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MineZ The Brink of Blood

Discussion in 'Roleplay' started by Nekusakuraba, Jun 27, 2013.

MineZ - The Brink of Blood
  1. Nekusakuraba Regular Member

    XP:
    18,917xp
    (A little side note to start this all off - If you feel as though you have no idea what's going on, read the first story, it can be found inboogaert's story index under Fresh Spawn, other than that, I hope you enjoy the story)

    The Brink of Blood

    Prologue


    A month or so has passed since the cease fire between Pink and Abyssal's groups, both have stopped fighting one another and have been focusing their supplies on the effort towards stopping King Niller's. To my surprise, both groups seem very dedicated to this cause, I can't say I blame them considering this world is his fault, after all. When Abyssal's men first arrived at Aspermont there were some feuds between both groups, however, arguing at one another for killing friends or family. Even now, some still hold grudges, but they hold it back, everyone knows that as soon as the King is gone, though, it'll be a blood fountain all over again. At least they've all been good enough to try to be nice to one another until this is over. Kind of nice to see a good side of some of Abyssal's men too, they aren't all heartless killers, I've even seen a few flirting with some of the girls. Though they walk away with a red hand print on one of their cheeks, it's nice to see they do have feelings.

    Bizzy has improved a bit over the time, as well, him and "Buzz" have been out scavenging and scouting a bit, keeping an eye on the King for us. Just as we thought, he's been spreading west a bit, Abyssal was complaining how the last time he went to the Sacrificial Pit there were knights guarding it, he couldn't even get near it. Kind of glad he couldn't, actually, just means more people won't be dead for one man's greed, but it worries me with what the King may have in mind if he's decided to take that place for his own. Bizzy's taken up smoking, though, which is annoying me, because now every time he visits my room to talk, all I can smell is the smoke from his cigar. I almost regret letting him go scout and scavenge if it weren't for the fact he does a good job at it. Gotta say he's been keeping my morale up too, would have given up a long time ago if he didn't keep pushing me on-wards.

    As far as my life goes for the past couple of months, I've been a bit quiet, Abyssal and the others understand why and have let me have time to myself. Only busy work I get really is stopping fights between Pink and Abyssal's people, not really much but it stops the tension a bit, at least. Occasionally I wander into the woods with a few arrows and just pick off a few wandering zombies, figure I may as well put some souls to rest. Adding onto to that, I've been waiting, well, hoping, that some of my tribe may have survived the attack, but none have arrived yet, and I don't think they ever will. I sent Bizzy on a special task a week ago to go see what's left of Zerbia, he didn't want to tell me anything when he got back, so I'm assuming the worst is true. There's been no word whether Neku is alive or not, either, no one's found his body and none of the King's men have mentioned him. I don't know what to believe anymore, but when this is all over, I'm going to build a raft and sail out west into the ocean, maybe there's a land untouched by this curse somewhere out there.

    But first, I want my revenge.


    Act I

    Chapter 1 - Untouched

    Today began like every other day, woke up, ate some breakfast, looked out the window to watch the kids play their games, happened to be some game where they kick a leather ball back and forth, looked interesting, same old same old...except for the fact that around noon someone slipped a note under my doorway. Curious, I picked it up, all it said was "Meet us at the west gate as soon as you can, we're finally doing something productive.
    -Pink" I sighed, crumpled the note, and tossed it into a bucket in the corner of my room. I picked my chain-mail off its stand and put it on, I took a long look at my old robes, and grudgingly put them on over my armor, my face concealed in darkness, I looked at the mirror and all I could see were my green eyes piercing through the darkness. I went to the other corner of my room and picked up my bow and hip quiver, then reached under the bed for my iron sword, the familiar glow on it giving off an aura, placing that on my hip opposite the quiver. "All set" I murmured to myself, and opened up the door.

    Today was exceptionally good weather, not to cold, not to warm, the sun shown down brightly on us, all you could see if you looked up was a clear, blue sky. I made my way to the west gate, along the way a few of the children ran around my legs a bit, giggling and laughing while they chased one another, then went off into another part of the town, I smiled a bit, a rare occurrence these days. I arrived at the gate where Pink and Bizzy were waiting for me, Buzz was still strapped to Bizzy's back like always, you could see the gnome's head sticking out of the top of backpack, and Bizzy has finally started shaving too, after about a month of trying to convince him, no longer looking like the insane, scraggy fellow we found on that island. As for Pink, the past few months hasn't really effected her, at least stress-wise, so to say so, no bags or darkness under her eyes, she's remained as calm as ever and still can make others laugh and have a good time. There was something that was bugging me though when I saw the two, neither of them were wearing any armor or carrying weapons, aside from an iron sword each, even the damn gnome had a sword attached to it. When they saw me, Bizzy waved me over, when I reached them Bizzy gave a pat on the back, kind of surprised me, "How's it going Tsuki?" he asked, I shrugged "Same old same old...I got the note, what's up?" I asked, turning to Pink "We're headed to Stillwater Motte, going to see if we can convince them to work with us." she said, I blinked a few times "How are we going to do that?" I asked, "We can guarantee them safety from the King if ever decides to take the Motte" Pink replied, I nodded in return "What're we waitin' for? C'mon let's hurry before me'n Buzz's raft drifts off into the ocean!" Bizzy said, turning on his boot and running into the woods, Pink laughed and bit and walked after him "Can that raft take me with it then?" I thought to myself, following behind Pink.

