Of Lords and Tacticians: Error 404 - Chapter 1
-Chapter 1-
-Destination not Found-
A little figure lay motionless on ground, almost hidden in the grass. She shifted a bit as an insect strolled across her forehead, then thrashed violently, as if she had been prodded with a hot poker, and scrambled up to a sitting position.
Barley sat still for a moment, breathing heavily, and squinting in the bright light of the field.
Where was she? What had happened, why was she… why was...
She jumped up, with her long mess of brown hair flying up with equal electricity. Any attempt to calm herself had liquidized. She was in a field that stretched away in all directions, and faded away to blue nothing in the distance. There were a few sparse trees here and there, and a building of some sort in the distance, but those were the only things that broke the monotony before her, and aside from a few birds overhead, and the drum of insects, there was no sign of life.
Something had gone wrong.
She should not be in the middle of nowhere like this.
Then a rather disturbing of a thought struck her: where were Aaron and Vileet?
Barley shouted, calling their names into the emptiness, but there was no response. She didn't understand, they couldn't be far, she had seen them go through the portal less than a minute before she had.
There was a sound of tramping from a stand of trees a bit behind her. Her heart leaped with excitement, then shriveled as she listened more intently to the sound. The tread was too heavy by far to belong to either of her friends.
She ducked down in the tall grass. The footsteps milled around for a short time, apparently looking for her, though they never getting too uncomfortably close. A man's voice called from a distance away, she couldn't make out what it said. The steps hesitated, then tramped back the way they had come with a long, even stride.
Barley stayed put until the steps faded away, then began to move cautiously in the opposite direction. The thought that the portal may not have shut in time was creeping around in her mind now, and if anybody else had made it through, she had exactly zero desire to meet them.
There was no sign that she was being followed, or had even been seen, but she kept her head down anyways. Hopefully the tall grass would make her harder to spot if anyone happened to look in her direction.
She set on the structure as her destination, as it was the only distinguishable landmark in site, and had the most potential to help her figure out where she was. As she got closer, she realized that the building was much bigger than she had originally thought.
It was a pure white archway, at least five stories high with ornate symbols carved over its polished surface, and that was it. There were no other buildings, no people, or any sign of them, just the huge arch.
It was definitely interesting, but as far as Barley was concerned, it didn't help much. The architecture was completely foreign to her, and she couldn't make out any of the symbols etched across it; for all she knew, they could just be decorations.
And since it was the only thing in sight that wasn't grass or a tree, anyone who had been dropped in the area would probably wind up there sooner than later. Friendly or not.
A soft breeze was picking up, it smelled like ocean. Somewhere in front of her, there must be a coast. That would probably be the best place to work from, instead of wandering around aimlessly in this field, or waiting for trouble in the shadow of the arch. Barley plowed forward, feeling confident enough that she wasn't being immediately followed to exchange some stealth for speed.
Naturally, she went under the arch. It was right in front of her, and rather a wide thing to detour around for no apparent reason, but as it turned out, it wasn't a terribly smart thing to do. As soon as she was between the pillars, she was hit by a wave of vertigo that nearly knocked her down, there was a soft white nothingness.
And then she was somewhere else.
To Barley's credit, she didn't yell out. She did make a squashed kind of choking sound, but she didn't squeal.
She stood in the archway, staggering a bit, and doing her best not to fall as her sense of balance returned. The smell of sea was overwhelming now, and the wind was cold and laced with spray. When she got her vision back, she saw a bank of coarse grass running into sand, and choppy, dull grey ocean beyond.
By this time Barley had no kind feelings for the arch left. As far as she was concerned, it could throw itself into the grey ocean, but buildings don't tend to do stuff like that on there own, so she contented herself with the prospect of getting as far away from the thing as she could.
She didn't get very far though.
"Well, hello there, girly! Where did you come from?" said a cheery, sing-song voice.
Barley whipped around, instinctively backpedaling to a safer distance and looking for whoever had spoken.
They weren't hard to spot. It was a young, violently red-haired woman. She was sitting on a rock in front of the arch, head cocked in Barley's direction.
"I…" Stuttered Barley. She had no idea what to say. How could one even answer a question like that in her situation?
