Tawanos: I said that this chapter would be up by Wednesday at the latest,
and here it is. My school seems to be backing off at the moment from work
so I will be able to keep working on my fics. Unfortunately my other fic
has fallen behind so it comes first. I will continue to write this fic,
but with less time. Some people seem to think that my statement in my bio
means that I will be going on a writing strike. So far I have thought
about it, but I have not drawn any conclusions as to weather I should or
not. Any way I hope you enjoy my new chapter.
Disclaimer: I own Zoids, may the gods strike me down if I lie. *Dives for cover as lightning hits where I was just standing*
Chapter 3- Fights, Jobs, and Spirits
As soon as they entered the clearing just before the caravan they could tell that this was indeed the Champ Caravan. It was not just because of the large emblem of the Champ family was on the flags that hung from the various wagons, it was more the piercing scream of terror and dash for cover that were both made by Harry as soon as he saw Bit. As Bit and Brad made the large circle that they were going to fight in a large man approached them from the direction of the caravan. He was wearing a light blue short-sleeved shirt, khaki pants that were wearing out at the knees, sandals, and a wide brimmed hat to keep the sun out of his eyes while he worked with his crew.
"My name is Cornelius Champ, I am the owner of the Champ Caravan and I wish to know two things. One, what you are doing here?" A mischievous twinkle could be seen in his eyes. "And two, which one of you lads scared my son so much that he won't come out of that barrel?" He jerked a thumb over his shoulder at a barrel that was visibly shaking. To answer his second question Bit put his hand by his mouth and called over in the direction of the barrel.
"Now where did I put that ax? Ah, here it is." Harry popped out of the barrel like a cork, when he landed he ran as quickly as he could behind the largest of the wagons. Everyone, including Harry's father, laughed at this. At this point Cornelius noticed Doc and his family.
"Doc what are you doing here? We don't leave for another two days."
"Well I can answer your first and your last questions. I hired this young man," he indicated Bit, "as a bodyguard. He and Brad Hunter here were about to have a friendly little fight. Anyone can watch if they would like." Cornelius agreed and called over some of the workers from the caravan to watch. Once everyone was gathered and found a nice place to sit, or lean, and watch the fight Bit and Brad stepped into the circle at opposite ends and got into fighting stances.
They met in the middle of the arena with a clash of metal as each dirk pared off with one of it's opponents. Brad heaved and pushed Bit back. When there was a little space between them Brad launched a duel attack with each blade aimed at a different part of Bit's torso. However before they could get anywhere near their targets Bit had knocked them away and made an attack of his own. Side by side both of Bit's blade flashed towards Brad's chest, but before they could hit Brad had jumped back and backed away to the far side of the ring.
"That was enough of a warm-up. Are you ready for a real fight?" Brad asked Bit.
"Enough talking, let's go." Bit said, a smile on his face.
Again they charged each other. For a split second their blades met, and then began an exchange of attacks were almost to fast for the eye to see. It was as if the blades had taken a life of their own, each one independent of the others. They made lightning like strikes and sweeping slashes, yet not a cut was made. No matter how hard they tried neither could land a blow. Strike, block, dodge, these were all steps in the battle but they were each so fast that no one could follow them, and they were getting faster by the second. After a minute they were not so much fighters as they were blurs.
Then it was over. A booted foot struck out and caught its opponent's knees. No longer able to support anything the man fell to the ground, before he could do anything one of his opponent's knives was pressed against his neck making it impossible to move.
Bit removed his dirk from Brad's neck and helped him to his feet. Their audience slowly recovered from the stunned silence that they had fallen into, someone began to clap and soon everyone was clapping. Bit and Brad shook hands.
"You were toying with me the whole time." Brad accused Bit quietly so that no one else heard.
"So what? That was still a better workout than I've had in weeks." Bit whispered back. He turned to their audience. "Does anyone have some water? It's thirsty work fighting like that."
"I'll bet." Cornelius said as he approached with a canteen. "Doc said that you were working for him." Bit nodded and Cornelius turned to Brad. "But he didn't say what you did or what you will be doing."
"I'm a mercenary by trade, and after I'm finished meeting with Bit I will head back to the merc tavern and wait for someone to hire me."
