Gorse was different from others, very different in fact. For he was born a prince of darkness. He knew not how to contain his powers, and many chaotic incidents would happen every-now-and-then. Like a spider in a girl's hair, a bunny in a punch bowl, even tentacles shooting from the pond. Black, and lethal.
His father couldn't get it under control, and blamed his wife. He divorced his spouse and married another. She was a sweet little lady, she made glasses for her stepson that somehow kept his powers under control.
All went quiet after that. He even gained a brother, Ganer. Gorse didn't get along with him too well, as he had to keep him in check with his power.
Ironically, he became drawn to his powers after he was forced to wear the glasses. He tried constantly to take them off, only to be foiled by his brother. It went on like this for years, until Rick grew tired of his place in ruling.
He was speaking with one of his lesser servants, "Y'know Steven, I'm getting rather bored here. If only there was some way to get out of this rathole, I don't feel like waiting till one of my sons takes power."
His servant nervously gulped, "W-Well sire...y-you could just-"
Rick suddenly flicked his ears up and snapped his fingers, "I got it! Steven, tell my sons to pack their things! I have to go arrange a meeting!"
Steven starred off as his king ran out. He sighed, he knew this wouldn't be good. He went and did as he was commanded though. He did not want to end up beheaded for insubordination.
Meanwhile, Rick headed out to the jungle. He had heard a rumour that if you looked hard enough, you'd find the hideout of an assassin. A group of them some would say. He kept walking, but suddenly heard a creaking sound each step further he took.
He thought about turning back, but it was too late already, as the ground fell out beneath him causing him to plunge down into darkness. He tumbled and took a nasty fall once he hit ground again, and looked up to see a man in black.
The man grabbed him by the fur on his chest and held a dagger to his neck.
"Aye, fresh meat. Royal meat too." The man said with a sneer.
Rick threw his hands up into the air, "I've come to make a deal!"
The man looked at him carefully, "That so mate? What kind of deal?"
Rick chose his words carefully before speaking, "I've come to ask you to do a job for me. I have plenty to pay you, I just need you to do what you do best. There's a wedding tomorrow, and I think it'd be fair for you to start there."
The man smirked and let go of the white fox. "Hmm, depends. How much money we talkin'?"
"One thousand quid." he replied.
The man scowled, "Oy, not one thousand, I want two thousand!"
"One thousand!"
"Two thousand!"
"One thousand!" Rick yelled.
"Two thousand!" The man exclaimed.
"One thousand five hundred." Rick suddenly said.
"Wait, what?" The man shook his head and growled, "I want two thousand you bloke and no less!"
Rick started getting irritated with this guy. Just who did he think he was?
"You'll get one thousand and no more!"
"Hmm, how about this...how much of that kingdom you want gone?" The assassin asked.
Rick thought for a moment, "I'd say about...all of it."
The man smirked, "Then I'll need some extra if not two thousand. How about one thousand plus another five hundred for the rest of the place?"
Rick smirked. Now that was a deal he couldn't refuse, "Alright. I'm heading out tonight, so just be mindful not to mention me."
The rest of the night went smoothly for him and his sons of course, as they headed out around midnight. But the next day was full of fear and terror for the Fox Clan inhabitants.
A wedding was just getting started when suddenly all the windows were shot through and broken at once. Everyone realized it as soon as they saw it, they were under attack.
They tried to escape, but it was hopeless. The attackers left no one alive, or so they thought. There was one little girl who had escape their grasp. The girl was known as Flare.
She was a sweet little girl, but that day, she was changed into something else. She hid with her friends, Harmony, Tap, Neon, Berry, and Melody. They were all scared, terrified even as they found that their king had deserted them. It was during all this that Rick was constantly pestered with questions by his children. He never truly answered them.
They kept moving for days and nights and eventually made it to a exceedingly foggy town. Rick and his sons looked around, but Ganer thought he saw something.
"What's that?!" He yelped.
It just turned out to be a few people in dirty, brown and slightly torn cloaks shambling on either side of them. They stopped dead in their tracks as they all turned to look straight at them.
Ganer started to get nervous, Gorse just scowled menacingly at the approaching strangers. They all stood there just staring for a few brief moments. Then all the tension broke when they started cheering.
"The king! The king! The long lost king has returned! It's as the prophecy foretold!" The people yelled.
Rick was utterly confused was at this point, but kept listening.
"He's returned!"
"Oh great and wondrous king, we welcome you back!"
"I can't believe it!"
"He's here! He's really here!"
Rick smirked, perhaps he could use this to his advantage. He had them take him to their castle, it was old and cracked as well as everything else of course, and many fortunes left behind.
He used some of these fortunes to pay for all the damages and renewed the whole town. Ganer was still very nervous, and seemed uneasy about lying to the people of this town.
"Ganer, come on now. Look at how happy they all are!" his brother said, attempting to cheer him.
"Happy? You mean foolish? I can't stand lying like this, and the fact father is being so vague about why we had to leave-" Gorse slapped his hand over his brother's mouth.
"Yeah yeah yeah, listen, you gotta just shut up and do what dad says, or we're gonna get in some serious shit. Got it?" Ganer nodded, but he would have shook his head in his mind.
They went to school their father had invested in the next day.
"Just try to act natural." Gorse commanded.
But that lasted all but a second as tons of girls were swooning over them both.
"Oh yeah. We're probably lookin' real natural right about now." Ganer scowled at his ignorant brother.
But the girls suddenly fled as yelling was heard, "Yeah, y'all get yo skinny asses outta here!"
It was a peppy looking owl before them, who had scared off the hoard of girls.
"Y'all okay? Looked like a nightmare in there." The girl asked.
Gorse rolled his eyes, "More like a dream till you showed u-"
Ganer jabbed him in the stomach with his elbow.
He held it for a moment but whimpered out, "I mean...yes, thanks…!" He fell to the floor and passed out.
Ganer smirked, "Name's Ganer, that's my older brother, Gorse." he said.
The owl smiled, "Mary. Mary Lou. I run the guard for the forest or the patrol so to speak. I live just outside of town, you should come over sometime."
She took off just as the bell rang, and Ganer groaned. The only downside to pulling that move on his brother was he had to drag him to the nurse now.
And of course, he had no idea where that was. But he managed anyways. It was at lunch they met everyone else they needed to know.
Nightshade "Dark" The Wolf, a gray wolf with a strange design on his bangs that earned him the nickname. Dark had a history for his slight anger issues but nothing major.
His girlfriend, Aleena, a sweet soul who showed concern every once in a while was normally next to him and would talk your ear off if you got on the right subject.
Christopher, a fox who was kind of known for his bad grades.
And they learned Mary Lou was of course the peppy one of the group.
But Ganer set his eyes on a girl who was seemingly elegant. Gannetta.
Gorse knocked him in the back of the head to snap him out of his day dreaming, "Earth to Ganer, wake up!" Gorse said.
Ganer shook his head rapidly to snap out of it.
"And this is Neko!" Mary said.
Gorse glanced but didn't see anybody else, "Uhh...who?" he asked.
A small lemur climbed up on the table, he was wearing large lion-like gloves and had a soda, "Hey everybody! Whao! It's prince Gorse and prince Ganer!"
Ganer looked at the rat-like creature in confusion, but clarified, "Oh, no, I'm not a prince, I advocated a long time ago, I just live with them."
