(Author's Note: I started this a couple of weeks ago and I've edited it like twenty times an I'll probably do it again. I think its a cross between Golden Sun battling and the Pokemon league set up as well as Digimon spirit stuff, mind you I thought about the spirit stuff before I saw Digimon's stuff. I do however fear that it could end up being too much like power rangers, which royally scares me, but I shall try to prevent that as best I can. All comments are welcome, constructive ones at least... Enjoy!)
FROM THE BEGINNING
The stars sparkled above as four teenagers lay head to head, almost forming a cross, in the fresh spring grass. They listened to the insects buzzing around them in the moonlight. Bats swam across the sky hunting for sweet fruits. An owl above them flew from its perch as a ball of flames erupted from a young girl's hand.
"I can't believe we can finally leave tomorrow, it took you two long enough to turn sixteen." The girl holding the fireball giggled. She had long red hair, watery blue eyes and lightly tanned skin. She is what you'd call the guts of the group.
Another girl, twisting a flower between her fingers, sat up and shot the first girl a dirty look then poked out her tongue, they both giggled. She, unlike her best friend, had blonde hair and pale skin, but shared those same watery blue eyes. Tara was more the compassionate member of the group as well as the voice of reason.
A boy, Tara's twin brother, smiled, "Well Leigh, you could have left with Marcus and co. a month ago when you turned sixteen, you know he had been waiting for you to go with him for almost six months." He laughed to himself. He had short blue hair like his father, something very rare these days. Finn was physically the strongest of the group and probably the best fighter.
The girls stared at the boy, both with horrified looks on their faces, Leigh closed her hand extinguishing the fireball and scowled; the boy's smile grew. Leigh saw Finn smiling; she caught on to his scheme to work her up.
She winked at Tara, "Well I would have but Patsy was going with him and everyone knows we totally hate each other, so I'm only going with you guys because Tara happens to be my best friend." Leigh said smugly; the smile disappeared from Finn's face. The girls rolled around laughing.
[Don't worry bro,] Sol said in private mind-speak, the psychic language Sol's father had taught all of them, [she so likes you.] Sol had purple hair, pale skin and purple eyes just like his parents. He also wore glasses and was considered the brains of the group.
Sol had been Finn's best friend since he could remember. They were inseparable. They had done everything together; they trained together, they ate at each other's house almost every night, they even learned each other's elemental attacks, although they weren't as good as the other. Finn could mind-read, a simple mind at least, he could make things hover; he could even use reveal when he really tried. At the same time, Sol could use parch reasonably well, he could freeze water when he tried, he was also able to use douse. They were very proud of themselves because not many people were able to perform elemental attacks outside of their own element.
Finn and Sol started their crew when they were only eight years old, and they had been training for tomorrow ever since. Of course when Tara found out about their crew she insisted on being in it with her best friend Leigh. When the boys told them that they couldn't join, Tara ran crying to their mother, so rather then having no dessert for the rest of his life, Finn let the girls join the group. Since then they had all trained together hoping one day they might win the world tournament.
Over eight years they learnt how to fight in hand-to-hand combat, in case they lost their weapons in a battle, they studied martial arts, boxing, kickboxing, wrestling and many other forms of fighting. They had all trained with different weapons but each was best with a certain kind of weapon; Finn was best with swords, Sol was a great marksman with the bow and other projectile weapons, Tara fought best with non-lethal weapons and Leigh very skilled with knives and small blades.
[Be careful reading her dude, she'll singe your eyebrows again.] Finn smiled.
[Bro, you don't need to read her to tell she likes you.] Sol said.
Finn had often thought of Leigh, not like he'd think of his sister or Sol but in a different way. He first noticed her when they were about thirteen; whenever he looked at her he got a funny feeling in his stomach. Sure he liked her, the same way he liked eating roast chicken and potatoes and gravy and carrots and… His stomach began to talk to him interrupting his thoughts.
Sol's stomach began talking back to Finn's, the boys just laughed.
"That's disgusting." The girls screwed up their noses and turned away just as their own stomachs joined the conversation. The girls' faces went bright red. The boys rolled around laughing clutching their ribs.
Tara rolled her eyes, "Oh grow up, let's go Leigh." The girls poked out their tongues at the boys, turned on their heels and stared back towards town.
Finn and Sol got up and brushed themselves off and followed the girls to town.
"So have you got everything packed for tomorrow?" Sol asked.
"Of course I have but I still have to buy a sword when we get to the next town, all I have is the Kris my dad gave me." Finn took out the small curvy knife and watched the moonlight flicker off of it. "It's cool but its better for close combat, you know?" Finn said.
"Yeah, but I got it the other way around, I have my bow but its only good long distance, up close and personal it does squat."
"Well you could pick up a small sword or an axe or mace while I get mine." Finn suggested.
"Cool," Sol took out his gold pouch and sifted though it, "I might have to scratch up some coin though."
"Well, I guess we should get home for dinner, see ya in the morning." Finn waved goodbye.
"Later dude." Sol said as he walked towards his own house, pocketing the pouch.
Finn thought about the next day, he figured he wouldn't get much sleep. When he finally got to his house he found Tara crouching outside their kitchen window.
[What are you doing?] Finn asked.
Tara spun around and waved Finn over. Finn walked over and crouched beside his sister. [Listen.] Tara said pointing to the window.