"Well I was thinking about what Doc said about hiring a bodyguard for my family, this stretch of mountain that we will be passing through is said to be full of bandits. I think Doc has the right idea. I want to hire you Brad Hunter as a bodyguard for my family."
"I'm expensive." Brad said simply.
"For good reason, money is not a problem."
"Then I'm yours." Brad and Cornelius shook hands ceremoniously to seal the bargain. Cornelius turned to Bit and Doc and his family who were coming up to them.
"Because that was such a fabulous fight, I would like to offer you lunch with my family." At this point Bit's stomach growled quite loudly, everyone laughed.
"Sounds like a wonderful idea." Doc said. Cornelius headed off and came back with his family.
"This is my wife Victoria." He indicated a tall brown haired woman in a long violet dress. "My daughter Mary." The look on the blonde's face was one you would expect to see on a balloon if it had a face. "And you've already met my son Harry." He reached behind him and pulled out the boy. "I know a good tavern in town."
All together Doc, Leon, Leena, Bit, Brad, Cornelius, Victoria, Mary, and Harry headed into town. Soon they were at tavern and seated. The seating order was like this, Cornelius, Victoria, Mary, Harry, Leena, Leon, Doc, Bit, Brad. They each ordered something to eat and drink except for Bit, who ordered several something's, several large something's. While they waited for their food to come they talked with each other. Brad and Cornelius talked about the finer points of their deal. Victoria and Mary talked about the latest fashions. Harry kept trying to get Leena's attention by bragging about how much money he had and where he had traveled, but she ignored him and instead listened to the conversation that her father and brother were having with Bit.
"Bit we noticed something interesting while you fought. Your eyes kept changing color." Bit nodded, knowing what he was talking about. "I once saw it happen with your father during a particularly hard challenge, but when I questioned him about it he claimed not to know anything. I now know that he was lying. I was wondering if you could please explain it."
"It's something that happens to all fighters in the line of Liger. It is said that Liger had three fighting spirits, one for attacking, one for defending, and one for speed. Depending on how I am fighting they might awaken in me and assist in my fighting. The change in my eyes is a result of which fighting spirit is awakened. Red for the fighting spirit, green for the defender, and blue for speed. They are not restricted to awakening only during fighting, when emotionally stressed they can... takeover, I don't know exactly what happens when one of them takeover. I also see them in my dreams sometimes, but when I wake up all I remember is seeing them, no memory of what they looked like, or what happened in the dream. Does that answer your question?"
"Do these fighting spirits have names?" Leon asked.
"Their individual names have been lost in time but my father once told me that they are called the Liger Spirits."
"You said that these spirits could takeover. Does that mean that they have taken you over before?" Leena asked. Harry had given up trying to get her attention and was sulking.
"Yes, I believe that they did once takeover. It was when the Fury army burned the village that my family lived in. I was coming back from hunting that I saw the smoke. By the time I reached the village it was almost all gone to the flames. My home, my family, they were all gone. I got so angry, and then I blacked out. Then next thing I knew I was standing in the middle of a clearing full of trees that had been mangled, ripped apart, torn to shreds, all trees that were bigger around then most men. What I think happened is that the spirits took me into the forest and allowed me to take out my anger on the trees. Liger, the leopard, still won't tell me exactly what happened that day." Bit looked up and saw that the food was coming. "Enough of that, it's time to eat."
Everyone was served and began to eat. Well they watched for a second as Bit shoveled food into his mouth at top speed before starting themselves. They all finished at about the same time, even Bit, they paid the bill and left. They went their separate ways the Champs and Brad headed back to the caravan, and Bit and the Toros' headed back to the Chariot. When they arrived Liger was waiting impatiently on the roof. When he saw Bit he jumped down and walked over to him, when he reached Bit, Bit crouched down and looked into Liger's eyes. After a moment he nodded and Liger bounded off into the forest.
"What was that about?" Leena asked.
"Oh, Liger wanted to go hunting for lunch but didn't want to leave the Chariot unguarded, so he waited for me to comeback before going to hunt for his lunch." Bit stifled a yawn. "If you don't mind I think I will take a nap." Doc said ok so Bit headed inside and up onto the roof that had been warmed by the sun.
