disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur, Soul Edge, Taki or Sophitia. These all
belong to NAMCO. Such a pity; they won't let me have them. Oh well. But
this fanfic is mine.
Requietum
by jin long
jin_long@lycos.com
Chapter 9
Taki set about repairing Sophitia's sword.
It had tiny nicks everywhere as well as a couple of cracks on its edge. Such
was probably the result of blows from Soul Edge, and they had weakened the
sword considerably. All it would take was a reasonably strong strike and the
so-called divinely forged blade would shatter.
There was no doubting it was a wonderful piece of forging, Taki knew, as she
pounded on it with a hammer. She concentrated hard - forging was no easy
business. If she didn't put her soul into her work, the sword would be
worthless.
She wondered to herself why she wanted to repair the girl's sword at all.
Her rational self argued that it was just the right thing to do. If the Greek's
equipment broke, continued her logical half, she would have more trouble
during the battle, since she'd be trying to find a way to get the girl to safety
while fighting, which was difficult.
However, a softer side to herself argued that there was another motive for
her actions. It argued that she wanted Sophitia to be safe, to not get hurt,
to not die. It argued that she felt some connection with this girl, just a
special something for this young foreiger that she denied herself many
times over.
It was at that point that Taki told her irrational, emotional self to shut the
hell up.
Sweat rolled down her brow unnoticed, a result of the heat of Jaeger's
forge. The blacksmith was outside with Ingrid, trying to convince the mayor
that she would defeat the demon. They were surely having just as difficult
a time as she had trying to convince them.
"Are you scared?" Sophitia had asked the night before. No. With all that
rage towards demons that she had, there was no room for fear. It was
something she had wondered about for so long. She had never been so full
of hate for demons since...
No, she always had. She always hated demons and loved killing them. It
was not a matter of duty. She had been taught to hate them to become
more efficient in hunting and slaying them.
That wasn't true, her mind argued.
She shook off the thought and continued her forging. Sophitia would need
a sword after all, both for the task at hand and the journey home. As for
herself, Taki realized she would have to use Mekki-maru, as Rekki-maru
was broken.
Mekki-maru... She had doubts about using Mekki-maru. She could feel the
dark energy emenating from it and she could hear Hachibei's plea over and
over again. She had taken Mekki-maru with her on her travels for Soul Edge
lest the clan find it and give it to Toki. However, she had never used it. It was
only now that she was even considering it, only now since Rekki-maru was
shattered.
She didn't have that essential metal right now to repair Rekki-maru, the metal
that was used specifically for demon hunters' blades. It was a very rare ore
that granted such swords the power to amplify their wielder's spiritual energy
versus demons. Of course, a demon hunter definitely had to have a good
amount of evil-repelling energy in the first place else the sword would be as
useless as an ordinary one versus demons.
That exceptional ore could only be found in areas the Fuuma ninja dominated,
and this foreign land was not one of them.
She returned to her work, so fully concentrated that she didn't notice Sophitia
entering the forge.
The first sign that Sophitia was there was her voice. "The villagers are all out
of the village and in their emergency refuge." The blonde sat herself beside Taki,
watching the ninja work. "Aren't you tired? You've been working the whole day."
"Not really," Taki said. "This is actually meditative, so it doesn't tire me as you
think." She landed another blow with the hammer on the sword as a memory
drifted through her senses...
-------------
"Leave Taki alone. She's busy trying to learn something."
Toki's command boomed throughout the forge, but Taki tried to force it out
of her mind and concentrate on what the clan smith was telling her. "This ore
needs to be this hot before you combine it with the metal that makes our
blades." He pounded the metal he was forging again. "You know why we have
to use this ore, right?"
"So that the swords can kill demons, right?" Taki answered.
"Very good." The smith nodded appreciatively. "All right, you so the next stroke.
Not too hard, and make sure you hit it such that it becomes a wedge shape." Taki
licked her dry lips as she nodded. "O-Okay," she said, taking the smith's offered
hammer then striking the sword.
"But I'm not doing anything to distract her, master Toki."
"All the same, leave Taki alone."
"Good. Now then, pump on the bellows. The fire is not nearly as hot as it needs
to be." Taki nodded, moving over to the large bellows and pressing down on it
with her foot. The fire roared back to full force with the renwed supply of oxygen,
much to the smith's approval.
