February 28, 4000 BC, Berlin
The next day I took a walk around town by myself, relishing my time alone. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy being around my team, but the constant bickering can get old fast.
I was drawn toward a structure in the center of town that had not been there when I'd left. It was a giant obelisk, towering above the clay buildings and wood shacks around it.
"Do you like it?"
I turned and saw one of the town builders, a well-built man that looked as old as I was.
"What is it?" I asked him.
"A monument. A token of appreciation to whatever deity placed us here. First building in the city to be made of stone, mind you, funny story really, you see the scientists discovered that the rocks we were digging out of the mines-"
"Thank you," I interrupted, not wanting to spend the rest of my day here, "But I must be going now."
"Oh," He looked disappointed, as if I wasn't the first to give such an excuse, "Well, alright, see you around then."
I turned to leave.
"Oh, by the way,"
For the love of…
"Are the rumors true? Did you soldier boys really discover other people out there who are complete and utter savages?"
I froze. Was I allowed to talk about this? Lord Bismarck didn't say I couldn't, but still, it was a touchy subject…
"You can tell him, Erik."
Alfred had walked up without me noticing.
I looked from him to the builder. "Yes, it's true."
The builder had a look of awe, terror, and shock on him.
"But they can't get into the city, right? I mean, not with you guys –"
Alfred placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
"Fear not my friend. Rest assured that precautions are being taken by the government to guarantee our peoples safety. You have nothing to worry about."
This seemed to calm the builder as some of the color returned to his face. He thanked us both and went on his way.
Once he was gone I raised an eyebrow at Alfred. "What kind of 'precautions' are you taking about?"
Alfred shrugged. "Beats me, all I know it that those scientists started pouring over those scrolls the second I gave them to them. They must be whipping up something."
"Well, they're certainly doing something right, molding buildings out of rocks. It's amazing the progress they made while we were gone!"
Alfred nodded. "Wait until they get into their new building. They've been forced to work in the palace so far, but this new 'Library' the builders are constructing is going to be completely dedicated to the sciences."
I whistled. "Our research'll go through the roof when that happens."
Alfred once again nodded in agreement, though he didn't seem as optimistic. "Maybe, but there's only a small group of them. What we really need are more scientists, but I doubt any scroll is going to help us with that."
"I suppose not," I said, wanting to be alone again, "I'll see you later Alfred."
I continued my journey around the city, but my mind had drifted back to the Barbarians. If there was an attack, could we repel it? Exactly how many of these Barbarians were there?
I was so entranced with my thoughts I didn't notice I was walking into someone until it was so late.
We both fell the ground.
"Argh, I'm sorry, I wasn't watching where-"
It was then I got a good look at the person I walked into.
She had long, silky blond hair, and blue eyes that, while firm, had a warm feeling to them. Her dress was plain brown, like most of the other women's' in the city. She had been carrying a basket of apples; probably to be taken to the Granary I had passed a few streets back.
"No, it's alright, I wasn't watching where I was going either."
Her voice brought me out of my thoughts. I sat there dumbfounded for a few seconds before my sense came back to me.
"Here," I offered, "Let me help you with that."
"Oh, thank you so much."
As we began to pick up the apples I found my mind racing.
"So, uh, what's your name?"
"Hannah, yours?"
"My what?"
"Your name."
"What? Oh um, of course, my name. It's Herrmann Erkenbald, I mean, Erkenbald Herr… Call me Erik."
She giggled a little, and I gave a little smile, meanwhile mentally hitting myself.
What are you doing Erik? You sound a complete moron! She just a women! You see women all the time! Oh, what would Lucas say if he could see me now…
"So, what do you do for a living, Erik?"
"What?" (I really had to start paying more attention) "Oh, I'm a Warrior."
She looked impressed. "Really? Didn't you guys just get back from some mission?"
I couldn't help but sit up a little. "Why, yes we did, rather dangerous, almost killed, as a matter of fact." (For some reason my previous concerns regarding secrecy had vanished)
I was hoping to get a gasp or some other reaction, but she just nodded. "My brother told me about it. He works in the fields, saw you guys come in. Is your friend okay?"
"Oh, Ralph? Yeah, he'll be fine, he just has to stay in the Palace for a few days."
We finished picking up the apples. We both stood up and stood awkwardly for a moment.
"Well," I squeaked. Cursing myself, I cleared my throat. "Well," I said, in a deeper voice than usual, "I guess I'll see you around?"
She smiled again (Do women usually do that?). "I guess so. Thanks again for the help, Erik."
"No problem."
As she walked away, I decided I had enough excitement for one day, and headed back to the Barracks.
A/N: Another long wait, wasn't it? Well, I'm sure if you look on the Internet, you'll find some pre-archived excuses that you can pretend I posted here, as I'm too lazy to come up with some right now (laziness had a big part in the delay of this chapter).
Also – what's that? How did the townspeople build a Monument, Granary, Barracks, and part of a Library in a few weeks? That, my friends, is a little something I like to call, story-magic.
All right, this Author's Note has gone on long enough. As always, thank you for reading, and please review!