AN: And here we go. The rewritten Chapter 1. It's still fairly short, since the base chapter was short, but I'm still trying to get my bearings regarding writing completely original material.
Also, the notification system is still down, so make sure you check everything manually. However, it's also telling me that my stuff has 0 views, so I'm relying on comments to let me know that you're actually reading this.
Anyway, enjoy!
Chapter 1: A Jewel without a Crown
The smell of cooking fish gently woke Russel from what felt like the best sleep of his young life. He felt cloth covering his small body, telling him that he was wearing a blanket, and his head was resting on something soft. He couldn't remember the last time he had been allowed to sleep with a blanket and pillow, and he expected that any time now someone would yank them away from him and beat him for stealing them.
But wait. When had he stolen them? He couldn't remember even planning to steal them. There'd be no way to hide the evidence that he'd done it and he'd be beaten for sure. That's when he noticed a hand gently rubbing his head. His eyes opened in a panic, revealing that he was lying down next to a campfire in a forest clearing, and not in his cage. Over the fire on wooden sticks were two fish, slowly roasting. He slowly turned his head, and saw the familiar face of a beautiful purple-haired woman looking down at him.
"I see you're finally awake," she said. "I hope you don't mind my lap. I couldn't find you a pillow." He turned his head in the other direction, and realized that what he thought was a pillow earlier was actually the woman's lap, as her legs were folded underneath her to allow him to rest his head.
He promptly screamed in terror, quickly shuffling his tiny body away from the woman, and curling up into a ball defensively.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he started muttering. He had no idea what he had done wrong, but hopefully just apologizing would cause the woman to have mercy on him.
"What are you apologizing for?" the woman asked, reaching out a hand towards him. Seeing her approaching hand, he flinched and curled himself up further. The woman's facial expression changed from one of confusion to one of sympathetic understanding. "I'm not going to hurt you, Russel."
"H-how do you know my name?" Russel asked.
"You told me last night when you awakened me."
Last night? Awakened? He began to remember. The box of Core Crystals. Grabbing one of them. The bright light. This woman standing before him. And the words she spoke.
"My name is Brighid, and I am your Blade."
"My Blade," he said, starting to uncurl himself and looking at the woman. "You're my Blade."
"Yes, I am," she said, giving him the warmest smile he had seen since the bandits took him, despite her eyes still not opening. "And like I said last night, since you are my Driver, as long as you live, I will keep you safe. Why would I ever think of hurting you?" There was something about the way she smiled at him. It was so warm, so gentle, so full of…
Love.
He couldn't help it. With tears in his eyes, he practically tackled the Blade woman, throwing his arms around her and burying his face in her shoulder. Without a second's hesitation, she gently wrapped her arms around his small form, bringing the boy in for his first hug in a very long time. The tears started flowing freely, and he did nothing to stop them, letting himself get lost in the warmth of the embrace.
Russel and his Blade, Brighid, were sitting next to each other next to the warm campfire, each of them with a fish skewer in their hands. Brighid was taking small, dainty bites of her fish. Russel, meanwhile was greedily devouring it, having not eaten for at least the last four days. Within minutes, he had finished his meal, and looked at the stick in disappointment.
"Here," Brighid said, holding the remaining half of her fish in front of his face.
"No, I can't take your food," he said.
"Go ahead," she said, bringing it closer to his face. "Even though I do like the taste, Blades like me don't technically need to eat to stay alive. Besides, you could use it far more than I could."
"If you're sure…" he said uncertainly. She nodded, and he gratefully took her skewer, taking a bite of the delicious fish attached to it. After a few minutes, he stopped eating and looked pensively at Brighid.
"Is there something on my face?" she asked when she noticed that the boy was staring.
"No," he said, shaking his head in embarrassment at being caught staring. "It's just, I've never talked to a Blade before."
"Well, is there anything in particular you want to talk about?"
"Um, I want to talk about you." Brighid chuckled.
"I'm not sure exactly what there is to tell. I was born yesterday, after all."
"What do you mean?" the boy asked, titling his head in confusion.
