The Unkindled rose up off the floor, patting his leggings and boots with his hands to rid them of any accursed ash.

That should be enough time for her..

He started to walk towards the ladder again, the crackling of fire sounding more than before.

He reached the ladder and grabbed the first rung, pulling himself up and beginning to climb the cursed thing.

Again, I hate long ladders!

He exhaled heavily as he reached the top, his heart pounding in his chest with a nervous passion.

"Ashen One.. It is done." The girl spoke to him across the room, gazing at the finished painting and clutching Gael's soul.

As he drew closer he took a look at the painting in all it's indescribable glory.

"It's.." He started

The girl softly laughed, though it didn't sound joyful or happy at all.

"There is no need for flattery, Ashen One. I do not blame thee for what happened to Uncle Gael."

"It is of noone's fault, not even his own." She comforted while laying a small hand upon the unkindled shoulder.

"Thank you... I think I needed that." He sighed

"Well then, are you.. Ready?" He asked nervously

The girl nodded and held out the Slave Knight's soul for him to take. And take it he did, gently cupping it in his glove.

He turned towards the painting, and held out a hand to touch the canvas before pausing and looking back.

"Are you.. Not coming?" He asked confusedly

The girl shook her head. "The Age of Fire as we know it has come to an end, there shall be no trace of our world in this new one.. Perhaps, it is better this way."

"I-I see.." He said quietly, his gaze now upon Gael's swirling soul.

"Thank you.. for letting me atone for this, and for giving me another chance at life, however it may be once I enter this new world."

The girl nodded "Take care of him, Ashen One."

"I will, I owe it to the both of you." He said finally, and gently rested his hand upon the canvas.

His hand distorted, and his body was slowly drawn into the painting.

"Farewell, Ashen One"

...

When the unkindled next awoke, his eyes were met with a sky filled with twinkling stars and lively gray clouds.

Ahh, I never thought I'd see something so wonderful since Lordran..

He sat up, and brought his hands together in a cup as he cradled the soul of Slave Knight Gael.

He stood and slowly brought his hands up to the sky, the winds blowing and the ambience of life all around him.

Goodbye, Gael.

He gently spread his hands apart, and Gael's soul slowly dissipated into the winds as he discarded it.

His hands fell back to his sides as he watched the wisps fly off into the winds.

And thank you.

He sighed, content with being able to gain closure for one of his allies from the Age of Fire after they died.

He looked all around him at the trees, vibrant red leaves and lively flora decorated the land

"Wow.." he voiced his awe out loud

He started to walk through the red forest while gazing at the scenery, until a twig cracked behind him.

He whipped around to face where the sound came from, weapons already in hand and crouched down to the ground, eyes scanning his surroundings.

All of a sudden a large black creature resembling a bear jumped out at him from the darkness, rolling out of the way of it's lunge he retaliated with a powerful overhead slam of his greatsword.

The creature was instantly pressed to the ground, the sound of bones shattering and crunching being projected across the forest as his blade impacted with several bony plates upon it's back.

The creature stood up slowly and turned around growling in anger, before lunging forwards again and trying to bite his head off.

The unkindled rolled forwards towards the creature, bringing his sword forwards in another devastating vertical strike as he landed in a crouch after his roll.

The creature's mask of bone was immediately shattered and the greatsword cleaved it's head in half, the body of his assailant evaporating into black mist.

No souls? Was it a summoned creature, or perhaps the output of a sorcery? Maybe even an illusion?

He straightened, flourishing his blade for his own amusement and letting it rest at his side as he pondered to himself.

He scanned his surroundings, dirt and red grass was lifted up around the spots where the creature had lunged at him, it certainly did damage to the land, so it had to be real.

"Strange.." He muttered in his raspy, hardly used voice.

He pulled out a dented and beat-up compass from an old looking satchel upon his body, holding it in his offhand after holstering his dagger.

Surprisingly it worked, well, maybe it wasn't that surprising considering that this wasn't Lothric, or Lordran for that matter.

Compasses never really did work effectively, or at all in the likes of his homelands. Usually they just spun around and around, time and space distorted and twisted through the actions of the lord Gwyn.

The unkindled adjusted himself so that he faced south, a direction that he had picked at random, and started walking with his sword unsheathed in his right hand.

I wonder, did the painter think to add any intelligent life? Perhaps there's some offshoot of humanity in this world.

The unkindled walked in silence, until he ran into a small clearing and was met with a small pack of darkened canine creatures.

Quite grim looking creatures, they were, spires and spikes of bones launching out of their elbows and knees, a skull-like mask resting upon their faces and murderous red eyes in the sockets.

One of the creatures charged him without a second thought, and he cleaved it's head in half with a powerful horizontal swipe, the creature dissipating in a black mist.

