Chapter 1: The Shrine and the Dream
Characters: Sebastian(Ashen One of the Chaos Flame) - Lillianet(The Firekeeper) - Andre the Blacksmith - Patches - Shrine Handmaiden - Ludleth of Courland - Orbeck of Vinheim - Cornyx of the Great Swamp - Leonhard the Ringfinger - Greirat of the Undead Settlement - Evetta(Good Huntress) - Miss Aria(Plain Doll) - Gehrman - Irina of Carim - Hawkwood the Deserter
Settings: Firelink Shrine - Hunter's Dream
Author's Note: A little bit of background information. Sebastian is an Unkindled of the Chaos Flame. This allows him to use the Chaos Blade in its true form. However, containing the flames of Chaos did something. Sebastian will sometimes get in these sorts of "moods" that are created from urges sent out by the Chaos Ember within. These moods can range to many things; violence, rage, extreme happiness, sorrow, or even somber understanding. But most commonly, this takes the form of sudden and extreme lust, as the Chaos Flame is fading and wants to keep on living. But being in a human-shaped undead's body, this becomes sexual want. During his early time after awakening, Sebastian drilled the Firekeeper(who is named Lillianet in this world) many times. He has also slept with various other women(To see these, I've many a series of one-shots that each start with "Ashen," and are devoted to each pairing). As time went on, he learned to control himself and these moods, but will occasionally be taken by an urge. Another thing, while reading this, you may notice that I write out the proper names of most of the items and weapons that I list. I do this so if one wants, they can look up what the weapon or item looks like. There will be some special cases, for example, using "Pharis Blackbow" instead of "Black Bow of Pharis."
Sebastian(Ashen One of the Chaos Flame) Appearance: Fair Skin with noble-looking face structure. Eyes are crimson. Hair is black with small patches of red. Is tall and has a slim build. Wears the Thief Mask, Black Hand Armor, Undead Legion Gauntlets, and Faraam Boots. Wields Onikiri and Ubadachi, but has Onikiri(The shorter sword) on the right side of the waist. Still has Ubadachi(The longer sword) on the left side of the waist. Has the Chaos Blade strapped on his back. Sometimes has a Pharis Blackbow strapped to his back with the Chaos Blade.
Evetta(Good Huntress) Appearance: Dark peach-colored skin, and thin-looking face. Eyes are emerald-green. Hair is yellow as the sun. Is of average height and with slender build. Wears the Black Hood, Black Church Garb, Surgical Long Gloves, and Hunter Trouser. Wields the Hunter Axe and Hunter Pistol. Has an Empty Phantasm Shell and a Call Beyond.
Story:
But when the tremors began, I didn't know what to do. It felt as though the whole shrine had started moving, tilting, as if the stone beneath had been shattered. No… Sliding at a definite angle.
A very startled Andre yelled, his anvil and other blacksmithing tools sliding to the far wall. Patches held on to a nearby pillar in an attempt to not fall. Greirat took shelter in a little wall-depression near Andre. Not wanting to fall against the opposite wall, I, stupidly, embedded my feet into the stone beneath me. Lillianet, however, was unable to find something to hold on to. She came tumbling down before I was able to catch her. And that was when seawater began flooding the shrine. The last thing I remembered seeing was a large tentacle, striped with blood , reach and grab the shrine, accompanied by the heavy scent of moonlight...
Firelink Shrine
"Finally! That took a long time!" I spoke out loud, my journey nearly complete. The heads of two Lords of Cinder were on their thrones, and Ludleth was sitting quietly on his. A Transposing Kiln rested on his lap, the last remnant of Courland. Lillianet was laying down next to the bonfire, basking in its warmth as she normally did when she had no pressing task. Orbeck, bless that sour sorcerer's soul, was busy developing new magics with Irina that would work without need of a chime or staive. He keeps muttering about how blood could be a wonderful catalyst. He has asked for my soul-rich blood in particular many times. It is awful strange, but anything to keep from going hollow, right? But, it seems that he has made a breakthrough, as he was able to restore Irina's sight with his cut hand. Those two almost seem to be siblings now, especially with Eygon hollowed and buried. I digress…
Cornyx just experimented with new pyromancies from the Izalith tome. Greirat and Patches were sharing a few mugs of Siegbrau that they had made after learning how from Siegward. Andre was passing the time as he normally did, forging weapons and armor. An Uchigatana was the current project. Hawkwood was sitting with his head in his hands as normal. Bored, I decided that sparring with Leonhard was the best option.
"Really? You want to… spar?" He said with mild amusement, "I mean, why? You've already felt the blade of my Crescent Moon Sword in your stomach. Normally, people don't like reliving that." My mood soothed by the chance of entertainment, I spoke back with an even voice.
"Yes, I'd like to spar. Currently, there is nothing to do. And a little bit of practice never hurt anyone badly."
Leonhard chuckled before responding, "That's all a fight is to you? A bit of practice? I say friend, you've changed quite a bit." My eyebrow rose at that comment, but I thought nothing more of it.
"How about the Ashen Judge's arena? It is open and fairly flat. I think it'll do nicely," I said with a blank expression. Taking his shrug as a sign of agreement, I walked out.