"I-" she started again, but was cut short by the sound of heavy boots and clanking metal. It seemed to be coming from inside the arch, but there was nothing there. She twisted around to the other side of the one of the pillars, and crouched down in it's shadow.
There was another white flash, causing Barley to have to shield her eyes. When she could look again, three men were standing under the arch. One of them wore heavy armor, and another, a hooded cloak. The last of them, Barely assumed to be their leader by the way he carried himself in front, had the most perplexing shade of deep blue hair she had ever seen. None of them were people she recognized.
They didn't seem to notice Barley at all as they walked on, right past the red haired woman, and on towards the beach.
"Well, that was a total waste of time." Said the leader as they passed. Neither of the others answered.
Barley let out a silent breath of relief. Not that she particularly wanted to meet these people either, but at least they weren't the mercenaries she had been expecting. She watched as the group made its way onto the sand and started circling along the beach.
Barley looked over to see that the red haired woman was watching her, in rather an amused fashion. She still hadn't moved from her rock. Barley stood up rather awkwardly.
"Excuse me," she asked.
"Yes sweetie?"
"Has anybody else been here in the last few hours?"
The woman looked thoughtful.
"Well, other than those three, she said, glancing at the group who had just passed, "No. It's an awful small island, if anyone was here I would know,, and nobody's come through the gate."
"Thank you," said Barley. She must have looked quite concerned, because the woman frowned at her pityingly.
Barley took a deep breath. If nobody had been here before her, then she could very well be in much more trouble than she had originally thought. She needed a new plan of action, to find out where she was. But this was an island, a small one at that if the woman could be trusted. And Barley didn't really seen any reason why she would lie about something like that.
Then a thought struck her. Those other people must have their own way off the island.
Barley started to follow after them briskly, trying to cover some lost ground; she didn't know exactly what she was going to do, but she knew she didn't want lose them.
She looked behind her briefly to see the woman at the arch wave her a happy goodbye.
It didn't take her long to close most of the gap, though she still hung behind a good ways. Barley hadn't made up her mind on whether or not she actually wanted these people to see her. She made up her mind quickly though, when the cloaked one turned back to give one last look at the arch. Barley flattened herself in the grass until he began to walk away again.
Soon, Barley could see where they were headed, a mid-sized boat moored to the water's edge. There was ramp leading out from it's side onto the beach. Now that she had something to work with, Barley started to build a plan of action. She had a vague idea of slipping on board somehow without being noticed, and stowing away until they reached the mainland. She could see it where she was, a low black strip on the horizon. It didn't seem all that far away. She flattened against the ground as the cloaked man turned back to look around one last time, before quickening his pace to catch back up with the others. Barley waited a good long minute before she started to move again.
The three of them stopped for a moment and talked between each other when they reached the ramp, though Barley wasn't able to make out anything that was said, then made their way into the boat. The hooded one went last, after giving one last look around the island.
He seemed to be doing that a lot, and Barley wondered if he suspected her presence. She knew that this whole thing wasn't one of her smarter ideas, but she didn't really have a lot of options right now, and the boat was leaving.
She ran forward onto the beach as soon as they were out of sight on board. As quietly as she could, she clambered up the side of the ship and peaked onto the deck. There weren't many people on-board, at least that she could see. Everyone seemed to be huddling around the newcomers. Barley swung over the edge and ducked behind a stand of barrels.
The boat lurched as is slid from the sand bank, causing Barley to fall over. She stayed down, flat against the deck as the boat tossed around with the waves. She didn't dare brace herself against the barrels for fear of knocking one over and blowing her cover.
As the boat started to move, the little knot of people broke up, getting to the usual chores of launching. As they got away from the shore, the waves got less harsh. Barley re-situated herself against the edge of the boat, bracing herself against future turbulence.
• • •
The trip was surprisingly short, the boat floated into port not but a half-hour later. The crew quickly busied themselves moving the cargo on the deck off-ship. Barley began to get nervous again as one of the barrels she was behind was taken away. If she didn't move soon, her cover was going to completely disappear.
She pushed herself up carefully, staying behind the other barrel, waiting for the right time to risk moving. Everyone seemed occupied, and when the time was right, she silently swung over the side of the ship, scaling down the way she had come. Or at least, that was the plan.
