Firelink shrine had never been the bustling hub of life that the nearby cities of Lordran, New Londo or Anon Londo were during their respective heights, a place that was visited by the odd pilgrim and maintained by the priests and clerics of the Way of White that were bestowed the honour of calling it their home. It's positioning between the three cities and the nearby catacombs had ensured that many people travelled through the area at one time or another if they wished to visit the other cities, but after the city of New Londo was flooded in order to prevent the death and destruction of the Four Kings and their army of Darkwraiths and with the undead plague that swept through Lordran, the shrine was mostly abandoned to fall into ruin.
Despite being abandoned to fall into ruin in the shadow of tragedies that plagued the nearby lands by those men and women of the cloth who had once called the Shrine home, Firelink had for centuries afterwards continued to serve as a makeshift home and resting place for those who received the dark sign and were branded as monsters by the rest of the world.
Almost all the undead that came to the forsaken lands of Lordran passed through the Shrine at one time or another. Those who sort Anon Londo, legendary city of the gods and those Way of White members who were gathering their courage to enter the Catacombs in search of a secret rite of kinderling had in the past shared a fire with those of less… noble wants or desires in the one place on this forsaken world that would welcome their kind regardless of who they were or what they had once been.
On this bitterly cold, snowy night there was a feel to the air of being deserted. The main body of the shrine had been abandoned by all things living and undead. Even the serpent Frampt had retreated down into the depths of the earth itself to find himself somewhere warm to sleep the night away. The large, almost ever present bonfire that rested in the middle of the Shrine burned beautifully, but there was no one sitting next to it.
Further down however, down a side path that if followed to its end would lead one to the haunted city of New Londo and in front of a cage that had been built into a cliff, a different fire fought against the chill of the winter's night. Unlike the bonfire above, this one was big only because of the large amount of rotten wood from the nearby Lordran that had been used to fuel the flames.
Roosting above it on a salvaged cooking spit (it wasn't borrowed since those using it had no intention of taking it back when they were done and it wasn't exactly stolen because any possible owner or their surviving kin were either dead, hollowed or had no intention of coming back to this cursed land to get it), sat a large chunk of fresh drake breast.
Around this makeshift fire sat six souls that very little in common with each other, five of whom were drinking from the personal wine stash of the late Duke Seath the Scaleless while the sixth, the maiden Anastacia of Astora ignoring her glass and remaining out of the conversations taking place around the fire. Despite this, the willingly silent maiden seemed to be affected by the strangely high spirits in the air.
'Trusty' Patches, a thief in every sense of the word, held a rather smug look on his face as he rose his glass of wine to his lips and sampled it once again. Even when he had been alive he had rarely been able to secure himself a bottle of wine and the few times he did it had always been the cheap, poorly made stuff. "Say what you will about the scaleless bastard, but that stupid Dragon had good taste when it comes to wine. By the way, I'm almost proud to see that enough of my good sense of value has rubbed off on you to have spotted these little treasures."
Dressed in the armour of a cleric, the provider of the bottles of wine chuckled a little, accepting the compliment for what it was worth as they took a sip of their own glass. In truth alcohol didn't do a damn thing for those caught between life and death, but the taste of it going down was strong enough that even his dulled sense of taste sung in joy at its passing. "What can I say? I spotted a shelf filled with wine bottles covered in dust and I thought to myself 'Well, Seath's dead and it isn't like his minions were going to do anything more then maybe smash them by accident one day' so I decided take them so they could be put to good use."
The hearty chuckle of a woman who was about a bottle of wine over her limit drew the groups attention to the one member of this part who was not only completely alive and free of a dark sign, but also insane enough to have come to these forsaken lands of her own free will (considering that she had been found imprisoned within a crystal golem around Seath's lair, exactly how long she had been in this land was up for debate… but then time was rather hard to follow at the best of times these days).
