Ruben: A Journey's Beginning

Chapter 3: The Templar Knights

As soon as I entered the double doors of the cramped building, everyone turned in my direction. Some eyes were the the glances of the townsfolk, others were the stares of the Templar's. There must have been at least 100 men in the small building. How are the templars so big? I thought to myself. I was 5'10 and weighed 155, really I'm considered bigger than most! Though these knights height made me feel like a toothpick compared to them. They were well over 6 feet tall and had to be over 200 pounds. All of them resembled the physical features of William, besides the baby face of course. I was then asked for my name by a knight sitting on the table closest to us. "Name?" "Ruben, sir, Jerome Ruben." And with that he scribbled something on his parchment with his feather. Another knight then went into a closet near the back of the church and took out bits and pieces of armor and started having me try it on. It was a grueling three hours worth of putting on and taking off armor and finding the right size for my stature. Every small piece needed to fit perfectly according to the Templars. A line other people began to form behind me, "glad we came early" William said as he jutted a thumb backward, "yeah thanks" I said, somewhere between relieved and anxious. Finally, I was all armoured up, the two layers of thick cloth made it hard to breath and I instantly started to sweat. On top of it, they also had me wear chain mail and the plated armor that was held together by leather. The eye slits in the helmet made it hard to see and the tiny air holes restricted my breath. With a huff I spoke through the dense helmet, "So I'm Going to be one of your guys?" I asked. The Templars all seemed to have heard my question and looked at me. William then put his hand on my shoulder and a few other knights followed, "Sir Ruben, you will eat with us, battle with us, train with us, and perhaps, die with us." Willam calmly stated. Then the men instantly got back to work on the others. I guess there's no going back, I can't just leave. Even if I did try to flee I would probably be executed or imprisoned. Though something down in me, like a spark, lit ever so slightly in my soul. Like I'm destined to be here... or just to die. I quickly shook my head and I tried to look at it from a more optimistic perspective, almost like a brotherhood I thought to myself. This seems to be the beginning of my adventurer days, and traveling with people like these? With that new thought I smiled and wore my armour out the door. William followed and I questioned him on this. "So what now?" William again removed his helmet and looked down at me, "First, go home and relax. Is Templars know that this is all very sudden and we would like for y'all to say goodbye to your family and possessions before we embark on our journey. There's no telling when we will come back. As for you, Ruben, I'll come back and kick in your door at 8 AM sharp so you better be prepared. You will receive then rest of your gear."
I nodded to this and then asked, "so don't you have other townspeople to round up?" "No, we are each assigned one trainee. By the time we set out there should be around 1,000 of us, then we meet the rest of the army at the boarder of the Holy Roman Empire." "And one more question Sir William" "Just William" "My apologies, William, but what was the point in 'packing' if we were just going to come back home?" William let out a gruff hackle and said, "I lied, we Templars stormed into everyones home, there was no warning. And the packing thing? You can tell what a man truly cares about when he has mere minutes to get what he needs." He pointed to my Necklace "You care about catholic hood, but instead of continuous worship and prayer you wear your necklace as a cheap alternative". Then he pointed at my Crucifix, you fear your enemies and especially the supernatural. Although your faith wavers you always call on God when your in trouble." I pursed my lips as nearly all that he was saying was true and I looked at the floor, a little embarrassed. Then he pushed me and snatched my knife from my belt and held it to my neck, "A knife" he said in a serious tone. "A man who chooses a weapon as his possession is a common sign of a warrior, no matter what you feel deep down." And the tossed the blade in the air, caught it by the tip, and held the hilt in my direction. After these words I reluctantly took the knife and seated it back into its scabbard. "Get some rest Ruben" To that I nodded and began my long walk back to my home too tired to even think about what all just happened. As I finally reached my door I crashed inside and fell upon my chair. My fire had died, my tea was cold, and my book still lay on the table. I stripped my armour off, taking note of how each piece fits together and placed my helmet on my desk, analyzing it. According to the Templar knights, this is called a "bucket helm". It was cylinder shaped and had two rectangular gaps for the eyes and multiple ventilation holes over the face. A bronze cross fell vertically from the top of the helmet between eyes down to the bottom of the helmet and then horizontally over the eye holes. None of my armor was new by any means. I could almost sense the past warriors that fought to the last breath with this helmet on. I got up and laid in my bed without changing out of my filthy clothes that were underneath the thick cloth garment. I reeked and still felt wet due to sweat. Tomorrow is going to be a long day... I thought to myself as I drifted to sleep whilst being sore all over from the all of walking, dreaming of sword fights and victorious battles.