Chapter Two
Thunara
Neko quietly walked towards the town with no real plan in her mind, she simply was going to wing it. The time it took her to travel all the way from the castle to the town had gone by unusually fast, with no delays at all. As she neared the entrance of the town, she let the flames on her body die out completely so she wouldn't arise any suspicions by being in her fire form.
Above her clouds were forming in a thick gray sheet that completely blocked out the sun's warm rays from striking the door. Small drops of moisture drizzled down around Neko, but the shell in her bag kept herself dry. She walked past the gates of the town and onto the stone path that led around Thunara. It was early in the morning, so Neko wasn't expecting any one to come and greet her so soon.
"you new to town?" Neko turned around to see a gray wolf-like creature approach her. The wolf had two streaks of black fur that went down his sides in a zigzag pattern, until they merged at the base of his bushy tail. The wolf's eyes were a striking blue that shone brightly even in the dim and cloudy day.
"Just traveling through." Neko looked up at the sky, hoping that a storm wouldn't strike before she had the chance to finish her job. Her shell may be protecting her, but the power of the shell was limited to herself, not the flames that she summoned forth. She looked around. Perhaps she could put up an act and try to gather information while she was here. Surely one rebel group may know another? "I think I may stay until the weather clears up though…"
"In that case, you'll be here a good while." The wolf had a husky but friendly sounding voice. "So, I'll show you around a bit and perhaps introduce you to a few of my friends." He led her through what seemed like the marketplace, as there were many stalls on the sides of the road, and sheets covering objects left and right, preventing them from getting soaked. "My name is Ryo by the way, so, what's your name?"
Neko hesitated for a moment, unsure if it would be the best idea to give out her real name, but after a moment she decided that they would all be dead in a day or two anyway. "Neko."
"So, did you come from far off? It seems like you've been traveling a while." Ryo asked lightly hoping to spark up any sort of conversation, but lowered his head when Neko didn't respond.
After a few minutes passed by, Neko finally decided she'd entertain the curious wolf and try to squeeze something useful out of him. "I've come from far enough. Been out traveling for about a week now."
"Not running from any Dark Warriors I would hope?" He snarled as he spoke of the Dark Warriors. "They cause us more than enough trouble without actually being around." Neko twitched her eyes and thought of something that would possibly reveal anything about the rebellion without losing her cover.
"No, thankfully." Neko was calm and kept her voice much lighter than she preferred. "Just passing by, like I said earlier." Her green eyes glinted in the shade of the buildings. This wolf was far too easy to fool with her façade. "So, I take it that Dark Warriors aren't very welcomed in these parts?"
"Where are they welcomed? Aside from that big dark castle they like to hide in when they aren't out killing innocent lives for that Dark Nekomata." Ryo stretched his long claws on the stone path, leaving thin claw marks on the surface. "Fortunately for us, the storms seem to dissuade them from coming all the way out here."
Or so you think. Neko thought with malice, knowing with deep satisfaction that this pitiful town would no longer exist within the next twenty-four hours. "It seems like we are almost at the town's plaza." The murmuring of voices could be heard further up. "It's where we hold most of our meetings." This was just what the Nekomata had been waiting for.
There was a large crowd gathered around the open space, with a large golden dragon standing in the middle, speaking to those around him. He was clearly the leader of the group. His yellow scales were accompanied by black spines that ran down his spine from his head, all the way to his tail. His wings were folded tightly against his back in a very proud position.
Besides the dragon stood a large bird that was about five feet tall. Her whole body was covered in ice, and her tail itself could have passed as a giant elongated snowflake. The bird's beak could have been easily mistaken for a large icicle. Neko quickly identified the two as a thunder element Dragon, and an ice element Phoenix.
"Crystal has brought us good news that shall help our fight against the tyrant that rules over our lands. The fighters of Kalm have decided to join and Orre in our fight against Yugito and the Dark Warriors." Neko had to hold back from laughing out loud, knowing that if she didn't kill them, they would die against the Dark Warriors far before reaching Yugito.
