Soul Calibur: Journey of a Theif
x((-(Chapter 1- A Simple Beginning)-))x
I knew. We all did. From the very beginning, when it was just the two of us, we knew of what this…thing was capable of. This grotesque concoction of steel and flesh, that sat, wedged into the ground before us, was once said to be the savior of the human world. For centuries it was only a thing of legend, once thought to be capable of ridding the world of evil and creating a peaceful utopia in which all of man could thrive for the rest of eternity…heh, if only they knew…if only they knew that this so called savior would in fact become the root of all evil in our world today. This realization has yet to reach the rest of the world, leaving many still searching for the thing of legend that would make their dreams come true. Once, we had been among them, roaming the world in search of this legendary power in hopes that it would grant me the wealth I'd so much desired. In hopes that it would give him the life he'd never had. It had been a long road since our journey started, and now I stand here, almost alone, trying to decide between friend and foe. My name is Saito, and this is my journey.
Our blades clashed. The ching of steel connecting with steel echoed throughout the forest. We stayed locked in a close clash of strength for a few moments, grunting in frustration as neither of us yielded to the other. My opponent, apparently getting tired of the lockup, pushed hard against my blade and sent me sliding back a few feet. In what seemed to be a flash, my opponent was in front of me again swinging his dual blades at me in a flurry of glimmering steel. Not expecting him to be back on me so quickly, I kept my gaurd up, enduring the barrage. My opponent quickly changed his strategy and sent a sweeping kick underneath my feet, making me fall hard against the ground. He'd caught me by surprise again and I barely had time to notice his blades plunging downwards towards my downed body. I was seriously starting to think he'd forgotten that this was just training. Well, that's just like him I guess, always getting lost in the heat of battle. Rolling backwards and back onto my feet, I felt it was finally my turn to go on the offensive. I knelt down and, in what was literally a flash, was in front of my opponents face, the toe of my boot mere inches from the crook of his jaw. I couldn't hold back the grin that appeared on my face. He wasn't getting out of this one.
My foot connected with his face sending him flying through the air for several seconds with no sign of him stopping anytime soon. After several yards of flight he somehow managed to push himself off of the ground, mid-flight, and into an aerial roll, eventually landing on a tree branch.
"So...that's the way its gonna be, huh." he muttered. I just placed my sword on my shoulder and gave him a cocky grin. I knew he was pissed now. "Fine." With that final word, he was gone. He'd vanished in a puff of black smoke. I looked around, a little confused, until I heard a faint humming noise coming from my feet. One look down and two words instantly flooded my mind.
"Oh, crap." Stuck in the dirt in front of me was one of my opponent's blades. And it was glowing a very, very angry red.
On instinct I dove in whatever direction my feet decided to move in and covered my head. An earsplitting boom erupted from the blade as it exploded in a fiery show of power. Once the clumps of dirt had stopped raining down on my back, I raised my head up off of the ground. Before my eyes had time to focus, the underside of my opponent's boot caught my face, effectively fusing the back of my head to the ground. A groan of pain escaped my mouth when my opponent's boot connected with my body once again, this time firmly on my chest. I opened my eyes only to have my gaze met with the pointed tip of my opponent's remaining blade.
"I win." he muttered. Every word of his sounded like a mutter through that scarf he wore. He'd wrapped it around his neck several times so that it covered his mouth.
"Okay, okay, you win. Now would you please get your damn foot off of my chest, it's not exactly a feather you know..." I muttered back.
He complied with my request and lifted his foot off of me, stashing his blade as he did so. I sat up and patted my chest to try and rid myself of dirt. I turned my gaze up towards my partner and looked up at him expectantly
"Well, Katsu, aren't you gonna lend the loser a hand." I said, batting my eyes at him. He stared at me with that no-feeling look of his and scoffed at me. However, to my surpirse he actually extended his hand to me. I started to reach for it when I noticed the air around his hand began to distort. The distorted air rounded off into a ball and began to turn red. Piece by piece the blade that had exploded a moment ago began to rematerialize in the plam of his hand. Once the red metal finished crafting itself into the flame-styled sword it once was, Katsu placed it in a special holster that ran across the small of his back, along with the other, nomal blade from before.
