Realistic or Modern Bastard's Tale

[ScalpelsNSaws]

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The Cistern
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Shaun waited in the darkness. He only had his knife on hand, as the rest of his weapons were by his spot near Shisa's tent. As each second dragged by into a minuite, then two, He grew more antsy, the sounds of hushed voices could be heared and the attempted muffling of steps. Eventually the dim light by the candle illuminated a small cluster of silhouettes enter the Cistern, one tripping on the metal bar onto the broken glass scattered below it.

Shaun slinked silently towards them through the dark, he could see they were armed. He had the dark to his advantage here, so he took it. Shoving one into the pool he stuck another one with his blade, right under the ribs and dragging it slightly. A screech of agony erupted from the figure, before Shaun released them and letting them slump to the ground. The one he'd shoved into the water splashed around confused. Eventually they found their feet again and tried to pull themself out of the water, only to be greeted by Shaun's boot.

Shaun felt hands wrap around him, getting him in a choke hold. He dragged the blade in his hands across the length of their arm, freeing him. He turned on his heel and dived onto the stranger, his full weight on the knife between them driving it right through whatever shoddy armour they had on.
Aside from slashing, the sound died out. No more screaming, just the sloshing of the person in the pool and heavy breathing...and If one was to strain their ears they could also hear Mos' incoherent mumbling.

Shaun called out to Mos, telling him to light the candles. He did so, gradually bringing these intruders into view, as well as a slick red Shaun standing at the edge of the pool, staring daggers into the still living one.

 

[Corvid15]

"Assassins, and not very good ones. They're dead now."

Shisa replied, closing her bag of nettles and putting it away. She collected the guns the assailants had been using, passing them over to Ethan for inspection. She had overheard him and Shaun talking about silencers, the attachment on the gun. So she figured he would like them.

"You lost one of your men, lead assassin threw a knife into his neck. Otherwise, the only casualties were the assailants. "

Shisa glanced at the Noble men that just arrived, the commander, and the other guy. She could see the wheels turning in the commander and his friend's heads. The commander had seen her in her garb before, and now he saw her do this. To him, she pulled out a bag, said some words he couldn't understand, then the two men dropped in excruciating pain.

Shisa turned from them, to Rose, giving her a smile and a nod. She handled those axes like they were apart of her body. It was amazing to watch. She must have had years of experience with them, she was starting to like this woman.

 

[Mewmewcatfish]

Once the last man was dead, Rose pulled in her axe, returning to her crone self with ease, just as the new men came towards them. She shook slightly pointing to the man and then making a shaking cut over her throat. She watched as Shisa talked to the men, impressed with her knowledge and use of poisonous herbs. For a young lady, she could hold her own.

As the men began to catch on, Rose sunk back, her hands moving to her axe in a position fruitful to her. She spoke up to the man with a slight burble,"Yeah...sonny. My husband Wilbur sent them so that he could meet that old bitch Celia. Lady has boobs down to her knees and doesn't know how to make squirrel soup. I make very good squirrel soup. My granddaughter here loves my squirrel soup! Dont ya!"

She gave the perfect old woman cackle, as she mumbled incoherently, slapping down her cane. She eyed Shisa with a slight nod, giving her a wink. Regardless of her relationship with Shaun, Rose was beginning to like this girl herself. She had some mischief in her, which Rose liked and very much respected.

 

[Obsidian]

Though Ethan too was quick to draw weapons, the others were so eager to drench themselves in the blood of their enemies that it was hardly necessary to shoot anything, merely standing back and watching the others have their fun. Plus, he only had his pistols on him, since he expected they might be carrying their reward back to the cistern. The fight was over quickly, and Ethan could not help but notice their swords. Walking over to one of the dead assassins, pulling their kanata from their dead hands, he examined the weapon and soon twisted his face in disgust. "What a fucking piece of junk." Ethan muttered to himself, throwing the weapon away, "I could shit better swords than that."

