dispatch the Moonlight Butterfly?" Beatrice asked tilting her head.
The sisters looked at each other before Isha answered "Not really, we were mainly here for practice with our teamwork. But I guess we may as well kill it."
"I agree, this forest is not its natural home, though it once came from here it was experimented on and when it escaped its confinements followed its instincts to this dark humid forest to feed from the plants and nectar here." Beatrice told them a smile on her face as she wandered up the steps making the others follow her if they wanted to stay with someone powerful.
At the top of the stairs was a fog door, all three of them went through it and they heard the flapping of gigantic wings. As they turned their heads to the noise the form of a huge butterfly with a massive horn froing from its head appeared before them glowing a luminescent green. It took them for intruders and attacked them from a distance with powerful magic.
Every one of them had to dodge the attack. It was clear that Arya was not going to be much help in this battle and moved out of the ranged mages way hoping to draw the luminescent bug's attacks away from the others. The two charged up their magic in their Catalysts and blasted the butterfly with Soul Arrows and Great Heavy Soul Arrows. It took a fair amount of damage but retaliated with magic of its own and sent another barrage of attacks toward them.
Arya was doing a fine job of keeping the Butterfly's attention as she kept throwing fire at it nearly reaching but not quite hitting it. It sent a focused energy blast at her which she blocked with her shield but the force sent her off balance, she swung her arms hoping to regain her it but ultimately fell backwards off the bridge, she would have fallen to her death had she not jammed her sword into the stone cracks of the bridge. Now she was dangling from it trying not to move too much lest she accidentally loosen the swords hold to the wall yet she was trying to grasp the wall or the vines near her with her free hand so she'd have a good perch to pull herself back up.
Beatrice and Isha had seen her fall and the witch, being the closest to her was the one able to go to the ledge where Arya fell. She was relieved to see the woman hanging there and Beatrice summoned a Homing Soul Mass to protect her back while she reached down to help Arya back up. While she was helping the younger sister, the other was not idle. Isha was still firing as many soul arrows as she was able at the bug to make sure it wouldn't attack Beatrice while her back was turned.
Once Arya was back up she knelt on the stone, happy to be back on solid ground and the others waited for the butterfly to land as it wouldn't be able to keep up this pace of attacks for much longer. True to its nature it landed on the ledge to replenish its magic and energy with nectar from plants growing from the stone. Arya used this chance to attack while the other two also rested to replenish their Mana. The younger hot blooded sister sent a barrage of two handed power swings at the head of the butterfly. The rest of the battle was a bit repetitive as when the huge Bug flew into the air the two mages easily attacked it with their magic once more. It did send a Homing energy blast at Isha and as her shield wasn't as good at magic deflection as Arya's the younger sibling threw herself in front of the blast and had the wind knocked out of her by the sheer force of it. To finish the fight the two mages attacked simultaneously and the butterfly was unable to withstand the continuous attacks and fell to the trio giving them a huge amount of soul's and opening a way across the bridge to what must have been an endless staircase which had a petrified Blacksmith holding a Devine Ember and a watchtower basement key at the top.
Beatrice looked at her hands. Expecting herself to disappear but she was still as physical as she was before.
"Why aren't you disappearing?" Arya asked, not trying to be harsh but coming across as. Solaire had told them that once the summoned person had fulfilled their duty they faded back to the land whence they came from.
"I am not sure. It must have been your magic's. Somehow they were so strong that I was fully brought into this world, I am now as much a part of this word as you or anyone in this world is." The witch told them.
"So… you want to travel with us then?" The younger sibling askes as she sheathed her sword.
"I would like that very much. I am curious about your magic's."
(BREAK)
As they travelled the path back to the Undead Parish, Beatrice told them about what she could remember about their life.
"I am from a clan of witches, we didn't conform to the Vinheim Dragon Schools rules and lived in this very forest many years ago. While I am not exactly sure what happened, I know that this place is different to what I remember. It is darker and older. Much older." She had a distant look in her eyes as her hat was pulled back on her head. "My home was corrupted by something dark and my mother left to battle it, looking for some way to stop it. When she couldn't, I stepped in.
"There was a knight sent to our home to try and prevent the spread of the corruption and I followed his path into the heart of the blackness I don't know how long I wandered, time seemed to be meaningless in that dark abyss, but I made it to the end and could see the light of day, when I was attacked by four men… Not men anymore, they had sold their souls for power. And that's all I remember." The young woman finished.
She followed up with some questions of her own for the two siblings. She wanted to know where they had learnt their magic and where they had come from. They were reluctant to say where they had come from as they knew saying that they come from an alternate dimension would not go over well, even if time in Lordran was convoluted and summoning people from different dimensions was common place but aside from the fact that they had died in their own world, the sisters were unable to recall any more about their lives.
When Beatrice learnt that Isha had no formal training, she enthusiastically offered to train her in the ways of magic.
"Your magic is powerful but it is unfocused. It is like a vast lake and you are draining it fast like a waterfall on simple remedial spells. You need to learn how to use less energy to achieve the same results. Then if you move onto more powerful spells like my Great Heavy Soul Arrow or Homing Soul Mass." When she continued to talk to Isha about magic Arya shook her head and walked slightly faster than them not wanting to be part of the conversation.
When they arrived back at the hidden bonfire next to the magically sealed door, Arya took a long look at it before taking out the Crest of Artorias. "You think this is the key to the door?" She asked her sister and Beatrice who were sitting around the fire.
"Give it a go, might be." Beatrice told her.
Arya walked up to the great door with magic flowing all around it, she held out the round crest and held it to the door. There was a circle shape that she pushed the crest into and the magic dispelled as the door opened to a new section of forest. The two at the fire stood and quickly moved to Arya's side.
Beatrice was the first to break the silence. "Let's move forward. After all, what is life without adventure?"
With that piece of encouragement, the group entered the new area and walked down the stone stairs. This area of the woods was more densely covered in trees and was much darker as the strange plants whose tips were glowing a luminous blue/white were not present here as they were in the other area. Leaves crunched under their feet as they marched hesitantly forward. A breeze from ahead brought with it a cooling and soothing sensation that was mixed with the fresh scent of the forest.
They moved cautiously forward expecting anything to come out and jump them. As in this world it seemed to happen a lot, as a general rule the siblings decided that if it moved, it was trying to kill them.
As they went deeper into the forest something felt off. Like they were being watched. They could see to what seemed to be a decrepit building at the end of the forest and the beginning of a bridge at the end of that. Something to their right moved and a huge crunch of branches and trees breaking and being uprooted resounded through the forest. The trio dashed forward to the noise looking for its source and the closer they got to it the more sounds they could hear. People were shouting and screaming at something.
Breaking through the trees they came upon an open area that would have been full of life and trees except they had been uprooted by the thing in the centre and the ground under its feet was covered in thick black tar. There was a troupe of people surrounding the creature, all were wearing different armour and one moved like a shadow almost transparent, there was one in the back with a large feathered hat with a black ebony bow firing arrows and one next to them with a Sorcerers Catalyst was another person. In the front lines was more soldiers, one of which had a large red shield with a spider on it, another wore cleric robes like Petrus and a final knight was in samurai style armour with a large lion head on the left shoulder and a massive sword in his right which he was swinging at the creature.
The creature in question was standing at the centre of the black tar, it was somewhat humanoid in appearance with Digi grade legs like some wolf or cat while its shoulders were too large for its body and where its head would be was some circular ball with a collar forming upwards to protect its head. Its eyes were the colour of blood and it roared with a great open mouth full of sharp pointed teeth.
Arya, Isha and Beatrice didn't hesitate in throwing themselves into the battle. Arya, reckless as ever went straight in charging full force swinging her blade down with as much force as she was able to muster into the creature's leg. It did a little damage but it wasn't much compared to the vast amount of health the thing had. It swung its long arm and knocked Arya along with a few of the others backwards and they landed hard onto the ground.
The sorcerers and the Archer sent a barrage of magic and arrows toward the creature hitting it with enough force to make it stumble a little.
Arya rose to her feet, bruised and angered. Her power seemed to rise with her frustration, it felt like her blood was boiling. The woman wanted to be weak no longer. She was tired or being pushed around by everything in this world. Fire emanated from her and the others around her backed away so they wouldn't be burnt by the flames licking at her body though not burning her or her clothes. Arya slashed her sword down and concentrated the flames in her sword through the ruby that contained some of her own flame from her fight with the Channeler. With her sword alight she once more charged forward, this time in more of a blind rage unaware of anything else around her. Gripping her blade with both hands she swung the blade and her entire body at the creature's leg, this time she was able to leave a substantial slice and burn to it.
When it was cut the blood that flowed from it was the same as the tar surrounding it. Some of which fell onto Arya's arm and burnt while it stuck to her, much like boiling glue. She screamed at the pain and dropped her sword trying to scrape the tar off her arm with her other hand but even with it off the burn was still present and still the girl screamed in pain.
Isha was shocked at the fire that had emanated from her sister but couldn't focus on it as the creature was still alive, heavily injured but still alive. She and Beatrice threw two soul arrows simultaneously at the creature, the two magic's combined in mid flight to make a stronger arrow which pierced the creature making it fall to its back as it was unable to right itself due to the damage it received from Arya (who at this point had passed out from the pain and shock).
When it was floored, the knights from the forest all charged in and hacked at the creature. Once it was dead it exploded into a number of souls which Arya and Isha absorbed and with the main threat now taken care of there was nothing stopping Isha from rushing to her sister. When she was assured that her sister was still in fact breathing the elder sibling released a sigh of relief.
"You can't be the hero all the time. It is the job of the older sibling to take care of the younger." She chastised to he now sleeping Arya. She felt cold steal on her shoulder and turned her head to be met with the samurai.
"You two are trespassing and as such must be dealt with." He said in a light eastern accent.
"Yet Shiva, they helped us. And without that Pyromancer and those two Sorcerers we'd be well dead." The archer told them, not having been reviled to be a woman with her soft spoken voice and physique that only females had.
The man called Shiva lowered his blade as he thought this through "You are right Pharis. They did save us… Very well. Let's take them to Alvina. She can decide what to do, so."
