Chapter 4: To Expect the Unexpected

Log Date: Three – Twenty-three – Twenty-two-Nineteen. Entry Number Seven. Approximately half of a rotation has elapsed since our journey began, and we are currently stationed in Jetogoh, the capital city of Usamera's department, Stytochigi. It's a metropolitan approximately 170 chilimetrons southwest from Fallen Zakuren. The reason why we are even in Jetogoh in the first place so late at night is because the Duke of Hananomal found out about our escapade to Petesyen. From who? Who knows? It is a waste of time to figure out who snitched right now anyway. He insisted that we take some supplies and equipment, mostly manufactured goods, to Polynesial for him as an important trade matter. In other words, he made us his errand boys, though I suppose we should not complain since we are supposed to be rewarded somehow. Fortunately, it did not take too long to load the cargo and now we are just refueling the Magen at no charge before we take to the skies once more, which should not take that long. As long as nothing distracts us or interferes with us during or before our journey, we should arrive in Petesyen by ... at least tomorrow afternoon according the calculations done by the Flight Path Assistant app I made with Doctora Emmi. Boom! And there is the distraction and interference that I was worried about so much. I have to leave immediately I suppose. End log entry.

They all hopped on their celvolos and rushed to the area of the boom. There they saw a 6'0", scorpion-like Washaxian with gold skin and black patterning, and black torn shorts fighting in a valley of blue blades. He was buff, had a hard exoskeleton, two tusk-like, scorpion chelicerae, and had a distinct scar across his nose and under his downturned eyes and round eyebrows. He was sweating, covered in bruises and scrapes, and was breathing deeply as he wiped blue blood off of his round face. He squinted and snared at three Hecharum warriors as they started to close in on him by cornering him towards a tree. One of the Hecharums grabbed the Washaxian and tossed him against the tree, only to be grabbed by that Washaxian, thrown at a boulder, and then stabbed by the Washaxian's stinger, which turned the Hecharum into a pile of shreds. The other two Hecharums started to pounce on the Washaxian, their poisoned swords pointed down and aimed at the overly-exhausted Washaxian. However, before they could land a single hit, they saw an ultramarine light, felt intense, sweltering heat, and then turned into piles of crisp shreds right before the Washaxian's eyes.

The Washaxian lifted his tired eyes, wiped some sweat off of his forehead, and turn his head to see Fidelio with his hand aflame as the other Jehoans stood next to their leader. After a brief sigh of relief and taking a deep breath, the Washaxian said in a rather peculiar accent, "Ah coohda handled 'em masel."

"Yeah right, you were just fortunate that my best friend was able to arrive in time to save your tired butt. Sure, you can fight, but you were too fatigued to fight any longer. If you did fight any longer, you might have died, and that's unacceptable for us. Also, we did hear your sigh of relief, shell-head. Not to mention, you are injured." Marwan remarked as jumped into the grassy valley with Arijun and pointed out the Washaxian's bruises, scrapes, and scratches.

"Hah! 'Tis bu' a flesh wound."

"Rrright ... anyway," Fidelio interrupted as he jumped into the small valley and reapplied his glasses, "may we please know your name dedicated and mighty warrior?"

"Hmm ... very weel then ma name is-"

"Skar," Brion interrupted once he jumped down into the valley. "I recognize that usual, thick speech anywhere."

"Grand General! Ya're here?!" Skar shouted in shocked and gladness as he turned around and slightly smiled. "Am glad ya're here Grand General. Can ya explain who the ithers are an' why ya here in the middle o' nae-where?"

Brion sighed and began, "The other three that see before you and don't know about are Marwan, Arijun, and Fidelio, our leader. Together, we're a team that uses a metal, which we call Auratite, to summon weapons specific to each person to defeat the Hecharums. We're here because we are heading to Petesyen to recruit skilled and capable engineers, technicians, and the like to the ever-growing team."

Skar gave a look of slight disapproval and minimal disgust to Fidelio, then immediately responded to Brion's answer. "Petesyen? Tae recru' nards? Ya daenae need nards, wha' ya need are warriars."