"I think we should give them to the kids after the ceremony tomorrow." Finn's father Jacob said to his mother.
Finn's mother Marie stood at the stove and stirred tonight's dinner in a large pot. "Are you sure they can handle them, I know I had trouble when my Father first gave me mine."
"Don't worry both Finn and Tara are fine warriors, I've practised with them myself and they are far more powerful then I was at their age." Jacob reassured his wife. He stood up and walked to Marie stood behind her and put his arms around her waist. He whispered in her ear, "It's going to be alright, you heard what the elders said."
"I know but I'm still going to miss them." Marie turned around and hugged her husband. Finn noticed the tears welling in his mother's eyes.
[What did they mean, 'what the elders said'?] Tara asked Finn.
Finn shrugged his shoulders, got up and went for the door. Tara rolled her eyes and followed after Finn. They walked around to the other side of the house and opened the door.
"Hey mom, dad we're home, dinner smells great." Tara said as she pushed past Finn and walked down the hall to the kitchen.
When Finn got to the Tara and Jacob were already seated, Marie carried a pot from the stove and put it on the table. She ladled out a bowl of stew for everyone the put the pot back on the stove. She sat down and joined the others.
No one talked much at dinner; they just sat there and ate. Occasionally Jacob would try to get a conversation going but no one seemed in the mood, they were all dreading the moment they would have to say goodbye. Finn watched his mother, not once did she look up at either of them, he could tell she was very upset. Finn finished his dinner excused himself, said goodnight and went up to his room. He didn't bother changing he just got in bed and tried to go to sleep. Unfortunately he couldn't stop thinking about how sad his mother was. He vowed he would make her proud of him and make her happy. He closed his eyes and eventually drifted off to sleep.
* * * * *
The next day he was woken by Tara, or rather he was shaken awake.
"Get up the ceremony starts in an hour, we need to have everything ready to go." Tara shouted running out the door.
Finn rubbed his eyes and sat up he looked around his room, it was going to be a while before he saw it again. He got out of bed, changed his clothes, picked up his bag and went down stairs. He found his parents downstairs each holding a long item wrapped in cloth.
"Let's go." Jacob said flatly. He walked out the door with Marie close behind him.
[Something weird is going on.] Tara said.
[Don't worry, we'll find out after the ceremony.] Finn replied. He propped his bag up on his shoulder and headed for the door.
Finn and Tara stood out side their house and took a mental picture, neither wanted to forget all the good times they had had within those walls. Finn turned and walked down the path to the elder's temple. Tara sighed and followed her brother.
When they arrived at the temple they found Leigh and Sol waiting outside with one of the elder's monks. Finn and Tara put their packs with Sol and Leigh's and joined them outside the door.
[Something weird is going on bro.] Sol said turning to Finn. [This morning my mum started acting all weird and she had this thing…]
[Wrapped in cloth.] Finn finished.
[How did you know?] Sol demanded.
[My parents had them too. I don't ever remember anyone's parents inside the temple during the ceremony, do you?] Finn asked.
[Now that you mention it, no. What do you think is going on?] Sol asked eagerly.
[I was hoping that you had read someone or got a vision.] Finn confessed.
[I tried my parents but they blocked me and I'd never try to read a monk again.] Sol shuddered remembering the mental attack from the monks. [Anyway, we'll find out soon enough.] He said looking at the temple door.
The door slowly creaked open and eerie golden light spilled out onto them. The monk gestured for them to enter. One after the other, they entered the temple. They found Finn and Tara's parents,
Sol's mother and Leigh's father sitting behind the village elder all holding the mysterious wrapped items.
The elder's monk asked them to kneel before the elder; so all four got down on one knee and waited for the elder to speak.
"Today we are here to initiate these young men and women into the guild of warriors so that they may compete in the world tournament." The old elder began, "but first you will hear a story that all warriors before you have heard. It is the story of eight warriors who risked their lives to save this very world. Over two millennia ago the people of this world sought to use and master the art of alchemy, both for good and evil. However people began to abuse this gift from the gods so it was locked away in four temples called lighthouses. However, the earth soon began to wither as its lifeblood had been sealed away."
"Fortunately not all people had forgotten about the magical powers their ancestors once possessed, these people were called Adepts. People capable of controlling the elements. Eight of these Adept warriors from different lands set out to release the power the lighthouses contained, and eventually they completed their mission. Since then, anyone born in this world has been able to use those same powers if they so choose. So we honour their memory by holding the world tournament where young warriors may battle each other in the spirit of friendship and competition. There are dangers nevertheless, the power that flows though your bodies is neither good nor evil, it is up to each person to choose how he or she will use it."
"Now that you have heard this story I bless you and induct you into the guild of warriors, you are duty bound to never reveal anything you have been told here today. Now, hold out your sword hand." The elder instructed.
Finn held out his right hand and the others followed. The elder closed his eyes and began to mutter a language that none of them have ever heard before. Finn began to feel the ground shaking below him, the water around him churn, the wind above him blow and the fire within him burn. Gold light burst through his hand and yet he could not feel it. The light should have stung his eyes but it didn't. The light began to fade and Finn could see an imprint on the palm of his hand; a small gold disc with a strange symbol in the centre, and a gold ring half an inch away from the rim of the disc. It almost looked like a gold coin with the middle punched out, except where it should be gold it was his own skin colour and when it should the colour of his skin it was gold. Strange, Finn thought. The symbol in the centre of the disc was even stranger; on Finn's hand it was a sword, on Sol's; a bow and arrow, on Tara's; a staff and on Leigh's it was three crossed knives.
