//------------------------------//
// Journey Through the Woods 
// Story: Dark Souls 3: Cinders of Power 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

Tirek rested for a few more moments, just to make sure all of his flasks were restocked and his body was ready for the next leg of their journey, where Sarana and Martok joined him for a time so they could do the same thing, and once they were ready the three of them stood up and moved towards the opening that would take them into the Crucifixion Woods, leaving Anri and Horace behind. Sure enough one of the things that he noticed, as he and his companions walked through the lone opening, was that there was a large number of trees in the area in front of them and off in the distance he spotted three burning fires, which seemed to be above the rest of the trees, meaning they had to be important in some manner and that they would likely figure that out at some point in the near future. Off to their left, and resting some distance away from where they were standing, was a massive structure that looked like one he and Sarana had seen after they bested Vordt, one that had to be the Cathedral of the Deep, the home of one of the Lords of Cinder, Aldrich, Devourer of the Gods, which they would be visiting at some point in the near future. Their first objective, of course, was to make their way through the area that was currently in front of them and find a path that would take them to where the Cathedral was located, since he was sure that such a path existed, but for now all they could do was walk forward and see what the woods had to offer them, in both enemies and rewards.

As they walked along the rocky path that was in front of them, and turned around so they could continue towards the watery part of this zone, the group discovered that there were two hollows that were wielding pointed weapons, as in tree limbs that had been turned into pikes, and when one of them spotted the trio they tried to charge them, where Sarana and Martok dodged the attack, while Tirek moved out of the way, before they retaliated. Tirek blasted the second pike hollow in the chest with a Fireball, knocking it to the ground in an instant, while his companions quickly took care of the first one they had encountered, allowing them to move forward once more as they kept their eyes open for more of that type of enemy and any other enemies that might call the Crucifixion Woods home. After a few moments they came to a stop and noticed that there were a fair number of pike hollows in the area they were heading towards, ones that seemed to be slowly patrolling the area while holding their weapons up towards the sky, though off to the right were some strange purple creatures that looked like fungi of some kind, which did seem dangerous. As such they headed down the rest of the walkway and engaged the pike hollows that were in their way, two of them to be exact, though as Tirek blasted his foe he noticed something interesting, there were a few small crabs walking around in the water, but he had to assume that they were hostile towards him and his companions, even if they seemed to be normal at the moment.

When the first pair of pike hollows were taken care of the trio turned to their right and walked down to where another pike hollow was praying to a corpse with an undead dog next to him, where Sarana and Martok took care of the dog as he blasted the pike hollow with a pair of Fireballs, eventually allowing them to collect a Titanite Shard for their efforts, which was added to their collection as they turned to explore the rest of the woods. That was when Tirek spotted something interesting in the distance, a red colored being, just like the purple one they had seen near the white birch tree, that did seem to be female based on the body, but she was wearing some odd armor, including the giant cloth around her head, and had two weapons, a pick and a crossbow. The figure in question was standing near one of the trees, where Tirek did spot a massive crab further beyond her, so for right now they had to deal with the foe that was going to come at them and try to kill them, before attempting to progress through the rest of the woods, since attempting to progress with an invader seemed to be pointless. For a moment the lady actually headed back to where the large crab was standing and vanished for a moment, showing that being a great distance away from their line of sight must have allowed it to disappear, but even as that happened Sarana pulled out her bow and readied her arrows as she moved to another location, indicating that she was going to try and hit their new foe before she got close to either Tirek or Martok, who were going to be bait for the red invader and draw her out of wherever she was hiding.

The pair waited for a few moments, seeing if Sarana was right in what she was doing, before an arrow flew through the air and struck something, where the lady materialized before their eyes as whatever she had been doing to hide her presence had been broken, allowing him and Martok to engage her, as in Martok swung at her as Tirek stayed back, as he used his new Fireballs to do some decent damage to their foe. He did try out the Fire Surge spell for a moment, where he found that he emitted a stream of fire from the hand that contained the pyromancy flame he had been given, which did hurt their foe, but fortunately Sarana joined them and lashed out at the lady, even though Tirek stopped using the spell he was currently using and returned to pelting their foe with Fireballs. When confronted with the three of them, and the skills they possessed, the lady didn't stand much of a chance and eventually collapsed on the ground, where Tirek watched as she was reduced to dust and disappeared from the area she had fallen in, leaving behind her pick and her head piece, like a reward of some kind, to which Sarana picked them up and stored them inside their pack, even if they didn't seen them at the moment. Tirek was fine with the lady dying, since that meant the invader was dead and they could progress without having to worry about someone else trying to attack them in such a way, before he glanced out at the area that they were going to explore soon and glared at the large crab that seemed to be minding its own business, where he hoped it stayed that way, since he had the feeling that fighting the creature was the bad idea at the moment.

