CHAPTER I
Darrin woke with a start, he tried to sit up but a sharp pain stopped him. He looked down to see cuts all over his chest and abdomen, but he couldn't remember anything that had happened except for one thing, Trace had done this. Darrin tried to sit up once again and this time he was successful, he slowly rose to his feet and looked around. He was in a small clearing on a hill just north of an old dirt path that went east and west. It looked like no one had used it in a long time but he began walking down it anyway. Maybe there's a village close by with someone that can help me he thought. Darrin was close to a village but he was heading in the wrong direction and into kiedrian territory...
Darrin's progress was slow and painful but it was progress none the less. He had only made it a mile or two down the road when he collapsed and could not stand again. He was in too much pain to do anything and he was losing too much blood, things were beginning to look Grimm. Is this really the end? What a lame way to go out, lying on the side of the road with a bunch of cuts slowly bleeding to death, thought Darrin. As he neared unconsciousness he heard a soft thud right behind him, he tried to turn and see what had made the sound but he was too weak to even lift his head. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was two orange, furry feet right in front of him.
Darron woke cold and hungry, he sat up slowly and looked around in the dim light. He was in a room filled with the typical household items, chairs tables etc. etc. There was a fireplace in the corner and presently there was a small fire going but he could not feel the heat coming from it, he wished more than anything to be right next to it and let it warm him to the bone. He looked down to see that all his wounds were almost healed but he still ached from several broken ribs. "Where am I?" Darrin asked aloud not expecting an answer in return, "why, in my house of course". Darrin jumped at the sound of the woman's voice, he looked around the room to see a small woman sitting in a chair next to the fire. How had I not seen her before? He thought. The woman was middle aged, had blue eyes, and a warm smile that could fill even the saddest soul with happiness. Darrin tried to stand up but was met with a terrible pain in his chest " aaagh!" The woman chuckled and shook her head "you shouldn't try to stand you'll only put yourself in more pain." Said the old lady. " who are you?" Asked Darrin "I am Marianne but you can call me Anne" "why did you help me?" Darrin asked "because Kate brought you to me, and you were in need." Anne saw the confusion on Darrin's face and answered his question before he could ask it.
"Kate is my daughter" she said. "Oh." replied Darrin "Well where is she so I can thank her for saving my life?"
Anne let out a sigh and said "kate please come in here" after a moment Darrin heard a girl's voice say "coming Anne" from the back of the house, a moment later a girl stepped into the room wearing pants and a long sleeve shirt. But this was not a normal human girl like Darrin had been expecting it was a tiger walking on two legs. Darrin jumped back in shock and was frozen on the bed with fear. Anne and the tiger looked at him puzzled. "What the hell is that?" Asked Darrin unable to take his eyes off the animal that appeared to be able to comprehend his words. "This is Kate" said Anne puzzled that Darrin had even asked the question. Kate was rather offended by the remark but said nothing. "How is that thing standing on two feet?" Asked Darrin confused and scared. " I am not a thing!" Yelled Kate , she then turned and ran out the room, slamming the door behind her. "Exactly how much do you remember?" Asked Anne. "Only that the one who did this to me was Trace, other than that, nothing" replied Darrin.
For the next couple hours Anne and Darrin talked about the world they lived in and the creatures that inhabited it. By the time they were finished Darrin was well informed about their world. He had learned that there were three different races that existed, Keidran, Humans and Basitins. Humans were the more dominant of three races and used keidran as slaves. Basitins were a militarily based people who mainly kept to themselves. After learning all this Darrin realized he had made a terrible mistake calling Kate a thing and wanted to apologize but he could not even get out of bed, and he didn't think Kate had cooled down enough to call her back to the living room, not that she would listen to me anyways, so he made a mental note to apologize later. Anne had given him his supper and after he ate she told him that she was going to bed and that he should do the same. But that was the last thing Darrin wanted to do and even if he wanted to he couldn't, he had a million questions running through his mind and he had the answers to none of them.
