Chapter 1: Encounter
Just a quick disclaimer, Hana no Kishi Dakini belongs to Sho Shibamoto and Prototype belongs to Activision/Radical entertainment. All rights reserved to both parties. This is my first attempt at fanfiction please leave constructive criticism. If you want to explore more of Sho's work, I highly recommend it, you can find his twitter or Deviant Art by searching Hi6sho.
Our story begins in a land destitute of hope, a land where its people are brutalized by ancient airborne machines of war. These threatening machines are known as the Sky Golems, occasionally they fly from settlement to settlement unleashing a hail of straight thunders. These straight thunders are feared by the inhabitants of this world as they cause great destruction and poison the surrounding environment. For thousands of years the Sky Golems have laid these lands low, neither technology nor Mother nature could hope to stop these merciless killing machines as they blasted settlement after settlement. Not long after the people of this world gave up, unable to handle the terror that the Sky Golems could bring upon them. Unbeknownst to the inhabitants of this world the next few days would bring yet another tragedy, the port town of Enoth was about to be attacked by the Sky Golems. However, something was about to change, something that could disrupt this brutal cycle of fear and tragedy and a certain artist would be right in the middle of it.
Various anthropomorphic animals strolled along the streets of Enoth minding their own business as the spring sun shined down on them. Among these people a young dog shuffled aimlessly as if searching for something, a sketchbook, pencil, and eraser in hand. The young dog's name is Eiden, a struggling artist fresh out of college and a young person suffering from both PTSD and depression. His mental illnesses originate from a nasty encounter with the Sky Golems, an encounter that destroyed the city of Bribooks and left Eiden traumatized. Currently he is desperately trying to rekindle his passion for art by drawing literally anything that can bring him inspiration.
"It's always the same…" Eiden thought. He had been moving from place to place within Enoth trying fruitlessly to gain inspiration.
"Whenever I hold my pen, I become scared of the paper. And when I grab my pencil, I don't see anything…"
"When I try to sketch the landscape in my mind, I quickly lose sight of what I'm trying to draw" Eiden thought dismally. This had been going on for the better part of the day, Eiden would search for something to draw inspiration from, hesitate with his sketchbook and stop, only to repeat the cycle. Eiden thought of this as his rehabilitation however it was having little effect, the terror of that fateful day etched deep into his memory. Eiden put down his pencil as he once again hesitated, a momentary silence being birthed from his inaction.
"Get a hold of yourself! It's been one whole year" Eiden was once again on the move.
"I need to draw something. I won't use my eraser! If I keep walking, I'll come across something I like and I'll draw it in my sketch book!" Eiden thought frantically. He began to stumble in various directions, eventually he began to walk towards the part of Enoth with the least amount of people. The old town area of Enoth didn't have much to look at however it was home to an old abandoned church.
"Don't be hasty. If I feel sick of drawing a motif, I'll move onto something else! I need this. This is my rehabilitation…!" In his uneasy and frantic thought process Eiden hadn't noticed that he was walking straight into the old town area of Enoth. Slowly but surely his mind began to turn towards his location.
"Hmmm? What's this place? I think I'm lost…" Eiden said idly. Eiden finally noticed that he had wandered into a part of Enoth that he was unfamiliar with.
Taking several more steps in the old town area Eiden took out his map. "Is the Diner nearby…? I'm hungry…" Eiden mused.
Continuing his stroll, he began to lose himself in his thoughts once again. "I don't see anyone here. I ended up on this site because I didn't look where I was going."
"Maybe I'll be lost here forever and fail to find any inspiration for my art" Eiden said to himself, another depressing statement.
"No, no…"
"No, no, no. That's not funny. Not funny at all. Am I going to stay like this forever?" Eiden thought to himself. The possibility that he might never recover from his PTSD and depression gave him a terrible soul wrenching sensation in his chest.
"O-of course not! I worked very hard today! I drew so many—wait, what?" Eiden glanced down at his sketch book only to see that he had filled a mere two pages with nothing but random objects and motifs.
"I only drew two pages of art…? But I worked so hard…"
"B-but wait! My art is still important to me! Eiden desperately reasoned with himself, he was willing to say anything to help keep his sanity intact.
