I do not own Dark Souls or Rosario + Vampire

Chapter 9

The three descended a long, narrow stairwell. Tsukune found himself gripping the solid brick wall to his left. The long fall into the stone ground below seemed so much...longer.

"Tell me boy, hath you heard of the drake in this town?" The knight asked, not missing a beat.

Tsukune's eyes went wide. "Drake...?" A jolly laugh escaped the knight's mouth.

"Yes, a drake. A big one too. A coat of scales the color of crimson fire. Consquently it breathes fire too." Another laugh. Tsukune was beginning to question why he allowed this knight to help. "You must be ready to run. Lest you want to be consumed in flames."

Tsukune's mouth hit the floor. "Are you insane? Outrunning fire!? You can't be serious?" His legs began to shake.

"Yes, right past the beast. If we're fast enough, then everything will be fine. However, our journey can be cut brief. Now, art thou ready?" The knight opened the door. Tsukune hadn't even noticed they had made it down. "Also boy, one tip. The drake will take his time to approach. Use this wisely." The knight poked his head out.

Another door, seemingly to make the structure symmetrical. A stairway leading to a balcony. And a bridge. "Gee, wonder where that dragon will attack us." Tsukune crossed his arms. This was all too much.

"Drake boy, much different. Most, if not all, dragons were ages ago. But that was a different time. Now, hast thou prepared thyself. We must make haste across this bridge!" The knight took off, shoving Tsukune to the side.

"Run boy!"

Tsukune blinked. The world seemed to slow down. The knight was already a decent amount down the bridge. That earth-shaking roar. "No. It's back." The blood drained from his face. Tsukune wanted to curl up into a ball and cry. "It's impossible. I'll die here." His life was already flashing before his eyes.

His younger years, managing to just coast by school. His supportive parents, allowing him to leach off of them, and that middle school test. The test that changed everything. His placement test.

Moka, Kurumu, Yukari, Mizare, Ruby, and Gin. Not to mention everyone else. "No, fuck that! I'm not stopping here! If he can do that in full armor, I can be faster!"

A deep breath, and a quick prayer.

He was off, the beating of wings forcing his legs faster than ever before. That vicious, slit pupil. He could feel it boring into his back. "I'm not dying to you!" His scream pushed him into the zone. Hollows flew past his vision, heat was threatening his back, but he never stopped. It was over in a matter of moments.

He found himself in a low room, with three ways out. The stairs he just took, a door in the middle of the north wall, and a side entrance. "Boy, over here." The knight beckoned him to the side entrance.

"I'm not taking one more step, until you tell me what the hell I can do to get out of here!"

"Stop being a fool. There is a bonfire just down yonder. I request you bring this ladder down. I will explain everything there." The knight explained, his sincerity apparent.

Tsukune opened his mouth to protest, but stopped. "He hasn't done anything wrong to me on purpose...I think. Maybe this really is just a hellish excuse of a world." He took a good look at Kurumu's sleeping form, resting gently in his arms. "Fine."

Somehow, the knight managed to get down the ladder without waking Kurumu, a feat Tsukune knew he couldn't do. Getting down the ladder himself, he walked next to the knight.

The knight gingerly placed Kurumu in one corner of the room. "Funny, we haven't gotten anywhere. All that's happened is she might be dying...And there's not a damn thing I can do without it."

"Now boy, you want answers, so you might as well sit. There is much you must know, if thou are to truly flourish in this wondrous land." The knight dropped to a comfortable position, encouraging Tsukune to do the same.

"Wondrous land...?" Tsukune repeated the words, ensuring he hadn't misheard. "What's so wondrous about this place when she's dying!"

The knight held up his hands. "Boy, stop. You'll wake her and only hate yourself further." Tsukune's eyes went wide.

"How the hell does he...?"

"I have seen many of your kind before. Surrounded by those you love and cherish, yet unable to do anything for them. Too weak to protect what matters most." The knight dropped his head in silence. "But I won't let you fail. We are all here for a reason, and as a Warrior of Sunlight, one of my reasons for being is to help others find what matters most to them, to help them find their sun."

"Warrior of Sunlight...What exactly does that mean?" Tsukune spread his hands in confusion.

"I live only for two reasons. To help others find their own sun, and to find one myself. If ever thou art in need, simply search for my sign. A brilliant gold insignia, why to miss it you must be blind!" The knight let out a jovial chuckle.

