Chapter 6- A Deep Breath Before the Plunge
There was nothing to do except sprint right after Riou and Jowy. Flik finally overtook them about halfway down the road, with Viktor puffing along as best he could. Then, backtracking into the orchard, they recovered the horses and rode towards Kyaro at the fastest pace that Flik dared. Save for the looming shadows out of the west, the road to the town was completely empty, but as they entered Kyaro, they found a minor disaster.
Carts and wagons and horses packed the gate and square near the exit, the drivers arguing and brandishing whips, and leaderless soldiers scurrying between everything trying to make order out of it all. The cacophony was deafening and Flik's horse started to dance about nervously in the press. Flik, finding no way forward, casually reached out and slugged the closest horse in the head, causing it to rear and step away. The driver of the wagon the horse was attached to gave Flik an evil glare, but was too busy using his whip to control the horse to be able to use it against Flik. Meanwhile, the created gap was just enough, and Flik pressed his horse forward, overriding its skittishness with sheer willpower.
A few minutes later, riding clear of the jam, he looked back to try and find the others. Riou rode out calmly, almost serenely, as if the crowd had parted to let him through. Jowy also proved to be an excellent horseman, though he, at least, was sweaty from the effort. Viktor, naturally enough, bludgeoned his poor horse through the crowd by dint of his- Viktor's, not the horse's- intimidating bulk.
Working their way up the long hill towards the guardhouse, the four riders found themselves overtaken by the evening shadows. At one point, Jowy turned slightly aside, slowing his horse as he paused to look at one particular manor. Then, sighing angrily, he quickly rejoined the others. Approaching the squat guardhouse, Flik could hear the rising sound of men shouting, interposed with a girl's yells. Riou and Jowy quickly kicked their horses into a gallop, forcing Flik and Viktor to ride after them. Pressing through the open gate, everything became ominously quiet.
Suddenly, two guards appeared out of the shadows. Flik shouted out a warning to Riou and Jowy and pulled his sword free of its scabbard. The two guards, though, were in no mind to fight. Nearly trampled over by the two teenagers out in front, they clumsily careened off each other, the horses, the doors of the gate, and then scrambled, terrified, out of the guardhouse as fast as they were able.
Coming out towards a sandy mustering ground, Riou and Jowy suddenly reined in. Flik urged his horse out in front of the two boys, and was almost immediately rushed at by a young girl aggressively swinging a three-piece rod. She was wearing a yellow, short-sleeved shirt overtopped by a sleeveless red tunic that fell long in the back and a pair of blue pants that were pulled up and tied back just below her knees. Her short brown hair curled back around her ears and cheeks, and she was using a red hair ribbon to hold her bangs in check.
"Get out of the way, I've got to go and save Riou and Jowy," she yelled, not even the slightest quiver of fear in her voice. Flik's horse, sensing his uncertainty, chose that moment to back up slightly, revealing to the girl the objects of her quest. "Hold on a minute," she blurted out, pausing in mid-swing to regard the changing situation. "Riou and Jowy?"
"We were coming to save you," Jowy replied, a little sheepishly.
"Oh, but I was coming to save you two," the girl, obviously Nanami, answered, smiling slightly.
"We can have our tearful reunions later," Viktor suddenly interjected, riding forward. Then, ignoring Nanami's protesting squawk, he pulled her up and placed her behind him on his horse. "I think it's time to get out of here, before somebody arrives to organize things."
In the gathering gloom, the little party rode back down the hill, over the bridge, and back to the entrance square. Some order had been imposed on the riot, but the guards seemed to be more interested in getting people out, rather than in keeping them in, so the five of them unobtrusively mingled with the crowd.
However, just a few yards beyond the gate, Nanami suddenly slid down from Viktor's horse and took a few halting steps back towards Kyaro. Riou and Jowy immediately dismounted and walked back. Viktor turned to look at Flik and rolled his eyes, sighing heavily. Flik walked his horse towards the three kids.
"Do you…ever think we'll come back here?" Nanami was asking, her voice somewhere between excitement and tears.
Flik wanted to groan very badly; this was neither the time, nor the place, and they were still in view of the guards.