"Even though they're meaningless sketches! I ran away from my hometown because I was sacred of losing my passion for art."
"I drew art for the first time in a year…!"
"But they're meaningless sketches" Eiden's panic-stricken train of thought continued forward.
"I'm spiraling out of control, I'm only trying to draw because I don't know how to live any other way. Someone help me!" At that point Eiden's despair had him on the verge of tears, he didn't know how to overcome his mental illnesses. Unaware of his movements he rushed forward without looking where he was headed. Some distance in front of him stood a lone figure, it wasn't until a short moment later that he noticed the aforementioned figure. Looking from the doorway where he was standing, he laid eyes upon a small fox girl wearing a two-piece swimsuit. The young fox girl stood in her spot completely motionless and gazing endlessly at the sky, for what reason? No one could really tell for sure.
"What? Who's this girl? A swimsuit in Spring? She looks like a fox kin. I've heard that fox kin in the Tepantar desert have big ears and small bodies." Eiden thought as he continued to observe the little fox girl.
"Hey, are you from around here? Sorry but I'm lost. I want to know where I could find someplace with a diner…" Curious as to why the little fox girl was gazing at the sky Eiden turned his head towards the sky to see if he could spot anything interesting or out of place. Sadly, the sky was just as plain as ever, nothing to speak of as far as the eye could see. Turning his gaze to the side Eiden began to examine the fox girl again.
"Huh, she's wearing earrings and a necklace that's sold from a local shop. I know there are flowers around in these parts, but I've never heard of them being sold as an accessory. Maybe she isn't from this town?" Eiden mused. His thoughts continued to surround the fox girl as he moved onto examining parts of her body.
"Her feet look like little paws. I've never seen anything like them before. There's something hanging around her waist…wait, what? Her Body…" Eiden began to notice that the fox girl's body sported several scars, one on both ears and one on each thigh as well as one on her stomach. A pair of scars could also be seen on her shoulders as each shoulder sported one scar.
All of a sudden the little fox girl turned her gaze towards Eiden, she had finally taken notice of him. "Oh, whoops! Sorry for staring at you! I was just interested in your clothing-urk. I meant your bod-ack!"
"F-forget it, I'm sorry! I just wanted to know where I should go…" Eiden quickly apologized however the little fox girl showed no signs of anger, she lowered herself until she was facing his sketch book. Curiosity piqued within her eyes and she pointed at the sketch book as if wanting to see what was within.
"Hm? You want to look?" With little words said Eiden handed his sketch book to the fox girl, she took it in her hands and flipped to a page with a sunflower like motif. Interested in the motif she tapped on the picture as if wanting an explanation from Eiden.
"Oh? That thing?" The fox girl continued to point at the sunflower like motif.
"Well… it's that thing, over there!" Eiden said, he pointed his finger towards the image of a sunflower pattern situated on the front of an old abandoned church.
"It's part of a building. I really liked the pattern. It looks like a sunflower, right?" Eiden said, one of the fox girl's ears raised up as if to convey the message that she didn't know what a sunflower was.
"You don't know what a sunflower is? Hold on a sec" With that statement Eiden reached into his suitcase, filled with art supplies and tools, he dipped his paint brush in yellow then began to paint the petals of a sunflower. After finishing the petals, he wiped his brush and dipped it in brown, after Eiden had finished the painting the fox girl looked on with an expression of wonder.
The fox girl reached a hand forward and dipped it in the still fresh paint of the sunflower painting, slowly she formed her own painting. A second later and her painting was done, it was a simple nearly featureless flower that sat next to Eiden's own sunflower. Raising the sketch book up she compared the two paintings to the sunflower pattern on the front of the old church. Slowly but surely a radiant smile blossomed on the fox girl's young face, the smile was soon followed by mirthful laughter. Seeing this display of happiness, Eiden found that a smile of his own had crept onto his face. This was the first time in as long as he could remember that he had felt any measure of happiness.
However, it was short-lived as the fox girl suddenly ceased her enjoyment of the paintings in the sketch book and stood up. She turned away from Eiden and once again focused her gaze upon the sky, seemingly waiting for something or someone.
