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The Tales of the Scarlet Suns - Ch 3: Growing by the Sword

It had been almost ten years since Irving had arrived at Ampwick and under the tutoring of Juniper, his adoptive mother, the young otter had learned everything about the world's history, its various cultures and not to mention that he was a direct descendant of Garazir of the Eight Winds and Bafai of the Tidals, known as the first elemental couple and one of the few bloodlines kept pure with air and water affinity offspring. Irving had not understood the importance of his heritage and shrugged it off as just another children's fairytale, something Juniper had learned to just accept.

At his tenth birthday, Irving's life had changed even more when Mark had spilled the beans about how he was born, leaving no details out of it and even got a few stares of "We are gonna kill you for this" from both Katia and Juniper. Irving didn't mind as he thanked Mark for telling him the truth without any softening of the words. All three had expected Irving to be creeped out by hearing the truth, but he had taken it quite well and even said that one day he wished to return and pay his respects to the village he came from. Juniper had also been forced at this point to explain the scar that Irving had over one of his eyes and how she felt bad that she couldn't hide it, but Irving had only said that if anything it would be a reminder about how much she actually cared for him.

Additionally, during the span of ten years, Mark and Katia had settled down a bit after getting married to start a family and been blessed with two healthy kids, two girls named Chae and Naphalee. They had been Irving's best friends when growing up and when his tenth birthday had come around, Chae was almost as tall as him and Naphalee was just chest height on him. Growing up with them had also given Irving a feeling of being the protective siblings of the younger cubs, something they were thankful for, given their impurity as hybrids often made them targets for other kids that bullied them.

All time growing up had prepared him for the hot day when Mark had asked to talk to him in private and Irving had agreed before following Mark to one of watchtowers along the wall of the village. Once they had reached the top of the watchtower, Irving could get a view of the wonderful landscape surrounding the village, or at least in the direction that he was looking as Mark tried to not have him look the other way.

"It is so beautiful here, mister Mark." Irving had said as he saw the hint of a lake in the distance, or could it been a sea? He wasn't sure at this point as he had barely gotten time to study a map of the place and only been told that on the map, they were in the west from the central part of the world. "Yes, Irving. It is a beautiful world we live in, full of wonders and hopes." His voice went a bit lower, "But sadly, also evil and destruction."

Irving knew a bit about what Mark was talking about, as Juniper had told him that bandits and raiders wasn't a big issue compared to the greater evils lurking in the shadows of the world. Something about demons and their offspring, something they called cambion. "Are you talking about the demons? Mom told me about them." Mark knew that Juniper couldn't avoid telling it and nodded in response, "Yes, they are what I refer to mostly."

Irving looked at Mark and then forward at the world opening itself for his eyes, "Mister Mark?" Mark looked at him, "Yes, Irving, what is it?" The otter looked over the horizon as he spoke, "You asked me, Chae and Naphalee what we wanted to be when we grew up, remember?" Mark nodded, "Yes, Chae wanted to become a blacksmith and Naphalee wanted to become a stable hand like her mother used to be. But you didn't have any idea about what you wanted to become."

Irving nodded before turning to face Mark and kneeled to one knee in respect, "Please, train me to become soldier like you. If not a soldier, then at least teach me how to wield a sword. I wanna defend the innocent and slay the bad guys. Be it my fellow kin or some demon." Mark was taken back by Irving's approach of kneeling to him in the ways that soldiers did when being judged by their valor. "Irving, I..." Irving didn't let him even finish, "Please, Mark. I have protected your children and now I wanna protect others as well. I cannot stand back idly if there are more people out there like those who killed my real mother. If I gonna die one day, then I rather die knowing I fought for something I believe in."

Mark had never seen such a determination since the day he had joined the guardsmen, and here it was again, nearly fifteen years later and the feeling that was going through him made him understand how that captain had felt once. Mark grabbed Irving's shoulder with a smile, "Very well, Irving. I will teach you how to handle a sword. But we will speak of this tomorrow. You got another lecture with Juniper soon." And with that, Irving and Mark returned back to Juniper, just in time for the last meal before the lecture began.

After the lecture, Juniper had sent Irving off to bed and prepared herself to slip under the covers when Irving's voice rang out softly, "Mom?" Juniper smiled and turned to face him, "Yes, Irving, what is it?" Irving looked at the mouse girl, before telling her straight about what happened at the tower. Once he was done telling her, Juniper had smiled, "So you wanna do what we did that day when we saved you? That is very noble of you. Make sure you listen well to Mark. He is a good man, even if a bit of silly at times." Irving had smiled before crawling into his bed, "I will, mom. Good night." Juniper smiled as she walked over and tucked him in, kissing his forehead, "Good night, sweetie."

