Yo what up and welcome to chapter 2.

I gotta admit guys I got a bit too carried away with this chapter. First I went all in on describing every detail on our wandering protagonist, name drop awaiting in the chapter, after all he is one of the main characters.

Then I had too much fun writing the chase scene and I realized that it would be better if this chapter was its own thing. I originally planned this chapter to be half in Irithyll and half in little nightmares starting the true crossover, but I'm saving the other half for the next chapter.

Without further ado, enjoy this just under 4000 word chapter.

Chapter 2: A Chilly Chase for a Wanderer

The frigid city was called Irithyll of the Boreal Valley, and in a desolate church there was a sword stabbed through a pile of bones and ash with fire hypnotically hugging the sword's blade.

It was every undead's solace, a bonfire.

There is a man sitting there right now.

He is dressed in armor that consisted of chain armor, gauntlets, and leggings that wrapped around his body to protect him from all types of attacks in this fading land of miracles, hexes, blades, and sorcery called Lothric.

Over his chain mail he wore a sleeveless uniform worn down by time as its color was a faded black that turned white at the lower edges that hung above the man's ankles. The uniform was slit down at the sides of the waist which disconnected the uniform to a front piece and back piece in order to not hinder any leg movement. Most notably the uniform had a white deer skull with symmetrical antlers that curved upward painted on the chest area for all to see. The large piece of cloth also has a blue cape tied over the man's shoulders that freely flowed behind him which was mostly whole, save for the tattered end of the cape.

This uniform was the hallmark for knights from a now long-lost land of knights and chivalry known as Mirrah, but whether the man himself was a knight from Mirrah or if he pillaged it is a question that will die with him.

The uniform was tightened to the man by three leather straps. Two were wrapped around his waist with the thinner of the two straps acting like a belt while the larger one hung a bit lower on the right side of his waist. The larger belt was used for utility, storing any items for quick use. The only visible items stored within the belt on the man's left side for his free hand was an Estus Flask, an undead favorite, and a Divine Blessing, a thin golden bottle whose blessed water healed the user of all their health and status ailments. Supposedly, the water was blessed by a goddess of fertility, but for the man it was simply a good luck charm and last resort for when his Estus ran dry. The third and thinnest strap served to keep everything tight on his person as it was tied down from his right shoulder across his chest to his left hip where all three leather straps joined together.

And to top it all off the wanderer from Mirrah was donned in a helm with a steel mask that only left his frosty blue eyes visible to the world. The only other part of his body that was visible was his pure silver hair that shines like Irithyll's ever-present moon in the light of the bonfire.

Specifically, the hair settled on both sides of the man's face in two separate groups as the hair flowed downward out of the space between the inner steel mask and the helm's outer rim.

The last thing to note is an ultimate example of the innate fashion sense of every undead, the silver hair ends up serving to frame the mask to bring more attention to it to increase the mask's intimidation.

...

This man was Creighton, Creighton the Wanderer.

Another undead simply trying to survive and keep his sanity in an increasingly insane world falling ever closer to its end.

...

He was resting at the bonfire in the abandoned church, known as the Church of Yorshka, after a failed invasion on a darkmoon knightess named Sirris who brought a white phantom to aid her.

"I would've killed that lady if it weren't for that phantom prick. The hits from the pointy stick she calls a rapier were so weak. Would've been an easy effigy for me. *sighs* I hope I don't run into that phantom again, they're tough."

Creighton's voice was a deep and somewhat brutish one that sounded like he wasn't used to speaking at any level above a whisper, and it had a thick accent that could only be described as English, but to be more accurate it was a Cockney accent.

Creighton lamented his invasion as once again white phantom ganks proved to be too much for him to handle. It was for a good reason though as the only way Creighton could get certain valuable items, like human effigies which help prevent hollowing, was by invading other worlds as a dark spirit.

"Man, I'm going to have to find another place to invade. My human effigies are running low and this icy dump isn't providing. Doesn't help that the toughest enemies here are just some weak knights with fancy footwork. Everything else is just a hollow slave, dog, or both."

Ah yes, Creighton couldn't forget his purpose as a wanderer.

"I travel land to land to hone my blade. I've heard this land was full of danger. I thought it would suit me perfectly."

