Alright, alright. So, the last two chapters lacked a bit of action. I must confess that it is not my field of work. I have been playing some more Dark Souls III for the last few days to gain some experience of how this story would go like. Speaking of which, I must confirm this. There are going to be a handful of characters from the Dark Souls Trilogy that will be in this story. It'll be slow, but you will have to wait. Now onto the third chapter…or second chapter to put it that way.

Dark Souls: Embers of Remnant

Two

All Aboard

'What's wrong? Get a bit of a scare out there? No problem. Have a seat and get comfortable.'

If Ash had to be honest to himself, the current situation he is in would be anything that was helpful to his many questions.

He was in a room that Ruby had offered. He was glad that he was given a room where he could dwell upon the information that was provided by the books that were offered by the Faunus girl, Blake. Something that he was glad that didn't phase out of existence.

What he has read so far did bring some interest. First, the place he is currently in is called Mistral, which is one of the Four Kingdoms of Remnant. That word, Remnant, he couldn't help but chuckle at that word, Remnant, since it gave him a feeling that it was playing with the word of remaining. An odd choice of words to say the least.

Next, he looked at the natives of this world. Turns out, there are two types of species. Humans were the obvious known, and the others were those with the animalistic traits called Faunus. The latter had an interesting history due to them being discriminated against by the humans. It was so bad that they created a movement called the White Fang.

At first, that movement were protesting for their rights. Then, as they got ignored, they instead turned into violence and crime. All of that just to have their words heard. Ash mentally shook his head in disappointment. It wasn't anything different from what he saw in the Land of Lothric. He knew that these White Fang wanted to have equal rights like humans. But violence was never going to be an answer as it would cause fear instead of respect.

Flicking a page to another interesting topic, Ash finally read the topic on Huntsmen, huntress, and the four Academies located in Beacon, Mistral, Atlas, and Vacuo. From what he read; they are a type of people that goes to a special combat school to train to fight against these creatures known as the Grim. Again, he had a feeling that they were some sort of spawn from the Abyss. Seeing the information once again reminded him of a specialized unit within the Undead Legion of Farron, The Abyss Watchers.

Having been corrupted by the Abyss, the Ashen One gave them one last fight before slaying them and ending their suffering. They may have been gone from the physical world, but he managed to gain their Soul and their Cinder. The former of which he transported into a weapon.

This made him unclip his Bottomless Box from his belt. Ash placed it on the desk before he searched through it to find that exact weapon. Grabbing the hilt of that weapon, he pulled it out to reveal the Great Sword of the Wolf Knight. The First Abyss Walker and one of the Four Knights of Gwyn.

Holding the sword up and pointing it at the ceiling, this weapon had helped him through his quest to receive the remaining Lords of Cinder and his quest. It was his personal favorite aside from his Long Sword, the Onyx Blade, the Frayed Blade, and the Lothric Knight Sword.

"Perhaps I'll be using this instead." He muttered to himself while looking at the Great Sword of the First Abyss Walker as he stored the Dark Sword and shield back to his bottomless box before clipping it back to his belt. Remnant may still be unknown to him, but perhaps with the help of this sword, he can go through all of whatever would be thrown to him.

-Scene Change-

The next day had come. Ash, along with Teams RWBY, JNR, Oscar, and Qrow, were sitting on the benches in a building that was called a Train Station. Currently, he was sitting down near the rest and was leaning over the hilt of the Wolf Knight's Great Sword.

At first, none took interest in the way his sword looked like. Well, that was until Ruby saw the sword after bickering with her sister, Yang, Nora, and two Huntsmen of the Argus Limited. Stars were seen in her eyes as she looked at the Great Sword. "Oh my God! You got an awesome looking sword there!"

Weiss and the others turned to Ash's position. Now that Ruby mentioned it, the design seemed to be unique. "That's quite a sword you got there. Mind telling us where you got it from?"

"I found it in my journey." Ash blankly stated. That wasn't technically a lie.

