FateStay night: Across Time

3

Fate/stay Night: Across time

A sword. A golden sword, beautifully crafted. Shirou had seen it in his dreams so many times. He found the sword magnificent, but he sometimes wondered why it always came back in his dreams.
Shirou awoke when he heard voices and the marching of men could be heard in the morning, there was no mistaking it. There were people here.
"There are people here after all." Shirou felt relieved. "I hope that they'll be able to help me."
He made his way in the direction of the voices. When he saw the group, doubt set in. These people didn't wear modern clothing. They were clad in old, leather armor with tunics made from crude cloth underneath. A couple were wearing chain mail and all of them were armed.
"I don't think I should let them see me." Shirou murmured as hid him self.
He carefully peeked at the group without revealing himself. There were roughly a dozen of them. Armed mainly with spiked clubs, rusty knives, axes and leather shields. He also counted two rusty long-swords and a large battle axe. In addition, half of them were carrying bows, one of them a crossbow.
The one with the battle axe was an older man, with streaks of gray through his brown hair and beard. He wasn't the tallest, but he sure had the biggest muscles of the group. In addition to chain-mail, he also had steel arm braces and a breastplate. He had an air of experience and leadership over him. Suddenly the man stopped and looked back. Shirou managed to duck just in time.
"Something amiss?" Asked the young man wielding the crossbow to the leader.
"Methinks I saw someone. Guess I imagined it." The leader said scratching his head.
"We must make haste, if we ought to be in time for the ambush. Get yer arse moving, lass."
Shirou decided to follow them when he heard him say 'ambush'. Shirou was poor at English but ambush was a word he knew. After a while they reached a dirt road. The group split in to two and they positioned themselves on either side of the road. Shirou hid inside some bushes.
They are definitely bandits, or something like that. I'll just stay out of sight for now. All I can do now is warn their victims before the trap is sprung.
"Are ye sure that they will come past here?" One of the bandits asked to the leader.
"Ay, I am sure. Me spy is reliable. There should be two wagons with goods and around eight guards for escort." The leader grinned confidently. "Since we have the element of surprise, we should be able to kill the majority with our bows before they can even react. Beves, are ye and yer archers ready?"
"Aye, boss Giraud. They will feel the sting of our arrows. We will teach them just how good bandits can aim." Beves grinned as he brandished his crossbow. Beves was the youngest of the group at 17 years. He had short, brown unkempt hair and light-blue eyes. He was rather sinewy, but he was in good shape. His face was rather plain, but not unattractive.
One of the bandits' scouts returned and warned them about the approaching convoy.
"We have trouble. There is a knight traveling with the convoy and he looks strong."
"What. Nobody said anything about no knight. This was not part of the plan, Boss." A tall, skinny looking bandit said panicking. His green, bloodshot eyes darting around nervously. "This changes everything. We'll lose a lot of men fighting him."
"Shut yer trap, Lewis. We will just take him out first. Beves!"
"Leave it to me boss." He knocked a bolt on his crossbow. "This bolt is coated with yew poison. Even if he is not killed instantly, the poison will bring about his downfall. Hehehehe."
Meanwhile:
"How long until we reach Camelot?" A young woman asked. She had long, flowing blond hair, beautiful green eyes and fair lightly-tanned skin. The woman just turned twenty last month.
"It will take at least 3 more days of travel. If the weather holds that is." Her father answered. He was a older man with graying, black hair and dull brown eyes.
"Hmmm. Do ye think we'll see something exciting along the way." The woman's green eyes sparkled hopeful.
"If something happens, I hope it's nothing dangerous."
"Don't ye worry, dad. We have a knight protecting us." The girl smiled to the knight ridding besides the wagon. He was an older, but still young looking man with curly, dark-blond hair and aqua eyes, clad in shining white armor decorated with a flower design. "I thank ye, sir knight, for protecting us on our journey."