Or else he would go hollow like all the other undead before him. Ironically enough those words Creighton said to that naive undead so long ago in Drangleic is why he's currently in Irithyll.

Thankfully Creighton was still in his human form, and he hadn't died in a while so he didn't need to worry about emptying his human effigy supply for a good while.

After that he rested a little bit more by the bonfire, enjoying the warmth it gave him. Then he got up from his seated position and began to explore more of Irithyll to see what he could find, now equipped with a full Estus Flask thanks to the bonfire. He exited the Church of Yorshka and to his left was the large cathedral close by that was located at the highest point of the city so far. He faced the cathedral and took a moment to admire the building.

"Heh, nothing says 'boss' more than a large cathedral overlooking a city. I sure hope they're better than the giant dog beast on the bridge, now that was a good fight."

From his spot he glanced to the left and noticed a side path behind a single closed iron gate which eventually led up to the same platform the cathedral's entrance was at.

Creighton was about to approach the gate when a sound broke up the silent atmosphere.

pit-pat pit-pat PIT-PAT!

The sound was coming from behind him, and to the right.

"Running- approaching!"

He defensively swerved to look behind him. He looked to his left toward the footsteps, which was where the small staircase that led up to the church he just exited, and saw a sword flying at him.

The haphazardly armored opponent swinging the sword had only had their right hand on it and was throwing all their weight into it. The sword was in a completely horizontal motion, Creighton's left to right, meant to slice through his back.

The knight's own weapon, an axe, was already raised to defend.

*Clang!*

It took the brunt of the blow, but the force of it threw off his balance and knocked his weapon off center. There was no time to recover as the opponent fluidly followed up with a diagonally upward strike, right to left. Creighton wasn't confident enough in his posture to block the attack. Instead he dodged it by stepping back with his left foot, squaring up his stance, and leaning away from the swing.

The broadsword whiffed by inches, but the new enemy still pressed the attack, transitioning into an overhead thrust. The attack was slower than the last one however, and Creighton had the time and mobility to quickly roll away before it could reach him. He got up from his roll only to be met with the sight of the enemy revealing the surprise they had in their other hand, a crossbow.

*Chpoom*

*thunk* "Gah!"

The crossbow bolt pierced his chest as it did a decent, if negligible, amount of damage for a crossbow.

The opponent instantly went to reload their crossbow, seemingly out of habit. It was a bad habit, it was dangerous to reload at close range. Creighton instinctually seized the opportunity and charged.

*Chink*

The enemy realized their mistake after they loaded another bolt, but it was too late as Creighton hit them with a heavy strike from his axe. The hit sent them stumbling toward the staircase, and the knight from Mirrah sent them careening down the stairs with an extra kick.

As the fighter fell, Creighton broke down the situation he just fought through.

"This bloke's hasty. Too enticed by my back to put away their crossbow. That shield on their back would've been a better option." He remarked as they landed at the bottom of the stairs on their stomach.

Now that there was space between them, Creighton got a good look at his opponent as they picked themselves off the floor. He felt that something was familiar about this bloke, and then they locked eyes with each other.

That's when it clicked, Creighton knew the attacker. It was the white phantom from his last invasion!

They had the same armor as before: Exile Mask, Fallen knight armor, brigand gauntlets, and chain leggings. Overall light armor that provides a good defense.

Except, they weren't a phantom anymore; instead it was the real deal, and this time Creighton noticed something new about them. They were covered in embers.

"Wait a minute, that's an unkindled! Hmph, they still die the same way I do."

Creighton thought in his head in minor shock as there barely was any difference between an undead and unkindled as they both came back to life after being killed. The biggest distinction was in front of Creighton's eyes as unkindled can become embered via… well embers.

Creighton got over his surprise instantly and his instincts already had him fleeing toward the iron gate as he removed the crossbow bolt from his chest. The unkindled at this point swapped their crossbow for the grass crest shield on their back and started to run toward the stairs with the broadsword still in their right hand.

Creighton quickly remembered his analysis of the unkindled from the invasion.

"Weapon: broadsword, reinforced, hits very hard.

Grass crest shield for stamina.

Fighting style is very aggressive and they rely on pine resin buffs to deal a lot of damage in the shortest amount of time to prevent healing."

