AN:

I was hoping to add more but the combat scenes took a lot of of my word count.

Follow and Review!


Chapter 13: The Ruin

Two Days Later:

Slipping into the tavern grabs none of the merry drinker's attention, although two years younger than the acceptable age to drink, Eirlet's height lets him look older than he is, albeit on the shorter side. Weaving between the chaos of off-shift factory workers singing and dancing to the band playing on stage, he heads towards the bartender mixing drinks for some customers.

The man tosses the two jiggers in his hand in the air, letting them flip as he entertains the two men watching who 'ooooh' and 'aaaah' at the tricks.

Sitting down on an empty barstool, he waits for just a few moments as the bartender pours the two men their drinks before sliding toward him.

"What would you like to drink today?" He asks smoothly.

He looks like a typical bartender with a dress shirt and a black vest over it along with a friendly smile fixed below his graying moustache, looking like a genial aging man as he watches Eirlet with curious eyes.

Reaching into his pocket, he slides three silver towards the man, tapping his fingers three times before pulling back and letting the bartender swipe it.

"I'll get right on it," he says, smile still glued to his face as he turns around and grabs two bottles before working on his 'drink'.

Letting him do his tricks, and getting the attention of those nearby, Eirlet idly gazes over the packed tavern, keeping his ears open to those talking beyond drunken gibberish.

"...the manag-…-n my case…"

"...wife been pissed, sa-...dunno wha-..."

He catches hints of the conversation of those nearby, none piquing his interest beyond some words of how the soldiers and guards in the few commercial factories in the district have become stricter, body-searching anyone that enters a factory before and after they leave.

'Though there isn't much to get in the factories here,' he thinks as he brings his attention back to the bartender who finally starts pouring his drink, 'Factory City though, that's something a lot of people wanna get into.'

The clear glass is slid to him, placed on a napkin acting as a coaster which breaks him out of his thoughts. Nodding to the bartender who gently smiles and walks to a man loudly trying to get his attention, Eirlet brings up the glass and after some hesitation, takes a sip.

'Lemonade,' he smiles in amusement, glancing at the bartender who winks back at him before focusing back on catching the airborne jigger.

Finishing the glass in one gulp, grinning at the flabbergasted face of the man sitting beside him, he sets the glass down on the bar before standing and heading out of the tavern.

Stepping through the swinging doors, he heads down the dark street, lit up by lanterns spread across the street, and leaves the chaotic building behind.

Walking past the pedestrians out for the night he traverses through the streets of Utopia, passing by the large bridge over the river cutting through the district, the massive structures of warehouses and factories on the other side looming over most other buildings.

Turning into a small path between two buildings facing the river, he glances around, not finding anyone, before doing what he's done many times. Crawling up the side of the building he quickly reaches the window leading to the attic, briefly peeking in before heaving himself inside and into a dusty room.

Closing the window tight behind him he flops down onto the sheets covering the ground, his temporary bedding. Slightly turning the knob of the lamp he 'borrowed' from the empty building below him, gives off a dim flame, enough for him to see most of the room.

Digging into his pocket, he brings out the crumpled napkin he pocketed before leaving and opens it. Reading through the few locations written on it, he focuses on the one underlined a few points down.

'Yarrow Lake… not bad. If I cut through the forest between us I can get there by tomorrow, a day ahead of the caravan.'

Humming as he plans out his route in his head he nods to himself before snuffing the light once more. Taking care to not lay on his injured side, he lies down on his bedding, peeking through the slit in the window at the night sky.

'No mistakes.'

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Two Days Later:

'Well… this is gonna be a bigger pain in the ass than I thought,' Eirlet groans inwardly as he gazes upon the massive caravan resting on the shores of a lake, campfires spread about with carriages circling each, getting more clustered and dense near the center of the encampment.

'Who the hell needs this much equipment so fast?'

He pushes himself closer to the trunk of the tree he's hiding behind, letting the cover of darkness seemingly melding his body to it as a duo with lanterns pass by a few meters away from the forest edge. The two soldiers pass by him in silence, not noticing their watcher as they keep patrolling the perimeter of their camp.

Knowing it's his time to move he waits until the two go a few meters further before taking action. Sprinting across the clearing as quietly as he can, he slows down as he reaches the side of a carriage, 'Kores said that it'll be near the center.'

He walks around the side of the carriage and peaks around to the small camp built within the circle. Three Garrison soldiers sit around the campfire and talk quietly, two already unconscious in their sleeping bags, 'And the last two are patrolling.'

