Chapter One: Innocence Lost
Wulfram comes to recollection of the day he found, and began the events that lead to the death of Ganymede.
Wulfram sat beneath one of the many trees in GurinbarΔ-to, the light which shone down between the leaves of the tree danced along his face and drew some measure of consciousness out of him. He had fallen asleep, fallen victim to a terrible nightmare. His hand grasped the intricate b*****d sword that leaned up against him as he rested. No. Something far worse than a nightmare. A terrible memory.
His left hand rose to the cross guard of the blade, simple and inscribed with the same filigree that marked his chakra flow and rested upon the breast of his armor, circular knot design rested at its centre. He cradled the blade to his chest and rested his forehead upon the quillions, he cried openly with a sorrow only he could muster for his twin sister.
"I couldn't save you... Ganymede." He bawled into the heart of the blade, as the memories washed over him once more.
Ganymede's soul shifted within the blade, unable to comfort her brother.
:: Memories Abound ::
The far reaches of Skyeveil, the Western Lands, where chakra was seen as magic and a far rarer gift by trade than the seat of the Shinobi Nations. A younger Wulfram had returned from the East a scant year prior with a white-haired shinobi in tow and the pair had set to journey across the land. One sought knowledge, the other, Wulfram, journeyed to find Ganymede, his twin-sister from which he had been long since separated. The white-haired man with which she had been taken was not the Eastern "Hero" Masahiro Hatake, but a man from the Eastern Regions of their own continent, from Ternes, Arris Orleaux the Azurean.
Their reunion ignited a chain of events that burnt the foundations of man and heavens. Wulfram's very sanity crumbled, as he coped with the aftermath. Ganymede, dear Ganymede, suffered a fate worse than anyone deserved.
:: Seven Years Ago ::
The boat swayed and rocked with the tide, a nervous Wulfram stood upon the ship's deck and stared out from atop the forecastle to see the lighthouse of Lothrin as they rounded the peninsula. He had left his only friends, Masahiro and Cervantes zu Pferd, behind at Norhaven as he took the vessel to follow news of his sister's arrival at Innis. The journey, scant days, compared to the weeks worth of physical travel, ate away at the Knight. Hope derided in the absence of truth and percieved experience.
"Mayhap this time it really will be her." The man had whispered while he adjusted the new blade at his side.
A greatsword, with a leather bound ricasso and twisted quillons pointed, like a fork, in pitch with the blade. Like the blades of the knights his sister had fawned over when they were but children.
As the vessel disembarked in Vendrin, the knight prepared himself for the journey to come. A night wherein he made merry, drank into excess with friends who had awaited his arrival back to their homeland, and revelers, who always accepted a free drink and company. A journey a week by road delivered him to Innisvale, wherein the traveler continued his joyous nights as revelers spoke of a fair betrothal to the south in the Rauschlands. A maiden fair who matched every word the description of Ganymede, and a white haired man who commanded power most auspicious.
Wulfram thought they spoke of his wealth.
He was a fool back then.
A month passed him by before he reached the core of the Rauschlands and witnessed first-hand his sister and her to-be husband. The Azurean, demi-God of the Ocean and blessed by the Three Seas. The church and Royal Families of Rausch lauded their marriage as an event bringing peace between the Rauschlands and Ternes and announced soon the couple would return home to Ternes to officiate the peace of the nations.
Ganymede appeared a sad pawn in a larger game of chess, she never knew she was playing. Wulfram too, would become involved in this belligerent attempt to spite the animals behind human masks. To be a centerfold in a game with an entry-fee he never feigned to pay.
In Rausch, Wulfram could only reach his sister through letters and word carried by her newly appointed handmaidens. Word swirled through court that another suitor had sought the maiden's hand, and her adoptive father was eventually forced to intervene.
Ganymede was to receive no more visitors, not letters, until she reached the Ternes capital with her affianced.
A retainer of House Orleaux presented himself to Wulfram, with a simple request at the behest of his lord.
"Cease your advances upon my betrothed, or accept my terms for death." Were the simple words, and the retainer ignored all pleas of familial bonds between the Knight and his sibling.
Being the noble knight he was, and unwell to resist a challenge thrown in his face in mockery, Wulfram penned a letter to his compatriots, Lillian and Masahiro, before he returned to the road to cross the country after his sister.
