Anti-bandit army camp - afternoon
“What do you mean he’s yours,” Marie asks me, her eyes are hyper-focused on me. Her voice is oozing with, “what in the hell is wrong with you” vibes. Can’t blame her for it, but I can't let it get to me.
“He’s mine, I’m the one who needs to deal with him. Besides, it's not like we got a choice. If we try to screw around with him then he’ll just screw around with us big time. So there’s no real dilemma here.”
“You know he’s trying to trap you, right?” Richard tells me.
“Yeah, so? I’ll still beat his ass black and blue anyway.”
“But still, don’t you think you’re just rushing into a decision,” Richard points out.
“What’s there to discuss, I just have to beat his ass, nothing to it. I don’t plan on losing.”
“Proxy, Willy is renowned for his professionalism, he’s not one to mess up a job; let alone, let a target escape. So the idea that you can beat him alone is not worth betting on.”
My teeth begin to grind against each other. “Well we don’t have any other ideas going on, so what other choice do we have!?”
“There are options, and we can figure them out if we think about them,” Marie insists.
“What’s that gonna be, waiting for him to bring god knows how many bandits if I don’t show up? I have to go!”
“I’m serious here, you aren’t going to fight him alone!”
“I’m serious too, and we have no choice. Why can’t you trust me!?”
The air grows tense as we reach the climax of our argument. This is going nowhere, she’ll never give, and she knows I won’t either. Whatever, it’s not gonna change anything.
“I’m going to go fight him, whether you like it or not. So there’s no point in trying to stop me.”
“Then can I ask you this: why are you so damn set on doing this?”
“Because I don’t want anything bad to happen to the army, not when I can stop it. I have to.”
“Proxy, you--”
“It’s nothing, I’m going to go get ready. Please, just let me do this. . .”
Marie takes a seat on top of the stone table. She rubs her eyes, making a groaning sound under her breath. I didn’t mean to agitate her, but that’s just a small consequence. She lets out a sigh of defeat.
“Fine, I guess you’d just sneak out of here if we break this off the conversation now. In that case, you can go and fight him.”
Yes, all right! She finally gets it!
“Don’t worry, I won’t let you down, Marie. I promise I’ll pull us a win!”
Marie mutters something under her breath, I couldn’t quite catch it, but oh well. I’m going to go and get prepared. I arrive in my tent, my stone sword is sitting next to my real one. I know that the real one is better than one that can barely leave a slash mark, but it’s real sturdy, so maybe using it as a shield isn’t a bad idea.
“Proxy?”
Richard’s voice calls me from the entrance of the tent.
“Hey buddy, whatcha need?”
“You know that this is insane, right?”
“Maybe, but it’s not like I haven’t done anything insane before.”
“But this is just reckless, even more so than usual.”
“Relax, it’s not a big deal. I know what I’m up against, I already underestimated him once, but I won’t do that again. I’m going in with 100% of my power.”
“Still though, you’re walking into a certain trap.”
“I know that too, but I have no choice.”
“Why are you so gung-ho about this? Don’t you get that the person you’re about to fight is a certified killer! This isn’t a game or a street fight!” Richard’s tone rises as he grows more agitated.
“I know that this isn’t a street voice!” I raise my voice at him. Richard slightly recoils from me. “I know damn well that this isn’t a game, I know that this isn’t a street fight. I damn well learned that the hard when you--”
Shit, get yourself together! What the hell am I doing, yelling at Richard like this isn’t what I’m supposed to be doing, I can’t show him that I’m weak! I take a deep breath and I wash away my frustration.
“It’s okay it’ll all be fine. I’m gonna win.” Richard returns my reassurance with silence. “Seriously, everything will be fine, so just wait for me to get back, okay?” He doesn’t return anything in response.
Damn, I lost control there for a second. I get he’s concerned, but I can’t back down from this and I need to show them that I can do this; that I’m not weak, or gonna be a burden to the army. Looking outside the tent, it’s almost dusk, I better get going if I want to make it on time.
