#her chainmail armor is actually a neck brace

[cocolacola]

hey. i love you *transports you to WC3-Vanilla warcraft lore*

[wrathofthewind]

vi. Duel

CLANG.

The two swords met in the silence, reverberating like a bell.

Side step. Dip. Lunge. The ferocious screech of blades sliding, metal forcing metal to yield.

One blink and Ithana had thrown her weapon in the air, her leg extending like a hurricane as she gyrated in place. What it took Arnalt to dodge is what it took the blade to come down, aiming for his shoulder, but luckily Arnalt heard the whistle of its fall before he even saw it and quickly shifted his shoulder behind, the sharp edge of that Falchion slicing through a single shard of errant hair, then practically kissing his armor before it landed squarely at the edge of his toe.

He paused briefly, petrified, needing a moment. That single moment was all Ithana needed to throw her weight behind a punch and send him rolling across the arena, except she didn’t, instead, she laughed.

She pulled up the Falchion which stood up straight as its tip penetrated the ground, removing it with a schlick sound and displaying it in a twirling motion towards the applauding audience. They hadn’t seen through the minutiae of those extremely sudden movements, all but 8 seconds had passed, but Arnalt already felt a slight dampness on his hairline.

Ithana clicked her tongue and grinned at him. “Oh I’m just warming up. Need a minute?”

DONG. Her arm came up to block Arnalt’s blade with a jeweled arm brace.

She whistled, appreciating the strength behind the blow, it didn’t actually rattle her, but a small tremor spread from her wrist to her fingers before she clenched them. It was a solid hit, and an even more solid counter. Her exceptionally crafted spiked boots quickly came up to deliver an Axe-kick that would’ve crushed Arnalt’s skull if he hadn’t side stepped and then flipped back like a crescent, one arm supporting him while the other sliced towards her vulnerable ankle.

But of course Ithana did quick stepwork and rolled forward, again thrusting her Falchion confidently to meet Arnalt’s longsword.

Slash. Crash. Swoosh. Clang.

Over and over in a flurry.

The movements so fast they felt like a choreography to the audience, rather than a battle.

And then swoosh, another opening and Ithana had managed to punch Arnalt’s stomach in an uppercut that had him fly once more to the edge. He slowly picked himself up and spit some blood, wiping his mouth and glaring in her direction.

“That’s twice already Arnalt, are you sure you don’t want to just give me your ring already?”

Arnalt spit, irked by the taste of his own blood, and what was possibly the fragment of a tooth, his tongue searching to identify it… or was that gravel that somehow ended up on his mouth while they were kicking up such a ruckus with the swords. Hard to say. The arena was outdoors so it could be anything really and the adrenaline wouldn’t let him feel it.

“That bastard sword of yours is beautiful, maybe that can be our next wager.” Ithana wiped her sleeves, quite pleased with herself.

Arnalt shifted gears and landed a single palm on the ground, a menacing wind accumulated then exploded like a sizzling core straight up. She had thrown her Falchion towards him, aiming to immobilize his arm, and that wind was the only thing that blocked it.

“Are you trying to leave me handicapped?” Arnalt remarked.

“Eh, I just find that armor design annoying.”

Oh. He didn’t glance at it, but he took a very tiny and delicate handkerchief from a pocket underneath his chainmail guard and wiped at the metal protective sleeve to make the design even brighter. It was a hound surrounded by fire. A “hell hound” if you will. And it surely made her blood boil to be reminded of the ridiculous way her own Knight had lost his ring to begin with.

“Maybe I’ll make the hellhound my personal Knight. Even if you win today, he can just win that ring back.”

He side-stepped as she’d taken the bait and approached first, lunging with her full body and Arnalt quickly did a backflip out of the way and picked up the discarded Falchion.

He pointed both swords at her. A bit of the old excitement was entering his veins now, even if he knew there was no way he could best her at this skill level, truth was… it was fun to try. At least, now, he felt a little nimbler and able to parry with her, if he could just keep this up for… better not think about the hours.

Above them, the King was looking down with a curious face, one arm leisurely resting on his armchair while the other picked a few morsels from a gilded plate.

“Ithana, stop playing with your food.” He suddenly seemed disappointed, both in her childish display and in Arnalt’s apparent disadvantage. Right now Arnalt had the upper hand, two swords and a successful feint. But it was as if the King had seen all he needed to see to know who was outmatched and was already bored and raring to go.

