Post by Caimvarin on Mar 16, 2010 10:53:04 GMT -5
*I went back and rewrote this chapter while i was away, then forgot to update the one on here lol, so yeah, here it is again...*
The Vanguard- Chapter 3: A Step in the Right Direction...
Victor stood up and cleared the haystack just in time to hear a loud rustle accompanies with a slight grunt, he turned around and saw the figure of Harabec laid on his back in the hay, sunk into the stack a little from the impact on the soft hay.
“Ha ha! Never one for a smooth landing were you Bec?” Victor gloated with a smile.
“just shut up and help me up” he sighed, his voice most unamused.
Victor laughed and offered a hand, which Harabec took, with a heave he was out of the hay and on his feet, in his other hand he was holding the diary.
“so where is this Khavendor...do we know?” Harabec asked as he started to walk towards the large walkway that they had been escorted past not more than an hour ago before.
Victor nodded “yeah, you should remember...its where you got into a disagreement with that paladin over religion...”
Harabec stared at him blankly,
“You know, him telling you that his god was all powerful and kind, you saying that they all are if you can believe that horse nuts, then he got offended and gave you an hour long lecture of why you should believe in them!”
Harabec smiled “oh yeah...I forgot about that!”
Victor laughed “yeah, you were too busy hitting on the barmaid!”
they both laughed and looked up at the sky as they paced along the bridge “good times...”
“so what route are we taking to get to Khavendor?” Harabec asked, clipping his collar back together.
“there is really only the one route, even though it is only three days due south of here there's no way we can cross the mountain range this time of year, they are volatile at the best of times, besides I doubt the princess would have run that way, it completely skips out Notia” he looked of into the distance “she was following her brothers footsteps, meaning he was visiting temples, so we should be able to base a route off that....so, we leave here through the east gate, cross the Melias plains to get to the Tarquin wharf.”
Harabec scratched the back of his head in thought “Tarquin? Bit risky this time of year, the shrikes will be out in full force!”
Victor nodded “I know but they can only attack people on the wharf when the tide comes in, the bridge ensures that, as long as we make it to a wayhouse we'll be fine.”
Harabec nodded “yeah, good point...so where after that?”
“well there's a temple just past Tarquins east bank, but after there...” Victor frowned and pulled a ragged piece of folded paper from his pocket and unfolded it, it was a map, he started to trail his finger across it. “East through Mankyo Forest, then south through the Davros plains to Notia, after visiting the temple north of Notia we'll be able to find a ship to cross the Rhein sea, then once we make landfall it should be a matter of hours to Khavendor from there...”
Harabec stopped and looked around, he saw the White horse inn “where this whole damn episode began” Victor sighed “tell me about! But we're near the gates now, walked around the alley and glimpsed the remains of the encounter, an upturned refuse cart with a guards helmet sat alone and unloved on the ground, they both looked off into the alley straight ahead,
Victor could still see her running now, her soft voice calling her name to them “....Azel....” the final thing that led them to this huge mess...
The city gates were in sight, it just dawned on Victor how close they actually were to the gates, if he had known all this was coming he would have taken Harabec and left with her!
As they paced towards the gates Harabec stopped, “the king said he'll know if we try running...how?”
Victor just shrugged, “god knows,”
Harabec shot a grin, folding his arms and leaning against the city wall “so how about we just make a break for it, go into hiding!”
“I don'tt mean to put a downer on that thought Bec, but this is the king of Yuranthil, we're talking about royalty here, not just some run of the mill crook with a wanted poster, he has resources that they could only dream of, if they want someone found...they'll find them!”
Harabec raised an eyebrow “...ooh of course, that explains why were looking for the princess then,” he sighed, shaking his head slowly.
“Look, Vic, if he cant keep an eye on his own daughter then how the hell can we expect him to keep tabs on us?”
Victor placed his hands on his hips in thought “you raise a good point...but think of the flip side, we do this and we get the slate wiped clean, we'll get rewarded for saving a member of the royal family and we'll also be famous!”
Harabec sighed “okay...those are alright reasons too but are they worth the effort?”
“well...that depends? Would you do this for a kings ransom?” Victor grinned
Harabec closed his eyes with a resigned sigh
“lets get going Bec...we got a lot of ground to cover...”
