Paralogue 1: The Basics
As Maribelle's horse pulled the wagon along the road through the night, the troupe and their newest companion sat inside the wagon. Inigo and Olivia were near the front of the wagon, discussing their recent dance routines. Maribelle and Brady practiced their violin playing, even though Maribelle was on top of her horse, guiding it in the dark. Kjelle, sitting in the back of the wagon, watched Robin flipped through the pages of his book once more. He seemed really frustrated by the continent's.
"You seem really interested in that book." Kjelle told him. "You're flipping so fast, I can't even see the pictures inside." Robin laughed at this and then closed the book.
"I guess I am a bit too focused on it." The man chuckled. "It's just a bit annoying that I can't figure it out. It's filled with places marked on a map and notes and pictures of people everywhere in this book. Yet most of it's pages remain blank. I keep asking myself why isn't it finished. Where did I find it? Stuff like this just bothers me for some reason." He let out a heavy sigh.
"You're probably overthinking it." Inigo said from behind. "If you can't figure it out now, then why not come back to it later? Not everything can be tackled when you want it to be. Especially if you're a person with no memory of who you really are and anything else."
"Hmm..." Robin looked at the cover of his book. "Even so, it still bothers me."
"Why not toss the damn thing out then?" Brady added. "If it's so much trouble, get rid of it and keep movin'."
"Erm, Brady, my good man..." Inigo laughed nervously. "That could've been said about you back in our war days, giving your appearance..."
"Can it pretty boy!" Brady turned away and suddenly stopped playing. "Don't ya think I know that? It was like I was the enemy walkin' around camp all the damn time! Sometimes I wonder why people even kept me around, ya know? I couldn't even hold an axe without choppin' off something other than the target!" A sniffle was heard. "Even now, I ain't no good with a weapon."
"Young man, you know that's not true." Maribelle called from the front. "I've seen you in battle, and you've certainly "chopped" those risen to pieces."
"Ma that was just dumb luck!" Brady coughed a bit.
"Brady, are you...crying?" Robin asked.
"I AIN'T CRYIN!" Brady yelled. "I-I just got a leaf in my eye!"
"(Don't worry Robin, these things normally happen.)" Kjelle whispered. "(Brady tends to get emotional, and Inigo normally sets him off on accident.)"
"Perhaps it's best we pull over for the night." Maribelle mentioned. "The moon is already out, and yet we're already near the Great Gate."
"The Great Gate?" Robin asked.
"Allow me to fill you in." Inigo smiled. "The Great Gate is simply a three-way passage, serving as a gate to all three. To the south is Valm Harbor, a harbor a long ways south to Chon'sin's own harbor.
"To the west is the Mila Shrine Ruins." Brady grunted. "It just sacred grounds for people to pray and stuff. Doubt we'd be allowed to be there at this time of the night."
"If you were to go back west where we came and take a boat, you'd reach the Ruins of Time." Inigo told him. "I can't really say much about this place, for I don't know much."
"..." Robin seemed the most interested in the Ruins of Time.
"We'll go through the south and rest at the harbor." Maribelle said. "It'll be much safer there rather than up here."
"I guess there's bandits around here then, right?" Robin asked.
"Precisely." Came a voice.
"Who's that?" Brady asked.
"Would you like to meet some?" The voice asked again.
"EEEEEEEEEEK!" Maribelle's voice suddenly yelled.
As soon as she yelled, the wagon suddenly jumped into the air, causing everyone to topple over onto each other. The wagon slowed down until it ran over something. This caused it to tip over, causing the wagon to skid while on it's side. It eventually came to a stop, and everyone soon stopped screaming as soon as it did. Each person climbed out to find that they were on the side of the path. Brady ran to the front to find Maribelle and her horse badly injured. Her horse had an arrow stuck in it's leg, While Maribelle seemed to suffer from only a few bruises, possibly from the bumpy ride.
"Ma, you're hurt!" Brady exclaimed.
"I-I'm fine, but..." Maribelle muttered as she stood. "Just look at me! Gods, this will not do, all these bruises...and look at my poor horse!" She knelt down to her horse's side. "He's been shot with an arrow!"
"I hate to bring bad news..." Inigo was suddenly next to them. "But it seems like we're surrounded."
Brady and Maribelle turned to look, and Inigo was right. Surrounding them were four archers, who had them trapped in a diamond-shaped figure.
