(Revan's AN): So a lot of people have been asking me in a way about the pairing. Specifically, if it's an Esdeath x Tatsumi pairing. Now most of you know I'm one to ship them but I'm going to refrain from answering that question. It keeps it suspenseful and yeah. I will refrain from answering most of these questions because they will all be answered in due time. For now, you all are out of the loop. As for chapter length, I honestly don't know. Some chapters might be longer than others some might be shorter than others, it all depends really. With this said let's get on with it.
Full Summary: Tatsumi, the second son of the late Northern King, wasn't like his brother. He wasn't taught how to rule a nation, nor was he taught how to deal with politics. He was taught in the arts of war and being a soldier. With war being declared onto the Imperial Empire, Tatsumi must take command of the Northern forces and defend his homeland from the imperial invaders.
Non-canon, single-pairing, OOC Characters.
"Flashbacks" - Thinking
"Flashbacks" - Talking
[Flashbacks] - Letters or Reports.
Theme Song: Kate Metz- Eternity
Main Writer: Revan's Wraith
Co-Writer: LoveRayX
"Prince Tatsumi, you're not listening to what I'm saying." Takeo said in an annoyed tone as he watched Ieyasu help the young prince up and onto his feet.
"But that's because you're telling me not to strike. You keep on telling me to stay on defense and wait for Ieyasu to attack!" Tatsumi replied in a heated tone, this was the fourth time Ieyasu had disarmed him and knocked him onto his butt.
"Yes because we're focusing on your defense! If you can't defend yourself then it doesn't matter if you learn how to strike." Takeo said in the same annoyed tone, he understood that in battle the objective was to eliminate your enemies but the more important goal was simply staying alive.
"I can defend myself!" Tatsumi countered as he glared at the Lord Commander, he knew how to defend himself rather well. At least this is what the young boy thought.
"Then how come I keep knocking your butt on the ground?" Ieyasu questioned only to earn himself an annoyed look from the prince, and a look telling him to be quiet from his father. Deciding it was best not to say anything more Ieyasu just raised his hands in a surrendering way.
Takeo didn't say anything at first, instead, he just stared at the two young trainees for a solid minute or two before sighing. "My prince, I don't doubt you. It's just that you need to hone your defense first. You need to know how to parry, how to block, how to disarm, and how to deflect."
Tatsumi bit the inside of his cheek as he listened to Takeo explain this to him. He wanted to say that he knew all of this, but if he was being truthful with himself then he knew that he wasn't the greatest. He wasn't at Numa's level fighting yet along with Ieyasu, right now he was in his own league and that was underneath them.
"Fine, I won't attack when I see an opportunity." Tatsumi yielded seeing that it was pointless to argue with the man.
"Good. Now, positions." Takeo affirmed as he crossed his arms. Takeo was a little bit glad that Tatsumi ceased trying to argue with him.
Taking to their positions, the two boys entered a top guard stance.
The Lord Commander stood there in silence for a solid ten seconds allowing the tension to rise. He wanted to believe that this was going to be the moment that Tatsumi could at least disarm Ieyasu. That this moment was when he rose to the rank novice in swordplay.
"Begin."
Tatsumi took a deep breath as the two began circling one another, his eyes were practically glued onto the older boy in front of him. All he could think about was his sword, and Ieyasu's sword and trying to keep the other boy's sword away from him.
Ieyasu after taking two more steps to the left suddenly leaped forward with his blade raised high above him.
Moving his left hand from the hilt, Tatsumi began to move his hand up the blade to the central part of it in an attempt to catch the blade head on rather than trying to deflect it away from him or simply move out of the way.
However, the attack was a feign, using the momentum he still has, Ieyasu performed a diagonal cut from left to right.
Tatsumi's eyes didn't widen though in shock or surprise. He knew he couldn't block the attack, nor could he divert it away from him without risking injury, so he chose to duck in an attempt to avoid the attack.
Takeo couldn't help from smiling watching this. "Smart choice, at least he is trusting his instincts."
Instead of taking the chance to hit Ieyasu with the pommel of his sword, Tatsumi moved past Ieyasu to give himself some distance and barely avoided Ieyasu's follow up attack as he spun himself around trying to slice the princes' back.
Turning around as well Tatsumi was met by Ieyasu advancing on him.
"This is when I prove to everyone that I'm a warrior and will become the greatest one the North has ever seen," Tatsumi whispered to himself as he readied himself for what was to come.
Numa released a sigh as he made his way to his father's bedroom. He didn't really pay any attention to the King's Guard members that saluted him, nor did he pay attention to the servants that bowed to him.
His thoughts were on one thing, and one thing only. That one thing was finding out the truth. He wanted to hear from his father why Tatsumi was treated this way, along with where his mother was.
Upon reaching the bedroom chambers Numa came to a halt and stood outside of his father's room for what seemed like an eternity. He placed his hand on the doorknob but had yet to turn it and open it.
A sweatdrop rolled down his head and he felt like his collar was getting tighter. He soon realized that what he was feeling was nervousness, something he wasn't really accustomed to.
