Cavalry Chapter 6 Part 2/2 (LONG!!)

Spade turned round a corner, fast, and continued down its narrow corridor, running past several houses. Most of the paint was flaking off. Some of the houses were just deserted with bullet holes through the windows, some looked absolutely luxurious… Wow. How? How could anyone prosper in a society so bloodthirsty? Where gunfights break out all the time? How did this damned country come about? Who built all these buildings? There were only two known construction companies around…

Why… Why do fighters exist only within Astra?

He shook his head, smacking it. What a strange thing, thinking about big things like that. He wasn’t supposed to care. As long as he got his sword oil and his bullets and his nice bloody kills. It was simply not his place to think about history and things… He was no Kavveled, and he will be no Yurith.

Why are these two the only people who decided to make a change… And succeeded?

He shook his head again. Stop thinking, you moron!

Spade ran round a corner and caught the vague features of a face-

Before he could react, he collided with the face, his head snapping back, and for a moment he saw only the sky. Reorienting himself and regaining his balance, he looked back ahead.

The person who owned the face covered it with both hands, letting out a wail, staggering back. And then he removed the hands, and for the first time they looked at each other.

‘Ohai,’ Spade said.

It was then that Spade looked at the man’s weapons belt, and saw… A grappling hook. Spade’s jaw dropped an inch.

The man didn’t look very happy about getting run into, raising his sword with a glare.

‘Sweet Kavveled!’ Spade cried, whipping out his sword, jumping into the wall and bounding off of it over the man. The man made a swipe at Spade, but missed, leaving a gash in the wall.

‘Damn it!’ Froggy cursed, spinning to chase the man who looked like the Cavalry guy. To think he’d hit jackpot in such an unusual development! He was weary after the previous fight, and he was in truth still looking for that girl, but blocking out those thoughts, Froggy air dashed after him, bounding off the walls as he turned round the corner and up the stairs.

As he turned the next corner, Spade suddenly dove in front of him, firing his handguns.

Froggy felt a two bullets hit, but managed to avoid the others with a short dash, his sword blurring with speed as he charged at Spade with the butterfly.

Spade’s sword whizzed out of its sheath, and he felt the impact of Froggy’s blows, pushing them off course, until at last a slash connected with Spade’s sword so it hard the sword bounced off into the air, and Froggy almost lost his balance for a moment. Spade felt the energy in it, and let the sword absorb it. The blade glowed a bright white–

Froggy stared at the glowing blade, quickly descending, and dove backwards just as Spade released the white energy.

The air before him exploded for an instant, and hot air radiated from it, but he was unhurt. Taking the time Spade needed to recover from the massive strike, Froggy closed in, his sword arm falling into spasms once more. He felt the blade sink into flesh in a few brief slashes before Spade had managed to get out of distance, tumbling back… Spamming his revolvers.

Froggy flinched, feeling one bullet catch him in the thigh, before he retreated behind the wall, back into the stairs. He reloaded his submachine gun, for the first time noticing how bad his hands were shaking.

Calm down now, Froggy… You’re better than this… He told himself, gritting his teeth, ignoring panic’s growing nest in his stomach. He grasped his pistol tighter than ever, dashing out of the corner—

And saw a bright flash of light.

Heat washed over him as his muscles locked themselves, and he stumbled back, the world hazy and undefined, vague colors all over the place. He then caught sight of the barrel of a handgun – At least, something that look remarkably similar-

‘Cheers, matey!’ Spade laughed, the muscles on his fingers beginning to contract just so, bracing himself for the recoil of his handgun…Which never came.

Even then, he felt something nudging the back of his foot, which took his attention away from the handgun and the squirming man it was pointed at –who was fast recovering. Spade looked down at it, and for a moment the object didn’t register in his head.

When it did, naturally, he screamed.

Arladerus caught sight of the man who shot through the window, aiming his revolver, shooting a few rounds at him, but he jumped through the glass, shattering it, his blade seeming to shimmer as he deflected the bullets. Arlad looked down at Lith, who looked back, eyes popped wide.

‘Out of my way, boys,’ he growled, kicking Lith out of the way. ‘I have no quarrel with you.’

Erin stared at the charging man who completely ignored Arladerus and Lith, gritting her teeth. What the hell…? I think I know this guy—

Nevertheless, she faced him anyway, dashing back with the Butterfly. The man warded off the slashes, the ringing of blades filling the room.

Arladerus had no idea how to react to this new development. That man was not Fable. He was obviously not Axiom. And he was certainly not Cavalry.

‘What the hell,’ he yelled at the man, ‘Who the fuck are you?? Seriously,–’

Dashing away from her, his sword flickered in and out of its sheath, the sound of the sliding blade punctuated by gunshots as he shot with his pistols and slashed at the same time – slash shot. Erin got hit once, just beneath her right shoulder, but dashing sideways from him, she pulled the same move, only with her shotgun.

