Ch 03

Bargaining's a Pain

"Aguhguh!" Thomas shook himself into a sitting position at Firelink Shrine, causing Crestfallen and Oscar to both jump as well. "Thomas! You've returned!" Oscar looked relieved. Thomas sat up, immediately glancing at his hands. Thank the gods. They were back, along with his neck. Absent-mindedly, he rubbed at it. "Yeah," he muttered. "I managed to get it, by the way."

"Get what?" Thomas held up the Firekeeper's Soul, and Oscar's eyes raised. "How did you know..." The sorcerer gave a chuckle. "Forsight, remember? Trust me on these things." Oscar shook his head. "All right. I'll follow your lead, as ever." Thomas wondered what looked different about Oscar. He looked just fine, in fact. His face was healthy, eyes bright, and... Oh. He was human. Thomas wasn't. The boy knelt by the bonfire, and offered a humanity to the flames. He wasn't entirely sure what to expect that returning to a human state would feel like, but he was certain that he was about to find out.

As predicted, it was nothing like he could expect. His very skin crawled as it restored to life, flesh un-rotting before his eyes. Speaking of his eyes, he would swear that his eyesight became sharper. It was as though there was a thin fog before his eyes, and he didn't even notice it until it had gone away. The world of Lordran was more colorful than it seemed. Well, okay. Not much more colorful, he thought wryly to himself. The lanky strands that substituted for his hair filled out, becoming a long, dark brown mess of actual hair that covered his face and neck. His eyes became clearer, milky whites being replaced with greenish blue hues, his gaze sharp and aware. His lungs filled with air, and Thomas found himself exhulting in this simple action. His first exhale was long, and drawn out, as though he was tasting it leaving his body, and he sighed with it. "I enjoy that simple feeling. Probably more than I should." Experimenting, Thomas put two fingers at his throat.

Nothing.

Well, shit. I suppose I can't have everything. Standing from the Bonfire, Thomas dusted off his sorcerer's garb. "So. What do you say we ring a couple bells?" Oscar glanced at the Crestfallen Warrior. "How did you know there were two bells?" Crestfallen asked. "Prophet stuff," Thomas responded, waving his hand dismissively. Oscar nodded. "Count me in. I have been idle overly long." Thomas laughed, clapping Oscar on his shoulder. "That's the spirit!"

Crestfallen, however, remained depressingly somber. "This salvation you seek. You know it is a fool's errand, right? Surely even you lot recognize that we're doomed to rot." Thomas stopped, and turned for a moment. "I'm going to ask a favor of you," he said, his voice vibrating deeply. "Shut the fuck up. If you want to be a Mister Grumpy Guts, that's your choice. However, you shouldn't be trying to drag everyone down to your level. Let us have some joy." Crestfallen simply glared, but stayed silent. "Good," Thomas nodded, satisfied. "Then we're in agreement." Turning back to Oscar, the duo strode off. Oscar nudged at the sorcerer as they climbed the stairs. "What, in the name of the Lords, was that all about?" Thomas shrugged. "He's always got something depressive to say. Not a fan." Oscar glanced back at the warrior in chain mail. Now that he thought of it, Thomas DID have a point about his melancholy demeanor.

"All right," Thomas said, pulling him out of his reverie. "Time to kill some hollows." Oscar snapped to attention at the possibility of enemies. And sure enough, there some were. Thomas unhooked his hollow soldier's shield from his back, and held it before him, blocking a hollow warrior's broken blade. One quick thrust, and Thomas gutted the undead. Oscar took on the knight, both of them keeping their shields cautiously up. Thomas quickly ascended the stairs, shoving a warrior down the stairs as he passed, and rushed the axe-wielding Hollow. The mindless undead swung the axe with deliberation, but Thomas caught the blow, and turned it aside in a parry. Riposting, he stabbed the warrior in the chest, before kicking it off his blade. Switching his shield out for a catalyst, Thomas fired a quick barrage of Soul Arrows, one at the Hollow atop the second flight of stairs, the other to the firebomber, which had been trying to pelt Thomas, if not for the damn wall blocking it's attempts. Idiot creature. Thomas rolled underneath a firebomb thrown, and came up kneeling next to the undead. Standing, Thomas looked the undead in the eyes.

