The Chronicles of Weyard
By Claviculae
Chapter 11: Peacekeepers
"Jupiten, you are the greatest. This is so much faster than travel by boat!" Santur said as they landed on the northern outskirts of Kalay. The horse whinnied in response. After his friends had arrived, they set out for the tunnel entrance at a quick trot. They came to the foothills of the small mountain just north of the city. "It's up here," Goman said. He led them to a large rock and dismounted. "Now watch carefully," he said. He pushed against the face of the boulder and a doorway opened up in it. "Quickly. Inside. Bring the horses." They dismounted and walked in the passageway. The ceiling was low, requiring Brigg and Goman to duck. The floor sloped down at a steep angle, but was smooth and flawless. At about fifty feet underground, the passage flattened out and did a U-turn. The passage opened up into the tunnel where ACSS headquarters was located.
Goman led them to where the stables were. Santur considered elemental horses to be rare, but the stable was filled with them. Jupiten and Mercurin walked right into their stalls, but Venusit, Maror, and Maris needed to be coaxed in. Santur finally walked up to them and established a mind link. 'Look, ACSS has provided a clean stall for you. Please be gracious and accept it.' With that, the horses stepped into their stalls. Goman turned to the rest of the group. "Now, let's go see Albert."
Santur was starting to remember his way around and was able to find Albert's office without too much difficulty. He knocked on the door, then stepped back and waited. "Come in," Albert said from inside. Santur pushed the door open and walked in. "Ah, Santur. And the rest of the group. Enter and have a seat." He turned to Goman. "Why are you traveling with them?" he asked. "Because I had two trained assassins on my trail in Champa and my destination was the same as theirs. They offered me a ride and besides, we needed five people in that last encounter. If I wasn't supposed to, then I'm sorry, but no one informed me otherwise." With that, Goman sat down. "No, it's fine. I was just curious," Albert replied. "Now, I see that you are all Adepts. I hear that you have obtained elemental horses as your steeds. Is that correct?" Santur nodded. "Good. We have very few agents with elemental horses. You will prove to be of immense value now. What was the situation in Alhafra?" Santur stood up and replied, "We got there about five minutes too late. We were able to stop the massacre, and less than a hundred people died." "And the Gray Company?" Albert asked. "It was a bloody encounter, but we won't be bothered by them anymore." Albert looked down at his desk, saddened by the number of lives lost. "Thank you, Santur. You can sit down. Now, down to business. Since you are all equipped with worthy steeds, you are being transferred. Your new job is rapid response and peace keeping. You see, we have over a thousand Adepts working for ACSS. They are imbedded throughout Weyard, and it is their job to report any serious civil disturbances to headquarters. Once they have done so, we look over the details. If the disturbance is serious, then we dispatch some RRPCs, or Rapid Response Peace Keepers. The RRPCs use their elemental horses to reach the area as quickly as possible. Once there, they work with the embedded agent to resolve the disturbance. Since you are equipped with elemental horses, you are prime candidates for the job. Any questions?"
Santur raised his hand. Albert nodded at him. "Sir, what are Luna and Sol, specifically?" Albert smiled at him. "My, you are curious about Psynergy, Santur. Luna and Sol are two Elements that are not nearly as well known as Venus, Mars, Jupiter, or Mercury. They are sometimes referred to as 'Parent Elements' because they combine the power of two of the common four. Luna combines the power of Mercury and Jupiter, and Sol combines Venus and Mars. Does that answer your question?" "Yes sir, but two other questions: Are there any Elements that combine opposing Elements, like Jupiter and Venus, or Mercury and Mars?" Albert shook his head. "No, that's not really possible. You see, the opposing Elements would counteract each other and cancel each other out, resulting in no Psynergy. I don't believe that there are Elements that combine Jupiter and Mars or Venus and Mercury, either. What was your other question?" "How does one become a Luna or Sol Adept?" Albert smiled again. "You do have large ambitions. To become a Luna or Sol Adept, you must first visit the Lighthouse of your Element. Once there, you must climb to the aerie and power yourself up with the light of the beacon. After that, you must visit the lighthouse of your sister Element, in your case Mercury. After reaching the aerie, you must power yourself up with the beacon of that lighthouse. At that point, you will be granted all the Psynergy skills of your sister Element and will become a Luna Adept. Now, as much as I would like to see you rise up to Luna, Santur, we need you here more. If there is a lull in the usual streak of violence to the point where the other agents can handle it, you might be able to visit the two lighthouses. But right now, we'll have you going for sixteen hours a day. Now, head down to the armory and tell them that you need standard issue armor for RRPC work. Dismissed."
