Crazy red hair, coif, mail, another layer of cloth, and finally the helmet. His trusty knight’s helm was no crusader barrel but a sallet rounded on top with a visor, giving him ample protection and visibility when his hair wasn’t in the way. It had saved him from more hits than he could count. His armor had to be extensively modified due to his large frame. Coming in at 6’ 8” without his crazy poof on top he made for quite the figure walking around.
Fully equipped and ready for battle he was a terror, after double-checking all his gear Andrew headed into the arena. Joining up his teammates before heading out he shouted to be heard over the noise and through the padding “Deep breaths everyone, keep your wits about you, for today we conquer!” after his impromptu pep talk one of the tournament organizers waved them forward.
Andrew and his team triumphantly walked onto the open floor through a large archway covered in bright banners. They looked fantastic decked out head to foot in full plate with their vibrant green heraldry displayed proudly over their breastplates. He and his teammates had trained for years for this moment. Well, not just this one there were plenty of other local tournaments and events but this was the national championship.
Looking around in amazement he saw the adoring fans come out to watch knights duke it out in the arena with everything from tiny bucklers to great axes. He reveled in the feeling his armor gave him, the snug weight of it comforting and invigorating. The armor was his second skin. He was invincible.
GONG, GONG, GONG was all Andrew heard as his opponent kept hitting him in the head with a massive falchion. Even with all the padding his head rang something violent. Stepping back to gain some space he made a large overhead swing with his great axe chopping right into his opponent's shoulder. He managed to hit right between the armor and his chainmail making him flinch. Taking advantage of the opening he made the same attack again with only a slight adjustment to the angle at the last moment.
The second attack hit hard and the defender could be eliminated with a quick one-two. A hard shoulder check sent him off balance leaving an opening for a kick to finish him off. His opponent hit the ground hard with a loud thump and clank muted only slightly by the yellow and white heraldry of a sad yellow bird. Looking around Andrew saw his team was in trouble and tried to help John who was closest to him but only managed to make it over in time to see John land at his feet sprawled out after a nasty hit from another great axe wielder.
He was alone, a patch of fresh grass among yellow snow. He knew he was in for a beating but would try to give as good as he got. Trying to keep from being surrounded Andrew backed up towards a wall. He didn't want to be cornered either, so he worked his way around the area, backing up carefully.
From the wall, the fighting was fierce trying to hold off four men armed with two great axes a mace and shield, and the last with a large pike. Andrew fought valiantly and managed to bring one fighter down with him by locking his axe head behind one of the opposing axmen’s necks and pulling him to the ground. This maneuver let the other axe wielder get behind and deliver devastating blows to his back where his armor’s straps eventually snapped allowing for a strike to slam into the upper right of his back after which he yielded before receiving any more debilitating blows.
The Thunderbirds claimed victory. It wasn’t how he wanted the match to go but he gave his best and couldn’t fault the other team. He’d have some nasty bruising but it was all part of the fun. Once teammates were down it was tough to recover. Small advantages multiplied quickly in these skirmishes. Not everyone had the same dedication or as some said behind his back obsession that he did with combat. Not just the battles but practicing his forms with all kinds of medieval weapons.
After they were all standing the announcer called out the result 5 - 3 The Thunderbirds struck down Viridis. In a stunning display, the last member of Viridus stood alone against 4 Thunderbirds what a fantastic match! Coming up in the finals we have The Thunderbirds vs….”
Andrew lost track of the announcer as he was led back under the arches to get changed out of his armor. He wouldn’t be needing it again today sadly. The world wasn’t like all the novels he read with monsters and such lurking around every corner. He and the team would probably grab something to eat after this and then it would be back to planning wars and charging on horseback into derpy bots on medieval games at home.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Dong, dong, his head rang again, as he focused on what was going on he saw John’s face right in front of him and a small mace in his hand that seemed to be the instrument of his current torture. “Yo, Andrew snap out of it. I owe you a shot to the nuts for leaving me hanging back there,” said John. “Welcome back to the land of the living, that was awesome what you did there at the end” yelled Mercy from across the room. She was the only woman in their group of fighters but everyone learned quickly not to mess with her too much. She was the fiercest and friendliest of their mismatched band of merry wannabe knights. If it weren’t for her the conversation would consist of more grunts and head-bashing than they would like to admit although Mercy had no qualms about reminding them.
“Sure took a beating there Andrew, no one gets hit quite as well as you,” said Mercy from across the room. Andrew replied saying ” Aren’t you supposed to be changing somewhere else let me rest for a bit.” “Bah you know we are all wearing stuff under this don’t be a prude. ” Mercy replied. “Let me see your back,” Mercy said as she approached Andrew from the side. With some help from John and Mercy, he got the armor off after which Mercy gasped “Sheeesh Andrew you better get that iced. It's not the worst you’ve received but it certainly could have been better.” “Yeah I’ll get it wrapped up with some ice, John would you be dear and fetch me some?” Andrew said while batting his eyes at John. “In your dreams,” said John in response before wandering off.
Taking a chance to look at his back in the mirror Andrew saw a large purple bruise stretching from the top of his right shoulder blade down to his mid-back. Parts of the skin looked to have almost broken with red flecks populating the center of the bruise. Well, that might leave a mark Andrew thought to himself. I might need to take it easy for a while after this. Bri is not going to be happy.
After a minute or so John came back with a nurse and pointed to Andrew. The nurse came over and beckoned Andrew to come with her to get iced up at the medical tent. After getting a large bag of ice strapped to himself and some ointment to put on the bruise Andrew headed to the stands to watch the remaining matches. After getting settled on the bench with the team John says “Here I got this for you” as he reaches over and hands Andrew a large sausage with fixings. “Figured you'd want to eat something after that fight.”
“Thanks, man I worked up an appetite from carrying you so hard,” Andrew says as he finishes chewing.
John went to slap Andrew on the back before remembering the huge bruise after seeing the giant ice pack currently on it and instead settled on merely patting his shoulder. “You did good, it was fun watching you run away from them all from the ground,“ John said.
“I bet it was you seem to enjoy the dirt, something you want to tell us bud?” said Andrew. John replied saying “let's just watch the match I want to see the Thunderbirds get their teeth kicked in by Dark Steel.
The team settled in to watch the rest of the matches still playing out in the arena. The Thunderhawks lost in the finals which was a small consolation, but they were good people in the end.
After the tournament wrapped up, everyone headed out to eat with their armor and weapons in tow. After a nice meal and a fun time with the team, they got back to the hotel room after the long day.
Arriving at their room Andrew peeled off his ice pack to switch out for a hot pad while John got settled in the bed across from his. Sitting down on the bed after getting cleaned up, John said, “I guess it's time to go back to reality and trade our arms and armor for khakis and depression.” “True” replied Andrew, "I think the only thing that's keeping me going is this and my family.”
“There's no need to be melodramatic about it,” John says as he flops into a t-pose on the bed. “Look who is being dramatic now?” Andrew said as he quietly reached over and picked up one of the throw pillows on the bed and chucked it at John using it as one should, a projectile.
John quickly tried to shield himself but was too slow and got hit in the face, falling right back down into the bed. “I'm going to get you for that” John mutters as he starts to build a wall on the right side of his bed with his pillows in addition to the new one.
“Let's get some sleep we’ve got a lot of travel tomorrow” Andrew mentions as he starts to pull the covers over himself.
“Now you want to stop when did you get so boring and old” replies John amidst a yawn.
Just as they were setting in for a protracted pillow siege a blue window popped up in their vision along with a voice in their head saying: Welcome to the Mythos System! Let your story begin.