"This symbol will let other warriors know you are in competition, it will also let the trial masters know you are to undertake the trials. My monks will explain the rest of what you'll need to know." With that the elder turned and went to his quarters.
One of the monks stood up and went a chest he pulled out two scrolls. He sat in front of them and began. "Congratulations on your induction. Now for some minor details," the monk unrolled the first scroll, "the elder has had vision and has decided the name of your crew, the Spirit Guard. It will be marked on all trial and competition scrolls. "The monk wrote the name on the scroll. "Done. This scroll however is for you," the monk took the second scroll and handed it to Finn. "This is a map of the whole world, it is enchanted. It will show the location of all warrior crews in the immediate area including yourselves. Also as the elder was tired he didn't tell you about you compass on your discs, the marking on your hand, the centre circle will always point the way to the next trial. There are other things about the disc that you'll have to find out yourselves, well I think that's it, I believe you parents have something to give you." The monk stood up and went to the alter at the back of the temple, he knelt down and began to meditate.
Finn's father stood up and spoke, "When we were your age the four of us formed our own crew, one each of our parents before us had done the same, and they gave us these weapons to use and to guard with our lives. Why we cannot tell you yet but when you are ready all will be revealed. These weapons are over a thousand years old and hold very special powers but they are for you to discover. Stand up and receive your birthright." When Jacob had finished, Marie, Claire – Sol's mother, and Robert – Leigh's father stood up with the items wrapped in cloth. Finn and the others stood up and stared at the item's Finn's father had called weapons. Simultaneously, the four adults unwrapped them.
Finn gazed at the beautiful sword Jacob held; it was a large broad sword, silver from what Finn could see, it had three blue gems inlaid at the base of the blade; a powerful weapon indeed.
Tara gasped as her mother unwrapped her weapon to reveal a wooden bo-staff with a band of gold at each end and three in the middle. There was also a yellow gem in the tip of each end.
Sol's mother unwrapped her weapon; an unstrung wooden bow with purple stones cast in to it at various places, a very strange weapon.
Leigh's father unwrapped his weapon; Leigh thought it out place compared with the others. It was a pair of red leather fingerless gloves with streaks of gold woven into the material, an even weirder weapon, if you could call it that. Leigh's father saw the look of disappointment on his daughter's face, he smiled at her and winked. Leigh's look of disappointment was replace by looks of confusion.
"You've each seen the weapons you'll be using but I think it best if we demonstrate why they are so special." Finn's father smiled. "Perhaps outside."
They all filed out side and went behind the temple where people weren't supposed to go.
"I'll go first." Robert volunteered. He slipped the gloves on and held out his hands. The gloves tightened around his hands fitting snugly; a perfect fit. Robert made fists with his hands and three red glowing blades suddenly sprouted from the parts of the gloves between the knuckles. They looked like claws. Robert walked over to a tree, he slashed the tree twice then it fell to pieces.
"Cool huh Leigh?" Robert laughed and Leigh nodded wildly. "And that's only half of it, this is why these weapons are so special." Robert held out his hands the gloves themselves began to glow and change shape until they formed a sai in each hand. All four of the teenager's jaws dropped, as Robert spun the two sai in each hand.
"Alright my turn." Sol's mother said shoving Robert over. She held the bow as if it was strung and as she went to grab the non-existent string a glowing purple string and arrow appeared out of thin air. She aimed at tree a couple hundred meters away and fired. They heard a loud crack as the tree split down the middle.
"Now that's good and all for hitting someone far away but what about close up?" Claire smirked as she gripped each end bow with a hand. Light poured out from the middle as it split in two, then each half began glowing and melted over Claire's hands. When it stopped glowing Claire had a purple armlet on each wrist. Sol raised his eyebrows; Claire saw this and smiled.
She crossed hers wrists as if she was monkey gripping herself, then suddenly she pulled them apart and in each hand was a strange purple glowing weapon; it looked like nothing Sol had seen before.
"This kind of weapon was first created in a land far away, it is very interesting but would normally have a fault in it, they are called three pronged boomerangs, you can throw them to hit a target hard and stay or you can throw them so they hit soft but return. The flaw in the weapon is that once you've thrown it you are unarmed," Claire threw two rangs which struck a tree a sliced it in half. "See I have nothing to defend with right? Well not quite." Claire held up her hands as if she was going to box, she punched wide into the air three times; with each swing a glowing rang launched from the outside of the armlet and spun away.
"Show off," Marie shook her head, she held up she weapon, "This bo is very good for close combat, it allows to beat your opponent senseless without shedding a drop of blood. I never liked killing so this was a good weapon for me, as it will be for Tara." Marie spun the staff around her so fast that it seemed to be a blur.
She stopped it suddenly, "It also retracts and extends so it can be carried easily or be used a walking stick or whatever you want. Like the other weapons it changes form." Marie held the staff horizontally out in front of her. It like the others began to glow yellow. It grew longer in her hands then it appeared to melt, but when it had stopped glowing it had turned into a long chain with a small yellow weight at each end. She began to spin each end until they could no longer see the weights, then all of a sudden she twisted around and threw the chain at another tree. The chain wrapped around the tree and constricted until the chain pulled through the wood and the tree fell to pieces.