The rest narrowed their eyes in suspicion at his statement. All knew that a sword like what he is leaning on cannot be simply founded from within a ruin or something. Still, Nora couldn't help but comment on his words. "Really? Because that sword you have kinda looks like Jaune's. But bigger and rougher."

Obviously, Jaune was offended by his teammate's words. "Hey!"

"…" Ash didn't say anything as he looked at the people who were looking at the Wolf Knight's Great Sword. He let out a silent sigh since he never wanted the attention that his weapon was currently giving out. Looking at what was seen in Ruby's back. He could guess what it was. "I guess that thing is your weapon, right?"

The red-haired girl nodded her head and presented it to Ash. "Yep! This is my pride and joy, Crescent Rose!"

Before Ruby could even do a thing. Weiss just let out a small groan. "Myrtenaster. And Blake's Gambol Shroud."

Ash looked over to Yang, who could clearly see that she was a bit off when Weiss mentioned that name. Perhaps he'll just leave it out for now. Speaking of the blonde, she showed her bracelet to him. "My weapon is called Ember Celia."

Nora happily showed her weapon. "Magnild is my weapon's name, and it'll literally pack a punch. I can use this to break peoples' legs."

Ren sighed at his childhood friend's words. He was next to introduce his weaponry. "StormFlower." That was all to say, and the first word made Ash recall having a weapon that had the 'storm' for its name.

Lastly, it was Jaune's turn. "Crocea Mors. Though, this isn't mine as it has been part of my Family's heirloom for a while. Although it looks like a simple sword and shield, it's reliable and it helped me ever since I got them." Ash couldn't help but chuckle silently at his words. It reminded him of how he had started out in the Cemetery of Ash.

"…they look nice, and I see that you have used them ever since you got them?" Ash didn't need an answer to that. Looking at his sword, Ash may consider that the sword of the First Abyss Walker is really his armament of choice. "So, when do we get to this Argus place?"

Yang crossed her arms against her chest. She was about to answer his question when the girl came up. "Right about now."

Qrow sighed at the sight before him as he fished down a flask from his pocket and drank the substance. "Well. We got onto the train right about now. You better follow behind us if you don't want to get lost."

Everyone began to pick up their belongings before heading to the train. They were surprised that Ash didn't have anything on aside from his weapon and what seemed to be a small box strapped within his belt. Then again, he is still a stranger to the group. Perhaps, the more time he spends with them, they may learn a thing or two about him. Speaking of that individual, he was walking with them when he turned to the side again. This caught Blake's attention. "Ash. What are you looking at?"

Ash turned to face Blake. "…I was just daydreaming." Well, he wasn't completely lying. He had an odd feeling that someone was watching them from within the shadows and sensed a spiteful soul.

He needs to keep an eye on whoever this person is. For now, all he needed to do was to get on board the Argus Limited and go to Argus.

-Scene Change-

Argus Limited was moving towards its destination. As everyone was in their designated rooms, Ash, meanwhile, just silently stood in the hallway. He was taking account of how travelling had improved last time. It seems like they didn't rely on the work of those Imp Demons.

Seeing that he was blocking the way of an old woman walking by, he went to one side of the hallway to let her though. There was something off about her as he could see that she had some sort of metallic eyeglasses or something like that.

Leaning over the wall near where team RWBY were, he looked out of the window and looked to the view he was seeing. It may have been too quick for him, but he couldn't help but appreciate it. The weather reminded him of both the Painted World of Ariandel, and Irithyll of the Boreal Valley. The only difference being that it wasn't decayed or rotten.

As he was about to head to where the others were, he suddenly overheard a conversation between two members of team RWBY. "Here, let me help you with that." That was the voice of Blake.

"Blake, you don't have to that." And he heard Yang's voice next.

The cat girl's voice was calm but the Unkindled could hear some sadness within the way she spoke. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I'm fine," Ash had a feeling that Yang was lying about her feeling. He doesn't know what caused her to act like that, but he knew that it may be a personal thing between the two. "We're gonna be fine. It's just gonna be a bit before things are back to normal. But... I am glad we're all back together."

