Gold and Honor [Euphemious/ Flynn]

[Euphemious]

"It should not be that much farther", spoke Euphemious as he lead the young mercenary toward the rebellion fortress. The knight marched on with a steady step and rhythm that one only achieves though years of marching practice and hard training. The entire trip Euphemious armor clanked and grinned as the Knight marched his way up the steep hills. For most men exhaustion and muscle fatigue would take over carrying that heavy armor around, but for the knight Euphemious this was nothing. Every day at dawn he would wake up and run a mile in his heavy plate armor. For him a simple walk up a few hills was child's play.

"So who trained you how to fight", asked Euphemious suddenly as he marched on. The knight had gotten tired of the sound of his armor clanking and decided that he was going to drown it all out with conversation. It was far easier that way than to simply try and ignore the sound. The more you try to ignore it the louder it seems to become.

"So let me ask you a quick question. Why do you fight for coin? And before you go into that everybody fights for coin excuse that all mercenaries use when they get into this situation then I will go ahead and cut the head off that snake. Yes it is true that even soldiers fight for there pay, but there is a total difference between a mercenary and a guard. Mercenaries willingly risk there life for a price of gold. Guards risk there life to make sure the civilians are safe. So let me ask you this question again with a lot more clarity. "Why are you risking your life over a few small pieces of gold. Is it for greed, is it a sens of honor, or is it you simply have no other choice?"

[Deleted]

Flynn nodded in response to the knight. Cuddy kept at a steady walk next to the marching soldier. For a man in heavy armor, he could certainly move with some speed. The horse's front hooves fell in tune with Euphemious' steps, creating a loud clacking and clanging with each movement. The mercenary wondered what it was like at the fort. Would it be all military all the time? Or would it be like a town of some sort? He wondered about what was in store until he heard Euphemious speak again.

"My father did," the Sacaen answered. "Back in Sacae, he and many other men in my tribe were expert mounted archers. I did not inherit that skill from my father, but I did have a knack for whacking people with a sword. My mother had to pester my father into training me in sword combat, which he eventually did." Flynn smiled at the memories of his childhood. His father was always pretty sore about his son not being a great archer, but managed to pull together long enough to hone Flynn's skill with a blade. Then he stuck him on night guard duty, which made the mercenary furrow his brow in frustration.

Flynn thought for a moment at the knight's question. He shrugged in response. "It's the only thing I can tie myself to that allows me freedom," he said. "I left my tribe because I wanted to do something with my life other than stand and stare at the plains at ungodly hours. I didn't want to stand and guard some town or lord permanently. I want to go places, see things, meet people, make a name for myself, and doing what I did before isn't going to get me there. You can't see the world if you don't even take leave the front door. And being a mercenary and following the gold gets me there, I suppose. Sort of like nomads following the food."

[Euphemious]

"So freedom", spoke Euphemious as he digested Flynn's words. It was only fitting that a sacean seek freedom. They were the most free people in all of the continent. They could go were they wanted. See what they wanted to see and live the way they wanted to live. Euphemious never had that kind of freedom. Even before his family home was burned to the ground and his clan slaughtered like pigs there were always chains on his life. He was a noble. One of the elite sons of Bern. There was so much expected of him. There was so much he was suppose to do. Even now with the Lowlander name in the dirt Euphemious was still chained by it. He fought in the rebellion for it and he traveled across Bern for it. Freedom was never a option for him. There was always a chain. There was always something holding him down in one place or another. The knight had traded his freedom for Honor. He traded the unknown for Order. He had bound himself to a name and as a result his path was already set out before him.

"You know sometimes I envy you saceasn", spoke the knight opening up to the young swordsmen. "You all have the option to choose how you live. You get to decided how you do things or what you are going to do. People like me, we are bound. We are bound like a slave to his master or a dog to his collar. To make things worse I even know this. I know I am bound to my duty as a knight and I know freedom is simply a step away. However I choose to remain here. I choose to remain in this life. I fear the unknown and I fear the path that is not laid out before me. So to all the people who call saceans dirty savages who know nothing of the real world, I say they can go sod it. True courage is stepping into the unknown and forging a life from it. I have great respect for your people."