CHAPTER II
Darrin slowly woke this time, he didn't remember falling asleep but at some point during the night he must have gotten too tired and dozed off. When he opened his eyes he saw two more staring right back at him, they were big and round and were deep blue, Kate was sitting in a chair next to the bed with a bowl of steaming oatmeal in her lap "Hiya" said Kate. "Um, hi" said Darrin. Kate handed him the bowl and said, "Anne said for you to eat this" Darrin took the bowl and began to eat his oatmeal and as he ate he glanced from the bowl to kate taking in all her features, she was rather attractive, that is for a tiger, she had brownish red hair, that was a mess but fit her look, she was around Darrin's height, which was 5'9". She had the orange fur of a tiger as well as the stripes, but her unlike a tiger she had a mouth and her ears were on top of her head instead of on the side. She was what someone would expect if you combined a girl with a tiger. "Hey Kate?" "yes?" "Sorry about last night I had no idea-" "Oh its fine Anne told me that you lost your memory." Said Kate, cutting of Darrin mid-sentence. There was an awkward silence that followed and Darrin didn't know what to say so he just ate his oatmeal hoping the awkward moment would pass quickly.
After a while Kate broke the silence, "how old are you?" She asked. Darrin coughed "excuse me?" "I asked your age" " 17" replied Darrin, "and yourself?" "4 1/2" she replied and at this darrin was taken aback, I swear she looks my age, his shock must have shown on his face because Kate hurriedly said,"Keidran age faster than humans do so i am around your age in human years." "Oh" Darrin said with a sigh of relief although why he sighed he did not know. "Have you always lived here?" Asked Darrin as he looked around the small but cozy room. "No, not always. When I was 2 my real parents were killed in cold blood by a templar. He came into our peaceful village and set it ablaze, killing anyone he could find. I barely got out of there alive... thanks to my parents. After that I was on my own, going from village to village living off of scraps, but then Anne found me and took me in, I've been living here ever since." Darrin was shocked that such a nice being could have such a horrible past. "I'm sorry to hear you've had a horrible childhood.I know what it's like to lose everything and everyone you love." "But I thought you lost all your memory." Kate said. "No, not all of it. I have very few memories and none of them are good, but the worst one is of me having to watch Grand Templar Trace kill everyone I loved" Kate gasped "He was the one who killed my parents." " This is why I must stop him. He has hurt too many people. He deserves to die in the worst way possible." Darrin was not expecting Kate to get mad at what he had said, but she did. Her face scrunched up and her fur turned a deep shade of orange, almost red, she stood up, fists clenched. "If you kill him you are no better, you'll be the same... A murderer." This shocked and upset Darrin but judging by last night he decided it was best to avoid an argument, especially with a tiger girl that had claws instead of nails,so he changed the subject to try and calm her down.
The two continued to talk until it was well into the afternoon. Darrin finally asked a question that he thought hadn't been important but had grown so curious that he just had to ask. "Hey Kate" "yes?" "Where did Anne go?" "Oh she went to the human village down the road to get you some healing crystals for your broken bones." "She did that for me? But you guys don't even know me. Why would you help me?" Asked Darrin "Anne believes that we should help everyone that needs it. Even if they don't deserve it." "Do you believe that too?" "Well, yes. But not as passionately as her. I help everyone I can but I don't help if I don't think they deserve it. If you'll excuse me I must start supper." "Okay" said Darrin and with that their conversation was over and Darrin was once again left alone with his thoughts. He hadn't realized how tired he was until he had stopped talking and he couldn't help but falling asleep.
CHAPTER III
Darrin woke up to the searing pain of his bones being slowly put back into place by Anne and her healing crystals. "Hold still you big baby." Said Anne as Darrin squirmed about the bed desperately trying to get away. "Stop!Stop!" Pleaded Derrin "What are you doing?" "Healing you" said Anne "Did you think it was going to feel good?" After a couple more minutes Anne finished the last rib and sat back, her energy drained. "There I'm done" she said "Stay in bed you'll be sore for another day or so but you'll be able to stand soon enough"
Darrin stayed in bed for the rest of the day and the next going in and out of consciousness slowly regaining his strength. He was soon able to walk around and within a week he was almost at full health. The time finally came for Darrin to say thank you and goodbye but Kate wouldn't have it. She thought Darrin still needed to rest but both Darrin and Anne disagreed "But Anne he can't go he just can't. Don't you know what he is going to do? He is going after a Templar, he'll get himself killed!" "It is not up to me what he will or will not do it is only he who decides. I can not control him just like I can not control you. If you feel like he is not well enough you may go with him." At this Kate was shocked "Anne I couldn't possibly leave you you're my only family." Anne smiled at her adopted daughter " i have enjoyed my time with you but you have grown up,it is time for you to go out and see the world... Go with him. " Kate was reluctant but finally agreed to go. She had always wanted to go on an adventure and this was her chance, if she passed it up now she may never get another.
