Disclaimer: I do not own Star Fox nor any of its characters, locations, etc. This is a fan fiction written solely by me. Other than Jaded/Quent, who I've been allowed to use in this fiction by his creator, Quentix Starwing (thankies Quent, btw :-) ), all of the characters in this fiction aremine. The planet where this fanfiction takes place on, Dune, is also my own idea.Do not, I repeat, do NOT use these characters, the planet, or the character known as Jaded/Quentin your own fiction without my or Quentix Starwing's consent. Or else a tonberry will come and stab you in your sleepx3 But seriously, ask before you use them. Now that that's out of the way…enjoy my first chapter :-D And please review. Praises make me very happy.
Chapter 1: The Desert Rose
As the roar from the stadium could be heard from the outside, slaves locked up in cages with guards lined up along the outsides of them watched as a lone figure walked down towards the gate. The figure was accompanied by two brutish guards, making her small by comparison. The other slaves only stared at her in awe, staring at the infamous gladiator. It was none other than the Desert Rose herself.
Of course, that was just one of the many names Aki was used to being called. Sure, she had other nicknames too; Demon Eyes, Desert Nightshade, the Vixen Hitokiri…but those were names that the spectators gave her. She, however, had been used to the other names that the guards gave her, such as "slave," "thief," "wench," "desert rat"…She was seldom ever called by her real name, but that was by the other slaves who knew her well enough. She didn't even have a last name, for slaves don't even have that privilege. At least not on this wasteland of a planet.
The red-furred vixen made walked past the rows of cages as she heard utters of old desert tongue, wishes for good fortune. She had a more darker tinted red color than most other foxes had. Her dark brown hair was cut short, stopping at her shoulders. She didn't see the point for long hair, it would just get in the way. She had a white muzzle and a white underside. She also had a white end on her tail and had darker red socks on her legs, but not her hands. Her figure was actually curvaceous underneath those grayish-blue rags that the royal family had the nerve to call clothing. If she were born and lived somewhere in the Lylat System, she could have any male fox she wanted. Her most notable feature, however, were her eyes. They were a vibrant sea green color. They were the kind of eyes that could pierce through anyone and send shivers down their spine. They were intense, furious, filled with chained up rage just waiting to be let loose.
She looked past the gate and could see rays of sunlight shining through. Closing her eyes as she gripped the weapons she held. They were sais, her favorite weapon. They were old and tattered, still stained with blood from a fight a couple of days ago. The putrid smell of blood, sweat, and even urine invaded her nostrils. One would likely throw up at such smells, but Aki was used to it. Sure, she couldn't stand the stench herself, but after five years of going back and fourth from this gate, she was used to it. She was just glad that she was allowed to wear her tattered, slipper-like shoes today.
She could still feel her back stinging from the lashes she had received just the day before. Though they were not that that new, she did not have a chance to rest and let them heal properly. Damn, she thought. I shouldn't have gotten in trouble with those stupid guards a day before I'm expected to fight. Oh well. She would deal with it. She had no choice but to deal with it.
The yelling and thundering grew louder as she walked towards the gate and stopped in front of it. The guards moved behind her to block her exit. Fools, Aki thought bitterly. It's not like I have anywhere else to run to. She let out a calming sigh and relaxed her body for a moment. She had to admit…the crowd's cheering really did get her blood going. It pumped her full of adrenaline. Her ears immediately perked up as she heard the creaking gate slowly rose up. Her eyes opened in a flash and every muscle in her body tensed up. The pain in her back seemed to disappear as she walked out into the bright sunlight. She had to shield her eyes at first when she first walked out. When she brought her arm down, she could see the small arena encircling her with the eyes of all of the spectators now directed upon her.
The small stadium had some cover over it. It covered the stands in the stadium for the most part, leaving the combatants to fight in the harsh sun. This stadium was not like the grand Roman coliseum; it was in fact much smaller. But it was big enough to hold small melees and other such fights. Aki could feel flower petals being showered down upon her by some children in the rows above the gate. This was not for show. It was used to try and get rid of the stench of decay and death that came from the arena and the cages below.
Aki took a quick moment to look around. The stands were full of peasants that took enjoyment out of these bloodbaths, for they had no other form of entertainment. There was a section that was only for members of the royal family and members of the royal court. The king and queen sat on their thrown with their servants at hand. They looked so clean and pure compared to the other peasants that surrounded them…too bad their outside didn't match their inside.
The looked ahead to the three armored warriors that faced her. One of them was a grossly overweight boar with large, dirty tusks that carried a spiked club. The other one was an overly muscular gorilla, holding a mace with spikes at the top of it. The third was a tall though fail looking lizard of some sort who carried a jagged sword, the only one without a spiked weapon. She looked to the armor they wore; It was cheap, spiked metal armor that could be easily dented. The armor covered the their abdominal region and back, their thighs, and their arms. Aki rolled her eyes.
Wow, I guess spikes are this month's theme or something, Aki thought as she looked back and saw the gate slowly close behind her. Now she was locked in as the crowd began to cheer and shout, yelling for the fight to begin. The three warriors had spread out and boxed her in, grinning as they held their weapons out at her. They thought that killing this tiny, skinny vixen was going to be easy. What they did not know was that Aki was already spotting the weaknesses in their seemingly invincible armor and coming up with a strategy of how she was going to go about killing them.
"We're gonna skin that pretty fur right off your body and use it as a coat," the boar said as he grinned. "It gets really cold out in the desert some time and I hear fox fur can be really warm."
"I say we kill this wench off quickly," said the gorilla in his low voice, doing some poor imitation of a samurai stance and seemed to hold his mace as if it were a samurai sword. "She's not worth our time."