"No thanks needed, fair maiden. It is a knight's privilege to protect the innocent. And Camelot also happens to be my destination." The blond knight answered smiling. "Your daughter sure is a fine woman, mister Rauf. Surely you must be proud of her."
"Well indeed, sir Knight. Elisa has grown to be a fine woman and she is also a gifted healer and a fine cook, I dare say." Rauf said proudly, causing his daughter to blush.
"Cooking is indeed important. They do say a man's love goes through his stomach. When it comes to food, it is quantity and not quality that matters to me. Large amounts of vegetables, vinegar, potatoes and meat. That and ale. The King and my fellow knights eat it all without complaints." The knight declared jovial.
"May I ask ye something, sir Knight?" Elisa looked at the knight with curiosity.
"Certainly, milady. What is on your mind?"
"I've never seen the king before. Can you tell me what he's like?"
"Ahhh, the king." The knight's voice was full of admiration. "He is truly chivalry incarnate. He is the most fearless, diligent, just and fairest king in the world. England is truly blessed with king Arthur."
"I hear he is very young. Is that true, sir knight?"
"Young, yes. But he is not that young, although many a man who see him for the first time would mistake him as such. When he pulled the sword from the stone, he stopped aging. Thus he looks like a beautiful young boy, but the king is already in his twenties."
"That's incredible! Oh my ... I just realized. I never heard ye name, sir knight."
"Ah … Of course! How rude of me. My name is Gawain, the White Knight of the round table." He made a slight bow. "At your service."
But one moment later, Gawain suddenly felt a killing intend directed at him and subsequently drew his sword. "Halt!"
The convoy stopped. The guards drew their swords and moved into a defensive position.
"Sir Gawain? What is wrong?"
Then from the bushes flew a crossbow bolt, hitting the ground in front of Gawain's horse.
A voice shouted: "Ambush!"
Giraud became tense when the knight ordered the convoy to halt. This was bad! The knight had felt of their presence. Beves aimed for the knight's chest when he suddenly got hit on his back by a stone. The bolt landed in front of the knight's horse and from behind them someone shouted: "Ambush!"
Giraud cursed. His men had fired immediately after Beves missed his shot, but the guards had managed to block most of the arrows. Their position was revealed and now both sides were charging at each other. Giraud saw two of his men been cut down by the knight like nothing. He looked behind him, to the strange boy who ruined the ambush.
"Lewis, go skewer that brat! I will face the knight." Lewis charged at the boy. Beves had recovered from the impact and was trying to find a new vantage point. Giraud ran in front of the knight.
"I will be yer opponent, knight." Giraud beat his chest as he rushed in front of the knight. His men were already locked in combat with the guards. But now that the ambush had failed, chances are good that they'll be pushed back soon.
"You sure are brave to face a knight of the round table. Brave indeed. I grant you my respect for that, bandit." The knight smiled as he dismounted and moved in to attack. He attacked with a series of well executed strikes and trusts. But Giraud was a veteran and managed to hold his ground against the knight's onslaught. No, not onslaught. The knight was not even considering to use his full strength.
"You are skilled as well. If you had chosen to serve the king, you could have become known as a warrior of renown. A pity you choose a life of crime. Time pay for it." The knight continued his attack with more intensity. Giraud had to give it his all.
Shirou managed to foil the ambush, but now he had a bandit clad in chain-mail and wielding a sword barreling down on him. He picked up a branch and held it like a sword.
The bandit was almost on him now.
"Hahaha! Yer gonna fight with that!? Yer dead, lass!" Shirou wasn't good at English, but it was pretty obvious what the man said.
Shirou knew a simple branch wouldn't do much against a sword, so it was now or never.
"Trace on." The rod was driven in his spine. He raced through the process.
"Basic structure, composition, analyze.- Basic structure, alter. Composition, reinforce."
He channeled his magical energy into the branch. The bandit had reached him and swung his sword at Shirou and he managed to blocked the sword with the branch.
