Third person POV, a week after Ray was throwing into the basement.
Fred, woke at the crack of dawn, along with everyone else around him.
Rolling off of his cock, Fred quickly pulled on a chainMail shirt before buckling his sword belt at his waist.
He didn't bother grabbing another pair of pants, because he had just slept in the ones he's wearing now.
There was no way they were dirty, that would just be a waste of time. Forgetting about his beliefs on hygiene for a second, Fred pulled out his sword to check its edge.
It wasn't anything special, it was barely above common steel, with a slight ability to channel ether throughout the metal.
He was checking it for any mix or scrapes. He had somehow missed on the blade.
In ability that was entirely wasted on him, due to him being nearly 30 yet he wasn't even halfway done with his first ring.
Finding a slight pivot in The Blades edge, Fred quickly walked over to one of the walls covered in strangely smooth stones before taking one and beginning to sharpen his sword.
"This is gonna take hours.
Just as he had thought, sharpening the sword back to its prime state most definitely did take hours, but it was overall worth it.
What if the captain of the iron blood guard just happened to return just in time to see the state that his blade is in.
TheConsequences would have been astronomical.
Fred could see it now, the nearly 7 feet tall guard Captain glaring down at him with enough scars on his face that's mini weren't sure of the true color of the skin beneath.
He would strike Fred in the face, the force to much for Fred, the blow throwing him to the ground before prowling towards him with predatory grace.
"You goddamn fool, you think you could just embarrass everything I stood for and not pay for it? Die you foolish idiot."
Then with no hesitation, the guard captain would pull out his sword and then be head Fred on a spot.
Fred was shaken out of his morbid daydream by a hand on his shoulder. Turning to his side, he saw the familiar grade street hair of a man he had grown to no well in the last four years he had been in The Ironbloods service, flint.
'Were you not listening? They just said it's our turn to check the walls."
"of course I did."
Fred quickly responded, his words a complete lie.
"I was just making sure my sword was up to the task."
Flint Snorted at his response.
" up to what task? What would you cut out there anyway, flies? While I think you're OK with a sword, my old friend, I don't think you have that kind of skill just yet."
Fred rolled his eyes at Flint's antics, shoving him out of the way as sheathed his sword and made his way towards the front door of the Sleeping quarters within the barracks.
All around him, everyone was beginning to finish up their breakfast, the smell of bacon and what has to be porridge, Drifty through the air.
At the smell, Fred's stomach growled in protest at his treatment.
Flint raised an eyebrow at the sound.
"You haven't eaten? It's been almost an hour since everyone got up."
"I told you, I was making sure my sword was up to the task of guarding the Ironblood manor.
"But they just gave the order not even three minutes ago. How would you have known you would be guarding Iron blood Manor before they gave out the order?"
Fred opened his mouth to spout more bullshit about always being prepared for the call of duty, when a man that stood just over 5 feet tall, lean into the sleeping quarters of the barracks.
Even with his vertically challenged stature, he was covered in muscle.
His shoulders were nearly 3 feet wide, and his arms were thicker than most men legs.
He was Ryan, the captains secondhand and command.
Once his eyes locked on Fred and Flint, the ever present frowned on his face only deepend.
"What the fuck are you two idiots doing still in here, they called for you too at the wall nearly 10 minutes ago."
But Fred and Flynn looked at each other, with a expression that seemed to scream.
"What in the other living fuck is this guy talking about?"
"Well, are you too fucking deaf, move your asses, those posts won't fill themselves." Each word was spoken in a yell so loud, anyone walking by the iron blood manor probably hurt it. No one "yes sir. Both Flynn and Fred said in unison before rushing pass rhyme before he could find someone else CLA, or worse, just yell at them some more.
"I thought you said it hadn't even been three minutes, so why the fuck did he say nearly 10?"
Fred hist under his breath as both him and flint make their way towards the stairs that will send them to the armory.
It wasn't like they needed anything from there anyway, most of the people in the Ironbloods service slept with their swords at their sides.
"How the fuck am I supposed to know? The little shit who came in and told everybody that we were next to go up on the wall did come in not three minutes before a rhyme."
Hearing his words, Fred just side.
Well, there was no way to fix what had already been done.
Besides, they hadn't paid any real consequences for being late.
'why do the Ironbloods even have an armory?"
Fred thought absentmindedly.
The Ironblood armory was set up similar to the more advanced cities stores.
It had weapons such as swords, spears, and daggers set up on aisles.
