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*~*~* Chapter 1 verse 4:The Braveheart *~*~*
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The three thousand Galbadian soldiers simultaneously took in a deep breath…and together let out a vociferous war cry. "AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH."
With weapons drawn, they charged the damp fields with pride and dignity. Their eyes set on destroying the small army before them. The wind and rain now started to fall with anger and potency. Lightning flashed and the roll of the thunder made the earth quake. The storm was here.
The galbadians hearts were pumping with adrenaline and great intensity as they heavily made there way toward the fragile army of the three hundred timberians. Like wild dogs on the hunt for fresh meat their swords were watering for blood. Not knowing the dangers that lay ahead, the galbadians formulated their own storm ready to cast it upon the timberians.
Fifty yards back on the other end of the field were the 300 Timberian soliders, who stood still and calm as the 3000 Galbadians rushed toward them in full force.
The Timberians felt utter sympathy for them. They pitied them. They knew that the Galbadians didn't have a chance of survival. They knew that the Galbadians didn't have a clue as to the trap that they were running into. A trap that was orchestrated by none other, than the great Sky Strife, who has once again, fooled General Caraway.
General Caraway, who never usually took the lead in a charge, decided to make an exception just this once. He was convinced that he and his men could easily wipe out this small army before the bigger army came to help. Hell, even if their bigger army ran at full speed to catch up, he still was positive that he and his army had more than enough time to incapacitate this diminutive army, and take their belongings as well as their pride.
As General Caraway continued to run with grace and glory, a sudden look of scurrility was planted on his face. He could sense that something was wrong. For some peculiar reason, the Timberians didn't budge or flinch. They just stood still as he and his men stormed toward them.
"Why arent they moving???…what are they thinking???…Don't they see us??? Don't they know that we are coming for them???…"
Feeling uneasy, General Caraway abruptly stopped as his army of 3000 soldiers continued to stampede toward the timberians.
He looked around not paying any attention to his men as they unintentionally ran passed him. His full attention was on the 300 Timberians who remained motionless. He stared at them trying to figure out what the hell it was they were up to.
After a few seconds of contemplation, it finally hit him. He was tricked. Once again, the great Sky Strife's extraordinary strategic war plans were as flawless and precise as ever.
General Caraway inhaled a massive amount of air into his lungs, and screamed it out in words using all the muscles in his stomach… "AMBUSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Suddenly, the wet green pastures beneath the running soldier's feet began to slowly move. The galbadian soldiers stopped running and stood still as dreadfulness took over their bodies.
At first, everyone thought it was an earthquake, but then, they noticed that only certain spots moved on the damp ground.
All of a sudden, Without any warning, large strips of grass and soil expeditiously flew out of the ground, revealing foxholes. The Galbadians frantically looked around petrified and startled as they saw hundreds and hundreds of Timberian soldiers sprouting out of the dark damp holes with weapons out and sour glares.
This was a down right shock for the galbadian soldiers. They had no idea that the timberians would've dug holes and planted their soldiers into the ground. Then instead of covering up the "seeds" with soil, they used a cloth-like material camouflaged to look like grass.
In a split second, all of the groundhogged timberians emerged out of their burrows, and all 2000 of them formed a half-circle around the galbadians, disabling them from escape. They cunningly left an open gap in the circle for their 300 timberians that remained motionless to attack.
Each and every Galbadian soldier's heart pounded almost through his chests. the galbadians fearfully looked upon the clever Timberian soldiers with a look of disbelief. Eventhough they didn't understand what on Atlantis was going on, they knew that soon, there would be no hope for their bodies to have life in them.
Shortly after that, they heard an abundant amount of footsteps galloping towards them about 50 yards ahead. The sound was of the three hundred Timberian soldiers who were now running toward them.
The Galbadian army turned around to flee but weren't able to because of the 2000 Timberians who had priorly submerged out of the ground and formed a human roadblock;
It was then that General Thomas Caraway saw it. He saw the eyes of every Galbadian solider looking at him in wonder as to what do. Time seemed timeless at that very moment. Everything moved in slow motion. The general was in complete shock and clueless on what he should do or say. He couldn't even hear anything. He only heard the battering of his relinquishing heartbeat.
General Caraway looked at the three hundred-men rushing toward his army; and for the first time ever, he was actually in the army. He was one soldier amongst the many that would loose their lives. He knew that it was too late to talk peace but he couldn't find the strength to pick up his weapon and go down fighting. He was just too dispirited and astonished.