As he thought about that, however, he spotted a smaller crab that was near his hooves, which happened to be making the motions to pinch him with its pincers, to which he frowned for a moment as he blasted the crab in the face with a Fireball, knocking it backwards in the process, but as that happened, however, the large crab changed its course rather suddenly and started moving over to where they were standing.

"Oh, you are kidding me." Tirek remarked, mostly because that was stupid, that he hurt the smaller one because it was getting ready to hit him and the larger one rushed in to attack them, and neither of his companions seemed to think about what was going on at the moment as they readied themselves for what was coming towards them, to which he raised his staff and did the same thing.

It didn't take the large crab all that long to make its way around the trees that were in the area and enter the part of the zone that they were in, where it raised one of its claws and brought it down on where the group was standing, which caused the three of them to dodge out of the way as it came crashing down on the watery area they had been standing on, before they got up and readied themselves again. As they separated from each other, however, the large crab loosed a burst of foam at Martok, slowing him down so he would have a harder time to assist either of his allies, allowing the large crab to focus its attention on Sarana and Tirek, where Sarana lashed out at the legs to the best of her ability and Tirek used his Fireballs by throwing them at the crab's face, since that seemed to be the best place to target. Sarana did her best to dodge the claws that came near her as she did that, even though it seemed that the crab was trying to murder Tirek at the moment, and when he stepped into a hole that was hidden in the water, one that caused him to falter for a second or two, their foe seized the opportunity and crushed him into the ground with both of its claws, causing him to moan for a moment as he pulled himself up again. Of course, before he could even move out of the way and blast his foe, the large crab grabbed onto him with its right claw and trapped him between its pincer, which was when it lifted him into the air for a moment and started to crush him, no doubt in retaliation for what happened to the smaller crab, before it snapped him in half and his world went black for a few seconds.

When he was allowed to see again, just like the last couple of times he had been slain, Tirek found that he was back at the last bonfire he had rested at and sighed as he stared at the flames for a few moments as he thought about what just happened, as he was waiting to see if his companions died as well or if they succeeded in killing the crab so he could rejoin them and they could continue their adventure... but, before he could really get into what he was doing, the air around him shimmered for a moment as both Sarana and Martok rejoined him.

"Great... just fucking great... our foreign leader decided to piss off the local Great Crabs," Sarana commented, where Tirek got the feeling that she was annoyed with him, once more for causing them to die in some stupid manner, but it was hardly his fault since he wasn't expecting that to happen in the first place, before she let out a sigh as she leaned against the rock wall that rested behind her for a moment.

"Yes, its my fault... not like you could have warned us ahead of time." Tirek remarked, but before Sarana snapped at him again, like what happened when he blamed her for what occurred when they died to the Dancer, he raised his hand and stopped her in her tracks, because he was starting to understand her and how she acted in certain situations, "I'm not blaming you for what happened, those deaths are because of my actions, but now I know that we don't want to piss off the large crab, and the others of its kind... even though now our souls are being guarded by it."

"True, and based on how aggressive those creatures are, from what I've seen, we can either engage it and fight it for a time, now that we know its movements, or ignore our souls and move forward." Sarana replied, informing Tirek of what their options are on the matter, even though she had the feeling that he understood what she was talking about, though at the same time Martok was, once more, silent, since he preferred to listen and let her make decisions, or whoever they were following at the time, which was Tirek right now.

"I would like our souls back, as we need them for the future," Tirek said, even if it was mostly because they were the key to getting stronger, so he could survive for a longer period of time while they explored the areas of this land, especially since they were so close to the locations of two of the Lords of Cinder, or at least that was what Anri told them earlier and she seemed rather certain of that fact.

