Well, I must say, its been far, far too long since I wrote or posted anything on here, so here is the first chapter that I started a long time ago, but have 'tidied up' recently. There is a second written, so this gets a reasonable response, I'll post it.
Being one of the three most powerful clans of their breed, the Furemuai clan have always been in a position of great power and influence. When war breaks out between the Saiyans and the Cold clan, they are forced to choose sides. In order to keep peace, King Cold demands the ultimate sacrifice from the Furemuai clan.
Rating based on language and future scenes.
Chapter One – Between a rock and a hard place
The best weapon against an enemy is another enemy.
- Friedrich Nietzsche
"Kenta! Kenta! Wake up!" the small dark haired girl shook her older brother by the arm as she jumped on the bed. "Kenta! The meteor shower is starting! We need to watch it!"
The sleeping figure groaned and opened one violet eye to look up at the young girl.
"Hitomi , the meteor shower goes on for two days..."
"I know! But the first ones are always the best!" the young girl squealed.
"Fine."
The small girl ran down the marble hallways, slipping slightly on the floor with her older sibling close in her wake, yawning as he went.
The female slipped on the floor and scrambled to get back onto her feet, hasty to get outside.
"Hitomi " Kenta groaned as he lifted her up onto his shoulders "must you see the meteor shower tonight? You do know you have training in the morning right?"
The young girl nodded furiously, but never the less pointed toward the front door, determined to see the all important meteor shower.
As the pair walked out into the large family estate they both looked up in unison just in time to see the first bead of light fly across the sky.
Hitomi giggled and clambered down from her brothers shoulders, sprinting into the tall grass ahead of her, all the while transfixed on the sky above her.
The two stood side by side staring up at the sky as time crept by. It was only when the sun began to rise, and their view of the shower begun to fade that they realised they had been out for hours.
"Come on Hitomi , we have training soon, best get some sleep" Kenta picked the small girl up onto his shoulders and the two made their way home.
- Page break -
The air was hot and thick in her chest as she greedily gasped it in. Her trainer had been sparing with her for hours, and neither of them seemed to be gaining ground over the other, but both were exhausted.
She had come a long way from her training with her elder brother, Kenta, and was beginning to surpass even the most advanced of combat trainers. The rare trait, unique to her blood line had made its self apparent a few years previous, making her the first possessor in years.
The down side was, being the first possessor of the trait in so long, there was no one around to give the proper training and guidance. Whilst she could activate the trait easy enough, maintaining it in combat was a struggle.
She jumped backwards, twisting her lean body in the air she flipped backwards reaching a hand towards the blade she kept at her hip. She unsheathed the blade before she landed squarely on her feet, holding it in front of her defensively she glared at her tutor, her silver eyes boring into his. She exhaled slowly and closed her eyes, willing her mind to relax and clear she felt a calm fall over me. She slowly opened her eyes once more and her tutor smiled at the blood red ring that circled her iris, leaving the silver band of her usual colouring around the outer edge.
As pleased as he was that she was starting to gain more and more control,she knew he found it extremely unnerving to hold her gaze when she had the bloodline trait activated to its full potential. It was like she could see into him, into his very soul. Her eyes were inescapable. Perhaps even more terrifying for him, they both knew this was a much more basic level of the Furemuai trait.
She smirked ever so slights as she watched her tutor re-centre his Ki. He was preparing for an attack, but what? She watched as the glowing blue light rearranged itself within his body, gathering in his palms, it seemed to change substance. So that's it...
She allowed her own Ki to flow freely around her body, undetectable to anyone but herself. She knew the attack he was readying himself for, but how to block it?
Masaru raised hit hand straight up, his palm parallel with the ceiling, and started to gather his Ki. She smiled, his Ki would now be visible to anyone as it pulsated in his palm. More over, she has decided how she would counter his attack.
Masaru threw his palm into the ground with a yell and I watched his Ki release from his hand into the earth, creating shock waves within the hard ground that sped towards her. She narrowed her eyes ever so slightly as she calculated exactly how much Ki she would need.
