Disclaimer: Thracia 776 does not belong to me.
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"Oh, you're awake."
"Who?" I asked, while opening my eyes. I saw myself lying on a bed, but the surroundings look unfamiliar. I scanned around the room, and caught sight of a man sitting beside me.
"Who are you?" I repeated my question, "Where am I? And how did I get here?"
"Whoa. Whoa, miss. One question at a time. Ok, you are at the village known as Iss. It's in Thracia, if you don't already know. You were found unconscious near the coast, so I bought you back and treated you. Name's Rake. What's yours?" The man answered.
"I don't remember." I muttered. For some reason, I don't remember a thing. Why did I come to Thracia? What was my ambition? Who was I looking for? Sadly, I still cannot recall anything, not even my name.
"You don't remember? Heh. Well, no matter. You are welcome to stay here until you recover from your wounds." Rake said, before he stood up from his chair. "Oh, and by the way, if you need me, I'll be at the house next door." With that, he left the room.
"Thanks." I muttered, although I know very well he could not hear me. With nothing to do, I wandered around his house to pass the time. His room was filled with swords. Claymore, rapiers, daggers, you name it. I wondered what he was doing with such a large amount of weapons. Is he working at an armory? But why does he specialize in swords? Surely he would have more types. Like lances, bows, and axes. Ah well, I guess I'll find out soon enough. I walked towards the kitchen, to see if there's anything I can eat. Although I'm not hungry, I would still like to know what we would be having for dinner. The cabinets are filled with jerky, and maybe a little water on the side, but nothing else. I decided to look for him, to see if there is anything I could do to pass the time. Looking around the house doesn't satisfy my boredom. With that in mind, I left the house.
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When I visited the house next door, I was told that he went to the forest. Apparently, he was looking for a missing child. I decided to follow him, and help him in his search. After asking for some directions, I headed towards the forest.
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"So this is the forest." I said. It looked more like a jungle than a forest, in my opinion. I slipped inside, without a weapon, seeing as I did not need it, as the villages never warned me against going in. How I would come to regret this oversight. A few hours later, I accidentally stumbled into a bandits' hideout. When a member of the gang saw me, he called his gang to capture me and bring him back to his boss. Terrified, I ran as fast as I could. But it was futile, and in the end, they caught up with me. They were about to do some obscene things to me, when a blade struck one of them.
"Who's zat?" The bandit asked. "Who dares attack the members of the Lions and Tigers? The poor fool is about to receive a trip to hell. Beg and we may consider just making you a slave."
"Me? Beg? Dream on." That voice. It's Rake. I sighed in relief, knowing that someone came to help.
"You dare to speak these arrogantly to us? Do you have a death wish? If you do, consider it granted! Boys, let us make this idiot food for the scavengers. Charge!" The bandit ordered. Rake is outnumbered, but all he did was hide a little smile. And, in a blink of an eye, he had most of them crawling at the ground.
"Damn! Those guys are useless. Fine then, I'll take you on myself. Be honored that the person who will kill you is me." The bandit said, before charging at Rake. However, Rake, with one skillful slash, managed to defeat the brigand.
"YOU! You'll pay… for… this…" With that, the brigand died.
"A weak dog barks loudest. What a pathetic fool." He said, and then turned his attention to me. "Are you alright?"
"Yes… Thanks…and sorry for the trouble I have caused." I apologized.
"No worries. Still though, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at the village?" Rake asked, curiosity evident in his voice.
"I came to look for you." I answered.
"Whatever for?"
"I wanted to help you with your job."
"Oh, that? I've already found him and sent him back to his house. Let's go back." Rake answered, before leaving.
"Yes…" I uttered, and followed him.
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Back at his house, we were eating dinner. It was strangely silent. I got the impression that he was still angry with me. I was about to apologize for the incident earlier when he suddenly spoke up.
"Say…You said earlier that you wanted to help me out in my job, right?" He asked.
"Yes…"I replied. "Why?"
"Well, how would you like to be my partner? I am a mercenary, you see. Sometimes, I got jobs from the villages, and get money in return for helping them. Are you interested in joining?"
"I can? But some of them might require combat skills, right? I cannot use a weapon."
"No worries, I'll teach you. All I know is how to wield a sword, though. So if you don't mind…"
"I don't mind. I cannot leave off your food forever. The least I can do is help you on your missions."
