Tommyinnit Oneshots

Same Ole' Story (part 3)

Shroud was rudely woken up by the tolling of bells. He figured it came from the church, but the bell continued long after the hour would have passed. Shroud jumped to his feet to look out the window. He first looked at the church tower. From the angle he was at, he could clearly tell the bell wasn't swinging back and forth. That meant the bell that was ringing was somewhere else. Shroud's eyes widened, and he rushed across his room to grab his clothes. He hurriedly pulled them on, uncaring how they probably looked disgruntled on him. Shroud jumped down the stairs. He pulled on his boots, stumbling out of the front door. When he was on the street, he could see some other Villagers in their nightclothes coming out of their doors. Shroud didn't stop to greet them, continuing down the main room to see that something was approaching on the horizon. The Basilisk Tribe.

Shroud yelled out to the Villagers, hoping that the people on the street would wake up the other militia members. Shroud pulled his kunai out of his boot, and he held his whip in the other hand. He ran toward the approaching storm with his weapons ready. He could see a few other militia members run out of their homes, hurriedly putting on their uniforms with the standard weapons that Yogurt commissioned the blacksmith to make for the militia. Shroud would thank her when she got back from negotiations.

The Basilisk Tribe wasn't supposed to attack this early. Shroud was supposed to have the support of the other Villages to be part of the militia. Instead, it was just him and his half-trained soldiers. Shroud took a deep breath, remembering some of his military lessons. If he didn't believe they could win, they never would. He would put his faith in the training he gave the militia, and he would trust them to carry out their mission. He prayed that the rest of the militia believed in themselves as much as he believed in them.

He turned around, looking at the people who were summoned. They all looked terrified as they looked past him at the approaching army. Shroud stared between what he had and what he was up against. He looked back at the militia, calling out to them. "Do not for a single moment believe that we will lose. If we lose, everyone in this village is at risk of dying. We must stand here, and let no one go further than this point. I want you all to take out as many people as you can. I will attempt to find and eliminate their leader. If you remember everything I have taught you, you will not fail. Rise up, soldiers of Remnant, and defend your home and people from evil."

It wasn't a particularly good speech, but it did seem to motivate the people who looked up to him. They raised their weapons in the air with a battlecry, and Shroud let a small smile loose across his face. He turned around to look at the Basilisk Tribe. He breathed out once before raising his kunai in the direction of the fields the army was crossing. He yelled out a charge, and the militia ran forward with him to meet their enemies on the even terrain.

Shroud immediately clashed with a Vindicator on the frontlines. He dodged out of the way of the axe, letting it drop into the ground. Shroud's whip lashed out to wrap around the Vindicator's ankle, and Shroud pulled to knock the Vindicator off his feet. Shroud plunged his kunai in the Illager's back, watching it despawn in puffs of gray smoke. Shroud shifted his body weight to dodge out of the way of an arrow. His red eyes turned to the side, and he struck his whip out. The tip of the whip snapped against the Pillager's shoulder, and slate-colored blood poured from the wound. Shroud yanked the flexible rope forward, the Pillager stumbling at the force. Shroud swung his whip around, letting the Pillager slam into the bodies of many surrounding Illagers. After a few cycles, the Pillager disappeared in a puff of smoke. Shroud brought his whip back to him, kicking his legs up to bring down an approaching witch who held firmly onto a potion. Shroud grabbed the potion as he threw his kunai down, the blade sticking in the witch's forehead. Shroud threw the potion at a group of Illagers who were surrounding a member of the militia. The harming potion instantly brought a few of the Illagers down, and it made the rest of them weak enough for the Villager to handle by themself.