"Alright, now for the best weapon." Jacob laughed. Robert snorted and laughed too. Jacob held the sword; he cut through the air with the blade a few times before he spoke. "This sword doesn't have so many magical properties, it relies more on the person using it for its power. However, it too can change." Jacob pointed the sword at the ground and it began to glow blue. The sword split in half and when the light fade Jacob held two identical light blades in each hand.
"These are very good for very close combat, they are lighter and slightly smaller and can be used a lot faster then the heavy blade, it means though that you don't have a free hand to defend yourself. The bow and armlets, the bo and chain and the gloves and sai can all be used to defend yourself once you master their uses, but the only way to defend with a sword is with speed. Finn, when you can stop an arrow from Sol's new bow you will be able to defend yourself against anything, even psyenergy."
"Block psyenergy…" Finn mouthed.
Jacob nodded and smiled. He pointed the two swords at the ground and they fused back together glowing blue light again. Just like before there was now one long sword. Marie, Claire and Robert all returned their weapons back to their original forms. Jacob handed Finn the sword with the hilt pointing towards Finn. Finn went to take the sword, he put his and around the hilt and felt a strange power flux though his being.
Before Jacob let go of the blade end of the sword he said, "Today you must swear an oath, all of you," he glanced at the other teenagers, "you must swear to protect these weapons with your lives." Jacob stared Finn the eyes.
Finn looked back into his father's eyes; there was something in them that told him that this was really important to his father. "I swear I will protect this sword with my life." Finn said solemnly. The others also swore similar oaths.
Jacob let go of the sword, "Alright then, its time for you to leave, do us proud." Jacob hugged Finn then Tara and Maire followed in suit. Marie took out a sword sheath that was attached to leather belt that went from shoulder to hip and gave it Finn. He put it on and slid the sword into the sheath; a perfect fit. Marie gave Tara a similar sheath, Tara retracted the Bo and slid it in to the sheath. Sol's mother hugged him and showed Sol how to change the bow into armlets. Leigh's father hugged her and showed her how the gloves worked. After they said their goodbyes the four adults turned around and walked away.
"I didn't think it would be like this," Tara said, "I thought it would be nicer." She picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder.
"Why couldn't it be all happy and stuff?" Leigh whinged.
"Because what we are about to do isn't all nice and happy, we're going to be fighting for our lives, well sort of." Finn said sheathing his new sword.
"Shut up Finn." Tara said, ticked because she knew he was right.
"What do you mean sort of?" Leigh asked Finn.
Finn looked up and raised his eyebrows, he held up his right hand, "These little markings on our hands, well like the monk said they have other, properties. A few years ago I went out into the woods to train and I found two crews fighting. It was awesome, they were pretty good fighters and they were really going at it. They all of a sudden this guys goes nuts and his sword starts glowing, his eyes start glowing too and he screams out 'Thousand Swords!' and he starts moving so fast that I could hardly see him, he's bouncing around slicing and slashing this guy he was fighting, then he just stops and just stands there. I looked at the other guy, he just fell over, fallen."
"Whoa dude, you've never told me about that." Sol said, a little betrayed.
"'Cause he made me promise not to tell anyone until I had been through the ceremony… because he taught me how to do it." Finn smiled, "Anyway, after this guy goes down one of his mates comes over and revives him, an Earth Adept." He looked at Tara. "Apparently only Earth Adepts naturally have the psyenergy to bring someone back, anyone else has to practice for ages, otherwise you have to go to an elder and pay to have it done."
"So, we can't die, can we? Oh my God, we're invincible!" Leigh jumped up and down in a circle.
"Not quite. We can die, just not in a battle." Finn rained on her parade.
"Well still, at least we don't have to worry about dying in battle, do we?" Leigh smiled. She looked at Finn's face; he was going to be a downer again.
"Well according to the dude that went down, it hurts like hell. He said you feel dead, but you're just a little bit alive."
"Hang on," Sol put his hand on Finn's shoulder, "I'm still stuck on the bit where you said he taught it to you."
"Yeah well, you can only do it if your weapon of choice is a sword. I knew you were a archer so I didn't ask him to show you too." Finn confessed.
Sol thought to himself, sure it was reasonable to think he wouldn't be much of a swordsman, but it still would have been nice to have been asked. Plus Finn was sworn to secrecy, so Sol let it go. He let go of Finn's shoulder and went for his bag; maybe he could make his own 'Thousand Arrows'. Sol liked that, it sounded good.
"Alright, let's get a move on, we don't want to have to camp close to home on our first day as warriors, we want to get to the first trial as fast as possible and find out as much as we can about it so we can be prepared." Leigh said in her kick butt attitude. She looked at Finn and Sol, there were going to wash out her plan. "What now?" she said in a touchy tone.
"Well its just that ah, no one is going to tell you anything about the trials, for one they won't want the competition and two they're sworn to secrecy, remember what the elder said, we can never reveal anything to people outside the guild." Finn reminded her.
"So we can assume that no one will tell us anything about the trials." Sol finished. Finn looked at him with one eyebrow raised. Sol smiled, "Sorry dude, couldn't help reading you."
"Alright, at least we could get close to it and maybe Sol could get a vision." Leigh suggested.
