A/N: This story takes place in the Mates universe. The chapter contains mild violence and blood. There will be shonen-ai mentioned in later chapters. Hope you enjoy the story.
It was the middle of the night as Celtic Guardian patrolled the perimeter of the forest surrounding the village he lived in. Celtic Forest was a small part of the Duel Monster realm and because of that, there were few monsters that came to the forest for any reason. However, there were still some monsters who have tried to take over the forest and its dwellers but the Celtic Guardians fought back with all their strength. There have been plenty of close calls, but their warrior race has overcome any obstacle that was thrown at them so far.
And so, to protect their forest, a Celtic Guardian was voted each night to patrol the forest. Tonight, he had been chosen to do the task. He had probably walked the perimeter about three times now but he had about two more times to go before he could go back to village. He had been out here for about an hour but he wasn't ready to head back home just yet. He wanted to be alone for a while. Away from the disappointed looks.
You see, Celtic Guardian wasn't like his fellow warriors. He was a pacifist at heart. He hated the sight of blood and watching his opponents fall to their deaths disgusts him. Going into battle scared him more than anything else. And while he possessed battle scars just like the other warriors, he had much less then the others. He did have courage and fighting skills but he just didn't like fighting. But when he told his family about his "condition", they stared at him in disappointment and disgust before looking the other way. And it hurt him everyday when he remembers their reaction.
While he was in his thoughts, he never noticed that he had strayed from the path that was already set for him to take. His eyes strayed upward slightly before he did a double take. Noticing that this was a part of the forest that he had never wandered into before, Celtic Guardian looked around for any sign a familiar landmark. The sound of a twig breaking immediately put Celtic Guardian on guard. His hand stray to his hip until the tips of his fingers touched the hilt of this sword. A feeling of calm washed over him slightly but his guard never went down. He heard the sound of footsteps close by and Celtic Guardian gripped his sword now.
The next few seconds went by so quickly, Celtic Guardian was sure that all of it happened in his head. When his head finally caught up, he found himself pinned to the ground by some monster. In the darkness, he couldn't make out exactly who it was but he knew that however his or she was, he wouldn't be able to easily overpower them.
"What are you doing in my territory warrior?" The mysterious man growled out. By now, his face was close enough for Celtic Guardian to make out some features. The man had on armor all over his body and a large helmet that covered most of his face. The man also had long, blood red hair that flowed down into Celtic Guardian's face. Once he took some of the man's hair into his hands, Celtic Guardian's eyes grew wide in realization.
"You're Black Luster Soldier," he breathed out.
The man loosed his hold slightly. Celtic Guardian looked up at the soldier in awe. For all of his life, Celtic Guardian had always looked up to Black Luster Soldier. The warrior was a legend among other warriors. His father had always told him stories of how the Black Luster Soldier is the strongest warrior that roams the land, slaying dragons and saving innocent monsters from evil beasts. But nobody had ever been face to face with the mysterious warrior before and it excited him to be this close. For him to be in his hero's presence was a wish come true.
The Black Luster Soldier flinched slightly when he heard his name on the younger warriors lips. He had to admit, he was surprised that someone so young had heard of him, even after all of these years. After his last battle with the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, he decided that it was time to finally live his life the way that he wanted and so, he roamed the lands until he finally found a home in this forest. Until he was found by some kid who knew who he was. But judging by the look of awe on the boy's face, he would guess it was more than just knowing his name. The kid looked at him like he was some sort of hero.
Black Luster Soldier pulled his hair out of the boy's hands and stood up. He didn't want the kid going home and telling his family about how he saw the Black Luster Soldier. So he decided that it was best of just leave the boy here. The kid was obviously a warrior so his conscious would feel slightly better knowing that the kid had experience with fighting. He turned to leave when a hand snaked its way around his arm. The soldier looked down to see the kid looking at him with large amber eyes.
"What do you want kid?" Black Luster Soldier asked.
Celtic Guardian flinched at the harsh tone of the other man. The younger boy looked up nervously and removed his hand from the soldier's arm. He looked towards the ground, finding his feet very interesting right now. The older man sighed and took Celtic Guardian's chin in his hand. Lifting it up so that the two were staring right at each other, Celtic Guardian was able to clearly see his hero's face, even in the darkness.
The older warrior observed the boy, trying to figure out why he looked so familiar. "Kid, what is your name?"
Celtic Guardian jumped at Black Luster Soldier's sudden question and stared at the man with wide eyes. "Oh! I'm so sorry, I didn't meant to be so rude! My name is Celtic Guardian," he stammered out shyly.
Black Luster Soldier nodded stiffly. His guilt came back, this time twice as bad. The Celtic Guardian was a pretty average warrior without any special abilities or effects and that scared the older soldier somewhat. He sighed and stuck out his hand to the younger boy. He wasn't sure why he felt compelled to help the young warrior find his way home but if his head was telling him to do so, he would listen to it.
"Alright kid. You can come back to my home until dawn comes," The Black Luster Soldier said.
The younger warrior's eyes widened considerably before he blushed brightly. "Oh! Thank you so much sir! I hope I'm not imposing on you in any way."
Black Luster Soldier waved his hand, dismissing the younger's statement. "If you were imposing on me, I wouldn't invite you to my home kid. And stop call me sir. Just call me by my name."
