Alrighty the real first chapter is in and I hope it keeps you interested, and delivers well. I'm more of a…. umm happy go lucky type of person so this proved a wee bit difficult. You know people dying and all. ^^;
On one note: This story will be written in a mix of 1stand 3rdperson view; Squall will recall the events that took place even if he is not there. Things may seem out of order, but to make things clear, everything told in each chapter is happening at the same time in a different place. So say, it turns to night, then the other events will also take place at the same time.
On another note, I'm thinking about changing the rating of this fic from T to M, simply because, since it is a warfic, there will be blood, gore, and violence. We'll see how it goes as I write it, but to be honest, expect some gruesome scenes, just a warning for later chapters.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~XXXXXXX~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The crimson blood dripped from his neck, a puddle forming around his body. His head... lay far from it, his mouth was agape, his eyes clenched in pain, and hi throat leaking blood the bone in his neck was dyed in its red color.
A blond man stood over the newly decapitated body. The sword in his hand was drenched in the blood of the dead man. An arrogant grin swept over his lips, and with pride in his eyes he whipped his sword quickly, ridding it of blood. Sheathing his blade, he chuckled to himself, for he knows the lecture he would receive for such an unclean death.
The blond glanced towards his left, where a dark haired man sat on a throne, dressed in royal garbs, his long hair was pulled in a tail that fell on his right shoulder. The man on the throne crossed his legs and groaned. He rested one of his arms on the throne and his other hand was folded near his face. "Was that really necessary?" he asked.
The warrior walked toward the throne, his armor clanking with each step, his smirk grew wider as he approached. "My liege, this has been the third attack this week. Surely you do not think that keeping them in holding will suffice."
"They're just standing up for their people. Once this war ends, peace will reunite the people. I …would let the prisoners go home to their families once it all ends." He responded sadly.
The warrior crossed his arms. "And thinking like that Your Majesty will get you killed one day. These heathens care nothing for you or your people. They are rats, feeding on the well earned goods of others, ruining the rest." His eyes narrowed, and then he pointed at the corpse that lay on the floor. "You do not know this man's history, so I implore you my liege, leave your heart out of these kinds of matters!"
The king stood up, his hands aggressively hit the arms of the throne. "You would rather me a cruel king!"
"No, but I would have you a rational one. Compassion has no place on the battlefield, not where death is paramount, not when your life is on the line. Do not show compassion my king, for the enemy will not show you any." With that he walked out of the throne room, "Someone clean that up!" he called out. Several maids quickly rushed to the carcass, soaking up the blood with what cloth they had.
His majesty slowly sat back down, a tired breath escaped his mouth. "He is right… but yet…"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~XXXXXXX~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Quickly! We must retreat! "The enemy cried out. The sounds of swords clashing increased, the sounds of cannons boomed over us. Several cries of pain filled my ears and the enemy tried to make their escape. If they were to escape I would at least have the head of their general, so severe their morale.
General Hafser Roc led a unit of Trabian infantry scouts. The cunning of his unit was unmatched, surprise attacks were their specialty. Roc had been watching us for days. His attack hit us at nightfall. It is now dawn.
I rushed forward cutting down everyman man that stood in my path. Seth followed closely behind me, his dagger piercing the soldiers behind me. "Squall what are you planning to do?" He called out from behind me.
"I am going- Seth behind you!" A soldier swung his blade well Seth was distracted, it sliced his back. Seth let out a scream but before his opponent was able to swing again, Seth ducked underneath his elbow, and sliced his underarm. Seth came up behind the man, and stabbed him in the back of the throat. "Seth?" I called out.
"I-I am fine!" He responded. "What're you doing? Perhaps I can be of some aid!"
"Getting rid of Roc, that way our camp is safe from future preemptive strikes." Seth nodded and made his way over to me, after I parried and killed yet another man.
"Damn." He stated. I turned my head to see that we were surrounded by enemy troops. We were back to back and then I realized how small Seth was. To think such great power could come from such a small being. Seth reached for the holster on his leg, taking out another dagger. "Seems they don't know how to follow orders Squall. Their commanding officer did tell them to retreat." I could tell form the sound of his voice that he was smirking.
