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| Xeogaming Forums - Story Realm - Something from a long while back... |
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Crono Yanma Seeker         Since: 05-21-05 From: Athens, GA Since last post: 7086 days Last activity: 7086 days |
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| This is one I made while I was back in high school, and I never completed it or went far beyond what is here...maybe a couple more pages, saved on disk somewhere. I had this on another forum and ran across it today...quite a long read, but a good one. There may be more to come, after I've reread it myself. LOL.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Crono yawned, sitting up and shaking his head. He glances about, and notes that the night is at its peak, the darkest hour, and his grin is the only thing visible in the darkness, his white teeth a glaring contrast to the darkness. He nudges his traveling companion, and the red haired man gets up quickly, yanking on Crono’s slightly frayed cloak to pull himself up. The green cloak holds up under the pressure, but Crono bats his partner’s hand off of it as soon as he is standing. “What do you want now, Crono?” “It’s time to get moving; the night is already half wasted.” “You woke me up for that?! Jeez, Crono! I was having a nice nap.” “Oh, poor Akira. Lost a little sleeping time. If you hadn’t started a fight with that guard in the last town, we would have been sleeping in a nice inn right now. Serves you right.” “Yeah, whatever. Let’s just get moving.” The two of them gather their sleeping gear, and smother the small, glowing orange embers left over from the fire built earlier that night. Without taking a single glance back to the city looming behind them, the two men begin walking at a medium pace, trying not to wear themselves out too early in the night. They continue on silently for many hours, until the sun begins to rise at their backs, and the westward traveling companions continue walking still, not tiring. Eventually, with the sun directly overhead, the orange red haired man stops, and holds out his hand to stop Akira. Crono glances into the wooded area ahead of them, looking for a certain sign, and the carved symbol in the wood of a certain tree tells him that the area is still safe for travelers. He puts his hand down, and Akira steps forward confidently, before an arrow soars past his head, its quivering shaft sticking out of a nearby tree. Crono and Akira fall back immediately, back to back, and both draw their weapons of choice. Akira draws the Torch Blade, a long, double edged sword with a fiery orange blade, and Crono pulls a long, black bladed katana from a hidden sheath strapped loosely across his back, his Dark Saber. Akira, being the closest to the now revealed attacker looks at the simple black garb of his opponent, and grins knowingly. Crono shakes his head, wondering how many of these bounty hunters will show themselves on the long trip, and three others burst from the woods as well, one throwing windmill blades as he does so. Crono throws out his left fist, his gloved hand knocking one windmill blade aside forcefully, but not before taking a fair cut across his arm, and Akira ducks the other, grinning as it hits his first opponent in the throat, killing the man instantly. Blood flies and the battle begins as the three remaining men draw assorted weapons. Crono’s Dark Saber screeches in contest of its dark blade racing across the surface of an opponent’s sword. The opponent spins around, using the backswing of his blade to try and take Crono’s legs out from under him, but Crono takes a flying leap backwards, dodging the blade. He plants his feet against a tree, his body almost perfectly horizontal, and shoves off with all the force he can muster, throwing his blade out to the side at the same time, and he grins as blood spatters onto the blade, knowing he hit his target. He drops into a crouch, his long cloak billowing behind him, and just in time to dodge the next of the windmill blades soaring after him. Meanwhile, Akira does not fare quite as well, finding himself double teamed from the start. He does not like the prospect of fight both of the skilled bounty hunters at once, but he takes the opportunity to go on the offensive as one turns to throw another windmill blade in Crono’s direction. He watches Crono duck underneath it, and jams his sword straight forward, parrying the oncoming sword of the other bounty hunter attacking him, and he thrusts a small dagger forward, letting the momentum carry it into the back of the neck of the hunter with the shurikens. He grins as the hunter sinks to the ground, completely unaware of how his death came about, and he sets his mind back to the task at hand a