Author's Notes: I know I said this would only go up once the original Rekka No Ken, was finished, but since it won't be a few more weeks until I can go back to writing chapter 20 (since school and all), I figured I'd give you guys a little something to hold you over and let you know I'm alive. Chapter 20 is coming! Just, it may take another month. But it WILL be worth that wait.
Another thing; while this is me going back and putting in a ton of more details and such into the original series I've also changed Michael's early character and interactions with the cast. Before, he didn't have any backstory so I made him pretty generic in the beginning. Don't worry, his personality will become like how he was later in the fic, but he'll just have to develop into it.
One more thing, this work will only be updated if I'm falling very far behind schedule with Rekka No Ken or once it's finished. I won't start ignoring Rekka No Ken in favor of this. While there are other fics I have, this already has some chapters I've long since edited and the like.
Beta Reader and Editor: Hoenn Master96
Prologue: A Girl from the Plains
The night sky was clear, with not a cloud in sight. Alone and silent, a lone young man walked through the plains of Sacae. A large yawn overcame him as he walked, forcing him to stop as his entire body went through the annoying motion of stretching as his mouth gapped open. His eyes were red and bloodshot from fatigue. It had been four days since the last time he had come across a town, and the last time he had slept as well.
The young man's features were obscured by his worn light-green cloak that draped all the way down to his knees and was wrapped around his entire body while the hood covered his head. His white plants were all that stood out against his cloak, his only shirt hidden underneath the cloak was a rich dark brown. His leather shoes were worn and faded from the amount of abuse and use he had put them through. A belt kept his pants in place, with small pouches tied to his waist containing the only worldly possessions he owned. One of them in particular, a locket he kept hidden away in a pouch he never opened, was the most precious of them all.
'Towns. Never around when you need one…' The young man thought tiredly as he continued to walk.
Only in the safety of a town, which he knew even then wasn't that safe, could he find the peace of mind to allow his tired body rest. He wouldn't dare test his luck sleeping out in the open even if his life depended on it. Instead, he opted to travel in both light and dark, only ever stopping to take a small bite or two from the last of his rations of fruit; apples. Thank the gods they were plentiful, but the blandness they had after eating them for so long made him sick to his stomach whenever he took some out.
He had been following a lone river along its bed since he had first found it yesterday. It was wide, but dunking his hand into the clear water made it clear to him that is was on the shallow end. It was deep enough to wade in, but not enough to properly swim in. He had no idea where he was truly going anymore. He was lost, and in the worst possible way. The sounds of frogs croaking mixed with the sound of the flowing water, making a unique yet odd melody in the night air. It was almost hypnotic in a way to the young man. He found himself more than once shaking his head violently to keep his tired body from being carried away into the realm of sleep by nature's lullaby.
Opting to separate himself from the river in order to keep from tiring out more, the young man quickly began to put a distance between him and what may be his only water source for the rest of his journey. Unfortunately for him, he was now in plains of some sort. There were little to no trees to block out the night breeze and sound of the river. No matter how far he walked, the sounds kept badgering him. Eventually, the young man's body gave way to nature's aria and fell to the ground in a sleeping heap into wet grass.
Hours went by before the first rays of sunlight began to break their way out from the horizon. Still, the young man laid on the ground asleep as the native life of the land began to rouse itself from its night of rest. Near to where the young man had fallen, a lone hawk had begun its daily flight, diligently surveying the landscape in search of rats and other small animals. However, from an area out of its sight, a lucky huntress armed with a bow and one last arrow had spotted the predator and had was preparing to bring the bird of prey down in one swift action. Silently offering a prayer to the spirits as she sent the arrow skyward, the weapon pierced into the unsuspecting hawk's wing, shocking the bird as it tumbled out of the sky and crashed onto the dewy grass. The hawk remained unmoving after its neck collided with the soil.
