And then there was one...
May 11, 2023 4:53:13 GMT -7
Post by cheesemellow on May 11, 2023 4:53:13 GMT -7
"An actual bath... I can't believe I get to enjoy these again." A young man says while standing in awe of the bathhouse connected to the volunteer soldier housing. It had been a long day, the sun had already set and the red moon hovered over a partly cloudy sky. Alterna, the city, was already settling down for the night. A few of the buildings were covered in a red tint from the torchlights that shined in the darkness. The volunteer housing was no different. Many dark corners everywhere you looked with very few windows glowing from the inside. In fact, one of them just went dark. Someone else turning in for the night. But back to the young man that was getting all giddy over the thought of a warm bath. Even a cold one would be fine really. The anticipation was overbearing so he ran in and quickly got undressed. After letting the water heat up for a few minutes, he grabbed a bucket and found a place to stand. He proceeded to tilt his head back, raise the bucket over his head and close his eyes. The water washed over his hair, down his face, broke into streams and spread across his body. It was a tranquil sensation, a calmness he hadn't felt in a long time. In fact, it took his mind back. Back to that faithful night.
"Time to get up."
"Get up."
"...Awaken."
"Huh!?" You are panicking, why are you panicking? Breath... And so he did just that. The boy, trying to pacify his agitated thoughts, took a breath. Before this was darkness, like he was sinking into a deep abyss... but he was fine now and able to breath which was a good sign already but it was still dark indicated by the fact that he couldn't even see his hands that he was sure he was holding in front of his face. Well at least he was able to move his arms around. Next he tried moving his legs by bending them in then he used his elbows to prop himself up. So he was flat on the floor right now? Anyway, his body didn't feel restrained in any way. But with his vision limited he didn't bother looking around. Instead he reached out his arms to feel around his immediate area. To his surprise his hand hit something or someone one more like it since he got a reaction from them.
"Ahhh!... uh... What? W-who was that just now!?" They seemed frightened and for good reason. Their voice was soft but it had to have been another male like him. The boy decided to remain quiet leaving the guy wondering.
"H-Hey, where am I?" Just then another voice but this one was deeper than the one before it. Another man, to be sure, but just as confused.
"I'm awake~I think..." A third voice, individual seemed completely unfazed by their current situation. A woman based on her tone.
A number of other voices called out one by one, but no real communication was formed. Just chaotic noise until finally someone spoke up. A familiar voice actually. "If you can hear my voice, follow it. I think I see a light..."
Faint murmurs could still be heard but they slowly began to unite as the voices in the darkness came together. Perhaps too close together as a few of them became irritated after being bumped into but that would all end as soon as the voice ahead of the pack was revealed by a dim light. Moonlight? Maybe. Something about it was shiny and elegant. Pure even. Well with partial vision granted, the crowd of people all looked at one another. At the time no one had bothered to take a head count but there was thirteen of them here. A mix of men and women with their numbers leaning in favor of men. The boy from earlier had had found himself standing in the middle of the group, blending in with the crowd. What happened next was all a blur with the only clear memory was him commenting on what he saw when the group finally escaped the walls confining them. Which turned out to be a large tower in the mountains.
"Whoa, a red moon..."
The boy, who now had a towel wrapped around his waist, was now sitting down on a rickety wooden bench, still inside the bathhouse. The room was filled with a thick steam from the hot water but it was nice. Grabbing both ends of the bench he leaned back and thats when he saw it. The red moon peeking through the small window high on the wall behind him. He was sure it was strange, the moon being red. Like, wherever he came from, it wasn't red. But it was normal here... "The Red Moon Volunteer Army. I guess that is where the name comes from..." That name alone took him back to that same night, immediately after his group had exited the tower.
The tower they had emerged from, the two guards nearby, the red moon and the silhouette of a city cast in the darkness of the night. The group stood there in a state of confusion until a burly older man came to greet them but didn't offer much when questioned on what was happening. Instead he urge them to follow him down a path that led to the city. With very little options they decided to follow even if they didn't all go at once. The path to the city was lit up and no one dared to stray to far from its safety. Yeah, this whole situation was sketchy and the collective amnesia they all shared didn't help either. Actually, that wasn't the only strange thing happening to them. Some tried to make small talk but found themselves having a lapse in memory. They would say things that seemed appropriate at the time but then question why they even said it to begin with. Eventually the group would come to the doorstep of the city but rather than enter the walls, the man guiding them along had cut to the side and stopped outside a small building with a sign staked in the ground. Red Moon Volunteer Army, that is what the sign read. "You lot go on inside, Gregoire is waiting." And just like that, he was gone. They all stared at the front door until someone mustered up the courage and took the initiative to step inside. The rest followed in after including the boy who almost immediately walked back out.
