Old World Remnants

[Zach Kaiser]

Eld looked up from his pacing to find Etsu at his desk, flipping through the book. That she was at all interested in the book itself was far more disconcerting than any doubt she had in his story or mental faculties; Eld was used to reading textbooks as much as not and even he found it incredibly boring. It was like the person had chosen to chronicle Hillcrest's history without actually touching on any of the interesting things that had supposedly happened to it.

"Some guy named..." It took him a second to recall the name. "Chaz Surman. Bio says he was practically a shut in, which might explain why the book's so boring."

[Nayt]

Etsu wouldn't know. She hadn't actually tried to read the book or anything, but Eld was probably right. This was a history book, after all. Those were always dreadfully boring. Though, it was kind of strange for there to be a history book for Hillcrest. Wasn't most of Hillcrest's history lost to time? That cataclysm from hundreds of years ago took most of history with it. They didn't even know the names of any prominent families from over two hundred years ago. That meant only two hundred years of this was decently recorded, and that wasn't nearly enough to make an interesting history book.

But everyone needed a job doing something, right? And maybe a couple of people in the last ten or twenty years was actually interested in the history of the town. The author had at least made a few gold pieces off of this endeavor.

Regardless, none of that held Etsu's interest right now. What really had her curious was the thing she was seeing here between each page, causing her to question the contagious nature of insanity. For Eld's sake, she leaned over so he could get a look at what she was seeing. Etsu started at page 119 and put her finger at the first word on the top of the page. The. Simple enough. Then she moved on to page 120. Ghosts. 121. Demand. 122. Remembrance. To test something, she went back a couple of pages. 117. Know. 118. This:.

Under normal circumstances, she'd have shut the book, called it a coincidence, and walked away to do something else. That would've been the comfortable approach. But now it had her thinking, and wondering . . .

"What does that mean?"

[Nayt]

He could feel the space between he and the incoming wall becoming slimmer and slimmer by the second. The highwayman kept throwing jabs and Noah kept dodging and backing away. What was even more disconcerting than the highwayman's raw strength was his stamina. He'd thrown three dozen jabs at least, and he still showed no signs of tiring down. Not that it mattered anymore. Noah planned on hitting him with a counteroffensive in just a moment.

Act surprised, Noah told himself.

When his back hit the wall, Noah glanced over his shoulder for a split second and let out a surprised, "Gnh?!"

Maybe the highwayman thought he had Noah cornered. Maybe he thought he had the advantage now. Noah hadn't the slightest clue, but he predicted well enough: the highwayman brought his right fist back, and as if to use Noah's surprise for his advantage, thrust his fist for Noah's skull.

It was not only something Noah expected, but something he planned on-- which made this a bit of a gambit, but it was about to pay off, right? The risks never matter after you survive . . .

Noah ducked down fast, faster than the highwayman must have expected. The brute's fist hit the wall, sunk in half an inch, and sent spiderweb cracks for half a foot around his knuckles; dust kicked from the cracks and partly enshrouded the both of them. Noah paid it no mind. He worked fast: the second he ducked low, he thrust his left hand up at the highwayman's face. He didn't have that strong of a left jab, but he wasn't in the position to hit this man with anything that powerful right now, anyways. He just needed to open him up a little.

Following the successful meeting between Noah's knuckles and the highwayman's jaw, Noah pushed forward, recoiled his left hand, and threw out a right jab as hard and fast as he could. He knocked the man's head to the side, brought a left hook around to the center of his chest, and damn near floored the highwayman.

He had an opportunity now, and he wasn't going to let it slip between his fingers. He caught the highwayman with another hook, tossing him into a daze. The highwayman returned in kind: dazed though he was, he bit back at Noah with a blind right hook. Fortunately, Noah was able to see this one coming, ducked down, and pressed forward again to get another hit at the highwayman's solar plexus for good measure. He took another step forward, narrowly avoiding stepping on the highwayman's fallen knife, and pushed him back by a couple of feet. The highwayman stumbled, and Noah drew his right fist back, tensed his muscles, and wound up a solid strike for the highwayman's face.

But then something unexpected happened. Noah hadn't even seen it coming. One moment, the highwayman was staggering, the next he was standing still and had Noah's fist in his hand. Wide eyed with surprise, Noah tried to recoil away, but the man's grip was too strong. He pulled Noah in harshly, and though Noah tried to stop it, the highwayman's forehead met with Noah's.

