Disclaimer: I do not own Halo or any of the charters that exist during the time that Halo takes place.

Note: T'rokai 'Oban, Cerri 'Hosai and Var 'Yamry are the intellectual property of me (DraconicArmagon/CometArmagon) and SligarTheTiger. All characters that will be featured in this story and future installments are of my own Creation and the creation of Sligar the Tiger who is drawing the characters of the story. If you would like to see the images of the characters please head to DeviantArt and look up DraconicArmagon and SligarTheTiger.

Another Note: Please be Kind, Dyslexia and other disabilities involving writing are very common, spell checkers will not catch all the errors.

The Legend of T'rokai 'Oban

Ah, so we have quit the gathering here today. Oh and of all ages to, look at this some tiny and others tall. Ha ha, come close then and sit by the fire and listen to an ancient tale of hardship, glory and tragedy

This is a story that takes place long ago, before we had ships that travel the stars, even before we had some of the simplest of technology. Back when whole nations would war, in a time of great upheaval, when many died and there was much glory and honor to be had.

How long ago was this you ask, well now that is a hard one to answer. I would have to say over 8000 years ago maybe before that, it is hard to say as the records for those eras have been lost and few vestiges remain. But the legend I tell you of now, you can find carved on a wall in a keep that was once know as Neron

Let me tell you how it began all those millennium ago.

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T'rok s childhood was rather simple and an easy going one but as she grew in age and learnt from her mother and father of what her duties would be. She became more and more appalled by what was expected of her, she dreamed of greatness and of wondrous adventure instead of marriage. Young T'rok had no desire to settle down with a strong man and bare him young and cook for him. So she ran away before her coming of age ceremony and disappeared into the wilds. Oh how her parents searched for her and it broke their hearts that she was gone; they thought that some one had taken her away or killed their beloved child. So they held a small funeral in her name and where greatly saddened by it, they wept for her and called on the ancestors to keep her soul safe.

It was during these years that she became rather vicious and reverted to instinct alone, she forgot about manners, the people that loved her and all that she had been taught. T'rok had to learn new skills in that time, how to hunt and kill her prey, how to survive the seasons how to make protective garments, tools and shelters. It was during these years that her body would become powerful and marred with scars from animals and other mishaps you would expect form living in the wilds.

However during her 25th year of living alone and fighting a daily battle to survive she would be forced to flee the place she called home due to a large wild fire. She was angered that the ancestors decided to take her home away from her and that she was forced to return to the bustling city. When she finally arrived at the massive city it frightened her greatly, their where so many people moving about and the noise constantly startled her. The worst part was all the odd looks she received from others, either it was due to her height, muscular body or the leather and fur cloths she wore.

She was never able to get used to being stared at like that or the height of the buildings, so every night she would return to the out skirts and rest and every day at the crack of dawn when it was most quiet she would return their and seek out a means of survival. Even though it was now difficult to read the words scrawled onto paper or talk to people, she would still try and not give up. However after several weeks of searching for a job of some sort, she realized that none would accept her as she was and nearly fell into despair. She even considered returning to the wilds to find a new home where she would hunt in peace and not have to deal with these retched people.

However on the day she decided to leave the great noisy city she heard talk of a tournament and listened intently to the words that where spoken. From what T'rok could gather this tournament was a place where anyone that was a skilled fighter and was strong could go and display their prowess to the crowds. The concept of the crowds disturbed her slightly but it was the prize that attracted her attention the most. The one that could win all the feats of strength and win many battles was to be trained by a Blade Master and there was prize money to be had, enough to buy real cloths, fancy armor and weapons with. T'rok thought long that day, she was most certainly strong and a skilled fighter, why she had killed many dangerous beasts with no more then some stones blades and her claws.

So upon learning where this tournament was to be held she set of to apply, but when she tried to sign up she was mocked rather harshly by the males that where their. But alas after showing them some of the scars she had gained from the beasts she slain they decided to humor the angered women. After explaining the rules of conduct as clearly as they could to her and what was permitted in the tournament, she found that she had to remove most of her leather and fur garments and stone weapons. Many of the men that had entered the tournament asked her about the deep scars that covered the visible portions of her body. Some where very impressed at the accounts and detail in her stories, others laughed and said that she probably did it to herself and made up tall tales to get some kind of attention. It was during those days that she made friends and was forced to temper her violent side.

On the very day the tournament started she watched as one by one, some of the people that she talked to either fail the feats of complete them with great gusto. She was happy and both sad that day, as some of the individuals that had insulted her failed miserably and others won. It was the loss of seeing her new found friends fail that pained her so, and she wished them well. Those that had won she congratulated and gave them friendly slaps on the back. When it was her time to complete the task she found her self holding her breath and sweating. A whole crowd or people staring at her, it was truly a frightening concept. But after some words of support she marched out in front of the crowd and tossed the heavy ball and chain with as much force as she could muster. She stood their in silence as did the crowd; the air was thick with anticipation as the distance was measured. Success! She jumped for joy as she meet the required distance, the crowd also seamed to be roaring with zeal as well.

