Amber Blood:Gerifreig's Sword

[ScarletBladeKIA]

This story is one i wrote with Re4p3r, and a few other friends. This one is actually the first book. We modeled it partially off of the Final Fantasy series, only in that of imagination. So please sit back and read my story. Chapters will be added when I can. This is a project I am determined to work on. if anyone wants a role in this, please feel free to PM me and tell me specific details about your character to the bone. (yes the bone, the more info, the better.) The story has acts and chapters. Each act is compsed of several chapters. Now here is the beginning part of the story. The next post is the beginning of the first act, chapter one.

"Sit down my child, and I will tell you a tale like none you've ever heard before. One passed down from our Clan for generations. I may be old, but I know a story that won't bore you and make you pass out drooling, but one that will fascinate you. A tale about bravery, courage, and one fool's lust for power."
-Old Man

[ScarletBladeKIA]

ACT I
Chapter 1: The Slave Girl
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Liam Hazuko sat at the bar inside Neo's Tavern. It was a nice tavern, and it was located in the desert wasteland-like city of Ceirion. The bartender, Neo stood behind the bar shining a glass, as most bartenders do. Neo was a tall grey-haired old man about in his fourties. Liam had guessed he was fourty-two. Liam, however, had black hair and was only eighteen. He wore the red and black garb of the Hazuko Clan. the back of his cloak had a black dragon with a white Celtic cross standing tall behind it. His pants were black, along with his boots with the shining steel on top of the toe. On his belt he wore dagger holsters on his left and right hip. Liam also wore red gloves, with the same design on them as the one on the back of his cloak. He also had a companion resting on his shoulder. His companion was a Stone Dragon named Batou. Batou was about as Liam's knee and his wing span was about as wide as Liam's arms. Like most Stone Dragons, Batou was a sandy-brown color, verry light with brightly-lit green eyes. Batou was also born with the ability to talk.
But as usual, both Liam and Batou sat in silence at the bar as Liam drank a tall cold glass of water. He also had a plate of hot soup next to the glass with chunks of pig in it. It was pretty good. He hadn't touched the soup. Instead he was staring at the counter top. He noticed Neo had finally smoothed and shined it up. It was fine polish work. Behind Liam in the tavern, the regular noise of patrons went on in the background. Two of Neo's daughters, Maria and Donna were tending to the patron's orders. Lisa was out getting things for her dad. Maria was busy mopping the floor after a drunk patron shattered a glass of aged rum on the floor of the tavern. She did this expertly as the man apologized for making her clean it up, and started to help her, stumbling as he did so. Maria ushered him back to the his booth, and told the man and his friend that it was no trouble cleaning the mess up. Neo didn't look happy about the shattered glass. The rum he could afford. That glass was like a piece of his patience and nerves shattering.
Donna was taking orders frantically and was busy scurrying around the tavern. She went back and forth from the back room to the booths like lightning. So all in all it was a typical day in the tavern. Neo noticed Liam staring down at the bar, seeming depressed. "Hey kid," Neo said shining his glass, brown eyes fixed on Liam. Liam looked up. "You had better eat that soup. For one, you earned it, and for another thing, you won't like that soup cold." Neo put the glass he was cleaning up on the shelves with the others where they belonged, and continued talking. "And with all of that running around you kids do, you all need energy. So eat." Liam picked up the spoon, and started eating the hot soup. It was spicy, and kettle-hot. Just the way Neo always made it. But Liam did the eating process verry slowly. Neo put his hands on the bar, with a white rag slung over his left shoulder, and said, "What's the matter with you, Liam? You seem all depressed or something. Want to talk about it?" Liam swallowed the spicy soup and said,"I have to return to my Clan tomorrow. We're all having a family meeting, and I'm not sure my grandfather will be happy that I haven't been home that often. " Well," Neo said, scratching his grey goatee,"That crazy old man just wants to make sure that nothing goes wrong, so that you can take over the clan when he dies. Since your father dissapeared off the face of the planet." Liam finished eating, and set the spoon down. He felt extremely energized. Maybe Neo put something special in the soup. He wasnt sure.
