Hello!
This is my first attempt at a fic for this fandom, I decided to write it in English because I notice that there are not many readers and writers in Spanish, but I may make the Spanish version later, so if you see any error, you can point it out.
I just started watching Knight Squad, and I got a lot of story ideas but I decided to do this one-shot first, I hope you guys like it.
Seagate was defeated many years ago. Now Arc is more than just a thief.
Here We Go...
They were in a cave, hidden. Outside was raining, the storm was heard like a murmur from inside there. A small fire served them as the only source of light and warm.
The trip from his homeland to those strange lands had been exhausting, but he was used to an exhausting life. The life of a warrior. A survivor.
Yet, even though his new and hopefully last mission was difficult and dangerous, he couldn't help but feel excited. This was the first time he would travel so far away from his king and Commander Umbala, unsupervised as he would be on his own.
It was a sign that finally, after years of faithful service, he had earned their trust.
Of course he was careful not to show how excited he was for this opportunity to feel free from the oppressive presence of both the tyrant and the woman that was such tyrant's right hand.
To them, he wore a harsh expression that indicated how serious this mission was and how eager he was to see it through. Because as they had trained him, his heart was hard as stone and his soul was rotten.
"Your instructions", said the blond woman with her cold voice, one he was used to hear.
She outstretched her hand with a scroll in it.
"Memorize and destroy them."
He nodded once, a blank expression on his face as he took the scroll from her hand.
He opened it and read the content with careful eyes, twice, thrice. When he was sure the information there was perfectly imprinted in his head, he tore it to pieces and tossed them to the fire in front of him, watching the orange flames turn them to ashes.
"Go to sleep now", ordered the woman. "Tomorrow you leave for Astoria."
He didn't fight her orders. He'd been taught not to rebel against her many years ago. After several beatings, he'd learned to keep his thoughts for himself.
At her cold eyes he was now the dutiful and heartless little puppet she had trained him to be. On the surface, at least.
He lay down on the floor of the cave, on a cloth to protect himself a little from the cold of the ground, and closed his eyes, allowing the sound of the storm and the cracking of the fire to calm his nerves and lull him to sleep.
Tomorrow, a new chapter in life would begin. Tomorrow he would be free to fulfill the promise he had made to his parents all those years ago. He'd become a knight and would save his homeland. And would free his family.
His cunning had kept him safe in Ryker's ranks, promoted him to his inner circle. Now that same cunning would serve him to defeat the tyrant. He had trained the last years of his life for this moment, enduring situations that would have made other young men give up. But he wasn't going to throw all his effort away. He was going to overthrow their empire of tyranny, even if he lost his life in the process.
He was ready to face the consequences if that would accomplish his goal.
With that last thought, he fell asleep, dreams filled with terrifying images of everything he had to do and endure to get to this moment.
He was woken up by a hard and painful kick to his side. He opened his eyes and gave a soft grunt of annoyance but kept his mouth shut, suppressing any complaints he had about being treated like trash. A kick in the ribs was better than a bucket of cold water.
"Arc! Get up!" ordered the fierce woman.
He got up from the ground, picked up his meager belongings and followed his mistress outside the cave.
It had stopped raining, but the sky was covered with gray clouds. He looked around and noticed that no one in the entourage was paying attention to him, so he took the opportunity to lower his guard momentarily. He took a deep breath of the clean air, closing his eyes briefly to enjoy the smell of wet earth and fresh leaves.
So different from the odor of blood and decay he was used to...
He sighed softly and opened his eyes, putting on a rough expression for the woman and her warriors as he turned to look at them.
She was giving them instructions because their mission was to crush a rebellion that was rising in a nearby conquered village. They would head off in that direction while he headed off on his own mission.
The shield surrounding Astoria prevented Ryker's army from infiltrating, but Arc had been taken from among the prisoners of one of the conquered kingdoms, secretly trained and kept hidden for years, working from the shadows until he perfected himself in the art of combat, never being publicly enlisted in the ranks of Ryker's army, without receiving the mark that distinguished his warriors.
He was able to cross the protection shield with no problem.
Rumors existed of Ryker's 'left arm', a deadly and ruthless assassin who was capable of putting down any rebellion. But no one had ever seen him in person, no one knew who he was or his age or anything about him. Some believed it was just a myth, an invention to terrorize the masses and stop them from trying to rebel.
