Summary: Ornstein drags Tempest through the Royal Woods without an explanation until Tempest gets fed up with him, but before Ornstein can explain anything to him, they hear a noise and when they check it out, Ornstein's darkest nightmare has become true.
(Author's note: Oh boy, the chapter was difficult. Ornstein just didn't want to work with me and I actually had to rewrite the entire second half until I was satisfied. Ornstein felt very off in this chapter and while he had good reasons for it, for me as the author it felt like ripping my hair out.)
"Ornstein, wait.", Tempest gasped out, the knight had a death grip on his arm and he could barely keep up with his long strides, more stumbling behind Ornstein than walking.
"I told you there is no time.", Ornstein snapped, not slowing down as he exited the tunnel that led out of the clearing and crossing a narrow stone bridge.
"You don't have to explain anything to me, but would you please release me?", Tempest groaned as he felt himself topple over and he was sure he got a few scrapes as Ornstein still dragged him over the ground.
"Oh, my apologies.", Ornstein practically let Tempest fall and walked further, but then stopped, looking up a small hill, which gave Tempest enough time to get up and catch up to him.
"Careful, little Storm, there are foes up there.", Ornstein said and readied his spear. Tempest followed the gaze of the dragon slayer and indeed could see a human shaped being standing there, though made out of twigs and straw. It looked mostly like a scarecrow. A scarecrow that could move and had a pitchfork ready. It wasn't even alone. There was another. Tempest drew his sword and followed Ornstein who had started to walk close to the hill again, readying himself for a harsh fight, but before Tempest could even strike with his sword once, Ornstein had impaled both of the scarecrows, who had jumped down the hill once they had the chance, at once on his spear.
"I don't have time for this.", Ornstein said, shook the scarecrows off his spear which toppled into a nearby chasm and continued to hurry along with these large strides. Tempest had to run to be able to keep up with him. They entered a rather spacious area, littered with trees, making Tempest think that they were in some forest. He could spot a giant figure in the distance and shuddered, they reminded him of the giant sentinels of Anor Londo, an enemy he preferred to not fight again. Tempest didn't had much time to gaze at them though, Ornstein was still keeping up a brisk pace and Tempest could feel how his breath caught short. Once Ornstein finally stopped, the small Undead was leaning forward and panting heavily.
After Tempest had caught his breath and looked upwards, he saw Ornstein stare at a building in the near distance. It was large and round and Tempest found that it would be best described as coliseum, even though it looked a bit broken and probably wasn't used a lot anymore. He briefly thought about if Ornstein would have considered a champion in such a coliseum, probably pitted against captured dragon, but discarded the thought. Ornstein didn't feel like the type of man who cherished the attention of the masses and he doubted that anyone was able to capture a dragon.
As Ornstein's gaze wandered from the coliseum down to the chasm they were standing at the edge of, Tempest turned around to gaze into the forest once again. He counted at least three of these giant figures and squinted as he saw movement near them. They were hard to see, but there were more of these strange scarecrows hidden in the trees, right next to the giant figures. Anyone trying to traverse this forest would be in for a nasty surprise. Tempest understood why Ornstein had preferred to stay close to the stonewall, though he wondered why the dragon slayer knew this. Had Ornstein been here before?
"No, that won't work.", Ornstein suddenly murmured, startling Tempest. "It's too deep, even for me. And there is only this narrow bridge to land. I can't risk slipping and breaking my legs... At least, I can't hear anything yet. There still might be time."
Ornstein turned around and put his attention on a building next to the chasm. "Little Storm, come.", he said, or more, ordered, reminding Tempest that this knight once had been a commander. With the tone of voice Ornstein used, Tempest felt like he was forced to obey, so powerful was it. Ornstein entered the building and Tempest dutifully followed him inside.
"Come on, work.", Ornstein said, tapping a floor panel frantically with his foot. Tempest had no clue what he was trying to do and preferred to explore the building on his own instead. There were a few stairs leading up, but his adventure got caught short when the stairs ended. There were some gauntlets lying there though. Tempest picked them up, but quickly determined that they were too heavy for him. He still took them with him.
"Come, little Storm, or I am letting you here.", Ornstein said, already in the door frame of the small stone building. Tempest jumped down the stairs and hurried to him.
"What were you trying to do in there?", he asked, hoping that Ornstein heard him, because the dragon slayer had picked up the pace again.
"Trying to call the elevator of course.", Ornstein replied. "But it didn't work. We have to go the long way. Don't wander off into the centre of the garden, stay close to me."
