Dark Souls 2: Rarity's Trials

by Blackdrag-rose

Forest of Fallen Giants

When Rarity returned to the bonfire she found Edric sitting on one of the rocks, apparently thinking about something that he had either been told while she was talking with Shalquoir, or something that they had been told by the lady that was wearing the green cape and hood. She found a spot to sit down and took it almost immediately, because she had no idea when her companion wanted to move out of the small town that they were in and wanted to be sure that she had some rest before they departed. At the same time she recalled that she hadn't seen Edric eat anything so far, but when she considered that not much time had passed since they had both woke up in this world, which must have been only ten to twenty minutes max, she realized that it might be because it wasn't time for a meal.

Oddly enough when she thought abut food she didn't hear her stomach growl or anything, because she knew that she hadn't had anything to eat before she had entered the crystal mirror, which only made her worry about her condition... and her companion seemed to notice the worry on her face.

"You don't have to worry about eating anything," Edric commented, though not a few seconds later he glanced away from her and started staring at the bonfire once more, while at the same time feeling Rarity's gaze turn towards him for a moment, "we Undead don't need to eat anything to survive. I picked up that piece of knowledge while I was on my journey to the ruins that eventually brought me to the area we both woke up in, as well as one or two other points that I'll have to share with you later on."

"Oh... how delightful," Rarity replied, somewhat shamed of herself for not realizing that by being Undead her entire life had been changed, as she should have realized that she wouldn't need to eat anything, before she let out a sigh.

"So, what did Shalquoir have for sale?" Edric asked, causing Rarity to turn her gaze towards him once more, though this time she was shocked that he knew the cat's name, before he shrugged and beckoned to the lady that was still standing near the cliff, "The Emerald Herald, the lady by the cliff, mentioned that Shalquoir might have some useful items and suggested that one of us should visit her, when we had the chance anyway."

"I see." Rarty said, to which she wondered why the Emerald Herald wouldn't tell them that bit of information when they were originally talking to her, before deciding that it wasn't important, "I'm not sure what they all do, but right now she's selling some Homeward Bones, Alluring Skulls, Prism Stones, and Lloyd's Talismans."

"We'll have to see what they do in the future," Edric replied, which made sense to Rarity, especially since he was sort of new to this world that they had found themselves in, before pointing at the ruins that rested to the right of where he was sitting, "Lenigrast, the blacksmith we talked to earlier, mentioned that the last place he remembered seeing his key, or where he assumed it had last been seen, was inside the Forest of Fallen Giants. He also told me, or rather us, to be careful if we decided to head into the forest, because he's heard that there are hollows inside the forest... and something worse."

"Maybe one of the four souls resides in the forest?" Rarity suggested, though at the same time she wished that were true, because it would be nice to have one of the four souls residing nearby, where they could easily claim it and be on their way to the next soul.

"Its a possibility that we cannot ignore." Edric said, to which he pulled himself to his feet and picked up his sword, before he turned to his companion, "Come, we had best get started on our quest... and hopefully I can find a replacement for this broken sword."

Rarity sighed as she got back on her hooves, dusted off the lower part of her robes, and picked up her staff, before she turned to her companion and followed him towards the ruined archways that would apparently take them to a forest where giants fell. It didn't take them long before they were walking inside a hallway that would have belonged inside a castle or a fortress, leading Rarity to wonder what had happened to this world, before they walked into a much smaller passage, took a turn on their left and another on the immediate right, and stopped in front of a wooden gate. At first Edric started to wonder how they were going to open the gate up, though not a few seconds later Rarity turned his attention to the large wooden lever that needed to be pulled out of the wall... though when they did that the wooden gate slowly rose up before their eyes.

