Time Conscious Tactics
My arms still hurt…
Stonegit sat in the cold, early afternoon air, the suns warm glowing providing an oddly pleasant contrast as cupped a bowl of soup in his hands. It was his lunch for the day. It had been several days since he had gotten back to his home. But despite Dario and the other healers extremely proficient work, his arms were still incredibly fragile, despite their operability.
Dario…oh man… Stonegit rubbed the back of his neck. That’s going to awkward if…you know what…nah…if he doesn’t recognize me I’ll just leave it be…
He glanced down at his hand, and remembered the sensation of nearly pushing it through Vidar’s head. It’s not like how it was in the old days…with basic healing magic I patched my collarbone up within a few weeks was it? Or was it days? Anyways…the same amount of time, if not more, later after highly potent work from skilled medics, and I hardly want to pat someone on the shoulder…
He curled his fingers tenderly. And…I guess having to kill again…will always be a risk. If I want to keep my line of work…and my life. The thought saddened him But it was what it was. And again…it wasn’t like the way it was before. In a good way this time. Still…between my heart and my arms…and I guess my body getting older as a whole…I’m not going to be able to rely on brute strength anymore. He glanced down at his axe. I might not even be able to properly use her after a while…I’ll need a back up. Something lighter that I can learn to use now, so that by the time I’m eighty or something I’ll still be capable of doing my job…for both my weapon and the way I fight…
Stonegit groaned as he stood up, and scrapped the rest of the thick soup into his mouth. He had an idea of where he could start, and would write a letter to the Hidden Village after his shift. Maybe he could meet someone there who could help him later this week.Â
***
@kirithevikingninja
Toshioka Kousuke, despite his designation as a Viking Ninja, was not fond of the cold. He pulled his cloak around him as he slipped into the Great Hall which he was well aware was a location quite involved with rebellion.Â
He only hoped that he only seemed a simple traveler, his weapons hidden and hood shrouding his features. Perhaps…
He sat himself by the hearth, warming himself and taking a moment to relax. Then he smiled and pulled the bundle off his back, loosening the strings of its wrappings.Â
With a dramatic flourish, he cast the wrappings beside him, and checked the strings. Warm plucked tones resonated, then shifted in pitch as he tuned everything down to the proper pitch. Damn cold, making my poor instrument go sharp.
He paused for a moment, wondering if he should bother. At the last moment, he shrugged, grabbing a knit cap from his satchel and placing it out for any donations. And then… he began to play his lute, his gentle baritone voice ringing softly to any who might deign to listen, yet quiet enough to seem introspective to those paying no heed.
“Oh that the learned poets of this time who in a lovesick line so well speak…”
@moe-lazyeye
Upon hearing the instrument, Stonegit glanced over from where he had been ordering some drinks, and found himself sitting up a little straighter.
The song in his voice…
His face and the way he carried himself. All that lighthearted word play while something far more serious lurked beneath.
He’s just like her…
Stonegit carefully got up, two mugs of bubble tea in his hands, and stepped over to him. “That’s a lovely song…care for a drink?”
“…if strung with heavenly strings,” Kousuke finished the verse, letting his voice lilt playfully as he released a resonating chord. Then he grinned and turned to the stranger. “Hello friend! A drink is very much appreciated! And bubble tea for that matter! You, my friend, have good taste. Come, sit with me. I’ve been on the road for some time, and there is much and more I would learn from one such as you, especially if you’re offering me sustenance.”
He could tell gather from a glance who the man might be. Clearly a fighter, though it seemed the man might be recovering from injury. And one lazy eye…
He smiled, hiding his satisfaction. What luck. He seemed to have found someone who, based on the stories he knew, had been quite acquainted with her…
“Learn something from me huh? I was hoping for the same from you…” Stonegit sat down, and for a moment was lost in memories as he watched the boy. He shook his head. “Sorry…you remind me an old friend…”
Kousuke tilted his head curiously. “Old friend, hmm? You seem to have seen your share of battles…”
Don’t assume, let the man open himself up. Let’s see what he can tell.
He chuckled. “Well! You said you wished to learn something from me? What would you, my new old friend, wish to learn from me, a humble traveling bard? I’ve legend and tale and many a fine, subtle method of tickling a lute, but I daresay I’ve still much to experience in this world. Especially compared to one such as yourself,” he added, nodding knowingly.
“Heh…a few yeah…” Stonegit rubbed the back of his neck, and then winced as he lowered his arm. “I…don’t want to presume. But I feel as though we may know each other…at least by association. My name is Stonegit Elmiss.” He held out a hand. “A friend of Toshioka Kiri.”Â
Kousuke gave a low, slightly bitter laugh. The man was quite perceptive to have picked up on a familial connection twenty years after the fact. Judging from everything he knew, this was a man to trust and a man who might have answers.
He sighed and pulled back his hood. He had always been told that he and his sister had similar faces, despite differences in height and build. He shook the offered hand, his sharp gaze meeting with the man before him.
“Stonegit Elmiss. A hero of the rebellion and Ragnarok in the Wilderwest of twenty years ago. It looks like I’ve come to the right place. My name is Toshioka Kousuke. I suppose this means you might be able to tell me what happened to my older sister.”