Finn thought about it for a second, "Ok, that sounds like a good idea."
Tara sighed, "Its about time…" she mumbled under breath and rolled her eyes.
The four of them collected up their stuff and started down the trail.
FROM THE BEGINNING
The stars sparkled above as four teenagers lay head to head, almost forming a cross, in the fresh spring grass. They listened to the insects buzzing around them in the moonlight. Bats swam across the sky hunting for sweet fruits. An owl above them flew from its perch as a ball of flames erupted from a young girl's hand.
"I can't believe we can finally leave tomorrow, it took you two long enough to turn sixteen." The girl holding the fireball giggled. She had long red hair, watery blue eyes and lightly tanned skin. She is what you'd call the guts of the group.
Another girl, twisting a flower between her fingers, sat up and shot the first girl a dirty look then poked out her tongue, they both giggled. She, unlike her best friend, had blonde hair and pale skin, but shared those same watery blue eyes. Tara was more the compassionate member of the group as well as the voice of reason.
A boy, Tara's twin brother, smiled, "Well Leigh, you could have left with Marcus and co. a month ago when you turned sixteen, you know he had been waiting for you to go with him for almost six months." He laughed to himself. He had short blue hair like his father, something very rare these days. Finn was physically the strongest of the group and probably the best fighter.
The girls stared at the boy, both with horrified looks on their faces, Leigh closed her hand extinguishing the fireball and scowled; the boy's smile grew. Leigh saw Finn smiling; she caught on to his scheme to work her up.
She winked at Tara, "Well I would have but Patsy was going with him and everyone knows we totally hate each other, so I'm only going with you guys because Tara happens to be my best friend." Leigh said smugly; the smile disappeared from Finn's face. The girls rolled around laughing.
[Don't worry bro,] Sol said in private mind-speak, the psychic language Sol's father had taught all of them, [she so likes you.] Sol had purple hair, pale skin and purple eyes just like his parents. He also wore glasses and was considered the brains of the group.
Sol had been Finn's best friend since he could remember. They were inseparable. They had done everything together; they trained together, they ate at each other's house almost every night, they even learned each other's elemental attacks, although they weren't as good as the other. Finn could mind-read, a simple mind at least, he could make things hover; he could even use reveal when he really tried. At the same time, Sol could use parch reasonably well, he could freeze water when he tried, he was also able to use douse. They were very proud of themselves because not many people were able to perform elemental attacks outside of their own element.
Finn and Sol started their crew when they were only eight years old, and they had been training for tomorrow ever since. Of course when Tara found out about their crew she insisted on being in it with her best friend Leigh. When the boys told them that they couldn't join, Tara ran crying to their mother, so rather then having no dessert for the rest of his life, Finn let the girls join the group. Since then they had all trained together hoping one day they might win the world tournament.
Over eight years they learnt how to fight in hand-to-hand combat, in case they lost their weapons in a battle, they studied martial arts, boxing, kickboxing, wrestling and many other forms of fighting. They had all trained with different weapons but each was best with a certain kind of weapon; Finn was best with swords, Sol was a great marksman with the bow and other projectile weapons, Tara fought best with non-lethal weapons and Leigh very skilled with knives and small blades.
[Be careful reading her dude, she'll singe your eyebrows again.] Finn smiled.
[Bro, you don't need to read her to tell she likes you.] Sol said.
Finn had often thought of Leigh, not like he'd think of his sister or Sol but in a different way. He first noticed her when they were about thirteen; whenever he looked at her he got a funny feeling in his stomach. Sure he liked her, the same way he liked eating roast chicken and potatoes and gravy and carrots and… His stomach began to talk to him interrupting his thoughts.
Sol's stomach began talking back to Finn's, the boys just laughed.
"That's disgusting." The girls screwed up their noses and turned away just as their own stomachs joined the conversation. The girls' faces went bright red. The boys rolled around laughing clutching their ribs.
Tara rolled her eyes, "Oh grow up, let's go Leigh." The girls poked out their tongues at the boys, turned on their heels and stared back towards town.
Finn and Sol got up and brushed themselves off and followed the girls to town.
"So have you got everything packed for tomorrow?" Sol asked.
"Of course I have but I still have to buy a sword when we get to the next town, all I have is the Kris my dad gave me." Finn took out the small curvy knife and watched the moonlight flicker off of it. "It's cool but its better for close combat, you know?" Finn said.
"Yeah, but I got it the other way around, I have my bow but its only good long distance, up close and personal it does squat."
"Well you could pick up a small sword or an axe or mace while I get mine." Finn suggested.
"Cool," Sol took out his gold pouch and sifted though it, "I might have to scratch up some coin though."
"Well, I guess we should get home for dinner, see ya in the morning." Finn waved goodbye.
"Later dude." Sol said as he walked towards his own house, pocketing the pouch.
Finn thought about the next day, he figured he wouldn't get much sleep. When he finally got to his house he found Tara crouching outside their kitchen window.
[What are you doing?] Finn asked.
Tara spun around and waved Finn over. Finn walked over and crouched beside his sister. [Listen.] Tara said pointing to the window.
"I think we should give them to the kids after the ceremony tomorrow." Finn's father Jacob said to his mother.
Finn's mother Marie stood at the stove and stirred tonight's dinner in a large pot. "Are you sure they can handle them, I know I had trouble when my Father first gave me mine."