When the wooden gate was high enough Rarity and Edric walked through the opening and went down another short passage, before they entered an underground area of sorts. As they crossed the bridge that was in front of them Rarity spotted a plank bridge leading down towards a river, where she spotted a chest that happened to be resting on a small rock that was large enough for someone to stand on. Edric walked down there and pried open the chest, to which he pulled out one of the effigy's that they had been handed by the elderly ladies, though he simply stored it in his bag before they followed the path they were on. Not a few seconds later they walked out of the cave area they had been in and entered the actual forest, though as they walked away from the cave they kept their weapons, and magic in Rarity's case, at the ready.

Sure enough when they walked into a small clearing they found two hollows waiting for them, so while Edric dispatched one of them with his sword, after using his shield to block an attack, Rarity used her new magic and called upon two arrows that dealt with her opponent. As their enemies fell Rarity spotted a corpse on the other side of the stream that they were standing near, and that it seemed to be holding onto something, to which she carefully walked over to where the body was resting and pulled the gemstone, a Lifegem based on what Edric had told her, from its hands. She also noticed that there was a path to the left of where the body was, to which she beckoned for Edric to join her, only for the two of them to discover that the path lead to a circular clearing that had a bonfire resting in the middle of it... one that they both agreed to light the moment they saw it.

As they lit the bonfire, however, two more hollows decided to attack them, one staying at the back of the pack in order to hurt them from afar, so while Edric dealt with the closer enemy Rarity blasted the one in the back with her magic. Once their enemies had been taken care of, and they both agreed that they didn't need to rest after just starting their journey through the forest, they returned to the path they had been on and moved forward once more. They approached a fallen tree that would allow someone to cross the stream, without getting their feet wet anyway, though at the same time they spotted an archer defending the path that was behind him... though as Rarity fired a few more arrows at the hollow Edric found another enemy to take care of, one who had been hiding behind some rocks and intended to surprise them.

Rarity spotted an item in the stream, pressed up against some rocks, though as she retrieved it, because it could be important to their mission, Edric came down on the hollow that had been trying to sneak up on her, killing it while she acquired another soul... though when they returned to where the archer had been standing Edric insisted on being the first one to use the ladder, so he could tell her if the coast was clear or not. Rarity decided to let him have his way, though when he was some distance up the ladder she started following him, because the moment he reached the area above them she heard him swinging his sword. A few moments later Rarity climbed into the area that her companion was fighting in she found him beset by several hollows, to which she used some of her magic to target the ones at the back of the pack... while at the same time being extra careful to avoid the arrows from the archer that was firing down at them.

Once the two of them head dealt with the hollows on their level, and they were positive that all of them had been taken care of, Rarity fired another blast at the archer and took him out... before she and Edric turned towards the knight that was apparently ignoring everyone, while at the same time sitting in front of the tree that was in the middle of the area they were standing in.

"Maybe we should leave this knight to his rest," Rarity commented, looking at the nearby fog door that was likely the path that they needed to take, while at the same time having her magic at the ready in case Edric wanted to tangle with the knight, "but if you want to speak with him, and wake him up, then I'll be ready to back you up."

Edric stared at the knight for a moment, as if he was considering waking up the knight and seeing if he was hostile or not, but after a few seconds he shook his head and beckoned for Rarity to follow him, to which they headed in the opposite direction of the fog door. At first Rarity was confused by that decision, as she would have expected Edric to want to head into the fog to see what was ahead of them, though she followed him towards an opening in the wall and found a ladder heading up towards another area. Edric, once again, as the first person to climb up the ladder, though when he reached a certain point Rarity started climbing up after them, to which the two of them found themselves on an old staircase that had two hollows guarding it.

They quickly dispatched the hollows and continued investigating the area they had discovered, to which Rarity realized that this was the area that the archer had been standing on before she shot him down... though with a little exploration they found two more lost souls and a shortsword, which Edric gladly exchanged for his broken sword.

Since the area they had discovered was incredibly small, and those were the only items they could find, they returned to the ladder and climbed back down into the larger area they had been fighting in, to which Rarity got the answer to the question she had asked. Edric determined that, because of the gear that the two of them were currently wearing at the moment, neither of them stood a chance at beating a knight that was wearing a full suit of armor, even if they used their current attack style to their advantage. As such the two of them approached the fog door, which disappeared as Rarity and Edric placed their hands upon it, before they found two new paths waiting for them, one in front of where they were standing and the second to their immediate left.