Harabec nodded with annoyance as he clicked his knuckles and paced out of the archway that housed the white gates of Yuranthil...their journey had officially begun...
The sky was a brilliant blue, the sun peeked out from behind its cloudy cover as the grass on the plains around them seemed to change two shades brighter, a soft wind meandered through the fields as the two of them paced through the swaying grass,
“Are we there yet?” Harabec joked through the collar,
“Please Bec...don't make me slap you” Victor retorted with a grin,
it was this kind of humour he both was used to and looked forwards to,
The great outdoors, his best friend and a long journey, though only this time all these pluses were evened out by the idea of chasing someone along a theoretical path and the price for failure, both two things which he had never had to take into consideration before.
“This feels so different!” Harabec stated as he locked his hands behind his head, walking with a slight swagger,
“What does?” Victor asked
“Actually setting out with an aim!” Harabec grinned
Victor laughed “yeah, I know what you mean!” he looked up at the sky, the visor shielding his sensitive eyes from the light “the outdoors is great but if your an Erulian its pretty damn annoying!”
“Maybe your race should come outside the mountains again then, for master crafters I still have no idea how they see what they are building in those places!” Harabec looked back at Victor keeping pace.
“the same way I see what I gotta pilfer at midnight!” Victor smiled “my vision is much brighter than yours...”
Harabec smirked “hence the glorified sunglasses!” he closed his eyes with a hearty laugh
Victor sighed with a grin “Its called the light dampening visor!” he tapped the black screen over his eyes with a metallic finger of his gauntlet.
“just one of my best jobs, the other being the boomclaw!” he grinned “but you'll see that modification another time...hey...are you listenin-”
“nope” Harabec grinned jokingly “course I am! But at the same time I have to ask...do you honestly think we'll be able to catch up with Azel if she is indeed headed to Notia, she was in quite the hurry!”
Victor nodded, she had indeed taken off on a rushed pace, and to make matters worse she was a whole day in front of them, it would be close, but Victor knew his friend and himself...they had trekked much further distances in surprising times, “if we do the same as always I believe so...”
Harabec grinned at Victor as he extended a hand “ a point at a time!”
Victor nodded and grabbed his hand in agreement “a point at a time!”
they released each others hands as they carried on walking, up ahead a small ford was drawing near.
Victor tapped Harabec on the shoulder “after we clear this ford we'll more or less be on the trade roads, we'll be at Tarquin in a couple of days if we stay on it”
Harabec grinned “that is if we dont get hassled by bandits...did you forget they are rife problems on the trade roads?”
Victor nodded “not for us they aren't!”
Harabec laughed heartily “oh yeah, silly me!” he watched the ford draw ever closer until they were right across it, its four meter wide water severing the two banks,
Harabec ran back a fair distance then took the spear off his back with a grin before bursting into a sprint, as he reached the lip of the ford he stabbed the spear in the ground and vaulted “alley oop!” he grinned as he sailed over the ford and touched down on the other side, bringing his spear up in mid flight, he turned back to Victor as he slung the spear onto his back “your turn!” he spoke with a boyish fit of excitement.
Victor just grinned, broke into a run from half the distance Harabec took,
he did a hop, a skip then he kicked off from the ground, breaking into a forward roll he flew over the gap and landed feet first next to Harabec “marks out of ten for agility?”
“...show off,” Harabec grinned,
“I'll take that remark as proof of an eleven” Victor laughed as he looked ahead, a dusty road surface lay within the swaying grass ahead “you know...a horse could get us there faster...”
“forget it.... a horse needs feeding, watering, caring for...and it whinnies...” Harabec shirked,
Victor laughed “you really don't like them do you?”
Harabec shook his head “we have this kind of love hate relationship do me and horses, I love them, but they just seem to really hate me!” he laughed “also I hate riding sores with a passion...”
Victor grinned “only cause you have to stop yours bucking!”
Harabec laughed “do you want to get the bad tempered ones for a change? I'd be happy to swap you know?”