Sieglinde of Catarina's cheeks were starting to pick up a redness to them as she continued to chuckle over a joke she hadn't shared with the rest of them, her onion shaped helm (Only Patches was disrespectful enough to label the knight of Catarina as an 'Onion Knight', but he was smart enough never to call her that to her face) opened up so that she could eat and drink with the rest of them. With a final hiccup, the glass of wine slipped out of her hand as she fell backwards, her eyes already closed as she began to snore softly.
Ingward, the oldest person there and still dressed in his faded red robes, sighed a little as he shook his head a little at the knight's actions while Patches laughed at the situation. "She really isn't taking her father's death well." Was all the old man said, the armoured cleric and the tabard wearing knight nodding in agreement.
Solaire was the first to verbally respond to the statement with the upmost respect for the situation at hand. "It is a terrible thing to have to do, being the one who struck down the hollowed form of your father in order to prevent him from dishonouring himself and harming anyone else. It speaks highly of her honour, bravery and skills as a knight that she was able to bring herself to bare such a burden. Even though I never had a chance to meet the man, I'm sure her father would be proud of her."
The prior jolly mirth that had been in the air vanished into the cold, leaving nothing but a contemplative silence in its place, memories of those no longer able to share in such joys and the nature of the world they were apart of weighing heavily on each of their minds.
It was with much surprise when it was Anastacia of all people who broke the silence. "Why did you decide to make this evening special?" While the fact that she was talking at all was what got the attention of those seated around the fire, those still in the waking world turned to look at the one whom the question was asked.
The armoured cleric let out a small sigh at the sudden attention, deciding that honesty was the way to go here. "Around this time of year, back in my homeland they celebrate a holy day. There are a few stories as to how it came about and no one really knows which of them the real one is anymore but that isn't really important. What mattered was that around this time of year, friends and family would gather together to spend time together. Any real family I had passed away years ago, but to be perfectly honest each of you is more like family to me than they ever were."
Once again there was silence, but this time there was a bit of awkwardness to it. The idea that the people that you were currently surrounded by being closer to you then you own family had not been something many of them had thought about and now that it was out there they needed a moment to wrap their heads around it.
Once again, it was Ingward who spoke first, his face completely straight as he asked "Even Patches?"
"Admittingly he is more that creepy cousin that no one really likes but we feel obligated to invite to family events anyway"
"Hmm… yes, I can see what you're talking about when you put it that way."
"Well fuck you to."
While no one spoke after that, all of them could hear the chuckles that the others were trying to hold in. That was abandoned pretty quickly and soon the air was filled with laughter and it lasted far longer than it should have. There were far better jokes out in the world, but right here, right now it was the funniest thing they had all ever heard.
The laughter did subside in the end, but the tension that had been hanging in the air was gone. It went unspoken but was understood by all that they shared a true, unbreakable bond. They had all been stuck in this demon infested, ghost ridden, dark god plagued hell and not only survived its countless torments while remaining sane, but also dominating and thriving at times in an environment that was often actively trying to blatantly murder them in some utterly horrifying ways.
With a click of his tongue, Solaire was the one to break the silence, drawing attention to himself as he began to speak "I do believe I know of the holy day you're talking about… tell me, is gift giving a part of it?"
As the cleric nodded their head before stating "Yes, but I honestly don't expect anyone to give each other presents. Getting anything nice isn't exactly as easy as walking to a nearby merchant after all."
Nodding his head, the sun seeking knight stated something that no one had really been expecting "Very true, but there is something that I believe you would be able to give all of us without any foreseen issues. I don't believe you've ever told any of us what your name is."
The armoured cleric blinked in surprise for a moment. "Really? I haven't told any of you what my name is?" When everyone capable of doing so had shaken their heads, the cleric let a small smile appear on their face. "Alright then, I guess I can change that easily enough."
"My name is…."
AN: My first attempt at a Dark Souls story while writing something short and sweet for the holiday session. Remember everyone, anyone who you trust enough to stand by your side through the depths of any hell you might find yourself is family and deserve to be treated as such.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Years!
I hope you all stay safe and have a wonderful holiday.
Kiue Jin.