"Hmmm…Seems so." I gripped my sword, holding it tighter. "They seem to think they stand a chance." Behind me Seth grabbed his necklace and kissed the cross pendent.
"Heavenly Father, please forgive me." Then we rushed forward.
"To victory!" the men cheered. The newly defeated army lay beneath our feet. "To victory!" They cheered again. Raising the ale the men roared in cheers. "To victory!" they cried once more.
The battle is won, now the one thing we were left to do was Roc's execution. His remaining scouts had been watching us; they hid themselves in the forest. The battle took place in the vas Woodland Greens of Balamb. Though they were scouts, without proper knowledge of the terrain, the Trabian soldiers were easily defeated.
Now Hafers Roc was on his knees, tied in rope, silently praying for his life.
"This will teach you that no matter who you are: the Balamb Coalition Army will be ready!" Irvine preached. He wasn't speaking to us; he was speaking to the enemy troops that laid in wait."Bring your tanks, your mages, and your thieves. Bring your knights, your scouts, and bring your lives! We will take them all, we will send them to the depths of hell!" the men roared again. Irvine pointed his rifle to Roc's head. "Let this be an example of our might" He cocked his gun. "Our army will continue to fight for peace. Let the scum of the world make their way to us. They want to throw away their lives? We shall oblige them." He placed the barrel of his gun on Roc's head. We raised our pints towards the sight. In unison our words were:
"Anima eius et animae omnium fidelium defunctorum per Dei misericordiam requiescant in pace."
Irvine pulled the trigger, Roc's blood stained the ground under him. His body fell limp to the left, the insides of his skull laid flat between him and the ground.
Several men went to Roc's body and carried it away to out burial ground. It was not our first execution, but it always felt like it. My formal self would have cheered with our troops, but I know what it's like to perform that deed, so I could not bring myself to rejoice. Irvine made his way to me; his face was stoic, cold.
"How are you feeling?" I asked him
"Fake." He motioned towards my pint. I handed it to him and he drowned himself with the rest of the ale.
"Fake?"
Irvine swung his arm towards the blood stain on the ground. "The speech, Squall. The fake speech. Half the time I did not even know what I was saying! Words just flew from my mouth before I could grab hold them and take them back! The echoes of cheers from the men were the only thing that kept me going…"
I placed a hand on his shoulder. "Regardless, our morale has risen from your words. Think of that." Irvine groaned dejectedly, I knew I got through to him but until he came to terms with it himself, I could do nothing.
"How's Seth?" he asked me.
"At the tavern"
Irvine scoffed. "I do not understand why he always goes there when he's injured. We have a perfectly fit medical then here."
I shrugged. "I could not answer that. He seems more comfortable there."
A young man came running towards us."Sir!" He saluted us, and then stood at ease. "We need more rations for the troops."
"And the medical provisions?" I inquired.
"We are not lacking, but we need more ... leeches." The young man told us. Irvine shuddered behind me.
"I'll go into town then." I informed them. The young man smiled, saluted, and ran off to finish his rounds.
"That's quite a trip Squall. Allow me to accompany you." Irvine filled his, well my pint again with ale. "While you are getting supplies, I will gather information"
I raised an eyebrow. And how exactly will you do that?"
"Why-"he took a gulp of his ale "with the best information gatherers around of course!" I shook my head, not understanding what he meant. Irvine rolled his eyes. "my dear friend-"He took another swing. "Courtesans."
This time it was my turn to roll my eyes. "You waste gil on foolish thing."
"Foolish? No, no, no no, my boy, there is nothing foolish about satisfying a man, especially one such as myself." he smirked. I shook my head again, and began walking away. "What?" he called out behind me. "I'm still helping others while helping myself! No harm done!"
I dragged my feet towards my tent. Sleep was nearly consuming me. The battle lasted from nightfall to dawn. My fatigue was wearing thin. I was inside my tent so I proceeded to take off my breastplate, my gauntlets and shin guards. Next were my gloves, boots, and the leather armor that was underneath. I lay on my bed and tried to get comfortable.