Liam looked up at Neo adn gave Batou a piece of pig. Batou quickly worked down the food. Pig was his favorite. Especially when Neo made it. "Yeah, I know that," Liam said, petting Batou as he ate his meal. Neo was about to say something when a patron in the back of the tavern started shouting at Maria for bumping into him. Donna stood between the two, and insisted that the man quiet down and stop causing trouble, or he will be thrown out. The man, fed up, slammed money on the table and walked out of the tavern grumbling, into the hot, sunny afternoon light that protruded from the doorway of the tavern. Donna then asked her sister if she was okay, who said that she was fine and then than thanked her sister. Neo handed Liam a paper with a list of things to do on it. Liam took the paper, folded it, and slipped it in his back pocket. He turned around and stood facing an extremely tall beefy man with a cloak wrapped around his face so that only it showed his eyes. The cloak was so wide, it hung from the man's broad shoulders. The man had armored pads on his knees and elbows, as well as his shoulders. Around his brown leather gloves, he had a steel plate bolted to the wrist of his gloves. Liam had noticed turning around that the big man of mystery had spikes on the steel of his big brown boots. The only thing that the man had that wasn't brown was his black shirt and the white cloak that had dirt caked in the folds.
The man had a loud, deep voice, and directed his attention towards Neo when he spoke. "Do you know a man named Liam Hazuko?" the big man asked. Neo Looked the man in the face, and told the man, "No sir I don't, But if you could sit down at the bar, I'm sure I could ask around here and someone might know." The man grunted, and stood standing like stone. During the converstaion, Liam and Batou had walked out of the tavern door. Liam was about fifty feet from the tavern when a blur whooshed past him. A cloud of dust had formed. Liam covered his eyes. Batou sat alert on Liam's shoulder. When the dust cleared, Liam saw the mystery man who walked into the tavern in front of him. The man was standing tall, like stone. "where do you think you are going, Liam Hazuko?"
"I'm going," Liam said putting his hands on his hips, "To where ever I want to go, and that's no concern of your's, stranger." Beefy clearly didn't like that response, and walked up to Liam and looked down at him. Liam couldn't see his eyes. Liam was looking back up at him, and knew trouble was coming. Neo walked out into the light of the day, and stood with his arms folded. "Sorry Liam," he shouted, "I tried to tell him your name was Jim something or another. Aw, hell kid, just don't mess up my tavern when you kick this guy's ♥♥♥." Liam laughed on the inside. Jim. That's Neo for you, so old he can't remember what he told someone. He was too honest a man most of the time.
Liam and Beefy stood facing each other for a while. The wind blew past. Neither of them moved an inched. Liam slowly moved his hand on the holster of his right dagger. The man's gaze had not left his eyes. Liam snapped the button on the holster, and Beefy threw a insanely fast, insanely powerful left punch at Liam. Liam had dodged it and had his right dagger in his left hand. He had it at the ready. The blade of the dagger was the length of his forearm. It was sharp enough to cut dragon scales like butter. After the left punch, Beefy brought his right knee up. Liam side-stepped and went in close to stab the big man in the back of his thighs. Liam found it weird that the man still had his left arm out, and his right knee up. Like he was frozen. As the blade was about a hair from the man's leg, Beefy crouched, and like lightning, put his left elbow back and elbowed Liam in the face. Liam flew and almost lost balance in the air. He flipped in the air backwards and slid to a stop. Beefy had some power in his hits. Too bad it was barely enough. Beefy was running at him now. Liam unholstered his left dagger, and held them both at the ready. There was a crowd of people from the tavern around, watching Liam and beefy go at it. Neo stood, arms akimbo, watching. Ready to kick Liam's ♥♥♥ for losing. Donna and Maria were watching. Maria was looking scared. Lisa finally got back, and was standing next to her sisters. Her black hair blowing in the wind. She was taller than her blond haired sister Maria, but shorter than the older sister, Donna. Donna's black hair shone brightly in the sunlight.
Beefy, clearly excited by landing his first hit, saw running like a bull on a rampage. Dust was kicking up behind him as he ran. Liam charged back at Beefy. high above, Batou was circling in the air, trying to spot a weakness on the stange man, but was getting nowhere. When Liam and Beefy were about ten feet apart, Liam his daggers, and threw them at Beefy's legs. They stuck into the mystery man's upper legs deeply. The big man crashed down into the dirt loudly, face first. Liam walked over to the man, and stood looking down at him, his shadow over the man's covered face. Liam was about to bend down when Batou let out a loud growl. Liam was about to back up when suddenly the mystery man grabbed his ankles and slammed Liaminto the dirt. The man pukked the daggers out of his legs, and threw them at Liam, who rolled in the dirt to avoid both of his own blades. When he turned his head back, the man was gone. Liam stood up and holstered his daggers while Batou landed back on his shoulder. Every one went insidem and went back to their day. Even Neo and the girls. Liam didn't bother going after the man, he went straight to his list of things to do for Neo. All of the things he needed were in the marketplace. So he started to head that way.
