A/N: Gah, last chapter didn't look that short until I had uploaded it. Still, I have a lot (or at least more than usual) to say.
Yeah, last chapter was short, but I actually had written it in under an hour, so it was a lot more than usual for myself. It usually takes me about two-three hours to get 2k words. Another reason that I had done it was because I have a habit of trying to have more chapters than reviews.
Seriously, since I have 13 chapters and 15 reviews, (I do at the moment of writing this,) then I will try desperately to even up the amount of reviews and chapters. I honestly have no clue as to why I love doing that so much. Either way, serves for motivation.
And as for my characters not having and introduction? I'm trying to make it at least seem like I recognize them. Why would I introduce characters that I technically had already created and knew almost every detail of before being inserted? Admittedly, I do have to put some sort of description to them, so they aren't empty silhouettes, but that's because this is an actual story. And for them not having any meaning... You may be right. But this self-insert was at one point not a self-insert and the OCs are paying homage to that period. I still need to work on the personalities a bit, though.
Anyway, a continuation of what occurred last time.
Get the convoy. Go. Run. Rush. ANYTHING!
I see a rather large crowd of people gathered around a cart, of course that's where I was trying to go.
But yeah, everyone's crowded around Robin, who is passing out weapons and medicine to the other Shepherds.
I squeeze past who I think is Gaius and Wilson, before ending up in front of Robin.
"Hey." I give a light wave. "Can you pass me my sword?"
"Oh, sure." he looks in the convoy for Draiotoll, soon finding it and holding it out to me. "And don't forget this." he hands me a couple of vulneraries as well. I nod and walk with a few others into a defensive position in front of the road. I guess the Risen were blocking out the road, and may have been the ones that were hunting that girl.
I look to my sides. Sully and Frederick are here. Wait, does that mean I'm in the front lines?
"Ravel!" I hear Robin's voice echo behind me. "I've positioned some of the sword users South of the carts. I need you to go over there with them." Oh... Wrong way.
I turn and shake my head, heading where I think is South until I see Jafray. Also here is Geoff, Calina, Gaius, Lon'qu, and Olivia. Eh, I'd expect Olivia to be a bit closer to the front lines and- Wow. She is a lot prettier than the official art depicts her. The fact that she has pink hair doesn't seem to bother me a bit. And don't even get me started on her outfit.
"U-uh... Excuse me...?" I hear a faint voice pipe up. "Y-you're staring at me..." What?! OH GODS!
Hearing a few snickers from the other thieves, I quickly bury my head into my hand in an effort to cover my red face. "Gods... I'm sorry." I choke. Gods, that isn't a very good way to make a good impression. Now I look like some sort of pervert.
"Duuuuuuuuudddeeeee..." Geoff walks up to me and puts a stupid look on his face, causing me to want to punch him. And that's exactly what I do. He may have a bruise on his shoulder when all of this is done, but that's what friends are for. Right? ...Right...?
I hear an unintelligible growl come from our side, prompting us to draw our weapons and face the edge of the forest.
"W-what was that...?" I hear Olivia stutter. I hear a few more whispers from the other mercenaries. I guess they haven't seen a Risen yet.
I shake my head. "man-eating potato sacks." I hear some laughs from others, to which I shake my head a bit more noticeably. "No, I'm serious."
Sure enough, a few zombies break out of the forest. Fighting breaks out everywhere except here, as we are all each sitting and waiting for the Risen to make a move. The Risen do the same, causing us to end up in a sort of temporary stalemate.
"Oh come on!" Geoff just shrugs and stabs a revenant nearby. This prompts the other Risen to attack, along with us.
I rush toward a burly warrior, which hold up a bow and fires a few arrows at me before I get there. Not a surprise, Risen have a very bad aim. I get close enough to attack it, and I lift my sword into the air, The Risen lifts up a steel axe, and our weapons collide. This sends a shockwave of sound across the battlefield, which causes the Risen to keep his focus on me.
It's a shame that it doesn't see Lon'qu approaching it from behind.
The Risen is decapitated, sending purple mist blasting into my face.
Oh, OH GODS... That smell... I need to go just in a river when this is all done.
The mist fades and my coughing concludes, but the sound of metal-against-metal still echoes throughout the battlefield. I shrug before heading over to assist a few more of the Shepherds.
