Alright then! So, as the summary of this story states, I've decided to undertake the rewriting of Love or Blood, the sequel to Blood Colored Rose, both of which were written by aliciathewolf45. I have read both stories, and very much enjoyed them both. This opportunity convinced me that it could reignite the spark that I once had for writing, diminished almost a year ago by rather depressing events. That, and I felt like I could do her story justice by doing this for her, I got confidence in myself for once. :) But enough of that, let's get on with Chapter 1!
Chapter 1: Darkness From a True Abyss.
Lying dormant under the decaying land in a remote and desolate area of the Earth, lay a horrific evil. One that, before said entombment, could strike fear in any person and drain the courage of those that dared to intentionally cross his path. Few can be twisted to insanity, but he was beyond that. He was the embodiment of greed and chaos. An entity of a pure darkness that could only come from the deepest abyss. Those that miraculously survived an encounter with him, most likely unintentionally, could only make one remark. "He can't be human. He's a monster, that's what he is."
The irony in the comments that they had, was that they were right.
This man was no man, not by any means. He was a vampire, one with enough power to realistically bring about an end to the world. Cabern Messorem was a hedgehog that was imbued with hatred and death. He had the very image of a killer—he possessed a blood red body accompanied by crimson-streaked quills. He wore few garments, save a lengthy hellish red cape on his back, ragged black pants from his constant wandering, gloves that were once a pristine white but became tarnished by the blood of the many victims to his slaughter, and black shoes that were adorned with red buckles. His supernatural strength mercilessly cut down any and all that dared to oppose him. For Cabern, a challenger was his daily meal, only needing to expend the slightest amount of energy in order to slice him open and feast on the red essence that flowed out of the former combatant.
It was hopeless to confront him. It seemed as though he was invincible and could not be defeated by anybody. However, he met his demise when he assaulted and slaughtered a certain village. That mistake would be the catalyst for his imprisonment, at the hands of one vampire hedgehog: Shadow the Hedgehog.
In the past, before he found love in Amy Rose, he resided in that village that Cabern obliterated and scorched to the ground. He was not there when the mass murder ensued, however—he was just in time to see the aftermath. For the past year, he had been searching for a cure to his vampiric state so that he could live in the village with his "sister", an innocent and angelic girl by the name of Maria. She could not possibly be more than the age of thirteen, whereas Shadow was sixteen when he was turned into his eternally vampiric state and wandered into the village. She knew very well that he was a vampire, and that she was not. However, the girl whose locks shined like a radiant light did not care about what he was. She could see in his crimson eyes that he held no hatred or intent to kill her; instead, he only wanted to be friends. Although it initially shocked her to see one who looked like a normal being but was not, she accepted him and allowed the vampire to live with her, much to the other villagers' discomfort. The girl assured them that he wouldn't hurt anybody, and that she would look after him every day.
Shadow considered Maria as a "little sister" of sorts to him. Both of them loved to spend time with each other, whether it be taking walks in the forest, or simply talking to one another. It was a paradise in and of itself, being able to live in such a peaceful place, despite the animosity that the villagers held for the enigmatic black and red hedgehog. They hoped that it would last for eternity. However, the respite was short-lived, as six months later the villagers' unease and distrust of Shadow compelled them to exile him from the village. As a result, he decided to venture to distant lands in order to seek out a cure for his "curse", as he deemed it. The hedgehog promised his sister that he would be back—he longed to spend the rest of his days living with her until the day she died. Maria knew all too well that finding such a remedy would take months, maybe even years. Knowing this left her distraught and hurt, but she still allowed him to leave anyway. After he had begun his departure, the girl yelled to her beloved brother: "Return safely, and soon! I'll be waiting for you!"
Little did Maria know that those words would be the last ones that she would say to him. Little did Shadow know that that moment would be the last time that he would see her alive. Little did the villagers know that a bloodbath would occur in their village by a vampire, the same type of being that they exiled. Little did Cabern know that massacring the villagers and the one person Shadow held dear to him, would be his grave error in judgment.
One year later, Shadow returned to the village having found no cure for his affliction. He arrived at his beloved home only to find it in ruins and aflame. Bodies of women and children were strewn across the ground, their torsos sliced open and their entrails seeping out of their wounds, deprived of blood. The men were left in a much worse condition; their bodies were brutally mutilated and hanging on a stake set in the middle of the village clearing. Lacerations and dried blood were everywhere, skulls were bashed in and bones were snapped in two and bent in angles one would think weren't possible. Their stomachs were completely hollow, missing both organs and the red essence that fueled them. Shadow felt little emotion for the people that had ran him out, save for the slightest pity. However, he was now wracked with worry for his sister Maria. With utmost alacrity, he ran as fast as he could to the house that the two of them shared, praying as hard as he could that he wasn't too late.
He did not arrive in time. The obsidian and red hedgehog slammed the front door open with all of his strength, only to find his sister laying on the ground in a similar condition as the other women. Her flowing blue gown was now in tatters and in a shade of red, and her formerly golden hair was frizzled and torn and stained with blood as well. Both her stomach and neck were sliced open, but no blood oozed out of the open wounds. In a state of shock and horror, he rushed to her side and held her lifeless corpse to her chest, allowing tears to fall onto her dress from his eyes.