A garden was it, not a forest then? Glancing at the area around him again, Tempest noticed that it certainly looked to kempt for a forest, the trees felt like someone carefully had selected and planted them. It also explained the existence of the scarecrows and the big figures, which Tempest decided were probably guardians. As Tempest was still glancing at the centre of the garden, he realized that there were several metres between him and Ornstein and he made sure to catch up to him by falling into a slight jog. This was luckily enough to be able to keep up with Ornstein's tempo. Tempest still wondered what the dragon slayer was trying to accomplish, outside of that it apparently had to do with Artorias (and Tempest was more than excited to meet another knight of legends), he knew nothing. Well, he knew the stuff that Elizabeth had told him, but he barely had been able to make sense of them. Something about Artorias falling to the dark, but he was known as the Abysswalker, surely that mushroom lady must be mistaken.
Tempest's thoughts ended abrupt when Ornstein stopped and he nearly fell down into a meadow of orange flowers. Ornstein just grabbed him and put him back on his feet next to him, scanning the meadow.
"This reeks like a trap.", he said, his gaze wandering over the meadow, searching and counting for the scarecrows hidden beneath the trees. A guardian was also there and he knew how strong they were, Oolacile's sorcery had been more than impressive. Even at the present day their magic still lingered in the Dark Root Garden.
Ornstein's gaze wandered over to the other side of the meadow, there were two more scarecrows standing up on a hill, ready to drop in once someone would come their way. He sighed and readied his spears, it would be better to take them out first, when first the left and then the right of them fell over, an arrow sticking out of their heads
"My aim is getting better.", Tempest grinned, his still drawn bow in his hands.
"Not bad, little Storm.", Ornstein said and jumped down into the meadow, with the obvious trap out of the way, it wouldn't be any trouble for him to dispatch of the scarecrows. Tempest followed him and landed with a soft thud, but before he had even drawn his sword, Ornstein had killed the first two scarecrows who had attacked him once he landed and already headed into the direction of the guardian, which was flanked by another pair of scarecrows.
Tempest had a bad feeling about his guardian and it proved to be true when he saw Ornstein dispatching the two scarecrows and it swung a maze with such force that the ground was shaken. Though, now their weapon was stuck in the ground. Tempest saw a perfect opportunity for a strike and closed the distance to the guardian while Ornstein still fended off the last scarecrow and had to learn that its weapon stuck into the ground wasn't a disadvantage for the guardian, because as it pulled it out of the ground, it created a shock wave that let Tempest fly.
Scrambling on the ground, searching for his Estus to heal what felt like broken rips and several lacerations, Tempest spotted out of the corner from his eye how Ornstein took up the fight with the guardian. Even the dragon slayer needed a few strikes before the guardian fell, with a thud that shook the ground almost as much as its weapon striking the ground.
"I never liked these constructs.", Ornstein murmured to himself. "Made out of stone, lightning isn't very effective against them."
Tempest once again asked himself if Ornstein had forgot that he could smash stone, but remembered that it wasn't easy when the foe was moving around and he doubted that he would be able to parry a blow of this mace. He went to take a better look at the now (hopefully) dead guardian and actually found another piece of armour not far from it. As he picked it up, Ornstein already had turned his attention to another narrow stone bridge that spanned over a gap.
"Ornstein, would you finally tell me what is happening?", Tempest said, running up to him, carefully setting his feet onto the stone bridge. He had been dragged over the first one and didn't really trust the bridge, but judging that Ornstein had no trouble crossing it, it was impossible for the bridge to collapse from Tempest weight.
"I told you, there is no time.", Ornstein said. "We have to hurry."
"Hurry for what?", Tempest asked, growing impatient, but his building anger got completely blown away when a huge black dragon landed on the bridge, stared at them, no..., it stared at Ornstein and then flew away again.
Ornstein had stopped dead in his tracks and looked as perplexed as Tempest felt.
"Kalameet?! Now I am absolutely sure we have gone back in time! It's impossible for him to be alive!", he shouted and then grabbed Tempest, threw him over his shoulder and kept him into a firm grip before breaking out into a run.
"Ornstein, that dragon!", Tempest brought out. "Is that why you hurry so much? Do you want to hunt it?" Though thinking about it, Ornstein had acted as if the dragon had been long dead... had he killed it in his past?
"The dragon isn't of any concern right now.", Ornstein said, following a path way that was far too narrow for Tempest's taste, with a surely deadly drop on the right and a several metres high hill on the left side, meaning two things, that rolling wasn't a good idea here and that enemies could just drop down from above.
The latter thing even proved to be true, because when Tempest looked up he saw a guardian patrolling the area and then jumping down, landing right in front of Ornstein.
"I don't have time for you.", Ornstein growled and smashed the guardian into bits, rebutting Tempest's earlier assumption that Ornstein had forgot about his stone shattering ability. Tempest shuddered a bit, he never had seen Ornstein in such a state... the dragon slayer felt... restless, impatient and... angered and it wasn't because of Tempest this time.
"Ornstein, you act weird.", Tempest said, helplessly hanging in the dragon slayer's grip. "Please tell me what this is all about. Why are you so... upset?"