(BREAK)
Isha and Beatrice were being shoved forward by Pharis while her sister was being carried by the ninja following close behind Shiva, the Ninja was nearly invisible making it seem like Arya was floating. They were escorted to the ruined building and were led down a secrete passageway at the back of the building under a trap door hidden to look like the grassy forest floor.
The inside was fairly deep down and the stone stairs were lined with torches to keep the place alight. Isha was worried about what would happen once they met with these people's leader. Would this Alvina want them dead or would she send them away?
Once at the bottom of the steps Isha saw the accommodation of these Forest ninja. The main gathering hall was wide and open with large open area's leading into what Isha saw as the Kitchen/ Dining area and the other lead into a living area. The entire building was underground and lined with a bright sandy coloured stone while it was lit predominately with torches Isha was able to feel a breeze from somewhere indicating that fresh air was flowing through the base.
Isha and Beatrice were pushed ahead into a different area. This one was darker as there were less torches lighting the area and eventually one of the people opened a door that led to a large room. There was a large table in this one and sitting in the centre of it was a large cat. Not looking like any ordinary cat though, its face was too elongated and its teeth were a little too pointed.
It raised its head and looks at the newcomers with intelligent yellow eyes. The Ninja carrying Arya stepped forward and placed her on the table in front of the cat. It got up and strode forward peering down at Isha's sister.
"What have we here? Three intruders? Why have they been brought before me?" The large smoky grey cat spoke with a meow noise in the background as she talked.
Isha leant over to Beatrice "The cats talking. Tell me I'm not dreaming this?"
"This is Lordran, stop being surprised." The witch replied a smile in her eyes and a teasing grin on her face.
"This one has been touched by the corruption. Tell me, what did happen outside these walls?" The cat asked.
"There was a huge earthquake outside and black tar began to rise from the ground, Alvina." Shiva stepped forward and spoke "We had no idea what to do then all of a sudden, this monster appeared from the ground. We were nearly loosing when this Pyromancer and these two mages appeared. They helped and this one got some of the creature's blood on her arm."
Alvina the cat 'Hmm'd' in response and took a closer look at Arya arm before she looked too her group of hunters. "Pharis." She called. "I need you to make a potion with the exact ingredients and measurements I give you." Alvina then hopped down from the table and walked out of the room with Pharis on her heels.
"But Alvina. What do we do with these two?" Shiva insisted taking a half step forward.
The cat stopped and half turned her head. "Leave them be. Till such a time when the other is healed, they are to be guests and treated as such."
It was clear that Shiva was disappointed.
(BREAK)
It took a few hours before Arya woke again. She was laying on one of the beds in a guest room, Isha and Beatrice were sitting in the room waiting for her to wake. As soon as she groaned, Isha was out of her seat and by Arya's side.
"What happened?" Arya asked, groggy and sleepy.
"That monster was killed and we were taken to the home of the Forest clan. Their leader Alvina made you potion to heal your arm." Isha explained.
Arya threw her legs over the edge of the bed and sat up straight she talked more and more with Isha and Beatrice finding out what happened and about the Forest clan themselves. When she was fully up to date the younger sibling stood and stretched testing her right arm. It seemed fine, no damage left behind, then she grabbed her sword which was resting against the end of the bed. As soon as it was in her hand the door opened and a nameless Forest Hunter entered.
"Alvina wants talk with you all when she is awake." He said.
The trio followed the Hunter through the base and to the meeting room where Alvina was last time sitting this time however she was sitting in an intricately weaved basket. She looked up at them from her comfortable position and rose pattering to the table and hopping up onto it before sitting straight waiting for them to stand at the foot of the table.
"So this is the one who dispatched the one made from darkness. Tis it not true that thou cometh to this forest by accident. Why? Why did thou help us? It was of no concern." She asked tilting her head as she did so.
"It was simple. There were people in trouble and we helped." Arya simply stated.
Alvina laughed opening her mouth and showing her sharp teeth. "Oh, so noble of thou. But this world tis full of selfish and disgraceful people. Tis nice to finally meet some who are still as kind and noble as you three." But her happy attitude left as quick as it came. "But I cannot let thou leave. Thee know too much and would be a liability to our clan… But if thou were to become a member of our clan, thee would be free to come and go as thee pleased."
The three looked at each other. "What would happen if we joined? If it for life?" Isha the sensible one questioned.
The grey cat chuckled and rubbed her ear once with a paw "No, it isn't for thine life. Thee may decide to leave the clan if thou choses. But know this. The secrets of the clan must never be told to outsiders. The clan leader shall know and divine judgment shall be brought down upon thee."
Once again the group looked at each other and had a quick debate deciding what to do. Eventually they decided on a path. "We accept." They all said together.
"Good. Then thou will be allowed to come and go unhindered by the Forest clan. Come hither and chant the binding words."
Doing as bid the trio stood before Alvina and repeated the words joining them to the clan.
"Should thou decide to leave the clan tis by thine own choice. No ill will shall be held against thee. The thee before me shall always be known as friends of the Forest clan."
Leave a review and tell me how the story is progressing. Can you guess where they are going next?
WolfBlaas
Lady of the Abyss
- Location
- Ireland
All right. Chapter 5. Thank you to all who reviewed and commented and Ill try and get the next chapter out a little sooner.
Again. (BREAK) means like break.
After the cat told Arya on the third day of mind numbing boredom and escape attempts, that she was allowed to leave the room she had been confined to, she went wandering through the base mainly raiding the kitchen and going outside to practice with her new sword. She and her sister often wondered how Oscar was doing in the catacombs and if Solaire and Lautrec were doing okay since they had left them. They knew the golden knight would have headed back to Firelink and Solaire might have wandered off to 'find his own light' and the likelihood of him being back at the smiths when they returned wasn't good.
Arya was running through her drills when Shiva and his ghostly follower came up to her. "You seem to be practicing a lot. Why put so much effort into it?" He asked through his helm making his voice echo slightly within the metal.
"I don't really know. It helps keep my mind of things and keeps me busy. And if I dot get better I'm more likely to get killed right?" She replied plunging her sword into the ground to keep it out of her way. "Actually, I've seen your friend practice some flips and other acrobatics. Can he teach me to do that?"
Shiva turned his head to look at his companion before he responded. "I don't see why not. But it would be tough with all that extra weight. A rolling dive might be better for you."
And so with a disappointed look, Arya let Shiva teach her how to properly dive out of an oncoming attack. And since Isha's weapons were lighter, the bodyguard taught her how to flip like a ninja, to which Arya was a little jealous but she quickly got over it. It only took a few hours to be taught the correct technique and after that Shiva told them that it was up to them to master it. So it added more time to their training regime. Isha then decided to train together with their sword and dagger.
Isha thought it would be a good idea to have them fight together so they would both gain more experience. The older sibling needed to get better at her close combat fighting since her magic would only do her so much good. It was clear that there was a big difference between their skill levels but it taught them that Isha needed much more practice using her dagger, in fact she said she didn't like how close she would have to get in order to attack. Her sister recommended that she talk to Andre when they get back since he was able to help her with her the new sword. And Arya was loving it so far.
As they finished up their sparing a new figure came up to them. It was the archer Pharis.
"So, how are you adjusting to life in this forest?" She asked they were unable to see much of her face because of her hat but they could see her smile.
"We are doing fine. But we are planning on leaving soon." Isha told her. "But how did you get here? I thought that Pharis was an archer from a long time ago?"
She smiled and tilted her hat up to look at them better "Yes he was. But this gear was owned by him or her. No one can be sure who the original Pharis was. I was a good archer and I found a clue to the original Pharis. Then I got this gear."
The sisters looked at each other. "That's it?" Arya blatantly asked.
"I am not going to tell you everything. After all it is a secrete." She replied.
Arya's eye twitched. "But you just told us that you are not the original Pharis. That must be pretty important. What's one more bit of information. And Im sure you want to brag on how you got past all the traps and figured out the clues." She was hoping that by appealing to her show off nature that she would tell them more.
"Well." Pharis took the bait. "When I did get past all of the traps and clues. They wrent that hard anyway, not for someone of my talent. There was a journal with the gear. It had entries from all the old archers that took the Pharis gear. Hopefully ill be worthy of adding my own entries too it someday."
And with that, the archer smirked, turned on her heal and left them. The two siblings went back into the guild building and went to pack up their gear, they didn't plan on staying for much longer since Arya was nearly healed but there was something she needed to ask. Looking through their book she had found many references to Artorias whether it be his ring or sword, there was evidence of him being alive at some point so the legend wasn't a 'fabrication' like Alivia had said. There was also mention of his companion Sif.
When she talked it over with her sister they both agreed that it was too much to brush off and they were going to ask the cat before they left.
The sisters went into the war room where they had their meetings, it was the first room that the two were brought too in fact. And Alvina was resting in her basket but looked up to see what had disturbed her.
"Alvina. We wanted to ask you something." Arya began. "We have been looking everywhere and we have found much on Artorias. He isn't just a myth. He can't be."
The cat looked at them seriously, moved out of her basket and leaped onto the table to look at them. "I cannot talk about Sir Artorias. Nor should you look for information on him. Thou should not dig any deeper. I ask this of you as friends."
The booth looked disappointed. But since the cat was so adamant about not telling them the sisters had their answer. They turned to leave when a meow was heard behind them.
"I will tell you this. There is a place where people worship and leave their respects to the great knight. Maybe one day, thine can take thee there." And the cat dismissed them.
(BREAK)
The two left the guild hall and went to return to the parish. The way back was easier than the way there since they knew the places to watch out for and the bushes that were going to leap out of the ground and attack them. When they were near the Parish they noticed a path they had missed before. And being the curious idiots they were, they went to explore.
It was the exact same as the part of the forest they had come from, but this felt darker somehow. The area was full of thin ledges and deathly falls but they continued downwards waiting for anything to jump out at them. The air was thicker and filled with more moisture, Isha said there must be a lot of water nearby.
They continued downwards on the thin ledges and were unfortunate enough to meet another black knight.