Celtic Guardian blushed again. "Of course…..Black Luster Soldier."
The two warriors walked through the forest in silence, the sounds of the forest floating around them. The Celtic Guardian looked around the forest as he continued to follow the other warrior. He had never been in this part of the forest before and it interested him greatly. The trees were much taller then the ones in his village and the sounds of the monsters that resided in the forest sounded much more gruesome. A loud roar caught the young warrior off guard and he jumped. Looking around quickly, Celtic Guardian couldn't see anything menacing around him. For some reason, the roar was different from what he was used to hearing and it chilled him to the bones. And so, to be on the cautious side, Celtic Guardian walked a little closer to Black Luster Soldier.
Black Luster Soldier saw out of the corner of his eye as Celtic Guardian moved closer to his person. He had a feeling inside of him that the kid wasn't the warrior type and this proved his hypothesis. A simple roar rarely scared a warrior, especially one made by a Silver Fang. And while he understood why the Celtic Guardian would rely on him to fight battles, since he was stronger than him, he didn't understand why every single sound seemed to spook the younger warrior. The kid acted more like a fairy and less like a warrior. But as to why the kid wasn't warrior material, he still hadn't figured that out yet.
"You don't quite seem like the warrior type kid. Why is that?" Black Luster Soldier cringed on the inside at how insensitive the question sounded.
Celtic Guardian gazed up at Black Luster Soldier, surprise evident on his face. He bowed his head down in embarrassment and softly said, "I'm a pacifist."
The older warrior stopped dead in his tracks and stared at the other warrior. "You….you're a pacifist? How…how can that be? I've never met a warrior who didn't like to fight."
Celtic Guardian shrugged his shoulders and continued to walk. With his thoughts on what Black Luster Soldier said, his guard dropped. The menacing roar from before was his warning before Celtic Guardian was tackled to the ground. His eyes focused on whatever threw him to the ground and he screamed. A large wolf was staring straight into his eyes, as if he was its next meal. He could tell from the silver coat and the wolf's yellow eyes that it was a Silver Fang. Silver Fang growled low in its throat and showed its fangs to its prey. His instincts screamed at him to reach his sword and he quickly moved his hand down to do so. However, the wolf saw this and dug his claws into the younger warriors hand.
His screams grew louder as he felt sharp claws pierce his hand. The wolf other claw slashed his armor, tearing it to shreds. The claws came back up to his chest and scratched right through the skin, leaving behind several deep gashes. By now, a puddle of blood was forming under the young warrior. As the puddle grew, Celtic Guardian grew dizzy due to blood loss. The wolf sniffed he air, delighted in the smell of its prey. Just as Celtic Guardian was about to close his eyes in defeat, the sound of a sword being withdrawn from its scabbard could be heard before the weight that had settled itself on Celtic Guardian's chest was gone.
A loud whimper filled the forest before it was cut off suddenly. Black Luster Soldier stared at the wolf that laid motionless on the forest floor in its own blood before turning his attention to Celtic Guardian. He younger warrior had lost a lot blood and his house was too far away at the moment. Dropping his sword and shield to the ground, Black Luster Soldier pulled out a first aid kit from under his armor. He kneeled in front of the younger warrior and gingerly took a hold of his hand.
"I'm going to have to stop the bleeding and bandage up your hand for now Celtic Guardian. I don't have any spell cards with me right now to fully heal you so you're going to have to hold on until we reach my home," Black Luster Soldier whispered to Celtic Guardian.
Celtic Guardian nodded slightly and used all of the strength he could muster up into staying awake. He felt as the wounds on his hands were disinfected and wrapped up tightly. His hand twitched in pain and he looked at his hand. He felt as his chest started to burn and he tried to get Black Luster Soldier's attention.
The older warrior observed the other warrior's face, noticing when his face suddenly twitched in pain. Black Luster Soldier removed Celtic Guardian's torn armor and clothing. Several deep gashes were on his chest and Black Luster Soldier sucked in a harsh breath. He quickly got to work, cleaning and bandaging the wounds as best as he could.
Finally, all of Celtic Guardian's wounds were fixed to the best of Black Luster Soldier's abilities. He closed up his first aid kit and put it back in his armor. Looking back at the kid, he noticed that Celtic Guardian's eyes were drooping slightly. Smiling to himself, Black Luster Soldier petted the younger warrior's head. "Go ahead and get some rest. We should be at my home by the time you wake up."
Nodding as best as he could, Celtic Guardian dozed off. Attaching his shield to the back of his armor and slipping his sword back into its scabbard, Black Luster Soldier picked up the other warrior. Making sure that everything was collected and put away, he made his way towards his house, making sure to watch out for any attackers.
A/N: This is an explanation for a few of the things in the story. The reason that Black Luster Soldier is using a first aid kit instead of spell cards to heal Celtic Guardian is because spell cards are extremely valuable in the monster realm. They can easily be stolen from him when he's in battle so he keeps them at his house.
The reason Celtic Guardian is ashamed of being a pacifist is because it is looked down upon for a warrior ro hate fighting. When Black Luster Soldier says that he's never heard of a warrior who was a pacifist, he was speaking the truth. Warriors are a race that have a need to fight like humans have a need to breath. Celtic Guardian is able to fight but he just doesn't like to and prefers other options to solve a problem.