The same process was copied with armorers on the left side of the room, then on the wall, where nothing sat, there was a tap that looked like it was made for a sink, but the sink itself had never been installed.
Most people used it for something to drink after practice when sleeping quarters we're just too far away, or somewhere to wash the grime off armor or a blade.
Right under it was an iron great, with holes for the water to drain into.With the tap being inside of the iron blood armory, it looked severely out of place among the weapons.
Once they finally got to the armory, Flint barely took a look around, before making his way over to the water tap.
Seeing what he was doing, Fred walked over as well.
"I will never understand why you voluntarily drink water when they offer beer at the barracks for free."
Fred told Flint as he shook his head in disappointment.
"Can you really say that when you're here getting water right beside me?"
"What I'm doing is different, I didn't even get to eat breakfast. If I have to go out on the wall, I would rather be just hungry than both hungry and thirsty any day."
Flint didn't bother answering as he quickly turned the knob that made the water flow out.
Instead of grabbing a cup, like a normal person, flint just put his head under the hole where the water would drop.
"Just a damn barbarian." Fred said to himself as he watched some of the water spill off Flint face and hit the floor.
"it's so much less time-consuming than grabbing a cup for water you'll finish in two seconds flat."
Flint said, as he stood back to his full height.
Deciding to try it out, Fred also lean his head under the tap, allowing the water to just flow into his mouth.
It didn't go well.
He was shocked by how cold the water was, so he flinched.
This flinch caused water to go into his nose, and that also caused him to flinch. This flinch caused the water to go into his eyes, and long story short, he was on the floor with his face, drenched, while trying to cough up a lung.
Meanwhile, on the side, Flint was trying his best to straighten up after doubling over and laughter.
"Ha ha ha ha ha. You should have saw your fucking face, you were all, whuuuuuuuuu and then goooog."
When Fred finally managed to wipe all the water off his face and stood back on his feet he said nothing. He just suddenly glared at Flint while plotting how to get him back for this.
"We should probably get to the wall now, wouldn't you say my thoroughly drowned friend?"
FlintSaid, his face showing a grin that looked like a prime target for throwing punches at right about now, from any angle.
"Fuck you."
Fred said, as he walked past Flint on the way towards the door of the armory, which only made him laugh harder.
Going back down the stairs, they both turned and walked out of the guards building.
As they did, Fred straightened up until his back was ramrod straight, lifting his chin so high that if it was to rain, he would most likely drown.
"What the fuck are you doing?"
flint Said, his eyes looking at Fred and confusion.
"I am standing to impress."
Fred said, his voice slightly strained from just how far he was leaning his head back.
"yeah, I have no idea what that means, but you should really stop. I can't tell if you have a stick up your ass or is your spine just made out of iron. '
Remembering something strange, Fred dropped his strange stance before asking Flint a question that has been on his mind since he had tried to drink the water without a cup.
'Speaking of iron, is it just me or the water slightly taste like metal?"
"Now you mention it, it slightly does. No matter, it isn't like it makes the water taste any better."
"Probably not, but it damn sure can't make the water taste much worse."
They both laughed at that as they stepped out of the front gates of the iron blood Manor.
"Well this seems to be the end of the road, see you on the other side, my brother."
Flint said, giving Fred a salute, as if they were going into battle instead of just walking circles around the building compound.
Fred snorted in laughter"you're fucking insane."
"I know my good friend, I know, but that's what the ladies like about me."
"They can't like it that much, considering you're 46 without a wife.
Flint opened his mouth, about to say that his single status was by choice when he remembered that Fred was there the last three times he was rejected by women.
Flint turned, his back straight as he walked away, but he still spoke just a lot enough for Fred to hear him as he walked away.
"I will not argue with my juniors, I will be the bigger person here and walk away. Yes, the ,bigger, person.
Flint said, emphasizing the word bigger.
Fred, resisted the urge to pick up a rock and throw it at the back of Flint head as he was reminded that Flint was taller than him.
Even though it was by barely an inch, flint used it to win every argument, and to Fred's great dismay, it worked every time.
Turning in the opposite direction, Fred muttered something that sounded suspiciously like"fucking bastard." Before walking his own rounds around the Ironblood compound.
While Flint was doing the circling of the Ironblood compound from the left, Fred had the circle of the Ironblood compound from the right.
This wasn't normally how it was supposed to go, but after the guards said, some midget burglar had jumped over the wall, the way things were done, had changed.
