Subj: [ffml] [MW] Border Wars: A Casual Walk
Date: 00-01-05 13:13:22 EST
From: skyhall@hotmail.com (Sky Hall)
Reply-to: ffml@onelist.com
To: ffml@onelist.com
The air was brisk. It was getting colder, the nights longer, and the
animals were making their preparations for the envitable winter.
But the morning air didn't stop a company of men from walking boldly along
a forest trail. All the men bore large, oval shaped fields. They walked
casually, not in any real rush, but taking in their surroundings.
They had ventured far enough from Loritown that Tim decided not to sing
"Oh What a Beautiful Morning" to his men anymore. Besides, he thought, they
might mutiny and make me march in front.
Tim tried to listen to the forest through the footfalls of the men around
him. Here and there animals scurried as they approached. A bird would take
flight now and then, not wishing to be bothered.
Tim was hoping that they would not encounter any moogles today. Having had
time to rest and recuperate, his thoughts were straying back to Ladice and
their encounter in South Figaro, and then later on the boat ride home. She
was quite a woman, but he was unsure of the relationship she was asking of
him. She was persistant in her requests that Tim be her knight. Tim was not
too sure what she meant by it all.
Tim tried to put her in perspective. Ladice was the ruler of a country,
but had been ousted by moogles. She was in Doma at the behest of the
Alliance Council. She had an honor guard, but they were stragglers from the
original army who were more trying to organize themselves then provide a
good wall of protection for Ladice. She was a ruler without a throne and
without a home, for the moment. She needed someone to protect, and to not
rely upon her station or her royalty. She was trying to force Tim to fall in
love with her. That would explain her attitude towards him. Without a good
source of income or any other means of keeping a fighting force about her,
Ladice sought out a noble man to keep her safe.
But Tim was not a noble man. He was an ex-mercenary, he just happened to
be rising rather fast in the ranks of Doma. He was an up and comer, but not
a commissioned officer as of yet, nor with a wealthy family backing him.
What did Ladice see in him? He could not understand.
So, Tim and his company of men continued their walk.
Unsure of how much further till they reached a junction in the trails, Tim
was certain that his company could begin to turn back for Loritown.
In fact, Tim knew that he and his men would enjoy that greatly. Since
Hisel's brigade was so good in the field, they were more or less expected to
go out till they encountered an enemy force, regardless of the size, and
take care of it. That was a dangerous reputation.
But Tim realized he kinda of liked the fame that came with overcoming
adversity. If you were smart, had the heart of a dragon, and could fight
like a swordmaster, then you received accomandation. Already, Tim had a
couple of medals that he could wear with pride. And to receive another
promotion wouldn't be half bad.
Tim's company saw a junction in the trail ahead. Tim had the men slow a
little, their shields at the ready.
The company came up to the junction, a trail intercepting the trail they
were on at a roughly ninety degree angle, and saw that the coast was clear
down all three paths.
Tim decided that they would wait.
"Set up a perimeter, and send a few men into the bush to scout," said Tim
to the sergeant in charge. "We'll wait here."
The man nodded and organized his men.
Tim stood in the center of the crossroads and rested his shield on the
ground. He watched as his men went to work.
Tim smiled to himself. He and Hisel had trained their men well. They were
resourceful, dedicated, and trained. Each one of them kept a shield facing
to the outside of the rough circle they had formed. What commitment!
As Tim watched, a spear flew through the air and caught one shield square
in the center. The point penetrated, and the man holding the shield went
down, as his arm was lacerated and the impact and shock of it all, took him.
This was followed immediately by a loud bellow from the woods and a crashing
of bodies through branches.
From out of the woods on two sides, moogles and moogleboars emerged, bent
on destruction. Tim didn't have time to yell anything, but his men reacted.
Shields came up, weapons were drawn, and all attention turned to where the
action was.
A moogleboar strode forward on all fours, it's great shoulders, sporting
large spikes, brushing aside human soldiers. The beast was doing a number on
the men as it charged and side-tackled one man, then another. Tim saw one
fallen man get set upon by two moogles, but two other soldiers came to his
aid.
Tim grimaced and grunted. He had drawn his sword and with a yell stepped
into the boar's path and swung down with the sword. The boar did not have
time to dodge the strike, but instead took it straight on it's head. The
hard metal came down against the hard skin and bone of the boar, and barely
sunk in. Instead, Tim was greeted with a hollow thud as his sword struck,
then seemed to bounce off the skull of the beast.
The moogleboar was stunned from this strike, and in that open moment, two
soldiers came forward, driving their swords into the boars sides. The beast
screamed and tried to run, but another soldier sliced into the boars neck
and shoulder and the creature dropped, slowly dying as it's blood spread
across the dirt.
