To Wield the Shield

"She was his queen, and God help anyone who dared to disrespect the queen" - Suicide Squad

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Kruger
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The Anvil

Posts: 370
Joined: Sun Dec 18, 2011 11:40 pm
Location: Kruger's Exotic Weapons Armor & Leather

To Wield the Shield

Post by Kruger »

“Hello old friend.” There was no one present which Kruger was speaking to. The comment was given to the hoplon styled shield which lay on a workbench before him. It wasn’t in need of any work, and he hadn’t really expected it would be, that didn’t stop him from giving it a thorough inspection. He was intimately familiar with the Overlord’s Squire shield. He had, afterall, been one half the duo which created it. Once he was satisfied, Kruger ran a bar of wax over the shield’s surface and set to polishing it to bring a dull shine to the protective patina which was developing.

“It’s been a while.” There was something more that he’d been looking for on the piece, an answer to old questions. Having the shield before him was something Kruger hadn’t expected to happen. “What have you been up to since you were first awarded?” A face imposed itself across Kruger’s thoughts. Nick had been too young to go as he had, Addy had told him what happened. Kruger hadn’t asked for details, part of him didn’t want to know, and the greater part wanted to spare Addy having to live it again.

Kruger moved the shield back into the center of his forge once he was satisfied with the layer of wax. “Did you know that there’s a talent that I possess which will let you tell me what you saw?” The shield had been there too, and it didn’t have feelings to worry about. “Please understand… I have to know, I...I need to see it.”

The shield rested atop the anvil, Kruger slid a tool from his pocket and rapped it hard against the forge. He looked at the vibrating prongs of the tuning fork in his hand and almost reconsidered what he was doing. Determination had his teeth grinding from the clench of his jaw, holding to the stem he laid the foot piece against the metal and let the shield coldly show him the events which transpired. There was no malice in the relaying, no judgments over the lies Nick had told, no feeling for the ending, just unvarnished truth right down to the moment the knife struck and the boy fell.

He thought of the distraught girl left behind, thought of the way the boy closed his hands around hers and made the sacrifice.

Kruger wept.
Last edited by Kruger on Fri Jan 19, 2024 9:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Nikolai Allen
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Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2015 10:51 pm

A friend, an old enemy

Post by Nikolai Allen »

A friend, an old enemy

Come As You Are

Come doused in mud, soaked in bleach
As I want you to be
As a trend, as a friend
As an old memoria
~ Songwriters: Kurt Cobain Come as You Are lyrics © BMG Rights Management

Nikolai had witnessed many things. Wonders some would say. He’d spoken with spiritual opals, and watched heat and fire manifest from nothing. He’d been there when his father had created a real pirate ship with just the sound of his voice, and some prompting to Niko. These were all things, all...of everything. He’d also watched his father leave the house in New Haven on the night of the All Ranks Tournament. Nikolai knew for a fact that when his dad had left, the shield had been a funny hourglass shape. Now it was something else, it was a claw shaped thing that looked like it needed...maybe even craved to be worn.

Niko was usually a good boy, at least he never tried to be naughty. It happened, and honestly there were days it happened quite often. He was certainly trying to be good right now, just looking at the shield that his dad had gotten from the Overlord. He’d been told, in terms that even he could understand, to leave it alone. He was trying, he really was, but something kept pulling him back to the place his father was keeping it. Now, if his dad had really wanted him to leave it alone, he’d have put it somewhere that Niko couldn’t find it. Sure, it was in a cabinet high above the floor, but there were step stools everywhere in his dad’s forge. If he really weren’t supposed to go near it, his dad surely wouldn’t have left the key to the cabinet where Niko could find it, right? Besides, he just wanted to look at it. He’d never seen a squire weapon before. This was educational, and his dad always said that when you want to learn, you do whatever it takes.

Even with the step stool, Niko could only barely reach the top shelf. It was almost like his dad didn’t want him in there, and yes he’d said don’t… but why make it possible if that’s what he really felt? Nikolai grasped the top shelf, it helped to stabilize him, and that was just another indication that the don’t mandate was only a cursory thing! He could see, sort of...on his tiptoes, with his fingers clinging to the top shelf like a mountain climber in a dire situation. It was possible to get a better view! All he had to do was just put every bit of his weight on the shelf and pull a little. Nikolai’s feet pivoted upwards until just the tips of his shoes were touching the step stool. It was okay though! In this way he could get one of his elbows on that top shelf and heave a little harder! It all came down to being a pirate with his dad. Just push, or pull, a little harder and everything just worked!