    When we got to the shore, Bizzy was already on the raft, taking the two shovels off his leg bands and setting them on the raft. Pink and I jumped onto it, Bizzy tossed me one of the shovel, catching it I dipped the shovel end into the water and we began making our way to the Motte. In the distance over the morning fog I could see the Motte, a black silhouette in the white fog, "We're almost there!" Bizzy said happily, after he said that an arrow came flying through the fog, landing dead center in the mass of the raft, we all stayed silent and looked at the arrow, finally Pink spoke up "Well, shit" she said, another arrow came through the fog, I ducked and it flew past into the water "You sure this was a good idea, Pink?" I asked her "Totally, I mean worse case scenario one of has to go blind" she said, another arrow came flying in, Bizzy tried hitting it away with his shovel, but it pierced right through the end of it "As badass I'd'a look with one of 'em eyepatches, I'm more partial to be in' able to see clearly, understand?" he said. In the distance, we heard a man shout at us, "Turn back now you scum, or we'll kill you!" he said, another arrow came flying in, nailing itself to the bottom of the raft, we looked at Pink and she shook her head, now using her own hands to help paddle us there.

    More and more arrows kept being shot at us, by the time we bumped into the island our raft was covered in arrows, we could see a man on the wall, aiming his bow down on us "Now you're gonna pay!" he yelled, a hand was put on his shoulder and he turned around "That's enough, they want something and considering how many arrows you put into that raft we may as well here them out" a voice said from behind the wall, the man growled and nodded, taking the arrow off the bow string and placing it back on his hip, another man, clad in iron armor came up on the wall now. Pink got off the raft while Bizzy started pulling the arrows off the raft "Sum'a'bitch almost broke the strings holding this 'ere beauty together" he grumbled, "I assume you're the leader of Stillwater Motte?" Pink asked the man on the wall "That I am, the name is Gordon, what brings you to our humble abode?" he asked, "We're here to make an alliance with you, we want your-" Gordon started laughing before Pink could finish her sentence "There's nothing you can offer to us that we want, we have our own farm, weapons, anything and everything we could need, we never have to leave" he said, "It's only a matter of time before the king-" Gordon interrupted her once again "Let him come, then, I'd rather be slaughtered by him then risk letting one of your people in when they've been bitten and infected" he said, "When this madness first began our gates were open to anyone who managed to make it here alive, but one day a greedy bastard decided he'd rather live then be put down, so we let him in, not knowing he was bit" he went silent a moment, then spoke again "We lost half our population that day, including my wife and my daughter. We will remain untainted of that plague if we remain isolated, so I kindly decline your offer, miss" he said, turning away and stepping off the wall. All was quiet, Pink stood there a moment, then turned and stepped back on the raft "Come on, lets get going, we're only wasting time" she said, Bizzy and I nodded, took the shovels, and began paddling back to shore.


    Chapter 2 - Precious Resources

    The past few days have been a little quiet, Pink seemed very upset about Gordon declining the offer, I can see where he's coming from though. Better to keep it out then to risk letting it in. I heard a knock on my door as I was heading to bed a week or so after the Stillwater Motte thing, to my surprise I saw Abyssal when I opened it up. "Have a moment?" he asked me, I nodded and stepped back inside, closing the door behind us "What is it?" I asked in return, he took a seat at my table and rested his hand on his chin, or at least where it would be in his helmet. "I have good news and bad news" he started, "The good news is, we found some of your people" my face lit up a bit "And?" I asked, "Heh...well, they're kind of dead, a few of my boys were out in the woods and found some shrine to nature, a few of your tribes zombies were roaming around there" I sighed and looking down "Were they put to rest?" Abyssal nodded "I would of killed them if they hadn't, we put our own to rest, and figured you would want the same" I looked back up at him, stood up and turned my back a moment "How long do you think they were there for?" I asked, he went silent a moment, then spoke "Perhaps a few days, the men said it looked like they'd just gotten there...and there were grapple marks around their necks" My eyes widened hearing that, I looked back at him "Were they brought there?" Abyssal shrugged "Maybe, they said the water had turned blood red" I glared a moment at the wall in-front of me "Then they were...they wouldn't want to taint the tree with their blood..."

    I heard another knock on the door, I looked over at Abyssal and was about to speak, but the door opened on its own, in stepped Aether in his samurai armor, I could spot fresh blood splattered on the chest-piece. "Aether what the hell? You're supposed to be at Frost Bain, what're you doing here?" Abyssal asked, standing back up "Brandon sent me to get reinforcements, the king's men are mounting an assault on Frost Bain, most likely to find the secrets under the church" Abyssal nodded, then went towards the door, closing it behind him. I stood there, staring at the door for a minute. I pulled my hood up, picked up my bow and quiver, and headed out through the door. I made my way to the west gate, where I could see some of the Tuestudo gathering to head out. On my way there someone tapped my shoulder, I looked in that direction but saw no one, looking back to face forward Callum stood in-front of me, chuckling to himself. "Gotcha" he said, seems he hasn't changed at all. "What're you doing out so late Tsuki?" he asked, "I want to head out to Frost Bain with the others, to fight" I said, he patted me on the head a few times as if I was a child "You sure you want to?" I grabbed his wrist and bent it painfully for him, he pulled back and rubbed his wrist "My god woman! Alright come on I'll tell Abyssal you're coming along" he said, I smirked under my hood a bit as I followed.

    Abyssal wasn't surprised to see me when I got there with Callum, he laughed a bit and patted me on the back. There were two groups being sent out, one to Frost Bain, but another to a place called the Lorfaul Mines, which the knights have had occupied for the past few weeks, shipping resources and various things out. Aether and myself, including a few others, got sent to the mines, the travelling took around a day, most of the time I kept quiet and just listened to the other's conversations, most of them were a little dull though, so I ignored them. We reached the edge of the forest and crossed the river, climbing onto the frozen part of the river. One of the men pointed up at the tallest mountain in-front of us "The mines are up there" he said, "No shit, Woode, we're not stupid" another said, Woode spoke up again, sounding a little annoyed "Sorry one of us here hasn't been to our kingdom before" Woode said, the other man looked back at me, then sighed and shifted the sword on his back "Yeah whatever, kid" he said.

