Chapter 1: An Unlikely Encounter
TATSUMI POV:
"GOD-DAMMIT!" he screamed at the top of his lungs.
He had just come back to the exact same spot for the eighth time that day, once again proving that he was lost. He had been wandering around in the wilderness for the past week or so ever since he had gotten separated from Sayo and Ieyasu when bandits had attacked them on the road. Shortly afterwards, a massive hurricane had ripped through the countryside, destroying numerous bridges that connected the edges of the empire to the capital. With these gone, he had been forced to try and forge a new path to the capital through a large swamp that ran for almost seventy miles between his village and the nearest city...however, all he had done so far was get hopelessly lost.
"Sayo and Ieyasu are probably already in the army by now," he muttered to himself, hopping over a fallen tree and sloshing through a large mud puddle.
He continued wading through the mud and grime, not caring how dirty he got. At this point, all of his clothes were completely ruined by filth, so a little more dirt wouldn't hurt anyone. In fact almost all of his possessions had been ruined by the terrain. His blanket, pillow, food, more than half of his clothes, and all other creature comforts had long been left on the sides of the 'road,' thoroughly soaked, moldy, and caked with mud. All he carried now was his sword, the clothes on his back, his boots, a map (which had been no help at all), his coin purse, a fire-starter, and a small statue from his village elder. He was kind of grateful for the lessened burden, since it made traveling these wild lands easier.
He kept on trudging in the direction he guessed was south (his compass had been in Ieyasu's bag when they got separated,) trying his best to keep a positive attitude as he once again fetched up in the exact same spot as before.
"GAAAAAH!" he finally lost it, drawing his sword and slashing a nearby tree in half before pounding the stump in frustration.
His stomach grumbled loudly, which only added to his misery. He hadn't eaten in three days now, due to the lack of edible game. The only things that seemed to inhabit this swamp seemed to be Earth Dragons...and he wasn't hungry enough to try and eat them. He sighed and climbed out of the muck to a solitary rock that seemed dry enough. He slouched against it and sighed, trying to wipe some algae out of his eyes with an already-dirty hand.
"What am I doing?" he sighed. "Can I really save the village by myself? I need Sayo...and Ieyasu. I need them to watch my back."
Suddenly he blinked. There was a loud sloshing sound coming from his right. After spending this much time in the wild, he knew that usually meant an Earth Dragon was coming. Slowly, he drew his sword again and settled into a battle stance. He had already killed seven of these beasts since venturing into the swamps, so he knew he could kill this one with ease.
Suddenly the ground exploded with a shower of mud and water as the Earth Dragon surfaced from its tunnel. However something was not right here...the dragon was missing one of its arms and its head armor was punctured in several places. Green blood quickly stained the mud as the beast writhed in its death throes, screaming in agony.
"Ewwww, gross," came a new voice.
He turned towards the Earth Dragon's tunnel as a young girl emerged. She was about his age with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She wore a long overcoat and a white hat with the symbol for the Imperial Fist emblazoned in red. In her right hand she carried a lance with a long blade, which was completely soaked in green blood.
"Oh, so there's travelers out here?" she asked, noticing him.
"Uh," he gawked, looking at her lance...then at the Earth Dragon...then back again. "Did you...do that?"
"Yeah," she smiled, calmly walking up onto the beast's neck and plunging her lance into its flesh, killing it. "Hey, are you okay?"
"Y-yeah, I'm fine," he said, not knowing how someone could be so calm after dispatching a danger beast like that.
"Really?" she said, holding her nose as she looked at him. "Cause you smell like you've been out here for way too long without a bath."
"Hey! You try getting lost out here for a week and let's see how you smell," he shot back.
"You've been out here for a week?!" now it was her turn to gawk.
"Yeah, I got lost after the hurricane knocked out the bridges," he admitted, sheepishly rubbing his head. "You wouldn't happen to know the way to the capital, would you?"
She smiled and waved him to follow her. "Follow me," she said. "But first I have to meet up with my friend."
"Thanks," he grinned at her. "I'm Tatsumi by the way."
"Spear," she said, returning his smile as she walked into the Earth Dragon's tunnel. "Watch your head."
The tunnel ran for what seemed like miles before coming back up in a large clearing. The entire area looked like it had been hit by a tornado: ground ripped up, rocks smashed, trees hacked over, etc. And covering the majority of the ground was a river of green blood flowing from the severed arm of an Earth Dragon.
