=========================================SEASON 1, EPISODE 4WORN AND FADED========================================= Harp felt as if someone was trying to tear his lungs out, he was running that fast. He ditched his horse some time ago; the poor animal fell down and couldn't even bring itself to get up. He never rode so fast in his entire life, but stakes were to high for him to dawdle.
Running like a maniac, he hoped that maybe others were still alive and everything could be amended. Harp knew he was close. He heard noises of the battle beyond the hill.
"Come on... you can do this!" yelled Harp to himself, even though he felt weaker and weaker with each step. "Dammit, I can't... fail Tom... or Rock..."
Running up the hill, Harp's thoughts drifted back to that moment at the headquarters of House Kenneth. He was walking down the corridor when he heard the glass breaking somewhere in the distance. He immediately went outside, and what he saw horrified him. He felt he'd never get this image out of his head.
"How did it come to this... Jesus" he muttered under his erratic breath.
He finally reached the top of the hill. The view in front of him was truly apocalyptic - bodies lying around, soldiers fighting, blood splattering everywhere... He couldn't tell most of the fighters apart, though he did notice Brotato killing one of the enemies and yelling something towards Zyphon, though Harp couldn't tell what it was because of all this noise around. He had to stop observing them, however - he had to focus at the task at hand.
He had to find either TKA or Carlos, but something told him that if he'll find one of them, he'll definitely find the other. Looking again at the battlefield, he scanned it for a tall, hooded figure - as Carlos, being rather... characteristic, was a lot easier to find - and soon enough, he spotted him at the the opposite side of the area, fighting with TKA.
He would have to make his way throughout all the fighters... but before ha had a chance to do so, he saw TKA lying on the ground. He was trying to block the oncoming attack, but Carlos broke TKA's sword and started leaning towards him.
Harp knew that he had seconds to do something. He reached to his pocket for the exploding potion he received from Rock, but retracted his hand. He didn't have enough strength to throw it and expect that it would reach Carlos or TKA. He grabbed one of the arrows from the quiver and aimed his bow to... to do what, exactly?
Harp felt as if the time was slowing down. He wasn't entirely sure of what to do next. He can't kill TKA or Carlos, that's not what he was supposed to do. If he did, all hell would break loose. Not like it didn't happen already - but he knew that everything here was a huge mistake that could still be amended. Murdering any of the headmen was not an option.
And then he saw it. In a blink of an eye, he saw what TKA intended on doing: he still had a hilt in his hand, and with Carlos leaning towards him, he didn't notice the broken blade, about to pierce Carlos through the neck. Harp quickly aimed his bow again, this time at TKA, and released an arrow.
But before he could see whether the arrow reached its target, he felt a heavy blow to the back of his head and blacked out.
12 DAYS EARLIER"I do have several overtures on how to proceed, sir. I'm just..." Tom looked at the gathering, "...not assured whether I can divulge this kind of information in public so overtly."
The realization of the incoming war hit NFTS really hard. He suddenly thought about Carlos - it was certain that he was probably aware right now that something bad was about to happen. He immediately focused on Tom once again.
"We're among people whom we can trust. Some of this information can be divulged right now." NFTS said, but Tom still looked a bit unsure.
"But we don't have to get to it right now, don't we?" said NFTS. "You've just arrived here, and although you made a rather... unfortunate joke, you should try and get to know our members here. That way, you'll get rid of your uncertainty or lack of trust, and I'll have some time to think about what to do about our current situation."
"That seems... reasonable, m'lord" Tom responded.
"Well, Walter surely won't mind to show you round the castle. Off you go. And as for you" he addressed the other members in the room, "You will return to your usual duties."
With that, he walked out of the chamber, followed by the rest of the gathering.
"I gotta say, you've talked your way out of that problem quite smoothly" said Walter.
"I explained my side of the story, that's all."
"So you've talked your way out of it" pressed Walter.
"Yeah, whatever you say."
They started walking down the steps. Tom was about to ask something when Walter pointed towards one of the houses with a barbed wire around it.
