Yup i told you i wouldnt forget about this story! Its taken me ages to update it but i needed to get this chapter right, its kinda hard writing three different stories from three different locations, but not impossible to here it is! Enjoy and have a blast reading it!
Disclaimer: I do not own Ed Edd n Eddy or any of the characters, but you see if i did id be living in a mansion with lots of fancy cheese.
Where they're going
Lyon was sleeping soundly next to the fire that they had prepared, the small child reminded Edd of simpler times and more innocent thoughts, like when Arnold had first taken him out to see what magic he would be using, it had been frightening and extraordinary at the same time, a feeling that left him somewhat hollow as he stared at the fire. He lifted his hand and the fire began to move slowly, he moved the flames right then left and then they flickered slightly and went back to their original position, he still couldn't control the elements without his staff, he had heard of rumors of rare mages who could use their magic without their staff and Arnold had already told him he was one of them, but the skill was very difficult to learn and now that he had to teach himself it seemed all but impossible. He stared at the flames for a long time, thinking about the long journey he had ahead of him and how funny it was how peaceful it was now when inside him it was like a raging storm of emotions and doubt. He looked back over at Leon and smiled, at least one of them could sleep like that without a worry, he was happy that it was Lyon who was ok.
When Edd opened his eyes he saw Lyon making something with his back turned to him so he couldn't see. He didn't remember when he had fallen asleep but he knew that there was a terrible taste in his mouth that refused to go away no matter how many times he smacked his lips. Lyon looked back at him with mild interest; he threw a water canteen at him and watched him as he took a drink. Edd licked his dry lips thanking him for his hospitality but Lyon just told him that he needed it more. They had been walking for two days now and supplies were starting to get low seeing as the forest they found themselves in was so large that finding a stream was difficult and hunting was starting to become scarce, If Edd tried to catch an animal he'd end up burning it and he couldn't control dirt or bark yet so it was hard for him to get one. Lyon on the other hand had took it upon himself to start up hunting, he had told Edd that since he was a half elf that hunting was something that had been taught to him his whole life, he was able to get them a lot of different food while Edd had been completely useless. He had tried many times to look for water but that last gulp of the drink had been their last and now they needed water desperately.
"Ok Lyon I'll try to use my magic again to find some water I'm sorry I've been so counterproductive." He sighed, there were many times when he had tried to look but he wasn't able to connect to nature like Arnold was, he had always tried to when Arnold would do it but he could never find that peace of mind that was needed, it was always thinking about something that would keep him from meditating properly.
Lyon finished tying the string onto his makeshift bow; he still had to make the many arrows that would come with it, he had used them all for the last animal they cached. "Mk, be careful and don't be angry if you can't do it," He smiled over at Edd, his eyes genuinely happy. "You saved me, so it's ok if you can't do it."
The last part was supposed to be reassuring but it just added more pressure to him, if he had saved him once than he should be able to do it again. "Ok thank you very much Lyon." He tried to keep his composure when he walked away, but he was tired of looking strong for him.
He sat down on the ground, holding his staff with both his hands and leaving it on his lap, he sat crossed legged and tried to clear his mind, he closed his eyes and took deep breaths focusing on the earth…the sound of nature…the fact that they were running out of water. He shook his head, blowing a breath out, he needed to clear his mind, he needed to feel nature and the source of water. His mind wandered for some time before he remembered the faces that had come to him when the tablet had shown him. The face that had looked so sad it hurt and the other that looked innocent and in a way ignorant to what would happen, he wondered what went through that boys head and before he knew it he was clear minded and ready to connect with the earth. He felt it then, the earth moving and the water that was cutting across the ground, he knew exactly where it was knew, the direction it was going in and even felt how cold it was, his shivering ended his meditation and he opened his eyes in content. He felt so useful after that, he rushed over to Lyon and when he got to him he pointed to the right, breathing hard.
"I…found some…water." He huffed, a huge smile on his face.
