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mrslittletall · 5 years

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Title: A Storm is coming (Chapter 14) Fandom: Dark Souls Characters: Chosen Undead/Dragon Slayer Ornstein, Big Hat Logan, Sieglinde of Catarina, Seath the Scaleless Word Count: 7.111 AO3-Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16603610/chapters/48293632 Previous chapter: https://mrslittletall.tumblr.com/post/186932649499/title-a-storm-is-coming-chapter-13-fandom-dark

Summary: Tempest and Ornstein find out about Seath's secret. It is time to challenge the paledrake.

(Author's note: I just want to thank anybody who has been a continued supporter of this story and any new reader. This fic got quite some attention and I am often baffled by it, because I made it up on a whim. Even now, most actions from Ornstein and Tempest happen when they tell me what they do, I just give them the general direction.

And now that this is said, let's see how they fare against Seath.)

On their way back to the room that Logan had described, Tempest and Ornstein had to take care of all the crystallized hollows and unfortunately the channelers again. Resting at a bonfire would naturally bring hollows back to life, but just how many channelers had Seath to spare?

Ornstein sighed as they hacked and slayed their way back through the archives. When they were out on the balconies, Tempest got curious enough to look down and noticed a garden with an awful large number of crystal golems in it. Ornstein just dragged him along, they got sidetracked enough already. Luckily soon after Tempest managed to spot the room, excitedly pointed to it and then ran into it screaming when another arrow got stuck in his shoulder.

Ornstein followed Tempest and watched as he hacked the archer down with his sword all while calling obscenities. Ornstein leaned against the wall, letting the scene play out as Tempest managed to kill the archer and looked up, freezing when he saw Ornstein, who simply scolded: “Language. Keep this words for Seath.”

“Sorry.”, Tempest kicked the corpse of the crystal hollow down the ledge. After a while a thud was heard. Tempest pointed to the ladder. “We can go down there.”

“You can use it, I am fine with jumping.”, Ornstein replied and hopped off before Tempest could say anything, landing effortlessly on the floor. Tempest soon followed, sliding down the ladder. Ornstein wondered if that didn't hurt his hands, but the little storm was wearing leather gloves which surely helped.

Once down, he looked around. Ornstein did the same. Indeed, there was another section with books. With how hidden it was, it was a good bet that they would find something worthwhile here.

“There is a lever there.”, Tempest pointed to the lever and rushed forward to push it. Ornstein internally groaned.

“Why do you push levers you have no clue what they are doing, little storm?”, he scolded.

“What, do you think it was trapped?”, Tempest asked with an astounded sound in his voice. It turned out, the lever wasn't trapped. Instead, it opened up a secret passage.

“Hey, that was the room from before!”, Tempest said and then exclaimed: “I can spot a bonfire!” Before Ornstein could say anything, the little storm had rushed out already and Ornstein dashed behind him, taking care of several crystal hollows in this room. Once Tempest had reached the bonfire and lighted it, Ornstein stood behind him in his full size, gaze dark, even though it couldn't be seen through his helmet.

“What have I said about rushing forwards, little storm?”, Ornstein growled.

Tempest shrank under his tone, muttering: “Sorry, sorry... I won't do it again.”

“Good.”, Ornstein picked Tempest up at the collar and dragged him back to the secret library. “And now we do what we came here for in the first place! Take a look around! Just... do something useful!”

Tempest sneaked away after that scolding and Ornstein took a look at the books. Hopefully he would find something worthwhile. He was distracted though when the sounds of a fight wandered to his ears.

“What now?”, Ornstein shouted and rushed over to see Tempest locked in a fight with a mimic. At least this time he seemed to have checked. The archives seemed to be as infested with them as Anor Londo.

Ornstein readied his spear and helped Tempest out by dealing the finishing blow on the mimic with a thrust. The mimic died with a last groan and spat out its contents.

“By looking around I meant find something to read not loot this place!”, he hissed.

“But... but maybe we could find something interesting in this chests? This is why I wanted to check”. Tempest tried to defend himself, picking the item up. “It's a falchion, but it looks different.”, he murmured.

“It's enchanted.”, Ornstein said. He recognized this type of ascension right away. “Sorcerer's like to use enchanted weapons, because they react to their magic and will hit harder this way. For anyone who isn't attuned with sorcery, it's worthless.”

“Hmmm...”, Tempest pocketed the item even though Ornstein hadn't seen him use a single sorcery yet. Then he went to inspect the other chests around, giving each one of them a good hit with his sword. Ornstein should probably teach him how to spot the mimics at the subtle difference, but with the little storm he felt it was safer for him to check every time.

Ornstein turned around and put his attention back at the books. He scanned the backs until he found something that piqued his interest. It looked like one of Seath's scientist journals. He picked up the book and flipped it open.

A few minutes after he had flipped through the pages, trying to find something interesting to stop, he heard Tempest's voice behind him: “Hey Ornstein, look.”

Ornstein turned around to see Tempest in a complete channeler set, holding the trident he had picked up earlier, making an impression of that ridiculous dance they always did. Ornstein could just stare: “What are you doing, idiot?”

“Aw, you don't laugh at all. You are no fun.”

“Just... stop fooling around and help me researching already.” Ornstein's patience grew thin. Tempest came over and laid a few items down in front of Ornstein.

“Can anything of this help with fighting Seath?”, he asked.

