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RonaldM40196867: I like the ship between Guts and Casca. The man went through hell for her. No, I definitely would NOT want to meet Guts. Meeting him would suggest the Apostles, God Hand, and the Idea of Evil all exist. I do not want any of that. So, personally I'd rather not meet him.
Griffith and the Band of the Hawk were out on campaign. Having decided it was safe enough to leave the Princess in Doldrey for the moment, Griffith had gone to lead the war effort against the King.
They'd already won a couple of important victories and were currently camping out after their latest battle.
General Radford had sent two companies each with two hundred of his knights to join in the campaign. That was all he could spare as the rest had to remain behind to guard Doldrey.
He couldn't exactly complain. They were decent warriors and they did follow orders well. And the Hawks did need the reinforcements to bolster their numbers considering the losses they took, escaping Wyndham and the men Griffith left behind to protect the Princess. Though Griffith would have preferred if the men had remained at Doldrey. He didn't like the fact he had siphoned men from the fortress' defenses. These four hundred men weren't strictly needed to defend it but weakening its defenses at all irked him.
"I can't believe this… We had a good thing going back in Wyndham! Now we're back out here fighting again… Damn King… If that old bastard had just kept it in his pants we wouldn't have to be out here fighting again!" Corkus grumbled to some of the other men.
"I know… Fuckin' bastard. Who the hell does that to their own daughter, damn it?! Ugh… Well, could be worse. At least we got allies. I'll admit, when we were running from Wyndham with the Princess I was worried we'd be on the run from all of Midland." Said one of Corkus' men.
"That would have been unfortunate, wouldn't it?" Griffith asked.
The men flinched and looked at him. "G-Griffith! We, uh… We didn't see you there!" Corkus said nervously.
Griffith smiled. "It's quite alright, Corkus. I was just passing by and overheard your conversation. I happen to agree. If no noble houses sided with us, it would have been a grave circumstance indeed. We would have had to flee Midland's borders to seek refuge in another kingdom or territory. From there things would have been more difficult but we would have been able to manage. Have I ever led the Hawks astray?"
"Nah. You've never let us down before. I'm sure you'd figure something out, even then… Still, it sucks that we had to give up our nice cushy position in Wyndham and get right back into the mud and blood of the battlefield." Corkus stated.
"Agreed. I'd much prefer if none of this had ever happened as well. But such is life, I suppose. Don't worry Corkus, we'll know peace again soon. I assure you." Griffith stated, patting him on the shoulder. "Ah, before I go. Have any of you seen Casca? Judeau told me she was looking for me."
"Last I saw she was by the supply tents. Don't know if she's still there." Corkus informed him.
"Thank you." Griffith said before turning and walking away.
He found Casca sitting on a barrel by the supply tents. He'd originally wanted her to stay behind with Princess Charlotte so the Princess would have another woman to talk to, but Charlotte had insisted he take Casca. Apparently Casca had been upset about being left behind and the princess had decided to talk to him on her behalf.
Plus, if he left Casca he would have had to leave her company with her since he didn't trust anyone else to lead them in her place, which would have meant borrowing more of General Radford's knights. So it wasn't hard to convince him to bring her.
"Casca." Griffith called out to her. "I heard you were looking for me?"
Casca looked over at him. "Griffith. Yes, I was. Sorry to bother you with this but there's something I thought I should bring to your attention. Earlier today some of our men found General Radford's knights stealing food from our supplies. I already brought it up with their captains and they assured me their men would be punished, but I thought I should let you know too. I would have expected the Red Bear Knights to have better discipline."
Griffith frowned. That was… unusual. Knights weren't like mercenaries. They did indeed generally have more discipline than that. "I see. I'll speak with their captains immediately. Thank you for letting me know… I take it you're sitting here to guard our stock from further pillaging?"
"For now. Just in case any more idiots get any bright ideas." Casca stated
Griffith nodded. "Very well. I'll leave you to it then, I suppose." With that he turned to head off to find the Captains.
When he reached the Red Bear Knights' section of the camp he found the Captains standing and watching four men strung up by their ankles from a tree.
Griffith had arrived just as the fourth was being pulled up off the ground. He watched as the rope was tied down.
