Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or the Souls series.
Ya'at'eeh, fellow RWBY fans, Chi'zhii here with something I've been wanting to do for a looong time. After 3 years of just indulging myself on this site, I finally decided to contribute with my very first fic dedicated to my favorite show, but mixed together with my favorite game series as well, the Souls series. It'll take place in Dark Souls III, with your favorite blonde, Jaune Arc as the MC. By the way, there will be some changes to certain scenarios and characters from the game to RWBY elements (not elaborating as to what, you'll have to figure it out). That's enough talk for now, don't want to explain everything too much, that's the nature of Dark Souls. Let's see where this will take us…
The Age of Fire is at its end; the gods of Lordran are no more. Many have journeyed to Lothric, land of the First Flame, seeking its holy incandescence to either possess or destroy it. The First Flame senses this danger and calls forth the Unkindled, seekers and slayers of Lords to once again link the fire and momentarily relieve it of its inevitable fate. Below Lothric Castle on a separate peak rests the Cemetery of Ash, bearer of Unkindled. It is there that the ominous toll of the Great Bell of Awakening summons its next champion, Jaune Arc of Astora.
It was not a pleasant feeling, coming back to life after centuries of decay and rigor mortis. Jaune still wasn't even sure if he was in a form of afterlife, for he could neither move nor see anything momentarily. In a panic, Jaune violently wrenched himself from the lying position he was fixated into, only to make contact with the cold lining of the inside of his casket. He motioned to let out a cry of anguish, but realized suddenly that he could not make a sound; his throat was burning for it was filled with ash.
With all the force he could muster, Jaune hurriedly shoved off the lid of the casket to cough up clouds of the poisonous dust. His blue eyes were bloodshot, still trying to lubricate themselves with tears. All of his biological systems were trying to figure out how to function again after years of post-mortem atrophy. He could finally touch, smell, taste, see, and hear again. After regaining his bearings, Jaune took in his surroundings. He was in a cemetery filled with countless tombstones and coffins haphazardly piled on top of each other. The overgrowth of trees, grass and moss signified obvious neglect in its maintenance. There was a walkway just ahead, leading to a flooded, tiled pathway.
Jaune looked at his own burial plot, a casket just above soil, under a rotted birch tree. Upon further inspection, his casket contained a few items: a sword with a black-gold engraved guard and diamond-shaped pommel, a large, dark blue kite-style shield with a finely detailed dragon etched in gold on the front, and a curious tree branch wrapped in parchment. Confused, Jaune picked it up and observed it more closely. It wasn't just parchment; it was a message. On it the words "Good friend. No hit" were scrawled with what seemed like charcoal. It didn't make any sense. Why was he buried with such a novelty? However, after pondering momentarily, he decided to turn a blind eye on it.
It was then that Jaune decided to take a look at his own appearance. He was a right and proper knight. Was. He had on a dark blue-gold tunic with chainmail underneath, steel shoulder guards with a rather large pauldron on his left, a leather glove on his left hand atypically paired with a full-steel one on his left, probably to protect his shield arm. A single elbow guard protected his left arm only. This bias in protection was probably to allow his sword arm much more flexability. Surprisingly, he had no helmet whatsoever. His lower half was protected by trousers covered with a chainmail skirt and leather padding, steel kneecaps, and full-plated boots. All around his armor were leather pouches and straps for other weapons or his shield. He pocketed the little branch in one pouch on his belt. Speaking of which… Jaune attached the matching scabbard of his magnificent sword to said belt on the left for easier access. He felt a particular coldness around his neck and pulled out a silver pendant depicting a crescent moon and a holy sword. How odd; he would have to figure out its meaning later as well. Jaune grabbed his shield with his left hand, and finally departed from his resting place.
Walking a short distance, Jaune found… something. It looked like a cloaked human. It was just sitting there, staring at the floating leaves that marred the cobalt wetland's beauty. Jaune considered approaching it, but settled for walking around it slowly. Halfway through sneaking past it, his boot betrayed him by giving out a painfully loud groan mid-step. He looked at the figure and saw its head jerk to face him. Its face was one of the most grotesque things that he had seen in his life. It was indeed an Undead, but this was hideous. The Undead's entire face was a sickly green, its eyes missing and teeth rotted to the core. He swore he could see a worm in his eye-socket. It jumped to its feet and stood there, staring at Jaune. At first Jaune thought it was harmless, but that was when he saw the iron sword in its hand.