The next morning, Juniper had awoken to Irving having set the table with their usual breakfast. A slice of cheese and bread with some milk for Juniper and bread with some water for Irving. Irving had grown away from the milk from a young age as he found the taste of it to not be so pleasant, "Morning, Irving." She had said when taking a seat and taking the slice of cheese. "Morning, mom." He had replied while chewing down some of the bread, "I was up early and thought I would give you some time to relax in bed."

Juniper had leaned forward to kiss Irving on the forehead, "You gonna make a younger girl happy one day for sure, Irving. That was really kind of you." Irving had smiled as he always found the praise to lift his spirits as he quickly chewed down the bread and drank the water from the tankard that he had poured himself before he got up from his seat, "I am leaving now, mom. Have a good day." Juniper stood up and hugged him, "Be safe, okay?" Irving nodded before heading up to the door and opening it to head to the barracks.

Mark stood outside and smiled when Irving arrived, "Good morning, string arms. Hope you ready to do some training." Irving had given him a look at being called that nickname, but he guessed it was only to tease him, "Yes, I am ready, mister Mark." Mark nodded before he opened up the door to the barracks and lead him inside before opening up the door to the armory. Irving's eyes went wide at the assortment of weapons existing, "Take your pick, Irving."

The entire morning was spent trying to find a weapon that suited Irving and it wasn't easy. Broadsword was too light for him and every swing felt like it was more motion than actual strength in it. Longsword was a little better, but wasn't exactly measuring up to the hopes they had. Dual wielding hand axes seemed to work, but Irving's movements hindered him from fully utilizing them. Halberd seemed a bit easier for Irving to grasp, but he couldn't block the swings that came.

As the day went on, so did the weapons and when the sun was about to set, Irving put the flail back onto its hook, "I guess I am not cut out for using weapons." Mark had felt it for him, "Maybe you should ask Juniper to train you in healing." Irving nodded and was on his way out when he suddenly stopped and looked above the door to the armory. There hung a massive greatsword, looking as if no one had touched it for over a decade. Mark noticed Irving's eyes looking at something and then looked up above the door to see the greatsword, "Oh, that is the weapon of Sir Lionmane, my mentor back when I was just a rookie. He died from some mysterious disease one day as we couldn't find a cure. His weapon is now a memento for everyone."

Irving couldn't take his eyes off it, "I wanna try it out." Mark's eyes narrowed to thin dots, "You want to use Sir Lionmane's greatsword? You understand that if you break it, you are not only going to ruin a precious memory of many, but you are also going to be widely hated through the village? Maybe you should just stick with healing." Irving's mind was already set and nodded, "I am willing to risk it. I wanna try it out."

Mark's arms stretched up to pick down the greatsword, the dust on it weighing it down a bit as he brushed it off and then put the sword in Irving's hands, "You have been warned." The words rung in Irving's head, but they made their way out of the armory and barracks before Mark drew his sword and shield a final time that day, "Okay, give it a couple of swings to test it out." Mark's tongue was nearly bitten off when he saw how Irving had set the greatsword into motion and was swinging it around like it was an extension of his body.

"Okay, try a couple on me now." Irving turned himself and with it the greatsword followed and Mark's shield took an impact that actually dented it slightly and the sword wasn't better when a clash between the two weapons not only had the sword fly out of Mark's hand, but also cut it apart and impaled the edge into a training dummy. Mark just stood there as Irving had the greatsword laying against his own back and was panting. Mark's mind spoke by itself without him opening his maw, "Sir Lionmane... have you been reborn?"

Mark snapped out of it and sat down on a knee and placed a hand upon Irving's back, "You okay there, Irving?" The otter panted and soon the soft sound of chuckling could be hard and Mark could have sworn that he was seeing Irving smiling wider than ever, "What a rush! I didn't feel like this with the other weapons. I feel like this one is just the right one." Mark smiled and nodded, "Grow by the sword and it shall grow with you. That is what Sir Lionmane once told me. And I think I understand what he meant." Irving nodded before he stood up, "Lets put this one back. It was good to use, but I think that it should remain a memory." Mark nodded and followed Irving inside, "You have really grown just in one day, Irving." The otter smiled before they had hung the greatsword back and Irving made his way home, with a newfound future and duty, all thanks to one risk for a big reward. All in all, a very profitable day.

To be continued in chapter 4: The Protector of Ampwick.