"Ehem…" He cleared his throat.
The Captains turned to look at him. "Greetings Lord Griffith." They said, bowing to him.
"Good afternoon… I take it these four are the supply thieves?" Griffith asked, looking at the hanging men.
"Indeed. You have our deepest apologies, m'lord. We don't tolerate thieves in our ranks… I don't know what these buffoons were thinking." The other captain stated, harshly.
"Well, I can see you're certainly handling it… How long do you plan to leave them like this? Or is it an execution?" Griffith asked. He knew this was occasionally used as a particularly cruel version of execution. Hanging was much more common but this method was still used by the Holy See.
"It's no execution. We'll get 'em down eventually. But leaving 'em up there until some time around dinner in a few hours oughta teach 'em some bloody discipline." The first of the two captains told him. "Ain't that right, you lot?! Just be grateful we aren't having your sorry hides flogged instead!"
"Hm… Well, do try to keep a closer eye on your men. I assume you understand the importance of proper rationing?"
"Of course, Lord Griffith. This won't happen again. You have our word!" The second of the two captains assured him.
"Very good. Then I'll consider the matter settled for now… Be sure to get them down before any permanent injury occurs. If further punishment proves necessary, they can always be assigned to some of the more dangerous areas of the battlefield." Griffith stated. He then turned and walked away.
At least they knew how to handle thieves when they appeared. A bit harsher than he would have been, at least for a first offense, but he was satisfied that it was being dealt with.
A few hours later and the sun had gone down and the scent of basic stew flooded the camp as the Hawks were cooking their dinner.
Griffith was sitting and talking with his men when one of the captains of the Red Bear Knights came up to him with a pair of mugs in hand. "Lord Griffith, as a bit of an apology for earlier I brought you a drink. It's brandy from my personal reserves. Three of those idiots were under my command. I thought it's only fair that I share it with you after the trouble my men caused today." He held one of the mugs out to Griffith.
Griffith took the mug the Captain offered him. "Brandy?" He smelled the drink. It smelled quite good actually. Not the finest brandy ever, but not cheap either. But it was a little on the heavy side with some pungent spices. "Hm… Do I detect cinnamon and cloves?"
"Yes'sir! It's got a bit of cinnamon, cloves, and star anise in it. It's all added to the barrel before aging. It's my favorite, personally. Hope you don't mind all that."
"Well, I certainly won't refuse. Thank you."
"To her majesty's health!"
Griffith raised his mug. "To her majesty's health." He then took a sip from the drink. It was actually quite good. Not something he would drink all the time, certainly, but he could appreciate it for what it was. The spices covered up the natural taste of the brandy a bit much for his liking, but that was a minor issue. He could imagine sitting in front of a fireplace in the castle in Wyndham in the middle of winter and sipping on this. Or having it during a celebration.
The Captain drank from his own mug. "Ah! Nothin' quite like it in my opinion. My cousin owns the vineyard this brandy's from. I practically grew up on the stuff. The wine too of course. Always preferred this, though. White wine just never really did it for me."
"I'm a fan of red wines, myself. But I can appreciate a nice white wine too under the right circumstances."
"Makes sense. A lot of folks prefer the reds. My cousin loves the white wines though. Couldn't fathom why, myself, but to each their own, eh?"
The Captain stayed and talked to Griffith for a few minutes. Eventually, Griffith finished his mug of brandy. Then, he started feeling a bit odd. At first he assumed the brandy was a bit stronger than he expected but he quickly realized something was wrong.
"I… I don't feel well…" Griffith stated, standing up and nearly collapsing.
"Griffith?! What's wrong?!" Rickert asked, rushing over to try and help him to his feet.
"I don't… I don't know…"
"GRIFFITH!" Judeau shouted running over to him.
"Judeau?" He asked, his suspicion and concern skyrocketing.
"Griffith! It's bad! Men all over the camp are getting sick! Some are falling over! I'm not sure if they're unconscious or dead! I think those 'thieves' poisoned our food!" Judeau told him.
Griffith's eyes widened. He turned his head to look at the captain who had given him the mug of brandy.
The man was already swinging a dagger at Judeau.