"It has been agreed that our three forces will meet up and strike their castle in about two days." Neko stared in shock as it had taken her a full week to travel here without delays, how were these foolish rebels expecting to arrive back at the castle in a mere two days? "Prepare now, for we shall leave tonight." The Nekomata decided that she would wait to see how they meant to travel so quickly, if possible.
"What's going on here?" Neko spoke, pretending to be ignorant of the situation in hopes that Ryo would spill out some more information that she could find useful.
"we are going to teach Yugito and her no good Dark Warriors a lesson they would never forget." He laughed. "Lightning and Crystal will be leading us into battle with the Dark Warriors. We will defeat them, then kill their leader!" A fierce excitement was easily identifiable in his face. "Many fighters from Kalm and Orre will be joining us on the way there." Her pointed over to the direction of the Phoenix and Dragon. "That's Lightning and Crystal, in case you didn't know."
Neko found it highly amusing that a bunch of untrained rebels thought they even stood the slightest chance against a single Dark Warrior, let alone Yugito herself. "So, how are you going to get to their lair in two days?" Neko found this wolf stupid for he openly answered any questions she had thrown at him. He was only bringing doom for more than just Thunara.
"If you decide to join us against these Dark Warriors, then you'll see when we set off at sundown tonight!" Ryo barked before leaping away to get ready for the days ahead. Neko sighed with frustration, at least the weather had favored her today, as rays of light began to pierce through the clouds. She walked around until she found a dry and hidden spot to rest in until the time came for her to join the rebel party.
The day passed on painfully slowly, with very little points of interest for her to look into. When at last the sun began to set behind the horizon, Neko began to head out to the plaza, the probable gathering point for the rebels. She had done a very good job of staying out of sight for most of the day, and thus didn't learn anything new during the day.
There was plenty of excitement amongst the attacking force, which might as well have been the whole entire population of Thunara. Neko, despising large groups, had no reason to complain, as gathering up all the victims in one place would save her the trouble of looking for them all to kill. She kept her eyes focused on Lightning so when the time to fight came, he would be the first to go. There was no blow more cruel than taking out their leader.
"Is everyone ready?" Lighting reared up on his hind legs, and spoke louder than usual so that his voice could be heard over the excited murmurings that rippled through the crowd. His call was met with a massive burst of cheering that made Neko fold back her ears. When the noise of the crowd finally died down, the dragon moved some planks of wood that were covering a hole in the ground.
"This hole leads into a complex system of tunnels that could probably spread out through each and every part of our world. Through this passage, we can get to the Dark castle in record time and surprise the Dark Warriors." Everyone began to fall silent as he began to speak of the coming plans. "Earlier we sent a scout to mark the path from here to the entrance nearest to our destination. That scout will lead us through until we get there."
Ryo stepped forward to face the thunder Dragon and nodded with undisguised excitement. It seemed as if everyone was just about to head out, thus making it time for Neko to make her move. "Wait." Neko called out as she stepped in between Ryo and the tunnel entrance. "Do you fools really think that you can defeat even a single Dark Warrior, let alone Yugito?" She growled.
"What are you saying, Neko? Of course we can!" Ryo looked at Neko, directly in her eyes, confused at what he saw there. Hatred, anger and malice. She was no longer hiding her true intentions.
"You really think so?" Neko laughed as the crowd stared at her in bemusement. Her claws began to change into a lava-like substance that was sharp as a blade, while flames began to build up around her fur. Her green eyes began to melt from her natural piercing green to a fiery orange as she quickly changed into her elemental form.
"She's one of them! Stop her!" Lightning called out as he finally began to grasp what Neko was saying.
"It's about time you fools figure it out." The flames that surrounded the Nekomata began to grow in intensity, spreading away from the cat-like demon and swallowing up anything in its path. "If you pitiful idiots really think you have any sort of chance against even a single Dark Warrior. Prove it to me here and now."