"Heh heh…I bet this little bitch doesn't even know how to use those tiny weapons of hers…" the lizard said with a smirk on his face. "They could never harm us…not with armor like this and weapons as powerful is this. She's nothing but some weak little desert rat."
It was then that Aki turned to him and glared. The lizard was instantly chilled by the those eyes…it sent shivers up and down her spine. She raised her hand with the sai in her hand and said, "Wanna bet?" With a flick of the wrist, the sai was sent flying. In a mere second the lizard warrior was on the ground with the center blade of the sai through his head and two shorter blades jammed into his skull with blood slowly oozing out of his head.
That instant the two other slaves charged at Aki, each of them swinging their weapons at her. She jumped up into the air and into a flip, letting their weapons clang against each others'. She landed on top of the lizard's body and yanked the bloody sai out of the lizard's head. The gorilla roared and charged after her, swinging his mace wildly at her. Aki of course had no trouble avoiding his swings, ducking and moving away from each swing he took at her. When he raised his mace up to make a vertical swing at her, she sidestepped out of the way as the mace hit the ground with a loud "BAM!" sound that echoed through the stadium. She quickly stabbed her sai into his side, one of the places his armor did not cover. He roared in pain and swung again at her. She leapt into the air and performed a powerful jump kick into his face, sending him staggering backwards as she landed and then ran at him again. She leapt up into the air again, twirling her body around in midair as her heel came and smashed the side of his face, cutting his cheek and knocking him to the ground.
She landed on her two feet again as the whole crowd yelled and cheered. She glared at the gorilla as he stared at her with a dumfounded look on his face and spat a fanged tooth out. Just when she was about to finish him off, she felt a sharp blade slicing into her back. She cried out in a sharp yelp and staggered forward, feeling her entire back now burning in pain. The boar stood behind her with a grin on his face, holding the sword that the lizard used to have. He decided to "borrow" his dead comrade's weapon and come up from behind as Aki was busy with the gorilla.
"Heh, you really are nothing but a weak little rat, aren't you?" the boar asked with a grin, showing all of his decaying teeth. "I'm gonna enjoy killing you…maybe then the king will reward me for killing the infamous Desert Rose by setting me free!" With that he charged at her, holding his sword up to lop off her head. Aki however turned around and moved her sais up, catching the blade above her head between the blades of the sais and pushed against him with the sword just inches from the top of her head.
"You underestimate me, you rotten swine," Aki said as she glared at him and started pushing his blade away from him. "There's no way in hell my life will be ended by some fat swine like you!"
She shoved the blade away from him and then slashed her sai through his fat stomach. The boar roared out in pain and tried to block the following lightning fast slashes of the furious vixen, but was unsuccessful as he was slashed all over his body. She soon had him up against the wall and stabbed her sais into each of his shoulders. He squealed in pain as blood dribbled down his lips. Aki moved her sai to the side of his neck to slit his throat open but heard the sound of footsteps and heard a roar above her. She turned to see the gorilla in the air with his mace over his head, aiming to bash her skull in. She rolled to the side just in time and the gorilla ended up smashing the boar's head in intsead.
Aki grimaced at the disgusting sight of the boar's mashed up face and the mace's spikes that were now impaled in the boar's head. The gorilla grunted and put his foot on the boar's head, yanking his weapon out of his head. The gorilla then looked to Aki who was leaned over somewhat from the deep wound in her back. "The cut in your back is deep," the gorilla said and took a step towards her. "I'll spare you the torture of bleeding to death and kill you quickly!"
The gorilla charged at her again, holding his mace out to the side. Ignoring the pain as best she could, she crouched down slightly in a stance and then charged back at him. The crowd watched with anticipation as the two ran at one another and gasped when the they heard the sound of a blow being struck.
The gorilla loomed over her with widened eyes as Aki's sai had now penetrated into his chest and had gone through his heart. The gorilla dropped his mace and gasped as she felt Aki twisting the blade inside of his organ. He saw the fierce anger in her eyes and suddenly became terrified of her. She wanted him to feel the pain of her sai twisting in his heart. She then whispered to him, "Go to hell you dirty ape."
She yanked the sai out of his chest and head-butted him, knocking him into the ground to gasp his last breaths of life.
The whole crowd erupted into cheers. The crowd enjoyed watching this graceful and deadly gladiator fight. Aki gripped her sais tightly again and looked up to the crowds. She could see the royalty members applauding as well. The king, dressed in his royal white robes and his thick lion mane in a few braids, looked impressed and had a grin on his face. His wife, a beautiful looking lioness, did not seemed very impressed at all. She wore an elegant, white silk dress with a matching shawl over her shoulders. She glared at all of them…the no-good bastards that made her life the hell it was today.
"Wasn't that amazing, my dear?" the king said as he looked to his lioness wife. "The finest warrior I have to offer."
"She wasn't that impressive," she replied as she looked down at her. "She really is a dirty, brute of a girl. And that ghastly look in her eyes…she's not a lady at all. But I suppose you can't expect morality from a slave like her." She then turned to her servant and ordered her to bring her a drink.
The king looked back to Aki as she turned and started walking back towards the opening gate. His wife had a point…she was a troublesome slave that was hardly even worth the dirt on his paws. But he did admire her grace and her beauty. Perhaps that was why he kept her…because she reminded him so much of her mother….
As Aki walked back towards the gate she saw a couple of slaves run out to collect the bodies of the dead warriors. She felt the blood oozing down her back and was starting to come to realize the harsh pain in her back. She would have one of the elder slaves tend to her wounds later. She shielded her eyes as she looked up into the sky, feeling the heat of the late noon sun beat down upon her.
Yes, this was just another typical day for her on the desolate world known as Dune.