For a brief moment, nothing happened. Then Thomas shouted.

"THIS."

He drew up his leg.

"IS."

and he let his foot fly, kicking into the undead's chest. "LORDRAN!"

Looking down after the falling warrior, Thomas was pleased in a bit of luck. The warrior fell on the soldier, and both fell tumbling into the cliffside below. Thomas chuckled at his little joke. Shame nobody would get it except for him. Oscar climbed up the stairs, grumbling about the Firebomber's seemingly infinite number of firebombs. "Trust me," Thomas growled in agreement. "Plenty of new players get frustrated by the bastard as well. Don't feel bad. Don't ask." Thomas said the last bit as Oscar was about to ask what he meant by "New players." That was something Thomas didn't want to get into. Hell. He didn't even know how he was going to go about changing the timeline. In the end, it all came down to either someone linking the fire, and thus extending the Age of the Gods, or nobody leading the age of fire, and the age of Dark beginning. And it's not like I can throw a more powerful bit of fuel in the fire. Gwyn's soul was just a standby anyways, and he was the most powerful of the gods. Thomas pulled out his winged spear for extra length, and ran the rat through at the top of the stairs. I suppose I'll deal with that hurdle. For now, let's ring some bells.

The events with the hollows remained rather uneventful. Thomas proved his "foresight" a couple times, in that he really just gave the locations of where all enemy troops were. Oscar spoke up. "How will I keep from becoming complacent, if you can so reliably issue troop movements?" The seer then gave a chuckle that seemed altogether too dark for his liking. "Don't worry, Oscar, I know just the thing." Giving another chuckle, Thomas gestured. They came at last to a walkway. They almost reached the first bonfire in the Burg. Thomas' little surprise for Oscar was on it's way.

Stopping about a 5th of the way down the bridge, Thomas casually folded his arms in front of his chest. Oscar stepped behind him. "We've stopped. What is it?" The Seer's only response was to grin. THUD. There was a sonorous boom that was more felt than it was heard. THUD. It was heavier than Thomas expected, but he dug into his position, putting minor effort into remaining, by all appearances, absolutely calm. Oscar, however, grew nervous from the noises. "Thomas..." Thomas allowed himself a small smile. "No worries, Oscar. We're completely safe." It was at this moment, almost as if to bite Thomas' words with irony, a loud roar filled the air. Oscar looked up, terrified. "Is that-" A large, red drake swooped down, and landed on the bridge. It's many barbed scales were the color of blood, it's black claws sharpened like scythes. White teeth glittered in the dim light of the sun as it's red eyes burned at the enemies below.

"Dragon!" Oscar's shout made Thomas turn around, and give him a lightly mocking look under his sorcerer's cap. "No, Oscar," he said, pointing at the Hellkite Drake behind him. "That's just a drake. Not even a candle on a real dragon. He," Thomas pointed his thumb at the drake behind him, which flapped it's wings and flew off the bridge. "He only comes to scare the shit out of the chosen undead. You didn't soil yourself, did you?" Oscar glared. "No. I did not." Chuckling, Thomas turned back to the main bridge. "Good. Come on. We've got Hollows to slay, and a Bonfire to light."

Charging forth, Thomas whipped out his catalyst, focusing a Soul Arrow on the archer. Whipping his staff around, he launched it, and the beam seemed to fly faster, nailing the Hollow in the forehead. Thomas dodged a Hollow's sword, and pulled out his hollow soldier's shield, using it to block two blades at once. The Hollows stiffened as Oscar swiped his blade at their unprotected legs, and Thomas moved his shield out of the way to slice at their chests. "HELL YEAH!" Thomas shouted, exhulting in the battle. A hollowed soldier stabbed at him with his spear, and Thomas spun to the side, batting the spear away with his blade as he lifted his leg, squaring a kick into the center of the shield. Once the shield was out of the way, he could counterattack as his opponent's block was broken. It's shield flew away, and Thomas tossed his blade into the air, catching it, and then stabbing behind him, stabbing the creature in the chest. Oscar, to his credit, was also taking care of more Hollows, swiping, parrying, stabbing, kicking. Thomas turned to the other spear hollow, and barely dodged away from the other one's lunge. Standing, Thomas panted. Stamina depleted, apparently. It would be a bit before he got it back. Thankfully, the spear hollows are not that aggressive, and Thomas could easily catch his breath before the hollowed warrior considered pressing an obvious advantage like a sorcerer. Thomas pulled out his catalyst, and started raining down Soul Arrows, shaking into the soldier's shield, which had great physical defense, but poor magic defense. His mind's eye could already see the tendrils of magic energy seeping through the shield, slowly whittling away his opponent's health. The hollow pulled back his spear, and lunged. Thomas stepped to the side, batting it away with his catalyst. "Fuck outta here," he stated simply, before kicking the shield back. One quick thrust, and the Hollow lay dead.

