A/N: Well here's the Next chapter up...Ahem...sorry about the wait...First few chapters will be kinda poor in quality from now on. Darktiger09 is no longer beta'ing this fic, although I want to thank her for her help so far, and for making me a better writer. The quality therefore is likely to lessen to a fair degree.
The two dark tall figures strove at a slow, almost reluctant pace, out of the forest and into the mouth of the Cave they had made a camp. A fire was lit within, brightening the pale grey rock and casting a warm friendly glow. a blatant difference between the more intimidating shades cast by the forest. Three other cloaked shadows sat nearby it, taking in the heat that cut through the sharp cold night . The two figures that now walked in hadn't talked all the way back, and the tension was sensed by the other three shadowy figures who stood up silently and promptly left to the corner of the cave where a pile of equipment and bedding was stored. There they wrapped themselves in there sleeping sacks and curled up sensing an approaching argument, and that was something that they did not want to be involved in under any circumstances. When these two argued it had been known to go on for ages at a time, and besides taking sides with loser of the argument could mean some form of punishment.
The Two figures seated themselves opposite one another letting the tension rise while not even looking at each other until finally. Minerva Glared up at her husband and said icily "why do we do it? Why do we send our children to die? If we love them so much then surely we should keep them safe instead of cold and alone" Damien looked at her in surprise and replied calmly " You know why my dear wife, we must do it to purge the weak from our ranks, we must keep ourselves strong lest we fall like our brothers in the guild did...and besides our son will not die... your blasphemy's by taking him here to the woodlands have insured that" he shut his eyes sadly. She snarled at him "It's still not necessary we could just test our young at home where it is safe! ... and He most certainly is not going to survive such a cold night, it must be winter over here" he looked back at his mate annoyed and almost amused "Its still warmer on a winter night here than it is at night in the desert my dear just calm down... She glared at her husband even harder now A glint of anger shone within her eye "Calm Down? You tell me too Calm down When our son is in the woods, in the Dark of night? At least in the desert it's open, No places for him to imagine his own little creations of the mind appearing out of nowhere, you know how he imagines monsters everywhere!" Damien raised an eyebrow and snarled, any patience left his voice "You're the one who wanted him in the Woods in the first place, just stop panicking and go to sleep Worrying does him no good after all"...
Minerva glared at her husband "I will Never forgive you for this" her voice was fraught with emotion and aggressive. "So you think I want this? That I want my son to struggle and be afraid? No I do not want that...So I make him do it now, so that later in life, he will not have to. Do you understand now? Or will you continue moaning at me? Because if its the latter, go sleep outside I'm sick of it" Damien finished angrily, a foreboding tone on the end of his voice, daring her to speak again.
"Erm...Sir..." The voice came before Minerva could reply. "What!" Damien snapped. The hooded assassin stuttered with fear, he was a neophyte a couple of seasons older than Dakkon, and so feared his master "We...We just heard a shriek and the sound of someone running through bushes while you were ... Debating...Caius and Brutus are looking outside for signs of what made the noise, it was definitely a cry of fear though sir" Damien shot up quickly and looked to his wife, her eyes were wide with fear as they both rushed to the exit to find there son. The young Neophyte of seven seasons looked around scared and alone, he wasn't the only one...
Dakkon wept quietly into his own paws, A few minutes after his parents had left it had gotten darker and the nearby trees with there gnarled bark and drooping branches that had dead leaves soon drove any fantasies of being a brave beast like his daddy and to fight off any monsters was gone. Only to be replaced by every rustle of the leaves to be a giant one eyed fur less monster, with teeth the size of tails. He whimpered alone in the dark for a few more seconds when suddenly, a twig snapped nearby and he felt his heart beat out furiously and he was sure that whatever had made the noise could hear his heart beating...it was not a pleasant thought. An nearby owl hooted and a small whimper escaped his mouth which quickly turned to a scream. Dakkon dropped the knife and ran as quickly as he could through the forest crashing past bushes and shrubs that caught and scratched his body, barging past anything that stood in his way...until finally he collapsed in a bush sobbing pathetically as he curled himself into a ball while still clutching the book to his chest and there he stayed till he fell asleep his tired paws rested.
