Chapter 1:
My breath dragged through my throat. My muscles burned, and the pack of Aaron's supplies didn't make it any easier. Pardon me. Sir Aaron. I was his squire. No. Never mind. Squire implies I am learning how to be a knight. Or, you know, anything besides a pack horse. I only do this because any treasure I "apprehend" goes to my family... After Aaron- Sir Aaron- gets first call. So far, from the two letters I have received, my sister is betrothed to a Prince, my Father is still missing, and my Mother is now a cook. We have also, at least in my home country, become advisors to a King, the father of my sister's betrothed. My Mother once told me I could come home whenever I wanted. And then she went off on a tangent for the rest of the letter, describing all of the benefits of me being a squire. Thanks Mom. Real subtle.
"We are almost there! Just a little farther boy!" Aaron called down to me. He was wearing comfortable light combat gear, and chain mail with just a chestplate. Total weight? Maybe forty pounds. My pack contained; pots and pans, blankets, two swords, a banner, the rest of Aaron's armor, forty gold coins, some meditative incenses, some Aura tokens (he said that, but I knew they were just rocks that were vaguely circular), and our provisions of water, cheese, and meat. Total weight? I hardly even noticed, because I carried so much of it all of the time. I wasn't, at least in my opinion, very good looking. My mother disagreed, but that was because she was my mother. The only other vague fascination anyone had ever had in me was Aaron, and that was for a packhorse. I was tall for my age, which was about sixteen (my family used to be so poor we couldn't even afford birthdays of any significance. I was eighty percent certain I was sixteen... With a two year cushion on either side. We finally climbed to the top of the mountain, and rested. Aaron lay on his back, panting heavily. I barely restrained my indignant questions as to why he was panting. I huffed, breath smoking in the fresh, cold mountain air. Aaron snapped his fingers.
"Water." I dredged the water up from the depths of the pack, and restrained myself from dumping the entire waterskin on his head. He guzzled it all down, then thrust the skin back at me. "Find more." That was the last two or three years. No please. No thank you. Ever. Period. I nodded obediently and grabbed the skin. I trudged into the woods, looking for some water. I came across a stream, and followed it upriver. At the stream's start, I collected water from the small pond. I walked back to the small ledge, and Aaron snapped his fingers again. "Water." I gritted my teeth, and handed him the skin. He drained half of the skin... Again. He let out his breath, content with the water I had provided him. And after his little water break, we continued trudging on. I was not excited, because every hill or mountain we climb, we eventually have to go down. And climbing down was twice as hard as climbing up. As we trekked through the woods, many pairs of eyes watched us. I didn't have any pokémon, save a Pikachu, which I had left to protect my family. The eyes blinked and moved, in an almost hypnotic way. Aaron stumbled a few times, and I had to bite my tongue from laughing. As we went, small purple flames appeared in the distance. We followed them on our march, until, I noticed, they were slightly more to the right. Aaron adjusted his course to follow the flames, but I spoke up.
"Sir." He spoke without stopping.
"Yes boy?" I held my tongue, and refrained from telling him all the choice words for him (few broke four letters).
"If I may, Sir." I said, careful not to "insult" him. "Those flames are leading us in the wrong direction." He stopped short, mid stride.
"Do not tell me where to go, boy!" With that, he spun, hand extended to slap me. Against my better judgement, I reflexively blocked the intended blow. He growled, and tried to strike me again. This time the blow landed. Then, we continued on our way, with Aaron ignoring the lights. I smiled internally, seeing as he knew I was right. He never allowed me to tell him what to do, even if I was right. Finally, the ground sloped downwards. We came upon a town at the end of the day, as the sun set. We checked in to the local tavern, scoring the last room. I would sleep either on the floor, or outside. We walked into the area of the building where drinks were served. There was only one waitress. She had orange hair, with a short-cut side ponytail. She was ducking and dodging, balancing trays, pots, plates and bowls. The men were probably drunk, they were laughing so hard. A few had begun chasing her, or trying to touch her to make her falter. Aaron sat at the bar, ordering a mug of rum. I, as his "squire," was expected to sit quietly by the door, with three other squires. They were pitiful sacks of skin and bone. I, with a lack of any mirrors, assumed that I looked like that too. I sat down in an empty stool, leaning my head against the wall, drifting off to sleep. A mighty crash resonated, followed by torrential laughter. I opened my eyes. The poor girl was sprawled across the floor, dishes scattered around. And Aaron, foot stuck out, chuckling along with everyone else, was sitting at the bar, third mug of rum in hand. I got up, and helped assemble the dishes. She looked up, and clenched her fists.