Luckily, Riou took this opportunity to reply, "We'll come back someday." This seemed to mollify Nanami, and she permitted herself to be led back to Riou's horse, where they remounted and the party was underway again. Full darkness came on very quickly; the Blue Moon was new and the Scarlet Moon, now a crescent sliver, was fast on the tail of the now set sun. The stars were brilliantly bright points of light and the Silver Dragon spanned the heavens.
The night air quickly became chilly, and then cold. Flik watched as his breath smoked in the air and the sweat of the day's exertion became clammy on his skin. The excitement of the escape wore off and the party became subdued and quiet.
It was, therefore, something of a comfort when, about an hour out from Kyaro, Nanami murmured, "Can we stop soon? I'm tired and cold and hungry." Flik heard Jowy grunt, possibly in agreement. Riou remained stoically silent…or perhaps he'd gone into hypothermia.
"Just a little longer," Viktor replied. "Up in the hills, where the rest of our men are, when we get there, then we will eat and sleep."
This seemed to satisfy them, at least until they went up the first hill. Then Nanami asked, "Are we there yet?"
"No," Viktor answered, crisply, which silenced everybody…until they climbed through a small series of rises.
"We there yet?" Jowy whined.
"No," Viktor answered again, curtly. The silence now became tense, especially as each little rise revealed no end to the journey. The southern mountains of the Kyaro region now loomed over them and the road would soon enter North Sparrow Pass. Looking back, Flik noted the whole of the valley below, shrouded in inky darkness. This was very nearly the same spot they had descended from, two days ago.
"You think maybe we missed them?" Viktor asked him in a hushed tone, as the road turned, obscuring the view.
"A little farther, I think," Flik answered, trying to sound more upbeat than he felt.
"Um," Riou spoke, pointing at something down the path.
"No," Viktor interjected, raising his voice. "We are not there yet. I'll tell you when we're-"
He got no further, for at that moment, the whole of the little area they were in suddenly came alive with fire and sound, torches held aloft and voices barking commands. Armed men emerged from the undergrowth on both sides of the road. Flik scrambled to draw his sword, but several of the adversaries were on him before he could bring the weapon to bear.
In the next couple of seconds, a desperate little melee ensued. Flik's horse, startled by the rush, reared, and Flik was unceremoniously dumped on the ground. Flik, not having any better plan of action, reached out and tripped his closest adversary, and then tried to roll upright. Viktor bellowed, and moments later Flik heard the distinct crackling sound of a nose being broken. From behind him, Nanami shrieked, and Jowy yelled something.
Two men tried to grapple Flik, but he stomped on the foot of one, and kicked him away. The other managed to trip him up, though, dropping Flik back on the ground. He warded off a blow to his head, and then lashed out at the face of his attacker. And then he stared out in wide-eyed wonder.
"Rossgard, is that you?" Rossgard's punch connected squarely on his jaw, but suddenly he seemed to realize whom he was attacking. Flik, jaw throbbing with pain, pushed Rossgard away, stood up, and yelled, trying to get everybody's attention. "STOP! STOP! CEASE AND DESIST!"
As quickly as it had begun, the fighting died away. Flik surveyed the aftermath. Jowy had been pinned underneath his own staff, held firmly by two of the ambushers. Nanami, in the process of elbowing the soldier who had pulled her off her horse, suddenly yelped as she was let go and toppled on to the ground. Riou had impulsively jumped off his horse to save his sister and rushed right into the waiting arms of about six assailants, who among them had immobilized him. Viktor alone had remained mounted and, as the blood on his hand attested, had managed to strike back effectively.
Of course, none of this mattered, seeing as their attackers also happened to be their own mercenaries. There was a moment of embarrassed recognition and then the men released Riou and Jowy.
"Sorry, sir," Rossgard said, pulling himself back onto his feet. "We nearly got spotted by a local patrol, so we're all a little jumpy. It's your own fault, though. We heard you coming a mile away and, thinking you might be another patrol, prepared a little welcoming gift."
Viktor, regarding his bloodied hand with bemusement, began to chuckle, which quickly escalated into full-blown belly laughs.