"I'm here to give you a choice. A rather simple choice, really. You may choose to join the Red Moon Volunteer Army, or not." That was one of the first things that Gregoire man had to say to the group,
"Pfft, join an army? Whatever..." The boy said as he threw his arms up in disbelief. Of course he wasn't about to ditch the group he came here with so he went ahead and took a seat on a nearby rock protruding from the ground. He would wait for the group to come back out which didn't take long as one of them was thrown out the front door after some commotion from inside. He didn't say much after picking himself up off the ground. Shortly after the rest of the group emerged from the building but something was different. They each worse a necklace with tags attached to it. A few decided to display their tags another way. Beside their trendy new accessory, they all carried a small brown bag in their hands. The boy, as well as the one that got kicked out, were given an explanation on what happened inside, what the tags represented and the contents of the bags they held. Join the volunteer army and receive trainee tags and a ten silvers signing bonus. Apparently fighting for the army is the best way to make a living here otherwise you struggle in Alterna, this being the first time he learned the name of the city behind the walls. The next logical step is to earn enough silver to purchase your official volunteer tags which come with a myriad of perks, or so Gregoire claimed. But to earn silver you must fight monsters that are present in the world and to fight them it is advised you join one of the many guilds in Alterna. Lastly, because it was already late, Gregoire shared one last thing with them. Volunteers are given the option to rent out rooms with the volunteer housing building inside the city.
After hearing this the guy that got kicked out went back in to collect his tags and silver coins. The boy on the other hand still refused to sign up as a volunteer.
The lights in bathhouse are snuffed out as the boy walks out with a bundle of clothes in one arm, a small lamp in his other hand and a towel draped over his head. But just because no one was around didn't mean he was about to walk around nude. He had a pair of cloth shorts on. Ready for bed, he made his was back to his building but stopped by the communal area as he was passing by. He set the lamp on the ground and tilted his head forward enough that the towel slid off and fell into his hands below. It was hard to believe only a week ago his body was frail and meek. Suppose that is what happens when you are put through the wringer training with one of the guilds. The person that comes out is a completely different person from the one that goes in. But that was a story for another day. For now he only had one thought on his mind.
It has been two months since I arrived in Grimgar. Alterna. Now I'm a volunteer soldier, a warrior trained by the guild. But I'm all alone... What would have happened if I joined the others that night. Would I be with them, right now, or would I have perished?
Yeah, for the last two months he had been on his own. After that first night he tried to make a living but quickly realized he had no talents, no skills. At least none worth paying him in slivers for. Then again it could have been that he looked different from everyone else. Since he couldn't afford clothes he wore what he came here with and that made him stick out among the people of Alterna. Anytime he tried to find work he was either ignored or shoved off. Some were kind enough just to throw a few bronze pieces his way if it meant that he would leave them alone. It was rough but he did eventually find some stable work to at least buy himself a few meals a week but it wasn't really working out. One day, while stumbling through the back roads of Alterna, he ran into one of the guys from the group. He found him passed out under a bridge and after checking to make sure he was awake they began to chat.
"What are you doing here? Where are the others?" Two simple but effective questions. The stream was swallow so they both sat up against the stone wall, underneath the bridge.
"Me? Oh... You know. Waiting to die... or get swept by the river next time it rains..." A morbid joke... that is if he was joking. "I don't know where the others are..." He looked up at the sky and while this may have seemed random he was actually looking for the sun and its position in the sky. "...... They are probably hunting right about now. Hey, did you know three of us already died?"
Wow, three?
"That's wild, huh? Yeah. With our numbers you would think we would have been fine but maybe that is exactly why they died. We got careless. Or maybe it was just natural for the weak ones to die first... which confuses me since I'm still alive. That girl, she was stronger than I was... And that one kid, he was smart too... I think I had that third guy beat though so... Heh... I don't know. Maybe. He was a good guy though, everyone likes him..." But was this guy really answering the boys question? Or was he just speaking his mind so that someone would know what he was thinking. "Hey, I'm surprised you are still alive though. Maybe you are tougher than you look... You should go join the volunteer army. They will need a new volunteer since I'm quitting! I don't even have any silvers left... spent it all on alcohol..."
