1 The Outpost
Disclaimer: I don't own The Outpost or Dynasty Warriors
After fleeing from the Prime Order which launched an attack at a small settlement with thieves and gamblers Talon makes her way to the Outpost right at the edge of the country to Greyskin territory.
While she crosses a desert, she sees something white flapping in the wind atop of a dune. Getting curious, despite her initial thought of leaving the matter alone she climbs the dune and sees a large man who looks to be in his mid-twenties lying face down in the sand. She rolls him over with her feet, careful not to get to close incase he's pretending and just waiting to ambush her.
Once he's facing her she sees him breathe only very weakly, meaning he's most likely unconscious from dehydration.
"Ah crap, do I safe him or don't I?" She asks herself, sitting down next to the unconscious man and going through his things, which is only a bag with 3 pieces of gold, which she quickly procures for herself and a ridiculously long axe, even taller than the man himself.
"the fuck is that thing? Did he take that off a Greyskin?" She asks loudly.
"No, it's all mine." A raspy voice replies, and she looks back at the man who is struggling to get in a sitting position.
"Do you have water by any chance?" He asks, his voice barely above a whisper.
"I do." She says, not moving an inch.
"Could I have some? I don't have much money but it's all yours if you want." He offers, looking for his leather bag with the few coins inside.
"Uhh, you had money you mean." She says, throwing his bag up and down with one hand while she's still sitting next to him.
"That's fine, how about a guard on your travels? What I lack in preparation I make up with combat skills." He offers with a dry chuckle.
"Here, don't drink it all. It'll have to last us for another mile." She says, handing him a flask.
"Thank you. I'm Xu Huang by the way." He says, graciously accepting the flask and taking a careful sip out of it three times before handing it back.
"May I know the name of my beautiful savior?" He asks, standing up and leaning on his axe for support, having lied in the sand for longer than he likes to remember.
"You may not. And I don't need a guard, I just didn't feel like getting haunted by your ghost after taking your money and leaving you to die." She replies, already continuing on her way with Xu following her with a fair distance, throwing his axe over his shoulder.
"Alright, where are you headed?" He asks, jogging to catch up to her and matching her pace with obvious difficulty.
"The outpost." She says.
"Aren't I lucky. That's where I'm headed as well." Xu laughs.
"Why?" She asks, knowing it's a dangerous territory.
"Why not? I like to test my strength and from what I heard that's the best place to do it." He answers as though it'd be obvious.
"Sure…" She replies, not sure if he's stupid or just really careless.
"What about you?" He asks.
"I'm looking for a job in a tavern." She lies.
"Alright, you've got one customer already if I make it there." He says.
"Don't be dramatic, there's a lake up ahead, right over that dune." She tells him, pointing at the dune they're closing in on.
"really? Hurry up then." He says, rushing up the dune until she can't spot the giant of a man anymore after he got over the dune.
"Water!" She hears a shout and then a loud splash, making her smirk and shake her head before rushing after the curious man.
A couple days later the two travelers are walking through a foggy forest which should be just next to the outpost.
"Say, isn't it like really cramped in here?" Xu asks his traveler, who he's come to see as a friend though he's not sure she views him as the same.
"No, not everyone is walking around a forest with a 2-meter-long axe and is on eye level with every branch." Talon teases her tall companion.
"Hey! You didn't complain about my height when I helped you climb those cliffs. And my axe is 2.3 meters." He says.
"Great, an even bigger axe." She says sarcastically, looking back at him when suddenly a person appears to their left, having his hood up but his blistered face is recognizable anyways.
"Stay away." Talon warns him, on guard due to his sudden appearance and dead-like stare.
"Are you ill?" She asks, seeing the blisters, only for the man to open his mouth and a worm-like being to come out of his mouth.
"Freaky." Xu says, pushing her to her right so they go around the disturbing being.
The two then run through the woods with the man chasing after them.
The two then run into two other people blocking their way, both looking as sickly as the man behind them.
Talon stabs the woman in the chest and then kicks the other away with a back kick, before ripping her sword from the woman and stabbing the other man's head, asking "Why won't you die?" angrily before she gets tackled down by the woman and the man whose head she cracked is on her moments later, extending the worm-like creature towards her while she struggling against the combined grips of the two beings while lying on the ground.
Just as the worm is halfway to her face and a stinger comes out of it's maw the man flies right off her, landing impaled on multiple branches off a tree a couple feet from her.