Victor shook his head “no thanks, I'll pass, I don't have the knack of calming them like you do”
Harabec folded his arms “besides...I like my feet too much, they don't think for themselves, never disobey me, and I don't have to calm them down or enter a mental battle with them to break their will and force them to walk...” he grinned “they also give me a leg to stand on!”
Victor groaned “that was your worst one yet Bec!”
Harabec laughed “oh you, you're just saying that!” he spoke with a mocking tone.
The ground changed underfoot as Harabec laid his first step on the rough dirt of the road, feeling some of it crack under his tread. He stopped and turned around to view the sight behind them.
The grand city of Yuranthil looked significantly smaller in the distance now, not a bad stretch for the space of a half an hours trek,
“Hey Bec?” he heard victor call, he turned to his companion “yeah?”
he saw Victor pointing ahead, there was a large caravan with a group of people talking outside of it and a couple checking what appeared to be barrels outside of it.
Harabec squinted his eyes “looks like a merchant caravan...” he grinned, arms folded “ah, caravans...brings back memories!”
Victor nodded “yeah...first met you in Briars with that travelling troupe you were in...”
Harabec grinned “the last show I did for em before I jacked it all in” he smiled “being in the entertainment troupe was fun though.
“Yeah... I was bored...decided to go see the show, there you were, the lion tamer!” Victor laughed
Harabec grinned widely “yeah...very easy to tame a lion that you grew up with!” he laughed.
“Victor clicked his fingers “ I knew there was a trick!”
Harabec smiled s he looked up at the clouds, “Argash and Forgel were the first two friends I ever made really.” he closed his eyes in reminiscence “Forgel was just a funny old git, then Argash was just like keeping a glorified house cat! Though once Forgel died I was the only one who could do the taming trick properly...so it became mine...I wonder what he did when I left?”
he smiled and looked at Victor “well, that's in the past, but I wouldn't mind seeing em again...”
Victor grinned “we'll probably run into em again somewhere, they are always on the move, so are we, we'll collide sooner or later!”
“Yeah you're probably right” Harabec said in a doting tone.
The next few yards were spent in silence, memories of both the troupe and the mountains spinning in Harabec and Victors heads respectively, the people they had left behind, the ones that had taught them, what would they think of them now? Mixed up in this kind of business...
“um...e...excuse me gentlemen?” came a humble voice from their right,
Victor turned and looked at the bearer of the voice, it was a man dressed quite well, he wore a crisp brown leather tunic and what appeared to be black silken trousers, his hair was long and blonde, his face was clean shaven and had an aura or respectability, “um sirs, we have a little problem, I was wondering if you could help us? We can reward you for your troubles!”
Harabec shook his head “uh were in a hurry, we just came from Yuranthil so we cant go ba-”
The man shook hi head “it's alright I'm headin the other way to the Rhodes trading camp, just east of Tarquin,”
Victor's attention snagged 'wait a minute...a caravan going to Tarquin? Sure's a hell of a lot faster than walking!' he looked at Harabec “wait a moment Bec...” he looked at the man “what seems to be the problem mister...”
“Odamar...my name is Odamar” he spoke with a gentle bow, he was very courteous, Victor had to give him that.
“We have a slight problem, we carry food and provisions to Rhodes camp, this makes us quite a target for marauding bandits, so naturally we hired two bodyguards to travel with us, but it seems that they have taken the money and run, leaving us nearly penniless and stranded...we can't move until we have a guard unit for the caravan we are not fighters...”
Harabec sighed, he hated those types of mercenaries, always looking for an easy way out, a way to get paid without doing the job. Granted he had thought of running from this whole mess earlier but that wasn't a case of getting paid for a job, it was more like paying for failing it... he had a motto, 'if a jobs worth doing, its worth doing very, very well!' Victor looked at him.
Odamar also followed Victor's glance “um...sir?”
Victor could see the cogs turning in Harabec's head,
“look the way I see it,” Victor began “is that we need to get to Tarquin fast, so if we can hitch a ride, I'm sure me and my friend here would be more than happy to guard your stocks for you...”
“You will?” Odamar's face lit up
Harabec nodded offering a hand, “sure, name's Harabec, this here” he nodded his head to Victor “is my good friend and companion Victor!”