The General slowly fell to his knees as a teardrop fell from the eyes of a young Galbadian solider. This teardrop seemed to be linked with Gen. Caraway. It represented everything General Caraway was and felt at that moment. They were doomed and they all knew it. There was nothing or no one that could've helped them now.
General Caraway stood on his knees with his head down waiting for the fatal blow. As he felt the presence of the 300 Timberians closing in, he could also hear the arrival of the 10,000 timberians close by. He didn't even bother to look up. He just kept his head down and excepted his defeat.
Suddenly, a hand was placed on his shoulder. He looked up with tears in his eyes to see his old friend Aquilis Trepe smiling down at him. In Aquilis's left hand he held a sword, and in his right hand, he held his friend as he helped him get back on his feet.
Before Aquilis could talk, General Caraway held his head down in shame and slowly, and softly spoke.
"Sniff…sniff…you know…ha. You should have been the general… you know that right???…" General Caraway picked his head back up and forced a smile on his face. "…You had all the qualities that were needed for the job…sniff…you had the smarts…the strength…the…loyalty…and the…the soldiers love and respect…"
Aquilis smiled pleasantly as he shook his head. "No…oh hyne no Thomas…you were the better general…you were always able to taught people into anything…hell, if you can taught president Vinzer into letting a 22 year old become the general of a huge army…then I'm more than sure that you can definitely taught a couple of brave soldiers into being like that humble man that you were talking about in your speech…to be something that mattered…to be honored through death.
There were a few moments of silence. Eventhough the sounds of the rampaging timberians were nearer, The two old friends stood still as if they were the eye. The eye of the storm that their soldiers had formulated. While the soldiers around them were in chaos, They were at peace.
"…You know tom…you were right… about that general Sky Strife…stash away thousands of soldiers and leave a little out in the open as bait."
General Caraway smiled, as tears fell "…No…not this time…I know what your trying to do and it's not gonna happen…I'm not going to put this on you…this isn't your fault…"
"But I told you that they…"
"No General Caraway intervened…you told me your opinion…you didn't give an order…that's my job…this is my fault…I should've done what you said and raised our white flag a long time ago…and plus, how were you to know that he had about 2000 men already hidden in the battlefield…sniff… I now know that he purposely set it up so we could've seen those 10,000 men in the rear…hell…he probably had someone shoot the two lookouts who had to have seen something."
"And those binoculars" Aquilis thought to himself while General caraway continued to speak. "No galbadians buys any Odin brand items because Dr. Odin is from Esther and Esther and Timber are allies…"
"And he knew me…" general Caraway continued. "…he knew that I had too much pride to back down…he knew that I would've attacked his 300 seemingly defenseless men only if he showed me that his bigger army was far, far away. Then that's when the hidden soldiers in the ground comes in the picture…once we charged they would've then emerged and barricaded us in the field like their doing right now, so that the bigger army could catch up and destroy us all… so you see…its not your fault…I don't think there is anyone who could win against general sky strife…"
Both men turned away from each others gazed and placed there eyes on the rushing men. General Caraway's body was now relaxed and calm. He wasn't afraid anymore. He was with his best friend and he never had to be scared when he was with him. Even though he knew that he couldn't protect him from all those raging men, he still felt safe.
"You know what Thomas…eventhough you could be a real asshole sometimes you're my best friend…and I love you for what you said…when you told your speech to those soldiers about my father, for the first time in a while I felt proud…I've always wanted to have his strength and his braveheart. Maybe this is my chance…maybe this is my opportunity to follow in my fathers footsteps…my opportunity to also have a braveheart.
With that, Aquilis looked at his friend one last time. He gracefully raised his sword into the air while he stared at his friend. The Galbadians along with Laguna and a helpless Caraway watched Aquilis charge toward the timber army. He didn't even once hesitate or look back to see if anyone would follow. wanting to set an example, he held his head up high and charged toward the charging Timberians with honor and a braveheart.
No one saw exactly what happened to Aquilis, but while he single handedly fought off the hundreds of Timberian soldiers, he was slowly swallowed up into the mob of men.
This was a proud moment for the galbadians. Even the timberians that stood still in a half circle were moved by this soldier's actions.
The galbadians were now filled with integrity. They all raised their weapons into the air in remembrance of their beloved Lieutenant Aqulis Trepe who showed them the way. They finally figured out the meaning in General Caraway's story.