Eventually, though he steeled himself, and opened the door. As Numa walked through the doorway he was greeted by the sight of his father sitting on his bed looking down at something in his hands. A solemn expression written on the man's face.
"Dad?" Numa said in a low tone in hopes of gaining his father's attention since he didn't seem to notice him entering. However, to Numa's surprise, his father didn't do anything. He didn't turn around, he didn't say anything. For the first time in Numa's life, his father had completely ignored him.
"Dad I wish to speak with you," Numa said but this time louder, his father snapped out of his paralyzed faze and whirled around to look at his son. He quickly hid the thing he was holding in his pocket.
"Numa? What're you doing here? Shouldn't you be in the library studying with your tutors?"
The demand was more of a command than an actual question.
"I told them that I needed to speak to you about something, so, for now, they await my return," Numa replied while he made his way over to the bed to sit by his father.
"You shouldn't skip your lessons. If you're to be a good king then you need to dedicate yourself to your studies." His father firmly said with a serious look on his face.
"I know, and I will be a great king, but I needed to ask you something. I want you to be honest with me as well."
Beowulf didn't reply at first. Instead, he gazed into his son's eyes only to see a look of determination, after a couple of seconds he said, "Very well. Go ahead and ask away."
Numa nodded his head several times as he looked away, he didn't really know how to word this without possibly angering his father or putting him into a mood where he wouldn't want to speak with him.
With a sigh, Numa finally spoke. "I would like to know why you treat Tatsumi like this, and where our mother is-"
"We're not talking about that." His dad interrupted with a somewhat heated tone as he got up from the bed. "That is something that you shouldn't need to worry about at all."
Numa frowned as he looked at the back of his father. He didn't know why his dad suddenly acted so cold to him, but that didn't really bother him that much, he just wanted his answer. Hopping off of the bed Numa said with a firm voice. "It is my concern though, For nearly 9 years I have grown up motherless along with my brother."
"He's not your brother." The old king curtly said, refusing to look at his oldest child. "No matter what he does, he will never be your brother and he will never be my son."
Numa's mouth became agape with horror. He didn't know what to say or think after hearing that. Tatsumi was his brother, and his father was saying he wasn't? That wasn't fair at all to him, nor was it fair to Tatsumi.
"How could you say that?" Numa asked incredulously as he glared at his father's back. "How could you say that about my brother! Do you know what he is going through? He is going through neglection and loneliness-"
"That's good. That little monster deserves that." Beowulf coldly stated as he turned around to look his son in the eye. "Your brother doesn't deserve happiness, not after what he did. Hell, he doesn't even deserve to live."
Numa couldn't believe what he was hearing, sure he had heard his father make small comments about Tatsumi and how he was disappointed with him, but never had his father said something along these lines. It was like something had changed him completely.
"Tatsumi is your son! He has Seika blood in him! He is my brother and all he wants is your love!" Numa practically shouted as he closed the distance between the two of them to where he was having to look up at his father. "Everyday he is working his hardest just so you can compliment him, and this is what you feel about him?"
"How should I feel for the one who killed your mother to enter this world!?" His father screamed while pushing Numa to the floor. "Your so-called brother took my Karliah away from me just so he could be brought into this world. He ripped your mother apart and you want me to love him along with coddling him!?"
Numa only stared at his father in silence now not knowing how to respond. How could he respond to something like that? The reason why his mother was gone was because of his baby brother.
Narrowing his eyes Numa said, "That isn't his fault! He was an infant, he didn't commit murder or anything like that! He was just a baby. You're blaming Tatsumi for something he never did on purpose!"
"Tatsumi is lucky to be alive." His father stated only earning himself a glare. "One night I went to his crib and wanted to take him out into the snow and leave him for the wolves, but instead I didn't. I instead chose to let him live in this castle and be raised as a prince. As your brother because he has our blood in him."
"That's-"
"But he isn't a Seika. He may have our blood in him, but he isn't one of us. He isn't a prince, he isn't your brother and he isn't my son. He is your mother's killer and my queen's murderer." He continued not caring for interrupting his son.
Numa's jaw opened and closed several times as he contemplated what to say. He didn't know what to say really, or what to feel. On one end he wanted to yell at his father for this nonsense, but on the other end he wanted to apologize for bringing this topic up.
"That was a long time ago," Numa spoke softly as he looked at the ground. "Tatsumi didn't mean to do that, and you're the reason why Tatsumi is pushing himself away from everyone. He doesn't want to spend time with me, nor does he really want to eat with me or my friends. All he wants is to impress you, and see you look at him as you would look at me."
"That'll never happen." His father said after a full minute of silence. "I'll never look at that creature like I look at you my son. He will always be an outcast in my eyes and an abomination. Now get out of my sight and return to your studies. We're never going to speak about this again, and you will not mention that murderer to me again."
Numa didn't even bother replying, instead, he quickly got up off of the floor and bolted out of the room with some tears starting to roll down his cheeks. He hated himself at the moment because he failed his little brother, and he failed himself.
[2 years later.]
