Pride
Chapter One: Rain of Fire
Morning broke over the valley of Ebon revealing a fresh deep drift of snow that had turned the landscape glittering white. It was not yet winter, but the chill morning air and still frozen landscape were reminders that it was just around the corner.
Alex awoke to the smell of stew cooking over the hearth fire and she forced herself to stretch and slowly sit up in her bed. She glanced out the window, observing the snow, but the sunlight had not yet reached the cottage hidden in the shadow of the mountain just yet, so it was still dimly lit outside, making everything seem colder and grey. Alex slipped out of her bed, hugging her night gown to her body and slipped outside the bedroom she share with her younger sister, without a sound.
In the small and simple kitchen, Alex found her eldest sister, Tori, cutting up vegetables and salted beef, tossing the pieces into the simmering cast-iron pot hanging over the fire. The smell made Alex's stomach grumble in hunger. The sound caused Tori to look up and smile warmly at her sister. Alex grabbed the kettle, filled it with a little bit of water and hung it next to the stew pot over the fire. She helped herself to a tea bag in a mug and sat herself down at the table next to her sister. Alex watched Tori's adept fingers make short work of an onion and a couple of carrots before the kettle finally began to whistle, and Alex pulled it away from the fire.
Alex and Tori sat in silence as the sun light finally began to slowly creep across the mountain side, steadily chasing away the shadows and illuminating the cottage and the forest that surrounded it. Not long after the light began to shine in through all the windows then the rest of the inhabitants began to stir and slowly emerge from their rooms.
There were five sisters in total who called the cottage home, Victoria, the oldest at 27, Alexandra 25, Serenity 20 and the twins, Faith and Hope both 16. Their mother had died many years ago when the twins were young, but their father who had raised them, had been murdered when he was away in the city for business only three years earlier, a victim of the savage times they were living in. Memories of their father's brutal murder were raw and the girls rarely spoke about it. Tori and Alex had resolved to raise their sisters and keep them all together in the isolation of the mountains, where they would be safe from the war that ripped the world apart.
Breakfast was a boisterous affair, with the twins arguing playfully over what clothes they would wear, and Sen was happily recounting the latest adventures in a book she was reading. Alex and Tori both discussed the needs of the family, making notes on a piece of paper exactly what supplies would be needed to be bought from the town.
After breakfast was over, and the dishes washed, chores were allocated to all the girls. The twins would be in charge of the washing and domestic house cleaning duties, while, Sen would be in charge of the herd. Alex would be out hunting for rabbits and collecting wood and Tori would be making the fortnightly trip to town to buy grain and other supplies. There was much complaint from the younger sisters, but it was all quashed by Tori's authority and reluctantly the twins began their duties, and Sen packed herself a bag with lunch and her book, slipped on the wellington boots and headed outside to lead the herd to the new paddock.
Alex helped Tori ready a pair of Oxen, reigning them to a cart for Tori's trip into town. The two eldest sisters packed in several boxes of eggs from their chickens, furs from Alex's hunting, and several liters of milk and cartons of cheese from their herd. When everything was packed securely and settled, Alex sighed.
"Do be careful on your way Sis." Tori smiled sadly and pulled her sister into a tight embrace.
"Don't worry Lex, I'm not gonna leave you to babysit the others on your own. I'll be back for dinner." Alex nodded and let her sister go.
"Make sure you are. And don't forget to buy a new book for Sen. You know how she gets when you forget." Tori settled herself on the wagon's seat and Alex handed her the reigns for the Oxen.
"I won't forget. Be careful in the woods." And with that, Tori led the Oxen into a steady walk and was off towards the town nestled further into the valley.
Alex sighed again, always apprehensive when Tori headed into town, fearing something would happen like their father, but eventually she tore herself away from the slowly retreating oxen and cart and headed inside the house to prepare for her adventures of the day.
After Alex had dressed in a woolen tunic and belted breeches, packed herself a light lunch and filled a water skin and slung her bow and her quiver over her shoulder, she slipped out of the house and started across the fields towards the forest. She saw Serenity sitting on top of a boulder reading her book while the herd grazed in the lightly snow dusted paddocks.
