Prologue 1: Death March
The first thing I remember after the ambush, after the killing, was a tunnel.
I was walking down it, my spear in my right hand supporting my body as I limped through the darkness.
I had lost my shield in the attack.
I had lost my companions.
I had lost my dreams, my ambitions.
All I had left was the spear and my armor.
And the dark.
I'm not sure how long I walked for.
I'm not sure where I walked.
I'm pretty sure I had collapsed a few times, but I got up again.
I don't know why, I just did.
I kept walking.
The tunnel combined with another tunnel and another and another, getting wider as I walked.
And then, I saw it.
It was dim at first but as I approached it, it got brighter and brighter, until I was at the foot of a sign post.
A green flames burned on it, spelling letters into the wood.
"Welcome to Daedalus' Pass" it read.
I don't know what happened after that.
Maybe I kept walking.
Maybe I collapsed out of exhaustion.
But the next thing I remember was exiting the dungeon.
I remember the tears on my face.
I remember the curses I shouted.
I remember the small hands of my god striking my armor, crying for my lost companions.
I remember waking up and finding him gone.
I remember swearing to never to adventure again.
I remember dying.
This one remembers it too.
Prologue 2: Lady Luck and the Stray
The wounded man coughed and gagged as a stream of smoke hit his face.
"Kakaka! Good, seems like ye're still alive."
The woman who woke him laughed as she blew another smoke ring. The light from her pipe lit the wooden bridge with an faint orange glow.
She was a young woman who appeared to be in her early 20s with a sharp face that was tightly wrapped in bandages, leaving only her lips and eyes visible. Light danced across her long black hair as her companion, a giant man in a large straw hat, walked toward her carrying paper lantern.
She stood there in the light of the lamp, leaning on her crutch. Observing the wounded man under her rectangular glasses.
He was in bad shape. His body was covered in blood, with torn skin and muscle visible under the shattered pieces of his armor that still clung to his body. Broken arrows protruded from his torso like bent nails in a old wooden post, and one dagger was still imbedded in his right shoulder, pinning him to the handrail of the bridge.
"Hahaha! I wouldn't say "good" Ebisu-sama."
Her companion laughed.
"I've seen this man's face before on the posters around the Guild. He's a wanted man, the one that goes by the alias "Hitokiri" (man cutter)"
The young woman, known as Ebisu looked more excited than she should have.
"Really? That guy that's been attacking all those adventurers left and right? Kakaka! Who cut the man cutter I wonder?"
The Hitokiri tried to move but his body didn't listen to him.
"Leave me be... Girl..." He managed to mutter, glaring at her.
"Kakaka! He called me a girl, Ozuno! This child is funny!"
"He also has a large bounty on his head Ebisu-sama."
The man known as Ozuno said.
"Large enough to pay off my debt?"
Ebisu asked.
Ozuno, laughed as if she had said, "large enough to buy a staircase to the moon?" or "large enough to buy an underwater castle?"
"Hahahahaha! We would need 100 Hitokiris to do that!" He replied.
Ebisu laughed along.
"Kakakaka! That's right! Don't underestimate my debt!"
The Hitokiri winced as Ozuno brought the light closer to his face.
"But to think the Hitokiri was a wartiger. In the poster he looked like hooded human. No wonder he was never caught."
The Hitokiri's hair was black, but around the sides, bands of white hair wrapped around the length, similar to the pattern of a tiger and two ears were sprouting from the top of his head.
"More like a cat than a tiger. Kaka!"
Ebisu laughed overturning the burnt out contents of her pipe onto the bridge.
"Are you going to... sit there and mock me... or will you... end my life?" the Hitokiri growled.
"Hmm..."
Ebisu crouched in front of the Hitokiri, bringing her face up close to his. The Hitokiri coughed from the reek of tobacco and alcohol that mingled in her breath.
She smiled at him.
"Do ya wish to die child?"