"Whoa…" he breathed at the destruction.
"Yeah, guess I got carried away," Spear chuckled, walking through the battlefield towards a small path that led further away. "Come on, my friend should just be up this way."
He followed her along the path to another clearing, this one filled with tents….and bodies. At least thirty people lay strewn around the camp, each of them bleeding heavily from long cuts and slashes. From their clothes and tattoos, he deduced that they were bandits.
"Shay!" Spear called out. "You done yet?"
"Almost!" came a reply in an accented voice.
A man emerged from inside one of the tents. He was very tall, with tan skin and dark hair that was pulled back and tied in a very short ponytail. He was wearing a very strange outfit: a black and red leather coat with a high collar and large cuffs, black pants with black boots, black gloves, and a strange belt with a white sash bearing a red cross. He carried a strange-looking rifle strapped across his back as well as a sword and a long dagger strapped to his belt. His face was hardened and unforgiving, which was only enhanced by the long scar across his right eye.
"Who's your friend?" the man asked, wiping his hands clean on a scrap of cloth.
"This is Tatsumi," Spear said cheerfully. "He got lost in last week's storm and he's been out here for some time. 'Think we could show him the way to the nearest city on our way back?"
The man's dark eyes lingered on him for a moment, triggering an instinctive need to swallow, before he shrugged and threw the scrap of cloth aside.
"I guess," he said, his accent somewhat distorting his words as he walked over to him and stuck out his hand. "Shay Cormac."
"T-Tatsumi," he said, nervously shaking said hand. "Uh, thanks for showing me the way out."
Shay just nodded and walked deeper into the camp. "Spear, see if you can find the papers," he said.
"Okay!" the blonde lance-user said. "Tatsumi, do you think you could help me?"
"Sure," he said, a bit thankful that Shay had left. "What do you need?"
She pulled him deeper into the camp, poking through tents. "There should be a letter marked with a red seal somewhere in here," she told him, rifling through sacks. "I need to find it."
"Okay," he said, digging through a chest.
They searched for about five minutes before they moved on to the next tent. However as they were moving between tents, something caught his eye coming from the corner of his vision.
"WATCH OUT!" he yelled, shoving Spear to the side as a large cleaver sword crashed down on the spot where she had been standing. He rolled to the side and drew his sword, shooting back up into a fighting position. Standing in front of him were three bandits who were still very much alive, each of them holding a weapon.
"Damn!" the largest of them swore, tugging his sword out of the ground. "Missed!"
"It's kind of good ya did, Gichi," one of them said, eyeing Spear and licking his lips. "I think we could all have some fun with her before we kill her."
"Yeah, but we gotta kill that kid first," said the other one, spinning a small sword. "Heh, this will be a walk in the park….it's been a while since I 'played' with a girl."
He blinked and in a fit of rage, charged the one in front, swiping at his chest as fast as he could. The bandit blinked and managed to block his attack with both hands on his weapon. He capitalized on this and stepped inside his opponents guard. Quickly, he kicked the man in the kneecap as hard as he could, hearing the telltale 'CRACK!" of bone shattering. The bandit screamed and fell to one knee, but his pain was short-lived as he slashed him across the throat, silencing him.
The other two took a step back and lowered their guard as he turned to them. They looked like they were about to attack when they suddenly stiffened, their weapons clattering to the ground. He blinked as they suddenly toppled over, revealing Shay standing behind them with his arms outstretched, as if he had slapped them on the back of their necks. He had not heard the man sneak up on them, nor seen him actually land the blow. He watched as a pair of small blades slid back into his sleeves as he lowered his hands, casting his eye towards the bandit he had killed.
"You went for the kneecap?" he asked, looking at the deformed leg of the dead bandit.
"Yeah," he said, somehow completely calm. "He was focused entirely on blocking my sword, so I figured I would hit him there."
The dark-haired man nodded before looking over at Spear. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," she said standing up. "Thanks for the save, Tatsumi."
"N-no problem," he said. "You were kind enough to help me...I had to return the favor somehow."
Spear smiled at him before looking at Shay. "I nominate him," she said.
"Are you sure?" he asked, cocking his eyebrow. "He doesn't exactly look like he could handle it."
"Handle what?" he asked, but his words were completely ignored.
"He could do it," Spear said, folding her arms.
"Killing one bandit isn't enough to be nominated," Shay countered. "Besides...he's still too green for it."