He kept to protocol, but he waved for one of his monks to approach him and start filling him in on the duties of that day.

Taking his cue, some of the brothers and sisters began chatting and whispering with other nobles, looking at Ithana or Arnalt and betting god knows what on who.

Arnalt’s initial warm excitement turned frosty. His limbs felt heavier all of a sudden.

Ithana seemed similarly provoked but in a different way.

Arnalt blinked and she was gone, he glanced sideways and she was already grabbing his shoulder between her arms and a sound cracking noise echoed, loud enough to break through the whispers.

Soon after, Arnalt screamed, doubling in pain and kneeling down to cradle his broken shoulder. Now there were droplets of sweat painting his face, and a flush so hot it made him feel like he was baking alive. The pain was sharp and acute, dumbing him down, making him want to vomit.

“Is that pleasing to you? Father? I’ve broken the bird’s wing. Should I break its neck too?”

Arnalt hadn’t noticed he had tears in his eyes, he was doing everything in his power to stay still and breathe, even though his whole body was shaking.

The King glanced up at the sky. “Well, at least this didn’t take all morning.” He looked at a monk next to him. “Call it.”

The monk’s voice ran loud and clear. “Victory goes to the Lioness of Azuria. In exchange, she claims the price of one Aerial ring from his young highness.”

“Wait!” Arnalt gritted between his teeth. “What about your mercy!” He was shaking all over, but still trying to keep his eyes focused on one point in the ground as the view lightened and darkened in waves, his muscles spasming from the pained and held in the same kneeling position without fainting through a sheer iron will. The angle she’d broken his shoulder in was odd, the pain unbearable. An uncomfortable numbness was spreading and he didn’t dare glance at his arm, aware of its swelling.

“Mercy… yeah that’s your thing Arnalt.”

“I thought you wanted my ring.”

“Oh, but that’s the one I’m getting.”

Arnalt paled.

She easily walked towards him and slowly slid the ring out of his hand, his right arm unable to stop her and his left arm unable to move from the spot where he held his shoulder in place. His entire body frozen, unable to move an inch at all or stop this.

“Did you forget what the word on the hilt of my Falchion reads Arnalt?”

He bit his lip and bled, because he needed the redirected pain to partially distract him and stay conscious.

“I know… what… it reads.”

Indomitable.

“You can’t tell me what to do, and expect I’ll actually obey.”

Arnalt closed his eyes tightly, breathing harshly and then opening them again, trying to focus.

“Bitch.” He barely whispered.

“No, I’m just strong Arnalt, you’re the bitch; a weak little bitch willing to lose everything over a hound.”

She flicked her finger over the elaborate design on his arm brace and laughed. 

Arnalt screamed sharply again. Huffing and puffing.

“That hit at the beginning was solid though, you’ve improved much, you know if you came more often to train on my grounds I could--”

While she talked, he glanced at the ground, frantically looking for indicators of time, wondering how long the battle lasted, becoming slightly confused when he saw a shadow that moved oddly, as if someone was flying over the arena, but it quickly melted into the edges where the other shadows were. 

He tried going over the battle in his head. 10, maybe 15 minutes had actually passed since the battle began. There was no way Tyssen had made it, maybe he could just keep… talking; distract her. 

But following her last words, Ithana slapped him squarely across the face.

“You dishonor our family name.”

He had no idea how she got there, but he figured it had something to do with her blathering and his lack of response. He mentally corrected himself, it was rude to call it a blather. She was earnestly offering him to train or-- who knows, he was in too much pain to commit the words to memory. 

Fuck! Who talks so much to someone after breaking their shoulder!

Jibber-jabber, yackety-yak! 

Behind her, Arnalt caught a glimpse of the King. He wore a tight smile, and shook his head slowly before standing and moving to leave, signaling for all the nobles to stand up and one of his monks to call a medic for Arnalt.

Ithana was already walking away.

“W-wait… I” he coughed and hissed a breath as a fresh wave of pain overtook him.

And just as Arnalt felt himself fading, he heard the rapid succession of footsteps, running from all sides. He could make out a few words.

“Missing!”

“Can’t find him!”

“Searched everywhere!”

“Kurian curse!”

Arnalt used every ounce of energy he could muster to lift his head and see, and across the arena, where he’d asked him to stand, Tyssen was leaning against a pillar with his arm crossed. He scratched his nose once.

How… how had he even done it?

“Heh. Good boy.”

