Project : Collective Fanfic

[Miyu]

Chapter 6:  What do you dream?

Joachim rubbed his head wearily as he and Orowë walked in some direction North of where they last camped.  He didn't know the lands well and had absolutely no idea where his newfound friend, if he could call him that, was taking him.  There were so many things plaguing his mind that Joachim didn't really care where he was being led, even if it was to the belly of some hungry beast.

It had probably been three or four days since he had buried Nina's body in a shallow grave.  The ground was far too frozen to do any proper burial.  He just hoped it was enough so no hungry animals would ravage her decaying body.  It was probably his worry and guilt of poor Nina or his sudden helplessness and uncertainty over what the next day or even hour would bring him, but the only thing Joachim was certain of was his dreams were getting stranger and more vivid each day. 

Joachim felt a pair of eyes on him and turned to see Orowë staring back over his shoulder. 

"Are you coming?"

"Uh, what?" Joachim asked curiously, only now noticing that he had stopped walking and was leaning against a tree rubbing his temple.

"Well . . . ?" Orowë gazed at the man with a smirk.

"Oh, sorry about that.  I didn't realize . . .," Joachim flustered to speak. 

Quickening his pace, he stumbled to Orowë's side as they began their journey to some unknown destination.

Joachim was still slightly embarrased aboembarrassedppened earlier and felt obligated to explain himself to Orowë.  Afterall, his strange traveling companion had practically saved him from hunger, the Kushans, and his own stupidity more than once already.

"Thank you, again."

"For what?" Orowë replied, not even glancing over at the sandy-haired man.

"Um . . . for waking me up back there.  I seemed to have dazed off.  I'm usually not like that," Joachim said defensively.

"Do you dream often?"

"Well, I guess I do.  Everyone does, don't they?"

Orowë laughed as he listened to Joachim talk.  "Not everyone dreams, some people have nightmares or even worse, some don't dream at all."

Joachim stared at Orowë baffled at what he just said. 

"I guess I never thought about that.  One probably can't dream all the time.  I mean, I don't really remember all of my dreams."

"I don't need to," Orowë smiled.

Joachim scratched his head as he listened to Orowë, uncertain of what his meant by his words.  He must have a good memory.  Joachim thought.

"Is there anything that you dream about all the time?" Orowë asked with mild interest as he turned his head to Joachim.

"Well, not really.  All my dreams are different and they never make any sense to me.  Sometimes I dream about riding through the fields on horseback or flying through the air like a bird.  But other times I dream about knights and dragons or giant purple rabbits jumping through the city like regular people out for a walk.  I don't think any of them have any real meaning, at least, none that I can think of," Joachim chuckled. 

"I see," Orowë murmered to himself.

"So what do you dream about?"

"Dreams," Orowë said flatly.

"Dreams?" Joachim repeated.

"Yes, dreams."

Joachim stared at Orowë confused at his answer.  He didn't gather that Orowë dreamed about purple rabbits or flying through the air like a bird, but he had to dream about something.  Joachim dismissed the idea concluding that his traveling companion probably didn't feel like disclosing what odd dreams he had.  Somehow the image of Orowë chasing one of Joachim's giant purple rabbits and ripping its throat out popped into his mind in a horrific vision of carnage. 

Joachim shook his head and stared straight ahead watching the back of Orowë's head as he had somehow found himself standing in place once again.  Joachim bundled his jacket even tighter around his small frame and tipped his hand lower on his face as he sped up to catch up with Orowë.

The pair walked in silence as Orowë lead the way with great confidence as Joachim followed him blindly.  The image of a purple rabbit dangling from Orowë's chapped lips replayed over and over in Joachim's mind until he couldn't stare at Orowë anymore.  He had to get the image out of his head.  He planted the image of blue horses galloping through the snow.  Yes, blue horses with a light blue mane and a majestic look and powerful hooves.  They were prancing wildly in the forest as a dark figure chased after them with dirty darkened skin and two yellow eyes.  Orowë was chasing after his blue imaginary horses?

Joachim shook his head and banished the daydream from his mind as he stared at the cold forest covered with snow and no blue horses.  Perhaps it's better not to think of anything right now.


**Okay, I'm done here.  I know there are other writers out there besides Gyom and I, so hopefully one of you all will step up to the plate  ;D  **

 

[Lliugusamui]

hehe^^

Chapter 7 : Mine

"Go gather some wood before it is too dark. We will eat when you're back." she was being said.

The little Erica obeyed and passed through the threshold of the door. Rickert was hammering iron, as he used to do every single day. She was happy, because she had been afraid the other day, that he would leave with his friend who had visited him. But he had decided to stay, for her, thanks to Puck, the elf.

She was walking on the snow, between the trees, picking twigs that were the most beautiful to her eyes. Suddenly, she saw some one not very far ahead. She smiled, because not many people had come recently to buy swords and stuff to the blacksmiths who were working here at the forge, Godo and now Rickert. Then, she proceeded forward to catch the attention of the new-comer, letting Godo's tumb on her right.