This was a low level attack, disguised as a much higher power attack, she didn't need to exert much energy to block this one. She slowly placed her palm dead ahead and allowed a little of her own Ki to leak forward from her hands, like liquid it fell like a waterfall before her, solidifying into a glowing wall of Ki. The blast hit the wall a second later and split apart, disappearing almost immediately.
"Your doing well Hitomi , with more practice you'll be at the next level in no time"
She smiled dryly. There was no guarantee that she would ever reach the second level of the Furemuai trait. Many of her kind couldn't even reach the first level as it was so rare, let alone the second. Her tutors however seemed adamant that she would follow in the footsteps of her ancestors generations before her.
She looked towards the door, with her tutor following her gaze. There was nothing there., but she didn't break her gaze, she didn't waiver at all. "Kenta is coming," she murmured, "something is wrong..."
She narrowed her red and silver eyes, she could see, no, sense Kenta coming. His Ki was all to familiar to her, even when he had it suppressed like he did now. Hidden to all but her.
No one could see the Ki signature of her kind when it was suppressed, and it was one of her favourite aspects of the Furemuai trait. No one could hide from her, she could see Ki as it moved around others body, a glowing, living energy source, through which she could see emotion and intent. Sadly the emotion Kenta was displaying was not a positive one, and this worried her. Her skills were not yet developed enough to delve any further. Nevertheless, when her big brother was worried, she was worried.
A few moments later Kenta wondered into the room, his face stony and unreadable, he didn't make eye contact with her, as he walked straight to their tutor.
"Hotaka, I need a word with you" Kenta glanced over at her again nervously, "its urgent."
"Kenta?" Her half question hung in the air, only to be met by silence.
Hotaka glanced once at her before nodding swiftly and exiting the training arena, through the door that Kenta had entered only moments ago.
She waited a moment, and then followed swiftly, masking her Ki levels as she went. She was practically running on her tiptoes as she rounded the corner to see Kenta and Hotaka stood talking. She halted quickly and dived silently back behind the corner and listened intently.
"So let me just get this straight, the Cold's have declared war on the Saiyans?" Hotaka asked, his voice laced with concern, "and the Saiyans want us to back them?"
Kenta nodded once, his brows furrowed
She bit her lip, this wasn't good news... even if their race teamed up with the Saiyans, they couldn't possibly win against the Cold's. Many of their race were not born to be fighters, with their incomparable vision and sensory skills for Ki, they made far better spies than they did warriors...
"I need to speak with your father about this..." Hotaka uttered. She heard him turn and his heavy footsteps walk away.
"Hitomi , I know you're there..." Kenta mumbled making her heart jump, "how..." she asked from behind the corner.
"You can't sense my Ki.."
"You walk really loudly."
Kenta interrupted. She grimaced and slunk around the corner to meet her brother who was smiling wryly.
"Does this mean you'll be sent to fight?" she asked, her shinning eyes searching her brothers.
"You can't be the only one to go, if you go, I..."
"No."
She stared up at her brother, her eyes burning with tears that she refused to let fall.
"No Hitomi . You need to stay where its safe. I'll speak to father, he can't let you go."
She shook her head as her brother turned away, striding down the vast corridors. She growled lowly under her breath and took off after him, her eyes returning to their silver colouring.
- Page break -
"Father no!" she shouted in frustration, "you can't be serious?! What was the point of all my training if your going to make me stay here?" a pressure was building in her chest.
Her eyes were burning and her clenched fists shaking. How could he? How could he deny her the right to fight along side her brother, her comrades. Her skills far exceeded that of her classmates, and yet they were allowed to go and she wasn't?
"Hitomi , this is not open to further negotiation. You will stay here" Her fathers voice was stern.
"But... but father... you can't..."
"Hitomi !" he stood to his full height and stepped toward her, making her flinch momentarily. They stared at each other for a few moments before she turned and walked away, taking one last glance over her shoulder to look at her father and brother, she felt like she was going to cry. But she didn't. She refused.