"Skar, you don't seem understand. We did try to recruit warriors, some of the best in fact. They were the first set of individuals that we needed after all." Fidelio immediately replied as his glasses clouded. "However, when we arrived, we were too late. The Hecharums had already shredded all of the great warriors of Zakuren, all except for Yara, and you apparently. It's honestly impressive that you did survive considering it's been 14 days since Zakuren fell. As for trying to recruit more warriors again, the fact the Hecharums arrived before us raised too much suspicion to continue."

Skar's eyes widened as he thought, 'This guy ... how did he know I was from Zakuren?'

"How did I know, you're wondering? Simple. You're biased on warriors, most likely because you are one yourself. Since you are one, you wouldn't be here alone unless you had no choice. Due to that fact and the fact that you're so fatigued and bruised, you've been surviving in the wilderness for 14 days while trying to defeat your Hecharum pursuers. A squad of Hecharums, dehydration, and hunger might've made it very difficult, and yet, you and your stinger survived such trials. Mighty impressive for someone largely unarmed."

Skar was left speechless before nodding in confirmation and clearing his throat to ask with a proud smile, "Ya said Yara, richt? Is she here as weel?"

"No Skar," Brion answered, "She stayed behind with Emmi." Skar sighed in disappointment and raised an eyebrow at Fidelio, Marwan, and Arijun. "Am glad tha' ya managed tae save her. Noo bad fur a junior warriar, a newbie assassin, an' a nard."

"Fidel is more than a "nard", muscles. He fought an Hecharum marshal, Marshal Zarbodapso, single-handedly during the Fall of Zakuren and caused him to flee from the battlefield." Marwan added as she squinted at Skar, a hint of aggression in his voice. "Marshal Zarbodapso, the only Hecharum that had four arms, four swords, and four times the strength. I'd think that it be hard to fight someone like that with just two people, but Fidelio fought Zarbodapso on his own."

"Anythin' else yer "leader" accomplish-it?" Skar asked sarcastically as he rolled his eyes in both annoyance and boredom.

Their faces darkened and fangs clenching against their teeth as Arijun and Marwan responded one after the other. "And Fidelio had also discovered that the Hecharums memorize how we individually fight and then share it between each other."

"On top of that, shell-head-" Fidelio raised his right hand in front Marwan and Arijun as a signal for them to stop talking, an action that was followed by a glare. Fidelio sighed as he pinched between his eyebrows and then questioned Skar, "How did you end up here exactly Skar? It's obvious that the Hecharums didn't give you much of an option, but how did you get always out here and so far from Zakuren."

"Hah! Ah dinnae come here fur naw reason, nard. Three ithers an' Ah wus chased by Hecharums here an' then corner-it when the bikes braeke doon. Ah wus aboot tae defea' the las' o' 'em red-heads 'til ya interfere-it."

"And where are the other three that you just mentioned?" Fidelio asked as he looked around, the others following his example.

"They ... they were shred-it by the enemy."

Everyone eyes widened and looked at the ground after the news while Skar's face simply darkened. Fidelio's glasses clouded as he clenched his fangs, and then heard Skar whisper under his breath to himself, "They were some o' ma claeses' friends, an' noo they're gone."

Fidelio sighed, smiled a patient smile, and said calmly, "They will be remembered. Those three will be honored after the Hecharums are terminated and this world is cleansed, no, purged of the plague. Warrior Skar. Would you please join us on our mission? We need rare, strong, brave warriors like yourself. We will also give you an Auradach, since we brought emergency supplies for one. Grand General Brion and Wan can even train you on how to summon and use an Auratal. I'm you'll learn the ropes quickly since you know the Grand General and hail from Zakuren." Fidelio then extended his right hand to Skar and slightly smiled, "Well? How about it, great warrior?"

Skar raised an eyebrow in curiosity, "Wha dae Ah ge' oot o' this? Ah ken the ability tae ficht Hecharums is wan o' 'em, bu' wha' else?"

