Warning: If you do not wish to read the author's notes, please just skip past the bolded part of the text. My usual quota for the story will not include the author's notes. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy.
Let me start by saying sorry. This chapter in particular will take a while to upload. I have been swamped with a new schedule, and yes it's during the summer, the one season I'm supposed to have more time. Sigh… well theres not alot to say otherwise. Rooster teeth released their volume 5 trailer recently just to smack me in the face and say 'nu-uh, see were still developing Weiss' character, It only took 5 volumes to show it'. Lovely rooster teeth. While you're at it why don't you make more soundtracks I don't like anymore as you realize your fan base is shrinking. Honestly I'm finding the longer RWBY draws out the more uninteresting the show gets. At first it's all exciting. You have somewhat good characters with just enough to make them seem interesting. 5 volumes later we have a goody girl who wants to save the world, an edgy one armed teenager, another edgy teeneager that has the skintone of someone that died and facial features of fox mccloud, and an underdeveloped white girl with a lot of money and a life she doesn't like. Forgive me for bashing, but RWBY doesn't feel as exciting anymore. Now it just feels dramatic. From this point on was actually a lot more ranting and i seriously didn't want that to take up space. Otherwise these authors notes would be twice as long. Sorry about my ranting.
Weiss stared at the fire in front of her. The sword pierced into the ash before her somehow took flame by motion of a hand. Anri had brought her into the city, and through some magic barrier.
"Sorry about the unusual introductions again. It's not often we find someone that's survived as long as you", he said sitting next to her. They sat on some steps surrounding what looked to be an old water fountain? Or perhaps just a central piece of art in the form of a statue. Weiss paid little mind to them. Statues were everywhere. The fire provided little warmth from this distance, but she wished not to get her skirt dirty. Then she looked herself over. It was already slightly torn and bloodied.
Oh, what the hell, she thought.
She scooted closer to take in what little heat she could in this freezing place. Anri looked at Weiss curiously. He remained on the steps studying her closer.
"You said we? Does that mean there are more of you?", Weiss asked.
"I'm afraid not", Anri said a little distraught. "I was traveling with a partner prior to now. A very close friend he was in fact. Horace was his name. Where he's gone off to troubles me. We were on a mission together. But I fully put my faith in Horace. I know he would do the same for me", Anri said quietly.
Weiss took in the information with little ease. It wasn't unlike her own situation. If she was capable, and so was Anri, then her team should be fine. She shouldn't talk about that now though. She didn't really know what she should do next. She needed to survive.
"But curiouser I am about one such as yourself. Tell me, you don't' carry the flame with you. Are you perhaps undead, or something else?"
Weiss simply turned in confusion toward the knight. He seemed to pick up on her body language before she needed to say she had no idea what he was talking about. "Ah, I see. I'm afraid today is going to be a day full of apologies as I must appear to be speaking nonsense. Are you perhaps from the other half of this mess? The land was never shaped like this before. What the Boreal Valley is doing on top of this mountain is beyond me", Anri asked.
"The other half?", Weiss said standing up suddenly. "Are you saying your from the place that used to contain this place? If that makes sense?", Weiss asked unsure. His dialect seemed outdated somewhat. With Vytalian being a universal language the accent tended to carry with it. But if what she thinks is true then that would mean there were people that used to live in this other half of the world.
"Well for the most part yes. But I am not from this valley directly. I am of Astora. A kingdom very, very far from here", he said with quiet seeping into his voice. Weiss put the clues together easily. "A kingdom?", Weiss attention perked at this. " One like this?"
"This? Oh heavens no. Anor Londo and the Boreal valley were made for the gods. We were but but undead. At one point so was I", he said getting up. He stepped to the fire beside her as confusion sewed a look on her face. "I'm afraid there is too much to explain in our given time. But I can assure you some knowledge if we get you to somewhere safer."
Weiss seemed content with that answer. She knew a couple terms he spoke of and that seems to be where they draw the line between understanding each other. She normally wouldn't jump into the 'no time to explain scenario, but if she didn't find somewhere warmer, things could quickly turn south. He placed a hand lightly on her shoulder.