Hmph. Calina and Jafray are busy killing everything. Er... re-killing..?
Geoff doesn't look like he needs too much help. Oh well.
Then there's Gaius. He doesn't look like he needs help, though he looks like he could use it more than Geoff. Thief it is, then.
I rush over to him and impale a living potato sack. Gaius looks up to me, sticks a lollipop in his mouth, and continues to fight a few Risen. He actually gets through quite a few of them, I now think he's an Assassin, not a thief. I didn't really pay any attention to the spikes on the backs of his sleeves.
He does an awesome spin-slash that cuts an axeman into the two.
Hrm.. I wonder if I could try that. I duck under an arrow and position myself in-front of a zombie archer, before quickly gaining momentum and starting to spin.
Gah, Wuh?! ... That's purple. I guess I cut through him. Oh... Oh gods... Now my head is spinning. I lose my balance and hit the ground, knocking a puff of air out of my lungs.
"Ravel!" Huh..? Geoff? "Are you hurt? Don't die on me! STAY AWAY FROM THE LIIIIIGGGGGGHHHHHHTTTTT!" ... Seriously?
I facepalm and climb back onto my feet. "I'm not dead, idiot. Or hurt. I'm just dizzy. Please, remind me to never do a spin-slash again."
I hear a chuckle from Gaius as a few more Risen approach. Olivia's standing back... and dancing. Gods, they weren't kidding. Her dancing really does make you feel better.
One-by-one the Risen fall, until what I assume is the Risen chief (it looks like the chief's portrait... so..) climbs out of the bushes.
"G-graaaagggghhhhhh..." it moans before rushing toward Lon'qu. The zombie lifts up a veeerrrryyy big axe, which Lon'qu immediately blocks with a killing edge.
The myrmidon holds up the beast's weight for a minute, before a crack soon enters our ears.
"I-impossible!" he grunts as the sword breaks in his grasp and falls apart. Holy. Crap.
The Risen laughs and lifts an axe. This sends pretty much all of us running, as the battle had kind of split us apart.
"Oh hell no." I hear a familiar voice laugh as the Risen is impaled by a javelin.
It simply looks at itself, then into the sky, then back at itself, before exploding into purple mist.
Of course. I was wondering when I would meet her.
A rather large pegasus lands nearby us, a girl about my age soon jumping off of it. She leans over and picks up her javelin, before walking over to Lon'qu.
"How's that for you, baby?" she gives a wry smile, wiping a sort of pale orange-ish hair out of her face. Lon'qu simply rolls his eyes in response.
"We shall not speak of this any longer." he mutters before walking away.
Susan simply chuckles and looks around, somehow looking in every direction except where I am. "I see a few new faces." she mutters. "I guess these are the mercenari..." she stops as she lays eyes upon me, and she drops her javelin. Her smile grows into a wide grin.
Uh-oh...
"Oh my gods!"
Run...
"BIG BROOOOOOO!" AGH GODS I CAN'T BREATHE ASKDFASDFKJDFLKJAKLDFJLJADF.
"S-susan..." I manage to choke out. No, she's not actually my sister. We just happen to look a bit similar and so she settles upon that nickname. We don't look that much alike, but she calls me her brother anyways. "C-can't... breathe..." her eyes widen and she lets go of me, causing me to fall to the ground.
"Alan, what're you doing here?!" she yells rather loudly. "It feels awesome to see someone who isn't smoking hot!" ... Excuse me? I'm not ugly. Well, I'm not 'smoking hot', but I'm not ugly!That's just harsh.
"Shush! My name's Ravel!" I give a subtle wink before climbing onto my feet. "We'll talk about this later." I whisper out of the corner of my mouth.
She nods. "I need to take Gale out to the stable, anyways." She named her pegasus Gale? What? With the quick conversation over, she climbs onto her pegasus and flies off to the front of camp. I'm confused...
"Alright, that's the last of them!" I hear Robin yell from the other side of camp. He's pretty loud actually, not as loud as me, but loud nevertheless. Eh, I'm more just really excitable than anything. Not as much here, though. Once again: soul-merging.
I simply rub my eyes and walk toward camp, which was set up now that the attack was over. I guess we don't want to run the risk of more Risen being up ahead.
"Hey, how's it go-" I'm silenced by a shush as I enter the med tent.