Neko studied the two carefully, "Hmm, a bit taller than I expected, but still awesome!"
Gorse smirked, he liked the lemur, and he knew he was going to have lots of fun at this school. Ganer saw that, and elbow jabbed his brother again, only in his ribs. He flinched in pain and held his now sore side.
They all made friends with each other quickly. They spent a lot of time together for a long time, until winter hit.
Mary and Aleena were trying to head home, when they saw something curled up under a table. Shivering. Aleena looked under it to see a girl just about their age, with torn clothes, she looked scared.
Aleena helped her out from under the table, "Oh you poor thing! Come on, let's get you somewhere warm!"
Mary and Aleena took her to her home not too far away. They put her by a fireplace with a soft blanket on the couch and spoke amongst themselves in the kitchen with Dark.
"You think she's from around here?" Dark asked.
"No, she's mortal, she was too vulnerable to the cold." Aleena said.
"You really think she's mortal blood?" Mary asked.
"What else could she be? Witches haven't been around for centuries." Dark stated.
"But what of StoneHenge? Who's to say it's gone?" Aleena questioned.
"Not really a possibility anymore, they were all killed in a bombing." Dark stated.
"Well what should we do?" Mary asked.
"There is a cabin that isn't currently occupied." Aleena suggested.
"I have some money from my job I could lend over to help pay for it." Dark offered.
"Me too." Mary chimed in.
"So it's settled then?" Aleena asked.
They all heard mumbling and saw the girl had awoken, seemingly hungry. They fed her some warm soup of course and told her of their plan to help her.
She obliged, happily, but shuddered whenever they asked her where she came from or how she came to be lost in the snow. The only question she answered was her name.
"...I am Amelia. But...you may call me Amy."
"NICE TO MEET YOU AMY!" Dark practically yelled happily.
She shrieked in terror and hid under the chair trembling in fear. Aleena and Mary scowled at him.
"What?" Dark asked.
Mary helped her out, "Don't mind him sugar. He's kind of stupid. And loud."
Amy smiled and giggled.
The next day they all took shifts helping her through the day, learning that she was terribly shy. A few more weeks passed as winter faded away. Everything seemed normal till two more students had shown up at school.
It was during lunch it had all transpired, "I heard that there's a new student coming today." Amy started.
"You mean the girl?" Mary asked, but Amy shook her head.
"No. He's much too different to be even close."
"How so?"
"He's dark and scary...and he's really, really mean. He's been suspended from every last school he's been to, and that was just for dark magic…" Amy spoke quietly.
"Hm, I think I'm gonna like this kid." Gorse joined in the conversation.
"GORSE!" Dark exclaimed.
"What? Prince Of Darkness, remember?"
"You best watch yo ass boy! Cause I ain't lettin' dat happen!" Mary said.
"I've been reading about things like these. Witches are one thing, but the kind with magic like that...it's like a curse. You guys are immortal, but he's immortal with no way of dying, not even by a stake through the heart," Amy added.
"Sounds like a bunch of baloney to me!" Dark exclaimed.
"I hope so." Ganer replied.
"I just hope everything will be alright." Aleena said.
"I'm sure it will be Aleena." Dark assured her.
"Excuse me." They all looked up, to see a dark red colored fox standing before him, his eyes red, and his mere posture intimidating.
"Does anyone happen to know where the line for lunch starts?"
It was like living her worst nightmare. Amy began to fall backward out of her seat, but Mary caught her and chuckled nervously, "Don't mind her! I-It starts over dere!"
"Thanks." he said, heading to where Mary had pointed.
She sighed in relief, "Phew, that boy was sure terrifyin'!"
"More like a nightmare!" Amy whimpered as she woke back up from passing out.
Gannetta was cuddled up against Ganer in fear, but he was blushing too much to be scared. He was clearly out of it.
"Oh dear, that couldn't have been good!" Aleena exclaimed.
The rest of the day they all avoided the boy, until after school let out and everyone was on their way home.
Gorse and Dark stopped him in the halls, "Hey there, I'm Dark, this is Gorse. We didn't quite catch your name."
The boy remained silent for a few moments before saying, "Tom. Tom T. Fox."
They glanced at each other nervously and then back to Tom.
Gorse shoved Dark away, "Well! I heard that you're into black magic there!"
Tom showed no emotion saying, "I know a few spells. I've actually heard a lot about you too. We should hang out sometime."
"Awesome! Now when would you like to meet?"
But Gorse got pulled to the side by his ear. He glanced up to see it was Dark.
Growling he rubbed his ear, "Dark, what the hell is wrong with you?!"
Dark seemed concerned, "Gorse, I don't like this. I don't care what kind of prince you are or what you're a prince of. You can't just hang out with shady guys like...well...him!" he said, gesturing to the fox waiting for them to return.
"And why should I care?" Gorse asked.
"What would your brother say if he found out you were hanging out with some random guy you just met, who performs black magic?"
Gorse stayed quiet for a few moments before taking a deep breath and reaching for his glasses. But just as he was about to take them off, his brother intervened.
"Hey Gorse! Come over here, I got something I'd like to tell you!" he said, dragging his brother away.
Tom starred in confusion. But what Dark didn't notice, was his smirk. He thought about the fun he could have with this fox. The next day, more abnormality followed.
Gorse sat alone at lunch, now this was strange because normally, girls were swooning him. The others kept trying to figure it out, till Ganer saw Gorse wasn't wearing his glasses.
"Uh oh, this can't be good." he muttered.
Mary looked up as well, noticing a girl none of them had ever seen before. Probably the new girl they had been expecting. But what caused her to panic was she headed over to Gorse.
"Oh shit…" Mary whispered.
The girl just stood there for a few moments before Gorse noticed.
She smiled nervously, "Um, hi, I was wondering if I could sit here?" she asked.
"... Sure." Gorse mumbled and motioned to a chair next to him, looking away from the new girl.
She sat beside him, introducing herself as Foximina - Foxy for short.
"...Gorse. Prince Gorse." he snapped slightly. His attitude didn't seem to bother her much.
Amy started observing this girl carefully, wondering why she seemed unfazed by Gorse's tone and movement.
"What is it Amy?" Dark asked.
"That girl doesn't really look to be into bad things, but she's not affected by Gorse's grumpiness. How is that possible?"
Mary shrugged, "I don't know."
The rest of the day went on as usual, till they all got home. Ganer was chewing Gorse out pretty bad, also forcing him to put his glasses back on.
"Gorse, why the hell would you ever leave this house without those glasses?! Mother made them especially for yo-"
Gorse snapped, though his glasses were on, "SHE'S NOT MY MOTHER GANER! GET THAT THROUGH YOUR HEAD!" he screamed.
Ganer stepped back, he had never seen his brother act like this, sure the occasional tantrum when his glasses were missing but, not this. This was different.
"Gorse...did...did something happen to C-Candy?" Ganer asked about his mother and Gorse's step mother.
Gorse didn't answer him. He just left the room, slamming the door shut. Ganer sighed. He had a feeling his father had done something terrible, or was planning to.
The next day Gorse was moodier than ever, though his glasses were still on. But Foxy still willingly sat beside him each day, grumpy or not. The others became concerned, but to no avail surprisingly, as they found their friend had started to comply with the female he found annoying at first.
