The wind softly blew through the grass of the hillside. It was afternoon – the end of another hot day of summer. The sun was setting in the vest and the previously clear blue sky had an orange, yellow and somewhat violet or pink color now.
The hillside was usually deserted, though the nearest village was a few miles away. But not on that fated day. A lone mouse walked among the hills, which appeared much larger to him than they would to any creature bigger than him. The brown fur and the black and golden robes swayed in the wind in rhythm to the grass and as he walked, he was in deep thoughts – dark and nostalgic thoughts.
His name was Jie. Just Jie. He didn't have a last name – at least he didn't use any and never had. What was a little mouse doing out on such a big hillside, you may ask. You see, Jie was an artist… out to fulfill a request. But he wasn't a normal artist. Sure he was good at calligraphy and music and all that… but no, those weren't his biggest artistic skills. No; Jie was an artist of death.
"He deserved it," Jie grumbled to himself as he kept walking. Who deserved what? Well, it all started many years ago when Jie was very young and discovered the joy in creating art. His calligraphy and music was brilliant and of high class – unfortunately he was the only one to see it; his genius was so brilliant that it was impossible for anyone else to understand.
One day the young Jie had seen a man practice Wudang Sword Style. Hypnotized and fascinated by this new 'moving' art, the young mouse asked the man, if he would teach him this new art. Already having a great talent for art, the young Jie quickly became a good student, according to the man, better than any previous student he had had.
As soon as he had mastered the Wudang Sword Style, Jie returned to his home. He didn't know what to expect – maybe he expected that his peers would be impressed. They had always mocked and bullied him… but now – now they could only respect him as a man of such a powerful art.
But no; he showed the new art to a goat he had known most of his life. He waited for at least a compliment, but all he got was: "Why'd you waste time learning that? If you went into battle, all your foe would have to do, would be to stomp on you and you'd be a goner!"
As the goat had started laughing, Jie had felt the anger rush up inside of him – bursting, just like fireworks. It felt as if it was burning his body from the inside and before he could even stop himself, he had stabbed the goat in the knee with his one sword. Before the goat could even scream in pain, another sword penetrated his chest and impaled his heart.
But that was only the start of Jie's new art-obsession; every kill was a piece of art to him. Since then he had lived with a twisted mind; one artistic part, another part cruel.
"Jie-Sama!" Jie looked up to see a big rhinoceros beetle come flying towards him. The crimson little bug was one of his alleys, so Jie calmly walked on as the beetle landed beside him and walked beside him.
His name is Onibuto and Jie's most trusted ally. Before he met Jie, Onibuto was a Sumo wrestler from Japan. Having lost a big match, thus become humiliated in front of his family and friends, Onibuto had goneto China to train, so that he could bring honor to his friends and family.
Jie saw potential in the rhinoceros beetle's great strength and offered him to join him and help him achieve the title as the Greatest Artist Ever. Eventually joining up with Jie, Onibuto soon forgot about his original purpose of his presence in China.
"Jie-Sama, the Valley of Peace isn't far away," Onibuto told his Sama – his lord.
"Perfect," was all that Jie said to this. The target that could make him the ultimate artist was in that Valley –the Dragon Warrior. The Dragon Warrior was a legendary warrior of Kung Fu, and he'd be the ultimate art piece as soon as Jie got to him.
Soon the two were joined by a beech marten and a monitor lizard, when they passed by a few small trees. The marten's name was Meili and she was another of Jie's allies, one of the best of them when it came to combat. Her bluish gray fur softly waved in the wind as she greeted her two team members and started walking beside them. As usual she wore her light violet robes with black trims, and she had her Fire Rings.
The monitor lizard was named Ye and was another sworn alley to Jie. He was covered in green scales and he wore a pair of pale green pants. He was the more outrageous of the group and better at combat than the others – especially against foes where brawns were needed to win – that being said, he was very hard to stop once he had started fighting or going into a rage. Just like Meili, he wielded a weapon; a Monk Spade – a big spade, which was capable of making the sharpest sword's edge dull upon impact – that was how powerful it was.
"Where are the others?" Jie asked as he led his group – the dangerous Jien Fong – across the plains. But Onibuto, Meili and Ye were only the one half of the Jien Fong – there were three more members. Those were the Pangolin Twins, Tingguang and Tingfeng, and then there was Qing the crow, the Jien Fong's primary spy.
"They're not far away," Meili replied. "Qing is still surveying the Valley... We're close now."
The little group continued for a while without talking. They eventually came to a dark forest and the four went inside. The Valley wasn't far away, just like Meili had mentioned, so probably beyond these woods. Jie led his group into the forest and soon they were surrounded by darkness and tall trees; the sun's light didn't even reach them in there.
The Jien Fong were on their guards, ready to strike at the smallest sign of an attack – Jie and the others had gotten quite big bounties on their heads over the years, so they were always on the lookout for bounty hunters.
They eventually came to a little forest path and eventually decided to follow it through the forest. Suddenly the sound of – the silent sound of – wing-beats was heard above their heads. Quickly looking up, Jie got his belief confirmed; it was Qing the raven. The black bird descended and eventually joined the others. He wore some red robes, but here in the dark forest they almost seemed brown.
"Status, Qing-Kun" Onibuto ordered as Jie remained silent as they walked.
"The Valley of Peace is right up ahead... we just need to get past this forest," the avian replied.
Perfect – now Jie was even closer to his goal, closer to succeeding. Soon Jie could spot the light of the last sun-rays as the forest started parting in front of them. Jie could feel a cool breeze blow through his short fur again and also knew how much closer he was to fulfilling his goal; he could practically feel the presence of the Dragon Warrior. Now they just needed to wait for the Twins and they'd be ready for the kill.
Ah, talking about the sun... there came the Twins. Rolled into spheres, they rolled up and joined the others as they stood there, looking out on the Valley. They were both covered in grayish, armory plates and both wore light blue robes. The two had been beggars before Jie took them in, because he realized that their ability to fight in their sphere-form, had potential. But the only problem with them was the fact that they were visually identical. The other members had learned that their voices were slightly different, thus a way of spotting, who was who.
"So Jie-Sama… what's the plan?" Onibuto asked as the seven of them stood there and looked down on the village. The group stood on a great hill and the village was beneath them, looking like any other mountain village; surrounded by a protecting wall of mountains and with plenty of grassy plains and around. There were also a river running through the village and as the sun was setting, the lighting in the village got darker and darker.
"Let's start with phase one," Jie said in a leader's voice and started towards the village with a dark gleam in his eyes.
First chapter of the story for Darth-Craftus on deviantART (If you have a fanfiction account here, please tell me), I really hope it's to your liking! :)
This'll be a rather graphic and violent fic compared tow hat you've seen me pull of untill now - it's all in the title, I guess you could say. It's my first time writing such a fic, so please let me know what you think of it. ^_^