Updated version
It was dark. The sun had given up on the day's venture many hours ago and left seeking better places to visit. The clouds hung oppressively low as they wept, their cries soon following the flashes of light striking down from the grieving sky. The winds, following the clouds' example, cried out with harsh laughter; pushing back any and all resistance it found. The grass below bent to the winds' will, snapping at anything it could touch. Mother nature, herself, seemed to be in a very fowl mood that day. She let her children run wild that night, but that night will be memorable for more than that reason alone. That night a lone figure's pursuers will have finally caught up to her.
As the wind pushed her hair and her cloak billowed around her, she tried to keep a safe distance between her and her pursuers. She grabbed the leather string keeping her cloak in place with one hand and clutched a tome with the other, making sure to keep it close to her body. Her head swiveled back and forth to get a better view of her pursuers. They were quickly gaining ground despite the weather conditions that should be keeping them back.
Desperately, the cloaked figure sprinted a few feet forward, turned around, and let loose a bolt of lightning before turning taking off again. She didn't have to look behind to know that she had barely missed her mark. The cry of the archer she aimed for told her that her magic hit his fore arm, and not his shoulder. She mentally berated herself as she kept running. Her attack would only provoke them, and soon, they would retaliate.
As if they had read her mind, her pursuers sent a barrage of fire spells followed by a volley of arrows. It was quite easy for her to nullify the fire spells, all she had to do was cast an electric barrier around herself. Unfortunately, the same logic did not apply to the arrows. The cloaked figure ran in a zig-zag pattern to avoid the oncoming arrows, but failed to completely dodge them. Three of the arrows hit their mark; one buried itself into her calf, another went into her left side, and the last arrow finding it's way into her right arm, the arm holding her tome. With a strangled gasp she staggered for a few steps before she continued to run, ignoring the metal tip tearing apart the muscle in her calf. Just a little longer, I'm almost there.
She could see it; her ticket to freedom was just past the cliff she was heading towards. She spared a glance behind her to see that her pursuers had gained even more ground; they were far too close for her liking. With a desperate burst of energy, she sped forward towards that cliff that held so much promise in her eyes. She knew that past it would be the rolling plains of Sacae. Sacae was a well-known No-Man's Land, they wouldn't dare go after her once she had passed the border.
The cloaked figure reached her destination sooner than anticipated, and used this time to set up a "proper landing." She reached into her cloak, wincing as she did so, and pulled out a long rope she had prepared for such an occasion. She looped the end of it around the neck of the rope and tied it off in a knot. She then looked over the side and saw an outcropping just big enough to hide her. She swung the rope high above her head before casting it down upon the outcropping. She gave it a sharp tug before tying it around her waist. She turned around just in time to see the archer she had struck before notch an arrow. She quickly opened her tome and cast a spell. Both spell and arrow were sent simultaneously, and both were struck at the same time. To the cloaked figure, time seemed to slow as she fell. She thanked every deity she could think of for allowing her to tie the rope beforehand.
She awoke to the sound of whispering in her ear, and the sensation of a sticky substance on various parts of her body. It wasn't long after she regained full control of her senses that she realized what the whispering was. It was the wind gently rushing past her, almost as if it was apologizing for what had happened the night prior; but what was that sticky substance? It smelled familiar, but she couldn't give a name to it. Giving up on finding out what it was for now, she slowly opened her eye to the bright world around her.
The first thing she saw was a large rock looming over her with a rope attached to it. Following the line made by the rope, she soon realized that she was attached to it. Turning her head to the right she saw that it was a long way down from where she was situated. She brought her head back up and checked the condition of the rope. It was starting to break, but could probably hold her for a little longer. Deciding that getting back up on the rock was the best choice of action, the cloaked figure started to reach for the rope. As she reached up, she felt a sharp pain run through her. She gasped and curled in on herself, putting more strain on the rope and making more waves of pain wrack through her. Biting her lip, she tried to ignore the sudden pain and brought her right arm up to grab the rope.