Victor gave a small laugh as Odamar shook his hand also,
“now...shall we get going?” Harabec shrugged with a grin “Tarquin baby here we come!”
The Vanguard- Chapter 3: A Step in the Right Direction...
Victor stood up and cleared the haystack just in time to hear a loud rustle accompanies with a slight grunt, he turned around and saw the figure of Harabec laid on his back in the hay, sunk into the stack a little from the impact on the soft hay.
“Ha ha! Never one for a smooth landing were you Bec?” Victor gloated with a smile.
“just shut up and help me up” he sighed, his voice most unamused.
Victor laughed and offered a hand, which Harabec took, with a heave he was out of the hay and on his feet, in his other hand he was holding the diary.
“so where is this Khavendor...do we know?” Harabec asked as he started to walk towards the large walkway that they had been escorted past not more than an hour ago before.
Victor nodded “yeah, you should remember...its where you got into a disagreement with that paladin over religion...”
Harabec stared at him blankly,
“You know, him telling you that his god was all powerful and kind, you saying that they all are if you can believe that horse nuts, then he got offended and gave you an hour long lecture of why you should believe in them!”
Harabec smiled “oh yeah...I forgot about that!”
Victor laughed “yeah, you were too busy hitting on the barmaid!”
they both laughed and looked up at the sky as they paced along the bridge “good times...”
“so what route are we taking to get to Khavendor?” Harabec asked, clipping his collar back together.
“there is really only the one route, even though it is only three days due south of here there's no way we can cross the mountain range this time of year, they are volatile at the best of times, besides I doubt the princess would have run that way, it completely skips out Notia” he looked of into the distance “she was following her brothers footsteps, meaning he was visiting temples, so we should be able to base a route off that....so, we leave here through the east gate, cross the Melias plains to get to the Tarquin wharf.”
Harabec scratched the back of his head in thought “Tarquin? Bit risky this time of year, the shrikes will be out in full force!”
Victor nodded “I know but they can only attack people on the wharf when the tide comes in, the bridge ensures that, as long as we make it to a wayhouse we'll be fine.”
Harabec nodded “yeah, good point...so where after that?”
“well there's a temple just past Tarquins east bank, but after there...” Victor frowned and pulled a ragged piece of folded paper from his pocket and unfolded it, it was a map, he started to trail his finger across it. “East through Mankyo Forest, then south through the Davros plains to Notia, after visiting the temple north of Notia we'll be able to find a ship to cross the Rhein sea, then once we make landfall it should be a matter of hours to Khavendor from there...”
Harabec stopped and looked around, he saw the White horse inn “where this whole damn episode began” Victor sighed “tell me about! But we're near the gates now, walked around the alley and glimpsed the remains of the encounter, an upturned refuse cart with a guards helmet sat alone and unloved on the ground, they both looked off into the alley straight ahead,
Victor could still see her running now, her soft voice calling her name to them “....Azel....” the final thing that led them to this huge mess...
The city gates were in sight, it just dawned on Victor how close they actually were to the gates, if he had known all this was coming he would have taken Harabec and left with her!
As they paced towards the gates Harabec stopped, “the king said he'll know if we try running...how?”
Victor just shrugged, “god knows,”
Harabec shot a grin, folding his arms and leaning against the city wall “so how about we just make a break for it, go into hiding!”
“I don'tt mean to put a downer on that thought Bec, but this is the king of Yuranthil, we're talking about royalty here, not just some run of the mill crook with a wanted poster, he has resources that they could only dream of, if they want someone found...they'll find them!”
Harabec raised an eyebrow “...ooh of course, that explains why were looking for the princess then,” he sighed, shaking his head slowly.
“Look, Vic, if he cant keep an eye on his own daughter then how the hell can we expect him to keep tabs on us?”
Victor placed his hands on his hips in thought “you raise a good point...but think of the flip side, we do this and we get the slate wiped clean, we'll get rewarded for saving a member of the royal family and we'll also be famous!”
Harabec sighed “okay...those are alright reasons too but are they worth the effort?”
“well...that depends? Would you do this for a kings ransom?” Victor grinned
Harabec closed his eyes with a resigned sigh
“lets get going Bec...we got a lot of ground to cover...”
