Chapter 3: Difference in Strength
Nimali smirked, "You've got some gajones, Black Kat. Out of respect, I'll make sure we carry your head in an ivory box on a silver platter." Aviana tugged at her cloak. "But Nimali, he saved us, do we have to fight him?" Shasta scolded her, "Avi, he's still an enemy, he's no different from the other hunters. Actually, he's worse, he's the most wanted criminal in the whole nation. Plus, if we kill him, we'll get the bounty on the dragon and the thirty Zera on their heads. We's be the richest women under royalty!" Aviana shook her head. Nimali whispered into her ear, "We'll finally be able to get you that wind-topaz staff you've always wanted." Aviana's eyes lit up at the thought and nodded. "Okay, I can do that. I'm sorry Shinzuu, but it's for my advancement in magic. I'm grateful for you saving me, but you ARE a criminal and our competition." With a quick wave of her arm, Aviana sent a shock wave at Shinzuu. He jumped up to dodge and was met with four throwing knives. Shinzuu cut down on them with his sword and rolled as he landed, dodging a spike that shot up from the ground.
Aviana raised a wind barrier and knocked Shinzuu back. He caught his balance mid-slide and landed on his feet, sliding backwards. Nimali stomped the ground and threw a punch into the air. Nine barricade spikes longer than lances shot out of the ground behind Shinzuu. He pushed forward hard against the ground back towards the sisters. With a powerful, concentrated cut, he cut the barrier in half and tackled Aviana to the floor, knocking her out cold. Shinzuu quickly jumped up to dodged more knives. The knives struck the ground at Nimali's feet and exploded into plumes of water. She screamed, "Watch it!" She stomped the ground, but her foot sank fast into the ground, forcing her to trip face first into the rest of the mud made by the infused knives. Before she could react, Shasta froze in fear as she found Shinzuu's sword leveled at her neck. Jack yelled out to him, "Alright, that's enough!"
Shinzuu slowly withdrew his sword and let Shasta go. "Now do you see the difference between us? If you can't even handle A-class bounties, don't even think for a second that you can handle S-class bounties like me." Just then, a voice yelled over to them. "Halt! Bounty hunters, stay where you are!" Three heavily armored knights carrying thick tower shields rushed towards them, swords drawn. Their armor shimmered in the sun, and their chest plates were emblazoned with a golden cross and a green star, the Holy Knights of Gaia. They circled around Shinzuu and the Sisters. "All of you are coming with us to the palace, by order of Emperor Zhukov!"
* * * * * *
Shinzuu and Jack entered the audience chamber in shackles alongside with the Sisters. There on the throne, sat an exceptionally tall fox-Kin. He was dressed in long red and golden robes, his purple cape hanging from his neckline and was edged with golden bristles. There was missing fur around the black ring around his yellow right eye. A patch covered his left eye, and a scar ran from it down his body. The warrior hero of Crienal and Emperor of Levardia, Zhukov. On his right, stood Carina Gallant, who called in a commanding voice. "All shalt kneeleth before the Emperor!" The Knights kneeled first, followed by their captives. Zhukove waved a hand, his face stern but gentle. "Arise, Knights and bounty hunters. Please, remove those chains from the men, they are trustworthy. Welcome back, my hunters. I have heard what happened from Carina... er, ahem.. excuse me, Guardian Gallant. Magi Sisters, for having broken the Hunter's Code of Honor, you should be imprisoned for 2 years. However, for breaching my sovereignty to young Shinzuu and his party within this capitol, you shall, instead, be sentenced to be executed by guillotine."
The Sisters huddled together sadly and sobbed with each other. Shinzuu stepped up and bowed. "Your Majesty, if I may." Zhukov nodded, "You may speak." He bowed again, "Thank you, Your Majesty. I do not believe these girls deserve execution. They were no threat, and they are merely amateurs. As an alternative, I propose sending them to the Academy, under direct supervision of Guardian Carina Gallant." The girls looked bug-eyed at him and gulped, Carina raised an eyebrow and beamed at him. "Please Your Majesty. If not for my request, then as a favor for the late High Mage Anil's memory and achievements that saved this kingdom. I don't wish to stain the name of one of the Great High Mages of history, bless his soul for dying at such a young age." Zhukov stroked his chin, considering Shinzuu's words.
