Arrival to Blackwood

The next morning as he prepares to head off to Blackwood, Joshua rummages through his bags. “Knives, clothing, my uniforms, and most of my basic necessities; good, I'll definitely need them.” Turning to his left, his eyes rest over a jet-black uniform trimmed in red and gold as it rests on his nightstand. “Last time around, it was itchy as hell and didn't even fit. This one looks pristine, like Dialos stitched it together himself. Thanks father.”

A short while later Joshua changes before looking into a mirror. Stretching his arms and legs about, he can feel all the hard work put into it.

“Thats a start.” He mumbles to himself as Saria steps through the door, small brown bag in hand “You look good young master, your uniform was custom made and ordered for you by the patriarch himself, please take good care of it.”

“I will try; and Saria, were you able to get a hold of what i asked?” “I sure hope so.”

With a cheeky smile she passes him the bag. "It wasn't a problem at all young master; But might I ask why you need all those medical supplies; it was a headache acquiring them from the medical ward.” His neck nearly cracks as he turns to face her. “Wait you ask didn’t get permission for all this? How did you?” Joshua looks over to his handmaiden in bewilderment.

“I have my ways,” Saria smiles deviously. After that Draxis proceeds to voice his concerns to Joshua “Hey kid… Is it wrong to say that even I'm terrified right now?"

“Told you she was terrifying.” Joshua retorts mentally as the two of them carry his bags from the room to the front of the estate. They load the rest of his belongings into the back of the caravan and shortly after, he hops inside as the caravan begins to pull off.

Looking back towards his home, he hears Saria calling out to him. “Take care of yourself young master, you had better come back to me in one piece!” Sticking his tongue out, he waves goodbye to her before settling back down into his seat. Everything was surprisingly comfortable being that the caravan itself was old. Its gray sun-dried paint absorbs the sunlight as its pigments fade around the edges.

“Let’s get this over with.” Joshua mumbles to himself as he starts the trip ahead of him. Closing his eyes, he attempts to get some shut eye before he arrives in hell.

The next few hours eventually come and go as he eventually stirs awake from his nap by the caravan driver. “Hey kid, we’ve almost arrived. Get yourself ready to hop out, every time I come here; I get goosebumps.”

“Thank you, and yeah I can understand that feeling.” Joshua runs his left hand through his hair as he pulls back a curtain quickly peering out. The dark and dreary skies, Blackwood trees as far as the eye can see and the jagged mountains in the distance. One of which reaching further into the sky. The sound of beasts howling echoes through the air welcoming him to his new home. “This is definitely the place I remember.”

Shaking his head, he bolts up getting ready quickly. Wrapping most of his bags around himself and readying his feet as he prepares to jump from the caravan. “Hey caravan driver, slow down. I’ll walk the rest of the way there; it’s only a few blocks away.”

“Really?” Questions the anxious driver. “If you say so.” The sound of horse’s reins being reeled in ring as the caravan slows to a halt. Joshua looks to his feet and remember his medical supplies grabbing the small brown bag and throwing it over his shoulder. Dropping to the ground, Joshua waves the driver off as he quickly starts pacing away from the caravan. The caravan driver guides his horses and turns everything around getting ready to race off. However, greed gnawing at his heart, he decides to take a moment to count his earnings from this trip as it was request from the Terra Clan themselves.

“You sure this is a good idea kid? You’re completely exposed to the elements out here.” Draxis inquires, his instincts screaming out in warning.

“Yeah, its fine Draxis; if we didn’t stop, that caravan was going to get destroyed anyways.” In the distance the loud piercing noise of a whistle can be heard. Immediately following, a massive white creature lunges towards the side of the caravan killing the driver and leaving behind nothing but shards of wood and gore. One of the horses race off, still dragging the reigns from behind. Expecting this outcome, Joshua launches himself onto a nearby tree hanging onto its side for dear life. His bags dangle on his side. “Last time, that thing almost killed me. The medical staff had to come collect me from the wreckage.”

