And we start anew with my second story. If you're a returning reader from my Remnants of a Friend story then welcome back and thank-you for being alright with me switching stories for a bit. If you're a new reader just joining us then welcome and I'm glad you're here. So, I asked and you guys and gals spoke. Out of my Halo/Mass Effect and RWBY/Dark Souls ideas, more of you wanted my RWBY/Dark Souls idea more. If you were hoping for a Halo/Mass Effect story then have no fear, I am still going to write that one eventually.

Before you guys and gals get reading, let me tell you guys some stuff you'll need to know about the Ashen One of this story. First of all, he's primarily a dexterity build with magic as his backup (Mainly miracles and pyromancies). His armor and weapons (He will use two or three weapons but will primarily use one) will be shown in the story. Know that he sided with Sirris instead of Rosaria and completed every other side quest and that Orbeck hasn't left Firelink yet. The final thing you need to know is that the Ashen One is going to choose the "End Of Fire" ending but with my own little twist to make it work. All will be explained in the story, but if you have any questions then leave them in the review section and I'll do my best to answer them. Word of warning to those of you who have not played Dark Souls 3, I am going to be spoiling one of the endings of the game here, so read at your own violation. With that over, let's get to it…

Fire…chaos…death…that's all that surrounds the Ashen One as he stares down the amalgamation of the Lords of Cinder. A fiery being in burning armor that carried the coiled sword of embers that showed no pain or shred of emotion. The Ashen One unsteadily rose to his feet from where he'd fallen and held his blade up at eye level and out towards the Lord. Eyes narrowing behind the T-slit of his helmet, the Ashen One, without a battle cry of any kind, charged the Lord of Cinder as it did the same. If you were to look out upon the arena these two fought in, you'd find a wasteland. Ash covered ground, jagged rocks, piles of bones, broken weapons, and mountains of bygone kingdoms. However, most horrifying, but at the same time most beautiful, was the eclipsed sun hanging over it all that cast it's angry glow over the battlefield while seemingly to drip away in a constant stream into the horizon.

It was under all this that the Ashen One and Lord of Cinder fought, struggled, and endured to overcome the other. As they neared each other, the Ashen One jumps into the air, sword pulled back for a forward thrust, as the Lord swung his blade forward, trying to cleave its opponent in half. Suddenly the Lord of Cinder felt a fountain of heat erupt from underneath it as a pillar of light engulfed both warriors. After a few seconds the light dissipated to reveal the Ashen One, badly burnt with his blade thrust through the throat of the Lord who had its own blade extended past its intended target. With a sickening twist, the Ashen One decapitated the weakened Lord of Cinder with a muffled growl and jumped off the corpse as it fell to the ground, nothing more than a pile of armor and flesh. Landing in a heap, the Ashen One pushed himself to his knees and, while leaning heavily on his sword, turned his head slightly and watched the body of the Lord of Cinders turn to ash in the wind as its immense soul fled to take refuge in his own body.

It was over, and soon so would his journey. Turning his gaze back upon the bonfire, the Ashen One felt a flicker of confliction, but only a flicker. Knowing what he had to do, the Ashen One painfully pushed himself to his feet and limped his way to the glowing rune that would allow him to summon the Firekeeper. Channeling his flame through the rune, a white glow encompassed the area, forcing the Ashen One to raise a hand to block the light as a figure rose from the ground. As the light faded away, the Ashen One let his hand fall and came face to face with one of the few good things in his cruel existence.

Smiling softly at the warrior in front of her, the Firekeeper bowed her head towards her new Lord before slowly walking to the bonfire. Descending to her knees, the Firekeeper stooped low and took the last flame into her hand and cradled it carefully in her hands, light dancing off the tiara she wore over her eyes. Knowing her now silent companion would blame himself for what he was forcing her to do, the Firekeeper spoke words of comfort, "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." As all noise ceased to exist upon the scarred battlefield, the Firekeeper asked one final question while gazing into what was left of the First Flame, "Ashen One, hearest thou my voice, still?"

Hearing her question, the Ashen One stood before the Firekeeper and turned his back to her before sinking his blood-soaked blade into the ashen earth, forever her watcher throughout the darkness that is sure to come. And come it did. Quickly, the land became black as fire was taken from the world. The eclipsed sun turned from burning orange to a gloomy gray, shrouding the land in darkness. Any form of warmth fled into nothingness as the bitter cold rushed in to replace it. Thus ended the cycle of pain and sorrow, of light and dark, but most of all, thus ended the cycle of death and rebirth. But as the Firekeeper said, one day, tiny flames will dance across the darkness. Like embers, linked by lords past.