Doing her best to judge where the hawk had fallen, the huntress made her way towards her kill as quickly as she could, lest some scavenger animal claim her breakfast before her. Running as fast as she could, she made a beeline to where the bird had fallen, a breath of relief escaping from her chest as she found it unnoticed by any other active animals. Hoisting the bird up by one of its feet, making sure to be mindful of the talons, the hunter inspected the bird in case it was still alive. Finding the bird properly dead, the huntress swung the bird into her game bag as she prepared to return to her tent to clean it.
But out of the corner of her eye, the huntress saw a large form sprawled out in the grass. Her curiosity getting the better of her, the huntress walked over to better examine the body, and there she found the very same young man that had collapsed earlier. Letting out a small gasp in surprise, the huntress carefully placed a few of her fingers on the young man's throat and felt for a pulse. Finding a slow and rhythmic pump running against her finger, the huntress wasted no time in hoisting the young man up and lifting him onto her shoulders. With a hearty grunt, the huntress began the slow walk back to her humble abode.
An hour past and then two until the young man finally awoke.
"Are you awake?" the voice of a young girl whispered gently as she heard the rustling of the bedroll she had retired the clearly exhausted traveler to.
Those were the first words to reach the young man's ears as he awoke from his slumber. The first sight was that of a small tent. He could tell from the ceiling. No brick or wood was present, only a smooth and thin cloth. As he carefully pulled himself up from the bedroll, his eyes immediately fell upon the spot where the voice had come from.
A girl, roughly sixteen years of age with a clay mug and bowl in hand met his gaze. She had thigh long, dark forest green hair maintained in a single ponytail, vibrant blue green eyes, and a charming smile that excluded a feeling of peace and serenity. The robes she wore were a light blue, with yellow scrollwork wrapped around the edges. Her garment was also decorated with a large red sash that was tied around her waist. There were slits on both sides of the dress that allowed her legs to move unhindered, and on both of her hands were black fingerless gloves that went up to her wrists. The boots she wore were thigh high and seemed to be made out of some thick leather, and whatever it was, it appeared tough and flexible. She possessed a somewhat wild but elegant look about her, as if she were a deadly but beautiful flower. She was without a doubt the most beautiful woman the young man had ever seen.
"I found you unconscious on the plains," the girl began to explain to him as he got up, hoping to calm his nerves before they began to get the best of him and trouble got started, "I am Lyn, of the Lorca tribe. You're safe now. Who are you? Can you remember your name?"
The young man remained silent for a moment as he pulled his mind together. He was slightly overwhelmed from the sudden barrage of questions. The last thing he remembered was that he had collapsed in the middle of nowhere. The next thing he knew, he was awake in a strange place with a beautiful girl appearing to be waiting over him. Looking over his person, his cloak had been undone and the hood had been taken off of his face and his shirt was slightly unbuttoned. What happened? If this was the idea of some cruel joke, the young man could just chalk it up as another punishment from the gods on his already dank life.
"Oh, where are my manners?" the girl asked herself with a small giggle, "You've only just awakened and I'm already hammering you with questions! Here, have some of this."
Forcefully putting the bowl and cup she was carrying into the young man's hands, Lyn took a step back as she looked at him expectantly. The young man looked at the bowl, which contained some meat of unknown origin and the cup filled with a clear liquid, most likely water. He gave them a look of confusion before turning his attention back at Lyn. Did she want him to eat this? "Michael is my name," he told her after thinking for a bit. His voice was a little scratchy from dehydration. He sounded like he had come down with something.
"Your name is Michael?" Lyn said curiously, repeated the young man's name, rolling the letters off her tongue slowly, "What an odd-sounding name…"
"Excuse me?" Michael asked, taken aback by the unintentional insult. Was it some kind of common practice in these parts to make strangers endure passive-aggressive conversation?
"Pay me no mind," Lyn responded with a small and awkward laugh as she squirmed slightly in her seat, "It's a good name!" Lyn took a moment to look Michael over. "I see by your attire that you're a traveler. What brings you to the Sacae Plains? Would you share your story with me?" Lyn asked, attempting to change the subject.
