A few opening words: And we are back! Last we left them, Kagura, Chiyo, Yomi, Tomo, and Osaka had met up with Dedalus the pirate/member of the resistance. Sakaki had just saved Kaorin from a fate arguably worse than death (and probably death itself, too) and passed out from exhaustion upon meeting up with their friends. Now, without further delay, I give you the next chapter of Ragnarok: Sword of Legends.
Enjoy...
Sakaki slowly opened her eyes to a sandy beach and a peaceful sunrise. Oddly enough, she didn't feel tired or exhausted anymore. She checked herself over; she was wearing a plain white tunic, which fit pretty well, obviously made for a woman. She had no visible cuts or bruises. Then she remembered the gash the arrow had given her when she was running, and to her surprise, it had completely healed, leaving only the tiniest of scars where it had been.
Sakaki took in her surroundings. She had been laid on what seemed like a roll out futon. Her sword was in the sand beside her, still in its scabbard. She seemed to be on the edge of a large campsite, though there were no tents. Not far away, there was a rather large ship, which reminded her of the Roman Triremes she had read about in History class, only bigger. That must've been the large building I thought I saw last night. There were quite a few people milling around on the deck, and in the sand and water below. It seemed to have been beached, yet not stranded. There were a few campfires here and there around the campsite, and there were a few people gathered around the nearest one. Sakaki slung the sword over her shoulder and went over to join them. To her surprise, she was greeted by Kagura, Yomi, and Osaka, along with a pair of other people she didn't recognize. Kagura was the first to notice her.
"Hey guys, Sakaki's up!"
"Mornin', Sakaki-san!" Osaka called, before taking another bite of what looked like a loaf of bread. Yomi simply gave a little wave as Sakaki took a seat beside Kagura, who had a large green and silver shield slung over her back, with a sword hilt sticking up over the top. Yomi had a massive war hammer, and Osaka had only a small dagger. Sakaki figured there was no better time to ask.
"So, what's with all the weapons?"
"Oh, we got captured by pirates. Osaka learned she has telekinesis or something, and we broke out and killed the captain. Then some sort of civil war starts, and these guys win, and we became friends." Yomi chuckled.
"That's a summary and a half." Sakaki didn't bother prying further, she would find out the rest later.
"What about Kaorin? Is she alright?" Instead of the girls answering, the big black man answered.
"You friend is recovering from her wounds. Our healer is tending to her onboard our ship. You have no need to worry; she is very good at what she does."
"Well, good. But who are you?" Sakaki was beginning to get a little frustrated. She was eager to see how Kaorin was doing, and wasn't in the mood for small talk.
"I have explained it a little to your friends here, and they said you were their leader of sorts. I left the important information out, so I could tell you when you awoke. I am Dedalus, this woman here is Kaela. We are pirates, but also part of the Resistance, as is obvious by the language we speak now. She is my second in command." Sakaki took a moment to process this.
"So, the resistance, who are they."
"You do not know? You speak the language, and yet you have never heard of them?"
"No."
"This is... this is very interesting indeed. One moment, please." Dedalus leaned over, and whispered something in Kaela's ear. She nodded, and promptly stood up and left, heading for the ship. Dedalus returned his gaze to Sakaki.
"There is someone you need to speak to. He will be able to explain things far better than I can."
"And who is he?"
"His name is Pharnor. He studies the ancient texts; a historian, if you will, though he does have some experience with magic."
"So, where is he?"
"Therein lays the problem. He currently resides in the mountains, in Angenheim, the Resistance's base of operations. Kaela has been instructed to take you as far as Enwich, where you will meet up with other Resistance members. They will get you safely to Angenheim." Dedalus seemed to be in a hurry while explaining this.
"Um, okay. When are we leaving then?"
"As soon as you can. There is little time; the Resistance will be gathering soon, and they won't wait long in Enwich. In fact, I believe there are 3 days remaining until the assault."
"Alright, slow down. First, I don't know what the Resistance is. Second, I don't know what this world is. Third, you expect me to just follow your assistant to some town where she can hand us off to more strangers, who will take us to some place high in the mountains where we can finally have our questions answered? That's complete crap. Wouldn't it just be easier to tell us what you know?" Sakaki was almost yelling when she finished. Kagura seemed too shocked for words at her sudden outburst.
"In short, I do not know enough to explain. I would only confuse you further. All that I ask is that you follow Kaela's instructions along the way, and you will be fine."
"Fine, I'll go along with that. It's not as if we had anything planned anyway. Now, about my friend. Where is she?"
"She is up in the ship, as I had mentioned earlier. Ask for Ternil, she's our healer." Sakaki nodded her thanks, and swiftly turned to the ship. She noticed Tomo was waking up, as well as Chiyo. Kagura got up and followed Sakaki. She spoke as they walked.
"Sakaki, nice to have ya back. As you can see, we've been busy while you were gone. Hey, I've been meaning to ask you, what's with that sword of yours? We tried to move it last night, but anytime any of us touched it, we were shocked. And not some weak static shock either, it hurt like a bitch." Sakaki continued to walk, and thought about that. Maybe it doesn't like others using it? Did it lock itself to me? The swords presence came out of the back of her mind, and told her that this was true. It communicated loosely that she was the only one that could use it. Sakaki formed a response.