Harabec nodded with annoyance as he clicked his knuckles and paced out of the archway that housed the white gates of Yuranthil...their journey had officially begun...
The sky was a brilliant blue, the sun peeked out from behind its cloudy cover as the grass on the plains around them seemed to change two shades brighter, a soft wind meandered through the fields as the two of them paced through the swaying grass,
“Are we there yet?” Harabec joked through the collar,
“Please Bec...don't make me slap you” Victor retorted with a grin,
it was this kind of humour he both was used to and looked forwards to,
The great outdoors, his best friend and a long journey, though only this time all these pluses were evened out by the idea of chasing someone along a theoretical path and the price for failure, both two things which he had never had to take into consideration before.
“This feels so different!” Harabec stated as he locked his hands behind his head, walking with a slight swagger,
“What does?” Victor asked
“Actually setting out with an aim!” Harabec grinned
Victor laughed “yeah, I know what you mean!” he looked up at the sky, the visor shielding his sensitive eyes from the light “the outdoors is great but if your an Erulian its pretty damn annoying!”
“Maybe your race should come outside the mountains again then, for master crafters I still have no idea how they see what they are building in those places!” Harabec looked back at Victor keeping pace.
“the same way I see what I gotta pilfer at midnight!” Victor smiled “my vision is much brighter than yours...”
Harabec smirked “hence the glorified sunglasses!” he closed his eyes with a hearty laugh
Victor sighed with a grin “Its called the light dampening visor!” he tapped the black screen over his eyes with a metallic finger of his gauntlet.
“just one of my best jobs, the other being the boomclaw!” he grinned “but you'll see that modification another time...hey...are you listenin-”
“nope” Harabec grinned jokingly “course I am! But at the same time I have to ask...do you honestly think we'll be able to catch up with Azel if she is indeed headed to Notia, she was in quite the hurry!”
Victor nodded, she had indeed taken off on a rushed pace, and to make matters worse she was a whole day in front of them, it would be close, but Victor knew his friend and himself...they had trekked much further distances in surprising times, “if we do the same as always I believe so...”
Harabec grinned at Victor as he extended a hand “ a point at a time!”
Victor nodded and grabbed his hand in agreement “a point at a time!”
they released each others hands as they carried on walking, up ahead a small ford was drawing near.
Victor tapped Harabec on the shoulder “after we clear this ford we'll more or less be on the trade roads, we'll be at Tarquin in a couple of days if we stay on it”
Harabec grinned “that is if we dont get hassled by bandits...did you forget they are rife problems on the trade roads?”
Victor nodded “not for us they aren't!”
Harabec laughed heartily “oh yeah, silly me!” he watched the ford draw ever closer until they were right across it, its four meter wide water severing the two banks,
Harabec ran back a fair distance then took the spear off his back with a grin before bursting into a sprint, as he reached the lip of the ford he stabbed the spear in the ground and vaulted “alley oop!” he grinned as he sailed over the ford and touched down on the other side, bringing his spear up in mid flight, he turned back to Victor as he slung the spear onto his back “your turn!” he spoke with a boyish fit of excitement.
Victor just grinned, broke into a run from half the distance Harabec took,
he did a hop, a skip then he kicked off from the ground, breaking into a forward roll he flew over the gap and landed feet first next to Harabec “marks out of ten for agility?”
“...show off,” Harabec grinned,
“I'll take that remark as proof of an eleven” Victor laughed as he looked ahead, a dusty road surface lay within the swaying grass ahead “you know...a horse could get us there faster...”
“forget it.... a horse needs feeding, watering, caring for...and it whinnies...” Harabec shirked,
Victor laughed “you really don't like them do you?”
Harabec shook his head “we have this kind of love hate relationship do me and horses, I love them, but they just seem to really hate me!” he laughed “also I hate riding sores with a passion...”
Victor grinned “only cause you have to stop yours bucking!”
Harabec laughed “do you want to get the bad tempered ones for a change? I'd be happy to swap you know?”
Victor shook his head “no thanks, I'll pass, I don't have the knack of calming them like you do”
Harabec folded his arms “besides...I like my feet too much, they don't think for themselves, never disobey me, and I don't have to calm them down or enter a mental battle with them to break their will and force them to walk...” he grinned “they also give me a leg to stand on!”