Waiting until none of the three were looking in his direction, he silently speeds to the next carriage, keeping a low profile the whole time.

Making sure his feet keep to the shadows coming from below the carriage, he quickly moves around to the next carriage before stopping once more. Peeking once more, he eyes the woman sleeping nearby, specifically her backpack leaning against the carriage wheel with her Garrison jacket thrown over it.

'Won't hold up 'cause of my pants but it'll work long enough.'

Grabbing a pebble beside his foot, he tosses it up once before pitching it to the carriage on the other side of the circle, hitting it with an audible -thunk- and grabbing the attention of the three.

"What was that?" The one facing his direction says as he turns around to look for what caused the sound.

"Probably something inside got loose during the ride," the second man comments, taking another sip of the stew in his bowl.

"Check it out." The final man orders half-heartedly to the first man, waving the grumbles of his subordinate away as he goes back to drinking from a bottle.

In their exchange none of them noticed their squadmate's jacket disappearing beneath their noses.

Calmly walking away from the squad, Eirlet tosses the jacket he was wearing to the side and pulls on the brown leather one of the Garrison, 'Damn this shit is cheap,' he shivers as a breeze passes over him, pulling the thin jacket closer.

Walking past more camps, none give him a second glance as he passes by as Eirlet does his best to casually stay clear so none of the soldiers get a better look at his poorly made disguise.

He passes by four more encampments with soldiers patrolling around periodically before he finally finds his target, a carriage looking like all the others with the only exception being the horses still hitched to the vehicle.

Eyes lighting up, Eirlet glances around and seeing no one paying any particular attention to him or the carriage, he slowly changes his direction to head towards it.

He takes confident steps as he gets closer to the carriage, his heart starting to pick up its pace as he knows the chase will be on as soon as he sits down.

"-hy did the vice-captain want us guarding the supplies man, this is boring as hell." He hears a man complain on the other side of the carriage as he approaches the coachman's seat.

"You should be grateful Teo," a woman lightly scolds, "I heard the captain was gearing up for a capture mission again," Eirlet pauses, "we're lucky the lieutenant was able to nab our team this easy assignment, now Captain Levi gets to deal with her." She says with a chuckle of relief.

Dread starts to fill his guts as he processes what she said, 'Oh lord please don't be them, please please please,' he prays as he takes a breath and peeks over the coachman's seat and promptly curses.

His eyes lock onto the two soldiers right away, specifically the insignia on the back of their cloaks, 'The hell are Scouts doing all the way out here and what the hell are they expecting to fight?' He shifts as he warily glances at the ODM gear the two wear, looking scuffed but well cared for.

After peeling his eyes away after seeing they won't turn around, he eyes with a grimace at those resting, the ground occupying the rest of their squad given the green cloaks folded up.

Pulling his head back he furiously thinks through his options, 'This just went from doable to near impossible, there's no way in hell these horses will be able to outrun ODM gear, especially with the carriage slowing them down .'

His eyes catch onto a rim of light starting to peer over the edge of the carriage beside his target, slowly expanding as his ears catch the sound of crunching feet, 'I'm done here, this one's a lost cause.'

Quickly turning to leave the other way from where the patrol was coming from, he's taken a single step before the carriage in front starts to creak, the sound of footsteps emanating from it.

He only has a moment to widen his eyes as a hand grabs the edge of the curtain concealing the interior of the carriage and yanks it open, revealing a soldier in full uniform.

The man lets out a big yawn, rubbing his eyes as he does and when he opens them he pauses in surprise as it lands on something he wasn't expecting, "Are you shittin' me! Jaine! Teo! Get your asses over here!" The man barks out furiously, not caring about his voice waking up half the people sleeping who grumble in annoyance.

The two soldiers quickly stumble to their feet, Teo tripping over his feet to land on top of a sleeping soldier who quickly wakens and wheezes in pain, belting a quick 'Sorry' before going after his partner.

The two pull themselves to a stop before their apparent commanding officer before settling into attention, ""Sir!"" Both say with a salute, nervousness plastered all over their faces.

"You two know I'm lenient, but why in the everloving hell are our horses," he points at the two horses blankly gazing at the trio, "still attached to this carriage! They should be resting!" The man yells like a demon, those awoken by the yelling silencing their grumbling.

"Well!?" He questions as the two stay silent.

"Si-sir, we were ordered by Lieutenant Armand to leave the horses hitched, he-he didn't explain why," Jaine speaks up, her voice getting quieter as her superior's gaze burns a hole through her.

