Three Fates Entwined | Dream Team

Chapter One

Sapnap was a warrior. A fighter with generations of ancestors that had served in wars for the kings. A melee combatant with much to prove.

So it was no wonder he felt embarrassed walking through the paved road of the small village he had stumbled upon, completely lost as to where he was.

None of the villagers paid him any attention. Perhaps it was because of the sword that hung from his belt, or the swooshing cloak that draped down from his shoulders that marked him as a foreigner, or maybe the fire emblem sewed onto it. The symbol of his family.

He caught a glimpse of his reflection in a mirror as he passed by it. Black hair, grey eyes, olive skin. A long white headband wrapped around his head, keeping his hair out of his eyes. He didn't know why he liked it so much, but by then, it was a part of him.

He kept moving. Maybe there was a bath house somewhere. He was in desperate need of a shower.

"You look lost, boy," an old man said as Sapnap walked past his fruit stand.

Sapnap stopped. Finally, someone was actually talking to him. "Yes, sir, I am. Can you tell me how to get to the castle from this village?"

The man arched a bushy brow. "The castle? What business do you have there?"

He shrugged. "I'm a fighter. I want to join the King's army."

"The king's army?" The old man chuckled. "Ah, you're looking to die in the war, are you?"

Sapnap could feel his expression darken as his mood changed from polite to something far from it. "To die in the war would be an honorable death, sir. One that would be a lot better than dying behind a fruit stand."

"I'd rather die here than with a painful wound ripping the life away from my lungs, you bovine boy."

"Oh, bovine? You're calling me a bovine? What the heck is a bovine?"

"A type of cow. Or in this case, it means a very dimwitted boy who is going to get himself killed."

"...I am not any less insulted."

By then, a crowd had gathered. Sapnap kept his eyes trained on the man before him that had insulted all the brave warriors in his family. It was clear that he had no idea who he was talking to. No idea that Sapnap's family, House de la Blaze, was the only reason that the village they were standing in still existed to that day.

"I'm going to join the army," Sapnap said through gritted teeth. "I don't need your opinion on that. Honestly, dude, all I asked for was directions and you throw all of this at me?"

"You are a fool, boy," the man said, sighing dramatically and shaking his head. "Turn back! I warn you!"

"How am I supposed to 'turn back' when I don't even know which way is forward?"

Some of the people chuckled. Taking that as a good sign, Sapnap turned around to face them. "Can someone here help me? Please? I'm looking for the way to the castle?"

A few of them pointed to the east. "Oh, so I was completely off course," Sapnap muttered. "'Follow the sun,' he said. 'It'll lead you to the castle,' he said."

"Be careful, young warrior," a woman said to him. "The path is riddled with thieves and assassins who would slit your throat in less than a minute."

"Cheery. I suppose I should get going, then."

"Oh no you don't," a low voice growled from behind him.

Sapnap turned around to face the old man, who was suddenly looking even angrier than before. "What is it?" he asked innocently.

The man pointed an accusing finger at him. "He is a thief! A liar and a scoundrel! Check his pockets, he has taken from my fruit stand!"

Sapnap glanced down at his outfit. His cloak, his simple white shirt and black pants, his longer black sleeves that covered his arms. "Uh... what pockets?"

"You have gone mad, old man," the woman said, shaking her head. "He is innocent. Go sell your fruit somewhere else."

"I saw him take my apples!" the man insisted, making a move towards him. Instinctively, Sapnap took a step back. "See? He's trying to run away from me!"

He raised his hands in surrender. "Hey, I just don't want some creepy old man feeling around my imaginary pockets for some imaginary apples."

The crowd jeered. Maybe he should stay in the village. The people seemed to actually like his sense of humor.

But no. He had business elsewhere.

The old man narrowed his eyes at Sapnap. "You are a good liar," he admitted grudgingly. "And you hide the apples well. But ill fortune will come about you, boy. You will meet your doom!"

Sapnap frowned, completely unconcerned about his words. "Gee, I didn't know you were a fortuneteller as well as a fruit seller. Do I need to pay for this prediction about my inevitable doom?"

"Laugh all you want," the man said, turning away from him. "But your line of fate is tangled. Bad things will happen."

The people watching laughed, but Sapnap stayed silent. His father had taken things like fate very seriously. The old man seemed serious as well, and slightly happier than before, as if knowing that Sapnap was doomed made his day much more tolerable.

His fate was tangled? What did he mean by that?

"I should leave now," Sapnap said. "Thank you for the directions. I'm now slightly less lost than before. You know, just slightly."

He pulled a golden coin out of his pants pocket (he really did have a pocket) and flipped it towards the man. It hit him in the back of his head, making him wince slightly and turn around, rubbing the bruised area with a scowl. "What was that for?"

"It's payment," Sapnap responded simply.

"Payment for what? And where did you even pull it out from? I thought you didn't have any pockets!"

Sapnap shrugged. "Oops. I lied."

He turned and started heading towards the east, where the castle was supposed to be located. A slight flick of his wrist made the apple he had taken fall out from his baggy sleeves, and he took a wide, satisfied bite out of it.

It was a nice village, sure, but full of people who didn't know their left from their right.

At least he got the directions he wanted.