Victor groaned “that was your worst one yet Bec!”
Harabec laughed “oh you, you're just saying that!” he spoke with a mocking tone.
The ground changed underfoot as Harabec laid his first step on the rough dirt of the road, feeling some of it crack under his tread. He stopped and turned around to view the sight behind them.
The grand city of Yuranthil looked significantly smaller in the distance now, not a bad stretch for the space of a half an hours trek,
“Hey Bec?” he heard victor call, he turned to his companion “yeah?”
he saw Victor pointing ahead, there was a large caravan with a group of people talking outside of it and a couple checking what appeared to be barrels outside of it.
Harabec squinted his eyes “looks like a merchant caravan...” he grinned, arms folded “ah, caravans...brings back memories!”
Victor nodded “yeah...first met you in Briars with that travelling troupe you were in...”
Harabec grinned “the last show I did for em before I jacked it all in” he smiled “being in the entertainment troupe was fun though.
“Yeah... I was bored...decided to go see the show, there you were, the lion tamer!” Victor laughed
Harabec grinned widely “yeah...very easy to tame a lion that you grew up with!” he laughed.
“Victor clicked his fingers “ I knew there was a trick!”
Harabec smiled s he looked up at the clouds, “Argash and Forgel were the first two friends I ever made really.” he closed his eyes in reminiscence “Forgel was just a funny old git, then Argash was just like keeping a glorified house cat! Though once Forgel died I was the only one who could do the taming trick properly...so it became mine...I wonder what he did when I left?”
he smiled and looked at Victor “well, that's in the past, but I wouldn't mind seeing em again...”
Victor grinned “we'll probably run into em again somewhere, they are always on the move, so are we, we'll collide sooner or later!”
“Yeah you're probably right” Harabec said in a doting tone.
The next few yards were spent in silence, memories of both the troupe and the mountains spinning in Harabec and Victors heads respectively, the people they had left behind, the ones that had taught them, what would they think of them now? Mixed up in this kind of business...
“um...e...excuse me gentlemen?” came a humble voice from their right,
Victor turned and looked at the bearer of the voice, it was a man dressed quite well, he wore a crisp brown leather tunic and what appeared to be black silken trousers, his hair was long and blonde, his face was clean shaven and had an aura or respectability, “um sirs, we have a little problem, I was wondering if you could help us? We can reward you for your troubles!”
Harabec shook his head “uh were in a hurry, we just came from Yuranthil so we cant go ba-”
The man shook hi head “it's alright I'm headin the other way to the Rhodes trading camp, just east of Tarquin,”
Victor's attention snagged 'wait a minute...a caravan going to Tarquin? Sure's a hell of a lot faster than walking!' he looked at Harabec “wait a moment Bec...” he looked at the man “what seems to be the problem mister...”
“Odamar...my name is Odamar” he spoke with a gentle bow, he was very courteous, Victor had to give him that.
“We have a slight problem, we carry food and provisions to Rhodes camp, this makes us quite a target for marauding bandits, so naturally we hired two bodyguards to travel with us, but it seems that they have taken the money and run, leaving us nearly penniless and stranded...we can't move until we have a guard unit for the caravan we are not fighters...”
Harabec sighed, he hated those types of mercenaries, always looking for an easy way out, a way to get paid without doing the job. Granted he had thought of running from this whole mess earlier but that wasn't a case of getting paid for a job, it was more like paying for failing it... he had a motto, 'if a jobs worth doing, its worth doing very, very well!' Victor looked at him.
Odamar also followed Victor's glance “um...sir?”
Victor could see the cogs turning in Harabec's head,
“look the way I see it,” Victor began “is that we need to get to Tarquin fast, so if we can hitch a ride, I'm sure me and my friend here would be more than happy to guard your stocks for you...”
“You will?” Odamar's face lit up
Harabec nodded offering a hand, “sure, name's Harabec, this here” he nodded his head to Victor “is my good friend and companion Victor!”
Victor gave a small laugh as Odamar shook his hand also,
“now...shall we get going?” Harabec shrugged with a grin “Tarquin baby here we come!”