"Well…" Michael began internally debating about how to explain his being here without making her too curious about him as he took a small and cautious bite of the meat he had been given, "What IS this?" Michael asked, completely losing his line of thought as this alien taste overcame him, "I've never tasted meat like this before…"
"Oh, that's hawk" Lyn informed him with a simple wave of her wrist, "Freshly killed just this morning. That's how I found you, by the way."
"Hawk?" Michael asked again for clarification as his chewing slowed down to a halt. He looked Lyn straight in the eye as she nodded in affirmation. He felt the urge to put the meat back down and just satisfy himself with water, but his stomach got the better of him and he soon began to tear into the meat with gusto. After a brief moment of stuffing his mouth and downing as much water as he could, Michael held out the cup, "More water."
Lyn looked at Michael a slightly surprised look on her face as Michael just stared at her, wondering why she wasn't doing anything.
"Please?" Michael amended, somewhat sheepishly.
With a nod and a smile, Lyn took the cup from Michael's hand and refilled it to the brim with water from a nearby pitcher on the opposite end of the tent. With more water, Michael resumed tearing into his meal. The meat was good. Heavenly even, after Michael got over the fact about what animal it had been when it was still alive.
Lyn looked onto Michael eating the meat ravenously with a look of contentment as she began to stand up from her seat to procure some more of it for herself. But out in the distance, the sounds of yelling passed in on a gentle breeze passing through the flaps of the tent.
"Hm?" Lyn said as she looked towards the closed entrance to her tent, "What was that noise?"
"It sounded like air to me," Michael told her as he gulped down another piece of hawk. A crunch sent a small stab of pain through his mouth as he fished out a small bone that had lodged itself into his gums, the coppery taste of blood to accompany the pain.
"I'll go see what's happening," Lyn told Michael as she turned back to his direction. "Michael, wait here for me. And sorry about the bone. Can't get them all out all the time!"
Lyn quickly left the tent, giving a small and easygoing wave as she left, evidently not that sorry about the bone. As Lyn walked out of her tent, she scanned the surrounding area, giving extra attention to the tents of other plainsmen far down to the west of her location. Over in the distance she saw a couple bandits beginning what looked to be a raid. Quickly, Lyn ducked back into her tent.
"Oh, no!" Lyn cried as she re-entered her tent, a look of rage in her eyes, "Bandits! They've probably come down from the Bern Mountains! They must have been planning on raiding the local villages and made a stop here! I…I have to stop them!" Lyn decided almost immediately, her expression hardening as she made her declaration.
"Do you even have a chance of winning?" Michael asked her. A lone girl surely wouldn't be enough to take down several bandits. What was she thinking? There's overconfidence and then there's just plain stupidity.
"If it's just those two I saw earlier, I think I can handle them on my own," Lyn said, more to herself than to Michael. "You'll be safe in here, Michael." Lyn obviously wanted Michael to hide himself away in her tent while she went off to fight.
"No!" this time it was Michael's turn to shout, though he returned to his calm tone when Lyn jumped up in shock, "I won't let you go on your own. Let me help you!" He couldn't believe those words had left his mouth. Since when had he cared about helping others? Maybe it had something to do with the hawk. It must have been spiked with something.
"What?" Lyn asked, surprised by the prospect, an accompanying arched eyebrow completed her reaction, "You want to help? Well, can you use a weapon?"
"Ah…no," Michael admitted. "I'm a thinker, not a fighter, you see. I can direct other people on how to kill someone, but when it comes to me doing it…Well… I leave a lot to be desired," Michael made a mental note to never say that again. The basic synopsis on his usefulness made him question any worth he had.
"Ah, I see… So you're a strategist by trade?" Lyn asked as she thought aloud, luckily not paying attention to whatever else Michael had said. "An odd profession, but…very well. We'll go together!" Lyn decided.