"I am not upset.", Ornstein said, following a small tunnel like area that led into another spacious part of the garden, though this time with more altitude differences and quite a few gaps. Ornstein stopped and stared at the ground. Tempest curiously followed his gaze, seeing a purple goo like substance covering the ground. On closer inspection of the chasm next to them, it also felt like purple smoke emitted from there.
"Oh, oh no.", Ornstein said. "It can't be too late, please, it just can't."
Ornstein turned to the left and started to jog again, even though Tempest didn't eat anymore, he felt a bit of bile in his throat from the constant shaking as Ornstein carried him. Hopefully he would set him down soon, Tempest really wasn't looking forward to experience how it felt to puke out Estus.
Another scarecrow faced them, this time carrying giant scissors. "I don't have time for you.", Ornstein snarled and Tempest saw the scarecrow falling on the ground in one attack. Just what had happened to Ornstein? The knight who always encouraged Tempest to fight his own battles and who was always so annoyed having to be his companion, now proved just how strong he was and how easily he could have fulfilled Tempest's mission on his own. Along with the nausea Tempest also felt his anger coming back. He felt shut out and as soon as Ornstein was distracted by a scarecrow charging at him, he dropped of the dragon slayer's back and rolled onto the ground, catching himself.
Tempest looked back at Ornstein and decided that he was fine on his own and started to wander off, until he was on the edge of the hill they apparently had climbed up. He looked straight at a waterfall which disgorged into a valley, several puddles twinkling in the sun, giving the valley a beautiful look. The more Tempest looked at it, the more familiar it became to him... it was like he had seen this exact area before, he just couldn't put his finger on it.
Tempest strolled along at the edge of the hill, enjoying the view, feeling lucky that there actually were no enemies there. He stumbled about a corpse during his walk, of course even something beautiful must be tainted like that and found that it was holding a giant arrow. It was the largest arrow Tempest ever had seen, even larger than the javelin's of the silver knights.
"Little Storm, who told you you can wander off?", Ornstein appeared behind Tempest and he looked more than pissed, though his stance changed and he flinched when he saw that Tempest was holding. "Gough...", Ornstein said, "So you have tried... you wanted to hunt him down..."
"Ornstein?", Tempest asked, bitterness creeping into his voice because he just didn't know what Ornstein was talking about. He had mentioned the name of one of the other knights, the giant archer, and Tempest was starting to feel sick and tired that he wasn't a part of the world that Ornstein seemingly was so lost in.
"Later.", Ornstein said and instead of shouldering Tempest, he took him by the wrist and practically dragged him along the ground again. Tempest opened his mouth to complain, but shut it again, there wasn't a way that he would get one clear word out of Ornstein, so he decided to play along with his fate which was getting dragged over the ground by a tall knight in golden lion armour.
On the way Tempest saw several more dead scarecrows, implying that Ornstein actually had managed to clear quite a way before he had noticed that Tempest was missing. The small Undead wasn't too sure if he should be proud that he escaped Ornstein or be mad that the dragon slayer hadn't noticed him missing at all. With his already sour mood about not knowing anything about the situation, Tempest decided to be mad.
His mood almost lifted when he looked to the left and actually saw some of the scarecrows tending to the trees, that looked kinda cute, but also made him feel a stab of guilt. Had he just stood there idle while Ornstein had killed innocent gardeners? No, they had attacked first, there wasn't a reason to feel guilty. Especially because Tempest actually hadn't done anything. He pretty much didn't had the chance to shine once they had entered the garden, only when he took out the obvious trap. Tempest started to pout as Ornstein dragged him along, stopping as he saw two guardians rather close to each other.
"Damn.", Ornstein said. "Little Storm, be useful for once and help me out here."
Finally Ornstein let go of Tempest and he could barely believe what he heard. "Be useful for once?!", he snapped. "Ornstein, you didn't even-" Tempest's words got drowned out by Ornstein having charged forward, confronting both of the guardians at once, leaving Tempest to deal with four very aggressive scarecrows.
On the spur of the moment Tempest got out his pyromancy flame and hurled a fireball at the scarecrows, which made them all collapse and gleefully burn to ashes. Tempest hoped that he didn't accidentally had started a forest fire when Ornstein smashed the second guardian and the knight just dragged him along again. He entered a small building, not unlike the one from earlier and stepped on a floor panel, which made a stone plate appear. Ornstein stepped on it and it moved down again. Once Ornstein had exited the stone building, with Tempest struggling to keep up with his pace, they looked straight at the coliseum from earlier.
"Finally.", Ornstein said. "That took too long. No thanks to you for wandering off, little Storm."
Now Tempest had enough. Enough of not knowing anything, enough of being berated by Ornstein, enough of being dragged around. "Ornstein, STOP IT!", Tempest shouted, surprised by the volume of his own voice. "You didn't tell me anything, you just dragged me around, you told me I was useless while not even giving me a chance to fight! Did you even see how I burned down these scarecrows earlier? What is wrong with you?!" At the end of his rant, Tempest noticed that tears had started to stream down his face.