The world fell to a dizzying darkness, and Noah barely felt himself hitting the ground.

[Zach Kaiser]

At first, Eld thought she was just going to ask for clarification on some Common term; after all, it wasn't her first language. What she was pointing out to him was far, far more strange, though. On any other day he would have undoubtedly chalked it up to strange coincidence and gave it no further thought. But today, the realization sent chills down his spine.

"I-I think it's a hidden message," he stated, hardly believing it himself. He quickly began to turn the pages, looking at the first words of each. Know this: the ghosts demand remembrance. "But...what does it mean?"

He flipped through more of the book, checking to see if there was any more to the message.

[Nayt]

"Nhh . . . egh . . ." Noah groaned in pain.

Vision returned to Noah in slow progression. He stretched his arms out blindly, felt around the ground, and grasped for something-- anything --that could make sense of what happened, where he was, and just what his name was. It all soon returned to him when he felt a man's boot, felt his hand kicked away, and opened his eyes enough to see the silhouette of a tall man standing over him. The silhouette was staring down at him, and there appeared to be an orange glow in front of his face. The man reached his hand up, took one last drag, and flicked the cigarette away.

"Yer a tough bastard, I'll give ya that," the silhouette-- highwayman --said as he fixed his bandanna.

For a brief moment, Noah would have been able to get a good look at his face, but the world was still spinning and Noah felt half blind from it.

"But yer no hero, that's for sure," the highwayman leaned down, close enough to get a good look at Noah's face, "See, heroes actually succeed at somethin'. I'ma go claim my prize, now. Later, wannabe."

The highwayman stood up straight again and turned away from Noah sharply. He began to walk away slowly, and ever so gradually made his way towards Kageko. Noah's vision was slowly returning to him, though his ears were still ringing and his body still felt numb all over. Wearily, he tried to pick himself up off the ground, but all he could do was grasp the ground and pull himself forward by a few feet. Soon, though, he felt a sting across his left hand. He almost collapsed again and narrowly caught himself with his right hand. He looked at his palm and saw blood-- looked beyond it and saw the highwayman's discarded knife.

Kageko took a step away from the highwayman. He was still a ways from her, but he was coming closer. Noah looked up, watched the highwayman for a moment, and cringed when he imagined what might become of Kageko if he didn't somehow stop this man. He breathed deeply, mustered all the willpower he possibly could, and pulled himself to his feet. Noah Herst was not going to let this woman down. No matter the cost, he was going to protect her-- not because he had affections for her, not because he pitied her, but because she was as human as anyone else, and no living, thinking, and feeling person deserved the treatment that this highwayman threatened.

With renewed drive, Noah picked up the knife.

[Nayt]

"I do not know," she said. If she knew, she wouldn't have asked his opinion.

Etsu held her chin in her hand. Eld had pretty much taken the book from her to glance through himself, and as she still sat in his chair, she couldn't really see anymore. That barely influenced her next suggestion, though. No matter what Eld had done, she was likely going to suggest this:

"We shour-rd sr-reep," Etsu declared, "It is r-rate and we may be r-rosing minds. If in morning we stir-rr find mysteries, then I sup-pose we sor-rve them."

They could be getting all worked up over nothing, and maybe tomorrow, after a nice long rest, it would actually seem that way. They just needed to be removed from the moment by a few hours.

The only risk here was that either or both of them were too excited to sleep. Well, maybe Eld would be too excited to sleep. It rarely mattered how anxious or excited Etsu was, she could go to sleep at any given time. Limiting circumstances barely mattered to her.

[Zach Kaiser]

Eld had ended up leaning over Etsu's shoulder in much the same way she was leaning over his earlier, ready to flip the pages himself to check. But before he could Etsu voiced her recommendation.

He was tempted to continue anyway; he desperately wanted any clue to what was going on. But she had a point. It was late, and there was a chance he simply wanted so desperately to solve this mystery that he was reading too deeply into things.

"You're right." He marked the page where the bit Etsu showed him began and closed the book. "Let's continue tomorrow."

As he stood up straight, something occurred to him...something else about what she said. "Ah, Etsu? Umm...thanks."

[Nayt]

Good. Eld agreed with her. It was for the best. There was such a high probably that their minds were going a mile a minute and making things up. They could be going on a wild goose chase if they followed this right now.