"Oh how sweet! He's falling in love!" Gannetta stated.
Ganer rolled his eyes, "Come on now Gannetta, Gorse? In love? You have to be kidding."
She smirked slightly, "Now now, there's nothing wrong with being in love darling. In fact, I'm in love myself."
Ganer stared at her for a moment before asking, "Really? And who would that be?"
Gannetta blushed, "Well-" she was interrupted by laughing from Gorse's table.
She smirked when Ganer saw Gorse laughing with Foxy. "Told you he was in love!"
"Now if only we could avoid one more problem." Amy stated, hopefully as a shadow cast over her.
She looked up, seeing a dark colored seedrian standing behind her, she fell again only to caught by another. An angry looking brown wolf known as Truth.
He scowled at the seedrian, "What are you doing over here Harsuki?"
She smirked, "Oh, just doing my daily collection. Pay up geeks!"
Mary glared at her, coming ever so close to her face, "Listen here bitch! You betta fuck off before I-"
She was suddenly backhanded by the seedrian and tossed to the nearest wall all the way across the lunchroom.
Harsuki frowned, "Hmph. Pathetic."
Gannetta screamed in panic, but was held close by Ganer.
Dark growled and told Aleena to stay down.
Truth just scowled, "You piss off before I kill you!"
Harsuki sneered, "Or what?"
"Or I'll personally dispose of you myself…" a cold sounding voice declared.
She turned around, only to see Gorse standing there, his glasses missing.
"Oh, I'm so scared of a freaky looking fox!" she sarcastically remarked.
Gorse growled, and punched the ignorant girl so hard she fell to the floor. She put her hand over where he had hit her, and saw blood on her fingertips. She stared up at the angered fox in fear.
"Beat it." he snapped, and she scowled, though still running off. Mary was the first to praise Gorse for his madness for once.
"Gorse! That was amazing!"
"Where did that come from?" Dark asked.
"You were smashing darling!" Aleena exclaimed.
"Maybe you're more than just a time bomb." Ganer said.
"That was so cool Gorse!" Gannetta praised.
He blushed in embarrassment and put his glasses back on, "It was nothing guys. Really."
"It sure was something to me!" a familiar voice said.
He turned around to see Foxy, now he was scared, "You...saw that?"
She nodded, "Every last second!"
He hung his head in shame.
"And it was spectacular! I've never seen anything like it!" she shouted.
He lifted his head up, confused, "Wh-What? You mean...you aren't mad or afraid?"
Foxy shook her head, "No! Why would I be either? You're the bestest friend ever!" she said, hugging him from one side.
He blushed. He never really had friends before. Sure Dark and him hung out from time to time, but this felt different. Like something...stronger? He couldn't make it out.
He walked her home again and headed back to his own house, though made an interesting discovering upon going to his brother's room. He heard noises coming from there and was wondering if he should go in or not.
He made the final decision to open the door, only to find his brother making out with Gannetta. He blushed. No, his face was totally red.
Ganer looked up from his make out session and blushed, "Err…" he said, trying not to make things more awkward.
"SHIT! I-I didn't mean to walk in on this! I-I'm sorry!" Gorse yelped, though his nose was starting to bleed a little.
He slammed the door shut and went straight to his room. He sat there for the rest of the night, trying not to think about it, eventually falling asleep.
But the next day things had changed. Gorse was awkwardly staying away from Ganer because of the night before and Ganer just kept away from his older brother to keep the awkward at a minimum.
Foxy sat next to him at lunch as usual, only something else happened that steered their friendship into a whole new direction.
"I don't know. I never really thought about who I might marry if I ever do," Foxy said. "What about you? Surely you have someone in mind."
Gorse glanced up at her, "Not really. I've...never really known what it's like to be loved like that before."
Foxy raised her eyebrow at this, "How is that? You seem so sweet! I've actually heard that before I came along, you were showered with tons of other girls!"
Gorse shook his head, "No, they just liked me cause I'm a prince. The only reason they stopped following around my brother was because he already stepped down. He just lives with us now."
Foxy thought for a moment, "Well, I don't just like you for your title. You're actually...kinda nice."
He flicked his ears up, "Really? How so?" "
"Well, you haven't done anything mean to me yet. Even when you weren't wearing those magic glasses you were nice enough to let me sit with you."
All of this was true. He had only been around her since the day she arrived. He pondered in silence for a moment till she started to move closer. He didn't notice it till he felt something touch his hand.
He glanced over and saw another hand on top of his own. He glanced up, seeing Foxy right there beside him. He blushed. He felt warm inside, something like he had never felt before. It felt nice.
He didn't move for a moment, then he took Foxy's hand in his. She blushed, but smiled. He smiled back almost shyly. The others at their table suddenly noticed this going on, especially Ganer.
"You look rather cute when you blush..." Foxy whispered.
"Hmph..." he muttered back.
They stayed like this for a few moments before Gorse finally kissed her. She didn't pull back, not even when he pulled her closer. They finally broke their kiss and stared at each other.
Foxy smiled, and for the first time, so did Gorse. They didn't really care that the others were watching.
But Gorse made a mistake taking her home with him that night. He left her in his room to go get a drink, and all too soon, his father stepped right in.
He saw the girl, and he knew she was of lower stance than his own son. He would not have this. He smirked, It's okay he thought. I'll just kill her, and no one will ever knowand with that, he pounced on the poor girl, fist raised in attack, and she screamed in pain and fear.
Meanwhile, Gorse was getting a glass of water. Before any of this transpired, he was staring at himself in the mirror, when his reflection smirked, it's eyes fading red to differ itself from him.
He scowled, "I'm not evil. I'm not the end of this world. I am good."
The reflection scoffed at his inferior copy, "Please, spare me. You and I are the same. We all know she doesn't truly love you! Who would love a maniac like yourself?!"
Gorse growled, "I'm...not...A MANIAC!" he screamed, shattering the mirror completely with his bare fist.
He breathed heavily, bangs covering his eyes. "I'm...n-not...evil…" he said one last time.
He bandaged up his bleeding hand, and picked up his glass of water. Suddenly Gorse heard his lover's screams from downstairs and dropped his glass of water. His eyes turned red, and his glasses cracked, one lens breaking off a bit.
He growled and hurried upstairs, stepping in between Rick and his lover.
He growled, "Stand down now father...and I shall not kill you."
Rick chuckled, "Kill me? Not even you are capable of that!"
Gorse growled. He was becoming fed up with his father's attitude. Foxy looked up.
"G-Gorse…?" She whimpered.
Gorse seemed to calm himself when he heard her, "It's okay...just...stay put, okay?" He soothed.
He stepped forth and came face to face with his father, scowling in hatred, he pounced on Rick, clawing out his eye. Rick screamed in pain, and kicked his son off of him, holding the blackness where his eye was.
He glared up at Gorse, not caring about the blood on his hand. He chuckled, almost like a mad man and declared, "You cannot kill a vampire, foolish child!"
Gorse didn't stand down though, he kept fighting, until he finally struck down his enemy. Rick was on his hands and knees, severely wounded.
"Heh...y-you're a coward...look a-at you." Rick coughed,blood dripping down his chin.
Gorse glared down at the man he could not believe he had called "father" for so many years. He was going to finish him off, until his brother foiled his plans as always, rushing in to see their father, broken and battered on the floor.