"What?" The bandit jumped back a little. His eyes were full of confusion. Even if his sword was old, it should have still been good enough to cut through that branch. Instead it was repelled by it. Shirou smiled in momentary relief. His strengthening had succeeded. Unfortunately, the relief was short lived.
The bandit started a flurry of attacks, while Shirou desperately tried to block them. The bandit had some skill with the blade. Shirou tried to fall back, using the trees as barriers. He would not last long otherwise. Suddenly Shirou lost his footing and fell on his back. The bandit was on him in an instant.
"Say ye prayers, lass." He raised his sword for the fatal blow.
'This is it!' Oddly enough Shirou felt surprisingly calm, as the blade descents.
Gawain was impressed. This man, while he was a bandit, had great skills with the battle axe. But now was the time to end the fight. The bandit launched a sweeping strike with the last of his strength. Gawain remained calm and parried the blow and followed up with a riposte. His sword cut through the bandit's armor like it wasn't there and made a deep cut in the man's flesh. The bandit staggered backwards and dropped on his knee, panting.
"You fought well, but now it ends." Gawain was still smiling as he approached to deal the finishing blow. But then Gawain saw another bandit between the trees attacking a strangely clothed, young man. The lad was defending himself with only a branch, while trying to keep his distance from the bandit. He must be the one that foiled the ambush and basically saved their lives. As a knight he could not let him die.
"It seems that luck is with you, bandit." Gawain he ran to the boys aid. Behind him, he heard the bandit sound the retreat.
The bandit's sword came down, but Gawain blocked the blow in the knick of time and promptly pushed the bandit back. The bandit took a defensive stance and looked at the knight fearfully.
"Are you alright, young man?" The boy looked at him and nodded. Gawain directed his attention back to the bandit. "I will be your opponent."
The bandit was trembling. There was no way that he could win against a knight, so he immediately turned tail and followed his retreating comrades. Gawain didn't pursue them. There was no need to. He sheeted his sword and turned to face the boy.
"I thank you, lad. If not for thy warning, we would probably be dead now." Gawain helped the boy up. While Gawain was shaking his hand in gratitude, he examined the young man with curiosity. He had never seen a someone like him before. His complexion told him the boy was definitely not from these lands. "Hmmm. I hast never seen clothes like that before and thou art certainly not English. Nor art thou Saksen, Frankish or Germanic. Who art thou? Where art thou from?"
The boy's eyes suddenly widened and he jumped forward, pushing him aside.
"Ah-boo-nigh!" He yelled, when he was struck by a crossbow bolt in his left shoulder.
The boy stumbled and fell to his knees. Gawain turned around, but the young crossbowman had already disappeared into the forest.
"Coward!" Gawain yelled angry and he turned his attention to the boy. "This is the second time you saved me. Let me ..." The boy started to convulse suddenly and fell forward. Gawain caught the boy before he hit the ground.
"Poison." Gawain swore under his breath. He lifted the boy up and carried him to the wagons.
"Dad. 'Tis sir Gawain. He is carrying someone." Rauf immediately sprang from his wagon and ran toward him.
"Sir Gawain. Are ye alright? Who is the boy?" Gawain hurried towards Elisa, causing Rauf to jump aside.
"He is the one who foiled the ambush, that is all I know. The bolt is poisoned. Can you help him, milady?"
"Put him inside the wagon. I will see what I can do." Elisa hurried to grab her medicines. The boy had lost consciousness, so time was of the essence. Gawain put him in the wagon and helped Elisa to remove the bolt and clean the wound. Elisa determined that it was poison from the yew tree and quickly managed to make an antidote.
"I have administered the antidote, so his life is not in danger. But he will not regain consciousness for some time." Elisa sighed with relief. "We should find him a place to sleep for the night. A comfortable bed would surely help him recover."
"There is an inn called the 'meek ox' at the next village. We can reach it before nightfall." Rauf suggested.