In a flash, Lyn ran over to the other side of her tent and brought out an iron sword in its scabbard and slung it cross her back. As quickly as she had grabbed the sword, Lyn ran outside, leaving Michael in the dust as he attempted to follow her out, being sure to place the bowl and cup down so they wouldn't break.
As he ran outside after her, Lyn ducked under a nearby tree. "Over here!" she whispered to him. As quickly as he could, Michael did the same.
"If you want to help, Michael," Lyn told him, "I want you to give me whatever advice you can. I'll be sure to protect you, so stay close to me."
"You don't have to tell me twice" Michael assured her as he scanned the area, "Though I'd prefer to keep my distance."
The plains were large, but the area they were confined in was just a small part of it. To the north was a vast mountain range. The area surrounding the mountains was craggy and jaded making it difficult to cross as a result. No one in their right mind would go anywhere near the area unless they were attempting to scale it, in which case they would most likely find themselves falling to their death. There appeared to be no reliable foothold anywhere on the entire side of the mountains. However, the surrounding area the both of them were in was nice and flat. Nothing but oceans of tall blades of green grass with the occasional thicket here or there. This was both a good and a bad thing. There were little to no areas that Lyn could use for cover, but this also proved the same for the enemy. But then again, if there were few enemies, there would be no need for them to find cover in the first place .To the south was a small creek that flowed into a large pond several yards away. It could prove as a useful means of escape if the threat of the bandits proved too much for Lyn to handle. She could run across and use the water's weight to slow down the bandits to make them easier to cut down.
Directing his attention to the real threat, Michael saw two bandits beginning to raid the small cluster of tents a few yards away. Wait, unless they were attacking them, why was Lyn involving herself in those people's troubles? Lyn must've been kind to a fault, after all, she had saved Michael when he had collapsed in the middle of nowhere.
'Pretty small number of bandits for a raid…' Michael thought. "Alright, here's the plan," Michael spoke to Lyn as he ducked back down under the trees, "From the looks of things, one of the bandits is busy raiding the tents and the other one appears to be keeping watch. I want you to go out and get his attention, but don't make yourself out to be a threat! He could call his friend for aid if he thinks you're too much for him. Keep yourself low and make sure your sword is sheathed until he's close enough to you where he couldn't call for his friend if you began to fight. I don't want you fighting two enemies at once unless absolutely necessary."
Lyn nodded in agreement as she ran out into the open, eager to engage the bandits. Almost half-way through the stretch between Lyn and the village, the bandit keeping watch spotted her and began to charge. He didn't bother calling for the aid of the other bandit, so everything was going according to plan right off the bat. This was good. Maybe it would be easier than Michael thought.
"Here he comes!" Michael heard Lyn shout as she gripped for her sword.
The bandit quickly closed the gap between himself and Lyn, but Lyn was the faster of the two. As he was about to turn on her and bring his axe down in a horrible arc, Lyn gracefully pivoted to her right and avoided his strike. Still going through with his swing, the bandit's axe drove itself into the ground. Knowing his error had cost him dearly, the bandit began to hastily remove his axe from the soil he had firmly slammed it into. Unfortunately for him, Lyn took advantage of the situation and delivered two light vertical gashes onto his back and side with her sword before he could react. The bandit quickly found himself recoiling from the sudden pain and blood loss, pulling his weapon free as he stumbled forward.
'He's a goner…' Michael thought to himself, "Lyn! Don't give him time to breathe! Finish him!"
Driving off his daze and now going into a blood frenzy, the bandit wildly flailed his axe in the air, slicing and cutting the surrounding area with reckless abandon. Lyn hurriedly began to step back to avoid his attacks, but with no pattern to read into, the bandit was eventually able to catch Lyn off-guard, gaining a lucky strike that cut Lyn down her chest to her abdomen. Lyn let out a cry of pain as cold metal cutting into her skin. She hit the ground hard as she fell down on her knees. But just as quickly as she hit the ground, she bounced right off, the pain suddenly disappearing as adrenaline took its hold. With as much strength as she could muster, Lyn proceeded to land a finishing blow on the bandit, stabbing him in the heart, making him collapse in a heap as blood leaked from his wound as Lyn pulled out her blade.