"Yeah, okay."

"How touching." Ash and everyone within the room turned to see Qrow standing in the doorway. He was holding a cocktail in his hand.

Ruby was glad to see her uncle. "Oh hey, Uncle Qrow! You wanna play too?" She suddenly noticed Ash leaning over at the wall. "Hey, Ash. I didn't know you were there You wanna come play with us as well?"

"…" Ash didn't say anything. In all honesty, he wasn't fond of having some time off. He was an Unkindled, the lowest of the low, who was only bound by duty. Yet as he was about to reply, the train suddenly shook.

This caught everyone's attention. "What was that?" The Faunus Girl said out loud.

"Exactly what it sounds like." Weiss had said the obvious answers.

"Just my luck." The other girl sarcastically replied.

Whatever was happening, Qrow was looking out of the window. "It's not ours... grab your weapons!" Everyone did that. Unknown that Ash had already gone outside.

Ash climbed out of the window. He had to be careful of his footings if he didn't want to get flown off. Noticing a group of a Grimm that he had never seen before, he saw those two huntsmen again. Knowing that one of them was about to make a foolish move, Ash rushed towards them while grabbing his great sword from his back. He was there in the nick of time as he managed to slay one of them right before one of the creatures could grab the remaining huntsmen. He wasn't fortunate to save the other that was grabbed by one of those flying creatures and absorbed the soul. "There goes witnessing the first ever death in this new place."

The remaining huntsman was surprised to see that strange individual killing a Grimm with a single blow. As he was about to speak, both heard Grimm screaming. That was a sign for Ash to stand his ground. "Go!" He told him.

Not needing to be told twice, the huntsman proceeded to head to his designated destination. Ash brought up his sword to block a Grimm's attack before stabbing the creature through its neck before beheading it. Right before another could attack him from behind, Qrow then appeared to kill one. He wasn't alone though as the rest of Team RWBY were behind him. "Did you really think you can fight this alone?"

"…" Ash didn't say a word as he and the others readied to fight off a horde of Grimm. In truth, he couldn't beat a horde on his own if he had learned how to use sorcery. But he only preferred direct combat using strength and dexterity with a mix of Pyromancy to it.

"What's the plan, Ruby?" He heard Blake asking her leader.

"Don't let anyone else die!" The leader of Team RWBY declared, which everyone readied their weapons.

Ash decided to stay in his position as he was going to analyze each of their fighting styles. First, he saw all get to work on cutting down each of those Grimm with fast efficiency. He was instantly reminded on how his fight with Sister Friede where he died multiple times before beating her…and Father Ariandel. This was something he needed to work on in case he'd ever fight someone like them.

Suddenly, he saw the train activating some sort of reinforced plating covering most of the train while metal bars that were crisscross were mount on the windows. After that, a series of turrets rise above the train and begin targeting the midair Grimm. He saw a group being shot down while they were flying. "Impressive." He quietly muttered underneath his breath.

Looking to where Qrow was, he was engaging another type of Grimm. Using the scythe form of his weapon, Harbinger, to attack. The Grimm tried to crush Qrow with its paw, but he manages to transform into his avian form before changing back to land an attack from above. That certainly caught the Unkindled's attention. "Did he…quickly turn into some sort of bird?"

Ash heard multiple explosions and turned to see those Grimm spitting out fireballs to destroy those machines. Seeing that only made the Unkindled groan as he killed one of the Grimm. "Oh, for the…"

"Why is it always something?!" His ears caught the attention of Nora as she and the rest of her team, and Oscar, climbed to the top of the train to assist them.

Oscar ran towards Qrow and asked, "How can I help?"

"Tell that idiot to turn off the turret." Qrow answered back while he staggered a Grimm. "They're just drawing the Grimm toward the passengers!"

Oscar did exactly what he was instructed. Ash then proceeded to help by swinging the Wolf Knight's Great sword to great effect as it managed to kill these creatures with ease. "Good thing I decided to use this weapon instead. Are these creatures related to the Abyss?"

