A/N: for those of you who may be fans of the Radiant Vanguard, this is their story, from their first days as adventurers all the way up to their seperation that leads up to "The Advntures of Carlin the Red". As this is a rough draft, some things may change when I get about to actually righting it. Even so, please r&r and tell m what you think!
Chapter 1: The Warrior from San d'Oria
"Fear is the ultimate weapon of the darkness, conquer it, and the darkness shall flee from you as it would even the small glimmer of a single candle. You may be called Warriors, but in truth YOU ARE DEFENDERS, all here will one day join the ranks of the noble Paladin's the greatest knights of San d'Oria." A gathering of Warriors were standing in the Great Hall, where the overall commander was giving a speech about how they would all one day serve San d'Oria as Paladin's, Holy Knights. To one young silver haired warrior, the proceedings were woefully dull, uninteresting, and unnecessary.
"Geez, we knew this when we signed up to be trained. Why do they have to reiterate it to us now?" Fortunately, these thoughts were contained in his head, and he dared not express them openly, lest he shame his father, who had raised him to be a noble warrior from the beginning, and who was himself a distinguished member of the order of Paladins. Instead, he showed the same stalwart front that every other warrior gathered there showed; A single minded purposefulness that to unknowing onlookers would seem like little more then mindless devotion.
"...therefore, let each of you step forward now, take hold of the sword weilded by the Paladin who struck down the Shadow Lord, Velto Ol'orin. And so be knighted as proud warriors of San d'Oria!" And at that point an orator began to call out names, at which point each warrior would go up to the stage on which the speaker stood and take hold of the sword, point it to the sky, and, when it shone, they would return to their former position, blessed by the Holy Spirit...
Once again, the silver haired boy found his attention drifting; almost missing his call when his name was called at last. "Hunter, Ethis, step forward." With calm, self-assured certainty, the young man stepped forward, gold eyes flashing as they flicked over the form of the blade wielded by the hero of the final Shadow War. When he stood before the altar, he stretched out his hand, calmly grasping the blade by its hilt, when he did so; he turned and lifted it up to point toward the sky, and waited patiently for it to shine...
Except it didn't.. The light within the castle dimmed significantly at that moment.
There was a silent but oh so audible tremor of confusion and shock running through the gathered crowds, through the warriors, through the parents, and trainers who had gathered to see their offspring knighted. Ethis could feel himself break out in a cold sweat. He tried to clear his mind, hoping that would achieve something... It didn't.
"Why does the sword not shine?" Ethis heard a whisper from within the crowd.
"Shameful... I'd hate to be that boy's father..." another voice...
Ethis felt a prickle of guilt and anger course through him at these comments, but, knowing full well that acting on them would bring only bitterness and regret, he let the feelings roll away, paying them no heed. At that moment a young elvaan squire came forward and addressed the speech giver. Who knelt down in order to hear the young elvaan whisper in his ear, with a slight smile on his face. The Elvaan rose again to address the crowd.
"Gathered peoples, it appears there was a slight... accident, involving one of the Bastokian contraptions located near here, if you would all be so patient, the problem should be cleared up shortly. Ethis mentally sighed with relief, one of the Bastokian contraptions must have malfunctioned, if that was the case, there was likely smoke billowing out of it that of course, would block the light of day from penetrating the cathedral, and consequently, no nice shiny blade. Ethis didn't dare move his arm from its position though, for fear that that might cost him this lucky break.
Sure enough, the smoke eventually cleared, and as the light brightened once more, the sword in Ethis's hand began to shine. And those gathered clapped and cheered for him. Some praising him for being "Cool under fire"; Others for not backing down in the face of shadows. Ethis knew better then to let it go to his head, but he could not help feeling some pride from all the praise he was getting. He was in such a state of euphoric relief that the remainder of the proceedings became a blur of events...
One year later…