"Is everyone all right?" Kjelle's voice called.
"Naw, we're just peachy, bout to be arrowed to death over here!" Brady yelled back.
At that moment, Kjelle came running towards them. She stabbed an archer from behind, causing them to fall. The other archers took notice, and tried to flee. One tried to attack Kjelle, but the arrow merely bounced off her armor. She then took out a Javelin and threw it at the archer, hitting them in the chest. The archer fell to his knees as Kjelle joined up with the other three, with Robin and Olivia behind her.
"Brady, sarcasm isn't the best thing in this situation!" Kjelle yelled at him.
"And arguing isn't the best thing in this situation either!" Robin told them. "We're under attack, so we need to stay calm and get out of here safely."
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that." The mysterious voice from before had said. Standing behind Robin was a man who hid his face in a hood. Robin turned around and stepped back as soon as he noticed. "There's a bounty on your head, and I intend to collect."
"M-me?" Robin asked. "What did I do wrong?"
"It isn't what you think it is." The man said. "But I'm afraid my group and I will have to kill you all now. My apologies."
With a snap of his fingers, the archers returned to the scene, only they stood at a farther distance this time. The man ran behind the group and drew his sword. "Men, that gold will be ours by sunrise!" The archers cheered in response.
"Damn, so much for escaping." Inigo muttered. "Without a horse we can't make a speedy getaway. We've no choice but to fight."
"This'll be easy." Kjelle huffed. "Just a few weaklings."
"So it's six to seven from the looks of it..." Olivia muttered. "We're slightly outnumbered, do you think we can-"
"I know we can do it." Maribelle muttered.
"Maribelle, you need your rest!" Olivia told her. "Stay here."
"Nonsense, I'll have you know I'm perfectly fine." Maribelle argued.
"We don't have time for this, here they come!" Kjelle told them. She then turned to Robin. "I know you're capable of defending yourself, but remember; No mercy. Kill the enemy or they kill you."
The six stood together while the six archers blocked their path in the distance.
"Archers can only attack from a distance, so we better get closer while we can." Kjelle told the group. "Who's going to go first..." She looked at Robin, who was flipping through a book with a red cover. "ROBIN! Now isn't the time to be studying!"
"But I'm not studying, I'm looking for the right tome to use." Robin told her.
"Tome, so you now magic?" She asked.
"I've used it before, that I can remember. If I were to move..." Robin took a few paces forward, standing in front of an archer. He opened the book. "Now if I were to..." With a spin of his body and a wave of his hand, Robin was surrounded by faint, yellow lines. As he did, a string of fire shot out of his hand, engulfing the archer in his attack. By the time the fire was gone, the archer was on the ground, face buried into the dirt. "Yes, I think I have this magic business down."
Kjelle then turned to Brady. "Brady, can you assist us in the fight?"
"My axe is all the way over in the wagon...boy, did I pick a perfect time to leave it." Brady mumbled to himself as he looked away. "I may not be able to smack those guys around with ya, but I still have my staff!" He yelled. "Just tell me where to move, and I'll be by ya side and fix ya right up!"
"Then stay by Maribelle and fix her up, okay? We'll handle the archers!" Kjelle told him.
In response, Brady moved a pace back and stood across from his mother. "Don't worry Ma, I'll have ya fixed up and out there fightin' in no time!" He raised his staff high as a green light emitted from it. Maribelle was engulfed in a green light that covered her body. Her bruises disappeared as the light faded away. She was left speechless as she was healed.
"Mrs. Olivia, you can still fight, correct?" Kjelle asked her.
"W-well...I still have my sword, but...I'm not all that strong." She stammered. "I can still dance though..."
"Fair enough, you can still defend yourself. Stay close to us, and we'll take care of this." Kjelle told her. "Now then, where should I move to? With these archers around, no spot is safe..." Kjelle moved a few paces forward, standing diagonally across from an archer. Without hesitation, she took her Javelin and threw it at the archer, but she missed. The archer retaliated with an arrow shot, but it bounced off Kjelle's armor, much like the last one. Olivia stood two paces behind her, carefully pulling out an iron sword. She was mumbling to herself as she looked at it.
"I guess she forgot about me again..." Inigo muttered, being the only one not told to do anything. "I know I can't directly attack archers unless I'm in front of them, but I can still move." He sighed as he headed towards the battle, standing next to his mother.