These past three years my sleep has been haunted by nightmares. Chilling night terrors that prevent any peaceful sleep. The same image would haunt me again and again. A woman burning. She would not cry nor show any pain. Instead her gaze on me, and guilt would overwhelm me. Soon after that the apparitions of the nameless men whose lives I had taken would haunt me. Every night. Regardless I needed rest if I was to provide rations for our army. I sighed and pulled the sheets over me, soon enough I drifted to my nightmares. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~XXXXXXX~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A small child purchased several apples, she had handed the merchant the gil she owed and walked away. The merchant proceeded to organize his fruit to make his cart presentable again. A dark shadow had been watching the merchant for several minutes, with its black eyes it took note of every movement made by the fruit seller. Once the merchant turned around, it made its move. With blazing speed, it dashed towards the fruit cart. The shadow took three apples from the cart. Its body brushed past the other apples causing them to topple over to the ground. With the sound of his precious cargo falling, the merchant turned around with enough time to see the shadow pilfer his goods.
"Damn you!" He yelled shaking his fist. The shadow ran faster in the fear of chase. It dove underneath, jumped over, and dashed between carts and people. Finally it reached its destination; a dark narrow alleyway. It was vacant, but it seemed to hold interest to the dark figure. It took several steps forward, until it came to a cloaked figure that emerged, extending its hand.
"You have my thanks." It said. The shadow dropped into the cloaked figure's hand. They leaned against the wall and shared its spoils.
"Oh, what do we have here?"
They looked up to see two men standing near them. "A kid and a dog." One said grinning, the scar from the side of his face crinkled with the rising of his cheek bones. He was bald, his face had nappy beard, and it was unkempt and long. The other man had an eyepatch over his right eye; his hair was tied in a high braid. A grin swept across his face as well. They began making their way to the two in the alleyway.
The beast growled ferociously at the men, it felt the threat that they brought. The one in the cloak took several steps backwards.
Run.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~XXXXXXX~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I snapped awake, I began to breathe heavily and my vision blurred. I sat up, trying to catch my breath. That nightmare was different. This time Julia Heartilly haunted me. She said silent words, soon enough I watched her again, and again. It was the exact replication of the death that was brought to her in reality. I didn't understand why I was seeing this, she never appeared in a malicious way, in fact, she was my savior. I rubbed my face, and it was then that I noticed tears were streaming down my face.
"Enough!" I growled to myself. I quickly wiped the tears from my face. I couldn't believe I was actually weeping. Pathetic. I pulled the sheets off my body and threw my legs to the side of the bed. I rubbed my face harshly to get rid of any traces of tears. I groaned, my thoughts remained with Julia. Perhaps I was afraid it meant something. The guilt began to rise again; in a way I did believe I was to blame for her death. Whatever the case, I cared not.
I took my leather from the ground and put it on. My sword lay on the desk near my bed, I raised it to look at my reflection in the blade. My eyes were dark and my face seemed to be drooping. There was dirt on my face and strands of my hair were stuck to together. I sighed at my appearance, I needed to bathe. I sheathed my sword and left my tent. The sun was already falling west, I was asleep for hours… it was already late afternoon. Time was not my friend, getting to Balamb town would take me to the evening…
"Squall!" I turned my head to see Zell smiling at me. "How are you feeling?"
"The same… Where's Irvine?"
Zell gestured behind him with his thumb. "He already left." He nodded towards the stables. I grimaced and began walking towards the stable house. Zell quickly followed behind me. "Would you like me to accompany you?" I nodded. Zell grinned and he opened the door the stables.
Inside our stable hands were feeding out steeds. One, I believe his name was Billy, ran over to us. "Will you be taking your chocobo sir?"
I nodded and began towards the south end of the stables. Many chocobos were restless from the battle that when today. They were trotting in circles, and kicking the dirt. These giant birds were our companions in war. We caught many wild, simply because they are more resilient than the domestic chocobos.
"What troubles them?" Zell asked.
"We're having a hard time calming them. Some were injured during battle and cannot heal properly without ghysal greens. Sir could you-"I nodded once more.
I opened the gate to a certain stable, as soon as I did, a giant black beast busted out. I chuckled slightly and turned around to see my feathered friend. His red eyes glared at me and I could not help but smirk.
"Agro" I said in monotone.