"That's one taken care of!" Lyn said to herself with clenched teeth.
"Are you OK?!" Michael asked as he ran over to Lyn's side. He worried over the blow she had just received. It didn't appear to be bleeding much, but the cut was long and jagged. She may not be feeling the pain now, but once she had calmed down, the wound would make even the most light of movements an agonizing venture. The wound would have to be cleaned and dressed thoroughly if Lyn was to remain in peak condition.
"I could use a vulnerary right now," Lyn admitted with a wince. Evidently, the pain was already beginning to set in. Damn the human body's self-defense mechanisms.
But a vulnerary. A miracle medicine that instantly restored lesser wounds and cuts in an instant. In a mild panic Michael began to pat his pockets, hoping to find a bottle that he knew wasn't on his person. He cursed under his breath when his efforts were obviously found fruitless.
"If it isn't serious, try to make your way over to the other bandit," Michael told her, "It might start hurting you a lot, but the other bandit should be dealt with before first he does any more damage to the huts!"
"Not huts, Gers!" Lyn corrected in a knowledgeable tone.
"…What?" Michael asked, a dumbfounded look on his face.
"You don't know what a Ger is?" Lyn asked, a surprised look appearing on her face, "It's a type of round hut. Many nomads live in huts like those. They're well suited for average to large sized families."
"So it's still a hut!" Michael cried in exasperation from Lyn using valuable time on such a useless lesson, especially when she was wounded and people were possibly being killed. "Can we save the cultural lessons for later? Preferably when we aren't involved in combat?"
"I'd best treat this wound first, though…Lyn muttered to herself, ignoring Michael's annoyed outburst.
Reaching into a pouch tied to the back of her robes that she mysteriously pulled out of nowhere, Lyn pulled out a small vial filled with clear liquid. Taking a healthy swig from it, Lyn's wound almost immediately began to knit back together.
"You had a vulnerary the whole time?!" Michael cried out once again, though more out of shock than annoyance, "I can't be a very good tactician unless you tell me what I have to work with, you know!" he was once again ignored. Lyn's wounds finished healing before he was even done yelling.
"Now all that's left to do is get that last one!" Lyn yelled with a determined expression as she attempted to tie her torn robes together so as to keep her clothes from falling and dangling all over. "Michael, go hide behind the thicket over there."
Michael turned and saw a small thicket of trees near Lyn's location. It was planted firmly right next to the rocky terrain that transitioned into the mountains. No one in their right mind would go anywhere near there unless they had a purpose. The greatest kind of hiding place this place could offer.
"Okay," Michael told her in a slightly angry tone as he began to lightly jog away, "You'd think he would have heard us by now…" Michael muttered to himself as he glanced over to the Ger where the other bandit was before glancing back to Lyn, who beginning to close the distance between herself and the Ger.
As Lyn ran into the Ger, she was hoping to somehow get lucky enough to catch the remaining bandit by surprise. However, unfortunately enough, she wasn't so lucky. Hearing the one of the flaps of the Ger open, the bandit spun around and yelled at Lyn the moment he spotted her,
"Who do you think you are?" the bandit asked Lyn as she reached for her sword. "You think you can stand up to Batta the Beast?"
The bandit that called himself Batta had spiky short yellow hair that was kept in place with a single green bandanna. He had a little of a dumb look in his squinted blue eyes. He wore a short sleeved shirt knitted together with several different fabrics. Over his shirt was some light metal plating, but beyond that was just regular run-of-the-mill clothing.