“I’ll be heading out now. Look, I’m sorry for yelling, but you have to trust me. Whether it’s a street fight or this, I’ll win.” I bump my chest, trying to instill some confidence into my victory. But that won’t be enough, I need to come back alive. I don’t know how I’ll do it but I will!
“Proxy, can I ask you something?”
“Sure, what is it?”
“What did you want to ask me earlier?”
“Hm? Oh yeah! Well, I wanna know why you wanted to learn Source for, better yet, why you seem determined to do so?”
“What?”
“When you were training, I noticed that no matter how many times you failed to keep your flow you would just bounce back as if failure didn’t matter to you. Why is that, what’s driving you?”
“That’s. . .”
I scratch my head. What am I doing, I need to get going.
“Actually, I gotta get going. You can tell me when I get back.”
Patting him on the back, I take my leave. Well, time to rock this!
…
Right after Proxy left the tent, I couldn’t help but smack my hands against each other. Why the hell is he so stubborn? Why the hell did I freeze up when he yelled at me! Why did I get scared when he did? More importantly, what was he about to say before he cut himself off? When I exit Proxy’s tent, I notice Nunnalé and Marie on the side of it.
“Did you hear all of that?” I ask them.
Marie nods her head. “Every word.”
“What’s his problem, he knows he’s doing something reckless but he just doesn’t care! It’s always like that!”
“Are you certain about that?”
“Of course I am, he never listens to what I have to say on any matter. He’s always charging ahead of me, even when I warn him!”
I let him do it when we hung out in NewPort Island, with the escapade on vandalizing the Kingdom’s grounds, but now, this is just ridiculous!
“Have you ever considered why he’s acting foolhardy?” Marie poses a question.
“What?”
“He never told you?”
“No.”
“I see. Then think back, remember when me and Proxy had that big fight?”
“Yeah, it’s not exactly something I could forget.”
“Want to know why he punched me?”
“I guess I would like to.”
“Because I brought up the poison incident.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I rubbed it in his face that he couldn’t protect you, so he got angry and hit me; gonna be honest, kind of hurt but at least I returned the favor.” So that’s why? “So, after that day, I came to realize something about him: he’s deeply wounded about that incident.”
“Really?”
“Of course. Despite how he comes off, he’s been affected by it in a significant way. I think that’s why he trains at night.”
“You know about that?”
“He has his midnight training, I have my walks.”
“But why is he training?”
“Come on, can’t you tell? It’s because he knows he lacks strength; the strength to fight on his own and the strength to protect you.”
Those last words strike my heart like a sledgehammer. “To protect me”. . .
Stolen novel; please report.
“ I see, so that’s what he wished to prove me wrong on,” Nunnalé mutters.
“What do you mean,” I ask for more details.
“He said he wished to prove me wrong when I said he wouldn’t be enough to protect you.”
“He heard you!?”
“Indeed, at first, I thought it was to prove his strength to preserve his ego. However, I failed to see it in that light.”
I can't help but feel my chest growing tighter as I come to realize what Proxy has possibly been going through.
“I. . .never knew he could feel like that; I thought he forgot about it. . .Then again, that’s what I thought, I never once asked him how he felt or what he was feeling. I just thought about myself.”
“Kind of selfish of you.”
“Yeah.”
“But at the same time, he is as well. He never wanted to tell you how he felt and I have no idea why.”
“I wonder that as well.”
“Then why do you not just ask him,” Nunnalé suggests.
“He would just try to shake me off if I asked.”
“Then press him. If you don’t then he’ll never open up. You need to put the effort into understanding him. If you don’t, then you’ll continue never to understand one another. Got it?”
“I. . .”
“Geez, can’t you just man up and say got it!”