He leered at me and began the dirt behind him. He lowered his body and spread his wings. His piercing gaze met mine. I lowered my body as well, one hand on the hilt of my sword. I grinned. Soon enough Agro came blazing forward. I heard Billy gasp as I rolled to the left ad Argo's beak rammed into the stable gate behind me. His beak was stuck, so he proceeded to kick down the stable gate. Once he was free, he turned to me, glaring. Agro let out an ear piercing screech and rushed towards me again.
I was getting sick of this game, I looked around for a quick fix, and I found that next to me were reins. Those will do nicely. Agro was getting close, his huge beak aiming at my head. As soon as he was within arm's length, I crouched and threw the reins onto his legs. Agro tripped and fell with great force.
"I win."
Agro growled dejectedly, he let out a huffed breath. He kicked the reins off his feet and stood up. I stroked the side of neck, to comfort him for his defeat, but he just looked away stubbornly.
"What caused that?" Billy asked with concern.
I grabbed a saddle and began strapping it onto Agro's back. "He's yet to be tamed. Agro is a wild beast we found injured near the sea he's no fond of being a pet." Billy nodded and handed me the reins that were thrown onto Agro's legs. Zell went to another stable, and carefully took a chocobo out. We finished preparing for our steeds, soon we headed out.
The sun lay between the heavens and the earth. Its brilliant glow nearly blinded us as we rode towards Balamb Town.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~XXXXXXX~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Squall! Over here!"
I walked over to another cart picking up more fruits and vegetables. Zell and I were running around getting bags of food. The sun was setting and all the merchants were retiring to their homes.
"That's the last of them." Zell grinned. We placed the sacks on our steeds and began making our way to Quistis's inn.
Balamb town was a small urban place. Its buildings were made with stone and its streets were also made by stone. Doors were wooden and windows were of stained glass. The residents of Balamb were a lively people. They were kind and gentle, though they tended to be a bit skeptic. Our army had a difficult time trying to gain approval to stay near the forest negotiating with Mayor Cid.
Zell took our chocobos to the back of the inn. I entered the front; the wooden door had a steel ring for a handle. I pulled it and pushed it forward. Irvine was sitting at the table in front of the entrance. He had… three courtesans around him, one at each arm and one behind his head.
"And then I told her, if you do not share your bed chamber with me now, where would your maidenhead go? Do not wait around for the perfect man, you may not find him. Then where would you be? You will remain a virgin, and your maidenhead would be taken by the worms!" The courtesans around him giggled and began on caressing his body. Irvine smirked and started snogging with the courtesan to his left.
A sound of disgust escaped my throat. Behind I heard a similar sound. I turned to meet sapphire eyes.
"Good evening Squall."
"And to you Miss Trepe." Quistis smiled warmly, her rosy lips curved and her golden hair shone. Two long strands of her hair laid on both sides of her face, her hair would bring attention to her sapphire eyes. Quistis was a woman of sheer beauty, any man that laid eyes upon her was instantly captivated. But it seems Quistis was well aware, she was a vixen of sorts, always looking for another man to be her prey.
"Would you like to partake in a supper with me?" she asked sweetly. Politely I shook my head, I brushed past her and made my way to Irvine.
Irvine pulled away from one of the courtesans "Well ladies, I did so enjoy your company, but my friend and I need to chat."
The women around made eye contact with me, one pursed her lips. "Awww can't we stay Irvy? He's soooo handsome." She teased.
The one behind him flipped her ruby hair. "And with that scar... he's mysterious."
The third one pouted. "Can't we play with him Irvy?"
Irvine chuckled. "No, no, no darlings not today, Squall's yet to become a man." He blew a piece of hair out of his face. "Maybe some other time sweetings " They pouted, kissed him and walked out the door. I grabbed a chair and sat across from him. "Are you sure you don't want –"
"Irvine! What did you learn?" I asked sternly.
He smirked as at me. "Well. Since you asked so nicely, I guess I will tell you."
Zell entered the inn, he quickly took up a seat near me. "What are the rumors?"
Irvine raised a mug, "Ah, just in the nick of time my dear friend." He gulped down the contents, then he slammed the mug on the table. He face became serious, a rare occasion. "Esthar's on the move.
"What?" I exclaimed. "Esthar has not been involved in a war for 50 years!"