Just before she made it over, a hand shot out and grabbed the hood of her sweater, causing Barley to bang against the side of the ship. She gasped, fumbling with the two fastened buttons as the person tried to haul her back into the boat. The clasp gave just in time, and she fell into the water with a splash.
It was frigid. Barley fumbled in the water, trying to scramble up the side of the pier. It took a few precious seconds, but she made it up, and instantly started to run. She could see out of the corner of her eye that several people from the ship were already giving chase
Barley wove across the dock. It was crowded, and she was small, and she intended to use it to her full advantage. Behind her, she heard her pursuers shouting for the people to make way, to her alarm, the people seemed all too willing to comply. She ducked into an alleyway, right into a dead end.
Barley backed up into the crates and barrels littering the back of the ally, teeth grit, holding her breath in anticipation. Then watched as the people who were chasing her ran right by, not even sparing the alley a glance.
Barley didn't move right away, just ducked down where she was, dripping wet. There was a commotion outside of the alleyway, more shouting, and the milling hum of the confused crowd. A few more people from the boat ran past. Then one, following more slowly, stopped in front of it.
"Hello? Who's back here?" A concerned voice called out.
Barley stayed still, and tried to control her breathing, which had probably given her away, though it was obvious by now he knew someone was there . He was walking slowly into the alley, squinting into the shadows. Barley raked the ally for any other way out, forcing herself to stay calm. The man was getting closer. Uncomfortably close, poking behind the first row of barrels. With an explosive movement, she jumped up, scrabbling on top of the barrels. Up on top of the crate she had been hiding behind, then jumped again, catching ahold of the gutter on the edge of the roof. The man stepped back in surprise, giving her just enough time to clamber onto the slates.
It took a minute for the man him to process what just happened.
"Hey, I found them! They're on the roofs!" He yelled back, trying to get his comrades attention. A moment later, several of them came running back.
The cloaked fellow from the island practically ran straight up the wall to get on the the roof. Barley didn't look back, just ran, weaving between chimneys and trying not to slide off the angled panels.
"Hey, just wait a minute!" The man behind her called.
Barely could tell he was gaining on her, chewing away at her precious lead. She knew she couldn't keep up this kind of pace for long, and her wet shoes were causing her to slip dangerously.
Braced herself against a chimney to keep herself from completely falling off, only to find her sleeve frozen to the brick as she tried to pull away. "There… Hey, everyone! I caught them! Can someone get up here to help?" The man called down, snapping a large book shut in his hand as he approached her.
Barley strained against the ice, teeth grit against the burning cold seeping into her arm. The ice gave finally, with a crack like splintered glass, but the release sent her tumbling down the roof. The man behind her gave a cry of alarm as she fell.
Barely managed to snag the edge of the gutter as she fell. It made a loud groan, before the thin metal clips holding it in place gave way, dropping Barley into a pile of crates below.
It wasn't that far a drop, thankfully, and Barely was quickly back on her feet. The man chasing her was slower to get down, buying her some precious seconds to get ahead.
There was another crowd outside the alley she had fallen into. Barley sprinted straight for it, then slowed just before ducking into it. No need to attract more attention than was necessary.
Behind her, she heard the man hit the ground, quickly followed by a few others. They saw her disappear in the mass of people, but had to stop at the edge of the crowd; pushing through would just about cause a riot, and they knew it. There were some rather loud words exchanged between them that didn't sound very happy, but they were lost to Barley over the sea of voices around her.
• • •
Barley kept moving, giving wary glances behind her from time to time, but as no one appeared, she began to calm down. The whole street was some sort of market district it seemed, which explained the crowds. Stalls were thrown up everywhere, just awnings thrown out over a bit of porch and street, with crates and baskets stacked underneath, as much for storage of goods as making counters to work from. Merchants had crammed as much of their merchandise as possible into these nooks, and where loudly jibing for the attention of passing crowds. Barley was rather grateful for her slim frame as she wove through the mess. Once she was sure she wasn't being followed anymore, she slipped in between two stalls to catch her breath more fully, one selling dried goods, the other selling fish.
Barely sat down on a small basket and panted. This whole situation had not gone as planned, and she was still no closer to finding out where she was. She needed to get out of town, she wouldn't be able to do much with those people looking for her.
