Man I'm tired...
Ah, Trial Forest. The three original Chasers remembered it as their beginning point, the first testing they went through when they were newbs. None of them could forget the little Slimes and Mushmons that inhabited the woods.
"I'm here!" Ronan huffed as he dashed into the room.
"Where've you been?" Elesis said disapprovingly. "The test's about to start!"
"Sorry, I took a little detour." He grinned as he looked at the screen. "Look, he's coming out."
Every head swivelled to see the screen, which now showed Lass materializing on the portal. But instead of the cheerful forest that would've invoked nostalgia in the Chasers, the surroundings had been somewhat…altered. There was an ominous air about the area, as if it were cloaked in darkness and something was waiting to jump out of the bushes. Even the mushrooms were changed; instead of the bright orange and purple caps, everything was smothered in ten different shades of grey. Everything just seemed…dark. It was the perfect scenery…for a cemetery, perhaps. Or the Forsaken Barrows.
"This seems…different." Lire voiced the thought present in everyone's mind. "Was it always like this?"
"Well, no." Knight Master admitted. "I had it modified last night. Remember that he was possessed by Kaze'Aze, made to fight and kill people. No doubt that his combat skills are more than capable of handling the little things of Trial Forest."
Nods travelled through the room; she had a point. They concentrated on the images flickering on the screen.
Lass cautiously stepped from the portal. Everything was eerily silent. Was the test supposed to be like this? He looked around nervously, but his field of vision showed nothing. Nothing at all…
Then he saw it: Another portal, a considerable distance from where he was right now. Was that where he was supposed to go, to the next stage? He'd easily get there with a few jumps and turns. This was easy.
Too easy.
The sound of the silence was grating against his ears, unnerving him. He took a careful step forward.
Click.
He caught movement from an upper corner of his vision, just above those rocks. A huge pincer smashed onto the spot where Lass had been a millisecond ago. They resembled something of a cross-breed between Dark Anmon Scouts and Orcs with mechanical gadgets sticking out in odd places. Grotesque as they were, they had some fast pincers. They were now coming, emerging from the shadows, the boulders, grinning crazily as they charged towards their target. Creepy. Just like the witch…each of them looked like her…
No! He furiously thought to himself. She's not gonna ruin my life anymore! He drew his weapons and charged.
"Whoa, he's good!"
"Wait…where did he go? He was just there a second ago!"
"Right there! Man, he is fast."
"His agility and combat skills are certainly impressive." I'd expect nothing less from Kaze'Aze. The Knight Master kept that second thought to herself. Kaze'Aze had trained the boy well, but she shuddered to think of what the Dark Witch made the child go through to attain such skill. Even she didn't want to think about it.
"Whoa, he's already cleared the first stage!"
Jolted from her reverie, Knight Master looked up just in time to see the child disappear into the second portal. She looked at the time: 00:10. Almost three times as fast as the original three Chasers. Amazing.
Lass shot off the portal as soon as the light dissipated. It was routine for him; jump, slash, dodge, feint, kill. Nothing he hadn't encountered before. He didn't even need to use his set of kunai. These monsters clearly had a small intelligence capacity, if they had any to begin with. Sigh. He was almost bored. If the rest of tests were going to go like this, it'd be a cinch.
So now that we know that Lass is more than capable to killing these monsters like mosquitoes, let's skip the battle sequence.
Lass stepped out of the portal nimbly; he hadn't even broken a sweat. He saw the Chase, their expressions ranging from admiring shock to impressed envy.
"Did I…do okay?" he looked up carefully.
"Dude, that was better than okay!" Ryan said. "That was awesome!"
"How did you move so fast? That was so cool!"
"You'll be a great addition to the Chase." Murmurs of agreement traversed through them.
The Knight Master stood, her features calm, yet pride glinted in her crimson eyes. He definitely had potential.
"Congratulations for passing the first test. Would you like to do the second one later today, or tomorrow?"
"Today." He quickly answered. Best to go through all of them at once than to drag it out.
"Then meet in this same place later in the afternoon." She commanded. "And make sure to be on time this time, shall we?"
"Y-yes, Master." He stammered, looking down. She nodded, and left, her cloak billowing behind her.
"Don't worry 'bout her, she's always the spoilsport." Ryan smiled good-naturedly. Lass noticed that every one of them were keep their distance, giving him space. He appreciated that. "So…what's your name?"
Lass sighed inwardly; as much as he hated his named, he knew he couldn't keep it from them any longer. "Lass." He mumbled.
Everyone craned their heads forward. "What? Raz?"
"Lass." He said a little louder. He looked up, braced for the teasing.
But they did not laugh. Well, almost all of them. Elesis, being Elesis, raised her eyebrows at the name, and coughed loudly. "But isn't that a girl's na–" Amy began, but was cut off by Jin, who gently elbowed her in the ribs.