After taking a moment to re-compose himself, he drops to the ground shaking the bark from his hands. “Not this time Blackwood, like hell you’re taking me out again.” Brushing himself off, he continues his short trek to Blackwood.

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“That must be the youngest son of Terra; I wonder what you have in store for me. I’m looking forward to it.” An older man’s voice could be heard watching from afar. Pleased that he's actually in uniform. A few minutes pass as suddenly his voice could be heard over an intercom. "Open the gates; our new recruit approaches." The sound of rusty strained gears alongside its chains echo throughout the woods and surrounding camp.

Finishing his walk down the path, he reaches Blackwood's entrance where many other recruits were waiting for him. Entering in through the gates, the sound of chains being released fills his ear drums as they slam down with a crash. Many of the other cadets to jump in response, but not Joshua. Draxis steeled his nerves. As his gaze spreads across his fellow cadets, he does wonder why he’s the only one in uniform. “Well so much for not standing out.” Joshua thinks to himself.

Clapping could be heard from a man standing in the distance. His face was stern with his age showing through. His blue eyes sharply looked at his surroundings as his fading black hair was cut neat and rested against his ears. The gray showing in his roots. He wore a black trench coat decorated with medals alongside a red tie. His shirt and pants were jet black with a yellow trim. And his side rested a black and red rapier.

“Good job, Joshua Von Terra. You put on quite the show out there for me. I think you’ll fit in just nicely with wolf squad.” Turning his head towards the crowd, he sees a member of wolf squad and calls her forward. “Susanna, show him around and get him nice and settled in. The others are probably off training.” The commandant pauses for a second as she nervously approaches his towering and cold frame. “When you’re finished, meet the rest of your squad in the drill hall; Layrn will be waiting.”

A younger olive-skinned girl with a scar over her left eye approaches Joshua, she looks him up and down with a soft smile. He'll make an excellent squad mate especially considering the headache she's been having to deal with. He nods with a smile as she beckons for him to follow. As he follows her, he introduces himself. “Greetings, my name is Joshua. Nice to make your acquaintance. Might I get your name?” Joshua keeps his words short and sweet.

“Mine is Susanna, nice to meet you.” Susanna is dressed in a similar black and red outfit with red trim lining her blazer. Her long pants rise to her waist. Her shirt's cut a bit differently to his make room for more fluid movements as well. It also seems to also be custom made. But what really caught his eyes were her boots, rather than the traditional shoes, they were long black leather boots with metal buckles that rose up almost the entire length of her calves.

The two of them take a quick tour of the training site showing off the communal areas and the training grounds before stopping in front of a large cylindrical building. “There are four floors here and you’re on the top, go drop off your bags, I’ll be waiting here for you. “

“Thanks” Joshua waves to her as he ascends the stairs. “This is different, last time I was here I was put with the stag squad.”

“Who's Stag squad” questions his draconic companion and master. “If I’m remembering properly, they were a squad full of rejects.” Pausing for a moment he looks to his feet then continues. “But by the end of my time here they were more like family. At least I think so, my memories about this place are muddled.” A hint of a smile crosses his face.

“Sounds pretty accurate that you would have got stuck with rejects if you had got mangled before even arriving last time.” Draxis snarkily replies.

“Shut up.” Joshua waves his right hand in the air while shaking his head. Upon further introspection he starting thinking about who wolf squad was before loudly complaining. “Wait a minute, now I’m stuck in a squad with them…”

“Who?” Draxis questions.

“The twins…” Joshua sighs while rolling his eyes. “They can be so damn pretentious.”

“That’s just life kid. Take the hits as they come, and remember it could always be worse.”

“I know, at least I have some privacy this time.” He finishes ascending the stairs opening the door to reveal a plain room with a bed, a table, a single chair, a pillow, and a window. "To be expected, boring." Shortly after dropping of his things, he makes his way over to his window staring out over Blackwood.

“This is definitely new, not that I’m complaining.” Joshua smiles at the surprising amount of privacy he has. "That would have been nice last time around."

“You know that’s a lie, you complain any time you get the chance kid.” Draxis mocks jokingly. Joshua hits his own head not entertaining the dragon’s antics. Thereafter he makes his way down the staircase meeting back up with Susanna. “Did I keep you waiting long?”