They all stood up and filed out of the office. Santur turned to Goman. "Goman, how long have you been working here at ACSS?" Goman shrugged. "About three months, I guess. They've had me running around doing odd jobs. This is my first real assignment. Now follow me and we'll head to the armory." They walked down numerous hallways until they came to a door that said 'Armory'. As Goman was pushing it open, Meron looked at him. "Goman, what is standard issue armor for an RRPC?" "Beats me. As I said, this is my first real assignment." They stepped into the armory. Shields, boots, gloves, helmets, and various other pieces of armor were hanging up on the walls. Santur walked up to a man working at a forge. "Excuse me, but we were sent down here to get standard armor for RRPC work." The man straightened up and looked at Santur. "Oh, just became an RRPC, eh? Okay, follow me." He walked over to a door with 'Special Agent' written on it. He took a key and unlocked it. It opened up into a small closet with various sizes of fine mail shirts and pants. "Here's what we give to RRPCs and embedded agents. Here, find a size that fits you. The mail is made from mythril, a metal that's as light as a feather, but harder than orihalcon. It's very expensive, so take good care of it." He grabbed several sets of shirts and pants and handed them out. "Try these on. Go into those dressing rooms and make sure they fit you properly. You need to be able to wear normal clothing over it." Ten minutes later, they were all wearing mythril mail under their clothing. "One more thing. Take these mythril hoods. Keep them with you and wear them when battling. Okay, all of you are now equipped for RRPC work. Have fun." With that, he stepped back to the forge and resumed his work on a helm.
As they stepped out into the hallway, a thought occurred to Santur. "Um, Goman, where do we go now?" "To our quarters. Albert set your rooms up next to mine. Let me give you a tour around headquarters and show you various things you'll need to know." Goman showed them to their quarters first. The rooms were sparsly furnished, having only a bed, a small table with a reading lamp, a little wardrobe, and a small bathroom. "The bathrooms only have toilets and sinks. I'll show you were the shower area is later on. Now, follow me and I'll show you to the area where you'll spend most of your time here. The break room." The break room was a large room with many tables. It also contained a kitchen area for those who had time to eat a bite before rushing off on an assignment. The room was occupied by twenty or thirty RRPCs, to whom Goman introduced Santur and his friends. After that, he showed them to the shower area, the workout center, and many other areas. As they were touring the facility, Goman explained some basic rules to them. "When you're on duty, you're not allowed to shower or work out at the gym. Preferably, you should either be in your room or in the break room. Absolutely no guys in girl's rooms and vice versa. If you want to talk to a member of the opposite sex, do it in the break room. The only two areas were you're allowed to have your weapons unsheathed are your quarters and the gym. At all other times, keep your weapons in their sheaths. The reason is that we've had some accidents with people trying to demonstrate swordplay in the hallways. One was nearly fatal."
After the tour, they all returned to their quarters and unpacked their things. Once they were finished, they met in the break room and started talking with some of the other RRPCs. Several times while they were there, a message boy ran into the room with a message and delivered it to an RRPC, who read it and promptly left. After they had been there about half an hour, a boy walked in and pulled out a message. He cleared his throat and read it outloud. "The following people are to speak with me immediately: Santur, Meron, Brigg, Gandas, and Goman." They all got up and walked over to the boy, who quickly explained. "You have been ordered to report to the mining colony and town of Altin. One of our agents just reported that a group of bandits are ransacking the town. Report there immediately." Goman ran out of the room and the others followed him to the stable. They grabbed their horses and followed Goman to the northern exit.
"Let's go!" Goman said as he shut the secret door. They jumped on their horses and shot off to the northeast. Jupiten leapt into the air and soared high above the ground, accompanied by the two fireballs that were Maror and Maris. As soon as Brigg had gotten on Venusit, the horse had shot straight into the ground. Mercurin headed off to the east, trying to reach the ocean. Once in water, she could travel as fast as any of the other horses.
Santur was the first to see Altin, the small town built onto the side of the mountain that the town took it's name from. Gandas and Goman saw it a moment later. It was a small town, consisting of maybe twenty-four houses, an inn, a grocery store, and various other small shops. Jupiten altered his course, as did Maror and Maris. Jupiten landed just outside of town. The two fireballs smashed into the ground on either side of Santur and quickly formed into Maror and Maris. Venusit shot out of the ground and landed in front of Santur. Suddenly, there was a tremendous splash as Mercurin jumped out of the well from which the town drew its water. They all gathered together and observed the situation. Bandits were raiding the town, breaking into houses and stealing anything of value. They only killed the people who opposed them. Already, two miners lay dead on the ground, with three dead bandits close by. "Let's go hunt some bandits!" Brigg yelled as Venusit charged into the town, closely followed by the others.