Then Shisa gave Ethan the pistols, for the sake of the silencers. And the silencers at least were not rusted scrap, but seemed to be made with an industrial process. Old World likely. If Ethan could crack one open and see what they are made of, perhaps he could make an equivalent, an improvement on Shaun's earlier designs. Ethan started taking the guns and unscrewing the silencers, stashing them in his backpack.

 

[ScalpelsNSaws]

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The Cistern
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Shaun pulled the semi-conscious figure from the pool, getting Mos to help him strap them to a wooden board. The figure was masked and was wearing butressed leather gear, light and somewhat effective if you wanted to stop blunt hits while keeping quiet. Shaun got changed out of his relaxed clothing into an undershirt and his combat pants. "Of course I get my downtime clothes ruined. Typical." He says to Mos while stashing it for cleaning later, not expecting any answer from the functional mute.

Shaun walked up to the figure on the ground. They were wearing a Balaclava like mask, which Shaun pulled off with haste to see who had the audacity to find his safe space. The first thing he noticed was the tattoo on his temple, most Nobility Old world experts had the same one somewhere on their body, Shaun had his on the base of his neck. A circle encompassing the middle point of three ovals, which points crossed at the center. Most of the expedition Sholars had them too, Peter (the scientist he shot in boulder) had one too. "Took you long enough to track me down here, not very good at fighting or sneaking I must say..." Shaun said to them, wiping blood away from his nose.

Shaun picked up the end of the plywood they were tied to, dragging it towards the Cistern pool, the stranger asking what the hell he was doing repeatedly, before Shaun propped up the plywood on a small pile of loose metal Ethan was refining, the man's head hanging precariously close to the surface of the water. Shaun began to question the captive noble about which Lord sent him, how much they knew of the Cistern and upon receiving either a profanity or an answer that didn't satisfy him, Shaun lifted his foot off of the weightless end of the board, sending the man's head underwater form increasingly long lengths of time.

Shaun never came close to drowning the man, he didn't like the idea of seeing the bubbles sto in the same water he drank from. It was weird, he'd feel dirty drinking water he'd drown a man in but eat Shisa's dead man soup. Shaun had eaten worse foods, but he'd never had to drink corpsewater, nor could he bring himself to that milestone.

Eventually, after finding out whom sent the Noble soldier Shaun pulled him out of the water and away from the edge. He still couldnt let him leave alive however and grabbed Jesse's old revolver, covering his ears with wet cloth, doing the same for Mos. He put the revolver to the man's head and it made a nauseating splurch as his brain matter was pasted to the cobble floor.

 

[Lexico]

MOS

It should be months for MOS to have been active at least actively assisting someone. He felt excited to be following Shaun and trying to understand what commands he was giving. He frowned on the death and blood. But he would not hate Shaun for that. It was like a puppy getting acquainted with it's new master. And his muscles were aching as they had for some time never been strained. He had been sleeping most of the day. He was feeling relieved. He felt secured with Shaun. He panicked when the last man was shot and the blood poured in. He mumbled. Nothing of sense. He shivered a bit.

 

[Corvid15]

"Yes I do. Weren't you gonna make some when we got home?"

Shisa gave the Nobles a look of 'just indulge her'. This act was actually kind of fun, she liked Rose's grandmother character. Granted, it took her about everything she had to not double over laughing when she started talking about her husband Wilbur. Husband, that must be the term they use for a bonded partner, a male one at least. Learn something new every day, I guess.

She could definitely learn some things from Rose. Everyone always overlooks the old people, especially those who are a bit out of sorts. While they looked nothing alike, she liked being Rose's 'granddaughter'. But still, even if Rose distracted them a bit, they probably realized(or think that) Shisa is a witch. While the group may be outnumbered incase they try to take Shisa by force, she knew Rose, Betty, and Mavis alone could take out a couple of people. So she found a little comfort in that.

 

[TheAdept]

"Oh..." Said one of the Nobles, seeing the frail old lady before them "My sincerest apologies ma'am. This must all be horrifying for you. But we need to know what happened."

