The Knight's of Cydonia [PG-16]

[Dad]

You can find the OOC thread [url="http://forum.yugiohcardmaker.net/topic/245387-the-knights-of-cydonia-ooc-pg-16/"]here[/url].


[spoiler=[b]The Plot[/b]]

"[i]No one's going to take me alive. The time has come to make things right. You and I must fight for our rights. You and I must to survive.[/i]"--Creed, former Knight of Cydonia


The time is 485 A.D., the Medieval Ages. Before you stands the once great and powerful land of Cydonia. Toxicity, chaos, betrayal, denial, sorrow. These words don't usually come to mind when the country of Cydonia is mentioned. But as of late, a crude and dark element has befallen this nation. A black, feeding poison has drained the purity and heart of this land, from it's citizens to it's mythic creatures. Senseless onslaught has driven men to kill their brothers, their mothers, their wives, and themselves. Before, dragons and serpents were beasts of loyalty; now they are a hindrance, destroying everything they touch. The very stability of the world is at stake. For this poison is forever spreading, ruining all in it's path. All but five remain untouched in Cydonia. The Knights. Once a team of six brethren of magic, their leader has gone missing. Since his sudden disappearance, this black destruction has wreaked havoc amongst their proud nation. Now, two tasks have been assigned to them by the eldest brother: find number six, and find the cure. But the poison is not the only problem the Knights have. The very people they protect have lost their minds to insanity, driving the Knights out to the outskirts of their own land.

Now they must find a way home, so that they may find the sixth, and find an answer. Parts of the forest around them remain untouched, and as they prepare for war, they find refuge in it's innocence.[/spoiler]


As the sun rose, a cold wind blew in from the Midwestern plains just outside of the Cydonian forest. It's chill and rapid rustling muffled the sounds of the distant sounds of metal clashing with stoney earth. It had been more than six days since the infection, the poison that had claimed Cydonia, ran Valdis and his brothers out of the village. Now they had to scrounge around like common thieves to gather basic materials needed to survive. Thankfully, smaller, dense parts of the Cydonian forest had been untouched by the dark element. Unfortunately however, that wouldn't last long. Slowly but surely, the toxin was spreading, slowly spreading it's evil to even the farthest lands. "This is getting out of control," Valdis said as he stabbed his blade into the earth below him.

For days they had done nothing more than basic training, and it was getting them nowhere. "Copy after copy I've fought, but I've learned nothing of this damned element. There has to be a way to study it, and to find it's heart. But it began in the middle of our world. How do we get inside without harming our people?" he pondered aloud. The thought of capturing a dragon was out of the question. Since the outbreak, the beasts had become a lot more hostile, and they were attacking and killing anyone who dared to approach them. "Everything can't be damned. There has to be something untouched!" he screamed punching into the cliff side before him. Valdis immediately regretted that as the sounds of large crumbling rocks splashed into the nearby river and some of them even fell atop his head.

Massaging his cranium, he began returning to their base camp where his brothers were unaware of his brief absence. It was already dawn, and it was the safest time to search for supplies. Not much could be found in the forest alone, so they wouldn't remain at this camp for too much longer.

Valdis snatched up a nearby bucket of water and poured it over Lars' head. "Sorry for the rude awakening brother, but we have to get moving."

[fenrir]

Yet unknown to the brothers, Kornilius had moved away from the camp for a moment to relax. There was a single stream running through the back of the forest, it was untouched, or well, so they thought. As the forest was slowly being tainted, so was the steam that runs through it. Before the stream was as clear as a crystal, with plenty of small fish. Now it was just a sliver of filth that runs through a once proud forest. Yet Kornilius continued to visit this stream, to what you ask? Well that's simple.

To fish.

He had a long pole of conjoined sticks (created with the help of Valdis, obviously) with a meager piece of string attached to the end, and a hook formed from his dagger. He sat leisurely with the rod balanced in his right hand. He would flick it occasionally, as if to entice the fish. Minutes passed and nothing bit. Suddenly however, he felt a strong bite. With a flick of his wrist the fish and the hook flew upwards, for a split second a spark could be seen at his hand, but it disappeared.

A second later, he had a dead fish and a burned rod.

[GreyCat]

Lars sputter helplessly and coughed as some of the water got into his mouth and nose. It was cold too. Not that that part really bothered him. He snorted, annoyed, and looked up at Valdis through his dripping locks, their usual neat arrangement in more of a mess than the night's sleep usually caused thanks to Valdis. "Really now. Was that really necessary? A simple prod, poke or shake would not have sufficed?" He rose and shook his hair dry before brushing it back into place with a few strokes, pressing the last of the water from it. His shirt was wet at the top too, but he would attend to that later.

He closed his eyes and let the morning wind caress his features then frowned.Though the morning was, for all appearances, pleasant; the wind brought with it a taste of chaos and suffering, a whiff of pain and terror, a feel of poison and and death. No, not a pleasant day at all. He looked over at his brother. From the dust on his clothing, he had been up and about for a while. Probably some venting again. "So brother, any particular destination in mind?"