Exploding concrete and wood, dust flying everywhere, as the two fell into spamming their guns.

Then finally, the man decided to break the pattern. When Erin strayed close enough, he rushed in, sword lashing out, cutting her arm once in his Butterfly. She growled, an expression of anger showing on her face for a fraction of a second- and then, strangely, something like triumph. Erin warded off the next few slashes before deciding to go on the offense, rushing him with the Butterfly.

‘Dude,–’ Arladerus continued.

At first, the man laughed – Rushing was a foolish move.

But as he dashed back, his back cracked against a wall. Accordingly, his smile vanished as realization hit him. Erin was no fool—

She got him right where she wanted him, a manic grin replacing whatever expression she had a moment before as she hammered a flurry of blows on him.

At such close distance, with such speed, the man found his defenses completely crumbled, and he watched helplessly as the blade ravaged his body, cutting muscles, watching his blood spray, his strength fleeing him, pain exploding all over his body-

And then it stopped. Erin stopped the blade just before his throat, the edge glistening. For the man, she was nothing but a vague shadow occupying the center of his vision.

‘—What the hell, stop killing him before he answers my question!’ Arladerus roared, finishing his sentence, waving a revolver at Erin. ‘Now you just went and killed him!’

‘F*ck,’ the man growled, glaring at Erin. ‘F*ck you, Axiom clan…’

‘I did nothing to you.’ She replied.

‘You did everything,’ he growled back, a slight tremor to his voice. ‘To ruin everything…’

She said nothing.

‘You have no idea who you killed, back there,’ he hissed, eyes burning with hatred and rage.

‘Yes I did,’ Erin replied, leaning closer. ‘Your beloved brother-’

‘No,’ he breathed, eyes widening. ‘No, you don’t…’

‘Convince me,’ she whispered back.

He opened his mouth to reply, but Erin didn’t let him, plunging the blade into his throat. He kept his eyes on her, in his final moments, eyes filled with despair as his mouth filled with blood, and Erin turned to walk away, hearing his gurgled screams, his final thrashings. And then there was silence.

Lith and Arladerus were both staring at her. But they did not question the conversation. Another person’s feud was of no matter to them.

‘Well, that was a very warm scene and all,’ Lith spoke up, clearing his throat. ‘Somehow your Cavalry clan friend has no more desire to kill me –’

‘A momentary distraction,’ Arladerus scowled, his revolvers clicking to point at Lith’s head.

‘No,’ Lith said, ‘Damn it, stop killing me—’

‘We were supposed to be dueling with our swords,’ Arlad snapped.

‘Well… Well! I have no intention of remaining loyal to Fable,’ Lith said, loudly, crossing his arms in what was supposed to be a position of confidence, except his lack of confidence made him look like an idiot.

‘Load of horsecrap.’

‘You’d believe me if you knew what assholes the people in there are.’

‘Every Fighter’s an asshole at heart.’

Lith opened his mouth, then closed it again, pondered some more. ‘Well, then… They are even more so!’

Arladerus didn’t look convinced.

‘Well, Fables are above average bastards, having a kill rate twice that of Axiom,’ Erin said.

‘No, that’s not it,’ Lith said, turning to her. ‘Furbin’s a f*cking tyrant.’

‘That your clan leader?’ Arladerus said.

‘Of course.’

‘Well, I still don’t trust you enough. I think I shall kill you anyway-’

‘Wait! Consider this: I’m one of the fighters in the inner circle of Fable. Cavalry clan needs an insider to take Fable down. I’ll be a nice ally to have, right? Right?’

Arladerus’s features softened ever so slightly, head tilting. Thinking.

Erin looked at Lith thoughtfully.

‘I’ll… I’ll consider your offer,’ Arladerus finally said, hesitantly, lowering his revolvers, glancing at Erin briefly- as if she would tell him what to do- before looking back at the man. ‘Gotta ask Ganz.’

‘Alright, that’s great,’ Lith said, visibly relaxing. He walked over to where Toc’s body lay on the grimy ground, bending down to carry him – The boy’s body was quite cold. Blood loss, no doubt. Well, he’s not a true-fighter, I guess I should have expected this. Then he spun on his heel, turning to face Erin and Arladerus. ‘I’ll be leaving for Town-Original, staying for a couple o’ days. Go there once you have Ganz’s reply. Good day, Cavalry and Axiom clan.’ He smiled a final time, winking, then jumped out of the shattered window.

Erin and Arladerus watched him make his exit, before looking at each other, neither making a sound.

Well, that was quick. What an afternoon, Arladerus thought. Then looked at his bullet ridden companion.

‘You’re a complete mess,’ he observed, breaking the silence.

Erin frowned.

A year before the events of Cavalry

Nass was walking down an alley, a cigarette stuck loosely to his mouth, burnt down to a mere stub. He’d spat it to the ground, wherein he crushed it underneath a boot. My last cigarette… How sad.