Marie’s right, he never opened up, but I never even tried to see if he was really okay. We just continued to act as if nothing happened to the other. More importantly, I don’t want him to do this alone, I don’t want him to risk it all by himself! I want him to rely on me and everyone else, just like when I relied on him. I bring my attention back up to Marie, determination swelling up in me.
“Got it!” I repeat, my voice swelling with reinvigorated confidence.
“Good! Sorry if I was a bit aggressive, but you were annoying me a bit,” Marie tactlessly speaks her mind.
“Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to!”
“It’s cool, as long as you have that fire in your eyes, we’re square.”
Now that I have this feeling of certainty in me, I need to go and aid Proxy. The question is: where is he going to meet this bounty hunter?
“Marie, do you know where Proxy is going?”
“Yeah, I happen to read the letter before giving it to him. They’re meeting at the Titan trees forest. I know where it is.”
“Great, where is it?”
“Sure, but if you think you’re going by yourselves, you’re mistaken.”
“You’re coming with us?”
“You’ll need all the hands you can get dealing with Willy. Besides, I won’t send you off into danger again, so you can count on me.”
“Thank you, Marie!”
“I’ll grab what I need and we can go. Hang on a moment.” Marie stands upon the stone table. “Everyone!” Her voice reverberates through the camp with an authoritative presence, catching everyone’s attention, like always. “The enemy might be coming, I want this placed locked down. Have archers deployed towards the entrance of the camp, and swordsmen in front of them. If my brother and his troop come back, inform them that we expect enemies and that I have stepped out to intercept them! That is all.”
Marie steps off the table and moves towards her tent. We’re going to do this, we’re going to have to fight. That means I need to make Nunnalé fight as well. As much as I don’t want her to, I know she’ll be able to help us greatly.
“Nunnalé, we’ll have to fight, and as much as I don’t want you to, you’ll have to.”
“I will fight for you until I die. However, if I can control it, I will also focus on my survival to not burden you, master Richard.”
“Thank you, thank you for putting up with me.”
“Do not say that, it is an honor having you as a master.”
Jee, I don’t know if she’s just saying that to flatter me, or she means it, but having such a cute girl say that to me is a bit too much for me to handle. Damn it, get it together!
“Also, I must also help Proxy,” Nunnalé reveals her ulterior motive
“Why?”
“I don’t know, I have this feeling, a sort of resonance.”
“Why is that?”
“I don’t know?”
I wonder what it could be. Well, in any case, we should be heading out now!
“Nunnalé, let’s go and help that blockhead!”
“Understood! But may I ask, who is this blockhead individual?”
“Proxy, it’s Proxy.”
I slump my shoulders, the fact that she easily killed my chance to do a one-liner is a testament to how cool I get to be before I’m just put back into place. Oh well, I’ll just pretend she got what I meant and roll with it. . .
Titan’s trees - dusk
The road that leads into the forest is blocked by a beaten-up carriage. It’s just here with nobody to guard it. I get off Road Burner to go take a closer look. My eyes scan the carriage to see if there’s anything on it. So far, it seems like it's been picked cleaner than the lunchroom when it’s Pizza bagel day; god I miss that day so much!
“What the hell is a carriage doing out here?”
Even if I get that answered it’s not like it matters. I came here to kick ass and that’s what I’m gonna do. I jump up on the back of the carriage. Taking in a large breath of air, I get ready to shout.
“Where the hell are you, Willy!? Come out here so I can kick your scrawny ass!” Nothing, not even a peep from any woodland critters. Where in the hell is he? This is where he told me to meet him, so what the hell? “Did you hear me? I said--”
An instant warning goes off in my brain, something fast from behind. I roll my body off the carriage to take cover from the emanate threat. I heard two - no - three sounds of impacts against the carriage’s surface. Taking a quick peek, three arrows are stabbed into the carriage. Before I can touch one, another warning goes off; above me! I dodge the oncoming attacks. The barrage of arrows doesn’t let up just because I moved out of the way. The shooter is fast enough to have them keep up with me, even when I’m booking it. Shit, better take cover! The tree I use for cover works, the arrows are just hitting dead ends.
