Now, to let you all know Menma will of course die a few times in this story, wouldn't be Dark Souls if he didn't. So I'll be using my own experiences from my very first play-through, death wise. But will also be taking into account his own personal Shinobi training. Just letting you know, it will happen, some at expected points, maybe a few at unexpected points.
Kizuro Shirosaki: She doesn't have an actual name, the fanbase more or less decided on Quelaan from what I've heard, but I hate the name so I made a new one.
Coduss: The feels are strong at the point.
Start.
"Everybody dies. Some just need a little help." –Lucian, the Purifier.
Menma sat next to his teacher, the woman had a small frown crossing her face, "You say you spoke with them..?" Asked the Pyromancer, staring at Menma's face as he had his eyes closed, but was quite alert, if the slight tensing of his shoulders were anything to go by.
"Yep." Was all he provided.
"And you did not slay them?" Asked the woman once more.
"Didn't see a reason to do so." Supplied the Uzumaki, opening his ruby eyes and gazing at her through a half lidded stare, weariness echoed from his very form, "If one if sentient then one can be reasoned with, therefore one needn't always die." Explained the black haired male. "This land if filled with hollows, monsters, everything wants me or any explorer dead. If by some miracle I can find others, whom mean me no harm, who merely want to survive this world. I will help them, I was once a killer for hire, and while I don't regret my life whatsoever, In fact I'm proud of what I was. But that's just it, my past. I figured I'd try something different." Quelana had no words, so she merely sighed silently and nodded, folding her hands into her lap and placing her head upon his unarmoured shoulder.
Menma's eyes fell a little more as he allowed himself rest, slipping into the blackness of unconsciousness.
Firelink Shrine
Menma had trudged out of Blighttown, happy to put that pit behind him. His gaze fell upon his Crestfallen helper, the man's cheeks had sunken in more than the Uzumaki had expected, his skin was clammy and pale, yet he still sat happily awaiting his end, his dead brown eyes staring towards the fire. "You look like shit." Commented the Uzumaki, roughly.
The warrior didn't answer, causing Menma to raise a brow, "You in there?" He asked poking the side of the man's head with his finger, getting a sharp look but attention nonetheless. "Someone's being a little more out of it than usual." Pointed out Menma, placing his demonic hand upon his hip.
"Perhaps I am not the only one who differs." Said the man flippantly, "It's so noisy around here now…Always making noise, snoring or chewing on Gods know what." Muttered the man, "I was actually beginning to like this place." Admitted the Warrior, gently sighing and looking down, his melancholy returning.
Menma raised a brow, his gaze falling over to his clone who was seated beside the silent Firekeeper, "What are you talking about?" Asked the Uzumaki, listening intently to the area around them, he did in fact hear a chewing noise, like something gnawing upon soggy meat.
"Over there…You'll see it." Gestured the Warrior lazily, casting an arm over towards the ruins. Menma sighed and placed his demonic hand upon the man's shoulder, the Warrior's gaze ran along the arm and up to the taller males face.
"Look…I know you want to go hollow. So you don't have to live in your pit of hopelessness. But have you ever thought about just trying? Have you ventured out of the Shrine? There are people who could always use a hand, and while you provide advice do you think maybe you should try to be there with people? Or at the very least trying to make something of yourself?" Asked Menma, his only response, initially, was a cold stare.
The Warrior's lips set into a small frown, "Of course. I have attempted what so many others have tried to and failed, I wanted to make something of myself, you're not the only one to escape the asylum. I've been here for 2 decades, waiting for my end. People have come and gone from this place, usually I'll see them once or twice, but they'll always die off somewhere unimportant, an ugly death. I died. I died quite a few times. Have you ever died?" He asked, with purpose, Menma's eyes widened a little bit.
"…No. I have not." Said the Uzumaki, after a moment's hesitation.