Fidelio smiled as he thought, 'Yes! He's curious! I got him hooked now I just have to reel him in somehow.' "You'd be part of an operation that'll free everyone in Jeho from the threat of the Hecharum Empire and at the end of it all, you'll be honored as a hero."

Skar smirked at the sound of hero, but immediately changed his expression to a more serious one as he asked, "Hecharum Empire? Alsae, wha' guarantee dae ya hae tha' Ah woohd nae steal the Auratite an' rejoin the Hananomal faction o' the Royal Legion?"

Fidelio was surprised by Skar's change in expression and his questions, but was not caught off-guard as he responded, "In case you didn't know, the Hecharums have already conquered a majority of southern Mitozal including the states of Tinsuya and Estinka. As for the Royal Legion-"

"They've been disbanded Skar. They've been disbanded for about two orbits actually. If you're surprised that you're only hearing this news now, I'm not. Despite the technical disbanding of the Royal Legion after my resignation as Grand General, the surviving provinces refused to believe that the Royal Legion was weak and continued to maintain their own factions while keeping the full details of the Hecharum threat under wraps."

Skar's eyes widened, "Wai', wha'?! Why?!"

"To not cause panic of course," Fidelio answered. "You might be fearless, but not everyone is that way. I'm sure you saw plenty of examples of such when Zakuren was under attack. None of you stood a chance, save you and Yara. Yara is almost invulnerable because of her body and its structure, not to mention, she was hidden in a pile of debris. Those facts are what allowed her stay alive long enough for us to wipe the Hecharums and save her. As for you, you have great knowledge of the land, an exceptional level of stamina, and an intriguing stinger that can somehow effect Hecharums. Again, those facts and your skills allowed you stay alive long enough for our arrival. If everyone were to know what we've told you, they'd panic and the number of Royal Legionnaires would thin out greatly because of their overwhelming fear. If you betray our trust and leave use for Hananomal, I wouldn't hold it against you, but I doubt you're dumb enough to not understand that trying to be a hero on your own will get you nowhere. We're the only ones that have Auratite, I'm the only one that knows how to purify it, and if you try to betray us for selfish reasons such as recognition, you'll make enemies of Jehoans would fought with Auratals much longer than you ever will. Not to mention, Grand General Brion, Doctora Emmi, and Yara have already made me leader along with everyone else. Go against me, you go against them basically."

Skar hesitated for a moment as he stared at Fidelio's hand with a raised eyebrow. He then sighed in defeat, nodded as he slowly before reluctantly shaking Fidelio's hand, thus taking the offer. Fidelio smiled, and then stated, "It's almost morning, and although we might be half of a rotation behind schedule, we have Skar now, which is a fair exchange in my eyes. For now, we'll establish a camp. Once that's done, Arijun and I will fashion Skar an Auradach while Skar eats an actual meal. Once we're done with that, Arwan and the Grand General can train Skar to summon his Auratal in a rotation. It'll definitely be a hasty development, but it'll be necessary."

After a morning meal of eggs with spiced turkey-ham, apple risotto with Applewood bacon, and freshly-squeezed fruit smoothie, Marwan walked up alone to Fidelio, who was looking at a holo-map and tablets with reports on weather patterns and probabilities. Marwan plopped himself across from Fidelio on a large stone, and asked Fidelio, "How? ... How can you be so calm and composed around ... him?"

"Elaborate por favor," Fidelio asked as he tapped his chin while looking at the feed that was being given to him.

"How can you be so calm around Skar?! He ... ugh! He just annoys me so much! He seems so disrespectful around you. And why?! 'Cause you're a "nard"? What is his deal?! Can't he understand that not all great leaders are all about strength and that some of them are about intelligence, motivation, and/or determination?"

Fidelio sighed deeply, "I can be composed because Skar has been through an assortment negative events. Not to mention, based on their interactions, I'm assuming that Skar and the Grand General share a rather unique brother-like bond, which means Skar can't be a bad person. I'll inquire the Grand General about Skar later to confirm my hypothesis, but for now, I won't inconvenience him with something that is trivial compared to the objective of our mission."