Lyon had just finished making the last of the arrows, a slightly bored look on his face, but when Edd mentioned water he lit up, smiling and rushing over with him towards the stream. It was exactly where he had felt it; they both took huge gulps of the water, letting the cool feel quench them. The water helped so much, it given him strength that he had lost through the long trek in the forest.
"So how did you find it?"
Edd didn't know how to answer him, his magic wasn't hard to explain but he did it by feelings and he couldn't explain those. "I scanned the ground using my magic to connect with the earth, it takes years of concentration and help, but I don't know how I was able to do it." Leaving the uncertainty in the air didn't help much but it was the truth and Edd didn't want to lie to Lyon.
He started to fill their canteens, Edd found it very interesting that Lyon was able to think so far ahead when it came to surviving, any other kid would just be happy with drinking the water and being on their way, but Lyon had been sure to fill the canteens Edd had brought and make a bow for hunting. They put the bottles in Edd's pack and set on the quest again towards the Masters Guild, Edd didn't know anyone over there but Lyon had told him that there was a very powerful and young knight over there. He didn't know his name but he hoped it was one of the chosen ones he was looking for, the mental faces of the others was burned in his memories and he would get someone to draw them for him when he got to the guild so others could see who he was talking about.
Lyon secured the bow on his back and sheathed his knife on his belt, there hadn't been any attacks yet but thieves and other miscreants riddled the forest. Edd was surprised they had gone 2 days without getting attacked. He rubbed his hands together, trying to get some feeling in them when he saw something he couldn't imagine, his worst nightmares had come true and he stood there, his mouth in awe.
"Dear lord…" He said, breathless he just stood there; Lyon quickly walked up to his side and looked at his hands in worry.
"What's wrong hero?" He asked quickly, and then looked around afraid that there was someone out there.
Edd shook his head, this was much worse. "I'm filthy!" he shook his hands as if the dirt would magically come off if he did. "Absolutely, un-acceptably, filthy!" there wasn't much that needed to be said after that. Lyon gently grabbed his hand and literally pulled him towards the guild, while Edd checked his person realizing that he had a thick layer of dirt caked on his person.
"Hero's shouldn't be scared of dirt." Lyon stated but there was a small smile on him.
Edd shook his head almost tripping as he was being pulled. "It's not the dirt I'm afraid of, it's the fact that the dirt is on me and it is making me look like I've been rolling around in mud." He still flinched a little when he was called a hero, he just didn't feel as if he fit the part and what Lyon said made it even more apparent to him.
He let go of his hand and walked beside him instead of taking the lead, "So it's ok for hero's to be afraid of things…?" the question was barely heard like he was ashamed to even talk.
Edd grabbed Lyon's shoulder and turned him around so he was facing him, Lyon barely got up to his shoulders so he knelt down and looked him square in the eyes. He remembered asking the same question to Arnold when he was young. "Every hero is afraid of something, never think that you shouldn't be afraid, fear is an uncomfortable thing but it keeps you alive, keeps you feeling and will in the end keep you strong because you'll always feel fear, it's getting over it that defines you." He felt as if he was quoting Arnold word for word, but he hoped those words stayed with Lyon like they had with him.
The young boy nodded, smiling at him, there was a quick moment that Edd felt like hugging him, but quickly got up and scratched his head. "W…well let's continue." He wondered then if Arnold had held himself back like he just did, and if he had it saddened Edd to know that.
Ed was walking around the guild, taking a day off from training. He kept his hands in his pockets and his head hung low, it wasn't the cold that was making him do that but the sense of failure and weakness. He had felt pretty depressed over the course of the two days that followed his master leaving, the day he had left Ed couldn't sleep and then the next day the Knight General had sent him a letter saying that the mission was secret and that he shouldn't tell anyone. He still didn't understand why he couldn't come and his frustration was building up even when he was training it wasn't let out it just was bottled up and refused to come out. He hadn't felt so angry before in his life, it was as if his peaceful existence was all of a sudden torn to pieces and left with him to deal with it all alone. It was the fact that no one seemed to care that he was gone, sure none of them knew and that's what irritated him as well, everyone was going on living their lives while he was stuck with a secret that would change everything if anyone knew. He was wearing loose clothing with a green coat that he always loved to wear, he had his sword with him and was going off to the blacksmith, then after that a surprise visit to someone special to him, maybe get some answers. He opened the wooden door to the sound of clanking and sparks flying everywhere, he saw a chubby man hurrying from one bench to the other and seemed to be lost in his work, Ed sat down on the chair and played with his thumbs while the man worked, Ed had been here many times before and knew the man could be very mean if someone interrupted his work. The guy finished his work and turned around, sweat drenched his face but he didn't seem to mind and he snorted when he saw Ed.