After finishing his rant Euphemious stopped and took a deep breath. It was good to get that off his chest. The pressure and thoughts that have been building up for years. Still he was bound by honor and as a result such feelings and emotions could not be simply shared. With Flynn however it did not matter. Flynn was a mercenary. He was free. Telling him how he felt meant nothing as Flynn would simply be gone like the wind. Knights and soldiers were like mountains. Only time could remove them.

[Deleted]

"Yes, sir," Flynn replied with a nod. Freedom. What did freedom even mean, anyway? Despite the mercenary's ability to go where he pleased. Despite this, he still felt tied to his family of above all, no matter how far he ran off. That was the thing about Sacaen tribes. Everyone turned to each other because of the prejudice they often faced. So Flynn sometimes felt a little homesick. His parents would be very worried for him, which was comforting to think about. It reminded him he wasn't completely by himself in the world.

The mercenary watched the knight as he spoke. It was surprising to see such a confession from the man. Flynn had never thought Euphemious felt chained down by the rebellion. He thought that the knight was completely and wholely happy in his work. Clearly not so, it seemed. "Freedom," the mercenary repeated. "Freedom is truly a hard word to use. Sacaens do hold oath with each other. It is necessary for a tribe to thrive. If we didn't trust each other and work together, it crumbles. Rarely do people leave. I did so and without my father's permission, though I doubt he bears animosity towards me. If he didn't have to help keep up with the hunting, he most certainly would be looking for me and wanting to drag me back to the tribe the hard way." He paused, nodding with a smile at Euphemious' compliment, "You are kind to say so, sir. I have always wondered how people can be so horrible to Sacaens with no reason to be so, so it's nice to see someone who doesn't believe so."

Flynn began to wonder if he would ever follow behind a lord or cause for the sake of doing it rather than for money. He felt deep down that he would gravitate to doing such an honor bound work. The work of a mercenary could very easily take him down the wrong path should he take a job with false information provided.

[Euphemious]

"So we are all bound to something", spoke Euphemious as he used his spear as a crutch to climb up a particularly step segment of a hill. One atop the knight reached his hand down to give the mercenary a pull up. "Well they always say the grass is greener on the other side. Maybe I am just looking at the other side and wishing I was there. Still", spoke the knight as he began to march again. "I would like to visit the plains one day. I had heard they were particularly beautiful. One man once described them to me as a sea of grass or a green ocean. I responded to him by asking how was the fish." The knight chuckled at his own horrible joke.

"Well since you shared a bit of your origins I will share a bit of mine. I was born in a small village. My family was killed when I was young and I grew up amongst my two female cousins. I was trained as a knight since the tender age of six. I did not get my armor however till I was thirteen years of age. Before I could get my first set of armor I was tasked with the hunting of a great wolf. For forty days and forty nights I traveled alone in the dark and cold wilderness of Bern. By tradition I was not allowed to wear shoes, nor a shirt, and I was given only a hatchet to kill my prey. The weapon was foreign to me as all my life I had trained with a spear. This however was intentional. The training was done to see if I can adapt to the situations around me and act accordingly. With such little training with the axe and a life time of spear trining how was I suppose to kill a massive black wolf with such a weapon? However you see the hatchet was a trick. You were never suppose to kill the wolf with the hatchet. It would be impossible for you to do. The axe was too small and your training in the weapon was too light. No, you were suppose to use the hatchet to make a spear and then use the spear to slay the wolf. However at the time I was stupid. I did not think about what I should do or what was most effective. I blindly rushed forward and hunted the tracks of the wolf. At the end of those forty days I slew the beast with the hatchet. I was the first member in my family to fail the test in over seven generations."