She paused her action as soon as she saw an arrow protruding from the back of her arm. She stared at it before she remembered how she had gotten it. All of the memories from last night came back to her in a rush. She stared blankly at the arrow until her mind had cleared. Once she brought everything back into focus, the look in her eye changed. She tilted her head up to see if any of her pursuers were still hanging around. She looked at the outcropping to see if she could see any shadows that might give away a person hiding there; she saw none. She then shifted her gaze to the top of the cliff; she couldn't see much past the outcropping, but it seemed like her pursuers weren't there either.
A loud snap brought her attention back to the rope. The fibers had already started to untangle themselves in a slow procession. The cloaked figure's eye widened, and she scrambled to haul herself up before the rope broke. Once she had pulled herself up, she hastily untied the rope around herself and the outcrop and put it back in one of the hidden pocket inside her cloak. As her hand brushed over one of the myriads of pocket she had sewn, she panicked. That was the pocket that usually held her tome. She frantically searched all of her other pockets before remembering that she had it in her hand when she fell. Letting out a huff of air, she looked at her surroundings once more.
To her left was the rocky face of the cliff, just past that was a breathtaking view of the mountains separating Etruria, Ilia, and Sacae. To her right was more of the cliff's rocky face, some other outcrops scattered about, and what looked like an old mountain goat trail. The cloaked figure looked at the old trial, then to the other outcrops. If she could figure out how to get to the trail, then she should have a clear path down to the plains. The gears in her head started turning as she calculated the distance between the trail and the outcrops. Her mouth was moving, without any sound coming out, as she was trying to find the safest path for her to follow. After carefully studying the cliff face, she finally found the safest path for her to take, but the first step was the hardest. She would have to jump from her outcrop to another that was right above the trail, a good seven feet away from where she was. Before she jumped, she removed the arrows buried in her arm and calf. She then took a few deep breaths to calm her nerves. Once this was done, she stepped back, bent her knees, took a few running steps forward, then pushed herself off of the outcrop that was previously her haven.
She felt weightless for a moment before she landed on the outcrop she was aiming for. A shockwave ran up her body, and her injured leg collapsed underneath her, once her feet hit the rock. She stayed there and made sure she was steady before taking any steps further. Once she was sure of herself, she looked down and took the first step towards her new safe haven.
It has been almost one month since that incident occurred. The cloaked figure has found many tribes, and all of them were kind. One tribe in particular, the Kutolah Tribe, was very gracious, and treated the cloaked figure's wounds without asking who she was. They let her stay there for as long as she wanted to let her wounds heal. She went to talk to the chieftain, Silver Wolf, before she left to show her gratitude. When he asked her to stay a while longer to make sure she had healed, she shook her head and told him that she had overstayed her welcome. Silver Wolf merely nodded and asked her to delay her leave by an hour. She agreed and waited just outside the tribe's encampment.
Once the hour was up, Silver Wolf approached her with a large leather bag filled with food, and several water skins the length of her forearm. The cloaked figure stared at him in disbelief and took out her notebook to tell him that this was too much. Silver Wolf only shook his head and gave her a sorrowful look.
"No, this is not enough. For a woman so young, you have been through much."
The cloaked figure looked at him in surprise, she hadn't expected him to voice his findings.
"I do not know what happened to you in the past, nor why you are this way, and I will not ask. Just know that I will be praying to Mother Earth and Father Sky for your wellbeing. Please except my offer, in exchange, I would like for you to find my son. His name is Rath; if you see him, please tell him that his mother and I are patiently waiting for him to fulfill his prophecy and come home."
The cloaked figure just nodded and took the bag and water skins. She bowed to show her gratitude once more before leaving. As the encampment went further and further away, the cloaked figure caught herself think.
Who knew there are such kind people in this world.