"See that? This is where one of our most skilled warrior lives. His name is Crackman"
Tom looked at the wires, he didn't know what to make of them. "Why is there a fence around it?"
"Well... it's a sad story, actually" started Walter. His face fell a little. "He is a great swordfighter, it's just that... we didn't send him to any battle for quite a long time"
"Why is that? If he's that good, then what's the point of not using him?"
"To tell the truth... he gets overexcited when he fights."
Tom frowned. "Overexcited?"
"Yes. He enters some sort of a rage and kills literally everyone and doesn't care whether it's an enemy or a friend. Master says that it's too dangerous to send him anywhere, so we keep him locked away."
"For what?"
"You know... just in case"
Strolling down the lane, they saw an abandoned building.
"This used to be the house of one of the highest members of the Order, Jake St."
"Used to be?"
"He... passed away in tragic circumstances. There was nothing we could do about it"
"I'm truly sorry" said Tom with a sad face.
"When we went there to dispose of his things, we found his last will. It turned out that he had a long-lost sister who lived at House Kenneth" said Walter with an empty voice. "His last wish was to bring her here and take care of her... and we did." he smilied slightly at that last part.
"What do you mean?"
"Oh, you know... the Master took a particular liking towards her and... she's his wife now. Well, Jake couldn't ask for a better care for his sister" Walter grinned.
"I see" smiled Tom.
When they were walking past the archery range, Tom stopped to observe two people who were practising. They were guided by a man with a proud look on his face.
"Go on, you can do it" the guide said to one of the trainees.
After the trainee turned around to grab an arrow, Tom looked at his face and immediately recognized him.
"Is that... Brotato?"
"Yeah, the wrecking ball himself. How do you know him?" asked Walter.
Tom didn't answer. He watched as Brotato drew a bow, though not without problems. After he released the chord, the arrow hit the ground near the target.
"God fucking dammit!" he heard him curse. "Kurwa mać!"
THERE he is, thought Tom.
"Don't worry Bro, you'll get a handle on this eventually" said the guide.
"I've tried to do this for a long time and you damn well know it, Harp. Honestly, I don't give a shit. I prefer swords to bows, and so does Kat."
"That's right!" the woman named Kat said. "Why are we even here?"
"You know why. You need a skill at your disposal which you can utilize when using swords is out of question" said Harp.
"If I can interrupt" said Tom, "I've been in many battles before and I've never had to use a bow. I didn't practice shooting at all, I thought it was a waste of time."
"Yes, thank you! There's finaly someone who understands us!" said Kat. "Wait... who the hell are you anyway?" she added after a while.
"It's that guy from the continental rite I told you about" said Harp to Brotato and Kate, before turning to address Tom. "You've made quite a show back there. Looks like we're going to be in trouble. And you're mistaken, sir. Archery is something you should respect. Name's Harp, by the way" he extended his hand.
Hagen accepted it. "Tom. Tom Hagen"
After hearing the name, Brotato turned around sharply.
"Hagen?" he said. "YOU'RE that guy from the continental rite?"
"That's about right" said Tom. "And I kinda get your aversion towards bows and arrows. You won't ever forget that situation, right?"
"Damn straight I won't" he said as they shook hands.
"You know each other?" asked Walter.
"Oh, we do" said Tom.
"But that's kind of complicated" added Bro.
Harp understood that last statement as "shut up and don't ask". He, Kat and Walter didn't know what 'that situation' mentined by Tom was. Hoenstly, they didn't like unclarities and unfinished thoughts - who does? - but they decided not to press on that matter.
"I promised you a beer back then" said Bro to Tom. "Say what, come to the tavern in the evening. We'll all be there" he nodded towards the others. "It's on me".
"Sure, why not" said Tom. He then directed his attention towards the only person he didn't address yet.
"Morning, ma'am. I'm Tom" he reached out towards her.
"Hello, sir. I'm Kat" she laughed slightly, accepting his hand.
"Just don't kiss me on the hand. I'm not some sort of lady in waiting"
"Don't say that. You look like one" Tom tried to compliment her, while the other guys rolled their eyes at the line.