    We treaded south-east on the river, I looked over-head as we crossed it, I could see a bridge leading into the mines above, I almost fell over backwards looking at it. We stuck to the eastern edge of the river until it met at an even enough land for us to start climbing up the steep hill to the mines. To our surprise, the door was wide open, as if it was welcoming us in. As soon as Aether turned the corner he saw a sleeping guard, Aether stared at him a moment, then make one swift punch, we all heard a spine-shivering crack, the guard slumped over as Aether pulled his fist out of his skull, laying dead on the floor. We made our way down the spiral staircase, I peeked over and at the bottom I could see a pool of lava, I grew a bit dizzy with vertigo after seeing that, but shook my head, re-aliening my sight. As we turned on the staircase, we saw a bridge with rails on it, Aether and I jump onto it, from above we heard shouting, but not from our own "Sounds like they found the body" Woode said, Aether and I jumped across to the other ledge and made our way down, we could hear fighting above us "Nothing we can do now, tread on" Aether said, we continued climbing down and came across another bridge, but a few knights had heard the shouting, and were waiting for us, one shot the bow and it skimmed my hood, making a rip in the cloth, I cursed under my breath and ducked. We found a hole in the ledge that led onto the bridge, Aether jumped down and ran at them with his sword, he swung at the first one, who used his bow to block the attack, it snapped like a twig as his sword swung through it, he took another swing at the knight and shoved the sword right through his chest, the other knight aimed his bow at Aether, trying to get a shot on him, but the human meat shield was keeping him from his kill. I drew my bow and released the string, the arrow penetrated his helmet and he stumbled off the side, a faint splash was heard bellow. "You son of a bitch!" the other knight yelled, Aether stepped back and pulled the sword out, the knight let out a gasp, clutching his wound and looking at it, he looked up in time to see the length of the blade dig into his skull, he dropped like a fly, Aether's put his foot on his chest, prying the sword out of his skull, I hopped down to him and we continued climbing downwards.

    We climbed along the ledges, jumping whenever need be. We came across a gap over the lava, Aether peeked down over it and sighed "I won't make this one" he said, "I'll toss you over" he said, I nodded and let him lift me, tossing me across I grabbed onto the iron bars and lifted myself, I heard commotion below and held my hand out, he looked down and I could swear I heard him mutter "fuck it" as he jumped. My hand caught his, I grunted and went down a bit, holding his hand with both of mine, pulling him and the weight of his armor up, as soon as he was able to climb up on his own I fell over, panting heavily "Could of have at least taken your armor off, Aether" I said between pants, he chuckled and helped pull me back up.

    We went into the tunnel opposite the gap we just jumped, inside we found a ladder, leading into a room, as soon as I reached the bottom an arrow whizzed past me and I ran across to the couch, ducking behind it, Aether climbed down behind and ducked behind the table closest to the ladder. Aether ran out, and I did behind him, using him as a shield, he charged the knight shooting at us and swung his sword, cutting the man's arm clean off. The knight cried out in pain, the blood spurting from the stump that was his arm, Aether growled and headbutted him, leaving a large dent in the knight's helmet as the body collapsed, a few arrows pegged into his chest, he grabbed one and snapped it off, I peeked around him and shot an arrow, hitting the post next to the knight, who drew his sword and ran at us. "Comin' in!" I heard from above, Woode jumped down, catching the knight in-front of me us by surprise, a sword piercing through the back of his skull and exiting through his open mouth as he was about to shout in pain, Woode pulled his sword back out, the body falling forward. All eyes turned to the man to the left of us on the bridge, his hand shaking as he held his sword, which in-evidently fell out of his hands form his shaking. We all looked at one another, then I came out from behind Aether, I picked up the knights sword and held it to his neck "Did you bring my people to the shrine?" I asked, "Wh-what shrine?" he stumbled on his words, I pressed the sword on his neck, I could see the fear in his eyes as they widened "O-Okay! We-we did yes, the king wanted them to die ruining what they loved" he said, I nodded and took the sword off his neck turning around and looking past Woode at the wall. I could hear his armor shaking from his body, he spoke a little cautiously now, "What...what are you going to do with me...?" I turned quickly and swung the sword at the flesh of his neck, slitting it, he grabbed at the wound, falling to his knees as the blood swept past his fingers, forming into a pool around him as he fell over, trying to breathe or speak, the gurgle of blood in his throat, until he went silent, his eyes, motionless, staring up at me. I cringed and looked away, tossing the sword to the side "That should be all of them" Aether said, looking around to make sure, he sighed and snapped the other arrow off "Are the others alright?" he asked, looking at Woode "Yeah they're fine, Lee's a little hurt, but he's getting patched up, should probably patch you up to Aether, you're bleeding a bit" Aether looked down at his chest, putting his hand there and removing it, looking at the blood on his palm "So I am. So I am." he said, making his way back up the ladder, when they were above me Woode shouted down towards me "We're not gonna wait, you better hurry up, we're headed to Frost Bain now that we've secured this place!" he said, I collected myself and took one last look at the man, then made my way back up with the rest of them.



    Chapter 3 - A Frozen Heart

    We made our way to the top, our wounded were patched up and we were all set. Aether pulled out his ender eye and spoke into it "Abyssal, the Mines are clear, we're on our way to Frost Bain" he said, a few seconds later a response came, however it was an explosion, Aether shoved the ender eye back into his pouch and we began making our way to Frost Bain. A few minutes later we heard some scrambling from the eye, Abyssal's voice coming from Aether's pouch "Sorry about that, was pinned down, you there still?" Aether pulled the eye out and spoke back "We're still here, almost to you-" Abyssal butted in a moment "Yeah be a little careful, they got word that you were at the Mines, they're expecting you from the southern forest, they didn't move anyone up but we've spotted an occasional shadow on top of the statues, be careful alright?" Abyssal said, Aether grunted back "Of course, aren't I always?" he said, we could hear Abyssal's laugh through the eye "Oh that's a great a joke, see you soon" We heard a buzz, and then it ended, must have turned his ender eye off.

