I don't remember much from when I was a boy... I remember I had a mother and a father, but I cannot recall their names or what they looked like. I remember I had a home, but not of its origin or structure. What I remember clearly though, is her...
A small feline I held dearly, my closest friend in a world so dark and cold. She was a cat of small size, easily able to fit in my cupped hands, but her heart was as big and bright as the sun. She was not like most cats too, she was a light shade of green like tea with tufts of fur as green as the grass under our feet and she had eyes as red as the most valuable rubys in the world. She was the one that made me believe everything was right in the world, made me believe that no danger could harm me or wrong could be inflicted on me. How wrong I was.
One night on a date I cannot recall, she was taken from me, stolen from me. Mysterious men came to my home, slaughtered my parents, and stole my light from me and cast me back into a world of dark. But that was many winters ago and I have grown since then, learned to adapt and survive in this cold world.
Now I am a humble squire serving under a wise knight, trying to prove himself worthy of being knighted by his majesty. One day I hope to find the men that took my parents and stole my dearest friend from me so I can bring them to justice, I just pray I can find her.
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I was startled awake by a kick to my foot.
"Get up boy, the sun has risen and so shall you" my master told me in his aged voice. I sit up muttering a yes sir in response, trying to awake from my sleep. "Once you finish your chores meet me at the gates of the compound so we can practice your swordsmanship, it could use work" he ordered, and of course I obeyed without question for his presence demanded obedience. "And do not forget your prayers boy, understood" he finished to which I responded with a yes sir.
Every day was the same with what my master had me do. In the morning I would wake up and start the day with a prayer, and every morning I would pray to find my lost friend for I knew in my soul that she was out there somewhere. After prayer I would have breakfast which consisted of a simple piece of bread I would dip in water to soften it up. After would begin the chores which consists of grooming the master's horse, cleaning his armor and sword as well as my own then feeding the animals. After all the chores we would finish the day with training which would range from horse riding to sword fighting and today was sword fighting.
After my chores I met my master at the gates of the compound just as he asked and there he stood with our training swords just as he said he would. "Why are meeting here and not at the training arena sir" I asked him. He gazed at me and then gave me a small smile "you will soon see boy" he answered while handing me my training sword, "just follow me, I feel we could benefit from a change of scenery, it may help your grasp the lesson better" he explained as he began to lead me to a new area.
As we walked away and the compound got smaller and smaller and the trees got more and more dense we came across a small opening just big enough to fit a small estate. "Here we are my squire, the place where our training shall take place. For this lesson we will be addressing your greatest weakness, what do you think it is boy" my master asked me. I pondered on his words, trying to imagine what it could possibly be. When it comes to swordsmanship I am quiet exceptional if not better than most but I also knew I wasn't the best. Before I could go deeper into thought, my master had already drawn his sword and stopped just shy of my head. "Do you see it now boy?" He asked with a smile. I sheepishly nod. "I think too much sir" I answer, to which he nodded in confirmation. "Thats right boy, you think too much" he repeated after me while lowering his sword to his side and back to its scabbard.
"When in the middle of a fast and brutal battle, a knight must be able to make quick and accurate decisions or else the enemy will have the upper hand and thus gain the ability to strike you down before you are able to execute a plan" he explained to me. "Leave the long thought out plans to the kings and the generals and stick to instincts in the mists of a fight, that is what helped me get to where I am today and it is what will help you survive your coming endeavors as a knight my young squire" he advised me. The wisdom in his words leaving their impressions on me. "Now that we have that sorted out let us test how your defense is coming along boy" he said with a grin. I gulped in fear as I got into stance.
After a brutal training with my master that took up the rest of the day, he left me to rest in the field by myself so I could, as he said "enjoy the peace while it is still present around you". So I did as he said and relaxed..... Or so I tried.
No matter how much I tried to let myself relax I just had this strang feeling that I needed to do something, I just couldn't think of what it was my conscience wanted me to do. So to hopefully ease my mind I began to wonder around the forest, making sure to keep track of my surroundings and make markers to follow back to the trail home. The more I wondered though the more I felt a pull like a tug in my soul to a certain area I have yet to discover so I followed this feeling until I stumbled across a cave. There was nothing special about this cave but something felt off about it, like it was an anomaly, something that shouldn't exist.
Against my better judgement I decided I should investigate this cave. When I entered into the cave there was a tunnel that led deeper into the ground and I was almost going to turn around and leave but I saw a slight movement where my vision got cut off by the darkness of the cave. I wanted to call out to them but it would be dumb of me to call out to a stranger I don't even know is friendly so I followed them down the tunnel in silence. Everytime I rounded a corner in the tunnel I would catch a glimpse of the person, who from closer inspection seemed to be wearing a cloak. This would continue until the tunnel opened up into a large cavern with a small spot of light coming down from the ceiling, and it was beaming down onto something shiny but I couldn't quite make out what it was. In the corner of my eye I saw the stranger facing me with what appeared to be glowing red eyes that felt so familiar but so strange. Before I could think on it more they raised there arm and pointed towards the light, in a way to tell me to go to it. For reasons I don't understand I obeyed, feeling I should trust this stranger.
The closer I got to the shining object the more I could make out what it was..... It was a hilt to a long sword. This couldn't be right, why would there be a sword in the depths of this cave? It doesn't make any sense, the only thing you could think of that was similar in situation was the tail of King Arthur but everyone knows that was just a fairy tale, ment help kids go to sleep yet here I am in front of a sword clearly imbedded in stone.
Than I could feel the pull again, it pulled my hand to the hilt of the blade and I obliged. With my firm grasp on the hilt I began to pull, and at first it stayed there unmoving but after I pulled again, the stone began to give. With one more mighty tug I freed the sword of its stone prison and held it in front of me. It was a longsword almost as long as a claymore but just a few inches short with the blade having lines going through the steel similar to wootz steel, it had a gold guard with a fine deep brown leather handle but the hilt seemed to be gold with a gem of unknown origin that seemed to be a cloudy grey embedded into it. Once I had brought the sword up fully I felt a sudden pain in my head, there was a flash before me then visions began to fly through my mind, ones of what appeared to be a house burning, one of a man in royal garb sitting on a throne with the cloaked figure from before standing next to him, then a final vision of the king fighting a mysterious knight holding the sword from the stone. After the visions cleared my vision blurred and I began to lose consciousness, my final moments awake hearing a feminine voice whispering to me.
"Find me my love and begin your legend" she whispered, then everything went black.