Oddly enough the path in front of them actually lead them to a hole in a wall, allowing them to spy on two enemies that were in a room they would pass by if they took the other path... and neither of the hollows seemed to notice that Rarity and Edric were staring at them. The two of them shared a look with each other before they smiled, because this was an opportunity they couldn't pass us, to which Edric leapt into the room and bashed the closest hollow with his shield, knocking it into the wall before he put it down. Rarity, on the other hand, focused her magic on the enemy on the other side of the room, though at the same time she realized that she was starting to run a tad bit low on the charges she could cast... unless she found some way to recharge her abilities pretty soon.

Once they dealt with the enemies that were inside the room, and picked up the wooden bolts that were behind one of the remaining cupboards, they walked out of the room and Edric took out the hollow that was staring at the passage they could have chosen to go down first. As they followed the path in front of them they noticed a hollow, one more armored than the other ones they had fought so far, charging at them, to which Rarity jumped backwards as Edric managed to block the incoming attack with his small shield. A few seconds later, as the warrior hollow staggered backwards, Edric braced his weapon and drive it into their enemy's heart, dealing massive damage in the process while dropping the hollow to the ground... and then the hollow went still, telling Rarity that her companion had succeeded in beating their opponent.

The moment the hollow was taken care of they continued up the hallway that they were in, passing by a hole in the wall on their left, though as they walked up the steps, and headed towards the roof of the building they were in, Rarity spotted a hollow standing on a beam above them. At the top of the steps stood two more hollows that had their swords at the ready, though as Edric focused his attention on them, and Rarity focused on the one she had spotted, she watched the hollow throw a bomb of some kind that hit the wall behind them, exploding upon impact. Rarity then called upon her magic and blasted the hollow in the chest, before turning around and giving Edric some assistance by using her dagger to attack the one of the two enemies in the back.

Together the two of them managed to defeat the enemies that had been attacking them, to which Edric praised Rarity's quick thinking to switch to her weapon, where she admitted that she had done it because she was running low on charges she could use, before they looked around the area they were in. They took a moment to investigate the rest of the roof, because Rarity had spotted another hollow standing near something, to which she and Edric took out the hollow that she had seen. Once the enemy was taken care of they investigated the corpse that the hollow had been guarding, which turned out to be a buckler shield that Edric collected, before they returned to the top of the steps they had walked up... where they noticed a small ladder that allowed them to progress once more.

As they walked around the area they had climbed up to, however, they found that there was a large set of iron doors on their right, which meant that something interesting was definitely behind it, to which Edric and Rarity pressed their hands against it and pushed with all their might... to which they pushed the doors open and discovered a bonfire, as well as a lady that was carrying a large amount of items with her, which told Rarity that she was a merchant of some kind. The two shared a look between themselves for a moment, as they were a little surprised to see someone like the lady out here, especially with all of the dangers out here, but they were happy to see a friendly face... to which they quickly lit the bonfire before they walked over to where the lady was sitting.

When they stopped in front of the lady, however, she simply looked up at them and offered them a smile, making her appear to be friendly, though at the same time they didn't lower their guard.

"By something... anything..." the lady said, to which she raised a hand and pulled out a small list of some kind, to which she presented it to the duo, though Rarity suspected that the items on her list were what she had in stock, "Come, now… Help an old woman… And buy something…"

Rarity and Edric looked at the list that the lady had given them, finding that there were four weapons available for purchase; a broken sword that resembled the one that Edric was carrying, a hand axe that could be a viable replacement, a wooden club, and a fist type weapon called the caestus. The armor that the lady was selling happened to be an entire set of traveling merchant clothing, which the two of them determined that they didn't need at the moment and moved onto the next set of items on the list. They also discovered that the lady was selling more human effigy's, lifegems, herbs, and throwing knives... though that was when Rarity noticed two odd items; something called a Pharros' Lockstone and a key that had Lenigrast's name on it.