Oscar came to join the sorcerer, panting as he wiped his sword blade clean with a cloth, which he offered to Thomas. Nodding his thanks, Thomas cleaned his own short sword, and sheathed it. "Now, what?" Thomas smiled. "Now, we see a merchant, get some useful shit. Also, don't stare at Yulia." Thomas broke some barrels, revealing a staircase. "Who..." Oscar began, but Thomas cut him off. "His sword. Yulia's his sword."

Meeting the undead merchant was usually an uneventful experience, and it seemed this would be no different. "Well now," he began, glancing at Thomas. "You seem to still have your wits about you." Oscar arrived. "Ahhhh, TWO people. This day just gets better and better, I swear. Welcome customers, one and all. I trade for souls. Everything's for sale." He then gave a small laugh that Thomas found a bit unsettling. Oscar found himself reaching for his sword. Thomas simply extended his hands, holding small balls of collected souls, and crushed them. He felt a major rush of souls enter his Dark Sign, and repeated the process. "Well, now," the merchant cooed. "You certainly came prepared."

"What can I say, I've been expecting you two," Thomas replied nonchalantly. "So what do you-HURK!"

"PROPHET!"

The undead merchant had ripped his uchikatana free from under it's dirty rags, and stabbed it into Thomas' chest, sorcerer's robes doing about as much as expected to stop it. It hurt, sure, but Thomas decided that violence would not get him the items he needed. "Look," he said,clenching his teeth slightly. "You've made your point, so I'll make a bargain. You not strike me down, and I'll not strike you down." The merchant smiled. "And how do I know you won't take Yulia from me the moment I let my guard down?" Thomas managed a sigh. "You forgot about Oscar." The knight of Astora had grabbed one of the bows off the rack, as well as a few arrows, and now began firing. One arrow impaled the merchant's wrist, forcing him to let go of the katana, which remained in Thomas' chest, the other end sticking out the back. Another arrow lodged in the merchant's chest, just above his heart, and another impaled in his head. Briefly, Thomas marveled at the firing speed Ocar showed, as he fired three arrows in but a second. Shaking that out of his mind, he took his estus flask out.

"No," the merchant cried faintly. "My... little... Yulia..." Thomas swooped over. "Drink," he commanded, pressing his estus flask to the Merchant's mouth. The merchant rose, looking at Thomas with mild wonder. "why do this?" Thomas shrugged. "I need the shit you sell more than I would like to see you dead right now. Consider it mercy via necessity. I'd not be this kind otherwise." Standing, Thomas put his flask away, and gripped the uchikatana, and pulled it out of his chest, unintentionally groaning loudly from the pain. It was as suspected, the blade would do a second hit from leaving, and trigger his bleeding. Dropping the blade without ceremony or even any intention of grace, Thomas whipped his flask out, and drank, his blood ceasing flowing from the hole in his chest. "Now," he said, wiping his mouth. "As I said, I've come to bargain."

Bargains were hard, but Thomas came out rather the victor, when he was able to use his "mercy" as a negotiating chip. Basically, he got a fifty percent discount on all items. Thomas got a repairbox for emergencies, the Resident's Key, properly bought the bow Oscar used, as well as a mess of arrows, an orange guidance soapstone, and bought a rapier. The rest of his souls would go to himself. Oscar then made his own purchases, and purchased more arrows, as one could never have too many. Taking their leave, the duo made it to the Bonfire.

"You know how I said not to stare at Yulia?" Oscar nodded in response. "Well," Thomas chuckled, "I didn't know I shouldn't even mention Yulia around him. Ah well. You live and you learn. Sometimes you die and you learn."