"You awakened me last night, so I'm not sure exactly who I am yet." Russel still looked at her in confusion. "When a Blade is awakened by a Driver, they lose all their memories of their past lives. My earliest memory is of waking up in that camp last night. Nothing else."
"So you don't know if you had any family or friends?"
"I don't know. I'm sure I had people I would call friends, but I don't remember. I have you, though, and that's enough for me."
"But doesn't it make you sad? Not being able to remember?" he asked, sadness painting his own voice.
"That's sweet of you to ask, but for now, I care more about making sure you're safe than chasing a past I can never have back."
"Then, we'll make new memories," he said, smiling at her.
"Oh?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah! You and me can make new memories! We're gonna see the world! Explore Alrest!"
"That sounds wonderful," she said, smiling brightly back at her Driver. "What about you? Do you have any family?" He looked down at the ground sadly.
"No," he said quietly. "Not anymore. Those bandits killed them all."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Brighid said, her smile fading. "When was that?"
"I don't remember how long ago it was. I've been their slave ever since."
"You poor child," Brighid said, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and pulling him close.
"Thank you," he said quietly, closing his eyes and leaning his head against her shoulder.
The next time Russel awoke, he was met with yet another oddity.
A girl was looking down at him, staring intensely at his face.
"Ah!" he shouted, backing up in fear.
"Ah!" the girl also shouted, jumping backwards. She had long grey hair done into twin tails, with thick red rope holding them together. She had long ears sticking straight up from her head, and was wearing a white leotard with gold trim, accented with red ropes. She had puffy detached sleeves on her arms, and white thigh-high boots that turned red at the base. In the center of her chest was a blue diamond-shaped crystal.
Before he could even ask her who she was, Brighid had already sprung into action, swinging her whips at the girl. The unknown girl raised her arms, and a yellow barrier appeared around her, blocking Brighid's attack.
"A Blade?" the girl asked. "You mean this pipsqueak's a Driver?"
"Who are you?" Brighid asked. "You're clearly a Blade as well. Where's your Diver? Why are you here?"
"Oi, you just attacked me!" the girl shouted, clearly more than a little annoyed. "Where do you get off, asking questions?"
"I won't ask again," Brighid said, stepping to the side so she was directly between Russel and this mysterious Blade girl. "Who are you?" The girl just growled in annoyance. "You won't answer? Fine. Then I'll just beat it out of you!" She separated the blade segments of her whips, igniting them with blue flames. This made the girl just smirk.
"Hydro Blast!" a new voice shouted, and a thin blade of water shot towards Brighid, dowsing some of her flames.
"She's a water Blade?" Brighid asked nervously.
"Nia, what did I tell you about causing trouble?" the voice said, revealing a man carrying a sword that looked like it was made of pure blue Ether energy stepping out from the trees. He was a tall Ardanian man with shaggy, dark red hair, grubby-looking clothes, and a rusty metal chest plate.
"Oi, it's not like I wanted to start a fight!" the Blade girl, Nia apparently, protested. "She started it!" The man looked over at Brighid, narrowing his eyes.
"Something about her seems familiar," the man said. "Who are you two?"
"I believe I asked her first," Brighid said, backing up to stand more defensively in front of Russel.
"You can call me Sam," the man said. "And this completely tactless young lady is my Blade, Nia."
"Oi!" Nia said indignantly.
"Now, your turn, beautiful," Sam said, addressing Brighid, who bristled a little bit at being called "beautiful" by a strange man she had never met.
"I see no reason to answer that," Brighid said.
"Oi!" The man said, offended by Brighid's refusal to answer. "I told you my name, it's only fair for you to tell me yours!"
Russel ran up to hide behind Brighid, clutching her skirt tightly. Brighid took up a defensive stance.
"B-Brighid, I'm scared," Russel said. Sam seemed to be taken aback at Russel's words.
"Wait, did you just call her 'Brighid'?" he asked. Russel cowered further, causing Brighid to grip her whip swords more tightly. "No, it couldn't be…"
"Couldn't be what?" Nia asked. Sam didn't answer her, instead looking more closely at Brighid. "Oi, Sam!"
