The 9th Shared Rule of the Twelve Holy Knights: When Things Go Wrong for the Sun Knight, Don't Be Unfortunate Enough to be within his Vicinity
By moonlight ray
Disclaimer: You have no idea how upset I am at myself for not coming up with such an ingenious story as LSK. All characters and settings are creation of Yu Wo… :'(
[A/N: LSK must be my favourite series of all time. This story—compared all my other fanfics—was the easiest the write, as Creus is the first fictional character I've ever encountered that has a personality so much like mine. And his teacher, Neo, is every bit as hilarious and fun. I seriously envy Yu Wo for coming up with such amazingness!]
"Child, today you are to come with me on an expedition," Neo instructed one morning.
"Expedition?" By now, having spent two years already with his teacher, Creus had long ago learned to be wary when such terms like 'adventure' or 'emprise' came up.
"That's right," Neo nodded affirmatively. "I'm taking you camping." Seeing that his student was clearing not following, he explained, "The Sun Knight must always maintain his image, even in the most unfitting situation. I have told you before that, at least once in your term as the Sun Knight, you will be called out on a mission. Today will be a practice run."
Creus inwardly groaned. Dammit! Of all the lessons Teacher does remember, it had to be this one!?
Neo shot him a warning look, and Creus hastily apologized, spouting a convoluted speech about the God of Light. Neo shook his head disdainfully, then impatiently said, "Go pack what you need. Don't forget the facial mask ingredients. I'll give you five minutes, so hurry."
When Neo announced to the other Twelve Holy Knights that he and his student were going on a "camping trip", he received many disapproving looks—the main one coming from Chasel. The Pope tossed him a suspicious glance, but when Neo turned his head to look at the old man, he quickly glanced away! Hmph, they surely couldn't think him that irresponsible, could they?
He was history's strongest Sun Knight! Of all the Twelve Holy Knights, Creus was most obviously safest with him! Okay, so maybe he neglected his student just a little, but did they really have to be so doubtful of his teaching capabilities!?
"This should be the spot," Neo declared as he dismounted his horse in the clearing of a dense, dark forest. He began to unload the luggage, asking, "Child, you should be fairly familiar with the Keiran Forest, right?"
"Yes, Teacher. It's about 70 kilometers away from here." Creus replied, after he also had dismounted.
Neo, in the middle of setting down a suitcase, froze. "You mean to tell me this isn't it?"
Creus had a bad feeling about this. "No," he responded, dreading what would happen next. "At the signpost we passed fifteen minutes ago, you were supposed to turn right instead of left."
"Why didn't you say something then!?" Neo roared.
"I didn't know that's where we were headed…" Creus replied helplessly.
"Forget it," Neo shuffled through their baggage. "We'll just get out the map and compa—" Neo broke off and swore. In a flash, he unsheathed the Holy Sun Blade that hung at his waist and stabbed it into a nearby tree, filling the air with a sickening splintering sound.
Creus took a tentative step back, mentally wincing. The poor tree had a long crack trailing down from where the Holy Sun Blade impaled it, so long and wide it was almost split in half. I'll pray for you, little tree…
Neo huffed and retrieved his word from the tree in a deadly yet elegant manner. Turning to face his student, he deadpanned, "I forgot to bring the map and compass."
"…" So, basically, we're lost. Sigh, I knew I should've just let myself become a temple guy...
"It doesn't matter," Neo interrupted his thoughts. "With your impeccable memory, you should remember the way back, right?"
"I wasn't really paying attention…"
"…Then surely you'd at least have the map memorized?"
"…I didn't get to see the map, Teacher."
"…"
For a while, the Sun Knight and his student just stared blankly at each other. The question of what to do still hung, unanswered, in the air.
Suddenly, a rustle sounded not too far from their location. Neo was immediately alert, holding his sword up in a defensive stance. Creus started gathering holy element in his hands.
A small group of about a dozen undead creatures emerged from the thick shrubbery. Neo wasted no time, hacking the opponent into pieces with livid strokes of swordplay. Creus blasted large amounts of holy light at the undead creatures, disintegrating them to piles of dust.
In record time, the creatures were all either butchered beyond recognition or turned into nothing more than black dust. Neo, seemingly having evented out all of his irritations, happily declared, "What good timing. It must be a sign from the generous and giving God of Light that Her servant Sun has not gone astray from Her will. Let us rejoice in Her kindness and set up camp."
