A Tale of Wolves and Sheep (a For Honor inspired story)

Chapter 13 (William)

As the sun rose on Fort Red, so too did William and all of the other Blackstone soldiers garrisoned at the old fortress. William had already packed his belongings the night before so that he would waste no time leaving this forsaken stone prison of a fort. As he prepared to put on his armor he heard a knock at his door. 

"Enter." he said. 

The wood door creeked open revealing Scarlet already in her Peacekeeper armor. William's expression softened as he saw his friend step inside. 

"Nice to see you're already up." she said, closing the door behind her. "Need some help?" her eyes flicked to William's armor, then back at him. 

"If you wouldn't mind." William replied, "It would certainly make this faster."

"What would you do without me." Scarlet said jovially, walking over to collect one of the many pieces of armor. 

After the better part of fifteen minutes, William was fully suited up and ready to join the rest of the Blackstone army. As he met with the others in the court yard, he saw as hundreds were prepared to begin their march east. There was even more outside the gates which numbered in the thousands. He had never before seen an army of such a size and he was delighted to be a part of it. He felt a sense of pride as he wore his new Blackstone colors. While before he wore his father's banner, he always felt like an outsider due to being a bastard. With the Blackstones however, he was part of Ashfeld's army. 

From what he heard, a number of soldiers would remain to garrison Fort Red to ensure no more Vikings would attempt an attack on Westlake. A thought occured to him after the reality that William would be joining this army as they marched through Ashfeld. 

"Scarlet, might I inquire something?" he asked as he glanced at her. 

"What is it?" Scarlet replied, raising a brow and placing one hand on her hip while the other carried her helmet. 

"What made our uh..." he stopped to think of the proper term for their leader, "master decide to allow me to join you all for your march? I half expected to be stuck here in Fort Red." 

"Well..." Scarlet replied, "I don't talk to her often but from what I can tell she likes having people who are strong and aren't afraid to get their hands dirty. People who really know how to put up a fight. When we got here you were covered in Viking guts and gripping your weapon like someone was about to take it from you." she slightly giggled. "You're a tough bastard." she said as she lightly punched his left pauldron. 

William couldn't help but let out a light chuckle. "Well, I'll take that as a compliment. Hopefully I live up to her expecations." 

"You left one hell of a first impression." Scarlet replied, "But I'm sure you'll do great." 

Their conversation was cut short as a voice in the crowd of soldiers shouted. "Time to move out!" 

As the pair looked towards the source of the voice, the thousands of Blackstones soldiers all began to gather their belongings and start their march. 

"It appears we're on the move." William said. 

"Aye! About bloody time too!" Ser Rickon said as he appeared from the crowd. "I've been tired of sitting around this god-forsaken fort. Ready to see some real action lad?" 

William was happy to see Ser Rickon. He was relieved to find that he would be joining them on their campaign against the Vikings. He had been a sort of mentor for him and it would appear that he would continue to be so. Not to mention having a veteran at their side put his mind more at ease. 

"Ser Rickon," William said, "I'm delighted to see you're joining us." 

"Aye, you have no idea how quickly I accepted Apollyon's offer" Rickon replied, letting out a hearty chuckle. "I can finally take the fight to those bloody vikings instead of waiting to die of old age at this fort." 

"Always so eager to jump into the fray." another voice spoke. 

William glanced over to see Lady Lyssa with her arms crossed while approaching the trio. 

"Lady Lyssa." William said, giving a slight bow with his head. "It's a pleasure to see you again." 

"William!" Lady Lyssa replied, "So good to see you doing well. Scarlet here has been a quick learner. She's proven to be quite the little killer." she said jovially. 

"Ah so this is the pupil of the great Ashfeld Shadow." Ser Rickon said as he glanced over at Scarlet. "I must say I never expected for her to take an apprentice but I'm eager to see what she taught you once the fighting starts." 

"As am I." William replied. He looked around and saw that the army was making their way out of the fort and beginning their march. "Here we go." he said as he and the group marched along with all the others. Scarlet walked right beside him and both Lady Lyssa and Ser Rickon walked side by side behind them talking amongst themselves. They moved with the mass of soldiers and eventually Fort Red was behind them. He felt a sense of relief, knowing that he could now see more of Ashfeld and actively aid in the war effort against the vikings. But that feeling was also mixed with a sense of worry for the unknown. It had been ages since Ashfeld had an army of this size and he couldn't help but wonder if the vikings had amassed an army of similar proportions. 

"I imagine you're happy to finally get out of that place huh?" Scarlet asked, nudging William's shoulder. 

William snapped out of his train of thought, glancing back at her and flashing a soft smile followed by a light chuckle. "Oh yes." he replied, "It's nice being surrounded by an actual army and not a garrison of criminals." 

"Don't get your hopes up just yet." Scarlet replied, "While these people are soldiers, they're not exactly the noble kind-hearted knights that are in all your books." 

"I wouldn't expect them to act as such. But I imagine they can't be much worse than thieves and murderers." 

"You'd be surprised." 

"What is that supposed to mean?" 

"Well, they recruited me didn't they? I was a sneaky little pickpocket when you met me." 

"We were children back then. Besides you're not one anymore." 

"I'm just saying, don't let the armor and uniforms fool you. I already had to stab a man's hand for trying to put his hands on me." 

William looked at her in shock, feeling a sense of protectiveness. "He did what?!" he exclaimed.

"Oh don't worry he learned his lesson. Besides it's how I got myself recruited." Scarlet replied, giving off a sense of pride. 

"Well, hopefully you won't have to find yourself worrying about that now that I'm here." 

"While I appreciate the sentiment, I am more than capable of handling myself. But, I suppose having a steel covered giant with me will be useful. Let's just hope your size is enough to scare them off cause that face of yours isn't scaring anyone, pretty boy." 

"Pretty boy?" William replied, raising a brow and looking down at her in reaction to her comment. 

"Oh don't take it personally, it's a good quality. It means you'll be a real catch with all the maidens we come across." she said jokingly, following with a slight giggle. 

"Oh stop it. You know that's not my main focus. Not with all of this going on." 

"I know, I know I'm just pulling your leg. I need something to do to pass the time of this march." 

"Well, we still have plenty to catch up on." 

"That we do." 

The pair exchanged glances at each other, giving off soft smiles as they continued to march with the Blackstone legion. The last time they spoke, they believed they would have parted ways for months, maybe even years. But now once again, they were side by side, inseperable as ever and prepared to take on whatever lied ahead.