Ornstein seemed to clearly taken aback by this, stammering: "L.. little Storm, I am sorry... I... It's hard to explain..."
The reasonable part of Tempest knew that he should just sit down and wait until Ornstein had figured out his words, but with his mood being so cranky from having yelled at, from having to fight a strange bird cat creature, from being dragged along the whole garden and from Ornstein just not telling him anything, he had enough.
"You know what, Ornstein? Forget it. You never tell me anything anyway. You are just following me around so that you can reunite with your old lover.", Tempest snapped and stomped away, not seeing how much the dragon slayer had flinched at his last words.
As Tempest looked back at Ornstein after a few minutes, to see if he had followed him, he saw that he dragon slayer had moved closer to the coliseum. Tempest felt a slight pang at his chest that Ornstein let him wander off, apparently more interested what was happening in there. He crossed his arms and walked further, until he crossed another small stone bridge and stood in front of a figure with a curious outfit.
"Uh, hello.", Tempest said, waving to the stranger, noticing that they wore a mask over their face. While he was used to the other Undead being in full armour and hiding their faces too, this felt different... it was like this stranger hid their face on purpose.
The stranger turned their head to look directly at Tempest and spoke: "Hm.. Oh, let me guess... Snatched by a shadowy limb and dragged off to the past?"
"How did you know that?!", Tempest shouted.
"Yes, of course. Exactly what happened to me. We are both strangers in this strange land. But, at least now there are two of us.", he spoke, his voice carrying a tone of mischief. He hadn't given his name yet, but because of his looks and his voice Tempest decided to call him Chester in his head.
"Actually, I didn't came alone.", Tempest said and turned around to point at the direction where Ornstein was standing. "Ornstein came with me too. Oh, I am Tempest by the way."
"Ornstein? Are you sure you aren't mistaken?", Chester spoke. "It's Knight Artorias you should have come across. The legendary Abysswalker, from the old tales …Well, if you haven't, it's just as well… He's a colourless sort, if you ask me."
"You are the third person mentioning Artorias once I came here.", Tempest said.
"One surely was that giant mushroom, but the other? It can't be that you are travelling with the one they call the dragon slayer. It is said that he hasn't left Anor Londo for centuries." Tempest had the feeling that Chester had a grin under this mask and he also had the feeling that he was very right about this last statement. Also, how should he explain to him that this was the real Ornstein and not just someone wearing his armour? By showing how he slayed a dragon? Technically, that would be possible, with the black dragon around, but...
"Forget about this.", Chester suddenly spoke. "How about some business? Anything you might need?"
Tempest spent a bit of time looking at his wares and quickly determined that these goods were seriously overpriced. He still bought a few arrows, not wanting to offend him. He had gotten quite a few souls from all the enemies Ornstein had slain in the gardens.
He then tried to get a few more informations out of Chester, but he simply cut he talk short. Tempest just shrugged and then wandered off, spotting a stone building in the distance he wanted to explore. He almost had forgot about Ornstein and his anger while talking to Chester, but now that he was alone with his thoughts again it surfaced.
"Stupid Ornstein.", he murmured. "Always speaks in riddles, never tells me anything. Why did I even fall for him when he doesn't actually like me? He surely makes fun about me behind his back, I am just this dumb idiot who couldn't even hold a sword right and..."
Tempest's rant trailed off. It was true, he had been just a militia, recruited to fight in a war that had been already lost, receiving only bare bones training, barely knowing how to properly wield a sword and still, Ornstein had taken the time and taught him. Ornstein had tasted his food and said that he liked it. Ornstein had allowed him to wash his hair. Ornstein had been at his side all this time, calling him an idiot countless time, but most of the time he had called him little Storm. If Ornstein didn't like him, hated him even, would he have acted like this at all? Wouldn't he have acted more like earlier, when he just had dragged Tempest through the gardens?
As Tempest looked up, feeling like he had made a terrible mistake, deeply regretting the words he had thrown to Ornstein earlier, he realized that he had rode on an elevator and was in the exact same stone building which Ornstein had tried to activate earlier.
Tempest stepped down from the panel and on it again, riding it back down. He was so stupid, why hadn't he waited for Ornstein to explain himself? Why had he just ran off? What if he had lost Ornstein forever about this dumb words?
As Tempest ran across a perplexed Chester, he hoped that Ornstein would still be there, that he wouldn't have gone further without him. Tempest needed him, not only his strength, but his company. He loved it whenever Ornstein affectionately called him little Storm, when he tasted his food, when he gave him a compliment because Tempest had been capable for once. By the gods, Tempest had felt so lonely before Ornstein came to accompany on his journey and he never wanted to live through this again, the feel of nearly losing his mind, crushed by losing everyone around him. He didn't want to lose that most important bond he had tied with Ornstein.