Ornstein sighed, but took a look at the items anyway. One was a blue titanite chunk, the other was more interesting. “Would you look at this, a crystal ember.”, Ornstein said. “You should give this to the giant blacksmith, that is the only one who knows how to use this. Like I said, I am not fond of crystal weapons, but if you want to try and use them, this is how you are able to get more once they break.”

“What about the other item?”, Tempest pointed at the blue titanite chunk.

“That's just used for magic weapons, useless for us.”, Ornstein said, shaking his head.

“...I also found this key...”, Tempest raised the key and Ornstein swore he would have seen the glittering in his eyes when he wouldn't still wear this ridiculous channeler outfit. “Maybe this opens up the cell? For Logan I mean? ...Can... can we go back, please?”

“...We haven't found out anything yet and you want to venture out in the archives again?”, Ornstein growled a bit more than he wanted.

“...It's just... Logan is a sorcerer. He probably can help us deciphering this texts. Don't you think?”

...The little storm had a point. Ornstein never had tried to understand sorcery and had to admit that a lot of Seath's notes were overly confusing for him.

“..Alright.”, he gave in. “But only when you change out of this ridiculous outfit.”

---

A good while later the sorcerer had been freed and walked back with them to the library. On the way, Tempest talked a bit to him. Ornstein only half listened. Tempest had found a fire keeper soul in the cell, which made Ornstein wonder if Seath even had dared to experiment on one of them.

Just as Tempest told Logan that he had enough brains to understand basic magic but didn't fully grasp it and Logan answered, that he just needed to train his wits more for that, they reached the secret library.

“Alright, no more fooling around!”, Ornstein said, pointing at the books around them. “We have to find out what Seath's weak point is, so get reading, little storm!”

“I am going to find out more about his magic.”, Logan said in his calm voice and retreated into a rather dark corner of the library. Ornstein picked up the book he had searched through earlier again and Tempest walked along the shelves, eventually picking out a book.

Ornstein had flipped through three books already, finding nothing worthwhile to actually stop and reading, when Tempest breathed in sharply next to him, staring at his book with an open mouth.

“Have you found something?!”, Ornstein abandoned his book and stared at Tempest.

“N..No.. it's just.” The face of the small Undead flashed red. “...Read for yourself.” He handed the book to Ornstein.

Ornstein took one look at the lines and knew exactly what Tempest had meant. He apparently had decided to read Seath's diary and the paledrake had used some rather... flowery words to describe a juicy scene.

“So that's where he got the inspiration for his cursed book.”, Ornstein muttered under his breath.

“Book?”, Tempest asked.

“The 'Grimoire of the forbidden fruits'. It wouldn't surprise me when it is around here anywhere. I told you about Seath's nature. Well, once he wrote a book about his favourite past time. It's awful, but people loved it because it was so bad. Artorias actually owned this book. We sometimes quoted lines from it when we needed a quick laugh.”

Tempest face followed Ornstein during all his words and Ornstein could see the exact moment where he understood as his lips formed a silent “oh”.

“Well, let's search farther. And when you intend on keeping reading Seath's diary, just skim that parts.”

Tempest nodded and they read along in silence for a good while. How long? Two or three hours? Enough for Ornstein to grow cramped and hungry. Time for a break. He put the book down he had flipped through and searched for something to eat. As he chewed on the dried meat, he noticed that he managed to miss Tempest's cooking.

As Tempest noticed that Ornstein had taken a break, he looked up from his book and said: “In this one Seath is mentioning something about having a daughter. Does this count as weakness? I mean, if we can find her, maybe we can blackmail him into spitting his weakness?”

Ornstein swallowed his current mouthful and rinsed it with a sip of water. “That's not very chivalry, I wouldn't help you by this. Besides, Seath's daughter has long been shut away. And even if she would still be around, she is half dragon. She would completely wipe the floor with you.”

Memories of Priscilla briefly flashed through Ornstein's mind. An extraordinary powerful child, but her powers inflicted fear in the inhabitants of the cathedral. Eventually, Lord Gwyn had deciced to look her away in a Painted World. Ornstein wondered if she was still in there and if yes, what she was doing?

“Oh...”, Tempest silently replied to him and continued reading.

After eating, Ornstein excused himself to step out for a brief moment and upon his return, he saw Tempest talk with Logan. He was curious enough to listen in, so Ornstein walked over and squatted down. They were talking about crystal magic. Apparently, Logan tried to recreate the spells that Seath had invented.

“Why are you listening so intensely when you aren't a sorcerer yourself?”, Ornstein whispered to Tempest.

“I still find the theory fascinating.”, Tempest replied, eyes glued on Logan.

Ornstein sighed quietly and sat down, deciding to listening in. His own research had brought him nowhere and Tempest reading the diaries only had unearthed things about Seath he wanted to forget.

“So this magic is able to infuse a weapon with crystal magic, which increases each blow immensely. It also comes with the advantage, that you can use a common weapon for it, one that can be repaired. And the spell gives it the strength of a crystal weapon.”, Logan explained.

Ornstein knew that neither he or Tempest had much use for this magic. Ornstein's weapon was unable to be effected by magic, being imbued with lightning already and Tempest clearly couldn't use such an advanced spell.

“When I found the theory for this spell, I also found the fascinating theory about imbuing your own life force in a crystal. Practically giving you immortality, not like the one the Undeath grants, but true immortality, like the ones of the ancient arch dragons. Isn't that fascinating?”

Well, that was FAR more interesting.

