Rainbow Dash woke up. She found herself sitting next to the bonfire she lit before the bridge, before that… thing showed up and killed her. She shuddered. “I… I died…” She muttered to herself, huddling next to the fire. “But… I’m back now…” She started breathing quickly. “Was… Was Oscar right? Am I… undead?” She started hyperventilating, and she felt the mark on her neck grow warmer. She reached up and clasped it, feeling it. She grabbed it hard, trying to crush it in her hand to be rid of it. As she did so, she felt herself detach from her body, and felt it crumble away to dust…
…Only for her to open her eyes once more exactly where she was. “What… what just happened?” She asked, looking around. “Did I just die again?” She found her body no worse for wear, but the mark on her neck still had not disappeared. Sighing in defeat, she picked up her sword and shield and walked out, only to receive an arrow to her shoulder. “What the frack?” she said, looking towards where the arrow came from. “Hey, I thought I got rid of you!” She said to the hollow from before, who clasped its bow and knocked another arrow.
“Oh no you don’t!” Rainbow Dash ran forward, swinging her sword horizontally at the hollow. She cut its bow in two, and it responded by attempting to stab both pieces of its bow into her torso. Her armor deflected one half, but the other slammed into her uncovered belly, the armor only protecting her chest and shoulders. Grunting in pain, she still managed to swing her sword in a sideways arc, hitting the hollow with the flat of the blade. The resulting force caused it to fall off the side of the wall it stood near and into the depths below. Rainbow clutched her bleeding wound and gazed towards the bonfire. Rather than drink some of her Estus, she hobbled over to it and rested.
The wound sealed up and the flames gave her strength once more. Before she exited the room, however, Rainbow Dash glanced out of the open archway. To her surprise, the same hollow she just took care of was standing there, as if nothing was wrong. “But… what the hell..?” She muttered to herself. A realization hit her – the bonfires don’t just heal her! “It’s… like they’re respawning…” Her subconscious mind created a thought, and showed it to the conscious side. “Maybe… it’s like a video game? At a save point, all the enemies respawn. So, it’s like that… but in real life.”
She smirked. “I get to explore an entire, danger-filled world that never runs out of tricks and traps? Daring Do, eat your heart out.” After dispatching the same hollow in a less surprised manner, Rainbow walked across the bridge nearby. A hollow tried to chuck more bombs at her, but missed horribly and did not come close. Inside the building opposite the bridge were two more hollows, each one armed with a rusted axe. Rainbow charged into the room, swing her blade three times to dispatch the first hollow before it knew what hit him. The second reacted with little care for its fallen comrade as it lunged towards the prismatic teen.
Rainbow jerked back, narrowly avoiding the blow. A door slammed open, revealing another hollow carrying a solid iron shield and a long spear. Rainbow looked across to it as it charged into the room. The axe-wielding hollow swung its weapon, successfully striking the shield on the girl’s left arm. She recoiled back and put some space between her and the two mindless undead. The hollow with the axe swung it blindly, missing the girl by a far mile. It was rewarded with a swift sword strike to its torso, and the hollow grunted in pain.
Before she could finish it off, the prismatic teen found herself struck by a jab of a spear. The responsible hollow seemed to grin devilishly as its attack hit home on the girl’s shoulder. She pushed the creature off of him, kicking outward in reflex and knocking it to the ground. Her sword dove in for the kill seconds later. “Yeah! That’s what I’m talking about!” Her victory was short-lived, however, as the hollow who was still alive slammed its axe into her backside. Rainbow Dash’s face went blank as she fell to the ground, her body turning to ash. When she came to, she was sitting once more next to the same bonfire. “Oh for the love of…” She kicked a wall to vent her frustrations. “I almost had them! So close!”
<For purposes of not repeating himself over and over, the author of this story has elected to skip to the next interesting bit. During this time, Rainbow had died an additional two times, and traded her broken heater shield for a slightly heavier one found on the corpse of a hollow.>
Rainbow Dash ascended the spiral staircase, sipping out of her estus flask to heal the injuries from her attempt at a circus act. The explosion from that barrel still stung, even after the estus was in her system. Approaching the top of the structure, she found a wall of white fog. Having come across these before, she walked through it without worry. “What do we have here?” She asked aloud, finding a good-sized bridge before her. Walking forward did nothing, and Rainbow saw another fog gate on the other end of the area.
Before she got halfway to the other side, the bridge shook. The tower on the other end soon had a new figure on top of it, a very large and imposing bull-like figure wielding a great axe in its clawed hands. “Well, uh… hey there…” Rainbow muttered, backing up a little. The demon roared in challenge, dropping to the ground below. Mustering up her courage, she brought up her sword and shield and prepared to fight.
The demon charged her and swung its mighty axe to land a direct hit on Rainbow’s shield. The metal barrier took all of the damage, but the force of the blow sent her back a few feet. Rainbow swung her own blade out at the demon and cut a small gash on its leg. It barely noticed this, however, and hit Rainbow right before she could bring up her shield. The girl was thrown off the building completely and landed in the forest below. Far below.
About a half hour later, Rainbow found herself in front of the fog gate once more. “Alright, I’ve got him this time.” She said as a small pep talk. The battle hadn’t even properly started when she was struck in the back by an arrow. “What the hell?” She turned to see two bow-using hollows on the tower behind her. “Oh come on, that’s just not fair!” Distracted by the two hollows, she didn’t notice the demon’s hammer strike her directly on her head, ending her instantly.
The third time she ascended the staircase, she was filled with her own form of bravery. As soon as she entered the fog, she climbed up the tower behind her via a ladder that seemed to be too conveniently placed. One of the two hollows on the roof was surprised, and her blade struck the back of the one who had not noticed her arrival. The other hollow let an arrow fly which was nimbly dodged by the prismatic girl rolling to the side. Rainbow jumped towards it with an attack, her sword striking the hollow in a clean hit. Her adversary drew its own blade and struck out at the girl’s chest. Her armor did much to soften the blow, but she could still feel the pain of it. “HYAA!” She cried out, striking the hollow twice in rapid movement to end its life.
The demon from before had run up to the tower by now, and Rainbow did not hesitate. She jumped clear off the side of the roof and landed on the demon sword point first. It howled in pain, knocking the girl off its head. Sword in hand, she stared down the beast, which still bled form the hole in its head. The demon tried to crush Rainbow Dash with an overhead strike, which she rolled under and thrust her sword in the monster’s direction, hoping it was male for petty revenge. The way it howled from this attack made her smirk.
The demon tried to bat at the girl like its hammer was a golf club, and the resulting swing hit the girl clear across the bridge. She was thrown off the edge of the cliff, but Rainbow wasn’t inclined to be defeated so easily. She grabbed the edge of the bridge and hauled herself back up. The demon charged across the bridge after seeing its quarry was not dead, axe at the ready. Rainbow brought up her shield and sword. “What the...” When she hefted her blade, she found it to be lighter than before. The blade had snapped in two, the pointed end lost to the forest below. “Oh, come on!”
Thinking quickly, she threw her shield and hilt to the side and awaited the demon. She backed up as far as she could, her heels dangling off the side of the cliff. When the demon came close, she jumped between its legs and kicked outwards, knocking one of its legs off balance. Quickly the girl kicked the other calf, which caused the demon to trip and fall down into the forest below, semi-exploding in white light.
The fog blocking the exit lifted. “Hell yeah! That’s how you do it!” Rainbow Dash picked up her shield and broken sword and continued on, slightly excited as to what came next.