Dark Souls 2: Rarity's Trials

by Blackdrag-rose

Information

The first thing that Rarity and Edric did, after defeating the Old Dragonslayer that had killed them earlier and regained the souls that they had dropped, which Rarity was surprised to find were even still in the church building, was take a short break to relax after their battle. After a few minutes of relaxing, as they knew that they didn't have the time to waste on sitting around, they got back up and walked through the opening that had been locked by the presence of the Old Dragonslayer, which had opened after his defeat. What they found, however, was a little shocking, as there was a man that was standing near the edge of a balcony, as if he was overlooking the area that was in front of him, though he made no motion to turn his head back and look at them... while at the same time discovering that there were two chests that they could loot if they wanted.

Instead of heading towards the chests, and taking their contents first, they decided to approach the man that was in front of them and stopped the moment that they were beside him... to which he turned his head slightly to see that he had come company, before gazing back out over the area in front of him.

"Transient beings." the man said, causing both Rarity and Edric to look at him, though they wondered that he had to tell them and if it was important for their quest, "You have obtained proof, you are both worthy of joining our Order. You both may call yourselves one of us, and are free to plant your roots in this garden of the gods. Be proud. I, Targray, do proclaim, from this day, you both are a Knight of the Blue. Rejoice, and bask in your new honour."

For a moment Rarity wondered if the man had gone insane, as neither her or Edric had acquired anything that would have convinced the man that they were 'worthy' of joining his Order, though as she opened her mouth to say something Edric held her back for a moment. As she turned and looked at him, however, she noticed that he was holding a pair of strange looking tokens in his hand, to which she had to wonder where he could have gotten them, as she had never seen them before this point. It was at that point that Edric mouthed the names 'Lucille' and 'Saru', indicating that they must have been granted the tokens when they helped those two Undead out in their own quest, when they had taken out a powerful creature with them... though Rarity resolved to ask Shalquoir about them when they returned to Majula.

She had no idea what Edric was planning, or if he was planning anything at the moment, so she remained quiet as her companion voiced that they would 'be honored' to join the man's Order.

"The two of you are no longer mere vagabonds. You both are now guardians, Knights of the Blue." Targray said, to which he set down his weapon, reached into his cloak, and pulled out what appeared to be a pair of matching rings, though that was followed by him presenting the rings to the duo, "Proud knights, take these. Wear these rings, and shine light upon stone. Then, you will hear the voices of the blue apostles. Listen for their cries of help, and repel the malicious invaders. This is the proud work of the Knights of the Blue, the way they elevate themselves to a higher plane. I'll provide what you need. You may visit me at any time."

Rarity stared at the ring that she was handed, though instead of immediately putting it on, however, she reflected to ask her friend Shalquoir about it as well, as she was adding more questions to her growing list of questions and the cat seemed to be the only one that could answer them. She honestly didn't think that it was fair, having such a poor creature be the only one that could give her and the other Undead the answers that they needed, but Shalquoir didn't seem to mind it at all... rather, she seemed to enjoy the opportunity to talk and answer questions. As she shook the thought from her mind she returned to what Edric was doing, to which she discovered that he had opened the two chests that were around them. Once of them apparently had three cracked blue orbs, another item Rarity knew nothing about, while the other had a helmet that belonged to a Heide Knight and some sort of shield that could cover Edric's entire body.

Once they were done chatting with Targray, who had returned to staring out at the flooded area in front of them, the duo started to walk back to where the Old Dragonslayer was, though that was before they noticed another passage on their left that led downwards. Rarity and Edric looked at each other before they held their weapons at the ready and walked into the passage that they had discovered, though when they reached the end of the staircase they discovered a bonfire resting in the middle of a small chamber. The duo smiled as they lit the bonfire and knelt before it, to which they teleported back to Majula so they could empower themselves and ask Shalquoir some questions.

Instead of heading to the Emerald Herald first, as was his custom, Edric approached the merchant they had met in the forest earlier and talked with her for a few seconds, before finally returning to Rarity with some sort of stone. It took her a few seconds to realize that Edric had used some of his souls to purchase a Pharros Lockstone, as he claimed that they might need one in the near future and was being prepared. They then spent some time with the Emerald Herald, where they used the souls they had gathered so far to further empower themselves, meaning that they would be much stronger for when they faced the cave area that they had discovered. When Rarity was done with empowering herself, however, she discovered something else that shocked her, Edric wanted to meet Shalquoir and see what she was like for himself... to which Rarity sighed and lead the way to the cat's shop.