"Sen! Make sure you keep an eye on the twins!" Alex yelled across the field. Sen looked up and waved at her sister,
"Happy hunting Lex!"
Alex headed into the forest, her boots crunching under the pine needles and snow. Instantly the forest seemed vastly different then the fields. The snow covered evergreen pines cast shadows over the forest floor, making everything seemed darker and more closed in. The only sounds were the crunching of Alex's boots and the breath that misted the air before her. Alex wasn't afraid though, she had been hunting in these woods for years and she knew her way around.
She headed slowly up and around the mountainside, where the forest was a little denser and more wild. Very few other people had ever come this way, and since the "Dark Day" there was nobody except Alex who would dare. Alex followed her own memory to where she had laid snares, her first proving to be empty. She reset it, scattering some pieces of carrot and dried oats to lure her bait, before moving on towards the next.
A sudden flash of light made Alex stare straight up into the sky, which was lightly scattered with clouds. She saw a bright fiery ball fly across the sky, disappearing as it burnt up in the atmosphere. Alex smiled at it and closed her eyes, making a quiet wish for good hunting. She stared up at the sky for a few more moments, before, the moment gone, she returned to her task at hand.
Her next snare proved more successful with a pure white hare lying unmoving, the snare trapped around its throat. Alex freed the dead hare, tying it to her backpack, and digging out the snare. She moved through the woods a few hundred paces before, settling on another small clearing near a fallen log, she set the snare again, scattering more carrot and grain.
Her day continued like this for a few hours, her luck granting her four more hares before she decided to settle down and eat her lunch. She found herself a rock to sit on, and unpacked her food and sat eating it silently, listening to the world around her.
Another bright light, followed by a loud crack drew her attention to the sky again. More clouds had begun to darken the sky, but it did nothing to stop the sight of several small fiery streaks ripping through the clouds. Most of them burnt up in the sky, but a few struck the ground, most far away, at least a few mountains across from where she sat. But one or two she watched pepper the ground of the mountain higher up.
It was all over as quickly as it had started, and Alex hurriedly packed away the remainder of her food and slung her backpack and bow across her back, heading back towards her home. A heavy, unsettling sensation had begun to weigh her stomach down, and she couldn't fight the panic she was feeling. She made considerable more noise then she usually would, snapping small branches under foot and kicking small clumps of snow in her haste.
Another showering streak of meteorites began, but rather than stopping to watch, Alex only glanced, noticed the pieces were getting larger and that there was considerable more of them, she focused instead on hurrying home. An horrific ear-piercing howl suddenly forced her to stop, and she looked at the sky, watching in absolute horror.
A monstrous ball of fire, several hundred of meters wide erupted through the clouds. Only this ball of fire was alive. It writhed as it fell, screaming as smaller pieces broke off and burnt up around it. It howled and thrashed, the worm like body coiling around, the giant mouth, opening, screaming as fire and golden liquid poured from its open maw. A brilliant burst of golden light and the massive worm suddenly exploded outwards in every direction. Alex watched open-jawed, mortified as the massive creature, reduced to pieces rained down on the mountain and all its surrounds.
Chunks of burning flesh fell everywhere, and Alex screamed as one pieced landed close to where she stood. She turned, running as fast as she could, kicking snow up behind her as it rained fire and god-only-knows what else all around her. She watched as a tree burst into flames as it was doused in burning liquid. She gave the tree a wide birth, leaping over fallen logs and rocks in her panic to get to safety.
She glanced up at the sky as something caught her attention. She watched the head of the giant creature streak through the sky and crash into the side of the mountain a good kilometer or so away from where she was. But that wasn't all. A man shaped figure followed the same trajectory as the head, crashing into the mountain.
Within seconds the whole ordeal was over, although it had seemed to take considerably longer for Alex. Her sides already ached with the speed at which she had run, but since the fiery rain had stopped and no more streaks of fire danced across the sky, she forced herself to stop and catch her breath. She leaned against the trunk of the tree, gasping and staring at the smoky mist which trailed high into the sky from where the creature's head and the man-shaped chunk had crashed.
Alex stood for several minutes, her heart and mind racing.
Although she was not a foolish, impulsive person, Alex was curious, and knowing that whatever had crashed was most certainly dead, Alex decided she would go investigate, and finally headed up towards the crash site.