Now with weapons in the air, the General of the Galbadian army shouted an order as tear bled through his eyes. ATAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Everyone, including General Caraway held their heads high and rushed the 300 running timberians also with pride and honor.
Soon carnage was taken its place upon the battlefield. The now 2999 galbadians were over powering the 300 timberians and soon, the 2000 timberians that surrounded them earlier had to join in and help fight off the Galbadians.
The 10,000 Timberian soliders who observed the battle on the hill ran down to joined the efforts in eliminating the entire galbadian fleet.
What should have been an easy task wasn't as easy anymore. Because of
Aquilis's Brave actions, it influenced the hearts of the galbadians and caused them to inflict twice the amount of damage one timberian can inflict.
The healers and magicanist now also ran toward the battlefield in haste to aid the galbadians.
Bombs suddenly started to explode on the battlefield causing a huge tidal wave of dirt, grass and body parts into the air.
Without any warning, flaming balls of meteor was casted, destroying 2/3's of the galbadian army.
As he saw their bodies disintegrating in pain, his heart began to beat uncontrollably.
With sadness in his eyes, he looked on from behind a small boulder up on a hill as he watched his fellow comrades down below, get chopped up like vegetables by the Timberian Army. What really caused his heart to bleed was what he saw his lieutenant do. He now knew that he had to stay alive so he could give the now priceless locket to Aquilis's unborn daughter.
The rain showered the earth with an immense amount of intensity as if it were trying to purify the blood, which was being spilled on the battlefield.
The roaring soldiers used their hands to manipulate their weapons into the bodies of their foes. With each impact of force that was either produced by steel, or flesh, lightning struck simultaneously with power and authority.
Big and strong Men, all fearless and athletic, bellowed in pain like babies as sharp jagged objects penetrated their skin. Both sides were being stabbed, bashed, and cut in half left and right.
The gruesomness of it all caused his stomach to churn. With difficulty and shaky hands, he picked up the clip that was in his pouch and carefully loaded it into his machine gun. He was afraid, he wasn't a killer like the rest of them; He was a writer. He didn't want to kill anyone; he just joined the army because he thought that he could write about his adventures as a Galbadian solider.
He looked up at the heavy dark gray clouds of the rainy sky and took in a deep breath. His rapid heartbeat now started to slow down and beat with containment.
He then abruptly rose from his laying position from behind the bolder and fired with rage…"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."
His body jerked back and forth violently as he pressed the trigger. The glares in his eyes were fierce yet; remorse could be detected in them. His adrenaline pumped up with excitement as The Timber army pumped up with bullets…
…5…6…7 men shook back and forth in pain as the burning hot bullets tore through their skin and laid to rest in their bodies that would eventually cause their bodies to lay to rest in the ground.
The battlefield was literally a bloody mess. The Galbadian soldiers continuously fought against the thousands of Timberian soldiers with their Leader, General Thomas Caraway, at the head of his army.
"Come one men. Push forward." General Caraway shouted "LET'S DO THIS FOR AQUILIS."
"NO…We have to retreat…There's just too many of them." a foot soldier yelled back with plea.
Caraway knew that he was right. But his stubbornness kept him from giving in. "Look men, Aquilis gave his life to this fucking army…he showed us how to be a revolutionist…so lets show him that he didn't die in vain…Now everybody…grip your weapons tighter than the tightest pussy you have ever felt, and CHAAARRGE"
With encouragement from their leader, the men charged the front lines of the Timber army. It was a very brave moment. The odds, which were heavily against them, didn't matter. They were sent here to annihilate these timberbacks and they were going to do that.
The men charged with all sorts of weapons. From the mightiest sword that dismantled a limb, to the stinging of a whip that stole the skin from a body as it struck. From the most powerful magic that caused a soldier's body to deteriorate from either thunder ice or fire, to the weakest items that either encouraged or took away a soldier's HP. Daggers, harpoons, axes and old-modeled gun-blades were also used to plunderized the bodies of soldiers.
He continued to pull on the trigger releasing bullets that pulled on the enemy's life force.
Each bullet told a story.
One of the bullets told the story of a widow, who will mourn the death of her husband for the next 2 months, and will harden her heart to love only because her husband was taken away from her by a bullet.
Another bullet that was fired tells a story about a young girl who will cry to her mother for her daddy because she doesn't understand why he hasn't returned home yet, not knowing that her father is dead because he was shot in war.