“No, your fine; let’s go before we get in trouble with Layrn though.” She grabs his hand as they quickly make their way to the wolf squad drill hall. As they approach the door, she realizes she’s still holding onto his hand and starts blushing. letting go of his hand, she immediately recomposes herself.

“Who’s Layrn?” Joshua inquisitively asks, having never met her in his previous life. “You’re about to find out.” Susanna responds quickly as she ushers them into the drill hall. Layrn and the twins lye waiting. Immediately Wilhelm pipes up as he turns his head, “Hey, it’s nice to see you again little bro: What’s it been like, a week or two?”

Joshua sighs visibly for a moment before replying “Yeah, we got interrupted by big sis when we tried to chat last time, we should catch up.” Vilhelm curiously walks up to Joshua using his hand to check his height.

“When did you have a growth spurt? I swear you were still a runt when we spoke with father. Wil come here.” Getting up from his spot Wilhelm makes his way over. 'Rather than noticing his height immediately; he notices Joshua holding himself with confidence it causes him to be taken aback. Joshua stares at his twin brothers, just now realizing that he stood on a similar height to his brothers himself. With a look of confusion, he stares forward blankly. “Why didn’t Saria mention this before I left; actually, why didn’t I notice.”

“Glad to see you already mingling together wolf squad, if you want to survive my training, you’re going to need it.” a tall dark female elf with black hair reaching down to the middle of her back calls out. Her legs wrapped in black leather have chains trailing down her pants. Her boots are covered with metal accents and come to a point as her upper body is loosely draped with a black cloak, her taped body being quite visible underneath a plain black jacket. On her back also rested a large great sword.

Everyone stops talking and stand in attention for their captain. Joshua even notices the scars and calluses lining her hands as she pipes up. “Good, I’ll make this quick since I know your new squad mate just got here. I just have a single piece of advice. Don’t get yourself killed like the last one.” She turns around stoically as her black great-sword glistens under the artificial light.

Everyone nods in understanding as Joshua thinks to himself. “Did Verianna die this early on? I remember reading her name on a list. Maybe that’s why the wolf squad only had three members last time around, or was it two? I can’t quite remember.” Immediately refocusing himself back to the topic at hand he turns back to his new captain. Layrn informs them promptly. “Meet me at the training grounds at 0500 sharp in the morning, don’t be late. Your official training start tomorrow.”

“YES, SQUAD LEADER!” everyone shouts in unison as Layrn makes her exit leaving wolf squad to their own devices.

“So, Joshua what’s your secret? Did father help you; did you get a hold of an elixir?” The Vilhelm's intrigue gets the best of him as he gets into Joshua’s face.

Stepping back a few feet he lifts his hands up. “Nothing of the sort guys. I’ve just spent the past two weeks training.”

“Impossible, we’ve been practicing for months and never had a change quite like.” Wilhelm blurts out, gesturing to his physique.

Susanna interjects, “Nothing is impossible, maybe he possesses a unique constitution like the patriarch, I mean the man is huge. I remember hearing stories about that from my mother way back when.”

“NO WAY.” The twins interject. “I find out your secret Joshua, I won’t let you get ahead of us.” Vilhelm shouts as the two run out of the drill hall, Vilhelm dragging Wilhelm along.

“Are they always so animated? I don’t know how I’m supposed to deal with them if they stay like that.” Susanna facepalms as she sighs aloud.

“You get used to it; They’ve always been that way. Normally they’re actually worse, I’m surprised they stopped that easily.

“Perhaps they are intimidated by you now? They said you grew like two inches taller.”

Joshua brushes her idea off. “They’re probably off planning something right as we speak, if not they are definitely getting themselves in trouble.”

Susanna shrugs her shoulders walking off, leaving Joshua by his lonesome. “I guess we’ll find out later won’t we kid.” Draxis chuckles.

“Yeah, I’d prefer that they just behave themselves.” Joshua places a hand on his face as he lets out an annoyed sigh.