Survivor's Chronicles [Episode 2 - Of Adversaries and Acquaintances]

[taskette]

Disclaimer:
This story is entirely fictional. All names (except for my own) are either under copyrights of MAIET, or have been approved by the involved individuals. Locations in the stories are based off names under copyrights of MAIET as well. Any relation to real life incidents are entirely coincidental. Stories may contain gore, violence, and other mature themes. Viewer discretion is advised.

Note:
The entire story is told in a first person's perspective. All thoughts, speech and actions are all in a first person perspective unless said otherwise.

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Survivor's Chronicles [Episode 2 - Of Adversaries and Acquaintances]
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It was the last day in the institution. It could have been called it our graduation day, but that couldn’t have been further from the truth. Exactly 241 of us had ‘graduated’, and we were finally given the liberty of finally walking out those large wooden doors on our own. Beforehand, we were never permitted to venture out of the institution, as our orders were not to mingle with the common folk. Somehow, the institution kept on spreading their… what they called their gospel. Personally, I called it useless advice. Their ‘gospel’ was about adventurers, who were above the rest, like messengers of the Gods who were sent to watch over their humble servants. We were always instilled with lies that we were better than anyone else outside of the institution's walls. Better than the government, its people. While some of us denied this, some actually believed it whole-heartedly, taking every opportunity to shout and yell abuse at the ‘unworthy beings’. It was hard to believe that they were actually rewarded for their faith. For those who opposed to those teachings, on the other hand, were severely punished. It was then that we learned to keep our mouths shut, out of fear of being thrown out, or worse, getting a bullet in our backs.

Anyway, it was our last day in the institution, and they had a ceremonial event. That day, it was pretty damn cold, not because of the usual unfriendly atmosphere in the institution’s grand hall, but due to the fact that winter was approaching. Somehow, most of us had expected this, since we had heard so many stories about our instructors having exited their institutions under such harsh conditions as well. One thing was for sure, we were able to handle ourselves should any harsh conditions befall us, as we were trained for it. The cold weather, sweltering heat, nor even sandstorms could hinder us. We fought to survive, we braved them. Thus, we were ready. Not to forget mentioning, that while we underwent such brutal training sessions, we were also separated into divisions – to identify our weapon strengths. I was one of the fortunate few who became an all-rounder, meaning that we could handle any weapon, regardless of its difficulty.

Back to the event at hand, some of us were rewarded for our outstanding abilities in our training. Unsurprisingly, the 'Best Swordsmanship' award went to one of my only two friends at the institution, Kuren Naigera, or Kunai, as she preferred to be called. She was awarded a medal and an iron sword. Pretty much a step ahead of the rest of us, since we were only provided with the standard issue weapons. The ‘Best Marksmanship’ award went to her fiancé and my unbelievably bitter rival, Ralegate Teiros, Raite. He earned a sharpshooter’s medal along with a pair of Minic 567 Limited revolvers. I wouldn’t exactly call him pleasant to be around, but I could surely say that he had guts. He stood up for Kunai one too many times, which I lost count after ten. Even in the mock battles that we had watched, he displayed such valiance and courage, that one could only wonder if it was truly out of bravery, or pure stupidity. Moving on, there were those who were awarded for Dagger Mastery, Sapper Mastery, Stealth Mastery and special ‘Best Support’ medals. I, on the other hand, along with 18 others, was awarded a special medal. I’m not one to brag, but I can say that I did pretty well in the institution. Not as good as Kunai or Raite in their respective fields, but I gave them pretty good fights nonetheless.

One thing that I had never forgotten was how I had met both of them. I had met up with Kunai on the first day at the institution, during our very first briefing. We hit it off almost instantly, though it was pretty much an ‘I watch your back, and you watch mine’ concept. Initially, I didn’t think that friends were really necessary, so I kept on pursuing my own goals. But it was when I first saw one of the unlucky few get shot in the head due to stray bullets during one of the training sessions, did I realize that I should cherish anything and everything that I had. I treated Kunai more like the older sister that I never had, going to extremes of keeping other men away from her. Of course, that was when Raite had entered the picture. I grew a mutual dislike for him right from the start, even to a point that I wished he would get hit by stray bullets during training. Kunai, on the other hand, grew quite infatuated with him over time at the institution, considering he was saving her ass probably more often than I was having meals with my ‘sister’. The bombshell came when she told me one day she had agreed to become his girlfriend. My mutual dislike quickly turned into hatred, as I felt robbed of my only solace at the institution. As much as I did not like to admit it, I had envied Raite from the very beginning, from being able to protect when I could do nothing, to impressing others through skills and humility.

The seasons rolled by, and I fought myself harder and more intensively than before. All the while, my hatred towards Kunai and Raite grew, and I always sought to beat them should I ever get the chance. Nonetheless, we treated each other as friends would, to stick together closely. The three of us were always the top three of everything in basic training; from physical training to weapon assembling. However, that all changed when we were separated into different divisions. Both Kunai and Raite were separated into the Assassin division, while I was inserted into the All-Rounder class. It was frustrating, to say the least, to see even lesser of my ‘sister’ then. Though we still had our basic training sessions together, we were made to attend training according to our divisions. I was quite thankful, however, that the intensive training kept my mind off her and Raite, as I was always too tired to even think after the sessions. Still, my mind was snapped back to reality each time I had my meals with them, or when I saw them together during daily basic training. It was then, that I had made up my mind; one day, I would surpass them both. One day.

“And so, we congratulate all of you, for you are now true adventurers. Go forth, be safe, and don’t die.”

Those were the last words from the head instructor, before we walked out those wooden doors, for the first and last time in our lives. Out into the cold we walked, most of us still wearing our training outfits, others were wearing some clothing which they had probably packed before enrolling in the institution. There were family members waiting at the entrance, awaiting their brave adventurer daughters and sons. I knew that Mother would never come. She had dedicated herself to her Train Guard position after Father had passed on, as it was probably the only way that she could keep herself occupied. I, myself, saw both my… former friends, walking out hand-in-hand, as if unaware of the world around them, unconscious about their ‘brother’ standing there, just a few feet away from them, staring. After one last look, I finally turned my back on them and walked away, the image of them embracing etched in my mind, for it was the last time I would see them, or so I had hoped. With my only companions down the adventurer’s road; the pair of Renard sub-machine guns tucked behind my back, the rusty sword holstered at my waist, the grenade satchel by the right side of my chest, and ten gold coins in my pocket; I begun my journey as an adventurer. Alone.

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Previous: Survivor's Chronicles [Episode 1 - The Mediocre Beginning]
Upcoming: Survivor's Chronicles [Episode 3 - A Meaningful Rendezvous with Mom]

[Nosedagger]

Added to listings.

[Sarcor]

Amazing descriptions, rivaling Senvae's Fiery Lotus series!






(If he reads this I'm no longer with the living.)

[taskette]

Thank you. ^_^

I should be posting up Episode 3 by tomorrow. It's considerably long to read (HUUUUUUUGE Wall of Text), but I think it should be quite worth it.

[Nosedagger]

That was better than the first one, though it needed more imagery.

[taskette]

Meh, my first episode was just to see if I should carry on with my story. Though most of the events in the story are fictional, I will also tie in some of my own Gunz experiences, as well as 'important' events which have occurred (e.g. announcement of new version of Gunz, ijjiGunz may turn out to James Pakarda 'moving' to another location).

I still need to tweak Episode 3, as it is quite lengthy... possibly 3 posts long. >_>"