Kanji Applying for the Royal Guard

Kanji walked to the Castle, figuring that joining the Royal Guards would be as good of a start as any to get some cash. He noticed several guards standing at the entrance but just figured if he was casual about going in they wouldn't care. As he started walking past them, a sword flash in front of his face and he felt himself being picked up by the back of his shirt. Despite his age, he was still small enough for this kind of treatment. "And just where do you think you're going little one?" Kanji sighed and looked at the guard who had spoken to him. "Well I WAS planning on heading inside... But then I was grabbed by some brutes." The guard ignored Kanji's comment and proceeded to take his pack and search through it. "15 knives, some wires, a few flasks filled with a liquid... Doesn't smell like you can drink it, several matches, and some basic camping supplies. ...No food." The guard looked skeptically at Kanji and placed him down since he no longer had anything to fight back with.

"What is your purpose here?" He asked sternly. Kanji shrugged and didn't look the least bit concerned with his current situation. "I just figured their'd be an opening of some sort as a fighter or guard or somethin." Several of the guards laughed at him except for one, Kanji assumed the highest ranking one out of the group. "Alright kid, we'll give you a shot. The guards are a volunteer organization and we would be fools to turn away some help. As you can probably understand, we'll have to hold your weapons for the time being." Kanji nodded and followed the guards to what he assumed was their barracks. A guard approached him and handed him a sword. "Show us what you got, kid." Kanji looked at the sword like it was the first time had ever seen one and then looked back at the guard. "Uh... Do you mind if I fight with my own repertoir? I'm not much of a sword fighter." The guard nodded and motioned for Kanji's items to be returned to him. Kanji felt a little worried when he was allowed to use his weapons. The fact that he is letting me use these means he's pretty confident in his own skills... Something tells me I'm about to be knocked down a peg.

The guard who had handed him a sword and Kanji walked outside to a training area and took positions at opposite sides of the building. "Begin!" The two fought and continued fighting for around 4 minutes before Kanji found himself on the ground, facing the bad end of a sword. "You're not the worst fighter I've seen but you definately could be better. No worries though, we'll make a proper soldier out of you in the royal guards." The guard showed the faint signs of a smile and helped Kanji up. Kanji nodded and smiled. "Thanks bro. This means a lot man."

Light snores could be heard from under a large blanket on a even larger bed. It had been a long night for the sleeping red head as she grunted and shuffled around a bit under her warm cover. It felt as if her forehead would birth a child as it thumped in agony, shuffling around a bit more she felt the cool rush of wind hit her milk brown skin. Keeping her eyes closed she searched around for the warmth of her blanket but failed to retrieve it and instead she got a voice. " Your Highness..I am sorry but you must get up..It is the afternoon and you have already missed your studies with the White Mages.... I will be punished if I let you sleep any longer." The voice was soft and had a motherly kindness to it. Cerise opened one of her light brown eyes and closed them back putting her head under her pillow to hide from the sun.

"It's too bright in here....Bring me something for this headache Mala..Please and thank you... Oh and please have someone come and get Cosmos cleaned and fed....Hmmm
Watching from a small hole under her pillow as the servant walked out of the room, Cerise sighed to herself and rolled out of bed, she was naked as she looking around her bedroom going towards the window she closed the blinds and lit a few candles to dim the room. Another small sighed came from her red lips and she walked straight to the bathroom and noticed she had a warm shower already going for her. Smiling she stepped into the warm water, grabbing some orchid vanilla body wash. Cerise tilted her head back and let the water wash over her curvacious form. She washed up for a half an hour before turning the water off and stepping out of it. wrapping a towel around her rich red hair and around her body.

Cerise had spent the night drinking, again. Her mind was stuck on stupid when she heard there were rebels about. And she had resorted to doing her favorite thing which was getting drunk. Walking out of the bathroom she looked around to see there were two servants standing near Cosmos. Cosmos growled at them, his pearly white teeth showing and his purple and white fur shaggy he looked as tired as Cerise was when Mala had woken her up.
Cosmos was a wolf who meant the world to Cerise, they had been with each other since she was a baby and they grew up together.She walked up to him kissing his furry head, At that moment he calmed down and the servants took him to the next room where they would wash him up and feed him breakfast. Cerise went to her walk in closet and pulled out a short black skirt, a white button up shirt and her favorite black and red cape. Quickly getting dressed she brushed her hair and walked out of her room, retrieving Cosmos before grabbing a quick breakfast.