bit too late as the other hunter’s sword slashes its way through the air toward his throat. A flash of black intercepts the weapon in midair, and Akira nods his thanks to Crono as he screams by on foot, the bounty hunter’s sword following in his wake of dust and hitting to the ground with a dull thud. Akira spins back to the bounty hunter, who has turned to make an attempt at escape, and grabs him by the back of his shirt, barring his exit easily, flexing the muscles that have begun to build in his arms since they began their journey many years before. These bounty hunters never give up…he thinks, and Crono steps over to him, his slim build concealing his strength. Akira looked over Crono, who stood slightly taller than himself, with orange red hair spiked outwards and speed that was, to date, unmatched by any opponent. He was fast himself, but his true power lay in his ability to think on his feet, and his strength gave him an advantage in most encounters as well. “So, another bounty hunter to add to our collection. How many does this make that we’ve caught now, Akira? Seven is it, or eight now? We’ve seen so many I’ve last track. For all I know, we could be up to an even dozen by now.” “I think this would be number nine, although I note that we generally kill more than we keep alive,” Akira replies, winking at Crono to tell him of his idea. “Yes, that’s true also. So, what should we do with this one? I say we just kill him now. Any attempt on my life deserves death as far as I’m concerned,” Crono says, playing out his part as the vicious, bloodthirsty member of the team. Akira grins, but shakes his head. “No…we should let this one return to his boss. Let him break the news to his boss that he failed, and let him tell of our battle prowess. It may be that after witnessing so many failed attempts, he may just give up entirely.” “I doubt it. I still think we should just kill him and leave his body with the rest on the side of the road, to warn off any others following our trail.” “I suppose that would be an option, but we did that with the last one, and it didn’t work, did it?” “Ah, I suppose you are right, as always. Fine, we’ll let this one live. But I warn you, if I ever see your face amongst these bounty hunters again, I will hunt you down and kill you myself.” “Y-y-y yes sir!” the bounty hunter replies, running off down the road a ways before disappearing into the forest. After he is out of sight, Akira looks at Crono, and the two of them burst into laughter at how well their plan worked. “Do you think he’ll be back?” Akira asks, and Crono stops laughing. “Probably not. He looks young enough. He may be able to make a decent, honest living yet. Did you see the look on his face when I said we should kill him? It was priceless!” Crono replies, laughing again. Akira joins in, and the two laugh for a few more minutes before stopping again. They take any weapons that look useful, and Crono takes the trio of windmill blades for himself, to add to his small collection of smaller shurikens in his pack. He was an okay shot, and was still practicing with them every now and then with Akira, who was an expert with the ninja weapons. He had already taught Crono how to use a katana, and Crono was a natural for any ninja speed trick Akira had tried to teach him, mastering them all within the first three or four tries. For all the battle skill, however, they were really harmless. They only defended themselves or those unjustly attacked, and both had tempers that could lead them into serious trouble all the time, but they always came out all right. Akira was a master of all weapons, though, and if it came to a fight, he was always ready for battle. Crono was…well, Crono was a bit slower to realize things, but once he got up to speed, he surpassed even Akira in battle. “So, where to now? This place obviously isn’t safe for us…and if this one isn’t, I doubt any of our usual camp areas are,” Akira states plainly, and Crono shrugs. “They obviously know who we are, and they obviously know where we live and where we like to go, so we might as well fight them on even ground. I say we find a place to stay, permanently. There’s no point in running across the continent when they will chase us wherever we go.” “What then? Lilandria?” “Yeah, that’s my best guess. That’s the last place they expect us to go, and we haven’t been home in months. I know our families are getting worried by now…” “True enough. Lilandria it is, then.” “Seems that way. But I think we ought to rest for a while first. After that fight, I’m starving.” “Starving? That barely lasted five minutes!” “Yeah, but we haven’t eaten all morning, other than the small bit of bread we had before we started last night.” “Fair enough,” Akira replies, and the two of them sit down in the small