"I think I can do more than stand up to you!" Lyn boasted as she ran away and back out to the open plains. The wide space would prove a better battleground than the cramped confines of the Ger as well as keeping innocents out of harm's way.
"Get back here!" Batta yelled as he chased after Lyn, "Don't think you can get away from Batta the Beast!"
"Oh boy, a talker," Michael muttered to himself in a bored tone as he heard Batta's yell, "Can this just get done with already?"
Unsheathing her sword and wielding it with lovely grace, Lyn quickly unleashed the first attack upon Batta as she spun backwards on her feet and went in for a quick upwards horizontal slash. With no defense, her sword had no problems slicing a clean but shallow cut into his chest and drawing out fresh crimson blood. With a roar of pain, Batta returned the favor with his own downwards vertical slash. The axe dug into Lyn's shoulder, just barely missing the bone. Lyn screamed in pain as her robes were torn into once again as Batta painfully withdrew his axe, causing another wound as he pulled it out. More blood than from the initial wound oozed out from her right arm and from her chest. Her arm almost fell limply to her side as she firmly gripped the blade with her other arm. Her better judgment failing her after the blow, Lyn quickly went in for another attack instead of attempting to create some space between the two. The pain from her wound, as well as from using only one arm, greatly weakened her strike, barely doing anything as the sensation of pain continued to rush over her. After failing to do any significant damage, Lyn jumped away and out of Batta's range, taking a moment to try and catch her breath as she pushed the pain out of her mind.
"He's tough…" Lyn said under her breath. "It all comes down to this next blow."
"Please, Lyn," Michael begged to himself, his hands burying into the bark of the tree, his teeth clenching, "Don't die. Please, no. Not again. Not another one."
"Michael," Lyn cried out in hopes that he could hear her from his hiding place, "If I fall, I want you to flee. You must escape!"
"Lyn, don't say that!" Michael cried at the top of his lungs. "I want you to live! Don't you dare die on me!"
Michael hoped those words reached her, because Batta had already moved in for the next and perhaps final attack.
Batta leapt into the air, bringing his axe right down onto Lyn's head. But Lyn was able to doge the blow with nary a scratch by pivoting to her right. Capitalizing on the opening the bandit had made for himself, Lyn once again slashed at his chest, this time drawing her blade down his side as well, causing Batta to step back from the pain of the hit, as well as attempting to avoid any further damage. Summoning the last of her strength within her, Lyn took a stance that Michael could not recognize.
Bending her knees down towards the ground, Lyn unsteadily gripped her sword with both her bloody and damaged arm and her good one. Drawing the hilt of the blade close to her shoulder, Lyn took a short intake of air. In the next instant, so slowly one could easily see Lyn moving, but at the same time so quickly that one would lose their sight of her in an instant, Lyn disappeared, as if she was never there to begin with. In a state of confusion over whatever sorcery Lyn had just performed, Batta swung his head from side to side, trying to find where she had disappeared to. In a matter of seconds, the sound of iron slicing and ripping through flesh rung throughout the plains. As quickly as she had disappeared, Lyn returned, resting her good arm on the sheath of her sword, her back facing Batta. Lyn had a confident and cold look on her face as she gripped her bloody shoulder with her free arm. With a look of confusion, Batta stepped forward, only for all the deep cuts Lyn had just dealt him to spray blood at once. From his neck to his legs, dozens of gashes appeared.
"What?" Batta uttered in shock, "How…how did you−" but he fell dead, face down in the swaying grass before he could finish speaking.
"Whew!" Lyn let out a sigh of relief. "That was close. I had sorely underestimated him."
"Lyn!" Michael yelled as he ran for all that he was worth to her, "Are you ok?!" Michael's breath was haggard from his running.
Taking out the same vial from earlier, Lyn took a generous drink from her vulnerary, her wounds beginning to close once again. She gave a nod to Michael in order to appease any thoughts he had for her safety, even eagerly moving her arm in ridiculous motions to assure him she was fine.