"Hello!" he said. "I'm standing right here!"
"He survived a week in the swamp," she said. "That place is crawling with Earth Dragons, so you have to be tough to survive here."
"Is that right, lad?" he asked, finally looking at him. "You fought the danger beasts?"
"Uh, yeah," he said. "I did get lost, though…"
"Not important now," Spear said.
"You will need to get the vote called," Shay said, as if he were reminding her.
"I know," she said. "I know I can get my father to agree with me and Master Haythem will agree is he gets more funding for his expeditions."
"That leaves Torres, and Rodgers," Shay countered. "Not to mention myself."
"What are you talking about?" he asked, walking between them.
"You'll see soon enough," Spear said as he felt a sudden prick on his neck and his vision began to swim.
The last thing he remembered was falling to the ground and landing face-first in a mud puddle.
TIME PASSES…
He groaned and blinked as he came to, feeling nauseated and queasy like he was about to throw up. His head was pounding slightly and it felt like he was spinning around...which didn't help his nausea at all. He couldn't see anything at the moment, though; everything was dark.
"Wait a minute," he said, remembering the phantom pain in his neck and then passing out in the swamp. Then he realized he was wearing a blindfold...and his hands were tied behind his back.
"So you're awake then?" came a familiar accented voice.
"Shay?" he asked the darkness.
"Aye," he said, feeling a bottle being pressed to his lips. "Drink this...it'll help with the side-effects."
He eagerly took a sip and then recoiled at the bitter taste. However, he kept drinking until Shay pulled the bottle away, his thirst overriding his taste buds.
"Where am I?" he coughed.
"If I told you," Shay grunted, "it would defeat the purpose of the blindfold."
Fair point, he thought as a bump passed under him. "We're in a carriage?"
Shay grunted in affirmation but said nothing else.
"Where's Spear?" he asked.
"She's gone ahead," he said. "'Probably to let her father know you're coming."
He knew he was lucky to get this much out of the man and probably wouldn't get any more, so he decided to shut up.
The cart bounced and rolled for a while longer before slowing to a stop. He heard the door open and two sets of hands grabbed him by his shoulders and lifted him out and onto the ground.
"Take him inside," Shay said, hit boots hitting the ground behind him. "Spear is waiting for him."
"Yes, Master Cormac," said a male voice as he was dragged across the ground by his shoulders.
"Hey wait a minute!" he yelled. "What's going on now?!"
"Easy son," said one of the men dragging him. "Don't make this any harder than it has to be."
He struggled a little bit, but shut up when one of them said if he tried to escape, he'd be run down and shot. He focused on trying to figure out where he was, using his other senses to try and figure out where the hell he was. He felt the suns warmth suddenly vanish from his skin, replaced by a cool breeze washing over his skin. He was inside now, judging from the way their footsteps echoed around him. Finally, after what seemed like ten minutes of walking, he heard a door open in front of him.
"Ah, Tatsumi!" Spear said, removing his blindfold and letting him see. "Welcome."
"Uh…thanks," he said. "Uh, could you tell me one thing?"
"Sure," she said with a smile.
"WHERE THE HELL AM I?!" he shouted, his voice echoing off the walls of the tunnel.
"Not so loud," Spear winced, opening the door and allowing the guards to move him inside. "And you're about to find out."
The door opened to a small circular room no larger than the inside of the chief's hut in his old village. Inside was a single chair, surrounded by a group of five people, their faces cloaked in shadow.
"Sit down," she said, pushing him into the chair.
One of the shadowy figures stepped forwards. He was a middle-aged man, maybe in his early forties, with shoulder-length silver-gray hair pulled back into a short ponytail. He had tan skin and intelligent gray eyes. He wore a blue coat and red undercoat, a bandolier draped across his shoulder. He wore thick-sole boots with heavy buckles, as well as a pair of thick leather trousers designed to keep thorns from poking the wearer. At his right hip hung a saber.
"We will be asking you a series of questions now," the man said, his voice betraying an upbringing of high-status. "Do try to answer to the best of your abilities."
"O-okay," he swallowed. This man was almost as intimidating as Shay Cormac.
The man nodded and cleared his throat. "You are presented with a house with a door that is locked," he said. "It is three feet thick, ten feet tall, and is composed entirely of solid steel. The walls around it are marble and are another eight feet thick. The lock is steel as well and has eight tumblers that require a key that is currently held by a general guarded by sixty men. How do you get inside?"