Those last three words just ruined the effect of the 'elegant' speech… "Yes, Teacher," Creus complied.
Although not too ecstatic about camping in the unplanned wilderness, he knew that his teacher wouldn't simply cancel their "expedition" on the account of them being lost in the wrong forest. Even if he did, he'd most likely drag Creus out for another, until he felt that the trip had been successful. The only way out was to just get it over with.
The camp set-up took a little over an hour, the tent-pitching taking up about half that time as neither the Sun Knight (nor Sun Knight in training) was very experienced with the structures. Three of the poles were misplaced, and the tent stood a bit crookedly in the end, but Neo decided to leave it at that, as, "When you actually go on a quest, there'll be people to specifically take care of this stuff."
After the tent was pitched, the luggage stored safely, and the horses tended to, Neo decided that it was time to go hunting dinner. He had brought along a collection of weapons, including a bow and arrows, several daggers, and a second sword. And since he knew all of this would be completely useless in Creus' hands, he brought some trapping materials as well (this was under the recommendation of Chasel, who was informed through Leithe).
They had just ventured ten meters from the campsite when it started to drizzle. Five meters later, the water started coming down in a steady patter. Five more meters, and it had turned into a full-out downpour.
"Um, Teacher, we should probably head back," Creus suggested.
"Hmph, the future Sun Knight should not be cowed by a little bit of rain," Neo barely turned back to glance at his student.
"But, Teacher, there won't be any game even if we continue to hunt. No animal will come out in the pouring rain like this."
"That's true… Which way did we come from again?"
Having dried themselves off and put away the hunting tools, the Sun Knight and his student were now settled comfortably in their spacious, waterproof tent. Well, Neo was, anyways. Creus was busy mixing together the ingredients for a whitening mask in a large bowl. It was practice, Neo had said, practice for when he would have to do this on his own.
Once Creus had finished the preparations, he passed to bowl to Neo to let his teacher go first. He guessed that, even if he didn't, Neo would've snatched it from him anyways, saying that it was only courteous of the future Sun Knight to do so. After Neo had applied the dough-like substance to his face, he passed the bowl to Creus.
Being all the way out here, there shouldn't be anyone to interrupt me. Does this mean I'm free from the curse? Creus cautiously spread the mask over his skin, expecting a disturbance anytime. He slowly scraped the substance from the bowl, handful by handful, until it was empty. He set it down, relieved, and sat back to let the effects of the mask take place. Maybe the curse only works when I'm in the Holy Temple…
An abrupt whinny sounded from outside. I spoke too soon. I mean, I thought too soon. That doesn't sound quite right. 'I thought too soon'… does that even make sense? Oh whatever! Who's interrupting my facial mask now?
Neo lifted a tent flap and peeked outside. Creus peered over his teacher's shoulder. "Oh, shit. The horses are still outside." Neo observed. "By the grace of the God of Light, child, why don't you retrieve these poor, lost creatures and bring them into the God of Light's salvation?" Neo spoke as if it were a suggestion, but Creus could tell from the look in his teacher's eyes that he had better do it if he knew what was good for him.
He sighed and wiped off his facial mask. Draping a thick grey cloak over his clothes, Creus stepped outside. He quickly and gracefully fetched the horses, then faltered. "Teacher, where should I put them?"
Neo, still watching from inside the tent, shrugged elegantly. "I don't want them dripping water all over the luggage and beds. Go figure out someplace. Hmm, I seem to recall having an emergency supply of food in one of these bags. I'll search for it…" And with that, the Sun Knight's blond head ducked back into the tent.
Creus recognized that as his teacher's way of evading a problem and reluctantly set off to find somewhere dry enough to leave the horses for the night. He came across a natural cave about a hundred meters south of their campsite and stabled the horses there. Then, just in case an undead creature passed by, Creus cast a handful of holy element into the cave. That should be good enough for now…
Just before he left the cave, Creus summoned an Earth Shield and held it up over his head. As he ventured back towards the campsite, he still got wet, but not quite as much as he would have if he didn't have the Shield. He dispersed it once the tent came into view, and hurried inside before his teacher got too impatient and tried to cook the food himself. That would have disastrous.
The remainder of the evening went by fairly smoothly. Neo had brought along a secret stash of wine, and taught Creus how to trade with merchants using it. Then, of course, they drank for a couple hours. By the time it was dark, the rain had died down almost completely. After all the unexpected events of the day, both Neo and Creus were relieved to call it a night.
