"Nothing ever changes, even if you're victorious
You'll still be filled with the poison, you got to break the chain of evil
You got to break the chain of evil with love" -Yonderboi "Even If You Are Victorious"
Stray Hounds 1
I am strong. I am powerful. I am Fang of the Yun clan, their proud leader and bearer of food. Our loud stomps against the forest floor were rhythmic and foreboding, letting our prey know we're well on its tracks. The hunt for native creatures is a daily thing for us Gatherers, and the two brothers, Wakka and Gadot, are my partners for today's chase. We crouched as I signaled them that the animal was near, our muscular frames blending in perfectly with the thick shrubs and trees. Our faces were wholly painted with tribal oil, so that our eyes were the only things visible as the siblings stared at me amidst bushes, waiting for a cue to attack. They were across from me, anxious with their spears and ready as I smelled the dirt and checked the wild animal's tracks. I formed a fist at them, signaling the two to get ready to chase. The prey was clever, fast. But we were Yun, and we are faster. A mysterious bird screeched from up above, waking the whole Etro-damned forest with it, and the game was on. I sprang quickly from my hiding spot, my lance tightly held on one hand, and the two were quick to follow. Small branches slapped my face, thorns cut my skin as I chased after our lunch. I smelled its fear, my lungs greatly expanding from the ever increasing speed my legs took me. Gadot and Wakka left my side, both separating as our formation changed. I remained in the center as the two lunged at its sides, yelling their battle cries so carnally I'm sure spit erupted from the brothers' mouths. The creature had a massive physique, and I, too yelled at the top of my lungs as we dominated this Behemoth King. Wakka and Gadot effectively impaled it on its sides, but quickly pulled out their spears as the creature started to lash out in fear, biting and slashing aimlessly, but dangerously. "We do not prolong its suffering!" I shouted as I dodged its vicious maw aimed towards my jugular. Using my body as a spring, I catapulted myself in the air after rolling on the ground, giving me and my prey little space as I speared the creature at the back of its neck, killing it instantly. The blood from its vital vein gushed all over the grassy planes, before the mighty creature thumped greatly on the ground. Gadot and Wakka pounded their heavy chests with one fist towards the fallen king, a form of respect our tribe displays. I did the same as we circled the lifeless giant, our defenses suddenly lowered. The brothers held their spears upright as I commenced the ceremonial ritual of drinking the Behemoth's blood. A rule we, for centuries have lived by was to never waste a creature's body. It was one of Etro's creatures, as are we. I lapped up the life liquid flowing from its neck and the two did the same afterwards. I gave the siblings a firm nod, the three of us coated with blood and oil, giving them my thanks.
Wakka pounded on my chest, grinning big. "Nothing we can't handle, eh?"
I grinned back. I wasn't gonna lie, I was proud of them. "Damn right. Now the hard part is to drag this damn giant corpse over to Oerba."
"Fang, you're looking at Yun's three toughest warriors." Gadot radiated with pride. "We'll have this cooking before noon."
A change in the winds threw a shiver down my spine. Something wasn't right. The planes grew silent, too silent. Wakka and Gadot caught on quickly, and the three of us grew quiet, our eyes shifting, finding the danger the guts in our stomach told us. We all regained our battle stances, standing back to back with our spears drawn. The pounding in my heart gained speed again, and I eyed the two men with me, whispering to them. "Be alert. Precision. Kill." The two nodded, playing with the weight of their spears on both hands. The birds all around the forest screeched in cacophony, the sounds getting louder and louder, as if closing in on us. And then it hit me. "Duck!" I kicked Wakka down while Gadot crouched in confusion.
"What? What do you see?" Gadot shook his head around, trying to scan the enemy in the thick forest we were undeniably cornered in.
A whiz of an arrow grazed my head. The bird calls grew louder, pumping my adrenaline I didn't know could grow greater.
"Fang!" Wakka's protective instinct hit the roof. He threw his body in front of me, blocking the straight-line arrow aimed to my heart. I heard his pained grunt, so close to me, as he collapsed back. The arrow stuck in his shoulder, fully piercing it, but thank the gods it didn't hit anything crucial. Anger boiled from his brother, Gadot, who stood up and challenged the hidden ambushers.