Sarana and Martok nodded their heads as they got up and waited for Tirek to stand up as well, though once he had done that they headed for the opening that was in front of them and headed down the path that the pike hollows were guarding, while at the same time keeping an eye on the Great Crab that had killed them, who seemed to be further in the water and didn't seem to mind them coming down to the swamp. Thanks to knowing how to take out these enemies, and the fact that they weren't as fast as some of the foes they had encountered so far, it didn't take the three of them that long to take out the hollows and the undead dog that had been cleared out earlier, and they were able to recover their souls without drawing the attention of the Great Crab, especially since Tirek refrained from hitting one of the smaller ones that were near them. Of course there was a second one off to their left, hiding behind some trees, so what they did was make their way to the left of where the walkway down to this area was located, being careful not to attract either of the Great Crabs at the moment, and when they found two more pike hollows Sarana left them to dive into the water and picked up a shield of some kind, one that she stashed in her own pack as Martok and Tirek dealt with their foes. From there the three of them focused on the remainder of the enemies that stood between them and an arch of them kind that looked like it belonged to a long ruined building, even if that meant taking out a few more pike hollows, like four or five, and an undead dog that was resting near the walkway Tirek had spotted. There was a good reason they weren't fighting the crabs just yet, even if Tirek would have felt better if they killed one or two of the larger ones, and that was because just beyond where the undead dog was resting, and off to the right at the top of the hill, rested another bonfire, one that would allow them to skip a couple of enemies and make it seem like they had progressed through the area, even if it didn't seem like they had gone very far from the last one they lit.

Fortunately it didn't take them more than a few seconds to clear out the undead dog and light the newest bonfire, as that meant they would come here now and not be at the one in the ruined fortress that Anri and Horace were at, to which they headed back back to where the nearest Great Crab was located, with the area still clear since none of them had used any of their flasks and hadn't rested at the bonfire, and readied themselves for what they were going to do.

What happened was that Martok raised his weapon and charged at the Great Crab that was near their new bonfire and baited it out of where it was hiding, allowing Sarana and Tirek to get into position as it rushed at their companion, but when it was out in the open Tirek started throwing Fireballs at the crab's backside as Sarana ran up the side of a tree and jumped into their foe's back. It was a rather effective technique, since it allowed her to attack the crab from the one spot that it couldn't reach, not easily anyway, and with both him and Martok attacking from two directions it was hard for the crab to even focus on Sarana, leaving her to do everything in her power to weaken the crab as Tirek blasted it and Martok cut into it with his greatsword. During that process Tirek discovered that the Great Crab hated fire and that his Fireballs did pack quite the punch, or at least he felt they did since it was hard to determine what sort of response the crab had to his spells this time, with one of his companions cutting into the crab's head, but regardless of what he was seeing and what he might not be seeing he continued to strike out at their foe, just like his companions happened to be doing at the moment. It seemed that the crab couldn't handle their new plan of attack and went down in front of them, crashing into the water that it had been protecting the entire time, and as that happened Sarana jumped off the crab's head and landed beside Tirek and Martok, leading to the three of them to backtrack a little so they could get away from the other Great Crab, who was likely furious that they had bested the other guardian of the area, even if it did cost them a few flasks each, which could be replenished at any moment thanks to the bonfire.

"Well, that's one of the bloody Great Crabs taken care of," Sarana commented, where they glanced at the watery area that was in front of them, one that they would have to search at some point, before turning her gaze towards Tirek, who was focused on something else at the moment, the Lords of Cinder she guessed, "So, should we engage the other one, the one that killed us to be exact, or should we focus on exploring the rest of the area and seeing if there is anything else we might be able to find?"

"Now that we know they can die, we might as well kill the other one," Tirek replied, mostly because it would be nice to get some revenge on the crab that snapped him in half, which had been a little overkill in his mind, but since they had a rather effective strategy to use against these things, even if it took some time to make sure they died, he felt that the three of them could do it again and see what the Great Crabs were guarding, besides the way forward.