He shook his head rapidly trying to snap out of it, he looked at his hands, covered in his father's blood. He realized what he had done, what had happened.
"I...I'm sorry...I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" he shouted, running off.
"Gorse!" Foxy shouted, but he would not listen.
Though still weak from her injuries, she still managed to chase after him. Ganer helped his father up and took him to the restroom to patch up his wounds as Foxy chased after his older brother.
She eventually caught up to Gorse by the lake, finding him in tears.
"G-Gorse?"
He didn't answer for a moment, "I-I almost killed him...I almost k-killed my father…" he choked out.
She stared at him, she had never seen him like this before. Gorse hid his face in his blood covered hands and shook in fear and regret. Gorse felt arms around him and moved his hands to see Foxy hugging him.
"F-Foximina…?"
"Don't cry...I don't like seeing you sad…" she whispered.
Gorse stared at her for a second before giving her a tight hug. She gently pet the back of his head letting him cry, "Shh...it's okay Gorse."
Gorse sniffled and only hugged tighter. He looked up at Foxy and managed a weak smile, though tears were still in his eyes. She smiled, and kissed her lover.
Gorse blushed, but didn't break the kiss, instead he pulled her closer, no longer caring about what was happening in the world as his eyes closed while he kissed his lover.
They eventually broke their kiss, and smiled at each other. Gorse suddenly frowned again.
"What's wrong?" Foxy asked.
"I-I can't take you back to my father...h-he's too dangerous!" Gorse exclaimed.
She turned his face to her own, "Then we'll run away together...away from all of this."
"...I would like that...I really would...But…" Gorse trailed off.
"But what?" Foxy prompted.
"I-I can't leave the kingdom just yet...i-it's because my brother isn't an heir now and...well...I might be able to get my father locked up. It will be safe for us to be together!"
"...I love you Gorse."
Gorse blushed almost crimson, and smiled at Foxy, "I love you too Foxy.."
He hugged her gently and kissed her cheek. "No matter what…" He whispered.
They went home happier than ever that night. Ganer was angry of course, until Gorse explained the whole situation, his lover beside him. They called the police, and watched as he was dragged into the van that came for him.
"I'LL BE BACK YOU BRATS! I WON'T GIVE UP! NOT UNTIL I DIE!" he screamed.
Gorse just scowled at his father, "Keep trying…You're not coming back out…"
Rick scowled at his son as he was thrown into the van with a strait jacket on him. Gorse turned away and returned back to the castle with his little brother and his lover.
The next day at school things seemed more peaceful. Until Gorse noticed a poster on the wall that mentioned a dance. His little brother was obviously going to drag him along, he gulped.
He saw Ganer walking up and quickly blocked the poster out of view, "Hey Ganer! What's going on?"
Ganer could see the nervous grin on his face, "Gorse, you're acting really weird."
"Weird? I'm not acting weird!" Gorse grinned innocently, though he was sweating.
"...What's that poster say?"
"Nothing! Nothing at all!"
"Then let me see."
"No! I mean...we should really get to class we'll be late!" Gorse stuttered.
"...We just got here for intramurals."
"Really? I had no idea!"
"The sun is only halfway up and there's a clock right there." Ganer stated.
"O-oh… Well…" Gorse stuttered.
Ganer sighed and grabbed his older brother's wrists. They struggled in a mock fight for a minute before Ganer won and got Gorse out of the way. Ganer's face lit up when he saw the poster, sealing Gorse's fate.
Ganer dragged him to a formal clothing store after school with Dark and Christopher. Chris didn't really look for a tuxedo, he was just sitting in a chair browsing his phone with his earphones in.
He laughed upon seeing each of them having to put one on. Anyone who knew those boys well, knew they hated wearing shirts, let alone tuxedos. But they did as much anyway, and went home for the day.
Of course there were a few girls chatting about the dance themselves.
"I don't know, a dance? It's still winter. Besides, who am I supposed to go with? Ain't no man gon' satisfy me!" A very impatient and sassy owl spat.
"Oh don't be like that Lou. Sure you don't have a date, but that doesn't mean you can't have any fun." Foxy replied.
"Oh of course it's easy for you two to say things like dat! Y'all are both head over heels for your man!"
Aleena giggled. They were all shopping for dresses, so they tried to keep quiet while in the store.
"Now now Lou, there's no need for that! We're gonna have tons of fun! I know it's been hard on you since Harlie's come around, but it's gonna get better."
Mary Lou smiled, "Yeah? I guess so."
The girls giggled and finished purchasing their attire and headed home. The night passed them all by and the next few days came quickly. Dark hadn't quite hung around Truth too much, and once he decided to introduce himself, they were seen hanging around talking a lot.
He and Truth developed sort of a rivalry after that. They were arguing constantly that week which one of them had the fairer maiden. Gorse had constantly gotten between them with Chris and Mary Lou.
But soon the tension was forced to calm, as the night of the dance came. Each of the boys' pick up was very awkward to say the least, all except Gorse. He was lovestruck.
He would always remember that night, he knocked and what greeted him when the door swung open was a dream. Foxy had her hair done up in a bun and her dress...her dress was a light yellow with beautiful pink lily flowers on it.
She giggled at his red face, "Gee, is it that good?"
Gorse shook off his daydreaming, not hearing her voice. "Err...you...you look wonderful," he stammered.
Foxy blushed, "You don't look too bad yourself. Shall we get going?"
Gorse nodded in reply and gently took her hand, and they headed off for the school. When they arrived, it was an insane scene. There were lots of tables with tons of varieties of foods and blood packs, plus drinks.
Many of the students were wobbling, so it was safe to assume the drinks had been spiked. Millions of bodies crammed the dance floor, and at the front was a DJ with vinyl records freestyling every once in a while.
Many couples had gone into the locker rooms, seeing as the dance was held in the gym, to do things Gorse didn't want to think about.
The two split up to find their friends, they would dance later. Gorse eventually found his group by the food and drinks. Christopher was drunk, as well as Truth and Dark.
Ganer was sober, gently trying to keep all three boys upright. Foximina found her lovely girls by the bleachers, Mary was chewing out some poor boy who had asked her to dance, while Gannetta and Amy were sitting around waiting to be asked to dance.
Tonight was indeed going to be interesting. During all this, a certain little lemur was sitting on a vending machine, watching all the students party. He carefully observed each one, until he landed on Gorse.
He noticed he and his date were split up at the moment.
Neko smirked, and scurried to the DJ, "Yo Daniel! Toss a set!"
The DJ looked to Neko puzzled, "Which one?"
Neko smiled and pulled out a record, "Here."
The DJ took it and smiled, "Oh you sly devil you. Aight, lemme finish this song and I'll play this set."
Neko scurried back to the vending machine and waited. Eventually the DJ turned down his set and started to talk,
"Hey you havin' a good time everybody?!"
The crowd of students cheered. The DJ chuckle and continued, "Well we'll continue our fun in a moment, but right now I want you to get close to your special someone out there cause we're gonna slow things down."
The crowd started assimilating into partners as the song began. Foxy glanced around looking for her date. She turned around to finally see Gorse standing there, his hand offering for a dance.
She took it, in answer. They began to dance as well as their friends. Neko went back to the DJ and kept his eyes on the two. "I've been here for five thousand years Dan. I have never seen love like that."
The DJ smirked, "It ain't just them little buddy. Look."
