This is my first story on Fanfiction so cut me some slack. Well yeah, if you read the summary you should know what this will be about. If you didn't then I'll say it again. Mark and his companions are on a journey to do some good in their home of Elibe. On their journey they will experience love, death, sorrow, and other good stuff. They will encounter the Fang, fight morphs, and save the land from the return of the Fire Dragons. So that's the summary.
Disclaimer- Why do we even need to put this. Obviously I don't own it.
Homecoming
Prologue- Decision
Dear Father and Mother,
At this point in time, I feel an adventurous spirit. I wish to see the entire continent of Elibe. I am sorry for telling you this in a letter. By the time you are reading this I have already left. I took about five thousand gold and Alucard. So if they are missing. I took them. Please be well. I will return someday hopefully. Please don't come after me. Tell Snow not to come after me. I'll return someday in the future.
Sincerely,
Mark
"That should do it. Hopefully, they won't chase after me or something," Mark thought as he writes the letter, "Now to meet up with Sierra."
With that thought, he heads out of his home and heads on foot through the city's gates carefully avoiding the eyes of the guards on patrol. When he gets past the gates, he heads into the forest area outside the city. In the forest a pretty brown haired girl dressed in a long white robe with two red lines, customary for a bishop to wear, running from the left side is mumbling to herself. Mark, seeing the girl, readies himself for a loud lecture. Bracing himself, he runs up to her silently and grasps her from behind with one hand covering her mouth so she can't scream.
Mark whispers to her, "Shut up. It's me Sierra. Yell later. If you yell right now, you're going to alert the guards."
Sierra stops trying to hit him with her staff and whispers to him, "Stop sneaking up on people. Oh you're so going to get it later. Why were you so slow? Can't you do anything right? I can't believe you wasted so much time. Couldn't you walk up to me like a normal person and-"
"Shut up and just warp us to Carter. He's probably waiting for us. Besides if you keep whispering twenty feet from the gate, the guards will hear us and I am not going to explain to them what we were going to do or why you are even here," Mark whispers feverishly.
Sierra glares at him but starts to use her warp staff. Muttering the word "warp", she translocates the two to a room in an inn in Bern. Upon arrival, Mark clutches his stomach and starts groaning.
"I hate warping. Think I need to throw up," he mutters.
"Do that here and I'll kill your ass," a male voice snaps.
"No sympathy for the incapacitated Carter?" Mark asks. Turning to face the voice, he sees his friend Carter is still the same as last he saw of him. Carter looks rugged and handsome. He is muscular and tall with a face that belies the fact that he is younger than he seems. His stern face and scowl leads one to believe him a bandit several times in the past. A fact that amuses his friends greatly especially when the townsfolk questions him even if he helps them.
"Hell no. This is my room, paid for by my money, and if you throw up here, I'll feed your lazy ass to my wyvern," Carter says adamantly.
"How's Talon anyway?" Mark asks leaning against the room's door for support.
"He's fine. Sierra looks pissed right now. What took you so long?" Carter asks glancing at said girl sitting on a second bed in the room muttering. Carter catches the words "Mark, bastard, kill, poison, and so on". He shrugs, as this is common.
"Hell, I want to kill him most hours of the day," he thinks.
Mark shrugs, "Unlike you I actually care enough to leave a message. That and the guards around the city made me late."
"Your parents are too careful," Carter shakes his head.
"Better too careful than too lax," Mark shrugs.
"Well, if you two are done then what are we going to do now. The three of us pretty much ran away. Carter's parents wouldn't care too much. No offense. Mark's and mine might actually come after us," Sierra says calmly.
"None taken. So, Mark, what's the plan?" Carter looks to Mark.
"I want to join the Black Fang for a bit," Mark says casually.
The other two look at him like he just went crazy. "The Black Fang? The mercenary group? The one that kills lords and bandits and such?" Sierra asks with a hint of sweetness.
Mark starts to move slowly away from her. He knows when she adopts a sweet tone, she is going to yell or beat someone. Carter also unconsciously moves away.
"Yes?" Mark says cautiously.
"Are you crazy? Oh wait you are. Do you even think? I swear I know horse dung smarter than you. Do you now what the Black Fang does? They kill people. Do you want to die? If you do, I'll save you the trip and kill you myself!" Sierra rants loudly.
"So Carter what do you think?" Mark asks ignoring Sierra.
"Well. It sounds crazy but I'll follow you wherever you go. And don't you dare say a gay joke or I will help Sierra kill you," Carter snaps.
"Heh. Thanks," Mark grins.
"Stop ignoring me!" Sierra yells clubbing Mark with her staff.
"Ouch. That must hurt," Carter says cheerfully.
"Thanks for the warning," Mark says sarcastically.
"What can I say? I live to see the rise I get out of people," Carter grins.
"You're almost the same as Marquess Ostia's younger brother Hector," Mark says rubbing the part of his head that got hit.
"Hmm. Wonder how the bloke is doing these days." Carter wonders.
"Who knows? So, Sierra, are you coming with us? Carter's in so…" Mark asks.
