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It has only been mere moments after a hard battle. He gives himself time to breathe as he feels the rush of power overcoming him and makes his way through the burg, knowing more danger is yet to come.
He has long abandoned fear and replaces it with the sheer will and determination to go ever forward, stopping at nothing to discover the truth about this curse.
He finds a knight with a sun emblazoned on his tunic, looking at the scenery before them. It is not strange to find someone else in his journey. Out of curiosity, he approaches the knight.
At the very least, if the knight was hostile, he would have avoided an ambush from behind.
-
Solaire's thoughts are interrupted by someone's approach. Aware of a potential danger he tears his eyes away from the dazzling sun and sky to turn around.
He is surprised to see another fellow human being instead of a hollow and greets the newcomer warmly and introduces himself and eagerly relays to him how he has come to this land for his personal quest.
"To seek my very own sun!" Solaire announces.
The newcomer raises his eyebrows and humor lights his face a little. He looks worn from battle, but the small smile makes him look less tired.
He chides himself for his foolishness and laughs and the newcomer laughs with him.
They had a brief exchange. Time would soon separate them, just as the direction of the winds, but Solaire bestows a soapstone to the adventurer, so Solaire could come to his aid.
The adventurer invited Solaire to journey together, but Solaire declined. It is rare to be able to afford such a clear view of the sun and he would like to stay behind a while longer.
He smiles to himself at the sight of the incandescent ball of light. One day, he too would find such brilliance for himself.
-
He encounters the sunlight warrior Solaire again by chance sometime later, finding him seated near a bonfire in rest. They greet each other and he sits down by the knight to share some company.
His travels were rife with battle and at times his exhaustion grows beyond the physical.
They both fell into easy conversation. He likes talking to someone like this, the long journey across this desolate land meant casual conversation was a luxury. He might have been too eager though, Solaire quips that he might have feelings for him.
Solaire retracts the statement immediately. "Pretend you didn't hear that."
But he already has. He snorts and gazes into the fire. In another time and place, perhaps he might have said something, but in this dying world where even each other's presences were tenuous things, he could not find the words to assure Solaire of his affections.
"What did you say?" he asks softly, looking at the knight.
Solaire laughs, it is a warm sound and in a world that was rapidly getting cold it was something good to hold on to.
-
Solaire meets the adventurer again by the Sunlight Altar and Solaire feels the unmistakable relief of seeing him alive. He has seen much despair as the curse and madness plagues the land and it has been taking its toll more than Solaire liked to admit, but seeing the adventurer's familiar face eased the burden over his heart slightly.
Again they spoke, and Solaire told the adventurer of his growing despair. So many miles behind him and yet he could not find his sun. He began to be weary of the search, tire of the travels, but he could not give up yet, not he had given up everything for this quest.
He feels like a laughing stock, a madman who threw away everything for some foolish goal.
The adventurer places a hand on his shoulder. No words needed to be said. He understands how this journey bears heavily on them.
Solaire appreciates the gesture and smiles weakly. Belatedly he remembers his face is obscured by his helmet. He nods instead.
They both merely stand there for a short while, allowing some time to pass. The adventurer hesitates, but Solaire gives a weak laugh and bids him farewell.
They will meet again outside of battle. Their fates were, after all, intertwined.
Long after the adventurer had gone, the very same thought, strangely enough, allows Solaire to take the first few steps onwards to continue his journey.
-
He is on a dimly lit path somewhere and meets his steadfast friend the Sunlight Warrior, his helmet removed and replaced with a grotesque creature that emits a sickly golden glow.
Solaire charges at him, his features distorted by madness. He struggles and speaks, raving about how he has found his own sun.
He clenches the hilt of his sword tightly as a cold rush ran through his body. He calls out his friend's name as he parried, hoping he could get through. Cursed parasite!
Solaire charges after him. The knight had always been the better warrior and it wouldn't be long before he was cut down. He steps aside and rolls, slicing at Solaire.
This was wrong. How did it all go wrong?
He cannot stand raising his sword against his dear friend and delivers one fatal blow, hoping this madness would end.