"These things are nasty." Xu says, grabbing the woman's neck with his large hand and rips her off Talon, who quickly rolls away from the sick woman and gets back on her feet. While Xu is holding the rampaging woman in a hold and Talon grabs her sword to kills her somehow a crossbow bolt suddenly pierces through the woman's throat, almost hitting Xu who was luckily not standing behind her.
"They only die if you get them in their mouths." Garret, a soldier riding on a horse while holding a crossbow tells them while two others are by his side.
"We were doing just fine on our own." Talon says, brushing away dirt from her cloak.
"Obiviously." Garret says while looking the odd pair over.
"But what kind of soldier would I be if I didn't help you?" Garret asks.
"A generic one." Talon says.
The group of five, hear a loud screech coming from deep within the woods and turn to its direction.
"What are those things?" Talon asks.
"Plaguelings. But we can talk later, first we should get to safety." Garret tells them.
"Come on, you've got to ride with us, or we'll all die here." Garret tells them, offering his hand to Talon.
Talon looks over to Xu, who's standing relaxed with his axe over his shoulder, waiting for her decision. She accepts the hand and Xu walks over to the two other soldiers, getting on the small one's horse with ease.
"The gate's closed." Talon says when the group come up on the outposts' walls.
"At night the gate's always closed, they won't let us enter if the plaguelings are too close." Garret explains.
"Open the gate!" Garret orders the guards on top of the wall.
"I can't sir, marshal's orders." A guard tell him while the five get off their horses with a horde of plaguelings behind them.
"The marshal doesn't like it if we bring strays with us, so where are you from and what do you want here?" Garret asks the two newcomers.
"I don't answer to anyone but the marshal, especially not some random solider." Talon shoots back.
"Just think of something, won't you?" Garret says.
"I'm here to join your guards." Xu says, readying his axe for the incoming battle.
"Open the gate!" Garret yells up to his men.
"I can't captain." A guard shouts back.
"captain huh?" Talon asks with a smirk.
"Yeah, just some soldier, who happens to be captain." Garret says shrugging his shoulders.
The guards on the wall then open fire on the plaguelings, shooting their crossbow bolts at them.
When they open fire the others by the gate get ready to fight as well but are beaten to the punch when Xu is already rushing the remaining six plaguelings, knocking them over with the pole of his weapon, holding it horizontally.
One of Garrets men runs over to help Xu while the other three just look at the scene of Xu decapitating plaguelings after plaguelings with ease while the soldier stabs the plagueling he focused through it's neck but not before he gets stung by the worm's needle.
"That's all of them, open the gate! Sergeant open the gate, I take full responsibility." Garret orders, having a grin at watching Xu fight them off with ease.
"moments later the gate opens and the group, rejoined by Xu and the soldier rush through while the guards close it behind them immediately.
Once through the gate the three horses get lead away and Garret goes over to Xu and Talon, who stares at the gate where loud banging can be heard from.
"I'm captain Garret Spears. What is yours?" He introduces himself.
"What's wrong with those people?" Talon asks.
"Plaguelings, they spread their disease through this needle. So, what's your name?" Garret says.
"I'm Talon." She tells him.
"The hell? We travel for three days together, nothing and you meet pretty boy over here and zap there is is. Fuck this, I'm Xu by the way, not that you care." Xu says annoyedly, walking past Garret and bumping into his shoulder, making the man tumble backwards three steps.
"Well, now that introductions are out of the way follow me. You still need to convince Marshal Wythers of the reason you want to stay here." Garret tells them once he recovers his footing while Talon chuckles to herself amused by Xu's reaction.
When the group of three arrive in front of the Marshal's office the marshal is already sending a prisoner away.
"marshal Wythers." Garret says, announcing his presence.
"What can I do for you captain?" the man asks, looking over to the three with distrust.
"I collected two travelers." Garret explains.
"I can see why. She's a nice catch." Wythers says looking up and down Talon.
"Hah, that's your professional opinion as marshal?" Garret asks disappointed.
"I'm busy, don't beat around the bush. Why are you here?" Wythers says walking over to Talon.
"I am Talon, I'm looking for work." Talon says.
"Trade?" He asks.
"In a tavern." She replies.
"then let's both pretend you're looking for work. But believe me this, if you cause trouble, I'll throw you outside and send the creatures after you." Wythers warns her before moving on to Xu.
"And what about you?" He asks the tall man.
"I'm here to offer my services as a guard." He says.
"Aha, well you can talk to him in that case. He'll be responsible for the two of you during your time here." Wythers says, pointing at Garret and then walks away.