Kate hugged her mother goodbye, doing her best not to cry, she picked up her pack of supplies and headed down the road alongside Darrin, both excited to be on the road and yet nervous at what was in store for them ahead. They were quiet as they walked down the dirt path, both lost in thought, then out of the underbrush came a young wolf, in his hands he held two short swords, he was skinny and had long fur. He only looked about 3 but he stood in the middle of the road with a sinister smile on his face, as if he had done this a million times before. "Stop right there!" He yelled " give me all you've got and you won't get hurt" "But we don't have anything" said Darrin "then your lives are forfeit, the young wolf turned and whistled, out of the forest came six more wolves all with drawn bows. For the second time in a couple weeks things were looking grim for Darrin and for the second time he was saved by a stranger. Out of nowhere two figures appeared from the forest and let loose four arrows killing the leader of the wolf bandits and three of his henchmen, the other two were gone before the strangers could draw their bows once more.
Darrin and Kate were in shock, four bodies lay on the dirt road instead of two. They turned to thank the strangers but were met by two drawn bows. "Oh great, do you guys want to rob us too?" Asked Kate rather annoyed. "No, we just haven't decided if you are a threat or not." Replied one of the hooded figures. "Oh we are not a threat. This guy here can't even lift a sword. Hehe." Laughed Kate nervously. "Hey!" Protested Darrin "can too" as Kate and Darrin began to argue on Darrin's ability to wield a sword the two figures had made up their minds that these two were not in fact a threat and returned their arrows to their quivers. " so who are you guys?" Asked Darrin. "we are the protectors of this road. We make sure there is no harm done to anyone while they travel on it." "What about the four wolves you just killed?" Asked Kate as she pointed to the four dead wolf bandits. The two figures stood there in silence. " guess they never thought about the thief's till now" whispered Darrin. "Well thanks for your help but we are in a bit of a rush so if you don't mind we'd like to be going now." Said Darrin as he pulled Kate along. "We must be going as well. You see we are on a very important mission." " well good luck with that" said Kate with a smile. Little did the four know that they would meet again soon... Very soon
CHAPTER IV
After walking for the rest of the day the two companions arrived at a small human town about 15 miles from the human keidran border. As Darrin walked towards the town he suddenly realized Kate was no longer next to him. He quickly turned around, scanning his surroundings for any sign of her. After about five minutes of searching and calling out to her Darrin finally found her behind some bushes just off the dirt road. "Hey Kate you okay?" Darrin asked, a little concerned. " no not in the slightest" she looked up at Darrin her eyes filled with fear " I've only ever been to a human town with my parents and that's where they were killed." " Kate I promise I will not let anything happen to you." "Promise?" " on my life." This comforted Kate quite a bit and Darrin was glad to see that she trusted him but Kate was still nervous. Darrin grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the under brush and then Kate knocked him over while wrapping her arms around his neck "aargh!" Screamed Darrin "Thank you so much Darrin, no human has ever been so nice to me, well except Anne." " Really? How can anyone ever be mean to someone so nice?" Asked Darrin " You really did lose all of your 'll see what it's like." Said Kate as she sighed deeply.
