A Knight and Squire 2

[Reckless Banzai Screamer 15456]

 

“Little Qali, perhaps one day the status quo will stand against you and the values you hold dear. And you will need to decide whether to accept change or defend your beliefs.” An aging Qalasheen man mumbles in a monotone voice before taking another hit from his hook'ah. He holds the smoke in briefly before exhaling followed by a short coughing fit.

 

“Baba..” A much smaller, youthful Qalasheen boy replies, reaching his hand out to pat the elder’s back. The older of the two holds his hand out as his coughing ceases.

 

“There will come a time when society will deem your beliefs too old, not progressive. And what will you do?”

 

“I mean, I dunno’. Guess whatever you and Mama did.”

 

The older Qalasheen stares at him momentarily before silently looking out towards the Ocean west of Jedih. He clenches the blades of grass in the oasis they rest at and nods slowly to himself.

 

__________________________________

 

In the streets of Johannesburg, Ser Rakim and his squire Philip de Capua match off with a High Elf and its Uruk friend. Ser Rakim charges forward, lunging his spear into the gut of the Uruk and finds its mark.

 

“DIE, YOU MUTANT!”

 

Blood begins pouring from the green behemoth and the Qalasheen Knight could not help but smirk. A good show for his squire who held off the High Elf’s staff strike towards the knight!

 

Onlookers keep their distance with some of the Legionnaires unsure of how to handle the situation. A Lorraine Cross was burned into the claimed Canonist Uruk. It yanks the spear from its gut and lumbers towards Ser Rakim, even a slash to the face of the latter’s Imperial arming sword could not keep the Uruk at bay. It reached its veiny hand to grab ahold of Ser Rakim’s neck.

 

Memories came to the young brown knight. Years ago when he was just a squire, he was faced with a similar fate back in the Orcish Jungles. How history repeats itself, Ser Rakim thought. But there was no Ser Leopold in sight to save him. He looks about grimacing as the orc’s grip tightens around his neck. First Joseppi, then Bradshaw. The Qalasheen Knight refused to be the third to die tragically within this year. To his left, he looks over to his squire Philip de Capura holding back the staff wielding High Elf to keep him from harming the knight he was sworn to. A bad showing was unacceptable.

 

Gripping the hilt of his arming blade tightly, Ser Rakim thrusts the blade towards the throat as best he could, but strikes the chin of the orc. The blade tears through the mouth but was just short of reaching the orc’s brain. The behemoth loses its grip and falls over on top of the knight. The fighting around Rakim and the orc ceases and Philip and the high elf turn their attention to the former who was holding up the ~300 pound orc just barely. With Philip’s help, the knight and squire push the orc off to the side. Ser Rakim rises to his feet, turning his attention to the High Elf with his blade still raised. Philip brings his sword down upon the orc’s head to ensure it was properly killed and begins to saw off the orc’s tusks. A younger Rakim reincarnated through Philip probably, thought the knight. The dark bruising around his neck from the orc’s grip did not bother him and he adjusts his shawl appropriately to hide the injury.

 

“Vigilantism will not be tolerated, Eldar scum. Oren is for Humans.”

 

With the uruk dead, the high elf meekly walked off seeing little point in continuing the fight. But Ser Rakim did not pursue. Philip hands off the bloodied orc tusks to the knight. This would bring a pretty coin to help with their future endeavors and was Ser Rakim’s third pair of tusks that day.

 

“Your first lesson, Philip. Remember your knightly vows and never turn back upon a foe.” Ser Rakim says to Philip as he watches the high elf walk off. With Snow Elves and Uruks seemingly infiltrating the Canonist Church and the Crown Prince murdering one of his beloved friends, Ser Rakim could only think where his new country was going. He was far away from Aeldin now.

 

 

[lawnmowerman 3040]

Philip had claimed the tusks of the hulking monster alongside his mentor, Ser Rakim, a bit upset about the action, yet he deemed it necessary. He exclaimed towards Ser Rakim.

 

"The bigger the beast - the greater the glory."

[Wendigo 786]

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