“Wait, that's it!”, Ornstein exclaimed. “That was it what Seath had searched! A way to immortality! He surely has a crystal like this hidden somewhere!”

“It's just the question... where.”, Tempest said, gloomily looking around. “This place is large.”

Ornstein crossed his arms and cocked his head to the side which made his ponytail brush the ground: “Think more rational about this. Would you hide something like a crystal which holds your life essence directly next to you?”

Tempest shook his head: “No, I wouldn't. I probably would hide it somewhere where nobody would ever think to look. Still near enough that I can find it though...”

“I have the feeling Seath would hide a crystal in a crystal. And where have we seen many of his golems?”

“The gardens!”, Tempest exclaimed. “Where we could look down from the balconies!”

“It's just the question how we get there...”, Ornstein mused. “Maybe jumping down? You wouldn't survive this though.”

“Oh, I have seen another lever in here. Maybe it opens up a secret passage.”

Ornstein blinked before he stared at Tempest: “So why haven't you pulled the lever yet?!”

“Because you have said me I shouldn't pull levers without knowing what they do!”

Ornstein sighed. He indeed had Tempest told that. He put his helmet back on and got up, spear ready. “Let's... let's just go and see what the lever does.”

“I just stay here and continue my research. Come if you have the need for some sorceries.”, Logan mentioned before the two left for the lever. Tempest gave him a smile and a nod.

Soon the lever had been pulled and indeed some stairs appeared. When they went down these stairs, they got attacked by another crystal hollow who wasn't a match for their combined force. Tempest slowly crept forward, looking everywhere for hints of other enemies before stepping outside on a small balcony, shouting: “The gardens! That lever really led to them!” Ornstein followed his voice and let his gaze wander across the gardens.

“These are quite a few golems.”, he said. “That could be a hard piece of work dismantling them all. Let's get started, little storm.”

Without waiting Ornstein jumped down and landed perfectly on both of his feet like a cat would land on all four of its paws while Tempest decided to slid down the ladder. Ornstein already had the first golem engaged in battle when Tempest caught up and nearly got hit by an uppercut which he avoided with a dodge roll.

“Ornstein, do you really think we will find Seath's secret in one of the golems?”, he asked as he sliced across the golem's arm which made rainbows sparkle.

“It's our best guess for now.”, Ornstein drove his spear as deep in the golem's chest as he could, which still wasn't much. “This is a hassle with bladed weapons, but we have no other choice.”

The duo hacked their way through a few more crystal golems when they engaged one of the golden ones. “Another one of these?”, Ornstein murmured. “They are stronger than the rest, careful, little storm.”

“I know!”, Tempest called while jumping back so that a row of crystals couldn't hit him. Luckily, as Ornstein kept the golem busy from the front, Tempest managed to get a good hit on its back and the creature soon crumbled... and something came out.

Not the crystal they searched though, but an onion shaped knight. Tempest's eyes grew wide once he saw them.

“Siegmeyer?”, he exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”

“Siegmeyer? No.”, a woman's voice sounded tinny through the round helmet. “I am Sieglinde of Catarina. Siegmeyer is my father. Have you seen him?” Sieglinde got up and put the large sword she carried over her shoulder. “But first, I must thank you for my rescue. I don't know how I ended up in that crystal. It wasn't terrible in there, but I could hardly move. I should find a way to repay you both.”

“I don't need anything.”, Ornstein bluntly said which earned him a gloomy gaze from Tempest.

“She just tries to be nice.”, he said and then smiled at Sieglinde. “It's very nice to meet you, Sieglinde. I am Tempest and this is my companion, Ornstein. Please don't mind him, he usually is a bit grumpy.”

Ornstein huffed at this comment.

“It has been nice to meet you too.”, Sieglinde said and gave a small bow, however this had been possible in that onion shaped armour. “You have mentioned the name of my father, Siegmeyer? He wears the exact same suit of armour as me, so you couldn't have missed him.”

“Yes, indeed, I have met him several times. Though I don't know where he is right now.”, Tempest replied.

“Thank goodness! I knew he was here somewhere. Well then, now I must find him. Thanks again. Truly. Now if he'll just stay put, and keep out of trouble.”

After she had spoken these words, Sieglinde already was off.

“Staying out of trouble? Siegmeyer?”, Tempest rolled his eyes as he watched her disappear.

“Sounds like he usually draws trouble near.”, Ornstein mentioned.

“Oh, Ornstein, when you thought I was bad, you haven't met Siegmeyer! Every time I met him he was in some kind of a 'pickle' like he put it and only moved on after I cleared the way for him. The last time I met him in Anor Londo, when we trained. And he had already stood there before I fought you.”

“Wait... that has been weeks! He has stood there all these time without moving on?!”, Ornstein couldn't believe what he just had heard.

“Yes, but because of your training and because I used to parry practice the silver knights in the nights often, I managed to get rid of the ones in his way. He gave me a ring and the next night he was gone.”

“I am still not over the fact that there seems to be a person who is worse at this whole Undead thing than you are...”, Ornstein murmured. “Let's search further, we have found a person but we are searching for a crystal.”

“Understood.”, Tempest glanced back at the balcony where Sieglinde had vanished one last time before following Ornstein.

---

Ornstein didn't knew how much time had passed when they slew the last crystal golem in the garden.

“Nothing, really?”, Tempest fell on his rear with a thud, throwing his sword on the ground. “All this work and all we got were a few chunks?”