He finally let his eyes roll back towards his skull and crashed forward. Pandemonium spreading in his wake.

Just as he lost consciousness, he thought he glimpsed the shadow of someone floating near him.

[thetravelersjournal]

Gear Foxx- Chapter 3

Don’t Repeal Net Neutrality!

“Were you trying to kill yourself, kid?”

“Er… is this a rhetorical question?” I asked.

Dr. Quack, Knothole’s lead physician, muttered angrily under his breath. He finished wrapping the cast around my leg before stating, “You got off pretty easy. But if you had kept running on that broken leg of yours, the last thing on your mind would be how painful it is.” He left the room for a moment, before bringing back a pair of crutches.

“Guh!” I breathed, getting to my feet with the crutches. Mina tried to help me, but I brushed her hand from my arm. “I’m fine,” I said, before asking, “So how long until this heals?”

“A few weeks, but if you want it to heal faster, I suggest not trying to walk for a while. The only reason I gave you those crutches is because we’re fresh out of wheelchairs,” the doctor pointed to the window, where I could see a few Mobians stuck in portable chairs.

“Good to know. Thanks doc,” I said, moving towards the door.

“Hey, kid!” Quack called after me, “Leave the heroics to Sonic! Otherwise you’ll just make my life harder!”

“Glad to know he cares about my well-being so much,” I muttered to Mina as we left.

Mina shrugged, “Well, you were the one to run around on a broken leg. I’m surprised you’re even still able to walk on it.”

“It was because of the brace I made,” I explained, “It held my bones in place long enough for me to get them fixed, but running on them didn’t really help.”

Mina silently stared at me, perhaps disturbed at how calmly I was taking the situation. She finally sighed, “Well, Doctor Quack is right. You should really leave the freedom fighting to Sonic.”

“And you should really not run to your death,” I interjected, thinking about Mina’s mad dash to rescue her mother. Her face flushed with anger.

“You’re the one who thought it was a good idea to go rescue her!”

“Yeah, but since Sonic’s right about everything, there’s no problem, right? Why don’t you go tell him how right he is?” I practically snarled.

“Fine! I will! And honestly, I don’t think I even care anymore if you try to get yourself killed whenever Robotnik attacks. Do what you want,” she stomped away, annoyed.

I watched her disappear into the large crowd of people flooding the small village. “Looks like I’m on my own again…,” I mumbled sadly.

I limped through the mass of Mobians, trying to find a good spot to rest. People were setting up tents, hundreds of them, to accommodate for the massive population- there just weren’t enough homes to go around.

I found a quiet corner, just a little ways away from Knothole, and rested my back up against a tree. I sighed, my mind still focused on my row with Mina. I didn’t want to get mad at her, but I needed some time to think, to process things. I needed to be alone, and getting Mina to avoid me was the best- the only- solution I could come up with.

“Sorry, Mina,” I grumbled to myself, before absorbing myself into my own thoughts.

A Human. A Fox. A Doctor. Another Doctor. A Hedgehog. A Foxx. A Mongoose. Mobians. A lab. Snapping electricity. A robot named George. A small village. A Chipmunk. A giant emerald. Project X. Armored guards. A burning city. A burning scar.

I lifted the hem of my shirt, revealing my brand once again. I ran my finger across it, wincing from the sharp sting that followed. The raw flesh was still tender.

I had been created, not born. I wasn’t ‘real’, per se. Then again, I did have the souls of two different individuals inside me. Were the souls now my own, or theirs?

Another question remained- Why was I created? The doctor said I was supposed to be “the ultimate soldier”, but was that the only reason? It’s not like I wanted to fight all those robots, I just…

I just wanted to help people.

Was that just another part of a programmed personality? Or was it my own? My head was swimming from the questions.

And of course, I couldn’t forget about where I was. I was in a world where Sonic the Hedgehog existed. And Dr. Eggman… they had called him Dr. Robotnik, hadn’t they? Kintobor backward is…

“If Dr. Robotnik is fighting Sonic, then does that mean Dr. Kintobor will be coming after me soon?” I thought.

No. He implanted a tracker in me, hadn’t he? If he wanted me, and if he was here, he would have done so already. I was safe- for now.

Back to the present situation. Some of what happened seemed familiar. I’m sure that the Human had read something like this in his comics before. If I can just remember… what did the Human read about?