He holds his gaze on her for a moment longer before setting it on Teo, the man cringing and pulling into himself as they silently wait.

He holds the silence for a moment before letting out a huff, his anger bleeding away but not completely dissipated, "Give those horses some rest and get back to rotations, the two of you are on cleaning duty with section one next time." He gives out his orders, the two visibly relaxing at the first part before grimacing at the punishment but still giving a strained 'Yes sir' before getting on with their orders.

"I want double shifts! None of you idiots thought to confirm that order so whoever's next get your asses up!" He yells at the rest of his squad, two men visibly drooping before getting up, "And I'll be sure to take a small trip to the lieutenant's carriage to see what gave him the balls to order my men," he tacks on beneath his breath.

"Everything alright sir?" A Garrison duo rounds from the other side of the circle of carriages, a lamp held by one as they approach the officer.

Waving them off after greeting them, the man walks off with purpose towards the very center of the encampment.

"I told you we should've checked in with the lieutenant!" Jaine scolds Teo as they undo the harnesses on the horses, the man cringing as his meagre protests get shut down.

With the horses loose, Teo grabs ahold of their reins and takes both away as Jaine turns around to approach her annoyed squadmates as the two get ready, getting ready to face their frustrations before something from the carriage catches her eye.

Walking to the side of the carriage she grabs the slightly ripped flap of the cloth covering the vehicle, unpinned from its peg, "Why the hell didn't they fix this," She grumbles in annoyance.

Opening it, she sees nothing but the wood of crates covering her vision, filling nearly the entire carriage beyond. Dropping the flap close, she loops the cloth back around the peg that holds it in place and stomps away back to the comfort of the fire.

As the three hushedly speak, Eirlet lets out a breath of relief, his heart thumping in his chest as he slowly lowers himself back to his feet.

During the few seconds he had before the man could take in his surroundings Eirlet had quickly pulled open the flap and rolled himself inside, the officer's attention focused on the horses helped him not notice the feet pulling themselves inside. When the woman neared he was forced to improvise, grabbing the supports holding the cloth above on either side, he had pulled himself up and planted his feet on the very wood and his back to the crates, doing a very poor imitation of a spider.

'But it worked… somehow,' he gleefully thinks as he wipes some sweat from his brow.

Reaching for the flap once more to make his escape, he's forced to pull back as he hears the crunching of footsteps coming from where the, now silent, trio in the camp were to the opening of the carriage in the back.

Quickly scrambling up the supports once more, he pulls himself all the way to the top and lays down on top of the stacked crates, a decent dip in the middle letting the sight of his body be obstructed from both ends of the vehicle.

Pushing his body further down, he tries to meld his body to the wood as he hears the footsteps end at the back of the carriage before it slumps slightly as more weight is put on it.

He hears nothing but the sound of a fire crackling for a moment before a yawn breaks out of the mouth of the person at the end. Waiting for more than a minute, but hearing nothing but the shifting of the person and their breath, Eirlet peeks his head above the lip of his cover, taking care not to let his clothes create a sound against the wood.

'Just great,' he thinks with some frustration as he glares at the soldier keeping watch, sitting on the floor of the carriage with his back against the wall as he keeps watch.

'He's got a line of sight anywhere I go and even if I distract him he's probably not gonna move from his spot so I can't even book it then.,' Eirlet feels the significant need to thump his head on something hard but refrains for obvious reasons.

'Seems god wants me to do this shit huh?' He sardonically thinks as he shifts to get comfortable for some shut-eye, knowing he won't get some later on, 'Well too bad for you but I ain't following your plan… maybe… hopefully.'

Shutting his eyes, he lulls himself to sleep, being a light sleeper he knows he'll wake up before anyone else.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

The Next Day:

Carriages rumble down the road, kicking up small clouds of dust behind their wake as the convoy stretching a good distance cross a serene meadow. Surrounding them at intervals are more than two dozen soldiers on horseback, calmly trotting along with the supplies as their green cloaks billow in the cold breeze.

Near the center of the convoy is a carriage driven by a soldier wearing a cloak with the bird of freedom on his back, one boredly gazing upon the dying grass surrounding him with a loose grip on the reins of his horses.

He doesn't notice the arm until he feels something tighten around his neck and pulls him inside the carriage. Eyes bulging, he reaches to get a grip on the seemingly iron bar wrapped around his neck, his pulling barely moving it as his attempts become weaker.

Face turning red, he struggles for just about six seconds before he goes slack, the lack of blood flowing to his brain knocking him out for about a dozen seconds, long enough for Eirlet.