Etsu stood up from Eld's desk and made her way to the bed. It had just become commonplace that she slept there. It was accepted, and this, too, was for the best. Etsu did not like sleeping on futons. She'd have pitched quite the fit if Eld were to refuse to let her sleep here. She had just arrived at the bedside when Eld thanked her, though, and she turned enough to see his face. Were he to look at her, he'd likely find that she was donning an expression of confusion and vague dismay. As rare as it was for her to show feelings, it was becoming progressively less rare for her to express confusion when in the presence of Eldridge Tsukimono. He was a really confounding guy.

"Naze desu ka?" she asked.

She couldn't think of a reason that he'd thank her. She'd done nothing to deserve his appreciation. Nothing that she was explicitly aware of, at least.

[Nayt]

"You . . . bastard," Noah spat under his breath, stood tall, and drew the highwayman's knife back.

He'd stopped thinking and planning the second the highwayman turned his back on him. He'd no idea what he was about to do, only that whatever it was, it was necessary.

"I'm not dead yet, asshole!!" Noah screamed.

The highwayman stopped short of his mark. His original goal appeared to be the taking of Kageko, but he was still a dozen feet away from the umbra woman when he stopped. Brought on by Noah's insistence, he turned to face the young man again, starting first with a sigh. But what he saw audibly surprised him . . .

"Wh-- what the-- ?!"

The highwayman raised his hand over his face. It was the only thing he had time for. If he tried to duck, back away, or move to the side, he'd have actually lost his head. Noah Herst had drawn back his arm, tensed every muscle in his body, and as the highwayman was turning to face him, threw the knife at him as hard and fast as he possibly could-- and Noah's aim was impeccable. He could have taken this man's head off. And though this wasn't to be, great damage was done: the highwayman stopped the knife with his forearm. The blade lurched through the bottom of his forearm, at the fleshy part just below the bone. It cut through skin and muscle and exited through the other side, with the hilt stopping only when it reached the flesh and could go no further.

And even though he stopped it, the blade was still just inches from the highwayman's throat . . .

[Zach Kaiser]

"Well...for believing me. Or at least helping me even if you don't." Eld rubbed the back of his head bashfully. It felt kind of odd to be thanking Etsu for anything, as until today she'd practically gone out of her way to avoid doing anything that might in some way benefit him. But...well, perhaps things were changing. That could only be a good thing.

"I mean, maybe I'm just crazy and in another day or two things will go back to normal, but...if that's not it...it would be kind of overwhelming to face alone."

He walked back to the futon; he didn't much mind Etsu getting the bed. The way he slept, the where didn't much matter. It was only the how that bothered him; he was occasionally plagued with nightmares, something she may have picked up on, but it didn't happen often. Sometimes he just slept badly.

[Nayt]

For some reason, Etsu felt a redness in her cheeks when Eld explained all that. That was actually a really heartfelt thing for Eld to say, enough that Etsu recognized it and actually felt . . . touched? Or something to that effect. Either way, she shook her head enough to get all of her bangs down in her face to hide what was probably a slight blush.

". . . it is . . . no probr-rem," she replied awkwardly, "No iss-ue. No-- matter? A-ano . . ."

Etsu trailed off nervously. She shook her head again, sat in bed, and pulled the covers over her and up to her shoulders. Even in a bed as comfortable as this, this feeling she was experiencing made it all too uncomfortable. It was like those girlhood thoughts were coming back all over again. She had to say something to make them go away. Something harsh and rude, maybe.

"Go to sr-reep, Tsukimono-san."

Except there was no harshness or rudeness to it at all. No sarcasm, no sardonic overtone. Nothing rude like that. Rather, she sounded downright civil and friendly just then.

[Nayt]

The highwayman grunted as he stepped back, still surprised and now audibly in pain. Noah's aim was absolutely impeccable. He tapped at his forearm once, winced, and looked over the blade to gauge Noah's location. And again, he found himself surprised.

Noah slammed his shoulder into the center of the highwayman's chest, almost throwing the man off his feet. This put space between them again, but not enough to render the highwayman safe. Noah grabbed at the hilt of the knife-- still stuck in the man's forearm --with both of his hands, threw all of his weight into the highwayman, and pushed him back even further. He took total control over this man's arm and the blade it held, and whilst drilling the highwayman further backward, pushed his forearm up, and with it the tip of the blade, until it met the skin of the man's throat. The highwayman grabbed at his useless forearm and pushed on it. It quickly became the only thing he could do right now.