"I hate you, you know that right" I said with a glare. Katsu just let out a small chuckle and disappeared in another puff of black smoke. I scanned the treetops to find him sitting in the crook between a branch and its tree, one of his legs swinging back and forth over the edge.
"Let's go Sai, It's almost noon. We need to start heading back." He said. I just let out a sigh and stood up, patting my butt to rid myself of the last remnants of dirt. I brought my hand up and rubbed the back of my neck to try and get rid of the kinks from our last little battle and started to say…
"You know…" as quickly as my first Flash Step, I was sitting on the same branch as Katsu, and tossing his flame styled blade, which he'd named Phlegethon, in the air like a toy. I guess it's worth mentioning that I'm a master thief. My Flash style allows me to move at extreme speeds, usually faster than the eye can see, hence the name Flash Step. Pretty handy in my profession if I do say so my self. Although it does have it's drawbacks. The biggest one would probably be that the further I travel using Flash Step, the more energy I use, causing me to get tired extremely fast depending on the circumstance. But enough about me...
"...You never take the time to appreciate the scenery" I said with a mocking smile. "Go ahead, take a look around. I can wait." I continued my examination of his blade, my grin still in place.
"Sai, give it back..." said Katsu. As expected he was a little agitated at my fun. I ignored him and continued to inspect the red steel. He sighed and hopped down from the tree branch.
"Fine, keep it. But if you happen to suffer any kind of...lets say...explosive pain while I'm gone, just remember that I gave you fair warning." And then he was gone, leaving me with a confused look on my face and a...burning sensation on my hand...wait...
"Uh-oh..."
Soon enough the entrance to the village came into view. I'd finally caught up with Katsu after a small, explosive incident.
"You know Katsu, you really need to lay off the explosions.." I said as I wiped a few black splotches from my face.
" I warned you, didn't I? Besides, you should know better than to take Phlegethon from me." he said in a monotone voice. The guy really needed to get a little life in him. Sometimes it felt like I was talking to a zombie...
As we passed through the front gate I took a moment to take in the sight of the small village. It was a simple place, located deep within the forest. Tall pine trees surrounded it on all sides effectively creating a deep green barrier. Tiny stone cottages were abundant, their chimneys releasing smooth trails of smoke every so often. It was quaint, the kind of place a person would settle down in. Speaking of which…
"Hey Katsu, take a look over there." I said to my partner with a sly grin. Up ahead was a small group of girls on a small outing. There were three of them, a blonde and two brunettes. The blonde was incredibly pretty and had radiating golden eyes that reminded me of sunshine. The other two girls were just as attractive and had creamy brown eyes to match their hair. The two of them appeared to be sisters. Golden eyes were a bit of a rarity in this region, maybe that's why she'd caught my attentionThey each wore similar dresses. All three of them were clothed in similar dresses that seemed to be fairly expensive, which led me to believe that these girls probably came from wealthy families. Yet another attractive feature.
"Hmm…you know Katsu, I think we're gonna have to go souvenir shopping before we leave, if you know what I mean. What do you think?" I gave him a sly grin and a wink.
What I got in return was a deep glare that said something along the lines of...'Are you really stupid enough to ask me that?' Katsu didn't really agree with my interest in women. Not that he was gay or anything...he was just...conservative. He was one of those poor saps that believed in true love and that every man was entitled to one lover, and one lover alone. Thats nice and all, but I like to...enjoy...ALL women if you catch my drift. I guess that's why Katsu is always saying that I'm a dirty womanizer, but hey...to each his own...
"Okay then, but when I'm out late tonight with three hot girls, don't complain." I said patting his shoulder. I made my way over to the girls and put on my best smile.
"Hello ladies." I said as I leaned against the wall next to them.
"Um..hello. Who are you?" said the blonde one.
"My name's Saito."
"Okay...Saito. Can we help you?" said one of the brunettes.
