A/N: Wow, chapter three already. Sorry if it took so long, I'm still in school and stuff so bear with me. On the other hand, come on people, review! The amount of reviews I'm receiving is painfully small… I don't really have anything much else to say, so I'll skip to ahead to the story.
Disclaimer: I don't own Golden Sun or anything in it, just the story. Camelot owns the whole thing.
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Chapter 3 – A day's job (cont'd) and a sense of foreboding
It was late night by the time Isaac and his companions arrived at the small village. So far everything was in their favor as they cautiously approached the village. Having gained a map of the surrounding region, they quietly executed their plan. They began preparing for an expected skirmish in the village by suiting up in protective garments and checking weapons.
Isaac was decked in his usual blue tunic with dark blue pants. His sleeves were rolled up and he wore gauntlets on his forearms – which ended in fingerless gloves with metal padding on the back of the hand and knuckles. On his feet were dark colored boots that reached to the bottom of his knee. He wore his ever famous yellow scarf/cape, given to him by his mother, around his neck. His sword was strapped to his back and a left shoulder guard donned his left shoulder. A belt strapped around his waist and another strap held the shoulder guard to a small breast plate he wore. (A/N: if anyone knows how I can post images online, please tell me cause I can provide a drawing if you don't get the descriptions. Or for a better picture, the description is similar to that of Ike in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, but with the mentioned descriptions above.)
Garet was dressed in his usual clothes as well, with the addition of a few armor parts here and there. The armor consisted of a light, greenish breast plate, shoulder guards, hip guards, and shin guards. All armor parts, aside from the breast plate, had a reddish hue to match his hair and element. His sword strapped to his side and a double bladed axe strapped to his back. His clothing consisted of brown boots that went up to his knee, brown leather gloves that encased is hand and went up close to the elbows, brown pants, brown tunic with sleeves that ended just above the elbow, and a belt strapped around his waist.
Ivan, being a mage, was dressed slightly different than the others. He wore a green tunic that reached down to his mid-thighs, accompanied with maroon colored pants that went down and covered his brown boots. He had a belt tied in a knot around his waist and a green cape that reached down to his knees and wrapped around his body. The cape sported a small hood that usually was kept down. He carried a staff that was about his height, had runic patterns on it, and a small crystal sitting at the top. (A/N: just refer to the booklet that comes with the game for Ivan's description – and add in the few small tweaks I mentioned above.)
Roland, a former knight in Vale's army, was wearing moderate armor. Since he mostly fought on horseback, he wore lighter armor and clothing that were quite durable and flexible, allowing for better movement. His armor was mostly white in color with gold trims on the edge of each piece. His armor consisted of a breast plate that went down to his stomach, shoulder guards, gauntlets, shin guards, and hip guards. He wore dark brown pants and a lighter shade of brown tunic underneath the armor. He also sported a cape that reached to his ankles and is blue in color. He carried a silver bladed lance that he wielded in battle and a short sword strapped to his waist at the back. Aside from his clothes and weaponry, he had his long, green hair tied in a pony tail that reached mid-back. His face was one were women often get starry-eyed just from seeing him. He is often seen with an impassive and neutral expression yet retained the aura of a seasoned warrior.
Luna blessed them with her light, allowing them to see quite well in the dark. Then they cautiously made their way towards the village, keeping within the shadows and trees. Knowing that there were two entrances, they divided into two groups – Isaac and Garet taking the front, and Roland and Ivan taking the back entrance.
As Isaac waited for Roland and Ivan to get into position, he quickly ran several scenarios through his head, hoping they would go in their favor. Garet, who was squatting down next to him, nudged him and pointed towards the center of the town. Isaac peered out in the direction Garet was pointing to. He could see a brute of a man standing on some sort of raised platform barking directions.
"Looks like he's the leader," whispered Garet, "What do you think they're planning?" Isaac narrowed his eyes as he picked up what the large man was saying.
"Get those defenses into place!" barked the brute, "sources tell that there were mercenaries in the city today, most likely hired by the mayor. I want those barricades up and all weapons prepared."
That can't be good. Isaac thought, At least they don't know when we'll attack so that gives us an advantage, but with security beefed up a bit it'll be harder to sneak in. "Garet, I think the best bet for us is to sneak in and pluck off loners before making a full fledge battle. Got it?" Garet nodded, and hunkered down while waiting for the signal.
Soon, wind was blowing through the trees and a spark of lightning streaked the sky. That was Ivan's doing, meaning that he and Roland were in place. Isaac glanced at the guard at the gate and surveyed village. At least we know that most of them will be busy working, making them less of a threat for the time being. We just need to knock them out and round them up. Isaac mused.
Quietly he placed his hand to the ground and focused. His hand glowed golden for a moment before a small earthquake rolled through the village. The bandits standing and working lost their balance and fell on their rear. Seizing the opportunity, Isaac and crew quickly ran through the gates and knocked out the solitary bandits while keeping to the shadow. They dragged the unconscious men away from view and tied them up after depriving them of weapons. While skirting along the edges of the village, they met up with Roland and Ivan. They had taken out the men outside, but there were still a considerable amount of men inside – plus the leader. Apparently the leader and the rest of this gang went inside of what appeared to be the largest building. This meant that if they were to barge in, they would be outnumbered and forced to fit in close quarters.