He was an average man, with blonde hair falling on his shoulders and a bandeau on his forehead. The man seemed to be some kind of poor traveller. He had had an hesitation and wasn't moving anymore. First, he had had the intention of buying a good sword for the war that was to begin. The war in which he knew he would win, because the great leader of all times had reappeared, as every one was saying. But now, he was seeing so many swords in the snow. Was it some art decoration ? He didn't know, but he realized he could take one or two and nobody would notice. After all, he was a mercenary in the beginning ; a thief, some would say.

Thus, he moved to pick a weapon that would please him. While he was walking towards the cemetary of swords Rickert had made after the fall of the Hawks, he noticed the rocks nearby and understood there had been some kind of cave or mine here that had been destroyed. He could bet on it, because he was able to see holes between some of the rocks that seemed to go deep down in the earth.

Anyway, he made his choice and grabbed a sword.

"Hey you ! This one isn't to be sold !" a high-pitched voice yelled.

The man looked around and saw the little girl, running towards him.

"I've found it ! Now it is mine !"he answered automatically.

"What are you talking about ? You liar !"Erica was angry and exhausted after her sprint.

"Don't be a stupid child ! I'll keep it whatever you will say!"

Erica wasn't the kind of girl who was going to be stolen without any reaction. She kept on running and tossed herself against the man, surprised by such a behaviour. He fell on the snow, not knowing if he had to laugh or to be frightened. But he still had the sword in his hand. Erica stood up in front of him, her arms crossed defiantly.

"Now give it back !"

The man stood up and looked down on her.

"A little girl like you should be more prudent. Okay. Listen, what if I give you a coin for the sword ?"

"Are you kidding me ? It is not a toy !"

"Damn, you won't understand."

The man took the sword and turned his back. But then, he felt Erica grabbing his legs after a run and almost fell anew on the snow. He was going to lose his patience. Then, he remembered the holes between the rocks, attached the sword at his belt and grabbed Erica. He walked with her crying out and threatening him on his shoulder. They soon stopped where a big hole was visible. He put the girl down, holding her arms, and plunged his eyes into hers.

"Listen, you have no choice. I keep it. Now, you let me go save our country with this sword or I will be forced to throw yourself in the abyss. Do you undersand my words ?"

"Liar !"Erica only answered.

The man lifted her over the hole, so that she could not touch the ground anymore. Under this injustice, Erica couldn't let this thief insult her. She bit one of his wrists with all the strength she had and made him let her go. The man realised at this very moment that he was killing the child and tried to catch her anew as she was falling, in vain.

Rickert, working iron, heard the scream of the girl and ran out of the house to find her. He led his feet hastily to the ruin of the mine, afraid of what could have happened. The man saw Rickert running down there and blamed himself, especially now that he recognized the boy. But then came the biggest of the surprise of this day. Out of the hole, he saw Erica reappear and realized he was witnessing a miracle. Not a miracle. Something had helped her, he could see it. There was a litte creature, a dwarf, who just saved her life.

And Rickert stopped his sprint, he sighed at the view of a safe Erica. At the same moment, he looked at the man, full of hate. This man... he knew him. It couldn't be...

"Marcus !"he yelled.

"Ah... yes, Rickert ! Good to see you !" he answered with a troubled smile.

Marcus was a Hawk back then. At first, he was a good friend of Gaston, but he wasn't mesmerized like him by Guts, so he had joined Carcus' group. And when Griffith had disapearred, he had seen no reason to keep the struggle as a traitor. Being a noble had changed his life for a time. One day, he had heard the Hawks had been defeated by the King's troups and had wanted to look for Gaston. He had found a terrible place, one that is called the Red Lake by others, and couldn't believe every one was dead. Indeed, Rickert, the little and good Rickert... but this was already old times.

"I didn't know Rickert, sorry..."

"What ?"

"Hey, now you're a blacksmith and a friend of dwarves ? Not bad !"

"What dwarf ?"Rickert was understanding not much.

Then, the dwarf came out of Erica's back.

"I, Guaru, of course !" and he laughed.

*the story goes on...*

 

[Miyu]

*I guess Gyom and I are still the only ones writing this *

Chapter 8: The Feast of Fools

"Isidro! You little shit! How have you been?"

"Hey! It's you! I didn't know you were coming down this way," Isidro said before stuffing his mouth with some of the poor sleeping knight's bread.

"Yeah, I was escorting the girls to Dunham, but it looks like the town's been raided. Say, ain't that Azan?" Jerome's eyes widened.

"Oh him? I don't know who he is, but his bread is really tasty," Isidro snickered.

"Yeah, I'm sure it is. Hey, what are you doing out here anyway?"

"I'm out looking for the Blackswordsman!" Isidro stated proudly.

A loud thundering roar bellowed through the small cottage as Isidro was knocked on the ground by Azan's towering form waking up from his slumber. The girls all screamed as they hid behind Luca who merely watched with a bored sigh.

