A Chronical: Mitchell's account.
Description: Mitchell XI tells the tale of Rad Hunter, a soldier of the Red Rider clan before and after the Lion war. Rated M for language and safety.
Disclaimer: If I owned the series, I would feel no need to write about it, would I? I don't own FFT or FFTA or any of the FF games/books/action figures/fanfic sites/rights.
(A/N: You have my sincere apologies about the size of the opener. I had to open somehow, sorry again.)
The Zodiac Brave story is a new document that depicts that Ramza Beoulve is the true hero behind the rise to Delita Hyral's rise to king. It describes the harrowing journey, facing sadness and tragedy fighting for the greater good. History has a lot of holes. We historians record anything and everything in our struggle to have all the facts, from Zalberg and Dycedarg's first battle, to Teta Hyral's first crush. We must have it all. I am saddened to say that we have recorded less then an eighth of this information, or that that was recorded was lost. We recently found several documents that depict more ways of life in the aftermath of the Lion War, and we have collected many documented soldier casualties. Two of which are Isilbur Dyagard, who received thirty-seven sword wounds, nineteen arrow wounds and was burned three times while standing in front of Zalberg Beoulve in an attempt to save him from injuries. He perished soon after. The next soldier was a bit more interesting. Rad Hunter, royal knight of the Red Riders. He tallied twelve battles and a whopping four hundred and eleven kills. He died on his thirteenth battle, by an arrow. We found several holes in this particular account, and it was investigated. We found out one "Rad Hyral" checked into the Greasy Pig Inn at Whitewater four years ago. We found out that a man with a tattered red and gold cape with the fading symbol of the Red Riders had destroyed one of Delita's royal camps two years later. Thus, we can only guess what Rad Hunter did before being forced into the Lion War, but he is still alive. 20 years later, I am proud to say that I have discovered this account on the young man's life. So please, sit back, relax, and enjoy the document of this young knight who fought the forces of the gods themselves for a girl already dead.
Yours Truly,
Historian Mitchell XI (Mitch11)
Chapter One: RadRad: I never asked to be a knight.
If I had my choice, I would be a blacksmith. One doesn't get what he wants in my choice of life.
If I had my choice, I would've never been stuck as the only man on an attempt to murder the Beoulves. I would be making a long sword and a shield for the man who had to. But of course, here I was. Stuck on a doomed attempt. My clan was against the Beoulve's very way of life. So, naturally, they did the stupid thing. Sending one person at a time to hopefully achieve the impossible. My name is Rad Hunter, and I'm fifteen. Yes, fifteen. If only my hobo father could have seen me. Huh. Anyway, I was riding in the forest path to my certain slaughter at the hands of the Beoulves, seriously considering running away, when I found two kids lying in some grass in a clearing blowing on reeds. One was blond, and dressed in a crisp academy uniform. I knew before I heard his name called that he was the youngest of the hated Beoulves. Ratva. Or was it Ramta? I didn't care. I was too preoccupied with how I was going to slice him. I jumped off my red chocobo and drew my sword, walking towards them. The brown haired kid saw me, saw my sword, and gave a shout. Two other figures started running towards the woods where I was about to emerge. Shit.
Ramza:We had learned in the academy that men walking towards you with big swords and red capes were often considered dangerous. When Delita gave a shout and Ulic and Mark came running with their swords, I was scared. I drew my knife and jumped to my feet, my instinct on protecting Teta and Alma, who were behind us on the hill. Delita mimicked me and we ran, trying to defend the girls, but we both knew. We needed Dad or Dycedarg to come help us. I grabbed Mark's sleeve and pulled him towards me. "We need Dad or one of my brothers. Get them, and bring backup. Ulic can fend him off for a while."
"Yes sir!" Mark barked and ran full speed to the castle, a quarter mile away. I ran to Alma and Teta, and the three of us ran to the edge of the forest, while Delita charged at the man with Ulic.