"Great, we start tomorrow. Meet me at the yard behind my house at dawn."
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The next morning, I got up and met Rake at the yard. He bought along most, if not all, of his swords. He asked me to choose my ideal weapon, discussing the pros and cons of the different types. While looking at the weapons, I caught sight of a bronze-colored sword.
"What's this?" I asked, pointing at the bronze-colored sword. "I though swords are not made of bronze. I heard of iron, steel and silver swords, but bronze?"
"Ah, That's the flame sword. With it, you can shoot flames out of the sword at will. But don't you think it's a little heavy for you, though? I wouldn't really recommend it. Heavy weapons will hinder your ability to dodge attacks."
I tried to lift it. It was a little heavy, but nothing that will hinder my ability to dodge attacks well.
"Yeah, I'll manage." I answered. "Now let's begin the lesson, shall we?"
"Heh, so you choose the flame sword too, huh. You know, you look like my wife, and you chose what she did when she began learning swordplay from me, too."
"What was her name?"
"Eyvel"
"And where is she now?"
Suddenly, he became quiet. I wondered if I accidentally struck a nerve. His somewhat carefree nature suddenly changed into a gloomy one.
"She's… dead." He answered
"Oh, I'm sorry." I apologized. I should have realized something was wrong, and yet I asked this stupid question.
"No matter, let's not talk about the past. Let's concentrate on your swordplay instead." He said, while positioning himself into his favorite stance.
"Yes." I replied, while doing the same.
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Before I knew it, weeks, and maybe even months, have passed. I have come a long way. I can now hold my own against bandits, and I can usually defeat them without getting a scratch. We were returning from a mission and took a detour across the mountains when we were stopped by a couple of brigands.
"Are you Rake?" One of the bandits asked.
"Yeah." He replied. "What do you want from me?"
"You killed my brother in the forest near Iss. In the name of Lions and Tigers, I will not let you leave the mountain alive!" He exclaimed, before charging towards Rake.
"So it's a fight you're looking for, huh?" Rake said, before releasing his sword from its scabbard. "Then a fight is what you get."
A fight occurred with Rake and the brigand. I tried to help him, but his accomplice stopped me. I asked him to move, but he refused to budge, saying that I would have to kill him first. With no other choice, our weapons clashed. He skillfully evaded all my attacks, and I managed to dodge all of his strikes. It was a stalemate, with no evident victor. Suddenly…
"Let's go." The bandit who fought Rake said to my opponent. "There's no point staying here, now that that guy had sustained lethal injury. Our job here is done."
"What?" I exclaimed. "Rake fell? How…"
"Heh, heh, heh." The bandit laughed. "That guy deserves what he gets for messing with the Lion and Tigers affairs. Be thankful we considered to spare you."
"You…you'll pay for this!" I exclaimed. With the Flame sword in hand, I charged at the enemies.
"You want to fight us? We wanted to give you a chance and let you leave alive. But since you insist, then you will die." The bandit took his axe, and the both of us clashed.
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"Ha… ha…" I laughed. I managed to defeat the two of them, but unfortunately, I received many injuries as well.
"So…I may die…too…huh…" I muttered to myself. "Then… so… be… it…"
Then darkness followed.
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"Oh… you're awake?"
"Rake?" I asked, as I opened my eyes. I saw a guy sitting beside me. "Where's Rake?"
"Rake? Is it that guy at the mountain? He lost a lot of blood by the time we got there. He couldn't be saved."
"I see…" I said, not hiding my disappointment. "Where am I?"
"You're at my house. It was near the mountain I found you at. Just move a little south and you'll find your way back to the mountain."
"I see… Thanks." I said.
"You should stay here until your wounds are recovered though, what's your name?"
I was stumped at the question. Even after I traveled with Rake for such a long time, he had never called me anything other than "partner." I thought this time was appropriate for getting a new name. What was the name of Rake's wife again? Eyvel? I decided to name myself that, so I will have something to remember Rake by.
"My name is Eyvel. A traveling mercenary."
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So…what do you think? Please read and review. Constructive criticism is appreciated.
Also, if you guys find any Thracia 776 fan fictions. Please let me know. Thank you. (Hopefully one that does not focus on Leaf, Nanna, Delmud or Fin, though.)