Leaving his story behind the knight could see one of the watch towards for the fort between the trees. He pointed toward it with his hand and began to speak. "See we are almost there", spoke the knight as he began to press forward.

[Deleted]

"Of course we are, sir," Flynn responded, gladly taking the knight's hand. He pulled himself up to meet the man and continued walking. Cuddy hoisted himself up and fell back in step with Euphemious. "It gives you something to follow and guide you. People who have no allegiance to anything walk a very thin line that can lead to great and terrible consequences should the wrong choice be made. Without allegiance, there's no one to back you and stand by you. Even mercenaries have their employer's help during a job." The mercenary shrugged at the man's next statement, "I suppose. We all look for something different in life. It's human nature to seek out a thrill." Flynn clapped a hand on the knight's shoulder, a large smile on his face. "I'd be happy to take you on a tour of my old stomping grounds. Lots of wide, open spaces filled with lush greenery, fresh air not bogged down with hustle and bustle of a town. The fish aren't too bad, if I do say so myself. There's a reason the women of my tribe stood guard while the lasses took their baths." The Sacaen grinned as he finished, winking at Euphemious in a knowing way.

Flynn let out a long whistle, impressed by the man's tale. Bern was one hell of a place to come from if that was the right of passage. It certainly blew Flynn's story right out of the water, though most did. "Very impressive, my friend," the mercenary said. "That is quite the way to grow up. I would still comend you for performing such a feat with something you're not used to using. What happened to these cousins of yours, pray tell?"

Flynn followed the man's hand and saw the tower. They were very close, even when they had fought the Ilians. "Excellent!" he said "Do they have weapon vendors there? I could use a new sword after seeing your incredible lance earlier."

(Ah, Axe and Sword. Good times killing bandits and looking for that special sword of yours)

[Euphemious]

Women, thought Euphemious listening to Flynn's statement. He was referring to the fact that the plains were considered a sea. Not ther ... umm. If Euphemious cold blush his face would be red. Still it was better to leave this misunderstanding alone. It would not only embarrass Flynn, but also make Euphemious look like a weirdo. Who ask about fish in a grassland.

"Worry not Flynn not all Bern coming of age traditions are like my family", spoke Euphemious. "My family just has a extreme way of dealing with it. We want our sons and daughters to be tough as stone and resourceful as the wind. So when they come of age we give them a grueling task. This task sets them on the path in which they walk there entire life. Brutal, Cold, Hungry, and always using your mind."

"Vendors", spoke Euphemious as he thought back onto the fort. "We don't really have any merchants at the fort. However there is a skilled blacksmith by the name of Hobbs. If you pay Hobbs the gold he would forge you something worthy of calling a weapon. As a matter of fact he was the one who forged my Guan Dao", spoke Euphemious as he drew his weapon from his back and held it outward. The knight really liked his weapon. There was something other worldly about it to him. The way the metal shinned. The feeling he received from holding it. It was as if he was holding a weapon far beyond anything a man of his time period should be wielding.

"As for my cousins", spoke Euphemious as he placed his weapon back onto his back. "They are doing fine back in Phoenix Fall. Axe took her right of passage a year after I finished. She passed her with ease and so did sword. The two of them are smart and resourceful, but me I seem to have a lack of imagination. So far I am trying to keep them out of the fighting. If anybody should be risking there neck in this war it should be the fool of a cousin who can't pass a simple test. Well that and I don't want to wake up one morning and get a message that my cousin had been killed in battle. Call me selfish, but I would rather have it the other way around."

"As for your invitation to see the plains, maybe once my vacation hours come in."

[Deleted]

"Still, Euphemious," Flynn said, giving a tug on Cuddy's reins. The horse corrected himself behind the two men. "That is incredibly amazing for something done at that age. Shows you're destined to be a great hero, one history will remember for all time. Here I was thinking I was the next big thing because I broke Cuddy back there when I was ten." The mercenary jabbed a thumb in the horse's direction. He looked up in curiosity at his name being called, but returned to his mindless following of the two men in front of him. The grass appeared to be more interesting to Cuddy and every once in a while, the horse ate some of the green plant.