"Um, excuse me, miss?" A tiny voice asked, peering between the small gap. "Are you OK?"
Barley jumped more than was good for appearances. "Y-yes." She choked.
The voice quickly went from more concerned to upbeat. "Well, that's good. I was just worried that something happened to you, being all wet and, you know, hide-y."
"I'm alright." Said Barley, with much more control this time. "I just fell off one of the boats. That's all." She added.
The girl nodded, her slightly obnoxious blonde twin-tails bobbing, well, obnoxiously.
"Well, that's no good. At least come on out of there and let's get you dried off. Do you have somewhere to go?"
"Not really..." Said Barley quietly.
"Well, come on!" The girl prodded. "You're not going anywhere back there. Let's at least get you something dry on before you freeze, or get a rash."
Barley hesitated, then sighed. "Alright." She said, sounding rather deflated.
"My name is Liz, by the way." She said happily, trying to drag Barley the rest of the way out as gently as one can be dragged. "What's yours?"
"Barley."
Liz gave a curtsy best she could in the crowd. "Nice to meet you, Barley."
"Nice to meet you too." Said Barley.
Barley started to walk again, though she didn't know where to go. Liz seemed to pick up on that, and started to nudge her down another street, deeper into the village.
"So, you said you don't have anywhere to go. Do you have any stuff with you, or are you one of those ship-traveling people with no stuff." Liz asked, looking thoughtful in a bit of an aloof way. "I forget what they're called."
Barley chuckled a bit at this. "A hobo?" She asked.
Liz shrugged. "That works."
"Not-" Barley started, then thought about it. "I guess that honestly wouldn't be a bad description at the moment." She said, to nobody in particular.
"You still haven't answered my question though." Liz said in a gently chiding tone. "I need to know if I need to get you something else to change into myself."
Barley was taken aback by this. "No. No, I can get myself something." Said Barley. "Thank you though."
"Well, 'no, no' right back at you. I insist." Liz answered, giving a pouty face.
Barley didn't know to do about this. They just stood there at a stalemate. Not taking just standing there, Liz grabbed Barley by the wrist and marched her to another bit of market, this one much less crowded. She continued her marched her right up to a small shop and practically pushed her in. It was, of course, a clothing merchant. Barley sighed as she stepped inside.
There was obviously no way of getting out of this, Liz was basically body-blocking the door. Barley sighed again, though she smiled at her antics. She couldn't help but smile.
When it looked like she wasn't going to make a shot for the exit, Liz bounded up beside her. "Pick out what you like. I can pay for it."
"I can't let you do that." Said Barley, looking over the clothes nonetheless. A change was not a bad idea, all things considered.
"I can pay for it. I think..." She added. "What's... What's the currency around here?"
Liz looked at Barley confused for a moment. "Uh... Well, depends. Our coins are typically gold or silver. But you can trade in about any precious metal or stone."
"Alright." Said Barley, looking relieved.
"Where are you from anyways?" Liz asked, looking Barley over.
Barley hesitated. "Aldria." She answered at length.
Liz's brow furrowed as she tried to remember where that was. Eventually she just shrugged with a smile. "Geography was never my strong point. Anyways, see something you like?"
Barley picked out a plain shirt and pants, and Liz looked at it critically. She didn't seem terribly impressed.
"Really? That's it?" Liz asked with a frown. "That's so... Boring."
"I need something that's not going to get in my way." Said Barley.
Liz looked down at her own dress, tapping the edge of her hoop skirt with her staff a bit self-consciously. "Um, yeah. I can get that appeal."
"I've never been one for flashy stuff anyways." Said Barley. "Though you wouldn't be the first to call me boring."
"I-I never said you were boring! You seem really neat." Liz said, sounding a bit upset.
Barley smiled. "Thanks."
Liz bobbed up and down happily. "Ok, well, I'm going to wait outside then. You can handle everything in here?"
"Yep." Said Barley.
With a nod, Liz stepped outside, and a few minutes later, Barley joined her again, wearing her new clothes, though she was still wearing her gloves, boots, and backpack. Her old clothes were draped over one arm, not dripping any more, but still rather an uncomfortably wet thing to carry.
