A Knight's Tale/BYOA
(OOC: I don't know how long this is going to look once posted, but I'll give a warning: it felt long to type up, and that was with no pause, so, haha. Warning given. Anyway! Ladies only, no crudely drawn character icons please, they throw me off. You can be the Princess if you'd like, but the end of this post really leaves it open for anyone to help him out. They can be from his Kingdom or the opposing one too~)
Zack Fair, Captain of the Knights of ____. How long had it been since he was moved up to the position? He asked himself that despite knowing fully well when the exact moment was to the day, but the simple answer was the day his mentor and former Captain Angeal died in battle. His heart broke that day, and the little 'x' scar he got in the successful attempt to drag Angeal away from the fighting had done little to deter him, even when he was unsure of how deep or not the gash had been.
No, he made sure to get Angeal far back enough to be tended to in a tent among the camp they had set up days prior to the big fight. It was there that things changed even faster for Zack--Angeal handed over the huge Buster Sword that he rarely used and gave his own taken oath to Zack himself. From there, with tears stinging his eyes, Zack took the oath, watched his mentor and cherished figurehead die.
That day from that moment on was known as a massacre amongst the people of both kingdoms. With a rage he never knew before, Zack came dashing out of the tent with a speed unknown to even the most greatest of men. The sword was nearly as long as himself, and twice as wide, but he wielded it with deadly precision that day, and any day after. Quickly Zack Fair became a sort of legend, and immediately after that fight, he was made Captain.
Zack was able to bury Angeal, but it had to be at the site of the big battle, as per order by their King long ago. Zack thought of that day often, but it was all so much more clear to him whenever he went to go visit said grave...like now. It took him more than a day and a night to get here even on horseback, but he was here to pay his tribute.
Pulling out the Buster Sword strapped to his back, Zack brings the sharp to the ground, digging it in just slightly as he closes his eyes and says his oath: "Your honor is my honor, your dreams, are my dreams. As long as I live, it will be not just for myself, but you as well. Your memory will never be forgotten." A tear slides down his cheek as he chokes back a sob. The next part is no oath, but means just as much to him.
"But I miss you. I hope I'm as close to being a hero as you are to me." Letting out a slow breath, Zack stands tall and lifts his head to the sky to see a bird circling around above him. He smiles to himself at the sight. "Lucky bird, to have those wings." His smile turns into a slight frown as the bird draws nearer to him. The closer it gets he sees what it truly is--its' carrying a message.
Fluttering down to Zack's shoulder and holding out its' tiny little bird leg, it gives a bit of a coo. Ah, Zack knows this bird, but that does nothing to trouble him any less, for it belongs to the Princess, his only other loved one left that weren't his parents. Fearing the worst, Zack gently takes the message off of the bird's leg and watches it fly away as he opens the bit of parchments.
It read: I'm sorry, dearest Zack, but my parents have found me someone to wed from our opposing Kingdom--their Prince. They hope to make relations between us all that much better, and I will be married to him within the next day. Please, don't come for me.
Zack is only able to stare for a moment before making up his mind; with a deep set frown, Zack sheathes his mighty sword onto his back and hops onto the horse. With a shout of his voice and a crack of the reins, the horse gallops quickly into the distance. The only time Zack even dares to stop is for the horse to rest for a moment or two before he sets it off back at that hard pace.
When he nears the castle, he can hear the chiming of bells signifying the start of the wedding and the young man puts in some hustle. The bridge is being lowered in preparation for when the newlywed couples leave--but they aren't married yet! Not up for waiting for the bridge to lower fully, Zack hops onto the back of the horse, steadies himself, and leaps from horseback to the bridge, grabbing hold of the end of the stiff wood.
Underneath him he can hear the shouts from the guards that saw him at the base of the bridge, but he pays them no mind. He climbs over the bridge and rolls up into a run, shouting the name of the Princess as he does so. As he gets to the end of the lowering bridge, he sees a group of soldiers quickly gathering up to hold him off. Lowering his head, Zack leaps up and places his feet onto the shoulders of two men, then runs his way across the little group.
He lands and darts off, hearing them shout and follow behind him. He hops, rolls and jumps over what needs to be whether they were carts or people. He moves fluidly, quickly to reach the castle doors. He's almost there at the steps, but awaiting him are at least a dozen armed men.
Gritting his teeth, Zack glances over to the side of them and sees a stray hanging rope. Giving a small jump, Zack kicks the soldier nearest to it and grabs hold of it, kicking men in the face as uses them to build up momentum to carry him over them. There, he's there at the doors! He hears something chiming but pays no mind to it as he takes the doors, opens them with a heave and--sees her standing just a short amount of feet from where he stood now.
His eyes widen at the sight before him: she's beautiful in her dress, of course, and she looks a bit sad, but what hurts worse is to see that they were just at the doors themselves, about to leave. He was too late.
She was married now. The Prince, furious over what Zack has dared to try and do, orders for his weapon to be taken and for him to be arrested. As this occurs, Zack looks past the terrible image before him as everything slows to a crawl. He sees the King looking quite pleased with himself and giving Zack a bit of a wave. It seemed the King knew about them then, and used Angeal's grave visit as the time to make his move.