The DJ gestured towards Dark and Aleena, and then Ganer and Ganetta. Neko smiled, his plan successful even more than he had thought it'd be.
Neko chuckled a bit at Dark still being drunk trying to dance with his date. Aleena was giggling herself. Finally she decided to plant a kiss on his lips to try him snap him out of his drunken state.
He did blush, but yet a drunk man is still drunk. She pulled back and giggled again. Gorse just danced the night away with his date. It was a moment no one would forget. Soon days began to pass, days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months.
Soon the school year ended, but not on a good note. Tom was banished from the kingdom lands, as well as Haruski, who suffered a far harsher punishment. The last anyone had heard, she was chained up somewhere in the forbidden territory.
Truth and Dark started becoming more of enemies than rivals. Amy herself had gotten upset with Dark recently over him taking in a young boy they found in the forest.
She remembered that night like many other things. She was walking along with Dark and Aleena, she didn't speak but that didn't stop Dark from flirting with Aleena. Suddenly, they saw a bright light, and then fell back as the ground shook.
Dark got up and ran to the source of the shockwave. Only to find a young looking wolf with light yellow fur, and blue dots on his bangs. He had many wounds and scars, and even a broken arm.
The youngling opened his yellow eyes and glanced up at the man before him. "...B-Brother…?" he whispered, before passing out. Dark picked him up. He didn't know what to say.
He looked up, scanning the skies for any plausible reason the boy ended up here. He found no planes or jets or anything of the sort, but he could've sworn he saw a shadow dash across the night sky.
"DARK!" two familiar voice shouted. He turned, seeing Amy and Aleena running towards him.
"What happened?! Who...who is that…?!" Amy screeched.
Dark seemed to be in an entirely different world. He ignored them, and walked passed carrying the boy to the nearest hospital. But the reason Amy had been so upset, was that he had lied about his relationship to the boy. Claiming to be his brother when the doctor had asked.
She became distant, and soon neither Dark nor Aleena saw head or hide of her after that. Gorse became distant as well, creating a tension between him and Dark.
He moved into a small hut to start a family with Foximina, and Dark had done the same, moving into a small farmhouse in the forest. Dark was the first to successfully bring out a child.
They named him "James 'Biohazzard' Wolf." Biohazzard being his nickname, due to his...unusual bang pattern. Next around the same times came Gorse's first kids, then Dark's next ones.
Both had the same deal; twins. Gorse had one girl and one boy. He named the girl "Tailsica" meaning "Gentle butterfly" in Fox Clan language. And the boy? "Asurath" meaning "Strength" in Fox Clan language.
Dark just named his boys Randal and Alex. The two pairs were similar, they both played together often. But the difference with Alex and Randal is that they were a little rougher.
However, their older brother didn't hesitate to break them up however he could if it got too far. As for Tailsica and Asurath, the two couldn't be apart ever. No matter where they went.
Which only made it worse when Asurath was told his sister could not go to school until she stopped feeling sick so often. Their bond was strong and unbreakable, and it was clear to all who saw it. It was all determined a very late night when they were only two.
Tailsica ran into her room laughing and giggling, grinning that grin she always did. Asurath was being held by his mother, though he was getting fussy because he wanted to play.
Then everyone turned their heads up as they heard Tailsica shriek. She ran out of the room, but a hand picked her up by her tail. There stood a black fox with red, searing eyes.
He smirked, and Gorse growled. The fox stopped holding the infant by her tail, and moved her so that he held her properly.
"Well well well...isn't this nice? You moved all the way out here to have two little trolls." The fox said.
Foxy looked bewildered. "Who are you? What are you talking about?"
Gorse was silently fighting the urge to take off his glasses, "Enu...put her down."
"Enu…?" Foxy whispered.
Asurath scowled, seeing his sister near the point of crying.
Enu frowned, "Didn't you teach your brat not to stare? Tsk tsk tsk...I'd expect better of you Gorse."
Asurath's cheeks started to puff up as he held his breath, his cheeks growing red. Enu just laughed at how the fledgeling tried to be intimidating. Tailsica finally began to cry, and Asurath lost it.
Suddenly, right before the eyes of his parents as well as the intruder, his shape transformed. His muzzle grew longer, and his clothes ripped off as he grew more fur. He hopped out of his mother's arms, and landed on four newly shaped paws. He had shapeshifted into a wolf cub.
The youngling bit Enu's ankle, sinking it into his flesh. Enu yelled and dropped Asurath's young sister. He caught her, bringing her to their father and growling at Enu.
The intruder simply growled back, "You will regret this day…" And in a flash of light, he was gone.
Asurath changed back to his former self, and acted as though nothing had even happened, giggling happily as babies do. Foxy and Gorse were stunned, they didn't know what to think or say. But Tailsica understood, and flashed a smile at her brother.
At that moment, their bond had formed. And they grew up being inseparable. As for Alex however, he grew up as a simple farm boy along with his brothers. When he was very small, their parents adopted a puppy. He named it Luke, after his deceased uncle on his mother's side of the family.
Luke liked them all the same, but he formed a stronger bond with Alex over the years. Alex was always terrible with navigation, and got lost one day in the city. Or so they called it.
He stopped, looking around to see if there was a familiar path home, but his dog's growling distracted him. He glanced over, and saw a young wolf about his age, pointing a gun right at him.
Next to him was a fox with dreadlocks. He jumped behind a trashcan to defend himself. "What you doin' cracker?!" he heard.
"Gimme dat! I'll do it myself!" Footsteps followed and then he heard a click,
"Get yo ass out here cracker, 'fore I fill your brain with lead."
Shadic shuddered, "A-Ahm not from here! P-Please don' kill me!" He yelped in a farmer's accent.
"I dun said git out here cracker!"
No reply came. But Luke tackled the child down, and the gun went flying, landing by Alex's foot. He grabbed it, getting up and aiming it at his attacker. The boy flinched.
Finally, a foot is shot forward and flung the gun from Alex's shakey hands. All the boys looked up to see a young wolf with dark brown fur.
The tension seemed to fade off, as the boy who first held the gun stepped forward, "Um...s-sorry about this..what's your name kid?"
Alex rubbed his arm, "...Alex."
The boy smirked, "Heh. Nice. I'm Andrew. That boy there's Rusty," gesturing to the fox.
"And that there is me best mate. Trent." He finished, wrapping his arm around the final boy.
Trent blushed, "Aw shucks Andrew."
Alex smiled, less afraid of the boys. Luke calmed down as well.
"So...you said you're not from here cracker?" Rusty asked.
Alex nodded.
"Well, where ya live?"
Alex gulped, "I-In the forest. There's a little farmhouse. But ah can't figure out where it is."
Rusty thought, "Hmm...oh! Yeah I know where dat is! Follow me cracker!"
Alex smiled, and talked with the boys as they lead him back home. Before he went inside, Andrew stopped him and handed him a bandanna cloth with a strange symbol on it.
Alex took it and wrapped it around his arm, waving goodbye to his new friends and heading inside. From that point on, he grew up under their wings. Trent would always tease him for being a virgin. But Andrew told him to ignore it.
It went on like that for a long time, until one tragic day took it's toll on Alex. He was playing with Luke outside, and he noticed it was starting to get cloudy out.
