ACT XXV – On the Move
Several miles outside the borders of Camelot the main camp of the 7th Legion was starting to stir as the sun peeked over the horizon. The sun would soon disappear behind the clouds however as the day was looking to be overcast and the light cast a dreary grey upon the land. The morning dew clung to the grass, making the occasional squeak against an armored boot. It wasn't long before soldiers began pulling on their armor and exiting their tents, Emiya Shirou had slept soundly however this morning he was being prodded awake by a finger.
"Wake up, we will be leaving soon." Bedivere was sitting on the edge of Shirou's bed attempting to wake him.
Shirou awoke immediately and sat up. "It feels early." He yawned.
"It is. I hope you are well rested." Bedivere replied as she stood up. Shriou noticed she was already dressed and had her armor on.
"More or less." Shirou yawned and began to get dressed himself.
Pushing back the drape that kept their tent sealed from the elements for the most part, the two of them left the tent. It was larger than most, and had a rather comfortable cot in it. Knights he found, were practically treated like royalty. It was to be expected, many of them had accomplished deeds impossible to the normal man and were under direct control of Arturia herself, especially those of the Round Table.
"I am going to meet with the commander. I will meet you once we begin to move." Bedivere informed him. Just as Shirou was about to turn away she called his attention again.
"Yes?" He asked.
"Oh, by the way. Good morning, my squire." Bedivere smiled brightly.
He couldn't help but smile back. He gave her a proper bow. "Good morning, Sir Bedivere."
As Shirou stepped away from his tent he found himself watching Sir Bedivere make her way over towards Brom's tent. After a minute or so he was interrupted and was greeted by the short man with freckles he met the previous evening. Chance would have it that he was passing by and he noticed Shirou standing outside his tent.
"Good Morning. Are you prepared to ride out with us today?" He asked with a bright smile as a small bit of bacon hung from the corner of his mouth. His armor was not made of metal, but of very hard leather. He had many belts across his chest and waist which held in place many small knives which Shirou guessed were made for throwing. At his hip he also had a short sword about two feet in length.
Shirou nodded. "I'm all set, I'd like to get something to eat before we head out though." Shirou recalled the man's name was Judeau.
"Of course, I thought I saw some of the men cooking something up on my way back here. I wanted to talk to the commander about something before we all mounted up." Judeau pointed the direction he was heading.
"Yeah, I'll do that." Shirou could smell something, most likely meat being cooked in the direction Judeau came from. Considering his new status the men would probably be overjoyed if he were to sit down at eat with them.
"I'd hurry up though, Commander Brom wanted to address the men this morning." Judeau gave him a wave and then headed off. Unlike the rest of the men Shirou met that were all uptight about his presence there, Judeau seemed to be much more laid back and casual about the whole thing.
Once Shirou's belly growled and urged him onward, he turned into the direction of the smell and began to make his way across the camp. He still wasn't used to not being able to cook, he would give anything to have his kitchen back. Perhaps if he was really nice to the King, she might let him use the one in the castle. Surely they had at least some place to prepare the royal meals. Granted it wouldn't have a stove or an oven so Shirou would have to improvise a little.
After a minute or so he came across a group of four men huddling over a campfire near a cluster of tents. Three of them he recognized as Errol, Tristan, and Gilbert.
"Morning guys. Mind if I join you?" Shirou asked, trying to be as casual as he could. The men nearly jumped out of their seats when they saw him, they went wide eyed, clearly embarrassed by not noticing his approach.
"""Not at all, sit down!""" They exclaimed nearly in unison.
Shirou unbuckled the leather straps on his gauntlets and removed them. He sat in the circle with them casually and looked at fire they were all huddled over. There were several strips of bacon sizzling over a pan that had been placed over the fire.
"Shirou have you seen Judeau this morning?" Gilbert asked curiously as he flipped over a piece of meat with his sword.
"Yeah just now, why?" Shirou tilted his head.
"The little bugger pilfered some of our meat. He's got quick hands." Errol replied with a low growl.
"We do not get more supplies until this evening, so things are starting to run low. You can imagine this makes the men a little… uneasy." Tristan took a knife from behind his back and jabbed a bit of meat and lifted it away from the hot pan. He stared at it, turning the blade over and over as if it would make the food cool down faster.
"Right out of the pot… just grabbed it. How in the blazes does he do that?" Gilbert said with much frustration.
Shirou shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe he's a witch." He joked.