Still no souls? Well it's not like these things are hard to deal with, they're like hollows in both matters.

He chuckled to himself, and twirled his dagger before angling his greatsword infront of him and executing a gesture of his legion's etiquette.

Two more of the creature's leaped at him while he was seemingly vulnerable, and he would have been mauled and ripped apart had he been a spineless squire.

He spun himself around with deadly grace, and cleaved the first diagonally in half with built-up momentum, being enveloped in it's smoke. He leaned to the side and forced the second to the ground with a dagger to the neck.

He slammed his boot onto it's skull, ripping and twisting his dagger out of it's neck before slicing it's head off with practiced ease.

Thinking he would be easy prey if they all ganged up on him, a guesstimated nine canine creatures all attacked him from different angles

The unkindled swiftly plunged his dagger into the earth and spun himself around in a circle of destruction, the deadly swipes of his inhumanely large sword caught the faces and heads of five attackers in it's path of devastation.

Four left.

He spun himself around in a full circle and threw his dagger at an approaching wolf, embedding it deep into the creature's skull and killing it instantaneously.

Three.

He gripped his sword with both hands, and swung his sword vertically upon one of them and slaying another leaping attacker by bisection.

Two

He screamed in pain as one of them bit deeply into his shoulder from behind, he dropped his sword and gripped his attacker by the head, swinging it over his shoulder and into the ground.

He stomped down onto it's skull, cracking it's mask before stomping five more times and ending the thing's pitiful existence.

Last one.

He dove under a swipe intended to separate his head from the rest of his body, snatching his sword from the ground in a reverse grip and slashing it towards the underbelly of the creature.

It did minimal damage due to it's size and inability to harm without significant force and momentum, but it did enough for the creature to jump back out of his reach when he righted his grip.

The creature ran forwards with haste, flailing it's arms and slicing it's claws across his chest in an 'X' formation.

He screamed out loud and brought his sword above his head, cleaving down with intense force and anger as he cut the creature clean in half.

His wound spouted blood and he grit his teeth, growling with rage at his carelessness. He unhooked a latch on his estus flask and brought it up to his mouth before tilting it and his head back to catch the liquid inside.

"Damn it!" He grunted aloud, his flask barely holding enough liquid for half a dose.

Curses! In my rush I forgot to fill the damned flask!

He heard a low growling from behind, the alpha of the pack it seems, he turned and glared at it with rage bolstered by the pain from his injuries.

He brandished his sword and plunged it into the earth below him, as he wrenched it out of the ground it lit ablaze with an ancient fire.

Gripping his sword in both hands he slashed it diagonally towards the accursed creature, a raging arc of angry orange flame shooting out and cutting it into two lopsided portions.

As the creature's corpse evaporated into a black mist, he plunged his sword back into the ground, extinguishing the fires. He fell to his knees as he bled onto the ground, and his pulled his bottomless box out as he searched for something to ease his wounds.

I really don't want to use a divine blessing.. Aha!

He pulled out a mug of Siegbräu and downed it quickly, he shuddered as he felt a wave of cold wash over him, but just as quickly sighed in relief as his bleeding slowed exponentially.

"Looks like you've saved me once again, Siegward." He let out a low and raspy chuckle, before wincing in pain and clutching his ribs.

He returned to his bottomless box, and retrieved the Sun Princess Ring, slipping it onto his finger after swapping it's place in the box with the Prisoner's Chain.

He slowly got to his feet and ripped his extinguished sword from the ground, heaving it over his shoulder and placing it in the unique sheath, making sure to secure his bottomless box to his person aswell.

He shook his head and sighed in annoyance, before turning south and starting to walk south once again.

...

After a solid two hours of continous walking, he saw lights through the red leafed trees.

A settlement? So there is intelligent life!

He broke out into a jog as he stepped onto a dirt road, steadily growing closer to the city. Although he froze and dove towards a nearby bush as he saw armed guards in the distance.

That's not good, a strange individual from a completely different world is sure to rouse suspicion

He quietly pulled out his bottomless box, and took off the Sun Princess Ring and the Ring of Steel Protection, replacing them with the Slumbering Dragoncrest Ring and the Obscuring Ring.

His form was heavily modified to be almost impossible to see by the naked eye, and his stealth capabilities were greatly increased by the Slumbering Dragoncrest Ring.

He started to walk towards the guard while crouching, and as he got closer and closer to the range at which he would be visible, he picked up a sizeable rock and threw it away from his position.

The attention of the guards was briefly stolen by the rock, but a couple seconds was all that was needed for the Unkindled to sneak past them.

He dove into a nearby alleyway as he sprinted into the city, and started to pluck the two stealth-enhancing rings off his fingers before replacing them with the Prisoner's Chain and the Ring of Steel Protection.

And just as easily as that, he had successfully infiltrated the city.

...