Even with the difference in the way, things were done, flint, and Fred still ran into each other several times during their walks around the Ironblood compound.
It was slightly difficult to hold a conversation when the person you were talking to was actively walking in the opposite direction, while you were doing the exact same.
Even so, Fred would have still stopped and just talked to Flint normally at least once throughout his patrol, but that was before the return of the eldest Ironblood.
Leon was known as a man who liked to play games.
Not games like to tech tick, but games with others lives.
Once there was a rumor that Leon made war criminals play tag.
Instead of their hands, he cut them off and replace them with daggers.
Combined with the fact that he told them the winner would be able to leave free, it didn't take even an hour for every single one of them to be strewn across the floor in pieces.
"But those are only rumors."
Fred tried to convince himself, not being able to withstand the curiosity, he eventually just asked .
"How was Leon."
By the time he had asked, flint had already been too far away to respond without outright yelling, and that would've been worse than just stopping to talk.
So when they crossed paths again, flint finally answered him.
'I didn't see much, yes, I was guarding on the walls when he came in, but I wasn't facing the gate when he entered them. I was too busy doing my job like the righteous guard I am."
FlintSaid, his face taking on a justice seeking expression by the end.
Fred rolled his eyes at Flynns antics before asking another question.
'Does anyone have any idea what he's doing?"
"Nope."
There patrol continued on like this, with them talking about random things throughout.
Random facts, such as the skirmish between the Ironbloods and the Coso family, the rumors that the other siblings of Leon were also coming back to the Ironblood manor, and people speaking about how this may Signal the end of the fight between the two families.
Considering the shift lasted six hours, they had a lot of time on their hands.
even as they both finished up their shift, they were still arguing about one of the rumors.
"I'm telling you, if they're sending back people like Leon, then the fight must be over."
"And I'm telling you, they're sending back people like Leon because they're no longer qualified to fight. You seen them send back Leon, but where is the patriarch, they must have stopped fighting among the younger generations and just pulled out the big guns."
"That can't be what's happening, if that was true then why are the other children of the patriarch not here? What you said would make sense if Leon wasn't the strongest of his siblings. Even Lily, the patriarch's daughter can't cross the gap and power between them."
"I don't fucking know. It could just be a way to tell the other side that he's finally getting serious?"
"Why the fuck are you bothering with this anyway? We are just guards, we have neither the cultivation or the qualifications to participate in a battle of that scale."
"I suppose you're right."
"I know, it just comes from my natural charm."
"How the fuck does that make any sense?"
"One thing you need to learn youngster, perfection doesn't have to make sense."
Fred was just about to remind flint of his lack of women, when they both turned their heads in a direction of the iron blood gate.
Unconsciously, both of them had stopped walking at some point as their eyes locked on a Carriage with two Scarlet serpents wrapped around a silver great sword.
They didn't even notice the common rank one beast that were pulling the carriage forward.
Both of them knew that emblem too well, after all that same symbol fluttered on a flag right above the Ironblood manor.
"Who do you think it is?"
Flint asked Fred, his voice nothing but a whisper.
"Probably the patriarch?"
"Nonsense, if the patriarch was inside of that carriage, his aura would have sent us to our niece."
"You're saying his aura would have somehow sent us to our knees, while managing to not collapse the carriage he's sitting in, I think your imagination is a bit too vivid."
Both of their conversations stopped as a guard, opened the door of the carriage from the inside.
The man who stepped out radiated an aura of menace that was nearly tangible.
He was only at the first ring but he was a peak first ring that had sharpened every skill to complete perfection.
Someone who knew the amount of ether in their body like the back of their hand, someone who could turn almost anything into a lethal weapon.
"The patriarch's main guard."
Fred said, his voice a whisper as well.
Behind the man stepped out a girl that looked to barely be 14, she was dressed in a red dress that went down to her ankles and boots that were somewhere between red and brown.
She wore leather gloves up to the elbow, and a sword nearly as tall as her as strapped across her back.
Normally, the whole get up would have normally looked ridiculous on anyone else, but anyone who laughed at the favorite daughter of the Ironblood patriarch didn't ever live long.
Her brown eyes and gray hair marked her for who she was.
This time Fred sounded smug as he spoke.
"What were you saying again, that they weren't gonna send the younger eye on bloods back."
"If you truly think about it, I never flat out said they wouldn't send them back, you just assumed that's what I meant."
"Bullshit.'