Flik, with his jaw still twinging a little, managed a weak, "Heh."
The mood was a little more celebratory once they had retreated a little ways into the pass and spread out the food and drinks. Even the unfortunate soldier with the broken nose was wheezing merrily. After eating, Viktor and Flik, along with Riou, Jowy, and Nanami, sat at one of the smaller fires to talk things over. Well, Nanami immediately chose to snuggle into Riou's shoulder and fell off into an uneasy sleep.
Flik smiled and turned his attention to the two boys. "So, what's to be done with you two? Are you still interested in serving Highland?"
Jowy responded immediately, spitting out, "I'll never serve Highland again. They betrayed us, killed all my friends."
Riou remained silent long enough that Flik thought he was simply allowing Jowy to speak for the two of them, but suddenly he spoke up, in a subdued voice, "I don't think it's possible for us to go back at this point."
Flik nodded. "I would like to keep you two close at hand for now. Your testimony might still be valuable, though war seems inevitable, now. Still, I don't think we can rightly call you prisoners anymore, but I'd like you to stay with us."
"Why don't we just make them part of the unit?" Viktor interjected, jovially.
"That's not what I meant," Flik tried to reply.
"Oh, don't be so fussy. What do you two say? Join the unit and you might even get a chance to strike back at Highland."
"Yes, I'll help you," Jowy answered, eyes glittering with intensity.
Again, Riou did not respond for a long time. Again, Flik thought that he was just allowing Jowy to speak for him. Again, Riou proved him wrong. "You came to rescue me, even though you didn't have to. I'll help you in any way that I can." Though his words were soft spoken, they seemed to Flik to be just as earnest as Jowy's bolder answers.
"Then it's settled." Viktor clapped his hands together, signaling for attention. At Riou's side, Nanami yawned awake, looking like she was trying to remember where she was. Other mercenaries drifted in, to see what the noise was about. When Viktor felt that he had a sufficiently large crowd, he continued, officiously, "You men may recall young Riou and Jowy." Flik rolled his eyes and would've sighed, but Viktor continued. "In just a short space of time, their meritorious deeds have mounted to the heavens and shook the earth." Flik decided that Viktor must be feeling the drinks, for only when he was drunk did he get this verbose…that and he was starting to slur every other word. "And now, having been wrongfully cast from their homeland, they crave entrance into this very band of mercenaries from which they so recently escaped." He paused, basking in the anticipation. "And I have accepted, from this day forth, they are commissioned" -which came out commish-on-ed- "as senior sergeants. You men will give them the respect and deference due any other senior sergeant. Now, let's have three cheers!"
As the first cheer roared out, Viktor stepped around, pulled the two new "sergeants" up and slapped them heartily on the back. Neither Riou, nor Jowy seemed to be fully aware of what was happening.
As the second cheer rebounded off the mountains, Nanami looked directly at Flik and asked, "What's going on?"
As the third cheer, which was probably audible in Kyaro, died away, Flik stood up and stalked towards his sleeping roll. What could he say? He had no idea what was going on, either.
In Solis 460, Firesdei, the 9th of Avrai:
Dear Diary,
I do not think I've spent such a busy series of days since my time in the Toran Liberation Army. Well, we've managed to reacquire the two "prisoners" Riou and Jowy, along with Riou's sister, Nanami. Their situation is terribly pitiable, as they are now exiles from their homeland. Viktor, against my better judgement, has enrolled Riou and Jowy as senior sergeants in the mercenaries. This will keep them close at hand, I suppose, but I am loath to expose them to fighting, which seems inevitable now.
I have dispatched a fast rider towards Muse, bearing the news that we learned. My sincerest hope is that the full weight of the Jowston City-State Alliance can shortly be mustered against Highland, for I don't think that Muse's strength alone is enough to ward the blow. It feels like the whole region is taking a deep breath before the plunge. But, once the plunge is made, who knows how it will turn out?
Thus, if there is any way that I can keep the three of them, Riou, Jowy, and Nanami, out of the fighting, I will take it. Those kids have already suffered enough for one lifetime.