clearing, spreading out the meager amounts of food they have left from their last stop. They munch on the food, and speak of the things they are likely to do when they get home. Akira’s thoughts dwell on the girl he left back home, while Crono’s thoughts are dominated by his little brother, Kaji. Kaji is old enough to begin his sword training by now! Crono realizes. Having been away from home for at least four months, they had lost track of time over the weeks and months, and Crono realized by the amount of time in the day that the year was coming to a close, and winter was fast approaching. They had left mid-summer, and the heat had died down to a simmer, and was now coming to a close. The leaves were falling off the trees in many hues and shades of gold and red, and Crono watched them fall as they walked toward the north, the sun burning its way into his squinting eyes. He peers forwards, trying to ignore the sun setting next to him, and focuses on the road ahead of him, which he now notes is still freshly stirred. The dust is beginning to settle, and he signals to Akira before running to the top of a nearby hill. He knew better than to be seen by unknown travelers, just in case, and Akira simply nodded at his next signal, a simple wave of his hand telling him that everything was all right. They stride forwards quickly, into the midst of the trading caravan they overtook, and people look up and watch them warily, not sure of their intent. One man steps forward, a grim expression set on his face, and he holds a sword forth, with more than a small amount of skill. “What do you want from us?” the man demands, and Crono raises his hands, keeping them where they can be seen. “Simply to speak. We were just wondering which direction you were headed in, that is all.” “You seem harmless enough. We are heading to Lilandria, to trade with the locals. Yourselves?” “We are also headed to Lilandria. We live there,” Akira states, and the merchant nods. “If you need protection on the road there, we could follow along with you, in exchange for your company.” “Seems like a solid idea. Very well. I’m Will Rockson. This is my son, Zero,” Will says, and points out a man of about nineteen years, maybe a bit younger than Crono. Crono was almost twenty, and Akira twenty-one. Zero is a bit shorter than Akira, standing near six feet, and his blonde hair looks something like Crono’s, spiky, but longer, hanging down almost to his waist. Crono nods, and waves to Zero, grinning at Will. “I’m Crono Vey, and this is Akira Kitakaze. Nice to meet you, sir,” he says, and Will nods. “Well, are you two supplied with weapons to help us?” Will asks, seeing no weapons on Crono, though Akira’s Torch Blade is obvious enough. Crono pulls his Dark Saber out into view, the worn leather sheath covering the black blade completely, and he pulls the long katana forth, showing it to Will. Will nods at it, and looks at Crono again, wondering what other weapons may be concealed in his clothing. Crono drops his pack, and reveals the windmill blades and shurikens that he has collected. Will looks on in surprise, knowing that Akira and Crono cannot be much older than Zero, and Zero’s weapon training had just begun. He had the feeling that these two would be more than enough protection for the rest of the trip, assuming they didn’t run into any demi-gods or demons, and even that might not stop them. He nods approvingly as Crono sheaths his weapon, and turns to Zero again. “Zero! Come here! There’re a couple people here you should meet,” he calls, and Zero spins around quickly, asking the person he was chatting with to hold on a moment. He jogs over, and looks to the two men standing nearby. He looks them over quickly, judging the approximate age, height, and weight of the two in a half of a second. “Hi, I’m Zero. Nice to meet you both,” he says, bowing. Crono and Akira respond in the same way, bowing before they offer their names. Zero notes their weapons as well, and realizes that though they may not be much older than he, they are certainly more experienced. “Zero, these two will be traveling with us to Lilandria as protection. Spread the word throughout the caravan that they are to be treated with respect.” “No problem. I’ll be back in a few minutes, if you two want to talk,” Zero says, and Crono nods. “Sure. Not like we have much else to do. When do you expect to arrive in Lilandria?” Akira asks Will, trying to come up with something to do during the most likely boring trip.” “Well, two days, maybe three, depending on how the horses hold up. We’ll just have to wait and see.” “Well, I suppose it’s the best we can do for now. Thanks.” Zero returns, and Crono waves him over. They begin chatting aimlessly as they walk, the slower pace giving Crono and Akira time to rest from