Never Forget

9 Years Later

The wall. It stood sturdy and strong, reaching up to the sky it protected all who hid behind it's firm gray stone. Though on the outside it was, probably, flawless. Knights and soldiers often took time out of their days to mend the outside, keeping it near perfection so no intrudes could go unnoticed as they chinked away at their proud landmark. Because the Arcadian wall was like no other. But on the inside, it was rare maintained. Inside was marred from long days of missed arrows, poorly swung swords and just the fact of having three rowdy teen boys. And the parts that weren't worn down by three obnoxious lads were shrouded in thin vines that scaled up the wall and bloomed the heavenly blue morning glories. This was something that Otoya found oddly comforting. The way the arrowheads chipped away at the stone over the ages. It was like the wall had war stories embedded into it, scarring the cobble but leaving a reminder that it remained here, to protect.

That's probably why every morning Otoya rose with the sun, before the other two even think about opening their eyes to the world (which wouldn't be a problem if they didn't fight until twilight), and visit the wall. He liked to run his fingertips over each crack and crevice, feeling the stone work against his skin. He'd stop for a moment before the vines and take in the scent. A pleasant smell that he wished he could spend all day enjoying, but by the time his practice was done, they'd close and leave him waiting for the morning. He didn't dare touch the trumpet shaped flowers, in fear of harming them. He knew how to handle plants, but such things were far to fragile for his, now, rough hands. After a deep whiff, and a longing to touch, he placed the tips of his fingers back on the marred wall.

Otoya's eyes squinted as he looked around the courtyard. Just like his first day, he was still shocked at how much vibrant color there was. Though now there was a tiny bit more. Off to the back corner there was a small patch of sowed ground where Ryuya and he had plant a tree. Nothing to extravagant, but for the red haired teen it was the most amazing present that the man could have given him. Not just a present and not just a tree. For his fifteenth year, Ryuya had went back to that burned down little village and found him a sapling. His own little piece of home.

"You're just jealous." Otoya closed his eyes with a sigh. He hadn't realized how much time had passed, but the sound of Ai's taunts were a clear reminder that he had spent too long in the yard. Usually he could make it back to the room before they woke up and be half way dressed for the day by the time they started to argue. Now he would be stuck in the room with them while they had their childish spat. His lifted his fingers away from the wall with another sigh and head off to the commotion. His eyes barely, albeit not caring, catching the shiny glint coming from the bushed.

"As if I'd ever be jealous of you?" Syo voice echoed before Otoya could even open the door. He couldn't help but to wonder why they hadn't given up this squabble almost a decade ago. But after so long of them fighting, Otoya had learned one thing. Don't get between them. It seemed that only Ryuya could stop them, but even he could only do so much. Half the time, he would try to stop their spat, and they would end up in a real fight, with their weapons of choice, and the only thing Ryuya and Otoya could do was wait on the sidelines for one to fall and not get back up. Usually it was Syo who was on the ground, but somehow it always seemed like Ai lost the battle.

Otoya opened the door to Ai laughing at a defeated looking Syo. "You'll never be a knight like me if you continue to be so weak. I get to go out on my first mission today and you have to stay home like the kid you are."

"You still had to wait a year after becoming a knight to even get a mission." Syo shot back. He shoved his arm through his gray cloak hastily so he could be done getting dressed before the nineteen year old knight.

"I wanted my first mission to be special. I get to go out with Master." The cyan hared teen sneered.

"The only reason you get to go out with Master is cause he frets over you every second of every day." Syo huffed, his eyes gleaming with jealousy.

Otoya walked passed Ai, who shifted out of his way, to grab his normal attire which consisted of a white shirt and beige pants. It wasn't to different from what Ai wore under his armor or what Syo hid under his cloak. In all honesty, it wasn't very different from what he wore to sleep in either. He forced himself to rapidly get dressed. The long he stayed the more likely he'd-

"Otoya, who's better me of him?" The boys behind him said in unison.

Otoya loathed getting involved. He lifted his shirt above him and stuck his head through, before sliding both arms into the short sleeves. "You're both good at different things."

"But I-" Syo started.

"That's not-" Ai tried.

"Oh would you look at the time." Otoya interrupted them both. "I have a special task I need to do. Sorry."

"Like what?" They could be anymore in unison.