Lass shrugged, "It's the name I was given."
"And it's a nice name." Ronan reassured. "Did you eat?"
"Yeah! I'm starving!" Elesis broke in.
At that moment, Lass's stomach decided to make that dying whale sound. Everyone looked towards him.
"Hahaha, I'm hungry, too. We didn't eat either."
"Let's eat! I need food!"
"Me too!"
"...You always need food."
"Shut it. You eat just as much as I do."
"At least I eat with dignity. You just stuff it down your–"
As the group talked and laughed as they began to walk, Lire turned to Lass, who was still standing there like a lost puppy. "I thought you were hungry. Come on!"
"Yeah! Come on, Lass!"
They were all smiling at him, telling him to come. They weren't cringing away in fear, or looking down at him in scorn.
"Okay." He paced towards them, suddenly feeling very light.
They went to a grand hall, where a long wooden table, ornately carved. Conveniently, there were also eight chairs. The table had already been prepared: a steaming bowl of thick soup, a baked loaf with a fluffy white texture, clumps of yellow and white things mixed with crisp bits of some sort of meat, and a lot more that Lass had never seen before. Seeing that the others were sitting down, he decided to sit as well. He scrutinized the food, staring at it suspiciously. He poked another with the tips of his daggers; it wiggled.
"Um, that's Jello."
Ronan was sitting across from him, trying not to smile.
"It's much better if you eat it with a spoon." Jin said, gesturing to the cutlery in front of him.
The rest of the Chase were also smiling, but it wasn't a mean smile. "It's not poisoned, Lass." Lire said gently. And for some reason, Lass believed her.
After taking a careful bite, Lass abandoned all suspicion. He never had so much good food before, not ever. He shovelled down his food like there was no tomorrow, oblivious to the surprised stares he got.
"Wow Lass, you eat just like Elesis!" Ronan exclaimed.
Elesis looked up, her mouth bulging with food as she glared at the Spell Knight.
"…Not that it's bad or anything, really." They all laughed.
"Aah~ I'm so full~" Amy stretched, smiling happily.
"Hey, Amy, can we go shopping? I need to buy some stuff…"
"Sure, Arme! Jin, you'll be coming too, right?"
"But…but, you guys are going to shop…"
"But we need someone to carry all our stuff!"
"Please, Jin~?"
Ronan sighed. "Jin's in for a long, long day."
"Hey, Elesis~ are you coming too?"
The Red Knight blanched at the thought of spending hours with the two hyperactive girls, doing basically nothing but going into store after store. "Er, no. I'm gonna go see how the Ruby Knights are doing." She walked away.
As Ronan stared after her, Ryan slapped him on the back. "Wanna spar? I got a new Jade Hook yesterday."
Ronan smiled at the challenge. "My blade does need a little exercise."
Ryan suddenly turned to Lass. "You coming? You can battle the winner."
"Or you could help me carry the bags." Jin said lightly, but the pleading in his eyes indicated that he wasn't joking.
Lass hesitated; it was great that they were accepting him as part of the team (despite that he wasn't officially yet) so readily, yet he still felt…alone. Different. They took everything so easily, laughing, smiling…did they even have the faintest idea of the crimes he made?
"I…just want to look around, first. Get used to the place. I'll catch up with you guys later."
They nodded in understanding. "Sure. Take your time." They dispersed, each going their own way.
Now the thief had almost unlimited time to himself. Unsure of what he should actually do now that he was alone, he was walking around the castle aimlessly, thinking. He was free. They all liked him, well, somewhat. It all seemed too good to be true. Way too good. There was no way that Kaze'Aze'd let him go so easily, her "favourite puppet." Was she still in hiding, waiting for the chance to retrieve her plaything?
Lass.
He stiffened, quiet contemplation going to panicked fury in an instant.
Lass. Come to me, Lass. What are you trying to prove?
He looked around, but there was no one in sight. Then where…? Was he going mad? Yet he'd recognize that voice anywhere…
You honestly think they trust you? With the things you did? You've become soft, child.
"No." She was there, leering at him. Why couldn't she leave him alone?
A puppet should listen to its master. You've been disobedient. Very disobedient. I am coming, Lass, I am coming for you…
"Go AWAY!" He lunged at her. Her and her damn laughing face.
Crash!
"What's gotten into you?"
Lass looked up. The Red Knight stood a few feet away from him with widened eyes.
"Didn't you see? She was right there! She–" Lass blinked; the witch was nowhere in sight. Instead there lay a vase…or what used to be a vase; fragments of china and water was strewn everywhere, and the poor flowers had been crushed by the broken pieces.
"You didn't have to smash the vase." She grumbled as she bent over to pick up a piece.
"Sorry." He mumbled, hastily helping to pick up the pieces.