Like all the other times she had been in here Rarity found that Shalquoir was laying on another piece of furniture, though the sound of her hooves touching the floor caused her to stir from her rest and move back onto the table, where she looked at Rarity and Edric.

"I see that you brought a friend this time," Shalquoir commented, though as she smiled Rarity rubbed the back of her head, to which the cat turned towards Edric and focused her attention on him, "and its the Undead that you have been traveling with. I am Shalquoir, and I run this establishment. Enchanté."

"Its nice to meet you as well," Edric said, as Rarity had told him that she believed that the word meant 'nice to meet you', which meant that it was polite to say the same thing in return, "My name is Edric."

"So, what can I help you with today?" Shalquoir asked, though at the same time her eyes glanced from Rarity to Edric while the smile remained on her face, indicating that she enjoyed talking with people.

"We found a few... unusual... items earlier," Edric replied, to which he pulled out the ring they had taken from the Old Dragonslayer, the token he had discovered in his pocket, and the ring that Targray had given him, before setting all three on the table, "and we were hoping that you could tell us about them."

"That's easy enough for me to do," Shalquoir said, to which she looked at the three items that had been placed in front of her, though the one she focused on first was the ring that they had taken from their enemy, "This ring right here, which you claimed after defeating the Old Dragonslayer, is called the Old Leo Ring and it used to be held by a dragon slaying knight. From what I know this particular ring increases the damage of the wearer's thrusting attacks, which explains why it was being carried by someone wielding a spear."

Edric glanced over at Rarity for a moment, the look on his face indicating that he was shocked that Shalquoir was able to determine the nature of the ring, who it belonged to before they claimed it, and even knew about the Old Dragonslayer, without them telling her everything. Rarity simply shrugged a tiny bit, because she honestly had no idea how Shalquoir was able to determine all of this with a simple glance, but she had grown used to it and focused on what her friend was going to tell them.

"This token is called a Token of Fidelity," Shalquoir continued, knowing that Rarity was interested in all of these items as well, because she was paying attention while Edric had to snap his attention back to her, "These are given to Undead who help other Undead in taking out one of the powerful creatures that roam this land, such as the Last Giant, the Old Dragonslayer, or the Dragonrider. The Blue Sentinels use them as currency to purchase items from a quartermaster, as well as an item to gain entry to their Covenant... which leads me to the second ring. This is called the Guardian's Seal, which is the ring that is worn by all members of the Blue Sentinels and allows them to be called into other worlds when an Undead, whose in the Way of the Blue covenant anyway, is threatened by an invader."

"I take these invaders are other Undead who torment others by staying in one spot and ambush them when they reach a certain area?" Rarity asked, though at the same time she was disgusted by the fact that some Undead would willingly do this to the Undead of other worlds, especially since each of them were on the same quest.

"Yes, though sometimes you'll be invaded by a hostile covenant when you enter a specific area," Shalquoir said, though the smile remained on her face, as she was proud to see that Rarity was catching onto what she was saying, before she pushed the three items back to Edric, "Besides being called to the world of another Undead, and coming to their defense, the Guardian Seal has no positive or negative benefits, though if you choose not to wear it you won't be called upon to defend the other Undead. Its up to you to make such a decision."

"Thanks for the information," Edric said, to which he quickly collected the three items he had set on the table, though at the same time both Rarity and Shalquoir noticed that he slipped on the Old Leo Ring, before turning towards Rarity, "I'll be back at the bonfire, planning out our next move."

Rarity nodded and watched as Edric departed from the shop, though she waited for a few moments before turning back towards Shalquoir, where she found that the cat was still smiling.

"I must say, you did much better in your fight against the Dragonrider and the Old Dragonslayer this time around," Shalquoir commented, once again speaking about something that she couldn't have known about, but Rarity had already accepted that this cat was like Pinkie at times, "and, as such, you have grown much stronger as a result. Now the question remains; will you fight the Pursuer now, or will you wait and challenge him in the future."