The laugh that emerged from his 'friends' throat was haunting, to be completely honest. "You'll love it I'm sure." He spat bitterly, sarcastically. "Well I have, dozens of us have. To die once is a nightmare, to die over and over again is pure torture. The sheer agony and phantom pains never leave you. And the loss of memories…That's the true torment. Something we all experience. I have forgotten my whole life before arriving here. Do you have any idea what that's like?" Asked the man, a deathly calm overcoming the Warrior.
Menma recoiled his hand slowly and shook his head gently, "Of course not. You're one of the lucky ones. When you die. Well I hope your flimsy hope and your illusion of strength comes crashing down with you." The man cursed the foolish boy before him, before standing up, taking his sword and shield and moving to another place to sit, Menma stared where the man had once set himself.
Eyes wide and questioning himself.
"He has a point…I don't know what it's like to die. He does. I shouldn't have assumed…I'm a fool." Thought the Uzumaki, scolding himself for being so naïve. "Got a reaction out of him though. That's good, somehow…I'm sure."
The clone next to Anastasia dispelled, she didn't bother to pay it any mind and continued staring into the flame, a deathly look in her eyes. "I seriously need to get some people around here that aren't suicidal to watch her." Noted the young man in his mind, he shook his thoughts out and made his way towards that irritating noise.
Turning the corner of the ruined archway he walked towards something that made his eyes shoot wide, a black serpentine creature with filthy, blunt yellow teeth that perpetually made chewing motions, the skin upon the creatures face was pulled taunt so it had no lips and its gums were in full view. Its yellow eyes held a sinister gleam. But those were not the oddest things about this creature, no, the oddity was the fact that this 'snake' had a nose, and under said nose were two fleshy protrusion, like a moustache.
"What in the ever-loving name of hell are you supposed to be." Blurted out the Uzumaki, Menma's head was cocked as pure confusion was scrawled across his face, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to form some sort of coherent sentence.
He didn't.
The man-snake didn't seem bothered, "I am Kingseeker Frampt, close friend to the Great Lord Gwyn." Spoke the serpent, smiling. Though one could only see as such because of his mouth opening a slight more, "I am a Primordial Serpent charged with the task of seeking you, Chosen Undead who hath rung the Bells of Awakening. May I elucidate your fate? Do you seek enlightenment?" Asked Frampt.
Menma's mind caught up to his mouth and he paused for a moment, what else did he have to do, really? He had no grand plan besides helping out a few people here and there, whenever the opportunity presented itself. But besides that little motivation he had little else to do, this may put him in the direction of some kind of adventure, who knows it might be fun?
Right..?
Why are you being so quiet..?
"Uh…Sure. I've got nothing else really going on at the moment." Said Menma, shrugging, attempting to get this conversation rolling so he could get as far away from this thing as possible.
Frampt nodded before pausing, cocking a fleshy brow, "…Nothing else going on at the moment? This is the prophecy we're talking about here not some mere trip to the nearest cave!" Spluttered the Primordial Serpent, the audacity of this man.
"Well I really don't have anything else to do, forgive me for being honest, fuck." Shot back the Uzumaki, crossing his arms and drumming his fingers along his bicep, "You want me to do something for you, yeah cool. How about you get on with it so I can get moving. I'm bored and Lordran isn't forgiving to the complacent or bored." Said Menma clapping his hands together to speed this up.
Frampt's lower jaw hung unhinged at the conversation he was having at this moment, his being was a strange one that's for sure. Frampt cleared his throat and shook his head, getting back into the well-rehearsed speech he had for all these types, "Chosen Undead, your fate is to succeed the Great Lord Gwyn so that you may Link the Fire, cast away the Dark and Undo the Curse of the Undead. To this End you must pass through Sen's Fortress to the great city of Anor Londo, and acquire the Lordvessel." Spoke Sage, his words rich with passion and his posture straightening.
Menma whistled lowly, drawing Frampt's gaze, "Well damn. That's quite the adventure. Cool. Which ways Sen's Fortress?" Asked the Uzumaki.
