User blog:DarksignHunter/Else Somewhere Else

This is a short series based on my girlfriend's first time playing Dark Souls. It's a fictionalized account of her struggles and victories. So, based on a true story, I guess. Her Wikia username is Elseweyr, hence the title.

Else Somewhere Else

 A tale of Elseweyr's adventures in Lordran 



 Part one 

 She woke up in a dank dungeon, somewhere in the cold mountains of the North. She was locked in a cell, and miserable. Her Hollowing was far along, all her memories long since faded from her mind.

 /a blank/

 She was running now, clutching a key -- it had opened her cell and allowed her to escape, but she couldn't remember how she got it. It was freezing cold, and her Undead skin prickled with the hallway's icy draft. Finally, she reached the inner courtyard of the prison complex. A small fire welcomed her to sit down for a while, but the flame was dying, and the cobblestone underneath was numbingly cold.

 /a blank/

 Was this freedom? She was out of the prison somehow, but all that greeted her outside was a precipice and an endless chasm beyond. A giant crow swooped down to grab her -- she felt terror twist her stomach, but stood paralyzed. Sharp ten-inch talons grabbed her and presently she was flying high over the mountain tops.

 With a crash she landed in a small clearing. Although the mid-day sun was bright, there was a tangible gloom in the air. ''A fire! Oh gods, yes, a fire.'' While walking towards it, she had a suffocating sensation of a small black cloud seeping in through her nostrils and making her dizzy. Another hallucination? No, it couldn't be -- she was feeling more lucid now than she had for what seemed like an eternity. She felt a bit more like herself again. While sitting at the bonfire, memories of the past few hours began coming back to her.

 She sat up from the dying bonfire and surveyed the prison walls around her. A huge double door stood in front of her, and she proceeded to push it open with all her strength. Beyond was a giant room with a small open door in the far left corner. On her way to the open door, suddenly--

 /a blank/

 She hacked at the archer Hollow furiously with her sword hilt. It did almost no damage -- the Hollow just kept grunting in pain, but wouldn't die. "I have my sword at my belt, what am I doing?" She realized she had been too out of it to use her newly acquired sword, but didn't bother equipping it even then. This Hollowing, man... She had a sword now, and a shield too. Her head was a mess, but at least she was out of the cell. That was important.

 A rolling boulder came crashing down a flight of stairs and flattened her. She let out a scream, but soon continued on. She met a man who spoke a prophecy and gave her five flasks of something called Estus. Very strange! After getting lost a few times she saw a doorway of fog. Why not enter it? Oh gods, below her! Jump, land on something slimy and horrible -- and big. The beast was huge, and the hammer it wielded was terrifying and enormous. "Stay behind him," a voice told her. "Conserve your strength and roll when you must." She died a horrible death.

 /a blank/

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:35.45pt"> The fog. What could be beyond? A monster below the ledge she was standing on! She jumped for its head, clutching her sword with both hands -- and missed! She fell to the ground with a hard thud. She was in a panic and gripped her sword tighter, ignoring the shield on her back. The hammer crashed down again--

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:35.45pt"> /a blank/

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:35.45pt"> but she wasn't dead! She was sure death had taken her again... Two swigs of Estus reinvigorated her and she hacked at the Demon with reckless abandon. Circle around, circle around, roll; she was learning its patterns and adapting like a predator. Wielding her sword with both hands, it was a gamble of sudden death or swift victory. After a few moments of desperate slashing, the beast finally slumped over and died. She felt drained but exuberant; she could--

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:35.45pt"> /a blank/

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:35.45pt"> The crow

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:35.45pt"> /a blank/

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:35.45pt"> She awoke from her reverie at Firelink Shrine, wondering if the cold prison was a memory or mere hallucination. Either way, she felt herself again -- felt Human! Quickly, she surveyed the surrounding area, and before long she had found some supplies and a few more weapons. She saw a path leading up to some dilapidated acueducts. Her adventure in this strange land would begin there, she just knew it.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">End of part one.