Guts. Not much is known about this man. Mages have investigated into this character, only to discover old transcripts that mention king Arthur. Many have tried to summon him. All have failed.
Guts had made camp in the woods. Camp meaning he only made a small fire and found a dead tree to lean against as he sat down, sword leaning against the tree as well. Guts stared at the flames, watching as the wood burned.
Snap.
"...!" Guts reached for his sword and turned around, expecting a intruder.......only to find a fox that stared at him before running away. Guts sighed as he sat back down before looking up at the night sky. "Heh, why am I so scared?"
'Alone....' Guts thought to himself as he watched the stars. 'Yeah, it's been a while....since I camped alone like this. When I think about it....I've never been truly alone ONCE these past ten years. I'd forgotten.....the sense of unease unless my sword is at my side.......I'd forgotten.....how vast and deep the night can be.'
'Of course, I could've avoided nights like this back then.....I never even thought to try. Maybe I'm once again, tryin' to throw something away.....irreplaceable.' flashes of him and the rest of the round table past by. The smile on everyone's faces, Kay smiling at him with respect, Merlin and her usual antics, Arthur who was stuck in a headlock by Guts, Ector smiling in approval, Lancelot and his stupid purple hair, Morgan smiling as she looked up from her book, and Mordred smiling at him. Guts shook his head as he looked at his hand. 'To be honest....as long as I can feel warmth....isn't that good enough? Am I trying to let go of something irreplaceable....for some vague tomorrow I might never find.....if it even exists? Is this even truly my goal?'
'I got this idea in my head from Arthur and his huge exaggerated dream. If I hadn't headed his words..... would I have still left on my own?' Guts thought to himself as he brought his hand down, before noticing the change of atmosphere.
Fog had rolled in......
Guts's eyes snapped open. He quickly grabbed his sword and turned around ready to face an opponent.....only to find nothing there same as before.
'What was that......that bloodthirst?!?!? A beast?!?! No....I remember this! This....this savagery that feels like it clings to.....could it be?!?' Guts began to think of Zodd, the monster that almost killed him and Arthur both.....his eyes widened and his grip tightened on his sword. 'It's behind me?! How did it blindside me.....that easily....I couldn't even react!! I can't move.....but if I don't move.....I'll be killed!'
Guts quickly crouched down and swung his blade as hard as he could behind him. He stopped upon realizing......nothing was there except the fire he built. He wasn't falling for it, something was here! He gritted his teeth as he looked around before stopping.
Two solid glowing orbs appeared in the fog, followed by another pair. As the cold winter wind blew, the fog parted. And Guts was left terrified.
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'I've never misread an enemy's presence, not once! So how did he trick my senses?!' Guts gripped his blade tighter as he stared down the "Skull knight". 'Zodd? No....it can't be him......but what is this unreal feeling that.....'
"So the gears have indeed began turning." The Skull spoke, his jaw not moving at all. His voice was a deep if not demonic echo as he stared down Guts. Just as Guts began to wonder just what the Skull meant, it spoke once more. "You, Struggler, take heed...."
'Struggler?' Guts asked himself as he maintained contact with the mysterious knight.
"One year shall past and hence be the time of the Eclipse. You and your friends!! Those yet unseen of the fleshless flesh!! And that..... unkingly half of yours shall all be gathered in that place!! A torrent of madness, a tempest of death for which the human body could never atone, shall sweep over you!" The knight stopped before raising a single skeleton hand/gauntlet and raised a finger. "But take heed Struggler!! You were born from the corpse and began your life from death in the mud!! You are closer to death more than anyone, thus you will excel at escaping it!"
'What the hell!?!' Guts gritted his teeth as he felt like swinging at the guy, but every battle instinct he had shouted at him to remain on the defensive. 'How does he know about.....'
"Struggle, contend. For that alone is the sword of one who defies death. Never forget this."
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!?!?" Guts shouted, not able to control himself. The skull lacked the ability to show emotion, but Guts could tell the knight was unbothered. "HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT ME?!?!?"
"In the abyss of despair...." The Knight turned around and began riding his horse into the woods. "Only he who stands with a broken sword in hand......perhaps......."
"W-WAIT!" Guts ran after the knight, but in a flash: The knight and the fog was gone, as if it was never there to begin with.
'An illusion......?'
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Camelot.
——————————
"King Leondegrance, you have a visitor."
"Send them in." Leondegrance sighed. He could handle one more visitor. After the death of all those nobles, Leondegrance and the other kings were preparing to leave and return to their kingdoms. With the assassination attempt on Arthur's life, Leondegrance wished to get his daughter somewhere safe.
"Hello, King Leondegrance."
"Oh, greetings Lady Morgan." Leondegrance greeted Arthur's sister as she walked in and did the formal bow. "I must say this is quite the surprise. Is there any reason you have come to visit?"
"Yes, King Leondegrance. And I'm afraid it involves......" Morgan hesitated to speak before continuing. "Your brother and nephew, Julius and Adonis."
".....what of it?" It was a tragedy that befell Leondegrance. He and his brother never saw eye to eye, but he loved him none the less. Young Adonis's death hit the hardest, a young boy who had his whole life ahead of him, killed without mercy. It effect Adonis's caretaker, Hassan, even more so. The old man cried his eyes out and sweared revenge against the killer.
".....I believe I may have found the one responsible."
End.
Short I know.
Criticism is welcome.
Hope I am entertaining you.
Last chapter was the longest, slash roughest.
I know Kay acted like Corkus there for a minute, but think about it: his friend of ten years was telling him he wanted to leave.
