A Soul Reborn

Darkness, nothing but the cold black void death was visible to Artorias as he floated in limbo. The chosen undead had done it, he had defeated him and crushed Manus, thus saving Oolacile and halting the encroaching abyss. Poor Ciaran, he thought, still mourning over his death. He would miss seeing her smile. Hawkeye Gough, his trusted ally, he never did manage to prize from him how he could always hit his targets without ever needing to see them. He was glad that his friend had assisted the nameless hero in defeating the abyss, and had one last bout with a dragon, his massive greatbow slaying the beast. Sif, his faithful companion. He had done all he could to safeguard her from the dangers of the abyss, and thanks to the one who took up the mantle of his duty, she too was safe.

He remained formless in death, his soul a faint glimmer of what it once was. For how long he existed like this, he did not know. Then, all of a sudden, a light shone in the darkness, and a voice called out to him.

"Knight Artorias, wouldst thou rise again to fight the darkness?"

Even though he did not recognize the voice, there was no hesitation as he reached for the light answering "Yes."


Groggy, tired, and sore. Waking up in the middle of a forest tends to leave one in a state of disarray.

"By the light of Lord Gwyn, my head does feel as if it might split open!" Screamed Artorias. Coming back from the dead had not exactly been the healthiest of endeavors. Resting on his knees, he looked to his hands and saw that he once again held his greatshield in his left hand, while a darker more corroded weapon remained in his right. Though the darkness was gone from it, the memory of what it represented remained. The thought crossed his mind to be rid of the weapon, only to rescind it. Better that he kept it as a reminder of what his pride had gotten him into, and to remind him of what he fights for. Stretching, he reached his hand up to his head only to notice his helmet was gone, his shaggy black hair hanging just above his eyes. He began to stand up when he heard the sounds of footsteps behind him. Not wasting a moment, he spun around with his sword pressed against the mysterious person's throat, only to go wide-eyed and lower it upon seeing who it was. "Ciaran?" he asked.

Indeed, it was his ally who had stood by him in Oolacile. She had all her armor but for her headgear, allowing her flowing blonde hair to flutter in the wind, and allowing him to see the look of scrutiny on her face rapidly replace with one of shock.

"Artorias?" She asked.

Nearly half a minute passed before his response came, too bewildered by her presence to immediately answer.

"Yes Ciaran, tis I, come back from death, I-" but his response was cut off as Ciaran did something that was entirely uncharacteristic of her, she leaped forward and embraced him, crying tears of joy. He returned the gesture, allowing her to prove to herself that he was indeed there, before coming to a realization.

"Ciaran," he said, and she took a step back to look at him, "why is it that mine eyes are level with yours?"

Indeed, examining his person, he took notice that many of his proportions were smaller than he recalled, if only by a little. Furthermore if he had to guess, she looked as if she were no older than seventeen. His musings were interrupted when a new voice spoke up from the edge of the clearing.

"Consider yourself fortunate, I have shrunk to nearly half of my stature."

Artorias and Ciaran turned to the new voice. Confusion took them until they recognized the greatbow in his hand, even if it was smaller than it used to be.

"Gough!" they both shouted in surprise, overjoyed to have another ally present. Then took a moment to observe him. It was true that he was nothing like his previous height, but he still stood a full head and a half above Artorias, short brown hair atop his head to match his-

"Gough! Thou can see with thine own eyes again!"

A great booming laugh came from the giant of a man as he replied. "Yes, I noticed that as well, I believe the cause to be that we have seemed to regress so greatly in age. Fear not however, my other sense have not dulled simply because I have been spoilt with vision again. Indeed, I can smell in the foliage another friend of ours, one who stood by you since she was but a pup."

Artorias' eyes widened at the mention of Sif. His faithful companion through many battles, and she was here. He turned to the direction that Gough had pointed and waited eagerly for her to emerge. He was instead surprised when a woman walked into the clearing, hair white as snow, and golden eyes. She was clad in what appeared to be grey fur pelts, used to create a tunic and trousers, and bore a sword on her back. Upon glimpsing the sword, Artorias recognized it immediately, after all, one does not simply forget their own weapon.

He narrowed his eyes at the new individual and spoke. "What be thine name, and how came thee by my sword?"

Instead of fear or anger, the new woman was surprisingly giddy, practically hopping in place, and proceeded to answer almost immediately. "Master Artorias, I found you!"

Not a moment had passed after she finished speaking when she leaped forward and embraced him, catching them all by surprise. After a few seconds he regained his composure and held her at arm's length.

"Who are you? I have seen no such person as you before." He asked.

"Master Artorias, it's me! Don't you remember your faithful companion? I even brought your sword for you!" she replied, still smiling widely, happy as can be.

Artorias was about to ask again when Ciaran spoke up. "Are those… dog ears on her head?"

