Right here is the first chapter of my Dark Souls Fic, this has been written with a lot of help from my good friend Yoshtar who has been a big help and without his help, this story would still be in the 'Vault of unfinished ideas' I would appreciate all the reviews on what people think about the story.

EDIT: Just spelling and grammer mistakes fixed and minor touch up's

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 a, 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 cannot 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 received 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. I'm sure of it."

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.

"It's worth a try isn't it?" The woman continued nearly glaring at him. "The chosen undead will naturally die on this quest again and again. But since there is nothing else for him to do, he will continue to get back up and follow the path set before him. He won't go hollow with a purpose driving him forward. You just need to find your own."

"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 said to them.

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." When she stared at the gem in her hand he continued. "it is a life gem. I brought them from my home and that is the last one I have. Use it."

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.

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 its 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 and see when you are the only one not drinking at a party. Drunk people are funny to watch." 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 door less 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. Question is why are there two?"

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.

Review for the sake of Arya and Isha!