"Good, let us make haste then. Alright men. Put our dead in the other wagon. We can give them a proper burial at the village. Bury the bandits next to the road."
"Why should we bother burying them? Just leave them for the wolves, I say." One of the guards complained. The others nodded in agreement.
"Bandits or not, it is simple decency to bury the dead." Gawain retorted.
"Tsst. Fine have it yer way." The guards took some shovels from the carts and started digging the graves. It took them a couple of hours before they continued their journey.
"I hope they have enough room for all of us." Elisa wiped away some sweet from the young man's forehead. "By the way, I found these on him. Maybe thou should hold on to him until he recovers, sir Gawain."
She handed him what seemed to be a keyring and a small red book.
"I will do that. It might be important to him." And he put them in his saddlebag.
"Who do ye think he is, sir Gawain? I hast never seen clothing like his before. His clothes are certainly not made from wool or linen. And I have never seen such strange shoes before. And than his appearance.. certainly not English." Elisa looked at the young man inquisitively.
"I doth not know. But regardless, the boy saved our lives today. So he has more than deserved our aid." Gawain declared. Everybody agreed unanimously. Some time later they arrived at the inn.
The 'meek ox' had enough rooms to spare. However Gawain offered to pay for the lodgings, but didn't have enough money to afford separate rooms and meals for everybody. Thus while the boy and Elisa both got separate rooms, Gawain, Rauf and the guards shared the same room.
"I am sorry thou have to share the room with us, sir Gawain."
"No need to apologize, mister Rauf. It is not the first time I hast shared quarters with others. I hope the lads condition will be improved by tomorrow."
"I hope so too. He saved our lives after all. We only lost two men against eight of the bandits. If he had not warned us..." Rauf shuddered at the thought. "Anyway, I bid ye good night, Sir Gawain." And Rauf went to sleep.
Gawain yawned and took the keyring and book from his saddlebag. He had never seen key's like this before. Most of then were thin and serrated. All except for one rusty, old key. That one looked like the key's he was familiar with. He put the keys back in his bag and then took the book, hoping it might yield a clue to the boys identity., but it only raised more questions. The pages were white and smooth to the touch, nothing like parchment at all. And then there were those strange symbols written inside.
"What are these symbols? Some kind of code? Magic runes maybe? Or an unknown language." Gawain marveled at the book. "Guess it yielded more questions then answers. Maybe Merlin can help when we reach Camelot. Guess we shall find out eventually." He put away the book and went to sleep.
The next morning, Gawain woke up when somebody knocked on the door. He went to the door and opened it. There stood the innkeeper, a balding, chubby, middle-aged man. He went by the name of Tebald and was well respected by the locals.
"Good morning, sir Knight. I apologize for waking ye, but I wanted to inform ye that the boy has awoken."
"Ahh, he did? That is good. Bring him some food and something to drink. The lad might be hungry." Gawain was elated at the news. "Tell him I will meet him shortly."
"Certainly, sir Gawain. At once." The innkeeper hurried off to his duties.
Gawain started putting on his clothes. They consisted of black, linen tunic embroiled with a golden sun with matching trousers and leather boots. Gawain suddenly noticed that Rauf was awake. "The boy is awake."
"I heard. Are ye going to see the lad?"
"Yes. I will eat something later. Seeyou at breakfast." Gawain buckled his sword to his belt and closed the door behind him. He went up the stairs to the second floor, where he encountered Elisa in the hallway. She was carrying some bloody bandages. "Is see you have changed his bandages, milady Elisa."
"Indeed, sir Gawain. The boy is on his way to recovery, but …" Elisa looked over her shoulder to the door were the boy was resting.
"But? Is there something wrong?" Gawain tensed up. "If there is something wrong … you must tell me!"
"Not necessarily wrong, but there is something troubling about it." Elisa said with a discomforting tone.
"Something troubling? What do you mean?"
"His wounds! They are healing to quickly. 'tis not normal. At this rate his wound will be completely healed within three, maybe four days. 'tis unsettling." Elisa rubbed her arm nervously.
