So this is a story that just sort of moved into my head and didn't want to leave. I may not finish this though- only because some of my other stories on this account need some serious revamping after my 13-year old brain butchered them all, and I want to get back in the groove of actual story writing. So for now, it's just practice for me, but I'm on a bit of a writing kick right now so there'll be at least a few more chapters after this one. This is also horribly unedited, mostly because I'm lazy. But I promise you the next chapters will be much more cleaned up than this.
Well, here we go again. Enjoy.
Prologue
There were once four children who searched together for a home. They sought a safe haven, where there were warm beds, good food, and open arms- acceptance for the strange, bestial powers they possessed, given to them in their own hour of death to save them. For several months, they struggled through deceiving cities and manipulative men that scorned them and feared them, even enslaved them for a time. There were those that sought to steal from them, hurt them, drive them apart. But in the end, when the four children's overcame their troubles, and they once more turned to the question of home, a retired swordsmith and his devoted assistant invited them into their little cottage.
And there the children settled, and there the children stayed. They believed they found a true home where they could live in peace and comfort for the rest of their lives, and indeed they did for the next eight years of their lives. But for young people like them, change is inevitable. For them, peace is still a long way to go.
Chapter 1: It's a Crazy World Out There (and Quite Possibly Insane)
"All I'm saying is, that's bullshit," Husky snapped, shifting the weight of the grocery bag he was carrying from one arm to the other. It was a warm spring afternoon, and the church bells' rings echoed throughout the city and over the large hill the four friends were hiking up. For the small group, with the exception of Senri, the weight of the groceries was just heavy enough to hinder their progress up the hill, and the eldest man had silently trekked ahead.
"It's not!" Cooro protested. "I really did see a fish that big when I was flying over the lake the other day! It had to be at least seven feet long. Maybe eight! I saw the shadow, it was huge!"
"If there really was a monster like that in our lake, I would have seen it myself. I'm the one who actually goes in it, you know."
"Then take a better look next time," Cooro retorted. "That's thing's has to be our next big meal! I bet it'd taste amazing!"
Nana sighed, smoothing out her new fabrics that sat neatly folded in her bag. "You really never change, do you, Cooro?" she asked lightheartedly.
"I can't help it! The lake fish are so good, and Husky never likes fishing that much anymore."
"I've told you already, dumbass. If we fish too much from the lake, then there'll be no more fish in the lake to even look at, let alone eat."
"But it's been forever since the last time we had fish!"
"It's only been a week-'"
"Will you guys shut up for a moment?" Nana interrupted, pointing towards the top of the hill. Where the incline ended and the hill began to plateau, Senri was stood still, a dark silhouette against the bright blue sky. The group immediately sensed the tension in his stature.
Husky was the first to respond. "Senri, what is it? What's wrong?" he demanded, gripping the older man's shoulder and giving him a little shake. But Senri remained silent, his expression darkening and his left eye narrowing to a slit. As the thundercloud settled on Senri's face, the rest read his countenance and understood.
There was danger up ahead.
Nose twitching, Senri hissed, "Blood," and took off before the others even registered what he had said.
"Blood?" Cooro echoed blankly. His jovial expression faded to horror as he looked in the direction Senri had run off. "But…that's where we-"
Without another word, Cooro unfurled his massive black wings that sprouted from the spiraling marks on his shoulders. He hardly waited for the feathers to cover his arms when he kicked off the ground and flapped hard, rising several feet before catching up to Senri.
Husky watched in irritation as the two took off. His fingers habitually made their way to his temple as he groaned in exasperation.
"You're right, Nana," he muttered from behind his hand. "It's been nearly eight years, and we haven't changed a bit. Running straight into things without thinking, those hopeless idiots, and us having to clean up after them..." Husky let his grocery bag hit the dirt path with a soft thud and held out his arms away from his body. Nana sighed again, recognizing the gesture. Reluctantly, she manifested her own, leathery wings, pointed and dark and just a shade smaller than Cooro's pair. In a few practiced moments, Nana wrapped her own arms around Husky's torso, just beneath the ribs, and began gliding towards the cottage themselves.
