Claud looked at the forest his fathers note mentioned with great nervousness and anxiousness. "It's time." He muttered under his breath as he took is first step into a new chapter of his life.
Claud took his steps on this familiar path as he heard the quietest shaking of bushes around him. To quiet for an animal, they wouldn't pay that much mind. He thought.
He eventually reached an open area, with what looked to be small dirt holes in the ground, as if a spike for a tent had been there not moments earlier. Just like his father said, they packed up the moment they saw him enter the forest. However, they were definitely still intently watching. Someone in their groups robes that they didn't know. They wouldn't just leave without questioning or analyzing me further. Claud stood there for a short while, debating the approach to make. He had to lure them down without directly pointing them out in the trees.
"They already moved. I'll check the other location on the note." Claud said, with the goal of invoking their curiosity. If I was a part of them, I should've known they were hiding, so they may rule out me being a part of their group. Now that they've garnered that I may be both a threat and not one of them, they just might- and just then, Claud's inner monologue was cut short by a slightly louder shuffling of leaves.
Claud immediately twisted around and looked up while ducking. One of them had jumped from the tree in an attempt to stab him with a knife.
Claud reached for their wrist while squatting and pulled their wrist backwards, causing the opponent to immediately drop their knife. Claud then proceeded to use his other hand and cover the opponents face and shove him into the ground.
"Who are you." A voice from above asked.
"None of your business unless you come to me." Claud said, pulling out one of his flintlocks and pointing it at the skull of the opponents head while still shoving their head into the ground.
"Alright, we can talk like men." The voice proceeded to leap from directly above Claud and over him, landing a short ways away.
"Who are you?" The voice asked again.
"Someone that wants to know some information."
"I asked a question and you said you'd tell me."
"I said specifically unless you come to me. I never promised words of confession." Claud said, putting his flintlock back in his holster and picking up the attacker by the collar and threw them over to the man.
"Why throw away your only chip?" The man said.
"Bring your men down here." Claud said
"It wont affect what occurs proceeding, so sure why not." Just then, a group of about 50 men and women in the red robes leaped from the trees and out of bushes. Just then was when Claud fully noticed it. Everyone there had a lighter version of his robe except the man he was speaking with.
"Thank you." Claud said, as he moved his leg back, prepping a kick. Then, Claud kicked a rock that was laying on the ground as hard as he could. That rock, having two very thin indents in the side, somewhere a thin rope could theoretically be tied to.
The moment Claud kicked the rope, a barrage of arrows tied with ropes spewed out from the trees and struck the people and the ground. Only 3 dodged them, 45 of them were struck in the legs or arms, and the remaining 3 died from an arrow to the head. One of which that dodged being the man standing adjacent to Claud.
"That rock was tied to a string, that simply was tied to the triggers of about 150 crossbows."
"I don't understand, how did you know where we'd stand?"
"I didn't, that's why there's 150 of them you moron."
"There's still 3 of us and 1 of you. You are outmatched pirate."
"Pirate?" Claud asked.
"Of course, a pirate. You modified our robes and gave them a skull on our logo for god sake, of course your a pirate."
"I haven't yet, but it is good to know I look the part." Claud said, pulling out both of his flintlocks. All three of them immediately drew their pistols but two of them were too little too late and suffered bullets to the brain.
"Where's your bullet for me?" The man asked Claud.
"Do you know a Dan?" Claud asked. The man froze a short moment before continuing.
"Don't distract me pirate!" The man said before firing a shot that greatly missed.
"Nervous?" Claud said, dashing towards the man, grabbing his face and shoving his own knee into the man's face. Claud then proceeded to pull out his long musket and shoved it in the man's face and in his mouth.
"Tell me what you know of Dan before you lose your ability to recall thoughts."
"Agghright Oaok, Oaok!" The man said, gagging on the musket.
"All I know is he is already dead and that's the truth!" The man said, keeping his hands raised in a sitting position.
"I already know he is dead. How did he die?" Claud asked, intensifying the current situation.
"I, I don't know! The man that reported his death only reported that and that's it!" The man said, slightly sliding backwards with his hands. "I know you're lying, I have prior knowledge, and I already know how he died. I wish to know what they told you." Claud asked, pushing the musket towards the mans mouth.
"A-Alright alright! We were told that he was shot point blank in the head after surrendering to protect citizens!"
"Citizens? That's all you know?!" Claud asked, frustratingly.
"Yes, yes sir!" The man said, sweating and scooting backwards.
"That's better than I was expecting." Claud said, as he, keeping the musket drawn, started to slowly reload his flintlock with one hand.
"I wont say a single thing, I swear!" The man said. "M-My name is Claud, if anything happens, you can come after me!"
"Claud?!" The Actual Claud asked, confused.
"Yes, Claud!"
"I shall call you C. if I ever see you in the future."
"Alright! Thank you!" The man said as Claud walked away keeping the flintlock drawn towards C.
"Alright." Claud said, sitting on his bed looking down at his injury from when he set up the crossbows. He originally came beforehand, which is why he stated how "familiar" the path was. He came much more stealthly than the first time, as he needed to set up the over 300 crossbows he had bought with all of his savings (His previous savings weren't just for the pistols and the muskets.) When he came the first time, he had hit his knee poorly and it made it difficult to traverse the trees, so he only set up 150 before his knee started to completely give out.
