Hey everybody, yeah I know. Been a LONG time for this story. You're starting to feel like the Vikings waiting for a half decent hero skin aren't ya? Sorry again, but adulting is busy. Hope that when I get a proper job I will finally be able to get back to a regular schedule. Hope you enjoy!
"This means I am speaking"
'This mean I am thinking'
*This is a sound effect*
This means this is a flashback
This means it is a combat line from the game in the speaker's language
"{This means someone is speaking in their native language, latin, japanese, etc}"
For Balance, For Honor
Edric didn't know how long they all stood there, regarding the forest with a new sense of trepidation. A small breeze rustled through the branches and scattered the grains of sand with a sound almost like a hushed voice.
Then everyone started talking all at the same time. None in the same language.
The haunted look the Samurai had on the ship two weeks ago had returned tenfold. She stared off into space, shaking her head and rapidly muttering to herself. Edric didn't need to know Japanese to recognize denial when he heard it.
The monk was similarly distressed, pacing back and forth and wringing his hands. He sounded like he was trying to make sense of everything himself, from the questioning tone in his voice. It was the first in their short time together that Edric had seen him so rattled.
The Viking had the oddest reaction, appearing almost mystified as she knelt and scooped some sand into her palm. She held it before her with a reverence suited for gold if her gaping mouth was any indication.
Despite the animosity he felt, Edric could hardly blame them. The revelation was still washing over him and it was taking everything he had to not let the strength leave his legs.
His mailed fist reached up and curled on his chest, feeling the familiar weight that lay underneath. He needed to keep his wits about him. Fear was a warrior's worst enemy and he would be damned if he let that spectre be the end of him after all that he had been through. What he had fought for.
Taking one last deep breath, he straightened.
"So." All heads turned to him. "I'm guessing none of you have any ideas."
"I… no… no I do not." Shun shook his head. "I think it is a safe assumption to say that we tread on ground undiscovered."
"Bit of a large jump based on a single unforeseen monster." Rin muttered low, finally snapping out of her daze.
Edric nodded. "Possibly. But I've grown to expect the worst in my days. I've yet to be proven wrong."
He promptly jumped from a loud jubilant cry. The three all turned at Siv quickly grabbing fistfuls of sand and throwing it over herself. The grains rained down on her as she raised her hands to the sky, throwing her head back and laughing like she was the happiest woman in the world!
"YEEEEES! Praise be! I have done it! ETERNAL GLORY IS MINE!"
Edric shared a look with the equally bewildered monk and assassin before turning back to her.
"Have you finally lost it Savage?"
Siv only laughed some more, shaking her head. Her smile was so broad it threatened to split her cheeks. "On the contrary! I am the sanest one here! I made it to the New World!"
"New World..?"
"It was said that in the twilight of the gods, the war to end all wars, Asgard and the realm of man would be no more! Then rising from the ashes, the New World would emerge, a new history! And Hulda, mouth of the great snake, foresaw that only the strongest of warriors would survive and paradise would be theirs to claim!" She giggled manically, tears running down her face from under her helm. "I have finally been given my reward! I am the mightiest! I AM A GOD OF THE NEW WORLD!"
Overcome with joy, the Viking fell onto her back. She lay there on the shore, chest heaving as she kept laughing.
Staring in disbelief, none of the other warriors knew what to say. Until one did.
"Then… does that make me a god as well?"
"...what?" The Viking paused.
Rin stepped forward, a ghost of a smirk on her lips. "We survived too. Does that make us gods of your new world?"
Siv's face fell. Laying there, her expression slowly shifted to disbelief. "You're right…" She mumbled while she got to her feet. Her hand slipped behind her. "Then allow me TO FIX THAT!" She screamed, her pale scarred skin blossoming red as she pulled her hammer out from her back and she charged the Samurai!
Edric and Shun shared a quick glance. Then Edric threw himself in front of the maddened Viking, digging his heels in the sand. The monk similarly grabbed Rin from behind, who had already lifted her kunai to stab.
"ENOUGH!" Edric cried, all the while his muscles burned as he struggled to hold Siv back, who was doing a terrifying impression of the stampeding Boar-q-pine with her teeth bared and blowing hot air from her nostrils.'Mercy, how is she THIS strong?!'
"Let me at her! Don't worry, I'll get to you next!" She hissed and spat, trying to push him away.
"Listen to him! Fighting is pointless right now!" Shun threw in. "If what he says is true, that our homes are all gone, we're all that's left!" Siv and Rin stopped struggling and he continued. "We are all stranded in a new world. No supplies, no shelter and no idea of where we are!"
"So what?! I'll make it on my own! I always did!" Siv barked.
"Right, because you were doing so well against that thing." Edric tilted his head at the boar-q-pine corpse.