"I can understand not wanting to disrespect the Grand General by disrespecting his "brother", but we have been through a lot too you know! In a single rotation, we had lost our hometown, our neighbors, our mentors, and our friends! What did he lose, other than three comrades, that allows him to act like this?!"

Fidelio turned off the holo-map from his arstadex (high-tech smart-bracelet), placed the tablets into a backpack, and responded as he looked at Marwan with serious eyes, "Marwan! We cannot question his actions, nor are we in any standing to do so. After all, we lost our minds that evening. We only returned to our senses when we found that solid piece of hope, Auratite. Maybe what he needs is for us to give him the same piece of hope that we got. By joining us, he become humbler and be more cooperative with others unlike him. I choose to believe that he can improve by going through experiences with the right company. I know you care about me, but don't allow such feelings to cloud your judgment and crush your hope in others." After Fidelio's last words, Skar and the others slowly came to the camp and sat around the now-dead bonfire. "What did you find out Fidel? Any good news?"

Fidelio turned the holo-map back on and pointed to the Placidic Ocean, which showed no signs of dreadful weather. "Adequate news for the most part. If we depart first thing tomorrow morning, we should be able to arrive in Petesyen within the same rotation. The only caveat is that if we embark any later, we'll get caught in a hurricane with estimated wind speeds of 200 chilimetrons per horata, which will obviously force us off-course and possibly even crash us somewhere unintended. Hence, if we're idle for too long, we won't be able to leave until the next rotation. Not to mention, around the time the hurricane occurs, severe thunderstorms will also occur in this area."

"Hmm ... alright then. We'll follow your lead Fidelio; we'll leave first thing tomorrow morning." Brion stated.

"Ah hae a question nard," Skar stated interruptedly, his dark face shielding his annoyed expression.

"... Fire away. What's your question, Skar?"

"Why are ya leadin' this mission an' tiam nard?" Skar asked in a rather rude and disrespectful tone.

"Fidelio didn't nominate himself as the leader, muscle-head. We all took a vote and even the Grand General voted for Lio to be our leader." Marwan immediately responded, though the question was not for him.

"Ah mean nae afence. Am sure the nard is very qualified when i' comes tae the auld noggin," Skar said while pointing a single claw to his head, "wha' ma concarn is if he is pharsicly qualified."

"Fidelio was trained by me and the Grand General-"

Fidelio raised his right hand once again to silence Marwan and replied with clouded glasses, "If you so badly desire to see if I am strong or not, then at sunrise tomorrow we'll have ourselves a duel. If I win, nothing changes-"

"When Ah win, Ah'll be the leader." Skar interrupted smiling, his overconfidence and pride overflowing.

"So be it, prideful warrior. Hope you can train hard enough for such an occasion." Fidelio said as he smirked back and as his glasses fogged. The red-orange, morning star rose above the blue, grassy horizon, and Fidelio and Skar started to face each other. The celestial lord of morning shone their light upon Skar's Auradach as Fidelio took off his glasses and stretched. Marwan then sighed and asked Fidelio, "Is this really necessary, Lio? I mean, you said that we'll arrive at Petesyen within the rotation if we leave immediately. I believe that this might qualify as a distraction that will prevent us from doing so."

"Yes, I believe that this is absolutely necessary, Arwan. Even if you consider it a distraction, I see it as an opportunity to test my skillset against a well-trained opponent, while teaching him a lesson. Two birds with one stone." Fidelio then cleared his throat and shouted, "Warrior Skar! This is your last opportunity! Let us forget this silly, little charade and continue our expedition to Petesyen!" Skar opened his mouth to speak, but he was interrupted by Fidelio who smiled and continued, "Of course, if you insist on keeping your pride as a warrior who values brawn over brain, we may continue if this little charade. I-"

Skar put his hand up to speak, "Ya ken, when true warriars o' equal skill an' ability clash, they dae nae need tae u'er a single word. They understand the ither's thoughts through the ither's blaes. Sae tell me nard, dae ya think we can hae a canversation while we ficht?" he shouted as he planted his left foot, setting it as a pivot point, while dragging his right foot back.