Shadow turned her neck to the side slightly to see two noticeable punctures in her skin. They seemed recent, as blood continued to flow out of the wounds in a stream flowing down her neck. It was at this time that he came to the realization that there could be only one thing that could cause this much havoc and bloodshed: vampires. He steeled himself and ran out of the house, dashing towards the hill that led outside of the village. When he reached the leveled top of it, Shadow found the assailant in question, a blood red hedgehog. Sensing that there was one last weakling behind him, he turned around and faced Shadow. What the black hedgehog saw would ingrain his image in his memory.
The murderer's chest was stained in many shades of blood, his fangs still sharp and tinged in the same red hue as well. Puncture wounds and gashes from spears and swords most likely ran up and down his body as his battle scars on top of so many other wounds that he sustained in the past. His red cape was still intact and flowed with the oncoming wind, despite the many holes and tears in the fabric. Shadow knew, at that point, that this hedgehog was the cause of the mindless slaughter of the villagers and his sister.
Shadow prepared himself for battle, trying to stave off the pure rage he held at his enemy. Cabern smirked at his foolhardy brethren's futile attempt at revenge. He released the serrated claws that he used to kill Maria and immediately charged at Shadow head-on. Both sides continued to exchange blows for hours, but Shadow continued to be gradually pushed back by Cabern. Eventually, he charged his fist with hellish energy and sent it directly into Shadow's torso, knocking him to the ground with almost no resistance left within his body.
Cabern looked upon his fallen and crippled enemy with a snide expression, slowly approaching him for the coup de grace. Shadow knew that he was finished; he was in no condition to fight anymore. As a claw was pointed directly at his heart, his mind overflowed with thoughts of revenge, and of Maria. He felt his rage boil over—however, this time he allowed it to happen, transforming him into a creature of pure chaos. Cabern withdrew his appendage as the young hedgehog suddenly doubled, then tripled in size. The crimson streaks on his quills were replaced by jet black, and his eyes were a complete red. Claws that could rend the earth and fangs able to pierce any surface appeared as well. However, the most terrifying attribute of all lay in his right arm, which could phase out and instead of a claw, a grotesque scythe replaced it, emanating a blood red aura. (A/N: Consult the Reaper from "The 3rd Birthday for an approximate image of the scythe. xD)
Even the battle-hardened vampire trembled in fear of this monstrosity, yet he did not reveal his fear in his face and braced himself for Shadow's attack. He detracted his right claw once more and charged directly at him, only to watch him spontaneously teleport behind him and deliver a crushing roundhouse kick to the back of his head, sending him flying into the only tree that stood on the hill. The chaotic being then phased through space once more to suppress him on the ground with a bone-shattering stomp on his chest. Cabern himself knew when he was bested, despite the fact that he had never been this close to the brink of death before, save the moment he was painfully turned into the monster that he was today. He prepared himself to meet Death's sweet embrace, only to find the weight of his opponent's foot be relieved from his chest. The red hedgehog mustered enough strength to lift his head and watch as Shadow spawned a purple gem in his left hand.
While Shadow traveled the world in his failed endeavor to search for a cure, he had learned a sealing spell that would suppress an evil being for a millennium while wandering in a remote mountain chain. He knew that the seal would wear off in due time, but this would ensure that Cabern would not be able to commit any more acts of murder. The blood red hedgehog could only watch helplessly as Shadow uttered two words from his mouth and in an instant, he was encased in an invincible and impenetrable crystal prism. Shadow then gripped the jewel in his right hand and thrust both into the ground. The earth shook violently for a few moments—when the rumbling subsided, a chasm appeared in the ground that reached the very depths of the malice in Cabern's withered heart. As he accepted his fate to be sealed within the earth, he screamed at Shadow:
"YOU WILL NEVER SEE THE LAST OF ME, SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG! I WILL ESCAPE FROM THIS PRISON AND WHEN I DO, I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN AND SLAUGHTER YOU ALONG WITH EVERYBODY THAT YOU HOLD DEAR!"
Shadow watched as the earth reassembled, leaving no trace of Cabern's imprisonment. His last words echoed in his mind, a burning scar within his own head. He turned his back to face the village, still ablaze and emitting smoke into the air. The black hedgehog receded back into his normal form, crimson streaks and all, and shed one last tear for the sister that he lost. The one person that treated him like a normal person. The one person that didn't call him a monster. The one person that loved him like nobody had before…if anybody did in the past. Before departing again to wander the world, he buried her as best he could on the same hill, adjacent to the tree that was snapped in half in his fight with Cabern. Once he finished, he set out again, never to be seen in public for centuries.
*Cracks knuckles, shakes off the dust and cobwebs* Ah…that's one way to start off a story, isn't it? Let me know what you think of this first chapter and review, I want to see if you readers think I've started this off right. Once two chapters of this are out, I think I will devote my time to the long awaited Chapter 4 to Art of War & Love that I started but then I couldn't bring myself to finish it for the longest time. But after that, it's back to two more chapters of this, I think that's how I'll make this work. Got nothing better to do during summer anyway, really. X3
Now, I know some of you might be bothered by the changes and how I write. I promise you, I'll try to preserve the original spirit of her story as best as I can. Don't worry, once dialogue is here it'll be more simplistic/streamlined, as I can't make talking complicated, this is present day-like stuff and in high school/college too y'know. xD Here's to you, aliciathewolf45, I hope I've done an okay job with this beginning. :)
—JoxhnXXIII, the Fallen Sageblade