"Haven't seen you here since you broke your sword, better not be another one of my beauties broken you got there." Weapon maintenance was something that always seemed to elude Ed if it wasn't for the fact that he was bored he probably wouldn't have done this anyways.
"Not this time, I actually kept it un-broken." Even though his voice was sincere the man still rolled his eyes.
He reached out, his pudgy fingers grabbing the sword greedily; he unsheathed it and inspected it, his eyes searching for anything that was out of the ordinary. "Yup, this thing is defiantly in the crapper, probably could've only used it about one more time before it broke, you dang knights always think your swords are indestructible and then want guys like me to fix them up all good and new for you." He shook his head and laid the sword on the iron table, then pulled out his hammer and walked to the furnace. "Just stay there and wait. I'll be able to fix her up yet, this is my pride and beauty after all."
Ed was patient as he waited, the thought of his new looking sword fresh in his mind, it was a nice one handed sword, his a slightly curved handle and a nice grip, the hilt was a diamond shape and the blade was a nice one that went straight up unlike his two handed sword that curved slightly. The blade was finally finished and the clerk gave him a stern look.
"Don't keep messing this blade up, you'll have to go to the best in the world if you want it fixed up again." He spit on the ground even if it was his store. "You'll need a magic blacksmith at the rate you're going out, and they scare me."
Ed thought about the magic blacksmiths, the ones who used runes, magic equipment and other things to make swords, they were very hard to find and he had only truly saw two in his lifetime that had traveled to the guild for specific reasons and his master never liked them because they were so expensive. Ed had always had an interest in them and defiantly wanted a weapon crafted by them. He paid the man and walked out, his salary was very well being a knight they were highly paid almost as much as mages, and seeing as he was a top one he was paid and even more.
He left the sword on his belt and walked over to the house that was fairly close to the knight's castle, in fact it was another castle that was even bigger than his. He walked into the grand hall of the royal castle, and there sat his mom, dad and little baby sister. The princess tiara she wore was defiantly cute on her. She smiled at her older brother, but his parents stared at him critically. He quickly rushed up to the end of the hallway and gave a quick bow before he spoke.
"Hi you guys!" Ed smiled, feeling a little less at home here than he was at the other castle, but still glad to see his royal family.
"Hi Ed, how's the knight stuff going." Sarah asked but her outburst was quickly criticized.
"We must address out Knights formally if you wish to talk to them." Their mother said, still not looking over at Ed.
"And watch your grammar as well young lady."
She sighed, clearly frustrated by the fact that she couldn't talk to her brother normally. "Sir Ed, how has your knight training been going?"
Ed smiled; the way this was going was defiantly entertaining. "It's been great! I learned how to use a one handed sword and now I can use both types, how have you been baby sister?"
"Your tone Knight!" The queen spoke sternly, her eyes daring Ed to do what he did again.
Ed gulped, and bowed again. "Sorry, how are you princess?"
She looked down at Ed, sadness covered her face and she gripped her dress tightly. "I'm well knight thank you."
That's when servant Jimmy walked in, holding the tea that was for the royal family, Ed knew when he should go.
