Salutations! This is my first SC fan fiction I've ever wrote! It features my OC, Apollo, and many others. This will be filled to the brim with plot twists, battles, romance, and comedy! I hope you enjoy it!

Nine months before the events of SOULCALIBUR IV…

TRANSCENDING HISTORY, AND THE WORLD, A TALE OF SOULS AND SWORDS ETERNALLY RETOLD.

This is the story about another soul who was also drawn to the two most powerful swords in history; one that brought destruction and devastation to the land and another to quell the evil.

He is young and, although strong, still not at his full potential, but fate has a key purpose for him and is linked to very important others in their quest to destroy or obtain Soul Edge. His past is a mystery to him, he wanders alone taking refugee in different towns scattered across the land. Being a mercenary is the only life he lived for as long as he could remember, but he wants more and to learn about his past and why it is hidden to from his memories.

This story also follows the path of the courageous young princess and her burden of ruling a kingdom at a young age. She had experienced little of childhood, for being rushed into adulthood since her father had gone insane. Her will and resolve measure to that of no other, and she fights for the survival of her kingdom, Wolfkrone.

SOULCALIBUR
SOUL SURVIVOR

Apollo let out a long sigh. The 18 year old was sprawled out on the open window with a leg dangling out on the top floor of the master room of the inn he was staying in. He always sat there just watching the village people mill about their day and enjoyed seeing their quiet lives, which was a contrast to his own during the morning. The inn he was staying at was the fairly decent, though large, Blacksteed Inn that was near the center of the town. The owner loves it to death, so its upkeep was good, but old age had been weathering the inn.

Apollo had been staying in the town, Einfach, which was located on the outskirts of the Wolfkrone Kingdom, for a little over six months now, doing jobs and performing tasks that he was paid to do. Most of the jobs he took for gold were nothing more than chores that townspeople were sometimes too lazy for, but every once in a while some bounty would be posted or a fleeing criminal would try to hideout in Einfach. The inn keeper, Dokudoku, has Apollo as a makeshift personal sword to protect his inn and perform tracking jobs for him, in return, Dokudoku allows Apollo to stay at Blacksteed for free. But now, as of late, there have been fewer mercenary jobs for him, which could mean something good, but bad for Apollo's income. I wish someone would at least commit a crime worth hiring for soon. I mean, even a simple horse thief would do… He yawned this time and stretched, then a knock at his room's door interrupted his silent complaints.

"Apollo!" a familiar young voice called from the other side of the door followed by another series of knocks.
"The door's unlocked." he responded.

The handle turned, the door opened with a rather loud creak, and entered a girl in her upper teens, Casil, with her usual innkeeper's wear on and silky blonde hair flowing behind her. She is the only other person who works there, and has been working at inn longer than Apollo had stayed in Einfach.

"Apollo, you have to come out of this room sometime! Its not healthy to stay cooped up in a small room for days on end." Casil said putting her hands on her hips.
"Why not? I'm paying for this room." Apollo smirked, but still kept his attention to the street bellow.
"No you're not." she rolled her eyes, "Dokudoku lets you stay here so you can pretend to be an honorable knight... of an inn."
"Hey! Its not my fault he wants protection! Not that anyone really goes out of their way to bother the old man."
"Well, anyway, there's another job available, but its not from him."
"Really?" Apollo hopped up, beaming with energy now.
"Yeah, I heard there's a horse thief, so go talk to the stable owner." Casil said walking out of his room.
"You're horrible at information retrieval you know that?" Apollo called after her.
"Its better than playing knight." Casil responded with a slight laugh.
"'Its better than playing knight.'" he mimicked when she was out of earshot.

Their interactions were usually like this, almost from the first time they met. Over time they did develop a strong bond, but still kept at their love/hate relationship. Apollo closed the door to his room and started to get changed into his mercenary garments. He didn't fancy bulky or flashy armor, and kept it to a minimum of greaves and armored gauntlets as he always did. Apollo also donned his signature piece of armor, a half-helmet that covered only the lower part of his face, it was light but protected well. Of course, he choose light armor to balance out with his weapon of choice; the great sword.

Almost as large as a grown man, and only slightly lighter, he was accustomed best to this type of sword for as long as he could remember. He grabbed his blade, which he called Sol, and spun it around effortlessly, getting used to its weight. A few more spins and he accidentally hit the wall on one side of his room. He stood not sure what to do at first, then tried pulling it out of the wall.

It didn't budge.

"Dammit..."

"Princess, we cannot allow you to put yourself in harm's way like this!"

This was the usual response she got, but this time it echoed off the palace walls making it only a little more authoritative. Not that it made the slightest bit of difference in her decision. Although she is now in charge of the kingdom, the royal advisors still try and baby her, with Wilhime at the forefront. She knew it was well-meant, but she has to be the sort of leader who takes matters into their own hands. The people needed someone to look up to. A figure of hope.