Sure enough, there was a pair of white furry ears on top of her hair, surprised to see such a being. He needed answers, and so he proceeded to ask again.

"Who are you?"

She looked a little sad at the question, but replied all the same, "Master, it's me, Sif."

"…"

"…"

"…"

The three knights stood silent for an indiscernible amount of time, and then Artorias broke out of his stupor, facing her again.

"How is that possible?"

"I know not Master Artorias," she said, looking confused yet still elated, "all I recall was that a voice spoke unto me and said that they would grant me the chance to see thee again, and I did not hesitate to accept."

He pondered this for a few moments, certainly things have been strange in these last few minutes, but he still would not take this woman at her word without undeniable proof that she was indeed his faithful companion, and thus he devised a plan to find out.

"If you truly are she, tell me something that only Sif would know."

She looked excited and answered "Oh! Oh! I know!" She approached and whispered loud enough so only he would hear, a sly grin on her face. "Every night in Anor Londo you would write letters to Ciaran professing your undying love to her, but you would always burn them instead because you were too embarrassed to tell her of your feelings."

At the mention of his most embarrassing secret, his face began to take on a shade of red. Truly he was a young boy again to be flustered over such a thing. Taking a moment to compose himself, he realized that the answer was indeed something only Sif would know. "She speaks the truth, she is indeed Sif." He spoke with a smile, and then embraced her, glad to have another friend at hand, even if her form was different.

"So Master Artorias, will you be needing your weapon back?" she asked.

He eyed the weapon on her back and then shook his head, "Not yet Sif, it will serve you better than it has me, and I still have one here to make use of." He said, lifting the darkened sword in his hand. Then Gough let out a not-so-indiscreet cough.

"Are we going to further discuss the fact that not only are we smaller, but also seem to be aged no more than children? And now even this, Sif appears in a form similar to ours!" he asked.

Before any of them could respond, the loud guttural cry of a beast was heard, along with what sounded like a battle cry. They immediately ran off in the direction of the sound, reaching an open field and witnessing a rather bizarre sight. They saw eight young warriors fighting against black beasts, but that was not what gave them pause. It was the strange weaponry which many of them used that caused their confusion. Many of the weapons seemed to change at will and combust, creating great explosions of fire.

There was a scythe that was wielded by a girl nearly half its size, eviscerating the beasts one after another at impossible speeds. Another girl seemed to be using a rapier, using it to channel all manner of magics. There was a girl who threw punches that created explosions with burning red eyes, and another who created copies of herself to trick her opponents as she sliced across their backs. Further still was a joyous girl wielding a mighty hammer and a stoic boy with two strange weapons that seemed to project some kind of metal towards the beasts at extreme speeds. Then lastly was a pair of fighters who used Artorias' own sword and shield combo.

The four were only broken out of their stupor by a loud shrieking cry that came from the heavens. Looking up, they saw a great black bird with a white mask as it flew towards them. Artorias would hesitate no longer, strange land or no, the beasts of darkness would not be suffered to live.

"Gough!" he yelled behind him.

"As you wish." he replied.

In seconds, he had an arrow nocked and his bow drawn, and without missing a beat, released the arrow to seek its target. Moments later it pierced the beast's head clean through, leaving a hole where the arrow had gone. As it fell to the earth, Artorias noticed something odd about the beast. It was already decaying. Confused as he might have been on the matter however, he decided that such musings would best be saved for later, and that they should presently assist the young ones they had come across.

"Gough, stay here and send these fouls creatures back to the abyss. Ciaran, it is time for thy blade to strike down our enemies once more. Sif, you shall fight by my side in this glorious battle."

Each acknowledged his command as he charged forward, shouting a battle cry as he began to cleave into the beasts.


OK, so this story is basically me shamelessly exploiting the RWBY universe to insert Dark Souls characters because I think it would be freaking awesome.

Now before anyone goes on about it, yes I am aware that the lore was never clear on whether Sif was male or female. However, for the purposes of the story (and for the sake of what I hope will be many hilarious situations) I have decided that it would suit the story better to have Sif as a girl. Also, the whole age regression thing is to make them fit in a bit more with the whole teenage warrior setting that the anime RWBY has going on. As for why I chose Sif rather than Ornstein to be the fourth member, when the other three are the Knights of Lord Gwyn, well that was because there is not much of a connection between Ornstein and them other than the fact that he's also one of the knights. It seemed to me that Sif would have a much stronger emotional bond with the group, Artorias especially given their lifelong companionship. Also, I don't think I need to explain why they are using Ye Olden Speak. I may adapt them slightly as time goes own, sort of showing how they adapt to this new world, but for now prepare, forsooth and verily henceforth they shall speaketh in ye olden tongue.

Also I am absolutely open to ideas and/or suggestions for the story, I want other people to enjoy reading it after all.