“...Maybe Seath didn't hid his crystal in a golem...”, Ornstein said, slowly turning around, scanning the area. “Or have we overlooked one of them...?” His eyes spotted another golem he nearly had overlooked because its body was standing on a ground made of solid crystals itself.

“Wait... there is another one.”, Ornstein pointed in the direction of the golem. Tempest was on his feet in an instant, bowed down to fumble for his sword and then rushed off.

“That's so typical for the little storm.”, Ornstein murmured to himself, following the small undead who engaged in combat with the crystal golem. At least he was doing pretty well on his own, after fighting all this golems in the garden he seemed to get a hang of it. After the golem fell, nothing popped out of it, but Tempest turned around and looked at a path that led down into some kind of cave.

“Ornstein... maybe Seath has hidden the crystal here.”, Tempest called, waving with his sword. “After all, we assumed that he would hide a crystal within another crystal! Why not put it in a place made out of crystals? That is the same as hiding a tree in a forest!”

“Indeed, you are on to something.”, Ornstein said and walked over to Tempest where he almost slipped and fell. That place was quite slippery. Ornstein decided to pay better attention to where he set both of his feet. Tempest didn't seem to have that much trouble, but Ornstein guessed that his leather boots were more grippy than Ornstein's plate ones.

After Ornstein had caught up, they continued on the path. It soon made a sharp turn which Tempest followed, dropping down a little ledge. He waited for Ornstein securely landing next to him before pointing up at a Moonlight Butterfly.

“I fought one of these in the Darkroot Garden.”, he said. “I thought that had been the only one...”

“Moonlight Butterfly, a creation of Seath.”, Ornstein explained. “A bug that can use moonlight magic with the help of its horn. They are territorial, so if you don't get too close, they leave you alone.”

“That is good to hear. I am not too eager fighting one of them again.”, Tempest said, gaze wandering over the cave. “Or five. They are an awful lot of them here.”

He continued on walking carefully at the edge of the crystalline path but coming back once he reached its end.

“Strange, the path ends here.”, he murmured. “But I can see the path continuing over there.” Tempest pointed at the mentioned direction. “There must be a way to get over there? I mean, without being able to fly.”

Ornstein squinted at the path in the distance. There was another crystal golem on it. It must have been able to come there somehow. Also, something felt off. He heard this tinkling sound but there wasn't water near and it also didn't rain... Then he noticed it.

There was some crystalline snow falling from the cave ceiling and the snow very clearly landed on a solid path. Sold, but invisible. “Little storm, there is a path there.”, Ornstein said. “We just need to take a step forward.”

Tempest stared at Ornstein as if he had lost all his marbles. “This would be a fall that certainly would kill me. And you too.”

“Trust me on that.”, Ornstein said and indeed took a step forward, his foot hitting a solid path. “See?”, Ornstein said, dragging the second foot along. “There is a path. You just have to walk where the snow hits it.”

Tempest had gotten big eyes when he saw Ornstein step into the seemingly bottomless pit but didn't fell. He hesitantly came forward and followed Ornstein until they had crossed the invisible path in a painfully slow pace. Even though there was a path there, didn't mean that it was safe. It still went down very deep both sides on it and it was rather narrow.

“That was intense.”, Tempest said as he released a breath he had been holding for some time.

“I have to say, stuff like this is typical for Seath.”, Ornstein murmured.

Tempest already had his eyes on the golden golem. “There always has been something in them!”, he shouted and rushed into battle. Ornstein sighed, got his spear into position and wanted to help the little storm just as he misplaced a roll and tumbled down the edge, the surprised scream of the small Undead tingling in Ornstein's ears.

“Seriously?!”, Ornstein exclaimed. The golden golem now devoid of his usual prey, had taken a rather large interest in him. Ornstein knew he would be able to fight it, but the fact that the fall in case of a mistake was very deep and that he surely had to escort the idiot back again to this place once he had came back to life as the bonfire, made Ornstein retreat for now. He found the path back only to notice that the golden golem followed him.

At least now Ornstein could lure it to a place where it was easier to fight. Once the dragon slayer had crossed the path back, he picked up the fight against the golem and won even though he managed to slip and fall pretty hard on his rear once he delivered the final blow.

At least the little storm hadn't been there to see this.

Oh well, time to head back to the bonfire.

When Tempest finished reappearing (a quite fascinating process to watch), Ornstein was about to open his mouth to scold Tempest, but the raspy voice of his hollowed out form was the first to speak: “...That death was idiotic! Now Ornstein surely will call me an idiot again...”

“I was just about too.”, Ornstein replied, making Tempest wince like a dog that had been caught stealing food from the kitchen.

“Oh, Ornstein, you are here?”, he whimpered.

“Of course. I was asked to escort you. I have to stay at your side for this.”

“I guess...”, Tempest rummaged around for a humanity. Ornstein watched with fascination as the small black sprite vanished and merged with Tempest's skin. Only a short while later, he had his human face back.

“I try and take better care now...”, he said and stood up.

“So, did the fall hurt?”, Ornstein asked.

“Oh, you don't even know!”

---

As they stood back at the entrance to the garden, Tempest whined when he saw that all the crystal golems had reformed: “Do we have to fight all of them AGAIN?”

“No, I scouted the area when I went back to the bonfire.”, Ornstein replied. “When we go left right after we come the balcony, we will reach the crystal area again. We still have to fight a few of them, but not all of them.”

“Let's go then.”, Tempest already slid down the ladder.