Flik closed the book, pondering the three kids for a while. Well, he decided, if they're in the mercenaries, they ought to have some duties. Something that will keep them occupied, but close at hand, out of trouble. He nodded, that sounded about right. He smiled, whistled tunelessly, and wandered out of his room and down the stairs, to Leona's bar. It being mid-morning, the bar was empty, and Leona was busy cleaning clay pottery mugs. She looked up at his approach.
"Anything I can help you with, commander?" She placed a clean mug down on the counter and mechanically grabbed the next dirty one, never taking her attention from Flik.
"Yes, I was wondering if you've seen Riou, Jowy, and Nanami this morning," Flik said cheerfully.
Leona replied, "They left here a little over an hour ago, after talking to Viktor."
Flik's good mood evaporated. "They left…after talking to Viktor? Did they say where they were going?"
Leona smirked, just a little, at Flik's discomfiture. "I don't believe they did, though Viktor might know. He's out on the practice field, so you can take it up with him." She placed the mug that she'd been working on down onto the counter and reached for the next mug, now turning her full attention back to the job at hand.
Flik stalked from the bar and out the front doors, muttering to himself about "preempting my perfect plans." Outside though, his mood softened as he walked through the beautiful spring morning. The sky was cloudless and blue, the air was warm and fresh, and the trees were budding with leaves and blossoms. He found Viktor running a group of the men through an elaborate obstacle course.
"How could you not see that?" Viktor yelled, after watching one of the men run face first into a revolving bludgeon. The offending soldier apologized profusely, which only served to get him slapped in the back of the head by the next bludgeon, sending him sprawling into the mud. Viktor, noticing Flik, grimaced and walked over to the fallen man. Pulling him aside by the scruff of his shirt, he proceeded lecturing him in a slightly gentler tone. "You've just been killed…twice. You've got to keep your eyes open on the battlefield. Oh, and never apologize…if someone gets the better of you and you're still alive, you've got to work twice as hard to overcome him." Viktor led the soldier back to the beginning of the course. "Now, do it again and this time, keep your eyes open." He slapped the unfortunate man on the back to get him started. Then, ignoring the blundering soldier entirely, he turned to talk to Flik. "What's on your mind this morning?"
Flik watched for a moment as the soldier in the obstacle course tripped over a log at knee height. "Leona says you talked to our three guests this morning. Mind telling me what about?"
Viktor shrugged; the soldier, having recovered his feet, was now running across a series of planks. Sadly, one of the planks was whisked out from under his feet and he ended up falling back first into the mud. "Yeah, I told them to go and try to find some recruits for the mercenaries."
Flik sighed; the soldier, getting up again, was now trying his best to navigate a series of empty crates. Alas, about halfway through, his left foot caught one of them and, arms wind-milling, the soldier crashed through the remainder, shattering a few of them. "We've already got a number of men working on recruiting. I don't see the need for those three to do that sort of work. I don't even think they're qualified."
"But that's the point," Viktor replied. The soldier, having returned to the bludgeons, promptly got bludgeoned in the stomach, causing him to stagger backwards a few steps and vomit loudly onto the ground. "They won't be looking for typical run of the mill mercenary fodder; the people they recruit will be unique- each one worth a hundred men."
Flik rolled his eyes. "You think they'll be safe, running through a potential war zone with no escort?" The soldier, unsteadily staggering around, absorbed another bludgeon to the back of the head, depositing him onto the turf, again.
"They're pretty resourceful. They managed to lead us on a merry chase all the way to Highland and back. Besides, the war's going to be up near Muse. Nothing's going to happen down here." Battered, bruised, and desperate, the soldier managed to crawl underneath the bludgeons.
At his side, Flik's right hand started grasping reflexively, as if he were trying to reach for a point. "I just wish you'd tell me about these things before you go off and do them. Your impetuosity is going to get someone hurt someday." Having navigated his great bane, the soldier stood up, sprinted towards the finish, and promptly fell into a pit of water.
Viktor reached out and put his hand on Flik's right shoulder. "Just think of all the new recruits they'll bring in. Everything will turn out fine." The soldier managed to scramble up the far side of the pit, lunging with every ounce of his remaining strength towards the goal line. "Take it easy and, if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to the training." The soldier collapsed across the finish, to a smattering of applause from the men.