Suddenly, the answer hit me. A flash of colors shot through my mind, as a smoking village captured my attention. The scene shifted to reveal a rogue AI, who was tormenting Mobians. The setting changed again, this time to missiles hitting a domed city. Again and again images flew in my head, only lasting a second or two as I recalled key events. A golden echidna. A hidden city. A roboticized scientist. A freed mad scientist. An empty suit of chainmail. A large egg-shaped aircraft. Invading aliens. A giant panda bear.  A blue emerald. Strange robots from another world. A destroyed universe.

I strained my mind for anything else, but failed. My vision was ragged, and I fought to control my breathing. I had to calm down. I bumped my head against the tree, staring up at its branches. Sunlight danced through the leaves, flooding the forest floor with a late afternoon gleam.

I knew some of what was going to happen, but beyond that, I couldn’t seem to remember much of anything else. Both the Human’s and the Fox’s memories were locked away from me, only snippets of information leaking out of the sealed chest of reminiscence. Why couldn’t I remember? And why was I even here? How did this world exist?

A low rumble made its way to my ears, piercing the silence like an arrow. I clicked my tongue with impatience.

“Ugh… I’m hungry,” I sighed.

Unfortunately, I was tired more than anything. Battling throughout the entire day, then thinking too hard about the situation I was in, was just too much for my body and mind. My eyelids slowly slid shut.

“At least, for now, I’m safe,” I thought, before falling asleep.

Now that I escaped Dr. Cain, what should I do?

It was this question that made me wake with a start, a cold sweat pouring down my back. The sun had retraced its steps in the sky, and my back was sore from being in the same position for so long. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, stretching.

What should I do? My mind drew a blank from this obvious question. What is my purpose? Do I even need one?

My stomach grumbled loudly. “Well, I know what I should do for the moment. But even before that…” I turned my attention back to Knothole. Hundreds of Mobians were walking here and there, grabbing lunch with friends or setting up more tents- apparently, it had continued through the night. I saw a familiar face speaking with an elderly woman. I got up slowly, placed my armpits on my crutches, and made my way to them.

The older woman had left by the time I got there, leaving Mina with three small children I hadn’t noticed before. She seemed to be telling them a story.

“...When suddenly, a giant robot appeared! Dr. Ro-butt-nik’s forces were attacking the city! The robot started firing at me, but I was able to sneak past it into a small alley. There I met- Wait, did I even meet anyone in the alleyway?” She seemed momentarily confused, but continued on, “Anyways, I was able to escape, and after making it through the alley I found a bunch of other people. We were about to escape the city when,” she paused dramatically, “More Shadow-bots attacked!”

The children gasped, completely enthralled with Mina’s story. I chuckled, stopping behind her. Neither she nor the kids saw me.

“We were completely surrounded! I thought that it was the end. What I didn’t expect was for Sonic the Hedgehog to come swiftly to our rescue! He tore all the robots apart before I even had time to blink!”

“You forgot to mention the part where I heroically tried to save you guys, but landed flat on my butt and looked like an idiot instead,” I said.

Mina turned her head so quickly I heard an audible crack. She rubbed her neck, moaning before asking, “What are you doing here?”

“Apologizing. Unless you’d like me to leave…?”

“Preferably the latter. But go on.”

“I didn’t mean to bring up what happened in the city, or get mad at you for no reason. I’m sorry for starting an argument,” I said truthfully.

Mina looked at me with a strange expression on her face. For a second I thought she hadn’t accepted my apology, but then she said, “You’re so weird, Gear.”

“Er… Okay?” I wasn’t really sure how to respond to this statement.

“Most people don’t like apologizing or admitting they’re wrong about anything, but you come right out and do it like it’s nothing.”

I stared at her, blinking rapidly, still not sure how to reply.

“I guess if I’m being perfectly honest, I was glad that we got into a fight. I wanted some time to think by myself. With everything that went on yesterday… It was all rather chaotic, wasn’t it?” She smiled before saying, “So I guess you didn’t really need to apologize… Though it was still nice to hear.”

“Heh… It’s funny, I started arguing for that exact same reason. I thought that you might stick close to me because of my leg,” I tapped my leg with one of my crutches, “I guess we’re both just a couple of hot-heads, huh?”

Mina laughed, shoving me to the side, “What are you talking about? You’re the one who started the argument!”

“What about the rest of the story, Ms. Mina?” one of the kids finally spoke up.

