Vanguards of Sparda Ch.1: Trial Day
 

The morning was cold and and damp as always. The sounds of fighting could be heard for miles. Not too long ago a skirmish had broken out between a group of demon hunters and a small unit of demons. The odds were against the demons hunters, the demons powers seemed to overwhelm them.

When all hope seemed lost, a tall shadow loomed over the humans and demons. Within a matter of seconds, the unit of demons was wiped out. The hunters turned to see a large horned devil standing behind them, his glowing eyes and large sword seeming to be the most distinguishable. The group, or at least what was left of it, raised their weapons towards this new entity.

The devil raised it's hand and lowered it's sword in peace to show it meant no harm. "You must be Sparda", one of the mean in the group called out. The devil nodded its head and led them back to the village where the elder was waiting for them.

"I see", the elder whispered as he pulled away from Sparda. "So, you were ambushed by them...." The elder shook his head in disappointment. "You shouldn't have engaged the pack. A hunter group is meant to take out one demon at a time, not an entire pack. Rest for the day, I won't bother to punish you. Losing most of the group was punish enough, I hope you've learned your lessons."

The leader of the group nodded his head and walked into the village with what was left of the hunters. Bodies of demons and humans were strewn across the outside of the village. They were from skirmishes that had come close to entering the village itself.

"What should we do about the others, elder?" A young man said as he made his way to the gate. "They have been chosen as the Vanguards of Sparda. They're to help Sparda clean up the remnants of the Demon Kings army, they're the strongest this village has ever seen. Let them sleep for now, they'll need their strength for the upcoming battles. They know to gather in the town square when they're ready." The young man walked back towards the village, a look of doubt upon his face.

(You may RP waking up from here. Once everyone is accounted for, I'll start the debriefing.)

Kale was leaning gently against the wall of a building that was near the town square. He'd been awake for a while now - an old habit from his time in the wild - but he'd been on edge the whole time. He was always paranoid around humans, and this place, despite accepting this devil Sparda, was no exception.

Gazing around didn't warrent much. Not many of the others had shown up, and the half-devil wasn't exactly excited either. He was powerful, yes, but he wasn't one to work in a group.

"I'll deal with it for now. No sense keeping an old grudge," Kale thought in an attempt to keep himself in one spot.

"Toooooobbyyyyyyyyy!"

The little girl ran through the small town, yelling at every street corner. Her hands were cupped around her mouth, helping her small voice travel through the alleyways.

"TOBY!"

She heard a meow coming out from a very dark alley. She knew that voice. It was her Toby. The small girl went running into the alley, intending to find her kitten. What she found instead was a large winged demon. He was sitting against a wall in the dark alley, his legs crossed and his hands in his lap.

The girl stopped in fright, and fell back. She began to crabwalk backwards and away from the demon. That is, until he stopped her with a word.

"Kitten."

The girl stopped her retreat, and looked at the demon. She noticed something that she hadn't seen before. There was a small moving object in the demon's hands.

"Toby!"

The small girl cried out her cat's name, and rushed back up onto her feet. She rushed forward and looked at the demon defiantly.

"Let Toby go! He's my friend!"

The demon looked down at the kitten with his large blank eyes. His hand was petting the kitten's head lightly, and the feline was purring with pleasure. The demon opened his mouth, and what seemed to be dozens of fangs shone in the dim light. The girl was frightened, since she believed that he was going to eat her kitten. Instead, the demon started to talk to the small creature.

"Your name...is Toby?"

The kitten purred louder with the sound of its name. The demon lifted it up, and raised the kitten to his face.

"Toby...."

The kitten meowed, and if it could smile, it would.

"Toby. Toby the kitten."

The demon placed Toby down on the ground.

"Tomasu the demon."

The demon purred, rubbed its body against Tomasu's crossed leg, then padded its way over to the small girl. The girl gathered up her kitten in her arms, and looked back up at the demon.

"Thank you....."

Then the girl ran off, leaving Tomasu alone again.

Amhuinn sat on the edge of the bed, polishing the head of her spear with a rag. It was part of her usual morning routine, and she performed the task almost without thinking.

Once she could see her reflection in the steel, she set the weapon down and pulled on her boots and gloves. All part of the old routine.

She stood and made the last few adjustments, tieing back her hair and knotting the blue strip of cloth around her arm. The old routine. Then she pushed her shoulder pad back slightly, to keep it from rubbing against her scar. As part of the new routine.

Ready to face the day, Amhuinn grabbed her spear and stepped outside. It was another cold morning, but that did not bother her today. There were more important things to think about. Today, she was joining a new team. A team of demons.

I still don't know whether we can use devil arms or not, so I'll just use regular nunchucks for now.

Whip! The thin rapier barely missed senya's face as he leaned back to dodge it. He struck back with his nunchucks, striking the old man twice on the side. A cut appeared across his face. A smirk on the old man's. Senya flipped over him and kicked off his back. The old man fell to the ground and Senya swung his nunchucks around defiantly.
"Thats enough practice for today, Senya. See you here tommorow"
"Bye, master."
Senya walked away from the training ground and up into his house. He threw his nunchucks on a chair and plopped on the bed. He was almost asleep when a loud yell pierced the silence. He looked out the window to see a little girl running with a kitten
"stupid cat, probably pissed off a demon" Senya thought as he jumped out of bed, unable to sleep. He picked up his weapon and walked outside.