Solaire crumples to the ground, moaning. "It's dark, so dark."
Suddenly his sword, his armor and his entire being becomes far too heavy. He drops his weapons as exhaustion seeps in. He falls to his knees and rips away his helm, tossing it aside. He wipes at his face as tears stream from his eyes.
He shakes his head, feeling his own sanity slip. It is too much. Solaire stared back at him, eyes blank with death.
-
There is a strange dream on the back of in his mind, one that has not left him since the last bonfire rest, that led him down a narrow path. He opens a secret door and finds himself down a path he has been before.
He finds Solaire after a brief walk, slumped down right in the middle of the path. He has removed his helmet, and for the first time (was it, truly?) he sees his hair is golden and that he had quite an unremarkable face. He had wondered, in nights spent alone huddled in front of a bonfire, what Solaire looked like, and seeing it now somehow stirred in him the emotions he had cast aside.
"Was it all a lie?" Solaire says as he approached. Despair clouded his features and he looks at the grimy floor. "Have I done this all for nothing?"
He leaned back, hands by his hips as he looked up into the blackness above. "Oh, my dear sun…What now? What should I do...?"
It is difficult to watch and he finds himself sitting down beside Solaire, removing his own helm. He struggles for something to say.
"You have to carry on," he replies. "You will find it. You've made it this far and you will make it further. We both will."
Solaire looks at him, eyes alighting as if registering his presence for the first time since he had arrived. He gives him a small smile, laced with weariness. "Oh, my sun," he sighs and looks at the ground again.
He isn't thinking much when he reaches out to cup Solaire's face and gently tugged to make the knight look at him. All he knew was how difficult it was to keep on watching his dear friend despair so deeply.
He leans in and brushes their lips. They are both cold and covered in the steel of armor, but the touch of their flesh brought a hint of warmth to both their skin.
He leans in further when Solaire lets out a small sigh, deepening their kiss as wet tongues slid across each other. They both have not felt the touch of another person in so long. The feeling is novel and Solaire brings his hand up to the adventurer's face as they parted for breath. They both looked deep into each other's eyes in wonder.
They cannot linger too long and the path was not in anyway safe. But one more kiss would not hurt.
-
Solaire and the adventurer do not speak as they marched into the Kiln of the First Flame. He has been summoned to be by the adventurer's side and knows a hard battle draws near.
Their journey nears its end and his heart wavers.
It should not be so, for he has finally found his sun. He turns to look at the adventurer by his side and feels warmth spread over his chest. It is almost laughable, how he had been there all along. In another time and place, but fate has brought them together, time and time and time again.
Only as their journey ends, so does the intertwining of their paths. There are hazy, half-formed thoughts in his mind, a prophecy perhaps, that shows him the adventurer consumed in flames in one, shrouded in darkness in another.
There is also a ghostly memory of blinding light, of which Solaire could not fully place. It troubled him greatly, but he does not voice his thoughts.
The Lord of Cinders falls by their blades and all is done so quickly. Too quickly.
The adventurer looks at him. His face is not obscured by his helm. He gives a small triumphant smile.
"Thank you for your aid, Solaire. I could never have made it this far without you." His smile faded, turning wistful. "But I must now link the fire."
Solaire is frozen in place. He gazes at his sun, his own sun, and not anyone else's. He could not bear to part with him, but he also cannot trade the entire world's fate for his own selfishness.
The adventurer takes Solaire's hand and squeezes it. It is the final moment they would share before he turns around to the bonfire before them.
But Solaire does not let go and squeezes back the hand tightly. Some part of him tells him he should not let go so quickly, not when he had given his all to find his sun.
"Surely you will burn brightly," he says softly. "But together, we will burn the brightest."
The adventurer hesitates for a moment, but Solaire only steps forward. He reaches out to the sword stuck on the bonfire, but did not touch yet. He waits for the adventurer to do the same.
"Together," the adventurer relents with a smile and nod, bringing their intertwined hands to his lips. He reaches out with his free hand and they both touch the sword.