[/Chapter]
Wulfram comes to recollection of the day he found, and began the events that lead to the death of Ganymede.
Wulfram sat beneath one of the many trees in GurinbarΔ-to, the light which shone down between the leaves of the tree danced along his face and drew some measure of consciousness out of him. He had fallen asleep, fallen victim to a terrible nightmare. His hand grasped the intricate b*****d sword that leaned up against him as he rested. No. Something far worse than a nightmare. A terrible memory.
His left hand rose to the cross guard of the blade, simple and inscribed with the same filigree that marked his chakra flow and rested upon the breast of his armor, circular knot design rested at its centre. He cradled the blade to his chest and rested his forehead upon the quillions, he cried openly with a sorrow only he could muster for his twin sister.
"I couldn't save you... Ganymede." He bawled into the heart of the blade, as the memories washed over him once more.
Ganymede's soul shifted within the blade, unable to comfort her brother.
:: Memories Abound ::
The far reaches of Skyeveil, the Western Lands, where chakra was seen as magic and a far rarer gift by trade than the seat of the Shinobi Nations. A younger Wulfram had returned from the East a scant year prior with a white-haired shinobi in tow and the pair had set to journey across the land. One sought knowledge, the other, Wulfram, journeyed to find Ganymede, his twin-sister from which he had been long since separated. The white-haired man with which she had been taken was not the Eastern "Hero" Masahiro Hatake, but a man from the Eastern Regions of their own continent, from Ternes, Arris Orleaux the Azurean.
Their reunion ignited a chain of events that burnt the foundations of man and heavens. Wulfram's very sanity crumbled, as he coped with the aftermath. Ganymede, dear Ganymede, suffered a fate worse than anyone deserved.
:: Seven Years Ago ::
The boat swayed and rocked with the tide, a nervous Wulfram stood upon the ship's deck and stared out from atop the forecastle to see the lighthouse of Lothrin as they rounded the peninsula. He had left his only friends, Masahiro and Cervantes zu Pferd, behind at Norhaven as he took the vessel to follow news of his sister's arrival at Innis. The journey, scant days, compared to the weeks worth of physical travel, ate away at the Knight. Hope derided in the absence of truth and percieved experience.
"Mayhap this time it really will be her." The man had whispered while he adjusted the new blade at his side.
A greatsword, with a leather bound ricasso and twisted quillons pointed, like a fork, in pitch with the blade. Like the blades of the knights his sister had fawned over when they were but children.
As the vessel disembarked in Vendrin, the knight prepared himself for the journey to come. A night wherein he made merry, drank into excess with friends who had awaited his arrival back to their homeland, and revelers, who always accepted a free drink and company. A journey a week by road delivered him to Innisvale, wherein the traveler continued his joyous nights as revelers spoke of a fair betrothal to the south in the Rauschlands. A maiden fair who matched every word the description of Ganymede, and a white haired man who commanded power most auspicious.
Wulfram thought they spoke of his wealth.
He was a fool back then.
A month passed him by before he reached the core of the Rauschlands and witnessed first-hand his sister and her to-be husband. The Azurean, demi-God of the Ocean and blessed by the Three Seas. The church and Royal Families of Rausch lauded their marriage as an event bringing peace between the Rauschlands and Ternes and announced soon the couple would return home to Ternes to officiate the peace of the nations.
Ganymede appeared a sad pawn in a larger game of chess, she never knew she was playing. Wulfram too, would become involved in this belligerent attempt to spite the animals behind human masks. To be a centerfold in a game with an entry-fee he never feigned to pay.
In Rausch, Wulfram could only reach his sister through letters and word carried by her newly appointed handmaidens. Word swirled through court that another suitor had sought the maiden's hand, and her adoptive father was eventually forced to intervene.
Ganymede was to receive no more visitors, not letters, until she reached the Ternes capital with her affianced.
A retainer of House Orleaux presented himself to Wulfram, with a simple request at the behest of his lord.
"Cease your advances upon my betrothed, or accept my terms for death." Were the simple words, and the retainer ignored all pleas of familial bonds between the Knight and his sibling.
Being the noble knight he was, and unwell to resist a challenge thrown in his face in mockery, Wulfram penned a letter to his compatriots, Lillian and Masahiro, before he returned to the road to cross the country after his sister.
[/Chapter]
