Kinslayer
The tragic tale of Igor Strongclaw
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The young cat limped through the forest. His shoes made soft squishing sounds as he stepped through mud. The cat had just fled his home. He had no idea where to go now. All he had with him was his prized possession, the Claw Gauntlet, and the many scars his family had given him. His blood flowed from his right eye and many other places on his body. So many places, that it was miraculous he could stand, much less walk. This cat was Igor Strongclaw, and his tale was a tragic one.
It had all begun about 2 years ago, on his fourteenth birthday. His family was descended from a long line of Cat Warriors. Their sole mission was to protect all who needed it. The tradition of his family was that they were to never use any weapon other than the Claw Gauntlet, which was considered sacred to the family. Every cat, on their fourteenth birthday was to be taught to use the Gauntlet. Igor couldn't wait to learn.
"Dad, its my fourteenth birthday, can you teach me now?!" Igor pleaded. His father considered this, then smiled and nodded. "Yup. Its finally time." He said. Igor was almost bouncing up and down in excitement. His father produced a large black box. He slowly unlocked it and reached in. He pulled out a large green gauntlet with claws on it much like the superhero Wolverine's. He handed it to Igor, who pulled it on. "Alright Igor. Lets go into the backyard and practice." His father said, heading for the door. Igor followed happily.
And that started it. Igor was a natural at using the gauntlet. In fact he'd nearly defeated his brother, who was 22, at fighting using it, and that was impressive considering his brother had had more training. Seeing that his son was a prodigy, Igor's father made the training more and more tougher. The more Igor succeeded, the more vain he grew. He knew he was better then anyone at using the claw. This fact made him so happy that he decided he could no longer let emotion get in the way of his training sessions. If he wanted to get better…His emotions needed to go, for emotion was a distraction. So he tried to stop caring about things. And eventually he succeeded. He was devoid of all emotion. This greatly worried Igor's mother.
"I'm worried." She said. "Igor seems to be taking the training TOO seriously. Its…Its as if he has no emotion now." "Ah, don't get too worried." His father said. "I took my training just as seriously when I was his age, and I didn't turn out to be an emotionless zombie. Trust me, he'll outgrow it." But little did he suspect he was wrong. VERY wrong.
Igor was out training with his brother. The battle was very heated, the two slashing at each other without hesitation, not even caring if they cut the other one. Slash by slash, the brothers got more and more cut up. The two began to tire. They charged one last time, and due to his tiredness, Igor's brother missed Igor completely. Igor however…Hit his target dead on. Before he realized what happened…His brother was dead. Igor had slashed open his brothers chest and gutted him. Igor glared at the body of his brother and said, "That's what you get for being weak. Goodbye forever…My brother." And with that, he walked away. When he returned home and his parents asked where his brother was, he said he'd gone off with his girlfriend. When he didn't return the next day, the parents got worried, but Igor didn't, which worried them even more. They went out to look for him and found the body. His mother cried for weeks. Eventually they got over it. Igor continued to hone his skills, this time without a fighting partner.
Soon, he'd become more powerful than his father, who was the most powerful in the family. He decided to test his skills on his father, so one day he challenged his father to a fight that the whole family came to see. Igor's quick slashes and raw killer instinct quickly overpowered his father, and his father was soon pinned to the ground.
Igor's father laughed. "Very good Igor. Let me up now, please." Igor did not. He stared at his father, coldly. Emotionlessly. "Igor, let me up." Nothing. "IGOR." "No." Igor said. "No, I don't think I will." Igor's fathers eyes widened. "No. You wont be getting up again. You are weak, and there is no use for weak people. So…Goodbye." Igor said. The family screamed in fear at what happened next. Igor pierced his fathers chest with the Claw Gauntlet and speared his heart, killing him. The family instantly got up and attacked him. They were all overpowered and killed easily. But they had left Igor badly wounded. Enough so that he looked like he could die any minute. But instead, Igor walked away from the corpses of his family and into the forest.
Igor looked over his wounds. He found some herbs he knew were good for healing wounds and he ate some, and rubbed some into his wounds. He thought about what had happened to his family. The Strongclaw family was dead. He was no longer Igor Strongclaw. "No. I am no longer one of them. They are weak, and I am strong." Igor said. "I am no longer Igor Strongclaw. No. I am…The Kinslayer."
And from that day forward, the Kinslayer roamed the Earth seeking a worthy opponent. A book was written about him, and no one believed the story. They used Kinslayer as an excuse to keep little children from staying out late. "Watch out, or the Kinslayer will getcha." Is what they'd say, a harmless excuse to use for protecting the young ones. But little did they realize Kinslayer was real…And alive.
The End