Tim turned his attention back to the action and saw that the men had
formed a perimeter, and against this the moogles were attacking strongly.
Tim's men were backing up, giving ground before the forest which seemed to
be emitting a flood of moogles against them.
The injured had been pulled back and the men were pulling back, down a
different path from the one they had originally come. The moogles were
sensing their victory and increased their frenzy, throwing themselves
against the shields of the men. But the strength and training paid off and
the men did not falter.
Tim hoped that things would get better, then turned as a soldier tapped
his shoulder.
Turning, Tim saw another group of moogles coming down the road from behind
them.
"Ahhhhh-shit!" Tim swore. "Sergeant! We got company from behind."
"Sarge?" asked the man. Though his rank was sergeant major, Tim's slang
title was Sarge in the field.
The sergeant turned and his eyes went wide. He began grabbing men and
having them form a new perimeter to meet the threat from behind. The company
numbered nineteen men, including the sergeant and Tim. But that number did
not seem large enough to now deal with the new threat.
The sergeant positioned his men, Tim complimenting him aloud.
"Hold men!" yelled Tim. "They can't beat us." The men cheered in
agreement.
The second force of moogles came and immediately threw themselves into the
fight. Tim, standing in the middle ground of the two sides, could feel both
fronts give slightly and his position seemed to shrink. A strange sense of
claustrophobia hit Tim, but he shook his head.
A moogle had gone through the trees and emerged next to Tim's position.
Tim reacted quickly, swinging backhanded at the moogle. But the little
creature nimbly ducked. Amazed, Tim swung again, taking more aim. The moogle
dodged again, and reacted with a short sword thrust. Tim side-stepped this,
and engaged the moogle.
Using his shield, Tim used it to block the view of the moogle as he tried
to strike around it. The moogle used his short sword to hold back Tim's
shield and managed to duck Tim's sword, or block with his small buckler.
Tim realized this moogle was very skilled, and grunted in disapproval.
Moving his shield back a little, Tim tried thrusting again, striking at
the head of the moogle. The white furred creature ducked and deflected with
his buckler, retorting with his own sword strike. Tim barely blocked this
his shield, more like deflecting the strike, then having to side-step to
avoid the follow through of the moogle.
"Damnit! Die!" grunted Tim. He lifted his sword slightly and brought it
down hard on the moogle.
The moogle grunted and dodged the strike. Tim was getting upset. He needed
to defeat this moogle and turn his attention back to his men. But he was so
damn good.
Mog must finally be teaching his guys good combat skills, thought Tim.
The moogle began an attack, thrusting wildly in Tim's direction, forcing
Tim to back up. Tim's back hit that of one of his men, who moved. Tim
grimaced. He had been given room, but that was not what he wanted.
Thrusting his shield forward, the moogle backed a step and Tim took the
time to look about him. He realized in horror that his position had been
overrun. Moogles were everywhere, engaging his men on both fronts and in the
space between.
"Damnit it hell!" yelled Tim. "I will not die here!"
The company responded with a cheer. Damn, my men are good, thought Tim.
Tim decided something new. He struck low. The moogle used his short sword
to catch and deflect the strike upwards. As it did so, Tim followed through
with a hard kick. This took the moogle unawares and the creature tumbled
backwards, head over heels, clutching it's stomach.
Tim grunted approval and smiled slightly. "Shorty," muttered Tim between
his teeth.
Tim turned in time to see a welcome sight. Hisel and the rest of the
brigade!
Tim's advance unit was to draw out the enemy, and Hisel was to come to the
rescue. Indeed, they were doing that, but not so late, thought Tim.
The moogles between Tim and Hisel began to disappear, and Tim sighed in
relief as the two sides linked up. Tim was busy helping his men dispatch the
enemy within the perimeter while Hisel came to the rescue.
Tim grinned slightly as he felt that the situation was turning in his
favor, and turned his attention to the far perimeter. He was taken unawares
as the line of men who were holding suddenly fell backwards and landed flat.
A couple of moogles rolled over the bodies, lying on their backs, looking
stunned.
A couple of moogleboars behind the lines looked on mischievesly. They then
charged the humans.
Tim readied his shield and took a few steps forward, then felt a prick in
his arm. He looked and saw a moogle with spear to his side. It must have
just emerged from the forest. But it had taken him unawares and caught his
arm. Tim grunted and stepped away from the moogle, then back, swinging his
sword at the creature, catching it in the face. Before Tim had a moment to
glorify his retribution, he was knocked over by the moogleboars.
Tim was knocked flat as his shield took the charge and sent him low.
A moogleboar paw stepped on Tim's exposed leg roughly, another on the
shield. Tim had luckily covered his face and abdomen with the shield. But he
grunted as the claws dug into his leg.
