Characters: Oscar of Astora, Solaire of Astora

Summary: Solaire finds Oscar in the asylum and decides to accompany on his mission while searching for his own sun. But when Oscar manages to get injured, he doesn't say anything in order to not worry his fellow knight.

Oscar had been sure that he would go hollow.

Now the only chance for his mission to be fulfilled, would be if another Undead would pick up the torch and carried on in his steed. He managed to found the most promising cell, praying that the Undead in it hadn't gone hollow yet and dropped them a key so they could free themselves from their cell. Then, he crashed in a small dungeon and waited. Waited for them to find him, waited for the inevitable, hoping that he wouldn't lose his mind before they found him.

The next time he heard a human voice however, he raised his head and was surprised to not see the Undead he had tossed the key, but instead a knight in iron armour, wearing a tabard with a huge yellow sun on it.

"Oh, another knight of Astora like myself? Splendid.", the knight said.

Oscar just stared at the figure in front of him, barely able to make sense of it. He had practiced a speech for the Undead who was bound to find him in his head for quite a while now, so that he could get them on the right path before it was too late, but he hadn't expected this. So he opened his mouth and just asked: "Who are you?"

"I am Solaire of Astora. I became Undead to come to this land to find my very own sun.", the knight promptly answered. Oscar just continued to stare at him dumbfounded. Had this guy just said that he had became Undead on purpose?

"You... what..?!", Oscar stammered before finally getting a hold of himself. "So, you haven't been brought to the Asylum but instead came from outside?", he asked.

Solaire nodded to him. "Yes. I am quite certain that Lordran is the right place to find my very own sun. I doubt to find it in the Asylum though, but you never know." A hearty chuckle escaped the man's throat. "And see, I may not have found a sun, but a fellow knight of Astora, even one of the famous elite knights. May I ask your name?"

"It is of no use.", Oscar murmured. "It is too late for me. I can feel that my humanity is slipping away. Soon I'll be hollow. Please, leave before I can hurt you."

Solaire however, didn't made any intentions to leave. Instead, he sat down next to Oscar and asked: "Why do you think you are losing hope?"

"Regrettably I have failed in my mission.", Oscar said. He didn't knew why, but the presence of the other knight somehow soothed him. "I wanted to fulfill the legend of the Chosen Undead, but to no avail... My only chance was that some other Undead would take up the mantle." A sudden thought sparked in his mind. "Solaire, would you keep the torch lit in my place?"

"Are you sure you want me to carry on with your mission?", Solaire asked. "Cause for me, it feels like there is still plenty hope left in you. Maybe, on your mission, you just need some jolly cooperation?"

And this question, this tiny thing of believing in him, had made Oscar able to get up again, escaping the brim of hollowing. "I am Oscar of Astora.", he said to Solaire and the two knights had been travel companions since then.

After the astoran knights had gotten rid of the large red drake on the bridge, Solaire had stayed behind to gaze in the sun. Oscar had been used to the sometimes strange behaviour of his friend now. He felt pretty confident after they had managed to rout the the large beast and decided to go exploring the bridge a bit more on his own.

He had found a way to go under the bridge, but nothing special had been there, only some hollow soldiers and a chamber full of rats, which his sword made short work of. He found some stairs that would lead up a small tower overlooking the bridge. Oscar ascended it and stopped dead in his tracks, when he spotted the figure of a fierce black knight, having their back turned to him.

His first instinct was to leave, go back, ask Solaire for help or just leave it be, the tower was a dead end anyway. But the newfound confidence in him seemed to have turned into some kind of foolish pride, so he clutched his sword and took on the battle. Against a being twice his size wielding a great sword with only one hand.

Several minutes later, the unthinkable had happened. Oscar had been able to slay the black knight on his own, but his Estus flask was empty and there was still a large wound at his side, he could feel the blood dripping out. However, as an Undead he would just awake at the next bonfire should he bleed out. But would he still be himself? A tiny voice in the back of his head whispered. With an uneasy feel in his stomach, Oscar returned to Solaire. He thought it would be better to not tell his fellow knight about his scuffle with the black knight, Solaire had a habit of worrying about him far too easily.

Solaire turned his head upon hearing Oscar approaching. "Oh, Oscar, you are already back. Did you find anything?", he asked.

"There is a way under the bridge.", Oscar answered. "I think we can use it should the drake decide to come back." Oscar panted a bit, the fight with the black knight had left him pretty worn out.

"Are you alright?", Solaire asked. "You seem to be a bit out of breath. Did you get in another fight?"

Oscar's hand subconsciously wandered to the wound on his side, but he shook his head and said: "There were just a few hollow soldiers, nothing to worry about, I already got rid of them." Oscar stepped from one foot to the other. "Solaire, can we move along? I would feel far more secure after we have reached the next bonfire.", he said. Of course Oscar was in desperate need of filling up his Estus flask and getting his wound healed. His eyes wandered to the flask of Solaire, which still was filled up half. He knew Solaire would share it with him anytime he would ask, but... they still needed to make it to the bonfire. He knew how strong Solaire was, but also that his fellow knight sometimes managed to take some unnecessary hit, so he probably would need the flask for himself. Oscar decided to just stay behind and concentrate on staying alive.

