The young man feels a little too uneasy letting down his guard, lest he end up like the ironically dead Undead Soldier that lies before him. Then again, upon recognizing the fellow Soldier clad in armor as the fellow who helped the young man out by dumping the dead Undead body, with the literal key to his freedom, down his way, what reason would this Soldier be an enemy? Had he wanted to kill the young man, it would've been for no reason as, due to the young man's Hollowed status, he had no Humanity to take, he could've just left him for dead. And if this man really wanted to kill him, he would've jumped down to the cell and, upon cornering him, stab him right in the heart.

Still, given his profession, the young man knows better than to trust someone that he just have met, but, because of the same profession, the young man had to have also trusted complete random strangers before... And, if it means anything, at least this relationship is off to a good start.

[Chapter 3 - A Chance Conversation ]

"I ask again," the Soldier apparently repeats, the young man noticing that he must've spaced out in thought, "What is your name?"

The young man, carefully steathing his trusted blades, casually replies "Decker... Decker Young." He doesn't seem to mind if this man knows him or not; After all, now that he's out and properly equipped, he seems confident that if it comes to blows, he would be the one who walks away in the end. Of course, it's not like he WANTS it to come to that, as evident by his actions to put away his weapons and to give him his name, but it still, it comforts him.

"Decker huh?" the Soldier seems to be somewhat familiar with that name, looking up towards the sky with his chin being held by his thumb and index finger, "It sounds familiar... From where do you hail from?" No doubt he asks this because of Decker's vague answer; It is usually customary when someone mentions their name that they state their hometown afterwards.

"A town far away from here actually," the young man, apparently named Decker, replies, "I recently came to Lordran." He had thought about giving the actual name, but considering the fact that this man was a soldier, he is probably never seen the outside of Lordran, and as thus, would not have heard of the city from where Decker is from. And so, Decker decides to skip a few lines of dialogue by just going straight to the next step.

"Oh, really?" the Soldier asks quizzingly, "What brings you here?"

"A Black Knight actually..." Decker mutters under his breath, hiding a smirk underneath his facemask before answering out loud, "I guess you could say I needed to make a pilgrimage..." It isn't a lie, per se, as he is on a pilgrimage to redeem the sins that he carries on his back, but it isn't why he is in Lordran in the first place. Whatever, Decker thinks to himself, It's not like he's a priest.

"But enough about me," the young man turns the conversation around, "What of you?"

"Me?" the young Soldier asks, as if he forgot that he hadn't given his own name, "My name's Oscar of Astora." He bows with his right arm lying flat across his chest, showing a sign of respect of both his hometown (upon mention) and courtesy to his new friend. Decker takes a closer look at Oscar: He sees that the fellow is covered from head to toe in Elite Armor, a piece of armor made with the finest steel for protection, with scant pieces of cloth in various places, most noticably around his neck; A red piece of cloth surrounds his neck, done like a choker, adds some much needed color in his attire, though Decker thinks that, even with the fancy design of his shield, which shows a crest, fashion is the least of Oscar's concern.

"You hail from a royal family?" Deckers asks, as its the only logical reason why Oscar would have such class and flash.

"You've a keen mind on you," Oscar must've smiled underneath his helmet.

"Well, you sure aren't trying to hide it," smirks Decker, "You're wearing a fine silk cloth, albeit ripped and tattered, around your neck while donning a shield with a huge crest designed on it."

Oscar laughs a little out loud, showing his thanks for Decker noticing his possessions. "This choker," he starts to explain, "Is the remains of an embroidered cape showing off the family crest. When the cape got destroyed, I simply had the crest etched on my shield." He tugs on his choker and lightly taps his shield with his sword as he mentions what they were. "Fine pieces of equipment, no?"

Decker opens his mouth to respond, as if to compliment his gear, but they spent way too much time with their idle conversation; From behind a corner, a few wandering Undead Hollows starts creeping in, much like those "living dead" creatures in horror stories told around the bonfire, and, upon seeing the two, starts stares vacantly with their mouths open before snarling, leaping towards them. They charge ravagely, desperate for who-knows-what (souls, Humanity, take your pick), hoping to kill the two standing there, not having enough wits on them to realize that they have no hopes of winning.