She wandered out in the main hall, a vast white marble and gold room, with steep vaulted ceilings. Glowing crystals floated in a downward spiral from the centre of the ceiling, providing a bright light. She marched up the white marble stairs, her hand skinning the golden banister as she went.
She wandered idly towards her living quarters. Placing her hand on the pad next to the door, it scanned her slender fingers once before the door slid open.
When she stepped into the room the first thing she did was rip off her chest armour and throw it in the floor. She was fuming. It wasn't fair. What's more, she had been given absolutely no explanation. It was customary for all members of the clan who had any fighting power to provide aid in battle.
She threw her wrist guards off next stared at herself in the full length mirror on the opposite end of the room. Her long dark hair fell haphazardly around her shoulders, falling almost to her waist. It was tangled from the training earlier.
Her eyes were their usual silver colour, framed by long dark lashes. She was quite a small frame, but of reasonable height. She growled lowly, her fang like teeth bared.
She turned around and threw herself face first onto the bed, growling into her pillow. This isn't fair, this isn't fair, this isn't fair... the words spun round her head over and over again.
- Page break -
"Hitomi ! Hitomi you need to get up now!"
She blinked her eyes open sleepily and saw her brother standing above her. She groggily turned her head to look at the large windows on the far side of the room, She'd left the curtains open, and could see the night sky outside. What the hell was Kenta doing waking her up in the middle of the night?
"What the hell do you want?" she groaned covering her eyes with the back of her hand.
"You need to get up, the Colds are here" Kenta whispered franticly.
She felt her blood run cold. She sat bolt upright, turning to look into her brothers eyes, panic reflected back at her and her heart began to pound in her chest. "Wha... what?"
She hissed, her voice horse.
"Get dressed and come down stairs, they have requested an audience with the clan leaders..." she stared, her eyes wide and her jaw dropped as Kenta hurried towards her door.
"Oh and Hitomi ," he muttered as he reached the door, turning back to look at her, "don't wear your amour, don't wear anything of the sort... please?"
She didn't get a chance to protest, or a change to point out that it was customary for anyone who can fight, to show this in their dress during any kind of conference. Their customs seem to be going out the window at the moment when it comes to her...
She kicked her blanket off of her and sprang up, despite her irritation at Kenta's instruction she knew it best to listen. She knew he must have a reason. Or at last he better had...
- Page break -
She ran swiftly down stairs and into the main assembly hall, running a brush through her long black hair as she went. Trying to pick out clothing that was not armour had been somewhat of a challenge. She hadn't realised before quite how much of her wardrobe was battle ready...
Nevertheless, she had found a long sleeve dress, in black with silver stitching on the wrists, chest and hem, hidden away at the back of the wardrobe. She was sure she had worn it to some event, and then discarded it immediately afterwards.
She made her way back down the main staircase slowly, her stomach clenched tightly. She took a deep breath in, and closed her eyes, focusing hard. She opened her eyes slowly as the red ring appeared within them, she had moved into stage two. They were already here, in the main reception room. It was as though she could see the glowing, intricate pattern of their Ki within their bodies.
Her eyes scanned slowly over each figure, Kenta, father, Masaru, the rest she didn't know. There were three of them, one extremely large, she narrowed her eyes, jeez, he's over ten foot! He must be...
The other two were tall too, but no where near as much, one must be around 7 foot tall, while the other was a little shorter. She could see already that even in their rested state that they were all incredibly powerful. King Cold especially. She could see his Ki rushing around his body, ready for use at any given moment.
As she got to the large door she blinked, returning her eyes to silver, her hand hovering over the golden handle. She drew in a sharp breath and relaxed her face into an expressionless mask, and pushed the door open.
All eyes turned to her as she entered, she paid no mind and strode to her fathers throne, sitting on her knees in the spot to his left, mirroring her brother on the other side. Masaru, her trainer and uncle was stood alongside her.