    A few minutes later I could see the heads of the two statues, back to back of each other. "Curious" I thought to myself, "They face opposite, one towards our land to the west, and one to the king's in the east..." I shook my head and cleared my mind when I saw a silhouette on top of one of the statues, an arrow flung down at us and nailed the man next to Woode in the head, who gasped and slowly slumped backwards, the snow around him turning a crimson red, while the rest of us took cover behind some trees. We could hear the clank and clatter of the knight's armor, along with a few groans, I peeked around the tree and was face to face with that of a zombies, I grabbed it by its head as it clawed at me, trying to bite into my flesh. The knight who had the zombie on its grapple released it, the zombie knocked me over and bit into my shoulder, I cried out in pain. Woode and his friend ran up, I wasn't sure who did what, but one tossed an ender pearl at the knight, blowing up the ground beneath him, leaving nothing but a crater and a splatter of blood on the trees and snow, while the other kicked the zombie off me. The zombie clambered up, growling at the closest thing; Woode. Woode turned towards it and grabbed it by the neck, I heard the whish of an arrow and it pierced the zombies head, Woode in-turn released it and let it fall over, he and his friend helped pull to cover behind a tree, I leaned back against it, I reached up and touch the spot on my shoulder, I cringed and whimpered a moment, but closed my eyes and tried to stay calm. "You alright girl?" his friend asked, I nodded, then turned to the side and threw up on the side, he put his hand on my forehead and looked to the side. "What, what is it?" I asked, "You should stay here and rest, we don't have any anti-biotics or milk on us...if anyone comes just stay quiet okay? The infection won't over-take you unless someone kills you" I nodded, he leaned down and pulled his shears and bandages out, patching my shoulder up. "We won't take long" Aether said, I nodded to him and the three of them ran off deeper into the woods, I watched as their bodies were no longer visible. The snow began to fall.

    I sat there for a half hour or so, occasionally puking, my vision blurring from the infection. I reached up and felt my forehead; a very warm fever. From the north I could hear the sounds of war; explosions, arrows flying through the air, the sound of men in pain, I clenched my fists and leaned back, closing my eyes. I opened my eyes suddenly, remembering the sniper on the statues, I peeked around the tree, I could just barely see him up there, but I couldn't make the shot even if I wasn't dizzy, the snow was too dense and he was barely visible. I looked over to the crater, a hand clutched at the dirt, and the knight from before crawled out, groaning, the blood lust in his eyes. His legs were blown off, he looked at me and continued crawling. I stumbled up as well "Even in death you people can't leave me alone, can you?" I said, it growled and tried to crawl faster, I glared at it and drew my sword "I'll at least put you out of your misery" It looked up at me and groaned, reaching up to me; I struck my sword down into his skull, he groaned all the while, until finally his hand went limp, and he was finally put to rest. I picked up the grapple hook from his body and made my way to the statues base.

    My dizziness grew worse, I held onto trees for support as I got closer. Around the base of the statue were many bodies, both the knights and of Abyssal's men. One I could faintly recognize as the man who patched me up, I shuddered at the thought of him rising from the dead soon enough. I spun the grapple hook and threw it upwards, it clamped onto the knee of the statue facing east, I slowly climbed up. I panted slightly as I reached the knee, then spun it but slowly stopped as I watched the war in-front of me. Most of the people were volleying arrows at one another from the builds, Abyssal's on the west, Niller's on the east, occasionally someone with a sword would run out and fight, there would be pauses of arrows as two of them would duel each other in the middle, the victor pelted with arrows afterwards.

    I spun the grapple again, hooking it onto the arm of the statue, and climbed up once more. I sat a moment and collected myself, I walked slowly and quietly, covering my eyes from the spray of snow pelting me. In the snow I saw the silhouette from before, his back to me. I tossed the grapple to the side and drew my sword, and ran at him, my footsteps loud and planting into the snow atop. He heard my steps at the last moment and turned, the mask on his face covering his expressions, if I could guess what it was, though, it would be one of fear. I jumped and grabbed him, falling off the ledge with him, he grabbed desperately for the blade but I plunged it into his heart, and then the loud impact of the ground below us was heard, knocking me unconscious.

    I awoke awhile later on my bed, I looked around, Aether was asleep in the chair at my table "What happened?" I asked, he grunted and stood up "You took a fall, killed a sniper, and somehow survived the infection" he said, "We barely pushed the knights back, but they came back awhile later and they took the place, we had only enough time to get the wounded and the alive out of there before the bodies rose" he said, I nodded, trying to get out of bed I cringed and cried out in pain a moment "You broke your leg on the fall, most of the sniper's body took the impact, though, you're lucky to be alive" he said, he helped me up, I leaned on his shoulder. "There's something else, also" I looked at him quizzically, tilting my head "What?" I asked, he lead to the mirror in the corner of my room, I looked into it and my eyes widened. One was green. And one was red.

    =============================================================

    My eyes fluttered open, I sat up and looked around. I could hear the sound of sea gulls above me and I looked up, it was bright as day and I held my arm over my eyes to avoid the glare of the sun. I looked around, I was on the beach once more, where my journey had started. Only moments ago I was in Grayvale, the last thing I could remember, an axe, or guillotine of sorts, making contact with my neck. I stood up and brushed the sand off my robe, I quickly removed the leather armor I was in and tossed it into the ocean, only picking up the eye of ender, the water bottle, a wooden sword, and a bandage, that were scattered around me, and headed off into the woods. I paused a moment as I passed a tree, sketched into the tree was a message, a message from James to Tim and I. "Impossible" I muttered to myself, the last thing I remember of James was watching him explode into pieces in-front of me. "...if you're reading this go to Portsmouth. -James" I clenched my fists and looked at my surroundings, I went onto the road and headed west, where I arrived at Camp Bell. In the tower a man in leather aimed his bow down at me, and an arrow landed at my feet, I ran towards the barracks and sat on the edge of the bed. I heard a growl from outside, the slow footsteps growing closer. Somethings never change.