"Very well then, let us proceed.", Solaire said and led the way. Oscar followed him quietly, his hand was finding the wound under his armour and squeezed it in an attempt to ease the bleeding. When Oscar saw that it only soaked his gauntlet in blood, he quickly wiped it away at the interior of his surcoat.

They were halfway across the bridge, when Oscar noticed the sound of soaring wings and the crackling of blazing fire. "Careful.", Solaire shouted and rolled to the side, carrying down Oscar with him so that both of them landed on the stairs Oscar had descended earlier to explore. The elite knight gasped when the sudden movement jostled his injury.

"Are you alright, Oscar?", Solaire asked and Oscar could see the worry shine in the blue eyes of his friend.

"It is fine, I am fine.", Oscar said and sighed. "I must admit, I don't feel like fighting this thing again. Shall we take the way I discovered earlier instead?", he asked.

"That sounds like it would be the best idea.", Solaire said and the both knights stood up to continue their way. Oscar needed a bit but Solaire helped him up without saying another word.

When they reached the area where the rats had been, Solaire noticed the stairs to the tower. "Have you been up there?", he asked.

"There had been nothing there.", Oscar answered, maybe a bit too quickly, cause Solaire stared at him for a split second too long. He really didn't want for his fellow knight to find the corpse of the black knight and know about his struggle with it. They continued their way and managed to arrive at a large gate.

"Seems like we are unable to reach our bonfire.", Oscar said. It was really unfortunate. There was it, the saving light, but they were unable to reach it. The gate was shut close and could only be opened from the other side and to reach it from the bridge they needed to take on a fire breathing drake.

"I guess... we have to find... another one.", Oscar gasped, his wound really hurt. And they didn't had to do any fighting yet. "Solaire?", Oscar asked, confused why his friend didn't answer. Solaire kinda stared at the other side of the gate with a longing glance, like if there would be anything he wanted to reach. "Solaire, let's move on?", Oscar asked again and the sun knight winced at his voice.

"Oh, I am terribly sorry.", he said. "I just think I have seen something that could bring me closer to my very own sun. I would like to try and reach this place later, if you don't mind."

Oscar was the first to ascend the steps in front of him and bit away a curse when the first hollow soldier stormed at him, readying his sword. Luckily, Solaire was at his side in an instant and the hollow soldier soon laid on the ground, lifeless.

After they had ascended the stairs, Oscar didn't bit the curse away anymore. "Shit.", he said out loud and got an admonitory look from Solaire, the sun knight didn't endorse the use of profanities. "Sorry.", Oscar groaned. The sight of the foes in front of them were troublesome. He spotted quite a few hollow soldiers, some of them equipped with crossbows and the worst, a large armoured boar, which wouldn't hesitate to trample them down once spotted.

"Come on, my friend, we can do it.", Solaire reassured him. Oscar stared at him deadpan. He was sure they could have done it, when both of them had been well, but with the bleeding wound at his side... he actually started to get dizzy. This wasn't good. They needed to reach the next bonfire soon. So he only listened half when Solaire explained the tactic he had thought up to him.

"I am sorry, what have you said?", Oscar asked and got another worried look from Solaire.

"Oscar, are you sure you are feeling alright? Do you need a break? Or a sip of Estus? I can see that your flask is empty, you know.", Solaire said.

"It's fine, it is nothing.", Oscar said. "I just managed to get some unlucky hits in when fighting the soldiers. I am fine. Really." His hand found the wound again and he desperately hoped that the blood wouldn't seep out.

"Alright, I will trust you on this, my friend.", Solaire said. "I was suggesting that we would try to avoid the boar for now and take care of the hollow soldiers first. Then we can strike from up above." Solaire pointed to the little bridge just above the area where the boar was patrolling around. Oscar nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

So the two of them put their plan in action and at first, it went surprisingly well. Solaire managed to take care of the hollow soldiers with ease and Oscar only had to fight one of them on his own once, which he managed even in his worsened state. Oscar noticed however, that Solaire managed to empty his own Estus flask in the process. Now any chance of healing their wounds was out.

"Ready?", Solaire asked when they stood on the bridge and the boar was just under them.

"Ready.", Oscar said and the two of them plunged from the bridge, driving their weapons into it, making the creature cry out in pain. But it wasn't the only one crying out in pain, the impact had jostled Oscar's bleeding injury so much, he felt the darkness engulfing him, felt the darksign in his chest tugging at his humanity, he was dying, once again and he didn't know if he would come back this time...

When Oscar awoke, he wasn't at a bonfire. He was engulfed by a warm light, Solaire staring at him, eyes full of worry but also a mild anger.

"Oscar, why haven't you said anything about your injury?", Solaire scolded him.

"I am sorry... I didn't want you to worry... and I thought we would need the rest of your Estus to make it to the next bonfire...", Oscar said, feeling very very small. "Wait... why ain't I dead?"

"I know a healing spell.", Solaire said. "I just like to keep it for emergencies. Like this one had been.", Solaire said. "Oscar, you were so close to hollowing when I found you, nobody can say if you are able to face another death. Please don't do anything like this to me anymore."

"I am sorry.", Oscar said, once again and then added: "Solaire, you said to me that you are searching your very own sun. But you know what? You already are the sun."

(Author's note: And that has been it, I filled out the last square on my bingo card and completed the challenge. Thank you very much for the last prompt, writing about the two best astoran boys has been fun and I think I would like to explore their relationship even further ^^

Tell me which fics have been your favourite please ^^)