Ash maneuvered through the forest with practiced ease, you didn't thrive in the Farron Watchdogs without knowing a thing or two about weaving through trees afterall.
He'd been walking for awhile now, and his sword has seen plenty of action in that timeframe. It seemed like he was a beacon to these creatures, they never left him alone.
His brow furrowed at his own pun, however unintentional it may be.
Ash unsheathed his greatsword and cleaved through a leaping monster in one fluid motion.
These things are careless, they make little effort to stay silent as they got closer and closer.
He heard a rush of wind and ducked as another took a swipe at the back of his head from behind, Ash spun and rammed his dagger into the creature's chest before ripping downwards towards the abdomen.
He swung his sword through the beast and continued swinging as he pivoted and cleaved through another one that got a little too close.
The corpses quickly turned to black dust as they collided with the ground violently. He sighed and continued walking through the forest, not bothering to sheath his weapons as he headed north.
One of the bear-like creatures jumped out at him, attempting to rend a gash in his chest. Alas, the creature's head met the dirt after it's strike was met with nothing but air.
"Are they getting dumber, or is it just me?" Ash laughed as he quickly pivoted and threw his dagger in between the eyes of an approaching canine monster.
He surged forwards and rammed his elbow into the protruding handle of his dagger, forcing the weapon straight through the head of his victim.
Ash collected his dagger and continued to head north, efficiently deterring and killing any creature that attacked him.
Eventually he discovered a small clearing, a singular ray of sunlight creeping in through the canopy.
Ash walked into the clearing with his weapons at his side, eyes darting around the clearing for any sense of danger.
As he made his way to the center of the clearing he froze, hearing a soft slithering sound coming from all around him.
Feathers floated down onto the ground around him, but they were far larger than any normal avian's, they were about the size of a shortsword.
Ash heard a deep hissing noise, before the sound of splintering trees flooded his ears he dodged to the side, a black blur shooting across from where he once stood.
A giant black serpent with a bonelike covering rose up and hissed at him, red eyes glinting dangerously as it displayed it's double set of fangs.
The snake lunged for him, and Ash threw himself to the side, planting his dagger in the ground and swinging himself around to tear a gash in the snake's body.
Ash heard an earthshaking avian cry as his head darted upwards to the sky, eyes widening as he noticed a hail of sharp feathers rushing towards him like arrows.
Ash swung his sword at a nearing feather, deflecting it away from him as he swung his sword six more times to defend himself from the ranged attack.
The snake took this opportunity to swing it's head into Ash, sending him barreling into a tree and knocking the wind out of him.
He briefly yelled out in pain before steeling his nerves and standing up, breathing heavily to regain his lost breath.
The snake creature lunged for him once again but this time Ash was ready for it, he jumped up onto the tree behind him and kicked off, spinning around midair and bringing his sword down onto the snake's skull.
He grasped his sword in both hands, his dagger returning to a small clasp at his side. He wrenched the sword out of the creature's head and raised it above his own, bringing it down onto the creature in a deadly verticle strike.
The snake went limp and ceased all movement, Ash hopped off the carcass and was immediately assaulted by another snake, this one being white in coloration.
The snake opened it's jaws to pierce his body with it's fangs, lunging at him as he was cornered between the black snake's body and the trees around him.
He thought fast and stabbed his sword into the creature's lower jaw as it got closer, pinning it to the ground. Quickly, he reached into his bottomless box and brought out several black firebombs before lobbing them all into the creature's exposed throat.
The creature dissipated and Ash retrieved his sword, frowning to himself that he had to resort to peppering it with explosives.
Ash suddenly felt a sharp pain fire through his left arm, and upon investigation there were several feather-like spears lodged into his bicep. Ash ripped them all out with a cry of pain, before
Ash looked to the skies and spotted a large black bird with a crested white bone headpiece, it flapped it's wings and sent out a flurry of sharp feathers towards him.
He used his greatsword's flat surface as a makeshift shield as he ran to take refuge in the woods, hoping the creature would either move on or lower itself to the ground so that he could jump onto it.
Ash ran through the forest with his sword drawn, slashing and cleaving at any enemy that dared jump out at him, spinning and twisting to conserve as much momentum as possible.
He grew increasingly anxious by the minute as the flapping of wings grew louder and louder, and feathers stabbed into the ground in seemingly random places.
Ash kept running and swinging, finally coming upon a new clearing to hopefully battle the avian in.
He sheathed his greatsword and reached inside his bottomless box and pulled out Gough's Greatbow, the weapon used by one of Gwyn's four great knights.
The bird came into sight as Ash loaded a greatarrow, pulling back with all his might and taking aim for a wing.
He took a deep breath and let go of the string, his arrow whistling through the air and spearing the bird through it's left wing, pinning it to the creature's body.
Ash deposited the bow back into his bottomless box and unsheathed his sword as the giant bird collided with the ground.
The creature greatly resembled the Crow of Velka except it was noticeably smaller, about as tall as Anor Londo's dragonslayer. It also displayed traits of the other monsters in this world, namely the crested bone headpiece upon it's head.