Footsteps, approaching, from behind him. He turned to look.

Two men, dressed in dark suits. Weathered faces marred by scars. They almost didn’t seem like locals, with features unusually sharp, with heavy eyebrows shadowing their eyes. Nass could see the bulges of their muscles through their suits, which was incredible. They looked to be in their late 20s, 30s, even. And that was scary. Most fighters didn’t live to see 25, and that was if they were lucky. To cross that age, you would need to be incredibly skilled. And it seemed that these men belonged to that category. They lacked a sword belt, which meant one of two things: They kept their sword away somewhere –which was unlikely-, or they were dagger-stylers. Dagger-stylers had more disadvantages than there were advantages, not being able to block for one, and them surviving up till now with daggers meant that they were good. Really good.

And the most disturbing part: Their suits were practically free of damage. Absolutely… Pristine. And that scared the hell out of Nass.

Never cross these two. Never…

The men walked past him, and Nass breathed a sigh of relief as they disappeared from his peripheral vision-

‘You, fighter,’ one of them rumbled.

Nass froze in his tracks, turned around, hiding his nervousness behind a casual mask of indifference. Calm down… Calm down…You can take this… ‘What is it, now?’

‘You a true fighter?’ The one on the right asked. He was the bigger man of the two.

‘Well, all Axioms are true fighters, it’s common knowledge,’ Nass said, pointing to the small logo of Axiom clan – a blackletter styled “A” – on his shirt. And, the question made him… Confused. What is this? It’s almost like they’re newbs. Which they obviously do not seem to be.

‘Well then, Bern,’ the man continued, his expression suddenly darkening, taking a step forward. ‘It looks like we’ve got someone.’

His fist snapped outwards.

Nass squealed, flinching, bracing himself.

It crunched against his forehead, and so he expected the pain to come, anytime soon, for the familiar disorientation, a view of the sky. Then, death, or something. He waited.

But… Nothing happened.

Nass felt only a dull sensation at where the fist connected with his head. And there was nothing else. No overwhelming power. No real pain. It seemed absolutely impossible, but the man’s punch, despite all that muscle was… weak.

Mild surprise. This man wasn’t as strong as he looked. It’s… Impossible, given all the signs… But… No matter. He is weak.

And so, all fear vanished.

Nass glared up at the man from underneath the fist, grasping the wrist.

‘How the hell did you survive on that kind of punch?’ He said darkly, a broad grin on his face. And pulled the man towards him with a savage yank.

Shock, disbelief, then fear. The man stumbled forwards at the force, and then, with a twist of his hips, Nass punched into the man’s stomach.

He had expected the man to go flying, at least… But it was more than that. His entire fist punched straight through the man’s body, emerging from the other side. No resistance at all.

Bits of bone, muscle and plenty of blood exploded out from the impact. The man screamed in pain, slumping against a somewhat appalled Nass, who froze momentarily. Strange unease whispered through him.

What the f*ck is happening?

The other man looked absolutely terrified. He backed off a few steps, cursing in the name of this guy called “Jesus” –Who was he, anyway? – whipping out a pistol. And then he shot, with his feet planted firmly on the ground, unmoving.

A mistake.

Nass’s sword hissed out of its frog as he started to air-dash forwards, cutting through one bullet, and then moving to deflect another, and another, his hand directing the blade with ease. Sparks flew.

The man screamed – Nass felt mildly surprised at the discovery that he was genuinely afraid – before turning to run, get away from this monster, this abomination of a human.

But Nass had already caught up like a horror story, his blade licking out to slash the man diagonally across the back. He fell, crimson sheets spraying from the wound, as his back was laid open, shoulder to hip, almost rending him into two. A scream, almost inhuman in its agony filled tone. He fell onto the ground, thrashing wildly, twisting his head to look at Nass.

Nass met his eyes, seeing immense shock, pain, fear… Disbelief. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but only blood poured out. A few more moments of thrashing, and he finally was still, eyelids gaping.

He moved over, pushed the man’s eyelids over the eyeballs, then straightened and sheathed his sword. Alarm, confusion. He did not understand. For all the battles these men supposedly weathered, they were… Weak. Vulnerable. Hopelessly noob. And they were E-stylers. They revealed their lack of knowledge with their first question, knowledge they should possess, by right. It almost seemed like… Like… They came from somewhere else.

Impossible, it has to be. Astra’s the only piece of Kav-damned land that has ever existed, as far as he knew.

Nass resolved to tell Reptor about this. He has to know. And then, they’ll decide what to do… If, indeed, there’s anything that needed doing.

He walked over to the corpse of the first man, rummaged in his pockets, and tugged out a packet of cigarettes. Malboro. He’d never heard of the brand before…

Well, he was willing to give it a go anyway. Nass reached into his pocket for his lighter.

You survived. HUZZAH!!!!! 😀

pressthelikebutton