"Step out, you cowards, and fight us!" He pointed his spear as his voice seethed with rage.
He was being foolish. "Step down, Gadot!" I yelled. I looked around for any signs of presence, whistling a tune only the forest birds knew. No winged creature chirped back. They set us up from the start. "There are no birds left as you all drove them away!" I stood after sitting Wakka up against the animal's corpse, giving him cover. "Show yourselves, instead of hiding in the guise of animals! I am Fang of Oerba, and I command you all to remove yourselves from the shadows!"
Gadot and I stood back to back, knowing for a fact that bloodshed was inevitable.
The same screeches grew larger in volume, giving our ears a pained ringing, and finally, they have emerged. Surrounding us were a line of feral hunters, from our rival tribe. The tall grasses hid their legs, and they all chirped in harmony from blowing their lips against leaves, giving the imitation of birds chirping and screeching. I looked around to size them out, counting how many they were, and then I see him. Snow Villiers, of the Nora tribe. I growled at him instantly, asserting my dominance, and he flinched from the action.
"Kill her!" He pointed at me accusingly, in which around twenty people around me started to stampede like a wild pack of dogs after meat, mouthing their battle cries. They halted warily as Gadot and I swished our spears back and forth, backing the wild animals off temporarily. "It's nice to see you again, Yun Fang. Too bad you won't be breathing soon." Snow chuckled as Gadot and I snarled at the crowd around us, testing the waters by waving their swords in our faces.
"Gadot, take Wakka with you and run." I felt breathless. There was no room for talking. It was either fight or flight, and I had to fight. We were clearly outnumbered, and the two of us walked in unison, still back to back, until Wakka was huffing next to our feet.
"This damn potion's takin' too long to work." Wakka winced as he broke the arrow in half and slid the sticks off his wound.
"Look at you three, cornered like scared animals." Snow crossed his arms, standing behind his circle of men tauntingly. "You deserve this, Fang." His face darkened.
Like hell I'm going down this way. "You're a spineless coward, Snow, and you always will be!" I yelled straight at him, loud enough for everybody to hear, and he must have taken the truth harshly. That, and I embarrassed him in front of his lackeys.
"Kill her! Kill her!" Snow pointed at me again, his eyes looking like they're almost gonna bulge out.
A sword swung directly towards my skull, which I blocked easily with my long spear. I kicked the bastard in front of me, knocking him to the ground, while I swung my weapon with speed and power, clearing my kill zone of these Nora bastards, flat on their buttocks. That was the advantage of a spear from a sword, I can reach longer.
"Like hell we're just gonna run!" Gadot lunged his spear forward, stabbing a Nora hunter on the stomach. "We're sworn to protect our clan leader, and I'd rather fucking die than dessert a fellow Yun!"
"Watch out!" I yelled at Gadot as a sword swung towards his neck. My spear quickly pierced an enemy's heart before I ran to him, but Wakka beat me to the punch.
Blocking the blade with his spear, Wakka head butted the stunned hunter, knocking him out. "Nobody messes with my brother except for me." The two redheads charged in unison headed for the adversary, which I was more than happy to join in. We dove towards enemy line, piercing and swinging with what seems like the hundredth time, killing our foes before they kill us. What we lacked in numbers, we compensated with skill as more and more blood coated our dirty faces. The three of us roared in harmony as blades scraped and scratched our skin, dodging them just in the nick of time, until our bodies couldn't take another step. We breathed raggedly as the seven remaining Nora hunters pointed their swords at us, smirking as they realized not even the best of Yun's warriors were a match against numbers. I heard two loud cracks and thumps behind me, and I knew at that moment I was alone. I turned around briefly to see Wakka and Gadot knocked out cold to kingdom come, and I quickly stepped in front of them protectively, desperately trying to keep myself alert. The circle of hunters mocked and taunted as they toyed with me, waving their swords like they were to attack, and my chest heaved at the thought that I was a cornered prey. Snow was observing in the background, laughing, while I waved my lance all around me, trying to maintain my safety radius.
"Nowhere to go now, Fang. Your tribe's going to hell after we're done with you." The blonde showed off his teeth in his grin.