Ornstein was still there, standing near the coliseum, leaned on his spear. Tempest ran up to him and choked out: "Ornstein, I am sorry!"
"What for?", Ornstein asked, he tried to sound unfazed and bored, but the quivering in his voice betrayed him. He had taken Tempest's harsh words to heart, he just knew it.
"For saying these things to you earlier.", Tempest said.
"It's alright.", Ornstein said and then sighed. "It is I who should be sorry. I haven't treated you well. I yelled at you for getting us into this situation, then I nearly have let myself get killed by the sanctuary guardian and then, when I realized where we are, I just told you to shut up and dragged you along."
Ornstein kneeled down and leaned his head down: "I wholeheartedly apologize for my unknightly behaviour."
Even kneeling Ornstein was as big as Tempest. While Tempest had the sudden urge to just go and hug Ornstein, he had the feeling the knight wouldn't appreciate it and instead said: "Um... please rise? Oh, do I have to say something.. like... you are forgiven?"
Ornstein rose to his feet and said: "Little Storm, you deserve an explanation. I just have to let you know, that I swore an oath to never tell the truth to anyone, so I told you that I would explain it to you later... but then later came and I still couldn't explain it to you. While I swore to never tell this story to anyone outside those in the know, I will try to explain it to the best of my abilities."
Tempest hold his breath. Ornstein really intended to tell him the truth, that was so exciting!
"It is about Artorias.", Ornstein started, but before he could continue, there was a loud noise coming from the coliseum. Ornstein's head twirled around to the entrance. "Shit shit shit.", he hissed. "I am sorry, little Storm, I need to check his out!"
Ornstein broke into a jog towards the coliseum, not dragging Tempest with him this time. The small Undead followed him and once he caught up, he said: "Ornstein, whatever it is that you are trying to do, I won't leave your side."
Ornstein didn't say anything, instead he had his gaze fixed on something on the distance, both of his hands were glued to his spear and his fingers were trembling. Tempest followed his gaze and spotted a distantly human looking figure. It had arms and legs, but they were unusually long, their skin was of a strange blackish purple and their head, their head consisted of tentacles. Tempest shuddered at that sight in front of him and winced when a sword from above drove deep into the body of the creature, impaling it, blood splattering onto the ground.
Tempest now knew why Ornstein was trembling. That silhouette, that figure, that was... the legendary Abysswalker Artorias himself. A second or so passed and the knight used it to drove his sword even deeper into his prey, before he looked up and gazed in their direction. Tempest couldn't see his face, Artorias was wearing a hood, but his face seemed to vanish in the thickest blackness he had ever seen. Artorias' gaze was on them for a little while and Tempest asked himself why the wolf knight didn't say anything. Well, he clearly didn't knew Tempest, but Ornstein was standing right next to him. Surely Artorias would recognize his companion and captain.
However, Artorias didn't utter a single world and neither did Ornstein. Looking from Artorias to Ornstein, Tempest noticed that the dragon slayer's trembling had increased and he took a step back.
"Ornstein, what...?", Tempest asked, but Ornstein simply shook his head and muttered: "...Artorias...", Tempest wasn't even sure if Ornstein had heard him or not. The small Undead looked back at Artorias, the wolf knight looked down at himself and Tempest had the feeling that his body displayed surprise. Tempest's gaze followed the one of Artorias and he held his breath as he saw that a purplish looking cloud was starting to raise from the ground, quickly engulfing the wolf knight who reacted to the ordeal with a low growl, reminding Tempest of a dog, no, the wolf the knight personified.
"No, I can't be too late...", Ornstein muttered next to Tempest. Tempest stared at Ornstein with wide eyes and then jumped when the corpse that Artorias had impaled earlier came flying, smacked against the wall and stayed motionless on the ground. One look at the wolf knight and the way he had readied his sword made it clear for Tempest that he wasn't here to have a nice chat.
"Careful, Ornstein, he's coming.", Tempest shouted, not knowing why Artorias should attack them, but he was also very keen on not being impaled by that majestically, but deadly looking sword. However, just as before, as they had fought the bird cat, Ornstein just stood there, not making a single move.
"Oh no...", Tempest murmured as Artorias howled like a wolf and readied his sword for what looked like a thrusting attack.
Ornstein had known that this was coming, but seeing it for himself, not just hearing from the tales of Ciaran or Gough, made it so much worse. As soon as he had realized they were in Oolacile, Artorias had been at the front of his mind, the hope that he still could save him deep into his heart and here they were, Artorias lost to the Abyss and... why was fate so cruel to bring him back to this exact day? Was there no way, but to end Artorias' suffering by his own hand? No, that couldn't be true. Artorias surely still was somewhere in there, somewhere in the being that was bent over and broken and which leaked a black gooey sludge, his old friend still had to be around.