“Oh! Right, sorry,” she apologized, turning her attention back to the story, “Umm, let’s see… actually, Gear, do you want to tell your side of the story?”

“My side?” I asked.

“Yeah! Tell what you were doing when the robots started attacking, then tell how we met!”

“Um… sure, I guess. Ok,” I sat down on the ground in front of the children. They eyed me suspiciously, as if they didn’t think my story would be as good as Mina’s. “Alright, so, uh, I was in a really tall building when the Shadow-bots attacked. About as tall as that tree over there,” I said, pointing to a rather tall tree closer to the center of the village, “It was there that a large ‘bot fired at me! I dodged out of the way and...”

The sun lowered as I told my side of the story, up till the part where I met Mina, where she resumed her own story, while I added details and comments every now and then. Finally, the elderly woman came back.

“Thank you for watching the young ones for me, Mina. And who is your friend?” the woman smiled at me.

“This is Gear, Ms. Rosie,” Mina said. I waved, nodding. Rosie returned the gesture, before taking the kids back (who were rather sad to leave) and heading on her way.

“Well that was fun,” I said, lying on the grass, “You wouldn’t happen to have anything to eat, would you? I haven’t eaten in a day or two.” My stomach rumbled to confirm my statement.

Mina sighed, “Here, have a granola bar. It’s not much, but if you’re starving…”

“Thanks,” I mumbled as I shoved the bar into my mouth. My belly quieted a bit.

“Did you see Sonic’s ceremony?”

“No. Did he have one? I was sleeping till just before I found you.”

“Yeah, they knighted him and everything. I guess we can call him ‘Sir’ Sonic now.”

Mina and I talked for a while longer, the sun finally disappearing from the sky as the moon drifted between the stars. It felt good to talk to Mina, even if she was the one doing most of the talking. It was close to midnight when she finally let out a yawn.

“Wow, it’s so late… have we really been talking that long?” she asked, surprised.

“I guess so… It didn’t seem that long, anyway,” I offered. I stared up into the heavens, a gentle breeze floating through the night air. Mina got up.

“Well, I’m going to head off. It was nice talking with you again.”

I nodded, “Yeah, same.”

She looked at me uncomfortably for a few seconds, before saying, “Um… I was wondering if you wanted to do this again sometime. Talk, I mean. I don’t really have many friends to talk to…,” she trailed off.

I pondered her question. “On one condition,” I said.

“Huh? What is it?”

“That you count me as a friend,” I chuckled. I couldn’t dwell on my past all the time. I needed something to distract me. Besides, I had had fun talking to her. It was a very different change of pace from what's happened over the last couple of days.

Mina studied me closely, before her face lit up like a fireworks stand. “Of course!” she said, beaming.

I watched her walk away to a larger outcropping of tents. She disappeared between them as I slowly got up myself, making my way to the same tree I had rested up against before. I had barely taken a step, however, when a blue streak flashed past me, followed closely behind by a short, dark, spectacled human.

“Was that Sonic?” I said out loud to no one in particular. I watched him and the human continue zooming through the city, up into one of the tree canopy walkways, before finally stopping in front of a squirrel wearing a large crown- the same Mobian I had rescued back in the city. Based on what Mina had talked to me about, he was apparently the king over all the people of Knothole- King Acorn, they called him. They were barely visible from where I stood, a good few houses away. I started to walk closer in order to hear their conversation, but I didn’t really need to. I could somehow hear them from all the way over here without any trouble at all.

“...But I believe that Dr. Robotnik and his Shadow-bots have discovered the Hidden City of the Ancients!” the human was saying.

“The Hidden City of the Ancients? I thought that was a part of Mobian mythology, Uncle Nate,” said the King.

“Wait… hidden city? Didn’t that have something to do with…,” I whispered to myself.

“An unpolluted ecosystem like that needs protection from the world in general, but where Robotnik is concerned, it requires much more!” Nate continued.

“I’m in total agreement, old friend- there's no telling what Robotnik could be cooking up this time! ...And the Hidden City needs to be forewarned. I want both of you to depart first thing in the morning,” King Acorn ordered.

I continued watching Sonic as he and Nate said goodnight to the King. A hidden city- The Hidden City. Perhaps something I should check out for myself… It just might have some of the answers I’m seeking...

Read the Beginning!- Prologue

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Gear and Dr. Cain belong to me.

Mina, Rosie, Nate Morgan, Sonic, and others belong to SEGA, Archie(?) or Ken Penders