"Uh oh. Better head back inside boy, we gon' get wet!" Alex turned, but Luke didn't follow as his ears perked at a sound his master could not hear. He tackled down his owner, and a loud bang was heard.
Alex sat up, "Luke what're you do-" His eyes grew wide as his eyes fell upon his beloved dog. Luke was lying on the ground, bleeding, a hole in his chest. He gave little twitches and whimpers to show he was alive. Hot tears ran down Alex's cheeks, as thunder sounded and rain began to pour down.
"L-Luke…?" Alex whimpered.
His brothers and parents ran out to him, wearing raincoats of course, and were horrified by the sight that laid before them. Alex ignored the burns the rain inflicted upon his fur and skin.
Randal began to cry, "No...Luke no…!"
The family mourned, and Dark went back inside. He came back out with a shotgun and then walked up beside his saddened son, "Look away boy…"
Alex didn't even move.
"Look...away…!" Dark ordered.
Alex closed his eyes as tight as he could. Another shot was heard, and the whimpers had stopped. Luke was dead. The family shambled back inside while Dark buried the body out in the backyard.
Alex refused to leave the house, and his friends would often come looking for him. But they had always been turned away. One day he had become sick.
His parents went to work, and his brothers to school. But what they didn't know is that he really wasn't sick. He was faking. Once he was sure they were gone, he stepped outside, and sat in front of his friend's grave.
Rain had been pouring down a lot since that day. Alex didn't even acknowledge the burns forming on him once more. He heard the crunching of leaves and twigs as he looked up, seeing his friend, Tailsica, a raincoat on her, staring horrified at him.
She had come to check up on him, since she too was usually sick. She dragged her blinded friend inside and dried him off.
"What were you thinking?!" She shrieked.
Alex didn't answer. He was locked in sadness. Tailsica sighed, and hugged him as tightly as she could. Alex blinked, looked down, then finally let out a slew of tears that had been held back for far too long, hugging her back tightly.
"Shadic, I know it's hard to lose Luke.." Tailsica said as she gently coaxed Shadic over to the couch. "But you have to move on… Luke would want that…"
"YOU DONT KNOW WHAT MY DOG WOULD WANT!" Shadic suddenly screamed as tears fell down his face.
He let out a sob as Tailsica made him sit on the couch. Tailsica hugged him tightly and the grieving boy hugged her back just as tightly.
Eventually he fell asleep in his friends arms and she slowly laid him down on the couch. She sighed, she didnt know what to do with Shadic at the moment.
The next few days, Shadic slowly got better with his depression. Tailsica continued to visit him and made sure the older boy ate and got clean.
"Shadic you need to stay clean." Tailsica said as she scrubbed Shadic's hair, she had forced him into a bath tub with purified water to keep from burning his skin.
"This is embarrassin' T, Ah don' need ya ta clean me up ya know." Shadic said grumpily. He was trying his best to cover his chest, seeing as he had no chest fur like his brothers and father at the time.
"I don't care Shadic. You're gonna get clean and you're gonna like it." Tailsica stated as she grabbed a cup floating in the tub, filled it with water, and dunked it over Shadic's head to get the suds out.
"Grr…" Shadic growled, and shook his head roughly, splattering his female friend with water, earning a shriek from her.
"SHADIC!"
"Ah didn' do it."
Just then Shadic's father came into the bathroom.
"What's goin' on here?" Dark questioned.
"Nothing Mr. Wolf. Shadic is clean now, you can dry him off!" Tailsica chirped cheerfully and walked out of the bathroom, despite having a giant dark spot on her shirt belly where she got splattered with water.
Shadic rolled his eyes and got out of the tub as Dark got a towel and began to dry Shadic's hair. They stayed quiet for a moment before Dark started conversation.
"Seem's like she's formed a bond with you boy." Dark stated.
"Bond?" Shadic questioned.
"Where you two can tolerate each other a lot more than what most can. Um…. Kinda like me and your mother."
"EW! GROSS! NO WE ARE NOT LIKE THAT! WE DON' KISS AND STUFF." Shadic yelled but he was smiling.
"Okay, bad example, umm.. Like you and your younger brother, except you don't fight."
"Hey Pa?" Shadic wanted to change the subject.
"Yes son?" Dark wrapped the towel around Shadic's torso, curious at what Shadic wanted.
"Why don' ya talk like me and my brothers? Ya sound like ya were raised different." Shadic said.
Just then there was a distinct noise that was indistinguishable. It was familiar to the boys already since they already knew it was from the cellar. But they were told to never go in it, and they never did.
"Huh?" Shadic questioned. He was always curious about the noise.
"Go get dressed Shadic." Dark ordered. And Shadic left the bathroom quickly and went to his room to get dressed. Dark stood up and went to the door to the cellar, opened it, and went into the dark place, making sure to close the door behind him.
"Papa…? Is that you…?" a frail voice asked. He knew well who it was.
"Yes." Dark stated, the single word was supposed to stop the voice from talking.
"You've been gone for longer than usual...I'm so hungry...please spare me something...please…?"
"... Alright, I'll give you some food, I'll be back in a moment." Dark sighed. He went back up the steps, and re entered his home. He went to the kitchen and brought out a few left overs from the night before's dinner. Stuff Shadic only picked at. He then brought the food back down into the cellar.
"Here. I have food." He stated.
A small yet bony figure staggered forward and weakly took the bits of sustenance.
"...Don't...hurt...them…" she said, only this time less timidly, and more acidly, as if threatening her father.
"I would never hurt my sons Maggie," Dark glared at the small girl, his voice cold and unloving. "And I wouldn't hurt James if that is your main concern."
"Liar…" she snapped once more, turning her back on her father.
Dark sighed, and left the cellar, and went in the house to his wife. She didn't say anything, but he knew she was struggling.
Months passed, and Alex seemed to grow more curious about the cellar, but his brothers would always make sure he didn't even reach the front door, knowing each time why he was going out.
However, they were quite perplexed to see that their father had finally stopped going to the cellar at all. The last time they saw him come back out of it, they were told one last time if they were caught trying to go inside, there would be harsh punishment.
They knew he wouldn't hurt them, but they weren't willing to find out what the punishment was. They also noticed that after that day their mother was more quiet than usual.
She was often in her bedroom, sobbing. Being unaware of what was going on, the boys were helpless to do anything for their mother and never spoke of it.
However, a couple more years after this turnabout of events Dark received a letter. It was from the castle which surprised all of them since they were simple farm folk and had never received any acknowledgement from royalty.
Dark opened the letter however and read it, not out-loud however. After reading, he told his sons to go pack their things. They didn't question the order and did as they were told.
His wife however, was still confused, "What is it dear?"
Dark turned to his wife, "I've...been asked to join the royal guard."
The shock on her face was clear as day, "Royal guard?! By whom?!"
Dark didn't answer her, but he had a pretty good feeling he knew just who it was. After a lot of paperwork and moving, Dark went to the castle with his letter.
After some complications with the guards he managed to get inside, only to find that it was mostly empty. Not used to so much space in one place like this, he actually felt a little intimidated.
The guards slowly lead the farmer to the end of the hall, which had a large door. It seemed to open on it's own, and he stepped inside. He jumped slightly when the doors closed again only to find two more guards were in the room with him.
He sighed and walked along the red carpet that lead to a staircase. At the top of it was a throne, and Dark froze once he saw who was sitting upon it.