"Excellent to hear," the Sacaen replied, clapping his hands together enthusiastically. "He must be quite the blacksmith to have forged so great a weapon." Flynn gestured towards the knight's strange spear. He was still quite curious about the weapon and it's strange design. Its head wasn't a point, but more of blade, which confused him the most. What was a lance without a pointed head to stab your enemies with? "I do have to ask, though. What was the inspiration for its design? It looks like more of a slicing weapon than a stabbing one. Any particular reason for that?"

Flynn nodded in response. Their names were odd, though. Axe and Sword? The mercenary could tell they were most likely fake names and he suspected the Eupehmious might not be the knight's real name, either. "Understandable. Do try to protect yourself, too. I'm sure these cousins of hours dont want to hear the same news. It might lead them to go fight and put their lives on the line."

The Sacaen grinned, "You won't regret it."

[Euphemious]

"True enough Flynn", spoke Euphemious as he looked down at the sword hanging from his waist. The blade was tied into its sheath and the well polished handle spoke of its absent use. It was a symbol to the knight, rather than a weapon. The Champion sword served as a symbol of his families heritage. It was the one thing that showed the Lowlanders were still nobles of the old era. Despite how precious to them the blade was his cousins wanted Euphemious to be the one to carry it. If he fell in battle the blade would be lost again. So Euphemious had to win. He had to return home and deliver the sword back to his cousins. Such a risk was foolish, but it showed the value they placed on him. It showed how much they would regret hearing their dear cousin fell in the fight for Bern.

"Your right Flynn", spoke Euphemious. The fort was almost a stone throw away. "They would be upset with me if I was to get myself killed out there. Still I would rather take the risk myself. Chalk it up to brotherly instincts, or some inbred male instinct, but the idea of the two ladies of my house fighting sickens me. Now I am not saying I do not think women do not belong on the battlefield. I meet a few ladies who can hold there own with the lance and shield. I am just saying I don't like the idea of two maidens so close to me risking there lives. If somebody has to do it then I want to be the one to do it. ... Besides they need to keep there innocents alive. War, battle, and death have a way to sticking to you. You know what I mean Flynn. A good example would be the mercenaries from earlier. When I first became a knight I would have accepted there surrender without a moments hesitation. After losing a couple of friends and seeing people die, I can no longer say the same thing. War is hell and those who fight in it are tainted by it."

[Deleted]

"No need to humble yourself so much, Euphemious," Flynn insisted. "Take pride in your conquering of such a grueling task, even if you technically failed. Like I said, your success in completing it at all with a weapon you didn't know how to wield in the first place foreshadows the legend you'll create for yourself. Generations upon generations will remember Euphemious, the Steel Titan of the Rebellion, restorer of freedom to their homeland!" The mercenary smiled as he excitedly shouted his prediction. He followed the knight's gaze down to the sword at Euphemious' belt. Flynn raised an eyebrow quizzically. Why did Euphemious have, by the looks of it, an unused sword? The handle itself was very ornate and looked as if it belonged to a royal family of some sort or maybe it was some sort of heirloom. Possibly both. Flynn had trouble believing it belonged to the knight, but that's who it seemed to belong to. Could Euphemious be a lord or come from a rich family? The Sacaen held his tongue so as to avoid insulting Euphemious. Though, the mercenary couldn't help but wonder.