Sarana nodded her head as they moved back into the water, where Martok baited the other Great Crab into charging to where they were standing and allowed her to jump onto the crab's back as he and Tirek attacked it with all their might, just like what happened to the previous crab, though it wasn't long before they were able to bring their foe down and let it crash into the water, though Tirek did find a ring that seemed to have been carved from bone, one that also boosted his magical power, so he slipped it on as well, adding it to his collection.

With the pair of Great Crabs taken care of the group turned around and explored the area that was near the bonfire they had discovered, where Tirek picked up a weak soul as Sarana and Martok dealt with a few pike hollows that just so happened to be lurking behind some nearby trees, before they found a rather heavy looking shield and a cluster of the strange purple creatures. Based on what he could tell the creatures were capable of producing a poisonous gas that filled their immediate area, if someone approached them and stood by them for more than a few seconds, but thanks to their skills all Tirek had to do was throw a few Fireballs at them and cleared out the area, allowing Sarana to pick up some resin and a couple of Titanite Shards, both found on the creatures and in the area they had been guarding. Once that was done they returned to the bonfire and headed towards the ruined fort that was near it, heading to the left side of the structure and not towards the opening that was in the wall that faced the area that the bonfire was located in, as there were a pair of pike hollows that needed to be taken out first, just so they didn't come running up at them from behind as they tried to explore the rest of the area. Interestingly enough there were another pair of pike hollows even further down the side of the wall, seemingly minding their own business in some manner, so when Tirek and his companions took the first set out, and made sure neither of them moved again, they headed over to where the second pair was located and struck them down as well, which was when the group paused for a moment and found that there were some new enemies in front of them, even if they had to jump off the higher point that they were on to do so.

What they did was jump down to the area that was in front of them and found something that interested them, one of the Estus Flask shards, meaning that when they returned to the shrine they could hand it over to the smith and he could grant them another addition to each of their flasks, which Sarana stored inside her pack as they headed up the hill that was in front of them and walked towards the fire that was raging at the moment. Sitting next to the fire was a tall being, humanoid like most of the enemies Tirek had seen so far, though he was wearing rag-like clothing and seemed to have some sort of wooden object, like a cross of some kind, chained to his body, meaning he was forced to move with the thing on at all times, but as they got close the hollow freaked out and got up to charge them. Martok took the brunt of their new foe's attacks, leaving the cross hollow vulnerable and opened the way for Tirek and Sarana to attack, where they found that fire was definitely one of the weaknesses of this type of enemy, as the first Fireball that hit it had the creature shudder in pain for a moment, leaving Sarana to attack it when its guard was open. With that knowledge under their belts it was much easier for them to deal with the cross hollow and drop it to the ground, leaving a second one, who was staring at the nearby wall, to glance at them for a second, but then decided not to bother them, so instead of challenging the second cross hollow to a fight Tirek left the area and walked through the opening that was in front of them, one that actually split the ruined fort in half.

From there they headed over to the hole in the wall that would allow them to enter part of the fort and found that the first room contained a couple of the grave tending hollows, the ones that had been tending to the Cemetery of Ash, back when Tirek first woke up in this odd world, and while most of them seemed docile, just like the previous times they saw these guys, there were a few that would cause trouble for the group. As such Tirek switched back to his staff and used a few of his Soul Arrows to blast the sorcerer grave tender in the chest, knocking him down to the ground, where he stopped moving, while both Sarana and Martok dealt with the rest of the enemies that were around them, as in they cut down the docile ones, since they could be enraged in seconds, and the bell carrying hollow that was the main problem. Once those enemies had been taken care of the group explored the lower floor of the room they were in, or what had been a room since there was no ceiling to this place anymore, leading to Tirek finding a wicked looking staff that had a number of points on it and, at the same time, it even seemed stronger than the one he was currently using, to which he put his beginner staff away and started walking with the new one, which caused him to smirk for a moment as Sarana and Martok looked for anything else of interest. It wasn't long before Sarana beckoned for him to come along, as there was nothing on the second floor, save for a walkway that connected to the other part of the fort, to which Tirek joined his companions as they walked over to the other section of the fort, walking above the area the two cross hollows had been in, which was when he noticed a grave tender with a spear and a shield blocking the way.

