Ashes to Remnants

Ashes to Ashes

One swing. That was all he needed as he faced against the embodiment of every Lord of Cinder that linked the Fire in the past. One roll behind the creature and finally a stab to the back. He did it, he won. After so long of fighting, running, and dying, he finally won and smiled under his helmet before falling to his knees in disbelief. He actually did it. He would yell to the heavens of his victory if he could actually speak again. But he would celebrate some other time...that is, if there will be another time. He stopped smiling under his helmet and stood back up as he looked to the remains of the Souls of Cinder, nothing but dust occupying the armor and the blade. He looked at the armor before feeling something, a desire to put the armor on and take the blade. He didn't know why, but he had a habit of putting on the armor and wielding the weapons of his foes. Was it to prove something? To show off his achievements? Or perhaps to fill an empty void? Damn it Patches, the squatting trickster actually made the Ashen One ponder his existence for a moment.

As he picked up the armor, he remembered the times he was tricked by Patches the Unbreakable, someone who he both considered a pain in the rear and a good friend, with promises of treasure only to get a lecture on greed and its consequences. Sure, the Ashen One admitted when he was tempted by greed, but nothing bad ever came his way when he donned new armor or used a new weapon. So, he took off his armor pieces one by one and then donned the Firelink Armor. He then looked at the sword and noted it was the same kind used in bonfires before he picked it up and rested it on his shoulder and picked up his Lothric Knight Shield as he moved towards the summon sign that appeared after he defeated the Souls of Cinder. When he reached it, he held his hand out and summoned the Fire Keeper that he had come to care for, not that he could tell her mind you.

She appeared with a small smiled aimed at the Ashen One before turning to the First Flame and approached it slowly. She got on her knees and slowly and calmly cupped the flame into her hands. The Ashen One noticed immediately that the sky turned dark. He suddenly began having doubts about the whole thing. Then he remembered, this world was going to fall into darkness eventually and everyone was either dead or Hollow at this point. He thought back to his various comrades. Greirat the Thief, Anri of Astora, Siegward of Catarina, Patches the Unbreakable, just to name a few. All of them, with the exception of Patches, dead or Hollow. This needed to happen. He looked to the Fire Keeper once again as he saw the world getting even darker. He didn't know what to do, so he simply approached her and stood. He then heard her speak.

"The First Flame quickly fades. Darkness will shortly settle. But one day, tiny flames will dance across the darkness. Like embers, linked by Lords past. Ashen One, hearest thou my voice still?" She spoke calmly and was expecting an answer, or maybe she wasn't. He couldn't tell, but he would acknowledge her by simply placing a hand on her shoulder. He didn't know why, but he could feel her light up a bit in happiness as he touched her. "Thou's touch is warm." She said simply and he could feel her hand upon his armored covered one. Then all of a sudden his armor started to glow the colors of fire, lighting the area around him. He could see the Fire Keeper's face as she seemed confused by what was happening, and she was not the only one. Suddenly the Ashen One took a kneeling position with his shield on his back and his sword impaling the ground. Flames started to surround him and pushed the Fire Keeper back with such force that she was on the ground. She looked right at him with shock as the fire swarmed the Ashen One. One moment he was there, the next, he was gone. No body, no armor, no weapon, not even dust, just the scorched ground that lit up briefly and then faded away. Leaving the world dark once again and the Fire Keeper in shock.

The Ashen One awoke with a jolt as he sat up immediately and readied his sword and shield before looking around in all directions. After seeing no current threat, he relaxed and finally took in his surroundings. He was in a forest, that much he could tell just by seen the plentiful trees, however it was not the Road of Sacrifices given that this place didn't appear to be murky and crawling with Hollows or Monsters. Looking up he could see a large building in the distance, as big as a castle, maybe it was, in the distance. Perhaps he would head there in order to get an idea on where he is exactly. He began walking towards it as he took in the view. He had to say, this forest was beautiful and serene so far, much more than he could say about some of the places he's been to. However, the peace and serenity would be replaced with a slight feeling of dread as the Ashen One heard a growl.