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Meanwhile, in the marketplace, a gathering of slave traders had gathered in the auctioning section of the market. Everyone was talking about the girl that the Pirates had brought in. She was rumored to be the maid of a rich man. Everyone was shouting things at the red haired girl. She was wearing a outfit that looked like something a maid would wear on a pirate ship. One Pirate walked up to her, and she was assuming he was the captain, and he cupped her face in his hand. "Yer going to make me some money today, aren't you sweetie?" He said in his rough, scratchy Pirate talk. The girl ripped away from the Pirate's grasp, and her chains rattled. The one that hurt the most was the one around her neck. The ones on her wrist didn't really bother her that much. She didn't like the big crowd around her and the other slaves chained up. Someone was holding onto the shackle clamped around her neck. They kept pulling on it, too, and It was extremely uncomfortable. And the outfit she was wearing was making her roast in the sun. A man announced that the bidding was about to commence. A lot of people walking in the crowded marketplace stepped into the crowd to see what was going on. Someone in a red cloak was there. He had black hair and a dragnn on his right shoulder.
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Liam stood in the crowd, and was studying the red haired girl. Batou noticed this. "Hey Liam, what are you studying that girl for? Interested in her?" Liam had his arms folded across his chest akimbo style. "Hardly," he said. "Mostly I'm wondering where she came from, and where those Pirates got her from. She's the only new slave out of all of those. Those other slaves have been taken here every week, and people hardly buy them." Liam listened to the screaming of the crowd for people to buy the red haired girl. Liam couldn't blame them she was pretty. "But," Liam said, "everyone seems to be interested in her." Liam noticed that a pirate walked up to the auctioneer and whispered something in his ear. The auctioneer announced,"Ladies and gentlemen, The slave keeper has informed me that if anyone wants to win the red haired slave, meet with the pony-tailed pirate at the table to my left and enter in a contest to win this girl for free!" Everone in the bidding crowd started an uproar. Liam walked over to the table the pony-tailed pirate was at, and told the man, "I want to enter to win that red haired slave. What's the contest?" The pirate was about to say something when the captain walked over and said, " Well my dear boy, if ye want to win this red haired slave, the contest is simple. I'm planning some entertainment tonight in the camp Iv'e set up in the scrapyard east of town. All you have to do is beat my strongest man in a battle of strength."
Liam noticed the man had a black pirate coat on. The strap he wore around it was white. This was a sign of a renegade pirate. This man was clearly the Captain of the ship Renegade and her crew. His beard was black and went down to his collar bone. On his shoulder was a parrot. It looked verry menacing, and was staring intently at Batou. Batou also returned the gaze at the colorful bird. "Okay," Liam said to the tall captain. "You can expect to see me there tonight." The captain let out a laugh. "By the way, nice dragon, my boy, I haven't seen one like that before, what kind is it?" Batou shifted on Liam's shoulder and told the man, "I'm a Stone Dragon." This shocked the captain. "It talks," he said. "How long did you need to train him to do that?" "I was born with the ability you lilly-livered twit," Batou said. Liam shot a sharp gaze at Batou, who quickly shut is snout. The captain eyed Liam and Batou, and walked away. "If you're going to enter the contest," said the pony-tailed pirate, "You'll need this." he handed Liam a wooden coin. It had a skull and crossbones burned into it. Liam tucked it into his pocket. "Just show it to the guards," the pirate said, and then pulled a pipe out of his pocket, and started to smoke it. Liam left the crowd and continued his tasks Neo had left him to do.
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Liam had finished with the list, and returned to the tavern. As usual, Neo was cleaning a glass, and the girls were busy working. Lisa was helping Donna with the patrons. Liam set the bag of Neo's things on the bar counter. Neo took the bag and put it under the bar. "So," Neo said,"Anything interesting in the market?" Liam sat on the stool he normally did and said,"Yes, actually the pirates have a new slave everyone wants. And I'm going to win her." Neo laughed. "Always going after the ladies aren't you?" Liam was petting Batou, who was enjoying the affection from his master. "It's not that, I just don't want this girl to belong to those pirates. All they use slaves for is cannon fodder," Liam said. "Anyways," Neo said, "Luna's in the table in back of the tavern. She wants to talk to you." Liam stood up and went to the back of the tavern, and Luna was sitting at a table. She was a Neko. Nekos are half human, half cat people. The real only difference is that they have cat ears and tails. Luna had red and black hair, and her mage outfit was red and gold. Standard mage outfit for healers. Her staff was leaning against the wall. It was the same height as her. "Hello," she said to Liam. "Hey," Liam said sat across from her. Batou shifted left on right on Liam's shoulder. A sign he was excited. Luna reached out her hand and started petting Batou, who was clearly loving the attention. "Neo said that you need to talk to me," Liam said. "I just wanted to see what you were doing later," Luna said. "Well," Liam said, "I'm entering a slave contest held by those pirates. And I'm going win a slave girl's freedom." Luna looked at him. "Well, sounds like fun. I think I'll go with you." Luna stopped petting Batou, who sat straight up on Liam's shoulder. "Okay," Liam said. "Let's go then." Luna nodded and grabbed her staff and the three of them left off to the scrapyard.
