Returning to Service

[Kelvin H. Calderon]

Kelvin and Chelsea had set out from Sacae after a few days of rest. Kelvin had informed his fiance of the events that had occurred during his time in Bern, and she had agreed to return with him. They had made it to the border in around a day and were now making they're way towards Linz.

[Selibas]

Selibas sat on the edge of a work bench in a small Bernese town called Linz. He'd been offered a good deal on stable space for Lightning, and an inn for himself. These people seemed genuinely good. He was sharpening Zulfiqar with a whetstone he'd forgotten he had. It was a task he neglected and it showed on the flimsy blade. He felt nick as he ran the tool down the metal he'd honestly never questioned. It was a good sword, the only one that had been available to him out of a selection of curved swords, or giant ones. It was just right for the boy he'd been. He bit his nail and forgot his task for a moment.

You're still a boy Selibas, he thought smiling to himself. When had he fantasized about being a sword fighter? He hadn't, but now he was one. He was fifteen, and he was a deadbeat chief of two tribes who had never completed a full sentence while speaking to a girl. He looked down at the newly sharpened blade, and thought about how much smaller it seemed than he remembered. He felt the leather of it's hilt, and remembered the first time it had almost been ripped from his grip. HE didn't have long with this blade. He re-sheathed it, deciding to keep it, for it's purpose, and it's purpose alone.

[Kelvin H. Calderon]

Kelvin and his fiance arrived in Linz around noon and were immediately approached by Porter, the town's blacksmith.

"Ser Kelvin, you've returned! I assume you found whatever it was you were looking for?"

Kelvin greeted the blacksmith with a smile. "I did, Porter. In fact there's someone I should introduce you to. This is my fiance, Chelsea," he said, gesturing behind him.

"Well met, milady," Porter replied, taking Chelsea's hand and kissing it gently.

"Is Nasir around? I'm sure he'll want to discuss strategy."

"I'm afraid he isn't. He and Tomas set out for Larguz more than a week ago. They plan to spread word of the rebellion there in an effort to raise support. There's a large wyvern rider academy there and if we can gain control of it, it would give us a large foothold against Ilia."

Kelvin nodded thoughtfully. "I see. In the meantime, we should not remain stagnant while we wait for word from Nasir. This is a fragile time and if we can sway the balance in our favor, the resulting momentum would be overwhelming. I say we should pay a visit to the nearby villages and see if we can convince them to join the cause. What do you think?"

[Selibas]

Selibas stood and walked to a wall near the bench, looking at a few of the swords. He felt his gold purse, and thought it was too light to get anything at the moment. Still, no problem with a small amount of window shopping. There was one, well made steel, a slight curve, single edged. Beautiful, Sacaen, expensive. Selibas wondered if there was a Bernese style of sword. He could get a sword of Sacaen make all most anywhere. He thought if he was going to be a part of this rebellion, he needed to embrace his Bernese half. His thoughts seemed to effect the world around him as he heard words about the rebellion.

He turned and saw a tall man with a Sacaen woman. She looked familiar, but Selibas wasn't sure. He walked up once he heard a natural pause in the conversation, he made his voice calm despite the woman being close, and assertive to try and convey he wasn't the average flocking sheep, "Excuse me, are you a commander of the rebellion?"

OoC: Just gonna throw this out there. www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWbM4LcNmjc

[Kelvin H. Calderon]

As a pause came in the conversation, a voice spoke up from behind Kelvin. He turned to see a young sacaen-looking man garbed in green. He had sword sheathed at each hip and one on his back. He was young, yet he looked like he could handle himself quite well.

"I suppose I'm one of them. I guess you could consider me in charge of the troops here. Nasir's our leader, but while he's gone I'm the next best thing. Were you thinking of joining the cause?"

[Selibas]

Selibas smiled. One thing he'd always thought strange when finding Mercenary work, people expected you to know. He had no semblance of an idea who this Nasir fellow was, but he was supposed to. It was a vital piece of information in the previous sentence. He was the idiot in this conversation, simply due to one thing. Until a time as he knew this Nasir character, this man was the leader of the rebellion he would identify. Selibas supposed this town was mainly on the side of Bern in the conflict, considering they were speaking openly.

He nodded his head and let the smile fade. He fetlt a cool breeze whip his hair to the left. He nodded once more and said, "I've decided to throw my hand in for the rebellion side that's right. Just needed to find an officer."

[Kelvin H. Calderon]

"Well look no further. We're always in need of able-bodied men these days and you look like you can handle yourself quite well."

Kelvin extended his hand for a handshake as he continued, "I'll have to test your skill before we can fully admit you, but you undoubtedly pass. Once that's finished. I can assign you to a regiment and we'll take it from there. By the way, I don't believe I caught your name."