It had been two months since the cloaked figure's stay with the Kutolah Tribe. The food that was given to her had run out several days ago, and it hadn't rained in just as many days, so the water supply was running dangerously low. The cloaked figure knew she would fall unconscious soon if she didn't get something to eat. While the plains were beautiful, there weren't a lot of animals or vegetables, there weren't that many fruit trees either. The cloaked figure knelt down in the grass and closed her eye for a moment. She heard the wind whistling past her and felt the grass swaying along with it. She stayed like this for a long time before she heard loud footsteps coming toward her. Opening her eye and standing up, she looked around to find the owner of the heavy footfall. Her gaze swept the horizon until it met another's. The cloaked figure immediately paled as she saw who it was and the number of them. A group of bandits had spotted her. She couldn't outrun all of them, and at this point she didn't have a chance to run away either, so she chose to stay and fight, putting one hand on the sword attached to her side.
Once the bandits had reached her, they quickly surrounded her. The one who had spotted her was the first one to speak up.
"Lookit yew! Ain't yew a pretty little don'tcha come wit us? We knows plenty o' nice gents' who'd love ta meetcha." The cloaked figure's expression went from a blank slate to utter rage as the bandit's words brought back painful memories.
The Bandit laughed, "Ha! Yer still a beaut' e'n when yer mad. We'll make a fortune offa yew!" At this point, the cloaked figure was so irate she blew caution to the wind and lunged at the bandit that had just spoken. She withdrew her sword from its scabbard and slit the bandit's stomach. She then brought her sword up and slashed the bandit across his torso. She turned around and ran the closest bandit through. Once she pulled her sword out, the rest of the group got over their shock and drew their axes. At the back of the cloaked figure's mind, she knew it was useless to fight them. Even with the advantage of using a sword, she was still outnumbered. She didn't pay attention to it though, her anger had blinded her.
The cloaked figure took down one more bandit and injured several others before one of them was able to catch her by surprise. He used the bandits in front of her as decoys as he snuck behind her and buried his axe into her back. She let out a strangled noise before the bandit wrenched it out, turning it while pulling it out to deal more damage. The cloaked figure stumbled forward into one of the bandits that she was previously fighting, and he pinned her down while he motioned for one of his companions to come forward. One of the few remaining bandits stepped forward and raised his axe. He looked at the squirming figure below him before he brought the butt of his axe down on her head. The blow struck hard and the figure stopped moving. The bandit holding her down tried to remove the sword from her hand before putting her over his shoulder, but she wouldn't let go. He let out a few curses before hoisting the cloaked figure up. He started muttering about how the price would go down since she was injured, but his remaining companions paid no heed as they continued on their original path.
Today was the same as any other day for Lyn; she woke up, made breakfast, ate, cleaned up whatever mess she had made, then went out to practice her swordplay. She was a good hour into her exercises when she heard the sound of heavy footfall. Looking to the west, she found the source of the loud noise. There was a small group of bandits heading in her general direction. Lyn narrowed her eyes and crouched down to hide in the tall grass. She stared at the group before she noticed something off about them; most of them had minor injures littering their torso, one had a limp, and one was carrying something over his shoulder. Upon closer inspection, Lyn noticed that what he was carrying was a person. Her eyebrows shot up before they came back down in a scowl. No one deserved to be taken by bandits.
Lyn started to think of a way to rescue whoever they had taken. She studied the group more carefully. There were only four of them, and all of them, save for one, were injured. If she could just find a way to distract them, then she should be able to rescue the cloaked figure. Lyn looked around her to see if there was anything of use, but the only usefully thing she had was her sword and a rock laying nearby. An idea suddenly struck her as she picked up the rock. With precise accuracy, she flung it at the bandit that was lagging behind the rest. It hit one of the injures he had sustained, and he howled in pain. The other bandits stopped and turned around to see what was wrong with their companion. That's when Lyn ran in towards the front of the group. She swiped at the man carrying the cloaked figure. He dropped her and screamed in anger and pain. Lyn then grabbed the cloaked figure and ran off. The bandit previously holding the cloaked figure screamed at Lyn's retreating form before he turned back to his companions.
The one who had been hit by the rock spoke up, "Shood we chase afta 'em, Batta? Te girl was real hard ta git."