Walking through the halls of the castle made Cerise happy as everyone bowed to her and told her good morning. Smiling to her loyal subjects she and Cosmos made there rounds around the Castle happily enjoying the praise. Wondering if she should go out today Cerise's thoughts were halted as she walked past the sounds of fighting. Stopping and walking towards the sounds she smiled as she saw a boy being helped up by a guard. Moving closer to the action she clapped her hands not really seeing what had happened but playing her own little fight out in her head. " Well, well..What have we here..Hmm" smiling lightly she stood with her hand on her hip and Cosmos sitting beside her, his long fur gleaming.

The king, or rather king-to-be, stood on the balcony outside his den over-looking the city, taking in deep breaths as he observed the city gradually coming to life before his eyes, as was always his morning routine. There was nothing he enjoyed more then observing the daily interactions of his subjects from high above, it made him feel as if he could somehow make a difference in their lives. Sir Enderon sighed and withdrew from the balcony, and into his den to begin his day. As usual his servants entered at exactly sunrise, carrying his vestments for the day, cleaned and pressed to perfection, despite his belief that it was all too overbearing on his slim figure. The royal vestments were tailored for bulky human males, they didn't fit too well on his half-elven body. " Good Morrow Your Highness, how art thou feeling? I trust that thou had a good nights rest. " The truth of the matter was that he had not slept at all for what seemed like an entire lunar cycle, he however shrugged it off and lied as per usual. " I am feeling well, and rested on this fine morning, thank you. I wish to change alone, if you may. " The servants bowed and withdrew from the room as Enderon stripped down his nightgown and changed into the royal vestments.

Sir Enderon did not leave the room after changing, instead he proceeded back to his bed and gazed at the spot once occupied by his wife. He knelt down and lay his head upon the sheets, kept precisely the way they had been on the fateful day, the day his daughter had been born. " Sometimes I long for thy sweet embrace, but thou art in a better place, and I must accept it and move on. I hope you've been watching over us from up on high, thy daughter is as lovely as thou were and has grown into a fine young woman. " Sir Enderon rose to his feet and offered up a prayer to his departed wife before opening the large doors of his den and stepping out into the marble hallway, where he was immediately assaulted by all manner of servants trying to do this and that. Their presence was a great annoyance to him and ruined an otherwise perfect morning. " Sir, we have prepared breakfast for you and have arranged several meetings with representatives from the other major cities later in the day. " The king sighed, he hated dealing with representatives, they were never happy with anything he did. " Very well, has my daughter risen yet? " The servants looked around anxiously, deciding who should bear the news. Finally one brave soul stepped forward, " No Your Highness, all attempts to arouse her have ended in failure, she just won't wake." The king let out a hearty laugh and shook his head back and forth, " That's my daughter for you, leave her be for now, attempt to wake her again at high noon. " The king swiftly retreated in his study and would not let a soul in until high noon, when he finally left after hearing the sound of fighting outside by the guard house.

The king raced outside in a furor to see what the commotion was about, and found his daughter had already arrived before him. Observing closer he noted a small man being helped to his feet by one of his best guard captains. The king strolled over and embraced his daughter, " Good morrow my little angel, I trust thy sleep was lucrative. " Letting go of his daughter, he averted his attention back at the guards, " Greetings and salutations Sir Patrick, what do we have here, another fresh recruit for the guard? Doesn't look like much of a fighter to me. " Sir Patrick bowed before the king, " Aye Your Highness, we were merely testing his bravado, he's a scrapper he is, he'll make a good fighter some day. " The king nodded, "Very well, see to it he has a proper background check then enroll him in the guard if everything checks out. "

Kanji leaned back and let out a relieved sound as he stretched out his back. He looked down at the ground at one of his stringed knives that lay on the ground, not really wanting to take the time to actually role it back up. He looked over to the side and saw a well developed young lady and a well dressed man. "Oh, hey there y'all... 'Sup?" He gave a quick and subtle wave and turned his attention back to his knife. He tugged on the wire of the knife, causing the knife to "jump" up in the air and let him catch it. After meticulously roling up the wire so that he could quickly use the knives again if he needed to, he turned his full attention back to the young lady and the man. "Hey there y'all. Good to meetcha. Name's Kanji." He spoke in a very casual tone and his facial expression was almost ecstatic despite his loss that had happened on moments before.