"I can tell you are not one of our kind. You're alive. More alive than most of the creatures that live in my existence. And that means your life is precious. I promise you, I won't let a human like yourself die out here. At least not while i can."
She was hesitant to trust a stranger. Especially after her last encounter. But she had worse risk not going with him. He was from this other place. He knew it better than herself. She'd trust him for now. Sighing to herself she gripped Myrtenaster and checked her dust left in the weapon. She had used up most of her fire dust in the battle. Hopefully the fights ahead wouldn't be as costly.
"Alright, let's go."
Anri removed his hand in gesture to a direction. "There is a church up ahead. You should know that there will be enemies ahead", he said drawing his gear. He had a simple sword and shield, not far unlike Jaune's. She could only wonder what experience he was having right now. Suddenly Weiss sneezed. Withdrawing from thought she turned back to Anri.
"We'd better get moving. I can imagine it will only get colder", Anri insisted looking at her. Weiss nodded and followed closely behind, until he stopped shortly after starting. "Oh- I almost forgot. You appear to have dropped this during your fight", he said extending a ring to her. It looked to be a brown- copper colored ring with a large black rock in it's center. She could tell it was made of metal of some kind by the color. He gave her the ring as she examined it with confusion.
"What- no, I didn't drop this. I've never said this ring before", she said holding the ring in her palm. The then closely examined the ring. The rings center was a deep black. Very deep inside, Weiss could swear what she thought looked to be an eye. "Ah yes, but perhaps you should keep it. It was on the bridge after the beast was defeated. You know, rings have incredible gifts where I am from. I manage not to wear them myself, but maybe it could be of use to you?"
The words were enough to snap Weiss from her state. When she was looking at the ring, things would go dull. Silent. Soft. It was like the temptation of sleep taking over before being snapped into being awake. Blinking a few times she managed to clutch it in her hand. "Gifts?", she asked.
"Yes. Wearers of the rings are granted all sorts of abilities. I've yet to know this ones, but you should wear it. Perhaps it could be of assistance. But if not, don't fret. You can always do away with it. I've no need for it. So you may keep it."
Weiss looked back at the ring in her hand again.
Gifts… Abilities… Why not.
Taking it in hand before her daze she put the ring on her right ring finger. It felt cold and larger than she expected, but still fit her finger just fine. Not giving it another thought she gripped Myrtenaster once more and again started to follow up the large path of stairs that Anri followed. Then, almost immediately stopped.
Two figures both transparent in form slowly walked toward them. Weiss readied her weapon, but Anri simply held his arm out, signaling her to stop. With hesitation she complied, but still kept her guard. The figures were tall and skinny, and clad in some sort of light armor. It didn't seem like it would protect them from the cold here seeing as though they were layered so thin, but that seems to be the least of their worries. Eventually getting closer one of the figure passed right through Anri's arm.
Weiss' eyes widened in surprise as they just passed right through him. She turned to look at the one as it passed her by, as the second passed through her as well. She watched as they slowly descended the stairs and disappeared. "What were those things?", Weiss asked in awe.
"I don't know", Anri simply replied. For someone who was more experienced with this place Weiss had expected more f a better answer than 'I don't know'. Apparently this meant this part of the world had some things yet to be known as well.
"Is it possible they were ghosts?", Weiss pried. "No, not ghosts", Anri replied just as simply.
"If you don't know what they are then how do you know they're not ghosts?"
"The same way you don't know what this place is, yet you know this is not from your world."
He gave a valid point. At this point they were just going to delve into nonsense. It reassured her that he seemed to understand the concept of logic though. It would no doubt prove useful when he explained to her what was going on. If he at least knew that is. Hearing his armored boot hit the ground in continuing his pace Weiss turned back around and followed. The architecture started coming into view more clearly. A couple of building were in view, but the pathing made little sense to her. Then again she was in a 'valley' that was at altitudes that simply shouldn't be. Making their way up the stone brick paths, a sound suddenly accompanied their steps. There were another set of steps heard up ahead.