Meanwhile at Anne's
Anne sat in her favorite chair right next to the fire, it had been a lonely couple of days without Kate but Anne was enjoying the quiet. She was in the middle of her favorite supper when someone knocked on the door. "Coming" called Anne as she set her bowl of soup down and slowly rose from her chair. Before Anne could get halfway across the room the door flew open breaking the lock and almost ripping the door off its hinges. A keidran tiger with what appeared to be a mask, stepped in scanning the room till her eyes fell upon Anne. "It's been a long time Anne" "Yes, yes it has Neutral. What are you up to this time?" " oh I'd hate to spoil the surprise, its no fun that way." Neutral said with a malicious smile on her face. "What do you want?" Asked Anne. "For you not to intervene on my plans, you already helped the rogue Templar despite what the ancient laws state." "I have my own laws that I must follow. But since I have already intervened I shall not do it again." "Wise decision" said Neutral "tell me, did you know he was important?" " the minute I laid my eyes on him I knew he was to play a part in something big. Bigger than both me and you." "You? Yes. Me? No. I am the one pulling all the strings. This time you will not be able to stop my plans. The world must rebalance, the scales must equal once more!" "I may not be able to stop you but Darrin may." " he is too weak I have drained his powers and wiped his memory clean. Except for one thing." "Trace..." "Exactly he will remember only the bad in trace and nothing more, his anger will fuel his powers he will stop at nothing to kill him, because he knows nothing but Trace Legacy's evil side." "You have no idea what they will do to each other, let alone the world." I know exactly what will happen. And after the battle is over the world will no longer be off balanced. Everything will have neutral power!" With this neutral vanished into thin air, back to a city far away, Anne stood there in shock "God speed Darrin. God speed" she whispered as she went back to her seat to sit once more.
Darrin stepped into the tavern and instantly regretted it, there was smoke everywhere and it smelled like mold, but this was the only place in town with rooms and it was also the cheapest and Darrin could see why. He walked up to the bar and asked for two different rooms but learned there was only one available. "Then I'll take that he replied and played the silver piece for the room key." Darrin walked back out of the tavern and over to Kate "we've got both good And bad new which would you like first?" "Good news" replied Kate. "They had an open room, but they only had one." "Oh, I see."
"You'll get the bed and I'll take the floor" Darrin said as they entered their room." If you insist" said Kate as she fell on the bed, happy the day was finally over and she had a chance to rest. Darrin glanced over at Kate and was about to ask if she was enjoying the bed but realized she was already fast asleep. "Guess that's a yes." Said Darrin aloud as he pulled out a blanket and grabbed a pillow from the bed. After setting up his bed on the floor, he tucked Kate into her own then layed down and went to sleep.
CHAPTER V
Kate woke up from her peaceful sleep and as she sat up she realized she was under the covers. Aww he tucked me into bed thought Kate as she looked at the sleeping Darrin. He looked rather uncomfortable making Kate feel bad that she had taken the bed. Next time he gets the bed, she thought and made a mental note of it. Darrin woke a half hour later and when he saw Kate he smiled and asked " how was your night?" "It was great, but it doesn't look like you slept very well." "Nah, I'm good" said Darrin as he got up off the floor. After putting his blanket back in his backpack he turned to Kate and said, "Come on we need to ask around the tavern if they've seen Trace Legacy go through here recently." Darrin turned towards the door and walked out not waiting for a response.
Darrin sat down at the bar and ordered a drink. As he slowly drank his ale he looked around, the tavern was only half full with people sitting at the tables in groups of two to four, they all were talking amongst themselves and none of them had noticed him come down from his room. He was thinking of ways to start a conversation when the old man sitting next to him spoke up. "Havent seen you in here before boy." Darrin looked over to the man and said "yeah my friend and I are just passing through." " where ya headed?"asked the old man as he took another drink from his ale. "Well actually we don't know" "Don't know?! How can you not know?" "Well we are trying to find someone..." "Who?" Asked the old man, apparently not one for small talk. "Grand Templar Trace Legacy." "Now why do you want to find him? If you ask me he should stay wherever the hell he went, we've got enough problems without him"."it's...personal. And if you won't help me I'll get someone who will." "Oh I'll help you alright!" Said the old man as he stood slowly from his stool, almost falling over in the process, turned to face the crowded room and did exactly what Darrin didn't want him to do "ANYONE SEEN TRACE LEGACY COME THROUGH THIS TOWN?" He boomed as the rest of the room went quiet.