"Huh?" Eiden was confused as to why the fox girl appeared so adamant when it came to gazing at the sky. Turning his gaze away from the fox girl he realized something about his location upon looking at his map. "Oh! I see now! This is the site of an old church! Which means I'm supposed to go over here…"
"Sorry, and thank you! I know where to go now! The day's about to end soon, so I suggest you—" He turned his head to talk to the fox girl but stopped as he realized that she was still gazing at the sky, almost as if ignoring all else.
"See you…" Eiden bid farewell, at least he now knew the location of the town's diner. Walking back the way he came Eiden made to leave the site of the old church, the lonely fox girl still standing stock still and gazing at the sky.
The alleyways of Enoth remained deserted save for several laundry lines that connected the neighboring houses. Evening had fallen on the port town of Enoth and many of its inhabitants made their way back home at a steady pace. In one of the many alleyways a small black writhing mass of tentacles wormed it way out of a crack in the wall. After leaving the safety of the crack the black mass of tentacles began to rapidly expand in size until it formed the shape of a fox with multiple tails. The resulting creature was a seven tailed kitsune, the kitsune stood tall and observed her surroundings. Noting that she had ended up in an alley somewhere in some town, the kitsune walked until she came out the other end of the alley. Upon exiting the alley any nearby townsfolk stared at her in wonder, children pointing at her in curiosity only to be told it was rude to point by their parents. The kitsune ignored all the attention and began walking down the street, passing by a certain young dog staring through a local diner's window.
"This town is nice enough however there's nothing of note for me to consume, nothing that could bolster my overall strength" The kitsune thought to herself. She continued to walk down the streets of Enoth and only barely noticing all the attention she was getting.
"Maybe I could travel North and along the way I'll discover something that I'd want to consume" The seven tailed kitsune thought to herself. By now she had walked all the way to the edge of town right onto the docks, with her powerful augmented eyesight the kitsune spotted something approaching in the horizon, something dreadful. "What's that?"
In the distance a trio of flying machines was approaching Enoth, at a steady pace they would soon reach Enoth within seconds. The machines had a large round white head with two gaping black holes for eyes, a square protrusion sat where the mouth might've been. They also had a pair of arms crossed over their chest with hands that only bore 3 fingers, a pair of legs that looked very much the same as the arms except straight. A large halo hovered above each airborne machine and their entire bodies crackled with electricity. The kitsune stood there staring and observing these strange creatures until she heard the cries of the townsfolk. "It's the Sky Golems! Everyone run!"
As soon as the townsfolk spotted their potential demise arriving, they panicked and ran in the opposite direction. The kitsune on the other hand dove into a nearby alley and jumped up onto the roof of a nearby house. "It appears these creatures are enemies of these people, I should do something"
With that said the kitsune prepared for battle, she began morphing her left arm into a weapon which would help her achieve victory. In exactly a second her left hand had become a long black and red razor-sharp blade, mere seconds after this transformation one of the Sky Golems began charging a straight thunder. Another second and the Golem fired its straight thunder however before the kitsune could act a black blur jumped high into the air and parried the straight thunder, the straight thunder crashed into a mountain in the distance. The kitsune was perplexed, with her powerful eyesight she had witnessed a young fox girl jump into the sky and use what appeared to be a wooden sword to parry the Golem's straight thunder. For a moment the kitsune looked towards the townsfolk only to see that they too were just as puzzled. Shaking her head free of confusion the kitsune noticed that this time all three Golems were firing straight thunders. Somehow the fox girl stayed in the air and launched herself forward, with several swift motions of her blade she parried all three straight thunders. The assault continued as one of the Golems fired another straight thunder at the fox girl.
With some effort the fox girl yet again parried the straight thunder however this time the parried straight thunder scored a direct headshot on the Golem that had fired it. The townsfolk below were still running and completely oblivious to the spectacle that was unfolding behind them. The Golem that had taken the headshot had an inky black liquid spurting from its head, as it listed to the right it fired one last straight thunder in retaliation. Realizing that the fox girl would take a direct hit the kitsune jumped up with blinding speed, the rooftop below her now sporting a hole with cracks spiderwebbing around it. Before anyone had noticed, the straight thunder had been parried and was now flying towards the Golem that had taken the headshot. The Golem's head having taken two headshots now exploded in a firework display of flaming debris. The kitsune landed on another rooftop while the fox girl stayed levitating in the air. Without a moment's hesitation the kitsune jumped with unparalleled speed in an arc and before the remaining two Golems could react both their heads had been bisected.