Tawanos: I have a real tearjerker planned for the next chapter between two of the characters. (I'm not saying whom.) You'll just have to be patient and wait for me to update.
Disclaimer: I own Zoids, may the gods strike me down if I lie. *Dives for cover as lightning hits where I was just standing*
Chapter 3- Fights, Jobs, and Spirits
As soon as they entered the clearing just before the caravan they could tell that this was indeed the Champ Caravan. It was not just because of the large emblem of the Champ family was on the flags that hung from the various wagons, it was more the piercing scream of terror and dash for cover that were both made by Harry as soon as he saw Bit. As Bit and Brad made the large circle that they were going to fight in a large man approached them from the direction of the caravan. He was wearing a light blue short-sleeved shirt, khaki pants that were wearing out at the knees, sandals, and a wide brimmed hat to keep the sun out of his eyes while he worked with his crew.
"My name is Cornelius Champ, I am the owner of the Champ Caravan and I wish to know two things. One, what you are doing here?" A mischievous twinkle could be seen in his eyes. "And two, which one of you lads scared my son so much that he won't come out of that barrel?" He jerked a thumb over his shoulder at a barrel that was visibly shaking. To answer his second question Bit put his hand by his mouth and called over in the direction of the barrel.
"Now where did I put that ax? Ah, here it is." Harry popped out of the barrel like a cork, when he landed he ran as quickly as he could behind the largest of the wagons. Everyone, including Harry's father, laughed at this. At this point Cornelius noticed Doc and his family.
"Doc what are you doing here? We don't leave for another two days."
"Well I can answer your first and your last questions. I hired this young man," he indicated Bit, "as a bodyguard. He and Brad Hunter here were about to have a friendly little fight. Anyone can watch if they would like." Cornelius agreed and called over some of the workers from the caravan to watch. Once everyone was gathered and found a nice place to sit, or lean, and watch the fight Bit and Brad stepped into the circle at opposite ends and got into fighting stances.
They met in the middle of the arena with a clash of metal as each dirk pared off with one of it's opponents. Brad heaved and pushed Bit back. When there was a little space between them Brad launched a duel attack with each blade aimed at a different part of Bit's torso. However before they could get anywhere near their targets Bit had knocked them away and made an attack of his own. Side by side both of Bit's blade flashed towards Brad's chest, but before they could hit Brad had jumped back and backed away to the far side of the ring.
"That was enough of a warm-up. Are you ready for a real fight?" Brad asked Bit.
"Enough talking, let's go." Bit said, a smile on his face.
Again they charged each other. For a split second their blades met, and then began an exchange of attacks were almost to fast for the eye to see. It was as if the blades had taken a life of their own, each one independent of the others. They made lightning like strikes and sweeping slashes, yet not a cut was made. No matter how hard they tried neither could land a blow. Strike, block, dodge, these were all steps in the battle but they were each so fast that no one could follow them, and they were getting faster by the second. After a minute they were not so much fighters as they were blurs.
Then it was over. A booted foot struck out and caught its opponent's knees. No longer able to support anything the man fell to the ground, before he could do anything one of his opponent's knives was pressed against his neck making it impossible to move.
Bit removed his dirk from Brad's neck and helped him to his feet. Their audience slowly recovered from the stunned silence that they had fallen into, someone began to clap and soon everyone was clapping. Bit and Brad shook hands.
"You were toying with me the whole time." Brad accused Bit quietly so that no one else heard.
"So what? That was still a better workout than I've had in weeks." Bit whispered back. He turned to their audience. "Does anyone have some water? It's thirsty work fighting like that."
"I'll bet." Cornelius said as he approached with a canteen. "Doc said that you were working for him." Bit nodded and Cornelius turned to Brad. "But he didn't say what you did or what you will be doing."
"I'm a mercenary by trade, and after I'm finished meeting with Bit I will head back to the merc tavern and wait for someone to hire me."
"Well I was thinking about what Doc said about hiring a bodyguard for my family, this stretch of mountain that we will be passing through is said to be full of bandits. I think Doc has the right idea. I want to hire you Brad Hunter as a bodyguard for my family."