"You make it sound like you're leaving us..." Tsukune trailed off, his mind beginning to wander. How would they survive without a guardian. Kurumu was too injured to do much, and...

"I shall stay with you as far as the first bell my boy. Then I must depart, for if I find your own sun, it ceases to be yours...does it not?" Tsukune absentmindedly nodded. "Good, good. As for your maiden companion, I have a feeling she'll be just fine." Tsukune immediately shot up.

"How do you know that? Because if you're wrong..." His hands contorted into a fist, his knuckles going white.

"Why, my very name is at stake if I prove to be as deceitful as you make me to be boy. You think Solaire of Astora would lie to one such as you?" Tsukune blinked, once again the conflict arose.

"I can't fucking trust him...I know I can't...But...Damnit! Why is this so hard!?"

"What's your name boy?" The knight asked, ripping Tsukune out of his petty thoughts.

"Huh...uh..." Tsukune trailed off. His eyes darted between the knight and Kurumu. "...Tsukune."

"Hmm...A fine name indeed, and as you know, I am Solaire of Astora. Now about this place..." Solaire took a breath. "It wasn't always this vile hole of hollows. It used to be a flourishing town, where people would exchange pleasantries and everyone knew everyone else. It was quite a sight actually. Something I wish I could have been there to see..." Solaire paused, switching to a more comfortable position.

"But then the curse came...and it brought ruin to any land touched by it. You're looking at the remains of a once great town, twitching in the final stages of death. Though I suppose I could say that about anywhere in Lordran."

Tsukune hadn't even thought about that. Everyone here had once been people...with lives...and families. He looked to the sword at his hip. "...So why even stay here?" The boy finally managed to choke out.

"To find my sun. All that matters anymore is the sun. The gloriously incandescent orb of luminescence is the only thing that can save this land. Now I've got to check to see if any others stay hidden in this place. I shall try to return quickly." Solaire got his feet, dawning his sword and circular shield.

Tsukune was left to sit there alone, pondering what little he knew of this land. He could almost picture it, an old fashioned medieval kingdom in it's prime. But the image became distorted in a thick, dark mist. It just didn't seem possible.

He turned to face his succubus friend. "I think she's breathing deeper. That's a good sign right?" Tsukune sighed, burying his face in his hands. "Everything's falling apart!" He smashed his fist against the floor. He knew it was stupid, he knew it would hurt, but who could stop him?

Night had fallen again. The moon was high in the cold sky. "But, that's not possible. Solaire left early. He's only been gone a few minutes..." Tsukune was left to ponder this.

"Have I really only been gone that long...Thought it was longer." The knight had appeared out of nowhere. "But my efforts were all for naught, no one around. Other than an undead merchant who wanted nothing but my share of souls." He sat down. "You're maiden companion should wake soon, the blessing is nearing its end."

"Blessing?" Tsukune shot him another suspicious look.

"Yes, an excerpt from the Solis Libris. The most sacred of all texts to the Warriors. But that matters little, all that matters is her safety." Solaire repeated.

"And you said there's no one else here?" He asked, ringing his hands.

"Well, yes but no boy. The merchant spoke of one he saw."

"Who?" The boy's eyes lit up.

"He spoke of another maiden. One with hair of snow and eyes of ice. He offered no name, and I had no knowledge of such a maiden."

"Mizare..." The whisper flew away on the wind of night. "Did he say where she was headed?"

"To the Parish. However, this maiden will find nothing but pain and hollows. That old church is infested. Even the knights of Baulder and Berenike tried to save the land. We have received no word for years."

"Then we have to go! She's in trouble!" Tsukune jerked upright, his hand wrapping around his sword hilt.

"And leave one maiden for another...? No, we shall take our time, and do things right. If anyone is to leave and find her, it shall be me. You must protect her." Solaire's hand gestured to Kurumu. "But I cannot abandon either of you. We find ourselves in quite the conundrum."

"No! Let me go, or you go! But we have to go soon!" Solaire's arm dragged Tsukune back.

"You cannot even defend yourself. We must travel as a group. But we will not abandon this maiden of ice. However we must bide our time."

"So we just wait? How can you just wait?"

"Simply." The knight leaned against the doorway. The message was sent. No one would leave.