-Depths-

This is insane… I can't find anything down here… These sewers are a maze…

Jinta, Hollow, trudged through the sewer tunnels for the third time, poisoned and sick, looking for a way further down that didn't involve drowning in sewage. Again. He had a scimitar and Estoc, a once-new cleric's robe over his leather armor, and he'd lost his helmet in the water in a previous life. His hair was close-cropped, along with his full beard. His normally tan skin was cracked, splitting, and his dark eyes were now empty sockets. Out of Humanity, lost with no way back but another death, Jinta wandered on.

-Undead Burg-

Tetsuro advanced, shield up, eyes shifting. Seiko walked backwards behind him, hands up and glowing dimly with blue flames. Both were Hollowed from their previous death on the street. They walked over their own dried blood and still no ambush. Tetsuro slowed his pace, nearing the corner at the end of the street. Seiko spotted a thief peeking out of a doorway.

"I see one."

"We should confront it, then. If we just keep going, they could sneak up on us later."

Seiko thrust a palm forward, shooting a small Fireball at the thief. It ducked back into the door as the fire burst on the wall, waiting for the flare to die out. It looked back out… Only to have Seiko's fist collapse its skull and send it back into the wall. As soon as Seiko came to a stop from her dashing punch, a thief crept up from behind her, knife flashing. Tetsuro caught up, slashing the hand off the thief and smashing the side of his shield into its head. Seiko slipped past Tetsuro to face the last thief, who had been running silently across the street to attempt an ambush. Caught face to face, the thief threw a knife, then slashed at Seiko as she dodged. She threw up an arm, but the knife was sharp enough that it sliced through her sleeve and the leather glove underneath, through flesh right to the bone. Seiko put her other hand on the thief's chest and blasted it with Combustion, blue flames flowering between them as the thief hit the road on its back, burning. Seiko cradled her arm, but didn't use her Estus in case there was a greater need later.

Tetsuro and Seiko waited to see if any more would attack, looking around the area and sticking near each other. When it seemed all was quiet, they returned to their formation and continued down the street and around the corner.

"There are steps here. A bit spread out. Careful," warned Tetsuro, stepping down. The street narrowed even further around the corner, just some residences and a door covered in fog at the other end.

"We might have another ambush on our hands."

The two moved further down the street, passing a door. Seiko tapped Tetsuro on the shoulder to stop him, then she approached the door. Like before, when they'd rescued Griggs, Seiko put her fist through the wooden door, this time ripping the entire thing off its hinges. Another Hollow thief had been waiting inside, and it seemed shocked by having its cover blown. Seiko aimed her other hand at it, a quick Fire Surge torching it to death. She set the door down on the mossy bricks, cringing in pain at having used her injured arm for Pyromancy.

Tetsuro turned to comment, but heard another door, now behind him, crash open. He spun, shield up, to face yet another thief. A third jumped out a window to tackle Seiko. She reached up, caught it with her good left hand, spun with the force from its fall, and slammed it into the wall behind her. Tetsuro, facing the remaining thief head-on, was able to dispatch it easily. He picked up its crude knife and slid it under his belt, lacking a sheath for it.

"Not so tough when their ambush fails, are they? There's a fog gate up ahead, but there are stairs down away from it. I'm not sure about you, but I'm sure I don't want to deal with whatever is behind that fog. Besides, down is what we want, right?"

"Right…"

Tetsuro nodded sharply and advanced.

Immediately as he turned to go down the stairs, yet another starved dog leapt at him. He managed to stay up, stumbling back with its weight him, but couldn't do much else. Seiko grabbed its left foreleg and yanked, whipping it off Tetsuro and down the street. It yelped in surprise, but quickly recovered and ran to attack again. Seiko lowered her stance a bit, waiting for it to jump. As soon as it did, she ducked under it and punched up, shattering bones and sending it off course to crash to the bricks on its back. It didn't get up.

"We need to get you some real armor. Soon. I want my duel."

Seiko looked confused, but didn't say anything.

Tetsuro turned to go down the stairs again, looking over the railing. There was another dog further down, waiting. Tetsuro sheathed his broadsword and drew the bandit's knife he'd picked up. Shield up, he descended, waiting for the dog to attack. He reached the landing, turned to go down the rest of the stairs, and the dog jumped at him. With his shield in the way, he was safe, and he stabbed the dog in the neck with his knife. A brief struggle and the hound met its end. Tetsuro yanked out the knife and tossed the corpse over the side of the stairs, down to who-knew-where. At the bottom of the stairs and down the alley, another thief stood in the open.