Getting specific, it is now June 6th, 1683. He visited the forest site just 4 days prior, and was currently laying low, until he heard loud knocking on his door. He immediately grabbed both flintlocks and musket and hid the outfit under the bed before he hid behind the door to the small room.
The door immediately swung open with a strong force from a kick. Three men stormed into the small house, looking around. Claud quickly laid his musket on his shoulder and held both pistols out and fired them into the skulls of the two men in the back before quickly dropping the pistols and firing the musket from Claud's shoulder by quickly grabbing and holding it before firing it like a pirate-age bazooka.
"Damnit man! Why couldn't you lot have been wearing officer attire? I may have killed you then though as well." Claud said, turning all three men on your stomach.
"These may come in handy." Claud said, grabbing two swords and their belt straps, along with undressing and stealing all three of their clothes before Claud proceeded to dump the bodies out the back window and into a leaf stack.
Claud reached for his backpack and stuffed the three robes into it and put on his red robe before putting on the backpack.
Claud heard from nearby residents that the men had been asking for a man in a dark red robe with pistols and a large musket on his back. Not surprised, but I am surprised by his ability to lie and send attacks after me despite his abhorrent begging. Claud thought before pulling out one pistol to keep by his side out of his holster.
"Is that a-" Claud says, narrowing his eyes at the roof of a building to see a slight glimpse of a man in a gray robe.
"That one." Claud said, before he ran and climbed up the building, silently following the man in the grey robe.
Eventually, the man in the grey robe stopped at an alleyway and met up with a man in a more creme colored robe.
"What do you know about this new Sicaretro Lieutenant?" The man asked the grey robed man. "I am not sure if it is even a Retro soldier in the first place." The man said, pointing at what looked to be a quick drawing of Claud's house.
"3 other Sicaretro men entered the building, 3 bullet sounds went off at the house before the Lieutenant left their house carrying a backpack, a musket and two flintlocks. Also, not just that, but his shoulder patches have a different logo with a pirates skull in the middle."
"Possibly a rogue Lieutenant?"
"We would have known of a Lieutenant like him a long time ago." The grey robed man reported.
Claud immediately jumped down directly in the middle of the two men with flintlocks pointed at both their skulls.
"Who are you two." Claud asked, deadpan. Both, keeping their hands by their sides, stepped slightly backwards.
"We are known as Royal Ties. Think of us as the opposing group to the Sicaretro." The man said, reaching for his own flintlock slowly and nonchalantly.
"I have no problems with either of you." Claud said, putting both of his pistols in his holsters before reaching for his back holster. "Here." Claud said, tossing them the handle of a flintlock pistol.
"Likewise." The man said, tossing his own handle from the holster he was reaching for.
"I see now. I understand you can't tell me how you got the robes or your objective, but thank you for the slight insight. You are no threat, but a man in the mission. I wont try and bring you with us as one of us, and I also won't try and stop your mission."
"Thank you Colonel Shanti." Claud says, standing up.
"What's your name, grey robed man?" Claud asked, lifting up the mans hood.
"A woman." Claud said, staring at a rather dashing lady.
"A lady that's lucky she didn't slit your throat." She said, in her feminine and unmasculine shrouded voice. "I'm Amani. Amani Furum. How bout you stranger?"
"I'm Claud. Just Claud for now." Claud said, adjusting the musket to not be stabbing his back
"Well, we must get going, good luck to you Claud." Colonel Shanti said before they headed off up a building side.
Claud sat there for a moment.
"Decided not to tell them your last name?" A man from behind Claud said.
"Simply as you were here." Claud said, ducking and drawing a flintlock at the mans skull, but just then, Claud felt a sharp pain in his wrist.
"Drop that flintlock." The man said after shooting Claud clean in the wrist.
"Don't move. I have people that'll take care of you at a moments notice." The man slowly approached with his secondary flintlock drawn. Claud didn't move a muscle. Except his back muscles to move his musket over slightly to the right. With the way Claud specifically fell, on his back, the musket was directly pointing at the man's knees.
"If you didn't do all you did at the forest, I wouldn't have been sent for you." The man said, still approaching.
"Key word there, you said 'I.' You forgot the we, and not only that, you wouldn't have attacked me like this if you had other people. You would have just all come at me at once." Claud said, not moving a muscle. Until he immediately rolled over onto his stomach, as a shot rung out that struck Claud directly in the arm, but before the attacker could grab is third pistol, claud quickly placed his finger in the trigger and fired, shooting the mans chest since not only was the gun higher, but now adjustable since it wasn't under his back.
"They'll... Get you, you damn Royal Tie."
"I ain't with any of you rejected clubs." Claud said before firing his flintlock into the man's skull.
The adrenaline was off and Claud was feeling the effects. He stole the man that attacked him's clothes, and also tore up the undershirt and applied it to his bleeding, but that only did so much and Claud needed urgently to get to a doctor to fix the bleeding.
"Can.. Someone get me a doctor..." Claud said, limping through the city streets as people stared at him.
"I've been shot.. Twi..ce" He said, as he collapsed onto the floor.
"I've got you!" A lady said, picking him up and letting him lean on her shoulder as they slowly walked.
"My house's in this direction, we can help you there. There are no doctors close enough to make a true difference." She said with a slight impressive confidence.
"Well... get me quick there... I feel funny.." He said as he felt the concrete smash his skull once again.
"We are almost..... there........ wake........... up................"
And all Claud saw was a space awaiting his dreams.
ns3.15.190.49da2
and then Add to home screen.