Normally an opponent like this would be one Creighton would love to fight one-on-one, but this unkindled completely demolished him in the invasion with three barrages of slashes from their broadsword. In fact he couldn't even heal in the invasion because of their aggression.

But the real reason Creighton chose to flee from the unkindled was because he got that good, long look at their eyes, and without the white phantom color to obscure their eyes he saw a stare that he's seen many times in his adventures.

It was one of greed mixed with cold determination, and it wasn't exactly directed at him. No, the unkindled's stare was all focused onto the axe that was always in Creighton's right hand. That determination reminded Creighton of himself when he set out to kill that bastard Pate, and it was all he needed to see to know that this unkindled would get their hands on his axe, no matter the cost.

There was no way around it, fleeing was the best decision.

Oh! Can't forget about Creighton's Dragonslayer's Crescent Axe.

An one-sided black axe with a unique crescent design on the blade's edge that made the axe sleek and more dextrous to wield compared to other strength-based axes. Its leather-wrapped handle was practically the same as any other battle axe, but the axe's main quality was that the axe blade was naturally infused with lightning that sparked on each hit, perfect for dragonslaying.

It is a famed weapon of legend used by the Forossan warrior Shieldless Lothian who suddenly 'disappeared' to go fight dragons.

Creighton knew the truth though, after all he was the one who challenged Lothian to a fight to the death,

and won.

He merely kept the axe as a trophy of his victory until he realized that it was a direct upgrade to his previous axe.

… Creighton never was the smartest of individuals.

Inserting song: Hunk's theme / Looming Dread

RE2 Remake

A tune to run away to.

So Creighton proceeded to escape from his attacker, starting by running full speed at the iron gate on the side path. He charged the gate and when he collided shoulder-first the gate's lock broke along with the upper hinge. The gate swung/fell open as Creighton rolled through to catch his balance. After the roll he took a quick glance back and saw the unkindled tripping over the last step at the top of the stairs. There was still plenty of distance between the two.

"They won't catch me if they keep going like that." Creighton thought smugly as he proceeded to sprint down the path. Then he went up a flight of stairs which had a Irithyll slave at the top of the stairs shooting Soul Arrows at him. He just sidestepped the simple projectiles and ran past the slave.

There was another stretch of flat ground with a close trio of flamberge-wielding slaves blocking a now visible double gate blocking the last flight of stairs to the cathedral. Two handing his weapon, the Wanderer did a running vertical strike on the closest slave.

It died instantly with a crackle as lightning ran through its body.

Quick on his feet Creighton rolled past the other two slaves dodging their clumsy swings, and then he held the axe horizontally to shove both of them toward the chasing unkindled who crashed into the two stumbling slaves.

With the unkindled distracted Creighton charged the double gate, but the gate didn't break open like the one before.

"HUH!?" Creighton exclaimed in surprise.

slash, slash

With two swings of their sword the unkindled killed the two Irithyll slaves blocking their way. Then they quickly applied a fire buff to their broadsword with a pine bundle as they started sprinting towards Creighton's exposed back for a juicy backstab.

Creighton panicked.

He glanced back at the unkindled and swiftly decided to sheath his axe in his belt, and then proceed to jump up as high as he could as he went to grab the top of the gate which was only a couple feet taller than him. In his panic, Creighton jumped too high. He was about to go above the gate but he was setting himself up for some very uncomfortable impalement for his undead body with the barbed spires at the top of the gate. Thankfully for Creighton, he grabbed the highest bar of the gate before he jumped past it and then he flung himself over the fence with his arm strength.

He landed face first on the ground with a grunt. Nothing an undead couldn't handle.

With his brain still in flight he did a recovery roll from his prone position and was back up on his feet in the span of 2 seconds after his fall.

Creighton then looked back at the gate and breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the unkindled staring at him with a dumbfounded look in their eyes doing nothing.

"Yes! They won't dare to try and pull that off (1) . They'll have to take the long way around."

Creighton took a moment to gather his bearings from his faceplant before deciding to take a jab at his pursuer.

"Hah! Serves you right, unkindled prick… heh… heh heh."

Not a moment later the shocked look in the unkindled's eyes was replaced with one of challenge as a smirk crept up their face that Creighton could feel under their Exile Mask.