Her eyes were dark blue, each which seemed to have the depth of an ocean. Shards of light danced around inside them, like silver fish.
She began to stuff tobacco into her pipe.
"If ya want to die tell me. I am sure Ozuno would love to kill ya. He seems to be a laughing fool, but he has a hatred for dishonorable men. I'm guessing the only thing stopping him from crushing yer body under his foot is that I haven't ordered him to."
Skit, skit, fwoosh.
She lit a match and gently pushed it against the crushed leaves. With a flick of her wrist she put out the match as smoke started to rise from her pipe.
She puffed on it for a second, and blew a smoke ring that drifted upwards and upwards until it was pulled apart into nothingness.
"All... People die..." The Hitokiri said wiping a drop of blood from his mouth.
"Kaka." Ebisu laughed.
"True. But do all people die, on a bridge stabbed like human pincushion, waiting alone fer death to come?"
She smiles at the Hitokiri.
"No one wishes to die like that."
She blowed another smoke ring at the Hitokiri's face. The smoke was warm against his cold skin.
"Do ya want to be saved?"
The Hitokiri looked away, "Do what you will..."
"Kakaka!" Ebisu laughed, "Ye're not honest are ya? How cute! We gods have a word fer people like ya... What was it... Um... That word... Started with a... ta... chi... tsu... That's right it was Tsundere!"
She propped herself back up on her crutch.
"Ozuno! Pick up this kitten." She said pointing at the Hitokiri, "I just about needed a good luck charm anyway. Hopefully, he'll invite good fortune."
"Hahaha! Black cats may also bring misfortune Ebisu-sama!" laughed Ozuno as he hoisted the wartiger on his shoulder.
"Kaka! We can't get any more unlucky than we are now!" Ebisu said patting the wartiger's head.
"Hahaha! You are right in that regard, goddess." Ozuno laughed back.
The wartiger glared at her "What... Are you... Planning..."
"Shush, kitty. I'm going to rehabilitate ya! Obviously, ya turned out this way because ya weren't given enough love growing up! Kakaka! Don't worry! Ya can snuggle with me all ya like!"
"Shut... Up...
"Kakaka!" The goddess laughed, "I have great expectations for ya."
So, this is a new story filled with OCs! Yay! Yes, I am well aware many of you frown upon OCs, but relax, I'm not going to make a Gary Stu save Bell (Bell does the saving around these parts), get down with Hestia (honestly, if having Aiz as a rival hasn't made her give up on Bell, nothing will) or beat Aiz or Ottar with their pinkies, (not even in full armor and weapons. Seeing how strong Aiz is and how Ottar is stronger than her, they'd need a gundam to defeat those monsters.)
For those who have followed my other FF I posted, "Going West" , I apologize for not updating it and instead starting a new FF. I got caught in the dreaded habit of not planning ahead and now, I don't know where to go with the story. Wrote 5 different versions of the next chapter but none of them worked. Sorry, I need to work on it some more...
I have this story planned already (see I'm learning) and it'll be roughly 8 chapters. Yes, Bell and the gang will make an appearance as will Hestia (hopefully, I can do them justice).
I suffer from a chronic fear of predictable plot. If my plot is predictable and you know what's going to happen, send me a message saying so and don't just post "I KNOW WHATS UP HERE!" in the comments. I won't change the plot to throw you off if you guess right (not going to insult your intelligence by going, "aha! But he was his mother not his father!") but I may change things latter on in the plot to keep things entertaining. Yes, you can shape the adventure! Just not in the same way as a choose your own adventure (If you want Bell to kill the Goliath press A, if you want him to pick flowers in a field with Ryuu, press B).
Anyway, thanks for reading my prologue(s) for this FF! Any suggestions and critiques are and always will be appreciated even when the make me cry (especially when they make me cry, cause the truth hurts).
Ciao!
(Man this was a long comment... Used way to many parentheses too...)