Sweat encompassed me. My vision began to blur, but I kept swinging anyway. I won't let them touch me. I kept turning around, swaying my spear repeatedly as I rotated a full 360. Their irritating laughter engulfed my ears, and I looked straight at Snow Villiers, whose grin never left his mug. Then my world turned to black.
X X
I woke up to see myself staring at the falling sun. I gasped from panic, trying to lift my torso up, only that I couldn't. I looked down to see my body strapped in ropes, my neck, wrists, waist, knees and ankles bounded to an uncomfortable wooden plank with handles on its four corners. Soon my memory caught up to my head, and anger welled deep from my lungs.
"Where's Wakka and Gadot?" I yelled to no one in particular, since I couldn't bend my neck hard enough to see who were carrying me. I trashed around even though I knew it was futile to do so, but hell, I'm stubborn as fuck. Apparently, that caused one of them to stir. The person on my right side coldly grumbled.
"You better stop your squirming, Yun, or you'll get hurt. I guarantee you that." I caught fear in his voice, from which he tried to cover up with his threat.
"I'll kill all of you if you don't tell me what happened to them.." My throat was raw, my warning ever so real. "I'll gut you all alive and drink your blood. That's what us Yuns do, you know. We don't waste resources."
I almost yelped in surprise when they dropped the plank on the ground, my skull bouncing from the impact. "What the hell?" I growled.
"Oh, shut it." He poured water on my face from a canteen, almost drowning me, and then I realized I was alarmingly thirsty. I clammed up and drank as much as I could, lapping it to the final drop. I heard laughter around me, and I eyed my surroundings, seeing a trail of Nora hunters jeering at me and my currently tied up state. I checked my location, and just as I suspected, we were trekking to Nora territory. I inwardly groaned. The Wilderness was unconquered, full of danger that wouldn't bat an eye when ripping out your leg. Oerba and Nora, the two rival villages thriving on each side of The Wilderness, fought for dominance on who could tame the massive, vast land and as a result, blood had been spilt over the years. Namely, over the last decade.
"Glad that could shut you up." The boy, after I got a view of him, sighed in relief. He had a boomerang strapped on his back, inducing laughter from me.
"Kid, can you wipe my face at least? I'm drowning from the water, see?"
He gullibly took my bait as he bent down. Gooey spit splattered on his face from the depths of my throat, giving me satisfaction. "Who's laughing now, you Nora bastards!" 'Ooh's were heard all around me.
"Y- you bitch!" His young face contorted to embarrassment, lifting his foot to step on me.
"Stop, Hope!" I snorted at the sound of his voice. Snow shoved the naïve boy away and folded his brows, glaring ice picks at me. He bent down, pointing a dagger against my neck, and inched it, giving me another cut to match the rest of my body. "You behave now, Fang, unless you want to end up dead like your friends."
My heart sank and I squirmed harder under the ropes that bind me, cursing and screaming.
"Shut your fucking mouth." He slid the blade lightly against me, letting the blood flow from my neck freely. It wasn't deep, but I could still feel the rawness of it. "You weren't supposed to wake up until we reach Nora. I can't take the chance of you escaping and tracking our location, you know." He leered, pressing his face against mine, nose to nose. "I know you'd be capable of that, Fang. So for now, you go nighty night again."
"Fuck y-" He raised his fist, and I blacked out again.
X X
"Master Vanille."
I opened my eyes to see that I was still in the hazy paper-walled room. The incense all around me clouded the wooden area, the voice snapping me out of my meditation and mantra.
"Master Vanille, I came to bear bad news." My apprentice, Lebreau, shifted nervously while standing in front of the paper door. She was soon to be a Healer, and in time she'll replace me as the Dia clan's most respected figure, after I depart to join the Yun clan.
"Your fiancé, she's.." The brunette's face saddened. "She's dead."
It felt as if I swallowed my heart whole. I choked on air, my thoughts racing whether to be in denial or in shock. Fang, how could you be so careless? I stood up faster than intended and Lebreau quickly rushed to me. I hugged her tightly, clinging to her when my knees seemed to buckle. "H-how?" I squeaked, my voice broke too fast. "How'd she die?" I fought the urge to sob as salty water rolled against my cheeks. My apprentice hushed me.