-][-

Back at Firelink Shrine, everyone gathered around the forms that knelt by the bonfire. Eventually the one of the figures moved, causing most everyone to stand there with bated breath. The Ashen One stood with his head bowed, turned to face down the hallway leading to Andre's forge and grasped his sword with both hands in front of him with the point pressed against the ground. With the sound of rapidly forming ice, the Ashen One turned to stone. Behind him, the Firekeeper remained kneeling with her hands clasped in her lap and head bowed as all forms of fire but Andre's coals and Cornyx's and Karla's pyromancies flowed into her, making small flames dance across her form.

As silence filled the room, it was broken by Greirat taking off his hood and scratching his head, "What the hell just happened?"

The Shrine Handmaiden pointed a bony finger at the barren bonfire between the Ashen One and the Firekeeper, "The Flame is fading, and with it this world. We, along with everything else in this accursed realm, will fade into distant memory, then myths, then nothing, and that is for the best."

Patches shouted out in outrage, "WHAT THE HELL? I NEVER SAID I WANTED TO DIE!"

The Handmaiden turned and hobbled back to her chair while talking over her shoulder, "Let everything from this age be forgotten so the next can hurry itself along and begin anew. It has happened before and it will happen again, and I will be the last person to stand in its way. You've had your fun trickster, now settle down and enjoy what time you have left." With that she sat down in her chair with a sigh and fell asleep.

Irina furrowed her brow in worry from where she stood, holding onto Andre's arm due to the fact he led her to the bonfire, "We can't just leave them there," she turned her head to 'look' at Andre, "they deserve more than that."

Andre nodded his head as he led her to sit on the steps, "Aye, I will begin working to seal Firelink. By the time I finish it will be their tomb as well as ours if each of ye' wish it to be so." With that he trudged back to his forge and began making preparations to seal each section of Firelink.

A loud sigh drew the others attention to Cornyx as he rolled his neck, "Well Karla my dear girl, you, Orbeck, Irina, and I have our work cut out for us."

Karla dusted off her hat and ran her fingers through her hair to get some tangles out, "What do you mean old man?"

Before he could answer, Irina looked up from she'd been praying, "You wish to use our spells to seal the tomb along with Master Andre, don't you Cornyx?"

From the back of the shrine everyone heard Andre yell out, "I ain't nobody's master Lady Irina, I've told you before."

Cornyx nodded his head, electing to ignore the blacksmith, "Yes I do young Irina. If what the Handmaiden says is true, then all the Miracles will be lost and no one will know the tales. That makes them the perfect way to seal the tomb against magic. Karla, Orbeck, and I will place traps to keep people out just in case something happens." With a final nod, each mage went their separate ways, (Orbeck led Irina back to her place in Firelink) leaving Greirat and Patches standing there alone.

Giving his companion a look, Greirat smirked under his hood, "We might as well do our part. No tomb wouldn't be complete without something valuable to seal inside, aren't I correct?" He jerked his head towards the door, "How about you and I go on one more thieving run and see how much we can find aye?"

Patches pretend to be annoyed, "Very well you sneak thief, I'll come along." He then smirked, "After all, just because fire is mostly gone doesn't mean all the monsters are and someone has got to watch your greedy back." With a chuckle, the terrible duo jogged out of Firelink for one last heist.

So they all went about their duties. Andre began sealing up Firelink once Patches and Greirat returned. The magic users of the shrine cast spells and enchantments, effectively sealing the shrine turned tomb from the outside world. In doing so, when each occupant faded from myth and legend, they were left to their eternal rest, never to awaken…except for two. The form of the Firekeeper remained smoldering by the dead bonfire in deep slumber as her guardian, The Ashen One, remained ever vigilant over her, ready to awaken if something were to threaten his charge.

Thus it was so. For decades, centuries, millennia, eons, and still the tomb was left unscathed. Within, the Firekeeper and her watchful guardian remained in varied forms of rest, waiting for the time they would awake. After all, ash seeketh embers, and embers seeketh ash.

Aaaaaaand done! Thank-you again to all of you who voted for allowing me to write this. Ever since the release of Dark Souls III I've rekindled (Eh Eh :D) my fascination with the series. If any of your are confused as to how the Ashen One and Firekeeper were at the Kiln of the First Flame AND in Firelink, I'll explain. Since your character took the flame into yourself in Firelink before appearing in the Kiln, I thought it's kinda like Bloodborne. Like, there are separate realities within each other. And if you want a visual on how the battlefield looked, then just Google Kiln of the First Flame, then Google The Usurpation of Fire ending for a visual on how it looked after the First Flame was taken by the Firekeeper.

Please let me know how I did and if you guys liked this. I know I didn't get to any RWBY stuff in this first chapter and I know it was short but don't worry, we'll be seeing RWBY characters next chapter and it'll be closer to my normal length of writing. So with nothing else left to say, hope you enjoyed, please leave a review, and I'll see you next time…

…Archangel Out