A little side project I wanted to do. This could be described as an AU fanfic I guess. The plot I have is a lot more developed compared to my other one.
"I swear I wasn't" screamed the man desperately trying to remedy the situation he just made worse by poorly lying.
A gray hand reached out and grabbed him around his collar pulling him in.
"Listen you old man, you've been missing out on your payments and then you want to try and lie yourself out of it!" he pushed him away.
The poor farmer finally got a look at his collector. Red hair with grayish-pale skin, yet with a very dark black suit and his eyes with devilish black that had what you could call shadow energy or something along the lines like bits of smoke coming out. The farmer knew who he was before: his name was Finn; a very poor drunk bandit who roamed the countryside but failed to gain anything. It was obvious what happened to him now, he had made a deal with the Queen.
"Please I have to feed my family, I-" He was grabbed again before getting kicked in the stomach. He gasped for breath while Finn towered over him.
"I don't care if you have a family; all I care about is if you can pay up"
"But I don't have anything" the farmer pleaded
"Hm I see, well you have no money, any livestock, crops?" he asked
"I,I,I don't have any-"
Finn put a finger to his lip
"I see…well then I'm afraid I have no choice" he grinned chanting something foreign to the poor farmer before the palm of his hand lit up into an insignia he never saw before
"Wait if I just have more time-"
"Too late" Finn forced his hand onto the farmers head and within a few seconds back away.
The farmer who expected to die was surprised that nothing had happened only to feel a sudden headache and dizziness.
"Oh…..what….what…did you…oh….do?" he meekly questioned starting to feel pain.
Finn remained still.
The farmer then felt a rush of pain he never felt before. His skin slowly mutated to blue while his eyes started to become red as if bleeding inside until it became crimson. His teeth became razor sharp. It felt as if another mind no, being was taking over; slowly possessing his body.
He squirmed for a while as if undergoing a seizure and then he stopped and rised to meet Finn at eye level slightly hunched. The shadows around him became attracted as they slowly started to fuse itself: forming a ninja's attire.
"Come" ordered Finn leading the newly created Shadowkhan outside the poverty stricken village where a large crowd had gathered.
"Let this be a lesson to ALL of you" he affirmed pointing to no one in particular. "Failure to pay up will result in absolute lifelong servitude to the Queen."
He pointed his hand towards the house he just extorted. His arm now outstretched, shadows formed around his arms before gathering in his hand; he then unleashed it onto the house setting it ablaze.
"Well hope you make your payments" he crudely joked before sinking into the ground along with his new servant.
A brown eye boy with ruffled black hair boy came running to where Finn had sunk.
"FATHER!" he screamed clawing at the dirt hoping in vain that his father would be beneath.
The crowd around him slowly dispersed, only offering looks of sympathy and sadness before walking off. What do you say to a boy who just lost the only family he had?
An aged man however stayed while everyone left. After a few minutes he walked up towards the crying boy. He was about to offer him comfort but struggled with the words.
"Jackie….I'm sorry….but he's gone" he said
"He can't be, HE CAN'T BE!" he cried further before burying his head into the ground. The clouds started to get darker before raining.
"It's starting to rain….why don't we go inside" he offered leading Jackie to his house
The house looked very run down, nature slowly eating it up from the outside. It was a little stone house with hey as its roof. Usually stone was seen as a luxury and hard to come by but the old man had gotten it through his business in selling herbs and medicines.
Jackie came in to see a two room house, one used for cooking, the other for sleeping. The one for cooking was small, the room blacken from the smoke, had a fireplace in the middle with a chimney up above. A giant pot aligned with smaller ones was up against the wall. The other room had a hay mattress with a dirt floor.
"I think you should rest" suggested the Old Man only to see Jackie instantly collapse onto the floor, weary from the day. A few moments of silence passed before he could hear the tears flowing down again.
"I'm so sorry Jackie" he said patting him.
"I can't believe he's actually gone" he mumbled.
The noise was soon replaced with the rain
"Do you think you can teach me?" asked Jackie
"Teach what?"