"Clearly we were attacked." Jesse said, his irritation apparent in his voice as he gestured around to all the dead bodies.

The commander, meanwhile, ran up to one of the Nobles that had stormed in and began trying to speak, which came out as inaudible gibberish. He then pointed at Shisa with a horrified expression.

"These are clearly the Daimyos men. Is she with the Daimyo?" A Noble asked

"Obviously not, or we would have blasted her face off too." Jesse said, pointing to the man who wielded the sword.

The commander then pointed at Shisa again, this time putting his hands above his head in a triangular shape. This was again misinterpreted.

"Right, if you want to go home, then go home." The Noble said to the commander, just wanting to get rid of the now mute guy.

"If you are a mercenary, we are surely hitting the Daimyo next, especially after this. You should come to Cap Hill in a week. It takes the Lord and his advisors a while to make official decisions." He said, as he then ordered his men to dispose of the bodies.

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Less than an hour later
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The plains moved passed the group in a blur as the carriage was propelled by the horses running for their lives from the mad man whipping them. Jesse had read in books about horses being used for transportation and warfare but had never driven or ridden any. He was able to take them as far as outside the city when the reins slipped off the carriage and the horses fled in opposite directions. The carriage rolled a bit more then stopped, and Jesse was pissed, along with surely a couple others.

"Alright." He said, storming to the back and to the crate of decor "How about we all blow off some steam?" He asked, pulling out a vase and smashing it violently against the wearing pavement.

 

[Obsidian]

"Wait!" Ethan jumped to his feet as Jesse started smashing the Old World junk, "I know this shit is useless to us, but someone else might think it valuable to them, and we could trade for what we need."

"We should try to get the horses back." Ethan suggested, climbing down off the carriage, "We could trade them as well."

 

[TheAdept]

Jesse sighed as he was about to smash another vase but calmed down and set it back in the crate.

"Alright..." Jesse said, looking around for the horses. The surrounding land was flat in spite of the overgrown grass, and so both horses were visible. They hadn't run far before settling down to eat grass.

Stupid creatures, Jesse thought.

"Help me round them up and fasten them back to the damn wagon." He said, as he jogged up to one of the horses. He was approaching in the most uneducated way, as he knew next to nothing about these strange creatures. As he was coming up behind a horse, planning to jump on its back, the horses foot came up into Jesse's knee. Having been shot, stabbed, beaten and tortured before had hardened him so he didn't scream or double over, but it still hurt and Jesse backed off.

"Any of you know how to catch one of these?" He called to the others.

 

[Corvid15]

"Let me.."

Shisa grabbed some of the horse feed, hopping off the bed of the truck where she had been talking with Rose. She walked up slowly, approaching the first horse from the side. She seemed calm, friendly. Shisa was much better with animals than people, animals didn't try to kill her for being a witch.

"Jesse, that was the stupidest thing I've ever seen you do."

Shisa walked up to the horse from the left side slowly, showing she meant no harm. Stopping about 20ft from the horse, she patted her leg with the hand not holding food to get the horse to look at her.

Shisa continued patting her leg as the horse took a few steps toward her in intrest, and when she stopped the horse stopped. She seemed completely relaxed, almost at home. She took a step to her right, and a couple of steps forward, and began patting her leg again. It was like watching dance partners, she would move then the horse would move, the two slowly spiraling towards eachother. It was like magic.

Once the horse was close enough, Shisa held out her hand flat with the food, petting the animal's head with the other hand. After a bit of this, she grabbed part of the bridle, talking softly.

"C'mon back, darlin. It's okay."

And the horse walked with her back to the truck, where she attached it back to the truck. And over the next few minutes, she did the same with the other horse. It was easier this time, given that the horse wanted to be with it's friend.

