Howdy! And I'm back for another chappy of spectacular Garo-ness! Well, First of all, I'd like to thank my reviewers, who surprised me with their compliments on my story, which personally I thought sucked. Maybe it's the fact that authors always underestimate their own stories… Either way, thanks for taking the time to review!
Vladimir the Hamster: As my first reviewer, I thank you a bunch! Also, thanks for the alert and the nifty review.
Blondie91: Yay! Thanks for the compliment, and as well, thanks for adding this to your favorites list as well!
Chessvain: Thank you for reviewing! The question is awfully confusing to explain XD It should be explained later on in the story… so just tune in for a while and you should understand.
Biggoron: XD I'm glad you liked it, judging from the fact the inspiration originated from you indirectly.
Not that many to reply to… but hey, at least I have reviewers XD Well, here's another chapter for you.
Chapter One
Celt walked slowly towards the assignment post, the merciless sun pounding down on him. He was accustomed to it though, as were most of the Garo, who grew up in this painful heat. Celt looked to the right of him, where a group of Garo children were running around, having fun amongst themselves, and Celt allowed a smile to creep onto his shrouded face as the small children waved to him, with wide smiles on their face. Celt was popular with kids in town, and he often played with them when he had time, enjoying watching them living the lie he too had lived, enjoying being around their ignorant glee. He understood why the housewives told their children the lies they spoke. It was to keep them all happy. He waved to them as he passed, and they smiled, waved, and went back to playing. Celt turned his face forward, lowering it to avoid the sun's wrath as he walked towards the assignment post, and he entered the clay like building.
It was cool somehow inside, and Celt lowered his hood thankfully, taking in a breath of chilled air. "CELT!" He heard a female call out, and he turned to see a girl with long black hair not unlike his, and a pair of stone like jade eyes. His sister. The smile on her face was chiseled into her personality, never letting the curse of the Garo bring her down. She kept on trekking on relentlessly, with a manic determination. He wondered where that determination came from. "…Hello, Raeth." He said, looking towards his eccentric optimist of a sister. As long as he could remember, she was always looking on the bright side, adding her own zest of insanity to it.
Her robe was a solid black color, with gray runes running along the fringes. She was of higher rank than Celt in the Garo. She was usually placed in more dangerous and deadly situated places than Celt, mainly because she liked to show off her powers and make the best of her life while she could, as bad as it was, with the curse and all. Celt tried to act like her, to take a page out of her book. To look on the bright side occasionally. But he really couldn't. It was unlike him. After a while, he just shrugged, and made an excuse. 'This is what happens when you're a Garo. It settles into you, and it doesn't ever get out.' His sister's response to this was simple. 'It's you fault you let it settle in so willingly.' He was then brought back to reality by her voice.
"…. So, you have a good morning, or what? It's a nice day today. Not as hot as usual." She said with a smile, as she tried to make conversation. She always started conversations this way, and eventually pried her way into his thoughts, and feelings. She was odd like that, and he knew she could, and he fell for it each time she spoke to him. It was unavoidable with her. Then he was brought out of thought again, by her poking him gingerly on the forehead. "Little bro, as I have told you many times, thinking too much is unhealthy for you." She said with a grin, and Celt figured she knew what he was thinking. And already she had begun to work her way into his thoughts.
"Eh, you know I can't help it. It's the only escape from this pit of hell we live in." And at this, Raeth frowned. "Don't think like that. Mom never did." She said, a sad look entering her eyes, as she clenched her hand around a locket. Celt frowned, and pulled his hood over his head. He hated seeing her like this, and hated it worse when he made her feel like this. "…Sorry, I'll try to think…differently…I'm going to go get my post assignment, and I'll see you later…" He said, as he walked towards the booth where an aged sage like Garo sat, sifting through papers. His hood was pulled over his eyes, and his chin was covered in gray stubble and scars. His worn mouth curved into a smile. "Hello Celt, here for your assignment?" He asked, and Celt held back a sarcastic comment, remembering his last encounter with Blank, this enigmatic Garo.
He was having a horrible day, and sarcasm and pessimism coursed through his veins like sickly venom. He couldn't stand being in the Canyon Valley at this time, and he wanted an assignment, any assignment, to get out of here, and into the wild, where the sun shone less and the harsh truth of life could be hid from. He rushed into the assignment post, a scowl of hatred on his face, and approached Blank. "I want an assignment. To anywhere. I want out, NOW." He said, a bit too forcefully, for Blank stood up, a frown forming on his face. "Now, young'un, you'll a to collect yourself, and speak to me normally, or you won't be getting anywhere." He said, in a raspy voice. Celt grabbed him by the collar of his Garo cloak.