Ashen Judge's/Iudex Gundyr's Arena
I drew my weapons of choice, Onikiri and Ubadachi, and turned to face my sparring partner, Leonhard. The moonlight on his shotel was reflected by his mask, almost giving him an eerie glow. It would have been eerie, had it not been at day.
"Last chance to back out buddy. If you don't want a blade in your neck," Leonhard spoke with an amused mocking voice.
"And what sort of champion would I be then?" I responded while rolling my eyes. Suddenly, a crescent-shaped projectile of moonlight wizzed at me. My reflexes razor-sharp, I was able to roll under it. The fight was officially on. Bringing Ubadachi(The longer sword) up, I charged at Leonhard. As each blade collided, sparks flew. But, as I normally did, I tried to take him out quickly. Instead of directly striking with Ubadachi, I used it to push away the Crescent Moon Sword. Then, Onikiri(The shorter sword) came barreling through at his chest. He , however, also had extremely refined reflexes, and was able to leap back out of my attempted parry and riposte. We both turned aggressive at that moment. A swipe here. A kick there. Slashes and stabs colliding at high speed, blood left in air-wheels by the path of moving blades. Then, it all came to a climax, as I dashed under his swing and impaled his chest with both my blades.
"You aren't winning that easily!" Leonhard yelled as he sunk the Crescent Moon Sword into the side of my neck.
"Draw," Spoke the both of us before temporarily dying from our wounds. A few minutes later, we both awoke and collected our weapons.
"Good match, want to head back up to the shrine?" I said, my boredom cured.
Leonhard paused for a moment before answering, "Sure, I could use a mug of Siegbrau."
Firelink Shrine
Upon arriving back at the shrine, I walked in on Irina and Orbeck both casting a soul spear-shaped spell of blood-red magic. I didn't expect such a breakthrough so soon, but no matter. My priority was to check on the progress of the blade Andre was forging. I had obtained it after killing the man known as "Sword Master," only to find that the sword was dull and in disrepair. So, I brought it to Andre to reforge. As I approached, he held up the eastern sword and spoke.
"Aye, you're just in time. I've finished her, and she is a fine blade indeed. Now then, I think I'll take some metal as payment instead of souls. I've plenty of them, but my stock of iron is running low," Andre said with his usual tone.
Wanting to clarify, I responded with a question, "Do you want actual pieces of forge iron, or would discarded weapons work?"
"Either would work fine, just make sure there's plenty," He responded in the same mellow tone as before. Nodding my head, I walked off to the bonfire.
High Wall of Lothric
The hollow footsoldier's yell was cut off by Ubadachi's executioner-style decapitation. My target, his Winged Spear, clattered to the ground as I turned to face the other hollow footsoldier. He swung his spear at me, broken as it was, and missed.
"You're gonna have to try harder than that," I said as I rolled to the side and sliced off his arms. The broken spear and wooden shield fell to the ground, and the hollow died from being impaled. Looking around, I decided that I could take their Steel Soldier Helms too, so I collected them with the weapons. Suddenly, I had a feeling…
"Am I forgetting something?" I said to no one in particular as a flaming crossbow bolt buried itself in my waist. The hollow soldier had ducked out from a pillar, crossbow in hand. I, however, was able to quickdraw with my Pharis Blackbow and had an arrow in the hollow's forehead before it could hide again.
I grumbled to myself after pulling the bolt out, "I need to be more observant…" Conveniently, a Lothric Knight heard me and came rushing in. It's Lothric Knight Greatshield and Lothric Knight Spear would do nicely. As would the armor, weak and damaged as it was. Deciding to enjoy this, I dodged behind the knight and slashed at a very weak point. The underside of the knight's knees. It fell with a roar and died with Onikiri thrusting through it's spinal cord. The other knight patrolling was even easier. A large hole, ringed by rust, was open in the center of it's breastplate. Perfect for a katana blade to stab into. So, I parried the monster and sent Ubadachi through the fiend's rotten flesh. Quickly dispatching the other basic Lothric Knight, I turned my eyes towards the captain. A blue cape marked it's rank.
"Now, will you be stubborn or go down easily?" I quietly spoke to myself as I crept up to it. The knight, however, heard me mumbling and turned around with a Lothric Knight Sword swing that could have taken my head off. It would've, had my trusty paired swords not been there to block it. But, I parried it in the end and dispatched it. Walking around and collecting all the metal I could find, I returned to the bonfire and warped to the shrine. I never would've guessed what would happen next…
Firelink Shrine
When I materialized at the Shrine, I found everyone on edge, weapons in hand. They were all glancing around as well. Even Lillianet, whom I had given some training to with an Aquamarine Dagger, held her weapon and looked from side to side. The only one who didn't look as though they were ready to kill was the Shrine Handmaiden, asleep in her chair as normal. That is when I heard them. Large explosions of sound, almost like massive footsteps or waves. I didn't like it.