Irvine stared at me "Something has set them off" he deadpanned.
Zell shifted in his chair uncomfortably. "What…. What could have made xenophobic Esthar to go to war…?"
Irvine leaned back, and proceeded to cross his feet on top of the table. "My 6th girl Jennieh, her sister's cousin's friend works at the Presidential Palace, according to him, there has been many attacks within the borders."
"Within the own country?" Zell asked.
"Apparently so."
I could not believe this… "To think this war has reached the western borders of Esthar…" The Estharian borders were protected by a safe guard, whether it was made by magicks or held strong by soldiers, no one knew. No one has ever returned to say. After Sorceress Adel had taken over Esthar, it lost contact with the rest of the world. Not a single shred of information has come to our ears, for over 50 years.
"A storm is coming." We turned our heads to face Seth. "I can feel it. If Esthar is moving and The Maid of Mysidia appeared, then we should expect a movement from all sides."
Zell jumped out of his seat. "The Maid of Mysidia?"
Seth nodded and pulled up a seat. "Yes, there have been rumors that the daughter of Eva has come forth."
Irvine sat up straight "You jest…." Seth shook his head. "Amazing."
I grimaced "She doesn't exist." I deadpanned. The three of them looked at me in shock.
Zell crossed his arms. "H-how can you know believe in The Maid? She's our heaven sent savoir Squall… Just her appearance marks the end of the sadness… the end of this war."
Irvine folded his hand to his chin. "Squall… She's the warrior sent by God himself."
I glared at him. "He doesn't exist."
All their eyes widened. Zell was the first to speak. "Squall… she's… she's the descendent from Adamska and Eva…. Hers is a line of royal, even holy blood."
I crossed my arms "Those are legends Zell, meant to put children to sleep at night. Fairy tales aren't going to save anyone!" They stayed silent. Irvine didn't make eye contact with me. Zell ran a hand through his hair. Seth sat still and fiddled with his fingers.
My lack of faith wasn't always there. As a child I was able to sleep with stories and fairy tales about a young woman that come and save the world. She would save us from war, and poverty. She would defeat evil, restore peace, and joy to the land of Arkaina. She would do this all under the name of God. With the iron fist of the Almighty, she would smite evil under the name of his holy wrath. She was The Maiden of legends, Savoir of man, Child of Prophecy, Bringer of peace, Woman of Compassion and Love.
She was a lie.
As much as I hated the topic, and as much as I did not want to bring it up, I had to ask. "Why do they believe she's appeared?"
Seth put his finger to his lip. "Well, they say there's been a girl going around healing and praying for the sick. And the very next day… they're cured! No traces of the illness to begin with!"
Irvine smiled. "So they believe it's the Maid?"
Seth nodded rapidly "She's like the Messiah!" They all grinned. I was nowhere near believing this to be true. My faith was far outweighed by my disappointed and realism. God wasn't going to fight this war, We are. We would be the ones to sacrifice ourselves, sacrifice out goals and dreams. We were the ones suffering and dying.
We remained silent for a few more moments. Seth cleared his throat. "I'm fine by the way" He grinned. "Thanks for asking." We couldn't help back but smile back.
"Why do you always come here?" Irvine asked.
Seth's face was tinted red. "N-no particular reason! It is just more comfortable being in a bed, rather than a tent!"
"We have beds" I informed him nonchalantly.
"Comfortable beds." He replied quickly.
"But you sleep in them…" Zell debated.
Suddenly Quistis ran to us. "Squall? Help!"
"What troubles you?"
Quistis pointed towards the door. "Outside! Quickly!" the four of us raised from our seats, we pushed past the customers to reach the wooden doors. When we were outside our eyes met to men chasing a cloaked figure. One of the men bore an eyepatch, and he also carried a giant wound on his leg.
"Come back here you wench!" He cried
"Please, leave me be! I mean you no ill will, I promise that it would bode well for all of us!" The cloaked figure pleaded.
Irvine glared "It seems they're trying to violate a young lady."
"How can you tell?" Zell asked, putting on a pair of gloves.
"A man like myself just knows."He winked.
"Come! We must go to her aid!" Seth blazed forward. I quickly followed behind him.