Shisa tied up the second horse, making sure her knots were secure. She definitely needed to make new tack for the horses, if they were keeping them. One thing many overlook about the Bone Speakers. While mostly they are known as cannibalistic shamans and savages, they are very animal friendly. But they are from the South, and an area of Mimi(Florida) used to be known in the Old World for horses. Most of the area is flooded and destroyed now, but the Speakers had a few founding members who taught the rest proper animal husbandry. They had a few horses that traveled with them, to carry those who couldn't walk for long periods.

Shisa smiled, waving everyone back towards the truck. She was not letting Jesse take the reigns again. She was probably the only one who knew how to handle horses properly. These poor things definitely were mistreated, not on purpose. But just people not knowing how to care for them properly.

"Let me drive. And Jesse, never approach a horse from behind like that. You could've easily been killed pulling that stunt. They spook easy, and kick hard."

 

[TheAdept]

Eventually the truck wagon pulled up to a manhole a fair distance from Superior. It still annoyed the shit out of Jesse that they could no longer risk going through Superior, but he put it out of his mind. Maybe he could trade these nice Old World things for explosives, or even a decent axe. He had taken the sword the man challenged him with. He himself had practiced with katanas since his time with the Bastards, and perhaps even with this rusty piece of junk he could hone his skills a little more, though he preferred axes.

"We can move these horses later. Lets move this shit into the Cistern." Jesse announced.

"We're back!" Jesse announced with false joy as they reached the Cistern "What the hell happened here?" He said, setting down the box and seeing the bloody corpse of the Noble.

 

[ScalpelsNSaws]

"Daimyo scouts. And awful ones at that. He and I were having a little chat when I got bored of asking him questions." Shaun said wistfully before looking over the group, seeing blood on them too. He also saw Shisa, walkimg up to her and hugging her as if he was expecting her not to return, he said "I'm glad you made it back." He turned to Jesse, looking at the man and his crate. "I'm guessing the Daimyo gave you trouble too? Or was it Williams?" Shaun asked inquisitively, handing Shisa her mask.

"Oh, by the way," Shaun said to Aurora, "your man misses you I think." He says, gesturing to the man child sleeping on a cot with an image of her.

 

[Mewmewcatfish]

After all the commotion, Rose was sat in the truck, chatting with Shisa about how impressed she was when Jesse started throwing around the old world items. She recognized a few and was just about to smash a beautiful porcelain bowl when Ethan put on the breaks. She frowned, just as annoyed as Jesse was, but she felt the boy did have a point. Once Shisa got control of the horses, they headed back to the Cistern.

The farther they got away, Rose took off the bulk to sit up straight. She stretched, the pain in her back and hips now even more apparent. She remained quiet about it, knowing these young kids would see it as a sign of the dreaded age. As the cart took them home, she hopped in the back seat keeping an eye out in case they were being followed. She remained quiet, contemplative about what she was going to do. She had traveled with this group for a short time, and she was beginning to like them, but her welcome may come to be too much. She was another mouth to feed, and like these horses, she could be more of a burden than an ally. She would have to figure out how to leave soon.

As they reached the Cistern, she helped unload the carts, noting the bodies that Shaun had had to deal with. She walked over to the corpses, digging through their pockets looking for a spare cigarette. She spoke evenly, "Lil Fuckers..."

Nothing. She kicked the corpse-like an angry toddler and turned, crossing her arms as she looked over at Shaun and Shisa unite. She also saw Aurora's beau Mos (who's the name she had learned on the road) and was happy to see the couples together again. Well, sort of together.

She smiled, despite the aches and pains, remembering what coming home to someone was like. She sighed looking away from them as she turned to Jesse and Ethan, "So either one of you want to tell me why Daimyo scouts are attacking us in Nobility territory?"

 

[TheAdept]

Jesse lifted the sword he stole from the man's corpse.

"I have only ever known two people to have used weapons like this before. One of them is Phil Shingo, a betrayer, but most importantly a former Bastard. And Bastards were always resourceful and clever. Granted you might find it hard to believe in light of recent events." He said as he tapped his shin where the horse kicked him. Nobody laughed when it happened, but he knew surely a couple wanted to.