Flipping the twitching soldier over, he gets to work, quickly hog tying the man with a length of rope he took from where it was holding onto some crates, loose due to its quick make but would hold for long enough.

The man starts to groan just as he finished tying him up and in return gets a rolled-up sock shoved in his mouth. As the man gags in confusion and tries to get his bearings, Eirlet gets onto unlatching the ODM gear attached to the man's waist.

By the time he's gotten half of it off the soldier's recovered from his forced sleep and starts to struggle, one that makes Eirlet crack a grin given that all it amounted to was the man flopping around on his stomach like a fish.

Letting the soldier glare daggers at his covered face with muffled yells, likely curses and calls for help, Eirlet pulls the last strap off with some effort and gets to equipping it onto himself.

Finished doing so, Eirlet picks the man up by his limbs and carries him back out onto the footrest with a heave, following himself a moment later. Sitting down on the bench with a huff, Eirlet ignores his furious victim and instead takes a compass out of his pocket, the same he had gotten way back when, and looks at its face, 'So… left from my position.'

Taking a look in that direction, all he could see is the meadow expanding far past his vision, 'Should be about 20, 25 kilometers out,' he concludes with a nod and pockets the tool once more.

He glances at the man who for the whole time was glaring at him, his fury only broken by some worry when he sees Eirlet grab ahold of the reins with a tight grip.

With a final grin, this one a little more malicious, he tilts the reins to the side, making the horses follow to compensate before he raises his arms and with a sharp -crack- snaps them, spurring the horses into action.

He hears the shouts of surprise that come from the carriage breaking off and going off-road and Eirlet takes those precious seconds of surprise to gain as much distance as he could, and it surprises him.

'What the hell? Are these actually Scout horses?' He thinks with some surprise as he feels the carriage continue to speed up far faster than any other horse could ever, 'Then this makes it slightly easier,' he lets out another crack of his reins, spurring the horses faster, Scout horses thankfully having the endurance to push fast speeds for a long time.

He gains a decent distance before the chorus of stomping hooves join the ones of his own from behind, along with the muffled screams of surprise from his victim.

Although with two horses galloping at their maximum, Eirlet can see four pursuers on horseback slowly coming up to him, two on either side with more likely coming from behind.

'Looks like they're pissed,' he thinks with some worry seeping into him as he looks onto the faces of the Scouts which switch between glaring at him and maneuvering their horses.

Just as he finished with that thought, a whistle pierces through the cloud of noise around him and Eirlet's eyes widen when he starts to see one of his horses starting to turn, forcing the other to follow and slow them down.

The snaps of the rein do nothing to deter the horse, making him slowly lose speed and let his pursuers close the gap between them.

Thinking quickly, Eirlet leaps to his feet whilst unsheathing a sword and swings it down, cutting the rope holding the horse to the carriage and letting it veer off and away from the remaining one.

Sheathing the sword, he snaps the single rope still connecting to the remaining horse, but unfortunately, he starts to slow down even further instead.

'The carriage is too heavy for a single horse,' letting go of the rein, he jumps inside the bumping carriage and climbs up the literal wall created by the wooden crates within.

Reaching the dip he had been hiding and sleeping in, Eirlet lies on his back as the carriage continues to rattle him and plants his feet on the loose crates facing the back, unbounded due to him taking the rope. Bracing himself, he grunts as he starts pushing on the two columns of crates, slowly straightening his legs until gravity takes over.

It takes a few seconds for the two stacks of crates to hit the ground but when they do they crack open like eggs, spilling their contents of thick metal cables, 'What the hell do you need cables like that for?' He thinks for a moment before focusing on the problem at hand.

Fortunately, some of it is taken care of right away as two of the four coming from the back don't have time to dodge like their fellows, fortunately not ramming right into the wreckage but the landing after the desperate leap over it makes their horses tumble to the ground, taking them both down with them.

He could now feel the horse starting to pick up its pace again, but the minor relief is washed away when he sees the remaining two from the back stand on top of their horses.

Riiip Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk

'Shit.'

Four grapples pierce through the canopy above, letting in some light from the holes as two pierce into the crates on either side of him with the last pair attaching to the floorboards of where the now disposed of crates were resting.

Kicking his feet behind him Eirlet rolls backwards just as a flash of silver and green cuts through the canopy, splitting wood and cloth in half as it continues down and into the crates below, cutting into it further before it stops with the dull sound of metal striking metal.