Ornstein saw the attack that Artorias prepared. It was a thrust attack, he had seen it countless time, he knew how his friend fought and he knew that he should step to the side, but Ornstein's feet were glued to the ground. He couldn't believe it, he had fought so many duels against Artorias, but the wolf knight had never ever seriously hurt him. He would stop, he had to stop, Artorias would never even think about hurting Ornstein.
Blood splattered once Artorias had dashed forwards, but there was no pain. Ornstein touched his chest only to see that his gauntlets were dry. Ornstein's gaze wandered down to see... that the little Storm had been impaled on the sword, clearly having thrown himself between Ornstein and the attack.
"Artorias, stop it!", Ornstein suddenly shouted, still feeling glued to the ground, but at least his vocal barrier was gone. "This isn't you!"
Artorias slowly pulled his sword out of Tempest's chest, who coughed up a little blood and collapsed, already searching for the Estus Flask on his belt. Ornstein's attention went back to his old friend and while Artorias took a few steps back, he could see in what a bad state he was. His shield was missing, his left arm dangled down as if broken multiple times and he limped. Memories of Artorias' corpse flashed through Ornstein's mind and he felt bile rising up his throat, thickly swallowing it back down.
Artorias broke into a run and raised his sword. Ornstein braced himself, he needed to snap Artorias out of it, he had to. This was his last chance, he couldn't lose Artorias, not again. He opened his mouth when he heard Tempest shouting: "Hey, over here! Fight me!"
The little Storm was jumping up and down, his own sword raised over his head, clearly trying to get Artorias' attention and to Ornstein's horror, it worked. The wolf knight got on all fours and Ornstein recognized that stance, it was a bit more wild than usual, but he would leap through the air and impale anything that was so unlucky to be on the other end of his sword.
"Artorias, stop!", Ornstein yelled again. "Nobody here is your enemy!"
Tempest eyes widened when he saw Artorias leaping through the air, that was more than impressive. Though, he didn't had time to be impressed, he wasn't keen having another encounter with that sword, the first time had hurt bad enough. Tempest rolled to the side literally at the last second before the sword impacted with the ground and when he got his footing back, he saw that Artorias struggled with the aftermath of the recoil and ran over to take the opportunity for a hit, only stopping when Ornstein shouted: "No, don't hurt him! I can get through him, I know I can."
Tempest hesitated for a second and that second was enough for Artorias to recover and raise his sword. Tempest gasped and rolled to the side before the sword could cut him down, but overlooked that the wolf knight swung his sword back from below and got a nasty wound in his side, one hand shooting down to cover the fresh wound, feeling the fresh blood which seeped into the sandy ground of the arena. Instead of going for the kill, Artorias lost interest in Tempest and turned back to Ornstein, who... still was standing there, spear in both hands raised in front of him, shaking like a leaf in a storm and mumbling: "No, Artorias, you don't have to do this. Fight against it. I... can't see this happen to you again, I just can't. Please! Break out of it! You don't have to listen to him!"
Tempest had no clue who that "him" was, that Ornstein was talking about. He had taken a sip of Estus to heal the wounds from the latest attack and gasped as he saw how close Artorias already was to Ornstein. He... he wouldn't make it anymore. Ornstein would let himself cut down by Artorias and... Tempest couldn't let this happen. He couldn't lose Ornstein. He needed him.
"Artorias, stop this! He's not your enemy! As am I! Don't you recognize me? It's me, Ornstein!", Ornstein yelled as Artorias raised his sword. "...Ciaran is waiting for you.", Ornstein added and Artorias seemed to flinch for a fraction of a second, only a fraction, before his sword bolted down, ready to cut Ornstein in half.
Tempest couldn't take this anymore. People like Artorias... he had seen countless of them, only driven by a desire to kill, to fill the hole in their chest, a person he himself had almost become and he didn't want to see how Ornstein died because he refused to fight back, even if that was his old friend.
"Ornstein, don't you see it?!", Tempest screamed. "He's already hollow!"
These words were finally, finally enough for Ornstein to break out of his stupor, but he dodged just a fraction of a second too late, the sword of the wolf knight connected with the dragon slayer's left arm and warm blood seeped out of the joints of his armour as the dragon slayer hissed in suppressed pain.
"Artorias, I am so sorry.", Ornstein said. "I was hoping to get through to you, but it is too late.", Ornstein's left arm dangled down not unlike Artorias' one and he raised his spear. "This is your last chance. If you are in there, say something, anything!"
Artorias' only response was a howl and Ornstein glanced down at the ground for a second, blinking back the tears he felt welling up in his eyes. "I wish it wouldn't have come to this..."
When Artorias' next sword strike bolted down, Ornstein's spear was there to parry it, a loud clang resonated through the arena.
"At last...", Tempest murmured, glad that Ornstein finally broke out of it, that Ornstein wouldn't let himself kill by his old friend. Tempest needed Ornstein and it was not because of the mission he had to fulfil, but in a sense, Ornstein had saved him from his loneliness. Tempest was sure that once something happened to Ornstein, he would go hollow.