Except the God of Light had something else planned… At around four in the morning, Creus awoke to his teacher's nudging—nudging that quickly turned into violent shaking. Half-asleep, Creus mumbled, "What is it, Teacher?"
"Child, look up and tell me what you see," Neo instructed.
Creus was in no mood to answer the question, but he daren't disobey his teacher. "I see a vast, endless sky sparkling with millions of brightly shining stars."
"… And what does that tell you?"
Creus had to resist the urge to fall back asleep. "That the God of Light's glory shines even in the darkness of night and Her generosity and benevolence is as plentiful as the stars above."
Neo smacked him on the head. "No, you idiot! It means that some bastards actually dared to steal our tent!"
Creus was suddenly wide-awake.
The two had dressed hastily, and were now standing out in the clearing, at Neo's insistence that they go after the thieves. Their white uniforms contrasted against the surrounding darkness, making their figures seem to glow. Neo was currently stretching out his mage sight as far as he could to search for the culprits… "This way!"
Without waiting for his student, Neo dashed ahead in the direction he had indicated. Creus ran after him, not about to be left behind. They slowed down when they neared a thin, worn path and Neo motioned for them to duck down into the cover of the bushes.
They waited for a while, like tigers anticipating just the right moment to pounce their prey, under the light of the half moon. Creus quietly ventured, "Teacher, I don't think it's a very good idea to…" To fight while we're both a bit hung over. "To attack these thieves as the Sun Knight and his student for what we're about to do."
Neo considered it, then produced a small white fabric square from within the folds of his coat. He pinned it onto his sleeve, over the sun insignia that identified him as the Sun Knight. Creus watched this action carefully, filing it into his memory in case he himself would need to use it someday.
A few minutes of silence followed, and then the bandits appeared at the head of the path. They were a troupe of five men, all of them swathed in black. Three of them carried weapons at their waists, while the other two shouldered saddle bags, presumably filled with stolen goods. They barely made a sound as they walked, and if not for the occasional whisper, Creus thought he'd never had noticed them approaching.
Without warning, Neo leaped out from his hiding spot and slashed the nearest thief across the chest. "What the—" The other thieves had no time to react. The clash of banging blades sounded in the air, before the remaining four men were all sprawled on the grassy forest ground.
Neo made to kneel down and check their pulses to make sure that they were all dead, while Creus hesitantly emerged from the bushes. "Take anything valuable on them. I'll dispose of these scums." Neo ordered, dragging two dead corpses away.
That's what you get when you mess with history's strongest Sun Knight… Creus thought drily as he searched through the first saddle bag. There were a few almost-empty money pouches, a wooden sculpture, some fake jewelry, a dagger with a ruby in the hilt, and—what's this—a detailed, hand-drawn map of the Kingdom of Forgotten Echo on goldleaf paper! Now that was a great find!
Creus snatched the map, found their packed-up tent in the second saddle bag, and happily waited for his teacher to arrive. After all the evidence was taken care of, they could finally go home!
The Twelve Holy Knights were all gathered in the conference room, the only empty seat belonging to the Sun Knight. Neo had just returned to the Holy Temple at the brink of dawn, and was currently recuperating in his room. His student had also been given some time off.
However, Neo liked to brag, and had managed to give a full description of their "camping trip" before Chasel had decided they'd heard enough and made him retire to his room. Now, the eleven other Knight-Captains were busy discussing the account.
"How could Neo be so careless as to forget the map and compass? They were incredibly fortunate to find that map on the bandits, or else I'm afraid they'd have never made it back." Blaze commented.
"With Neo's sense of direction, the map and compass wouldn't have been much help anyways," Metal pointed out.
"His student Creus can read them. He's always shoving stuff onto the child." said Stone.
"And what about the rainstorm? This isn't the season for rain; could someone be tampering with the weather?" Judgement contemplated.
"But I'm worried about those bodies," Leaf commented.
Moon snorted. "Worried about what? You probably won't even be able to recognize them after Neo's through."
"Those poor souls," Storm shook his head gravely.
"To provoke the Sun Knight while he's in a bad mood, I'd say that's the worst luck you can get." Earth agreed.
After all, the Ninth Shared Rule of the Twelve Holy Knights state: when things go wrong for the Sun Knight, don't be unfortunate enough to be within his vicinity. Although no one had voiced it, everyone in the room was thinking the exact same thing.