"The Blackswordsman! Where? Where is he?" Azan said panicked.

"Azan! Calm down, the Blackswordsman isn't here," Jerome spat out.

"Huh? What? Then what was that racket I heard about the Blackswordsman?" Azan shifted his eyes around the room barely catching a glance at Isidro as he was crawling on the ground towards the door.

The wily young boy would have made it to freedom where it not for Luca taking a few steps and blocking the door with her body. Isidro stared at the woman's tapping foot as he raised his face up to give the glaring woman an innocent smile as he carefully made sure not to bite down to hard on the links of sausages in his mouth.

"And where do you think you're going with all of that man's food?" Luca crossed her arms.

"I dun know," Isidro's muffled voice echoed between the bread and sausage links.

"Well, fancy meeting you here Jerome. Who are all the people?" Azan questioned as he scratched his head.

"Oh, I'm escorting these lovely ladies from Albion to the nearest town. The one by the door is Luca and these other three . . . uh," Jerome looked over to the girls with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't tell me you forgot their names again," Luca scolded.

"Well, er . . . you see . . . yes," Jerome slumped.

"I'm not even going to bother telling you again because you're only going to forget," Luca sighed.

The three prostitutes giggled knowing how Jerome had practically become Luca's whipping boy. They were slightly upset that the young knight didn't remember their names, but then the three girls don't ever remember telling it to him so it was hardly an insult to them.

"Oh, I see. And the kid?" Azan asked.

"This is Isidro," Jerome said as he picked Isidro off the ground by his collar.

"Ah, I see that he has some food he can share with everyone! I'm sure that the women are starving in this cold weather," Azan quickly said as he pulled out his bag of provisions that Isidro had emptied a few minutes ago.

The sounds of the girls laughing and Jerome's scream of pain as Isidro kicked him in the shins drowned out the confusion of Azan as he wondered where all his food had gone. He thought back to when he last ate and didn't recollect eating so much, but then he was a large man and he wouldn't put it past himself for eating all the food in the middle of the night.

"Well, it seems that I only have a few pieces of bread left, but it's enough to share with these ladies," Azan shrugged as he handed out the last of his bread.

The three prostitutes all thanked Azan as they hungrily took the bread. Luca took her bread with a nod as she turned her attention to Isidro who didn't appear to have any interest or indication that he was going to share the food he just stole.

"Well, Isidro, are you going to hand out some of the food you have?" Luca asked raising her voice so everyone could hear.

"Who me? Oh, well. I guess."

Reluctantly, Isidro handed out the sausage as the group all sat down in the cottage enjoying the food that Azan had unknowingly supplied.

"Ah, it feels so good eating food in company. It's been a few days since I last saw anyone on the road," Azan said as he added a few more sticks to the fire.

"How long have you been here?" Jerome asked.

"Probably a day or so. I don't really remember because I had been travelling for three days straight before I found this cottage here and decided to sleep. It should be the fifth day of the new moon, right?"

Everyone laughed as they heard Azan asking what day it was.

"Fifth day? No you old fart! It's the seventh day of the new moon. You've been asleep for two days straight!" Isidro laughed as he rolled on the floor.

"Ah, I see. I guess travelling must have tired me out more than I expected."

"So you didn't hear anything about Kushans attacking Dunham?" Jerome rubbed his temple.

"No, I didn't hear a thing. Did Kushans attack Dunham?"

"Yes! The town's a smoldering hunk of ashes right now. You slept through a battle?"

"I must have," Azan scratched his head. "My head is a little fuzzy when I wake up. I didn't think I had slept that long."

Luca sighed as she watched the exchange between the two knights. She was grateful for Jerome's protection and the two knights' hospitality, but it was grating on her nerves to have to put up with them. Got to remember the girls Luca. They need food and protection. Just remember that. Luca put on a smiled as she tried her best to enjoy the food they had and the company she was with, no matter how strange they were.

*I wanted to add a little humour here. I guess Gyom's up next*

 

[Smith]

*I guess Gyom and I are still the only ones writing this *

Well it seem that both of you match your fanfic really well... nobody would want or dare to spoil it...


I tried write a fanfic once, It became out as a piece of trash... Then i gave up

 

[Miyu]

Well it seem that both of you match your fanfic really well... nobody would want or dare to spoil it...

I triple dog dare you! 8)

I tried write a fanfic once, It became out as a piece of trash... Then i gave up 

Just try again with this one. There's nothing to lose at all. No one's lurking in the corners waiting to bash what anyone else will write so try it.

 

[Aazealh]

I thought Kart was a good eg?

This isn't the place to whine, Smith. If you have a problem then send me a PM.

 

[Smith]

This isn't the place to whine, Smith. If you have a problem then send me a PM.

Nah it wasnt a whine or a chance to vent my frustration on him... I am just saying there are people who care a lot about language and yes i will feel inferior when I argue with them...


Well that was just a casual remark... I did try for this fanfic when it just starting but like i say it turn out bad... :(