Blah…blah…blah I don't own Ragnarok Online, and so on and so forth…
Comments on this chapter will be in my profile.
Chapter 1: War of Emperium
"I can hardly differentiate my dreams from reality these days."
A knight stood alone in the middle of a forest; around him, hundreds of small beasts had massed. The little creatures stood no more than two feet above the ground, but each bore a viciousness their kind was notorious for. Leaves scattered the forest floor; every few seconds the sound of a leaf cracking under the weight of a goblin could be heard. Their snarling began to grow louder with their impatience.
The first goblin launched viciously at the knight with a hammer, screaming their battle cry and forcing its presence to the knight. Before the goblin could reach the knight, he had drawn his long sword and turned to face his first attacker. The knight placed his free hand on his sakkat and dashed towards the foolish opponent. With a quick twist of his arm he raised his sword and brought it down upon the goblin's head, cleaving through the mask concealing its face and sending it flying into its companions, instantly killing a large group of them.
The knight stood back to look at the damage he had done: the dead beasts glittered with a blue radiance, lighting the darkened corridors of the forest before fading into oblivion. At the sight of this, his eyes glowed in anticipation for more blood, his sword pulsating with each passing second. Lust for battle began to fuel the goblins as they raised their weapons and launched themselves at the lone knight. A smile crept across his face as he dashed into the oncoming attack. Swinging his sword in a large arc he severed goblin after goblin's heads. Their attack began to waver as the beasts stared as one after another fell to the adversary's assault. Soon the goblins began to flee in horror as the knight cackled a blood curdling laugh. Raising his sword, each body that lay before him glowed an eerie pale silver until an ethereal vision of each goblin was extricated from their remains and absorbed into the pulsing red sword. The air in the forest was filled with the piteous cries of horror from the once feared goblin tribes…
"Captain!"
Around him laid what at first would have looked like a battlefield but more resembled a massacre. Genocide even – had it been deliberate; but in fact, anyone watching the event would have told you the goblins had just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The winds of the forest picked up, spreading the knight's cape in full form; the crest of warring Payon in its center…
"Wake up, sir!"
The captain's eyes flew open as he tried to grasp reality; blinded by a dim light, he realized he was dreaming…
"Sir! Word from the capital!"
"I'll be out…in a minute." A long yawn as if trapped in his throat escaped.
With a flick of his hand he signaled for the knight to leave his tent. As the knight left, the captain stared around at his crude tent; barely enough room for his sleeping bag and armor. Discarding the dream as just that, he began to dress, placing the light chain mail over his body as well as a dirty shirt indicating him as a Pronteran soldier. Before leaving the tent he fixed his long black hair into a makeshift ponytail, falling to the middle of his back, despite it being tied back, hair fell to the front and side of his face, partially covering his dark brown eyes. His light brown skin made him a clear Payonese inhabitant, although he had long ago joined the Pronteran Knight Division to broaden his horizons.
Stepping out of his tent the captain looked around to see the emptiness of the Sograt desert. His division was only a few hours south of Prontera; but they had been stationed in the desert for the past week.
"Sir!"
The captain turned his head to see a hunter from his squad approach him; a falcon perched on his right arm, his left arm outstretched handing the captain a scroll with the capital's seal on it.
"Word from Prontera. Sir!"
The captain looked down at the scroll with a slight hesitation.
"I was sure they sent us out here to get us out of their hair for a while. Don't tell me they want us back?" The hunter readily chuckled at the sarcasm but quickly stiffened up again. "Cross your fingers."
Hiro Ryujin: upon receiving this letter, you and the Dragoon Knights; Fifth Squad under King Tristan are to immediately return to Prontera Capital before daybreak on the 15th
"That's it? And here I was thinking we'd be getting an important mission."
Hiro glanced over his shoulder just in time to see his second lieutenant backing up. A tall slender man wearing a long white robe decorated with carefully stitched patterns; a clear symbol of his belonging to the Pronteran church. His pale, short white hair gleaming in the sun enhanced his sapphire eyes. The man had obvious good looks that signed him as an 'All-Pronteran' soldier. On his belt sat two claws fit for human hands; a common weapon used by monks while two earrings depicting crosses hung silently on his right ear as if to remind those around him he was a man of God and would not hear of any blasphemy.
"Alphonse, don't read from over my shoulder, it's unsettling."
Grinning, the monk walked over to the rest of the Dragoon Knights.
"Pack up guys, we're going home!"
A loud roar spread throughout the camp as the members of the squad cheered ecstatically at the news. They had good reason as well. The Dragoon Knights had been patrolling the forests east of the Sograt searching for the elusive Ghostring for the past week. The miscreant had been harassing passing travelers on their way to Prontera. Just when the 'camping trip' had begun to grow stale, the Knight's happened to stumble upon a band of wizards just as they had defeated the ghost. To make matters worse, rumors had been flying around that Payon had been massing its military near the borders of its country – of course in the name of self preservation. This did nothing to dampen the Knights' spirits of returning home though.