Tumbling over the edge of the crates, Eirlet twists himself to land on his feet with a slight stumble as he hears the click of blades being unlatched. Snapping his head up as the remaining canopy rips itself free from the cut, yanking the wooden supports along with it to reveal the clear blue sky, Eirlet rapidly brings his swords to a crossguard just in time for him to catch the falling strike of his opponent.

Forced down to his knees from the weight of the strike, he struggles to keep the gleaming blades away from his neck as he takes in his opponent. Dark brown hair with a rather large nose and severe eyes is what he sees.

They stay with their blades locked in a struggle as they push against one another, Eirlet slowly losing ground due to his poor position, "Surrender!" The man grits out, a heavy shove emphasizing his order.

Ignoring the man, Eirlet hears the other Scout climbing up the cargo, soon to reach their struggle and so he swiftly moves. Falling onto his back, Eirlet takes advantage of the strength being put into the blades and tilts his to the side, letting them gouge themselves to the wood of the carriage and narrowly miss his head.

The man instead lands on his side right next to him, his strength backfiring and making him drop to the ground.

Letting go of one of his blades, Eirlet slams several hard punches to the man's liver, making him gasp for air and in pain. Temporarily disoriented, Eirlet grabs his blade once more and pushes himself to his feet and hearing the stomps coming from behind him, he vaults over the bench, just in time to dodge the blades that cut right through the wooden railing.

Feeling a hand grab hold of one of his feet, Eirlet kicks out with his other, catching his victim on the nose with a -crunch-, his hands and feet still tied but looking like they were pulled far enough to try something.

Hearing the release of multiple grapples in quick succession and the grunts of the two behind him, he quickly comes to a decision.

Thunk Thunk Thunk

Four pairs of grapples pierce through the wood of the carriage and their wires pull taut just as Eirlet grabs the scruff of the tied soldier's neck and with a mighty heave pulls him to his feet.

Bringing his sword out to bear, Eirlet presses it right up against the now hostage's neck, a move that forces the ten swords swinging or piercing towards various parts of his body to freeze.

A tense silence permeates the air, the galloping of horses all around them irrelevant as they all focus their senses on this one moment.

Eirlet takes a small gulp as he darts his eyes around to his opponents, his hostage barely twitching as his blade rests against his throat.

The man he punched was still recovering, clambering unsteadily to his feet, the woman right next to him -Jaine- furious like the rest of her squad, both blades halfway to his neck. Another crouches on the bench to his left with his partner hanging off the side of the moving carriage, both intent on either piercing his heart or lungs. Right behind him, another hangs off the front of the carriage with the final pursuer -Teo- crouched on the horse, both wanting to pierce or cut straight through his spine at various points.

They stay like that as the first man stands to his feet, blades held again in his hands, but not swinging towards him, as he takes in the standoff.

"Surrender, you won't escape us," the man breaks the silence, eyeing both him and his hostage. In response Eirlet pulls the blade higher on the man's throat, making the rest tense as well; now Eirlet could feel the edges of two or three blades against his body.

The two lock eyes with each other, gauging one another and they hold it for a tense ten seconds before Eirlet jerks his head to the side, a clear dismissal.

The man doesn't respond for a moment, making Eirlet sweat a little inside as he sees nothing giving away the man's intentions before he slowly responds, "Pull back." He says in finality.

His squad clearly don't want to do so but force themselves to slowly pull back their blades, Teo taking the longest, before he doesn't feel the chill of a blade near his neck.

The two in front of him take a few slow steps back to disengage before they leap out of the carriage and back to their horses, the others shuffling around before launching to do so as well.

Lowering the blade slightly, his hostage giving a sigh of relief, Eirlet watches with sharp eyes as the horses at his sides slow down. Waiting a few seconds for the sound of hooves to slowly decrease until it's down to one, Eirlet gives his own sigh as his shoulders relax slightly.

Pulling his other arm back, Eirlet pushes the man back down to the ground to sit, locking eyes with him before pointing a firm finger down, 'Stay.'

The man looks around for a moment, staring at the fast-moving ground to his side, too fast to jump without potentially dying, before slowly nodding. Taking it, Eirlet peeks around his cargo, not seeing any horses in sight before he climbs back up the wall with his blades still in hand, 'Just in case.'

Crouching on top of the crates, Eirlet could now see the remaining squad congregating together on their horses, their figures getting smaller and smaller as they don't continue the pursuit. Even from this distance Eirlet could see the glares heading his way and the arguments their apparent leader quickly shuts down.

'They're definitely gonna come after me,' he bitterly thinks as he drops back down to the bench and pulls out his compass, 'though it won't really matter in a bit.'

