Blades of Legend

DISCLAIMER: These characters are not mine. They come from the wonderful world of the Palladium RPG (Rift). Those of you who know who Stravos is will realize just how extremely out of character he is in this story as well as the other characters in here. It has been an EXTREMELY long time since I've played the game, so please forgive any wrong information within.

This story will also contain M/M relationships, so consider yourself warned.


//Stravos.//

…..? Is…someone there?

//…Stravos…//

How annoying, who keeps calling me?

//Stravos…//

Geh! Just shut up! Stop calling me! Can’t you tell I’m trying to sleep here?

//Stravos….Stravos…Stravos…//

Now you’re doing it just to annoy me! Once I find out who you are, I’m gonna send your annoying ass through a Dimension Rift!

//…..//


“Yeah, I thought so.”

The sudden sound of the sleep leaden voice was loud in the small clearing of the thick red forest, causing a bird to pause in mid song. The blue bird cocked her head to the side, considering the dark skinned elf resting beneath her tree. As rude as the interruption to her morning singing was, she decided that it wasn’t worth her time to scold the young looking elf, they were usually to arrogant for their own good anyways, and she flew off to a red leafed tree farther away, and continued with her song.

The morning was clear and crisp; the slow breaths coming from the elf were visible in the morning air. As crisp as the morning was, the coldness of the air didn’t seem to bother him; he continued sleeping as the sun rose higher in the sky, seemingly oblivious to the world around him.

He was large for an elf, well over six feet, and, though slender in build, he had no problem wielding the large sword resting between his legs. The sword itself was awake, glaring sulkily at the clearing, waiting for the stupid boy to wake up. It gave off a continuous icy steam, not because it felt the cold in the morning air, but because it was cold, the entire pure white blade was covered in a layer of slippery ice, glistening silver runes were etched along the blade, clearly visible in the bright sun.

The dark, long fingered hand that clutched the blade was unaffected by the iciness, and it rested there comfortably. Blue hair so dark, it was near black, was pulled over one shoulder, streaming down to his lap and half covered a childish face, more round then the usual pointed adult elfish face and was leaning against the silk wrapped hilt of the sword, full lips slightly parted in slumber.

Despite the temperature, the elf wore a tight fitting sleeveless turtleneck, tucked into a pair of dark silk pants and knee high black boots. A deep red scarf rested around the elf’s neck, was more for style then anything else.

It was near noon by the time clear, light blue eyes slowly blinked open, taking in the surrounding area. Leaning his head back against the tree, Stravos gazed up at the small opening in the trees, trying to determine how long he’d been sleeping.

//Too long,// came a steely voice, //you’ve been sleeping for far too long! We should’ve been out of this forest yesterday!//

“Uhn,” Stravos grunted in agreement. Sliding a black, fingerless gloved hand up the blade and onto the hilt, he firmly griped the sword and, using it as a crutch; he pulled himself slowly to his feet, ignoring the grumblings coming from said crutch.

//Well, come on then, let’s get going!// the white sword said impatiently after the elf finished strapping him to his back. //We should hurry and get out of this forest and into some sort of civilization!//

"Civilization doesn’t necessarily mean things to kill, you know, ‘Foil,” Stravos said tiredly.

//Well, there’s more of a chance there then in this damn forest! I’m tired of all this peacefulness!// ‘Foil got as comfortable as a sword strapped to someone’s back could and proceeded to stare over the elf’s shoulder.

Picking a random direction, Stravos started off.

Walking with the silent sword strapped to his back, gave him plenty of time to think about the past few days. He couldn’t remember anything before those few days, and if he tried thinking too hard about it, he’d fall asleep for a while, which was what had happened the day before.

**Ten Days Previously**

It had been snowing heavily, and it was obvious from the amount of snow that buried the elf that he had laid there for quiet a while. He hadn’t realized how deeply buried he was beneath the snow, and he really didn’t care. The coldness of the icy world that encased him had no effect on his body or mind, it wasn’t out of necessity that he clawed his way to the even colder surface, it was more out of boredom at being trapped with nothing but ice and snow all around him.