It took her nearly an hour before she finally reached the site. Trees were uprooted, broken and smoldering. The earth was disturbed, with a giant scrape in the ground were the creatures head had crashed. Alex stared at the head. It was massive. She could have stood on Tori's shoulders and still not been able to see of the top. It was laying on its side, partially open, revealing massive transparent fangs that were as long as her arm and seemed to be made of glass. The creature reminded her more of a crocodile then anything, with a long thin snout full of fangs, but the creature appeared to have no nose or eyes. Its skin was made of smooth, thing shell that covered it entirely, with long thin feelers sprouting from the side of its head. Only most of them had been torn off or destroyed.
Yellow, faintly glowing liquid saturated the ground turning it into a slippery mud. Alex took care not to step in it, noticing the yellow liquid to be oozing from the creatures mouth and all around the severed neck. Alex stepped a little closer, appreciating the sheer size and scale of the giant worm.
And then she froze, as her eyes spotted something green amongst the dirty yellow ground.
Her eyes widened in complete horror as she recognized the human-like creature that had crashed on the edge of the clearing , covered almost completely in dirt and lavender hued blood and the creatures yellow blood.
Alex instinctively backed away, her feet catching an upturned root, and she fell, gasping loudly, into the dirty snow at the edge of the crater.
Her sounds must have woken him, for although he was in terrible shape, it was known that the devil could not die, and he moved, groaning loudly as he slowly clenched his hands, forcing himself to his knees.
He turned his attention suddenly to her, his eyes locking with hers. She felt as if all feeling had been frozen in her body, and she couldn't move. She couldn't blink, she couldn't breathe, she couldn't jump to her feet and run to safety. She could only stare back at his cold, cruel, calculating magenta hued eyes.
Finally he moved, forcing himself to his feet. He stared at the creatures head and slowly a smirk appeared on his dirty blood covered face. He moved towards it, very slowly, each step clearly costing him a great deal. His right leg was mangled, to the point that Alex didn't know how he was moving it at all. His right arm looked no better and it dangled by his side. His armor was badly burned, chunks of it missing all together and covered in dirt.
The devil stopped just in front of the creature's mouth, and began to laugh. It was a chuckle at first, but it got louder, crueler and eventually became a hysterical outburst, as if the sight of the dead creature was the most amusing thing ever.
The creatures head suddenly swung up, snapping at the green devil, grabbing his useless arm as it swung out as he leaped back. The devil roared in pain as the creatures hundreds of long tentacles regrew from the side of its face, snaking themselves around the devils body.
"No! You blasted creature, let me go!" The devil roared, struggling to free him self. But for every one of the feelers he ripped or tore apart, three more would grow out, until he was completely bound by the creature. The creature jarred its head backwards, tearing the mangled arm from the devil's shoulder. He roared in anger and pain, lavender blood spurting across the creatures face. The creature spat the arm out, and grinned at his captive.
Alex was terrified of the Green Devil, hated him for all he had done and all the pain and death he had brought onto the world, but she felt only horror at his torture. She did not dare move however or turn away. If she did, they might remember she was there and turn their attentions on her. She remained still, horrified, terrified and disgusted.
The feelers then began to glow a soft golden color, enveloping the devil in brilliant light. It became to bright to look at and Alex turned her face away and heard the Devil scream, a sound unlike anything, and something that would haunt her for the rest of her life. It was pain, it was anger and it was fear.
"NOOO!" He screamed. Alex couldn't watch, but heard the creature's roar, terrible and loud.
"NOO!" The devil's voice was higher, terrified. Alex tried to look but saw only brilliant light and was forced to look away.
One last terrifying roar of triumph, hatred and fear and the light stopped, the creatures head dropping into the dirty snow, truly dead. The devil collapsed, still partially wrapped in the creatures feelers.
Alex stared for a very long time, to terrified to move. It began to snow again, very lightly, small white flakes drifting down, settling silently on everything.
'Snow.' Alex thought to herself. 'Mother natures' greatest cleanser. It hides everything in a blanket of white.'