the furious pace they had set earlier on that day. “So, how old are you two? By appearance you don’t look much older than myself, but you carry your weapons with great experience,” Zero asks, and Crono laughs. “Well, I’m twenty, and Crono is nineteen,” Akira replies, looking at Crono. “And as for the weapons…well, fighting is nothing new to us, I suppose,” Crono continues, winking at Akira. “I figured as much. So does my father, I suppose. Usually he doesn’t let outsiders travel with the caravan until they have proven themselves, but he didn’t question your skills at all.” “I’m not surprised,” Akira responds. “Most people don’t, and if they do they find themselves with a weapon to their throat and an apology demanded,” Crono says, grinning. Zero laughs, but Akira shakes his head. “He isn’t kidding, you know. The two of us are the best two warriors in our graduating class from the Melee Masters Academy. It cost a fortune to go to school there, but the training paid off. The two of us met there when we were about ten, and we trained together constantly. Still do, in fact. Anyhow, I left at fifteen for the Night Ninja School, and Crono stayed behind to continue his training at Melee Masters. The two of us met up again back in Lilandria about a year ago, and we’ve been together since, teaching each other the things we learned while apart. In fact, I was debating a bit of sparring for the benefit of your caravan tonight, if they’d allow it,” Akira says, and he looks to Zero for an answer. “Yes, I imagine they would probably enjoy a bit of entertainment. Let me go ask father, and we’ll see if we can’t get you a time to do it,” Zero replies, and Crono grins. “Ah, a little free-sparring. Always fun, isn’t it, Akira?” “Truly. Now, we’d better check our weapons. We didn’t have time to earlier today, and we wouldn’t want to give our hosts a bad show now, would we?” Akira replies, pulling his Torch Blade off his back. Crono unsheathes his Dark Saber, and glances down the long, sharp silvery edge, making sure there are no chips or nicks in it, and running a whetstone down the edge to insure that it is sharp. He then checks over all his shurikens and windmill blades, noting that one of the windmill blades has a thin crack running through the handle. He shakes his head, but he knows he can find a good repairman in Lilandria to get it fixed. Akira checks over both edges of his Torch Blade, the keen orange blade shining in the fiery sunset. The caravan stops moving, and Crono glances up. “What is it?” Akira asks Zero as he comes running up. “Wolves…and strange people following them, who seem to be giving them orders. It looks like you two will have a chance to prove your mettle in battle yet today,” comes his hurried reply, and Akira glances to Crono, the unspoken message passing between the two quickly. Bounty hunters again…Crono thinks, and he peers into the shadows of the trees ahead of them, trying to distinguish the separate shapes. They were staying together, which told Crono many things he needed to know. They were higher level bounty hunters than the last group, because they knew that by crouching together they could conceal their number. Second, Crono decided that there couldn’t be too many of the, because if they felt the need to conceal how many of them there were, then they couldn’t be a large, overpowering force. “Step back, Will,” Akira says, and Will looks at him questioningly. “We know these people. They’re bounty hunters for the Empire. They’ve been heading this way for quite a while, after Akira and myself, but I thought we had taken care of the last of them back a ways down the road. Apparently this was not the case…” Crono says, and Will glares at him angrily. “You knew these people might be out there are you didn’t warn me about it?! I trusted the two of you!” “And you still can. If you thought our coming up behind you and offering protection was mere coincidence, think again. We knew they might show up, and because of this, we felt that it would be better to travel with you and offer protection rather than let you all get slaughtered by these men. Do as you will with us later, but let myself and Crono take care of them right now,” Akira says, glaring back at Will. “Very well…we all want to see what you two are made of anyhow…” Will replies, still angry with the duo’s deception. Crono winks at Zero, and mouths “Watch and learn…” to him, while he pulls a windmill blade off the back of his pack. He throws his arm back, and the four blades snap into place around the ring in the middle, before falling off completely. Just my luck, Crono thinks, to grab the broken one first. He pulls another one out, and realizes that he does not have the time to use it when he sees the wolf rush towards him at an insane speed. He drops the