When he broke the surface of his snowy cage, the first thing he heard, even before the sound of the frostbiting wind, was an echoing voice that sounded with in his mind.

//About time you woke up, Stravos!//

Wiping away the snow that covered his eyes, the dark skinned elf laid eyes upon a sword of unparallel beauty. Although the wind was fierce, and the snow even fiercer, the blade gave off a continuous visible steam.

“…”

//Don’t look at me like that!// the irate sword grumbled, //Stupid as I know you are, it’s quite obvious what’s going on, and what needs to be done about it!//

The elf, named Stravos by the sword, started to climb all the way out of the snow, listening all the while as the sword rambled on. Not that he had any choice in the matter, being that the sword talked to him telepathically, and therefore could not be tuned out even if it was desired.

//Now that you’re awake, and alive, let’s hurry up and get off this mountain, and get to civilization! Everything up here is already dead, what’s the point of being a sword in a place with unkillable things?// the sword paused for a bit, not used to speaking so much. He watched as the elf crawled out of hole deeper than the elf was tall, admiring his resistance to such minor things, such as cold and ice, that others of his kind were troubled by.

Stravos brushed the clinging snow off of his lean frame, his movements calm and graceful.

//Are you ready yet? Lazy elf, go ahead and take your time, it’s not like I have several things waiting for me to kill, y’know//

The sword continued to grumble as the elf wordlessly picked it up, and put it in the sheath strapped to his back. It wasn’t until a day later that Stravos learned the name of the sword he carried: Frostfoil, the legendary Winters Blade.

** Present **

Not that the name of the sword really mattered all that much to an elf that wasn’t even certain of his own name, and that added little bit ‘Foil had thrown in there, ‘the legendary Winters Blade,’ didn’t have the same effect the sword had been hoping for.

Stravos had no urge to find out about his past, the only times he did wonder about it, he’d fall into an instant one day sleep, and that discouraged the elf from even wanting to think about it. Falling asleep in the open with only an inanimate companion to guard him against any threats made him uneasy. So, with barely any effort, Stravos decided not to worry about little things like amnesia.

The forest in which they currently traversed was mostly dominated by large, red-leafed trees with trunks as thick as Stravos was tall. The branches started many feet from the ground, and created an arching roof over head. The trunk itself was a smooth and pale white, with fuzz all over it making it almost soft to the touch. The tall red trees blocked most of the sunlight from entering, making the forest bottom almost bare of any other plant life.

Animals were also scarce deeper into the forest and if Stravos hadn’t been Stravos, he would have been worried about his next meal. It didn’t even occur to the dark skinned elf that most elves needed food and water at least twice a day, if not three, and the lack of animals to hunt would have worried quite a few. Hunger was not a word Stravos was aware of.

It took eleven days of non-stop walking before they even saw the sky. The trees thinned out rather quickly, going from deep dark forest, to a bright and sunny meadow rather abruptly.

It was so abrupt that the young elf almost missed a step. Pausing to regain his balance, Stravos gazed around the new terrain. First it had been sharp cliffs, and blistering cold, to dark forests, and now to this: sunny meadows and a cool breeze that seemed to enjoy lifting the blue black hair of the elf.

//Now which way do you want to go?// the sword inquired sardonically. //The world is vast; so many villages teeming with humans, and maybe even some gnomes or dwarfs can be found working there. We should hurry, elf.//

Ignoring the ramblings of the icy sword, Stravos started walking forward, with no clear destination in mind. He let his feet carry him across the grassy fields, almost enjoying the breeze as it passed him.

‘Foil, who had been quiet for the majority of the time within the forest, seemed to have become a lot more talkative then before. He continued to ramble on to the half listening elf, lecturing him on the many ways of skinning your kill and utilizing all parts of a kill, so as not to let the dead go to waste.