"Purple hair, twin swords, gorgeous body…" Sam listed off, making both Russel and Brighid visibly uncomfortable.
Nia suddenly smacked Sam in the back of the head, snapping him out of his trance. "Oi, would you listen to me, you lech?!"
"Ow!" Sam exclaimed, rubbing the back of his head and glaring at Nia. "What the hell was that for, Nia?"
"You're leering is even making me uncomfortable," Nia said. "I can't even imagine how the poor woman must be feeling."
"Hey, I wasn't leering!" Sam argued. Brighid and Russel looked at each other in confusion. "If she's who I think she is, she's supposed to be gorgeous!"
"U-Um," Russel said, getting Sam and Nia's attention. He ducked further behind Brighid.
Sam stepped forward. "Her name is Brighid, correct?" he asked. Russel nodded reluctantly. "I figured as much. Tell, me kid, where did you get her?" Sam stepped forward, extending a hand to him.
"Where did you get that from, you little shit!"
"No!" Russel shouted. "Get away!"
Brighid sprung into action, her whip swords extending and launching a blast of fire at Sam. Sam jumped out of the way at the last second, holding his sword in a defensive position.
"What the hell was that for?!" Sam yelled. "I'm only trying to help!"
Russel began to panic. He knew this man had to work for Tristan. And he was trying to take Brighid from him.
He wouldn't let him.
"No!" Russel screamed. "You won't take me back! You won't take her from me!"
Russel's body started glowing, a line of golden energy forming connecting his body with Brighid's. Brighid's body matched Russel's glow with even greater intensity.
"An Ether link?" Sam asked. "Full affinity already?!"
"GO AWAY!" Russel screamed. Brighid extended her whip swords, engulfing the weapons in blue fire. She charged at Sam, swinging them wildly at him.
"Swirling Dragon!" She yelled, but Nia jumped in the way, summoning a barrier to try to block the attacks. However, she was still knocked backwards by the sheer force, falling onto Sam and sending them both tumbling to the ground.
With a wave of her arms, a wall of blue fire erupted, separating Russel and Brighid from Sam and Nia. Nia rushed to defend Sam from the flames, and Brighid grabbed Russel and ran into the forest as fast as she could.
As they retreated, Russel could hear Sam calling for them to come back.
Finally, the flames died down, but it was too late.
The kid and his Blade were long gone.
"That little brat!" Nia raged as she angrily kicked the ground. "What the hell does he think he's playing at?!"
"Blue flames…" Sam said. "There's no doubt about it."
"What are you on about now?" Nia asked.
"That boy's Blade…"
"Oh, for the love of…" Nia said angrily. "Can you stop thinking about women for five seconds?"
"I know that Blade," Sam said, stopping Nia in her tracks. "She's Brighid. The Crown Jewel of Mor Ardain."
"'Crown Jewel'?" Nia asked. "What does that mean?"
"She's the most powerful Blade in the Empire," Sam said. "She's passed down through the Royal Family as an Imperial treasure."
"But that kid definitely wasn't Ardainian," Nia said. "He looked Gormotti."
"Yeah, which begs the question: How did he managed to resonate with such a closely-guarded Blade?
Something about this didn't add up.
"So, what do we do?" Nia asked.
"We need to find that kid," Sam said. "I have a really bad feeling about this."
Something told him that the boy was in serious danger.
Doubly so with such a valuable Blade at his side.
Sam just hoped he wouldn't be too late.
AN: So, biggest change from the original is that Sam is now Ardainian, when he was Gormotti in the original like Russel is. I decided to change it primarily because I had someone think he was the guy that forced Nia to become a Flesh Eater in the game. He's not, so I changed him to a different nationality just to eliminate the confusion.
This chapter also has a very different ending than it did originally.
So, next up is the first chapter that will be written entirely from scratch. I'm excited for it!
Don't forget to leave comments so I know you're reading!
As always, thank you very much for reading, and I'll see you all next time!