windmill blade as quickly as he picked it up, and notes a cut across his arm as he pulls out his Dark Saber, complements of the broken windmill blade. He shrugs it off as he strikes straight forward at the wolf, and the wolf ducks under his blade, but its attack is thrown off because of the dodge. It moves with more intelligence than Crono believed it capable of, and he shoots a quick look to Akira, trying to figure out the mystery now facing him in battle. “Familiars!” Akira shouts, and Crono suddenly realizes what he means. He jumps back, and throws the windmill blade he dropped earlier, watching it disappear into the shadows, before looking back to Akira, who is double-teamed by wolves. One of the wolves in front of Akira stops suddenly, and falls to the ground, ceasing all motion, and Crono grins. He had guessed correctly, and he knew the simplest way to take care of the wolf he was trying desperately to keep at bay. He backs up slowly, and fights back to back with Akira, before explaining his plan quietly. Akira nods, and spins suddenly, kicking the wolf in front of Crono and allowing his friend the time needed to retrieve another pair of shurikens. Crono disappears suddenly, and even Akira has trouble tracking him when he uses the Art of Hiding in the Shadows, to conceal himself from the two ninjas that are even now in a trance, controlling their wolf familiars. Akira spins, hearing a howl behind him, and notes a fourth wolf, one neither of them had seen, drop to the ground right in front of Zero. Crono continues his silent work, killing the shinobi warriors effortlessly, using the shadows and stealth to conceal himself from the bounty hunters, who have their eyes closed in a Trance of Control, guiding their respective familiar’s movements. Akira looks into the shadows, and sees two bright green eyes shining back at him as the last two wolves drop in front of him. He nods, and Crono reappears nearby, seeming to melt right out of the shadows. "Familiars," Akira explains to Will, shaking his head. They had questioned himself and Crono until Crono had finally fallen asleep right in front of them. Akira was restless still, taking the first watch of the night. He knew Crono had fallen asleep on purpose. Not that he was really asleep, of course. He never was truly asleep. He was always on that verge, the one where he got the rest he needed but was perfectly alert throughout it all, knowing the happenings around him. And he should know, too. After all, Akira had taught him the trick. He would be ready at a moment's notice if Akira needed him, and the thought comforted Akira slightly, for he knew the attack could not end so easily, when their assailants had only performed the two attacks. "Always in three..." Akira mutters, and Will turns to him. "What did you say?" he asks, still confused about the ninja attacking the caravan. "Nothing, or at least nothing important. Just thinking to myself," Akira replies, and shakes his head again. He would be ready, and he knew Crono would be too. His best guess was that they would strike just before first light. Nobody would be awake, and the watch would be tired from their long and boring work. And were all thinking of their breakfast instead of their posts, too…Akira thinks to himself, watching Crono rise. He glances at Crono, and Crono nods back, in greeting and acknowledgement. So he knows too. Crono thinks, and shakes off his cloak. He picks up his Dark Saber and straps it behind his waist where it belongs before moving over towards Akira. After a small chat, both of them confirming the same facts, they know the approximate location of the attackers. They were out there already, and Akira nods towards Will and Zero, who are just beginning to stir. Crono grins, and walks over to them, explaining the situation to them. Will nods, and Zero smiles, knowing he will see more of Akira and Crono’s melee skills this day. The attack doesn’t come, however, and this puts Akira on edge, while Crono begins to get frustrated. “Calm down, man. You know they’re gonna come after us sooner or later. Better later than sooner, if you ask me,” Akira says to a restless and pacing Crono. “I’d just as soon get this over with then sit here waiting for them to come at us.” “Well, if you don’t want to wait, we could always…” “Go after them? I thought you always told me to wait and use their moves against them!” “I did, but this is also using their movements against them. In delaying their attack, they have shown us that they are afraid, and their first move was to wait and observe. In waiting, they have made their first move.” “Whatever you say, man. Let’s just go kick some ass.” “Let’s do it,” Akira says, and the two of them head over in Will’s direction. Will steps towards them, and they both disappear