Fortunately Judeau noticed and managed to react barely in time. He knocked the Captain's wrist off course and punched him in the gut hard enough to make him puke back up whatever it was that had been in his mug. Likely water or tea considering the betrayal. He would want to be sober if he'd been planning this betrayal all along.
Judeau quickly grabbed his own knife and slashed the Captain's throat open.
"Shit… Griffith, can you…?"
Griffith shook his head. "Poisoned brandy…"
"Damn…" Judeau cursed before grabbing Griffith's arm and slinging it over the back of his neck. "Rickert, run! Raise the alarm! Tell everyone we've been betrayed."
"W-what about Griffith?!" Rickert asked.
"I've got Griffith, now go! We probably don't have much time."
Rickert hesitated for a moment before running off shouting, "Everyone! The Red Bears are traitors! Grab your weapons! The Red Bears poisoned our food!"
Judeau started carrying Griffith away. "Hold on, Griffith, I'm gonna get you out of here! And whatever you do, don't you dare die on me! I don't know if this stuff's actually lethal but if it is, you'd better pull through damn it!"
"Judeau… You and Rickert… The poison… How are you not…?"
"I don't know. The guys must have been caught before they could poison all of our supplies or something. Not everyone's getting sick, thankfully. Hopefully enough of our men are still healthy enough to put up a resistance." Judeau
As they continued to make their way through the camp, the shouting started. The sounds of battle. Smoke started to fill the air as tents caught fire and started to burn.
"Get up you damn idiots! Fuck, fuck!" Corkus demanded of the soldiers who had started collapsing around him.
"Everyone! The Red Bears are traitors! Grab your weapons! The Red Bears poisoned our food!" Rickert shouted in a panic, coming running in.
Corkus' heart sank. He rushed to grab his sword. Looking over at Rickert he shouted. "Rickert?! What the hell do you mean they poisoned us?! Where's Griffith?!"
Rickert skidded to a stop and shouted back at Corkus, "The thieves from earlier poisoned our food! One of the Captains gave Griffith poisoned brandy! Judeau's with Griffith, trying to get him to safety!" Ri
"God fucking damn it! Anyone who can still stand, grab your weapons! Get your damn armor if you can! Shields if you don't have time! You there! Start running around trying to gather together as many men who can still hold their weapons as possible! Rickert, keep doing what you were doing! Son of a bitch!" Corkus barked out orders, readying himself for what was sure to be a coming attack.
Everyone who could, immediately started rushing to follow his orders.
He didn't have to wait long for the attack to start. The Red Bear Knights descended on the weakened and disorganized Band of the Hawk.
Corkus managed to establish something of a hasty defense. Fortunately, it seemed only a third to half of the Hawks had been poisoned. So they still outnumbered the Red Bears. But the Red Bears had prepared and were in full armor while the Hawks didn't have the luxury to prepare more than throwing on helmets and chest plates. If they were lucky. Shields, spears, and pole arms were what Corkus was relying on most heavily in this situation. Archers and crossbow men were in the back or on the sides with shield men with swords, axes, or spears guarding them.
He ordered a small handful of men to start gathering up whoever was suffering from the poison and getting them to a position they could defend. If there was no position that was easily defensible they'd just have to make one with whatever they could scrounge together on such short notice.
Corkus may have been rude, loud, brash, and lecherous but he was a Captain for a reason. He knew how to lead his men in a battle.
Unfortunately things quickly went from bad to worse.
Casca stabbed a Red Bear Knight in the throat. She hadn't eaten much, so while she had been poisoned and she could feel its effects, she wasn't suffering from it nearly as bad as many of the Hawks were.
She was lethargic and was having trouble, but she could fight.
"Make barricades! Crates, barrels, carts! Block off the side routes! We have to try to funnel them in through the front!" Casca ordered.
She had a shield she'd scavenged and her helmet and a simple chainmail shirt she'd found. It wasn't much but it was something. She wasn't one of the lucky few who actually had the time to slap on the back and chest plate. So she had to make do with what she could get.
If she survived this, she swore to herself she'd even sleep in armor if she could, even if they weren't expecting to be attacked. Especially if they were camping with another group who could betray them at any time. Whenever she was awake though, she'd be wearing her actual proper armor. Even during off hours like this.