The knight this time had a giant ass halberd. Arya deadpanned when she saw it and tried to slowly walk backwards away from the knight when she slipped on the wet grass and slid towards the knight giving away their position with her yell of surprise. The knight leaped toward them swinging his halberd down, Arya was able to miss being split in half when she leaped forward. The two led the knight up the slope and to a wider area where they would be less inclined to fall to their deaths.
Using all that they had been taught the sisters spread themselves out so that the knight was only able to attack one of them leaving itself open to an attack from its blind side. The knight was smart and knew that Isha was the weaker of the two having her catalyst for distance attacks and only a dagger for close combat, the knight was at a huge advantage attacking her.
But when Isha used a point black spell and a second magic attack hit the knight from above. Looking up the duo saw Beatrice with her own catalyst raised.
"Beatrice, where the hell have you been?" Arya shouted up to the small woman, "You just vanished."
They saw her smile from under her hat. "You have bigger problems." And pointed to the black knight that was getting back up.
Needing no further instruction Arya swung her sword and hacked at the armoured knight as much as she could getting a few dozen hits in as it staggered. With a screech and a shower of soul particles the knight died leaving behind its gauntlets. Arya held them up but they were way too big for her so she resigned to take them to Andrey to see if he could do anything with them.
"That was close." Beatrice told them as she descended the grassy walkway.
"So where have you been?" Arya asked.
Beatrice smiled. "That isn't important is it? But I saw you had left and I followed soon after. After all I can't leave my new student can I?" This made Isha ecstatic but Arya was just glad for some more company.
And their little band continued onwards finding a new bonfire to rest at where the Black knight was before they moved onwards toward the other end of the forest basin. The ground opened out to reveal a huge expanse of open area with a few trees in between. And there was new enemies to worry about, huge crystal golems that aggroed and ran toward them, leaping at them once it was closer. The trio all dodged out of the way and Arya two handed her weapon swinging it at the golem.
The shock travelled up the sword and to her arms which hurt Arya a lot. The attack was followed up by two magic Soul arrows leaving it staggered. Arya jumped backwards and finished it with two Fireballs and it vanished and gave them souls. Before they had time to celebrate a huge wall of water hit them all sending them and sending them to the ground winding them all.
"What the fuck was that?" Arya groaned as she slowly got back up.
"There's something in the distance… What the…. There's nine heads…" Isha told them a look of astonishment on her face that turned to despair. "It's a Hydra."
And the Hydra sent another blast of water at them, causing them to rush away toward the way they came in.
"I am not facing something like that!" Isha screamed as she sprinted over the small ledges back to the entrance. They all made it back to the parish in one piece though very battered and bruised. The presence of the Hydra was not one that they were expecting.
Back at the parish Andrey was happy to see them all alive and was astounded to hear about their encounter with the forest covenant. "Not many people make it back alive once they enter their forests. And that thing you fought… Hmm I've never heard of anything like it. But these gauntlets I can do something with."
So he fitted the first one to fit her left hand and then he had a genius idea. He used the remaining glove to thicken the first essentially making it a shield and bludgeoning device all in one.
"I figured since you don't seem to use that shield that a small shield would fit you better. And with these gauntlets you can also hit people, counter and parry." He told them. In exchange for more souls he also fixed their gear.
Having enough of the forest the trio decided to go back to Firelink and move on from there. But Isha noticed something when they got to the fire on the first floor.
"Is there someone at that gate?" And they went to investigate the strange person who looked like… and onion?
"Hi. What are you doing out here?" Isha called out from a safe distance since she had now learned to fear everything in Lordran.
The armour they were wearing made it seem like the person was incredibly fat with an onion on their head. But looks can be deceiving… so can the Zweihander sitting next to them.
"Mmm...mmm... Mm! Oh-hoh! Forgive me." He spoke with a nervous laugh. "I was absorbed in thought. I am Siegmeyer of Catarina. Quite honestly, I have run flat up against a wall. Or, a gate, I should say. The thing just won't budge. No matter how long I wait. And, oh, have I waited! So, here I sit, in quite a pickle. Weighing my options, so to speak! Hah hah hah hah!"
Isha sat next to him "Well, it has to open sometime right? If we find a way we shall open it for you." She told him as she pumped her fist in the air enthusiastically.
He turned his head "Oh you will? Thank you fellow adventures. I do hope it opens soon. I so wish to continue my adventure while I still can."
Not seeing much else to do they left Siegmeyer and went back to the church. After defeating a few hollows with ease thanks to the training that both Isha and Arya received and the extra help from Beatrice was making progress move much faster. They reached the front of the church killing the Balder Knights with a good surprise attack and moved to the gate that was still closed. Beatrice was good enough to notice a leaver that Arya pulled while Isha went to a body that was near it and found a key to the Lower burg.
The gate was opened and they all went back to the elevators at the back of the church that took them to Firelink Shrine. They left the lift and strode across the stone hallways and came upon the area that housed Petrus the asshole of a cleric. And he wasn't alone.
There were two more clerics standing on the opposite corner to Petrus and a third woman kneeling facing away from them. Her hood obscured her face but the body clearly was that of a woman.
Arya, Isha and Beatrice all drew their weapons waiting for one to attack and they did the same. Petrus recognised them and sighed heavily.
"Oh, it is you two again. Put away the weapons Vince, Niko. These two are not hollows" He told them putting his own weapon away.
"Nice to see you are still an ass." Arya said sheathing her sword on her back and crossing her arms. She raised her head in a greeting to the other two clerics. "Hi, I hope you are nicer then this guy."
Vince was tall and well built with bright blond hair that reached his eyes. Niko on the other hand had a helm that covered all but his eyes and cheeks. Both were in matching armour and but had different weapons. Vince had a mace while Niko went for a crescent axe.
"Hm? What have we here? You look awfully raggedy; are you all right?" He said. Then he had the gall to repeat it when all three gave him a look "You look awfully raggedy... Times are grim; the least you can do is look sharp. Don't you dare meet M'lady like that. You might scare her off for good!" He had a smile on his face at the end and Arya was reaching for her sword when Beatrice clocked her on the back of her head with her staff.
He continued on as if nothing had happened. "What business have you? I don't suppose we can help, though. We accompany M'lady on her righteous mission. It is quite a chore, but I'm stuck with her, and Nico, too. I can't very well abandon them now. Honestly, I don't have a problem with your kind. But there's not very much that I can do. I am Vince of Thorolund. Let's say a word, for our safety. A prayer to our marvellous Lord. Vereor Nox."
For the rest of the conversation the Arya ignored him 'hmm' ing when needed and went to sit down only then noticing a pain in her leg. She had been nicked by a balder knight in her calf but thought that the cut was shallower then it was. The thing was now giving her more trouble having gone from a slight annoyance to a pulsing stinging feeling.
When she hissed in pain they all looked to her, even the woman that was praying.
"You're hurt again? Honestly you wouldn't notice if your own leg was hacked off." Isha complained as she went into her bag looking for the Estus.
"Of course I would." Arya argued with a smile. "After all. Im sure id notice if I started hopping on one leg." Even Beatrice laughed at her.
When the woman stood and walked to Arya, the hood hid long brown hair that was tied back somehow and she knelt next to Arya and held her talisman out and began to heal her.
"You don't have to. Ill just take a drink of Estus and be back to normal soon. But thanks. Im Arya." And she heled out her hand once the led was healed.
There was great sadness in her eyes. As if there was something missing, a fire that should have been there. "Are you uncouth as to lack judgement and not be injured in battle? By the looks of you...I should think not." She scolded the woman in front of her but took her hand nonetheless. "I am Reah of Thorolund. You should be more careful, if you were to become hollow or die surely your friends and family would be saddened."
Arya stood and pulled Reah up with her by the hand she was still holding. "I think I would be okay. Push comes to shove, im sure I could cauterise the wound with this." And she held her palm out summoning a small flame.
"Pyromancy without a glove. Astounding." Vince spoke as his eyes widened. "That would be quite handy in the catacombs. We are to be leaving once we have stocked our provisions."
"Catacombs. Why?" Isha questioned.
Reah looked down "We cannot say. I have my mission, and you no doubt have yours. It is best if we say no more about it."
They talked with Reah and her companions for a while longer before they left to see Anastasia the Fire Keeper. They were surprised to see Lautrec sitting without his helmet in front of the gate where Anastasia was, he was glaring at her.
Isha took the soul to Anastasia to see if she could power the Estus more while Arya stood in the Golden knight's way blocking his vision of the fire keeper. "So you got back all right."
"Yes, I did, and despite it all I am glad that you are safe. And I have some information if you want it." He took his eyes away from the other woman to look at Arya who nodded "Be wary of 'Trusty Patches'. If ever a man has rubbed me up the wrong way, ugh! If he ever comes around again, I swear, I'll have his hide."
"What he steal from you?" Beatrice mocked lightly.
"No. How do you think I ended up in that cell with nothing but my swords and armour?" He sneered.
Now Arya out rightly laughed at him. "How the hell did you let that happen?"
He looked away "I don't wish to get into it. Also there is another smith down in New Londo behind me. He would be able to help your sister with a magical weapon."
"Sorry for laughing. What happened to Solaire?" she asked.
"Hmm. The last I saw he was leaving for the Depths. I wished him good fortune and let him be."
Isha came back over. "Here, it is all powered up." And her sister told her of the magic smith. "It is a good idea. But there is no point in having a magic weapon if I can't use my magic that well. We can always go later."
So they agreed to go to the depths to see if they could head off Solaire. With one last warning from Lautrec about someone attacking people looking for humanity they were off back in the direction of the undead Burg. This time they were ready for everything and easily made it to the gate that was locked before. Once open they descended the stairs that led to a huge bonfire of bodies.
While they were staring at it Arya was tackled to the ground by an undead dog. She managed to avoid most of the teeth thanks to her new gauntlet that held the top jaw open while her other hand held the bottom. Her leg was pushing the thing off her as much as she could while she shouted.
"This isn't fun. Fucking kill it someone!"
Isha stabbed the dead dog in the neck and it whimpered as it died. Arya threw the body off her and stood panting from the effort and looking for any bite marks. "It didn't get me did it?" she asked.