"Anyway one man tried to challenge me, there must be a reason. And there is only one reason I can think of. Well, two. Shingo is ranked in Daimyo Nikushimi's army high enough to send men after me and he is afraid to come fight me himself. A big pussyshit as usual." He said, looking at the junk sword and knowing it was trash, even without Ethan's expert knowledge.

Shingo practiced a method of fighting from somewhere else in the world, in the far East where the sun rose. Or rather thats what people called it. Made no sense to Jesse as in spite of being in the dark about a lot of things involving the world outside of Culrud he knew that the world was round.

"Too bad for him I am going to hunt him down anyway." Jesse said

 

[Lexico]

Aurora slept with Mos that night. Hugging him tightly and feeling his breath on her. She slept peacefully but she did not recognize the change in him. She had no time. The walk and the bloody stressful events had occupied her, she really forgot to speak to him or look into his eyes. She was so close to him but so far away.

"I am so tired," is all she told him. She was dreaming. A worst dream where all of them were near the noose. Someone just cut Mos's throat. Aurora was shouting and wanted to be near him while he die. One noble commander unlooses her and cuts her throat and sends her towards Mos's direction. She jumps to Mos and tries to hold his hand while they both are breathing their last.

 

[Corvid15]

Shisa returned the hug, putting her mask back on. She was glad to be back, that she was safe. She didn't want to visit again though, considering the ex-Commander recognized her. Thankfully, the other Nobles were perfectly idiotic, and didn't understand what he was trying to say.

"Commander tried to out me to the other Nobles, thankfully they didn't get the hint. Don't want to go visit next time, though."

"Do you want me to make food, or go hunting for that matter?"

Morrigan, who had been hiding in Shisa's tent, flew back to her. She was happy that her mom returned safely, and was content with head scritches.

Shisa herself was glad Shaun was okay, she had not expected anyone to attack the Cistern. And that was concerning. Anyone could know where their hide out is.

 

[ScalpelsNSaws]

"From what my former damp friend told me, they weren't sure if this place even exists. They heared rumours from wanderers that we were hiding out down here. They basically had some idea where to look and hit the tripwires down the south tunnel." Shaun expalined to Shisa, "None of them got away, so as far as I know we remain in obsurity, a slaves hopeful myth."

Upon hearing the Commander was present, Shaun was surprised. "Wait he made it out of boulder alive? Lucky fucker."

Looking down at the remains of the noble he had an answer, "No, I think I've lost my appetite. Help you self to this tool, just be sure to do it in the deeper tunnels away from the others and come back...as clean as you can. For your consuption only." He didnt mind her Cannibalism, but didn't want to make a habit of eating people. He said this in a hushed tone so the others couldn't her it, Rose had told him she wasn't a fan of cannibalism way back when, but she understood why it was a thing in some tribes.

 

[Corvid15]

"No, we can just get rid of him."

Shisa whispered back, giving Shaun another hug. In all honesty, she did want a snack. But the corpse had been there for a little while, and if she did drag it off, it would be very obvious what she was doing. She may be a cannibal, but she had standards.

"There's still a little light, Morrigan and I can go out and hunt something. Or cook something, we should still have a good amount of food."

Shisa spoke aloud, addressing the group for a decision. But if she was going to cook something, she had to make each ingredient recognizable. It was a mean stunt she had pulled with the stew, and she wanted to regain some trust. And Rose and Mos hadn't heard about her being a cannibal yet, thankfully.

And hunting could give her a chance to prove her worth. While her plants were useful, she had just been a source for trouble lately.

 

[TheAdept]

"Lets have some deer." Jesse said, having learned to preserve meat with salt early on in life "We still have carrots that aren't rotted also."

"Anyone want to help me move the horses to the farmhouse?" He asked, still feeling amused that they had a farmhouse.

 

[Mewmewcatfish]

At the mention of the Bastards Rose perked up, hearing about the various group in passing. She placed her hands on her hips, “I’ve been living under a rock for quite some time kid. So mind clueing me in on who is Daimyo Nikushimi?”