“Ha, your arrows don’t got shit on me! So why don’t you just come out here and fight me, like a man.”
No response, dude must be angry with me cutting up his face. Looking around, I notice a machine up in a tree that has the carriage in its line of sight. Is that where the arrows came from? Nevermind that, since it seems like he isn’t going to come to me, I need to go to him. But where the hell is he. . .And I think I know how to do that. It’s a bit stupid though, but I got no choice.
“Okay, okay, come Proxy, let’s do this!” Psyching myself up, I jump out of cover. “Hey, Willy, I’m over here! Why don’t you take a shot, if you can shoot worth a damn!”
A few seconds pass, my fingers twitch from the anticipation for an arrow shot. Will I be able to dodge it? Will I be able to react fast enough to go after him when I dodge it? Is this too damn risky? When the hell is this going to pop off!? There! In the far right, out of my sight, an arrow is speeding my way. There, dodge, dodge the arrow, dodge it or you’ll get killed! Do it, do it, do it, do it, do it! With all my skill, with all my keen senses, I attempt to dodge the arrow. By the skin of my teeth, the arrow flies past me. The direction of the arrow, I got it down in my brain. My legs are ready to go, all I need to do now is go! Like a cheetah going after its prey, I dash off. I have enough room to strafe to the sides when I need to. A couple of arrows head my way but with my careful but hasty movement, I evade them without trouble as I press on. The arrows are arriving quicker than before, that must mean I’m getting close. I’m only proven right as I close into my target. He’s right in front of me, perfect! As I close in, I hop into the air, making sure any more arrows he fires don’t hit me.
“Take this!”
I smash my feet into his face. Odd, the impact is too hard, it feels like I’m pressing against something sturdier than a human head. I land on the ground with no trouble. With the weird feeling in mind, I check on Willy.
“What the hell!?” The thing I kicked is just a freaking wooden duplicate of Willy’s body. Where the shit is he, I’m getting sick of this shit already!? “Coward! Come out, you son of a bitch!”
Come on, where is he, where could he be? He has to be here somewhere!? There! Another alarm went off, from behind! I dodge it with ease. So he’s behind me? Good, I’m gonna go and nail him. As I run in his direction, my senses suddenly go off. Something from above! Jumping out of the way, I see a giant log drop with an impact that sends a shockwave around it. Are you kidding me, where the hell did that come from!? Just when I hit the ground, I hear a mechanical click from above. Looking up, a bunch of knives drops from the trees. I push off the ground to avoid them. Immediately, I move to my right but only for that to be another trap. More knives rain from the trees, and like last time, I barely dodge it. However, as I get up, something hits my shoulder. An intense, sharp, yet familiar pain rises from my shoulder. I let out a terrible scream despite the attempt to choke it down. My legs give out from the shock of the pain, and my shoulder tightens up. I see a long, thin, wooden rod. The front of it has an arrow fletching. So I got hit by an arrow.
“Gotcha, boy.” Willy appears in front of me. “Looks like ya got somethin’ bad in ya shoulder.”
“You son of a bitch!”
“Come on, where da sass from before? Ain’t got nothin’ to quip with? Aw, ain’t dat a shame.”
My hand moves towards my sword but Willy simply kicks me from below my chin. My brain rattles in my head, confusing me. As I lay on my back, Willy just puts his foot on my chest. It’s heavy enough to pin me to the ground.
“The boot is heavier than ya brain, so don’t even try movin’ it.”
“Get off me!”
“Boy, ya think I’m gonna do somethin’ like dat? You got lots to learn.”
“Like what?”
“‘Bout how ya ended up in this lil complication. You’re predictable, I can tell whatcha gonna do before ya even do it. I knew you’d listen to ya gut and come after me, and you played right into my hand, like a puppet.”
