By J.B.
Part Cetra - I
Oh, and thanks to all my reviewers so far---I never had a high count
base before. ^^;;
3rd of March, A.D. 200
I didn't like the new guy one bit.
Let me start over from the beginning. After a simple battle with a few loose brigands on the main road of the expansive Mandalia Plains, 'great leader' had thought it wise to keep the young man we saved within our ranks for the time being. From the minute that I saw his bronze armor, neatly sewn orange scarf, and prim cut blonde hair, I already knew that we were dealing with a Noble.
Yes, I was one of the few, or if you look at it from the 'commoner's view, the many that disliked Algus Sadalfos.
It wasn't like I knew his traitorous family history well, which he had explained to Ramza much later. It was just that we (and when I mean we, I meant us 'commoners') never, under any circumstances, mixed in well within the presence of any of the rich snobs (who are so righteously called Nobles). I was not much to emphasize the differences between nobles and commoners, not like how the Death Corps was trying to do, but I knew full well the line was there. I also knew my comrades did as well, and that they too kept their real thoughts of this borderline secret.
So on our last hour on our trek towards Igros, I could practically smell the tension in the air, just like the stench of blood that always remains after a hard-fought battle. None of us; not Leon, not I, and especially not Delita; dared to fire the first shot. I decided to let HIM make the first move, especially since he wouldn't survive against a greater number of others that did not like him. Noble or not, he knew better than to be outright.
"I must rescue the Marquis," he kept muttering, although I wasn't
entirely
sure his reasons were as selfless as they were supposed to be.
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We (and when I mean we, I meant us 'soldiers' of Ramza) decided to mill around the town section of Igros while 'great leader' and Delita escorted the blonde twit to the castle. Most of the female cadets split off to do whatever women did (and frankly at the time, I didn't care), while Leon and I had decided to do a little practicing on the outskirts of the village. But what I didn't know ahead of time is that my old comrade had changed his fighting style without me knowing.
So when we met at our usual secluded clearing behind the Beoulve residence, I looked at him warily at his new Knight attire.
Leon was tall, around 5'8", with his thick auburn hair wrapped in a masculine ponytail that trailed behind his back. His eyes shone a darker shade of brown, the left eye partially shadowed by his bangs. Unlike the others who were also Knights in training, he had decided to keep his hair from being stiff and combed up. His grinning expression indicated that he was proud of the new leather armor and cape that he now wore, which was standard Hokuten-issue, but with brighter colors.
"Nice," I commented, but not too impressed at that moment.
"Thanks," he smirked back, then unsheathed his sword and adjusted to his battle stance. "You know I'm going to be a lot harder on you now."
"We'll see." I started off the sparring battle with a leap to the air and executed a standard overhead slash right down to his head. Leon knew this was coming, however, and raised his wooden shield to block. I cursed to myself as my momentum was interrupted by his new defense; I had very little experience dealing with shielded warriors. I forced myself to learn quickly, to analyze and pinpoint the strengths and weaknesses of my friend's new Job class.
He countered with a spin and a slash aimed toward my ribcage. I lifted up my sword to block, but the high velocity and power of the blow knocked my weapon clean off my hands. 'Ok, that was mistake number two,' I berated at myself. I was not going for three.
I executed a back flip and escaped his attack range, picking up my sword along the way. A new idea formed in my head, and it was going to use Leon's own strength to my advantage. Despite the current situation, I smiled.
'What's he grinning about?' he wondered for a second. 'Tyrane knows I've got the advantage because of my new equipment, there's no way that he could've found a weak spot already.'
I rushed in, appearing as reckless as I could, and I saw the brown-haired youth raise his shield up in preparation for my attack. But instead of trying for the blow, I performed a slide right under his shield, and kicked him directly onto the chest. Leon stumbled back from the force of my blow, his winded state causing him to drop his shield in surprise, and nearly forgot to defend as I quickly disarmed him with a flick of my wrist.
His long sword went flying and landed blade-first onto the hilltop. I stopped my sword an inch from his face, a wide grin plastered on my face.
"You're anticipating too much," I chided. "I don't always strike the same way twice."
My friend sighed, pushed aside my sword, and went to his own weapon. "Yeah, I'll give you that much credit," he replied, "I just started my Knight training a day ago, ok?"
"But still," I tried to reassure him, "you were really hard on the defense. It's not every day I have to deal with a shield and sword at the same time." As he sheathed his sword and turned back toward me, Leon smiled faintly.
"So, let's meet back with the others, ok?" I said, pointing back to town. "I'm sure the girls are done with their shopping by now."
As we wandered back, I thought I caught a glimpse of a silhouette darting behind a corner of the Beoulve house, but when I chased it to where it was, I found nothing.
'Must've been just my imagination…'
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I cut this chapter a bit short 'cuz I wanna keep up with my deadlines ^^; I've reports up the creek this week, so I'll be a bit slow with further updating... gomen ne!