The two of them quickly decided that taking Lenigrast's key was something that they needed and asked how much it was, to which they finally earned how to tell how many souls they had collected so far... and surprised both of them by finding that they had the same amount at the moment. Rarity quickly determined that the two of them earned the same amount of soul points when they defeated enemies, though their numbers would change when they bought something. Edric decided to purchase the key, as it would help them out in the future, and decided to save the rest of his souls for the future, after they talked with the Emerald Herald again. Rarity, on the other hand, found another spell that she didn't have, a basic healing spell that would be worth purchasing now... even if she needed a chime, whatever that was, in order to cast the spell.

In Rarity's mind she was being prepared for anything, because the more magic she learned the more she could adapt to any situation that she and Edric found themselves in... though she mentally moaned at the fact that she realized that she was slowly becoming more like Twilight.

"We never did catch your name." Edric commented, taking a seat by the bonfire, allowing him and Rarity a moment to relax before they continued exploring the ruins that they had discovered.

"My name is Melentia. Are the two of you strangers to this land?" the lady responded, giving them an answer before asking her own question, though at the same time both Edric and Rarity nodded their heads, causing Melentia to sigh, "All we get is strangers these days. Everybody's gone and run off! Drangleic's been a pile o' rubble since the war fought long, long ago... when the Giants crossed the sea. Seemed like the battles would never end. Poor folk like myself had nary a place to sleep... that's why I keep all me things right with me. You may travel light, but methinks the two of you each bear a different burden then what I am referring to."

Rarity wasn't so surprised to hear that Melentia could tell that she and Edric had their own burdens, especially with the curse that was plaguing them at the moment, but she and Edric simply nodded their heads as they listened to what the merchant had to tell them.

"You see these trees?" Melentia asked, beckoning to the tree that happened to be partly growing in the chamber they were in, to which the two nodded again, "They say these trees grew from the remains of the Giants. From each carcass sprouted new life, growing into what you see now. But you know what they also say... don't believe what an old hag says!"

At the moment Rarity was sure that the whole tale about trees sprouting from the bodies of dead giants was a rumor and a fairy tale, meant to scare children or terrify travelers a little bit, but she paid it no mind. After a minute or two of resting at the bonfire, where Rarity found that simply resting here restored her ability to cast her Soul Arrow spell, she and Edric spotted a hole that had a ladder for them to take. It seemed strange for a hole to be positioned there, with a ladder in it, but they simply decided that it was best not to worry about it and climbed into the ruined area that was beneath where the bonfire was located.

As they touched the floor, however, they found some enemies in the area, though one of the seemingly dead corpses picked itself up and charged at them, but before it could get too far Edric made sure to block its attack and take it out. Rarity focused her energies on firing a few magic arrows at the enemies that were crossing the bridge in front of them, though when their foes were taken care of they noticed that they could choose between crossing the bridge or taking a passage on the left. The two quickly determined that they should check the passage, just in case there was something in the room they could use, before they discovered that there was another path that they could take... along with a massive tree root that lead up to an area that passed by the chamber where the bonfire was in.

Of course when they walked into the room, and found that the door on their right was locked, they were attacked by another hollow that had been playing dead, to which the two of them used their skills to take the hollow down before they walked outside the room they were in.

They carefully climbed the large root that they had been staring at, noticing that there was another area on their right they could also explore at some point, before they found themselves on the walkway. The instant they stepped onto the walkway, however, they were attacked by a hollow that was clearly waiting for someone to come up there, to which Edric blocked the incoming attack and thrust his weapon into the hollow's chest. While he did that Rarity carefully walked ahead of him, using her magic to shoot at the target that was standing beside a ladder, though at the same time she had to wonder what was so important about the area above them that required someone to guard the ladder.