"She died protecting Gadot and Wakka from the Nora tribe when they went out to hunt." Labreau softly explained. I slid down to my knees, my body malleable and weak as jelly, and Labreau knelt with me, sympathetic and comforting.
"She's an idiot." I couldn't control my sobs from emptying, filling the room with my grief. "An idiot, an idiot.. I told her to stop being so reckless!"
Labreau wiped my tears, but I saw how glassy her eyes were too. "Be strong, master Vanille. You can't blame her for protecting them.. We'll hold out a ceremony for her."
X X
I woke up to see nothing. Darkness. I had a brief dream about Vanille and I, out on the fields, holding each of our imaginary child's tiny hands. In my dream it was bright, happily sunny, and I was in love with her.
"You awake yet, you Oerban bitch?" A gruff voice came from below my plank, pulling me down to reality.
"What's with the blindfold? You guys seriously can't be that scared of me." I scoffed, feeling the tight discomfort of ropes still bound against me.
"We're here." A second voice grunted, and I feel them lowering me down.
"Don't even think about it." The third voice was Snow's, and before I could make a run for it, boots pinned my limbs as they untied me from the board. "You're in our territory now, clearly outnumbered and hated. Make the wrong move, and anybody can take you down. You're a goddamn captive, so start acting that way." He roughly pulled me up, placing my arms behind me and tying my wrists together.
I spat. "So where's my well deserved welcoming party?"
"You do NOT talk." Snow smacked me upside the head, and even though I was blind as a bat, it was their mistake to let me walk with free feet. I kicked aimlessly, and to my delight I heard him yelp in pain.
"You goddamn stubborn bitch!" A sharp pain sprang from my neck and temple, making me hiss. "Tie her up, tie her up!" Snow yelled.
"Smart move. For once." I growled while someone snapped what felt like a collar around me.
"A wild dog like you needs to be in a leash." Snow cackled. "Let me fill in your imagination, Fang. The leash is connected to eight chains, each handled by a different person. Act out like that again and we'll just yank on you 'till you drop."
Boo's and insults howled all around me as we finally reached the village. I felt pebbles thrown at me, followed by children's voices as well as their mothers ridiculing me, saying words their kids aren't suppose to hear. I endured the humiliation for a while, until my feet finally stepped on wooden floor and the crowd had faded off.
I hear Snow talking to a woman, her voice sounding disappointed. "Can someone take off this blindfold, for Etro's sake!"
"Why do I have to do it?" I heard her whine.
"Come on, Lightning!" Snow dragged me hurriedly, happy to get rid of me.
"Watch it, Nora scum." I growled. If I was getting dragged everywhere, might as well throw in some insults.
"Shut it." He muttered. "Lightning, I have to be with your sister this very moment. The least you could do is pay her back. I have to go. She's your responsibility now." My ears perked when I heard his heavy footsteps drift off.
I heard the woman sigh dramatically, and I lit up when the collar around me was taken out.
"Say another damn word and I won't be as nice as Snow was." She yanked me, catching me off guard that I had to walk backwards.
"Can't you at least take off the blindfold? I'm going to be permanently blind if this keeps up."
"Don't you know how to shut up?" She yanked me harder. She had no idea how annoying that was. We came to a halt afterwards. "Sit."
My eyes blurred at first. Blinking sporadically, my vision started clearing up, and I looked around to find myself in a wooden bathhouse. My fight mode diminished, sensing that danger no longer loomed. The room was darkly lit by candles, and once my heart slowed down, my pain threshold suddenly opened. I groaned from the soreness pulsing from all over my body, leaning against the wall exhaustedly.
"Shh." The woman named Lightning shushed me. My muscles tensed again when she pointed a dagger, but soon relaxed as she tore the dirty sari off my body. The ocean blue silk pooled under me, my weary eyes noticing creamy thighs knelt on the floor. I looked to stare this stranger down, but before I could snarl, a moist, warm cloth gently patted my face.
"Don't move." She whispered soothingly, leaning forward. I sank my face farther against the wall, untrusting of this pink-haired beauty. Her hair reminded me a bit of Vanille's, mocking me that I was before an enemy, and not in her arms.