Tempest took his sword in both hands and came running at Artorias, planning to join the fight, but once he was there and planned to thrust his sword into Artorias' leg, Ornstein's spear came rushing into his direction and knocked his sword out of his hands.
"Don't interfere.", Ornstein said. "This is my fight."
Tempest simply nodded and after watching the fight for a minute, he quickly determined that he would only be in the way. This wasn't some giant monster or dragon they could fight together, this was a duel between knights. Tempest would only be in the way. He went to fetch his sword and then fell back to simply observe.
Ornstein had fought countless duels against Artorias, but he had to admit, both of them were in bad shape. Artorias' body was battered from his fight against the abyss beast, his shield was missing and he had to wield his sword with his non dominant arm. Ornstein on the other hand lost the use of his non dominant arm, but a lot of his techniques required for him to two hand his weapon. Also, Ornstein's mental state hadn't been the best for a while and seeing his best friend in this state was something that had plagued Ornstein's nightmares for years.
It didn't feel like a honourable duel between knights, but a struggle between two gravely injured animals.
Still, Ornstein had to be amazed at how elegant and at the same time fierce Artorias still fought. Even when gravely injured, even when the sludge of the abyss oozed out of his body, the wolf knight still knew how to wield his sword, strung his strikes together to beautiful combos and managed to evade Ornstein's owns strikes with a narrow loop again and again while Ornstein's quickness made him able to evade the powerful, but slow strikes of Artorias' and his own strength allowed him to parry the ones that wouldn't shatter the ground.
The both knights were locked in a dance, a beautiful, but deadly dance, circling each other, searching for a way to strike, only to be meet with a dodge or a parry of the other party whenever one of them dared to attack. After a while, Artorias' seemed to grow tired of the dance, because he made two back flips in quick succession and stopped, clutching his sword.
Ornstein saw his chance and kneeled down, preparing for his powerful dash, but before he started the attack, he stopped, a pang in his stomach. As he looked up, Artorias had started to growl again and the same smoke that had engulfed him earlier concentrated around his sword.
"Be careful, Ornstein.", Ornstein could hear the little Storm yell from the wall. "That looks dangerous."
"I know.", Ornstein snarled. Why had he hesitated earlier? It hadn't been the pain in his arm, he had... felt guilty. Yes, he had stopped because he had felt guilty. Wasted a perfect chance. He couldn't waste another chance.
Ornstein had dwelled a bit too long in his thoughts, because Artorias was suddenly in front of him and swung his sword, Ornstein forced his injured left arm to raise his spear with both hands just in time to block it, skidding back several feet, that blow had been far stronger than the ones before, pain exploded in his left arm and even his uninjured right one seemed to get numb.
Artorias didn't waste any time and followed up the blow with his signature spin attack, which Ornstein avoided with a shaky back step and then Artorias hit Ornstein with a strike from below while doing a back flip, sending even the dragon slayer flying and collapsing with the ground, Ornstein's left arm now felt like it was on fire and he almost lost the grip on his spear. His eyes widened as he saw Artorias in the air above him and he rolled to the side just in time before Artorias could impale him, struggling to get to his feet. Just as he managed, Artorias had recovered from his attack and it was back to their dance, with none of them giving the enemy any room to breath.
"You always said my dodging style was ridiculous.", Tempest said with crossed arms as he watched the continuation of the duel. It was kind of beautiful to watch and at the same time, it was kind of sad. These two must have been the greatest duo in the army of Anor Londo and Tempest shuddered thinking about how it would have felt to fight both at them at once. He considered himself lucky that Ornstein had been paired with the executioner instead and that fight had been an absolute nightmare. If Ornstein and Artorias would have fought against him, he probably would have hollowed.
As Tempest watched the duel, he had the impression that Ornstein slowed down, blood loss probably. Even though Artorias looked in a rather bad shape too, Tempest had began to understand that he was corrupted by the Abyss or as he had put it earlier, had gone hollow and Hollows never cared for pain. He was like a wild berserker, not feeling pain, not feeling any emotions, just bent on killing his prey.
"You can do it, Ornstein.", Tempest whispered and folded his hands. "I believe in you."
Ornstein indeed was starting to feel the effects the blood loss and the duration of the fight had on him. He needed to end this quickly or he was unsure if he would get out of this fight... alive. Then he would never be able to search out this master, never be able to escort Tempest to the first flame, never be able to taste the little Storm's meal ever again and never be able to see the next idiocy he would bring them into. Huh, since when revolved his life so much around the little Storm? He hadn't even thought about Smough, had he already accepted his death?
While Ornstein had been lost in his thoughts, Artorias had retreated again, from the stance he would try and channel the power of the abyss another time. This was Ornstein's chance, probably his last chance, he wouldn't hold through another parry dance with Artorias. He kneeled down and dashed, his spear held in front of him, planning to impale Artorias on the tip, how he had done so many times before, how he had done with so many dragons and drakes, how he had done so many times to the little Storm, but once he was in front of Artorias, he jerked his spear up and came to a screeching halt.