"I believe there is an Elevator to the Undead Parish, continue towards Andre of Astora but if you have reached him you've gone too far. You can't miss it." Said Frampt simply, garnering a nod from the 'Chosen Undead'.
"Well I'll get on that. Later snake." Menma threw his hand over his shoulder as he began walking away.
"His soul is already quite large, I can taste its power already…With the added power of the Lord Souls, the Age of Fire will last many centuries yet." Mumbled the Primordial Serpent, an eerie joy settling upon his face before he sunk back into his dark pit.
Sen's Fortress.
"This place is pretty big." Admitted the Uzumaki, starring up at the gates of the fortress, a slight awe about him. "Ah well, let's get this over with." He said, the first step he took made him acutely aware of how dangerous this place could be, as the tile under his foot sunk into the ground and from the stairs shot several thick arrows, Menma quickly rolled to the side to avoid the shots, following them were two large, well they were snake-men, to put it bluntly, wielding butcher-knife styled swords, and holding wooden round shields, their necks were long and serpentine whilst they walked like a man, their heads that of a snake.
Their bodies were covered in dark green scales, their underbellies being a dirty yellow, literally dirty, the only armour they wore was a loincloth. How lovely. Menma unsheathed his Uchigatana and parried the first strike, sending the snake-man off balance before burying his blade in its chest, it fell over dead as the other attempted to snap at him with its long neck, ducking down Menma delivered a sweep kick and knocked the creature off its feet and onto its back, driving his blade into its skull he sighed gently before sheathing his sword and continuing onwards.
Now, Menma could admire a good, well set trap. He was even one to creature a few of his own when the mood took him, but the sheer ridiculousness of this place was a little grating. The second room he entered, technically the first as the last one was more of a giant doorway, had a thin bridge, maybe a metre in width, stretching from one side of the room to the other, with swinging axe-blades going from side to side rhythmically, behind them was another snake-man, and behind him was another blade and the door leading to who-knows-where. Atop a catwalk above it all was a snake-woman.
He could only guess it's gender as it had breasts, for some reason, though the female's neck was muck more like a cobra, and it had four arms, three holding serrated, kris-like longsword's it too wore a loincloth, but had a leathery looking bikini covering its chest.
And that was only what was in front of him. If he fell, he'd be falling into a whole 'nother level, covered in thick, sticky tar. And on that tar you might ask? A fucking Titanite Demon, with a small rise where three more females stood.
"Fuck. My. Life." Muttered the Uzumaki, looking around he saw a broken pot, grabbing a shard he sharpened the edge upon the ground before lining up his shot and throwing it directly at the female atop the catwalk, the shard buried into her neck, sending her off-balance enough to make her fall into the pit below.
Menma nodded, happy that there would be no great obstructions to his trip thus far, navigating past the axes was easy enough all it needed was a little timing, "Katon: Gokakyu No Jutsu!" He announced, a large blue fireball firing from his hand and into the body of the Snake-man whom blocked the way, it fell hissing in pain as its body burnt, souls flying into his Sign.
Crossing the last blade Menma made his way up the stairs, where more swinging axes were set, though he got a view of his previous location, seemed this was not a catwalk and in fact just a pathway to the next part of the Fortress.
Once more he made it through quite easily, though took a moment to notice the pressure pad on the floor, carefully he jumped over it, sighing happily he saw a door, walking out his attention was drawn immediately to his right as a Snake-man attempted to put him down, deflecting the blow Menma was going for the riposte only for a powerful pain to fill his whole body.
It was at this time, ladies and gents that we count Death #1. As Menma had been crushed by the devious rolling boulder of Sen's Fortress.
End.
Yeah it wasn't exactly longer than usual, sorry.
And point that was actually the second death I had in Sen's Fortress first time around, first was the pressure plate at the beginning. But then again he wouldn't have such poor reflexes to not react in time. The boulder however, his attention was elsewhere, and those snake-fuckers make a lot of noise when they're in combat.
Raxychaz!