As it turned out a single foe wasn't able to really stall them all that much, not since Martok could take on the incoming attack and bash the grave tender backwards, opening the way for Sarana and Tirek to finish him off, but as they started to move forward, however, Tirek noticed a side passage to their left, if they came from the direction of the bridge, and found that it lead to a walkway that was outside the building, one that he followed, just to see where it lead him... and in the end it brought him to a second floor in the structure they were in, with someone they had never seen before standing near a table and some shelves that were covered with scrolls.

"Well now, this is quite unexpected, I don't often have visitors, much less three at once." the man commented, as that was what was standing near them, a man who happened to be wearing a black coat and pants, though based on the lack of enemies trying to kill him it seemed like the hollows of this area had no idea he was even here, meaning that Tirek and his companions focused on the black haired man for a moment as he glanced in their direction, "So, what is it that the lot of you want? I'll have you know that you have happened upon my study, though I don't care much for visitors. If this was an accident, and you didn't mean to find me, than turn around and leave so I can get back to my reading."

"Wouldn't your studies into the sorceries of this world be more successful if you were somewhere safer?" Tirek asked, mostly because he was interested in the fact that the man chose to be here, where the hollows might wise up and locate the path that brought the three of them to the man, and he was assuming that the man was a sorcerer since those did seem to be the only type of people that bothered to read in this world, even if he was counting Cornyx in that thought despite the other man being a pyromancer, "Like the shrine that the Lords of Cinder would have gathered in, had they not abandoned their thrones and whatnot... wouldn't that be a good place for your studies?"

"How intriguing. Clearly there is more to you than what I first thought." the man stated, where he turned his head more so he had a better view, which was the moment that he took in Tirek's sorcerer clothing and the weapon that he was carrying, even if the weapon was new, before he considered something for a few seconds, "Very well, I suppose I have a few moments to spare. Indeed, I am a sorcerer, with plenty of knowledge to share and so much more waiting to be studied and used. However... what sort of champion demands service without recompense? Clearly, despite how different you look from the others, you are not that sort of man. So, you will make me a promise. That in exchange for me imparting what I know to you, you will bring me knowledge, in the form of special scrolls detailing sorcery's secrets. Well? Can you assure me of this?"

Tirek had to raise his eyebrow when he heard all that, as he wasn't actually going to ask the man to teach him any of the spells he had learned over the years, and the most shocking part about all of it was that the oddly dressed man clearly thought that he was going to demand that he be taught without some sort of payment, which was something he couldn't do since this world seemed to rely on souls, before he chuckled for a moment, causing both his companions and the odd man to focus on him for a second.

"You know what, I like you more than some of the people I've met in this world," Tirek admitted, because while Sarana and Martok were helpful, as he couldn't complete his quest without them, most of the other residents of this world were rather annoying and he wouldn't be unhappy if they disappeared, though the Siegward guy was alright he guessed, before he returned to the topic at hand, "Sure, I can make a promise like that. If you would like to move to the shrine, and do your research there, I'll do my best to locate these specific scrolls for you and hand them over... provided we learn what sort of spells they have to offer together."

"Your no fool... I can respect that." the man replied, his tone indicating that he was not expecting such a response to what he had said, meaning the other Unkindled that might have come through this area had to have been fools in some regard, before he nodded his head as he turned to fully face the group, "Very well, I am Orbeck of Vinheim, and if you bring me scrolls I shall teach you sorceries, be they the ones I know or the ones gained from the scrolls... it shall be like our very own school."

Tirek nodded his head, mostly since it was a bargain to him if they could actually find any scrolls, before Orbeck took a moment to gather some of the more important scrolls that were around the area that he had been resting in, put them in his pack, and then teleported out of the area in the same ashy manner that Yoel and everyone else he had recruited had gone through to get back to the shrine. He wasn't sure if that was a spell the residents of this world seemed to possess or if it was something else, but at the very least when he saw the ashy teleportation he knew whoever they were talking to was going to head to the shrine and set up shop by the time they got back, but once he thought about that he and his companions headed back to where the split in the path was located. Once they got back to where the grave tender with the pike had been located they came to a stop and looked at the other two paths, one that seemed to be heading in the direction of the Cathedral of the Deep and one that seemed to be heading deeper into the ruined fort, meaning they could pick from finding one of the Lords of Cinder or looking for any helpful items that might turn the tide of the battles that were ahead of them. Instead of picking the path that he wanted to take, to focus on the Lords of Cinder, he was curious as to what else was inside the fort and headed through the opening that was opposite of the path that brought them to Orbeck's location, which brought them to some stairs that lead down to a ruined hallway, where one of the smaller crystal lizards happened to be waiting.