"Geez, you really think that it's going to work on me? I'm a warrior. I'm a tough girl. I don't beat around the bush like one of these bitches they call princesses" laughed Kat, joined by the others.
"You do?" asked Tom. "Well then, voulez vous coucher avec moi?"
The guys stopped laughing. Their expressions were of pure shock. Did he just say what we think he said?
Kat was still smiling.
"Am I supposed to answer this question?"
"Well, if you feel like answering" said Tom.
She took one step towards him. Not taking her eyes from his face, she raised her foot and kicked Tom right between his legs.
Walter, Bro and Harp had their eyes wide open, but, to their surprise, Tom didn't even flinch. Kat continued smiling.
"I sort of expected that" said Tom, business as usual. "Not my first time"
Kat continued to smile. "Not my first time either."
Tom then turned around to Walter. "Well, I broke the ice. It was nice to meet you again, Bro, and it was a pleasure to meet Kat and Harp" he said, grinning. "I'll see you in the evening, right?"
"Sure thing" said Harp, still slightly shocked.
"Well, Walter will show me around the rest of the castle" said Tom.
"See ya." And with that, they departed from the archery range.
"I have to say, that was something" said Walter. They turned towards a desolate alleyway. Nobody was in sight.
"And you didn't even--"
"Christ Almighty!" yelled Tom in a high-pitched voice, jumping from one leg to another. "I'm gonna fuckin' die!"
"What?" asked Walter. Tom started jumping around frantically. "So it did hurt?"
"What do you think?! Like fuckin' hell!" Tom was still yelling. "
Ja cię kurwa w mordę pierdolę!"
"I'm sorry, what? Pierre To Lay? What does it mean?! I can't help you if you're not talking in English!"
"Oh, just shut up and find me a doctor, healer, whatever!"
"Alright, alright!" Walter grabbed Tom and started leading him towards one of the houses.
Meanwhile, in the castle, NFTS stood by the window, looking at the horizon.
"So what do you think we should do, Zyphon?" he asked.
Zyphon, along with Brotato, was one of the most trusted knights of the Order. Unbeknowst to others, NFTS often sent them on many secret missions - too dangerous for anyone else to know about them. Unfortunately, after 'an incident', as NFTS called it, Brotato decided that he had enough of them and decided to stick to the regular job of a knight.
"I think it's time to use him." said Zyphon.
"My wife made me swear that I will never - ever - do it. She's a pure, innocent soul. She was truly afraid when she heard the story about Carlos" reiterated NFTS.
"Carlos is one of our strongest assets!" Zyphon raised his voice. "And I'm pretty sure that he already knows that shit is about to hit the fan".
NFTS kept quiet. Zyphon had a point.
"I'm going to ask Tom, see what he will propose. After all, I'm not just a Lord of House Wellington, I'm the Master of the entire Order. I have to consider the voice of a person from a different rite" NFTS said slowly. "But if he says the same thing as you... then we won't have any other choice. We're going to call Carlos in"
NFTS unsheathed his sword.
"You know this story from our law, our Codex, Zyphon. What you don't know..." he paused for a moment. "What you don't know is that when I met Carlos all these years ago at Howe's cementery, when he appeared before me... when he chose me to create the new Order by giving me his sword..."
"What is it?" asked Zyphon, curious.
"I wasn't afraid of him. Not in the least bit. But after leaving that graveyard, I hoped that I'll never see him again. He might've been a ghost" NFTS chose his words carefully, "but he can - and will - use his corporeal form, if forced. And then... God bless his enemies."
The room was quiet, as if the time stood still.
"It's likely we won't have any other choice", said Zyphon after a while. "We will have to awaken The Knight God"
***
Next time on TFTWL:
In the future, Harp discovers that there's more to the story of Jake's passing than meets the eye; in the present, Tom undergoes a secret TWD ritual under Rock's guidance and Action 68 is explained in an all-new Tales from the Wellingtonlands episode, "STONED AND JADED".
Note: the season will consist of 10 episodes.
Note 2: The original 'future' storyline was slightly longer and presented the aftermath of Harp's shot, but I decided to cut it and save it for later. Sorry.