Batta just shook his head. "Nah, we're ain't in te best shape ta fight right now. Tha' utta girl might have back-up, ya see?" The remaining members of the group merely nodded at Batta's logic.
"We'll wait tils we all heal'd. Then we attack 'em an' make 'em pay." There was a chorus of, "Right!" before Batta and his group retreated.
When the cloaked figure finally woke up, she expected to see a rocky ceiling above her, not a cloth one. So when she did she panicked, thinking that she had already been sold to some rich proprietor. She tried to sit up, but regretted that decision as soon as she felt pain rack up her spine. She fell back down onto whatever was underneath her, and grit her teeth. She heard someone run over to her and ask if she was okay. The cloaked figure opened her eye and saw a young woman with long, green hair with eyes to match. The woman was wearing a garment similar to that of the Kutolah Tribe. Does this mean that I've been saved?
As if hearing her thoughts, the girl said, "I found you with a group of bandits. One of them was carrying you over his shoulder." So this woman did save me, but why? Lyn helped the cloaked figure sit up before continuing to talk. "My name is Lyn, I'm from the Lorca Tribe. What's your name?"
The girl stared at Lyn while trying to find a way to communicate to her. She didn't have her cloak on, so she couldn't take out her notebook and tell her. She looked around for her cloak or a stick, whichever she could find first. Lyn took this as a sign that she didn't know, or didn't want to say. In case she might somehow upset this stranger by asking if she lost her memory, Lyn opted to say, "If you don't want to tell me, then that's fine."
The girl's head snapped back to Lyn, she then waved her hands in front of herself and shook her head fervently. Lyn cocked her head to the side, confused by this girl's strange behavior. The girl looked Lyn straight in the eye and indicated her throat, she then started to move her hand up and down it to show that there was something wrong. Lyn stared at her for a moment before asking, "Is something wrong with your throat?"
The girl nodded. Lyn then hesitantly asked, "Can you not talk?" The girl nodded again.
The girl then put her hands above her shoulders and fisted them before crossing them in front of her body, acting like she was putting something on. Confused, Lyn asked, "Do you need another blanket?"
The girl shook her head before putting her hands just below her ears, again fisted, and brought them over her head in a curve, as if she was putting on a hood. Lyn stared at the girl before she realized what she wanted.
"Oh, are you looking for your cloak?" The girl nodded.
"It was bloody and torn, so I washed it and patched it up. It's not that good, mind you, but it's better than having holes in your clothes," Lyn explained.
Seeing the girl's eye widen at the mention of washing it, Lyn quickly added, "I made sure to take everything out before I washed it. You know, that thing has a lot of pockets." The girl sighed before holding out her hand in the universal sign of, 'Give it to me.'
Lyn stood up and went to fetch it. As she did so, the girl looked around the tent she was in once more. It was very homely; there was a make-shift kitchen just off to her left, a chest in the far right corner of the tent, a make-shift chair and table near the make-shift kitchen, and a mirror on the other end of the tent. She stared at the mirror and realized she could see made a face as she got a good look at herself for the first time in a while. Her hair was a mess; there were many tangles, it was greasy from not being washed properly, and it looked more grey than white due to many nights spent sleeping on the ground. Her scarf was wrapped loosely around her neck, even more sun bleached than it was before. Her shirt had seen better days, but they weren't as sun bleached as her scarf and cloak undoubtably were.
Once Lyn came back she handed the cloak and all the girl's belonging back to her and waited to see what she would do. The girl rummaged through a leather bag before pulling out a charcoal stick. She grabbed her notebook and flipped it open to a blank page where she wrote one word. "Nihil." She showed it to Lyn, and once again she cocked her head to the side.
"Is that your name?" Lyn asked. Nihil nodded and waited for Lyn to say something, although what she said surprised Nihil. "That's a weird name."
Nihil puffed out her cheeks before writing, 'It's not like I chose it.'
Lyn's face turned red before she blurted out, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by it!"