The cause came into view. Up ahead were now solid versions of the previous things that passed them. One closer, another rounding some stairs to the right. It seemed to go into a small tower of some sort. What the stairs brought it to on such a small tower she didn't know.
"Are they hostile?", Weiss asked. She got her answer as one of them started running towards Anri and herself. She no longer needed validation. The enemy carried the same armor as the figures before, but had a curved sword, and a small shield, at least by comparison to their size. Weiss dashed forward and thrust her sword forward. The knight quickly raised its shield in response. Her weapon bounced off with a resounding 'clash' at the sound of the metals hitting. Her weapon bounced back in arm as she regained her composure. The knight however underestimated the power of the attack, but still held its shield up.
With the shield practically at its chest Weiss continued her assault. Her weapons slashed and stabbed at her enemy until finally its posie broke. Unleashing a powerful slash in an upward arc, she not only exposed the knight behind its shield, but managed to turn it as well. She thrust her weapon straight into the knight's chest. Although not going all the way through the its chest at her range, she managed to mortally wound it if anything. Black blood like before spilled out of its wound in its chest. Then the knight raised its curved sword and slashed at her in a 360 degree motion. Weiss slashed back out of range as the attack missed, but the sword came round again and this time, something unexpected happened. Putting a little more force into the second spin, and giant blue sword that came from seemingly nowhere extended its reach and slashed right across at Weiss face.
Weiss held her weapon in a defensive stance only for her guard to break upon connection. The blue sword collided against hers as sparks slid along Myrtenaster. Weiss kept her stance but her right arm essentially fell with the blow as she stumbled the the right. Having just enough time to cut an arc back at the knight she managed to clash with the knights sword as it came down at her.
In a protest of strength the knight began to push down against Weiss' strength, but Weiss was faster, and she could dodge it. The knight seemed to pick up on this though As it hurled its head forward in a low gurgling growl noise arose from its mouth, and so did a purple mass. It floated toward her until it exploded upon impact knocking her over at such a close range. It hadn't done too much damage. It was about the force of getting hit with a small explosive. Nora's grenades were much more of a dangerous threat. It was like holding a firework. Dangerous, but it'll only take off about one of your hands. Thank god Weiss had aura.
Surprised at the sudden attack that actually knocked her over, her weapon skid on the ground beside her, but still clutched in her hand. The knight went in for the killing blow as was about the stab weiss though, Weiss quickly shot her weapon up and into the knight's chest as the edge of the sword came down in front of her, and stopped. The knight's sword rested in place for a second, before falling as its body pushed itself onto Weiss' sword. This time the weapon had managed to gone through as the body slid down her weapon and slumped to the ground beside her, when she got up. Withdrawing her weapon from the knight chest on the ground she flicked the sword beside her, whisking the blood of the blade with a small 'splat'.
The black blood had managed to stain her clothes slightly more this time. She cared little though. She turned to see Anri running the other knight through with his sword in its back. He then kicked it off the blade as it fell on the ground. It gave a low gasping noise as it died, then went limp. "I can see you've handled yourself quite well there", Anri said.
"I could have done better", Weiss replied. "It was just unexpected"
"I know you could've. I've seen you do it before. And you're going to need that much better if you're going to survive in this place. You need to adapt quickly. Don't hesitate. Nothing in this world will hesitate to kill you. You should treat these beings like such in return", he stated advisedly.
"Come now, we must be moving forward. Keep your wits about you. And stay light on your feet. There's going to be a lot more enemies where that came from."
Weiss didn't falter at his words. She knew she could do better. And so did he. It wasn't her lack of confidence. She had just made a mistake. She wouldn't make it again.
They continued their journey forward. Weiss followed at a brisk pace as they made their way to another opening place, with seemingly another fixture taking place in the middle. It was smaller than the last statue or fountain than before, but it still was apparently needed to be put here about sixty seconds away from the first one. Faintly she detected something around the fixture. There seemed to be small clouds of smoke appearing from small masses of light. The sooner they approached the clearer they become until suddenly, they vanished.