Two explosions sounded off as the remaining Golems were defeated, seeing that her work was done the kitsune turned her attention to the still levitating fox girl. She wanted to meet this strange entity and decided to call her over. "Hey you! Yes you, the one levitating in mid air" The Kitsune shouted, hopefully no one else heard her.
The levitating fox girl noticed the kitsune and leapt down in front of the house that the kitsune was standing beside. "May I ask your name? Mine's Rosa Evergreen" Rosa smiled as she held out her hand for the fox girl.
Being met with an introduction the Fox girl opened her mouth to say something however nothing but empty air came out, to Rosa it seemed that the fox girl was unable to speak.
"….." The fox girl made several more attempts at speech before stopping and facing Rosa. "It's ok if you can't speak, you can answer me through gestures" Rosa suggested.
At this suggestion the fox girl tried once again to speak, Rosa waited for an answer. "…D"
"Da…" This time a single syllable came out.
"Da…. Dakini" Dakini had finally managed to speak her own name.
"Nice to meet you Dakini!" Rosa said with a smile, she took Dakini's hand and shook it gently. Before the pair could do anything else, they heard the rough sound of footsteps headed in their direction. A moment later a young dog appeared before them gasping for breath, Eiden took a moment to catch his breath before looking at the two saviors of Enoth.
"…You're the ones…who destroyed…those Golems right?" Eiden queried, he just had to meet the ones that could annihilate his worst fears, more than anything he wanted to meet them.
"Yes, that would be us. Right Dakini?" Rosa said, Dakini merely smiled and used her pointer finger to make a flower gesture. Upon seeing Dakini Eiden's face lit up in surprise, this was the young fox girl he had met earlier in the afternoon.
"Hey, you're that girl I met at the old town area! Your name's Dakini right?" Eiden said, Dakini nodded. Rosa didn't mind being ignored for the moment, her mind turned to the voices that she could here in the distance.
"Unbelievable did something just destroy those Golems!?"
"I think it come from the town's docks, lets go take a look"
"Could we finally have hope?"
Rosa didn't like the sound of that, she wasn't one to soak in the praise of saving people from their demise nor did she like staying after a battle at the scene of the crime. "Hey, I hate to interrupt you two but there are people encroaching on our location" Rosa said.
Dakini and Eiden stopped their conversation before giving Rosa a confused look. "Why? Shouldn't we meet the people that we saved and cooperate with them? Eiden asked.
"No, my identity as this town's savior must not be revealed to the public and I need young Dakini to come with me" Rosa said, Dakini nodded her head at the latter statement since she wouldn't mind having some help in annihilating the Golems.
"Why?" Eiden asked once again.
"I don't have time to explain! You'll get an explanation later, we just have to leave now!" Rosa said forcefully. Eiden having been satisfied that he'd get an explanation later finally conceded in following Rosa and Dakini, he nodded his head as if to tell that he was coming along. "Good, now let's move. The townsfolk will be hot on our heels." Rosa stated.
The trio ran as fast as they could under the cover of night, several sentries at Enoth's north gate yelled for them to stop but they did not relent. Rosa formed several throwing knives laced with a potent fast working tranquilizer and threw them at the sentries, the chemical infused knives would also wipe their short-term memory. The running continued for roughly half an hour before Rosa, Eiden, and Dakini arrived in a thick and luscious jungle. Once inside the jungle their pace slowed down to a walk, none within the group appeared particularly tired. Another half hour of walking passed and the group of three came to a clearing in the jungle. "Okay, here looks like a good spot to set up camp" Rosa stated.
"What do you mean set up camp, none of us have any tents" Eiden said with a perplexed expression on his face, he was unwilling to sleep on the ground or in a tree.
"Not a problem, just leave it to me" Rosa chirped with a smile. Eiden and Dakini stood around as Rosa went about gathering sticks and stones. Once enough stone and sticks had been gathered, she used the stones to form a circle. After that was done Rosa formed a blade out of her left arm and proceeded to chop down a tree.