“I’m a hero?” Stonegit asked with some mild mannered skepticism. “Someone’s been dressing up the narrative-” He stopped, his blood running cold for a moment. “You- …Her brother…” Sadness for the boy swept over him.Â
All these years…decades…he never knew? How could it be possible, Kiri’s memory has always been celebrated here…Â
Stonegit reached forward to grip his arm gently. “Her brother…” He said again. “I’m honored to meet you, truly.” His head lowered. There was no point in dragging something like this out. Not after so much time had gone by. “Kousuke…I’m so sorry…your sister was slain by the head Judge of Odin’s first regiment. The same man that gave me this…” He motioned to the dented scar in his head. “And this…” His fingers swept past his lazy eye. “His name was Orskaf Donz.”Â
“Judge Donz… Ragnarok…”
Kousuke closed his eyes, remembering the reports he had read through. A man of that name had visited at the start of Ragnarok, looking for more allies to contract with thinly veiled threats. Kiri had been at that meeting. She had already been aware of his nature. It had not gone smoothly, from what the records stated.Â
“I hope he’s dead and gone. Truly gone,” he stated after a moment. “It has been twenty years, after all. Kiri, she… well, we all assumed she died in Ragnarok, or if not that, while fighting a witch,” he rubbed the back of his head, sighing. “Witches don’t leave bodies. Ragnarok, well… was Ragnarok. I just… wanted some better closure. My parents always suspected her last visit was for more than just a simple family reunion.”
He glanced up, taking in Stonegit’s scar and eye. He gave a half-smile. “You may have to tell me more about her and her dealings. I never knew her, unfortunately… I was born several months after Ragnarok’s start. Up to you, though I suppose speaking of the dead is not always the most pleasant of first chats. You said you wanted to learn something from me?” he raised an eyebrow as he took the mug of bubble tea and took a sip.
“No…no you need to know. It wouldn’t be right otherwise.” Stonegit said as he took a drink himself. “Its true though, I do need help with learning. I’m getting old, and I won’t be able to be efficient with my job using the tactics I’m using now. Not without help at least. I know ninja vikings, even in age much more than mine, are able to fight extremely well. I’ll also need to pair my axe with something lightweight and quick. But…first…I have a story to tell you.”
And so Stonegit told the boy what he knew of his sister Kiri. He spoke of her fierce independence, the kind that often saw her away from the fortress, while still somehow never pissing of the King. Which he admitted was something he was envious of.
He spoke of how the witches she killed and the teams she made were probably one of the biggest reasons the rebellion managed to maintain the foothold it had created for itself. And how her smiles and cheer had lightened peoples hearts, even if they hadn’t known the sadness behind it.
He spoke of how during some of his darkest days, she had stood up to him, and showed him that he would not accomplish his enraged and mad aspirations without a fight.
And then he spoke of her sacrifice. He melancholy nature of her sudden departure, and the horror that followed upon realizing that she had been tortured by the Judge.
The moment she died….how he had been there…
The assurance of how even though the wulpergistsnacht had ended up killing many rebels in the end, it had not been Kiri’s fault. And how it had still ultimately lead to the monsters permanent death at Hel’s hands.
By this point there were more mugs on the table, and Stonegit sighed as he lowered his drink. “Orskaf would eventually confront the King himself on the battlefield. And although I knew it to be a brutal fight, it was also known that Orskaf was outmatched from the start. He was slain by Gareth Haddock II.”
Kousuke was quiet for a long time. He had listened, drank mugs of bubble tea, seen time pass with the movement of people and firelight. It was a long story, some of which he already knew. Most of it, he did not. All of it matched what he did know.
As Stonegit finished, Kousuke nodded in thanks. Then he pulled out a worn notebook and began to jot down several notes.
“My apologies for the note-taking… it’s… again, I’ve been searching for closure. To know exactly what my sister involved herself in and how she did it… thank you, truly.” He smiled at the older man. “What you’ve told me, it… her sacrifice was never in vain. And from what I’ve heard about her, it seems she died trying to stop something…”
He paused. There was one thing in his notes that had seemed strange. The assumption. Combined with what she had told her family and the elders back at the Hidden Sky Village. And the panicked account she had given four years earlier than that, when she appeared alone rather than together with her partner.
“How… how did she know that Walpurgisnacht was coming? And in such detail? And that Donz was going to unleash it? But that makes no sense, everything you said implies she told everyone it was just approaching…”
He didn’t realize he had spoken aloud. He shook his head. “S-sorry. Just… still trying to figure things out. I know you probably don’t have that answer, but… well, there are a lot of questions surrounding those days. Thank you again, for… telling me about my sister. She was an amazing person, from everything I’ve heard.”
“That she was.” Stonegit affirmed. “I miss her dearly…some have even said they’ve seen her ghost from Helheim itself. Although I’ve never been fortunate enough for that.”
He pressed his lips together in thought as he pondered the boys question. “Kiri told many people of the witch thread. But I think between Central, Valkyire, Donz’s threat, the demon who was once our enemy, and even my spell of madness…the matter was often regulated as a burden she bore alone most of the time…we never knew just how badly she had struggled…”
“Based on what I saw…I knew she had been tortured. And there were accounts of Orskaf being in the Hidden Village. He likely got his information that way…as for how Kiri came to this knowledge…I know not…”
Unless…
He stared down at his hand, and remembered how it had once crushed a vile white cats head.
No…she wouldn’t have…
“Hmm...” Kousuke pondered, tapping the rim of the nearest mug. “If I could be so bold... if you and your fellow rebels still have any of Kiri’s old books, notes, records - I’ve heard that she actually left a book on witch hunting that the hunters still use, but I’ve never been able to get my hands on a copy - but anyway, I would like to access them and do some research. Cross them with what I have. See if a theory of mine holds any weight... or at least, ensure that what truth we know is indeed the full truth. You would think, me having never known my older sister, but hearing so many stories about her, that I would have that closure...”
He paused, sighing. “Well, regardless. I would not ask a favor without returning it. You said you were interested in learning the combat arts of the Viking Ninjas?” he raised an eyebrow, the playful grin reemerging. “Aye, might be a little harder at your age, but I can think of several options. And you’re even in luck, I have teaching experience. What’s your current primary weapon? And if you say a battleaxe, you might want to consider a smaller version. Just in case.”
