Board Thread:Off Topic/@comment-14138255-20170320024103/@comment-14138255-20170331191939

Chapter 4: Firelink

Beacon Academy: intact and bustling with students and faculty. Pyrrha sat amongst her friends, both her teammates and Team RWBY. Nora was rambling on about something she heard but couldn't decipher, with Ren patiently waiting for her to finish, while Ruby (tried) talking with her partner Weiss, who was busy filing her nails. Blake sat buried in a book with unusual folded pages, and Yang attempted to talk, but eventually ended up playfully debating with Nora, all as Pyrrha watched on. She turned from where she was, and saw Jau-

And that was when she had woken up, rested but glum, her heart sank as she began to look around and remember where she was. While the warmth of the bonfire had lulled her to sleep the day before, it had done little to reduce her extreme exhaustion from her battle with Gundyr.

The pleasant dreams had only served to highlight the dark world she was currently in. Somewhat demoralized, she picked up her sword, Gundyr's sword, and her shield and started moving again.

The building was just in sight. Slowly she walked up through the path, spotting several of the ghouls sitting about. They did not trouble her, but she kept her guard up just in case.

She managed to reach the entrance without incident. The inside was dark, but she was able to see just fine after her eyes adjusted.

The room was almost like an amphitheater, with five impossibly large thrones overlooking the atrium, which had a ceramic, bowl-like protrusion. She could vaguely see a corpse hunched over on one of the thrones, but the whole building was quiet. She cautiously walked down the steps right of the entrance and made to the center of the building.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" Pyrrha called out, her voice echoing across the halls.

"Will you be quiet? You'll wake the dead." A bitter voice called out to her right. Pyrrha followed the voice, finding a man with a greatsword and shield, wearing a suit of partial plate with a chainmail coif.

"Ah, I'm sorry…" Pyrrha replied, almost automatically.

"Hmph, sorry? No you're not, not yet. Trust me, you'll have plenty of time to be sorry once this all blows over, may as well get comfortable here, where it's safe at least" The warrior pitiably spoke, his head hanging from his neck.

Pyrrha stepped back uneased by the man, and turned around, where a woman was standing right behind her, causing Pyrrha to jump in alarm. The woman, who had smooth white hair and skin, had a mask covering the upper-part of her face, with no eye holes visible, and she stood utterly still.

"Welcome to the bonfire, Unkindled One," the woman spoke.

Even more uneased, Pyrrha adjusted herself to a somewhat more natural position. "Um, thank you? Who are you?"

"I am the Firekeeper. I tend to the flame and tend to thee" the Firekeeper explained. "The lords have abandoned their thrones, and must be delivered to them. To this end I am by your side."

"Wait just a minute, I was brought here by a bell ringing. What are you talking about?" Pyrrha demanded, painfully confused as to what was going on. The man sitting on the steps started speaking.

"What do you mean 'what are you talking about?' The lords. The Lords of Cinder?"

Pyrrha turned around, unexpectedly shocked by the word. She finally asked "the what?"

The man was nearly to his wits end. "Any of that sound familiar to you lass?"

Pyrrha looked down. "The only Cinder I know of was the woman...who killed me."

"But that's why you're here right? You are Unkindled aren't you? Called to this fool task?"

"No!" cried an old woman's amused voice from down the hall, underneath where she came, where she also vaguely heard hammering steel. "This one is different."

"Oh what is she on about now?" the warrior sullenly asked. The Firekeeper too had turned around, but had made no facial reaction.

"Bring her here, Keeper" the old woman called. The Firekeeper motioned for Pyrrha to follow her, and Pyrrha shuffled into the hall. A large, burly man with silver hair was hammering something on an anvil at the end, and to the right was an old woman in a red robe on a chair, fiddling with a thin figurine apparently made of wicker. The old woman looked up with milky white eyes, showing Pyrrha her missing teeth as she smiled with a warm but not entirely benevolent smile.

"Ahh, yes. A lost little lamb come wandereth in." Pyrrha shuffled uncomfortably where she was. The woman continued. "So, young lady, what exactly is the last thing thou remember before hearing the bell?" she asked. "Cans't thou remember?"

Pyrrha's eyes widened, recalling to her being shot in the chest, every agonizing moment before losing consciousness, and then waking up in the cemetery.

"...dost thou have any questions for me?" the woman asked. Pyrrha had several questions, about many things, but she had one that was more pressing.

After a pause, she finally answered. "Where am I?"

"Lothric" the woman answered, fully aware of the vagueness of the question.

While infuriated by this, she calmly rephrased her question. "And where is Lothric exactly? Which continent?"

"Evidently thou art not from here, but I know thee to be special, young maiden, I can sense it. But, thou hast more pressing matters to tend to, such as thine condition."

"My… condition?" Pyrrha asked, even more incredulously.

"Thou hast died already, and yet thou art here talking to me. This is because thou art undead."

"...what?"

"Thou bear on thy person a brand, the Darksign. 'Long as you walk this earth, thou shalt never die, and this unceasing cycle of torment will drain thy light and thy mind, until thee go mad. Thy will be a beast with no motivation, wandering the world, attacking any who will approach you in your insanity."

Pyrrha slowly shrank inwards as the Old Woman spoke, and saw how well her words fit into all she had gone through, from her waking up in a sarcophagus to her second death at the hands of Gundyr. She raised her head upward for a question. "But, what about my world? Is there any way to return?" she asked, desperate for an answer. "Am I...stuck here? Forever?"

The woman scowled instead. "Is our world not worth considering? Didst thou not peer out into that cemetery of ash? See how our lands crumble?"

"T-that's not- I didn't mean…," Pyrrha stuttered, naturally apologetic. The Firekeeper moved to her for support, but Pyrrha was preoccupied.

"No, perhaps not. But regardless of circumstance and independant of reasons, we need thee. Thou hast answered the bell, which calls for a warrior to help us. I look upon thee, and I see a woman who wouldst not turn away from a people in need. Only in helping would we provide you the answers thou seek. Who knows? Mayhap you find these on your own in so doing. The bell has rung, and the fire that has made our civilization possible is dying. At the same time, thou hast come to our door. To protect us, and protect the link of fire, and find the answers you seek, 'tis thine destiny..."

Pyrrha froze at these words as she said them.

"Thou believe in destiny, dost thou not?" the Old Woman inquired.

Pyrrha shook herself out of her stunned expression and nodded. "I do."

"So… what is thine answer?"

Pyrrha looked down at her hands and at the thrones just barely visible from the hall. She thought of all that had happened, how confusing and tiring being in this world had been for just a moment. She thought of all the people she knew back home.

Who may not even know if she was alive...if she was. And from where she was, she couldn't see refusing this quest as anything but selfish and self-defeating. At least by accepting she could find answers while helping them while finding a way back to her own world. She had no other choice.

She paused for a long while thinking. Finally, she turned to the Old Woman.

"Lothric?"

The woman smiled her toothless smile. "Yes, indeed…"

''' Author's Notes: Very exposition heavy (and misdirect heavy now that I mention it) chapter, I hope that's alright for people. For those asking, I have not purchased the DLCs when making this fic and crafting the direction, so chances are I won't adapt those into the story (though it seemed interesting), since it doesn't exactly have to do with the main story as far as I'm aware. As for side-quests, I'll do ones that contribute to the character development and/or the main story, but not every NPC is going to be met chances are. Thanks for reading, the next update is going to be rather small, but I hope its content more than makes up for it. As always, I'll see you on Friday.'''