Chapter 1: Prologue
Emergency sirens resounded from the Imperial Capital; soldiers flooded from its gates into the forests in search of the cause. No stone left unturned in their wild goose chase. Roars of soldiers demanding to find the traitor hung in the air as did the intoxicating scent of iron from the soldiers that managed to catch up to said traitor who now littered the forest floor. Through the veil of night, a lone beastkin warrior dashed through the greenwood. Bits of blood stained his orange coat and twin tails, the treasured jacket shredded, the front opened to reveal most of his chest which had several slash wounds and a deep gash that threatened to bring him to his knees from a soldier that managed to get a good hit on him. Damn wound just won't stop bledding, will it?
The blade he held between his teeth, once a brilliant silver, now dripped in red from the soldiers he killed moments ago; the other remained in its sheathe. These precious blades of his given to him by his dear brother the day of his passing, or...the day before his murder, now bathed in the blood of those he once called allies. For so long Jubei's head remained buried in sand. But no longer. He had to find out what happened to his brother all those years ago. Deeper and deeper he dug for the truth, but he sunk his teeth far too deep and discovered the truth of not only his brothers disappearance, but the hidden ajenda of their mission that day. The real truth... The whole truth...
"Damn...! Persistent bunch."
Even though he had dealt with most of his pursuers, plenty still trained him. And from the footsteps stomping and shaking the earth, Jubei knew he had his work cut out for him. To think they'd catch up to him so quickly too, Jubei groaned internally. He kept his powder dry, his feet barely touching the ground as if he were flying, form hunched to decrease wind resistance as he accelerated to distance himself from the coming search party.
Sensing imminent danger, Jubei threw himself back, barely avoiding a fireball that clipped off the tip of his right whiskers as he landed with a hard thud. The moment he got back up he deflected two bullets that shrieked off his blade with a clang and readied himself, drawing his second blade in his tails, untrustworthy vision trained on the coming group of silhouettes seen in the flame. Men and woman, dressed in jolting sapphire uniforms, wielding axes, swords, spears, and guns emerged. Jubei got down on all fours in a menacing stance, like a predator watching his prey. He had no time to deal with them.
"Jubei… We have orders to bring you in dead or alive. If you continue to resist, we have no choice but to settle for dead." One of the soldiers told him, holding his blade with both hands as the rest readied themselves. By the time his feet left the ground, Jubei had appeared before him, and with a heavy swing, knocked the slender blade from the soldier's hand as the sword flew through the air. Jumping up to match the dazed soldier's height, Jubei reeled his foot back then whipped it into his face as a harsh crack echoed, and the soldier flew through a tree. A soldier that managed to sneak up on him didn't even have the chance to swing as he was forced to try and parry Jubei's sword. The power behind his swing was indescribable as the soldier's ax shattered and he was sent into a tree with enough force to bend the bark.
Jubei rushed the rear guard, blades targeting the gunman who hid in the back. With a shout, the beastkin warrior swung a sword up that treated the gunman body as if he were a stick of warm butter. Crimson sprayed from the long arched gash and scattered into the night sky, coming down like rainfall. Jubei then whipped his body around with speeds no human could possibly perceive as his second blade sliced clean through two soldiers that attempted to sneak up on him. However, his attack hadn't ended. The blade that swung left instantaneously sprung right in fluid motion as if forced by a spring and sliced through two more soldiers that attempted to decapitate him. Talk about two for two...
"B-Bastard!" A desperate soldier rushed the skilled warrior with a shout and swung down, only for the small cat to vanish before his eyes. Before he could turn around, red spat from his mouth. Stunned, he looked down to see a blade had pierced his heart and hacked when Jubei yanked the blade from his chest as the soldier hit the ground with a harsh thud. In that same instant, Jubei swung his blade in an arch to remove the blood from his sword that formed a red crescent on the grassy terrain in an attempt to scare the remaining soldiers away. Sadly, it didn't work as intended as their desperation and fear took control of their hands and feet. A shame, Jubei sighed as another two soldiers swung their weapons down at once to cleave him but missed as the warrior leapt out the way, now standing at the center of the group. Faster than the eye could see, Jubei swung his blades then sheathed them slowly back in their holders. When the blades clicked in its holsters, slash wounds instantly appeared; blood gushed from the innumerable wounds as the dismembered soldiers dropped like rocks as Jubei took off into the night like a gust of wind.
After what felt like an hour of running, a now breathless, beaten down Jubei took a break before a tree, sitting upright. Though he knew he didn't have long before his pursuers caught up to him. The injured warrior looked down to his paw to see it split into three before returning to his one. As if not already on his last legs, while still a fair distance away, his well-trained ears picked up on heavy footsteps. Jubei's jaw clenched counting at least twenty of them at the minimum, and when he tried to run off, he fell face first into the mud. Swearing under his breath, the warrior retrieved his weapons and took off at speeds no human could match no matter how hard they trained.