"Well that depends. Would you ladies be interested in joining me for a little fun later tonight?" I said with a sly grin. I had em' now.
"Uh...yeah...could you hold on for a minute...while we discuss it?" said the other brunette.
"Sure." I said, my smile still in place. I watched as they moved a few feet away and huddled together. Oh yeah, they loved me.
o((Third Person/ With the girls))o
"That guy is such a loser." whispered one of the brunettes.
"Yeah, I know. Who does he think he is just coming up to us like that." whispered the other.
"I don't know you guys, I thought he was kinda cute..." said the blonde a slight blush spreading across her checks.
"What?!" said the two brunettes, surprised. "Lilly! What are you thinking? That's just some random guy!"
"Yeah! And he's all covered in dirt and he kinda smelled funny. Plus he had all those black smudges all over him!"
"He's totally gross!" said both girls.
"Well...yeah, but he did have a really nice smile. And he sounded like a really nice guy. Come on guys, just give him a chance. Pleease." Pleaded the blonde, Lily. The other two girls just stared at her, completely dumbfounded. Lily looked up and smiled at Saito, giving him a small wave. He waved back with a smile of his own.
Looking past him, Lily saw a mysterious man dressed in a white, hooded cloak who seemed to be glaring at Saito. From what she could see he had a handsome face that was partially shrouded with dark red hair. Maybe he was with him!
"Okay guys, what about the guy behind Saito? He's pretty good looking, right?" said Lily. The other girls looked up and took a quick glance at Katsu.
"Hmm...he is kinda cute." said one of them.
"Yeah, he's got a sort of...mysterious charm. I like that." said the other with a grin.
"Okay, if you can get him to come along, then we'll give that Saito guy a shot." said the brunettes.
"Yes! Thanks guys." said Lily. The girls split up their huddle and headed back to Saito.
o((First Person/ Saito))o
After their short discussion, the girls made their way back to me. The blonde girl, I thought I'd heard the other girls call her Lily, stood infront of me with a sweet smile.
"Okay, Saito, you have yourself a date. Meet us by the pub across town after the sun sets." After she informed me of the place and time, Lily stepped forward and placed a small peck on my cheek. I felt my face start to heat up once she stepped away. I could see a small bit of pink on her cheeks to match my own when she turned to walk away. I watched her and her friends walk away when one of them whispered something in Lily's ear. She quickly turned and said...
"Oh, and don't forget to bring your friend with you." She was pointing a finger past me as I wondered what she meant by friend. I followed the direction of her finger and saw that Katsu was the friend I had to bring along...
I felt my shoulders drop from my disappointment. Like usual, the girls wanted Katsu to come along. I just don't get it, I mean all he does is stand there and, as much as I hate to admit it, they always want him more than me...
I fixed up my negative attitude and put my cocky grin back on before making my way back to Katsu. He just stared at me with his usual cold stare, arms crossed, and watched me as I walked up to him.
"So...how'd it go?" he said with mock curiosity.
"They loved me, like usual. We're going to meet them at the pub once the sun sets." I said grinning. Just because I knew the girls liked Katsu more than me didn't mean he had to know. I started to make my way towards the inn we were staying at when i heard Katsu speak up.
"Wait...we? What do you mean we?" For some reason he sounded confused. I thought I was pretty clear about the situation.
"We, as in you and I." I stopped to take in the glare he was giving me. "You better get yourself cleaned up. I saw how those brunettes were checking you out. You wouldn't want to disappoint them, right?" I said, mocking him. No matter what the situation, screwing with Katsu would never lose it's appeal.
"Let's go, we have a big night ahead of us."
O--xx(Author's Notes)xx--O
And there you have it, the very first chapter of A Tale of Thieves! I'm gonna warn you guys right now though, these first couple of chapters may be a little dull. Mostly because I'm just trying to set up all the characters, you know, give you guys a feel for their personalities and such.
Um...yeah...I'm reposting this just for the heck of it..I don't plan on any regular posting for a while...if you like it that's great, but you'll have to wait awhile for any new chapter. Okay...so yeah that's all. Have a nice day...