Flynn looked at the fort that grew ever closer before looking back at Euphemious. "I can see where you're coming from," he agreed, "but if you do end up dead, what will they do? They don't seem to have nearly as much experience as you do and innocence is dangerous out there in the world. It leads to naive decisions that can cost lives, their own or others. But that's the worst case scenario. With this," the mercenaru rapped his knuckle on the knight's armor, "killing you will be quite the task." Flynn smiled for a moment before it faded. From what Euphemious said, the swordsman could tell that knight didn't leave any enemy standing. Even the ones who'd given up or were too injured to continue. "Needless bloodshed isn't the way to get revenge. What's done is done and killing the defeated won't bring back the dead. Let the survivors learn from their mistakes and take a better road. Who knows? A man you let live today could save you the next." Flynn found himself saying one of his father's old sayings. Strange, yet ultimately, the Sacaen saw truth in the words and he hoped Euphemious did as well.

[Euphemious]

"True enough Flynn, but that same soldier you let live could lead a battalion of soldiers back to your location. Bah humbug, here I am a knight of Bern and being lectured by a mercenary on ethics of battle and war. Your words are the truth and as a knight of Bern I should shows some knightly educate. However I just can't see myself letting people simply go after they have tried to kill me or others. I am still as bullheaded as I was when I did my hunt. However I will take your words to heart. My actions earlier might have moved the young rider away from joining the rebellion. Blood-lust is never a good trait. Thought I can not promise I will start to do it immediately, but I can take some baby steps."

"Well while we are on the topic of bloodlust and mercy let me ask you a question. Where does a mercenary get such a iron clad code of honor. Most mercenaries I know would kill there own mothers for coin and could not give two stone coppers about the lives of others. After moving from battlefield to battlefield I would think war would leave a emptiness on the inside. Is it because of your sacean nature? Your people are known to be wise or at least farsighted than most of the people in Bern?

"As a side note have you ever considered throwing your entire lot in with the rebellion. I mean sure you are going to be fighting for some coin, but have you ever thought about going full rebel. It may not seem like much now, but there will be some perks with being a member of the rebellion if we take over Bern. You can get some land and maybe a house. You could also win a title for yourself. Settling down in one place is not that bad. Pshaw, look at me. Here I am speaking like a opportunist. Sure men like me fighting in the rebellion for honor and the right for Bern to rule itself, but you can always have a personal goal behind it. Those with personal goals usually last longer than people who simply fight because."

[Deleted]

"If the man returns with a few allies, then history repeats itself and you teach him why he lost in the first place. Of course this time, he doesn't get to remember the lesson and you be quick enough to get to him that there won't be a third time with the man," Flynn flashed a wicked grin as he spoke. While the Sacaen never killed a defeated enemy, an enemy who has not yet admitted defeat and yielded isn't under the swordman's honor code's protection.

Flynn nodded, a victorious grin replacing his arrogant one. He was glad his words had gotten through to the knight, even if it would take some time to for their full affect to get to him. "They are the lessons my father taught me and I hold them in high respects. It took me some time to fully understand them and see what their purpose was. My goal has always been to defeat the opponent, either through incapacitating them or killing them. Even for scum like the men from earlier today. If you're so inclined to not let any one get away, though, a prisoner of war is never out of the question."

The mercenary went quiet for a moment and awkwardly tugged at his sword strap. "That's mainly the reason," he answered. "I was raised to fight with honor and be respectable in daily life. My father always said that without honor, I wouldn't be anything more than I already was. He said those who fight without any sort of code to guide them were lost and would fall prey to the evils of the world and become the scourge of the earth. It kept me focused on what mattered in a fight, to say the least. Skill over under handed tricks. Mercy to the defeated rather than a bloodied sword and stained character. I was taught to win without giving in to the evils of war."

"Full rebel," Flynn repeated. That was something he'd not considered. Tying himself so whole heartedly to something not related to family was a foreign concept to him, but what Euphemious presented as rewards for doing so were enticing to say the least. If he did go full rebel and they did win, though, Flynn didn't think he could step foot in Ilia again without being recognized and targeted. The mask would be a moot point as well if he committed himself to their cause. "It's something I'll consider. The possible rewards are quite substantial, so I will think about it for some time. I need to get a feel for how your commander runs things. No need for unnecessary friction, eh?"