"Hmmm. That is odd, but not necessarily a bad thing. Maybe Merlin can have a look at him when we arrive at Camelot. Why don't you go downstairs to grab some breakfast. It will do you good. I will go and have a chat with our savior."
Elisa nodded and went downstairs. Gawain arrived at the boy's chamber when the innkeeper left the room with an empty bowl.
"Mister Tebald. How is he doing?"
"Good, I would say. He was quite hungry." Tebald showed him the bowl. "I also tried to talk to him, but he does not seem to speak our tongue, except for a few words, but most of the time he seems to get the gist of it."
"That is good to know."
"Excuse me, sir knight, but may I ask ye something?" Gawain gave a nod. "Who is this lad. I have never seen someone with such a complexion."
"I don't know, good sir. But he saved our lives by foiling the bandits' ambush. So the least I can do, is help him in return. It is only natural to do so." Gawain gave a serene smiled.
"True enough. Those rotten bandits are getting more bold. But why?" Tebald wondered bitting his nails nervously.
"It is indeed a mystery. The king has already started to investigate as to why the bandits are so active. That is why I am on my way to Camelot." Gawain tapped his fingers on his sword handle, his face turning grim for a moment "But now I will go see the boy. So, if you would excuse me."
"Sure. I will have some food waiting for ye." Tebald nodded and went downstairs. Gawain walked to the door and entered the room. The young man was sitting upright on the bed with his chest was exposed, except for his bandaged left shoulder. Gawain examined the young man. He had auburn colored hair and Golden-brown eyes and had above average physique. Gawain estimated his age to be around seventeen winters, a young man. Gawain took a stool and sat down facing the young man.
"Good morning. I hope you have managed to sleep well. How are you feeling, young man?" Gawain asked with a friendly voice. The young man looked at him with a puzzled expression. He thought for a moment, trying to figure out what Gawain said, before he nodded with a smile.
"It seems Tebald was right. you really don't fully understand our language. My name is Gawain and I am a knight of the round table. I ask you: What is your name?"
"Gawain." An expression of both recognition and surprise showed on the lad's face when Gawain told him his name. Once the surprise wore off the boy snapped back to attention.
"Name? My name … is… Emiya Shirou."
"But you can grasp the general idea of the things we say, most of the time. That's good. At least that we can understand each other somewhat." Gawain nodded firmly. "Emiya Shirou, is it? Can you tell me where you hail from?"
"Hmmm. What country?" Gawain tried, when he saw the boy's puzzled expression. Shirou's confusion made way for recognition.
"Japan." Gawain raised his eyebrows. He never had heard of a place called Japan before.
"Where is Japan?"
"East. Far, far east." Shirou pointed towards the rising sun but then he suddenly flinched and grabbed his shoulder.
"You have recovered quite a bit, but you should rest some more. We will stay here one more night. After that we will make our way to Camelot." Shirou's expression changed to surprise when Gawain mentioned Camelot.
"Camelot? Arthur?" Shirou's eyes went wide in amazement.
"Yes, King Arthur. You may be from a distant country, but it seems they have heard of the King's exploits even there." Gawain grinned with satisfaction at the boy's amazed expression. "You should get some more rest, as you will need your strength when we leave. I will come to visit you again at noon."
Gawain left Shirou to rest, while he went to get some breakfast. Rauf, Elisa, the other merchant and the remaining guards were already enjoying their meals.
"Sir Gawain, please sit with us. Mister Tebald says that yer food will be brought in a moment." Elisa said happily.
"That is good to hear." Gawain sat down besides Elisa, who got a slight blush on her face. "Is something wrong, milady?
"What? Oh eh, no, of course not. Say, Have ye spoken with him?"
"I did. He seems to be doing better, but he still needs to rest some more. I think it would be wise to remain here for one more night."
"I concur. That would be for the best. Let me pay for the next night." Rauf proposed."I believe ye had spent most of yer money last night, sir Gawain."