Looking at the boy she paid no attention to the guards her eyes looking the boy over with a tad bit of curiosity. Before she could say another word she felt her father's warm embrace and returned one of her own. Smiling innocently at him she moved a strand of her hair away and spoke in return to his question. " Good Afternoon Father..I have slept long and well thank you...I was just taking strolling the Castle with Cosmos and I stumbled across.. What seems to be the new recruit from what I just heard..." turning her attention towards The boy she smiled at him and extended her hand so that he may kiss it, listening to how he addressed her she could clearly see he did not know who they were even though the guard just addressed the her father.
" Hello..My name is Cerise-Mirabelle Roux, but you will call me Your Highness or Cherry Hime...Next time when you address royalty...Make sure you do it properly.. Her serious face turned into a calm sweet one, Her deep red hair blew in the light breeze that passed and her light brown eyes held a smug gleam as she continue to hold her hand out waiting for him to get on his knee and kiss her hand while bowing his head. Cerise loved this treatment and excepted it from everyone she came in contact with.

Miles's eyes shined brightly in the light, the now crimson sun lying on the horizon, reading itself for its nightly rest, the moon coming up for its shift in the sky. He had walked all the way from the city of Fumo, his interest piqued when he heard about the royal guard of the family. The young man, barely 21, walked calmly, a shroud over him to protect him from the elements. It covered his entire body except his eyes and his shoes. His chocolate brown eyes scanned the horizon as he looked, seeing the castle a couple miles ahead of him on the trail that he was on. He began to break into a stride, the body of the young man finally being able to be seen.It was muscular and lithe, from what you could see that was not covered by the clothing he was wearing. A strange blade hung at his side, a one sided blade with a slight curvature on the other side, the cross-guard being like a star. The blade itself was covered by a sheathe, which seemed to shine in the low light. The wind picked up a bit behind him, giving him a boost. Four miles became three, three miles became two, two miles became one, and one became zero. He stopped a couple meters away from the castle gates, catching his breath before striding towards the gate, a happy smile on his face that was covered by the shroud.

The guard stopped him just before he could go in. "Hold it. Where do you think you're going?" The guard said gruffly, his hand already on the pommel of his broadsword, a sharp glare in the man's eyes. Miles blinked. "I came here to apply to join the Royal guard. Is there any problem with that?" Miles asked, looking at the guard. The guard laughed. "What makes you think you have what it takes to join the Royal Guard? To put your life on the line to serve and protect the Royal family?" The guard said, a deep grumble of a chuckle stuck in his throat. Miles sighed, looking at the guard straight on. "How about you test me to see what i've got?" Miles said, unbuckling his shroud at the top and tossing it over his shoulder, the full frame of the young man being seen. As soon as the guard saw Miles's katana, he laughed. "What, do you plan to take me on with that excuse for a sword? Here, to make it fair, take a sword. Come on." The guard said, getting a sword from the nearby armory. Miles shook his head. "That won't be necessary. In fact, I won't even draw my sword to fight you." Miles said, not sounding confident, just matter-of-factly. The man growled. "You're overconfidence will be your downfall, fool." The man said, Miles following him to the fighting arena. They went to adjacent arena, away from the pair that were already fighting. As they got there, the man took the broadsword that he had off of his back, holding it with one hand. Miles took his katana, sheathe and all off of his side and held it with two hands, taking a deep breath. A fight at dusk. Funny, isn't it?

The fight lasted for a good 10 minutes, neither side giving either a chance to take a breath. The fight was furious, but as Miles said, he didn't unsheathe his katana once during the whole fight. Miles was mostly on defense during the entire fight through choice, blocking and counterattacking using the curved side of the sheathe, which followed the blade, to block and giving the man a whack on the shoulder, knees, or head every once in a while after he block. The man was tired already, but Miles was just getting started. Miles had to admit though, these Royal guardsmen fought well. Every time Miles did go on the offensive, this guard blocked his attacks and even managed to land a cut on his chest. A shallow cut, mind you, but a cut all the same. But then the guard slipped up in his anger and tiredness, trying to rush Miles. This time, Miles was ready to initiate the 'killing' blow. When the guard thrusted at him, he used the curve of his blade like always but spun the katana in his hand so that the outward curve of the blade pushed away the broadsword. The sheathe traveled up the side of the guards arm, shifting positions once again so that the outward curve was facing the man's neck. "If this was a real battle, you would've been dead." Miles said simply, putting the sword and its sheathe back at his side. "So, do I pass?" Miles asked.