Their where many feats to win and several hand to hand battles that had to be won, many of which she relished in and others she did not enjoy as much. The tournament had already lasted several days and most of the contestants had failed to move on to the next rounds. She watched as more of her friends had failed to complete the tasks and left, but most seamed to be fairly proud with them selves. Others where saddened that they had not done as well as they had last year, but stated they would try again, T rok had hoped they would continue to try aswell. As the feats continued T rok noticed that she had to fall back more and more on the instincts that she gained in the wilds when in combat and was starting to fell the wear on her body from the feats of strength.

It was only during the final rounds of the tournament when things took a turn for the worst. A male that she was fighting with was becoming increasingly infuriated with her and the way she fought, he managed to successfully punch her in the mandibles and broke two of them. While she was dazed from the blow he managed to get her in a headlock and in an act of savagery pulled out her left eye with his bare hand. This caused her to display the full force of her rage and she nearly killed him, giving him several life threatening wounds and breaking his left arm. After his recovery he would later state that it was like fighting an untamed animal. Luckily she was not bared from the contest because of this mans actions and found that her retaliation was justified, if a bit excessive. She however did not win the tournament because others took advantage of her blind side.

Possibly one of the strangest occurrences in the history of the tournament was that the Blade Master refused to train the winner. He sited that the winner was dishonorable in combat and their fore not worthy of being trained in the arts of swordsmanship. Some of the crowd was disappointed, most took his words at face value and cheered. When asked if there was anyone worth training out of the contestants, he pointed at T'rok and said Her . Least to say the crowd was shocked by this and when the Blade Master was asked why he would choose a woman. He said that never in his life had he witnessed such cunning, ferocity and bravery, to fight in a tournament full of nothing but men and continue even after losing an eye. That after all she faced, she was deserving of such an honor and that it should be given without question.

After cheering from the crowd as they had observed the skills of the women for themselves, she was awarded the prize. Although this had earned her some heated words from the man who had won the tournament. She later left the city after wishing those she meet during the tournament good luck and a farewell. She headed of into the distance with the Blade Master by her side dressed in brilliant silver armor and carrying two finely made swords with some gear for the trip to the Blade Master's favored training grounds.

Nearly 17 years had passed after that tournament and she was finally awarded the "ai" suffix that was tacked to all Blade Master's names. The Blade Master had tough her many things such as higher manners, proper language, reading and writing and all about the concept of honor and when it should be applied in combat. She thanked Blade Master Cerii 'Hosai one last time before setting off and travailing across the lands for well over a year. Eventually she ended up hearing of a territory that was in need of warriors as they where being attacked by a neighboring province. She delighted in the thought of being able to truly test out her skills in war and set off that night. It took over a month to reach the Province of Neron and was nearly turned her away till she proved her skills as a Blade Master. Once she had defeated the guardsman in combat he apologized and she was officially conscripted in to the military, but was allotted no official rank.

Over the course of 8 years T'rokai had killed 100s of individuals in combat and lead several well planned attacks against the opposing forces. These accomplishments allowed her to gain significant rank with in the Neron Forces. Those under her respected her greatly for the immense amount of bravery that they observed and her devotion to the men she commanded. Eventually the battalions she commanded had pushed so far into the territory of Yamry, that they had reached the capitol.

A stand still had occurred between the capitols citizens and the Neron Army. This however only lasted at most a day and the forces broke threw and killed their way to Yamry Keep. T'rokai at this point had moved ahead of the army and with a handful of men slashed their way threw guards and any servant that took up arms. Several of them died along the way, but she and her men had stormed the throne room.

While the Guards where attempting to kill the well armed and bloody warriors that accompanied T'rokai, She went straight for their regions leader, Var 'Yamry. They engaged in a fierce sword dual with each other, deflecting the others sword strikes, while kicks and fist blows where blocked. With Var eventually taking advantage of her blind side and disarming her of her swords.

He made a rather harsh comment about her being a women and she fell into rage at the insult. She lashed at him with fang and claw which cough Var off guard. She had managed to remove the threat of the swords and they fought in hand to hand melee for what seamed an eternity. They suddenly broke the fight and each moved back a few paces, with T'rokai rolling for a nearby sword and Var claiming one from a dead guard. Knowing that the bastard would take advantage of her blind side again, she did the only thing should could to win the fight. She allowed him to land a fatal blow to her body but took the opportunity to thrust her twin bladed sword into his chest.

Var questioned the pain in his chest before looking down and seeing it with his own eyes, he looked up and blinked. T'rokai simply smiled at him as he fell back the sword sliding out of the wound. She had stumbled back and was about to fall onto the blood soaked floor when some one had cough her in their arms. She looked at the warrior and recognized him as one of her own, she nodded to him and smiled as he held her firmly in his arms. She began to shack and sweat all the while coughing up deep purple blood and finally gave a last heaving breath before darkness took her.

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And so young ones that is the story of T'rokai 'Oban, a brave and fearsome warrior from a time long since passed. Whether or not the legend is a true one I cannot tell you but perhaps if you young women of Sanghelios call out to her spirit and honour her memory she will grant you her strength and you may be able to over come your fears and do great things.