Nana was all but eager to release Husky to the ground when they finally reached the cottage, over a mile and a half away from where they were stood a few moments ago. Husky landed carefully on balls of his feet, briefly touching his knees to the earth before straightening his legs, while Nana lighted down behind him. She rubbed her arms and the bases of her wings, wincing.
Senri and Cooro, whose wings drooped low, were frozen in front of the open cottage door.
"So what's going on?" Husky demanded, elbowing Senri in the forearm.
"Yeah, I'd like to know why I had to lug that meatsack over a mile in the air just because you two wanted to get home a little faster…" Her tone of annoyance quickly turned to shock, and her voice faded as she approached the open doorway and peeked in between the boys.
The stench of blood was unbearable. The awful metallic smell hung about the air in the darkened living room and only grew stronger, exposed to the open country air. But even worse than the smell was the pool of red that stained the wooden floor, and the limp silhouette that lay within it. They could see him, just beyond the sunlight that peered in through the open door.
"Mr. Hardin," Husky whispered. His eyes fell on the old man's body that lay belly down on the floor. His grizzled beard and rough canvas apron weren't the only things stained red; in his tight grip, even in death, was Hardin's precious Guardian Heart he had forged in his youth. Its blade was dulled by blood, and what remained of the silver surface reflected the light of the sun from behind the four.
Nana and Cooro remained in the doorway, wings fading away and eyes still wide from shock, as Husky and Senri slowly approached the corpse. Husky's hand fell upon the hilt of his knife in apprehension, instantly on guard for any unwanted surprises that might lurk in the shadows of the house. Meanwhile, Senri approached the body and turned it over on its back. More blood began leaking from a gaping slash wound on Harden's chest.
"Wound. It's fresh," Senri murmured, lightly touching the wet red stains on the body's clothes and rubbing the blood between his thumb and forefinger. "At the longest, three hours."
Husky's fingers went to his temple once more. "We left at around eight this morning, and the church bell rang twice the last time we heard it. So any time between eight and two…" His voice trailed off in thought as he approached the body himself. Something lying in the blood caught his eye and he reached towards it, managing to pluck the item out of the puddle.
But before Husky could even examine what he just picked up, Senri roughly grabbed his arm and urged him towards the doorway. Husky shoved the item into his pocket, groaning when he remembered it was soaked in blood. Nana was going to kill him.
"For Christ's sake, Senri, what is it now-"
Husky froze mid sentence when he looked outside. He instantly recognized the star-like crest of the Asterian army from their flags and uniforms, and his fingers tightened on his dagger's leather hilt. Several mounted soldiers, with blinding flashes of light that reflected from their armor, surrounded the cottage in a one-man thick crescent several meters away from the door. Nana subconsciously gripped Husky's forearm, her fingers tightening nervously as the soldiers parted in the middle.
From behind the men rode a familiar face, framed by trimmed blond hair and sporting a hard, merciless grimace.
General Igneous glared down from his horse at Husky and frowned.
"Where is Hardin Pryce?"
Okay, so the actual manga says his name is Harden. But I [want to] believe that it's another error in translation, because Harden is kind of a stupid name. And very prone to teasing. I debated on renaming him Holden, but then I thought of Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye, and that is just not okay. Harden and Holden are two completely different people.
So from now on, he's going to be Hardin. Which I guess isn't that much better, but at least it looks better, and it's only a letter difference.
He's still owned by Natsumi Mukai, and not at all my character in any way, shape, or form. Don't panic, guys.
Neither are any of the five other idiots in this story. Or any of the existing characters that may or may not appear in the story.
The soldiers are all mine, though, as well as any potential OC thingies in the future.
Okay there's my disclaimer for the rest of everything I write for +Anima.
And I promise I will not talk this much in the future.
Well, till next time.