A short while later they had returned to their previous location right before the invisible path. Tempest had his eyes on a certain location. “I want to get all these souls back.”, he said.

“Souls?”, Ornstein asked. “Oh, you mean your soul power? Oh right, I forgot that you Undead carry them around and have to channel them through a bonfire.”

Tempest stared at Ornstein with wide eyes. “Wait, you tell me that isn't the norm?!”

“No, not at all.”, Ornstein explained. “Normally, anything you kill will give you their soul power and your own soul absorbs it. The more soul power you have, the bigger you usually get. There is a way to control this process though or we all would have the size of giants.”

“Wait, that's the reason you are so huge?”, Tempest seemed to be in awe.

“Yes.”, Ornstein simply said and then continued. “Though I have been bigger than you already before I gained my soul power. Anyway, for you Undead, it is different. Any soul power you gain desperately tries to fill the hollowness in your dark sign, so you work as walking soul pouches.”

“...That kind of makes sense...”, Tempest murmured. “But right now I don't have any souls with me, they are all there where I died!”

“I can't see anything...”, Ornstein murmured, trying very hard to spot what Tempest mentioned. Souls normally would have a white shimmer to it or a golden, when it was a lord soul. Or be black and wrong, when it was an abyss corrupted soul.

“Maybe you can't see it like I do...”, Tempest said. “It looks like a blood stain. It won't stay there forever. I only managed to pick up any lost souls when I didn't die again.”

“So you shouldn't fall again.”, Ornstein stated and Tempest nodded.

“How shall we fight this thing?”, Tempest pointed at the golden golem.

“Little storm, when you were busy being transported to the bonfire, what did you think I had to do. Deal with an angry golden golem while being painfully aware that a fall of this height would be the end for me.”

Tempest scraped the ground with his foot, gaze averted: “Sorry.”

“Let's lure him here where there is more room, that is how I won the first time.”

“Wait, you already won? What was in the golem?”

“Surprisingly, nothing.”

“Damn.”, Tempest said as he got his bow and arrow ready. “I will shoot at it so it will come over.”

Ornstein nodded. That was a good plan. The golem's were constructs and so not exactly known for their brains that they obviously didn't possess. It took Tempest's a few tries to get the arrows fly right, but once the first one had hit the golem, it turned around and straight up jumped into the abyss below.

“Hah, I am not the only one being an idiot!”, Tempest cheered.

“That certainly was easier than fighting them.”, Ornstein mentioned. “Come, let's move on, we have a crystal to find.”

Navigating the invisible bridges turned out to be more difficult the farther they got into the caves, with the snow being nearly invisible. Eventually Tempest pulled out some prism stones and marked the way with them. Tempest seemed like he wanted to try and go a bit further, attempting to follow the more entwined paths, but he ran out of prism stones quickly and Ornstein deterred him from straying from the chosen path.

Soon the both stood in a rather wild field, looking around for clues.

That didn't last long though as a gigantic clam with legs came rushing towards them. “What the...?”, Tempest said and picked up his sword with both hands, apparently thinking that his shield would be worthless for this fight. Ornstein, too, got into a battle stance and prepared the lightning powers of his spear when Tempest got tossed high into the air.

Ornstein bit back a curse and unleashed a fury of sparks at the clam. Like he thought, the creature didn't take kindly to this attack and so Ornstein was able to catch Tempest before he could impact with the floor.

“Th.. thank you.”, Tempest gasped.

“I only saved you because I didn't want to take another trip back from the bonfire.”, Ornstein said and lowered Tempest onto the ground. As Ornstein was busy determining if that clam was dead or just unconscious from the shock, Tempest turned around.

“Um, Ornstein?”, he said.

“What?”

Ornstein twirled around only to see Tempest pointing dumbfounded at a whole group of clams. Apparently their fight apparently at least three of four more of them. “Oh, for crying out loud!”, Ornstein cursed and hurled Tempest behind him as he collected the energy for a miracle in his left hand.

Ornstein completely knew that his miracles weren't as mighty anymore as they used to be. Especially the ones granted from the Sunfirstborn. But his faith was still strong enough to let a lightning spear hit all the clams at once which spasmed from the shock of the element.

“Now, little storm.”, Ornstein said and took his own spears in both hands to finish one of them off. He could see out of the corner of his helmet that Tempest did the same next to him.

Once all the clams laid dead on the ground before them, Tempest stood there heavily breathing before his eyes got all sparkly: “That was AWESOME!”

“What?”, Ornstein said, taking a step back. “That was nothing. My miracles used to be much much stronger.”

“Are you kidding me? You managed to strike them all at once! And you tell me that wasn't your full power?” Tempest looked from the clams to Ornstein and back to the clams.

“I haven't been at my full power for some time now...”, Ornstein replied, scanning the area if there were some other clams left. He couldn't spot any. What he could spot though, was the end of the cave.

“Is this a dead end?”, he said and moved forward.

“Oh please no, I don't want to have come here for finding nothing at all...”, Tempest groaned, stumbling behind Ornstein. Apparently he had gotten one or two hits in the fight with the clams. He pulled out his Estus flask to take a sip.

“How much is left?”, Ornstein wanted to know.

“About half.”, Tempest replied as he put the Estus flask back.

In the meantime, the both of them had arrived at the end of the cave, which actually was some kind of clearing, with the sun peeking through the opening, making the crystals glisten.