"Did I worry you?" Lyn asked him with a small smile, oddly amused by his worry.
"Worried?" Michael repeated in a huff, "What reason would I have to worry? …Aside from the sudden desire to regurgitate that hawk when I saw you bleeding like that, I wasn't even concerned."
"And I suppose it was just the wind saying 'Don't you dare die on me!' was it?" Lyn asked him with a raised eyebrow, "Because I'm pretty sure it was you yelling that from across the plains."
"…It was in the heat of the moment!" Michael shouted in a desperate attempt to defend himself, "But don't you worry; that'll never happen again! I'll just keep my mouth shut next time you're getting slaughtered because I don't know all the details…Like you having a vulnerary."
"I have several actually," Lyn admitted as she opened a bag she had pulled out mysteriously from her back.
"What?" Michael asked in an aggravated tone, thinking it was a joke.
"I have that bandit to thank," Lyn said aloud, though mostly to herself, ignoring Michael for a third time, "I'll need to be stronger if I'm going to survive… Strong enough that no one can defeat me." Lyn looked sadly at the ground as she spoke.
"Lyn?" Michael asked carefully, him being taken aback by her sudden change in demeanor.
In an instant, Lyn broke free from her reverie and turned her attention back towards Michael, her cheery demeanor returning, "Good work, Michael! As soon as I'm done cleaning my blade we'll go back home, okay?"
Gliding her blade along the sea of grass, stains of red died their blades in a deep crimson, the liquid weighing down the grass as it dripped down to the soil. Michael observed Lyn repeat the action several times before her blade was left spotless once more. With her blade clean, Lyn returned it to its sheath as she began to briskly run back towards her tent, her ripped dress barely holding together as she ran.
"What was that all about…?" Michael asked himself as he walked back after her, hoping by the time he had returned that she would have changed into some new clothes. But on the way, Michael stopped and looked back towards the path the bandits had taken to get here. Did they come directly from the mountains? Or did they come walking down the plains? A shudder ran down Michael's spine as his mind wandered down the dark thoughts of what could have been if Lyn hadn't found him.
And so, with the events of the day drawing to a close, the night came and went without incident. Then the chirping of birds gave way to a new day.
No sooner the next morning as the birds began their melody, was Michael finding himself being awoken by Lyn, who was already well awake and cheery, "Good morning, Michael!" she greeted cheerfully. "Are you awake yet?"
"I am now…" Michael muttered groggily as he rose from his bedroll.
"That fight yesterday must have taken a lot out of you" Lyn guessed, "Though all you did was stay behind cover the entire time… But would you look at that, the Sun's already half way up in the sky and you've only just woken up!"
Squinting his eyes, Michael peeked outside to see that the sun was in fact, only partway up in the sky, "How rude of me to oversleep…" Michael muttered bitterly. Early mornings were defiantly not his friends.
"Hey, Michael," Lyn said again to get his attention, "I want to talk to you about something. You have some experience in the ways of war, I can see, if not at least its logic. Would you allow me to travel with you?"
A brief moment went by as the weight of Lyn's question fell upon him. "Eh, Lyn…as much as I would love for you to travel with me," Michael told her with a slight tone of sarcasm on some of his words, "I think you should ask your parents about it first. Who by the way have been strangely absent..."
As much as Michael would like the idea of a traveling companion - and Lyn would make a great one - Michael wasn't so eager to actually have a companion or drag someone out of their usual life to go traveling. With the way Michael traveled, only he himself was ever inconvenienced. The last thing he wanted was the disapproval or complaints of someone whenever they would go the night without sleep.
"What?" Lyn asked, flabbergasted. "You…want me to get permission from my parents?"
There was another moment of silence before Lyn spoke once again. "My mother and my father…Died six months ago."
Once again, the weight of what Lyn said took a moment to register. "Dead…?" Michael muttered in shock. "Dead as in 'dead' dead?