    Chapter 4 - A Swift Slaughter

    I jumped off the bed quickly, holding the wooden sword firm in my grip, moments later the groaning figure stumbled into the room, he took one look at me and lunged. I yelled back at him, shoving the sword through its skull, its arms flailing about as I pinned him to the wall, trying to desperately to grab me, until death finally took him, and his arms swung to his sides. I pulled the blade out, the thin wood snapping as I pulled out, grumbling I threw the hilt and grip to the side. I peeked out the door frame; all clear, I quietly snuck out and around to the back of the building, I peeked around the corner and I saw an arrow heading towards, ducking back. I leaned back against the wooden building, gripping it slightly, closing my eyes a moment, then opening them again, turning the corner quickly and sprinting towards the tower. Another arrow came at me, I quickly side-stepped it, hopping over the iron fence. Another arrow, I couldn't react fast enough, pegging me in my shoulder, I could feel the bone shatter slightly, I grunted and took cover behind a tree.

    I leaned back a moment and realized I could now feel again, I smiled a bit to myself under my hood realizing this, I peeked around the corner again, the arrows stopped. Carefully I stepped out from behind the tree and continued walking forward into the tower, climbing the stairs quietly as possible. When I reached the top, the figure shooting at me was no-where to be seen. When I turned around I saw him climb up from the edge of the window he was hanging from, running at me with his sword and shouting at me as he did. Instinctively I reached up and grabbed at the blade, cringing as I could feel it dig into my hands, using all the strength I could muster to push the blade back, knocking him off his feet. I grabbed the blade quickly, he scrambled to his feet, but by this time I had grabbed his mask and pulled him closer, he grabbed onto my neck but it was too late, I thrusted the sword upwards, the blade entering from the bottom of his chin, and coming out through the top of his head, a rush of blood exiting from his wounds, his hands went soft around my neck and I pulled the blade free, his body collapsing onto the floor. I quickly scavenged through his bag, finding several red liquids and drinking a few quickly, sighing with relief as my wounds healed, feeling my bones put themselves back together. After I went through his things I picked up his bow and slung it on my shoulder, to my luck he had run out of arrows. My curiosity got the better of me as I looked at his piercing red eyes, I pulled the mask off his face, and to my horror I stared at James. I made my way out of Camp Bell quickly and back-tracked to the intersection to the east, the road to the north lead to Huntsgrove, and I marked that as my destination.

    On my way, I had passed a hunter's perch and a run down old farm, to my dismay both didn't have anything useful for me. I arrived at Huntsgrove as the sun starting setting over the trees, the sky darkening. I filled my water bottle at the well in the center and went into the main building, climbing the stairs to the third floor, peeking out the window for danger. The sun was now gone, and I could see the faint glow the moon peeking over the trees. I sat there for several hours, staring at the road and the center of the town, the occasional zombie stumbling around and bumping into buildings or other things. Eventually, around what I'd assume to be late night, early morning, I could hear several voices coming from the road to the north, they went into the center of town and one of the zombies by the well took one look at one of them before he drew his bow, impaling an arrow into its face as it fell backwards into the well, the water quickly turning a dull red. Definitely not drinking from there again. The men split up, there were three of them, one searched the small huts by the road back to the intersection, another went into the building to the west, and the last went into the building I was in. Panic set in a bit, I heard him going down the stairs to the first floor, without hesitation I drew my sword, and plunged it into my chest, using every ounce of strength I had to keep quiet I fell back on the floor, closing my eyes, hoping he wouldn't notice I was alive. I heard his footsteps on the stairs I kept my eyes closed and he came closer, I heard his feet stop in-front of mine, and a faint mutter of "What the hell?" from him, I could feel his hands grab the sword, I cringed a bit inside as he pulled it out of me. I couldn't take it anymore, I opened one eye, his back was turned towards me, I quietly got up as he inspected the sword, taking slow steps towards him. One of my footsteps made a the wooden boards creek, he turned and I grabbed the sword out of his hand, pushing him against the wall with the sword against his neck. Our eyes met, neither of ours were trembling, he stared at me calmly and held onto my hands as I held the sword to his neck. "Go ahead, kill me" he said, "I'll just come back in a few months and take your life" he laughed quietly, I raised an eyebrow and pushed the sword against his neck, a droplet of blood being drawn as it rolled down to the tip of the blade. "What do you mean?" I asked him, he chuckled again and looked me straight in the eyes "Whenever someone dies...they just come back to life on the beach...me and my friends here got eaten alive and now...we're all in one piece...people have only just started realizing that we all come back, and once the King and that group of rebels 'n bandits find out, they'll just be throwing their bodies at one another like it's a puppet show" he said, chuckling again, I glared at him, but slowly took the sword off his neck, backing up a bit "How...?" I said, lost in my mind "Some think its God giving us another chance...others think its a curse given to us by Agni...no one knows" he said, turning his back to me again "Nice trick, stabbing yourself by the way, didn't even know you were alive, I'll tell my friends this building is clear, you're obviously just a little lost bambi" he said, laughing slightly, making his way down the stairs.