"Don't worry both Finn and Tara are fine warriors, I've practised with them myself and they are far more powerful then I was at their age." Jacob reassured his wife. He stood up and walked to Marie stood behind her and put his arms around her waist. He whispered in her ear, "It's going to be alright, you heard what the elders said."
"I know but I'm still going to miss them." Marie turned around and hugged her husband. Finn noticed the tears welling in his mother's eyes.
[What did they mean, 'what the elders said'?] Tara asked Finn.
Finn shrugged his shoulders, got up and went for the door. Tara rolled her eyes and followed after Finn. They walked around to the other side of the house and opened the door.
"Hey mom, dad we're home, dinner smells great." Tara said as she pushed past Finn and walked down the hall to the kitchen.
When Finn got to the Tara and Jacob were already seated, Marie carried a pot from the stove and put it on the table. She ladled out a bowl of stew for everyone the put the pot back on the stove. She sat down and joined the others.
No one talked much at dinner; they just sat there and ate. Occasionally Jacob would try to get a conversation going but no one seemed in the mood, they were all dreading the moment they would have to say goodbye. Finn watched his mother, not once did she look up at either of them, he could tell she was very upset. Finn finished his dinner excused himself, said goodnight and went up to his room. He didn't bother changing he just got in bed and tried to go to sleep. Unfortunately he couldn't stop thinking about how sad his mother was. He vowed he would make her proud of him and make her happy. He closed his eyes and eventually drifted off to sleep.
* * * * *
The next day he was woken by Tara, or rather he was shaken awake.
"Get up the ceremony starts in an hour, we need to have everything ready to go." Tara shouted running out the door.
Finn rubbed his eyes and sat up he looked around his room, it was going to be a while before he saw it again. He got out of bed, changed his clothes, picked up his bag and went down stairs. He found his parents downstairs each holding a long item wrapped in cloth.
"Let's go." Jacob said flatly. He walked out the door with Marie close behind him.
[Something weird is going on.] Tara said.
[Don't worry, we'll find out after the ceremony.] Finn replied. He propped his bag up on his shoulder and headed for the door.
Finn and Tara stood out side their house and took a mental picture, neither wanted to forget all the good times they had had within those walls. Finn turned and walked down the path to the elder's temple. Tara sighed and followed her brother.
When they arrived at the temple they found Leigh and Sol waiting outside with one of the elder's monks. Finn and Tara put their packs with Sol and Leigh's and joined them outside the door.
[Something weird is going on bro.] Sol said turning to Finn. [This morning my mum started acting all weird and she had this thing…]
[Wrapped in cloth.] Finn finished.
[How did you know?] Sol demanded.
[My parents had them too. I don't ever remember anyone's parents inside the temple during the ceremony, do you?] Finn asked.
[Now that you mention it, no. What do you think is going on?] Sol asked eagerly.
[I was hoping that you had read someone or got a vision.] Finn confessed.
[I tried my parents but they blocked me and I'd never try to read a monk again.] Sol shuddered remembering the mental attack from the monks. [Anyway, we'll find out soon enough.] He said looking at the temple door.
The door slowly creaked open and eerie golden light spilled out onto them. The monk gestured for them to enter. One after the other, they entered the temple. They found Finn and Tara's parents,
Sol's mother and Leigh's father sitting behind the village elder all holding the mysterious wrapped items.
The elder's monk asked them to kneel before the elder; so all four got down on one knee and waited for the elder to speak.
"Today we are here to initiate these young men and women into the guild of warriors so that they may compete in the world tournament." The old elder began, "but first you will hear a story that all warriors before you have heard. It is the story of eight warriors who risked their lives to save this very world. Over two millennia ago the people of this world sought to use and master the art of alchemy, both for good and evil. However people began to abuse this gift from the gods so it was locked away in four temples called lighthouses. However, the earth soon began to wither as its lifeblood had been sealed away."
"Fortunately not all people had forgotten about the magical powers their ancestors once possessed, these people were called Adepts. People capable of controlling the elements. Eight of these Adept warriors from different lands set out to release the power the lighthouses contained, and eventually they completed their mission. Since then, anyone born in this world has been able to use those same powers if they so choose. So we honour their memory by holding the world tournament where young warriors may battle each other in the spirit of friendship and competition. There are dangers nevertheless, the power that flows though your bodies is neither good nor evil, it is up to each person to choose how he or she will use it."
"Now that you have heard this story I bless you and induct you into the guild of warriors, you are duty bound to never reveal anything you have been told here today. Now, hold out your sword hand." The elder instructed.
Finn held out his right hand and the others followed. The elder closed his eyes and began to mutter a language that none of them have ever heard before. Finn began to feel the ground shaking below him, the water around him churn, the wind above him blow and the fire within him burn. Gold light burst through his hand and yet he could not feel it. The light should have stung his eyes but it didn't. The light began to fade and Finn could see an imprint on the palm of his hand; a small gold disc with a strange symbol in the centre, and a gold ring half an inch away from the rim of the disc. It almost looked like a gold coin with the middle punched out, except where it should be gold it was his own skin colour and when it should the colour of his skin it was gold. Strange, Finn thought. The symbol in the centre of the disc was even stranger; on Finn's hand it was a sword, on Sol's; a bow and arrow, on Tara's; a staff and on Leigh's it was three crossed knives.