"My people—the Lorca—they don't…I'm the last of my tribe" Lyn continued her words spilling out from her mouth as quickly as they could, "Bandit attacked, and…they killed so many people. The tribe was scattered. My father was our chieftain, and I wanted to protect our people. But I'm so young, and my people are so old-fashioned. They wouldn't follow a woman. No one would follow me" Lyn's voice quickly began to crack as she told Michael her story. Michael had to fight back the urge to hug her. Was that okay to do in a situation like this? Two waterfalls of tears began to cascade down Lyn's face.
The swordswoman looked down to the ground in sorrow as she took a moment to compose herself somewhat. "Sniff…I'm sorry," Lyn said as she looked into Michael's eyes, "I've been alone for so long…"
As Lyn continued to cry, Michael embraced her in a small hug. It wasn't one of comfort or of pity. It was just a hug from one person to another to let them know they were not alone. Michael stared at the décor of Lyn's tent the entire time, his eyes focusing on nothing in particular as he waited for Lyn to move away. After a brief moment, Lyn rested her arms on Michael's chest as a signal for him to retreat from his current position.
As quickly as she started crying, Lyn began to dry her tears, a steely look taking the place of her grief-stricken one, "No: No more crying. I will shed no more tears," Lyn commanded herself.
Another silence filled the air as she continued to regain her composure.
"Thank you for helping me calm down. I'm better now," Lyn announced, "Michael, I want—I must become stronger, so that I may avenge my Father and Mother's deaths! Yesterday's battle taught me something. I won't become stronger by sitting here alone. These plains will never give me the strength I seek!"
Michael thought to himself as he looked straight into Lyn's eyes, 'Revenge… A familiar and close desire. This girl has more in common with me than I thought. But even so, do I even think of letting her get close to me? There's a good chance she'll be like just the others if she finds out too much…' But as Michael continued to look at Lyn, he felt something in her gaze he couldn't pinpoint. Some hidden force that mad it feel as if he couldn't deny her. If Michael were the romantic type, he would probably describe it as fate.
"Michael," Lyn said in a tone full of conviction as she firmly grabbed Michael's shoulders, looking him dead in the eyes, not allowing him to break their locked gaze, "Tell me you'll train me and that you'll let me travel with you!" She had made up her mind. Michael felt as if she was trying to force her presence into his mind and make him agree to her will. Her desires flooded out of her gaze, so much that even Michael felt himself being swept up in her pace.
Silently weighting the pros and cons in his mind, Michael quickly came to a decision. "Alright," he announced, a surrendering grin growing on his face, "I'll let you come along. It's the least I could do for you saving me the other day."
"You will?" Lyn asked in astonishment before quickly coughing into her hand before correcting herself, "I mean, of course you will! That's wonderful! Thank you! Oh, thank you!" Lyn was so ecstatic that she wrapped Michael in a huge hug of gratitude. After a brief moment of shock and awkwardness from him, Michael relented to the hug and smirked as he got caught up in her enthusiasm.
"We'll be better off working together, I just know it. You'll be my master strategist and I'll be your peerless warrior!" Lyn said with a smile and a wink, "We can do it! Right?"
"Yeah!" Michael agreed, "Together no one can match us! And its tactician, not strategist." Michael looked down to his feet slightly as he corrected her, "Get it right…"
"Same difference!" Lyn responded with a laugh, "…But I'll see if I can stick to tactician…"
On that day, the fledgling tactician Michael and young swordfighter Lyn—a strange pair about to embark on an even stranger journey—combined their strength. In preparation for the long road ahead, they would travel to Bulgar, the commercial center of Sacae. Unbeknownst to Lyn, she will discover something that will alter her life forever and lead both of them down a path the duo could never imagine or desire to travel.
Author's Notes: So what do you think about this rewriting so far? The original was around 2-3 words. This is over 6.5K. Pretty big increase. Hopefully I put in meaningful details and scenes.
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