    I stared out the window again, all three of them met at the center at the well, talking to one another. A moment later, an arrow flew from the forest, going through the soft side of the skull of the man who I had just talked to minutes before, his body fell over, and his friends drew their swords, looking around. Another moment later an arrow flew from the exact opposite side the last one did, hitting the other man in the back of his head, he fell forward, the arrow was pushed back out of his skull as he made contact with the ground, I stared at this with amazement, the other man began trembling slightly, looking around wildly for the source of the arrows. He was finally put out of his misery when another arrow came from the same direction as the first, hitting him in the chest, he fell over, but he wasn't letting go yet. A man walked out from the woods, his sword drawn, he came over to the man who reached out to him, but he didn't last long. The lone wolf swung his sword, slicing the hand clean off with a spurt of blood flying from the stump, and he shoved the sword through his chest and upwards, cutting right through his rib cage, the body fell backwards against a shrubbery, and the lone wolf sheathed his sword. I waited several minutes, staring intently as he went through the dead men's belongings, he turned at the last second and looked up, through the window, at me.


    Chapter 5 - Shining Bright

    We stared at each other for what seemed like eternity, in reality, it was only a few seconds, he walked towards the building and I sighed, leaning back on the wall, cringing slightly as I felt my self-inflicted wound, holding it slightly. Eventually he peeked his head up from the staircase and looked at me curiously, I looked up at him with a smirk under my hood. "Here to put the reaper to rest again?" I asked him, he walked towards me cautiously, then kneel'd down to me, moving my hand to look at the wound "Did they try to kill you?" he asked, "No, I did this to myself when I heard one of them on the floor below, was going to kill him but...well, words were exchanged and he swayed my mind." While I was talking, the man pulled back the hood of his cloak, reaching into his bag and pulling out a pair of shears, a bandage, and some red healing ointment. "Well, I can patch you up if you'd like" he said, I sighed slightly, opening the robe slightly and parting the inner chain-mail lining of the robe "By all means" I said, and he set to work on the wound, after a few minutes it was sealed shut, and I covered it back up with my robe, nodding to him in thanks. "What's your name anyways?" I asked him, he smiled and sat down "I have way too many names, but I'm accustomed to one in particular; Shinebrite." he said, leaning back, crossing his arms behind the back of his head "I see, why that one?" I asked in return, he shrugged "Some guy I meant before called me it, said something like 'Shining light of hope' or something like that, then again, he was an old coot" Shinebrite said, chuckling a bit. "What about you, you said something about a reaper?' he asked, looking at me "You don't really look like one in your current state" I laughed a bit at that, leaning back "Well, I think before this life I ended up dieing, all I remember about my death was the king-" he interrupted me at that and looked at me "Slow down, Niller himself? No one's seen him since the outbreak first started!" he said, I shrugged a bit "Seen him plenty of times, too many for my liking though, all I remember is him saying to me for the axe met my neck 'Time to put the reaper to rest', in my previous life I did some reasonably bad things, and I had the appearance of the grim reaper, well, used to anyways." He nodded to me, then extended out a hand, I took it and he helped pull me up "Well, lets go see if we can get anything off those guys in the center of town" he said, pulling the hood back over his head.

    We gathered the things from the slain, I managed to get some arrows for my bow, along with a few potions and some sugar, stuffing them into my bag. We went our separate ways afterwards, "Would love to, but I do better lone-wolfing it, stay safe buddy" he said, and went off in the woods, I bowed and continued on the road heading north, but if I've learned anything in this world, you don't separate for long, fate is bound to tie us back together. I came across a ruined tower on the road and climbed it, taking in the nice view. I stared off towards the distance where I could see a bridge connecting the two roads, just then, an explosion rocked the ground, and I could see smoke rising from the bridge "Not going that way" I muttered to myself, quickly making my way back out of the tower and looking east, memories rushing back into my head - Sundawn Observatory, Pink had people there, maybe, just maybe...

    I made my way into the woods, climbing the hills and passing the trees, until I came across a water hole, panting a little I sat down next to the water and drank from my bottle, refilling it afterwards and continuing on my way. I came across a ruined fortress, climbing inside I found a few arrows and a stone sword, which I placed on the strap of my red pouch. I climbed to the top and looked around, in the distance I could see a bunch of stone pillars and another ruined fortress, climbing back down I made my way to the Stonehenge, peaking around one of the pillars I could see a few men sitting idly at the center, talking to one another, but I was unable to makeout what it was they were saying. I took aim with my bow and sighed "At this rate I'll just be burned on a stake again" I thought to myself, then I placed an arrow on the string, pulling it back, as I was about to release it I felt something hit the back of my head, and I went unconscious.

    I awoke a few minutes later, my body was now being dragged by the two guys I'd seen in the center of the stonehenge, a few of them were chuckling when my eyes fluttered open "Looks like someone survived the Zerbia massacre huh?" one of them said, laughing a bit, my eyes widened a bit "What?" I said, trying to pull away from them, but they held my arms firmly, throwing me onto the stone in the middle, placing some cobwebs around my wrists. "What, you didn't hear? That place got burnt down two months ago" he said, laughing again "The king was bragging about it, saying how no God could defeat him, yet some rogues like us still manage to kill his knights, they hardly even come trained now" he said, sitting on the stone next to me. He looked at me curiously, pulling my hood off "Huh...so I guess it is true, even the mother fucking reaper came back to life" he glared at me a moment, then leaned on his elbow "You don't recognize me, do you?" I shrugged, then spit at his face, getting him right on his cheek, he growled and hit me across the head, and then pulled out an axe "Does this look familiar?" I took a good stare, then raised an eyebrow "Going to try to burn me alive again?" I asked, "No...I'm going to succeed this time...That bitch Pink isn't here to set your ass out, so I'll make this quick out of respect" he said, I looked around a moment and sighed "How exactly are you going to set me on fire?" I asked, he growled, slamming his fist into the stone "Just watch he said" taking a step back, he unleashed a sword from his sheath, as soon as the blade was released, it burst into flame, he laughed a bit and turned back around, holding it towards me "Agni's Rage" he said, I raised an eyebrow "Looks like it's more for stabbing, not lightning a fire" I said, "Oh? Watch this then!" He dug sword down into my stomach and I grunted, he pulled it out, the flame from the blade sealing my wound as it left, he grumbled and shook the sword "What the fuck!?" he said, his boys behind him started laughing a bit at him "Hah he told you boss!" he said, falling onto his ass, still laughing.