"Martial Arts…..Ch-"
Before he could finish that last word the old man smacked him across the face
"Are you trying to get me killed" he loudly whispered "You of all people should know that it's forbidden"
"Then why do you practice it?" he retorted
"So I can help people"
"Then why not help me?"
He sighed
"Because the way you'll use it is the way it's not meant to be used. Revenge may sound good, like a great solution, but let me tell you something my father told me; sometimes the greatest victory is the battle not fought"
"That seems pretty useless, not fighting simply means you're a coward"
The Old Man was about to say something before an idea crossed his mind.
"Yes….yes, just maybe" he mused to himself
"Tell you what Jackie…..I will train you, I will help you, and I will teach you; but do know, by taking this path: you subject yourself into a greater one of hardship. However maybe, just maybe, you will see revenge is not the answer, and if not…."
He left it hanging their
"Sleep now and tomorrow we will learn"
…
She sat their huddled with her knees against her chest, her black hair covering her face. She felt as if she could cry but could not fine the tears, after just witnessing her parents killed in front of her and her brother kidnapped. She knew who it was; Darlon Wong, a ruthless Warlord of China. She suddenly asked herself why, why had it been her village attacked? Did it just happen to be hers that lied in his path? Hate sparked in her but quickly faltered replaced with fear and anguish. She crawled over to where her dad laid….her headless dad.
"Hide" was his last words right before a red hiar muscular man sliced off his head before raiding her house.
She did hide and as a result heard all that went around her. That brute attempted to rape mother but she was strong. Eventually after a few moments he determined it wasn't worth and repetitively stabbed her in rage. Her brother had tried but barely starting to grow up and was scooped up easily.
She weep louder now wishing for her brother, her parents, but they were all gone….and nothing could be done.
She looked outside to see the fire that was engulfing the entire place. The men were all killed, the women taken, she was the only survivor…..that just made it worse in her mind.
"Oh you poor think"
She jolted trying to find the source of the sound to see someone or something up against the wall of a burning house. The shadows covered it and the only the color aside from the blackness were two red eyes staring right at her.
"I see he came through here" it said
The girl didn't move, instead looked at whoever was speaking with caution.
"Stay back!" she screamed balling her fists trying to hold back tears.
"I'm not one of them" it said
The shadows moved with the figure, covering her entirely as if it were a blanket.
"What do you know" said the girl bitterly
"They killed your family, didn't they?"
The girl slumped
"And your brother kidnapped, most likely to be sold into slavery"
The girl started to cry at hearing that. While her eyes were filled with tears, she suddenly felt an arm on her shoulder. She looked to her left to see a blue arm. At first she thought it was a shadowkhan but realized they never talk; at least from what she heard. And also the arm was naked, no sleeve to cover it up. Then that voice sounded like a females and it dawn on her. It was the Queen.
Fear took over and she started to feel her legs weaken. It was the queen, the fearless ruthless leader in all of China.
"Don't hurt me" she plead
"I'm not going to hurt you" she said smiling revealing the fangs that made even the bravest of men cringe in fear.
"What….what do you want with me" she meekly asked
The queen laughed at this
"Oh nothing really, I just see a warrior within is all, something waiting to be unleash but is being crippled by such loss"
The Queen then went down to be at eye level with the girl.
The girl caught where her feet were…they were around the same height and she wondered if it was the shadows to make her look taller or just her imagination.
The shadow like blanket still covered her; only showing the eyes and month.
"A proposition" she said "Come with me, I'll help you get revenge, and all that I require in exchange is that you work for me" she grinned
The girl didn't hesitate; if she could avenge her family, why pass up the opportunity?…even if that meant serving her forever.
"Deal!" she screamed
The Queen shook her hand
"Then let's begin" she paused for a moment trying to figure out the girls name before the shadows told her "Viper"'
Well that's the first chapter. Both Jackie and Viper are around 9/10 years old but in the next chapter I plan to do a time skip to their teenage years. Other character's will make appearances that may or may not serve the plot.