"G-Gorse…? Is that you…?" Dark managed to choke out.
The familiar fox smiled, "Hey Nightshade. How goes it?"
Dark wasn't quite sure how to respond. It was all so sudden and strange.
"I uh...I got your letter...you wanted me to join this uh...royal guard gig ya got goin' on?" he said in a slight country accent.
"I figured it's time we tie up old knots and get back in touch. But I also thought I might help ya out a little," the fox replied.
"Help me out? What do you mean?" Dark asked.
"Oh come on Nightshade! Farming is practically a dead business these days. I know you're hardly pulling in money," Gorse said, "You used to tussle with me quite a bit back in high school, and as much as I hate to admit it, you beat me quite a bit."
"Yeah, but...I'm a bit outta shape here Gorse." Dark stated and looked down a bit, feeling a bit embarrassed.
"Then we'll get ya into training! I know an old friend of ours that can help ya get started."
"I donno...this is all so sudden Gorse. I did move into the village like ya told me to, but I guess I wasn't quite expectin' this."
"Don't you worry, I got it all covered. And hey, now you can finally get to meet my kids!"
"What?! Ya'll had children?!" Dark exclaimed, deeply surprised at his friend.
"What? You surprised? I may have been irresponsible back in my school days, but I've grown out of my youthful shell. I practically feel like an old man already."
"Yeah I know what ya mean. I got three boys." Dark said.
"Who-ho-ho! nice Nightshade! I've got twins."
"Um...C-can you not call me that? I go by Dark y'know."
"Sorry, royal policy I guess." Gorse shrugged.
The two were walking and talking down the hall now, as they continued to chat about what they had been doing since they last saw each other.
It didn't take long for Dark to get to training, and that's when he saw his old sparring buddy, Truth. He was a bit surprised, but he noted that Truth still had that huge ego of his.
They both developed a new sort of rivalry for each other. Eventually Dark earned the title of "Captain" and was overjoyed to hear it.
Gorse had even asked if Dark would have his son become prince. Alex only took a day to come up with his answer.
Gorse took Dark and Alex to a professor, where he hooked up a machine to Alex's body and head.
"Are you sure this is safe Professor?" Dark asked.
"Absolutely!" the Professor said. "Ready Alex "Shadic" The Wolf?"
"A-ahm ready." Shadic stated.
The Professor pulled the lever, and Shadic let out a scream of pain that lasted all of about a minute before he passed out. Dark caught his son and looked up at the Professor and then to the King.
"Thank you.." Dark whispered
"Your son will now think he's the rightful prince. But his life will be a lie Dark, if Gorse is to die, the crown will automatically turn to you. No coronation required." the Professor said.
"For now, you pretend to be the king around your sons. But make sure they know that Shadic is not to be told the truth. I will continue work as the king but be a guard when Shadic is around." Gorse said.
Dark nodded. He understood.
Everything seemed to be working out in not only Dark's favor, but the kingdom's itself, and things were looking up.
BOOM
Nearly the whole village woke up in a fright, including Dark and his family. And before he knew it all the guards were being called forth to engage in battle.
He told his wife to stay put, and to make sure their sons didn't wander outside as he put on his armor and headed out.
Shadows were moving in the darkness, but as one shadow knocked over a torch, a fire had began, lighting up the area and revealing a hoard of Raccats flying above.
They all noticed their cover was blown, and began attacking directly. Aleena watched from a small peek out the curtains in her window. She wasn't too keen on remaining in the castle where they had been moved.
She told her sons to stay put and left the room, leaving her sons quaking in fear. Outside Dark was ordering around the troops, trying to push back the disgusting creatures.
His eyes fell upon Truth, they had been in a bit of a tussle lately over a few things.
He scowled, "Truth!"
Truth looked up, "Yes Captain?"
"Out to the fields, I want ya'll to push back whatever's still tryin' to get in! I'll send more soon!"
Truth seemed hesitant, but he knew he couldn't disobey the Captain's orders, and did as told. Dark soon got into the field himself to help his men fend of the threat.
Meanwhile, Gorse was watching all this through his own window.
He growled, "Foxy, get the children downstairs and don't come out till I come back. Understand?"
Foxy nodded and gently shooed the children into a door hidden beneath a rug on the floor. She turned back to her husband, noticing he was reaching for his glasses.
She grabbed him quickly and kissed him, she pulled back quickly however and retreated into the cellar. Gorse waited until the door had shut to take off his glasses.
Gorse's eyes turned red and he threw his glasses onto the floor. He then walked out of the room and left the castle, grabbing a sword as he left.
He opened the door and saw the war raging outside the castle. And he ran into the war, only to see a new enemy coming, werewolves.
Meanwhile, Biohazard had left Randal and Shadic on their own to make sure the path ahead of them was safe. Randal was shaking in fear and Shadic was almost on the verge of a panic attack but kept his fear down.
Just then the glass shattered and a werewolf came in, Shadic couldn't help but think that the being looked strangely familiar.
"Randal. Go. Go find Biohazard or go hide. I don't care. Just...GO." Shadic ordered his younger twin. Randal didn't hesitate as he ran off in the direction that Biohazard went.
Shadic stood up and faced the werewolf, ready to fight with his bare fists if he had to.
The werewolf lunged, clawing at Shadic. Shadic jumped back but the werewolf managed to hook a claw onto Shadic's ear and tear out a chunk of it.
Shadic let out a yell of pain and held his bleeding ear before glaring at the beast before him.
"Is that all you GOT?" He growled.
The werewolf lunged again, and again Shadic jumped to dodge, but this time the werewolf got his teeth into Shadic's tail.
Shadic let out a yelp of pain as he thudded to the ground, the beast pinned the boy to the floor and started to claw and scratch.
Shadic did the best he could to protect himself, getting a few minor scratches as if the beast was trying not to get Shadic hurt. But Shadic did get a good chunk cut out from his lip.
"AGH!" Shadic yelled and tried to push the werewolf off of him. That only made the beast mad.
"STAY!" The beast suddenly yelled. Shadic froze, surprised at the sudden voice.
The werewolf lowered his head and sniffed Shadic, instantly Shadic went limp, trying to not get attacked any more.
"Hmm… You.. Fletchling Vampire.." The werewolf's english was broken, but still could be understood. "Good… I can eat you!"
'Eat?!' Shadic's thoughts screamed. Instantly Shadic surged upward and pushed the beast off him in pure fear as adrenalin pumped through his veins.
"NO!" Shadic screamed as he turned tail and ran. The werewolf let out a roar and chased after him, quickly catching up on all four legs and tackling Shadic down.
The werewolf growled and sunk his teeth into Shadic's side, earning a scream of pure pain from Shadic as he felt the teeth sink into his side and began to pull at his flesh.
"NO!" Shadic screamed as he struggled and pulled against the werewolf.
The beast kept a firm grip on Shadic as he pulled a large strip of flesh from Shadic, starting from the middle of the boy's torso down to his knee.
Shadic screamed and managed to get up despite the pain he was in and ran, not caring about blood loss and running on adrenalin.
The numbers of both the Raccats and the werewolves seemed to keep increasing.
"Where the fuck is Truth?!" Dark yelled, irritated.
"He got cornered and surrounded by some of the Raccats sir! 'Fraid he's dead," A guard said.