Liz looked her over, smiling. "You look good. Pretty much the same, but good. Very, uh... Sublime."
Barley smiled again. The two started to walk again. Nowhere in particular, but away from the water.
"So," said Barley. "Are your family merchants?"
Liz shook her head. "Uh... Well, no. I don't think I should tell you. Most people wouldn't appreciate it, I don't think. They honestly don't even like it when I wander around like this."
"Oh." Said Barley, stopping. "I'm not going to get you in any trouble am I?."
Liz waved it off, laughing.
"Oh, it's no problem, worst I can get is a slap on the wrist. I'm pretty much immune to punishment." She said, puffing herself out proudly. "Besides, I like meeting people."
Barley smiled again, though it was a half a half smile. She didn't know how much she agreed with her companion's logic, and despite their reassurance, though she was still seemed a bit concerned about the situation.
Their walking slowed.
"I was thinking of heading out of town..." Said Barley.
"Well, where are you headed? I can point you in the right direction."
Barley didn't answer again. Just stood there looking uncomfortable.
"Well... You came from across the sea, right? You're certainly not from around here." Liz mused, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "Probably best to stay away from the borders for now."
Barley nodded.
"Milady." A voice interrupted, making Liz go rigid.
Barley turned to see, to her shock, the man who had taken the barrel on the ship. He stood straight as a poker, grinding Liz into the ground with a stern look. Barley forced herself to stay calm. He didn't seem to recognize her. How could he? He had never actually seen her.
The man, who wore armor that looked to weigh more then the man himself, glared down at Barley next, them back at Liz. "Mingling with the common folk again?"
That statement told Barley exactly what kind of trouble she had gotten herself into. She looked apologetically at Liz, and slowly began to slip away...
Liz grabbed Barley by the sleeve and pulled her back. "As a matter of fact, I am." She said back challengingly. The man's glare somehow turned fiercer, and Liz wilted.
Barley tried discreetly to wriggle out of her grip.
Frederick shook his head, gently prying Liz away. She was no match for his strength, and went with it, pouting as she did. "Sorry for troubling you, miss." He said to Barley with a nod.
Barley nodded back. "Goodbye then." She said, though it came out so quietly she wondered if Liz even heard.
Barley started to walk away, slowly and evenly. She could hear Frederick talking to Liz in a low, chiding tone behind her.
"Good, you found Liz." said another voice, sounding slightly winded. "We've been combing the market, but there's still no sign of..." He stopped short, eyes locked on Barley.
Barley turned briefly at the conversation, though only caught a glimpse of the symbols of a suddenly familiar cloak, before breaking into a sprint.
There were a series of noises that Barley didn't dare look back to identify. She was certainly being chased again.
She slid around a cart, putting it between her and her pursuers. There was nowhere near the clutter of the market here, and she was quickly being overtaken.
There were plenty of alleyways leading to the back streets. She ducked down one of these, anything was better than the open, and these people didn't seem very keen on small spaces. There was more shouting, and a crash as someone presumably crashed into the carts. She looked up at the roofs again, it was probably her best bet. That had worked pretty well, last time. She scrambled up a drain pipe as quietly as she could, then creep along the slates, low, so nobody could see her from the street.
She watched as the people chasing her ran right past yet again. Barley gave a sigh of relief. Now all she had to do was get out of town without being spotted again. Just to be safe, she stuck to the roof for a little longer, before slipping down into another alleyway. She started to trot forward, feeling pretty good about things, when a pair of strong arms wrapped around her from behind.
To be Continued
A/N:
So a bit of context to this story.
Contrary to my update list, I still write. Quite a lot. I do love a story, and my Fire Emblem stories never stopped growing.
Some time ago now, I was telling the story of one of my favorite games of all time to a fellow writer (who just happens to be my girlfriend), and we were struck with an idea. Instead of just telling it, we would take one of her own original characters, and drag her through the plot. Nothing explores a world better then being in it. Told in a roll-play style, a little project was started.
Its not very little any more.
Great writing? Probably not, but golly gee, its been fun, and something worth sharing.
Also, though not mentioned this chapter, to avoid confusion in the future, I named my Avatar "Chris". Default appearance still.
We already have lots of backlog, so be prepared for updates.