Directing the horse straight north, Eirlet tightens the bonds on his hostage, who gives him minimal fuss after seeing he won't be killed, before he lets out a sigh and leans back, intent on getting some rest.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Three Hours Later:

With the sun starting to set beneath the horizon, Eirlet takes in the massive wall getting closer with each minute, 'They've probably already figured out where I'm going by now but they don't know for what,' he muses as he nears the break of open fields between the forest and the wall.

He had taken a decently long route to the wall, having kept his tail off long enough to give his horse some rest before heading back out.

Slowing down to a near trot, Eirlet gets up and stretches himself out, limbering for the inevitable confrontation as his pursuers try to box him in with the wall. Finished, he brings his eyes around to his hostage who for the whole time has been eyeing him in suspicion, but as Eirlet reaches down for him he starts to struggle with wide eyes.

With a hard tug, Eirlet brings him to his feet and their eyes meet. The corner of Eirlet's crinkle like he's smiling, confusing the man before he gets shoved over the side, 'Bye~bye~.'

Eirlet watches the man tumble on the ground, rolling in the dust before he comes to a stop and after making sure he's not dead, courtesy of the soldier giving him the bird, Eirlet sits back down and cracks the rein, pushing his horse to higher speeds.

'Only got a bit before they find him, once they do they'll be going all out,' he thinks with a slight grimace.

Now seeing the wall in all its unobstructed glory, Eirlet brings his eyes to the top and scans both sides, looking for something. Not seeing it to his left, he brings his eyes around to the other side, travelling down until they lock onto a wooden contraption about five kilometers away, hanging over the edge to the ground.

With a grin, Eirlet changes direction, following along the wall as he gets closer and closer, but then he hears the stomping of more horses, 'Ah, they're here.'

Two horses burst out of the forest ahead of him, heading straight for the wall before veering off to intercept him and he could hear another three coming in from where he came.

'Just gotta hold them off long enough,' standing up, Eirlet unsheathes his swords in sync with the pair as they crouch on their horses.

Eirlet doesn't follow them as they launch into the air, using the wall as their grapple point as they boost themselves high above the carriage before grappling down to the vehicle.

Both land on top of the crates, brandishing their swords as they glare at Eirlet who readies his blades. At an unspoken signal, they all move, the first soldier, the younger one, jumps off the crates and brings both of them down in an overhead swing with a warcry, a move Eirlet just faced earlier that day.

Not wanting a match of strength once more, Eirlet leaps forward and rolls underneath the airborne man, letting him embed his swords in the bench with splinters of wood flying out.

Abruptly rolling to the side once more, he's forced to dodge the curb stomp of the second soldier dropping down from above who lands on both feet with a grunt.

Smoothly rolling to his feet, Eirlet leaps with one foot to the railing and uses it as a springboard as he pushes himself to the air, heading straight for the soldier. Spinning like a top, Eirlet's blades smack into the man's guard twice like a windmill before he land's back down but continues with his onslaught on the backpedalling soldier.

Twisting his blades, he does an underhanded swing with both, the combined blow forcing his opponent's blades to break from their guard. Spinning with his momentum, Eirlet quickly swings at the man with a single blade, aiming to gut the man.

With terror, the man closes his eyes for the inevitable, but nothing happens beyond the sound of something snapping and the clashing of blades. Opening his eyes, he's greeted by the sight of the wire connected to his blades hanging limp and his partner's single remaining blade swing being repelled by their opponent.

Backing up, Eirlet found it easier to parry the swings of the other soldier who had gotten one blade out of the seat but was forced to leave the other, and fortunately for Eirlet, didn't take the time to replace it from his sheathe and so was fighting with only a single blade.

Parrying once more, Eirlet swings hard with both blades, smacking into the single flesh-cutter at an angle and visibly chipping it, forcing his arm to fly out and give him an opening to slam a kick to his torso. Letting out a breath of air, the man flips over the barrier between the coachman's bench and the carriage and tumbles to the floor.

Right after that kick however, Eirlet's forced to pull his leg back, lest it be chopped off, and proceeds to dodge the intensifying swings of his comrade who essentially becomes a literal storm of blades. Eirlet curses as he keeps backing up, getting nipped on the face and arms at some points and soon hitting the side of the carriage once more just as he hears the grapples of more ODM gear coming from the back.

Teeth clenched, Eirlet forces his blades inside the swings, his arms straining at the force of them colliding and the ensuing struggle, nervously sweating as he sees the Scout's blades dig into his own, but an idea pops into his mind at that.