Zhukov sighed, "I am sorry, young Shinzuu, even with those words, I cannot revoke my own decree, even for such a great a man who saved us all from the Plague. My laws and sovereignty are absolute in this kingdom." The Sisters fell to the ground crying. Jack stepped up and bowed, "Your Majesty." Zhukov nodded, "You may speak as well." Jack bowed again and folded his hands. "Thank you, Your Majesty. How about if we commit to a week of combat training for your army with the Knights of Gaia?" Zhukov smirked under his hand. "Hmm... my men to be trained by Gaia's greatest knights, a blade master and the child of two of the Four. This sounds very intriguing. Very well! You have a deal, Master Jack. Bahamut! Show these women to the Seal Dungeons, they will reside in there until the end of Guardian Gallant's visit. Miss Gallant, if you wouldn't mind, please take these three to the Academy with you and oversee their... re-education. Barak and Alister, please take Master Rabbit and Mr. Katame over to the training grounds."
* * * * * *
The training grounds were on the south end of the castles. Almost a hundred soldiers train there at a time, usually trainees. Grunts and the clanging of swords were heard throughout the southern halls of the castle from dawn to dusk. However, all those sounds completely disappeared in an instant as the Kinghts, Jack and Shinzuu stepped out of the castle entrance onto the grounds. As they walked towards the middle of the grounds, the soldiers watched them quietly, clearing a path for them. Shinzuu muttered to Jack, "When this is all over, I'm going to kill you for this. You know I hate teaching anything to anyone." Jack smirked, "It's called business, brother. You just got to know what the other person wants most. Live with it." Barak stepped up on top of the rest table at the middle of the grounds and removed his helmet.
Barak was a snow wolf with a scar down his left eye. His face showed much power and authority, and spoke with just as much. "Okay, listen up, men! For this next week, these two men will be supervising your training alongside with us, The Holy Knights of Gaia. Now, carry on!" The men continued their training as ordered and Barak stepped down, walking back over to Alister, Shinzuu and Jack. He extended a hand to Shinzuu. "I apologize for our actions earlier. My name is Barak of Veritas, I'm the weapons keeper of the Knights. My weapon of choice is my Claymore. My colleague right next to you is Alister Zigfried Nor, our mission logistics officer. Unfortunately, he cannot speak because his toungue was cut off during training when he was younger." Jack looked at Barak with a curious look. "What kind of weapon does he use?" Barak smiled proudly, "A whip sword. Alister, show them."
Alister removed his helmet and bowed a greeting to Jack and Shinzuu He was an eastern Voronese human, he had four scars on his face of varying sizes. He drew his sword and pointed at the table where Barak had been standing, which was about four meters away. He raised his sword, the sun glimmering off its purple blade. In one swift slash, the blade separated into several smaller ones, struck the table and retracted back to its original form. The table still stood, and Jack and Shinzuu walked over to inspect the table. They circled around the table and inspected it. Shinzuu picked up a pebble from the ground and dropped it onto table. The table fell to the ground in two peaces.
Jack whistled, "Very clean cut, I'm impressed. Not even I have been able to master the whip sword at this level." "That's just Alister fooling around. In combat, he's a real animal with that sword." Everyone turned and there, emerging from the castle, came Bahamut, helmet in one arm and a lance in the other. He was a black cat-Kin with bright, blue eyes. Following him was a young, gray and striped wildcat-Kin dragging a large sword. Bahamut extended a hand to Shinzuu. "Hey, the name's Bahamut, the new captain of the Knights. I'm the head of our order, and I also take care of finding new members for the ones that fall in battle or retire. I, obviously use a lance aside from my broadsword. I'm sorry I'm late for getting back here, I had to drag the new kid to and from the armory."
The young wildcat hung the sword over on shoulder, the blade hitting the ground as he saluted the group. He stood just above a meter and a half, and the blade was two meters long. "Knight-in-Training Kistrev Szarda of Veritas at your service, sirs!" Jack and Shinzuu gave Bahamut a look. He shrugged, "What? He has potential and works really hard. Besides, he makes me laugh." Shinzuu walked up to Kistrev and surveyed him. "Do you even know how to use that grand sword, son? Actually, can you even lift it?" A voice came from the castle entrance. "That idiot can can lift it, but he can't use it worth horse droppings. He can barely swing it, let alone making a cut." Shinzuu looked over and were surprised to see who had spoke up. The unmistakable arctic wolf-Kin in cloak came walking over, Vee Uzima. She slapped Kistrev in the back of the head as she walked up to him. "I see you still haven't practiced holding that thing properly at all. Bahamut, what are these Strays doing here? These are royal training grounds, not an animal impound."
Bahamut cleared his throat, "Well, Miss Uzima, they are going to be supervising and sissting in training these soldiers with us for the next week. Emperor's orders." Vee scoffed. "Fine, whatever. Just don't expect anything from some half-bit who only uses eastern swords and a pretend know-it-all. By the way, where's the fat guy?" Irritated, Shinzuu grit his teeth hard at her insults. "His name is Epoch, and he's in the royal infirmary. He nearly expended all his majicka. And for your information, basic form is universal for all swords, weapons and martial arts, eastern or western. Only styles vary." Vee snatched the handle from Kistrev's hand and, with one hand, picked up the grand sword.