Hearing a small groan She could quickly tell there was a creature about to attack her and Anri. "Look ou-", she got out before Anri slashed down at the being. It slumped to the floor before making a sound and dying. Weiss was a bit surprised, but not surprised enough to not see the rest of them coming. They gathered around Anri and Weiss suddenly started a time glyph beneath herself and him. He quickly dispatched the few that remained, before Weiss killed the last one appearing behind them.
"What the hell?", Weiss spat out. "What were those? Do you not know what they are either?"
"I'm afraid we don't have the time to answer that", Anri answered while looking in the other direction. Weiss turned around to see another path somewhat adjacent to the one they came from, but this one was leading up to a road full of enemies. And one of these ones were big. While still being accompanied by the tiny black colored creatures that appeared before, there was a massively tall being. Taller than the knights certainly, and it held a weapon that lived up to that reputation as well. It was a large crudely crafted star-ish shaped thing posted onto a big pole. At least it looked like that at this distance. She didn't want to get hit with it regardless.
They slowly made their approach toward Anri and Weiss, albeit not menacingly though. They had no doubt saw what they had just done to the small black creatures. They knew they were going to be in for a fight. They were just bigger in numbers. The small black colored beings performed the same trick as the previous ones before reappearing at a closer distance. Weiss managed to take out two of them with ease, before dashing back before one could overwhelm her. Anri was having the same idea before and streak of fire rolled towards him. It traced along the ground until he rolled, effectively dodging it, as it continued past him and stopped. Weiss traced the flames back up to the tall being carrying the star shaped object on a pole. It them shot a streak of fire towards her.
Weiss dashed to the side and took cover behind the wall to her left. It wasn't much but it stopped the fire sure enough. That is until a source of heat began to rise from her feet. Her eyes widened as the flames got brighter and more intense. She managed to dodge, but the area she was standing in was scorched with flame as in exploded out of the ground. Weiss decided now would be a good time to close the distance between them and summoned a platform glyph. Jumping on and preparing herself, she launched with a projection glyph straight towards the enemy. The enemy looked up as Weiss flew forward at impressive speed before stabbing straight into its chest armor.
She backflipped off of its chest and kicked it back. Glyphs summoned around it as Weiss began to slash from one to one, before she had managed to give one final blow the the being as it reeled in pain, then fell over and died. Getting a better look, she noted it's white armor was similar the the knights, with a few white fabrics covering some some of its other parts. "Quickly!", she heard Anri say.
She turned around to see him finished with killing all the smaller enemies and was running towards her. He grabbed her arm and yanked her away from her standing spot as it erupted in flames again. "Another one?", Weiss said looking around. She finally spotted one up on a ledge above her behind some railing. The stairs ahead of them likely lead to a path to it ahead. More of the small black enemies started stumbling down the long set of stairs. Anri kept moving up the stairs as enemies approached. He quickly did away with the small ones as Weiss followed closely behind. "There may be a few more enemies than expected. We should keep moving. Staying in one spot might be a bad idea", he said hastily.
Weiss nodded not needing any longer explanation. She followed suit as Anri pushed past the enemies once as he was easily faster. Weiss followed him quickly as they rounded a corner. Ahead of them were more knights and the other ones in white. Wherever they were wanted some serious protection. "Over here!", Anri shouted making a quick dash to the left. They had passed a building or two, and while the paths were disorienting between them, she trusted Anri knew where he was going. The knight gave chase, but couldn't keep up the pace.
Fortunately Anri finally lead them to a small abandoned stone building, that Weiss thought looked like a church. Anri went inside and quickly lit the fire inside. Just like the last, it just ignited at the motion of his hand. It even looked identical to the last. But Weiss assumed that was the lesser of the odd things.
Weiss caught up to him and stood by the fire. They caught their breath as they gazed upon it. Weiss looked back out the entrance of the building. No one was following. Normally just running that distance wouldn't be so tiring, but Weiss had taken a bit of damage to her aura, although not huge. That, and they essentially since the second fountain they hadn't stopped moving. Between running and fighting it made for good cardio. Panting, Anri walked to the wall over to the right.
Weiss looked over in slight concern. He just stood there and stared at the ground. Weiss slowly approached. "What's wrong? Has something happened?", Weiss asked. He turned and looked her in the eyes.