[Sam Saturn]

Iaaku woke to the sound of water falling on the face of one of his brothers. He shot up looking around to make sure the ground beneath him hadn't been infected by the poison the poison could pop out of nowhere but everywhere at the same time. He stood up and walked out side seeing Kornilius fishing and off in the distance Larz's tent open. He grabbed his sword and ran to investigate. He reached the opened door and peered in, it was only Valdis. Iaaku knew that this ment he would have to go to the deeper parts of the wood and gather materials for a fire. Making fire came easily to Iaaku since his element was fire. "Brother what are you doing with that bucket over Larz's head. Have you gone mad has the poison reached you?" he asked his brother. "Should i go get fire materials again today while everyone else trains?" he continued. Iaaku was fine with scourging around for fire materials, it meant that he could hunt small game and practice with his two-handed sword in the woods. Iaaku had a throwing knife in his cloak just incase Valdis was driven mad by the toxin. The throwing dagger was made last time he was made to go out in the woods and look for fire materials. It was just a prototype.

[Dad]

Valdis chuckled at Lars "a prod or poke comment". "I suppose, but by the way you were snoring, it was too deep of a sleep for me to poke you awake," he said, wiping dust and rock from his cloak.

"The schedule for the day brothers, calls for a little more than simple gathering of materials. At the rate this toxin is spreading, the entire forest and all of its inhabitants will be poisoned within three suns. We'll gather what little materials are left here, and tonight we will head into Knuld Valley," he said with a worried voice.

Knuld Valley was notorious for it's home to the Knuldlock Dragon: A crude beast over fifteen feet tall, and weighing more than five tons. It had the power not only to kill a man, but to sentence him to the Untied Realm, where infinite torture and suffering would follow for eternity. And if that weren't enough, he was stronger than the average dragon in every way. He could breathe fire, a fire so packed with magic, it could literally create and destroy elemental magic used against him. His hide was thicker than tempered steel, for no ordinary blade could harm him. The crushing power behind each of his paws was equivalent to that of the five brothers physical strength combined, multiplied one thousand fold. But despite his devastating power, the pale blue monster was only hostile when awoken.

"The Valley has not been touched by the poison. Perhaps there are still dragons to be tamed. If we succeed, we can train the beasts, and have them take us to the village without being spotted. It will be a bit of a drop from the skies, so be sure to soften your landings as we rehearsed. Ball your magic into your feet, and land softly. We cannot alert the infected," he said sternly. Valdis sort of turned around at a start with Iaaku's questions.

"Ah, Iaaku. I assume you heard all of that. But yes, gather what you can find, and bring it back here. We leave at high noon. We'll have quite a hike ahead of us, and we'll have to avoid Cavern Demons and Hagger Reapers. They love Knuld Valley, and they hate visitors. The sooner we leave before dark, the better. And while you're out, gather Kornilius. I can smell that delicious fish from here."

[GreyCat]

"You see, this is why I never let you plan our outings," Lars said with a sigh, shaking head slowly. "You are like a scenic guide from the Untied Realm." He did gather his belongings though. No sense in arguing with Valdis when he got into the Big Brother routine. He might be the second oldest, but all that earned him was a slighter better chance of being forgiven when he tweaked the rules. Walking the line was a specialty of his. He briefly wondered if there would be any loot in the valley and those caverns. Previous visitors might have left some none perishable baubles worth collecting. Might be a bad habit of his, raiding, ah, collecting, but useful.

Drawing his spear, he stabbed the air, slashed and twirled it before snapping it into its individual pieces and sliding them into the sheath on his back with a flourish. "Brother dear," he asked with a slight smile, "what are the chances that we can find any useful items in the valley? Aside from dragons."

[Dad]

"The travel rate of these mountains, despite their dangers, is very high. We're sure to find more than enough food there at the very least. Higher peaks are untouched by the toxin, leaving the mountain deer and ram fair game for us. I'm sure Iaaku would be more than happy to roast us fresh mountain goat. And their milk is both delicious and healthy. If nothing else, the mountain snow can be melted for water. And if we're lucky Lars, gold. We'll be fine brother," he assured Lars. Though tier robes were not the strongest of armours, they were enchanted to protect their magical aura and lower their chances of being detected by magical creatures of the mountains and others. And with the high travel rate, and even higher death rate of exploring warriors, finding temporary armour for defense would be easy enough.

"While you lot prepare for our journey, I'll begin scouting the mountain terrain and carve a path. We'll meet at Knuld's Valley Point, on the eastern side at high noon."

[hr]

Valdis left in a rush, his hair whipping in the cold air. As he approached the Valley's entrance and the wrought stone stairs crudely fastened together, he dropped a heavy kick to the ground. "Perhaps I'll just make this safer," he said slowly molding the stone stairs into a walkable path. As he climbed, he noticed dark clouds gathering at the mountain's higher peaks. These were clearly not rain clouds. These clouds were Knuldlock's doing. The beast was doing one of two things: toying with his own fire and creating smoke clouds, or he had already sensed Valdis. "He can't possibly know I'm here. I've not even reached the half-point of the mountain."

[Dad]

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