He cocked an eyebrow. He thought they would want information about him, not riddles.
"That's easy," he said. "Go in through a window."
The man blinked and then cracked a smile. "A good answer," he nodded before stepping back into the shadows.
A new man emerged on his right. This was an older man with white hair and a snow-white beard. His skin was tan and weather-beaten, as if he was from a harsh region. His back was slightly stooped, but not so much it was noticeable at first glance. He wore a blue overcoat and red undercoat, both with gold trims. He had what looked like expensive leather shoes on, as well as a glove on his right hand.
"I suppose I will go next," he said in a grandfatherly voice. "You are in charge of a treasury which is responsible for the wealth of the empire and by extension you run a large accounting workforce. How could you prevent embezzlement and theft?"
He blinked. This was something else he knew. Tax officials from the empire would always try to cheat his town out of extra gold, claiming it was their "salary." The village elder had found ways around these weasels and had made sure to teach the next generation these tricks as well. Embezzlement and taxes were two different things, but they couldn't be so unalike.
"Make each of the employees handle a different part of the process," he said. "Divide the duties so there would be a longer paper trail if a group of them decided to steal. And put my most loyal employees in charge of the most important jobs to monitor people who steal."
The old man smiled and stepped back. Out stepped a younger man with chestnut hair and a vicious-looking scar on his left cheek that looked like he'd been shot there. He wore a brown leather sailor's coat with a leather vest and a cotton shirt underneath. A gold chain was tucked into his jacket pocket and he wore sailor's boots.
"I'll give it a go," he said in a smooth tone. "You are in charge of an army sent to clear a town of bandits. You arrive to find out the bandits have kept the townsfolk alive for hostages and are demanding you surrender or they start killing people. How do you get rid of them?"
"Scare them," he said right away. "Make it look like I either don't care about the townspeople or that I will complete my orders anyway. Then start showing off my army's firepower. If they'll surrender, capture them alive. If they run, kill them all."
The man smiled, which only seemed to distort the scar on his cheek even further. "That is what I would do," he said before looking at the final man. "He'll have my vote, Grandmaster."
Lastly, a face he knew stepped from the shadows.
"P-P-P-Prime Minister Chouri!" he said.
The former politician smiled at him. "What, in your opinion, does this world need most?" he asked him.
He took a moment to think before he looked back up. "Stability," he said. "Stability in economy, stability in government, and stability in society…that's what we need most."
Chouri smiled brightly. "True," he nodded before looking back into the shadows. "The vote is unanimous, my friends."
The other men stepped back into the light, with the addition of Shay and Spear as well. Spear had a wide grin on her face while Shay only looked quietly impressed.
"I understand you have a lot of questions," Chouri said. "And you are right to think this way. But there is one more question that I must ask you."
Chouri stepped even closer and knelt down to eye level. "What if I told you that you could be a part of something great?" he asked. "Something that would help change the world for the better…but it would require you to sacrifice a great deal to the cause. Would you do it?"
He looked the old man right in his eyes.
"Sir, I left my village to join the imperial army with my two best friends," he said. "We all knew we might die fighting, but we needed the money to help save our home. I was prepared to sacrifice my life from the very start…so yes I would."
Chouri smiled and stood up, motioning to Shay. The man walked behind him and untied his wrists. "Then welcome, Tatsumi," he said. "Welcome to the Order of the Knights Templar."
He then turned around and then motioned to the man who had asked him the first question. "Haythem," he said. "Bring him up to speed about our order."
"Of course, Grandmaster," the newly-named Haythem said.
"Woods, please call Elise back from the capital," he said to the scarred man. "Tell her about our new recruit."
"At once, Grandmaster," the sailor bowed and walked off.
"Torres, I need you to return to Kyoroch," he said, next, turning to the old man. "Keep me informed on the city's affairs."
"By your command, Grandmaster," the man said, bowing his head.
"And Shay," he said finally. "I would like to hear the results of your expedition."
"Yes, sir," he said, following the old man out of the room.
"Come now," Haythem said. "We have a lot to discuss, Tatsumi. Spear, come with me as well."
"Yes, sir," she said. "This is great, right Tatsumi?"
"Uh, maybe," he admitted. These all seemed like really important people, so who knew what could happen. And if he could do something to save his village, that would be excellent!