As it turned out the lizard actually lead them to where one of the grave tenders was waiting, who was standing in a doorway that none of them could see until they were on top of it, so while Sarana dealt with the lizard, and collected the item that was on it, Tirek and Martok dealt with the grave tender, opening the way to another part of the ruined fortress, though it looked more like another room that served as an entrance, the one that was near the crabs earlier. Tirek came to the quick decision that they should head back and see what was down the other path he had ignored, since he wasn't all that interested in heading back to where the crabs were located, to which his companions nodded their heads as they followed him back to the area in question, where they knew they would find a number of enemies to take out as headed in the direction of the Cathedral. The other path, as Tirek soon discovered, had a few grave tenders lurking in the sides of the room, mostly below where Orbeck had been standing and below the other side of the room, just opposite of the man's location, but the real problem were the pair that was standing near the other passage that entered this area, as they were both sorcerers by the circular hats they were wearing, meaning Tirek would be dealing with them soon enough, which was fine with him. As such Sarana and Martok attacked the four grave tenders that were in this chamber, with Tirek focusing on the pair of sorcerers that were blocking the way forward, though between the three of them it didn't take them all that long to actually take out the group of enemies that were around them, and while that happened Tirek did see a hole in the ground that might lead to another part of the ruined fort.

With those enemies take care of, and no more rushing at them, Tirek walked towards the other passage and headed outside the room they had been in, following the path up to a ruined courtyard of some kind, one that could have been an important area for this fort, and came to a stop as he noticed the open nature of the area he had come to, hence the reason he stepped back and prevented his companions from entering the area.

"Is there a reason we're not moving forward?" Sarana inquired, mostly because she knew that Tirek wanted the Lords of Cinder, why he hadn't said yet, and she knew that this path would take them to the Cathedral of the Deep, so she was a tad bit curious as to why he wanted them to stop and stare at the area that was in front of them, while at the same time Martok simply waited for the command to charge forward.

"There is a powerful creature in this area, much like Vordt and the Dancer," Tirek remarked, as he was getting used to how this world operated and knew that there had to be one of the more powerful enemies in this area, because it seemed to scream such a thing to him, before he turned around and started to head down the path that brought them to this area, so he could head back to a bonfire, "We might be able to take it on, but I would like to spend the souls we're carrying at the moment, just in case the unthinkable happens and we get killed by whatever powerful creature is lurking in this ruined area, since such a thing is possible."

Sarana and Martok glanced at each other for a moment, as they did know Tirek was partly right in what was going on at the moment, before they followed him back to the room the six enemies had been in, and followed him through the hole in the floor when he jumped down there to investigate what was down there, where they found a cross hollow that lashed out at them the moment they landed in the water. Martok engaged the cross hollow and help its attention as both of his companions hit their foe as well, though once it was taken care of they searched the room for a few seconds, where Tirek located a second set of sorcerer gear, the same robes that he happened to be wearing, a Titanite Shard that came from the cross hollow, and, what interested him the most, a ring that was resting on the other side of the room from where the sorcerer gear was resting, one that almost seemed crystalline in nature. He could tell that it was powerful, just like the other rings he had picked to wear, to which he grinned for a moment as he slipped it onto one of his fingers and added its power to his own, though once that was done they headed through the opening that was nearby and found that they were near the second entrance of the ruined fortress, the one that Tirek had decided not to check out, to which they retraced their steps to where the bonfire near the other entrance was located. This would allow them to return to the shrine, turn in the Estus Shard they had picked up earlier, spend some of their souls on whatever they wanted, and Tirek could see if Yoel was ready for the next round of drawing out his true power, which would be nice if they were going into a fight with a powerful enemy.