Ash continued to kill of a wave of Grimm. This lasted for a while until he and the others saw them flying away. As he wanted to celebrate, he knew something was off. "They didn't retreat without a reason. I wonder—"

"TUNNEL!" All heard Osar shout. They turned around and saw what was about to come.

Ash let out a 'tch' as he retreated down towards a small open area where team RWBY had retreated. Out of nowhere, he heard a bone being snapped. He didn't react to the sound and was about to regroup with the others. That was then he turned to face the back and had that same feeling when he was back at the train station. "There it is again. Seriously, who is this person? I can feel that same presence from within the shadows." He didn't want to dwell upon that thought for long as he needed to regroup with the others.

Turning to face back, he started to walk to where the others were at. As he entered, he saw Team RWBY and the others witnessing Qrow arguing with the two huntsmen. "I said, turn those damn things off!" He proceeded to barge one of them towards the wall.

The other person groaned in pain due to his recent injury. "Those things are keeping us alive!"

"Us, sure, but they're putting the passengers in danger!" The Drunk Huntsman countered back.

Obviously, the huntsman wasn't happy with the other man's words. "I'm the one they hired for this job, okay?! I'm in charge here!"

Just before the argument could escalate, both saw Ash walking towards them. "That's enough!" Despite his tone being cold and apathetic, both huntsmen knew that this individual was serious about the current situation. "I do not know what your argument is. But May I remind you that both of your actions would cost the lives of everyone on this train?! Put aside whatever animosity you both have and just do whatever your job is. Got it!?"

Everyone was surprised and shocked to see this side of Ash. True, he did have an uncared tone within his voice. Yet at the same time, it was also laced with sternness. Qrow then begrudgingly let go of the Huntsman, who proceeded to use that same device to turn off the turrets. Seeing the injury on the arm of that Huntsman, Ash walked up to him and unclipped his Estus Flask. "Here. Take a sip. It'll heal your injury."

The Huntsman was skeptical of this person's words. Looking to see that Ash wasn't going away soon, he took the flask off and took a sip. Despite the dull taste, it was warm, and it was felt throughout his body. He looked at his arm and didn't see that injury anymore. "Woah. It healed my injury. Thanks a lot, man."

"Thank me and the others later." Ash told him, getting his Estus Flask back and then clipping it back onto his pouch. "I need to find a bonfire before it completely runs out. If there is any." Turning back, he saw Team RWBY, JNR, and Oscar looking at him with wide eyes. "Something wrong?"

"Well…" Nora spoke, still being in a state of shock after seeing Ash's magical flask healing that huntsman's injured arm. "We were discussing of how Ren could use his Semblance to mask everyone on this train."

"Wait, he can?" Ash asked with a bit of surprise in his tone.

"Yes, I can." The boy answered his question. "But in truth, I never attempted to affect this many people."

Well, that was true. But Ruby then remembered something. "Well, you've never had Jaune's help before."

Weiss knew where her leader was implying towards. "He could amplify your Aura!"

"Yeah, that's an alright plan." Qrow said while smiling. Impressed by what he was currently hearing.

"That's…a thing?" Ash mentally asked. He wasn't too familiar with these Semblances that he saw in the book. He as he heard more of them, the more it reminded of how the magic had helped back in his old world.

"I'm afraid there's one complication..." Everyone heard Ozpin's voice. All turned to where he, or rather where Oscar was walking towards their position. "The Grimm are also attracted to this." He then gestured to the lamp that was seen on his hip.

Now Ash was closer to the lamp, he sensed that same powerful souls again. He had an obvious reason why. "No wonder those creatures are attracted to that thing?"

Yang was not impressed by what she and the others were hearing. "Why wouldn't you tell us that?!"

Before Ozpin would about to answer, Ruby proceeded to interrupt. "It doesn't matter right now." She turned to face everyone. "Ash is right. Every second we're on board this train, we're putting everyone else in danger. Get the passengers to the front cars, you'll still mask the emotions and kill the turrets..." She turned to loom at JNR. "we just can't come with you." A plan was already thought up in her mind. "If we cut the back cars with us and the Relic on them, we can deal with the Grimm. You just make sure the rest of the train makes it safely to Argus."