Just over the man's shoulder, Eirlet sees the remaining soldiers, minus the squad leader, land on top of the crates, looking ready to support their squadmate in the confrontation, 'Well you can support him in a different way.'

Pressing on two triggers, Eirlet unlatches his blades with a small -click- and drops to the ground on his back, letting his surprised opponent stumble forward from both the lack of opposition and the added weight of two swords, lets Eirlet push himself through the man's legs.

With another push of his triggers, Eirlet feels his lower body rocket up with a trail of gas following in its wake, covering the front of the carriage in a cloud of smoke. Bending his knees, Eirlet braces himself as he feels his knees smack straight on the back of his opponent and launches him, rocketing out of the cloud of smoke with a cry of distress as he lands on his feet in a perfect flip, plus some sore knees.

"Lowes!" He hears Teo yell just as he launches him, himself quickly following and fortunately catching him before he hits the ground, 'Two out,' he grins slightly as he watches through the dissipating cloud of both soldiers hanging off the wall.

Focusing back on the situation, Eirlet takes advantage of the remaining cloud and the other two's distraction by launching himself at the staggering soldier in the coachman's seat. Only having enough time to widen his eyes before a fist lodges itself in his stomach, one holding the handle of a blade and essentially acting as a knuckle duster.

Focused on trying to keep the remaining of his lunch inside his stomach, he doesn't feel Eirlet manhandle him so he's facing the wall, neither does he feel Eirlet grabbing onto his hanging blade and using it to cut the wire on the other one.

When he does get his bearings, it's just in time for him to see his remaining functional grapple attach to the wall and feel a shove on his back. With a scream in terror, he now feels his breakfast violently exiting his mouth as he violently gets pulled off the carriage.

'Last two,' he thinks as he sees the young soldier swinging on the wall, looking green like a vegetable with vomit dripping down from him.

He finished just in time to be greeted with a flash of sharpened steel aiming for his head. Meeting the overhead swing with his own block, he sidesteps the piercing strike to his torso and twists his body around, letting the locked blade glide off his own as he gets behind the soldier but backpedals further to dodge another blade coming from his side and making him disengage.

Getting his footing, Eirlet quickly eyes the two recovering soldiers, one with him on the coachman's bench and the other -Jaine- in the carriage itself, 'These two are better than the others,' he only needs a moment before making his decision.

Turning, Eirlet leaps to the railing at the front of the carriage and with another, lands on top of the galloping horse who doesn't flinch from the extra weight on his back. With a final press of his legs, Eirlet launches into the air and sends his grapples to the wall, hooking onto it, and pulls himself forward with a puff of gas.

Getting close enough to the wall, he releases his hooks and runs diagonally up the side of the wall, using momentum to his advantage before springing himself off with one foot.

Momentarily floating, Eirlet could see one of the two starting to slow down the vehicle with Jaine keeping an eye on him, but further back he sees a single horse with a man on it getting ready to join the conflict, 'So here comes the leader,' he thinks before bringing his attention back to the carriage

Now slightly behind the carriage, he launches his grapples into it, somehow not falling apart from the number of holes in it, and he pulls himself in. Landing on the crates with a roll, Eirlet's met by both soldiers clambering on as well, 'Seems they want to take care of me before the carriage,' he grimly thinks as he latches on a new pair of blades.

He meets the first soldier's charge, parrying his opening strike and creating a gap in his defence to kick his knee, drawing a grunt of pain from him as he drops down to his knee. Though he's forced to duck as Jaine swings at his neck for a decapitation, bringing him level to the other man who goes for a swing as well, one which Eirlet blocks with his opposite arm, using his shoulder as a brace for the spine of the sword.

They don't hold it for long before Eirlet gets kicked in the side and launched to the other side of the platform. Biting back a scream of pain at the burn in his side, he feels warm liquid pooling and flowing on his skin but doesn't have much time to blink the stars away from his vision before he's forced to roll away.

"Stay!" Jaine yells before swinging once more as he keeps rolling, "Still!"

The blade misses his torso by inches and embeds a third of the way into a crate, literally boxing Eirlet in due to the other blade that was left in the crates from the first confrontation.

Bringing his knees up to his chest and ignoring the strain he feels on his bleeding wound, Eirlet launches both straight at her stomach, knocking both the air out of her and off her feet as she slams to the ground, pulling her sword along for the ride.

Fortunately, the other man doesn't immediately attack him, cautiously keeping his distance as he waits for Eirlet to make a move.