Tiberius, a loyal son of Rome, found himself, once more, waking up in a field in Europe.

The nightmare had come again last night...the dream about the fall of his legion. Well...technically, it wasn't "his" legion, except for the fact that he was one of the few survivors of it.

He and the few others who lived through the battle had come to Europe to fight the demons...and now they found themselves in the service of one...not that Sparda was like the other demons.

Still shaking the dream from his head, Ty rose from his cot. He washed his face in the basin, and then began to dress himself. As per habit, he put on his armor, despite the fact Sparda was in camp...there was almost no chance any devil would brazen enough to face the Dark Knight himself on his own turf.

Perhaps Sparda is an avatar of Mars. Tiberius mused to himself, come to save his sons.

In the end of his morning ritual, Tiberus strapped on his two swords. In the weeks since the fall of the legion, Tiberus had become quite adept at using the longer sword he had taken from the body of one of his superiors...a longer sword than his gladius.

Tiberius walked out of his tent, and squinted in the sunlight. Today, he was to meet with a new group that he would fight alongside...a new legion, perhaps.

Mars...I don't know why you brought me here, the Roman prayed silently, but I assume you know what you're doing.

Tomasu stared into the darkness of the alley for a bit longer. After all, it reminded him so much of.....was it home? He couldn't decide.

Then again, what is a home? A place you live? The place you were born? A place where someone knows you, and waits for your return? Tomasu had none of those things. If he did, he couldn't remember.

He was a drifter. He was always moving, always in a new place. It had become so routine for him that he usually wasn't even conscious of the fact that he was in a foreign area. He'd lie down for sleep in a village, and wake up in a wide field somewhere. Each place, while different, was exactly the same.

Nevertheless, he felt so much more comfortable in the darkness. In the light he was viewable. He could be seen, or even touched. In the darkness, he was truly covered. He was hidden, and he felt a lasting touch on his shoulder of a memory that wouldn't die, but wouldn't make itself known either.

But, he had duties. Tomasu was assigned a job. And as such, had to follow through. He stood up, taking a lot of space in the tiny alley. His wings, which were currently wrapped around his body, made him seem much bigger than he really was. Absentmindedly, he rubbed his upper thigh. While the rest of his body was a dark blue and strangely smooth skin, this one area was a hardened steel. Inside that part of his leg was where he was keeping his weapon.

Almost lazily, Tomasu left the darkness of the alley and trudged toward the town square, where he was supposed to meet the rest of the group.

Senya jumped down from the tree into the town square and stood around, waiting for the others. He spun his nunchucks in a quick circle then accidentally bonked himself on the head. He held his head, sobbing quietly. Several people were in the town square already, but many more were expected. Senya took out a carving knife and started to whittle a stick he kept in his back pocket for moments of boredom. It was in the vague shape of a totem, very detailed and scary looking. He had spent months on it, working hours every day.

Kale watched as Senya smacked himself in the head and, after recovering, went straight off to widdling out a little piece of wood. Obviously the boy was enthusiastic, but that didn't mean anything to the half-devil. He just wanted to get out of here and go off on his purpose.

"Just deal with it, Kale. You lived over ten years out there, you don't wanna go and do it again," Kale muttered to himself as he started to pace back and forth with a very annoyed look on his face.

"Damn those people... I wouldn't be like this if they hadn't done that so long ago!" Kale thought impatiently, digging up old memories he constantly tried to leave behind. Curling his hand into a tight fist, he continued his pacing with a deep desire to crush a demon's skull with his bare hands.

There were already two people waiting at the town square, Amhuinn noted. One seemed to be fooling around with four sticks linked together with a chain. What kind of idioitic toy was that? It looked somewhat familiar; perhaps she had seen one before in her travels. THUNK! The man hit himself in the forehead with the spinning length of wood, which he had been weilding as some kind of weapon. A weapon?? Sticks and a chain made a weapon?? What nonsense.

Amhuinn suppressed a grunt of dissapproval. They'd managed to be chosen as Vanguards of Sparda, as she had, so they must be adequate fighters. Despite the fact that one of them had just wounded himself with his own weapon.

She looked around, searching for the rest of the team. Villagers seemed to be giving them a wide berth, probably afraid of them. But two figures were walking directly towards them. One was a great demon with giant wings that wrapped around him like a cape. Amhuinn would have to fight alongside demons, now. It would be a new experience, one that would take some getting used to. Usually she was introducing demons to the pointed end of her spear, not helping them.

The other was--

"Oh merciful gods," she muttered. "A Roman." Amhuinn wasn't overly fond of Romans. They were so ethnocentric! Anyone who wasn't a Roman citizen was a barbarian, as far as they were concerned. The only use the Romans had for Northmen was as cheap mounted guards for their empire's borders.

Feh. Some day, the Romans would get what was coming to them. But for now, she'd have to work alongside one. Just until the Demon King was defeated. Or at least until some big demon ate him. A dark smile crossed her features at the thought.

She looked up at the gathering group.

"Am I correct to assume that you are all Vanguards of Sparda as well?" she asked.