“This place is kind of beautiful.”, Tempest said as he walked around, taking in the view. “In fact, a lot of things must have been beautiful once, before...” He didn't finish the sentence but Ornstein knew what he wanted to say. “Just... what happened here? Ornstein, you have been there, right?”

“That's a long story and we don't have time for this now.”, Ornstein said, a warning growl in his voice. “Let's see if we can find this...” Ornstein stopped dead in his tracks when he spotted the very large crystal right in front of his nose. “...crystal.”

“This must be it!”, he exclaimed. “When we break this crystal, we should be able to attack Seath. Let me destroy it and then we head back to the archives.”

Ornstein readied his spear to smash the crystal into bits, totally expecting to need more than one hit. While his spear could slice boulders with ease, crystals tended to be harder. However, just as he was about to swing, the crystal made an ear shattering piercing sound and Tempest voice sounded: “Uh, I don't think we have to head back to Seath...”

Before Ornstein could ask what this meant, he heard the flap of wings and the angry hiss of the paledrake, which apparently had been alarmed by the noise the crystal made and tossed his large body onto the ground of the cave. “Shit!”, Ornstein hissed through clenched teeth. “Tempest, you have to distract him somehow, while I try and break this crystal!”

“Understood!”, Tempest said and Ornstein put his attention back on the crystal, hitting it full force. Like expected, it didn't shatter but at least a crack had formed. He could hear Seath roar behind him and the sounds of the paledrake indicated that he came closer to his location. What was Tempest doing? Ornstein yanked his head around to see Tempest laying on the ground in what could only be described as a seductive pose.

“...What are you doing, idiot?”, Ornstein shrieked at this ridiculousness.

“Hey, you said you wouldn't lay down lascivious on the ground!”, Tempest screamed back.

“This won't work anymore, he's long gotten mad!”, Ornstein yelled.

“Yeah and then why has the dragon stopped attacking?”

Ornstein suddenly was very aware that Seath was still very much in between them and slowly turned his head to look up at Seath. The paledrake hadn't stopped attacking. Instead, he was preparing a breath attack.

“Take cover!”, Ornstein screamed at Tempest and jumped behind Seath himself, where a breath attack would never be able to hit. During this opportunity he bore his spear deep into the tail of Seath, but the wound healed instantly.

“That bastard, he really has bound his life force to this crystal.”, Ornstein murmured and put his attention back to it. “Tempest, just... survive long enough for me to break that crystal.”

“I'll try but I cannot promise anything!”, Tempest yelled back. Ornstein could hear the sound of a small Undead circling the paledrake. Hopefully Seath would let himself distract long enough for Ornstein to break the crystal. He reached his weapon back and aimed for the crack in the crystal. It didn't completely suffice. Ornstein prepared a lunge and just as he jumped down on the crystal and it shattered Tempest was hurled at him, which made Ornstein fall over.

“Oh damn.”, he said and struggled to get up. They still had a dragon to fight. Ornstein expected Tempest to get up on his own and heal himself with his Estus, but nothing happened. And right now, Seath seemed to be pissed that his crystal was destroyed, clearly preparing a devastating spell.

Ornstein glanced over at Tempest. He wasn't dead or he would turn into ashes, but he surely looked more dead than alive, probably just hanging at a sliver of his health, blood seeped out from a large wound on his head. Ornstein chucked Tempest over his shoulder and run away as far as he could in the limited room. As crystals emerged, Ornstein laid Tempest on the ground and fiddled for his Estus flask, forcing some of the liquid down his throat. The little Undead gasped as the liquid reached its destination and then coughed up some blood.

“Sorry, Ornstein, he got me with his tail...”

“Apologize later! For now, we have a dragon to slay!” Ornstein took his spear in both hands. “And this one I wanted to slay for a long time now!”

Ornstein practically threw himself into the battle, lunging forward and then elegantly twirled around as Seath tried to swipe at him, a thrust going directly into the tail of the paledrake. Seath screamed in pain and Ornstein knew, the crystal indeed had been his weak point. He was vulnerable now.

“Little storm, attack him!”, Ornstein screamed and the little Undead ran forward, slicing one of Seath's tentacles with his sword. Hot dragon blood splattered out of the wound and Seath's attention was brought back to Tempest. Ornstein used the opportunity to get another thrust into the tail and another as the paledrake was torn between taking care of his attacker from the front or the one tormenting his tail. While Ornstein managed to slowly sever the tail Tempest wasn't idle and constantly sliced a new wound in any part of Seath's body that wasn't covered in crystals.

Eventually Ornstein finally managed to get the tail loose right as Seath finally had decided for an attack and slammed both of his tentacles down hard on the ground. Ornstein managed to get out of the way, Tempest wasn't so lucky but this time managed to drink from his Estus himself.

Blood gushed out Seath from several wounds and especially the severed tail. Ornstein was sure he was weakened enough now to not be able to counter a direct attack to his head.

“Watch a dragon slayer at work.”, he said, jumping on Seath's back and from there to his neck, his spear driving deep into it, forcing the paledrake's head to the ground which shrieked in pain and protest.

“Finish him off.”, Ornstein commanded Tempest. He would have liked to do it himself, but the lord soul was supposed to go to the Undead, not him. Tempest didn't had to be asked twice before he reached out with his sword and bore it deep into the forehead of Seath.

The paledrake shrieked in agony and pain for a few seconds before he stopped moving and kept laying bleeding and beat on the ground. Ornstein casually removed his spear with one hand from the neck and hopped from his back.