Then the unkindled spoke.

"So, you want to play it that way, huh… hmph."

They became him as his voice was no doubt that of a man. The unkindled man sheathed his sword and shield as he began backpedaling to create some running space as he prepared to jump the gate.

Creighton saw this and immediately started booking it up the last flight of stairs as a thought ran through his head.

"I had to test him, didn't I? Argh! Can't believe I'm so dense sometimes."

When Creighton reached the top of the stairs he was finally on the same level as the cathedral's entrance which was guarded by a single pontiff knight with a scythe. Creighton remembered that there was most likely a tough boss within the cathedral.

"I just need to sneak past the knight and then battle the boss since the fog walls will- Wait!- I GOT IT!" Creighton came up with a better plan.

He looked back at his pursuer, the unkindled man was currently sprinting toward the gate about to jump.

"I've got enough time." Creighton said to himself as he brought out a magic pouch (bless Lothric's sorceries!) from his back pocket and started searching through his inventory of items.

"C'mon, C'mon where is it, there you are!"

The knight pulled out a young white branch which was an item that changed the user's appearance into one of the surrounding objects in the nearby environment. He wasted no time in waving it over his head while crushing the branch. Golden particles flowed out of the branch which surrounded Creighton, and then he transformed to take on the appearance of a nondescript barrel.

This Chameleon form was truly a lucky pull from the deck as the only actual barrel in sight was back at the gate down the stairs. Which just so happened to have an unkindled landing on it, breaking it in the process as the man finally jumped past the gate.

With only a single flight of stairs separating the two Creighton didn't waste another moment and his barrel form dashed off toward the cathedral's entrance while the unkindled man followed suit (2). Creighton ran past the pontiff knight who was too hollow to think a moving barrel was an enemy, but they noticed the chasing unkindled and slowed him down by attacking with their scythe.

After this Creighton finally dashed through the cathedral's entrance and got a look inside. Sure enough the first thing to greet him were five rows of pews on either side of a red carpet which led to the center of the building.

Standing in the center like a statue was Creighton's ace-in-the-hole, the boss. The Wanderer sweat dropped when he recognized the boss as Pontiff Sulyvahn, the Usurper of Anor Londo. He had heard rumors of the imposing man and his two greatswords, and at a glance the rumors appeared to hold true for once.

Thankfully Sulyvahn was staring at the ground so he didn't notice the concealed Creighton rapidly approaching him. After the barrel passed the last pew it went around the unaware Pontiff, giving him a wide berth. That was when Creighton saw the exit which would've been a straight line from the entrance if it weren't for Sulyvahn.

Creighton sprinted for the exit as fast as he could after getting past the Pontiff. He was almost there, just a bit more now.

...

Twenty feet away.

...

Ten feet away.

Five feet away.

*CHPOOM*

Total dread entered Creighton's chest as the sound of the unkindled man desperately firing his crossbow sounded like a wyvern's roar as it echoed throughout the large room. The sound alerted Pontiff Sulyvahn to look up as the crossbow bolt uselessly pinged off one of his greatswords.

With the last bit of his stamina Creighton leaped toward the exit, breaking the chameleon form, as Pontiff Sulyvahn ignited the respective elements of his Profaned Greatsword and Greatsword of Judgement with the arrival of a new challenger.

The Wanderer had to catch himself with his hands when landing the jump as he collapsed to his knees as his stamina finally ran out. He took a moment to breathe air into his rotting lungs and recover his stamina. Then he swerved his head behind him toward the exit to see if the Pontiff was rushing over to sever his head.

Instead he was greeted by a much more pleasant sight: A fog wall covering the exit as sounds of fighting could be heard from the other side.

Eject Hunk's theme: Song end

A victorious grin etched up Creighton's face through his steel mask as he stood himself up from the ground. To celebrate his victory over the persistent unkindled all he did was bring both his hands up to point at himself with his thumbs while he leaned back.

Creighton then gleefully shouted, "THIS ONE'S ME!"

"Hahahahahaha… hah hah… heh."

Riding the high of victory Creighton laughed freely for a little bit before collecting himself as he removed his axe from his belt and put it back into its home in his right hand.