He kept shooting, creating sad stories with his bullets; but he had to. He had to because he didn't want to be the main character in his sad story.
…CLICK…CLICK…CLICK...
With puzzlement, he looked down at his machinegun to see that the clip was empty. He looked back up toward the battlefield and an expression of relief took over his face. He spotted one of his friends fighting in the distance with a Timberian solider. Ever since the battle started he and his two other friends were separated and he was worried sick.
His friend was kicking his opponent's ass. The trigger conscious machine gunist looked on from the hill with a proud look. Suddenly, he noticed another Timberian solider creeping up from behind his copper skinned friend with a large axe in hand. He quickly yelled out his name…
"KIROS…KIROS…LOOK OUT BEHIND YOU!!!"
The clashing of the swords and the fall of the rain caused Kiros's ears to be deafened to his friend's warnings.
He didn't know what to do. He quickly returned his hand into his pouch and searched for another clip. But he remembered that he placed them on the ruble of rocks. The pressure of knowing that in a few seconds, Kiros's head would be removed by the axe made him clumsy. As he went for the cartridges, he accidentally made all of them fall in-between the rubble of rocks. "Hyne-damnit"
While this was going on, Kiros who was too busy fighting to notice that death was only a few steps behind him, was having a ball with the solider he was fighting. Kiros always loved a good fight. He also too wasn't a killer but he did what he had to and enjoyed it while he was doing it.
Laguna quickly bent down to pick up the cartridge that fell in between the cracks of rocks.
"Ahhhh shit" He now dropped his machine-gun so it would be easier to pick up the heavy rocks in haste. Finally, with success, he removed enough rocks to be able to reach his hand in and grab one of the cartridges. He picked his machine gun back up and loaded it in the clip.
The sneaky Timberian solider was now in range with Kiros's head and he cocked his dreadful axe back.
At this same moment, the nervous Laguna behind the boulder also cocked his gun back and took aim
Right before the timberian solider could swing his axe, a pile of shots rang out…BLLLLLAAAAAAT…With fury, the pack of bullets left the machine gun and hunted down the head of the sneaky timberian …SPLAT…His head exploded with a revolting splatter.
Laguna tightly closed his eyes wide shut as he tried to turn away from the carnage that he inflicted upon the soldier's head.
This happened two seconds before Kiros plunged his katal into his opponent's heart and quickly turned around to see what was the commotion that was going on behind him.
He saw an axe on the floor, and 4 ft away from it, he saw a solider, who's head was wide open exposing a stack of bullets that was stuck in his brain.
Kiros looked up to where he heard the shots fired. He concentrated on the figure up on the hill then suddenly smiled. "LAGUNA" he yelled as he waved to his friend showing his gratitude. Laguna smiled back and returned the gesture.
Laguna went back to work. He continued to fire his mini daggers at the Timber army while he scoped out the rest of battlefield looking for his other friend, Ward.
He glanced at the healing squad because he remembered the general telling a man with a harpoon to pick up his gut and protect them, so he figured it must have been Ward.
Bodies fell to the earth like the tears that fell from the clouds. The battle continued for an agonizing 15 more minutes when suddenly the almighty Timber army started to increase even more. Timber soldiers who shied away in their foxholes and behind bushes now suddenly grew confident and emerged out to join the battle.
The Galbadian Soliders who were heavily outnumbered started to panic.
They were being transmogrified into a huge fountain, rapidly spilling blood.
The Timber army started to rush in with grace and glory as the galbadians slowly backed up in their doom.
The dark gray sky lit up with beauty as lightning struck, while the damp green earth, lit up with a red glow as the blood stained the grass.
"Everybody fall back," General Caraway shouted…
"Fall back you crazy motherfuckers" another voice cried out from the distance
"ARGGGGGGHHH…HELP…ME…UGHH…"Another voice cried out in pain but was silenced abruptly due to a knife that was driven through his throat.
Hearing this made Laguna's senses grow nervous. By now, the Timber army was advancing rapidly and soldiers from Galbadia seized there fighting and started running toward the forest in a retreat.
Seeing this, Laguna quickly picked up his machine gun and dashed strait across the field toward the forest. As he ran, he felt bombs of fire being casted upon him, chasing him as if he was its prey. His heart started to pound in fear and doubt.
Eventhough he was the type of man who believed in positive thinking, he knew that the likelihood of him making it through this battle alive was a 99.9% chance that he wouldn't.