Neko released the rest of the flames that had been trying to tug away from her, sending them through the crowd and to the furthest reaches of Thunara. The fire spread very rapidly, unchallenged by the crowd that was frozen in shock. She laughed when she noticed Ryo running towards her ready to leap at her. How stupid could the mutt be to attack a fire elemental without some sort of protection?
Ryo yelped and fell back as he made contact with Neko's fur. A good portion of his fur was almost instantly burnt away from her own pelt. She began to build flames around the gray wolf's body, but they were blocked off by Lightning. "Ryo, go help and put out the flames!" Ryo turned to face the Lightning, then the enlarging flames that were quickly engulfing Thunara. "I'll take care of this." The dragon turned back towards Neko. "Call of your flames, and I'll let you live."
Neko couldn't believe her ears. He was bluffing, for she was the one who was able to make such threats in the current situation, not him. "Even in your dreams you wouldn't be able to defeat me." She struck at Lightning with her magma like claws only to be shocked with a charge of electricity from the dragon. It was all according to plan. The temperature around her began to exponentially rise as she sent a wave of heat and fire that washed over Lightning. Her plan was to measure up his strength by taking one of his own attacks, so she wouldn't have to waste any more energy on him than needed.
The thunder elemental dragon rose back to his feet with a gasp of pain. His scales were covered in deep burns, and the skin of his wings were singed to the point he was incapable of flying. "Well done, you've survived more of my attacks than most of my opponents… it's actually quite… shocking." Tormenting her victims before killing them was almost tradition for her, but the threat of the frequent thunderstorms held her back.
She leaped forward at the weakened Dragon with claws outstretched. Her claws melted his protective scales and slit into his throat with their scorching heat. Lightning once again collapsed onto the ground, blood spilling out in a large pool around his head. "That's one down… the rest of the town goes next."
Now that the biggest threat seemed to be well out of the way, Neko was able to focus her attention on killing everyone else in the town, as well as the town itself with one simple tactic. A wall of fire began to rise up around the town, curving inward into a large dome shape barrier. The smoke that was building from the fires would quickly replace the remaining oxygen in the dome letting everyone die from the fire, or lack of air.
The panic of Thunara increased when Crystal, the ice element Phoenix fell from the heat. Her glittering wings had begun to melt away into burnt white wings, as she reverted into her neutral form. The ice elementals were always the first to go, as well as the forest elementals. Eventually, everyone would soon be dead from Neko's powerful trap.
It wasn't long before the rest of the Thunara creatures began dropping like flies from the harsh conditions. Neko, just like most other creatures, had a need for oxygen, but she had trained herself to be able to withstand long periods of time in her fire dome without passing out from the lack of clean air within it. "Neko." Ryo had returned to face the Nekomata, his fur was obviously burnt and he was gasping for breath.
"Save your breath, unless you want to hasten your death." Neko stretched her claws. "This technique was made to silence idiots like you." Neko laughed, in Ryo's current condition, he would have no chance of defeating the fiery Nekomata. "Creatures like you fail to realize how quickly the whole 'I'll kill you for what you've done' speech gets annoying." The fire elemental herself had lost count of how many times she had heard some sort of speech vowing revenge just before someone died.
"You can't…" Ryo gasped. "… live without Oxygen either, can you?" Neko at this as the wolf stood before her with a defiant glint in his eyes.
"Of course not, but I won't need to." The walls of the barrier began to close in tighter around Thunara. "It would be impossible for me to die from my own strategy. Think about it." She pointed a claw to several motionless shapes lying on the ground. "I would pass out from the lack of air a good few minutes before I'd actually die." Then her claw pointed to the ceiling of the dome. "What would happen if I weren't here holding up the fire?" The only way her plan could possibly backfire was if she was somehow forced back into her neutral form.
"No." Ryo cried out before he started choking from the smoke.
"I'll just have to show you." Neko released her hold on the flames, letting the wall collapse into the city, burning everything in its path. Anything that was previously alive, was likely struck down by the fire that just crushed Thunara. Taking a glance around to make sure nothing had survived the attack, the Nekomata walked through the rubble of fire as the smoke cleared away from what was once the town of Thunara.