"And I will chip in too. 'tis the least I can do." The other merchant declared. He was a young man, not even 25 winters old. He had blond hair, blue eyes and a nose like a hawks beak. He answers to the name Sagard. "By the way, sir Gawain. Did ye learn anything new about our savior?"
"His name is Emiya Shirou and it appears he hails from a country, far to the east, called Japan." Gawain informed them. "The lad is still recovering from his wounds, so I didn't ask to many questions for now."
"Emiya Shirou? An odd name, never heard of such a name before. Neither have I ever heard of a place called Japan." Sagard pondered for a moment, then he shook his head as the name didn't ring a bell. "Anyway, was his tunic not ruined when he got struck by that bolt. I have some quality linen tunics he could use. Free of charge of course."
"Hooo. I never thought ye could be so generous, sir Sagard." Rauf said with a skeptical tone. "Ye always seemed so concerned about making a profit, after all."
"I do indeed. But that does not mean that I don't know gratitude." Sagard raised his voice. "The lad saved us. Giving him some new clothes doesn't even to begin to repay him." Sagard grumbled as he turned his attention back to his meal. "I will bring them later to him after I finished my meal."
"That was not a very nice thing to say, dad! Mister Sagard is concerned about money, but that doesn't mean that he doesn't care about others. Ye should apologize to him."
"Mrrrr. Maybe yer right." Rauf finished his meal and begrudgingly went to apologize to Sagard.
Gawain visited Shirou again at noon. He asked some more questions but they didn't yield much result. While Shirou could somewhat understand him, but he didn't know enough of the English tongue to give any detailed answers. Gawain figured that Merlin would be able to do something about the language problem when they reached Camelot. Somebody knocked on the door. It was Sagard, bringing the tunic.
"I have brought the tunic. From what I garner, it should be about the right size." He walked to Shirou and handed him the red colored tunic. "It is made of the finest linen I could get my hands on. Thank ye for saving us."
"Domo Arigato." Shirou said and took it with both hands and made a slight bow. Sagard blinked and looked at Gawain with an uncertain expression.
"I think it means 'Thank you' in his tongue." Gawain said unsure. Sagard nodded in response and left the room. Gawain left soon after.
The next morning, Gawain was saddling his horse while Elisa was supporting Shirou as they made their way to the wagon. Emiya Shirou seemed to be doing a lot better and the new tunic looked good on him. He noticed Rauf and Sagard walking up to him.
"Well, sir Gawain. Time to continue our journey to Camelot." Sagard said, clasping his hands together and with a hopeful expression on his face. "I hope we won't get anymore attacks along the way."
"True enough." Rauf sighed. "I don't think well be as lucky like the last time, should there be another ambush waiting for us."
"Rest assured. I don't think there will be any more ambushes taking place. This area is close to Camelot and is regularly patrolled by the king's men. They would be mad to attempt anything this close to Camelot."
"That is reassuring indeed." Sagard smiled in relief. "Do ye think that they were aware of our shipment?"
"I think they were." Gawain said without hesitation. Rauf and Sagard usually dealt only with fabric, food, drink, jewelry and spices. But this time they were transporting a large shipment of quality weapons and armor at the king's request. "They have been attacking the caravans rather frequent as of late. And they only attacked those that carried weapons, armor or valuables. That is one of the things I was sent to investigate."
"Mister Rauf, Mister Sagard. I suggest we resume our trip to Camelot. We still have two more days of travel ahead." Gawain said with a serious tone and hoisted himself in the saddle.
"A splendid suggestion." Rauf said. He and Sagard made their way to their respective wagons.
Gawain took position next to Rauf's wagon. His eyes met with Shirou's who was laying in the front of the wagon, being tended by Elisa. Gawain smiled at him reassuringly and Shirou smiled back. Gawain looked up into the clear sky. If the weather holds, they should reach Camelot within two days.