Sir Enderon smiled, he was happy that his daughter had a good night, he was worried his insomnia might be affecting the rest of the castle. He released the embrace as his daughter seemed to go up into a furor about not being properly addressed. Enderon did not care much for honorifics, actually he hated it, after all he had grown up an exile, and the honorifics just seemed to imply he was somehow, better than everyone else. He may be the king, but he didn't feel greater than everyone else. Unfortunately, people cared about these things, and he didn't want the boy to get hurt because of it, " As my daughter has stated it would be better off to remember whom you are addressing in the future. " The king motioned for Sir Patrick off to the side and left the boy and his daughter alone. " Your Majesty, what is it you wish to speak about? " The king looked around to make sure no one was listening in to the conversation, and spoke in a hushed voice. " Make sure your background check is extra thorough on that boy, he is clearly a Telum native and with the rebel troubles these days, one can never be too careful. "

Just then the sounds of a clash echoed through the grounds, probably another guard hopeful testing against a guard. It sounded like the fight had just started so the king motioned for Sir Patrick to follow him towards the source so that he may observe the fight. He arrived five minutes into the fight and observed everything up to and including the conclusion quietly from the side-lines, and he was impressed with what he observed. The king began clapping and soon Sir Patrick followed his example. " Bravo, what a marvelous spectacle, art thou here to enlist in the guard? " The king offered his hand to the stranger for a hand shake, " Thou seem to be experienced in the art of combat, although I have not seen such an exotic weapon in these regions before. " The king was casually observing the slender blade with the eyes of a blade collector, observing the detail and intricacy of the hand-forged blade, curious as to the skills required of a swordsmith who fashioned these blades, and what it would take to get one to travel to this kingdom for a demonstration.

He had only seen bits and pieces of the fight between the guard and Miles but Kanji was pretty impressed with what he saw. "Hey, not bad bro. Rockin' the katana eh?" He had only seen one or two katana in Telum and they were always incredibly overpriced for how cheaply made they were but he had heard some rumors every now and then about skilled wielders with katana. Kanji couldn't help but wonder how he would fare against an opponent like that in a one-on-one battle. He decided to discard such a thought for the time being and worry more about simply improving his own skills before worrying about the skills of others.

Kanji leaned back, only barely aware from his surrounding until he felt a pop in his b ack. "Ah..." He glanced over at the princess and then looked at her hand. "Pray-tell this ignorant subject what one is supposed to do in this instance?" This was his first encounter with royalty of any kind in his life so he had no prior experience to rely on and felt no particular respect towards either of them anyway. He turned his full attention to Charm. "Forgive me if I appear rude, Lady Highness. This is my first time in the big city n' all. I haven't quite figured out how things run in this joint." His eyes suddenly felt very heavy and he recalled he had yet to sleep since arriving in Primera. He managed to hold back a yawn but his fading adrenaline left his stance much more slouched and his face suddenly looked much less vibrant and excited than before. One more thing to fight through... What a chore.

Cerise was already bored and decided it was time for her to depart for a quick trip into town. hearing another fight Cerise decided it might be another newbie and shrugged it off, looking at the boy in front of her who's name she had already forgotten. She smiled at him and noticed his sleepiness and turned to her father. " Father I am going into to town..The newbie here looks preety worn out..I think it would be best if he was shone his quarters...Anyhoom Cosmos come.. we are going" With that her and Cosmo had gone.

exit--

Miles looked over at the other fighter, blinking and waving a bit, seeing the King (or whatever he was, he looked important), approaching him, giving out his hand for a friendly handshake. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw what seemed like the princess leaving with some kind of animal, but he didn’t pay her much attention. “Yes sir, I’m here to apply for being part of the Royal Guard.” Miles said simply, bowing respectfully to the king-guy and standing straight, shaking the man’s hand warmly, his grip firm but not too firm, as to not hurt this guy. He really truly was only here because he heard the Royal Guard got to do cool stuff, and he was here for the action. Since he had stopped training a while ago, his life had become slow, and his blade had become dull with age and uselessness. He saw the king eyeing his blade, chuckling a bit. “Here, let me show you the blade.” Miles said, unsheathing his katana. The blade itself was odd. The outer curve’s side was completely black, like the void. The inner curvature’s side was white, like the purest light.