She started at the three Icejins in front of her, King Cold was such a well known figure that he needed no introduction, his pale purple skin, with large black horns protruding from his head were more than recognisable. He wore what I understand to be his usual attire, thick white helmet with a massive blue green gem on the front, taking up the majority of what would be his forehead. His black and gold armour with massive shoulder plates, held a deep burgundy cloak that swept to the floor. He wore nothing on his legs other than shin pads that matched the rest of his armour, atop his three bare toes.
The other two however, she didn't know. She was aware that King Cold had two sons, but she wasn't sure that's who his companions are. They were both Icejin, one with pale blue skin, wearing the conventional armour, in usual colouring. She'd clocked on the stairs that he was the weaker of the three.
The third she turned her calculating metallic eyes to last, he was the one who worried her the most. Even more than King Cold. If that were possible. His Ki was incredible, which was worrying enough in itself, but it reeked of anger and hate. At least King Cold seemed somewhat rational. His skin was a dark grey, his blood red eyes a stark contrast to his tone. His fangs were bared, they appeared to be longer and sharper than was typical for his kind. His black armour glinted in the light with each breath he took. His black lips were curled into a sneer, an expression that did not look out of place on his sour face.
She was itching to move to stage two, to see more of his Ki, to dig deeper, but she knew better than to do such a thing. Masaru had always warned her not to use stage two in front of anyone, other than him, along with her father and brother of course.
She turned her eyes back to King Cold, not wanting to linger to much on the other two. He was the focal point after all.
"So," Cold Smirked, "I've received some rather interesting news from one of my scouts..." He trailed off, letting the sentence hang in the air. His clenched fist moved upwards towards his face, and he smirked as he rested his chin on it.
"No guesses to what? Well that's a shame." He chuckled to himself, as if this was all some kind of hilarious joke.
"Fine, fine, lets not play. I hear the Saiyans have been in contact with your clan."
Her eyes widened and her felt her jaw clench. It wasn't a question. He knew. He knew the Saiyans had called on their clan for help. They probably weren't the only ones of their kind they'd contacted. She wondered how many other clans King Cold has visited?
"They have." Her father retorted.
She turned to look at him, he wore a smooth, unreadable expression on his face as he stared directly at Cold.
"We are yet to respond to their request."
King Cold cocked is head slightly to the side and smirked again. "And what... do you intend to tell them?"
A deafening silence hung in the air. Her jaw clenched even harder, beginning to ache. She threw a sideways glance at her father, who wore more or less the same expression as her. What do we intend to tell them? Regardless of any earlier intentions there may have been, they are somewhat stuck between a rock and a hard place.
"We have not yet discussed the matter at full council" her father responded curtly, "but I would imagine that the unanimous decision will be to stay out of the matter."
Her eyes flicked back to King Cold. Would he allow the, to stay out of it? She wouldn't have been surprised if he didn't. Not in the slightest.
His black lips curled up into a smile, "you believe it to be possible not to get involved?" Cold questioned, intrigued. "You believe that you can not get caught up in this?"
A cold shiver ran over her body as she stared at King Cold. He's right. If both wish for aid, can they really both be denied? She very much doubted they can stay uninvolved, but if they choose a side, who do we choose? Both the Ice-jins and the Saiyans are extremely powerful, and she honestly didn't know which of the two is superior.
"We will respond to you when a decision has been made at full council" her father declared curtly. "Once the council has voted, we shall proceed" Proceed?! He makes it sound like some kind of informal event?! Or a party?! Hitomi 's head whirled at one hundred miles an hour.
None the less, King Cold smiled widely, "that seems reasonable. I expect full council to be called first thing. Me and my men will return to our ship, and wait on your response."
King Cold smirked, and turned away, his cloak catching the air as he walked. The other two Ice-jin followed close at his heels.
He stopped at the large doors and turned his head to face them "I'm sure you are aware of the seriousness of the situations. Your species skills in Ki manipulation are outstanding, you would be greatly welcomed into our army". With that, he turned and left, leaving all, including Hitomi 's father in stunned silence.