"Almost there…! Just a little further!" Before Jubei was the end of the forest, and before that was the border of Normingen; the Imperial Capital's outer most region. Once he reached that, neither the NOL or the Imperial Army could follow him. He knew it like the back of his paw. The bevy of trees split the more he ran until finally, he emerged from the forest he traveled for what seemed like three hours. He would've gotten out faster, but with the constant interference from the NOL and Imperial soldiers, it derailed him more than he liked. While he expected pursuers, he didn't expect to be chased with such persistence, though, should he really be surprised?
Suddenly, a pain lanced into his right foot as Jubei lost his balance and went rolling several feet before gliding to stop. Jubei grunted through gritted teeth, and with untrustworthy vision, looked towards his goal, now being forced to crawl towards it. No strength left to stand Jubei used his sword, digging them into the soil to drag himself, creating a trail of blood. The cat swore under his breath, hissing, feeling the numerous wounds inflicted on him within the night finally catch up to him and some re-opening from his harsh collision with the ground. Eventually, his arms fell off his blades, and his eye lost its gleam. Strength poured out of him from the various gashes and while he tried to remain conscious, he could not for much longer.
"Goddamnit…!" Jubei weakly cursed, coughing out several splats of crimson onto the grassy field. Blood pooled beneath him, drenching his orange coat; spreading until he felt as if every drop of blood had left his body. His ears quirked to coming footsteps splashing in his blood, and when he picked up on the scent, his canines were shown along with a defiant snarl. "You…bastard…!" Jubei picked his head up just enough for him and his attacker to lock eyes. To him, this figure was just that; a tall, black enigma, but his scent... That grin... It told him exactly who this was. "I knew it…! You—!" A foot crushed his paw, the pain stopping his words as they choked his throat. Jubei held his yell in, allowing only a pained grunt to pass. No way in hell would he give this bastard what he wanted.
"You really were a pain, you know? Guess the apple doesn't fall far if you shake the tree hard enough." The silhouette said, taking his foot off the injured beastkin as he kicked him onto his back. "Nice try though… A for effort."
"You…piece of shit…!"
"So, you still got some fight left in you, huh? I guess you two really are brothers… What a nuisance." The enigma clicked his teeth.
"Bastard...! I saw it all...! Every single bit of it...!" Jubei choked out. A smirk that looked like a white a crescent to Jubei's blurred vision appeared on the figure. "I saw it all in the NOL archives...! The disappearance of my brother, the Kushinada project," he hacked up blood then and inhaled to catch himself. Now panting. "What are you planning!? Tell me!" Jubei rasped.
"Tell you? Why would I do that? You're gonna die here anyway…" The figures voice hung in the air; while relaxed, it held a deadly edge that stopped the breeze in its tracks. His vision far too blurry to discern even the grass he laid on anymore, what could only be described as an enigma rose high above him as what he could tell to be its jaws opened. Jubei's perception of time slowed at a speed that would be justified as sinful. His body went completely numb; the overuse of his muscles that he had forced to work even though they were just about ready to fall off finally hit him with all its pain. Flashes of his life, from birth to now, came at once. Through it all, a select few divorced themselves from the clutter; it almost brought the man to tears.
Ragna... I'm begging you... Do what I no longer can...
In the next instant, the ear-wrenching tear of sinew echoed through the field as crimson flew through the air as a final thought passed through the mind of the fallen warrior as he breathed his last.
...And protect my daughter.
Alright, here's another story comin' at ya! I've got too much time on my hands you say? Nope! Works been tiring me out and I barely have time for myself. And after getting this read by Apprentice (even though I changed quite a bit of this after our talk) and another mentionable, I thought I'd post this and give yall something to read since I'm not too sure when I'll be free again. Also, with Cross Tag being cleared up, I'm a little happy. Not like I really cared about that DLC crap, but whatever.
Anywho, time to explain how this is going to work: the description will change depending on the arc this story is in. The description I have now is a sort of place holder and basically the summary for this chapter. Please wait for me : ). I'm still deciding on how to start the next few chapters as I'm debating with myself (which I will explain it and my decision in the next chapter). Its why this won't be updated for sometime. Its not like I don't know where to go with this story, its just I like these two ideas I have and don't know what to do. If you're interested, PM me. I dont mind clearing it up. But you all should have some idea of the main objective of this story soon. I'm also thinking of doing a chapter (backstory kinda thing) for each character introduced. Still debating about that... Also, this will kinda be like an RPG. Like with party members and all (but that's just me poking fun XD).
Now for the disclaimer: bear in mind, there will be mentions of rape (possibly even scenes), sexual acts and what not (so basically some smexy, sexy, or smut here and there), gore and all that. I'm really just warning you about the rape part. The others you would be expecting for an M-rated fic and telling you this may turn people away, but I don't want to hear it down the line. Just saying. Sorry I dragged on so long and I hope you all will find another one of my tales interesting an enjoyable past time. The genres of this story are more than two since there's spice bits of romamce, angst, drama, and hurt/comfort. Tell me what you think and I'll see ya whenever!