There were two more mutts patrolling the lower levels, Isha suggested that her and Beatrice lure them close with ranged attacks while Arya finish them with Pyromancy. When the dogs charged at them the younger sister took a deep breath lit a small flame in her left hand and blew on the flame, releasing a huge spray of fire that burned the two undead dogs when they came close.
"When did you learn to do that?" Isha asked.
Her sibling shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I just thought of one of those fire dancers and how they blow the fire out."
"Well, whatever it was, it sure did the trick." Beatrice said and patted Arya on her shoulder before moving past her onto the open area with many closed doors too small houses.
They went down the steps very slowly and Arya went to move on ahead but her sister gripped the back of her high collar and stopped her mid stride.
"Wait, this is the perfect spot for some ambush or something." Isha ever the thinker said.
Eager to move forward the younger and more hot blooded sister raised her hands "Then what? How do we move on from here?"
"Well…" She thought for a moment. "We can go the opposite way first, see if there is anything worth salvaging before moving on. And maybe we can find a way to avoid the obvious trap."
And the band moved away from the closed doors and narrow passageways to a different route of narrow (ambush ready) passageways. They passed one door with a voice calling from behind it.
"Somebody! Please, let me out of here! Somebody, anybody! Help me! Unlock the door...! Damn... I'm finished... How did this ever happen..." the voiced said while banging on the door.
"You still have that residence key?" Arya asked. When her sister nodded she dug around in her bag and produced the key before putting it in the lock and turned it.
Once the person inside was free he barred through the now open space and caught himself before he could fall to the ground. "Brilliant!" he told them a huge grin on his face "You opened the door for me! Thank you; I am saved. I thought I might never escape. I am Griggs of Vinheim. A sorcerer of the school. I am much obliged for your assistance."
"Will you be okay?" Isha asked as she was sceptical of his ability to keep himself safe.
"Yes. Once I will rest a while, then return to Firelink Shrine. I have my sorcery. And I will be more cautious next time. Besides, I have an important task at hand."
Beatrice had a strange look of anger on her face. "Oh and what task is that? To destroy and persecute anyone that consent conform to your schools teachings?"
"Oh and who are you who thinks that they can judge me?" Griggs asked a look and anger now on his own face.
"You.. YOU!" And Beatrice went to raise her staff and blast Griggs with a great heavy soul arrow but Arya grabbed the stick and pointed it away.
"Oi. Give it a rest. And you-" The swordswoman pointed to the other sorcerer, "Get going. If we make our way back to Firelink we will see you there."
He didn't need telling twice and he ran back to the stairs toward Firelink.
"What's wrong with you?" Arya asked Beatrice once he was gone.
"People like him. They ruin magic and all its forms. The Vinheim School tells you what you can and can't do. That isn't magic. That is oppression. You can't even research new forms of magic, I hate people with no vision. No love for TRUE magic." The little witch ranted. "My clan made such discoveries that the Dragon Academy wanted the exclusive rights to teach it to only a select few. Magic should be taught to everyone. Not kept secret."
Once the two siblings calmed their friend down they moved on from where they freed Griggs and found no other route then to traverse the narrow walkway that Isha was sure was a trap. And she was right. As soon as they walked past the houses the doors opened and three female undead leapt out.
They wasted no time in attacking the three passer-by's. Arya drew her sword from her back and blocked the first attack but while she was gathering fire the undead assassin or thief kicked her, knocking her backwards.
Beatrice had used a homing soul mass in the hopes to have the undead females back off or be hit with a powerful spell. And Isha was trying to throw a heavy soul arrow at one of them, but they were fast and kept dodging her attacks. Arya quickly got back to her feet and threw a large fireball on the ground which spread under the assassin's feet lighting them up. Then she jumped and spun getting momentum behind her so she would be able to cut through the undead females defence and leave them open for a counter attack from the other two sorcerer's.
They were defeated and Arya ever the braver more direct person went and ransacked their houses looking for any valuables and didn't find much. So they moved onwards.
Passing a narrow area Isha made them stop when she heard something. Looking around the corner Arya saw another undead hound and sighed. She hated these things. So lighting a fire in her hand she quickly threw herself from the corner she hurled the fire at the unsuspecting dog. As soon as it died another ambush of assassins came at them. Much like the first batch they were quickly dealt with.
But another fog gate lay at the end of the alley. There was a lot of debate about whether to enter or not. But Beatrice the explorer told them. "Adventure is never looking back and always moving into the unknown!"
Arya looked at the young witch and said "I hate you…"
They let Isha come up with some plan that would be easily changed if something came up in the new fight. Arya was to draw its attention and the others were to attack its blind side. Then when it attacked the two sorcerers, Arya was to attack its back. Simple and effective.
Arya put her hand on the fog and leaped through raising her shield from her back as she had no idea how big or how many things were in here.
Turns out it was two undead dogs and another demon, this one had the skeletal head of a goat, a human like body and two massive cleavers. Thinking quick Arya drew her hands to her face and blew a stream of fire at the dogs hoping to kill them at once. It did manage to kill one while the other was dealt with by the others. Now for the huge goat demon. The Capra demon.
It jumped at them swinging its cleavers downwards at them. Arya put her shield up and took the brunt of the attack but was knocked back, she caught herself and putting the shield on her back again, she went on the offensive swinging her own sword at the demon. It was nicked on its chest and it swung its bone tail at her, Arya caught this attack with her gauntlet and punched the much taller Capra demon in its solar plexus. It stumbled and bringing both cleavers together it swung downwards at her, only missing when she dived through its legs. The demon followed her and turned to attack once more when a volley of soul arrows went and hit its exposed back. Arya took the opportunity of it turning back to the others when it caught her sword with its own. It was completely focused on the Pyromancer.
The woman ran up the steps with the demon following and she flung a fireball at it. It managed to deflect most of the blast with its cleavers but was still burnt a bit. Then having nowhere else to go in the insanely small area, Arya jumped from the ledge and rolled to take the impact off her legs. This thing was unstoppable, she thought.
Turning when she felt the impact of the demon hitting the ground, Arya swung her sword with as much force as she could hoping to take off its head but failing when it brought up a cleaver again. But she was not alone and the Capra Demon seemed to either forget or didn't care but both Isha and Beatrice took full advantage of its distraction and hammered it with spells. Finally there was enough damage dealt that it fell to one knee and used its cleaver as a crutch, the heavy breathing indicated that it had little energy left and blood/ singed skin had definitely taken its toll on it.
Arya approached with extreme caution keeping a distance that would leave her a safe from attack. "What the hell. The last demon wasn't this aggressive… Was it. I can't remember since everything in this damn place wants us dead."
"Well, this one doesn't care if you can through fire. It wants you dead." Isha told her sister.
Beatrice stepped forward. "Not exactly. A Capra demon follows a strong leader since they don't want to lead themselves and they have to test any tensional leaders to make sure they don't have a weak leader."
Taking the hint Arya returned her attention to the demon in front of her. "So then, I am stronger then you. And I don't really want to kill you…" She wasn't sure why herself. "So, go on. Leave. Go back to… wherever and don't come back!" She threatened raising her sword.
The Capra Demon looked directly into her eyes, the glowing red sockets met amber and the demon slowly rose and it dropped a key that it had on the ground, then with one last look at the group, wandered off slowly. When it was gone Arya sat down on the steps battered and bruised from the battle.
"What the hell is with these demon things?" She asked, "They all want me dead. Really dead."
(BREAK)
They recovered their energy and took the key and went onward down a set of stairs that was near the old boss area. They fought their way through more assassins and found a large circular building that they explored. The trio were ecstatic to find a way back to Firelink and Isha would have been happy to lay down there and never move again but Beatrice wanted to explore more.
So with extreme reluctance the Pyromancer and Sorcerer followed the witch back to the Lower Undead Burg and moved on through the door that was opened by the Capra Demon Key. Inside was claustrophobic and smelt like something had died within. Which probably wasn't too far off.
They broke a number of barrels that were blocking the way down a set of stairs. There were a few undead that attacked them as soon as their presence was detected, what they didn't see was the undead behind them that hacked at Isha's back causing her to scream very loudly attracting even more undead to them. Once the wave was cleared, Arya took out the Estus flask and made her sister drink it.
She was very lucky that the blade cut wasn't too deep, otherwise her spine would have been injured. And they weren't sure if that was something even Estus could fix.
Once the witch in training was healed up the group moved downwards. The area was like an old house with tables, chairs and torches lining the walls. And a huge man with a sack on his head and two massive meat cleavers.
"What the fuck is that!" Arya whisper yelled when they good a good luck at it. "And it has DOGS." She said when she heard familiar growling.
"We can only move forward." Beatrice told them, which got a glare from Arya and Isha.
They drew the dogs toward them and as silently as possible dealt with them leaving the butcher on his own, he was so preoccupied with this own work of cutting meat that he didn't notice the racket earlier.
The trio carefully tried to sneak passed him but a creaky step alerted him to their presence and he thundered past the table to attack them. The sisters were becoming experts at taking down big people with Arya taking the agro and the others attacking from afar. It was a tactic that hadn't failed them so far and with each battle new moves were being added to their repertoire.
The butcher back handed Beatrice making her fall over the table and down the hole behind it. The undead made a noise of sadness at the destruction of its work area but Isha let loose a huge powerful great heavy soul arrow that staggered the foe and her sister hacked its head clean off.
"Beatrice!" They both yelled as they moved to the hole in the wall.
"I'm alright." A voice called back much to their relief. "I'm going to follow this path, I'll meet up with you later."
Not having much choice the two sisters agreed and headed down the steps into knee deep water, which should have been much harder to wade through. But thanks to the rusted iron rings was no problem.
More dogs lay ahead that were proving difficult since they loved leaping forward and backward avoiding their attacks, but eventually they all fell. The only way forward was up a pile of broken wall blocks and once up the sisters heard a new voice.
"Oh lord. I'm going to be eaten… I never found out the secret." The voice sighed.
With ever growing cautiousness the siblings found the source. A man in worn traveling clothes was stuck in a barrel he got frightened when he heard noise entre the room but his face turned into one of joy when he saw the two humans and none undead standing before him.