"Oh sorry. It just it appears I have not thought some things through. I have gotten you this far but there is a bit of a problem I have come to see", he spoke.
"And what's that?"
"It's just, there is a way out of here. I've realized it now. But I'm afraid our paths may part ways. You see I am here to fulfil a duty. My kind are born from the flame itself to serve one purpose, but you on the other hand are still alive. You have a whole life ahead of you. And this is quite the trouble you see", he said while reaching into one of his small pockets. He pulled out a small faintly glowing ember in his hand. It took up about the width of his hand itself, but didn't seem to cast any burns. Weiss looked at the object in his hand with interest as it was probably going to become relevant.
"There is a way out of this place. But it would come at a cost. You see my intention was for you to accompany me. However this is a very dangerous path, and even if we did succeed, it wouldn't work entirely."
He wrapped the ember in a piece of cloth and gestured for her to take it. Oddly Weiss took it and expected some kind of fire to start, but it stayed dormant within the cloth.
"You see, that ember, the is what links a soul the the flame. The flame is the source for all life in this world, for without it, we all would have died out long ago. But the flame became one with a curse of the undead. Lives turned to immortality without consent, and because of this, many try to reach the flame. To either link it, or to put it out. I myself, have died trying to reach it", he said with seriousness.
Weiss was taking in the information open mindedly. She got the idea, but still didn't know what he referred to as 'the flame'.
"This flame was created to provide difference in the world. With it came heat and cold, light and dark, life and death. The dark gave the world human creatures, and they found souls in the flame. They gained strength in gaining these souls. The only others in existence were the immortal dragons. So with these souls, four lords were made, and overthrew the dragons. And this gave birth to the age of fire.", Anri explained.
Weiss wanted to say something, ask questions, but the ideology behind this history was abstract, and she had too many questions she honestly couldn't keep track of them all.
"When the fire began to fade, Gwyn, the lord of sunlight, began to sacrifice humanity to the flame. By using the bonfires like this one here, humans would give humanity in order to keep the flame alive. There was another flame created, but took the form of chaos and spawned demons. Because the lords feared the darkness. Gwyn, sacrificed himself to the flame, and kept it alive. And so the cycle began. His soul lasted for a thousand years, before another lord of cinder linked the flame once more. But from this came the curse of the undead. The flame fades, and creates these undead. These undead are to fulfil a prophecy, to become the new lord of cinder, or usher in a new dark age. No one knows truly what the flame truly wants, but because of this, the flame has been linked for thousands of years. That is where people like I come from"
Weiss expression wasn't changing. This was a lot of information to just take in. She hoped to god this was the short version of the story. If their history was any more complicated than this she may not be able to comprehend it.
"I was once an undead. But I was not able to link the flame. I came close to another lord of cinder, but was never able to link the flame myself. So, when I passed, my soul was brought back from the flame. These new lords of cinder, refused to give their souls to the flame. And that is why people like I are brought back. We are to take the souls from them, and offer them back to the flame, so that the lords of cinder may resume. We are the unkindled. Our humanity was never given to the flame, so we were reborn to restore order to the flame. That is why I am here. I must slay Aldrich, who was once a lord of cinder, and return their soul with the flame. There are others like me, but I like to think I was picked by fate. Horace and I…", Anri finally stopped.
"Perhaps I've said too much. Is this overwhelming you at all?", he asked.
"No I think I get it", Weiss said unsure if it was true. "You were brought back from death to kill the undead and restore the flame. Then the cycle just continues?"
"Yes. But I care not about this cycle. I believe I was chosen to slay Aldrich myself. It was my personal mission, alongside Horace, to avenge the ones Aldrich has killed", Anri said.
"So what does this have to do with me?", Weiss asked with a hint of annoyance. She had just been lectured about the history of this world and part of Anri's life story. She simply wanted to get out of here and help fix her world.
"I'm not sure entirely. You see the unkindled and undead are brought back from the toll of a bell."
Weiss' eyes widened in realization. That was what she had heard. When the sky went black, when her team disappeared, when she finally was brought here. The bell was the last thing she heard.