Santur jumped off of Jupiten, leaving the horse to take on bandits separately. Santur grabbed his boomerang and looked around. He saw a bandit fighting with a miner who was trying to defend his house. Santur threw the boomerang at the bandit, then caught it as it returned. The headless body fell to the ground. Santur felt a heavy blow to his upper back. The hit sent him sprawling. He rolled to his feet and saw the source of the attack. A bandit was standing there, armed with a heavy claymore. Santur dropped the boomerang, knowing that it would be useless at short range. The bandit charged, leaving him no time to draw his sword. He jumped at the bandit feet-first. His shoes made contact with the bandit's face, causing him to trip and fall. Santur rebounded and landed on his feet. He drew his Ninja Blade and pinned the thief to the ground. He retrieved his boomerang and put on his mail hood, chiding himself for not doing so sooner. He heard footsteps behind him and bairly had time to duck the blade that would have collided with his hood, snapping his neck. The bandit was thrown off balance, having braced himself for the blow that didn't connect. This gave Santur the chance to swing his blade at the thief, cutting most of the through him. He yelled and fell. Santur saw another bandit running for him, this time unarmed. He had apparently lost his sword earlier and thought he could take Santur hand-to-hand. He lunged for Santur, expecting to tackle him at full speed. He was very suprised to find that, instead of jumping up and coming down, he was continuing on his upward course. Once he was forty feet off the ground, Santur dissolved the whirlwind. The fall didn't kill him, but landing on the angled face of the mountain and rolling down to the base did.
Meron pulled out her special deck of cards. As a bandit charged her, she slid one off the top of the deck. The man jumped at her, only to be blown back by the hurricane winds emitted from the card. As he picked himself up, he was met with a cloud of gas, which completely enveloped him. The coughing gradually subsided as he fell asleep and eventually stopped breathing. The next person that charged Meron was stopped by half a dozen sabers shooting up from the ground. Once in the air, they all fell on top of him, impaling him in numerous places. "Well, that's enough fun for now," she said, putting the deck away and drawing her mace. She took a minute to set it on fire before going into battle. She saw one bandit hitting a lady to get her out of his way so he could loot her house. Meron followed him angrily. As he was searching the kitchen for any valuables, Meron snuck up behind him. "Don't hit ladies!" she shouted as she swung her mace. He tried to turn around, but wasn't fast enough. The flaming mace connected with the side of his head, dropping him to the ground. Meron walked over to the lady and helped her up, then ran outside. She spotted one thief running across the open area by the well. She charged down the slope and jumped into the air, slamming into him and sending them both to the ground. Meron was the first to recover, standing up and beating him repeatedly with her mace. When she was finished, she turned around, resting her still-burning mace on the ground. It was then that she saw a man, less than ten feet away, charging her at full speed. He brought his sword up to parry the blow he expected her to deal, but her mace remained on the ground. It was only when he was less than a foot away and still ready to parry that she attacked, swinging the mace up from its resting position on the ground into the man's groin. He fell down and didn't move.
Brigg was having way too much fun experimenting with his hammer. All he had to do was swing it into a bandit's midsection and they would fall and remain still. One bandit stopped and faced him. He took the opportunity to bring the hammer, with the momentum of a boulder, down on the man's left foot, burying it a couple of inches into the ground. The man let out a horrified raspy screech as he tried to dig his foot out of the ground. He quickly gave up and dropped to the ground, tears of pain flowing down his face. Brigg made a mental note to cure him after the battle was done. After a while of using his hammer, Brigg put it away and drew his sword. He put on a wonderful display of master swordsmanship. Many bandits were hacked to pieces by Brigg's blade. Gandas and Goman fought side-by-side, whipping bandits to within an inch of their lives. Most of them surrendered, but some of them fell by Gandas' sword or Goman's flaming scythe. The horses wandered the town, trampling some bandits and blasting others.
Within ten minutes of their arrival, the battle was over. The bandits surrendered and were taken captive. The dead were buried, and the embedded agent thanked Santur and his friends. After that, they mounted their steeds and set off for Kalay. Albert congratulated them on their performance. After that, they headed to the break room. Two more assignments followed that day alone. The next few weeks were filled with them. One day, as Santur was sitting in the break room, he got a message to report to Albert immediately. "Santur, there you are. We have an emergency. The Wise One, ancient guardian of the Seal, has returned and is trying to seal off the power that is keeping Weyard alive! We have to stop him."
Ooh, this is gettin' interesting. The Wise One is back! Please start reviewing. I want to know if anyone besides Leaftwiggy and SolSabre are reading this. I'm also holding a fanart competition for those of you who are artistically gifted (not me!) Send your drawings of Santur, Meron, Brigg, Gandas, Goman, and all the horses. The winners will become the background picture on the Chronicles of Weyard website! The winners will also receive a large cash prize consisting of fifteen billion dollars! /lying Just kidding. I'm starting to lose inspiration for this fic, so I'm going to wrap it up soon. So please review. Thanx.
Claviculae
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7/1/03
7:04 PM
24 paragraphs
257 lines
3122 words