The man's brown eyes stared at them "You must help me… … Or else… She'll have me for lunch! … You're my only hope… Oh, please…"
"All right. Get ready." Arya said as she swung her sword at all the barrels in the room breaking him out and breaking everything else too.
"Th-thank you. I would have been her supper without you. Being eaten alive! I shudder to think… Thank you, thank you dearly. I am Laurentius, of the Great Swamp. I will not forget my debt to you." He said, a smile on his bearded face.
"Who was going to eat you?" Isha questioned.
"Oh, that would be Mildred the Man Eater." He told them a shudder ripping through him. "She is one frightful undead. Caught me when I was trying to get to the Blighttown swamp."
"Hmm. Blight…. Town. Sounds like a fun place." Arya sarcastically said.
"Oh it is wonderful" Laurentius didn't catch the sarcasm. "If you can get past the poison that is and giant mosquitoes and the great demons that come from Izalith."
"Why don't you go back out the way we came and go to Firelink? You'll be safe there." Isha said pointing to the door.
Once out and to the broken wall another butcher fell from the ceiling waving his cleavers angry at the loss of meat. Laurentius was not being caught again and with a gloved hand he through a large fireball at the creature shouting profanities at it while he did. Arya followed suit and threw her own fire at it adding to the flame and burning it to death.
The Pyromancer lowered his hood from his face and stared open mouthed at her. "How… How did you do that with no glove?" He asked. "Are you… perhaps, Quelana Mother of Pyromancy?"
Arya gave him a look of hopelessness. "No... I'm Arya. Mother to nothing, user of weird fire."
"Oh… I thought perhaps… Well no matter. I shall see you in Firelink hopefully, stay safe friends." And with those parting words he left them
"We need to find Beatrice." Isha pulled her sister with her.
(BREAK)
They continued down and found a new enemy, a giant ball of slime that was highly flammable, much to Isha's delight. "It's slimy, burn it. Kill it. Now!"
She did not like moving balls of slime. At all.
And there were EVEN more of them hanging from the ceiling in the next corridor. The elder sister hid and cowered behind her sister as she dealt with the balls of slime and undead. They found a new bonfire behind a door at the end of the hall which was good news as Isha could regain her composure.
They came to a horde of undead rats which the elder sister blasted to bits with a hail of soul arrows, Arya had do dick down to avoid being hit by them. This place was hell on Lordran for Isha. But the Rats gave them lots of humanity so they had a sizeable collection now.
Arya had much fun watching her sister cower behind her as they came to the home of a giant rat. Much larger than they had ever seen, at least this time they weren't alone. Beatrice was up on the rafters shooting down at it quickly ending its life then the little witch leapt down shouting "Catch me!"
Arya was only just able to catch the insane little witch. "This place is one big adventure."
(BREAK)
The two women had to drag Isha further into the Depths having fought through basilisks and more rats and a maze of tunnels, and eventually they were near the end when a red phantom attacked them.
"Kirk! Knight of Thorns!" Isha screamed at them. Arya moved forward to engage and found out why he was called 'knight of thrones'. His armour was full of spikes which he used when he lunged into an enemy.
The young swords woman was not pleased and every time he went forward crouched to tackle her, Arya used a great fireball to keep him at bay.
"Little bitch" he shouted his voice distorted. He raised a shield and charged into the flame.
The woman used her gauntlet to hold him back while the other two companions fired as much magic as they could at him ending his phantom existence. "Ill be back for your humanity, just wait."
Healing up with Estus the group fought more slimes and found a new merchant. His name was Domhnall. He had the oddest greeting that Isha adored.
"Aye, siwmae. And good day to you. I'm Domhnall of Zena. I'm just, well, a peddler, of sorts. I adore trinkets and oddities, so I trade for them" He was selling gold pine risen and many crystal weapons. "I do a lot of scavenging, so after a while please come back and see if I have any new armours for you ladies."
And they rested up before heading further into the depths. They battled their way through to a huge open arena type area with some undead archers that they saw someone clearing out.
"Solaire!" Isha shouted at him. He turned and have a 'Praise the sun' before rushing back to them
"Ah my friends. It is good to see you. I had thought you were still in the forest. And who is this? A new companion. Marvellous! Let us have much fun in finding our own destinies." The sun knight ever a happy person spoke.
He told them of what was waiting for them down below. "A dragon I suspect. There were rumours of one being here, and to get past we need the key it holds."
They turned to Isha for a plan who looked at the surroundings and came up with an attack. She and Beatrice would stay on the ledge and provide cover fire with ranged attacks while the two melee fighters would go and face the thing head on.
As they were heading to the fog gate Arya had to ask "Solaire. How did you get down here without getting past the Capra Demon?"
The knight put a hand to his chin in thought. "Hmm. I don't exactly know. I just came here."
Not really an answer but Arya didn't ask anymore. They had other things to worry about as they entered through the fog. All seemed quiet. Maybe the chosen undead had already passed this way and killed the boss.
Solaire and Arya lowered their weapons and wandered the huge open area. At least it was better than the cramped space that she had fought the Capra Demon in, this fight would be much better with an open area. As they turned back Isha and Beatrice shouted and pointed behind the two on the ground, when they turned to see what was getting them so worried they were horrified.
Crawling up from below a large cistern was a long dragon, but once it rose up onto its back legs it stopped looking like a dragon. Its ribcage was opened up from its mouth to stomach, this was the Gaping Dragon.
"Oh, Shit." Arya moaned and raised her blade.
The dragon, having smelled fresh meet rose up to devour as its nature drove it. Once it was up on its hind legs and its throat exposed, it trudged forward wanting to take the meat into its gullet but Solaire and Arya ran to its sides to avoid it doing anything.
"Attack its flanks!" The sun knight yelled and they held their blades out and they dug into its exposed legs and flesh. The dragon yelled in pain and swung its tail hitting Solaire and sending him flying, then the dragon rounded to loom over Arya. She had to run and dive out of the way when it body slammed the ground trying to swallow her and the shock from the impact shook the ground.
Solaire recovered when the Gaping Dragon returned to an upright position and he flung a lightning spear at its back hitting its shoulder. Arya followed and threw as much fire at it as she could making it back away. The young warrior rushed forward and using two hands and planting her feet, brought her blade up at an angle to dig deep into its flesh, she also brought so much power into the blade that the gem imbedded into the centre began to glow bright.
Magic attacks were sent to it near constantly from the two on the galley and it didn't take long for the Dragon to lose its stamina and charge forward in a desperate attempt to stampede them. Arya and Solaire leapt high into the air and they ran along its back digging their blades in its back, but the Pyromancer's blade suddenly combusted and went of fire, leaving a trail as it went.
The Gaping Dragon wasn't able to take anymore punishment from the 4 fighters and it died with a horrible wail. The Sun knight inspected the carcass and found the key he was looking for stuck to one of its teeth.
Arya had spent so much of her energy that she fell to ground completely exhausted and panting for her breath. The others carried her back to Domhnall where they hoped to get some help, he was very surprised and quickly dug around in his pack for something that would help her. He found a pillow and blanket and told the others that she just needed rest.
He had met many Pyromancer's on his journey and this was a common occurrence, they would expend too much of their energy and need a good rest.
"Well, this is where we're ending this adventure today. That dragon..." Isha shuddered. "Nightmare fuel."
"It was a difficult journey, but I think it was worth it in the end." He held up the key to Blighttown.
Well, there is the next chapter. Im sorry it took so long. Where do you think there heading next? I'll tell you that it is off the beaten path and it doesn't really go with the cannon.
Again. (BREAK) means like break.
Chapter 5
The trio had spent a few days, closer to a week in the Darkroot Garden waiting for Arya to heal. Her arm did burn for a day or so after they had become part of the Forest covenant but thanks to Alvina's salve the arm was quickly getting better, the scaring was also becoming reduced due to some special plant that the cat found in the forest. Trust a cat to make a good healing item.
After the cat told Arya on the third day of mind numbing boredom and escape attempts, that she was allowed to leave the room she had been confined to, she went wandering through the base mainly raiding the kitchen and going outside to practice with her new sword. She and her sister often wondered how Oscar was doing in the catacombs and if Solaire and Lautrec were doing okay since they had left them. They knew the golden knight would have headed back to Firelink and Solaire might have wandered off to 'find his own light' and the likelihood of him being back at the smiths when they returned wasn't good.
Arya was running through her drills when Shiva and his ghostly follower came up to her. "You seem to be practicing a lot. Why put so much effort into it?" He asked through his helm making his voice echo slightly within the metal.
"I don't really know. It helps keep my mind of things and keeps me busy. And if I dot get better I'm more likely to get killed right?" She replied plunging her sword into the ground to keep it out of her way. "Actually, I've seen your friend practice some flips and other acrobatics. Can he teach me to do that?"
Shiva turned his head to look at his companion before he responded. "I don't see why not. But it would be tough with all that extra weight. A rolling dive might be better for you."
And so with a disappointed look, Arya let Shiva teach her how to properly dive out of an oncoming attack. And since Isha's weapons were lighter, the bodyguard taught her how to flip like a ninja, to which Arya was a little jealous but she quickly got over it. It only took a few hours to be taught the correct technique and after that Shiva told them that it was up to them to master it. So it added more time to their training regime. Isha then decided to train together with their sword and dagger.
Isha thought it would be a good idea to have them fight together so they would both gain more experience. The older sibling needed to get better at her close combat fighting since her magic would only do her so much good. It was clear that there was a big difference between their skill levels but it taught them that Isha needed much more practice using her dagger, in fact she said she didn't like how close she would have to get in order to attack. Her sister recommended that she talk to Andre when they get back since he was able to help her with her the new sword. And Arya was loving it so far.
As they finished up their sparing a new figure came up to them. It was the archer Pharis.
"So, how are you adjusting to life in this forest?" She asked they were unable to see much of her face because of her hat but they could see her smile.
"We are doing fine. But we are planning on leaving soon." Isha told her. "But how did you get here? I thought that Pharis was an archer from a long time ago?"
She smiled and tilted her hat up to look at them better "Yes he was. But this gear was owned by him or her. No one can be sure who the original Pharis was. I was a good archer and I found a clue to the original Pharis. Then I got this gear."