Curious, onlooking trainees whistled at the spectacle. Even Bahamut raised an eyebrow. "Well, put up or shut up. Show Kistrev proper technique. If you're competent enough to beat me with a grand sword, then these idiots are all yours." Vee tossed the grand sword over to Shinzuu. He tossed off his cloak and caught the handle with his left hand, swung the sword around his body once, and switched it to his right in mid-swing before bringing it up and resting it across his shoulders. She unclipped her cloak and tossed it at Kistrev. "Hold that, kid." She wore a red, short-sleeved tunic and short, studded-leather trousers. Her breast plate was custom-made slim to conform to her figure and remain flexible. Separate shoulder plates were strapped onto the top of the breastplate.
All the soldiers ceased their training and gathered around the commotion. Vee grabbed a broadsword from the closest soldier and launched herself full sprint. Shinzuu lowered himself and rotated left, swinging the broadside of the sword at Vee. She jumped to dodge and came down for a thrust. He rotated the sword so it was slant and stepped up, accelerating his rotation with the sword and counter-thrusted straight up at her. The grand sword struck the broadsword tip to tip and ran through it, shattering the blade. Vee released the sword and arched her head back just before the sword could skewer her hands and head. Vee drew her sais, holding them in reverse and held them up as she landed, blocking the downward strike. She grunted as the impact cracked the floor she was kneeling on. Shinzuu lifted the sword up for another strike. Seeing the opportunity, Vee rushed in for a strike, but stopped as she found the sword pointed at her neck. The wind up was a feint, he had angled the sword back down during the wind up. "I told you I wasn't going to go easy on you the next time we met."
Vee snarled at him, fire burning in her eyes. "Fine. I won't intrude, you can have them." Her figure then dissolved into smoke and she appeared behind him, sai aimed for his head. Everyone gasped as the sai pierced his head, but she just tripped right through him and face planted into the ground. Shinzuu stood over her and drove the sword into the ground next to her face. "Afterimages, they're more useful in close quarters combat than kemuri bunshin. Now you see the gap between us?" Bahamut cleared his throat, "Well, I guess we have a decisive winner. Though I don't think any of our soldiers can use Ki like you guys. Alright, men! Nothing to look at here!" The rest of the week went along without any further incident. Alongside the Knights, Jack and Shinzuu trained Emperor Zhukov's personal army everyday from dawn 'til dusk. On the night of the seventh day, they left with their bounty and one very disgruntled Shinzuu.
Post Merge: December 23, 2009, 07:16:54 AM
Story notes
The continent is separated into 4 kingdoms. From west to east, Lodis, Levardia, Karasia, and Vorona. Voronese people are kind of like Asians in our world. Karasians, the middle-east. Levardians like Europians, and Lodis like Americans. Well, their location and inhabitants are more like them. and of course, this is medeival, so... yea. You can think of Lodisians as Native Americans.
All magic-users alike use staffs, wands, gems, etc. to further their magic abilities and expand their majicka. The gems each magic-user uses usually corresponds with their affinity. Explosives like Epoch used mineral gems. Aviana wants to use topaz, which is for wind/lightning users. You get the idea.
Ki is kind of like majicka, but for martial artists. Like majicka enables magic-users to use magic, Ki allows martial artists, ninjas, and the-like, to use their special abilities. They're not as strong as magic, but it enhances their combat. Ninjas use Chakra, not Ki. Pretty much same thing, but their application is quite different.
"Kemuri Bunshin" - Japanese for Smoke Doppleganger.
The Academy: Even though this might be a spoiler, the Academy is The Magic Academy of Gaia. Most magic-users go this school to be properly trained in using their talents. It's not like Hogwarts, so don't ask. Some choose not to go, which they end up going renegade or were referred to as a prodigy, like Epoch. Others, like the Magi Sisters, were born into a family where they had a parent who was very well known in the magic world, were very pig-headed and didn't attend. The Academy is also where all magic-users take a test to gain their titles, even the title of sorcerer/soreceress. Carina runs the Academy.
The Levardian capitol's border is 30 kilometers in radius, the Palace and city in the middle. The mountain peaks are pretty much the border, and surrounds the city like fortress walls. the only real way into the capitol is through 1 of 3 valleys in the mountain. The side of the mountains that faces out are almost straight up.
Topic: The Kin Chronicles: The Black Kat (Read 15668 times)