"Catching fairies and junk." He said, swiftly walking passed Ai and back out the door. "Way more important than whatever you two are fighting about."

He had closed the door behind him,, but he could still hear them scream together. "Otoya fairies aren't real!"

Otoya stood at the gate, next to a pouting Syo, and waved their master and roommate off. They weren't heading far, and would probably be home before sun down, but still that was at least half a day that Otoya didn't have to listen to some idiotic tiff during practice. He expected Syo to be happy to have the oldest of them out of his hair for a while, but the blonde looked even more sour than usual.

"Come on, Syo, shouldn't you be happy? You don't have to deal with his ranting and raving for a while." The red haired one gave the shortest a nudge. "Cheer up a little."

"-not fair." He whispered.

"What?"

"It's not fair." The blonde looked up at him, tears welling at the corners of his eyes. "Master brought me home first. I should be the first to ride by his side as a knight."

Otoya sucked in air, trying not to say something he knew he shouldn't. But, he did agree with Ai. Syo wasn't really knight material. He wasn't very strong and when he got knocked down it always to him just a little too long to get back up. He wasn't quick on his feet, but his mind work at a pace faster than horse's could run. When asked about tactics his brilliance always shone through. He could one day be a great adviser to the king, or maybe an excellent mage, but he wasted his time on something he never improved on.

So Otoya decided to play it safe. "It's not your fault you're younger than Ai."

"But it's my fault he's better than me with a sword." Syo frowned. But a glimmer of hope in his eyes showed that he had an idea. and Knowing the blonde, it was an amazing one. "You'll help me won't you?"

Or maybe a not so amazing idea.

Syo continued at the sudden drop in Otoya's mood. "I mean you're way better at swordplay than we are. It's like you were born with a sword in your hand. just teach me how you learned."

That didn't sound good at all. "I don't think I can."

"Why?"

"I just, I don't know." Otoya looked for a way to explain it. But it was harder than he thought. He didn't know why he was good at it, he just was. "Maybe instead of asking me, why don't you read some books about it in the library. You'd probably learn more by doing it that way."

"But that's nerdy."

"And is here anyone around that will make fun of you for that?"

"No." The blonde looked down, his frown slowly turning slowly into a smile. 'No one is around to make it seem like a bad thing."

Otoya had to bit his lip to not sigh in relief before the blonde could say hiss thanks and run off. It wasn't that he didn't like Syo, nothing like that. He just really couldn't explain how he knew what he was doing. When he held his sword it just felt so perfect... so natural. His hand knew from the moment he first picked up the weapon how to grip the hilt. His legs knew he needed to shift his center of gravity down to swing it up while still being able to side step out of his opponent's attack. He wasn't sure how or why it happened, but he always knew what to do.

It took a full minute after the shorter teen left to fully sink in. For the first time in the nine years he had been inside the walls, he felt truly alone. There was no Ai there to force him to practice, not that he minded the easy tasks. Syo would easily get lost in the books, trying to find a way to beat the cyan haired male, meaning there was no one around to tell him what to do or criticize what he did. For a while he could do whatever he wanted, no questions asked.

"I wonder..." He said to himself, knowing that nobody could asked him what was going through his mind.

The gate was wide open. He had yet to close it, though without Syo to pull on the other chain it would take twice as long to close. It was open and he was alone. In nine long years he hadn't left. This like food and clothes were brought to him from the nearby town. Not that he was jealous, but Syo went put about once a week with the knight, and Ai, since passing his exam, was aloud to leave whenever he wish. And even before that the cyan haired teen had been to the town.

Otoya wasn't jealous, he just...

He took a step closer.

There was absolutely nothing wrong with just a look. He wouldn't even go into the town. It was just over the hill to the east. It wouldn't take him long to get to the hill. He could run to the see-able hill in less time than it took to get dressed and eat. And he wouldn't go into the town. He would just look. Just a peek. What could that hurt?

Another step.

Why did he have to justify himself? He wasn't going to do anything wrong. Just a look.

One more step, and another more hurried one after that.

Everything would be fine. It was just for a few minutes.

Syo slammed the door against the wall by accident in his rush to enter the room. Dust flew into his face, forcing a sneeze, as his nose twitched in irritation. The state of this place was undeniably awful. Though there were many wooden book cases, that towered over him, filled top to bottom with both old and new print, it looked as if no one had touched the room in decades. Some of the spines were too dusty to even make out what the book was called.

