Series: Knight Tales||Title: Birth of a Knight
Characters: Shou, Barbamon||Romance: N/A
Chapters: 8-9||Words: 1,480||Total: 11,530
Genre: Drama, Angst||Rated: PG
Notes: This is an AU. A nice fantasy one. Written for remi.
Summary: Shou is the only survivor of the bloodthirsty raid on his hometown. Not even Peckmon made it. Desire for revenge keeps him going and the assistance of Barbamon gives him the tools he needs to gain what he searches for. For as Barbamon's Knight and Champion, he can make it all right again.


Shou knew what it was like not to be able to sleep for fear of nightmares, let alone the nightmares themselves. He'd woken up many times in those early days, visions of what happened to his village stamped behind his eyes in living color, the screams of his mother and Peckmon echoing in his ears.

He never knew for certain if those were true memories or something conjured up out of his imagination, based off what he knew had happened. But it didn't matter. He'd dreamed too many times.

And since he needed his sleep to grow stronger, then a way to ensure he achieved it had been developed. So he also knew how not to sleep when he didn't really want to. Such as when someone else tried to make him.

His hand flashed out to wrap around the tavern keeper's wrist as it dipped too close to his belt and belt pouch, perhaps a little too tightly, but he didn't care at the moment. His eyes darkened with smoldering fury as he shook his head defiantly.

The tavern keeper gulped, staring at where Shou's gauntleted hand gripped his wrist.

"I assure you, m'lord, I meant no wrong. The herbs didn't give you the wrong idea, did they? They're meant only to drive demons away." He let out a very weak laugh. "You're not at all a demon, are you?" He clearly thought this some kind of a joke.

Shou didn't think it was all that funny. He kept on shaking his head, somewhat wishing now that he did have a voice of some kind. Any kind, so long as he could make this clear.

Instead, he reached out with his free hand and plucked the tiny bag of herbs away from the keeper's own belt. Releasing him, Shou wrapped the bag up tightly and tossed it closer to his own bags.

The keeper squeaked a little more, taking a step towards them, until Shou turned a very furious gaze on him. Then the man stepped back, pulling the wrist Shou grabbed closer to him.

"I meant no harm, m'lord, none at all!" He started babbling and Shou wasn't in the mood to hear it. He'd been traveling all the day and he had more to go. He gestured for the other to get out of there. That was all he cared about, that and getting some sleep.

The keeper babbled a few more broken words, far more terrified than Shou's actions allowed for – at least in Shou's opinion – and then scurried out of the room.

Shou stared after him for a few seconds, before he curled back up into his blankets.

I think I'm lucky I can recognize the scent of lavender and valerian. It was the same mixture that Sorcerimon and Floramon had developed to help him sleep when the nightmares grew too bad. He'd fallen into deep, peaceful rest many times over the last several years with that scent in his nostrils.

He would leave the bag there. He didn't need it and while he wasn't sure of why the keeper wanted to do that, he had a few suspicions, sparked by the keeper reaching for the money pouch Barbamon-sama had seen fit to bestow upon him before he'd left.

Shou closed his eyes and let himself dip into dreams he far more preferred, of finding the filthy cowards who'd slaughtered all of his people and bringing the most viscous and righteous of justice down upon them. It was a good dream and one that he'd shaped over the years and one that he looked forward to helping to come true.


The castle, ruined as it was, huddled against the hills, not much more than a collection of half-built stones blackened by long-ago fires and covered by dark green moss and clinging vines. Shou could see the shape of it still.

Death had been here, once. Shou held back the flickers of his own memories. Had there been any survivors here, who'd thought they could avenge their losses against Barbamon-sama?

Shou bit his lip. He wasn't certain if he could blame them if they had. But clearly Barbamon-sama had come out on top in that particular little altercation.

He would think on it later. Maybe. Barbamon-sama's plans were a mystery to him, but they also didn't matter much. All he needed to do was follow his orders and he would achieve his own goals.

Searching would take time. He hadn't been given any form of time limit, but he wanted to do this as quickly as he could, to prove himself to Barbamon-sama. First he searched the area outside, checking for any signs of something that might have been hidden or buried. He even went so far as to turn over moss-covered rocks, but to no avail.

He'd somewhat considered that he might have to, but now he stared into the ruins themselves. He'd arrived here by mid-morning, for which he now found himself even more grateful. He'd rather not have to look around here after dark. It would be difficult enough to do this by daylight.

There was an entrance, or what had probably been an entrance, many years earlier. Vines grew over most of it and a thick bush had sprouted up in the center, filling what space hadn't been already taken over by rubble and broken debris.

Carefully Shou moved over there, watching for the slightest hint of anything falling. He reached out to touch the bush briefly; it had thick spiky leaves and was covered with deep gray-green berries and tiny gray-blue flowers that gave off a rich scent when one of his hands brushed against them.

Shou didn't trust that. He'd seen more than enough beautiful plants that held deadly secrets. Some of them turned out to be his friends, but he still didn't trust this.

He took one step back, unsheathed his sword, and cut the bush down in one hit, yanking it out of the doorway and tossing it to the side. He stared into what he could see beyond it: a long, low corridor with the remains of what had probably been valuable tapestries once upon a time. What he could see gave him the impression that they'd been torn to shreds, some of them even torn off the walls and tossed aside.

Step by careful step he moved down the corridor, watching where he put his feet to avoid the tiny holes that could trip him up.

This place was beautiful, once, he thought. It wasn't now, being little more than a shattered ruin, but he could see what had once been.

They deserved what they got, Shou decided. They'd done something to enrage Barbamon-sama and this was the price of it. They hadn't been innocents: Barbamon-sama wouldn't have done this to innocents. Not after what he'd done to help Shou all of these years.

Rooms led off the corridor. Shou checked each one of them, taking as much time as he could to search for any signs of whatever the mysterious treasure might be. The longer he was there, the more nervous fingers crawled their way up his spine. He knew this place was empty; he'd never heard so much as a footfall as he made his way around here. But that didn't mean he didn't feel like he was being watched regardless.

The more he worked, the closer he kept his sharp knife, both for cutting through overgrown areas and just in case something did jump out at him. The most he saw, though, were just tiny mice and other occasional rodents, all of which scattered whenever he got close enough.

He stopped for a quick meal as it drew closer to noon, then kept on searching. The sensation of being watched grew even deeper after that, to the point Shou made certain to keep one wall to his back, and only after he'd made certain that the wall remained sturdy and there wasn't anything there that shouldn't be.

The sun fell closer to the horizon, shadowy fingers reaching outward to wrap around the area, and Shou finally found himself drooping against the wall, sweat-streaked, exhausted, and wondering if he had enough food in his pack that he didn't have to actually cook. He'd never been that good at cooking in the first place, and right now he wanted to try even less than ever.

There weren't footsteps, he told himself, but it was getting a bit chillier, and as it got darker, mist began to stir around. Shou didn't pay much attention as he started to get his dinner together. The mist got thicker by the moment, the temperature dropping as well.

There were no footsteps, but Shou still couldn't shake the sensation of eyes watching him, to the point he didn't want to sleep.

And yet, his eyes began to close regardless.


To Be Continued

Notes: I am whistling very innocently!