The thing burst towards him, sword raised and poised to stab him in the chest. Instinct and muscle memory kicked in for Jaune, and he readied his sword, waiting for the right chance to strike. The hooded Undead sloppily thrust the sword forward, but Jaune met it with his own, knocking the handle out of the clumsy Undead's hand; he performed a parry. He was a knight, after all. This put his enemy in a daze, and he punished him with a solid stab to the stomach; it went through his spine with a satisfying crunch, blood spurting out both entry and exit point. The poor Undead collapsed, gurgling on his own blood. His blade was now wetted with his first kill as an Unkindled.
With that whole ordeal finished, Jaune went over to the dropped longsword and picked it up, realizing its low usage. He thought it over, and decided to place it in his scabbard for now. It could come in handy later. Luckily, it just fitted his scabbard. Come to think of it, Jaune never checked the rest of the pouches on his belt. There was a rather large one on the back of his right hip; he checked it, and felt something akin to glass. Curious, he pulled whatever he touched, and felt a certain warmth by just holding it. Bringing it to his eyes, it was a translucent jade flask that contained some… glowing orange liquid. What even was it? He stared at it for a moment, feeling the inviting warmth that it emanated. It made him feel… alive. There were a few more, almost all with the same substance inside. There was one, however, that was a bright turquoise color. It was cold to the touch; how different. They were there for a reason, and he would soon find out why.
Jaune soldiered on, meeting a few hostile Undead along the way, easily dispatching them due to their petty swordsmanship. There was a split path: one way leading to a cliff with a beautiful view in front, or a heavily flooded section of the graveyard, twinkling and heavy breathing audible to the ear. Jaune assumed that heavy breathing spelled out danger, and decided to check there much later.
Coming out of what he could only describe as a gulch, Jaune looked across the horizon beyond the sheer cliff to see towering, snow-peaked mountains." Wow," Jaune attempted to utter. To his horror, he couldn't even recognize his hoarse voice. So much for marveling. Then, he looked straight up to his right. There was a castle that was absolutely massive, as if carved directly from a mountain. The towers of it were capped with magnificent orange spires. Suddenly, he heard the ominous tolling of a gigantic bell to his left. Enough gawking; keep moving.
Not far up a walkway to his left, Jaune spotted a familiar object near a mass of graves: a bonfire. Perhaps this was a resting point. He scanned the horizon, and it didn't take long to take notice of the ginormous structure with its monolithic bell tower right beside. So that's where the bell rang. He knew by the look of it that he needed to reach there. However, he had more immediate things to take care were a few Undead blocking his walk down to what seemed like an arena. He had to dispatch his enemies quickly.
"Hyaaaah!" Jaune roared his first attempt at a warcry, startling the hooded undead lumbering about near more tombstones. He reached one about to get up, an upwards slash cleanly splitting its face in a diagonal direction. Another undead swordsman came from behind, but the sharp hiss during its windup alerted Jaune of its presence. He placed his shield just in time to make the sword slide off as the Undead slashed overhead, scratching his shield. Jaune bashed it with said shield and sliced its chest before it could recover. There was one more, one with a wicked looking knife. It had a jagged edge, almost certainly used for laceration. Jaune did not want to get caught by that. This Undead was quicker than the others, but that did not mean it was stronger. It had the ability to dodge around Jaune's sides, but he simply could not get past his steadfast shield. After a successfully baiting the dagger-wielder to stab his right hip, Jaune parried him with the flat of his blade and followed with a clean slice through both femurs.
With those threats taken care of, Jaune made his way down a precarious walkway, just at the very edge of the sheer cliff. There was a spearman in front with a simple spear and buckler, and an archer. This could go so wrong… He kicked the spearman down immediately and followed with a stab to the neck, blocking an arrow just in time that almost made contact with his forehead. In fact, it had a flaming oil rag at the tip, singeing his shield: fire arrows! Jaune recklessly charged the archer and tackled him with the shield. It sent the archer straight off the cliff, Jaune almost plunging himself. He shuddered at the thought. As he heard the terrified screams of the plummeting archer, Jaune noticed that it was guarding some items. They were a sort of bisque urn, warm and apparently very fragile. Jaune could hear a sizzle as though there was a fuse inside. Could these be some type of bomb? He pocketed the curious things, though careful to do so out of fear that they might explode.