A loud crash was heard, followed by yelling and screaming, and metal and
wood colliding. The battle was going fierce, and Tim felt his heart racing,
but his arms reviewed that they were tired and sore.
Tim laid still, hoping that things would go well. He had to wait for the
battle to carry off somewhere, then stand up and face the enemy.
Legs stood over his body, some scuffled. Then they stepped on. Tim wasn't
sure were. The battle was going fiercely, though.
After a few more moments, the sounds of battle died down. Tim wondered
what was going on. He decided that now was time to act.
He threw off his shield and prepared to fight a new enemy, but met a
surprised Hisel. Tim had almost run him through his sword, but luckily the
officer had stepped back.
"You okay, sarge?" asked Hisel with a grin.
Tim sighed and took a deep breath.
"I will be when we get back to Loritown, sir," said Tim. He was a little
annoyed with Hisel's tardiness, but would let that slide.
"What happened?" asked the lieutenant.
The battle was being carried down the trail, and Tim saw that his men were
being tended to by a squad. It looked like all of Tim's original company had
been injured in the fight.
"We reached the junction and set up a perimeter to wait for you," said
Tim. "They these guys came out of hte woods and backed us down this little
trail. A new force of moogles arrived and gave us a run for our gil."
Hisel nodded. "I can see that." He looked Tim up and down. "You'll be
okay?"
"I'll manage," said Tim. He looked down and saw the blood trailing down
his arm and down his leg. Shaking his head, he stooped down and took a
moment to tend his wounds.
Hisel watched for a moment, then turned his attention to the fight.
As Tim sat and took care of the large cut on his thigh, he looked about.
His men all seemed alive, nobody had died. Tim was amazed.
He then looked down the trail that Hisel was advancing along. Tim then
looked back the other way and saw a few moogles emerge from the other
southern trail and look about, then spot the humans and begin running at
them.
"Hisel! From behind!" shouted Tim. Tim quickly tied off the bandage on his
leg and stood.
Tim had laid his sword down. Picking it up, he took several steps forward.
Tim then realized he had left his shield behind, but decided to make do.
The moogles neared and Tim prepared himself. He remembered the sword
technique for retort. As the first moogle neared, it made a feint with it's
spear. Tim reacted and sliced deep. His sword catching the moogle in the
throat. It stumbled back, shocked at what Tim had done.
Tim then recalled the other sword technique he was just learning.
Holding his sword as if he had just sheathed it, he stood his ground. Tim
faced forward, and kept his body there. As three moogles approached, he drew
his sword quickly. One slash took the moogle in the spear it carried, it's
block barely meeting Tim's sword strike. Tim's next swing took the moogle to
his left in the abdomen. It stumbled over and fell down. The third strike
took the moogle that was before him, slicing through the moogle's short
sword block and cutting into the creatures arms. The fourth strike took the
original moogle, who was holding the remaments of his spear ready to strike
at Tim. Tim's attack took the moogle in one leg, and with enough force that
the small creature went head over heels and landed on it's back.
Tim took a deep breath, and stood there stunned.
"It worked!" exclaimed Tim.
His reverie was broken, as a moogleboar came charging down the trail,
bellowing it's anger.
Tim stood his ground and readied his sword. He wondered if he could do
that again.
Holding the sword as if sheathed, he watched as the boar charged on. Then,
deciding that that was too nutz to try a second time, simply lept out of the
way. The boar, so intent on Tim, turned as well and had to stop it's charge,
sliding in the dirt slightly.
Tim swung his sword in a feint, the boar stepped back slightly, then
forward, it's paws swinging in the air. As Tim prepared to step to the side,
the human soldiers came to Tim's rescue. A spear was struck into the side of
hte boar, who roared and turned. Tim struck with his sword, into the other
side. The boar squealed in pain and backed away. The human soldiers had
formed a rough shield wall and advanced.
The moogleboar continued to back up, fending off the strikes of the
humans. Tim stepped back into the main of the path, behind the advancing
soldiers, and planted the end of his sword in the ground. He took a deep
breath and looked around.
Later that day, the brigade finally made it back to camp. They had lost no
men, though a number were quite injured. Tim limped back to camp, his sword
slung on his back. He felt very old at that moment.
"I think that some of you men need to hit the bath house," said HIsel.
"You earned it." He grinned at Tim. Tim grinned slightly and returned a nod.
At least I can soak in some hot water and ease my muscles, thought Tim.
"The end of another long, hard day."
"And more to come," said the sergeant next to him.
Sky
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Date: Wed, 05 Jan 2000 10:12:28 PST
From: "Sky Hall"
Reply-to: ffml@onelist.com
Subject: [ffml] [MW] Border Wars: A Casual Walk
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