(Author's note: Request from Genshindreamer from tumblr: But I also imagined a scenario where the Ashen one(?) In Dark souls 3 goes to fight what they think would be the Soul of Cinder, but instead it's a now Hollow Tempest and 'hollowed' Ornstien and they'd be labeled as "the two lovers" and have like lots of stories and myths about them.
What I wrote is a bit different from the request, but I liked it better if the Ashen One would read a book about them. I also used a passage that read a little like item descriptions you would read in Dark Souls.
I hope you enjoy and apologies for the requests being so late. There is only one left now and then, well, we'll see ^^)
The ashes of the four Lords of Cinder had been brought back to their thrones and the Ashen One had stepped into the Kiln of the First Flame, ready to fulfil their duty of linking the fire.
However, there had been another obstacle in their way. Or two to be precise. Two figures had awaited them, locked in a tight hug. They looked like they had sat there for centuries, millennia even. Once they had noticed the Ashen One, both of them had risen. One of them was tall and imposing, with armour that once might have been lustrous, but now was charred black. They fought with a spear and every single move of them was pure elegance. The other figure was... small. And not elegant at all. Their fighting style could only be described as chaotic. However, they supported the tall figure beautifully with an astounding amount of varied battle tactics next to their swordplay, like pyromancy and even firing arrows.
Needless to say, the Ashen One had been killed by them soon, returning to the bonfire in Firelink Shrine, wondering how they should tackle this battle.
While they pondered about their tactics, their thoughts went back to a time long, long ago when they hadn't been cursed by the Darksign. There had been stories about the linking of the fire. Everyone knew that Gwyn had been the first Lord of Cinder, but who had been the second. The Ashen One remembered that it had been a bit of a mystery, but there had been tales and rumours and stories. There had been a book about it, ruminating about the identity of the one they called the Chosen Undead. And if the Ashen One remembered correctly, the Chosen Undead hadn't been alone.
The Ashen One extended their hand to touch the flame, teleporting to the Great Archives. They had never seen that many books at once, surely the book from their childhood was somewhere around there, especially in a land that was so fixed about linking the fire.
It took them several hours to find the book (one hour alone was spent to get rid of every single hollow and ghost that plagued the place). Once they had it in their hands, they leaned against a wall and opened it, flipping through the pages until they stared at a picture of the tall figure that had been in the kiln. The armour shape matched the figure, only that this armour was of a brilliant gold.
With their interest peaked, the Ashen One read the passage that followed the picture.
The man depicted in the illustration above was known as Dragon Slayer Ornstein, one of the four Knights of Gwyn, who all received a shard of Gwyn's lord soul. It is said that he was the captain of the knights. His armour was created in the image of a lion, the cross spear he wielded is said to have been strong enough to even shatter a rock. It apparently was imbued with lightning, so that Dragon Slayer Ornstein was able to take out dragons on his own, which led to his title.
Not much is known about the personality of the dragon slayer, other than that he was described as stoic and quiet by most. He would always be there to help people, but rarely stay to chat with them. There are also no known instances of him ever having stepped into the public out of his iconic golden armour. Neither are there any records about him ever having married or starting a family.
Dragon Slayer Ornstein stayed in the abandoned city of Anor Londo even after everyone else had left and guarded the cathedral together with the vile executioner, Smough. It was believed that he died after his battle with the Chosen Undead, but there have been eye witnesses that said that they saw him together with the Chosen Undead. It is unclear which relationship the two of them had. Some say that they hated each other and others said they were fond of each other. All that is known is that these two always were seen together. However, after a while, both Ornstein and the Chosen Undead were never seen again, as if they had vanished from the face of the world.
The Ashen One laid the book down, tracing the letters on the page, thinking back to the figure they had fought. That indeed had been Ornstein, the dragon slayer. They wondered how he had managed to land in the Kiln of the First Flame. Maybe they would find more information in the passage about the Chosen Undead. They flipped a few pages further until they found it. Unless with Ornstein's page, there wasn't a picture depicted, it was just text. They started to read.
After Gwyn first linked the flame, prosperity was held up for several centuries, until the flame started to flicker and threatened to burn out another time. It was when in Lordran, and the surrounding countries, a rumour was spread. "Those who art undead, are chosen." In a sense, there was not a single Chosen Undead, there were many many Chosen Undead, but none of them knew that they weren't alone on their quest, believing that their pilgrimage would end the curse of the undead forever.
The Ashen One took a deep breath upon reading this passage. Unless them, who had been revived for the sole purpose of linking the fire, those poor undead of the past had believed into a lie, a lie that only privileged the gods.
A little doubt bloomed in their chest... was it the right choice to link the fire again? Even though they knew they either had the choice of linking it, or going hollow? That was a question for later, however, for now they wanted to find out if the figure next to Ornstein was the Chosen Undead of the past. Well, one of them...
Countless Chosen Undead came to Lordran in pilgrimage, but none of them made it to their goal. Two bells had to be rung, the legendary artefact known as the Lordvessel had to be gathered and then filled with shards of Gwyn's most loyal followers. Only very few undead actually rang both bells, but all of them met their end at the guardians of Anor Londo, Dragon Slayer Ornstein and Executioner Smough. All of them hollowed sooner or later, joining the ever growing population of hollows in Lordran.