"Don't even think about it, whatever you're gonna do. I'm one of Nora's best hunters, and I'll beat you down if you resist me." She resumed scrubbing the grimy muck off my face until I felt the caked layers melt from the water. My muscles relaxed more from her touch, the only portions of me hidden were my breasts and my unmentionables, and I sighed in pleasure as she mended my cuts, wiping my body clean from head to toe. She wrung the cloth on an empty bucket, then soaked it again with the next pail, the warm towel against my skin lulling me to sleep. My muscles were overused. Her piercing, hawk like eyes rolled all over my naked body, but I didn't feel ashamed.
"Are you gonna keep me tied up?" I breathed, trying to fight off fatigue, but my lids drooped heavily. My memory of Gadot and Wakka resurfaced again, sparking the fiery hatred inside me. She sensed my sudden hostility, and before I could act, her hand strangled my throat, pinning me against the wall.
"I told you I'd beat you down if you resist me." Ice dripped from her remark. I struggled from the ropes around my wrist, glaring at her as she rested her chin on my head. I couldn't help but breath heavily on her chest, our position giving me a clear view of her ample cleavage.
"Your people killed two of my men." I hissed against her breasts, her fingers still wrung around me. "I won't forgive your tribe." My breathing grew more ragged. I snapped my feet up, staggering her, and a smirk crossed my lips as I looked her down. Fear shrouded her eyes for a second then turned into amusement as my knees turned into noodles.
"You're an interesting one, Fang." She smiled evilly. Cold hands yanked my face down and warm lips hungrily sucked on mine, telling me she territorially claimed my lips as hers. "I've branded you with the Kiss of Challenge."
I wiped my mouth quickly with a flustered look on my mug. "What the hell was that? You got some balls strangling me, then- then doing that!" I pointed accusingly at her, my arm muscles flexing as I jammed my finger at her face.
She snorted, brushing my outcry as child's play. "It means what it's called, genius. I challenge you in a fight whenever you're fit enough to do so. If you're truly the Yun tribe's leader, I'm going to savor every second of ripping you apart." She licked her lips, igniting the familiar, animalistic heat between my thighs. "So get better soon, hunter." Her finger traced circles on my chest before leaving me alone in the bathhouse, and I slumbered uninterrupted afterwards, with Vanille, Gadot and Wakka in my dreams.
-Flashback-
"Vanille!" I finally found her, sitting on the ledge of that damn hazy, incense polluted paper shrine. What was up with paper houses here in the Dia clan? Blood was smeared all over my sari and my spear's blade after a long day's hunt with fellow Gatherers. I jogged up to her, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. I yanked it afterwards, noticing that blood stained my fingers also. She gazed up at me with worry casted on her face. "I heard you were looking for me all over Oerba today." I chuckled. "What're you doing here all by yourself?"
"You have blood all over you, Fang!" She jumped up like a jackrabbit, her voice strained with concern. I was coated in deep red, afraid to touch her now.
"Don't worry, it's not mine, ya worry wart." I laughed at her ability to tug on my heartstrings. "I'm alive, Vanille. Healthy, young and alive. And tonight you're gonna get it."
X X
Our bodies rolled in the heap of passion. Sweaty and naked, I pinned her smaller physique under me as I demanded dominance. She quickly granted my command, whimpering soft, velvety moans as I suckled on one of her nipples. Using one hand as support, I formed a fist in her lovely strands, keeping her writhing into a minimum. I moaned at the sight of pleasuring her, seeing her fire up under my touch. Vanille swallowed my moans as I locked my lips into hers, pinching her nipples to add more stimulation. She wrapped her legs around my waist, pulling my wet folds down to grind against hers. She bucked her hips up and down like a possessed woman, rubbing her wet clit against my naked pelvis, and my wetness increased tenfold as her hardened clit charged to rub against mine each time she humped me. The thrill of a hunt couldn't be better than this. I moaned loudly as I arched my back, my cries mixing in with hers as we thrust our hips together, feeling each others' folds and softness the moment our cores connected. I felt the itching heat between my thighs intensify, building up to meet my climax, but I didn't want to finish off yet. I pulled my hips away from hers, a string of stickiness connecting our parting cores, and stirred her slowly, painfully, my fingers coating her clit with even more juices. She clamped her legs quickly, moaning loudly from my simple action. I watch with glazed eyes as her stomach muscles convulsed from her heavenly climax, and I almost wet myself from how angelic she looked as she screamed and squirmed. I rolled my eyes to the back of my head as she ejaculated, squirting her juices all over my pelvis and thighs. "Oh god, Fang! I'm sorry… I came to soon.." She whimpered as she laid beneath me, breathless. I was a lucky woman to be engaged with a woman who could ravage me like a wild animal.