"That one's not too bright," remarked Tetsuro, looking around. No windows or doors for an ambush. He advanced with caution anyway until the thief started throwing knives at him. Tetsuro put up his shield and ran forward, knife in hand. He passed a corner that blended well with the environment, which hid yet another thief. It turned to chase, missing Seiko since she was further back. She threw a Fireball, barely missing. The Fireball flew just past the thief, bursting on the ground between it and Tetsuro. It stopped quickly, spinning to face Seiko.

Tetsuro reached his target, deflected a blow, and slid his knife between the thief's ribs, yanking and parting flesh with ease. He kicked the thief, getting it to double over, and pulled the knife out. He bashed it in the back of the head with his shield, then turned to see what had happened to Seiko. She had her hand up, flames glowing, facing a thief who was cautious about drawing too close. It threw a knife, which Seiko dodged, then stepped in. Tetsuro put away his knife, drawing his broadsword, and stepped in to cut down the thief. With the Hollow fully blocking her vision, Seiko pulled her hand back to release Combustion. Her hand flew forward as Tetsuro's sword slashed down, removing the Hollow thief from between them. Seiko's blue flames exploded where the thief had been, scorching the front of his armor and burning his face. He recoiled, dropping his sword and shield, hands covering his face. He couldn't yell, the heat smothering him.

"Tetsuro!"

Seiko bent over him, snatching his Estus Flask.

"Move your hands! Estus," she said.

He removed his hands, his already Hollowed face burned horribly, flashes of white on his face where his bones were visible. Seiko helped him drink, taking half the Flask to repair his wounds, and waited. When at last he felt better, recovered from the shock of what had happened, he spoke.

"We need to work on our teamwork if we're going to stick together…"

"Sorry…"

Tetsuro stood up, walking over to recover his sword and shield. "You were defending yourself, I stepped in without warning. You don't have weapons, so I should have guessed you'd use Pyromancy. It was my mistake. If one of us were a phantom helping the other, that sort of thing wouldn't happen. As it is, our worlds have remained in contact. We should assume it will stay that way, then, and work on coordinating a bit better."

The two started walking again, all quiet. The alley widened, but the way forward was blocked ahead by more bars. There was a thick metal door near the bars blocking the path, but there was also a set of stairs leading back up into the burg. Tetsuro tried the metal door, but found it locked.

"Of course… Let's try up, then."

They went back to the stairs, heading up a spiraling staircase until they reached a landing. The stairs further up were crumbled and ruined, but there was an opening into what looked like an aqueduct.

"You go. I don't like water…" said Seiko.

"What? It's just water. You've got boots. It's not going to hurt you."

Seiko's normally blank expression pulled into a frown and she groaned. Tetsuro leveled a disapproving stare.

"You can't expect me to believe you won't follow me simply because you don't like water. What's wrong with it? It's completely unreasonable."

Seiko just stood there frowning. Tetsuro shook his head and turned to go.

"Quelaana said I acted childish. She said it might be because of the memory loss."

Tetsuro stopped, but didn't turn around. He sighed. "That doesn't change that it's unreasonable. If you know all that, you should be trying to change it, not just accepting it and offering excuses. I'll check it out and be back."

Tetsuro stepped into the aqueduct, boots splashing in the ankle-high running water. He looked left and right, then disappeared to the left, his footsteps growing distant. Seiko sat down by the wall, waiting. After a few minutes, she heard Tetsuro's voice at a low hum and another voice coming from the aqueduct. Another minute or so and Tetsuro reappeared, human.

"This goes back to Firelink Shrine. I visited the bonfire, and I saw Griggs there, but otherwise this way is useless."

"Who was that?"

"Ahh, a Hollow growing moss for souls. She says they cure ailments, so I bought a few just in case, but she sold a few other things as well. Knives, weapon coatings, something she called a 'purging stone…' I'm definitely going to remember she's there, in case I end up needing anything she sells later. For now, we need to find the key to that door, and I'm willing to bet it's behind the fog we saw earlier."

Seiko stood, following Tetsuro down the stairs. They walked down the empty alley, back up more stairs, and came before the fog.

"I'll go in first," said Tetsuro, and draw attention. "Count to ten and follow me in. If I can give you time, we should be able to pincer whatever it is between my steel and your flames."

Seiko nodded, hands up, fire burning. Tetsuro held out his Estus to her. She took it and drank a sip, healing her arm. There was only enough for one drink left.

Tetsuro pushed through the fog. Seiko didn't hear any sudden fighting, but she waited ten seconds before following. As soon as she was through, one of the starved dogs from before was leaping at her. She ducked and the dog smacked into the fog as if it were a solid wall. Seiko turned and snapped her fingers, a flash of Combustion killing the dog. She heard heavy stone on stone and whirled to see Tetsuro backing up some stairs that dead-ended into a collapsed doorway. Something larger than a human, wearing a goat skull and wielding huge bone swords, was recovering from putting all its weight into a swing at him. Another dog was dead on the grass. Seiko palmed a Fireball and threw it at the creature. The flames exploded on its back and it doubled over, but more from surprise than pain.