By mid-morning the Knights had started marching towards the capital with heat constantly barring down upon them. Hiro looked back to see many of his knights had removed their armor while the priests and wizards doubled up with them on their pecopecos. Frowning disapprovingly he had to agree the heat seemed more intense today.
Looking down from his peco to his left, Alphonse walked with a brisk stride, unaffected by the heat, even under his heavy robes. Hiro had always envied the monk's mental strength; their rigorous training had sharpened their minds and bodies to perfection. To his right walked the First Lieutenant of the Dragoon Knights; Haruko Uzume. She had been with Hiro for the better part of the last six years, always proving to be a reliable companion. Her long, pale blonde-nearly-white hair flowed behind her with each step she took, giving her an elegant charisma. Over her shoulder slung a rare white bow; said to have been imbued with holy powers: a proven ghost slayer. Despite her flawless pace Hiro knew even she that even she was faltering.
"Haruko, you okay?" Hiro questioned with a slight yet unnoticeable-to-anyone-not-listening worry in his voice. The young captain was never one to remain 'peachy' when his comrades were – well, not 'peachy.'
"I'm peachy." Haruko said blatantly. A skilled hunter was never one to show her weaknesses in front of her squad, especially when Alphonse who had been long coveting her position as First Lieutenant was always watching with impunity.
"You look tired; do you want to ride on my peco until we get back?"
"I said I'm fine." She repeated while looking up at her captain, her dull green eyes had reflected her exhaustion. After a long glare she continued to walk forward, trying to keep pace with a chuckling Alphonse.
Stirring his peco forward Hiro quickly paralleled Haruko's path; his mount's large red and blue feathers swayed in the slight breeze. Hiro was one of the few knights given a Grand Pecopeco; a sign of his rank amongst the Pronteran knights.
"Get on." Hiro simply stated while dismounting his peco.
With a sigh, Haruko mounted the peco, she knew Hiro was stubborn when it came to things like this. Even though the large bird had enough room fit two people Hiro had decided it would be a nice chance to walk. Behind the two comrades the Dragoon Knights had been watching intently, it was a common sight to see Hiro helping his subordinates, but they had all been hoping for something to finally spark between their commanding officers.
Ahead, Alphonse laughed quietly at the sight of Haruko losing to Hiro's stubbornness.
"Shut up, Alphonse and keep walking!" Haruko scoffed as she laid her upper body on the pecos neck and closing her eyes. A smile crept on her face – stubbornness was nice sometimes, she thought to herself…
"We'll break here for lunch."
After hours of trekking in the desert, the Knights reached the green fields of southern Prontera; a sight for sore eyes. Everyone began to split up in groups; finding their own place to eat, and gossip about the various happenings of their division.
Hiro and his two companions found a quiet clearing with few trees and a small stream inhabited by porings, lunatics and other passive monsters. Alphonse was quick to lie by a tree, even though he seemed unaffected by the long march; fatigue had caught up to him. Laughing quietly, Haruko leaned across the stream, feeding groups of lunatics, only to be splashed back playfully. Smiling at the sight Hiro quickly diverted his attention to the monk, narrowing his eyes…
"So, why do you think we've been called back so suddenly, Hiro?" Although Pronteran knights had always practiced utmost formality towards superior officers; Hiro was contempt with his men calling him by name, although a few of his men still called him captain out of respect.
"It must have something to do with the manifestation of Emperium…" the knight's eyes continued to narrow as he looked at the hilt of his sword; a lustrous gold metal shone encrusting the delicate wording: Masamune…
"Manifestation of…Emperium?" the monk repeated with a hint of waver. In front of him Haruko stood and faced the far off gates, then stared directly into his confused eyes.
"Emperium the most precious metal in all of Rune-Midgard has a funny way of appearing. Unlike Oridecon or Elunium, Emperium cannot be mined. You've seen the castles of Prontera, Payon, Geffen and Aldebaran, right? They aren't there for tourists; they were once used to protect Emperium." The hunter spoke with a completely different tone, making her seem like a separate entity from the one feeding lunatics minutes ago…
"Every seven years Emperium grows inside the castles of the four towns, for one month Emperium is available to us…of course at a limited supply." Hiro finished Haruko's speech with great ease.
"I don't see why we need to return, every country has its own supply of Emperium…unless!" Alphonse's eyes widened in shock as he came to a realization of why they were suddenly called back home.
"Yeah, the rumors seem to be true, Payon probably intends to invade surrounding countries' castles; it would bring them great wealth…" Hiro spoke with a grimace tone, he detested unneeded fighting; and the greed of Payon was definitely unwanted…
"There won't be a war…right?" As much as Alphonse loved to prove his strength, he rejected the very idea of killing human beings.
Standing to his full height, Hiro grasped his sword and unsheathed the long, slender katana, pointing it towards the far off gates of Prontera, barely visible. The captain had full resolve to do whatever it took to calm the greed of a dragon.
"There may be a war for the Emperium…"
Suddenly a loud high pitched scream came from where the Knights had previously broken up, followed by a deafening explosion and the rise of smoke…