Rad:A knight and the brown haired kid were running at me, full speed. The second knight was probably inside, getting backup. The knight tried to decapitate me; I ducked and stabbed him in the waistline. I pulled my sword out, kicked his blade away, and smashed him in the face with my sword handle. His nose broke as he stumbled away, holding his stomach and moaning. The kid tried to stab me, I sidestepped and grabbed his knife arm, swinging him and kicking him viciously. He landed a few yards away from me. As I turned to plunge my sword into him, the knight grabbed my leg and twisted it, so that I fell on top of him. I got him in a chokehold, drew my dagger and stabbed him four times, once in the neck, three times in the face. He died a painful death. The kid was up and running at me again. Before he could kick me, I punched him in the face and elbowed him. He fell, moaning through his teeth. I picked up my sword and the knights sword and walked towards the clearing, trying to find the blond kid, covered in the knight's blood.
Ramza:I got the girls into a tree and hid behind it, hoping to the heavens that the soldier wouldn't see us. I still had my knife, wishing I had learned to throw it. A knife wasn't much good against a sword. I heard a trumpet in the distance, and let out my breath. Someone was coming to save us. I carefully turned my head around the tree. The man was still there, holding two swords. Now my knife was really obsolete. I heard the thudding of men running into the clearing, and I peeked around the corner again. Red eyes met me, and a grinning face. "Boo!" The soldier in red yelled.
I lunged with my knife. It got taken from me and I hit the dirt with a boot on my head.
"Please don't fucking move, I'm tired, and have been riding all day. Who did you tell to bring backup?" The guy said. He couldn't be older than seventeen. I held my breath and felt his boot press against the back of my head.
"Son of a bitch kid." He chuckled, than picked me up by my hair and threw me into a tree. I blacked out.
Teta:The soldier had thrown Ramza against a tree, and turned to face the oncoming soldiers. There were at least twenty of them, plus, to my relief, Dycedarg. Dycedarg was the second best fighter in the country; he would deal with the red rider. Dycedarg yelled a war cry and charged right at the red rider, who swung both of his swords. Dycedarg jumped, slashing in mid air, trying to get a piece of the soldier-
The soldier sidestepped and plunged a dagger into Dycedarg's shoulder. He fell. The rider turned to face the army, one sword sheathed and one drawn. "Lets Rumble!" He shouted and the fight began.
Rad:I was sort of disappointed at the size of the army. Twenty Riders could kill one hundred of these "nobles". So, one rider could kill twenty nobles, theoretically. I slashed at one soldier, and blocked three blows, stabbing a guy in the stomach. I back flipped out of the circle they had made around me, and decapitated a guy who didn't turn fast enough. Instinct took over. I blocked, parried, slashed, lunged, jabbed, punched, kicked, and leapt my way around them, killing one by one. I dodged an arrow, and dove out of the way of a lightning bolt, and realized that there were more than just knights in this battle.
Ramza:I awoke to my oldest brothers moaning. I groaned and the sound of a vicious fight reached my ears. Beouvle troops fighting and getting mowed down. The whiz of arrows and the clang of steel. The occasional bang of magic. This was a big battle. Surely, the red riders had attacked. But, I then remembered, and saw the menace teenager leaping three stories high and landing with a thud on the ground sixty yards away, slashing an archer in half and attacking three knights. I picked up a dagger, and circled.
Rad:Damn the Beoulve's skin. I had received a dozen injuries from the fight. Whenever a knight fell, two more took his place. I had killed at least nineteen, and was getting tired. I parried, leapt into the air and threw a sword at a mage, landed, and continued my fight. The Beouvle that I had stabbed was still unconscious, and I couldn't see the kid. Then I saw him, with a white mage's staff. My sword was caught in a soldier's body, and I dropped it, reaching for my dagger. It wasn't there. I drew my sword and tried to decapitate the kid, but he ducked, and took out my right knee with the staff. I landed, on one knee, blocking eight knights' attempts to kill me. The kid brought the staff down on my head, and I lapsed into unconsciousness.
Ramza:I threw the stick away. The knights picked the Rider up and bound him, taking him up to the palace. I looked at Dycedarg, being attended to by a white mage. I sighed, and slumped beside him, sleeping peacefully.
Mitch XI: And the rest of the tale is for tomorrow. I need to conduct an interview tonight to get my facts together. This is Historian Mitch XI signing off.
(A/N: Constructive criticism is welcome here. Please review, and I do not accept flames kindly.)