"How did this place get so bad?" He asked himself.

Surely fighting head on, much the way Ai did, was not the only thing that knights thought about. Some of them had to want to learn other ways to battle. Someone had to have once thought it was a good idea to learn from past mistakes or there wouldn't even be a library within the walls of the knight's training grounds. Both other than one blank space, on the back wall shelves, that took Syo a few minutes to get to, this place was untouched.

He ran his finger over the one place that didn't have much dust and wondered what kind of book had been placed there. Was it something that was used in tactics or did it help with advanced techniques? It didn't look like it had been gone for long, so whoever was reading it probably still had it in their chambers. The only thing he could safely say for sure was that neither one of his roommates had it.

He shook his head, letting the blonde bangs fall in his face. He wasn't here to wonder who was a secret bookworm. He was here to find a way to beat Ai. To finally have a one up on him. Something the cyan haired teen wouldn't expect. But it would have been easier if he went in knowing exactly what he was looking for. He had limited time before his rival returned, not that he didn't consider Otoya to be a rival too. It was just that Otoya was nicer and more pleasant to be around.

"There's so much here." He muttered to himself, hand stroking his chin thoughtfully. "Where do I even start?"

Twenty minutes later, he was still stuck in the same rut, no idea what he was looking for, as he ran the tip on his finger over the books as he passed the shelves. It helped to remove some of the dust, but not all. By that time though, half of the library was spotless from his constant pacing. As it was he only had one section left to look at...

Magic.

Biting his lip, he stopped. He didn't know of anyone who used magic within the wall. And nobody ever really talked about it. So of course it would spark his curiosity. Syo shook his head. What if there was a reason human's didn't use magic anymore? But... it would give him an advantage over Ai.

He pulled back his hand. If they didn't want him to read them, those kinds of books wouldn't be stored in such a public place. Even if the room was severely ignored. He wasn't doing anything wrong.

Otoya gasped, coming to a halt just inside the gate. Panting he let his weak legs crumple to the ground. He hadn't meant to stay go for so long. Before he knew it almost half a day had gone by. He had to run just to hope that he would beat the half a dozen knights, that Ryuya took, home. Half of him hadn't even expected to make it before them. Lies had been running through his head about how he could explain leaving. But he knew that once Ryuya looked at him with those kind eyes he wouldn't be able to speak an untruthful word.

"Was the outside world fun?"

Red eyes widened. He had expected to be caught, mostly by Syo seeing as nobody else was there. But this was a low, plain, voice. It didn't sound anything like the arrogance that Syo often had. He didn't want to turn around to see who it was, but he knew that they were right behind him.

He gulped. "Y-yes."

"Would you like to see more?" The person didn't sound mad at him.

"I-I don't think that would be a good idea." He answered honestly. After being caught, he wasn't sure if he would ever try to leave again.

"That's not what I asked."

Otoya picked himself up. Wondering who was asking these strange questions, he tried to peek over his shoulder, but his eyes were merely met with the sight of the opened gate, and the shadows of horse that approached in the distance from the east. "Who are you?"

"Tokiya."The voice whispered. It tickled the redhead's ear, as if the person were leaning over and speaking directly into his ear. "I'll be back for you, Master."

"Master?" He called out surprise, spinning on his heels. There was nothing, but the knights who were returning.

"Otoya." The lead knight smiled at him, probably thinking that he opened the gate just in time for their arrival. His armor shining like normal, not dampened by blood, meaning there was no fight. But, there were a second pair of legs slung over the poor mare's saddle yet again. Otoya narrowed his eyes and had a half cocked smile. Syo would be furious. His master must have noticed the forced smile and nodded to him with a knowing look. "Where is Syo? I want to introduce you both to your newest roommate."

The redhead, seeing Ai's horse come trotting up, shook his head. "I'm not sure."

Ryuya sighed, swinging a leg over the mare, revealing the short haired boy. His somewhat curly hair hung at his chin, red eyes, much like Otoya's, glared at the world inside the wall. "Otoya, this is Tomo. Treat him nicely."

"S-sure?" Otoya looked from the scowling teen, who easily hopped of the horse, to Ai. The only response he got from the cyan haired knight was a firm shake of the head.

Well if things weren't interesting before they surely would be once Syo came back from the library.

Want more? make sure to let me know then :P

Chaotic