But that wasn't enough. Noah continued to drill the man backward until there was no further space to travel-- until the highwayman's back met with the bark of an oak at the tree-line and he could be thrown back no further. Noah barely took his environment into account, now. He recognized enough that the highwayman couldn't be pushed anymore, and simply used this as an anchor. He again put all his weight against his attacker, and with all his strength, tried to embed the tip of the knife's blade into his throat.

"Gnnn--" the highwayman strained, "Ya . . . really are a tough bastard . . ."

But Noah said nothing. He strained and stressed his joints to fight forward. He'd no intentions of letting this highwayman threaten Kageko-- or anyone else, for that matter --any longer, even if it meant taking his life.

[Zach Kaiser]

Eld failed to notice Etsu's embarrassment, chalking up her tripping over her speech to problems with the language. "Right," he said, climbing under the covers of the futon.

It would take some time for him to fall asleep, with everything running through his head. The graveyard, the book, the code, the fans, Etsu...so much happened after lunch he scarcely thought about Noah or Kageko, the umbra woman.

But sleep came to everyone sooner or later, even to someone as troubled as Eldridge Tsukimono...

[Nayt]

Noah was about ready to do it. He'd almost slipped the blade into the highwayman's throat. He kept pushing forward and the highwayman kept pushing back, but not enough. In seconds, he would feel a slip of the blade into his skin. In minutes, he would be no more.

Had no one stopped Noah, that is . . .

"Noah," Kageko whispered behind him.

She put her hands on his shoulders softly. Reassuringly. Noah loosened up, but not enough. He was still pushing against the highwayman. Still trying to put a permanent end to the conflict.

"Stop," she said, "It's all right. You do not have to kill him."

Noah relaxed his muscles somewhat. "But I--"

"I understand," she replied.

Kageko moved her hands down Noah's arms and stopped once she reached his hands and the blade embedded within the highwayman's forearm. She cupped his hands in hers and gently pulled on them, coaxing Noah to release the tension and take a step back. It took a moment, but he finally did. Noah took a step back. He even let go of the blade. The highwayman released a sight of relief and dropped his arms to his sides. It almost looked like he was ready to say a prayer, even.

"Well, guy," the highwayman said casually, "I gotta say, I'm really impressed."

Noah didn't take his eyes off the highwayman. He was still prepared to floor this man. He was not, however, prepared to watch the man lift his arm up, take the knife in his other hand, and rip it out effortlessly. Painlessly. He cleaned it off on his cloak and slid it into the sheath within. Kageko drew Noah out of his state of dismay by tugging on his arm, again coercing him to take a couple of steps back. He did so, but not without glancing back at Kageko with the utmost confusion. Something was horribly wrong with this situation.

"Do-- do you know this guy?" Noah asked.

Kageko said nothing, but her silence was more than enough to fuel Noah's assumptions. Suddenly, this was more than just a highwayman attacking them. Suddenly, this had nothing to do with Kageko and everything to do with Noah. The thought was dizzying and hard to bear, but . . .

Noah cursed instinct and intuition. He turned a suspicious glare at the highwayman, who merely shrugged his shoulders.

"I hear ya got a dream," he said.

Noah furrowed his brow. "Yeah? What about it?"

"Do somethin' good for the world-- right?"

". . . maybe," Noah averted his eyes from the highwayman. Reluctantly, of course.

"Well, yer good, but yer still a fledglin' at best . . ."

The highwayman set one hand on one shoulder, rolled his arm to crack his joints and loosen his muscles, and repeated the process with his other arm. The stab wound didn't seem to affect him at all. After a moment, he pulled back the hood and tugged the bandanna away from his face . . .

"But it's in all our best interests, guy--" the scarred and grinning red haired man declared, "--if we turn that dream of yers into reality."

He held out his hand. Noah eyed this suspiciously, but much calmer than he was moments earlier-- and though he was suspicious and on edge, he was . . . oddly accepting of what this man had to say to him. This guy wasn't a highwayman after all. He was a recruiter.

"We'll turn ya into a Goddamn hero."

Old World Remnants//Fin.