"Forgive me, powerful, prideful, prestigious warrior, but I am one who tends to habitually use observation to go about daily life. It is a skill that anyone, whether brawn or brain, can successfully use, especially if it's practiced well enough. You seem to be a Washaxian filled with outstanding potential. That, along with my previous comments, is how I truly perceive you." Skar got bored and tired of listening to Fidelio speak and not fight, so he immediately charges at Fidelio and continuously swings at him with his Auratal, a type of qiang. Fidelio dodged each of the attacks expertly as his body emitted a faint ultramarine glow.

He continued, "However, much like me, you also have flaws. You're reckless, impulsive, hot-headed, overconfident, loose-tongued, and sometimes disrespectful, whether it be intentional or not." he stated as Skar continue to attack with his spear, annoyed at Fidelio's constant comments on him. Skar, determined to win and show his superiority, increased his attack speed and began to attack at more angles. In response, Fidelio immediately began dodging at a faster rate, one that kept up with Skar's speed, which both surprised and frustrated Skar. Fidelio continued, "I have my own flaws of course, all of which were told to me by my new family, and all of whom I consider as reliable sources." Fidelio then jumped on top of Skar's spear-tip with a smile and backflipped away while Skar hesitated to attack out of curiosity and decided to listen to Fidelio. Fidelio smirks as he continued, "Alexithymia, altruistic, diffident, tenacious, tentative, and apprehensive. In simple, more descriptive terms: uncontrollable emotions, lack emotional understanding and expression, lack of sympathy, difficulty empathizing, overly-selfless, self-loathing, anxious, strong-willed, indecisive between recklessness and cautiousness, and overly determined to the point that sleep is disregarded."

Skar completely stopped in his tracks, his breathing heavy as he glared at Fidelio. Skar then smiled, his fangs glimmering, and replied, "Ah admi' the ithers may hae strangths an' weaknesses, bu' wi' ya ... there is somethin' tha' a warriar like me can admi'. Ya micht ... stand a chance agains' me." As his eyes beamed with a glimmering, warm, burning gold. He then swung his qiang, which had a hickory-brown shaft and spear tip with a black pommel and circle, at Fidelio. Though he swung from a distance and on instinct, Skar's swing summoned more qiangs from the ground towards Fidelio, which caught Fidelio off-guard and caused Fidelio to get hit on his left side, the attack being blocked by Armsku. Fidelio was on knees, but stood up almost immediately, summoned Igniken, and ignited his blazing-blue eyes. Fidelio then shouted, "You do contain the potential that I had guessed earlier! Never before have I seen a warrior have an Aura-Ability like that spectacle, much less a warrior with such great skill of their Auratal in such little time! Heh, and I am the one that refines the Auratite and forges the armor! You might be giving Wan a run for his money when it comes to being a warrior."

"Ya dinnae say," Skar smiled more as he was more surprised with his new abilities. "Le' us hae some fun then!" Skar shouted as he charged toward Fidelio with qiangs being summoned from the air, which Fidelio managed to dodge using his superior agility.

"Forgive me warrior, but our time is limited so I'll have to make haste and end this affair quickly." Skar swung again, and within a split second, Fidelio rushed towards Skar, sparks surrounding Fidelio before he nocked the qiang from Skar's hands using Igniken. This shocked Skar, which gave Fidelio the small moment needed to immediately use Armsku and his lower body strength to try to slam Skar into the closest tree. With sparks surrounding him, Fidelio avoided the qiangs coming from the ground that Skar summoned until Skar was thrusted into the tree, the tree falling from the force of Skar. Skar opened his eyes to see a shimmering, burning, blue blade against his neck. "Well nard... i' seems we micht be jus' evenly match-it."