By the time the first fields came into view, Stravos had learned of the many uses of gnomes and humans alike.

They found their first road after walking through several unworked fields the road itself was worn down from the many passing of people and carts and lead to a village seen in the distance.

That way, the young elf decided after listening to the swords constant talk of killing, would not be the wisest path to take, it would more likely end up being a blood bath then anything else. Even though Stravos didn’t feel any remorse at killing, doing it for no other reason then pleasure seemed a bit barbaric.

So, despite the protests and cursing from the sword, Stravos went the opposite direction of the village, following the road to the west instead of the east.


“…….”

Stravos stared quietly at the looming gates of a city, quite unprepared for its sudden appearance. He felt the swords sudden happiness, and suspected ‘Foil had something to do with the city appearing from nowhere.

It had taken a few more days to get to where they were, with the sword constantly sulking and cursing. The elf had remained silent, not paying heed to a word ‘Foil was saying, which in turn made the sword even madder.

Now, with the cities gates looming in front of them, ‘Foil was content enough to not say anything, though Stravos could feel its smug happiness.

The decision to enter the gate or not was interrupted as suddenly as the appearance of the city had been. Stravos had only a seconds warning of hoof beats before he was pushed violently to the side of the road by a rushing horse.

A sharp pain made him wince as his head struck rock as he landed with his lower body caught in the bushes and his face pressed to the ground.

//That was the most inelegant fall I’d ever witnessed,// came the unsympathetic voice of ‘Foil, //I thought you elves were supposed to be graceful?//

Stravos ignored the sword, moaning slightly at the first feel of pain he’d ever encountered. His hand felt a warm wetness on the right side of his head, and glancing at it he saw thick black liquid that could only be blood, covering his hand and the offending rock.

Pulling the dark red scarf from around his neck, Stravos used it to wipe his hand then wrapped it around his head to stop the bleeding, before squirming his way out of the bushes.

//Humans,// ‘Foil snorted, //how rude! We should kill them all! Not even stopping to apologize, the nerve! Though, any good elf would have heard that horse miles away! Being trampled by a stupid human and its stupid horse…//

The sword continued to grumble as Stravos sat down on the side of the road, making sure no more horses were around. He sighed slightly, feeling suddenly weary, which usually only happened when thinking of his past. Wincing slightly again at the pain, he pulled the scarf from his head, probing the wound. It seemed to have healed over already, but it was still tender to the touch. The blood covered scarf was near black in color instead of the red it once was.

Tossing the scarf behind the bushes in which he had landed, Stravos got to his feet rather slowly. He stared once again at the gate where the horse and human had disappeared into. Anger slowly boiled in his belly, a feeling he couldn’t remember ever having, though after a few moments, the anger disappeared.

It was just a human after all, and the horse really couldn’t be blamed for nearly trampling the young elf. Still, Stravos decided, it would do the human some good to learn some manners, and who better to teach him then the one he ran over?

Much to the delight of ‘Foil, Stravos walked closer to the gate. Two guards were seated outside the gate, relaxed and playing a game on a rough wooden table. They did a double take when they saw what passed through the gates.

“Hold!” called one of the guards. They both stood up quickly as Stravos paused, looking back inquisitively.

“Elf, what is your business here?” the rather pudgy looking guard asked in suspicion, his bushy brown eyebrows lowered menacingly.

The other guard was a bit more polite, but not by much. “You can’t just walk through the gates without permission,” he said, “are you on official business?”

He considered the two guards before answering. “No,” Stravos replied truthfully, “I was just going to teach that human who came by a scant few minutes ago some roadside manners and common courtesy. I won’t be here any longer than a few hours or so.”

This answer, however truthful, did not seem to satisfy the guards.


Sorry this chapter is so short and you really don't get a feel on what's going on yet! I'll try to make the next chapters longer!