"Let me OUT. I don't care how I speak to you, you better let me out now, or I swear to the goddesses, I will end you." He said, and everyone around him, stopped, and stared. No one had ever spoken to Blank like that, never mind threatened him with death. Blank grinned. "You have balls, child." He said, as he grinned twistedly, thrusting his hand underneath Celt's ribs, and grabbed them, and began to twist, and Celt lost his grip as he clenched his teeth in pain, and Blank with his free hand, pulled back, and punched him dead in the face, sending him flying backwards, through the wall behind him. Celt felt blood rushing out of the back of his head where it had collided with, and broke the wall. His vision was blurred, and everything was moving. He attempted to get up, and Blank appeared in front of him, a wily grin on his face. "Interesting. You're alive. Not many live through a direct punch. Its also interesting that you managed to move your face last second, to avoid me breaking your nose. Your cheekbone is the only thing broken. Just keep it in mind to speak to me with respect next time." He said, as Celt's vision went, and he passed out.
"Earth to child." He said, and Celt returned to the present. "Oh, yeah. Sorry… could I have my daily assignment?" And Blank nodded, as he sifted through some more papers, and stamped one of the papers, and handed Celt a slip of paper. "…Thanks…" Celt said, walking away, and read off the sheet of paper, which had details of his assignment. He was to watch over a trade route, where caravans usually travel across, also a prime route for bandits to camp for unwary travelers. Celt began to leave, and as he left, he passed by his sister, who had sat herself down at one of the many tables within the assignment building. As he glimpsed at her, he sunk into memory, and his feet instinctively led him where he desired, as of their own control.
He barely remembered his mother, but his older sister did. She spoke of her as a great warrior, both merciless and compassionate, and was a fierce believer that the curse would be broken, and that she would be the one to break it, and free her family, and all of the Garo, so they may live the lives of normal beings. The story was vague, and faded in his memory, nothing but a fairy tale of his childhood told to him by his father, who watched over them more than their mother did. His mother was a hero, a pioneer of the Garo, the single shining light that gave the Garo even the slim hope of freedom. One day, on a day she had dedicated to the cause of the Garo, not the curse of the Garo, she was reported dead, killed by something dark. The only thing left of her was the last thing left of each Garo… a tiny ruby red gemstone. With a picture of her, and the gemstone, Raeth wore it around her neck, taking the burden of her mother's dream, and lived on for her mother, and tried to be the same light for the Garo that her mother had been.
Unfortunately, their mother was older, and wiser than they are now, and she was much more skilled in the ways of Garo lore, as well as magic and ways of battle. Raeth had been trying to live up to the shadow cast by her mother, which seemed to be an eclipse, but that didn't keep her from trying, although she got nowhere. Eventually, Celt realized he had been wandering the route he had been assigned, and that it was dark. Time had flew by him, his mind lost in the trenches of the details he tried desperately to keep vivid in his memory, his childhood the only thing keeping him vaguely alive on the inside. Eventually, he stopped thinking, and sat down in the chilling shade of the night, taking in the stars above, as well as the moon crossing the skies, casting a dim glow across the dark skies. As he began to slip into more thought, his escape from this pointless existence, he noticed the torchlight of a stationary caravan camping on the side of the route.
Celt's eyes glimmered from under his shadowed hood. Garo rule never said that he couldn't mingle with humans, just that it would cause problems. This had never occurred to him, to actually be around humans, humans with free wills, and lives with endless possibilities laid before them on the road of life they traveled. He became the shadow around him, and approached the caravan silently, lowering his hood, inspecting the caravan to see if there were any armed threats. Interestingly enough, it was just a family of traveling merchants, a weather worn father, a caring looking mother, and two energetic children, and a sixteen year old girl with long brown hair, and a blank look of apathy graving her clouded green eyes. Celt himself knew that look well, that look being the expression he lived daily. He would learn what it would be like to live freely… by spending the night with these strangers. And he appeared to the group, suddenly.
The father jumped. "HOLY SHIT!" He yelled, as he looked at the young man that stood before him and his family. The mother looked over, and hid the children behind her. The older girl just glimpsed at him, and shrugged. Celt nodded. "Hello… if you don't mind, would you allow me to spend the night with you? You have fire, and it's quite cold…" He said, a cloud of hot breath unfurling from his mouth, into the cold crisp air. The father looked at the boy up and down, as if appraising his smooth and practically flawless features, for some sort of hint of bad traits. "Eh, what the hell, why not." He said, motioning for him to join them near the large fire. The children ran up to him, and began tugging on his ragged robes. Celt smiled down at them, as he sat down; away form the others, watching them. He wanted to know what freedom was like.
Well, there you go, another chappy for you wonderful peoples. XD Now be even more wonderful and leave me a review, and stay tuned in for the next chapter or Edge of Regret!