She noted Shisa and Shaun talking off to the side, concern crossing there features. She figured it was probably about what he had gone through while they were gone. At the mention of dinner, Rose’s stomach made a grumble. She felt as though she hadn’t eaten in days, and to be frank she hadn’t.

At Jesse and Shisa’s words she spoke up, “Deer sounds lovely. I’ll help Jesse with these beasts and then I’ll help ya with the cooking Shisa. I ain’t much in a kitchen but I can follow some direction if you need it.”

She walked over to the horses, shooshing one of them as she reached out to touch it’s snout.

 

[ScalpelsNSaws]

Shaun sauntered over to the triage, leaning against the old stonework and smiling. Aurora and Mos looked so peaceful like that, Aurora had put two cots by each other while he would be in there so they wouldn't be sleeping apart. After spending a couple minuites just watching them sleep, Shaun remembered he had shit to do. He moved over to where the fighting had took place and began to drag the bodies out of the Cistern, he didn't want rats coming in and spreading more disease. He took an insignia off one of the corpses, it was underneath their armour so he didn't see it first time round.

After the bodies were gone he began taking a bucket of water to the blood pools and trails from the corpses, it was looking like B-rated horror movie down there, not that any of these people had seen one.

 

[Corvid15]

"I'll come, they like me."

Shisa piped up, jogging up to Rose and Jesse. She probably was the one with the most experience around horses, and she didn't want to leave the horses with Jesse. The man almost got himself killed trying to catch the horses, for God's sake.

Once they were out with the horses, Shisa pet the two horses. Thankfully, they were alright. They were beautiful creatures, both Belgian Draught horses(if they knew what breeds were). One was full black, the other was chestnut.

"It's alright, may I?"

Shisa whispered to the black horse, who seemed a bit calmer around people. Shisa, in one fluid movement, mounted the horse. Most horses were used to pulling carts, not bareback riders. But this one was at least familiar with it. She had missed the feeling of horseback riding. But, the horses were still attached to the cart, so riding would have to wait. She truly was imposing in her mask and full black outfit atop a pure black horse. Horses weren't that common, but being able to bond with a horse enough to ride it was a rare feat.

Shisa dismounted just as gracefully, smiling under her mask.

"We can stable them, and hide the cart in the barn. We can see what supplies are left in the barn and farmhouse. We can even stay in there if the Cistern gets compromised."

 

[TheAdept]

Jesse smirked as he saw Shisa on horseback and imagined how scared an ordinary person would be of her; a masked cannibal on horseback. He liked the idea of having a backup base, especially now that Nobles from Nikushimi's territory found them, but having multiple bases also seemed impractical for just seven people.

"A couple of us should stay here and guard the place, we could rotate." He said, looking at Rose "You don't know? I'm guessing you are not from Culrud at all. The Nobility is split into houses, I have been keeping track of them. Now they are infighting. Nobody should really be surprised to learn that though. Even the few Bastards couldn't refrain from fighting and killing each other for long, and now here I am. Anyway, we are working with Lord William who is at war with the Daimyo and the Sultan. Lord Marcello was also his enemy but we won a decisive battle for William's forces."

 

[ScalpelsNSaws]

"So Ethan, how were we rewarded for our little suicide mission?" Shaun asked curiously, looking at the closed crate. He really hoped it was worth the effort. He approached the box, lifting the lid to see... linens and pottery. Albiet very very antique and possibly rare pottery, the best use of these would be to botanise Shisa's plants. Or smashing over Nobles heads... except for one vase, which is orange in colour with crudely drawn black images painted across it. This was an old Greek story painted onto a pot. Shaun recognised the Nemean lion depicted on one of its faces.

He had heared the others talking about horses. Had the Nobles given them animals to take care of as a reward? It seemed partly stupid, as they would be a drain on the dwindling food supply they had, but then again if they could wagon them they wouldn't have to walk everywhere...then again, in his experience it seemed very easy to ambush wagons. It was basically this group's hobby at this point.