    An arrow came from the tree, nailing the other man in the head, he fell over next to his friend, who opened his eyes and met his dead friend's "Holy-...shit he's really dead!" he said, unsheathing his own sword, looking around for the source "Knew this would happen" I mumbled to myself, the axe-man looked at me and glared "Knew what?" he said with a growl "Fate" I said, shrugging a tad, from behind the axe-man's friend I could see the faint glow of red eyes, suddenly jumping from the brush Shinebrite ran at the man with his own sword, the two began dueling one another, until finally Shinebrite knocked the sword from his hand and cut him down, his head rolling to the side. He pointed his sword towards us "Cut him loose" he said, his breathing heavy, the axe-man grunted and took his stance, holding the sword firmly in-front of him. The two lunged at one another, dueling, in the midst I struggled against the cobwebs on my wrists, pulling my arms off. I sat up and hopped off, picking my things up and drawing my bow, placing an arrow on the string once again. The axe-man knocked the sword out Shinebrite's hand, slashing him on the arm, which engulfed into flames, he fell back and crawled back a bit, the axe-man swung down, but the arrow beat him to it, pushing through his spine and jutting out of his chest, he dropped his sword and fell to the ground, reaching out to his sword. I walked up and kicked the sword away, by this time Shinebrite stood, picking up his own sword, "Any last words asshole?" he asked him, the axe-man laughed and spat out some blood on his boot "F-fuck you, you bi-" Shinebrite swung down, cutting his head off.

    "Fancy meeting you here, huh?" he said, looking to me, I smirked a moment "Just having a chat with an old friend, your arm alright?" I asked, looking at his left arm, looking charred like my old body "It's...eh...well it's kind of numb and...I don't even know" I patted him on the shoulder "In my past life my whole body was like that, there was only one cure but it's not desirable" I looked at the sword, Agni's Rage, Shinebrite reached for it but I swatted his hand away "What?" he asked, glaring at me "You don't want that sword...trust me" I said, I picked it up and I heard the familiar voice, once more. "Welcome back, Neku, it seems you've found me yet again" Agni said, I smirked to myself and sheathed the sword "Trust me, you don't want voices in your head" I said to him, and started to make my way out, but he grabbed me by the shoulder "Hey...I heard about that whole Zerbia thing...I think I can make an exception to my rule...I'm heading up that way and it might be safer to stay in a pact...you in?" he asked me, I turned and nodded, patting his numb arm "Considering that's twice you've saved me I think I owe you by now, by all means" I said, bowing again, he chuckled a bit and punched my shoulder "C'mon, let's get going then" he said, and lead the way.


    Chapter 6 - Fate

    I pulled myself out of bed, grabbing the crutches Callum made for me, and held myself up. I went over to the table and sat back in the chair, lifting the cast onto another chair beside me, waiting for Callum's daily check-up. Today is the day the cast comes off. The only company I've had for the past few days were occasional visits from Bizzy, his tales of some of scouting adventures, and the check-ups from Callum, I couldn't wait to leave this room. My door opened, Callum stepped in and took a seat next to me, he yawned and rubbed his eyes. "Didn't get much sleep, huh?" I asked him, he nodded and chuckled "More turn up wounded all the time, they need to learn to not run into battle without thinking" he said, pulling out a few vials, mixing them together until they turned a light pink, handing it to me "Drink up" he said with a smirk. I hesitated a moment, then chugged it down. I was pleasantly surprised to find it didn't taste that bad, actually. Then a surge of pain in my leg started as my bones began to reshape and reconnect violently, repairing any damage done to it. This lasted for about a minute, until it finally ended, opening my eyes slowly I stopped clutching the table, I didn't even notice that Callum took the cast off. "Much better, try walking around" I did so, and stood up, flexing it a tad, smiling a bit "Thanks, so much better now" I said to him, he nodded and picked up his pouch, "Try not to dive off a giant statue again, alright? Might not get so lucky this time" he said with a chuckle, opening the door and closing it behind him.

    I started gathering my things into my bag, putting the quiver on my hip, along with the sword and bow in their appropriate places on my person. I hefted the bag on my shoulder and opened the door, pulling the hood up over my head. I made a decision; I wanted to go to Zerbia alone. I needed to gather my strength and face my fears, for all I know the King might be making a base there, and I can't let that be if that's the case. I made my way towards the gate, looking around for Holds. Finally spotting him I tapped him on the shoulder "Up 'n at 'em already huh?" he said, smirking "Yeah, already setting out too. Tell the others I'll be back eventually" I said, he leaned back against the wall and nodded "Try not to die!" I heard him yell as I made my way out of the city. My safest bet was to take my route through the southern coast, else if I get to the north through the woods and snow I could encounter some knights, there's already enough blood on my hands.

    I made my way south, only running into an occasional zombie, putting it to an end swiftly, until I arrived at Grimdale where I could hear fighting inside. It was a mix of swords clashing and zombies mauling people apart. I put a foot in, then turned on my heel and continued down the road. Only an idiot would go in there.