Instead of assaulting the largest house directly, Isaac stationed Garet and Ivan outside the house's entrance and knock out any bandits that came out. In the mean time, Isaac and Roland rounded up the captured bandits and signaled to the town militia that had followed them, motioning for them to be quiet. While the militia dragged those bandits off to prison. Isaac, Roland and a few militia members quietly went through each house and plucked any stray bandits out.
Half an hour later, all the bandits had been arrested and all that was left was the largest house. The problem was that they didn't know how many were inside. Garet and Ivan had apprehended about 6 or 7 of them as they came out through the door. They assumed that the boss and a few captains were left in the house. Isaac ordered the remaining militia to help out the citizens and start clearing the mess the bandits had made.
Just as he finished giving out orders, the door of the last house burst open and the boss and a couple of his lackeys charged out, intending to retake the village. Isaac, Garet, Ivan and Roland hastily prepared to meet this oncoming rush – which had taken them by complete surprise. About twelve bandits, including the leader, charged at the four mercenaries – attempting to overwhelm them by their numbers. To them, the mercenaries were the main threat due to the fact that the local militia wasn't as skilled or organized.
"Spread out and flank them!" Isaac shouted as he prepared for the oncoming charge. Just as the first few bandits hit the group, lightning flashed and all of a sudden three of the bandits were flung backwards – heads hitting buildings and rock, knocking them out. As the dust cleared, Ivan stood there with a purple aura surrounding him.
"Nice one, Ivan!" Isaac yelled. Isaac then charged in, casting Earthquake with his psynergy while Roland and Garet charged in a few seconds later. The battle raged for another couple of minutes when suddenly a huge axe cleaved the air in front of Isaac. Digging his feet into the ground a leaping back, he was able to avoid the axe as it dug into the ground where he was a second before. Looking at the wielder, he saw that it was the boss of the bandits.
"So you're the wretched leader of these pathetic vermin," the boss snarled, "you better pray 'cause you'll be joining your ancestors soon!" He then lunged at Isaac, who was astonished that the boss could actually move that fast with all those bulky muscles. Gritting his teeth, Isaac blocked the downward strike and shoved the boss backwards and pressed his chance to attack. Slashing rapidly, Isaac managed to back his opponent into a wall. Pressing his luck, he swung his sword horizontally towards the man's torso. The bandit, expecting an attack, moved out of the way and the sword became embedded in the wall. Isaac cursed at his eagerness to finish the fight quickly and tried to pull the sword loose. A cry of warning from Ivan alerted him to duck. As he ducked, he swept his foot outwards in an arch, catching the bandit in the legs and tripping him. Once the bandit was on the ground, Isaac made a move to restrain him. He leapt back however when the boss pulled out a hidden dagger and tried to slash at him. The two stared at each other for what seemed to be hours, sizing each other up. The bandit, thinking he had the advantage just because he had a dagger, rushed at Isaac. Isaac calmly raised his arm and cast Clay Spire and several slabs of sharp rocks rained down. The bandit stumbled lost his concentration at what just happened. Using the bandit's distraction to his advantage, Isaac cast another Earthquake followed up by a low powered Ragnarok. The Ragnarok hit the boss straight on, knocking him out. Breathing heavily after all the fighting, Isaac bound the bandit boss up and went to retrieve his sword. After several minutes of tugging, it came loose and he went back to help the others round up the remaining bandits. However, as the approached, it turns out he didn't need to help the others at all – seeing that the other bandits were tied up already.
"Whoa, nicely done you guys," commented Isaac, "Lets move these bandits back into Vault so they can be placed behind bars." The rest of the group nodded and went to help the militia in moving the bandits.
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Some hours later, the group was assembled inside the Mayor's house. After receiving praises and several gifts from the Mayor, they were ready to depart back to headquarters. Walking quickly through the crowds outside, they saddled up their horses and prepared for the road back.
Isaac and company chatted idly as they rode the path back to Vale. An occasional monster jumping out of nowhere eased the boredom of the ride a bit. About halfway to Vale, Ivan fell asleep, though no one but Roland noticed.
"Ivan? You alright?" Roland prodded, getting Isaac and Garet's attention. "Yo, midget, wake up!" Garet said as he shook Ivan. Ivan remained unconscious, and Garet just shrugged. Suddenly, Ivan shot up wide-eyed and was breathing heavily.
"Storm clouds are gathering!" Ivan panted. The others gave him an odd look. "Er, Ivan? Can you simplify what you meant there?" Isaac asked.
"I just had a vision where I saw the destruction of Vale. Also, I saw an army clad in black armor coming from the north and east."
Isaac looked at Garet and Roland, "we need to move out and head back to headquarters." They nodded and went out to pack. "Ivan, do you remember anymore about that vision, because that seemed a lot vaguer than usual."
"No, at least not in detail. I saw other figures within that army that were not human, although I can't make out what creatures they were."
Isaac nodded and headed out to pack telling Ivan to take a short rest and then head to the stables.
An hour later, Isaac and his friends were ready. After bidding good-bye to Vault, they head back north towards Vale – praying that they would make it in time.