Tempest just stood there, breathing heavily. “That was... intense...”, he said, before opening his hand and staring at the golden glowing shard of a lord soul. “Is that it...? That's the...?”, he asked, staring at Ornstein, practically vibrating.

“Yes, that is a shard of Lord Gwyn's soul of fire.”, Ornstein replied. “Seath has gotten a rather large part of it, so it should be enough to satisfy the lordvessel.”

“...”, Tempest seemed to be at a loss for words.

“Shouldn't you be happy about your victory?”, Ornstein asked.

Tempest shook his head. “Without you I would have died again. Probably over and over. I thought I had died when he got me with the tail, but when I came back too, you were there. Ornstein... thank you. I wouldn't have been able to do it without your help.”

Ornstein would have been lying when he would have said that wasn't touched by this. The little storm genuinely meant this words. He felt himself blush under his helmet, however, the words that came out from him were blatantly different from his feelings: “I.. I just help you because Gwyndolin ordered me too. That's all.”

“I know.”, Tempest said. Ornstein was surprised to see that a grin had formed on his face. “I am still glad that you are here. Just take a compliment when you get one.”

That hit right in Ornstein's chest. Not only did Tempest look so cute when he grinned like that, also the words he had spoken... even though that he knew that Ornstein was doing all this only because he had been ordered too, he still was grateful. Ornstein suddenly felt very bad for the fate that the small Undead would suffer.

Now that the fight was over, all adrenaline seemed to leave the little storm's body and he plopped down near the newly appeared bonfire. He glanced over where the severed tail of Seath was laying.

“Ornstein, why were you so eager to cut off this tail?”, Tempest asked.

“Because...”, Ornstein started, searching for the right words. “Because... I always wanted to cut off his tail. Granted, not this tail, but he didn't had the other one when in dragon form.”

“What...?”, Tempest stared at Ornstein with squinted eyes.

“I can explain you this another time.”, Ornstein said, strolling over to the severed tail. “Looking at this, I think it may form a weapon.” He bent down and picked the tail up, grabbing for the bone and pulling something out that was a great sword which glowed with a green shimmer.

“A magic weapon...”, Ornstein said. “Why did Seath had this in his tail? It probably formed when he crystallized himself.” Ornstein came over to Tempest and set the sword down. “Keep it, if you want. I don't think you have much use for it though.”

“I totally will keep it!”, Tempest said maybe a little too quick. Ornstein stared at him with furrowed brows. Even though the small Undead couldn't see his face through the lionet helmet, it seemed to come through.

“It's just... I want to keep it as a trophy. Besides...”

“Besides what?”

“Oh nothing.”

As he said that, Tempest had kind of a blissful smile on his face. Next chapter: https://mrslittletall.tumblr.com/post/187554662479/title-a-storm-is-coming-chapter-15-fandom-dark

#dark souls #fanfiction #dragon slayer ornstein #chosen undead #orndead #oc tempest #littlewritesstuff

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mrslittletall · 6 years

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Title: Baking Together (Dark Souls Short Story 9) Fandom: Dark Souls Characters: Dragon Slayer Ornstein/Executioner Smough Word Count: 1.554 AO3-Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13722741/chapters/32632221

Summary: When Ornstein and Smough have nothing better to do, why not trying out to bake cookies found in a recipe book from an old friend?

(Author's note: I used a prompt for this, that just fit really nicely with my headcanon that Artorias is master baker.

Hope nobody is getting tired of Smoughstein, lately I just was extremely in the mood to write for this pairing.

Remember that I promised a short story for today? Here it is.

Ornstein and Smough were casually sitting on their bench. There wasn't anything they had to do today., soOrnstein enjoyed just sitting leaned against Smough, his boyfriend made for such a great pillow. He had his legs stretched out across the bench and Smough's arm was laying around his shoulders, allowing for Ornstein to just relax into this boyfriend's frame. But Smough seemed a bit restless. Was he bored? Ornstein could feel that Smough was playing around with his ponytail with his other hand and was sighing a bit.

“Is there really nothing to do today? Or anywhere we could go?”, Smough suddenly asked. “Anor Londo has been abandoned for a while now.”, Ornstein answered. “It's hard to find a place where there is something going on.” Smough sighed again, twirling Ornstein's ponytail in his hands or at least that was what it felt like. Ornstein wouldn't have a problem just lying there for the rest of the day, he enjoyed this comfortable silence. But it was clear that his boyfriend would like to have some action. An idea suddenly sparked in his mind.

“You know what? Recently I found Artorias book with all the cookies recipe. Do you think we should try baking some?”, he suggested.

Ornstein was suddenly pulled out of his comfortable position into a very tight hug. “Kitten, I am so proud of you!”, Smough excitedly said.

“Don't call me that.”, Ornstein grumbled. “Uh, proud for what?” He was a little bit confused.

“You actually came up with an activity yourself.” Smough explained. Now that he said it, most of the time Smough encouraged Ornstein to do stuff or came up with activities. For Ornstein it often was hard to get himself doing things. He didn't even know exactly why. Some day it had all started to feel so pointless... Being together with Smough was one of the things that kept him going.

“Would you release me, please? So I can get the book?”, Ornstein gently asked, still been caught into the hug. “Of course.”, Smough released him so that Ornstein could get the book.

A short while later Ornstein arrived back at Smough with the book. Together they flipped through the pages. Ornstein once again had to admire Artorias beautiful and pristine handwriting. The recipe book was one of the mementos he had kept when his old friend had deceased. Artorias had loved baking in his free time and often had came up with new cookie recipes.