Meanwhile, Giraud and his men arrived at an old fortress ruin deep inside the ancient forest. It had been an unpleasant trip back. He lost six men during the raid, he himself was injured and two of his men died soon after because their wounds got infected. And worst of all they had to return empty handed.
"Are ye alright, boss?" Beves had been worrying about Giraud's health the entire return trip and rightly so. His boss had been silent most of the way back. Beves knew the boss was simply trying to save his breath, because of his wound. While Beves called him 'Boss', Giraud was actually more of a father to him than a boss as he had saved Beves from death seven years ago. "Once we arrive, we will go see the surgeon immediately." Giraud groaned.
Deep inside the forest lay an old fortress. The ruin had been abandoned until recently. These last few months a rebellion had started to grow and this old fortress has become one of the rebels many hideouts. The rebellion started because some of the lords and common people had gotten dissatisfied with King Arthur. The main reason was that the king didn't seem to understand his people's feelings. Giraud, a bandit, never concerned himself with it. He was still wondered how he got recruited for this cause.
Inside the fortress courtyard, the rebels were buzzy with training, maintaining weapons and equipment and doing other important tasks. Giraud often wondered why so many people hated the king. And he wondered why he cared. He was a bandit, he usually only cared for the wellbeing of his men and himself.
When they walked through the gate, the commander of the garrison walked up to them immediately. An old soldier. His hair was gray and his gray eyes were bloodshot. Here he was simply called the 'Commander'. Giraud never asked his name, but he respected the man and he respected Giraud. He knew little about the Commander, but he knew that he was once on of the king's most loyal men. Giraud knew that he didn't hate the king, so why was he here, Giraud wondered.
"Report, Giraud. I only see les than half of thy men. Obviously you have failed in your mission." The 'Commander' demanded with an impatient tone. His eyes staring sharply into Giraud's. Beves stared angry at the Commander. Couldn't this wait until later?
"Our ambush was foiled. A stranger showed up and warned the caravan when we were about to strike." Giraud calmly reported, as he bid Beves to ease up. "Our information was faulty as well. There was a knight traveling with the caravan. He killed 2 of me men and injured me." He groaned as his wound acted up.
"Hmmm. The knight was unexpected. Our spy reported that there was no knight when the caravan departed," the 'Commander' frowned. "He must have joined the caravan after they left the village. And what was that about a stranger?"
Giraud and his men gave the "Commander' a detailed description of the failed ambush, the knight and the stranger.
"From what you have told me, the knight could have been no other than sir Gawain. We know that he has been investigating the recent raids." The 'Commander' paced around. "Sir Gawain's appearance alone would have been reason enough to call of the ambush."
"No, it isn't," Beves argued."If that scoundrel hadn't thrown that rock at me, I would have most certainly hit him!" He said so with complete confidence.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but Gawain wouldn't be a knight of the Table if a simple sneak attack was all it took to take him down." The 'Commander' declared rather harshly, which put a damper on Beves' boasting. Beves was a good man and the 'Commander' felt a little sad for dampening his spirit. "I will order our spies to investigate the stranger. You men should get some rest and thou hast to see the surgeon. I will need to report this to Sir Mordred and mistress Morgan."
"Finally. Uhh, we will see ye later then." Giraud and Beves started making their way to the surgeon. Than Giraud suddenly stopped and turned toward the 'Commander'."Say, Commander. Mind if I ask ye something?"
"What is on your mind?"
"You were once a loyal soldier to the king, tasked with hunting down folks like me. But ye seemed to accept me quite easily. Why?"
"You art a bandit, a marauder, but you also care for your men and you are known to show mercy and to disdain from needless killing." The 'Commander' replied with a sincere tone. "You are different from most bandits. And it is this sense of honor what has earned you my acceptance and respect ."
Giraud smiled when he heard the 'Commanders' answer. At least one of his many questions has been answered. He looked up at the sky, rubbing his round chin, wondering where all of this will lead to.