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The red haired girl was quickly thrown into new clothes. They were black. That was it. A black tank-top and black shorts. She was given knee-high black boots by the Captain's girlfriend whom everyone calles, "Lala" because she likes to sing. She gave the boots to the girl, because she liked them. Every one told her she was the "main attraction for the night." She didn't wan't to find out what that meant. She was sitting unchained in the dressing room inside the camp. She wondered why the pirates decided to set up camp in a scrapyard. It didn't concern her too much. It was just something to think about. Lala sat across from the girl, legs crossed. The dress she was wearing went down to her knees, and she looked nice. For a Pirate, she was the cleanest one out of the whole crew. Even though the captain was pretty clean. "You must be strong tonight," Lala told her. The girl looked up. "what do you mean?" the girl asked. "If you fail, the captain will have you killed. Please don't let that happen, you're so young." Lala stroked the girls red hair. She fascinated by it. The pony-tailed pirate stuck his head inside the tent and said, "It's time for the show, little girl." Both Lala and the girl stood up and went outside. Now the girl knew why they had come to the scrapyard. In front of her was a cage with four walls, each fifteen feet high. One part of the cage had a door big enough for a person. Another door had a box facing it, and it had a hideous noise coming out of it. The girl knew what Lala meant now. She has to fight whatever is in that big box. The captain stood talking to some man in a crowd of people. The girl was told by Lala that if she is going to be won in a contest of skill. The red haired girl was noticed by the captain who turned around and said, "Well, sweetie, you're going to be won tonight. If you can prove you deserve it." Then he turned to one of his men and told him. "It's time to unlock the cage. Throw her in!" The man obeyed. The girl was hastily thrown into the cage. She heard men laughing behind her. She turned and saw three pirates ready to tear her to pieces. The girl stood up and stared angrily at the men.
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Liam and Luna got to the scrapyard. Liam showed the guards the wooden coin and was let inside. What he didn't expect to see was the red haired girl in a cage with three bumbling pirates, fighting for her life. Luna looked over into a group of pirates, and saw a pirate with red spikes for hair. He was verry built. And he ate a dark seed. Dark seeds increased the ability of the user's strength, and ability to take damage. He looked like he didn't need to use that particular little seed though. Liam watched as the red haired girl was surprisingly doing verry well. She had a lot of fight left in her. The three men dropped. The captain signaled one of his crew. A blonde woman was pleading the captain about something, but he ignored it. He shouted, "Round two!" and part of the cage opened up, and the box lid slid open. A Kravnok jumped out. Along with another one. A kravnok is a creature twice the size of a wolf with an underbite and big teeth protruding out of it's mouth. It's paws are about as big as a man's face, and it's claws are about as big. The Kravnoks started closing on the girl. Liam dashed towards the cage, and climbed as fast as he could up it.
Batou flew into the air and landed on Luna's shoulder, who ran to the cage and gripped it hard, watching intently as Liam climbed rapidly up the gate. He climbed over the gate and jumped down. He landed and looked over. the kravnoks had the girl pinned down to the floor of the cage. She was trying to prevent one from biting off her face. Liam drew his daggers and aimed for the one circling the girl and it's hunting partner. One kravnok is no problem. Two or more is a problem. The second kravnok saw Liam, and went to pounce on him. The girl was still struggling. Liam got into a defensive stance, and waited for the kravnok to jump. The kravnok jumped and Liam quickly stabbed it in the throat. The creature howled as it died. It's partner got distracted momentarily. The girl managed to get her feet up to her chest, and kicked the creature off with one thrust upward. The kravnok backed up. The pirate captain slammed his fist against a pile of junk next to him, and the spiky haired man started to run towards the cage. The girl waited for the kravnok to jump at her again. It jumped and took her down. Angrily, she grabbed the creatures head, and twisted it's head to the side, shattering the creatures spinal cord. She threw the body aside. Liam ran over to her, as the spikey haired man crashed through the gate.
The Pirate captain laughed. "Well, done my ginger-headed girl. You've got some fight in you. What's your name?" The red headed girl looked at the captain, "My name," she said as she wiped blood from her lip, "is Scarlet Blade."