Placed in shackles and thrown into their dark dungeon, Zack hears the announcement of man and wife as well as the one that follows announcing his execution for the next day. Treason, they called it.
Zack Fair, Captain of the Knights of ____. How long had it been since he was moved up to the position? He asked himself that despite knowing fully well when the exact moment was to the day, but the simple answer was the day his mentor and former Captain Angeal died in battle. His heart broke that day, and the little 'x' scar he got in the successful attempt to drag Angeal away from the fighting had done little to deter him, even when he was unsure of how deep or not the gash had been.
No, he made sure to get Angeal far back enough to be tended to in a tent among the camp they had set up days prior to the big fight. It was there that things changed even faster for Zack--Angeal handed over the huge Buster Sword that he rarely used and gave his own taken oath to Zack himself. From there, with tears stinging his eyes, Zack took the oath, watched his mentor and cherished figurehead die.
That day from that moment on was known as a massacre amongst the people of both kingdoms. With a rage he never knew before, Zack came dashing out of the tent with a speed unknown to even the most greatest of men. The sword was nearly as long as himself, and twice as wide, but he wielded it with deadly precision that day, and any day after. Quickly Zack Fair became a sort of legend, and immediately after that fight, he was made Captain.
Zack was able to bury Angeal, but it had to be at the site of the big battle, as per order by their King long ago. Zack thought of that day often, but it was all so much more clear to him whenever he went to go visit said grave...like now. It took him more than a day and a night to get here even on horseback, but he was here to pay his tribute.
Pulling out the Buster Sword strapped to his back, Zack brings the sharp to the ground, digging it in just slightly as he closes his eyes and says his oath: "Your honor is my honor, your dreams, are my dreams. As long as I live, it will be not just for myself, but you as well. Your memory will never be forgotten." A tear slides down his cheek as he chokes back a sob. The next part is no oath, but means just as much to him.
"But I miss you. I hope I'm as close to being a hero as you are to me." Letting out a slow breath, Zack stands tall and lifts his head to the sky to see a bird circling around above him. He smiles to himself at the sight. "Lucky bird, to have those wings." His smile turns into a slight frown as the bird draws nearer to him. The closer it gets he sees what it truly is--its' carrying a message.
Fluttering down to Zack's shoulder and holding out its' tiny little bird leg, it gives a bit of a coo. Ah, Zack knows this bird, but that does nothing to trouble him any less, for it belongs to the Princess, his only other loved one left that weren't his parents. Fearing the worst, Zack gently takes the message off of the bird's leg and watches it fly away as he opens the bit of parchments.
It read: I'm sorry, dearest Zack, but my parents have found me someone to wed from our opposing Kingdom--their Prince. They hope to make relations between us all that much better, and I will be married to him within the next day. Please, don't come for me.
Zack is only able to stare for a moment before making up his mind; with a deep set frown, Zack sheathes his mighty sword onto his back and hops onto the horse. With a shout of his voice and a crack of the reins, the horse gallops quickly into the distance. The only time Zack even dares to stop is for the horse to rest for a moment or two before he sets it off back at that hard pace.
When he nears the castle, he can hear the chiming of bells signifying the start of the wedding and the young man puts in some hustle. The bridge is being lowered in preparation for when the newlywed couples leave--but they aren't married yet! Not up for waiting for the bridge to lower fully, Zack hops onto the back of the horse, steadies himself, and leaps from horseback to the bridge, grabbing hold of the end of the stiff wood.
Underneath him he can hear the shouts from the guards that saw him at the base of the bridge, but he pays them no mind. He climbs over the bridge and rolls up into a run, shouting the name of the Princess as he does so. As he gets to the end of the lowering bridge, he sees a group of soldiers quickly gathering up to hold him off. Lowering his head, Zack leaps up and places his feet onto the shoulders of two men, then runs his way across the little group.
He lands and darts off, hearing them shout and follow behind him. He hops, rolls and jumps over what needs to be whether they were carts or people. He moves fluidly, quickly to reach the castle doors. He's almost there at the steps, but awaiting him are at least a dozen armed men.
Gritting his teeth, Zack glances over to the side of them and sees a stray hanging rope. Giving a small jump, Zack kicks the soldier nearest to it and grabs hold of it, kicking men in the face as uses them to build up momentum to carry him over them. There, he's there at the doors! He hears something chiming but pays no mind to it as he takes the doors, opens them with a heave and--sees her standing just a short amount of feet from where he stood now.
His eyes widen at the sight before him: she's beautiful in her dress, of course, and she looks a bit sad, but what hurts worse is to see that they were just at the doors themselves, about to leave. He was too late.
She was married now. The Prince, furious over what Zack has dared to try and do, orders for his weapon to be taken and for him to be arrested. As this occurs, Zack looks past the terrible image before him as everything slows to a crawl. He sees the King looking quite pleased with himself and giving Zack a bit of a wave. It seemed the King knew about them then, and used Angeal's grave visit as the time to make his move.
Placed in shackles and thrown into their dark dungeon, Zack hears the announcement of man and wife as well as the one that follows announcing his execution for the next day. Treason, they called it.