But it was real, there he was, preparing to deliver the biggest blow.
Once Umbala finished giving orders, she walked towards him.
"Your next steps, warrior." She requested, crossing her arms.
He licked his lips before start.
"I'll cross the shield, reach the nearest inhabited place and hitch a transport to the Knight School."
She nodded, her gaze telling him to continue.
"I will find a way to infiltrate the Knight Academy and gain the trust of the students by saying that I wish to become a knight to fight against Ryker's army," he explained. "I'll scout all I can in order to find any weakness in Astoria's defenses and will inform you about them."
The woman sent him a smirk of pride at his ability to memorize instructions so easy and quickly.
His skill as a cunning thief was worthy of admiration too, one of his traits that saved his family's lives. He was also smart and strategic, skills that had gained him the interest of the tyrant that had taken over most of the kingdoms in existence.
Umbala's gesture disappeared as quick as it appeared.
"Good, now go ahead, for Ryker's glory!" She shouted.
"For Ryker's glory!" he echoed.
Those words left a bitter taste in his mouth but he ignored it as he had learned to do over time and turned around, starting to walk away towards his unknown fate.
He felt Umbala's intense gaze on the back of his neck until she lost sight of him among the trees.
It took him several days to reach the nearest village by foot, carried by the energy provided by pieces of dry meat and fruits. His provisions were meager and he had to ration them because he didn't have time to hunt for food. It didn't bother him much, he'd been trained to endure those kind of situations. But once around unsuspectful people, he was able to steal a small amount of coins to pay for a decent meal and a room in the inn.
One of his most useful skills was coming across as a friendly, cheerful and slightly naive young man, it eliminated any possible suspicion that people might have about him.
No one would suspect that such a nice, gleeful and funny young man was part of Ryker's army. His most deadly assassin.
That was the objective, to seem harmless and noble.
He ate heartily, enjoying the freedom of not needing strict table manners, and drank from a mug of beer, careful not to drink too much and get drunk.
His hunger satisfied, he retired to his room to sleep. It wasn't much but it was enough and more than he was used to.
He got up early, before the sun peeked over the horizon, and got ready to leave that day. Then he headed to the market, where he would keep his eyes and ears open until he found the perfect transportation to his destination.
After a couple of hours, he heard an ogre mention that he was on his way to Astoria's castle. Perfect. He decided to make the trip hidden in the creature's wagon. It was not going to be pleasant but nothing compared to other difficult or uncomfortable situations.
When the ogre got distracted, the boy snuck into his wagon and just waited. As the wagon began to move, he knew his journey had begun.
It was not an easy journey, he received several bumps on the rough road, but after hours of travel, he soon heard the sound of people. He simply knew that they had arrived and that there was no further danger if he revealed himself.
He threw aside the blanket that covered him and looked around, impressed.
"Astoria Castle's beautiful" he commented with slight bitterness.
In that environment existed an air of freedom and security that he hadn't felt in a long time. It was as if the reality of the bloody war raging outside Astoria's shield was completely ignored, and inside he felt a certain anger and resentment towards the king and his people, whom could enjoy peace when so many other kingdoms - including his beloved homeland - had fallen under Ryker's iron fist, who forced the youngsters to join his ranks and do terrible things to survive.
Things he hadn't wanted to do but had had no other choice but to do.
Luckily, the ogre noticed his presence in his wagon and stopped any rambling of his mind in time before he brought to mind the images that filled his sleep with nightmares.
He escaped the ogre's wrath with his speed and agility, making his way through the people and sliding down a rope until he landed alongside a group of youths at the Knight School.
He stood up and put on his best friendly smile, getting into character.
It wasn't going to be easy playing double agent, making Ryker think he was still loyal when his goal was to help defeat him behind his back rather than facilitate an invasion, and tricking the other teens into thinking he was a boy from Astoria who wanted to be a knight when in fact he was Ryker's feared 'left arm' who had gone undercover.
But he was determined to do his best, whatever it took.
While watching the series I thought, what if Arc was an agent of Ryker infiltrated to discover Astoria's weaknesses and take advantage of them but in reality he wants to defeat him and allies himself with the princess without her really knowing who he is? And here it is.
I don't know if the trick to bypass the shield's magic for Arc to get through it made sense, but pretend it did.
Maybe I'll do more one-shots because I really liked the series and I wish there were more fics.
That's all, see ya!