"That'll teach him. No one is going to get their hands on my axe, not now, not ever. I've earned it."

Creighton reassured himself as he spoke his conviction out for the world to hear.

He walked up ahead a bit more to fully exit the cathedral as he found himself outside. The first thing he saw was a circular courtyard that looked perfectly suited to be an arena. It was built on lower ground with staircases on Creighton's left and right side that led down to the courtyard proper. The whole arena was built on a cliff which provided a great view of the distant snowy mountain range in the horizon.

The courtyard was empty and going left seemed to be the way towards the rest of this new area as there was a staircase that curved behind a corner.

He took a step-

*R I N G*

A sudden ringing filled Creighton's head, and it felt like his head was going to explode. Clasping his head with his free hand, Creighton's legs started moving on their own as he unwittingly approached the source of the ringing.

All of a sudden there was no ground to walk on, so Creighton fell down into the arena.

The Wanderer got up and he lifted his head enough to see an object. It was a television made of static that appeared in the center of the arena. Looking at it increased the ringing in his head as the ethereal TV beckoned Creighton with a loud hiss of static.

Creighton brought his head down and tried to get away from it, but his body wasn't obeying him as it was drawn to the TV's 'screen' outlined in a square of black particles.

A few more steps and he was in front of the TV with the ringing at its climax as Creighton groaned in pain from the induced migraine. Creighton watched in silent horror as his shaking left hand lifted itself and moved to touch the screen.

He couldn't do anything. He was petrified by the throbbing pain in his head.

Right when his hand touched the screen, the static within the screen formed the shape of a single hand that was unnaturally long and thin compared to his own.

Creighton could only tighten his grip on his dragonslayer's axe as he was pulled into the television.

Vroom

The staticky television remained in the arena for a couple more minutes before it abruptly disappeared into the snowy sky.

After a while the unkindled pursuer ran into the courtyard and desperately looked around in some vain hope that Creighton the Wanderer could be found. The unkindled man soon accepted the fact that he lost Creighton. Then in an agonized voice he exclaimed,

"AAAAAHHHHHH... DAMN IT. I BEAT THE PONTIFF FIRST TRY AND I STILL LOSE HIM!"

The unkindled man then let out a slow, pained laugh.

"Guess I'm sticking with the broadsword for the rest of my Soul Level 1 run." Said the unkindled in a tone of defeated calm (3).

End of Chapter 2

(1)- Undead and unkindled alike usually don't risk trying to parkour in the world of Dark Souls if it's anything more than a simple jump over a gap, but Creighton had to jinx it.

(2)- Ds3 chameleon form only allows the player to walk around, running breaks the disguise. However Creighton has the benefit of being a character from Dark Souls 2 where more mobility is allowed before your chameleon breaks form, namely you can run.

(3)- Yep, the Ashen One was challenging himself by doing a Soul Level 1 run, basically choosing the deprived class and not leveling up at all. In a SL1 run two of the best weapons to use are the Broadsword which can be found in the High Wall of Lothric, and the Dragonslayer's Axe from our dear Creighton.

The Unkindled's armor choice, weapons(minus the crossbow, that's my idea), and dialogue was based on a Souls youtuber, Prod, I watched do their own SL1 run in Ds3 around a year ago. His commentary was great, the reactions were priceless, and his pain playing through the dlc was heartbreaking. What else could you ask for?

You should go check out Prod, he's a chill guy with a unique sense of humor who still hasn't put blinds on his windows to get rid of the glare on his monitor, that dummy :) Fair warning though there is a LOT of channel lore, specifically around his dog Cookie.

Another thing I want to say, the gesture Creighton made in celebration of his plan working was the "this one's me" gesture from Ds2. The NPC in Ds2 that gives you that gesture is Chancellor Wellager. Creighton gives the "fist pump" gesture. But I think "this one's me" is way more suited to Creighton, so I made him do that one instead.

Next time, the true shenanigans will kick off as we go back into the Pale City.

I gotta wrap this up. This chapter is way longer than what I planned as I said back up in my Author's note. So, hope you enjoyed the chapter and have a great day!

A/N: This chapter has a notable revision as I redid the unkindled's initial ambush. Previously he had an itchy trigger finger with the crossbow and shot on sight.