Ed nodded and gave her a quick smile before he pardoned himself and left, he always forgot how sad visiting his parents made him. The life of a prince never had fit him even from a young age he had always been dirty and never remembered the rules that came with being royalty, that's why his parents had sent him to Knight school, thinking the rough nature and hard training would teach him how to be discipline, if anything it did the opposite he had luckily gotten his master and was able to stay the same him while he trained. So when he picked knighthood over royalty he was shunned by his family, all but his little sister who always was there for him and always loved him. He was terribly sad now and the frustration from the day was added too. He wished his master was here to help, he wished anyone was there to help.
He needed to find his master.
Eddy waited until night to go on his newest little travel; he slowly walked past the people and past the wanted boards of a boy in a dark robe and his face hidden, if it wasn't for the fact that it said murderer than he would have smiled, something he hadn't done in a long time. There were 3 bags of gold tied around his belt, not very large in size so they didn't weigh him down. The air was crisp and cool, signaling the upcoming winter time he dreaded winter the most out of all the seasons, it was always so cold and when you were following a target cold wasn't a good thing it often left him slightly lax and tired earlier. He walked towards a small white house, it looked pretty fancy but not enough for someone like him to be interested in. He untied one of the gold pouches from his belt and left it at the doorstep, he looked at the door for a long time, he wanted to knock on the door and be welcomed in, welcomed home. He felt like crying but kept his emotions packed tightly, he hadn't realized how long he was there until the lights turned on and he turned around quickly when the elderly man opened the door, because he knew if he looked than he might not have the power to leave.
"Are you…?" He sounded like he was going to cry, his voice sounded so sad that he wanted to turn around and show him his face, show him the truth. That his son would never come back, his son was gone.
Eddy waved him away without turning around and sprinted off to the left.
"Wait please! She's ok now!"
Eddy kept his pace the same, closing his eyes as tightly as he could. Eddy still had another stop to take so he couldn't talk, more like he didn't want to talk to them. The church that he wanted to go to was far off, so when he was out of sight of the man he slowed down to a steady pace. He walked for a while before he got to the church and did the same thing with them except he got out quickly. Instead of going back to his room in the assassin's quarters he decided to take a walk this time, he had no plans of taking a job and didn't want to scam anyone today. Instead he wanted to feel calm for once, feel like a normal civilian who didn't worry about survival of himself and others and didn't worry about what his next job would be, weather it would be too hard for him to handle, weather he would die. He concentrated on the smoke that came out of his mouth whenever he breathed, it was definitely getting colder, he would need warmer clothes if he wanted to stay out longer.
He heard something move in the background and kept walking, not giving away that he knew someone was there, they were too far and if he turned around they would simply run away. Eddy kept his head low and listened, another movement, closer this time. There were defiantly two people coming at him, they were skilled, the only real giveaway that they were there was the soft pitter patter of someone's feet hitting the ground hard, they would need to work on that, but if they were who Eddy thought they were than he would never give them the chance. When he heard a clicking noise and a whistling sound cutting through the air he dropped to the ground just as two knives bounced off the earth floor he was walking on. He turned around and the two people who were stalking him were going towards him at quick speeds, the first one drew a sword and slashed down towards him while the other held knives and threw them in his direction.
Eddy blocked the sword with his own and let the knives whizz past him barely missing him and the other person, the guy jumped back and Eddy stood up fully, he held his sword in-front of him and waited for the two other assassins to attack him, he knew that whenever someone else was trying to kill talking wasn't something you should do, so he kept his mouth shut and switched his focus from one man to the other. They were defiantly older than he was, bulkier too, they were wearing warm clothing that clung to their skin and showed their muscles, one had a big sword and was the taller of the two while the other was short and held three knives in his hand. The cloaks that covered their bodies were deep blue and had light silver markings on them; a dead giveaway in the dark, Eddy shook his head, amateurs.
"What are you shaking your head at fool?" The bigger of the two said, taking steps towards him, "Do you know who we are? The top assassins that the Elton guild could hire, that's who." The man took more steps towards him, Eddy shook his head again, the guy was advancing way too quickly and his sword was way too big for him to do really close combat like he was trying to do. Eddy wondered how he was able to stay alive this long.