"I want to answer yes, but I don't know what Edric wants to do," Rarity replied, though she did have to wonder if the cat had an agenda, because some of this advice was beginning to sound like the cat's way of training her for something big.

"Well, I do know that the Pursuer is guarding a suit of armor that your companion might like," Shalquoir said, though the way she had tilted her head made Rarity wonder what sort of game the cat was playing, or if she was just giving her advice like usual, "so you could kill two birds with one stone; you get your revenge and he gets a suit of armor that will better protect him from the dangers you'll face in the future. Though if you don't want to face the Pursuer, and save him for later, you could always try your hand at besting that Heide Knight that was resting in front of that lone tree... I hear he's got a decent blade that either you or Edric could use."

Rarity remembered the white armored knight that she and Edric had found, and wisely ignored when they considered that he might overpower them considering that the other hollows had been ignoring him the entire time, though if he had a weapon she honestly didn't recall seeing it. She glanced over at Shalquoir, who was staring at her with curiosity in her eyes, before she decided to excuse herself and head back to the bonfire so she could share the news with her companion. At first Edric seemed fascinated by the possibility of acquiring a better suit of armor, but when he heard it was being guarded by the Pursuer he seemed to change his mind... but he did agree that they should make a detour to acquire a new weapon, as he believed that Rarity needed a blade instead of her dagger.

She didn't know why Edric said that she needed a sword, especially since she hadn't used her dagger at all so far and had no training with the weapon, but it would give them some more time for her to practice her new spells... to which she agreed with Edric and they teleported back to the first bonfire they found in the forest.

When they arrived at their destination they found that the hollows that called this place home were as hostile as they remembered, as the moment they walked away from the bonfire they were attacked by the enemies that had gathered around the area. Since the hollows weren't as powerful as the ancient knights they had been fighting, or enemies like the Old Dragonslayer, Rarity restricted herself to using the first spell she had picked up when she and Edric had talked with the three Fire Keepers, the Soul Arrow. Fortunately she could take a foe down without having to run away or receive backup from Edric, meaning that the fights they had been through had improved her natural skills, to which she smiled as they made their way to where the Heide Knight was waiting.

It didn't take them long to reach the area that the Heide Knight had been sitting in, especially after they went through the effort to kill each and every hollow that was in their way, before the three of them were the only ones that were left standing near the tree. What happened next was interesting, as Rarity and Edric had done nothing to upset the knight during the time they had been fighting the hollows, though the knight chose to get up and draw his blade on them, causing the pair to jump backwards and put some distance between them. The three of them remained that way for a few seconds, as if they were studying each other, before both the knight and Edric charged at each other, leaving Rarity to provide cover fire with her spells when an opening appeared.

When Edric blocked the first attack the knight sent his way, however, he felt a jolt along his arm, to which he quickly determined that the knight's weapon had an enchantment on it... and that was why Shalquoir had recommended they acquire it at some point.

As he dodged the attacks, however, he noticed that Rarity was using her Soul Arrow spell instead of the Lightning Spear, though it took him a moment to realize that she was holding back because this guy wasn't like the other powerful enemies they had fought so far. That tactic seemed to work in their favor, as the Heide Knight never turned towards Rarity and kept all of his focus on Edric, though at the same time it took them a couple of minutes to chip away at the knight's health before he finally collapsed on the ground in front of the tree.

"You know, because Shalquoir suggested killing this guy I expected him to be tougher," Edric said, though at the same time he grabbed the blade that they had come for, and its sheath, and walked over to where Rarity was standing, to which he attached the sheath and the blade to her belt, "Now that we have taken care of that knight, and acquired his blade, we should head back to No-man's Wharf."

"Right, No-man's Wharf," Rarity said, knowing that they still hadn't found one of the four Great Souls they had been tasked with finding yet, but something told her that they were close to finding one of them.

What she didn't say, however, was that she knew that they had to be close to be finding one of the four Great Souls, which meant that they were likely going to fight two, maybe three, more powerful creatures before they found one of them... and she only hoped that they didn't die along the way.

Comments

[tererdrone]

ah such wishful thinking so funny so see new players hahahahaha