He was shivering, his spear didn't want to move, Ornstein's body felt paralyzed as he saw the cloud engulfing Artorias, his nightmare in front of his inner eye, the nightmare in which he had been forced to lay an end to Artorias and... he never had managed.
"I... I can't...", Ornstein said, his voice quivering and then he threw his spear to the ground and shouted: "I can't do this to you, Artorias!" Ornstein kneeled down and extended both arms, fully accepting that he would die at Artorias' hands, sending a silent apology to Gwyndolin that he wasn't able to fulfil his mission, just hoping that the little Storm would be able to fulfil the mission on his own, as much as it pained Ornstein to admit, while still an idiot, he had become quite competent lately.
"Ornstein!", the dragon slayer could hear Tempest's voice through the cloud that his mind had become and then as he felt warm blood splattering against his armour, he opened his eyes only to see that Tempest had driven his own sword deep into the chest of Artorias.
Tempest hadn't really realized that he had started running as soon as Ornstein had thrown away his spear. He had clutched his sword with both hands and called Ornstein's name, not believing, not wanting to see how Ornstein would sacrifice his own life for someone who had went hollow, who was lost, who would just search the next prey. Before Tempest had even realized any of these things, he had driven his sword deep into the chest of the wolf knight.
Eyes wide in shock, Tempest pulled his sword out and more blood, mixed with that black goo, shot out of the wound, soiling both him and Ornstein. He slowly lowered his sword, releasing the breath he had hold and then gasped as Ornstein grabbed him by the collar.
"What have you DONE?!", Ornstein shouted. "You killed him!"
"He was going to kill you, Ornstein!", Tempest shouted back. "I... I can't lose you, Ornstein. I can't. He was lost, he was already hollow!"
"We... we could have still saved him!", Ornstein shouted, but his voice betrayed him. He had been fully accepting of dying at Artorias' hand, simply because he was unable to deal the killing blow himself and that after him and Smough had agree that they would mercy kill each other should one of them over lose. Well, judging by that Ornstein was still there, Smough hadn't been able to go through with it either. All this, the fight, the pain, Artorias dead in front of him and the thoughts of Smough were too much and Ornstein could fear tears stream down his face as he collapsed to the ground.
"Ornstein...?", a gentle, but broken voice sounded and the dragon slayer gasped, jerking his head around to see Artorias' face, corrupted and tainted, but that was his face and his voice, he had managed it, he had finally managed to break through the corruption.
"Artorias, hang in there, we can still help you, we can still heal you!", he yelled, wanted to yell, but it came out as a broken sob.
"Ornstein, it's too late.", Artorias said and as Tempest came nearer, he finally got a look on the wolf knight's face, it looked gentle, but battle-tested, with eyes as grey as storm clouds and a horizontal scare right above the bridge of his nose. "I will die soon, but please don't guilt yourself, it was my own fault. I... couldn't kill him. Please, find Sif and take her back home... and...", he coughed a bit, blood running down his lips. Ornstein was holding his head and murmured: "Artorias, don't talk, don't say something like this, we still can..."
"...tell Ciaran I am sorry.", Artorias finished and Tempest couldn't help but grab the wolf knight's hand, having the feeling he could make him feel more at ease while dying.
"Ah, though...", Artorias coughed again, his eyes glancing over to Tempest. "Thou are the dark. Th.. thank thee for cutting me down." Another cough. "Th.. thank thee for not letting me live like this."
"Artorias...", Ornstein sniffled and Tempest could see that he had taken the wolf knight's other hand in his own.
"Ah, Sif, there you are.", Artorias said, coughing another time. "All of you, forgive me. For I have availed you nothing."
After these words were spoken, Artorias' drew a last shaky breath and then Tempest could feel how the hand that had clutched his went limp as a purplish soul swirling with dark particles manifested in front of him.
(Author's note: Yeah, uh, I knew you all were hoping for me to save Artorias, but I had planned to follow his canonical death through for a long time now, so I apologize wholeheartedly to everyone who was hoping otherwise. I used some of Artorias' cut voice lines at the end, surely you can find them. At least I wanted to give Artorias a peaceful ending, that he didn't had to die alone.
Also, I know the area is called Royal Woods, but I always saw it as a garden and later it turns into the Dark Root Garden, so a garden it is.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, for all the angst that I put in it, but they, it's the DLC and we all knew that it would be angsty as hell. I promise a bit more fluff soon, I only can take that much angst as once myself. Please stay tuned and tell me what your favourite part was down in the comments.
Again, thanks to everyone who wrote a comment on the last chapter or directly told me their thoughts, your support is what keeps me going and I hope you want to see Ornstein's and Tempest's journey through until the very end.)