Looking over he saw a large wolf like creature, pitch black fur with a bone-like mask with red markings, bones protruding its back, arms, and knees, with red and yellow eyes glaring at him. The Ashen One knew that the serenity was too good to be true. The Beowolf lunged at the knight, who rolled away from the attack before facing his new foe. He raised his sword and slashed twice at the monster, making it howl in pain as the twisted blade cut off one of its claws. The Ashen One paused for a moment before delivering a finishing blow to it by running forward and swinging at its neck, removing its head from its body. He looked at the corpse of his foe before he witnessed it turn into dust, weirder still he didn't feel its soul enter his body. Something is off with this place, he can already tell. However, his thoughts were interrupted when he heard more growling near him. He turned and barely rolled away in time to see another wolf creature, and it was not alone. He looked behind the creature to see two more wolf creatures hiding within the shadows of the trees and soon saw another one approach, however this one was different. It looked like the others, but it was much larger and had more bones along its body, possibly the Alpha of the pack? It wouldn't matter, either he kills them all or they kill him and he comes back later to kill them. He readied his sword and raised his shield before moving toward the closest one first.

Ozpin watched on his monitor showing the feed from his cameras within the Emerald Forest. It was a peculiar start to the day as he was sitting in his office and reading an update from Qrow when he saw a large blaze emanate from the forest. He, of course being the headmaster of an academy, had to see what was going on in it. He was surprised to say the least when he saw what looked like a knight of an older age fighting through a horde of Grimm as if it was nothing. It made the headmaster chuckle slightly, to him it looked like he was seeing another fairy tale in person like he did so many times in the past. However, a look of concern appeared on his face when he saw the knight use his odd looking sword to stab into an Alpha Beowolf's eyes and toss its corpse at the rest of its pack. He then heard the voice of his employee, Glynda Goodwitch, speak up.

"So Professor, how do you think we should handle this unknown figure?" She asked looking at the monitor with Ozpin. The Headmaster took a sip of his coffee before smiling a bit.

"Perhaps we should invite this newcomer to Beacon." He said getting a look of shock from Glynda. Before she could argue, he spoke again. "Yes this unknown could pose a threat to our students, especially the first years, given how he seems to take on a horde of Grimm as if it was a normal Tuesday morning. However, remember where we would be bringing him. This is one of the four greatest Huntsman Academies in all of Remnant, if he is hostile, he would be brought down by the Huntsman and Huntresses and those who trained them. Would you rather leave him wandering into Vale and cause trouble over a misunderstanding or bring him here where we can clear up any issues before they occur?" He looked over at Glynda as he finished speaking to see her pinching the bridge of her nose, a sign that she already lost the argument. She sighed and nodded before looking at him once more.

"Shall I prepare a Bullhead?" She asked getting a slight nod in return. She nodded and then walked over to the elevator. As the door closed, Ozpin looked at the screen once again to see this newcomer finish off the remnants of the horde.

"Just who are you?" He asked with curiosity as he stood from his desk and grabbed his cane. He could already tell that today was about to get interesting.

A pretty short chapter, but I'm trying to get back into writing more than just Reaction stories and I've been wanting to do a Dark Souls story for a while, so I figured why not make it a RWBY crossover as well. I'm still trying to figure everything out for the story itself and what direction to take it in. But I would appreciate suggestions on what should happen, how the Ashen One interacts with the characters, etc. And to help with the suggestions, I'm already putting a few things here about this story.

The Ashen One is around the age of a first year.

The Ashen One will speak eventually, but for now his only method of communication will be writing/typing.

The Ashen One will NOT get an Aura or Semblance, he's OP enough as it is, especially for what I have in mind for the future.

The Ashen One will NOT be a part of a team, however he will be working with the teams for obvious reasons.

The story takes place between Volumes 1&2.

Other than stuff that goes against the rules, I'm open to suggestions. With that, I'll talk to you guys later. Eclipse Out!