"This symbol will let other warriors know you are in competition, it will also let the trial masters know you are to undertake the trials. My monks will explain the rest of what you'll need to know." With that the elder turned and went to his quarters.
One of the monks stood up and went a chest he pulled out two scrolls. He sat in front of them and began. "Congratulations on your induction. Now for some minor details," the monk unrolled the first scroll, "the elder has had vision and has decided the name of your crew, the Spirit Guard. It will be marked on all trial and competition scrolls. "The monk wrote the name on the scroll. "Done. This scroll however is for you," the monk took the second scroll and handed it to Finn. "This is a map of the whole world, it is enchanted. It will show the location of all warrior crews in the immediate area including yourselves. Also as the elder was tired he didn't tell you about you compass on your discs, the marking on your hand, the centre circle will always point the way to the next trial. There are other things about the disc that you'll have to find out yourselves, well I think that's it, I believe you parents have something to give you." The monk stood up and went to the alter at the back of the temple, he knelt down and began to meditate.
Finn's father stood up and spoke, "When we were your age the four of us formed our own crew, one each of our parents before us had done the same, and they gave us these weapons to use and to guard with our lives. Why we cannot tell you yet but when you are ready all will be revealed. These weapons are over a thousand years old and hold very special powers but they are for you to discover. Stand up and receive your birthright." When Jacob had finished, Marie, Claire – Sol's mother, and Robert – Leigh's father stood up with the items wrapped in cloth. Finn and the others stood up and stared at the item's Finn's father had called weapons. Simultaneously, the four adults unwrapped them.
Finn gazed at the beautiful sword Jacob held; it was a large broad sword, silver from what Finn could see, it had three blue gems inlaid at the base of the blade; a powerful weapon indeed.
Tara gasped as her mother unwrapped her weapon to reveal a wooden bo-staff with a band of gold at each end and three in the middle. There was also a yellow gem in the tip of each end.
Sol's mother unwrapped her weapon; an unstrung wooden bow with purple stones cast in to it at various places, a very strange weapon.
Leigh's father unwrapped his weapon; Leigh thought it out place compared with the others. It was a pair of red leather fingerless gloves with streaks of gold woven into the material, an even weirder weapon, if you could call it that. Leigh's father saw the look of disappointment on his daughter's face, he smiled at her and winked. Leigh's look of disappointment was replace by looks of confusion.
"You've each seen the weapons you'll be using but I think it best if we demonstrate why they are so special." Finn's father smiled. "Perhaps outside."
They all filed out side and went behind the temple where people weren't supposed to go.
"I'll go first." Robert volunteered. He slipped the gloves on and held out his hands. The gloves tightened around his hands fitting snugly; a perfect fit. Robert made fists with his hands and three red glowing blades suddenly sprouted from the parts of the gloves between the knuckles. They looked like claws. Robert walked over to a tree, he slashed the tree twice then it fell to pieces.
"Cool huh Leigh?" Robert laughed and Leigh nodded wildly. "And that's only half of it, this is why these weapons are so special." Robert held out his hands the gloves themselves began to glow and change shape until they formed a sai in each hand. All four of the teenager's jaws dropped, as Robert spun the two sai in each hand.
"Alright my turn." Sol's mother said shoving Robert over. She held the bow as if it was strung and as she went to grab the non-existent string a glowing purple string and arrow appeared out of thin air. She aimed at tree a couple hundred meters away and fired. They heard a loud crack as the tree split down the middle.
"Now that's good and all for hitting someone far away but what about close up?" Claire smirked as she gripped each end bow with a hand. Light poured out from the middle as it split in two, then each half began glowing and melted over Claire's hands. When it stopped glowing Claire had a purple armlet on each wrist. Sol raised his eyebrows; Claire saw this and smiled.
She crossed hers wrists as if she was monkey gripping herself, then suddenly she pulled them apart and in each hand was a strange purple glowing weapon; it looked like nothing Sol had seen before.
"This kind of weapon was first created in a land far away, it is very interesting but would normally have a fault in it, they are called three pronged boomerangs, you can throw them to hit a target hard and stay or you can throw them so they hit soft but return. The flaw in the weapon is that once you've thrown it you are unarmed," Claire threw two rangs which struck a tree a sliced it in half. "See I have nothing to defend with right? Well not quite." Claire held up her hands as if she was going to box, she punched wide into the air three times; with each swing a glowing rang launched from the outside of the armlet and spun away.
"Show off," Marie shook her head, she held up she weapon, "This bo is very good for close combat, it allows to beat your opponent senseless without shedding a drop of blood. I never liked killing so this was a good weapon for me, as it will be for Tara." Marie spun the staff around her so fast that it seemed to be a blur.
She stopped it suddenly, "It also retracts and extends so it can be carried easily or be used a walking stick or whatever you want. Like the other weapons it changes form." Marie held the staff horizontally out in front of her. It like the others began to glow yellow. It grew longer in her hands then it appeared to melt, but when it had stopped glowing it had turned into a long chain with a small yellow weight at each end. She began to spin each end until they could no longer see the weights, then all of a sudden she twisted around and threw the chain at another tree. The chain wrapped around the tree and constricted until the chain pulled through the wood and the tree fell to pieces.