She just couldn't believe they'd been betrayed like this. It had come completely out of nowhere! They'd been fought in two battles with the Red Bear Knights on this Campaign and they hadn't shown any signs of anything suspicious! The only thing that had been vaguely suspicious was the supposed food theft earlier that day but even that seemed like just a couple of idiots who got caught stealing rather than sabotage!
More Red Bear Knights rushed in and started attacking.
Casca led her men in trying to fight back.
That was until something hit her from behind. She fell to the ground and a pair of men started dragging her by her ankles. She thrashed in their grip and struggled to get away but it was useless.
Some of her men tried to do something to help her but they were bogged down by the other Red Bear Knights.
She could hear the men dragging her laughing.
Her only saving grace was that she'd managed to hold onto her sword.
When they finally stopped dragging her, she rolled over and attempted to slash at them with her sword, but one of them grabbed her arms and wrenched the weapon out of her hand, tossing it to the side. She punched him in the face but he grabbed her other arm too.
"Damn, she's a feisty one! I'm gonna enjoy this! I've been staring at that sweet ass for too long now!" The one she'd just punched stated.
There was a thud with a crunch of bone and the squelch of tearing meat.
Casca and the man on top of her looked and saw Pippin standing over the body of the second man. His mace was already raised again for a second strike. He slammed it into the face of the man who was pinning her down.
His skull caved in and Casca was splattered with blood.
"Pippin… Thanks." She stated.
"Mm…" He grunted in acknowledgement, holding out a hand towards her. He helped her back up to her feet.
She grabbed her sword again and looked back at Pippin. "Have you seen Griffith?"
Pippin shook his head. "No… Rickert said he was poisoned. Judeau's with him. Don't know where."
Casca's blood ran cold. Griffith had been poisoned? This was bad. Really bad!
"We need to find him! We…" She was cut off as arrows started raining from the sky pelting the ground around her and Pippin. Pippin took one to the leg, but he ripped it back out, seemingly unphased by the wound. It was a bodkin point arrow, so fortunately it wasn't barbed. But this was still incredibly dangerous.
Casca and Pippin looked to see where the hail of arrows was coming from and saw Loyalist soldiers approaching. The Red Bear Knights were working with the King… The one advantage the Band of the Hawk had, numbers, had just gone up in flames.
Judeau and several men he'd managed to gather up, fought their way through the camp trying to find and link up with any major groups of defenders that had managed to form. Unfortunately, their paths were limited.
Every time they tried to go certain directions, it seemed more Red Bear Knights would be blocking their path and they'd have to go a different direction while trapped in a fighting retreat.
It felt like they were being funneled somewhere.
"We can't keep this up! We can't just let them lead us whatever trap they have waiting for us!" Judeau growled as he carried Griffith. He sighed. "We're just gonna have to break through…"
He looked at his men. "Get ready! Next line we run into, we're smashing through! Shield men in front, pole arms behind them! Start getting into formation!"
As they rounded a corner, they ran into another blockade. They pressed forward and slammed right into the Red Bear Knights.
Halberds, billhooks, and spears hacked and stabbed into the knights while the men with shields did their best to protect them, swinging their own swords, axes, and war hammers.
The knights fought in kind.
Half of the men in their group were slaughtered but they managed to punch through.
"Come on! We have to find Corkus, Casca, or Pippin and their groups!" Judeau ordered, pressing forward with Griffith still hanging off of him barely able to keep moving on his own.
Smoke, soot, and embers filled the air as the camp burned around them, stinging their eyes and lungs and burning their skin, but they kept moving.
They pressed deeper into the camp, back towards where their friends would surely be.
As they were walking Griffith came to a startling realization of just where they were. And with the fire everywhere…
"Judeau… T-turn…. Ca… cannons… P-powder…" He struggled to say, his tongue feeling thick and leathery in his mouth making it difficult to speak.
Judeau looked confused for a moment before he looked around. Then his eyes widened in horror. "EVERYONE RUN! THE SUPPLY TENTS HAVE BLACK POWDER!"
The Hawks didn't hesitate to follow his orders and scatter. He tried to drag Griffith away as fast as he could but he was too late.