"So now you listen to me? Fine. I'll come along but you guys owe me. I'll need a new staff, some new tomes, and ooh I saw the cutest coat that will be perfect for going into the Fang's headquarters," Sierra yammers.
"Wait. You know where the headquarters are? I'm impressed!" Mark asks amazed.
"You didn't?" Carter and Sierra sighs in unison.
"I was going to ask around. I know it is somewhere in Bern hence why we're here," Mark says.
"But you had no idea where we're supposed to go," Sierra points out.
"I was working on it," Mark protests.
"So useless," Sierra mocks.
"So undependable," Carter adds in.
"You guys suck. Let's just go to sleep and we can head out first thing in the morning," Mark says trying to end the conversation.
Fortunately for him, his two companions seem tired as they readily agree. He just sighs and grabs a sleeping bag out of one of his packs and goes to sleep.
The next morning, the three eat breakfast and prepares to head out. While the other two are eating, Carter heads to the stables to take care of his wyvern before returning to their table and eat. After the four finishes eating, they go to the armories and vendors in the area. Carter and Mark abstain from buying a new weapon instead saying the weapons they have on them are more preferable. Sierra just accuses them of being cheap and goes on a shopping spree. In the end she buys a Divine and Purge tome, a Mend staff, and a winter coat she describes as super cute and sexy to which all three males including the wyvern groans. Mark buys several vulneraries and antitoxins. Carter buys food for his wyvern as well as a new armor designed to protect wyverns from the cold. When the two accuse him of pampering the wyvern too much he just tells them to shove it and Mark pampers him just as much.
With preparations complete, the four head off to the Bern Mountains where Sierra tells Mark is the location of the Black Fang Headquarters. Upon hearing of its location, Mark immediately thinks of two pressing points.
"Wait," Mark suddenly stops, "How did you two find out? And why did no one, like the king of Bern, know? The location is so obvious. It's in plain sight."
"We know the location because of my parents. Apparently, they had someone infiltrate the Fang a long time ago. That person reported the location to my parents but reports had stopped a long time ago. I assume the spy is dead or something," Sierra says softly.
"You knew the spy didn't you," Mark says as though it is a fact.
"Yes. He was very dear to me," Sierra says almost as a whisper.
"Who was he?" Mark inquires.
Seeing no answer coming from her, Carter decides to break the heavy atmosphere by answering Mark's second question, "Bern won't do anything about the Black Fang. The clientele for the Fang is mostly Bern related. Nobles, perhaps even the king himself, hires the Fang on a regular basis. You hear about the social upheavals happening in Bern all the time. The existence of the Fang is the main cause. Corrupt officials are eliminated whether it is a job or not though most often it is."
"Interesting. And Sierra," Sierra perks up on hearing her name, "If anything is too difficult to talk about, just tell us. We've been through a lot. If it gets too uncomfortable just tell us. Sorry about before," Mark tells her.
"Thanks and it's fine," Sierra says though her eyes are still glazed over like she is remembering a long past memory. The other two and the wyvern upon seeing her expression decide to stay respectfully silent for the trip to the Fang's headquarters.
Upon reaching the supposed headquarters, the group discovers a series of forts left untouched for decades by human hands.
"This is the headquarters?" Mark asks.
"It should be unless their base has been moved," Sierra says.
"Great. We came here for nothing," Mark sighs.
"Don't be stupid. If the members were out in the open then people with a vendetta would have attacked them a long time ago. Most likely there is some hidden passageway or something," Carter says thoughtfully.
The group begins to walk into the forts looking for people or a hidden passageway. In the end, they fail quite admirably. At this point, Mark, Carter, and Talon are pissed. Mark starts ranting about "what a waste of time, thought they knew where to go, why I ought a…" Carter has a fierce glare on his face like he is ready to kill someone. Talon looks like he wants to eat someone. Sierra has a hurt look on her face. Though no one has blamed her, she feels she wasted their time.
"Well, this was a waste of time," Mark finally says, "Let's go back and come up with a new pla-"
His voice trails off as he realizes something important.
"Damn it. We're idiots," he vents.
"How so?" Carter asks.
"Remember what we studied in Bern's military academy. Do you remember the geography of this area of the Bern Mountains? You know, the stuff then-Captain Murdock drilled into our heads for slacking off," Mark asks.
This causes Sierra to gasp and Carter to curse, "Of course, there are two fortifications created in this area. They were abandoned later on after the ruling body in Bern refused to spend funding to repair the outside forts. Just our luck, we searched for the Fang's hideout in the truly abandoned forts."
"Let's make camp here. We'll search the other fort tomorrow," Mark decides.
The group starts to make preparations for camp. Sierra starts to make dinner. Mark starts setting up the tents with Carter. Talon finds a comfy spot to rest. When dinner is ready, Carter goes to feed Talon as well. The group eats in companionable silence. When dinner is eaten, the watches for the night are decided. As Mark takes the first watch, he feels anxious about tomorrow and the changes it will bring.
So this is chapter 1. RRR was it or is it R&R. Something that says review. Leave a review. Tell me if it is good, bad, hate it, love it, or what.