"Princess Hildegarde, please, I implore you, our knights can handle the matter own! We can send another detachment of our finest to-"
"Wilhime, there is no denying our troops are the most dedicated and strongest in Europe, but I will not stand idly by as they fight for us." Hilde responded.
"But Princess…"

Hilde sighed. She had listened to the royal advisors repeatedly tell her not to fight on the battlefield, but Hilde could not wait any longer. Wilhime was one of the kingdom's oldest advisors, but far beyond being feeble. He was a very clever man, and has helped Wolfkrone along with Hilde to maintain stability when she had to take her father's place at the throne. But Wilhime could not compare to the princess's determination. Hilde glanced at one of the grand statues of a past king in the long and equally large hallway. Miscgreve von Krone was the king's name, and he looked very angry, but it could also be said he looked very determined, which defines a great ruler. Although made of a dark marble, Hilde felt Miscgreve's gaze as if he were actually there, and even though she never met her great grandfather, she read and heard wonderful stories about how he fought for his people, not only as a ruler, but as a warrior.

"Did the kings of old ever sit back as their warriors went into battle?" the princess argued pointing at the former king's statue. "No. They fought for their people for victory and they died for their people when defeated. I shall not be any different. Wilhime, assemble my knights and have them ready to move out, please."
"Y-Yes Princess…" Wilhime obeyed reluctantly and shuffled away.

Hilde paused and watch Wilhime walk away. She knew he didn't like the idea at all, but it was something she had to accomplish, Wolfkrone's knights have done their work and Hilde could not let them fight on their own anymore. She turned and headed towards her room. As Hilde walked to her chambers in the massive palace, Gerhilde, undoubtedly one of her most trusted servants and friend, accompanied her.

"I know he means well Gerhilde." Hilde insisted still walking.
"He only wants you to stay safe my princess. Especially after what happened to your father." Gerhilde reassured her in a soft tone.
"I… I know," she sighed with a bit of frustration, "but quickly now, we must be prepared to set off within the hour."

The stable wasn't too far away from the Blacksteed Inn, and it was one of the first shops viewable in the small market district. The market area also had a grocer, blacksmith and a few item shops, Apollo didn't mind just walking through seeing some new things for sale here and now. But right now, he has to earn some gold for returning a stolen horse.

"Oh thank the gods atop Mount Olympus! You brought him back! You brought him back!" the stable owner exclaimed over-excitedly.
"Uh, yeah." Apollo answered leading the horse to his owner.
"Did you miss me? Oh, I'm sure you did! You're back, you're safe now!" the man said hugging the horse.

I'm starting to think that the horse wanted to be stolen. Apollo waited patiently for the stable owner to finish adoring his steed and to compensate him.

"Oh, and what about the dirty, rotten scum who stole him?" the man asked still holding the horse.
"I didn't find whoever took your horse. I followed where the tracks went and it stopped at a windmill on the outskirts of the town." Apollo explained, "No one was around, so I took your horse back here."

It was odd to only find the horse with no thief to be seen, who would steal a horse and not be long gone with it? The horse was in prime shape and not the slightest bit hungry or thirsty. But Apollo couldn't stay and investigate, as the stable owner was very finicky.

"He's not the type to wander off on his own… Well, I guess it can't be helped." the stable owner released the horse and picked up a small leather bag of coins from a workbench near the stalls and handed to Apollo, "Oh, by the way, where's your sword?"

As Casil began her mid-morning work at the inn, she decided to try to at least attempt to clean part of what was Apollo's room. He wasn't a particularly untidy person, just… disorganized. Since he was still out it would much easier to clean without him bickering where she puts his stuff. 'Because everything's in its own special place, and I know where to find it.' Casil recalled his excuse. She opened Apollo's room and saw his giant sword sticking halfway out of the wall.

"A-APOLLO!"

Apollo sneezed as he began walking through the market district. Odd. Thinking nothing of it he accidentally bumped into someone.

"Oh, I'm sorry-" Apollo started.
"Oh my. Lookie here, it's the missing man." a smooth voice interrupted.

The person Apollo had ran into was only slightly taller than him, and he wore a black cloak that covered his upper body and a top hat that was tilted in a way so his eyes were hidden from view. The man had an ominous aura about him, and Apollo could feel it.

"Who are you?" Apollo asked the man.
"Heh heh heh, I'm sorry. My name is Skota." Skota bowed briefly taking off his hat, then placed it back on. "And you are Apollo?"
"How do you know me?" Apollo narrowed his eyes.

Skota sighed.

"Its rather complicated. You wouldn't understand, plus I haven't the time to explain…" the man trailed off then crossed his arms. "Let's just say, I've seen your talents. Eheh heh heh… But I've got things to do, so I'll see ya around. Maybe."

Ending with his unusual crackle, the man started to walk away.

"Hey, wait!" Apollo yelled as he gave chase.

Within a blink of an eye the man sprinted down the now crowding market district and disappeared through the crowd. Apollo had keen eyesight, but this man had completely vanished as soon as he entered the bustle of people. He walked slowly through the crowd and scanned every person, every corner, crack, and shop, but the man called Skota was gone.

"… Who are you…" Apollo murmured.

Alright, so I hoped you liked it so far! I'll have the next chapter soon, with plenty more action. Please R&R!