Jaune smiled at this. He was impressed by his friend's proposal of saving everyone. "Alright. Only if you'll promise you'll meet us there."

Ruby smiled back at him. "Promise."

With that, Team JNR begins evacuating all the passengers to the front half of the train. The rest, as well as Ash, proceeded to head outside to fight off the Grimm horde. As they did so, Ash saw the train decoupling. Yet, despite it going away, he could have seen a black hooded figure going out of sight. He had a vague guess to know who it may be. "It's that same spiteful soul again. Could it be…?" He heard Blake jumping towards his position. Looking at her face, he could see something clearly wrong with her but decided not to ask. "Should we go back with the others?"

The Faunus girl nodded and the two went to where everyone was. As they did, the two saw Ruby using Crescent Rose to fend off against a small group of Grimm. She was about to get tackled when Ash suddenly came to her position. She smiled at his sudden arrival. "That sword is really useful, huh?"

"Focus on the fighting." He told her before he stabbed another Manticore before slicing both the jaw and the rest of the head off with his Wolf Knight Great Sword.

At the same timer as this was happening, Yang and Blake were doing their own thing with another small group of Grimm. The Yang took out a Manticore before launching off it and runs towards the Sphinx, ducking under it. Blake spins her weapon, with the brawler punching it back and forth. The ribbon wrapping around the Sphinx's torso. Yang punches Gambol Shroud one more time, embedding the blade to the train's roof, and she and Blake pull the ribbon together, keeping the Sphinx down. Weiss uses her Glyphs to freeze the Sphinx's wings, with Qrow and Ruby shooting at them, shattering it.

Ash silently whistled at this sight as he sheathed his sword onto his back. He wondered why they'd make a great team despite not knowing them fully. His eyes suddenly noticed the train coming off the rail. "Great." He knew where this was heading towards. Right before he could fall off, some symbol appeared where he stood. He felt like being held down and right before his eyes, everything went white.

…

…

…

Coughs could be heard as Team RWBY, Oscar, and Qrow got up from the snow. All were lucky that their Aura had protected them from the impact. "Is everyone okay?" Qrow asked the group.

"I'm fine." Weiss spoke, getting up from the snowy ground.

"Yeah." Blake also spoke as if she no longer felt dizzy.

Out of nowhere, all heard an unfamiliar voice that came from one of the derailed trains. "Still alive!" Everyone turned to where she saw and looked at her, who turned out to be an elderly lady. She did the same thing. "That sure was a close one, huh?"

Right as one of them was about to answer, Oscar realized something was missing. "Wait, where's the Relic?!"

Ruby also looked at her surroundings and noticed that someone wasn't with them. She looked around the surroundings. "Where did Ash go!?"

Alright, this took me a while to write. I hope you enjoyed it. Now, what did Ash had that feeling that someone was watching them within the shadows and who is that spiteful soul that he sensed?

Now, as you can clearly see, Ash's weapon of Choice is the Wolf Knight Great Sword that once belonged to Knight Artorias, the Abyss Walker. It's quite fitting as Grimm reminds me of the enemies from the Abyss from Dark Souls 1 and 3. I do hope you do not mind this. For now at least.

I do apologize if I got the lore wrong with him, the Abyss Watchers, and others that are seen in this chapter. That and how the fighting went. I used the Wikipedia for help since I suck at writing fight scenes. I may improve in the future.

One more piece of information, Ash is only going to change outfits when team RWBY and the other cast members do. Hey, he cannot wear the same outfit over and over.

Onto the reviews then…

eternal nothingness: To answer that. Ash is extremely powerful considering he has the First Flame within him. He doesn't know it yet and he doesn't want to catch others' attention. Which I think is already happening when looking at that Estsus Flask part.

With that, I will see you all in the next chapter. Whenever the next one is published.