All three men turned to him as if seriously considering it. ""Nah."" They said in unison.
They had a good laugh about it and ate together, making sure everyone had enough to eat. Shirou was introduced to the other man at the fire, Roland, a man from the south near the port town where the King spent her childhood.
"You actually knew the King when he was young?" Shirou sputtered, almost spitting his food everywhere.
"More or less." Roland shrugged. "I was not among his friends, but I have heard of him many times and often saw him."
"What was he like." Shirou asked with much interest.
"The King has not changed at all. Even from a young age he wished to be a knight, to me it is not the least bit surprising that young Arthur was the one to pull out that sword." Roland said casually as he shoveled an entire piece of bacon into his mouth. "He was always trying to find some knight that would allow him to be his squire."
"Since you've known him for that long, what's your opinion of him as a King?" Shirou asked.
Roland thought for a moment before replying with utmost sincerity. "I would follow the King to the gates of Hell itself, which is of course why I'm here with the Legion. Am I right boys?" He looked up at Tristan, Errol, and Gilbert.
"Aye! Long live the King!" They shouted in answer.
"That being said, I believe he over works himself quite often." Roland shrugs.
"You're not the first person to say that, believe me." Shirou mumbled and took another piece of meat.
After breakfast a horn sounded ending their breakfast and signaling to the men that it was time to gather in front of the captain's tent. As Shirou and the others began migrating toward the opposite end of the camp, it dawned on Shirou just how many men were here. Most of them were in full armor, or at least pulling it on as they jogged at a brisk pace across the camp. Shirou passed men stuffing food in their mouth and putting out fires they used to cook their food. There were at least a hundred and fifty men at this encampment, just a small fragment of the entire 7th Legion forces that were positioned throughout the land.
Shirou was pushed towards the front of the congregation by the rest of the men gathered before Brom's tent. The chattering and thundering of feet now stood silent and at attention as Brom stepped from the tent, his hand resting on the pommel of the sword at his hip. Bedivere followed Brom out of the command tent and rejoined Shirou's side.
"Good morning you sorry lot!" Brom bellowed as the morning breeze lightly ruffled his shoulder length hair.
"Sir!" The men saluted.
"At ease, Legion!" Brom commanded and the men slightly relaxed their shoulders, the camp alive with sounds of men shuffling about in armor.
"Since the end of the war with the Saxons we have been doing one thing. Keeping our lands safe from any scum that dare show their faces! That is our job. Our business. Today, business is good!" Shirou listened to the early morning pep talk, somehow listening to a rugged man yell about justice and battle set his heart on fire. Shirou never saw himself as the type that yearned for battle, but after listening to Brom for only a few moments made him eager to get out into the field and do some good for the land.
He remembered the sight he saw with Bedivere and the carnage the bandits afflicted on that defenseless farming village. He remembered the story that Lina told him about how her parents were killed. He wanted to prevent that from happening. They can't be reasoned or bargained with, all they seek is to steal and murder everything in their path for their own selfish reasons. If extermination was the only way to deal with them, then as an aspiring knight, Shirou couldn't allow them to plunder any more villages.
"There are a rather nasty group of bandits that have been plaguing our lands far too long. They call themselves The Blackguard and we've received word that they're on the move." Brom paced back and forth as he spoke. "These are not your normal mindless rabble, their leader seems to be very well versed in the ways of war and leads his raiding parties accordingly. They are a danger to anyone and everyone they meet, and they cannot be allowed to roam our beloved country any longer!" Brom spoke loudly and clearly, tucking his helmet under his right arm.
"We will not be alone however, the King has sent to us a Knight to aid us in the extermination of The Blackguard. He will be joining our ranks for this assignment." Brom pointed at Sir Bedivere The men cheered wildly, raising their weapons high into the air.
"Gather your belongings, we ride!" Brom boomed and the men answered in kind with another thunderous cheer.
()()()
It didn't take the 7th Legion long to be ready to move. Tents were disassembled, fires put out, and horses packed up. Soon the 150 man squad of the army was on the move across the rolling hills of England. Shirou never tired of the sight of the wind blowing the grass, creating an effect similar to ripples on water. He was also getting used to riding his horse and his legs no longer started to burn after only riding a few minutes. In fact the slow, methodical movements of Hikari and the sound of his hooves trotting over dirt and grass seemed rather relaxing.