“Which one should we try?”, Smough asked. “I am so used to cooking but not really to baking.” Ornstein considered their options as well. He wasn't exactly the greatest cook. His creative talent had always been drawing. Then his eye fell on a recipe that sounded simple enough: “How about this one? Butter cookies. That seems to be easy.”

Smough read the recipe too. “Yes, that should be doable.”, he said. “I'll go getting the ingredients.” He stood up. Ornstein stood up as well. “And I am going to search Artorias room for some tools. I bet he had something lying around.”

Artorias room had been left mostly untouched. Even though Ornstein knew that his friend would never come back, he didn't had the heart to throw all this stuff away. And it wasn't like anyone needed that room. Ornstein rummaged around a bit in the cupboards until he found some tools that looked like they could be used for baking. He collected them and made his way to the kitchen where Smough had already brought the ingredients.

“So what is the first step?”, Smough asked. “We need a large bowel.”, Ornstein answered, reading the recipe from the book that had been placed on the table. At first, the butter and the sugar shall be stirred together.” Smough grabbed a whisk: “That sounds like a task for me. I bet this requires some strength.” Ornstein was sure that Artorias surely had had this strength and Smough was strong as well. He watched as the ingredients started to become one. He checked the recipe: “It says it shall be light and fluffy? I am not even surprised that Artorias would write something like this.” “Got it.”, Smough said and continued stirring until the dough was fluffy and looked really soft. “What next?”, Smough wanted to know.

“The next thing is stirring the egg and the vanilla in it.” Ornstein walked to the counter where the ingredients were laid out. “Let me handle this, I am pretty good at preparing ingredients now.” Even though Smough almost did all the cooking, Ornstein often helped him out with preparing the ingredients. After cracking the egg and cutting open the vanilla beans with a knife, they added it to the mix and Smough got to work again.

“We need another bowel now.”, Ornstein stated after checking the recipe. “There we shall add the salt to the flour and then stir it under the mixture we already have.”

Smough continued with the stirring and Ornstein helped out with slowly adding the flour to the mix. After it was done, Ornstein read from the recipe again. “Cover it up and let it rest for an hour.” Smough sighed: “Oh great, back to doing nothing, I guess?” “Come on, it won't be that bad.”, Ornstein said. “How about we take a bath together while we have to wait?” This got Smough's approval and around an hour later the two warriors were standing clean and refreshed in the kitchen again.

“We need a cookie sheet now.”, Ornstein said. “I think that is something like that.” He pulled out a sheet that would fit perfectly in the oven. A part of him wondered why Artorias had stored that in his room. Maybe he had asked the blacksmith for a special manufacture. “And we also need an icing bag to get the dough onto the sheet. I guess that is it?” He pulled out a strange bag in which the dough certainly could be filled. It was made out of soft leather. He wondered that it wasn't broken after all that years, but that probably could be explained with magic. Things reinforced with magic where holding practically forever. And in Anor Londo there had been enough sorcerers around, so Artorias surely just had asked one to help him out.

They filled the dough into the strange bag. Smough was really eager to press it onto the sheet, so Ornstein simply watched. He loved to watch Smough cook anyways. After his boyfriend was done, he wanted to know the next step. “They shall go in the oven now. I don't really understand this part, better take a look yourself.”, Ornstein had to admit. He also wasn't eager to fire up the oven, fire sparked bad memories in him. “Let me take a look.”, Smough said and took the book. A short while later the oven was set to the right temperature, the cookies were baking and they were waiting again.

While they were waiting, they had time to talk a bit. “Artorias was always running around the cathedral and handing them out to everyone.”, Ornstein told Smough. “Oh, I am sorry, I guess you didn't get any...” “It's alright. I rather eat the ones I made with you.”, Smough said, laying an arm around Ornstein's shoulders. “You can continue to tell me about this if you like.” Ornstein continued: “Well, Artorias also liked coming up with new recipes. He knew that I liked to try out new things to eat and I guess he saw it as a challenge to always have a recipe I hadn't tasted yet. Now that I think about it, was that one of our duels...? I bet he won that one! He always had a recipe I hadn't tasted yet!” Smough gave Ornstein a pet on the head and seemed to regret it instantly: “Oh no, I forgot that your hair is still wet.” “You were the one who wanted to wash it.”, Ornstein said with a grin and then continued: “One time Artorias managed to accidentally break my arm. He gave me so many apology cookies at this time. I had to start to share them with the whole cathedral. That wasn't that much of a problem, cause the cookies were very beloved. It just became awkward when me and the master were munching away on some of them and then Lord Gwyn walked by, wanting to know if we had nothing better to do and then asked where he could get the cookies for himself.” Ornstein chuckled at the memory. “Nobody was save from Artorias cookies, really.” The kitchen had started to smell very delightful now. “I'll go see if they are ready.”, Smough said.

A short while later Smough came back with the hot sheet, setting it down carefully so that it could cool. “They look really tasty.”, Ornstein said after a glance at the cookies. “Yes, I can't wait to taste them.”, Smough said.

“These aren't Artorias cookies but it was a recipe of him. I bet you will love them.”, Ornstein said.

“I will love them anyway cause I made them with you.”

#littlewritesstuff #dark souls #fanfiction #short story #dragon slayer ornstein #executioner smough #smoughstein #I hope you enjoy

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