"I was brought back from the first bell. I believe there was supposed to be another unkindled like myself, but was never brought forth from the bell. They were never brought back to fix the age of fire. There are others that were brought back back for similar reasons. I was because I had escaped this lord, Aldrich, when I was still alive. He had eaten the children I had grown with, bless their souls. Horace was the only other survivor. We unkindled were brought back to kill him. But there still needs to be one who can return the fire. That, is where you came from."
"Me?", Weiss asked defendingly.
"The bell never got its last unkindled. So it tolled once again. It couldn't find any other soul in this world worthy of restoring the flame. So it took from yours", Anri finished.
Weiss stepped back at the accusation. "Weiss, it's not unlikely we were brought together by fate. There were more than one sacred undead in the beginning, and although you're neither undead or unkindled currently, you and I have met for this purpose"
"Why would I have been chosen for this world?! There was world full of lives here and your world collides into mine so it can find someone to save itself? Why in the world would I help this world live forever? Living forever is a curse!", Weiss argued.
"It matters not what you do with the flame. What matters is that the cycle either continues or ends, so that this doesn't happen to another world. You've seen what the toll has done to yours. Do you really wish this to happen to another?", Anri asked.
Weiss glared at him. "I might not even be the only one alive here! My friends were sent somewhere like I was. I know because I saw it! I heard the bell, and I saw them get sent somewhere. How do you know I'm supposed to be the one to fix this?", Weiss nearly shouted.
"I don't", Anri said plainly. "One of any of you surviving in this world could be the one to deliver the souls. But you were sent here. To one of the places of the unkindled. And you must leave here at some point. And to do that, your fate must be intertwined. Take that ember", Anri said pointing to the item in the cloth. "And crush it. With it, you will gain the powers that link the flame, and you will be able to leave, to deliver these souls to the flame. Your friends very well might be with the other unkindled. It is the only way you can leave from here. From these bonfires. They will guide you. But in turn, you will exist the curse. I'm afraid this is the only way", he said adamantly.
Weiss thought about it.
If I get to the fire, I can stop this mess and fix my world. Or I could take it so that the fire will never exist in this world. If I become an undead, the cycle will continue or will stop. Then I can eventually be rid of the curse.
"Fine"
With no more thought, Weiss took out the ember in her hands. She stared at it before crushing it in spite. Fire engulfed her body in a flash of light. She stopped breathing and collapsed to the ground. She gasped out a few words, before Anri tried to leave.
"What- does this- make-me?", Weiss managed to choke out. The curse spread to her body and soul. She knew he was unkindled. So what was she now.
Anri thought briefly. She hadn't lost her humanity. But now, she still bears the curse. It wasn't branded to her by the fire. It was a choice. She was chosen to bare this fate, even from a new world. And she chose to accept the curse.
"There is no name for you. You were simply chosen", he said.
Chosen
Chosen
Chosen
The word echoed in her mind before she heard the bell again. The sound rung, and with it came the gusts of sand and dust that took her friends away. All she could see as she struggled for air was the bonfire.
May the flames guide thee, Anri thought.
Someone watched with great interest very near.
Ahh, our gracious lord…
And with that, I'm gonna end chapter 8. There is some very important revelations in this chapter. I apologise if you already knew the explanation of the first flame and age of fire, but I felt that the main characters would have to learn the history at some point. Weiss being the 'smart' one I saw as a fitting opportunity to challenge her character. Her intelligence would firmly conflict with any contradictory moral in dark souls, but at the same time, she kind of has to believe it now that her world has been nearly destroyed. I think this chapter is pretty good. Not much else to say. Sorry about the time. College stuff sucks. I'll try to manage better. But anyway I think the story is coming along. Maybe slow, but hey it's something. Anyway the next chapter will still be Weiss, as I want to get more development of the story between switching characters. The next after that will be Blake. That's all I got sorry about the wait! I hope this makes it at least a little better. I'd appreciate knowing what ya guys think, but if not that's fine. I certainly put off the chapter so I can't ask for much. Until next time. Later.