    I continued on my way into the desert, the sun beating down on me, I trudged on, rummaging through the ruins of a small dome. As I opened a chest I heard the sounds of feet below me, I quickly turned around, sliding an arrow onto the string of my bow, and aiming at the staircase. A head slowly peeked over, then two hands went up over the woman's head. "Easy there, we don't mean any trouble, we're just scavenging, same as you" Another head peeked up to, this one was a man's. I slowly tilted my bow down to the flooring, but kept the arrow firm on the string "There's food in this chest, I think, take it." The two looked at one another, then made their way up the stairs, I stepped to the side, but held the arrow firm, none the less. They took the wheat and cocoa beans from the chest, and I sat on the ledge, watching the two to make sure they didn't try anything. "Thanks, we'll be on our way. Unless...well, it's safer to travel in groups down here, you never know when someone will run at you" the man said, I looked at the two, then into the distance. I could see a group of three clad in leather armor coming this way. "Friends of yours?" I asked, pointing toward the group below, the man and woman both looked over "They're already here?" the girl said, "Who?" I asked, "They were over at Portsmouth...they killed some our friends there..." I stared silently, one of them pointed up at us, and they began walking this way. "No time to mope, here they come" I said, pulling the arrow off the string and holding it firm in my hand as I made my way down the stairs, unsheathing my iron sword with my other hand. I waited around a corner, until one of them walked past me. I stretched my arm out, and slammed the head of the arrow into the side of his head, he fell over, his body pinning the to the cactus. Hands reached around the corner and pulled me down, a sword swung at me and I rolled away. I heard someone yell, and the man and woman from above came down, he swung his stone sword, smacking my attacker on the head, he stumbled back, the woman pulled a snowball from her pouch and tossed it at him, it splattered on his face, he began trying to wipe it off when the man plunged the sword into him, until he fell. The last remaining came out with his hands up "I-I mean no harm...I swear..." he said, they lowered their weapons, and during that split second he lunged at the woman, holding a sword to her neck. "Suckers! Even if she dies, she'll come back eventually, we all do!" he yelled insanely, the man and I stared at him oddly "What the hell are you talking about?" he asked, the crazed bandit laughed again, then slit the woman's throat. She clutched and fell over to the ground, I drew my bow and pegged him in the chest, he grabbed the arrow and snapped it off, only to have another arrow plunge into his shoulder. He fell over to the side, the man rushed over, holding her. I pulled a bottle out of my hand and tossed it to him, he made her drank it, the wound sealed and she coughed a bit. I climbed through a hole in the wall and made my way down the road towards Portsmouth.

    Portsmouth was empty, no sign of life anywhere, everything was pillaged. I sighed and lifted open yet another empty chest, slamming it shut, making my way out of the town. What a waste of life. I passed through Camp Bell, and when I reached the outer walls of Romero, I heard commotion going on inside, I sighed. I walked north along the coast and looked up at the sky, the sun was setting. I came across a shack with a sign on it saying "Love Shack" all over it, and went inside, I sniffed and a blush came to my face. I see now why it's called the love shack from the smell. I leaned back against the wall and closed my eyes.

    Morning came, the scent of the shack still fresh in my nose, I dove into the water and began swimming across the ocean. About a few hours later, I arrived on flat, grassy plains. I walked northward along the coast, but in the distance, Grayvale came into view, I quickly ran into the forest to the north and stumbled around awhile until I came across a small village by the name of Tristitia. I heard the snap of a twig and turned quickly, a zombie ran at me, but it suddenly fell in a hole and the sound of a trap being released was heard, putting the zombie to death quickly. I peeked over the hole, but the dirt was covering it now. Odd. I climbed into the tree house and laid back on the bed inside, it looked like this place was abandoned for awhile, maybe even before the outbreak. I closed my eyes and decided to rest, the knights obviously haven't been here in ages and it seemed safe with the traps all around it. I dozed off, unaware of the threat that lie beneath this place.

    (Part 2 can be found right here ! Jump on it!)
    woodethan31 and brandonsuter like this.

  2. KrautPhonic Silver

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  3. Nekusakuraba Regular Member

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    Hello hello, if you're reading this then I congratulate you on your ability to read words (at least I hope you can)

    This thread will be regularly updated every other day or so with a new chapter, it will not be put on a new post, but instead will be updated on the main thread post for your convenience, so feel free to post comments and such below and all that good junk, happy reading
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  4. RvGhost Platinum

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    Love the story !
    Nekusakuraba and woodethan31 like this.
  5. woodethan31 Platinum

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    GOOD JOB. You earned yourself a rainbow. :3
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  6. Nekusakuraba Regular Member

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    Chapter 2 is up, there wasn't enough blood-shed for my liking, so far, so this one should keep everyone happy for a long while
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  7. Nekusakuraba Regular Member

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    Chapter 3 is now up; I felt like I needed more blood-shed, so I delivered it.
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  8. Very_Gay Platinum

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    Beautiful job! I look forward to editing more of your story!!! I don't think I'm ready yet, but give me a bit, by Chapter 7 I will edit again. ( Chapter 7 because that is when I started editing last time, lol. )
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  9. Nekusakuraba Regular Member

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    Hah will do bud, take your time, there's no rush
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  10. Nekusakuraba Regular Member

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    Happy 4th of July to all (Even if you're in the UK too bad, you're still receiving my givings), my apologies if chapter 4 if a little short, but holidays mean family time, and I'm obligated to spend this time with them (I love you all more then them, but don't tell them I said that)
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  11. Very_Gay Platinum

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    I want... A SHRUBBERY!!! ( DUN DUN DUNNNNN )
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  12. Nekusakuraba Regular Member

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    ANOTHER SHRUBBERY!
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  13. Nekusakuraba Regular Member

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    Chapter 5 is up, have fun (?) I don't even know, I shall now pass out
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  14. RvGhost Platinum

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    MORE!
  15. Nekusakuraba Regular Member

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    Chapter 6 is up, Fate.
    What, thought I was gonna say something else? Pfft
  16. Nekusakuraba Regular Member

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    So...I uh...well I'll just come out and say it -
    I hit the character limit again...any suggestions?
  17. Nekusakuraba Regular Member

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    Part 2 has been moved to a new thread, check the bottom of the first post for the link, have fun
  18. bilcan Emerald

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    I just got banned for nothing :(

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