completely from view, already off on their mission. Will looks around, trying to discover the whereabouts of his two new friends, but there are no signs of them to be found, their Art of Hiding in the Shadows concealing them completely from view in the early dawn, just before first light. Will shakes his head, and just turns around to wake the rest of the camp and alert them of the situation. He has woken the first family when the attack comes on, and four rurouni appear from the trees surrounding the caravan, weapons in hand. Zero jumps back suddenly, being the closest to the group, but a blur of motion passes before him, and again from the opposite side. The four rurouni find themselves suddenly unarmed, the blurs being Crono and Akira as they come across in front of the quartet, swords flying left and right. The black and red blurs stop, and Crono and Akira stand, each holding a pair of kunai blades, one in each hand, to the necks of the mercenary warriors. Will laughs at the show of skill, and Zero just stares at the pair in awe and complete disbelief. “How…how did you guys do that?” Zero asks, and Akira laughs. “Nothing special…we’ve been training for a long time, and had lots of practice. Traveling on the road alone does that to a person. Survival skills, man,” Akira replies, and Crono grins. “Well, let’s see what they have to say for themselves,” Will says, nodding towards the new prisoners, who have been tied hand and foot with long strips of leather. “I’ll handle it,” Crono says, and he turns to face the assailants. “Who sent you after this caravan?” he asks, and they stare dumbly at him, saying nothing. Their eyes are glazed over, and Crono looks to Akira. Akira opens the mouth of one, and nods his head. Crono turns back to Will, and lets go of the man, who falls to the ground. “Poison…they had pills in their mouths to bite down on and kill themselves if they failed to achieve their goal. We’ll get no information from these four,” he says, and Will curses, before ordering their burial. Together, Crono and Akira walk off towards the fire, where breakfast is been cooked over the open flame. They each grab a slice of meat and roll, and wrap the meat into the roll before eating their fill. After a small sip of water, they have recovered their strength, and Will orders the caravan to begin moving again. “There it is!” Zero yells back from the top of the hill the caravan is at the bottom of, and Crono and Akira rush up the hill to stand with him. Sure enough, Lilandria stands at the bottom of the hill, its banners flying brightly in the air, a black banner with the five Seals of the Ancients set into it in a circle, one each for Fire, Earth, Water, Lightning, and Wind. Crono smiles, looking to his seal, Lightning, and then Akira’s seal, Fire. Each member of the village was anointed a seal when born, giving them a certain path to take. At the age of fifteen they could change their seal if they wished, but seal changing almost never occurred. Crono’s seal, Lightning, dedicated his training to speed and reflexes to avoid attacks and counter, while Akira’s seal, Fire, allowed his training to give him strength and unpredictability in an aggressive manner. People under the Seal of Water were taught to use their opponent’s moves against them, and flow with the opponent, rather than try to repel them, giving people under the Water Seal a more defensive fighting style. The Seal of Earth taught them to act without some senses, such as fighting blindfolded, or with ear muffs, to help them have the ability to fight under any circumstances. Finally, the Seal of Wind allowed them the freedom of movement, and they were generally the messengers, whose fighting style was short, quick bursts to finish the opponent off quickly. Crono was always brought up to respect the power of the Seals and cherish his own. Crono knew that if he and Akira ever formed a party that the combination of all Seals would be necessary to complete their training. The pair had already memorized every technique of the other’s Seal of Power, and were busy training to learn the skills and techniques of the other three Seals as well. Akira glances towards Crono, a questioning look on his face, and Crono nods. They would follow through with the plan, and go home, though their welcome would be less than cheerful. It didn’t matter though; it wasn’t like they could change the past. Akira’s theory was “Forgive and Forget” (Usually through heavy drinking), and they could only hope the people of Lilandria would be the same way. The rest of the caravan finally got around to the other side of the hill, and Zero, Akira, and Crono all run down the hill to meet them, racing eagerly. (Last edited by Crono on 05-23-05 07:11 PM) |
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