Thump

'Or for backup,' Eirlet grimly corrects as he slowly stands to his feet, Jaine doing the same with a pained grimace on her face.

Looking around, Eirlet could see he's surrounded on three sides, stuck in the center of six well-sharpened blades held by experienced and skilled Scouts.

"This is your last and final chance," the leader speaks first, "surrender and you won't be executed for crimes against humanity," he emphasizes his statement with a brandish of his blades.

Eirlet narrows his eyes, the only part of his face visible as he rapidly thinks, Jaine fortunately and surprisingly speaks as well, "You better take it, you can't face the two of us and the lieutenant at once."

'Lieutenant?' Eirlet gulps slightly, having read in the journal that any officer in the Scouts is a long-time veteran, and being a veteran in the Scouts means that you're extremely skilled, much more than the average soldier in the branch.

The soldiers fortunately give him a moment to think, a moment that Eirlet takes with open arms. Pressing on his trigger, all three soldiers leap forward at once, their blades coming in from different angles as Eirlet quickly spins in place and spews gas, quickly covering the platform with a cloud of smoke.

Clang

All their blades collide together in the end, embedding themselves in the wood or chipping against one another, one sword even snapping in half from the force placed on it. The trio cough as they wave away the smoke and try to find the thief, but Eirlet's already gone.

Eirlet used the massive force from spewing that much gas, nearly a third of his tank, to drop to the ground and slide beneath the soldiers, launching out of the cloud and to the front of the carriage.

He lands straight on the back of the horse, fortunately already wearing a saddle for some reason and so he quickly gets the stirrups on his feet before bringing both swords up and swings down. The swords cut through the rope like butter and lets the horse gallop free unburdened by the weight of the carriage, swiftly picking up speed, one on par with the horses the Scouts used and so confirming his theory, 'Some reparation for my troubles then,' he thinks with little amusement, sour of having to leave his cargo.

The distance between him and the elevator starts closing massively, less than half a kilometer left but unfortunately his distraction and escape get noticed by the soldiers.

Turning backwards, his frustration at failing the job doubles as the Scouts swing towards him, abandoning the slowing carriage but not doing all that well in terms of speed with only the wall as their grapple point.

Slowing down as he gets near the elevator, he sheathes one sword as his horse steps on the platform but brings the other to bear near the edge of the platform. Pouring his anger into his swing, he cleanly cuts through the thick rope firmly staked into the ground and leading above.

The effect is immediate as the counterweight held on top of the wall drops and pulls the elevator up the wall much faster than getting pulled by horses but far more dangerous, 'But speed is needed, especially right now.'

He keeps his body upright despite gravity not wanting him to, but it certainly works on his horse considering the neighing he's letting out, he scowls as the trio start following him up the wall as well, steadily covering ground.

The ride takes less than five seconds to reach the top, and they're greeted by another elevator waiting for the two of them to descend down. It takes some coercion to get his horse moving but he's able to get him on the platform and swing at the rope holding another counterweight.

He's more than halfway down the wall before he sees the lieutenant fly high into the air. Eirlet tenses as he sees the man gain altitude but lets out a sigh of relief when he attaches to the top of the wall and reels himself in-, 'Shi-'

He's cut off as the lieutenant slices the rope connected to the counterweight, dropping him from several meters above the ground; the shock of the fall forces his horse to tip over. Eirlet jumps away from the falling horse before it could pin him down and tumbles over the platform and to the dusty ground.

Getting up with a groan, now aware of his leg wound open again and bleeding along with his torso, he staggers to his feet as his horse does the same. Looking up the wall he notices the trio not heading down to finish him, the lieutenant holding out an arm to block the other two from moving in as he gazes out to the horizon.

Following his gaze, Eirlet's eyes widen as he curses in his head once more and runs for the horse, doing his best to calm it down before leaping on its saddle. He gives a final glance above, the trio stay in place and do the same, not moving to pursue him anymore.

Cracking the reins, he jabs his feet into its side, spurring it into a gallop away from the wall and away from the growing cloud of dust coming from the west, the shadows of titanic figures backlit by the setting sun.


AN:

Scout's command structure: Commander, Section Commander (Captain), Executive Officer (Vice-Captain), Team Leaders (Lieutenant), Squad Leaders (Sergeant), Soldiers (Private)

I'm going off this pic, 'imgur dot com/a/DtiKj', obviously format it like a proper link. It'll show how the Scouts are structured in my fic (with some changes with the officers and such). Not needed, just there if you want to know :)