Author's note: Ok, so this story has had 85 hits, and no one reviewed? Seriously? Please just tell me your thoughts!
Disclaimer: I own nothing except these plot bunnies on parade.
Kratos headed on his way to Heimdall. He had decided he wouldn't stop at any towns from here on out to get the most time in while walking.
Making his way across the country would prove difficult. Bandits were known to prey here, since there were no soldiers to stop them. Kratos sighed and rubbed his exsphere as he walked. Suddenly, he heard a noise from the forest nearby, and immediately got ready for a fight. A small boy with blonde hair ran out of the forest, clutching a bag very tightly while running. When he saw Kratos, he tried to back peddle, and wound up tripping on a rock. He was soon followed out of the forest by a group of six very angry men, all who were brandishing swords.
"Who are you?" One of the men said.
"Someone of little concern," Kratos replied, followed closely with, "why are you chasing this boy?"
The same man, apparently the leader, shouted, "That brat is a half-elf we found wandering this forest here, so we decided he should be worth a good price. There was a girl, too, but she ran the other direction. The rest of my men are following her."
Kratos got very angry, although he didn't let it show. So these men were slave traders. Kratos looked down to get a better look at the boy. He couldn't be older than 15 years old!
The boy looked very scared, and looked up at Kratos pleading, "Please sir, my sister and I weren't hurting anybody; please don't let them take me!"
Kratos drew his weapon with the grace of a seasoned fighter, and said, "You men will leave this boy and his sister alone. Now."
The leader drew his weapon and charged at Kratos, who deflected the attack with ease. Then, he shouted, "As if! This is my living! They're only half-elves!"
That angered Kratos to no end. Kratos deflected the next attack, and then proceeded to quickly kill the man. He looked at the other men, and got ready for their next attack. Two came charging together this time, quickly followed by the rest of the group, all of which had very poor fighting skills in Kratos' opinion. The last man Kratos disarmed, and knocked to the ground. Kratos looked him in the eye and said, with a voice as cold as ice, "You had best call off the rest of your men, and leave these half-elves alone."
Once the man ran off, Kratos cleaned his blade, sheathed it, and walked over to the boy, who had hidden behind a nearby rock during the battle. "Are you all right?" Kratos asked kindly. When the boy nodded, he added, "Good. What is your name?"
"My name is Mithos." The boy, Mithos, replied. "My sister, Martel, is still in the forest. Um… will you…. Help me find her?" He asked tentatively.
Kratos nodded. He couldn't very well just leave this boy here all alone. He would help him find his sister, but then he must be off to Heimdall.
Yuan was walking through that same forest when he heard someone call for help nearby. It sounded as if the call had came from close by, so Yuan ran towards it after drawing his dagger. He soon reached a small group of two people, one looking up into a tree, the other trying to climb up, where a beautiful young woman was sitting on a branch rather high up. She saw Yuan approach, and called for help again, which caused one of the men to turn and look, spotting Yuan and the dagger.. The first man rushed at Yuan with a sword, and Yuan quickly backed away to dodge. He readied a quick spell to knock out the first man. As he finished the spell and released the mana, he shouted "lightning!" and a bolt came from the sky and struck the man. Then the second man jumped down and struck Yuan with his whip against his back. The impact made Yuan cry out in pain and fall to the ground. Nearby, there was a crashing through the forest, and soon a boy and a man in a purple outfit adorned with the medals that marked him as a general came into view. Yuan fought to get up, and grabbed his dagger once more, even though the strange man had killed the whip wielder.
Kratos looked at the man who was struggling to get up, and cleaned off his sword again, guessing this man wasn't one of the slave traders from before.
Mithos looked up in the tree and shouted, "Martel, you can come down now. We're safe now. Kratos helped me earlier!"
Martel nodded and deftly jumped out of the tree, landing gracefully on her feet. She walked over to Yuan, who had put his weapon away and was now leaning against a tree for support. Grabbing a staff off the ground, she walked over, and quickly cast first aid, healing his wound.
Yuan looked at this strange woman, Martel the boy had called her, and thanked her. Then he looked up at the other two, and asked "What are you called?"
Mithos grinned and said, "My name is Mithos. That's Martel, and this man here is Kratos. What's your name, sir?"
"I'm called Yuan Ka-Fai," Yuan said, "Are you all traveling together?"
Kratos was the one to reply this time, and he said, "No."
"Well, where are you all headed?" Yuan asked.
"Mithos and I are heading towards Heimdall, so we can live in a small half elf community near there." Martel said.
"Fancy that, I'm heading there myself." Yuan grinned, "Where are you heading off to in neutral territory, General?"
Kratos looked at him with an almost annoyed expression, saying, "I'm headed to Heimdall on urgent business for the king of Tethe'alla."
Mithos' face lit up in excitement, "Then we should all travel together! It's safer to journey in numbers anyway!"
Martel smacked her brother's head, saying, "I'm sure he has more important things to attend to then journeying with us."
Kratos sighed. Well, it would make my journey more discreet to travel in a group. Besides, I can't leave these three to take care of themselves out here when none of them can properly defend themselves. "It's fine. Let's all travel together.
Yuan didn't trust this human, but then again, he was obviously strong and would be great help in defending the group.
Yeah, chapter done! Huzzah! Anyhow, if you just spent all that time reading it, leave your opinion!
Mithos: We finally showed up!
Me: Yeppers. And you're all traveling together.
Martel: Things are about to get really interesting, I think.