"All right. Now return to beside me." Taki obeyed promptly, turning around to
do so.
She caught a glimpse of the girl Toki was scolding. The girl, she would never
forget, had blonde hair and blue eyes....
--------------
What the hell?
She'd lost her concentration, but fortunately the forging was done. She lifted the
blade with a pair of smith's tongs then placed it in water to cool it. When that was
finished she began to work the handle around it.
That memory...
That girl...
She shook her head. There was no point concentrating on that right now. As if to
brush it from her mind she spoke. "I guess you'll be ready for tomorrow."
Sophitia sighed. "I hope so." Taki realized something from the Greek's tone of
voice. "Just trust me on this - you won't have to kill anyone. But I wouldn't mind a
few, well-placed immobilizing strikes - not fatal of course, but enough to keep
anyone else down while we deal with the demon."
The Greek nodded. "I can do that. I did it on a ship on my way to Spain. She
smirked at the thought. "It wasn't really pleasant."
Taki nodded idly, finishing off the handle. "Well, it can't be all pleasant, you know.
I just have to know if you're commited to helping these folk out. If any of those rogues
come along we do have to defend ourselves." She smiled. "Look, you can still back out.
But let me tell you; I wouldn't ask you in the first place if I thought that you couldn't
deliver."
Sophitia ran a hand through her blonde hair. "Even if I can't kill?" she asked. "Of
course. You do have the will to defend yourself, I'm sure," Taki added.
She finished wrapping leather on the grip of the sword's hilt. "You know, it may seem
strange to have just the two of us going up against a demon and several rogues -"
Minus the three she'd beaten down and who had been bound and gagged by the
village folk. "-But I do have a plan."
She smiled softly at the Greek, who for some reason blushed at her gesture. "And yes,
you're going to be bait for just a little while."
to be continued...
*jin long's notes*
such a rushed chapter, i think, but at least i covered all the bases for the rest of
the story.
if you think who i think you think the blonde-haired girl in Taki's brief flashback is,
well, you're wrong.
the Balrog is gonna be kinda different from the Tolkien style Balrog. it's gonna be a
cross between japanese mythology and norse mythology.
on a final note, i hope the Tolkien estate doesn't catch me using 'Balrog'
belong to NAMCO. Such a pity; they won't let me have them. Oh well. But
this fanfic is mine.
Requietum
by jin long
jin_long@lycos.com
Chapter 9
Taki set about repairing Sophitia's sword.
It had tiny nicks everywhere as well as a couple of cracks on its edge. Such
was probably the result of blows from Soul Edge, and they had weakened the
sword considerably. All it would take was a reasonably strong strike and the
so-called divinely forged blade would shatter.
There was no doubting it was a wonderful piece of forging, Taki knew, as she
pounded on it with a hammer. She concentrated hard - forging was no easy
business. If she didn't put her soul into her work, the sword would be
worthless.
She wondered to herself why she wanted to repair the girl's sword at all.
Her rational self argued that it was just the right thing to do. If the Greek's
equipment broke, continued her logical half, she would have more trouble
during the battle, since she'd be trying to find a way to get the girl to safety
while fighting, which was difficult.
However, a softer side to herself argued that there was another motive for
her actions. It argued that she wanted Sophitia to be safe, to not get hurt,
to not die. It argued that she felt some connection with this girl, just a
special something for this young foreiger that she denied herself many
times over.
It was at that point that Taki told her irrational, emotional self to shut the
hell up.
Sweat rolled down her brow unnoticed, a result of the heat of Jaeger's
forge. The blacksmith was outside with Ingrid, trying to convince the mayor
that she would defeat the demon. They were surely having just as difficult
a time as she had trying to convince them.
"Are you scared?" Sophitia had asked the night before. No. With all that
rage towards demons that she had, there was no room for fear. It was
something she had wondered about for so long. She had never been so full
of hate for demons since...
No, she always had. She always hated demons and loved killing them. It
was not a matter of duty. She had been taught to hate them to become
more efficient in hunting and slaying them.
That wasn't true, her mind argued.
She shook off the thought and continued her forging. Sophitia would need
a sword after all, both for the task at hand and the journey home. As for
herself, Taki realized she would have to use Mekki-maru, as Rekki-maru
was broken.