Making his way back up, the bell tolled yet again. Jaune had to make more progress. He walked down to reach an entryway with torch sconces on each side. After impaling a troublesome archer in front, Jaune felt a crunch in his back as a serrated blade entered his right kidney, right through the pouch that contained his mysterious flasks. He instantly turned cold and slumped into a puddle of his own blood. He felt the life in his body fading, slowly his eyes dilating.
The Undead that sneaked behind Jaune had successfully stabbed him in the back; he punctured one of the flasks containing the orange solution in it, emptying the liquid onto the ground near Jaune's head. A small stream trickled into the open-mouthed Jaune, reaching his lips. He subconsciously wondered what it tasted like. On instinct, he mustered what strength left to lap up the substance, instantly having a reaction. The bleeding from his wound subsided slightly, the pain that Jaune had felt from the laceration was lessened; he regained basic motor control. By his own curiosity, he was saved from death.
While the vile attacker had his back turned, Jaune quietly uncapped another flask and drank it quickly in one go. He felt a comforting warmth completely enveloping him, the pain completely subsided and wounds mending entirely; Jaune felt reborn. It tasted slightly bitter, but this sense of euphoria drowned it out of his mind. The effect came with a searing noise, to which the Undead noticed. He desperately tried to ready his dagger, but Jaune was too quick with the stab to the gut. "Nice try" he curtly taunted as he unsheathed the secondary sword and lopped off the poor soul's head.
With that over, Jaune quickly took inventory and realized that he had two remaining orange flasks and one turquoise one. He still wasn't sure what that one was for. Jaune decided to take the defeated foe's knife, both as a trophy and tool, strapping it to the side of his boot. Luckily, his "main pouch" wasn't completely torn apart, just a minor incision. Finally, Jaune entered to the next area.
"Woah" was all he could muster, since the sight before him defied all logic. In the middle of a small pond knelt a humanoid statue completely made out of metal, about twelve feet tall. In each of its shoulders rested a coiled weapon of sorts, the much smaller one in its left. It held a large polearm in its right hand. To the figure's right rested a humongous open casket surrounded by smaller tombstones, gripped possessively by a gargantuan birch and cradled by numerous cobblestone archways. It was quite a spectacle. Behind the kneeling figure were two large bronze doors leading to the bell tower and its accompanying structure.
Jaune approached the figure, finding a rather large piece of cloth attached to the larger coiled weapon. It had a message in archaic writing: "To prove worthiness as a seeker of Lords, the Unkindled must remove the Greater Coiled Sword from Iudex Gundyr and best him in combat." It took him a moment to process what the inscription meant. "Oh"was all he could think. This "statue" is actually a warrior and judge. Great… That put him on edge since he had no idea what to expect from a giant warrior. He knew just by looking at him that he had to fight him, but beat him? Jaune wasn't so sure about this. After weighing the outcomes, Jaune reluctantly removed the coiled sword from its resting place.
At this, the statue named Iudex Gundyr came to life, fully standing with his polearm in hand. Jaune nervously backed up with his eyes closed and sword and shield raised, expecting a thunderous attack; however, instead opened his eyes to see Gundyr waiting to be properly acknowledged. Jaune lowered his guard and waited for Gundyr to make the first move. All he did was give a curt bow to Jaune, which surprised him; this was an honorable test of might between two warriors. Jaune slowly bowed in kind and readied his shield for anything to come. And with that, Gundyr started the duel with a running slash.
Blocking was a bad idea. Jaune learned it the hard way when Gundyr knocked his kite shield to a nearby tombstone, cracking the granite. His shield arm went numb almost immediately. This is bad, this is really bad! He could only dodge Gundyr's swings now. He followed up the attack with an overhead smash with the axe-like blade, of which Jaune barely rolled out of. During his recovery, Jaune looked for some sort of weak spot that his sword could pierce, since his foe seemed to be all-armor. There was little luck, though; his sword didn't even scratch the tough cast-iron. There's got to be something else here… Ah-hah! There was a strange black spot between his shoulder blades, almost pus-like. It appeared to be the only soft spot on Gundyr, so that was his target. It would not be that easy to reach, however.