"W-what's that?!" Eiden stammered, he was bewildered that this vixen could transform her entire left arm into a weapon, Dakini was also curious however she made a mental note to ask Rosa later as she was busy.
"Not now I'm busy, you'll get an explanation later remember?" Rosa said.
Hearing this Eiden stopped any other words that he wanted to say however his curiosity only grew, he could hardly wait for all his questions to be answered. Setting the newly chopped tree down, Rosa sliced the tree into several logs and placed them on top of the sticks within her soon to be campfire. Finishing with the construction of her campfire Rosa took two sticks and rubbed them together faster than any creature should be capable of and mere seconds after that a fire was started. Both Eiden and Dakini looked on with rapt attention, interested in how someone could work so efficiently. Next came the tents, an inky black substance began leaking from the tips of Rosa's fingers and once it reached the ground it began to form two tents. This act magnified both Eiden and Dakini's curiosity to a massive degree, what creature could possibly be able to do this? Having finished building the campsite Rosa patted the spot next her and beckoned her two observers to sit next to her. Quietly, both Eiden and Dakini took a seat next to Rosa, one on each side.
"So…what exactly are you?" Eiden queried, his curiosity and desire for answers had reached it's peak.
"I know this information will be hard to digest but I'm a living virus capable of taking the memories, genetics, and physical form of whatever creature that I consume" Rosa stated.
At this statement both Dakini and Eiden tilted their head to the side in confusion, especially Dakini. "How could any disease do that?" Eiden asked.
"I'm not from this land, I come from a continent far beyond the western seas. No individual or group in this land is capable of creating what I am" Rosa answered. That being said Eiden wondered what lay beyond the western sea of Arnoch, but an even more pressing question arose.
"What is this virus called" Eiden asked.
"The name of the virus is Blacklight" Rosa said. Before anyone could say another word, Rosa felt a light tug on the sleeve of her white sun dress. Rosa looked to her left only to see Dakini with the most inquisitive look in her eyes, you just couldn't say no to those eyes.
"What is it Dakini?" Rosa said.
Dakini pointed to Rosa and tilted her head to the side, Rosa had a confused expression however several moments later she figured out what Dakini was trying to ask. "Oh! You want to know what a virus is" Rosa had an aha moment.
"A virus is a kind of tiny creature that you can't see with your eyes, these tiny creatures hurt people and can change them" Rosa explained.
Upon hearing the explanation Dakini clapped her hands as if to laud Rosa for her knowledge, Rosa was beginning to grow tired of answering question but she kept from voicing her complaints. "Alright! The next question will be the last one I answer" Rosa said.
"What was that black liquid that you used to create these tents?" Eiden said.
"That's my biomass, I can freely manipulate my own body on the cellular level" Rosa stated. After answering all the questions Rosa stood up and headed for her tent, a second later and she was followed by Dakini. "Goodnight" Rosa said.
"Night" Eiden said half-heartedly. Eiden watched Rosa's retreating form and noted that she was wearing a plain white sun dress, on her back he spotted seven individual tails. Eiden thought to himself about the intrigue of Rosa being a marebito but refrained from asking any further questions. He also observed a pair of white black tipped fox ears on her head and an ample bosom, Eiden began to blush furiously at the latter. Last but not least Eiden noticed that Rosa was tall, much taller than the average height of her species, she had wavy white hair, white fur, curvaceous hips, and a face free of blemishes with a pair of radiant blue eyes. His observations aside, Eiden headed inside his own tent and resigned himself to sleep. He could sleep well tonight knowing that finally there was something in the world that could combat the Sky Golem menace, not long after he lay down his stomach growled. "Damn I haven't even eaten anything today"
Eiden lamented his lack of money for he wished to use his life savings for art supplies and not expensive gourmet food which Enoth had plenty of. He resolved to go fishing or bug hunting tomorrow, after all tomorrow was another day and that day was looking much brighter now that he had hope. Twenty minutes passed by and the entire group had slowly drifted off to the land of dreams, who knew what would await them on the journey ahead of them.