However, one day an undead was successful. It is said that the undead who was successful was the least likely candidate for the title of Chosen Undead. They were said to be clumsy and scared, barely a fighter. How they managed to beat the guardians of Anor Londo is a mystery, it might have been a coincidence or sheer determination.
Not much is known about the figure who later became to be known as the Chosen Undead, not even their name has been passed, though it appears that they were named after the wind, or more the storm. It was said that they usually worked on their own, mostly in their hollowed out form, which implied that they revived from the bonfire a lot. However, somehow they held onto their humanity.
It is said that after the battle with the guardians of Anor Londo, the Chosen Undead was seen in the company of Dragon Slayer Ornstein. There aren't many reports on it however. In fact, there are only two people who could ever report on what happened in Lordran. One of them was a catarina knight, who had come to the land in search of her father. She told about multiple instances where she had met both of them. She reported that they didn't seem like close friends at first, but in subsequent meetings, they seemed to have warmed up to each other. They had been a great help in their quest and she had last seen them at a place very deep below Lordran.
The other report came from a man whose name is known as Solaire. He said that he had come to Lordran to find his very own sun and had met the Chosen Undead there, encouraging them to engage in jolly cooperation, but he had trouble remembering if he had ever been summoned by them. He told that he almost lost himself there, but both the Chosen Undead and Dragon Slayer Ornstein saved him from a cruel fate. It especially had been the dragon slayer who had told him that he wouldn't find his sun in Lordran. Solaire had refused to say anything more about the matter however. It is only known that he left Lordran to search for his sun somewhere else.
Upon questioning if other people in Lordran could have seen the duo, Solaire was becoming rather melancholic, claiming that Lordran had swallowed many good people. It has to be assumed that almost everyone else who might have seen them has hollowed.
The definitive nature of the relationship that Dragon Slayer Ornstein and the Chosen Undead shared is unclear. It is believed that they were fond of each other however, especially regarding the antisocial nature of Dragon Slayer Ornstein and the fact that he never married. However, nobody who had seen them could ever determine the nature of their relationship, so if they have been a couple or close friends will forever remain unknown.
So, it was true then, Ornstein and the Chosen Undead had worked together. It was safe to assume then that said Chosen Undead was the figure next to the dragon slayer. The Ashen One just had never assumed they were so small. While their name was unknown, the notion that they were named after the storm felt fitting, because their chaotic fighting style had been fitting of a storm. Maybe the Ashen One should call them Storm in their mind from now on.
The Ashen One paused the book there, thinking. The book had been unclear about the nature of their relationship, but what they had seen, the hug they had shared, that had looked like they were lovers. Maybe they had linked the fire together and had forever been locked into this position, until the Ashen One had come along to link the fire once again, ruining their moment of eternal tranquillity.
There were a few more pages about them and the Ashen One flipped them to read. Apparently they described a few items that once had belonged to either Ornstein or Storm.
Cooking materials that have been found at Firelink Shrine. It is said that the Chosen Undead was a better chef than they were a fighter. It is also said that they lost their taste buds upon turning undead however, so the quality of the food had to be questionable.
A teacup in the form of a dragon, the tail being the handle. It was found with various other objects with a dragon symbolism. A knitted scarf with a dragon motive, a hair clip formed like a dragon and a wooden dragon figurine. It is believed that the wooden figurine was the work of Hawkeye Gough, who vanished shortly after the fall of Oolacile.
An empty bottle of a Divine Blessing. It is unknown for what it was used. It might be that the Chosen Undead had to use it once their Estus Flask had run out, or did they need it to heal Dragon Slayer Ornstein from a grave wound? It will forever remain a mystery.
A book with various cookie and cake recipes. The handwriting is very eloquent and beautiful. There are many notes with each recipe which mostly refer to three of the Knights of Gwyn. It is assumed that this book belonged to Artorias the Abysswalker, who is the only one not mentioned in the book and therefore has to be author of it.
Various pictures have been found at the Anor Londo cathedral, though upon recovering them, they were already so faded that it barely was possible to make anything out. They apparently depicted a figure of some sort with a wide smile, but nothing more could be made out of their features. Maybe this was the Chosen Undead? Who would have drawn it however? It will forever remain a mystery, just like the usage of the Divine Blessing.
The Ashen One lingered on the passage about the Divine Blessing. A very useful tonic, but also finite unless the Estus Flask. They would only use it in an absolute emergency. Regarding that Ornstein wasn't undead, if they would have been the Chosen Undead, they would have kept it for the worst case. That the Divine Blessing had been used up implied heavily that it had been used for Ornstein.
All of that, together with the hug he had seen, how fantastically these two had fought together and the fact that Ornstein had accompanied the Chosen Undead despite his antisocial nature made them certain that these two had been a couple.
The Ashen one closed the book and put it back into the shelf. They had a mission to fulfil. They couldn't just leave and turn around, not after all they had accomplished already. And maybe, just maybe, after the Ashen One killed the both of them, they would be happy in the afterlife.
The Ashen One returned to Firelink Shrine and upon a short rest, they tried the fight again. In their mind, there was only one correct thing to address them as.
The Lovers.
(Author's note: I hope you liked this story and I would be honoured to receive a comment with your thoughts. Thank you very much.)