"Are you sure about that, great warrior?"

Skar looked over to his right, Fidelio's left, with wide eyes of shock to see that Fidelio's Armsku had blocked the path of his own stinger. "Checkmate," Fidelio said smiling, followed by a brief sigh of relief and some deep breaths.

"Swiznik ... Ah dinnae expec' tha' ... Ah wus bea'en by ... by a nard." Skar responded in between breaths as he withdrew his qiang and stinger.

"Except this nerd ... almost got thrashed as well. ... Heh. ... If I wasn't able to surpass your speed in those exact moments ... in those brief ziks ... I would have been a goner." Fidelio stated as he withdrew Armsku and Igniken. Fidelio then slightly smiled and extended his hand to Skar to try to help him up. Skar looked intently at Fidelio's hand, smiled, and helped himself up. "Am nae sure hoo this is gaun tae work," Skar whispered, "bu' Ah'll try tae be the loyal warriar tha' ya think Am an' maybe then Ah'll accep' ya as the richtful leada. Ah'll mos'ly dae i' fur the sake o' ma fatha-figure though."

"Wait," Fidelio replied whispering, "May I know what the name of your Auratal is, warrior Skar?"

"Heh. Am callin' i', Skiang," Skar answered as he smiled proudly.

"A name worthy of a powerful Auratal." Fidelio and Skar walked towards the rest of the team, and Fidelio announced, "Today, I officially declare Skar as a member and fellow knight of The Sacrian Knights of Jeho."

"Sacrian Knights? Where the heck did you get that kinda name from?" Marwan asked as he smiled at the liking of the name.

"Well, the Hecharums constantly referred to us as the "Knights of Jeho", but I've been thinking that we're more than just regular knights, we're knights that serve the Lord of Light, the one who gave the responsibility to save Jeho out of the hands of the Hecharums and gave us Auratite! Therefore, we are The Sacrian Knights of Jeho. What do you think?"

Arijun smiled, "I like it. Arwajun obviously likes it too, but what about you Grand General Brion."

Brion smiled and nodded, "Sounds like a great official name for our team."

"Nae tae interrup'," Skar interrupted, "bu' Ah think tha' "Nard an' the Knichts of Jeho" is a be'er name."

Ignoring a part of Skar's remark, Fidelio continued, "Speaking of nerds, looks like we'll have to wait for a while before we can depart to Petesyen. The sky is getting darker, and the air is getting thicker and stickier."

"How long do you think it'll take us to get to Petesyen with this stormy delay, Fidelio?" Brion asked as he looked at Fidelio's face.

"Two and a half rotations at most considering the look of that stormy tempest overhead." Everyone looks into the direction of Fidelio's finger and saw the ash-gray billows of thunder firing luminous, powerful bolts of violet-blue, covering the once bright sky-blue canopy. "The Magen would definitely take us far, but we will have to stop eventually because the magnum-cores will attract the lightning, which will obviously short-circuit the Magen's systems. And considering that there are no mapped islands with safe landings in the path of our course, we'd most likely crash in the middle of the ocean or on a random island. According to the calculations done by the Meteorologist News and Assistance app, which is based on study on the storm's path, we'll be stuck here for two rotations before it dies out. The exact time it dies out is of course unknown, but by two rotations from now the tempest should definitely be gone."

Fidelio turned on the holo-map, quickly examined it, turned it off, and then added, "Fortunately, after this tempest passes, it should be smooth and clear flying from there forward, which is why I'd say we should set up camp again as soon as possible. The tempest won't affect us severely, just thunderstorms and strong winds, so we can this as opportunity to help Skar catch up with the rest of us a bit more. He might be talented, but talent cannot beat experience and hard work."

"Roger. C'mon y'all! Let's get moving and set up camp before the rain and winds hit everyone!" Brion shouted as he marched to the former campsite. Skar scoffed and followed Brion, while the others smiled and followed Skar as the dark bellows with violet-blue flashes floated overhead and conquered the territory of the once blue canopy.