The Jackal Chronicles

Prologue: Before the Dawn
By: The Nevermore Raven

A.N. Gosh. It has been a very long time since I've visited this site. Looking back at it I can't help wondering what happend. My life has become far more active since I had moved, and I am more content with life in general. I wrote stories years ago as a creative outlet to fill empty parts of my life, but since now they have been filled with thrilling college courses and my loving family, the urge to write has all but died.

I won't be making promises at this point about finishing such and such a story. But yet I also don't believe my former works are left for dead.

This story is different than my usual, as it is based on an entirely different universe. (Star Wars) I had this idea in my head for a month or two and finally put pen to paper, so to speak. This story will mostly be the Star Wars universe, but it has a beginning from another universe, surprisingly, from Pokemon! 0_0!
Ever since I started Super Smash Brothers Brawl, a certain blue fuzzball from the fourth generation of Pokemon has caught my attention. And since he has such obvious similarity to the Force of Star Wars, the concept of a slight crossover has been fermenting in my mind. Wonder who? The title is a hint. And he does describe himself in this chapter, so you more savy with Pokemon may figure out who it is! Enjoy...

May the Force be with you, Padawan...

My brief life on this planet has filled my soul mostly with bewilderment and solitude. I was starting to believe that regardless of what I attempted or the effort I invested, I was still met with scorn and disapproval. Nothing I have done has ever pleased my master, and I have become convinced it shall remain that way regardless of circumstances. Standing alone beneath a pine deep in the forest, memories sprouted from the thorn-infested stretches of my mind, filling me with yet more turmoil.

The rustling of branches reached my small, pointed ears as a breeze swept across my slight frame, causing the instinctive urge to shield my body from the wind, but I suppressed the urge as far more important emotions filled my heart.

My master has described me as a "pest," on occasion but I doubted it was of any significance, as more often than not I was simply called "it." It isn't as if I'm of any significance, I concluded. I doubt Master will miss his favorite punching bag for very long... After the man who was my master had beaten me and sneered at the sight of my tears one time too many, I saw a chance to flee from him, and so I took off. I left his furious yelling and threats behind me and placed distance between us, hopefully for good.

For good, because I remember all too well what happened the first time I tried to run away, after my cruel master had caught me... The perverse thing he did to me... The thought caused tears to form in my eyes. What he did to punish me, seizing my body to remind me that I completely belonged to him, actually hurt more than any of the relentless beatings he could possibly muster. He crushed my spirit beyond recognition...

He hoped it would keep me from even daring to run away, and it did for a while. It ultimately made me more determined to get away from him, his beatings, his sick abuse and neglect, once and for all. I used a paw to wipe the tear from my eyes.

I have left the only home I ever had, a deteriorating small house with a front porch and a cold basement that I was locked within for days at a time. I had no choice but to spend the night on a bed of rags on the cement floor. The stone surroundings certainly stayed warmer than the outside air during the winter months, but the cracks in the surrounding boards allowed bitter chills to constantly reach me, causing shivering to become a familiar feeling, especially during the lonely nights.

Why had he held such contempt towards me? At first I felt his abuse was unjustified, yet after enduring it for so long I have become uncertain about my past judgment. This world of pokemon, whatever it may be called, has not been merciful towards me. And now I am utterly alone. Not that it is much different than how I had been prior. At least if I were alone, I would know that sadistic madman would never hurt me again...

Yet what will become of me? The bruises and weeping he caused burdened me with great sorrow, yet that sorrow is all I have ever known. I'm aware that what is known has been left behind, yet I hold anxiety regarding what lies ahead... The unknown.

The rapid flapping of wings drifted through the treetops, and I used my sixth sense, my aura, to determine the source of the noise. The night was rather dark, and the glittering blue of the stars offered little light, obscured by the surrounding forest. A distinct caw filled the darkness. Through the leaves, the outline of a crow formed from the aura, and I reverted to my normal vision. I could see a faint glint of gold as two small eyes peered at me from between leaves as the bird became silent. Now only the wind weaving through leaves and branches filled my small ears.

I decided to continue my sprint and dashed in the same direction I had been traveling since I had left my former master several hours ago. The dense shade of the trees gradually thinned, and I could see the silver glow of moonlight splash onto me from between the trunks of wooden sentries that surrounded a meadow. I heard and felt the crunching of leaves beneath my black paws as my view of the crescent moon became clear and filled my eyes. I had located a pond near the meadow's edge and approached it, noting that it was teeming with life. A bullfrog bellowed with loud croaks, and brief flashes of green danced through the air as fireflies floated about on the balmy summer breeze.

It was a fact that only some of the native life were actual Pokemon, as I doubt a firefly could learn how to use a Silver Wind attack on a bullfrog in battle. That is, assuming the bullfrog wouldn't eat it first. The bullfrog was more suitable as a pokemon, but only barely, as it couldn't be tamed by a would-be bullfrog master. It would rather eat its opponent then fight it. Bull frogs are voracious creatures, known to swallow rats and even infant alligators.

For the first time an actual pokemon appeared, and a violet Venomoth fluttered a little ways before me, gliding on lilac wings that seemed ghostly in the pale moonlight. I went unnoticed by the visitor, as it continued out towards the center of the field, displacing a few fireflies in its way with its wings and sending them spiraling down into the grass.

After watching the brief scene unfold before me, I peered at my reflection on the water of the pond and the outline of my head blocked the twinkling stars from the sky above. I noticed that my entire body, save my eyes and the two peculiar bumps upon my wrists, had become an unusual black in color. My once scarlet eyes had taken on a darker shade of red, more of a crimson. I raised my paw and studied it, perplexed at its charcoal-black color.

What happened to me? I had been blue previously, save my feet and the mask covering my nose and eyes. I allowed a sigh from my chest in frustration. Nothing made sense any more, and only a few things had made sense until recently. I remained silent as the croaking of the bullfrog and the chirping of crickets drifted through the air. I concluded that I was no less than forty miles away from my master, out in the middle of nowhere.

All of the conflicting feelings and doubts have left me emotionally exhausted, and I decided amidst the moonlight that it was time to rest. I searched for a dense clump of grass, spread a gap in its center, and curled up on its natural support to drift off to a light sleep. The melody from the pond aided in soothing my mind, allowing me to clear thoughts from it and close my now crimson eyes...