There was a silence for a few moments following the old man's words and then from the back of the room someone said "I have, who's asking?" Darrin got up from his bar stool and went to the back of the room where two guys around his age were sitting. They were both thin but looked strong enough to hold their own, they were average height, in fact the only major differences between the two were their hair colors (one had brown hair the other had blonde), and their voices. "You've seen Trace Legacy?" Asked Darrin as he sat down across from the two. "Yeah we have but who are you? And why are you looking for him?" Asked the guy with brown hair. "Well, I'm Darrin Forge and-" "you were a Templar right?" Asked the guy with blonde hair "ye-yes" replied Darrin. "That's right I heard about you, you quit after Trace took over, only he didn't take too kindly to that so he went after you and your family." "Yes that is correct" Darrin said as he shuddered at the memory, of his family members being slowly killed by Trace as he forced Darrin to watch. He could still hear their screams... Suddenly as fast as the memory came it was gone, replaced by one of him and Kate sitting in the late afternoon talking about the world they lived in, it was one of the few memories he had that occurred after him waking up in the forest and he had no idea why but it made him feel happy and forget what he had been previously thinking about.
"So thats why you want to find Trace?" Asked the brown haired guy.
"Yes" said Darrin " he needs to pay for his sins" his tone darkening. "Well we can give you the info you need but, for a price." "How much?" "20 silver." "20! That's all I have!" "Do you want the info or not." "Fine but you get half Now and then the other half after you give me what I want." " deal" " OK tell me everything you know" Darrin said as he handed the ten coins over.
CHAPTER VI
As the two guys finished telling Darrin about their encounter with will Kate came down from the bedroom looking better than ever and sat right next to Darrin. "-and as we began to close in on them the tiger Keidrian kicked me right in the face." Said the brown haired guy. "And how long ago did this happen?" " couple weeks" "Do you know where they were headed?" Asked Darrin. " I heard them say something about heading to the Basitin isles" said the blonde haired guy. "Alright here you go" Darrin said as he handed the rest of the money over and stood up. "Is this keidran yours?" Asked the brown haired guy "what do you mean mine?" Asked Darrin "do you own her? If so you'd better put a control collar on her so she can't run away." Darrin couldn't believe what he was hearing. "No this Keidran does not belong to me she is my friend" "huh. Here I was thinking I never would see a keidran and a Templar as friends again. The Templars must be going soft." Said the blonde guy. This made anger boil in Darrin was only barely able to contain it, before he gave the two a chance to say anything else he grabbed Kate's hand and pulled her out of her seat and out the door.
The two companions were out of the town by mid morning with some new supplies and even a map. They had decided to head to the same port city that Trace and his friends had gone to to see if anyone knew their exact intentions on going to the Basitin Isles. As they walked towards the coast they were silent both enjoying the scenery of the passing forrest, but also unsure how to start a new conversation. Darrin finally broke the silence, "Hey, Kate, I know this is a touchy subject for you but I haven't been able to stop thinking about it." "What's that Darrin?" "Trace killing your parents..." "Oh, that. Yeah it is touchy but I think I'll be able to talk about it without crying, so ask away." Said Kate. " you sure,?" "Yes" she quickly answered. "Why did he kill them? I know he hated kiedran but did he have a reason?" "At the time Trace was on a rampage, he had just overthrown the previous Grand Templar and had begun to change and add laws. He went out looking for any keidran he could find and he would kill them with no mercy, even the children. My parents had heard about this and had arranged for me and sister to go live with the tiger tribe?" "Alone?" "No, no. Not alone, we are royalty, or rather were." "What happened to your sister?" Asked Darrin. "Halfway to the Human-keidran border we were attacked by a group of templars and got split up. I don't know where she is, or even if she is alive." By now Kate had stopped and fallen to her knees in the middle of the road. Darrin knelt down next to the sobbing Kate and put a hand on her back, "It's okay Kate. I'm sorry for making you talk about your past, I didn't mean to bring up bad memories like that." Kate slowly stopped sobbing and looked up to Darrin once her tears had stopped all together. It's okay Darrin, I know you were only curious, besides it feels good to let it all out." She hugged Darrin and then rose to her feet with a new energy "come on, we are never gonna get to that city sitting here crying." She said, and at this Darrin chuckled, rose to his feet, and the two began walking down the old dirt path once again.
This is the first VI chapters, hope you liked it :). I've been trying to write more but I'm stuck, I'll have the next chapter by next Monday. I'd love to read any comments or reviews you guys have.