"It's okay, Vanille." With all the slickness coating her, my fingers easily slid inside, her lips sliding in and out of her slickly as I thrust back and forth. Her hands desperately clung on my body, finding an anchor to latch on to before she soared to cloud nine again. I moaned long and slow, dragging my vocals out, as her fingers penetrated my lips, smoldered by our bodies' heat. We slid in and out of each other in unison, our gasps and moans echoing in the night as fingers hit and scraped against our inner walls.
"Make love to me, Fang.. Every night, make love to me!" Vanille cried out in pleasure as my fingers memorized her wet walls, my rhythm growing faster and faster. Sex sounds from our wetness slopped all over the quiet room. My walls tightened and I plunged deeper inside Vanille, my fingertips bumping against her womb over and over, causing her to clamp up around my digits. I opened my eyes temporarily to catch a glimpse of my future wife in her prime, her body ripe and ready to explode. I arched my back against her as my neurons travelled from synapse to synapse, my brain flooded with endorphins as my giant wave of climax broke my dam of sensibility. "Vanille!" I cried out like a wild beast as I fucked her senseless, returning the pleasure she undoubtedly deserved.
"Oh god, oh god!" She pulled out from me, raking my back with talon-like nails as I embraced her lovingly, folding my body to complete hers. She clamped herself onto me, her walls tightly around my fingers, her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck as I gave her one last pump, pushing the last button she wore in the battlefield we called the bedroom. Her cry was powerful, raw, savage when I broke her last line of defense, and the two of us laid limp, lifeless after our lovemaking. We huffed breathlessly together, and I rolled over before squishing her, our chests heaving up and down.
"That was astonishingly mind-blowing." I grinned after regaining my breath, kicking the blankets off my feet. It was still too hot from all the .. friction.
Vanille's face brightened like the sun, humming childishly as she laid her head on my chest. "You're astonishingly mind-blowing." She kissed my shoulder, then my lips. Vanille smelled of the incense she was so fond of.
"And you…" I kissed her back, smiling a slightly curved smile. "Will someday be my wife, pretty lady."
She slept like a baby on me while I watched her peacefully. I was happy. Dia and Yun were finally as one.
-End of flashback-
I woke up, coughing like a madman for the umpteenth time. A second wave of icy water splashed on my face, a goofy laughter mocked me as I shook my hair free of droplets.
"You were yelling 'Vanille' this and 'Vanille' that the whole time." That pink-haired bitch! "I figured I had to snap you out of your whimpering, 'ya know." She knelt in front of me, amused by something. Her blue eyes wandered from our glaring contest, and I looked down, realizing I was still naked.
"What are you looking at?" I glared her down, ignoring the fact that I was still bound, bare and hungry. My stomach growled, and I groaned when this she-devil laughed innocently.
"Here." She fished some worn-out looking garments from the basket she was holding. Placing the object down, she glided behind me, tying a third-rate sari around my chest, letting it curtain down to my legs. I remained stiff and alert from her presence. "Don't be so defensive, I won't hurt you until we're in the fighting arena." She cooed against my ear, her fingers brushing lightly against my stomach while straightening my sad excuse of a robe.
"Alright. Let's make a bet." I cornered her against the wall. The gap in our bodies zeroed in, but instead of fearing me, a mischievous glint shone in her eye. "If I win this stupid Nora challenge of yours, I'll be set free."
"Are you really willing to bet with your life in stake, Fang?" She feigned being a damsel in distress as I banged the wall above her with tied fists. "If we're going to make this fun, I'll settle my end of the bargain too." She bit her lip, stifling her eager smile.
"And that is?" I growled deeply.
"If you lose, you'll be my slave."
Questions, comments, criticisms? You know who you are.