He held his sword in a way that the hilt was facing the king and the blade was facing away from the King. He looked over at the boy who was fighting earlier, addressing him and his weapon of choice. “Ah, yeah. This sword has been with me for I know well over 19 years. It’s a family heirloom.” Miles said. “But first, if I am to join the Royal Guard, I must show you my other sword skill.” Miles said, walking up to a wooden dummy. He checked it by flicking it, making sure it was good and sturdy. After a thorough examination, he backed up a bit, the blade of his katana sliding back into its sheathe before coming out, nothing but a flash could be seen. In an instant, his sword came out of its sheathe and returned home. “Look.” Mile said, the breeze picking up and hitting the cut up dummy ever-so-slightly, the dummy falling into four pieces.

Sir Enderon gazed at the katana with an expression akin to curiosity and wonder. " That other lad, Kanji I believe, called it a Katana is that correct? " The blade definitely was not his cup of tea, it was rather slender, and he preferred the power of a long, heavy blade over the precision of a smaller blade, still, it was an interesting piece indeed, and it had quite a deal of history behind it as well. As interested as Enderon was in the sword, it appeared the man was more keen on demonstrating his skills than conversing about the history of the blade. Enderon stood idly by as the lad proceeded to casually walk over to a wooden training dummy, seeming to test its structural integrity, after he seemed satisfied the man unsheathed and re-sheathed the blade with intense speed, to any normal onlooker, the blade wouldn't have even moved, however Enderon's keen elven eyes could pick up every movement of the blade with vivid detail, it was impressive, however not really worthy of showing off in his eyes, now if he could have cut down a tree, or even multiple trees, that would have gotten the king's attention. " Impressive, yes I believe thou would fit in nicely with the royal guard, speaking of which, Kanji, and.... I don't believe thou gave thy name, but thou will accompany my daughter wherever she may go, as I believe she isn't being entirely truthful as to the nature of her trip. Consider this my test for thee, bring her home alive and unharmed and I will be convinced that the guard is the place for thee. "

The king swiftly left after addressing the two, making it clear they were to head out immediately, no questions asked. The king had little time to chat, his meeting with the representatives was soon, and he had to prepare for tomorrow's coronation and tournament. He instructed a guardsmen to trail the two without being seen, to monitor their progress and provide aid should they be in need. The guard saluted the King and headed off to the armory to prepare. " I hope those two are up to the task, for my daughter is more precious than any other soul in the kingdom. " With that the king retreated into the castle and headed towards his study to contemplate what he was going to tell the representatives when they arrived.

:exit:

Although Kanji hated the idea of being put to work so soon after enlisting, he figured pissing off the King in his own castle by denying the request was the exact opposite of what he needed to do to get easy money. He turned to Miles and held out one of his hands to shake. "Hey there. Name's Kanji Karuson. Guess we're working together for the time being. Anyway, let's go track down girly before she gets too far ahead." Kanji patted Miles' shoulder and headed off where he figured Her Lady Highness had headed off. "I'm not waiting up!" Kanji called back to Miles as he headed off. He was kidding mostly since he was still in a pretty good mood, despite several factors that would put an ordinary person in a fit of depression.

~Le exit~

Miles nodded, understanding his mission. He didn’t really feel like following what he assumed was that prissy princess around, mainly which because he really couldn’t give a damn what happened to her, but he decided that it would not be wise to make the King mad, and probably be on the WANTED list for the entire nation. He looked over to the man who had sparred earlier, introducing himself as Kanji Karuson. “Its nice to meet you Kanji. My name is Miles Sypher.” Miles said, smiling a bit. He saw the guy trying to out run him and smirked, catching up with him quickly. “Come on, before that girl is too far out of reach!” Miles said, a bit excited.

~Exit~