How he wished that he still had his lost gun-blade with him. If he did, he was convinced that he wouldn't be running like this, instead, he'd be charging. Laguna regretted the fact that he took on Kiros's And Ward's dare, which took place a few days earlier at Deiling city, which was to enter the tomb of the unknown kings and try to conquer the Brothers. In his efforts, he was attacked by a monster and severely wounded. He inadvertently dropped his gun-blade while trying to escape out of the tomb and tried to go back in to retrieve it. However Lieutenant Aquilis feared for his safety and told General Caraway to order him not to go back in.
So now he was equipped with a machine gun. Eventhough it was powerful, it was no gun-blade.
As the explosions of Firaga, and Blizzaga flirtatiously combusted at his feet, he knew that it would only be a matter of time before these magical castations would give him a direct hit…BOOOMB…The sound of death chased the innocent.
Beneath his feet were the bodies of both Galbadian and Timberian soldiers. He even saw the rabbit laying dead that he and Aquilis were looking upon earlier. He couldn't help but look down as he ran. He knew that in only a few moments, his body would join the sea of corpses that were laid upon the ground.
Laguna witnessed mutilation first hand that day. Ligaments were viciously torn away from their bodies; and severed heads were removed sloppily from their necks still with fat and muscle hanging out of it.
Up ahead, Laguna saw a Timberian Soldier screaming painfully and crying tears of blood due to the tip of a dagger, which was sticking out of his left eye. Evidently, someone must have viciously attacked him from behind, and with force, stabbed him in the back of his head causing the tip of the blade to come out to the front of his head through his eyes.
Laguna was intensified at such a sight. He could've almost imagined how much pain this poor man was in. Laguna was too much of a kind and generous man, to leave him behind so he stopped to help him, Even knowing that this was his enemy.
Laguna quickly bent forward to lift him up over his back. But as soon as he could grab him, he started to convulse and shake violently. His mouth foamed white juices and his eyes blinked rapidly due to the blade that was sticking out of it.
As he shook and grimaced in pain, Laguna was confused and wasn't sure as what he should do. He tried to hold his body still but it was like trying to stop a freight train with your left hand.
Suddenly, his shaking and convulsions came to a halt; and so did the blinking of his eyes, which just stared at Laguna with sorrow in a juice mixed with tears and blood.
Laguna was happy to see this… "Good…he stopped shaking…Now I could lift him up and take him wit me…"
Laguna bent forward again ready to scoop him up, but he noticed that the severed eye that was blinking in pain earlier never blinked again. Infact, even his good eye never blinked. Sadly he studied him for a few more seconds with remorse and continued to run to the forest.
The final expressions that were left on the lifeless, expired faces lying on the red grass were of pain and agony. The dead Bodies around him had a repulsive odor of decay due to the fact that the natural gases that were once enclose in their bodies, had now escaped through the open gashes that was left by the fatal weapons and lethal magic.
His legs started to cramp as he made his way toward the dark forest. This always happened to him whenever he was scared or nervous.
With his cramped leg now slowing him down, and the hundreds of firagas and blizagas being casted upon him. He knew that there was no way in hyne's name that he was going to make it to the forest alive. Atleast there was no way that he could've.
But he felt a mysterious force embrace his body like a womb embracing an unborn child. It was a delicate yet strong force that felt like a thousand feathers gently caressing his body. A power so strong that it made him glow a white aura causing his enemy's to gasp in fear.
A type of power that only a sorceress would posses….???
Author's notes:
Ok Finally…We are at the end of chapter 1…I hope you guys are ready for chapter 2!!! I wont spoil it but your gonna be surprised at the end of the first verse.
Oh and please leave a review…even if you have reviewed my story before, I love hearing from you guys so don't be shy…I write this for u guys and in return, I hope you write me back and give me your thoughts on it…Remember, I do accept flames, I'm probably the only author on fanfic.net that wants it…criticism can only improve my writing and trust me, you wont hurt my feelings… so go ahead and tryJ So please give me a review and don't use being lazy for an excuse cause remember, if I don't end up with enough reviews, ill be soo sad and disappointed and I'll probably kill myself which means there would be no more chapters or verses and in my suicide letter I'll ask my brother To take my story off the web…
P.S.- I was just joking about that last part…you know, the part where I said I'd ask my brother to take the story off the web …I'd probably do it myself firstJ Well bye for now and remember, keep the reviews coming like my life depended on it…cause it doesJ