"It's a Capra Demon! A thing of Chaos! Get away from it!" yelled Tetsuro.

Seiko looked around, but there was nowhere to go. They were trapped in the alley, doors collapsed, fog covering the only way out. The Capra Demon turned on Seiko, cocking its head to one side, as if confused about why something as weak as her was attacking it. It walked back down the stairs, Tetsuro forgotten, raising one of its swords as if it were sneaking up on a fly to squash it. Seiko stood her ground and waited, the Demon unable to follow her gaze due to her lack of eyes in her Hollowed state. It swung suddenly, overhead, to cleave her in half. Seiko dodged to the side and started circling the Demon, spewing Fire Surge with both hands.

Tetsuro ran down the stairs, toward the corner of the room, counter to Seiko's strafing. The Demon was occupied with her, after all. The Demon seemed completely unaffected by her blue flames, and took another swing at her as it turned to face her, back-handed with its other sword. Seiko barely had time to see the attack coming. On reflex she put out her hands to catch the sword. Since the weapon was blunt, it worked for a brief half-second… Until the force of the swing sent Seiko flying back into the wall. The Capra Demon approached quickly, swords raised. Just as it crouched slightly to jump and slam both down on Seiko, Tetsuro's dagger passed through the backs of its legs, cutting through muscle and tendons. The Demon collapsed awkwardly, though the flats of its blades still landed on Seiko.

Unable to stand, the Capra Demon slashed down at Tetsuro, windmilling its left arm to do so without heed of its limits. The bone sword clanged off the stone wall, leaving the Capra's arm floating uselessly in shock for a second. Tetsuro caught its wrist with one hand and sliced off its arm at the elbow with his broadsword. Seiko struggled free from under the other sword, backing away limply. The Demon flailed uselessly in a fit of rage, too animalistic to stop and figure out how to attempt to fight back as crippled as it was.

"That's a Chaos Demon? Quelaana said they were 'perversions of life.'"

"They are, from what I know. Jinta told me about the two Demons that had ventured up this far. That this one is here means we must be on the right track. Look there," said Tetsuro, pointing.

There was a key tied to its belt.

"That had to be put there by human hands. I doubt this thing has the dexterity to tie a knot. I don't like the implications of that, but I'm also willing to bet that means the way we've chosen is our best bet for getting into Blighttown from here."

Tetsuro snatched up the key and cut it free. He stabbed his broadsword into the Demon's side, but it stuck in a rib. Tetsuro had to pry it free, his boot on the Demon's ribs for leverage, and try twice more before he could stab between its ribs while it flailed. Its flailing slowed and soon the fog lifted from the door. The Capra Demon's soul split between Tetsuro and Seiko evenly and they left with their prize.

Seiko looked at Tetsuro's belt, about to ask for Estus, but saw that it was empty. Cracked ribs and severe bruises and all, she followed Tetsuro back up the stairs to the shortcut to Firelink. Even as injured as she was, Seiko pulled a face at the idea of walking through the aqueduct. Tetsuro crossed his arms, shaking his head.

"I should just leave you here, hurt as you are, for being so childish. But I don't have the time or Estus to waste on you, so…"

He walked over, grabbed Seiko about the waist, and threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. She coughed in pain as her cracked ribs pressed against the armor plate on his shoulder.

"I don't wanna hear it. Be happy I'm doing this much. You're walking on the way back."

He returned to Firelink with her over his shoulder, depositing her unceremoniously at the bonfire. She was healed by the bonfire's power, and regained her Humanity using one of the few she'd earned in their journey so far. The two rested a while before returning to the aqueduct. Tetsuro walked purposefully forward, intent on ignoring Seiko until she came through to the other side. She looked at the running water with distaste, bunched her robe in one hand to keep it dry, and walked in. Her leather boots kept the water out, but the water was cold. She walked all the way down the aqueduct to the exit of the shortcut, seeing the Hollowed woman Tetsuro had mentioned. She was behind a gate, cupping water in her hands and splashing it on the wall.

As they'd hoped, the key from the Capra Demon unlocked the thick metal door near the shortcut. It opened to a short set of stairs leading to a dark room, which also had a staircase in it, leading even further down.

"Looks like the right way, without a doubt."

Tetsuro put up his shield and drew his broadsword.

"Down we go, then."

A/N: I sorta feel like this one's fluff, but it's needed to get where we're going so it's necessary... I dunno. Mixed feelings. On a lighter note, I wrote two chapters of this story today... Work was slow, alright, don't look at me in that tone of voice...