Trials (An ErasermicXreader Medieval AU)

Chapter 10

Great stone walls rose before you, far off figures marching to and fro along the tops only stopping to watch the cart rumble up the road. Shouta pulled back on the reins and slowed the cart to a cawl, raising a single hand in greeting. The brush off to the side of the road rustled in different places, a handful of figures stepping out onto the road.

"Shouta Aizawa, Hizashi Yamada and a refugee, Y/n L/n." Shouta stated before even offering a greeting. There was a response of momentary silence and the sound of a quill scraping against parchment, then and gravel filled voice answered.

"Welcome back." A head poked into your view, it was topped with wild blonde hair and an elongated snout, like that of a dog.

You tensed for a second, leaning backwards instinctually. He was like nothing you'd ever seen before, a hybrid between a man and a hound. He smiled incredibly human-like despite his snout and scratched his head awkwardly.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you." he gruffed. "I'm probably an odd sight, hm?"

Shouta turned and looked at you over his shoulder, his eyes were kind, soft, somewhat worried, but his lips were fighting off a grin. You looked back at the man and nodded awkwardly, you didn't feel up to talking just yet. The reality hit you suddenly, the reality that there were all sorts of gifted folk you couldn't have ever dreamed of, and you were finally at Kaer Yuuie.

"Hound Dog?" Shouta filled the silence. "Call ahead to Chiyo, both of them need medical attention."

Hound Dog looked over at Hizashi, who was still asleep and slouched against you, nodded and darted off. You sat up, trying to see past Shouta's shoulder, to watch him run off. At first he was on two legs then his shoulders drooped and his hands hit the ground, and in this quadrupedal state he took off at an inhuman speed. His booming growl filled the relatively silent woods and was followed by the moaning of great chains and the heavy creaking of metal.

The great gate that sat in the middle of the fortress walls was metal as opposed to the usual heavy wood, and as such forgoed the retractable metal grate before it. It was hoisted up in a series of pulls, pausing for a moment at the end of each so the team pulling it could get a new grip on the chains. You tried to picture how many men it took to open the gate, the image of a long line of stocky guards popped up in your mind.

Shouta spurred the horse forwards, the cart groaning quietly under the increased speed. It was very much to your surprise that upon passing through the gate, which on it's own showed how incredibly thick the walls were, that the team pulling the gate open was made up of about four young men, no older than fifteen or sixteen. One of them had fiery hair and a proud grin, another was blonde with crimson eyes and gritted teeth. The blonde was scolding the redhead over something but he just laughed it off and shouted across to the team on the opposite side of the gate. On that side a boy with messy green hair and freckles was paired with a tall,silver haired boy who wore a mask on the lower half of his face and had more than two arms. You couldn't help but stare for as long as you were able to as the cart rolled by.

You rolled through an area between two sets of walls a few yards apart. There were plain rows of buildings lining the outer wall, all sorts of people passing in and out of them, all wearing thick leather clothing with occasional pieces of chain or plate. Closer to the inner wall there were hay dummies, similar to the ones you'd seen the sparingly few times you'd had to go to the barracks in town and all sorts of platforms and elevated bars that people were jumping around on.

You passed through the second wall, just as thick as the other and here you were greeted by all sorts of activity. Colorful mismatched buildings lined the great wall and roads lined those, then more buildings formed three small city blocks. There were stands that sold all sorts of items, trinkets and jewellery, clothing and blankets, artisanal candles and books. As you traveled down a wide road, straight towards the center of the fortress people parted to the sides of the street, bright hair, glowing eyes, animal features and most noticeably smiles. Everyone one wore finer clothes compared to back home, there were no old women in fraying shawls and dirt covered farmers wearing overalls riddled with patches.