Heroes Of Aeredale

First Meetings

Ryan's POV

It's been 8 years since King Blake took my father as his personal  blacksmith and I haven't seen him since. I remember when I woke up the shop was a mess! Broken tools and glass bottles were everywhere!Thank goodness Dad insured the place and I was able to get everything back. Even though it's been so long, it feels like it was just yesterday when he took him. Everytime I think back to the event, I feel anger boil up inside me because I couldn't do anything to stop him. I also a little felt angry at my dad at the fact that he knew about this and didn't tell me; but I really shouldn't be mad at him since King Blake forced him to become his personal blacksmith. I leaned over the table as I closed my eyes and  thought back to the event. I'm also a little angry at myself for allowing King Blake to take my father away from me." I took deep breaths as I try to calm down. I placed my chin in my palm as I thought back to the time we made the sword. "He never got the chance to teach me how to use it and I was really looking forward to it . When I woke up, it was gone and the shop was a mess; but more than likely they probably took it. Suddenly the front desk bell rang , snapping me out of my thoughts. I looked sat up and saw Mr. Smith standing in the front of the counter holding a sword and flashing a friendly smile at me. He works as a Medieval MMA fighter which I think is pretty strange since I think he would fit into an office environment but to each their own. "Hey Ryan, can you sharpen and polish my sword from me please?" He said while handing the weapon to me. I took it and walked to the stairs leading into the basement; I turned on the lights and I saw a white sheet covering something. I tried to keep focused on the task at hand but something in my gut was telling me to go and see what it was, so after a little while I caved in and walked over to it. When I raised the sheet, I was shocked when I saw the sword underneath. * I thought this was gone forever! Hm, I guess dad put it down here for safe keeping...* Then suddenly a voice snapped me out of my thoughts. "Ryan you okay down there!" Mr. Smith yelled as I quickly dropped the sheet over the case and rushed over to the workbench and pulled out a sword sharpener.  "Yeah, Mr Smith I'll be up in a minute!" I ran the blade through it for 10 minutes. After finishing I  polished the sword then I quickly went up the stairs; slowed my pace as walked back to the desk and gave him the sword. "Thank you" He said accepting it and he gave me 10 dollars and walked off. "Oh, pardon me Mr. Smith?" I shouted and he turned around. "Um, you haven't any news on my father have you?" I asked and he shook his head." Unfortunately no haven't, sorry Ryan" I nodded "Thanks" He nodded then left shop. I pocketed the money and sighed; thinking about my dad and where he could be. The bell snapped me out of my thoughts once more as I jumped, when I looked I saw Destiny, the brave warrior princess of Aeredale walked into the room. Her brown eyes sparkled with kindness as she walked up to me with a bright and beautiful smile on her face. I've seen her defend the village countless times and thought she was always serious person but I guess you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. A slight blush appeared on my face out of embarrassment. "Good day, Mr. Blacksmith" she said in a friendly tone; I performed a quick bow. "P-Princess Destiny, how can I help you t-today?" She giggled at my speech. "Um, I have this rusty sword here and I was hoping that it could be fixed..." I nodded. Of course, I will get this back to you soon". I rushed basement and placed the sword on the workbench and quickly grabbed some sandpaper from the bottom and began scrubbing the sword. After at least 15 minutes I got all the rust off  and dashed up the stairs. When I got to the shop,I slowed my pace to a walk and place the sword on the counter. "Thank you" She said as she reached into her skirt pocket and pulled out 5 gold coins which she placed on the table. "I should get going I- ". Suddenly the door slammed open, making us turn our heads to see a teenage boy who looked about my age. He looked ... familiar, like a split image of King Blake except he was well built, he had eyes the color of rubies but he has the same skin tone. He wore the exact same type of armor except his was all black; I felt a little suspicious about this guy. I noticed Destiny narrow her eyes at him as he slammed his sword on the counter. "Blacksmith, I need this sharpened and shined pronto." He said while snapping his fingers. I bowed." Yes sir, right away" I quickly took the sword and walked to the basement.

When Ryan left , Blade turned to Destiny and smirked at her. "So Dessy are you and your team preparing for the moment we infiltrate your castle or are you going to cower in fear?" He taunted. The warrior princess scoffed at the evil prince. " Do you really think I'm afraid of you Blade I will defeat you!" She said with confidence in her voice while clenching her fist. He got up in her face and grabbed her shirt, lifting her off the ground a little. She struggled to get out of his grip and his chuckle turn into a cackle as her pushed her into the store shelves, causing some of the glass bottles to fall onto the ground and shatter. As Ryan finished Blade' s sword, he heard the commotion and raised an eyebrow. "What's going on up there?" He quickly grabbed Blade's sword and ran up the stairs. When he got back to the shop,he saw that King Blake's clone was strangling Destiny, the same thing King Blade did to him we he was a boy.His eyes widened then narrowed; he marched over to the counter and slammed his sword on the table which caught his attention. "Hey what are you doing, why are you choking her!" He shouted,about to blow fuse. "I'm sorry but I'm gonna have to ask you to take sword and leave!" The boy released Destiny; who collapsed on the floor coughing violently; trying to catch her breath as he turned to Ryan, glaring at him. "Do you know who I am?" He said trying to make the blacksmith scared but he didn't flinch. "I'm Blade, Prince of Ceodia and son of King Blake!" Ryan's eyes widened at the teen, he felt his anger overtake him as he went around the counter to get up in his face. "What has your father done with mine!?" He spat then Blade shoved him and grabbed his weapon off the table. "Get out of my face! Why should I tell you anything, it's not like you could save him anyway!" He made his way towards the door, Ryan burned holes it the back of his head; then he stopped, barely looking back at him. "Besides, you're just a blacksmith... you couldn't defeat us even if you tried!" He said then walked out of the store.