"I dont need your help." She hissed. I handed her the dishes, and noticed the laughter had died down. I looked up at Aaron, who was looking at me with pure disgust.
"Boy, she is the serving maid. It's her job to clean and take care of dishes." Something about the way he was so careless set me off. All of the anger and resentment I had ever felt towards him raged to the surface, bypassing the years of uncomfortable patience.
"Even so, Sir," I spat. "No one deserves to be led on like that. Or like me." Aaron's eyes were ablaze, and he stood up. For the first time, I realized he was only about an inch taller than me. His breath stank of rum.
"What did you just say, boy?" He tried to sound threatening, but he was slurring so badly I barely understood.
"Well Sir" I spat again. "You told me I was to be a squire. All I ended up as is your packhorse." Without warning, Aaron drew his fist back, but he was so drunk I almost yawned as he sent it towards my face. I caught his hand in the palm of mine, and was surprised by how little force was behind the punch. Aaron tried to wrench himself from my non-existent grasp, and ended up simply flailing like an idiot. The men all around us laughed, but the barmaid girl I had helped was nowhere to be seen. Aaron tried to punch me again, but I caught that too. He stumbled back drunkenly. Everyone was laughing and chanting "Fight" over and over. Aaron downed the rest of his rum, and ran towards me, swaying dangerously. He practically fell forward, but this time I dodged out of the way. As he over-extended his arm, I pushed on the back of his head, smashing it against the table. He tried to stand up, but I slammed his head against the table again. Five years of abuse. Five years of slavery. I released all of that anger in this one fight. I grabbed Aaron's shoulder and pulled him up from the table. Blood ran from his nose, and already left eyes was swollen. I punched him in the eyes, and he lurched back. He slurred something at me, then drew his sword. He swung in a wide arc downwards. I remembered a technique Aaron had refused to learn from a man in Johto. As the sword arced downward, I swung my arms up, and caught the flat of the blade between the palms of my hands. I threw the sword to the left, again surprised at the lack of ability Aaron possessed. I kicked him in the exposed right side, sending him crashing against the bar. The men all around us cheered, and Aaron didn't get up. I walked over to him, and crouched. Suddenly, I had a thought. Technically, all of his gear belonged to me now. I could take it, because I had defeated him in open combat. I unclipped the gear, and noticed that the sword was ridiculously light. I strapped the gear on to myself, and the men turned and carried on. I hauled Aaron's unconscious body to the room he had rented, and stripped off the rest of the gear. I had also grabbed my pack, and had decided to wear everything I possibly could to distribute the weight a little more. I had never realized just how much Aaron actually carried. I found a great sword, which was broad an long. I found two daggers, which I strapped to the small of my back, and eight throwing knives. I strapped three of them in each side of my waist, and the last two on my off-hand. The helmet, I noticed, was actually a facade. In it was a mask, and a hood. The mask was gaunt and silver coloured, while the hood was black as the midnight sky. I put that on as well, and then noticed a small necklace around Aaron's neck. I carefully undid it, and found a parchment attached to it. I unfolded the paper, and read the letter printed on it. It was short, with three faces at the bottom.
Dear Merchant Aaron,
My our next targets should be easy, but focus on training your squire on the way. We may need him. These are your targets;
Below the short note were three labeled faces. One belonged to the pretty barmaid I had helped, which was labeled Misty Waterflower of the Hikari dynasty. I folded the paper again, and rubbed my temples. Aaron wasn't a knight. He sold women on a black market. I shook my head. And I had just inherited that mantle. I looked at the mask, and it shone in response. When Aaron's employer found he had been defeated, he would go after the girls himself. To sell them. Like a thirteen year old boy from a poor family. I clenched my fists. No. I would save them. I would get there first. I would save them, like a real knight. I noticed the small print at the bottom of the page.
Don't forget the Wraiths. I filed the paper away in the pack. I looked at the mask. It must have inspired so much fear… I donned it. Now, that mask would cause fear in the ones who wore it. I glanced at Aaron's unconscious form. That man- no, that monster- might have been selling women for money, but his heir... I grabbed the pack containing the gear I wasn't wearing, and stepped out into the biting chill of the night. I heard a whiny from down the cobbled road, and walked that way. I needed directions… And a horse.
~lnoOonl~
Hey guys. Petrous here. This is the last (I promise) FanFiction I will post until I finish Nightmare Tournament, or Mythril. Why not Silver Guardians? Because I will replace that with a sequel! YES! That is going AT LEAST three books (which I have vaugely planned out [remember Natalia!]). So yeah. This is Petrous signing out.