"............" The boy reached into his pockets and took out a few bronze coins. "Here..." Then he stood up and began to climb back up the wall he had jumped down from.
"Hey, where are you going?"
"Uh... to go sign up as a volunteer, like you said. I'll make some silver and come back for you. I can't let you give up."
"............... What's your name again? You never told any of us."
"Sebastian..."
I haven't gone back yet but I left him enough to make it through the week. Still though. I have to go fight as soon as possible to earn silver before I can help him. But I can't fight alone. I need to find a group... I need to join a party.
Tomorrow is a new day.
"Time to get up."
"Get up."
"...Awaken."
"Huh!?" You are panicking, why are you panicking? Breath... And so he did just that. The boy, trying to pacify his agitated thoughts, took a breath. Before this was darkness, like he was sinking into a deep abyss... but he was fine now and able to breath which was a good sign already but it was still dark indicated by the fact that he couldn't even see his hands that he was sure he was holding in front of his face. Well at least he was able to move his arms around. Next he tried moving his legs by bending them in then he used his elbows to prop himself up. So he was flat on the floor right now? Anyway, his body didn't feel restrained in any way. But with his vision limited he didn't bother looking around. Instead he reached out his arms to feel around his immediate area. To his surprise his hand hit something or someone one more like it since he got a reaction from them.
"Ahhh!... uh... What? W-who was that just now!?" They seemed frightened and for good reason. Their voice was soft but it had to have been another male like him. The boy decided to remain quiet leaving the guy wondering.
"H-Hey, where am I?" Just then another voice but this one was deeper than the one before it. Another man, to be sure, but just as confused.
"I'm awake~I think..." A third voice, individual seemed completely unfazed by their current situation. A woman based on her tone.
A number of other voices called out one by one, but no real communication was formed. Just chaotic noise until finally someone spoke up. A familiar voice actually. "If you can hear my voice, follow it. I think I see a light..."
Faint murmurs could still be heard but they slowly began to unite as the voices in the darkness came together. Perhaps too close together as a few of them became irritated after being bumped into but that would all end as soon as the voice ahead of the pack was revealed by a dim light. Moonlight? Maybe. Something about it was shiny and elegant. Pure even. Well with partial vision granted, the crowd of people all looked at one another. At the time no one had bothered to take a head count but there was thirteen of them here. A mix of men and women with their numbers leaning in favor of men. The boy from earlier had had found himself standing in the middle of the group, blending in with the crowd. What happened next was all a blur with the only clear memory was him commenting on what he saw when the group finally escaped the walls confining them. Which turned out to be a large tower in the mountains.
"Whoa, a red moon..."
The boy, who now had a towel wrapped around his waist, was now sitting down on a rickety wooden bench, still inside the bathhouse. The room was filled with a thick steam from the hot water but it was nice. Grabbing both ends of the bench he leaned back and thats when he saw it. The red moon peeking through the small window high on the wall behind him. He was sure it was strange, the moon being red. Like, wherever he came from, it wasn't red. But it was normal here... "The Red Moon Volunteer Army. I guess that is where the name comes from..." That name alone took him back to that same night, immediately after his group had exited the tower.
The tower they had emerged from, the two guards nearby, the red moon and the silhouette of a city cast in the darkness of the night. The group stood there in a state of confusion until a burly older man came to greet them but didn't offer much when questioned on what was happening. Instead he urge them to follow him down a path that led to the city. With very little options they decided to follow even if they didn't all go at once. The path to the city was lit up and no one dared to stray to far from its safety. Yeah, this whole situation was sketchy and the collective amnesia they all shared didn't help either. Actually, that wasn't the only strange thing happening to them. Some tried to make small talk but found themselves having a lapse in memory. They would say things that seemed appropriate at the time but then question why they even said it to begin with. Eventually the group would come to the doorstep of the city but rather than enter the walls, the man guiding them along had cut to the side and stopped outside a small building with a sign staked in the ground. Red Moon Volunteer Army, that is what the sign read. "You lot go on inside, Gregoire is waiting." And just like that, he was gone. They all stared at the front door until someone mustered up the courage and took the initiative to step inside. The rest followed in after including the boy who almost immediately walked back out.