Mekki-maru... She had doubts about using Mekki-maru. She could feel the
dark energy emenating from it and she could hear Hachibei's plea over and
over again. She had taken Mekki-maru with her on her travels for Soul Edge
lest the clan find it and give it to Toki. However, she had never used it. It was
only now that she was even considering it, only now since Rekki-maru was
shattered.
She didn't have that essential metal right now to repair Rekki-maru, the metal
that was used specifically for demon hunters' blades. It was a very rare ore
that granted such swords the power to amplify their wielder's spiritual energy
versus demons. Of course, a demon hunter definitely had to have a good
amount of evil-repelling energy in the first place else the sword would be as
useless as an ordinary one versus demons.
That exceptional ore could only be found in areas the Fuuma ninja dominated,
and this foreign land was not one of them.
She returned to her work, so fully concentrated that she didn't notice Sophitia
entering the forge.
The first sign that Sophitia was there was her voice. "The villagers are all out
of the village and in their emergency refuge." The blonde sat herself beside Taki,
watching the ninja work. "Aren't you tired? You've been working the whole day."
"Not really," Taki said. "This is actually meditative, so it doesn't tire me as you
think." She landed another blow with the hammer on the sword as a memory
drifted through her senses...
-------------
"Leave Taki alone. She's busy trying to learn something."
Toki's command boomed throughout the forge, but Taki tried to force it out
of her mind and concentrate on what the clan smith was telling her. "This ore
needs to be this hot before you combine it with the metal that makes our
blades." He pounded the metal he was forging again. "You know why we have
to use this ore, right?"
"So that the swords can kill demons, right?" Taki answered.
"Very good." The smith nodded appreciatively. "All right, you so the next stroke.
Not too hard, and make sure you hit it such that it becomes a wedge shape." Taki
licked her dry lips as she nodded. "O-Okay," she said, taking the smith's offered
hammer then striking the sword.
"But I'm not doing anything to distract her, master Toki."
"All the same, leave Taki alone."
"Good. Now then, pump on the bellows. The fire is not nearly as hot as it needs
to be." Taki nodded, moving over to the large bellows and pressing down on it
with her foot. The fire roared back to full force with the renwed supply of oxygen,
much to the smith's approval.
"All right. Now return to beside me." Taki obeyed promptly, turning around to
do so.
She caught a glimpse of the girl Toki was scolding. The girl, she would never
forget, had blonde hair and blue eyes....
--------------
What the hell?
She'd lost her concentration, but fortunately the forging was done. She lifted the
blade with a pair of smith's tongs then placed it in water to cool it. When that was
finished she began to work the handle around it.
That memory...
That girl...
She shook her head. There was no point concentrating on that right now. As if to
brush it from her mind she spoke. "I guess you'll be ready for tomorrow."
Sophitia sighed. "I hope so." Taki realized something from the Greek's tone of
voice. "Just trust me on this - you won't have to kill anyone. But I wouldn't mind a
few, well-placed immobilizing strikes - not fatal of course, but enough to keep
anyone else down while we deal with the demon."
The Greek nodded. "I can do that. I did it on a ship on my way to Spain. She
smirked at the thought. "It wasn't really pleasant."
Taki nodded idly, finishing off the handle. "Well, it can't be all pleasant, you know.
I just have to know if you're commited to helping these folk out. If any of those rogues
come along we do have to defend ourselves." She smiled. "Look, you can still back out.
But let me tell you; I wouldn't ask you in the first place if I thought that you couldn't
deliver."
Sophitia ran a hand through her blonde hair. "Even if I can't kill?" she asked. "Of
course. You do have the will to defend yourself, I'm sure," Taki added.
She finished wrapping leather on the grip of the sword's hilt. "You know, it may seem
strange to have just the two of us going up against a demon and several rogues -"
Minus the three she'd beaten down and who had been bound and gagged by the
village folk. "-But I do have a plan."
She smiled softly at the Greek, who for some reason blushed at her gesture. "And yes,
you're going to be bait for just a little while."
to be continued...
*jin long's notes*
such a rushed chapter, i think, but at least i covered all the bases for the rest of
the story.
if you think who i think you think the blonde-haired girl in Taki's brief flashback is,
well, you're wrong.
the Balrog is gonna be kinda different from the Tolkien style Balrog. it's gonna be a
cross between japanese mythology and norse mythology.
on a final note, i hope the Tolkien estate doesn't catch me using 'Balrog'