There came a sound that Niko didn’t quite understand. It was a high pitched groan. Nothing alive groaned in quite that way, and he didn’t think twice about it… with one elbow up, he was able to get his other up there as well. Crack! Everything seemed to happen all at once. The shelf gave way, and all the objects upon it slid outwards. This wouldn’t be such a bad thing, but Niko was one of those things now completely supported by the shelf. The step stool lurched forwards, and the precarious perch he’d had on it was gone! Nikolai hit the stone floor with what all he could think of was a hollow whuff. The contents of the shelf rained down on him. There were things up there which he’d not paid too much attention to...not until he’d been forced to dodge their descent. Heavy metal objects clattered around him, Nikolai curled into a fetal position, rolling hither and fro as they descended upon him.

Strange half configured blades littered the forge floor around his squirming body. None of these really held any interest to him. Just the cloth encased claw. It was there, just in front of him. He could see the opening which required an arm to breach. Nikolai had spent many hours talking to MoonBeryl. The shield didn’t talk, surely it was far less dangerous than his father had said. That opening beckoned to him. Nikolai chewed on his lip as he stared into its depths. It was too late to pretend that he hadn’t been snooping. Niko had no idea how to fix what had just been broken. Still, it couldn’t hurt too much...now that he knew that trouble was what he’d gotten into...if he just reached inside the claw.

It was easy as he began, he could have spread his fingers as wide as they’d go and never reach the sides of the claw. That had been expected, he had the same problem when he tried to grip his dad’s forearms. Nikolai shifted himself towards the fallen shield… it was the only way to reach deeper! The tips of his fingers grasped a leather strap. He let it drift along the inside of his hand until he could take the entire thing in his little fist. That was when everything broke...or seemed to break. Niko’s fingers closed on that strap and the claw began to change. The light and air warped around it, and the claw he’d been reaching into was gone! In its place was a differently shaped shield. This one was almost exactly the same as the hourglass that his father had left with...only much much smaller. In his head, Nikolai knew this was called a buckler, but how strange it seemed to him that the buckler was a full sized shield to him. Even the leather straps seemed to shrink down and grip ahold of his arm like it had been mean to be this way since it was created!

Niko grinned like a marauder who had just opened some pirate booty. This shield was just his size! It was only when he tried to remove it that he began to panic. It refused to come off! It clung to his forearm as though it were afraid that leaving him would be deadly!

The harder Nikolai pushed, the closer the straps bound him. Niko put his knees to the edge of the shield and pushed with everything that made up his little body, but the shield refused to leave him. His eyes squinted closed with the effort he used to push the thing from his arm, but even with his eyes tightly closed he could still see. There she stood, Addie, she was so beautiful...but Nikolai had always felt that way. She had a knife...and she was so close to him! The shield forced a contraction in his muscles. The edge scuffed along his thighs and pressed itself hard against his chest. Nikolai could breathe only in small gasps. Hands closed about Addie’s and pulled the knife towards Niko. There was a deep throb in the shield as it moved to deflect the incoming blow. Light so bright it blazed its way through his eyelids flared through the forge.

“I said no!”

Cold washed across every inch of Nikolai’s skin...even so deep that it had found its way beneath his pants and left goosebumps. The vision faded, leaving Nikolai to feel just the pounding of his heart. Hands took hold of his arm. One grasping his bicep, the other slid it’s way down his forearm beneath the shield. He knew the feel, the calluses that scratched along his flesh. “You will comply!” The grip didn’t lessen so much as seem to encompass the hand forcing its way between Niko and the shield.

“That was then...and maybe later. You cannot have him, you belong to me!” Barbed hooks clung to Niko’s arm. He wanted to cry out...but all he could see was the despair in his sister’s eyes...all he could hear was a keening sound that he never wanted to hear come from her ever again! The physical sensation of his father’s arm forced its way deeper pulling the strap from Niko’s grasp. He felt vulnerable...naked. He felt almost dead. The shield was gone. “Go to your room!!” Niko’s eyes sprung open at his father’s shout. Niko had done many things that could possibly be labeled as naughty, but his father rarely shouted at him. Nikolai didn’t even stand up when he moved. He ran, on hands and feet across the forge floor and up the steps, only daring to take to just his feet after he’d closed the door to his room. The panic hadn’t managed to keep sound from his ears. Niko could hear his dad’s voice crooning words.

“Take your time, hurry up
Choice is yours, don't be late
Take a rest as a friend...as an old memoria…”
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