So it's a crime to check on someone? Hah. Jeeeeeeeeeeeeee- No. Just No, Ravel. Er, Alan. I don't know what to think, anymore.
"This woman is still trying to recover, perhaps I may suggest that you keep your rambunctious manner of speech to a halt?" Maribelle. The accent was a dead giveaway. The command didn't help to hide it either. Sigh. I guess Lissa isn't in here anymore, and neither is Niro. I guess they are getting ready for dinner. Who's cooking, anyways?
"I apologize, I was just wondering how she was doing." I try to talk a bit less... casually on purpose. Course that doesn't work, since Maribelle just rolls her eyes and continues to bandage the woman's wounds.
"...Curious." I hear Maribelle mumble.
"...Excuse me...?" I turn toward her, a look of confusion passing across my face.
"I apologize. I was just thinking aloud." she looks toward me and turns around, grabbing a few bandages and wrapping them on the girl's arm.
"So... Who do you think this girl is, anyways?" I tilt my head.
"Judging by her attire and the bearing of a family crest, I have reason to suspect that this girl may be of noble heritage." Maribelle speaks without turning and glances at the girl. "There is no proper way of discovering whom she is, though perhaps her family crest could explain her identity."
I just shrug. "I'm going to go eat, so..." I let out a small meh before leaving for the mess tent. I hear a small hmph from Maribelle as I leave. No biggie.
Everyone seems to be heading toward the center of camp, where I assume we are eating.
I approach the tent and peek through it.
...
Why is everyone screaming?
And sprawled out on the floor?
"Ravel..." I hear a grunt come from a figure beside me.
I turn around to see Kellam sprawled on his knees, still wearing his armor.
"R-run..." I look around in confusion.
"What's going on?" I ask him. He coughs, before responding.
"S-Sully... She's..." What, what is it?! WHAT IS IT?! "Sully's... cooking..." I hear a few more screams from across the camp. Gods, this is ridiculous.
"There's no way it's that bad." I roll my eyes.
Everyone stops yelling and stares at me. "...What..?"
Gaius stumbles next to me, his face pale. "No... I wouldn't wish Sully's cooking on my worst enemy..." he tries to put a lollipop into his mouth, but falls over before it goes into it's mouth.
"I don't see why everyone is freaking out." Minor lie. I'm slightly worried, but I'm starving. I haven't eaten since that battle with the Risen earlier today.
"Hah! Did you wanna try some?" Sully barges into the tent, holding a pot of some sort and- is that blood on her apron? "'Bout time someone comes along who appreciates my diets." ...What...?
...What have I done...?
She pushes me into a seat and drops a bowl in front of me, which she fills with- ...Is that some sort of stew..? Eugh...
"I-I'm suddenly not hungry..." I choke. I try to climb out, only to get shoved back down by Sully.
"Hell no! If you want to be a fighter, you're gonna have to eat like a damn fighter." she sports and evil grin- did she get lessons from Calina? "Don't worry. I put extra clay in it." Uhhhhh...
... "There's no way out of this, is there?" I look up at her.
"Nope." she replies.
I sigh. Here goes nothing.
I lift up the spoon and dip it into the bowl, scooping up some of it's contents and bringing it to my mouth.
Guh...
Wha... What happened...?
"Told you so, Thunder." Gaius? Thunder? The heeeeelll...? Also in here is Geoff, Susan, Jafray, and Niro. Er, and Maribelle... So.. Meh.
"...Thunder...?" I choke.
"I nickname everyone." Oh.. I get it... because... I'm the last to find out about everything... and... and... Ughh... What the hell was in that soup...?
"And to think that you almost had a new record..." Geoff laughs, and Jafray and Niro do the same.
Sigh. I yawn and climb out of bed.
Meh. Once again, meh.
A/N: I decided to go ahead and end the chapter here. Admittedly, I was going to do a POV swap to Tom, but I have not a clue how to write Laurent's personality.
Anyways, we see more screwing up on my part and a proper introduction to Susan.
And so it isn't confusing, the mercenaries aren't a part of the Shepherds. They're just joining with them until they get back to Ylisstol.
Still though, first chapter since 9 that hasn't had a POV swap. This one almost did, sure. But that's not too important.
What is important is that I get more character development done over the next couple of chapters. Seriously, I keep postponing it.
Anyways, I'll likely upload another chapter this weekend.