"Carful there, you heard about this guy, he's pretty good." The man in the back said, his knives always in his hand and ready to throw if Eddy jumped out of the way, that's when he figured it out, they had lived so long because they worked together, Eddy had seen many assassins like that before, too afraid to go off by themselves so they would get someone else to help. He clenched his jaw; he always hated being labeled as 'pretty good'.
"Pffft! Never seen a guy as good as us before, he's no different."
Eddy reached for his throwing knives secretly behind his back, he did so without making any kind of gesture that would give it away, the man didn't seem to notice it at all. "Why would the Elton Guild send assassins to kill me instead of mages?" he knew that it was one of his rules to never talk, but he was never one to follow rules, even his own.
"Cause the top wizard Arnold has been killed, and your name has been popping up along with some others, so just to make sure some angry wizards have sent us to take you out." The guy was a couple feet away now; there were more questions Eddy had but they would have to wait now.
He threw the knives at the guy's head making him duck, Eddy followed suit so the short guy wouldn't hit him. He then jumped forward with his sword pointed out and stabbed the man in the shoulder, he screamed out in pain but his sword was too big and heavy to swing when he was kneeling down. Eddy quickly jumped back and threw another knife this one sticking in the guy's head. He shuddered his whole body seemed to spasm then he fell to the floor, a sick gurgling noise the last thing that escaped his mouth. Eddy looked for the other guy who seemed surprised by the incident, he should have taken that advantage but he needed answers and one of them couldn't talk.
"Why is my name going around the Elton guild?" He held another knife out, showing that if the guy ran he wouldn't get far.
"W…we don't know, some people suspected you, probably cause you've been taking out all the guards over here and they just wanted you gone." Even though he hesitated he still kept his compositor, never once did Eddy see him shake. "You're also the only one skilled enough to take out a guy like that, but it's not just your name that came up several others have we just haven't been told who."
Eddy glared at the guy and started taking steps towards him, his friend had failed to intimidate him when he did this but Eddy made sure he was scaring the guy. "Who would know about the guy who wrote the list? Better be a good informant too cause I have a few questions to ask him."
The guy twitched then and took a step back, "Kevin, the knight general would know he and the high wizards in the Elton guild were the only ones who got the list."
Eddy thought for a moment, he paused in his steps. Kevin the knight general was a famous knight who was the first to become a general at such a young age; he was also pretty close right now to the Masters Guild. Eddy knew who he would be visiting and soon. While he was thinking he barely had enough time to dodge a knife that was mean for his head, the only thing it cut was the hood he was wearing and it fell on his back, showing his face. The guy gasped, momentarily giving Eddy an opening. He took it, stabbing the guy through the chest and pulled it out letting the guy die as fast as he could. Eddy clenched his jaw again, Kevin the General was the one who had the list, Eddy had heard that he was on the outskirts of the Maters Guild; he was a General of the knights after all so he stayed close to all the knights. If Eddy wanted to go to a generals castle than he really needed to be ready, and by ready he meant everything that he had acquired from stealing. He smiled; he could finally use 'that' again. Eddy walked back towards the assassin's headquarters and when he finally got to his room he walked over to the black market salesman.
"Hey Eddy, what do you need?" He was already rummaging through his pack, looking for supplies for knives and other resources.
"I'm gonna need some of that and the supplies for my special bomb drops." He smirked at the guys shocked expression.
"You must be going against some guy…" He whispered, taking the supplies out and handed them to him, then took the money and smiled. "I wish the guy good luck if you're using these things."
Eddy smiled his eyes fiery and fierce. "I do too."
I'm definatly scared for Kevin, Eddy isnt the type of person to pay a visit and leave with everyone alive. Possible meet up for the three chosen ones? Well i cant tell ya cause it would give stuff away and i was told not to do that at author school :P Hope you like it though Review it for me so i know what you guys want, in your reviews put in what you want each character to be and ill see if i can do it, but just to let you know i already have some ideas on where i should put them but maybe yours are better than mine so go ahead and tell me! (P.s. im going to include my OC's Emma and Kenzie, if you dont know who they are check out my other story.)