The sisters looked at each other. "That's it?" Arya blatantly asked.
"I am not going to tell you everything. After all it is a secrete." She replied.
Arya's eye twitched. "But you just told us that you are not the original Pharis. That must be pretty important. What's one more bit of information. And Im sure you want to brag on how you got past all the traps and figured out the clues." She was hoping that by appealing to her show off nature that she would tell them more.
"Well." Pharis took the bait. "When I did get past all of the traps and clues. They wrent that hard anyway, not for someone of my talent. There was a journal with the gear. It had entries from all the old archers that took the Pharis gear. Hopefully ill be worthy of adding my own entries too it someday."
And with that, the archer smirked, turned on her heal and left them. The two siblings went back into the guild building and went to pack up their gear, they didn't plan on staying for much longer since Arya was nearly healed but there was something she needed to ask. Looking through their book she had found many references to Artorias whether it be his ring or sword, there was evidence of him being alive at some point so the legend wasn't a 'fabrication' like Alivia had said. There was also mention of his companion Sif.
When she talked it over with her sister they both agreed that it was too much to brush off and they were going to ask the cat before they left.
The sisters went into the war room where they had their meetings, it was the first room that the two were brought too in fact. And Alvina was resting in her basket but looked up to see what had disturbed her.
"Alvina. We wanted to ask you something." Arya began. "We have been looking everywhere and we have found much on Artorias. He isn't just a myth. He can't be."
The cat looked at them seriously, moved out of her basket and leaped onto the table to look at them. "I cannot talk about Sir Artorias. Nor should you look for information on him. Thou should not dig any deeper. I ask this of you as friends."
The booth looked disappointed. But since the cat was so adamant about not telling them the sisters had their answer. They turned to leave when a meow was heard behind them.
"I will tell you this. There is a place where people worship and leave their respects to the great knight. Maybe one day, thine can take thee there." And the cat dismissed them.
(BREAK)
The two left the guild hall and went to return to the parish. The way back was easier than the way there since they knew the places to watch out for and the bushes that were going to leap out of the ground and attack them. When they were near the Parish they noticed a path they had missed before. And being the curious idiots they were, they went to explore.
It was the exact same as the part of the forest they had come from, but this felt darker somehow. The area was full of thin ledges and deathly falls but they continued downwards waiting for anything to jump out at them. The air was thicker and filled with more moisture, Isha said there must be a lot of water nearby.
They continued downwards on the thin ledges and were unfortunate enough to meet another black knight.
The knight this time had a giant ass halberd. Arya deadpanned when she saw it and tried to slowly walk backwards away from the knight when she slipped on the wet grass and slid towards the knight giving away their position with her yell of surprise. The knight leaped toward them swinging his halberd down, Arya was able to miss being split in half when she leaped forward. The two led the knight up the slope and to a wider area where they would be less inclined to fall to their deaths.
Using all that they had been taught the sisters spread themselves out so that the knight was only able to attack one of them leaving itself open to an attack from its blind side. The knight was smart and knew that Isha was the weaker of the two having her catalyst for distance attacks and only a dagger for close combat, the knight was at a huge advantage attacking her.
But when Isha used a point black spell and a second magic attack hit the knight from above. Looking up the duo saw Beatrice with her own catalyst raised.
"Beatrice, where the hell have you been?" Arya shouted up to the small woman, "You just vanished."
They saw her smile from under her hat. "You have bigger problems." And pointed to the black knight that was getting back up.
Needing no further instruction Arya swung her sword and hacked at the armoured knight as much as she could getting a few dozen hits in as it staggered. With a screech and a shower of soul particles the knight died leaving behind its gauntlets. Arya held them up but they were way too big for her so she resigned to take them to Andrey to see if he could do anything with them.
"That was close." Beatrice told them as she descended the grassy walkway.
"So where have you been?" Arya asked.
Beatrice smiled. "That isn't important is it? But I saw you had left and I followed soon after. After all I can't leave my new student can I?" This made Isha ecstatic but Arya was just glad for some more company.
And their little band continued onwards finding a new bonfire to rest at where the Black knight was before they moved onwards toward the other end of the forest basin. The ground opened out to reveal a huge expanse of open area with a few trees in between. And there was new enemies to worry about, huge crystal golems that aggroed and ran toward them, leaping at them once it was closer. The trio all dodged out of the way and Arya two handed her weapon swinging it at the golem.
The shock travelled up the sword and to her arms which hurt Arya a lot. The attack was followed up by two magic Soul arrows leaving it staggered. Arya jumped backwards and finished it with two Fireballs and it vanished and gave them souls. Before they had time to celebrate a huge wall of water hit them all sending them and sending them to the ground winding them all.
"What the fuck was that?" Arya groaned as she slowly got back up.
"There's something in the distance… What the…. There's nine heads…" Isha told them a look of astonishment on her face that turned to despair. "It's a Hydra."
And the Hydra sent another blast of water at them, causing them to rush away toward the way they came in.
"I am not facing something like that!" Isha screamed as she sprinted over the small ledges back to the entrance. They all made it back to the parish in one piece though very battered and bruised. The presence of the Hydra was not one that they were expecting.
Back at the parish Andrey was happy to see them all alive and was astounded to hear about their encounter with the forest covenant. "Not many people make it back alive once they enter their forests. And that thing you fought… Hmm I've never heard of anything like it. But these gauntlets I can do something with."
So he fitted the first one to fit her left hand and then he had a genius idea. He used the remaining glove to thicken the first essentially making it a shield and bludgeoning device all in one.
"I figured since you don't seem to use that shield that a small shield would fit you better. And with these gauntlets you can also hit people, counter and parry." He told them. In exchange for more souls he also fixed their gear.
Having enough of the forest the trio decided to go back to Firelink and move on from there. But Isha noticed something when they got to the fire on the first floor.
"Is there someone at that gate?" And they went to investigate the strange person who looked like… and onion?
"Hi. What are you doing out here?" Isha called out from a safe distance since she had now learned to fear everything in Lordran.
The armour they were wearing made it seem like the person was incredibly fat with an onion on their head. But looks can be deceiving… so can the Zweihander sitting next to them.
"Mmm...mmm... Mm! Oh-hoh! Forgive me." He spoke with a nervous laugh. "I was absorbed in thought. I am Siegmeyer of Catarina. Quite honestly, I have run flat up against a wall. Or, a gate, I should say. The thing just won't budge. No matter how long I wait. And, oh, have I waited! So, here I sit, in quite a pickle. Weighing my options, so to speak! Hah hah hah hah!"
Isha sat next to him "Well, it has to open sometime right? If we find a way we shall open it for you." She told him as she pumped her fist in the air enthusiastically.
He turned his head "Oh you will? Thank you fellow adventures. I do hope it opens soon. I so wish to continue my adventure while I still can."
Not seeing much else to do they left Siegmeyer and went back to the church. After defeating a few hollows with ease thanks to the training that both Isha and Arya received and the extra help from Beatrice was making progress move much faster. They reached the front of the church killing the Balder Knights with a good surprise attack and moved to the gate that was still closed. Beatrice was good enough to notice a leaver that Arya pulled while Isha went to a body that was near it and found a key to the Lower burg.
The gate was opened and they all went back to the elevators at the back of the church that took them to Firelink Shrine. They left the lift and strode across the stone hallways and came upon the area that housed Petrus the asshole of a cleric. And he wasn't alone.
There were two more clerics standing on the opposite corner to Petrus and a third woman kneeling facing away from them. Her hood obscured her face but the body clearly was that of a woman.
Arya, Isha and Beatrice all drew their weapons waiting for one to attack and they did the same. Petrus recognised them and sighed heavily.
"Oh, it is you two again. Put away the weapons Vince, Niko. These two are not hollows" He told them putting his own weapon away.
"Nice to see you are still an ass." Arya said sheathing her sword on her back and crossing her arms. She raised her head in a greeting to the other two clerics. "Hi, I hope you are nicer then this guy."
Vince was tall and well built with bright blond hair that reached his eyes. Niko on the other hand had a helm that covered all but his eyes and cheeks. Both were in matching armour and but had different weapons. Vince had a mace while Niko went for a crescent axe.
"Hm? What have we here? You look awfully raggedy; are you all right?" He said. Then he had the gall to repeat it when all three gave him a look "You look awfully raggedy... Times are grim; the least you can do is look sharp. Don't you dare meet M'lady like that. You might scare her off for good!" He had a smile on his face at the end and Arya was reaching for her sword when Beatrice clocked her on the back of her head with her staff.
He continued on as if nothing had happened. "What business have you? I don't suppose we can help, though. We accompany M'lady on her righteous mission. It is quite a chore, but I'm stuck with her, and Nico, too. I can't very well abandon them now. Honestly, I don't have a problem with your kind. But there's not very much that I can do. I am Vince of Thorolund. Let's say a word, for our safety. A prayer to our marvellous Lord. Vereor Nox."
For the rest of the conversation the Arya ignored him 'hmm' ing when needed and went to sit down only then noticing a pain in her leg. She had been nicked by a balder knight in her calf but thought that the cut was shallower then it was. The thing was now giving her more trouble having gone from a slight annoyance to a pulsing stinging feeling.
When she hissed in pain they all looked to her, even the woman that was praying.
"You're hurt again? Honestly you wouldn't notice if your own leg was hacked off." Isha complained as she went into her bag looking for the Estus.
"Of course I would." Arya argued with a smile. "After all. Im sure id notice if I started hopping on one leg." Even Beatrice laughed at her.
When the woman stood and walked to Arya, the hood hid long brown hair that was tied back somehow and she knelt next to Arya and held her talisman out and began to heal her.
"You don't have to. Ill just take a drink of Estus and be back to normal soon. But thanks. Im Arya." And she heled out her hand once the led was healed.
There was great sadness in her eyes. As if there was something missing, a fire that should have been there. "Are you uncouth as to lack judgement and not be injured in battle? By the looks of you...I should think not." She scolded the woman in front of her but took her hand nonetheless. "I am Reah of Thorolund. You should be more careful, if you were to become hollow or die surely your friends and family would be saddened."