The men rode in formation, by rank Shirou assumed. As such Sir Bedivere and Shirou were positioned at the front of the pack next to Brom and in front of Tristan, Errol, and Gilbert who were directly behind them. It was strange to him to look behind him and see a small army.
"I'm not used to so much attention. All this saluting and formal talking is driving me crazy." Shirou whispered to Sir Bedivere as he ran an armored hand through his hair.
"You will get used to it. If you wish to become a knight, expect this kind of attention." Bedivere replied.
"If I become gravely injured, the men will no doubt look to you for guidance." Brom looked at Bedivere as he scratched his chin. "I'm thankful for your presence."
"If all goes well, I won't have to." Bedivere replied.
"Hope for the best, prepare for the worst, is one of my favorite sayings." Brom looked forward and continued to ride. He was right. Anything could happen, Shirou hung on those words.
Without realizing it, Shirou found himself staring at Brom's eye patch that covered his left eye.
"I was but a young soldier when it happened." Brom noticed Shirou looking out of the corner of his good eye. "The shield I was given had a flaw on it, it practically splintered when I held it. Now that I recall it was my very first battle, I was frightened and inexperienced." Brom chuckled. "The archers loosed their first volley of arrows and one of them went straight through my shield. I was lucky all I lost was an eye." He turned his head over towards Shirou. "Not quite the extraordinary tale you were hoping for was it?"
"They gave you a flawed shield?" Shirou asked in astonishment.
"We were at war, it was better than having nothing to defend yourself with at all." Brom replied. "Now it is time that I ask you a question. I know that you are able to create weapons out of the air, how did you come by this sorcery? In all my years I have never heard of such a thing."
"My old man taught me before he died. I could never seem to do it right until I came here though. I assume its Merlin's and Sir Lancelot's instruction that's let me nearly master it." Shirou looked down at his hand. He hadn't had time to think about it but it did seem odd. He'd never truly succeeded in strengthening magic back home, but since Merlin told him about projection magic and the proper method its been starting to become a lot easier.
"So where exactly are we going? I don't remember you mentioning it before we left." Shirou asked in sudden realization.
"The Dark Forest." Brom replied ominously. The very words seem to bring about tension within the hearts of all who were in earshot.
"Sir, forgive my intrusion, but is that also the forest they call the Haunted Wood?" Gilbert had been leaning forward, obviously eavesdropping on the conversation.
"Indeed that is where we are going." Brom answered with a nod.
"A haunted forest?" Shirou tilted his head.
"It is just superstition I believe." Tristan said, riding up closer to Gilbert.
"I agree with you. The forest is indeed old and I have no doubt it has its strange goings on, but the rumor claiming it is haunted only appeared within the last couple of years." Brom replied.
"It does indeed sound like nonsense." Bedivere seemed to drift into thought.
"Why exactly are people saying it's haunted?" Shirou asked curiously.
"Strange noises have been heard from along its borders, noises that others claim are the bones of those long dead. There is also the fact that whoever enters the forest is never heard from again." Gilbert reported.
"A fitting cover to hide a group of bandits for an extended period of time." Tristan said matter of factly.
"Either way we shall enter the forest because that is where the Blackguard is believed to have its stronghold." Brom returned his gaze to the plains ahead.
"What can we expect from the bandits themselves?" Shirou asked.
"As I said before, they are not by any means a mindless rabble. Their raids are quick. They hit hard, and escape faster." Brom turned his gaze towards Shirou. "Do you recall the razing of the farming village near Camelot?"
Shirou nodded. It was where he'd killed his first man and saw the carnage left in the bandits' wake. He could still recall the smell and heat of the smoldering fires as he and Bedivere entered that village. The smell of ash and burning flesh permeated the air. It reminded him of the fire that claimed his family and nearly himself, just remembering it nearly made him sick.
"We have recently learned that was the work of the Blackguard bandits." Brom reported.
Shirou tightly gripped the reins of his horse, his fingernails digging deep into his palms. If what Brom said was true, then he had some idea of how the bandits would fight. Hopefully it would come in handy.
"We know little of their fighting tactics since we have never managed to catch them, but their raiding parties are unmistakable." Brom continued. "They leave no one and nothing alive in their path, they must be stopped for the good of all Britannia."
"In that case, I'm glad I have the privilege to be along to help." Shirou replied.
"A knight and Merlin's apprentice. How can we lose?" Gilbert grinned widely and clapped Shirou hard on the back.