"Now that the targets have come closer, we've got to take them out." The mystery man said. "Remember, guys; No mercy!"
"All right everyone, be careful as they attack." Kjelle warned. "If things get sour, just go back towards Brady and get healed."
With six deadly archers remaining, they each came closer towards the small group. Two of them aimed at Inigo, who had to take the attacks without countering. The first arrow hit the man in his chest, while the other missed him barely as he did a backwards flip to avoid it. Three of them aimed at Robin, who dodged each arrow coming to him with ease. He retaliated with a wave of his hand and a spin of his body, firing a fire spell each time, completely covering the body in flames until it fell to the ground out of stamina. The final archer came to Kjelle, who actually dodged the arrow that was fired. Kjelle retaliated with firing her Javelin back at the archer, this time hitting it in the head, killing the target. The man behind the mysterious attack stayed in place, watching the events go down.
"I should be out there fighting as well..." Maribelle grunted.
"Maw, you need to rest up." Brady told her. "I can't have ya goin' out there and gettin' killed because you aren't completely better."
"But Brady, you just healed me!" She argued. She tried to walk past Brady. "Surely I can go out and-"
"Ma, listen to me. You're staying put, and I'm not gonna let you go out there! You got that?" Brady stood in his mother's way with a worried look on his face.
"Brady..."
While the two argued, the battle continued. Inigo dashed up to an archer and attacked with a killing edge. The sword not only killed the archer, but also cut his bow in half upon impact. Olivia, wanting to be of some use, ran up to a nearby archer. However the archer stared at her, which made her blush and miss. However the archer was soon stabbed in the back. Literally, Kjelle had attacked the archer from behind with her iron lance, letting him fall to his knees before removing her lance from his body. The only one left on the battlefield was the mysterious person. Robin took it upon himself to confront this man. He switched his tome for his steel sword, and held it by his side as he stood from across the man.
"Tell me, why do you want me?" Robin asked. "Who are you?"
"I can only say this." The man responded. "There are many like me, who look like me, and act like me. And they all want you. A higher person has placed a large amount of gold for proof you no longer wander this land."
"But why...who would want that?"
"That, you may figure out...if you survive."
Robin wasted no more time in attacking. He charged at the man and attacked him with an upward thrust, causing a decent amount of damage. The man retaliated by attacking with a downward slash, which Robin blocked with his own sword. Robin then dashed at the man as he jumped back and attacked with an upward slash. The man fell back in pain, his sword being tossed to the side, breaking into two.
"Know this, kid. That bounty will belong to someone, one way or another. You will die soon..." Those were the man's final words as the battle was completed.
"Is everyone ok now?" Kjelle asked afterwards.
"Yes, I think we're all better now." Inigo told her. "Nothing a good night's sleep can't fix."
"So there's a bounty on Robin's head?" Olivia asked. "B-but that can't be!"
"There's no way you can be a criminal!" Maribelle said.
"Those bloaks must've had you confused with someone." Brady told him. "It happens a lot. I should know."
"Regardless, someone wants me dead." Robin told them. "I'll have to investigate into this..."
"Well, for now, we should probably keep going and find an inn to stay at for the night." Olivia told them. "It isn't safe out here. Inigo, be a gentleman and help us bring Maribelle's horse along."
"Yes mother." Inigo replied with a smile.
Later, on the road that night...
"You weren't half bad out there." Kjelle told Robin as they traveled the path.
"I guess it was just instinct that took over." Robin told her blushing. "But they only attacked us because of me. I shouldn't be here if I'm gonna put you guys in danger."
"Nonsense, this is why we need you along!" Kjelle told them.
"Huh?"
"You said you have amnesia, correct?" Inigo asked. "Well, this is a clue to help you figure out who you are. Are you a fugitive, or a friend?"
"I certainly hope he isn't a fugitive." Maribelle grunted. "I'd have to turn such a gentleman in if he was."
"I believe he isn't one." Brady said. "For one, he doesn't have an ugly mug for one."
"Unlike yourself." Inigo laughed.
"Look who's talking! You send girls runnin' to the hills to get their pops!" Brady shot back.
"Hey now, I'll have you know that only happened a few times!"
The group shared a laugh as they continued down the path in the dark with no other light than the stars.
Just a little paralouge to keep you entertained. (Since I realized I never put an introductory battle even though I should have during chapter 2...)
Paralouges battle-focused
Chapters dialogue-focused