Arya stood and pulled Reah up with her by the hand she was still holding. "I think I would be okay. Push comes to shove, im sure I could cauterise the wound with this." And she held her palm out summoning a small flame.
"Pyromancy without a glove. Astounding." Vince spoke as his eyes widened. "That would be quite handy in the catacombs. We are to be leaving once we have stocked our provisions."
"Catacombs. Why?" Isha questioned.
Reah looked down "We cannot say. I have my mission, and you no doubt have yours. It is best if we say no more about it."
They talked with Reah and her companions for a while longer before they left to see Anastasia the Fire Keeper. They were surprised to see Lautrec sitting without his helmet in front of the gate where Anastasia was, he was glaring at her.
Isha took the soul to Anastasia to see if she could power the Estus more while Arya stood in the Golden knight's way blocking his vision of the fire keeper. "So you got back all right."
"Yes, I did, and despite it all I am glad that you are safe. And I have some information if you want it." He took his eyes away from the other woman to look at Arya who nodded "Be wary of 'Trusty Patches'. If ever a man has rubbed me up the wrong way, ugh! If he ever comes around again, I swear, I'll have his hide."
"What he steal from you?" Beatrice mocked lightly.
"No. How do you think I ended up in that cell with nothing but my swords and armour?" He sneered.
Now Arya out rightly laughed at him. "How the hell did you let that happen?"
He looked away "I don't wish to get into it. Also there is another smith down in New Londo behind me. He would be able to help your sister with a magical weapon."
"Sorry for laughing. What happened to Solaire?" she asked.
"Hmm. The last I saw he was leaving for the Depths. I wished him good fortune and let him be."
Isha came back over. "Here, it is all powered up." And her sister told her of the magic smith. "It is a good idea. But there is no point in having a magic weapon if I can't use my magic that well. We can always go later."
So they agreed to go to the depths to see if they could head off Solaire. With one last warning from Lautrec about someone attacking people looking for humanity they were off back in the direction of the undead Burg. This time they were ready for everything and easily made it to the gate that was locked before. Once open they descended the stairs that led to a huge bonfire of bodies.
While they were staring at it Arya was tackled to the ground by an undead dog. She managed to avoid most of the teeth thanks to her new gauntlet that held the top jaw open while her other hand held the bottom. Her leg was pushing the thing off her as much as she could while she shouted.
"This isn't fun. Fucking kill it someone!"
Isha stabbed the dead dog in the neck and it whimpered as it died. Arya threw the body off her and stood panting from the effort and looking for any bite marks. "It didn't get me did it?" she asked.
There were two more mutts patrolling the lower levels, Isha suggested that her and Beatrice lure them close with ranged attacks while Arya finish them with Pyromancy. When the dogs charged at them the younger sister took a deep breath lit a small flame in her left hand and blew on the flame, releasing a huge spray of fire that burned the two undead dogs when they came close.
"When did you learn to do that?" Isha asked.
Her sibling shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I just thought of one of those fire dancers and how they blow the fire out."
"Well, whatever it was, it sure did the trick." Beatrice said and patted Arya on her shoulder before moving past her onto the open area with many closed doors too small houses.
They went down the steps very slowly and Arya went to move on ahead but her sister gripped the back of her high collar and stopped her mid stride.
"Wait, this is the perfect spot for some ambush or something." Isha ever the thinker said.
Eager to move forward the younger and more hot blooded sister raised her hands "Then what? How do we move on from here?"
"Well…" She thought for a moment. "We can go the opposite way first, see if there is anything worth salvaging before moving on. And maybe we can find a way to avoid the obvious trap."
And the band moved away from the closed doors and narrow passageways to a different route of narrow (ambush ready) passageways. They passed one door with a voice calling from behind it.
"Somebody! Please, let me out of here! Somebody, anybody! Help me! Unlock the door...! Damn... I'm finished... How did this ever happen..." the voiced said while banging on the door.
"You still have that residence key?" Arya asked. When her sister nodded she dug around in her bag and produced the key before putting it in the lock and turned it.
Once the person inside was free he barred through the now open space and caught himself before he could fall to the ground. "Brilliant!" he told them a huge grin on his face "You opened the door for me! Thank you; I am saved. I thought I might never escape. I am Griggs of Vinheim. A sorcerer of the school. I am much obliged for your assistance."
"Will you be okay?" Isha asked as she was sceptical of his ability to keep himself safe.
"Yes. Once I will rest a while, then return to Firelink Shrine. I have my sorcery. And I will be more cautious next time. Besides, I have an important task at hand."
Beatrice had a strange look of anger on her face. "Oh and what task is that? To destroy and persecute anyone that consent conform to your schools teachings?"
"Oh and who are you who thinks that they can judge me?" Griggs asked a look and anger now on his own face.
"You.. YOU!" And Beatrice went to raise her staff and blast Griggs with a great heavy soul arrow but Arya grabbed the stick and pointed it away.
"Oi. Give it a rest. And you-" The swordswoman pointed to the other sorcerer, "Get going. If we make our way back to Firelink we will see you there."
He didn't need telling twice and he ran back to the stairs toward Firelink.
"What's wrong with you?" Arya asked Beatrice once he was gone.
"People like him. They ruin magic and all its forms. The Vinheim School tells you what you can and can't do. That isn't magic. That is oppression. You can't even research new forms of magic, I hate people with no vision. No love for TRUE magic." The little witch ranted. "My clan made such discoveries that the Dragon Academy wanted the exclusive rights to teach it to only a select few. Magic should be taught to everyone. Not kept secret."
Once the two siblings calmed their friend down they moved on from where they freed Griggs and found no other route then to traverse the narrow walkway that Isha was sure was a trap. And she was right. As soon as they walked past the houses the doors opened and three female undead leapt out.
They wasted no time in attacking the three passer-by's. Arya drew her sword from her back and blocked the first attack but while she was gathering fire the undead assassin or thief kicked her, knocking her backwards.
Beatrice had used a homing soul mass in the hopes to have the undead females back off or be hit with a powerful spell. And Isha was trying to throw a heavy soul arrow at one of them, but they were fast and kept dodging her attacks. Arya quickly got back to her feet and threw a large fireball on the ground which spread under the assassin's feet lighting them up. Then she jumped and spun getting momentum behind her so she would be able to cut through the undead females defence and leave them open for a counter attack from the other two sorcerer's.
They were defeated and Arya ever the braver more direct person went and ransacked their houses looking for any valuables and didn't find much. So they moved onwards.
Passing a narrow area Isha made them stop when she heard something. Looking around the corner Arya saw another undead hound and sighed. She hated these things. So lighting a fire in her hand she quickly threw herself from the corner she hurled the fire at the unsuspecting dog. As soon as it died another ambush of assassins came at them. Much like the first batch they were quickly dealt with.
But another fog gate lay at the end of the alley. There was a lot of debate about whether to enter or not. But Beatrice the explorer told them. "Adventure is never looking back and always moving into the unknown!"
Arya looked at the young witch and said "I hate you…"
They let Isha come up with some plan that would be easily changed if something came up in the new fight. Arya was to draw its attention and the others were to attack its blind side. Then when it attacked the two sorcerers, Arya was to attack its back. Simple and effective.
Arya put her hand on the fog and leaped through raising her shield from her back as she had no idea how big or how many things were in here.
Turns out it was two undead dogs and another demon, this one had the skeletal head of a goat, a human like body and two massive cleavers. Thinking quick Arya drew her hands to her face and blew a stream of fire at the dogs hoping to kill them at once. It did manage to kill one while the other was dealt with by the others. Now for the huge goat demon. The Capra demon.
It jumped at them swinging its cleavers downwards at them. Arya put her shield up and took the brunt of the attack but was knocked back, she caught herself and putting the shield on her back again, she went on the offensive swinging her own sword at the demon. It was nicked on its chest and it swung its bone tail at her, Arya caught this attack with her gauntlet and punched the much taller Capra demon in its solar plexus. It stumbled and bringing both cleavers together it swung downwards at her, only missing when she dived through its legs. The demon followed her and turned to attack once more when a volley of soul arrows went and hit its exposed back. Arya took the opportunity of it turning back to the others when it caught her sword with its own. It was completely focused on the Pyromancer.
The woman ran up the steps with the demon following and she flung a fireball at it. It managed to deflect most of the blast with its cleavers but was still burnt a bit. Then having nowhere else to go in the insanely small area, Arya jumped from the ledge and rolled to take the impact off her legs. This thing was unstoppable, she thought.
Turning when she felt the impact of the demon hitting the ground, Arya swung her sword with as much force as she could hoping to take off its head but failing when it brought up a cleaver again. But she was not alone and the Capra Demon seemed to either forget or didn't care but both Isha and Beatrice took full advantage of its distraction and hammered it with spells. Finally there was enough damage dealt that it fell to one knee and used its cleaver as a crutch, the heavy breathing indicated that it had little energy left and blood/ singed skin had definitely taken its toll on it.
Arya approached with extreme caution keeping a distance that would leave her a safe from attack. "What the hell. The last demon wasn't this aggressive… Was it. I can't remember since everything in this damn place wants us dead."
"Well, this one doesn't care if you can through fire. It wants you dead." Isha told her sister.
Beatrice stepped forward. "Not exactly. A Capra demon follows a strong leader since they don't want to lead themselves and they have to test any tensional leaders to make sure they don't have a weak leader."
Taking the hint Arya returned her attention to the demon in front of her. "So then, I am stronger then you. And I don't really want to kill you…" She wasn't sure why herself. "So, go on. Leave. Go back to… wherever and don't come back!" She threatened raising her sword.
The Capra Demon looked directly into her eyes, the glowing red sockets met amber and the demon slowly rose and it dropped a key that it had on the ground, then with one last look at the group, wandered off slowly. When it was gone Arya sat down on the steps battered and bruised from the battle.
"What the hell is with these demon things?" She asked, "They all want me dead. Really dead."
(BREAK)
They recovered their energy and took the key and went onward down a set of stairs that was near the old boss area. They fought their way through more assassins and found a large circular building that they explored. The trio were ecstatic to find a way back to Firelink and Isha would have been happy to lay down there and never move again but Beatrice wanted to explore more.