"Are you ready Tatsumi?" Numa asked as he held his practice spear in hand with his lips slightly curved upwards. It had been years since he had learned the truth from his father and since then he had been doing his best to help Tatsumi become the best warrior the North had ever seen.
He hadn't told Tatsumi the truth of what happened to their mother out of fear, nor had he told him about how their father feels about him. He did want to tell him, but he was afraid of how Tatsumi would react. He was worried Tatsumi would just give up if he found the truth. So he decided to keep this to himself until he found the perfect time to tell him.
"The real question is, are you ready to lose?" Came Tatsumi's somewhat snarky response as he entered a left guard stance. Tatsumi didn't mean to come off with a little bit of an ego, but he couldn't help it, he had so far been undefeated in sparring sessions nowadays and the only one he believed could defeat him was Numa.
"Just because you have defeated the Lord Commander's son, and some noble peoples children doesn't make you undefeated," Numa answered as he loosened his stance a little. "The only way you become undefeated is if you beat me."
"That should be pretty easy then." Tatsumi declared as he took a step towards his brother. "After all, we both know who the better fighter is between us."
"You talk too much," Numa stated right before leaping at his brother.
Tatsumi quickly dashed to his left avoiding the spear thrust. As Numa touched the ground Tatsumi whirled around and launched a flurry of blows at him. Numa in response to this simply bobbed and weaved to avoid most of these cuts and slashes.
As Tatsumi sent a downward strike at Numa, the older prince spun his spear around and used the butt end of his spear to guide the blade away from him. He then followed this up by backhanding his younger brother with his free hand causing him to rear back in pain.
"You're being too offensive, and giving me many opportunities to counter," Numa said as he twirled the spear to where the spearhead was pointed at Tatsumi.
Tatsumi didn't say anything in response, instead he narrowed his eyes and charged at Numa closing the gap in between them. He swung his blade in a sideways arc that would sever Numa's head from his body if the sword wasn't a practice one. Numa, however, leaned his head back a little and barely avoided the would be decapitation.
He then moved forward stabbing his spear downwards at Tatsumi's calf. Tatsumi in response took a step back and tried to follow this up by sending his own thrust at Numa's gut, but was met with failure when Numa moved out of the way.
Numa then began dancing around him, sending several lightning-fast thrusts and stabs at Tatsumi, who in response deflected the majority of the attacks away from him. As each attack was directed away from him Tatsumi took notice that Numa kept on sidestepping to the left.
Suddenly though Numa's attacks came to a halt as he took a couple steps, shifting the grip on his spear to where he was holding the end of the spear. Numa then took one step forward and swung the weapon left to right causing Tatsumi to take a step back and avoid being hit.
Numa repeated this process three more times before feigning the attack and changing his grip to where he was holding the midsection of the shaft.
Tatsumi narrowly avoided the feign turned into thrust attack and couldn't help from grinning a bit as he distanced himself from his older brother.
"Numa is pretty good with a spear. Probably the best I've seen, I wonder what he would be like if he had a shield as well." Tatsumi thought to himself before reengaging.
Entering a tail guard stance, Tatsumi swung his sword in an overhand strike, but feigned it and switched to a left cut. Numa who expected this to be a feigned parried the left cut and sent an elbow to Tatsumi's face.
Numa then used his spear to knock Tatsumi's feet out from underneath him. As Tatsumi fell to the ground, Numa swung his spear downwards and hit Tatsumi in the gut with the mid to top section of his spear.
Tatsumi didn't know what to think as he laid there and felt the spearhead touch his throat. His first question was how did he end up in this position? One second he remembered Numa countering his attack and then the next he was laying on his back looking at the greyish blue sky with Numa peering down at him.
"I guess the undefeated Tatsumi, has finally been defeated." Numa smugly stated with a small smile on his face as he continued to stare down at his brother.
Tatsumi clicked his tongue in annoyance as he glared at his brother. "Tch. Whatever, it was just luck. Next time I will beat you."
"You might, but had this been a real battle then there would have been no next time. You would of been dead." Numa responded as he lifted his spear away from Tatsumi's throat.
"Yeah, well it wasn't and like I said next time I will beat you," Tatsumi affirmed as he got up and looked his brother in the eyes. Tatsumi didn't even bother picking up his sword.
A silence passed between them as the two stared at one another. Eventually, though Numa's small grin became an actual smile as he placed a hand on his brother's shoulder.
"I look forward to that day brother."
(Revan's AN): Fight scenes aren't exactly my greatest forte if I'm being honest, I mean sure this is okay, but like it isn't my greatest. I guess it's because I'm trying to implement some manner of realism. I don't know, I'm still trying to figure how I want to write my fight scenes. Maybe I shouldn't fret about this stuff, and just focus on the plot, you know? Anyways I think I'm going to do maybe another chapter or two of his early life before the start of the first arc because, to be honest, I consider this to be the Prologue Arc. Well, I think that is all I have to say. I know this isn't the longest of the chapters, but it couldn't really be helped since there isn't that much you can do for this Tatsumi since he basically has no friends. See ya guys later and I apologize if this isn't that good but I'm still hashing things out.
Link to Discord: discord .gg/ V4KnvtE