"Alright, now for the best weapon." Jacob laughed. Robert snorted and laughed too. Jacob held the sword; he cut through the air with the blade a few times before he spoke. "This sword doesn't have so many magical properties, it relies more on the person using it for its power. However, it too can change." Jacob pointed the sword at the ground and it began to glow blue. The sword split in half and when the light fade Jacob held two identical light blades in each hand.
"These are very good for very close combat, they are lighter and slightly smaller and can be used a lot faster then the heavy blade, it means though that you don't have a free hand to defend yourself. The bow and armlets, the bo and chain and the gloves and sai can all be used to defend yourself once you master their uses, but the only way to defend with a sword is with speed. Finn, when you can stop an arrow from Sol's new bow you will be able to defend yourself against anything, even psyenergy."
"Block psyenergy…" Finn mouthed.
Jacob nodded and smiled. He pointed the two swords at the ground and they fused back together glowing blue light again. Just like before there was now one long sword. Marie, Claire and Robert all returned their weapons back to their original forms. Jacob handed Finn the sword with the hilt pointing towards Finn. Finn went to take the sword, he put his and around the hilt and felt a strange power flux though his being.
Before Jacob let go of the blade end of the sword he said, "Today you must swear an oath, all of you," he glanced at the other teenagers, "you must swear to protect these weapons with your lives." Jacob stared Finn the eyes.
Finn looked back into his father's eyes; there was something in them that told him that this was really important to his father. "I swear I will protect this sword with my life." Finn said solemnly. The others also swore similar oaths.
Jacob let go of the sword, "Alright then, its time for you to leave, do us proud." Jacob hugged Finn then Tara and Maire followed in suit. Marie took out a sword sheath that was attached to leather belt that went from shoulder to hip and gave it Finn. He put it on and slid the sword into the sheath; a perfect fit. Marie gave Tara a similar sheath, Tara retracted the Bo and slid it in to the sheath. Sol's mother hugged him and showed Sol how to change the bow into armlets. Leigh's father hugged her and showed her how the gloves worked. After they said their goodbyes the four adults turned around and walked away.
"I didn't think it would be like this," Tara said, "I thought it would be nicer." She picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder.
"Why couldn't it be all happy and stuff?" Leigh whinged.
"Because what we are about to do isn't all nice and happy, we're going to be fighting for our lives, well sort of." Finn said sheathing his new sword.
"Shut up Finn." Tara said, ticked because she knew he was right.
"What do you mean sort of?" Leigh asked Finn.
Finn looked up and raised his eyebrows, he held up his right hand, "These little markings on our hands, well like the monk said they have other, properties. A few years ago I went out into the woods to train and I found two crews fighting. It was awesome, they were pretty good fighters and they were really going at it. They all of a sudden this guys goes nuts and his sword starts glowing, his eyes start glowing too and he screams out 'Thousand Swords!' and he starts moving so fast that I could hardly see him, he's bouncing around slicing and slashing this guy he was fighting, then he just stops and just stands there. I looked at the other guy, he just fell over, fallen."
"Whoa dude, you've never told me about that." Sol said, a little betrayed.
"'Cause he made me promise not to tell anyone until I had been through the ceremony… because he taught me how to do it." Finn smiled, "Anyway, after this guy goes down one of his mates comes over and revives him, an Earth Adept." He looked at Tara. "Apparently only Earth Adepts naturally have the psyenergy to bring someone back, anyone else has to practice for ages, otherwise you have to go to an elder and pay to have it done."
"So, we can't die, can we? Oh my God, we're invincible!" Leigh jumped up and down in a circle.
"Not quite. We can die, just not in a battle." Finn rained on her parade.
"Well still, at least we don't have to worry about dying in battle, do we?" Leigh smiled. She looked at Finn's face; he was going to be a downer again.
"Well according to the dude that went down, it hurts like hell. He said you feel dead, but you're just a little bit alive."
"Hang on," Sol put his hand on Finn's shoulder, "I'm still stuck on the bit where you said he taught it to you."
"Yeah well, you can only do it if your weapon of choice is a sword. I knew you were a archer so I didn't ask him to show you too." Finn confessed.
Sol thought to himself, sure it was reasonable to think he wouldn't be much of a swordsman, but it still would have been nice to have been asked. Plus Finn was sworn to secrecy, so Sol let it go. He let go of Finn's shoulder and went for his bag; maybe he could make his own 'Thousand Arrows'. Sol liked that, it sounded good.
"Alright, let's get a move on, we don't want to have to camp close to home on our first day as warriors, we want to get to the first trial as fast as possible and find out as much as we can about it so we can be prepared." Leigh said in her kick butt attitude. She looked at Finn and Sol, there were going to wash out her plan. "What now?" she said in a touchy tone.
"Well its just that ah, no one is going to tell you anything about the trials, for one they won't want the competition and two they're sworn to secrecy, remember what the elder said, we can never reveal anything to people outside the guild." Finn reminded her.
"So we can assume that no one will tell us anything about the trials." Sol finished. Finn looked at him with one eyebrow raised. Sol smiled, "Sorry dude, couldn't help reading you."
"Alright, at least we could get close to it and maybe Sol could get a vision." Leigh suggested.
Finn thought about it for a second, "Ok, that sounds like a good idea."
Tara sighed, "Its about time…" she mumbled under breath and rolled her eyes.
The four of them collected up their stuff and started down the trail.