The bird swung it's unpinned wing towards him, shooting out several of it's feathers in an attempt to kill him.
Ash deflected them with his sword, and moved in to finish the kill. The bird thrashed around and snapped it's beak at him as he got closer.
Suddenly the bird spun around, slicing several thin cuts across Ash's chest in the process, causing him to jump back to gain distance.
The large crow took advantage of this, rushing forwards and snapping it's beak at the bleeding man's sword arm.
It's jaws gained purchase on his right arm, gnawing and snapping at his gauntlet causing him to drop his greatsword and stab his dagger into one of it's many eyes.
The creature jerked it's head back causing Ash to lose his grip on the dagger, but also freeing his arm in the process.
It spun around once again, catching him across the stomach with bladed tail feathers and sending him flying into yet another tree.
He yelled out in pain as he felt one or two ribs crack, he'd definitely feel this in the morning.
He quickly dropped to the ground, ducking under a swing of it's bladed wing and also giving him the opportunity to reclaim his sword.
Ash jumped over a low swing and swung his sword at one of the avian's legs, severing it and greatly decreasing the thing's mobility.
The crow-like monster jabbed at him with it's beak once again, but Ash evaded it's stab and cut it's beak in half in the process.
The crow wrenched it's head backwards into the air, offsetting it's balance and sending it tumbling to the ground.
Ash surged forwards and thrust his greatsword into the creature's chest, before ripping his sword upwards and tearing a massive hole in it's body.
"Gods, is it finally over?" Ash breathed out, letting himself fall backwards onto his rear as his prey dissolved into black dust.
The injured man held a free hand over his wounds, applying pressure to lessen the bleeding as he rifled through his bottomless box for a remedy.
He retrieved a red moss clump from said box, and pulled down his high leather collar to consume it.
Bloodred moss clumps were a necessity for long term combat, as they eliminated the need for bandages or other staunching during combat.
He sighed in relief as the bleeding slowed to an almost unnoticeable pace, it was at this point he sincerely wished that he didn't have to conserve his flask for dire situations.
With a groan he hoisted himself to his feet, collecting his dagger and sword from the ground, using his sword as a walking aid as he headed north once again.
Thankfully he didn't have to go very far, and there was a sort of abandoned ruins tucked away in a corner of a nearby clearing.
As he walked over the threshold to the ruins he noticed that several pedestals stood raised out of the ground, all presenting black and white chess pieces.
"I hope this is the artifact, because I'm not going through that again." Ash sighed and grabbed a white bishop piece, depositing it into an unused satchel.
Now all he had to do was get back to the cliffs, it should be easy, right?
...
It was not easy, it was not easy at all. He was jumped by dozens of creatures along the way, and he constantly had to consume moss clumps along the way so he didn't bleed out.
The constant threat of losing all his blood, the pain from his broken ribs, and to put a cherry on top, his left arm was still severely damaged from the feather spears. Not to mention he had to scale the gods forsaken cliff with a sixty pound greatsword on his back!
His work had paid off though, he'd made it back to the cliff with his life and the artifact intact.
When he finally reached the top of the cliff, nobody was there. Was he late? Did they forget about him?
Did he climb the wrong cliff...?
He shook his head and looked around, it was definitely the same cliff. The metal pads were still on the ground, but there was nobody in sight.
"Mr. Cinerous!" Called the voice of one Glynda Goodwitch
Ah, so they hadn't forgotten him. Maybe they were just preoccupied with everyone else getting there before him.
Ash stepped stumbled towards the woman using his greatsword as a crutch, wincing in pain as he stressed his broken ribs.
"Ah- Professor Goodwitch. It seems I have taken quite the blunder." Ash's voice rang out with a forced laugh.
Ash gasped as his legs gave out and his grip on his greatsword faltered, falling straight forwards as he could no longer handle his own body's weight.
Suddenly all movement ceased, and he floated in the air as if he was frozen in time. He noticed that the Huntress had her riding crop outstretched in his direction, this was likely her doing.
"T-Thank you." He grunted as his wounds flared from his speaking.
"Just what were you thinking? Taking on a King Taijitu and a Nevermore all on your own!" Professor Goodwitch sounded aggravated, looks like he was going to get a long talking to after this.
"Haha... well, Ozpin did say that there would be no intervention." Joked Ash
"That is no excuse for your overly reckless behavior!" She scolded
Ash sighed, he knew better than to argue with people such as her, especially when he had put his life on the line.
"I suppose I was bit... rash, and for that I apologize. Now, should we be on our way back to Beacon? I did pass, right?" He asked
The woman sighed and used her ability to set him upright, Ash grunting and holding onto his sword with both hands to keep himself on his feet. "Come along, we must return to the academy." She beckoned
"So I did pass." Ash smiled and started to follow the professor back to Beacon Academy.
The ghost of a smile presented itself on Professor Goodwitch's face, before she quickly smothered it and kept walking on. "Yes, Mr. Cinerous. You have passed initiation."
...