Jaune had a crazy and stupid but possibly life-saving idea to get him out of this mess. He would have to bait Gundyr into a swing that left him open and chuck one of those urns he found at him as a distraction. He would recover his shield and move onto the final step: parrying that giant polearm to get to Gundyr's back. At that moment, Gundyr launched himself into the air to land a murderous overhead slash where Jaune currently stood; this was his chance. He barely dodged the plunging attack, nearly taking off his right arm. As his opponent tore his weapon out of the ground, Jaune lobbed a fire-pot that nailed him right on his back. The guardian recoiled and writhed in pain as if the fire was an acid that eroded his soul. Jaune took his opportunity, leapt for his shield and secured it back to his arm.
Angered, Gundyr came in with a shoulder tackle that Jaune received in the gut, knocking the wind out of him. Gundyr followed with a grievous punch to his back, sending the poor knight flying straight into another tombstone. Jaune lay sprawled on his back, waiting for Gundyr to hit him once again with an aerial stab. Just as he was about to land the killing blow, Jaune grinned and swatted the blade of the huge metal polearm into the ground next to him, Gundyr crashing to the ground right next to him; he's lucky he wasn't flattened. Jaune took a quick swig from one of his flasks and crawled on the prone Gundyr. A triumphant Jaune knelt on Gundyr's broad back, preparing to plunge his sword with two hands into the black pus, Gundyr's mortal weak spot. He had bested Gundyr not with might, but by wit.
Just as Jaune fell Iudex Gundyr with the thrust of his sword, from the pus sprang a vile, red-eyed serpent that immediately bit Jaune on the right shoulder; its "venom" would have more than just mortal implications. There was no way to dodge it. Jaune recoiled, already feeling the venom coursing through his veins, tainting his soul. He started losing focus, but he saw that the dying Iudex Gundyr moved his right hand to his left shoulder. In conclusion to their duel, he pulled out the smaller coiled sword and handed it out with an open palm: a gesture for Jaune to take it. The huge iron warrior let out a long sigh as his entire being hardened into the statue he once was. At the same time, the Great Bell above sounded off once again, though creating a much lower tone. He merely complied and strapped it onto his back, already finding it hard to stay conscious. He had to make it to his next location.
Jaune trudged his way to a set of tall doors ahead, barely able to push them open enough to slip past. To his right was a decrepit cobblestone path leading towards an entrance of sorts, torch sconces on either side. There was another path to the left towards the bell tower, but he saw multiple Undead shambling between graves. He decided to go the safer route, since now he had difficulty breathing and saw everything with a tinge of dark purple. Jaune haphazardly rushed his way up the steps, tripping a few times from onset vertigo and nausea, occasionally from overgrowing roots. He could feel his flesh burning and sweated heavily from a sudden fever. This was bad. As Jaune reached the last step, black blood started to trickle from the side of his mouth. His muscles now screamed with pain, his motor functions starting to lock up. He could only make his legs move forward, nothing more. He finally entered the structure, not stopping until he walked straight off where the walkway discontinued; he fell fifteen feet onto his forehead with a loud clang from his armor, receiving a concussion.
"Finally…made it…" was all he could mutter under his breath as his body yet again began to shut down. His consciousness waning, Jaune could only hear the alarmed voice of a female:
"Ashen One!..."
Alrighty, That's it for the first chapter, hope you enjoyed it! As you are reading this, I am already preparing to churn out chapter two soon, probably in one or two days. Please let me know how I did so far or if there's anything I could improve upon with my particular writing style; this is my very first fic, after all. Since I'm starting school again come the 19th, unfortunately, I won't be able to upload as frequently by then. However, I do hope to continue this and not drop it! I honestly would like to see this through until the very end, and I would like you all to accompany me on the journey there. Hopefully you enjoyed this little "introduction chapter" and let's see where this will take us next time. Nizhonigo nee ado'aal!