Lyn looked away from Nihil, ashamed of herself for being so impulsive. There was an awkward silence between the two, before it was broken by the sound of heavy footfall and loud voices outside the tent. Lyn looked up and asked herself what that sound was. She then looked at Nihil and said, "Wait here, I'll go check it out." Nihil nodded and stayed where she was. She felt indebted to Lyn, so she did as she was told.
A few seconds later, Lyn came rushing back in and shouted, "It's the same bandits from the other day! Don't worry I'll stop them. There's only four, so I might be able to take them all on."
Lyn was about to rush out again, but Nihil stopped her by grabbing the hem of her dress. Lyn looked down at Nihil and asked, "What are you doing? There's no way you can fight in your condition."
Nihil shook her head and quickly wrote, 'I can, but that's not the point. I'm also a tactician, I can direct the flow of battle and help you win against these odds.'
Lyn seemed conflicted, but then decided to bring Nihil with her. Nihil looked around the tent before spotting her sword. She went to grab it, and winced as she did so. She was glad Lyn had already left the tent, that way she wouldn't force her to sit this one out. Nihil had a feeling that Lyn would only be able to handle two of them, so she would need Nihil's help if she wanted to win this battle.
Nihil joined Lyn a few yards away from her tent, and proceeded to tell Lyn about the weapons triangle. She then sketched a rough map of where they were, where the enemies were, and showed Lyn what she needed to do. For the more detailed part, she wrote down what she had planned. Lyn looked like she didn't like the plan, but went along with it anyway. Lyn hid in the tall grass and crawled towards the first bandit. He was a fair distance away from his companions, which made him an easy target. Lyn snuck up behind him and stabbed him through the heart, immediately ending his life. The bandit went down without a sound, and Lyn looked back at Nihil to confirm that she was doing the right thing. Nihil nodded to her and ran out in the open where she could clearly be seen by the three remaining bandits. They're heads turned towards her and they smiled, thinking that they would easily catch her now that they were recovered. Batta stayed back while the other two bandits ran towards Nihil. She turned towards them and acted surprised. She jumped back and grabbed her sword just before one of them reached her. Nihil's sword and the bandit's axe clashed, each pushing on the other. Lyn popped up from her hiding spot and charged at the slower bandit. She brought her sword up and ran him through. She decapitated him for good measure before turning towards Nihil. She had just parried an attack and gave a finishing blow before joining Lyn. Lyn looked at Nihil in concern, her wound had started to open again. Nihil shook her head as if to say, 'don't worry about it.' Lyn took her advice and started to walk towards Batta, Nihil lagging behind her.
Batta was furious, he hadn't expected to be so easily defeated. He roared in rage, "Yew think yew can beat me!? They don't call me 'Batta te Beast' fer notin'!"
Batta gave a war cry before charging at Lyn and Nihil. Once he was close enough to not be able to change his course, the two girls jumped out of the way. Then quickly turned around and chased after Batta, but he was able to stop sooner than expected. He turned around and swung his axe just as Lyn lunged at him. Her sword would go under Batta's axe, but his axe would severely wound her as soon as it made contact. Nihil shoved Lyn to the side and barely parried Batta's strike. Lyn got off the ground in time to see Batta push Nihil back with every swing. While his swings were wild, he seemed to notice that Nihil had trouble blocking his attacks on her left. He used that to his advantage by changing the direction he swung his axe. Lyn saw this as well and charged Batta once more. As Batta brought down his axe, Lyn flicked her wrist upward, creating a large gash on his back and making him miss his target. Nihil took this opening and pierced Batta's stomach. Lyn brought her own sword up and stabbed Batta's heart. They simultaneously withdrew their blades just before Batta fell to his knees. He coughed blood before saying, "I made… a mis-take…"
Nihil watched him for a few more seconds before letting out a sigh of relief. Lyn stared at Batta's body before saying, "Let's go back home."