The sudden reality of what he had done hit Dark like a brick against his head.
'What have I done…?' he thought, but his thought was interrupted when he caught sight of a couple of Raccats bashing on a door.
"Wait a minute. That's Gorse's house! Uh-oh...Foximina! The kids!" He turned to the guard beside him, "I'm leaving you in charge!"
But before the guard could protest, Dark was gone.
Inside the house, Foxy was hidden under the floorboards, she was trying her best to keep her kids calm, saying everything would be alright.
Her son, Asurath was clinging onto her for dear life, while her daughter was quiet for the time being.
"Momma.. Lemme go." Tailsica said calmly.
"What? No!" Foxy exclaimed.
"Please momma! I can fight!" Tailsica managed to get free of her mother's grasp. "I can protect you and big brother, okay?"
"Wha...Where did you learn to fight…?!" Foxy demanded.
Tailsica didn't answer for a moment as she turned at the sound of the cellar door being smashed against.
"I learned…I learned to fight from daddy." Tailsica sighed.
"S-Sis…" Asurath said, seeming surprised.
Suddenly the cellar doors swung open and a Raccat swooped in.
Tailsica instantly flew herself against the Raccat and managed to knock it to the ground despite her small size.
The creature suddenly screeched directly into one of her ears, causing her to lose her focus and unable to hear in that ear, she just hoped it was temporary.
Seizing the opportunity, the creature kicked her back and scratched her eye in the process. The three claw marks suddenly seemed to decay to a black color.
Tailsica growled, now getting angrier. But before she had time to react, she heard a cry from her brother. She turned her head to see Foxy diving in front of him.
The creature behind her gave her another hard blow to the head, knocking her unconscious.
Eventually, she woke up hearing weak sobs. She sat up and rubbed her head, "Oof...what just happened…?"
"Mom...c'mon...get up mom…!" She turned to see her brother slumped over their mother's body, blood pouring from her throat. She slowly stood up and inched towards them.
"Asy…? Why is mommy sleeping on the floor…?" she asked, timidly.
Asurath shook his head, "She's...n-not sl-sleeping...sister…"
"What do you mean? She's not awake," she protested.
"She's...gone sister...she's n-not...c-coming...back…!" he sobbed, seeming to get frustrated.
"B-But...she's right here," Tailsica whimpered.
"Tailsica, she's not sleeping, this red stuff, it's like when you scrape your knee, it's blood. If you lose too much of it…You don't wake up, ever," Asurath said pointedly, a bit mad, but mostly sad that his mother was gone.
"B-But..."
"TAILSICA!" Asurath turned to his sister, "Mom is DEAD! She's not coming back!"
Tears fell down Asurath's face. Tailsica stared in horror at her brother, he had never raised his voice at her.
Just then they heard a clang of a sword on the floor upstairs, Tailsica didn't hesitate, she ran to the noise. Asurath tried to stop her but she ignored him and ran up the cellar stairs to the first floor of her house.
There was Dark, beaten, battered, and wounded on some parts of his body, he was standing over a dead Raccat, breathing heavily but alive.
"D-Dark!" Tailsica yelled and ran up to him before giving him a tight hug around his legs. Dark flinched a bit because she hugged around one of his wounds on his leg but he picked her up gently and hugged her just as tightly as she hugged him.
"M-Mommy won't wake up.." Tailsica whimpered, tears streaming down her face as she buried it into Dark's neck.
Asurath staggered up the steps, and didn't speak, just gave Dark a look of despair.
The moment was short lived however, as Tailsica's ears flicked up, and she started to feel strange. She pushed Dark away, seeming to stumble a bit.
"Wh-What…?" she murmured. Suddenly, she could hear a voice in her head. Kill the queen, strangle her within an inch of her life it hissed.
Within seconds, Tailsica's eyes snapped from blue, to a cold red. She stared forward, looking nearly brain-dead.
Asurath lifted an eyebrow, "Sis? You okay?"
He didn't get an answer as she rushed out the open door.
"Sis! Where are you going?! It's dangerous out there!" Asurath exclaimed.
He was about to give chase when Dark stopped him, "No. I'll get her. You need to stay safe. Go hide."
Asurath nodded and hurried back into the cellar. As for Tailsica, she was wandering aimlessly it seemed, until her eyes caught sight of Aleena.
She looked down, seeing a knife on the ground, and picked it up. She walked towards to oblivious woman.
"Hm? Oh Tailsica. What are you doing out here?" Aleena asked.
No answer.
"Tailsica? What's the matter sweetie?"
Without warning, Tailsica stabbed Aleena in the chest. Aleena cried out in pain and surprise. Tailsica was about to pull the knife out and stab her again, but something...or someone rather had grabbed her.
"Sis stop it! What're you doing?!" Asurath squeaked, pulling his sister back. She struggled, kicking and growling, causing him to fall over and drop her.
She hit her head, and seemed to come to. "Ow…! What the heck…?! Twice in one day…?!" she whined. She looked up when Dark suddenly yelled out in despair.
"Aleena!" Dark cried and ran to his wife, who was already on the ground.
"A-Aleena..?!" Tailsica whimpered. She saw the knife in Aleena's chest and let out a cry of fear before breaking free from her brother and running away from the sight.
"Sis! Come back!" Asurath yelled.
He chased after his sibling, leaving Dark and Aleena alone. He kept running after her, but came to a halt when she found she was standing completely still.
"Sis, what're you doing?!" he yelled in irritation.
He didn't get a response. He then inched closer, and saw what his sister had been looking at. Their father lay dead on the ground, not moving, not breathing.
"D-Dad…!" Asurath yelped.
"D...Daddy…" Tailsica whimpered and fell to her knees next to her father. She gently put her hands on his arm and gently shook his body.
"Daddy… Daddy please… Please wake up…" Tailsica said gently, but her voice became more urgent as she shook her father, "Daddy..! Daddy wake up! Daddy…!"
"Tailsica..." Asurath said quietly.
"DADDY!" Tailsica screamed before she threw her arms around her father's body the best that she could and sobbed into his chest fur.
She refused to move, even if Asurath tried to comfort her, she stayed on her father's body for a long time.
Slowly, and quietly, people began to come. First it was Dark, then Shadic, who was badly wounded but his twin brother was helping him stand, Biohazard, and a bunch of the villagers.
Dark went up to Gorse's body and kneeled down next to him, ignoring Tailsica and speaking to the kingdom.
"Gorse died a brave man, fighting for his kingdom, and for his family. He will be honored, and so wont those who died in battle. We won't forget them, the soldiers who died, and the innocents who died as well," Dark said calmly, "For now, we gather the bodies and bury them, we shall mourn the loved ones we lost, and then we will rebuild anew."
Tailsica looked up slightly at Dark, but he was only staring at Gorse's face.
"Go grieve for your loved ones. We all need time." He said before he lowered his voice as everyone departed.
"Goodbye my friend. I hope to see you again one day.." He murmured before moving Gorse's bangs to the side of his face and standing. Dark went to his sons, and picked Shadic up just as his boy fainted from blood loss, and walked away.
Tailsica finally sat up and wiped tears away from her face before turning to her twin.
"L-Let's… Let's go home..." She said quietly. Asurath nodded and Tailsica turned back to her father once more and giving his body a single kiss on his forehead, a final goodbye to her father, and following her twin brother.