"Thats-!"
"Point being-!" Shun interjected. "We have to stay together to survive!"
"And not kill each other!" Edric added.
Siv chuckled. "Oh that is GLORIOUS coming from you! Or did you and the Swampfoot bitch not try to murder us?!"
"Things change! It's a new world after all!"
A few more moments of wrestling. Then Rin slowly lowered her blade. "You two have a remarkable ability to be very convincing. A rarity I'm sure."
Shun nodded. "And you, Miss Siv?"
From the dark pits of her helm's skull visor, Siv's eyes burned furiously. Then, with one last angry grunt, her shoulders slackened and she stopped pushing. "Fine." She spat. Edric thanked whatever god was listening and relinquished his hold, almost falling over from his screaming muscles. "But I warn you, keep pushing your luck and see what that earns you." She thumped the head of her hammer in the palm of her hand. "I'm not a patient person."
"Noted." Rin glared back, twirling the kunai by the loop and slipping it back on her belt.
"So… what now then?" Siv asked.
"I'd wager none of us are too keen on wandering into the forest in this state." Edric answered. A round of unconscious wound inspection and stomach pangs made the gathered warriors nod along. "We should make camp here, eat what we can. Then go into the forest come morning, try to find civilization."
"If there is any." Rin said morosely. Edric couldn't help but agree with her, but he kept that to himself.
"It's a good thing we've got some fresh meat then." Siv glanced at the dead beast laying in a pool of its own blood. "Swampfoot, hand me your sword."
"You really think I'm going to do that?" Rin said, holding her reclaimed katana protectively
"I need to gut this pig somehow! You want to eat, don't you?!"
"I'd offer my sword as quickly as you would lend me your hammer to crack open a nut."
"Unbelievable." Siv turned. "Buckethead, give me yours!"
"Apologies, I cannot hear you over how busy I am collecting tinder for our fire." Edric hummed, quickly making his way towards the trees.
"Oh, what happened to that desire for cooperation you were spewing a minute ago?!"
"Universe, give me strength…" Shun sighed.
A loud rip and smacking of lips graced Edric's ears as Siv tore into a stripe of dried Boar-q-pine meat. He tried to ignore it as he had for the last couple hours as he pushed through the brush with a swipe of his arm, following Shun's lead.
He didn't know if the monk had any idea of where they were going, but it wasn't like they had any other ideas.
Edric's body ached, laying on the cold sand around a small fire in his armor wasn't the height of comfort. It had been a long night for all of them. After the Viking had gutted what she could from the boar creature, she roasted it on a spit over their fire. The meat's flavor was both unfamiliar and very gamey, but after weeks of eating farnest and almost starving it didn't matter all too much to them. Except for the monk, who seemed content on sustaining himself with some nuts, berries and greens he managed to forage from the forest. Edric didn't think he could comprehend why.
After their meal the group slept as best they could in lands unknown and with your sworn enemies for company. A two person watch arrangement was made, which was the best they could come up with.
Now it was a new dawn. Once Siv made them anchor the longship they set forth into the forests beyond the shore.
Edric kept his head on a swivel and a hand on his sword while they forged ahead. The forest itself was ordinary, but still beautiful in the way only natural splendor could be. The morning rays shone through the gaps between the tall, needling trees, casting long shadows along their path. A slight dampness sent a chill in Edric's feet from the dew on his boots, dripping down the long blades of soft grass.
A small part of him wanted to take a moment to feel it against his bare palm, still awash with relief that they had found land after their voyage. That instinct was squashed down every time as repeated a word over and over in his head.
'Vigilance.'
He had no time to stop and appreciate the flora around them. He was in new territory. A place that had already set his expectations of possible dangers lurking in the brush about them. There could be another boar monster (he refused to call it by the childish name Siv had given it) or something even more outlandish and dangerous. Or worse yet, a new people. Man was the most dangerous animal afterall, he was flanked on all sides by them.
He couldn't afford to lower his guard. A knight of the Iron Legion must always be at the ready and watchful for the next threat.
Another loud rip and smacking of teeth made him flinch and he almost groaned. Rin actually did.
"Must you?!"
"Nay." Siv admitted. Taking another bite, she turned to the Samurai and began to chew noisily, making a show of gnashing the stringy meat in her jaws. The other woman curled her lip and looked away to the trees.
"Ugh. I don't see how you can keep eating. You ate almost more than all of us combined!"
"Hey, it's not easy to keep myself in this shape on an empty stomach. Not that you would know, little twig that you are." Siv shot back with a sneer, curling her (admittedly) impressive bicep.
"There's more to battle than brute strength, Savage."
"That's what you Myre weaklings tell yourselves so you think you had a chance against us?"