“So you wanted me to follow me?”
“Yep, dis wasn’t a simple task, ya know. But just from da one fight we had, I figured out how you fight; ya like to fight up front, man-to-man sorta deal.”
“Hey, I like to at least give my opponent a chance to fight back.”
“Then, comes da hard thin' to nail down: your senses.”
“What?”
“C’mon on, don’t tell me ya didn’t notice. Ya have some good ass senses, you're able to sense my attacks before dey come at ya. Course, figurin’ out how ya do it wasn’t important, but when it happens.”
“Let me guess, you got it down?”
“Yeah, it seems to just activate whenever ya ain’t able to see it comin'. I made sure to use arrows, as to not make too much sound. Yet ya seem to be able to see it comin'. So dat meant back attacks don’t work on ya. Luckily, the traps I set up caught ya off guard.”
So he’s got my ability down to a science? Shit, I didn’t think this bastard would rationalize this all out. Maybe I underestimated this guy - no - I did. I thought this would be an easy case of me just having to come out here, kick his ass, and that’s it. But I’m such a dumbass for thinking like that. Why the hell did I act so cocky when I knew I was walking into a trap. Damn it, I’m such an idiot!
“Ya got potential, boy. If ya learned how to hone ya skills, then ya probably be an actual threat. But, I guess we’ll never.” He raises a bow that’s attached to a gauntlet on his arm. “If ya got any final words, say em’ now.”
“I do. . .SCREW YOU, YOU COWBOY WANNA BE, I’LL SEE YOUR ASS IN HELL!”
“Woooh, what a scream! At least ya got that grit, right to da end.”
This is it, I got myself in a stupid situation and I’m about to pay the price for it. In the end, I’m still no match for a guy like this. Am I just that weak!? Damn it, I thought I really did change, I thought I was able to do this, but I’m just as pathetic back when Richard got poisoned for my sorry ass! Damnit, Damnit!
“See ya later then, boy. Ya were a real hoot, but if only ya were a bit stronger, then me and you coulda had a fun time.” Willy nocks his arrow onto his gauntlet. “Welp, dis is it, see ya on the other si--”
An arrow flies by Willy’s face. He immediately responds by pointing his gauntlet at where the arrow came from; on top of a tree on my right. Nobody is standing there.
“Thought I told ya no backup.”
“I didn’t bring anyone with me.”
“Sure ‘bout dat?”
A few more arrows come flying towards Willy’s head. He moves off me to dodge them. Even so, the archer in question fires more arrows at him. His movement is challenged as the archer is a crack-shot who’s shooting from all around. While he’s distracted, I'm gonna rip this arrow out of me. Hopefully, this doesn’t hurt too much.
“Okay, let’s do this.”
I grasp the arrow and pull on it. Pain sparks up in my shoulder as soon as I slightly move it. I bite down on my lip to not alert Willy. The pain only grows more intense as I try to pull the arrow out. I don’t care how much this hurts, I just want it out of me! With a bit more force, I rip the arrow straight out of my shoulder. Blood flows freely out of my wound. This is beyond what I would call a burning sensation; this is just as worse when Cade stabbed me. . .So nothing has changed!
“Proxy!”
That voice, it’s more than familiar. That voice belongs to no one else but. . .
“Richard!?”
He rushes over to me, sliding on the ground to close into me. He immediately helps me up and moves us to a more disclosed location. He rests me down on the ground.
“Let me heal that!” Richard puts his hand over my wound to work his Source. The wound is healing faster than he would heal before. Damnit! “We got here as quickly as we could. Are you okay?”
“Why did you come here?”
“Huh?”
“You aren’t supposed to be here, this is my fight. I need to--”
“Do this on my own?” he finishes for me. I can’t help but be shocked by the fact that he knows I would say that. “Listen, we need to have a discussion, Proxy, and you’re going to listen to me, like it or not!”