But when the tremors began, I didn't know what to do. It felt as though the whole shrine had started moving, tilting, as if the stone beneath had been shattered. No… Sliding at a definite angle. A very startled Andre yelled, his anvil and other blacksmithing tools sliding to the far wall. Patches held on to a nearby pillar in an attempt to not fall. Greirat took shelter in a little wall-depression near Andre. Not wanting to fall against the opposite wall, I, stupidly, embedded my feet into the stone beneath me. Lillianet, however,was unable to find something to hold on to. She came tumbling down before I was able to catch her. And that was when seawater began flooding the shrine. The last thing I remembered seeing was a large tentacle, striped with blood , reach and grab the shrine, accompanied by the heavy scent of moonlight...
The Hunter's Dream(Inside Firelink)
When I came to, I immediately noticed that something was off. The air was sort of… Heavy. Almost as if there was mist hanging. The scent of the moon was everywhere. A pale light, probably moonlight, shone through the shrine entrance. I got up and looked around to find that everyone was unmoving. A quick check around told me that they were asleep.
"What in Gwyn's name!" I yelled with a start as the bonfire suddenly roared to life.
I grumbled to myself as I walked away, "Good to know something is normal," As soon as I finished my sentence, my ears picked up something; light footsteps near the shrine entrance. A woman walked in. She was slender in figure, and wore an interesting garb. I would say that she was attractive, as the sight drew a small flicker of the Chaos within me, but nothing big. She held some sort of contraption in her left hand and what appeared to be a war axe in the left. Not liking the look of that axe or the ease in which it was held, I drew my weapons.
"Who are you? And where are we?" I spoke loudly to the intruder. Her head immediately snapped in my direction.
She dropped into a slight combat stance before speaking, "Who is asking?"
"A confused interloper," I spoke back as I walked out from behind Lothric's throne. Quickly scanning me, and more importantly, my weapons over, she charged across the stairs. But then, she surprised me. The woman quickly hung that strange contraption on her belt and… Extended the axe? She now held it in two hands and swung it similarly to a halberd. I deflected her downward swing with Ubadachi and tried my typical trick. The woman noticed Onikiri's glint, and tried to move out of the way, but still got a cut on her shoulder.
"Well, you've got combat reflexes! Why don't we stop and talk this out like normal people?" I tried to say, only to narrowly avoid a large and painful looking axe trying to cleave my head off.
The mysterious woman answered with a disgusted tone, "Beasts don't deserve the chance to explain themselves," The long-handled axe that the woman was using managed to clip my cheek on a passby blow. Thankfully, Hawkwood woke up at that moment. So, he crept up behind her. Somehow understanding the slight shake of my head, he smacked her with the flat of his Farron Greatsword. The lady tumbled to the ground, unconscious.
"Damn, who was she? And why did you make the terrible choice of pissing a woman off? And where are we?" Hawkwood suddenly launched into a tirade of questions.
I took a deep breath before responding, "I don't have a clue as to where we are, and I don't know who this woman is. But I'm going to look outside. Tie up and watch her, please."
"Fine. But you'd better fill me in later," Hawkwood said with an eye-roll, but began his task.
Hunter's Dream(Back Garden, Behind Workshop - Shrine is connected to the edge of the island near where Gehrman can be found midgame asleep and wailing to be freed from the dream)
As I walked out of the Shrine, my head was nearly cleaved off, again. A man with a large scythe stood right outside the shrine doorway. Used to having everything trying to kill me at once, I rolled under the swing. The man then did something to his scythe. He… took off the blade? What is with these people and warping their weapons? He also had one of those contraptions clipped to his belt. It looked slightly different from the woman's contraption, but I assume it serves the same purpose.
"Now what in Gwyn's name does that contraption do?" I asked the man as he slashed my shoulder with his detached scytheblade. Dark red blood spurted from the wound, along with a few floating embers. However, the attack left an opening under his right arm. I made sure to take it, and left a wound on him.
He spoke with a slight chuckle, "Well, you fight quite civilized for a beast! Tell me boy, do you have a name? If ya remember it, we can sit down for a chat,"
"Sebastian, or Sebas for short. I've given my name, now what is your's?" I spoke as I dashed back from his weapon's range.
He chuckled again before responding, "Gehrman, pleasure to make your acquaintance. Now that we've proven civilized, why don't we talk over some tea? Oh yes… I almost forgot. A disciple of mine went into that structure there and hasn't come out yet. Is she alive?"
"That lady? Yes, she is alive. Attacked me while stating that 'Beasts don't deserve the chance to explain themselves,' She's unconscious and tied up so as to not cause more trouble. I've a friend watching her at the moment, and I trust that he is capable." I spoke as I retired my blades to their scabbards, but kept my hand on Onikiri's handle. "Why don't I go rouse my comrades and bring them with us. Then we can discuss how and why we've been summoned here."
Raising his left eyebrow, Gehrman spoke with a doubting tone, "Really? You don't know how you got here? Well friend, I was about to ask you that same question. So, it seems we've much to discuss…"
Ending Author's Note:
Finally, I've got a plan for a story and won't just leave it for forever untouched! I've also got a way to link different stories that I'll make in the future together with a reason behind their existence. But anyway, thanks for reading, and have a nice day!