"Is something wrong?" Edric asked, causing Rarity to turn around for a moment, where she found that he was just fine and that the hollow he had been fighting was down on the floor.

"I was just wondering why one of the hollows decided to guard this ladder." Rarity replied, because it was something odd, as Princess Celestia had her guards protecting either herself, her sister, or valuable artifacts, so a random ladder, going to an empty area, made no sense.

"Only one way to find out," Edric said, to which he grabbed onto the ladder and started climbing, though once he was on the top of it he helped Rarity up there as well.

When the two of them stepped onto the top of the area they had climbed up to, and discovered that there was nothing up there save for a rather flat floor, Edric also had to wonder what the purpose of the ladder and the guard was. Not a few minutes later a large bird, an eagle or a falcon of some kind, flew over their heads and started flying around the ruins, but at the same time Rarity realized that the bird was carrying someone in its claws. The knight, for that was who the bird had to be carrying, was a rather large and imposing person, as when the bird came back around the knight was dropped into the area in front of them... allowing Rarity and Edric to observe their opponent. The knight was wearing a black suit of armor, one that Rarity assumed was rather heavy, while wielding a massive sword in his right hand while carrying a large shield in his left hand.

For a moment Rarity remembered the knight that they had decided to leave alone, as he had been heavily armed as well, and noticed that there were some more weapons on this knight's back, much smaller ones she mentally added, and worried that they might have encountered a dangerous opponent.

"Edric... what's the plan?" Rarity asked, though at the same time she couldn't help but shake in fear, because this knight looked more imposing than anyone they had fought so far and she wanted her companion's input on what they should do before he attacked them.

"I'll... I'll draw his attention and attack him when an opening presents itself," Edric replied, though his tone indicated that he had never fought someone like the knight in front of them and had no idea what to do, which made Rarity worry about their chances now, "you should stay away from him and strike his back with every spell you can muster... maybe we'll take him out before something terrible happens."

Rarity nodded her head in agreement, because it sounded like a sound strategy in the face of such a knight, though not a few seconds later she could have sworn that the knight turned his, or her, head to look at her, almost as if she was being studied. She and Edric slowly separated themselves from each other, keeping their eyes on the knight, though after several steps the knight tightened his grip on his massive sword, indicating that something was about to happen. Not a few seconds later the large knight dashed across the floor and thrust his large sword forward... though a few seconds later Rarity soon found herself impaled by the large sword that the knight had been carrying, to which she coughed up some blood as she was lifted into the air and was forced to gaze down at the knight.

"RARITY!" Edric shouted, though as he advanced towards their opponent, however, the large knight swung his other hand back towards him and slammed his shield into Edric's face, knocking him backwards and causing him to collide with the edge of the area they were in.

Rarity watched all of this and weakly raised her staff, intending on using one spell before the knight did anything more to her, but before she could actually do anything the knight thrust his sword forward once more and tossed her off of it... to which she went flying over the edge of the area they were in and struck the ground. She simply laid there for a few seconds, as the shock of being stabbed in the chest like that had rattled her to her core, though all she could do was bleed out as the world went dark around her.

Author's Note:

Whose ready for Rarity to start dying a lot more?

Comments

[Ze1a7in]

Ah, yes. The Pursuer. Proof that being able to float off the ground is broken.
In response to the Author's note: *raises both hands, and two front hooves into the air*

[Blackdrag-rose]

8533555 I wanted her first death to be special, in a way... and tell her that not everything in this world will be easy.

[tererdrone]

ya that guy killed me the first time there too he was a pain

[Randablitz]

Cue Happy Souls video.

[Real_Atomsk]

Welcome to dark souls.
Not sure how I feel, the descriptions still feel video gamey and not a narrative. The merchants were nearly to the point of and then Rarity pulled right trigger to see the next page.

That said am still going to keep reading.

[Silent_Knight]

Haha i remember that asshole i h8 dieing to his soooooo much