After several minutes of no movement, Alex finally forced herself to stand up. She was chilled from sitting in the snow for so long, but ignored her bodies' protests and stared at the creatures head and the devil lying motionless in the snow. She wanted to turn and run, to go back to her home, sit in her bed, underneath her blanket and forget everything. But she reminded herself that she wasn't a little girl anymore. The devil was here. He was on the mountain where her home was, where her sisters were. She had to know if whatever the creature had done had killed him, or if the devil still lived.
Slowly, step by agonizing step, Alex inched towards the devil, watching as the snow slowly buried him. She finally stood beside him, watching his broad chest for any signs of movement, but she saw none. It gave her a little a courage and she knelt in the snow besides him, moving very slowly and cautiously, she slipped her glove off and reached her hand out over his mouth. All she felt was the cold chill of the air and she forced herself to let out the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. To be sure, she moved fingers towards the white flesh of his neck, and after a moment's hesitation, touched her fingers to his skin, feeling for a pulse.
She couldn't find a pulse. His skin was cool to the touch. She finally allowed herself to look at him, to really look at him.
'I'm probably the first human being to get this close to him without dying.' She mused to herself as she studied him. 'The Devil, The Scourge of our world, the Dark King, the mass murderer of hundreds of thousands... And here you lie before me, all bloody and broken, already fading from our world. A sad and dismal creature to be pitied, not feared.' She frowned at her own thoughts, and couldn't help but think that this close, he wasn't so much the monster as a man, who looked so crushed in defeat, just as any other would.
She looked at him closely, saw the chiseled features of his face, marred by the indigo streaks down his cheeks and framed by the yellow straps of his helmet and frowned. She knew she should go, now that she had confirmed his death, but she felt courage in the knowledge that he could not hurt her, and curiosity as to what he really was. She put her exposed hand against the side of his face, following the edge of the strap of his helmet with her fingertips, slipping underneath his helmet and finding the latch that released the strap. She removed the chin strap, feeling the loosening of his helmet and slowly pushed it back, his black hair falling freely around his face as it was released. It was only about the length of a finger, but it was silky and soft and wild. Without his helmet, Alex couldn't help but see more of the man in him and less of the monster. She ran her finger tips through his hair, surprised at just how soft it was.
Her curiosity sated, she finally moved, standing up. She looked down at him, wondering if she should say something, or if she should burry him where he had fallen. She sighed deeply, and decided to leave him where he was. The snow would bury him soon enough and he would be no more and the world would be safe. She stepped around him, picking up his helmet and slipping it into her back pack. She stared back at him and smiled sadly.
"Goodbye Cell." She said softly. She couldn't bring herself to say something callous but she couldn't wish him peace either. So she left it at that and slipped her glove back on and slung her backpack over her shoulders.
She turned towards her home and stopped, catching something glinting in the corner of her eye. She stepped towards it, seeing it was a small marble sized golden ball glinting in the patches of sunlight that shone through the clouds. It was half buried in the snow between the creatures head and the body of Cell. She bent down, picking it up in her gloved hand, brushing the snow from it and looking at it closely. It was a transparent amber orb that looked like a miniature sun was glowing in the middle of it. It was incredibly beautiful, and Alex simply stared at it for several moments, before a flake of snow landed on her nose and she snapped back to reality. She pocketed the tiny golden orb and headed back towards her home at a decent pace, debating whether or not to tell her sisters of what had happened or not.
…:::~*~:::…
A/N: Thanks for reading the first chapter of what I'm hoping will be an entertaining story. A couple of quick things to point out though, 1, this story was inspired by reading Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and watching all 4 Alien's movies. So you can probably see a few inspirations there. :P
Next, being a fanfiction, I obviously don't own the rights to any of the Dragonball Z characters, technologies, or landmarks. The 5 Amberthorn sisters are my own creations, made purely for the purposes of this story.
Also being a romance story, I will warn you that there is intimacy. Some Dragonball Z characters may or may not be involved in intimate scenes, which in the lines of the story, they would never do. If mature content offends you then please don't read any further.
Finally, and of great importance, is the fact that this entire story is set in an Alternate Universe. Namely what the world would be like if Gohan had not defeated Cell and he had gone on to conquer the world as his own. At least from my perspective.
Aside from all that, please Review if you liked the chapter, and Ill get cracking on the next one.