"I'm here to give you a choice. A rather simple choice, really. You may choose to join the Red Moon Volunteer Army, or not." That was one of the first things that Gregoire man had to say to the group,
"Pfft, join an army? Whatever..." The boy said as he threw his arms up in disbelief. Of course he wasn't about to ditch the group he came here with so he went ahead and took a seat on a nearby rock protruding from the ground. He would wait for the group to come back out which didn't take long as one of them was thrown out the front door after some commotion from inside. He didn't say much after picking himself up off the ground. Shortly after the rest of the group emerged from the building but something was different. They each worse a necklace with tags attached to it. A few decided to display their tags another way. Beside their trendy new accessory, they all carried a small brown bag in their hands. The boy, as well as the one that got kicked out, were given an explanation on what happened inside, what the tags represented and the contents of the bags they held. Join the volunteer army and receive trainee tags and a ten silvers signing bonus. Apparently fighting for the army is the best way to make a living here otherwise you struggle in Alterna, this being the first time he learned the name of the city behind the walls. The next logical step is to earn enough silver to purchase your official volunteer tags which come with a myriad of perks, or so Gregoire claimed. But to earn silver you must fight monsters that are present in the world and to fight them it is advised you join one of the many guilds in Alterna. Lastly, because it was already late, Gregoire shared one last thing with them. Volunteers are given the option to rent out rooms with the volunteer housing building inside the city.
After hearing this the guy that got kicked out went back in to collect his tags and silver coins. The boy on the other hand still refused to sign up as a volunteer.
The lights in bathhouse are snuffed out as the boy walks out with a bundle of clothes in one arm, a small lamp in his other hand and a towel draped over his head. But just because no one was around didn't mean he was about to walk around nude. He had a pair of cloth shorts on. Ready for bed, he made his was back to his building but stopped by the communal area as he was passing by. He set the lamp on the ground and tilted his head forward enough that the towel slid off and fell into his hands below. It was hard to believe only a week ago his body was frail and meek. Suppose that is what happens when you are put through the wringer training with one of the guilds. The person that comes out is a completely different person from the one that goes in. But that was a story for another day. For now he only had one thought on his mind.
It has been two months since I arrived in Grimgar. Alterna. Now I'm a volunteer soldier, a warrior trained by the guild. But I'm all alone... What would have happened if I joined the others that night. Would I be with them, right now, or would I have perished?
Yeah, for the last two months he had been on his own. After that first night he tried to make a living but quickly realized he had no talents, no skills. At least none worth paying him in slivers for. Then again it could have been that he looked different from everyone else. Since he couldn't afford clothes he wore what he came here with and that made him stick out among the people of Alterna. Anytime he tried to find work he was either ignored or shoved off. Some were kind enough just to throw a few bronze pieces his way if it meant that he would leave them alone. It was rough but he did eventually find some stable work to at least buy himself a few meals a week but it wasn't really working out. One day, while stumbling through the back roads of Alterna, he ran into one of the guys from the group. He found him passed out under a bridge and after checking to make sure he was awake they began to chat.
"What are you doing here? Where are the others?" Two simple but effective questions. The stream was swallow so they both sat up against the stone wall, underneath the bridge.
"Me? Oh... You know. Waiting to die... or get swept by the river next time it rains..." A morbid joke... that is if he was joking. "I don't know where the others are..." He looked up at the sky and while this may have seemed random he was actually looking for the sun and its position in the sky. "...... They are probably hunting right about now. Hey, did you know three of us already died?"
Wow, three?
"That's wild, huh? Yeah. With our numbers you would think we would have been fine but maybe that is exactly why they died. We got careless. Or maybe it was just natural for the weak ones to die first... which confuses me since I'm still alive. That girl, she was stronger than I was... And that one kid, he was smart too... I think I had that third guy beat though so... Heh... I don't know. Maybe. He was a good guy though, everyone likes him..." But was this guy really answering the boys question? Or was he just speaking his mind so that someone would know what he was thinking. "Hey, I'm surprised you are still alive though. Maybe you are tougher than you look... You should go join the volunteer army. They will need a new volunteer since I'm quitting! I don't even have any silvers left... spent it all on alcohol..."
"............" The boy reached into his pockets and took out a few bronze coins. "Here..." Then he stood up and began to climb back up the wall he had jumped down from.
"Hey, where are you going?"
"Uh... to go sign up as a volunteer, like you said. I'll make some silver and come back for you. I can't let you give up."
"............... What's your name again? You never told any of us."
"Sebastian..."
I haven't gone back yet but I left him enough to make it through the week. Still though. I have to go fight as soon as possible to earn silver before I can help him. But I can't fight alone. I need to find a group... I need to join a party.
Tomorrow is a new day.