I am the Wanderer, forever eternal. I have made millions of mistakes the past few years, many of which has affected my writing to become as short and weak as it is now. I've had breakups, arguments, fights, many hours spent trying to force my hands to create, when they lack the spirit to. Even recently, I had a breakup which staggered me even further. However, I am slowly healing myself to what I once was, the immortal Wanderer with stories woven from text, with stories that span millenia in the blink of an eye.
This short story, is a signature of things to come.
The ToD is dead, for now. May it rest in peace and return one day, however that day is not today, not even this year.
Descendants of Xiao shall arise, along with The Temporal Wanderer's Legacy, a new story that transcends a single fandom, spreading itself to as many fandoms it can reach.
Secrets of the World Map shall return, for now it is not a high priority.
Now, let us enjoy this familiar story, a different telling of Sad Ends, New beginnings….No, that's not right.
Happy Beginnings, Brighter Futures.
Sweat and blood dripped onto the harsh sand, a blade dropping, stained with light flecks of blood along its hilt. A sharp shriek, a pained grunt, then, silence.
"Well, you're getting better." A soft voice said through gritted teeth, a hint of amusement evident. Brown hair sparkled with sweat, as a rough hand grabbed a roll of bandages, wrapping it around its bloodied brother.
Auburn red hair shook as tears gathered under hazel brown eyes. Cat ears twitched, as the tail seemed to be twitching upon the very air itself. A dagger was clutched in her right hand, it clattering to the ground as she seemed to remember it was in her hands.
"Xiao is so sorry." She whimpered, tears spilling down her eyes upon the sand.
"Hey, its not a big deal Xiao." He said, smiling at Xiao. "These things happen sometimes when we spar." His bloodied hand now bandaged, he flexed his fingers, testing to see if they still worked. "No major harm done. You're getting really good with that dagger." Xiao mewed, looking at the dagger as though it was a dangerous snake.
"Why does Xiao have to use the dagger Master?" She said, picking it up gingerly, as though it might bite her.
"You need to, in case you run out of ammo." Toan said, picking his sword from the sand, brushing off flecks of sand. "Remember what happened in the Moon Sea?" Xiao pouted, her ears folding back as she distinctly remembered the incident. She still avoided lady bugs since that day. She mewed, giving the blade a wary look, setting it in the holster Toan made for her.
"Why can't Xiao use her claws instead?" She whined.
"Your claws aren't sharp enough, remember? You couldn't even cut a orange" She grumbled
"Xiao think that orange's skin was made of metal.." Toan smiled at her, looking at the sky.
"It's getting late. Let's call it for today." He said, struggling a bit to pick up a basket laden with food with his bandaged hand. Xiao looked on with guilt in her eyes as Toan finally managed to get a firm grasp on the basket. He caught her looking at his hand, a small frown evident on his face before it turned into a smile. "Come on Xiao, let's go to the lake." She followed as he lead the way, her eyes flicking between her holstered dagger and the bandaged hand. In fact, she was so focused between the two, that she crashed into Toan once he stopped walking.
She stumbled backwards as Toan nearly fell forwards, both of them regaining their balance.
"Watch your step." Toan said, snickering. Xiao mewed, looking at the ground. His smile quickly faltered, it being replaced by a look of worry. He picked her head up, smiling at her. She gave a small smile in return, it faltering upon the sight of the bandage on his hand. He responded by giving her cheeks a pinch, earning a minor cry of a pain.
"Owwww!" Xiao said, rubbing her cheek.
"There, we're even now. Now come get your Tunya sandwich." He said, a grin on his face. Xiao pouted, her cheeks glowing red.
"Xiao only said that once!" She said, indignant. Toan laughed, handing her a tuna sandwich, which she took begrudgingly. He pecked her cheek, earning a smile in return, both of them settling into a comfortable silence.
"Master? Why are we training more now?" Toan looked towards the horizon, a large, pillar of stone piercing the sky.
"Remember that tower we checked out earlier?" She nodded her head in response. "Goro said some powerful monsters came from it. They tried to attack Matataki earlier.." He sighed, scratching his head. "Goro was barely able to hold them off." Xiao's eyes widened at that.
"But...Goro's stronger than most of us." She said. Toan nodded, biting into the sandwich his mom prepared him, bits of lamb and bread crumbs spilling on his shirt.
"He said they were following someone's orders. He heard some of them talking about how it's just the beginning." Xiao's ears flicked nervously. "Xiao, these...things. According to Goro, they're stronger than even the Dark Genie." Xiao looked around uneasily, as though she were expecting the very monsters to pop from the darkness.
The silence was anything but comfortable, it weighing on the both of them like a heavy blanket.
"Well it doesn't matter!" Xiao said after a while. "Master and Xiao are powerful enough to beat the mean genie, we'll be able to beat these monsters too!" Toan smiled warmly at her, hugging her close.
"Yeah, we'll show these monsters a thing or two." He returned to his food, both of them looking at the tower looming over them, as though it was challenging them.
"No fishy candies?" Xiao whined as she rifled through the basket. Toan couldn't help but laugh.
...Huh. Not what I planned to write, but not exactly complaining about it.
Originally this was planned as a rewrite for Sad Endings...But I realize I've done that about three times or so. Instead, I opted to give a story/reason for their adventure into the Demon Tower.
Also, this isn't the end, not by a long shot. Probably….six or seven chapters in this, supposed to be oneshot. However, expect updates to be a bit slow.
Oh, and i need to rename this now...I think Journey to the Demon fits well. Yes...
I'm terribly sorry for the lack of stories, this is mainly due to Infinite story being more of a story hub...which has about 100 written stories and growing. Once it actually gets rolling, expect stories to pop out like popcorn!
...Pop out like popcorn, I seriously need to work on my similes….Oh wait people are still reading. Why are you still reading? GO READ SOMETHING ELSE!