Edric rolled his eyes and shook his head, choosing to face forward to Shun's back.
He wasn't sure what was worse. Paying attention to their squabbling, or pondering by himself. As irritating as his "companions" were, they at least served as a distraction from the cold reality of his situation.
Ashfeld was almost certainly gone. Everything he had ever known, that he had trained, bled and fought for. Swept away never to be seen again.
And that begged an even more horrifying question. If there was nothing left, what did he have to fight for?
A Knight was a man bound by their duty, their oaths. Sworn to a lord, a kingdom, its people or all three. Service to Ashfeld, that was the purpose of the Iron Legion for the millenia that it existed. The reason it waged war against its neighbors who ran rampant across their borders.
If there were no more Kingdoms, no more peoples nor borders, then what was the point of the war?
For what reason did his people have to kill and die?
A question that haunted him all night.
He groaned, rubbing his eyes with his thumb.
'Focus, focus.' He ran the word and over again on his tongue. He could worry about that in time. Anxious, dreadful pondering had no place in the moment. It served no purpose and only distracted him in the precarious situation of exploring a mysterious new world alongside people who on any other day would promise him harm.
A rustle from the grass on the left.
Edric's sword rasped as it leapt from its sheath and brought to bear.
"Hold!" Edric warned, the procession coming to a halt as he pointed his blade in the sound's direction. Shun lowered himself into a crouch. Rin gripped her katana's handle, ready to draw in a flash. Siv reached over her shoulder, a strip of boar hanging from her teeth.
The rustling continued, then ceased. They all drew breath!
From the brush out popped the red and blue feathered head of a bird. It cocked its head and blinked at them, letting out a low crowing.
"Ah… it's just a pheasant." Shun breathed out.
"Hey, thanks for saving us from the bird Tin Head." Siv called out from the back.
"Shut up." Edric growled, face burning as he lowered his sword.
"At least we can take solace in the fact that not everything here is out of a theatre play." Rin muttered.
The pheasant clucked, then hopped out of the grass and scratched at its head with its hind paws. Flicking its fluffy brown squirrel tail, it continued to gambol away as the warriors watched it in disbelief.
"...this truly is a bizarre land."
Siv licked her lips. "I wonder what its meat tastes like."
Rin rolled her eyes. "Of course that's your first thought."
"Do we have any idea where we are going anyway?"
"Anything really. Civilization preferably. We need to remedy our lack of food and shelter first before planning our next move."
"And what if this theoretical civilization is a foe?"
"Then we will cross that bridge when we find it." He sighed, already having considered the possibility. It was also going to be very awkward depending on if this imaginary settlement was allied to one of them and not the others. If it existed of course.
"Then we should be looking for a river or other body of water. Where there is water, there are typically people."
"We've been walking for houuurs!" Siv moaned.
"True. Perhaps we should get a new perspective." Shun hummed, scratching his chin and stepping off the path towards one of the trees.
Edric raised a brow. "What are you thinking?"
"Just a little peek." The monk answered, strapping his staff to his back. He then sprung up to the nearest branch more than ten feet off the ground. Effortlessly mantling up, he proceeded to leap to the next and the next.
Edric gaped as watched. "How does he do that?"
"Must be a Wu Lin thing." Rin shrugged. Both of them kept craning their necks to track the nimble Shaolin, but eventually had to step back. He nearly stumbled into Siv who was standing right behind him. She quickly stepped backwards, eyes upwards as well.
Edric frowned. He took another step back. Siv did so as well. He stepped left. She moved left. He took a step forward.
When she inched closer, he whirled around. "Why are you doing that?" He demanded.
She cocked her head. "Doing what?"
"Constantly standing behind me. I just noticed it now, but you've been doing it since we've left the beach and I am getting annoyed."
Her lip curled. "Ah, you don't like it huh? Well I don't like you two conspiring and attacking me from behind like you did yesterday. The second I let my guard down you two tried to pounce. Thus, I'm never turning my back on you ever again!"
Edric blinked back at her answer, glancing at his former conspirator who was equally as surprised. She made more sense than he'd like to admit. Normally he wouldn't feel anything in slaying one of his sworn foe.
But he couldn't deny the slightest bit of shame that squirmed inside him.
He still wasn't going to apologize of course.
"Fair enough." He conceded, turning his head back upwards. Just in time for the rustling of the pines to herald Shun's swift return, sliding down the side of the trunk and landing on the ground with a smile. A good sign.
"Smoke! I spotted it to the North East! It's not too far!"
"Truly?" Rin asked, brows raising under her helmet.
"Finally!" Siv cheered!
"Yes! Should only be a few more hours away past that mountain!" He said, pointing out at the formation. Siv let out another groan and Edric couldn't help but agree a little.