Flik walked back towards the main building; there wasn't much point in continuing the discussion anyway. Behind him, he could hear Viktor yelling, "Come on, you tripped every obstacle in the course, some in ways I've never even seen before, and you're dead at least six times over. Are your eyeballs just painted on for show? Ah, here, let me do the course, again. And this time, all of you better pay attention." Well, Flik decided, he'd just have to wait and see what Riou, Jowy, and Nanami turned up.
He didn't have to wait long. Coming down to Leona's bar the next morning, his eyes were assaulted by the presence of a large, unkempt man sitting at one of the tables, leaning back in his chair, sandaled feet propped up all the way to the other edge of the table. A loose blue robe hung on his frame, open to reveal that his abdomen was wrapped with yellow tape. He was also wearing yellow shorts, for modesty's sake. His sword, a huge, three foot hunk of metal, was leaning against another chair. A small mountain of empty rice bowls sat between his legs, on the table.
Noting Flik's presence as he approached, the stranger belched and said, "Hey, mind getting me another bowl of rice?"
Flik's eyes narrowed. "Who are you?"
The stranger shifted his position slightly, smiling lazily. "The name's Rikimaru." He reached out and snagged Flik's hand in a powerful handshake. "I entered Master Riou's service yesterday, and he told me to wait back at this fort, so here I am."
The words "Master Riou" bounced ominously around in Flik's head for a moment, but he shook free of the distraction and asked, "What is it, exactly, that you specialize in?"
"Swordsman and bodyguard by trade. Not quite used to this whole "organized" thing myself, but I'll stay out of the way."
Flik smiled. "Really. Care to demonstrate your skills?" He eyed the big man's huge cleaver of a sword. "With practice weapons, of course."
Rikimaru guffawed. "Against you, alone? I'd eat you up. Why don't you send about ten of your best men at me, and I'll put on a show."
Minutes later, and outside, the big man did put on quite a show. Towering over the soldiers who came at him, Flik could see that he was perhaps even taller than Viktor, if not as wide. With the practice sword in hand, he conked the closest soldier into the ground, stepped to one side, and, without visible effort, swept two more soldiers off their feet. The remaining seven all hesitated, which was a mistake, as Rikimaru rushed in and clobbered three more down, one with a well placed punch.
Flik had seen enough. Grabbing one of the wooden practice swords from a dazed soldier, he charged right into the action. Rikimaru saw him coming, swinging his own practice weapon in a broad arc, at Flik's eye level. Flik neatly ducked under it and cracked his own weapon down on the elbow of Rikimaru's sword arm. Shrugging the blow off, Rikimaru attempted to shoulder charge Flik, who deftly stepped aside and slapped the bigger man across the back of his legs. They turned and faced each other, Rikimaru slowly rotating his elbow to work out the pain. Flik lunged in, trying to knock the weapon from his opponent's hand. Rikimaru also rushed forward, left arm reaching to try and grapple with Flik. Calmly changing tactics, Flik turned sideways to his opponent's rush and, legs buckling slightly under the larger man's weight, leveraged Rikimaru's motion over his shoulders and into a body slam.
On the ground, Rikimaru started to alternate between coughs and laughs. Flik shook his head, trying to clear the little stars that were dancing in his vision. Then remembering the fight, he managed to turn his practice weapon on his fallen opponent.
"Yield," Flik commanded.
Rikimaru was too busy laughing to respond. Finally he choked out, "You failed to mention that you're Warrior Village trained. I guess that's what I get for assuming you were just an aristocratic dandy from Toran."
Flik decided to take that as Rikimaru's surrender and casually flipped the practice weapon back in the direction of one of the soldiers. Then he said, "It seems that you are as strong as your bluster merits. Still, could you ask Riou to tell other new recruits to speak to Leona the bartender, first? It'd make things a lot easier for me." Then he turned to walk back into the main building.
From behind, Flik heard, "Can do. But, if you had let me use my Onimaru, I'd have had you for breakfast."