"I'm expensive." Brad said simply.
"For good reason, money is not a problem."
"Then I'm yours." Brad and Cornelius shook hands ceremoniously to seal the bargain. Cornelius turned to Bit and Doc and his family who were coming up to them.
"Because that was such a fabulous fight, I would like to offer you lunch with my family." At this point Bit's stomach growled quite loudly, everyone laughed.
"Sounds like a wonderful idea." Doc said. Cornelius headed off and came back with his family.
"This is my wife Victoria." He indicated a tall brown haired woman in a long violet dress. "My daughter Mary." The look on the blonde's face was one you would expect to see on a balloon if it had a face. "And you've already met my son Harry." He reached behind him and pulled out the boy. "I know a good tavern in town."
All together Doc, Leon, Leena, Bit, Brad, Cornelius, Victoria, Mary, and Harry headed into town. Soon they were at tavern and seated. The seating order was like this, Cornelius, Victoria, Mary, Harry, Leena, Leon, Doc, Bit, Brad. They each ordered something to eat and drink except for Bit, who ordered several something's, several large something's. While they waited for their food to come they talked with each other. Brad and Cornelius talked about the finer points of their deal. Victoria and Mary talked about the latest fashions. Harry kept trying to get Leena's attention by bragging about how much money he had and where he had traveled, but she ignored him and instead listened to the conversation that her father and brother were having with Bit.
"Bit we noticed something interesting while you fought. Your eyes kept changing color." Bit nodded, knowing what he was talking about. "I once saw it happen with your father during a particularly hard challenge, but when I questioned him about it he claimed not to know anything. I now know that he was lying. I was wondering if you could please explain it."
"It's something that happens to all fighters in the line of Liger. It is said that Liger had three fighting spirits, one for attacking, one for defending, and one for speed. Depending on how I am fighting they might awaken in me and assist in my fighting. The change in my eyes is a result of which fighting spirit is awakened. Red for the fighting spirit, green for the defender, and blue for speed. They are not restricted to awakening only during fighting, when emotionally stressed they can... takeover, I don't know exactly what happens when one of them takeover. I also see them in my dreams sometimes, but when I wake up all I remember is seeing them, no memory of what they looked like, or what happened in the dream. Does that answer your question?"
"Do these fighting spirits have names?" Leon asked.
"Their individual names have been lost in time but my father once told me that they are called the Liger Spirits."
"You said that these spirits could takeover. Does that mean that they have taken you over before?" Leena asked. Harry had given up trying to get her attention and was sulking.
"Yes, I believe that they did once takeover. It was when the Fury army burned the village that my family lived in. I was coming back from hunting that I saw the smoke. By the time I reached the village it was almost all gone to the flames. My home, my family, they were all gone. I got so angry, and then I blacked out. Then next thing I knew I was standing in the middle of a clearing full of trees that had been mangled, ripped apart, torn to shreds, all trees that were bigger around then most men. What I think happened is that the spirits took me into the forest and allowed me to take out my anger on the trees. Liger, the leopard, still won't tell me exactly what happened that day." Bit looked up and saw that the food was coming. "Enough of that, it's time to eat."
Everyone was served and began to eat. Well they watched for a second as Bit shoveled food into his mouth at top speed before starting themselves. They all finished at about the same time, even Bit, they paid the bill and left. They went their separate ways the Champs and Brad headed back to the caravan, and Bit and the Toros' headed back to the Chariot. When they arrived Liger was waiting impatiently on the roof. When he saw Bit he jumped down and walked over to him, when he reached Bit, Bit crouched down and looked into Liger's eyes. After a moment he nodded and Liger bounded off into the forest.
"What was that about?" Leena asked.
"Oh, Liger wanted to go hunting for lunch but didn't want to leave the Chariot unguarded, so he waited for me to comeback before going to hunt for his lunch." Bit stifled a yawn. "If you don't mind I think I will take a nap." Doc said ok so Bit headed inside and up onto the roof that had been warmed by the sun.
Tawanos: I have a real tearjerker planned for the next chapter between two of the characters. (I'm not saying whom.) You'll just have to be patient and wait for me to update.