Characters in this prompt: Dark Sun Gwyndolin, Company Captain Yorshka

Summary: Gwyndolin tries their best to defend Anor Londo from a new enemy force, but it is getting too much.

(Author's note: I decided to go with a pre Dark Souls 3 scenario for this one, cause it felt like the most fitting. Also, I see Gwyndolin identifying as non binary, but because Yorshka in game uses the term "my brother", I think that Gwyndolin is fine with being called a brother.)

Seeing her brother fight was a sight to behold.

It amazed Yorshka every single time she saw it. Gwyndolin's was able to form their moonlight magic into a single devastating blow and it managed to take out the first enemy in one hit. The second one was hit by a bunch of single magic shots, which didn't look very dangerous at first, but severely knocked the man down when he was hit by them all at once. And the next three foes were hit by the myriad of arrows Gwyndolin was able to shoot at them in short intervals.

Yorshka had the feeling, that she could just sit down and watch, but she spotted around ten more enemies in the distance. Clutching her spear, which also functioned as a hammer, tail risen into the air, she took in a battle stance. Yorshka knew she wouldn't be of much help. She had trained, but she never had been a very gifted fighter. At least she was able to heal some minor wounds with the cherished chime her brother had given her (alongside with her name). And at the very last, she would be able to at least slow their enemies down or distract one of them long enough for Gwyndolin to finish them off.

But this time Yorshka couldn't help but worry. The assaults of their enemies had gotten worse. It were gruesome looking men in long black robes, mostly attacking with pyromancies, but their candlesticks could be used as sharp weapons too. Yorshka had found this out the hard way. They seemed to follow some strange religion called the Deep or something, Yorshka didn't really understand this. From what she knew, she and her brother were the ones people worshipped. She actually had a church of her own in Irithyll, the city that was constructed by the priest Sulyvahn just outside of Anor Londo. And Gwyndolin had told her that the sun gods had been cherished since a long time. It didn't make the slightest sense to her why these figures should attack Anor Londo.

"Make yourself ready, Yorshka. Here they come.", Gwyndolin mumbled and readied another bunch of arrows. Yorshka could hear the exhaustion in their voice. They were at their limit. Gwyndolin had spent the last months fending off this intruders. The few knights still at their service, were barely able to stop these waves, so Gwyndolin had taken up to defend their city on their own. They had taken refugee in the great hall of the Anor Londo cathedral, where they did their best to protect the city.

"Who do they think they are? I won't let these heretics take Anor Londo.", they said and fired the readied arrows. After two more figures fell to them, Yorshka charged off to at least distract one of them while Gwyndolin would handle the others. The battle was short, but hefty. In the end Yorshka managed to remain victorious and pulled her spear out of the corpse. She turned around to see Gwyndolin standing between the bodies of the rest, breathing heavily. She dashed to them.

"Yorshka, are you alright? You aren't hurt, are you?", they asked and eyed her intensely.

"I am fine. What about you?", Yorshka asked.

"I am alright. These assaults though, something isn't right with them. They have to pass Irrithyl to come here and why would Sulyvahn let this happen? Is there something he doesn't know? I have to talk to him.", they mumbled and turned away. "I have to take some more measurements against future assaults. Conjuring up some illusions for example. I should have thought of that instantly, I used illusions for a long time to protect this city..." Gwyndolin wiggled away deeper into the cathedral, but Yorshka only had eyes for the drops of blood that followed them.

Had her brother received an injury and was completely oblivious about it?

Yorshka quietly followed them. Maybe it wasn't even Gwyndolin's blood. Maybe it was the blood of their enemies just dripping off their robes. But Gwyndolin mostly fought with magic in close combat and moonlight magic wouldn't leave bleeding wounds, the wounds inflicted by it looked more like burns.

Gwyndolin stopped at a room that certainly had been used as a armory. They pulled out their catalyst and murmured a few words while a figure took shape in front of them. Yorshka watched how it became something that looked like a giant suit of armour with a halberd and a big shield and then watched Gwyndolin, or more, their robes. She instantly was sure that this wasn't the blood of their enemies. Blood seeped through the chest of Gwyndolin's robe and dripped on the floor.

"Brother...", she started.

"Not now, Yorshka, I am busy.", Gwyndolin said and rushed out of the room.

"But brother, you are bleeding...", Yorshka finished after they were already out of sight.

It seemed like she had to take this into her own hands. Instead following Gwyndolin, Yorshka rushed to a room known as the infirmary. While there wasn't anyone there right now, the few citizens who had been there, had all been evacuated since the assaults had begone, the supplies were still there. She grabbed a few things she knew could help and rushed off again to find Gwyndolin. They weren't really hard to find, cause she just had to follow the blood trail. Yorshka's worries increased while she followed it. It seemed to have gotten worse. Gwyndolin would need help soon. How didn't they realize they were injured? They surely must have been in pain.

Yorshka found Gwyndolin busy creating an illusion of a fake broken staircase, probably hoping that this would slow any intruders down.

"Gwyndolin, please, would you let me help you?", Yorshka said. Upon hearing her words, Gwyndolin turned around.

"Helping with what? You can't create illusions like I do. It would be the best for you if you would just rest before the next attack happens."

Yorshka shook their head: "No, that's not it. You are hurt, brother. Didn't you realize it? You are bleeding all over." She could feel tears starting to well in her eyes.

"I am... what?", Gwyndolin said. "Shouldn't I have felt that? Are you sure that you aren't seeing things, Yorshka? Have you hit your head?"

"It's true. Just look down on yourself.", Yorshka sniffed.

Gwyndolin's head slowly turned down and their hand touched their chest in disbelief. "What... when did this happen?", they said, staring at the blood on their hand. "Why didn't I realize that...?" Gwyndolin's legs gave up carrying them and they fell over. Yorshka was at their side with a big jump.

"I am taking care of you, brother, like you always take care of me.", she said, wiping the tears away. But that wound was bleeding so much. What could she do? She wrapped the bandages she brought around the wound, but they quickly started to bleed through. Yorshka quickly brought out her chime and channeled it onto the wound, but this also wasn't enough. The healing provided by the chime was too slow, the bleeding was to severe.

There was only thing Yorshka could do for Gwyndolin now. She may not be a great fighter, but she was still of the blood of dragons and possessed more strength than the average person. She lifted Gwyndolin off the ground and carefully but quickly made her way to Irithyll, until she was at the residence where the priest, Sulyvahn, resided, one of the few people Gwyndolin seemed to see as some kind of friend.

She knocked at the door and upon Sulyvahn opening it, she fell onto her knees, pleading:

"Please, help my brother."

(Author's note: A little of explanation time. I see Sulyvahn as this great manipulator who actually sought out people and got on good terms with them before turning full traitor and taking the control for himself, so Gwyndolin and Yorshka see him as a figure of trust here. This also turned out to be my interpretation of how Anor Londo fell in 3, so basically Yorshka was at fault, but she isn't aware about anything, cause Sulyvahn locks her into that tower telling her that she would be safe there.

And yeah, it was saying that Gwyndolin fell sick in the lore, but I did go with an injury because it fit the prompt better. Also, who is to say, that Gwyndolin didn't get an infection from that injury and that was what caused their complete downfall?

Requested by yuvonsilonrahvok on tumblr)