Once they were back inside Lyn's tent, she started fretting over Nihil like a mother hen. Nihau didn't understand why Lyn cared for her so much, she was a stranger that Lyn knew nothing about. Yet she still took care of her. Were all the people from Sacae like this, or was it just the people she met? Nihil may never know the answer to her question, and she was fine with that. She was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that there were still kind people in the world. All the ones she had met prior to Sacea were cruel and heartless; they would do anything for money. For now, she was content with where she was.
Lyn had insisted Nihil sleep on the bedroll. Nihil tried to refuse Lyn's generous offer, but was given no room to argue once Lyn made up her mind. Maybe this was only said to make her guest feel better, but Lyn mentioned that she had an extra bedroll just incase of emergencies. Nihau felt slightly better knowing this, and agreed to sleep on Lyn's bedroll only if Lyn proved she did have an extra one. Lyn rolled her eyes, but complied with Nihil's wishes. Once Lyn had lay down on her bedroll, she turned to see that Nihil had already fallen asleep. Lyn smiled, She must have been really tired to fall asleep that quickly.
Lyn's smile turned into a frown as she gazed at the other girl's face, thoughts of when she had found the girl floating into her mind. What happened to her left eye? It wouldn't open, and it had some unusual scars running down it. Was she attacked by an animal when she was younger, or was it something else? Lyn decided to leave it be for now, she would ask Nihil later. Right now, she needed to get some sleep. Tomorrow was another day.
Nihil woke up to the smell of rice and beans. She yawned and sat up before stretching, being mindful of the wound of her back. She looked towards the make-shift kitchen and saw Lyn turning towards her with a wooden bowl in her hands. "Good morning! Yesterday's battle must have really worn you out. You fell asleep once your head hit the pillow." Lyn gave Nihil the bowl in her hands before grabbing the second one and sitting down next to the girl. Nihil wolfed it down, seeing as this was her first meal in about a week. Lyn looked at her in surprise, but shook it off and continued to eat her meal.
Once both of them had finished, Lyn put up both of their bowls. She then sat across from Nihil, took a deep breath, and asked the tactician what she spent most of the morning thinking about. "Hey Nihil, you're traveling around the continent, right?"
Nihil thought about how to answer Lyn's question. It was true that she was traveling around the continent, but for a different reason than Lyn may think. Lyn probably wouldn't ask for her reasoning though, so she nodded to answer Lyn's question. Lyn let out a sigh of relief before continuing. "I noticed your skill with the sword yesterday, as well as your skill with tactics. So, I was wondering if you would let me join you in your travels, and train me to be a better swordsman."
Lyn stared at Nihil with hopeful eyes, while Nihil looked absolutely shocked. She didn't expect Lyn to make such a request. Looking at her now, Nihil knew that she couldn't deny the girl this opportunity. Not only could she see a longing for companionship in her eyes, but this girl had saved her life. She was indebted to Lyn, whether she liked it or not, so she would have to let her come along.
After a long pause, Nihil looked Lyn straight in the eyes and nodded. Lyn's expression morphed into one of complete and utter joy, and she showed it by lunging at Nihil and pulled her into a bone-crushing hug. Nihil stiffened at the contact with another person, and the longer the hug lasted, the more Nihil thought her spine would snap in half. Once Lyn had finally let go, Nihil gasped for air while Lyn gave her an apologetic look. Once Nihil had caught her breath, Lyn started speaking again. "You have no idea how happy this makes me! I've been alone for half a year now, and then you showed up!"
Nihil just smiled at her new companion while something in the back of her mind was telling her that this was a bad idea. Nihil didn't care though, truth be told, she was lonely as well. She hadn't talked to anyone for so long before coming to Sacae.
Lyn jumped up and said, "I'll start packing everything we're going to need. You can plan a route to our first destination. If it's not too much to ask, I'd like to stop by Bulgar first, so we can stock up on supplies." Nihil nodded, agreeing to Lyn's sound advice. She took a map of Sacae out of her cloak's many pockets and started planning their journey.
So how was it? Tell me what you liked and didn't like. Anything would be helpful.