So with extreme reluctance the Pyromancer and Sorcerer followed the witch back to the Lower Undead Burg and moved on through the door that was opened by the Capra Demon Key. Inside was claustrophobic and smelt like something had died within. Which probably wasn't too far off.
They broke a number of barrels that were blocking the way down a set of stairs. There were a few undead that attacked them as soon as their presence was detected, what they didn't see was the undead behind them that hacked at Isha's back causing her to scream very loudly attracting even more undead to them. Once the wave was cleared, Arya took out the Estus flask and made her sister drink it.
She was very lucky that the blade cut wasn't too deep, otherwise her spine would have been injured. And they weren't sure if that was something even Estus could fix.
Once the witch in training was healed up the group moved downwards. The area was like an old house with tables, chairs and torches lining the walls. And a huge man with a sack on his head and two massive meat cleavers.
"What the fuck is that!" Arya whisper yelled when they good a good luck at it. "And it has DOGS." She said when she heard familiar growling.
"We can only move forward." Beatrice told them, which got a glare from Arya and Isha.
They drew the dogs toward them and as silently as possible dealt with them leaving the butcher on his own, he was so preoccupied with this own work of cutting meat that he didn't notice the racket earlier.
The trio carefully tried to sneak passed him but a creaky step alerted him to their presence and he thundered past the table to attack them. The sisters were becoming experts at taking down big people with Arya taking the agro and the others attacking from afar. It was a tactic that hadn't failed them so far and with each battle new moves were being added to their repertoire.
The butcher back handed Beatrice making her fall over the table and down the hole behind it. The undead made a noise of sadness at the destruction of its work area but Isha let loose a huge powerful great heavy soul arrow that staggered the foe and her sister hacked its head clean off.
"Beatrice!" They both yelled as they moved to the hole in the wall.
"I'm alright." A voice called back much to their relief. "I'm going to follow this path, I'll meet up with you later."
Not having much choice the two sisters agreed and headed down the steps into knee deep water, which should have been much harder to wade through. But thanks to the rusted iron rings was no problem.
More dogs lay ahead that were proving difficult since they loved leaping forward and backward avoiding their attacks, but eventually they all fell. The only way forward was up a pile of broken wall blocks and once up the sisters heard a new voice.
"Oh lord. I'm going to be eaten… I never found out the secret." The voice sighed.
With ever growing cautiousness the siblings found the source. A man in worn traveling clothes was stuck in a barrel he got frightened when he heard noise entre the room but his face turned into one of joy when he saw the two humans and none undead standing before him.
The man's brown eyes stared at them "You must help me… … Or else… She'll have me for lunch! … You're my only hope… Oh, please…"
"All right. Get ready." Arya said as she swung her sword at all the barrels in the room breaking him out and breaking everything else too.
"Th-thank you. I would have been her supper without you. Being eaten alive! I shudder to think… Thank you, thank you dearly. I am Laurentius, of the Great Swamp. I will not forget my debt to you." He said, a smile on his bearded face.
"Who was going to eat you?" Isha questioned.
"Oh, that would be Mildred the Man Eater." He told them a shudder ripping through him. "She is one frightful undead. Caught me when I was trying to get to the Blighttown swamp."
"Hmm. Blight…. Town. Sounds like a fun place." Arya sarcastically said.
"Oh it is wonderful" Laurentius didn't catch the sarcasm. "If you can get past the poison that is and giant mosquitoes and the great demons that come from Izalith."
"Why don't you go back out the way we came and go to Firelink? You'll be safe there." Isha said pointing to the door.
Once out and to the broken wall another butcher fell from the ceiling waving his cleavers angry at the loss of meat. Laurentius was not being caught again and with a gloved hand he through a large fireball at the creature shouting profanities at it while he did. Arya followed suit and threw her own fire at it adding to the flame and burning it to death.
The Pyromancer lowered his hood from his face and stared open mouthed at her. "How… How did you do that with no glove?" He asked. "Are you… perhaps, Quelana Mother of Pyromancy?"
Arya gave him a look of hopelessness. "No... I'm Arya. Mother to nothing, user of weird fire."
"Oh… I thought perhaps… Well no matter. I shall see you in Firelink hopefully, stay safe friends." And with those parting words he left them
"We need to find Beatrice." Isha pulled her sister with her.
(BREAK)
They continued down and found a new enemy, a giant ball of slime that was highly flammable, much to Isha's delight. "It's slimy, burn it. Kill it. Now!"
She did not like moving balls of slime. At all.
And there were EVEN more of them hanging from the ceiling in the next corridor. The elder sister hid and cowered behind her sister as she dealt with the balls of slime and undead. They found a new bonfire behind a door at the end of the hall which was good news as Isha could regain her composure.
They came to a horde of undead rats which the elder sister blasted to bits with a hail of soul arrows, Arya had do dick down to avoid being hit by them. This place was hell on Lordran for Isha. But the Rats gave them lots of humanity so they had a sizeable collection now.
Arya had much fun watching her sister cower behind her as they came to the home of a giant rat. Much larger than they had ever seen, at least this time they weren't alone. Beatrice was up on the rafters shooting down at it quickly ending its life then the little witch leapt down shouting "Catch me!"
Arya was only just able to catch the insane little witch. "This place is one big adventure."
(BREAK)
The two women had to drag Isha further into the Depths having fought through basilisks and more rats and a maze of tunnels, and eventually they were near the end when a red phantom attacked them.
"Kirk! Knight of Thorns!" Isha screamed at them. Arya moved forward to engage and found out why he was called 'knight of thrones'. His armour was full of spikes which he used when he lunged into an enemy.
The young swords woman was not pleased and every time he went forward crouched to tackle her, Arya used a great fireball to keep him at bay.
"Little bitch" he shouted his voice distorted. He raised a shield and charged into the flame.
The woman used her gauntlet to hold him back while the other two companions fired as much magic as they could at him ending his phantom existence. "Ill be back for your humanity, just wait."
Healing up with Estus the group fought more slimes and found a new merchant. His name was Domhnall. He had the oddest greeting that Isha adored.
"Aye, siwmae. And good day to you. I'm Domhnall of Zena. I'm just, well, a peddler, of sorts. I adore trinkets and oddities, so I trade for them" He was selling gold pine risen and many crystal weapons. "I do a lot of scavenging, so after a while please come back and see if I have any new armours for you ladies."
And they rested up before heading further into the depths. They battled their way through to a huge open arena type area with some undead archers that they saw someone clearing out.
"Solaire!" Isha shouted at him. He turned and have a 'Praise the sun' before rushing back to them
"Ah my friends. It is good to see you. I had thought you were still in the forest. And who is this? A new companion. Marvellous! Let us have much fun in finding our own destinies." The sun knight ever a happy person spoke.
He told them of what was waiting for them down below. "A dragon I suspect. There were rumours of one being here, and to get past we need the key it holds."
They turned to Isha for a plan who looked at the surroundings and came up with an attack. She and Beatrice would stay on the ledge and provide cover fire with ranged attacks while the two melee fighters would go and face the thing head on.
As they were heading to the fog gate Arya had to ask "Solaire. How did you get down here without getting past the Capra Demon?"
The knight put a hand to his chin in thought. "Hmm. I don't exactly know. I just came here."
Not really an answer but Arya didn't ask anymore. They had other things to worry about as they entered through the fog. All seemed quiet. Maybe the chosen undead had already passed this way and killed the boss.
Solaire and Arya lowered their weapons and wandered the huge open area. At least it was better than the cramped space that she had fought the Capra Demon in, this fight would be much better with an open area. As they turned back Isha and Beatrice shouted and pointed behind the two on the ground, when they turned to see what was getting them so worried they were horrified.
Crawling up from below a large cistern was a long dragon, but once it rose up onto its back legs it stopped looking like a dragon. Its ribcage was opened up from its mouth to stomach, this was the Gaping Dragon.
"Oh, Shit." Arya moaned and raised her blade.
The dragon, having smelled fresh meet rose up to devour as its nature drove it. Once it was up on its hind legs and its throat exposed, it trudged forward wanting to take the meat into its gullet but Solaire and Arya ran to its sides to avoid it doing anything.
"Attack its flanks!" The sun knight yelled and they held their blades out and they dug into its exposed legs and flesh. The dragon yelled in pain and swung its tail hitting Solaire and sending him flying, then the dragon rounded to loom over Arya. She had to run and dive out of the way when it body slammed the ground trying to swallow her and the shock from the impact shook the ground.
Solaire recovered when the Gaping Dragon returned to an upright position and he flung a lightning spear at its back hitting its shoulder. Arya followed and threw as much fire at it as she could making it back away. The young warrior rushed forward and using two hands and planting her feet, brought her blade up at an angle to dig deep into its flesh, she also brought so much power into the blade that the gem imbedded into the centre began to glow bright.
Magic attacks were sent to it near constantly from the two on the galley and it didn't take long for the Dragon to lose its stamina and charge forward in a desperate attempt to stampede them. Arya and Solaire leapt high into the air and they ran along its back digging their blades in its back, but the Pyromancer's blade suddenly combusted and went of fire, leaving a trail as it went.
The Gaping Dragon wasn't able to take anymore punishment from the 4 fighters and it died with a horrible wail. The Sun knight inspected the carcass and found the key he was looking for stuck to one of its teeth.
Arya had spent so much of her energy that she fell to ground completely exhausted and panting for her breath. The others carried her back to Domhnall where they hoped to get some help, he was very surprised and quickly dug around in his pack for something that would help her. He found a pillow and blanket and told the others that she just needed rest.
He had met many Pyromancer's on his journey and this was a common occurrence, they would expend too much of their energy and need a good rest.
"Well, this is where we're ending this adventure today. That dragon..." Isha shuddered. "Nightmare fuel."
"It was a difficult journey, but I think it was worth it in the end." He held up the key to Blighttown.
Well, there is the next chapter. Im sorry it took so long. Where do you think there heading next? I'll tell you that it is off the beaten path and it doesn't really go with the cannon.