Nothing but Pawns (Seven Knights Fanfiction)

Chapter 6: Rewrite

Dear Xiao Qiao,

It's been a while since I last wrote a letter to you. Though I might not be able to send these to you, it gives me relief to keep on writing. A number of changes has been made since I last made a letter for you. I hope you can still follow everything through.

We have a new leader; his name is Snipper. He seems to be Evan's friend, but quiet, too, like Spike. He always has a dog wherever he goes. Unlike the last time, he leads several teams- like how NK called them: Castle Rush, Iron Devourer, and Raid Team 2. He has taken over some teams Evan used to handle. He's strong if I may, but he's not versatile. Perhaps he is only here for strong singular enemies.

I have been reinstated in my Raid Team. Right now, I work with Snipper and three newcomers namely Jupy, Karin, and Shane. You might have heard of the name Karin from the so-called Evan's Crew before, but it is a different girl. She seems to be from a different dimension rather than ours. Also, we might be called Raid Team 2, but we fight stronger dragons than what Rudy's team deal with themselves. Perhaps I only say stronger for NK says so; however, we never recovered a shard Rudy's team is always after from that dragon. The original raid team 2 is dissolved for reasons, but it's not like it's a loss for them: Evan is still the leader of the Arena team, the most important team right now.

I am also working with Yuri the fox for the Recruitment team. It used to be Sera and Spike, but NK decided to put someone else in there for now. It seems like they want to make use of my supposed 'passive' more this time. Hopefully, they would put someone else in my stead in this time. Leading mindless copies of others are scary and creepy; more when we tend to see those of our regular coworkers.

Our place is also renovated in an instant. Right now, it resembles a fantastical base which echoes with malice. It seems to be a base of the worse men, but with the kind of devices I have never seen before. Perhaps the Crusaders would be able to distinguish which are dangerous from the harmless things around us. There are also weird looking statues which Chun Li (one that came from the same place as Karin) said she recognized. However, Snipper and Rudy reassure everyone that the base is indeed safe. (Lu Bu has tried destroying the statues, but it seems invincible; Rin has said the statues are physically irresponsive to any force to begin with.)

The odds of this world never ceased to overwhelm me. I wish to return to you as soon as possible, my sister. May I find a way back.

Da Qiao

After signing the letter, Da Qiao stared and reread the letter more than twice. At this point, it seemed useless for her to keep on sending letters which always come back to her after hours. She then lifted her face to stare at the soft glare of the sun.

"Oh, I didn't realize someone would be here."

The battle maiden turned to her left to see the person who just opened the steel door separating her from the world. She hummed as she acknowledged his presence. "Rudy."

"I apologize. I'll find another place to think-"

"No need. I'm about to leave." Da Qiao gathered her quill set near, but she paused and looked at the protector. "Can we talk for a short while? We came here almost at the same time, didn't we?"

"Yes, I remember welcoming you and fighting alongside you in the arena." Rudy walked to the table where she was and sat at the seat opposite hers. He soon looked around the concrete room with steel walls and an open window facing the almost setting sun.

"Rudy, do you think we will be able to come back? It's been a long time since we were forced to fight for something we don't even understand."

The protector remained quiet.

He only responded with a quick chuckle.

"I apologize, I don't know." He hummed. "I've been thinking about it as well. I have duties to our world. As long as we're here, I wonder how things go in our original world. Do conflicts continue growing? Is Asgar still being ravaged by monsters as we speak?" He turned to the maiden with a slightly saddened expression. "What are we doing in here- among our enemies like Destroyer Gaze and even the other ancient dragons?"

Da Qiao whimpered loud enough for Rudy to hear. She stared at her letter and raised the folded paper to the ceiling. "If we knew the answers, can we go back?"

Rudy got up the seat and peered out the window. "I doubt it.

"Then again, we should do what we must as long as we're here." He turned to the maiden. "We have to fight for each other to survive. As long as we can do something, we mustn't lose hope that we will all go home."

"...Rudy..."

"Let's do this together!"

The two twitched and flung their heads to the door. It was left open, and a mushroom came dancing inside. It was clothed like the Ultimate Guardian, and it acted like it was the real deal. The maiden found the creature cute at least- before Rudy walked to it and petted its cap.

"Now, now, Pooki, who's chasing you this time?"