"I'm not sure, but it's some sort of magic. I guess it must've locked to me or something." Sakaki arrived at the rope ladder to the ship. "I'll be back shortly. Tell the others what we're going to do, and pack up I guess. Though, I doubt we'll be leaving anytime soon with Kaorin in that bad a condition." With that, Sakaki heaved herself up the ladder, in a hurry to see Kaorin. She reached the top, and was helped over the railing by a shorter man. She asked him about Ternil, and he pointed her in the direction of the captain's quarters. She hurried over there, and pushed the door open. Words couldn't describe how happy she was with the sight before her.
"Kaorin!" There, sitting upright on the captain's bed was Kaorin. She appeared to be fully awake, and other than a few bruises and a rather large scar on her forehead, she was fine, although still naked. She noticed Sakaki, and ran over to her.
"Sakaki-san!" Sakaki embraced her in a long hug. She let her go, and took a seat on the bed. Kaorin did the same.
"So how are you feeling Kaorin?"
"Fine, actually. I feel 100."
"How is that possible?"
"When I asked Ternil, she said 'Magic'. She gave me some foul tasting soup, which dealt with my hunger and exhaustion in no time. As for the cuts, I have no idea." Magic... Sakaki played the word over in her head. Could it truly be magic? Many things that didn't make sense seemed to fit when she used Magic as the answer. Maybe it was magic after all. Sakaki leaned over, and handed Kaorin the clothes that had been laid out for her; a white tunic and a knee length brown skirt. Kaorin seemed to become aware of her nudity all at once, and in a flash she was fully clothed. Ternil then entered the room from another door. She seemed odd, to say the least. She wore dark brown everything; a long sleeved shirt, and a dress that dragged on the floor. Her hair was long and black, and very messy. When she spoke, she spoke with a heavy accent.
"You can go, young girl. You are fine now." Kaorin stood up and bowed to Ternil.
"Thank you, Ternil-san."
"No need ta thank me, girl. Just doin' mah job." With that, she shooed the two girls out the door. Sakaki and Kaorin wasted no time climbing down off the ship. With their feet planted firmly on the sand, they began looking for their friends. It was tough; the camp had become incredibly busy. It seemed as though everyone had something to do. Then, Sakaki spotted their five friends standing on a small hill at the edge of camp with Dedalus and Kaela. They quickly joined them.
"About time you two joined us. We were about to leave without you." Kagura said. "Don't bother explaining, Dedalus told us how Kaorin was after you left." Before Sakaki spoke, she realized the girls all had their weapons strapped on, and a small pack in hand or over their shoulder. Kaela had a large bow slung over her back. It was black, with some silver highlights near the grip in the middle. With it, there was a quiver full of arrows, which were also black, apparently made of the same material. The bow looked to be at least as tall as Osaka. She was also holding a pair of bags, and something else she couldn't identify. Kaela approached them and handed Sakaki a small pack. She then handed Kaorin her own, an along with it, a small dagger, not unlike the ones Chiyo and Osaka carried.
"You will need it soon enough." Kaela said. She spoke quietly, and her demeanor seemed to tell Sakaki that she didn't talk often. Dedalus stepped forward and addressed the group.
"It looks like you are ready to go. Just stay with Kaela and follow her instructions and you will arrive safely and on time." He looked up at the sun. "Now, let us not waste any more time. Sakaki, maybe we will meet again in the future. Farewell girls!" He waved to them as he headed back into camp. The girls looked ahead, away from the camp, and saw Kaela already far ahead, waving them on.
"Damn she's fast," Kagura commented, as they all broke into a jog to catch up.
It was dusk now, and other than a short lunch break with food from their packs, the girls hadn't stopped once. The beach had long disappeared, replaced by grassy plains, and rolling hills. Sakaki had begun counting the hills they traversed when they had first started out, but she had stopped counting after two dozen. They were just now climbing up what seemed like the tallest of them all. Sakaki was now walking beside Kaela, who hadn't spoken a word since their lunch break. She looked up at the approaching crest of the hill, and for a moment she thought she could see light, from a fire. Kaela seemed to notice this as well, and as they crested the hill, she whipped out her longbow and notched an arrow. The hill turned out to be a plateau, and camped out on the plateau was the same band of bandits who had captured Kaorin. They spotted the girls as Kagura and the rest crested the hill. They all drew out their weapons, yet held back. Then, from the center of the group, a large man stepped forward, wielding a massive battle-axe. He was at least seven feet tall, far bigger and more muscular than any man she had ever seen.
Sakaki crouched into a fighting stance, and reached back to draw out Ragnarok, when she felt the sword already being taken out of the scabbard.
"I'll be borrowing this, if you don't mind." Beside her, Kaorin gripped the sword tightly; grimacing from the pain of the shocking Ragnarok was giving her. Nevertheless, the girl seemed determined not to let go, and the look of pain disappeared, as though the sword had given up, or decided to allow her to use it. She stepped forward in front of their group, and lowered the sword's point to the ground to her right. She raised her free left arm and pointed at the large man, as if she was issuing a challenge.
The large man let out a loud war cry, and the other bandits backed off, giving him his room. Upon finishing, he swung his axe around twice, and slammed it into the ground to his side. He waved Kaorin forward with a massive fist, and then took to his own fighting stance. Kaorin swung the sword up into both hands, and charged.
Author's notes: Oh noes! Cliffhanger! What's gonna happen next? Will Kaorin be the victor and get her revenge on the beast of a man, or will he increase his record to 2 – 0?
On a side note, I was trying to base Ternil's accent of Teadorma (spelling, the swamp lady) from Pirates of the Caribbean 2. Also, her character is a bit like that too.
Anyway, before I give away the whole next chapter, I'll just say this: stay tuned!
Till next time...