"I guess we'll see," smirks Decker as he readies his stance by brandishing a Parrying Knife in the left hand and a silver Dagger in the other, which just so happens to be wearing a Pyromancer's Glove. Oscar says not a word; He simply uses the shield to cover himself up while hoisting his blade from behind. No doubt he is smiling underneath the helmet; After all, they say the best bonds of friendship usually form in the heat of battle.

As one of the Undead comes within range, he jumps up in the air and tries to attack Decker, but Oscar comes right in and bashes the foe with his shield, knocking him away. The shield is made from a very strong metal alloy, as evident by the sound of broken bones from the impact, but it is seemingly lightweight enough that Oscar could wield the hunk of metal with such ease. And his sword isn't fragile neither; As Oscar strikes down on the fallen Undead, with the blade stabbing into the chest, the sword crushes through all of the bones, meaning that Oscar didn't have to be precise with his attacks.

Decker, on the other hand, uses a Parrying Knife to stab another incoming Undead right in the chest, where his heart would've, or rather, had been. The blade pierces through so easily as Decker slides it between the bones, no doubt owning to his experience. But it isn't enough to stop the Undead, as evident by his constant flailing of arms, so Decker, with his free hand, uses the silver Dagger and slashes open its throat, instantly killing it. Decker then pulls the Parrying Knife out of the body and kicks the body towards the other enemies, knocking some of them down, hoping that it would give the two some breathing room.

But it didn't; While some of them indeed got knocked down, some of them weren't in the way, and are still charging for the duo. Decker readies his blades for another counter-attack, hoping that maybe just one of them would relent, but as they ran in, Oscar once again bashes them with his shield, protecting Decker. Decker, wearing only black leather armor, is quite vulnerable for combat such as this; Leather armor is lightweight enough to move around in, but, while it can soften the blow of a blade and offer some resistence, for most part it isn't ideal for huge combat scenarios such as this. Oscar, on the other hand, is clad in armor, which can translate much attack from blades and such into blunt trauma, giving him some leeway such he get hit.

So when the Undead who jumps on Oscar and tries to bite down on him, his armor shields them from their teeth, which is broken easily; The Undead didn't realize that he is covered in metal, or what metal is for that matter, so they bite down with all their might, not realizing that it would've ended badly. Oscar, twisting his body, punches the Undead off of him with the gauntlet that held his sword, breaking its face, before slashing the two Undead right in front of him.

So while that's three kills for Oscar, compared to Decker's one, Decker isn't going to let it be known that he is a slouch; As the next one charges in, Decker jumps and kicks the Undead in the chin from below, stunning it momentarily before ducking down and sweeping his feet across its, causing it to stumble to the ground and fall. As soon as the head touches the ground, or rather slams into it, Decker plants his Parrying Knife through its eye socket, killing it, before throwing his Dagger into the eye socket of a nearby Undead, taking the last one out.

"I think that's all of them," Oscar takes a breath of relief, stowing his blade into its steath, "That is some nice fighting there Decker."

"Thanks," Decker replies as he puts away his things, "I'm glad you were here; Had I been alone, I might not have made it." He didn't say this out of pessimism or out of respect for Oscar's abilities; If the Undead jumped Decker alone, he might've been overwhelmed by their numbers, and if the small dings in Oscar's armor from the bite marks are of any indication, he might've been devoured, though, Decker didn't think that he would've tasted good or filled anyone up, being a Hollow like them after all, sans keeping his Humanity and wits on him.

"With fighting chops like yours, I'm sure you would've figured out something." Oscar tilts his head up slightly, showing his version of a smile. What he said, in contrast to Decker, WAS out of respect for his abilities. Decker smiles back, taking the compliment. He didn't give one back however, though it isn't because he is rude or anything, but Decker knows that this attack might've been the result of idle chit-chat, and as such, suggests that they should go. Oscar doesn't seem to mind not being paid a compliment; He simply tilts his head up once more, his version of a smile.