BOOOOM
The powder exploded. Judeau and Griffith went flying from the force of the blast. Griffith was closer and was ripped away from Judeau.
Judeau bashed his head as he hit the ground. He was almost knocked out, but managed to stay awake if only barely. His vision blurred and the world was spinning.
He felt someone grab him. "Captain! Captain, can you hear me?!"
"Y… Yeah… Griffith… Where's…?"
"Griffith… I don't… Wait, I see him, he's right th— Shit… SHIT! Knights from Midland are here!" The soldier grabbed Judeau and picked him up.
Judeau looked around blearily and saw Griffith laying on the ground. He also saw some knights who were not wearing the same colors and heraldry as the Red Bear Knights marching forwards. They were going to reach Griffith before Judeau or any of his men could.
"Sir, we have to go!"
"But… Griffith… We can't just…!"
"There are too many of them! We can't take them on!" The soldier holding him up shouted. He then started dragging Judeau away, leaving Griffith behind.
Judeau wanted to resist and try to save Griffith but he was too dazed and disoriented to do much. So he just looked over his shoulder and watched as the knights surrounded Griffith, grabbed him, and started carrying him off.
Griffith opened his eyes, groggily and found his wrists and ankles bound. He quickly realized he was being dragged by two knights. He recognized their armor and heraldry. They were loyal to the King.
There was nothing he could do to save himself. He was bound, poisoned, and his sword had surely been taken from him. All he could do was let them keep dragging him away from the camp. Away from the Band of the Hawk.
Eventually they reached a small group waiting far outside the camp. The general in charge of the Loyalist Knights, one of the Captains of the Red Bear Knights, and… Lord Benedict. The ambassador from Tudor, who was supposed to have been back in Tudor's capital by now.
"So this is the great White Phoenix General… Hmph… Pathetic…" The Loyalist General growled. He then looked at Lord Benedict. "It seems your plan was a success."
"Indeed, and he's been captured alive! I'll admit I wasn't sure if it would be possible to bring him back alive. I was quite certain he would die fighting and only his head would be able to be delivered to the King." Lord Benedict stated.
"Nah. We made sure to poison him specifically so he couldn't fight. We had to give him different poison than the rest of the Hawks since we wanted him alive. Didn't want to risk him dying on us if we gave him too large a dose of the other stuff. And the one we gave him had a bitter taste so we gave him some poisoned brandy with a load of spices in it to cover the taste so he wouldn't notice it. We had this all planned out for weeks… But Laurence should have been the one to bring him back since he was the one who gave him the stuff. Guess something must have gone wrong." The Captain of the Red Bear Knights stated.
Benedict shrugged uncaringly. "He's probably dead then. No matter. We have Griffith, that's the important part"
"Why…?" Griffith asked, not understanding why the Red Bear Knights would betray him when they were the first to side with the Band of the Hawk and they hadn't shown any sign of treachery despite having ample opportunity up until now.
"Why did we betray you? Quite simple, really. You were just an inconvenience. We know about your engagement to Princess Charlotte and all of us have our own reasons as to why we don't want you to marry her. So, in that matter, our goals aligned quite well. So why wouldn't we work together to remove you as a factor? We could have just killed you, but General Radford was feeling rather vindictive that a commoner would try to step so far above his station and wanted you to suffer for it. So I informed the King of our plans and negotiated an agreement… Well, not that it's your problem anymore." Lord Benedict explained.
The ambassador looked at the loyalist knight. "I suppose our business here is concluded. I'll be taking my leave."
The loyalist made a gesture with his hand and the men started dragging Griffith away again.
He didn't bother trying to resist. He knew it would just make the situation worse for himself.
Finally a chapter with a half decent length. Welp, Griffith's about to be tortured for most of a year. Not quite as long as he was in canon but still a long fucking time to be tortured.
And for all he knows, everyone in the Band of the Hawk is going to be slaughtered and the Princess will end up marrying some prince from Tudor so she can get Tudor's support. His dream is crumbling before his very eyes. All because of one petty nobleman who couldn't stand the idea of a former peasant marrying royalty and 'tainting the Royal bloodline'.
The only thing I'm really debating right now is what will happen during the Eclipse.