[Selibas]

Selibas nodded, it was becoming quite common for him to have to prove himself in some way to find work. Of course, this wouldn't be a mercenary job, this would be joining the army essentially. Him leaving in the middle of the night, was nothing but desertion. He would be ready for this test when the time came.

He lowered his body, in the suggestion of a bow. "My name is Selibas Sacae, chief of the Sumis and Aurumiaf tribes of the plains. I'm sorry if that sounded like bragging." Selibas chuckled out the last bit.

[Kelvin H. Calderon]

"Not at all, Selibas. Or would you prefer Chief?" Kelvin added with obvious sarcasm. Chuckling to himself, he stepped into the middle of the road and retrieved his axe from where it hung at his belt. He had been itching for an excuse to use his new weapon since he had purchased it back in Sacae. He had gotten a bit tired of using lances and buying the axe would give him some much needed diversity on the battle field. Now if only he had a sword.

"I hope you're ready," Kelvin added gripping the axe in both hands and crouching into a ready position, "'cause you're making the first move."

[Selibas]

Selibas raised his left eyebrow sarcastically when he was referred to as Chief. Kelvin wasn't in his tribe, it wouldn't make sense for him to call him Chief. Then the man produced an axe from his belt, and issued a challenge. That didn't seem all to smart. The man looked proficient, but an axe against a sword wasn't going to go that well. At least, that's what Valcrist had said. Selibas kicked the tip of Caladbolg's sheath. With practiced precision, his right hand darted across to catch the hilt. He pulled the iron blade out of the steel hilt. The sound of metal on metal rang out in Selibas' ears. He closed his eyes.

He shrugged his jacket off, and re-attached his shoulder pauldrons to his light armor, and darted his body forward. Selibas dropped his shoulder low to the ground, and right before he reached the man could have swung at him, he bounced to the left side. He swung his sword in a downward diagonal arc, at the mans armored hip.

[Kelvin H. Calderon]

Kelvin watched closely as he darted towards him. His body movement said that he was going to charge head on, but his eyes darted to his final destination a moment before he changed directions. However, Kelvin wanted it to seem as if he hadn't caught the subtle clue from Selibas. He feigned a block and allowed the blade to collide with the armor on his hip. The collision created a loud clang and a dent in his armor, but did little more than provide Kelvin with a nice bruise. The recoil from the hit, however, had knocked Selibas off guard. Seeing a good opening, Kelvin swung his axe downward towards the sacaens knee.

[Selibas]

Selibas had made a mistake. He gave away his plan, luckily that didn't happen in real battle that often. Apparently the man didn't care, or didn't see and let Selibas hit him. The problem was, was that the man was a Sky Father Damned wall, and Selibas' arm went numb for a split second. Selibas was sent into a brief second of recoil, and saw Kelvins axe coming back in.

Well not back in, this was his first attack. Selibas was recovering from his own, which he'd probably had the worst of. He had no choice, he added his left arms strength to his right and moved to parry the blow. He still didn't have full strength in his dominant arm however, and he was sent back quickly. He reeled back, slowly stepping forward again. Then he made his token rash decision, and bull rushed in, trying to get through the more defended mans defenses. Shoulder ramming a larger armored man, what could go wrong?

[Chelsea Dagger]

Chelsea rolled her eyes as the boys started to spar. Always having to fight each other for fun. She sighed and went to go tie up Spirit and Kashmir. She originally wanted to find a stable to put them up in, but figured that Kelvin might want his horse nearby. So instead, she tied them up to a nearby tree. She then scanned over the area for something to do, but decided that wandering around right now but not be the best. With another sigh, she sat down and waited for her finace to finish his duel.

[Kelvin H. Calderon]

As Selibas parried his strike, Kelvin followed the momentum of the axe and turned in a neat circle. He replanted his feet and watched as Selibas struggled to maintain his balance. Once he had, he charged headlong at Kelvin. The knight raised an eyebrow under his armor. Charging heavy armor? What does he hope to accomplish, a shattered shoulder?

Nevertheless, Kelvin maintained his stance. As his opponent drew near, Kelvin crouched and returned the charge, barreling into Selibas and launching over his shoulder.

[Selibas]

Selibas flew threw the air. He landed heavily on his chest, feeling the air knocked out of him. He slowly pushed himself up with his left hand. He picked Caladbolg back up off the ground. He turned quickly, seeing the Sacaen woman lead the two horses away to the stable Lightning was holed up in. Selibas moved back in but jumped back. He locked his eyes on Kelvin's own, and refused to look away.

He ran back in, but then slid to the side and quickly ran back around the larger man. He swung the blade at the lower part of the man's back plate. The man seemed to have quick reflexes, but maybe Selibas was faster than him on foot? He'd have to see.