He woke up in a soft bed, it was warm in the room and the sheets were clean, there was also a fire roaring in a small fireplace in the corner of the room, It made the red sandstone walls glow a bright orange and cast a friendly heat towards him. He heard a noise and he jumped. Turning around he looked up into the kindly eyes of an old badger as she leant over him and whispered soothingly "sleep little one, you are safe here"... she paused a second before continuing "we found you in the bushes just outside the abbey, you seemed quite peaceful lying there we almost didn't want to move you" she laughed not noticing him whimper in terror. There was a monster in his room he thought to himself as he shut his eyes, rolled up into a ball, his ears deaf to the kind soothing tones as the badger mother sung him a lullaby. His terror was so great that, when she finally left he didn't move but rather hid under the blankets shaking wildly till he finally fell asleep to dream of his Harsh desert home, for Harsh it may have been but it was still...home...
The next day he woke up, to the chorus of birdsong outside his window. There chirping like an alarm and nothing like the birds at home. After a few seconds of lying in the bed idly trying to remember what had happened and what the strange sound of tweeting was. He finally shot up quickly and slipped out of the large bed, obviously made for beasts many times his size. He looked at the large sandstone walls and around the small room. In the corner where a fireplace stood and a rug before it, lay cold grey Ashes. The Fire was out now but the walls still held warmth from the previous night, yet to him they still meant imprisonment. He walked towards the door and opened it just a crack and peered through it. Seeing no movement or signs of life he slipped through silently on his paw tips. At the end of the corridor he slowed down, Peeping round the corner and scanning the area before him. After many seconds of waiting a knocking sound from above made his mind up for him. He made his way down the stairs cautiously. He was terrified, that beast was bigger than my Daddy he thought to himself remembering the Badger from the previous night as he tiptoed through another corridor and towards a massive double door at the end of the corridor silently.
Suddenly however the massive door opened and at least twenty beast's walked out into the corridor although to Dakkon they could have been a thousand for all it mattered to him. All of them wore the dark green habits of an abbey brother or sister but, most frightening of all to the young pup, they had there hoods up and had covered there faces. Dakkon screamed in fear of the hooded figures and ran away in terror.
"Bloody rude chap, don't ya say wot?" a young hare announced as he observed the Pup flee in blatant terror.
Dakkon ignored the Bemused or pitiful looks he received from the other figures that stood in the Corridor's ahead of him. As they where dressed in the same garb as the others and where clearly monsters too. It was only after a long time running randomly throughout the corridors he finally paused in a large room, He was alone now he thought to himself, maybe he was safe here. He wondered over to the end of the room where after a few seconds, The Large tapestry's existence made itself known. The pup shuddered at the sight of the Warrior Mouse bearing a great sword, and an even bigger fear of the sword that lay across a holder above the centre of the tapestry that for some unknown reason caused a sense of foreboding within him that caused hate and fear in his very essence. He tried to turn away but it felt like the eyes of the big mouse were following him, a warning glare questioning why he was here.
Noise erupted from the way he had came in as a Bell rang and he realised from the chattering and raucous laughter behind the door that the Monsters from earlier where coming into the same room that he stood in. Where they after him? He wasn't staying to find out! He began to run again, sheer terror giving his tired paws strength to carry on.
He finally ran out of breath and fell over, rolling head over paws into a open doorway and landing in the middle of a bedroom. It was a small room he thought to himself as he looked around and picked himself up, rubbing a bruised head that he proudly thought to himself would have made some pups cry. His eyes fell upon the corner of the room where there stood a magnificent Oakwood made bed, sculpting of beasts during a harvest time adorned it and made it look all the more comforting. Dakkon crawled under the bed, after all it was a good hiding place from Monsters. And besides he had always loved small dark spaces and he had often ran around the underground tunnels at home and this space reminded him of home. And with that in mind he fell asleep peacefully hiding under the bed.
A/N: The next chapter should hopefully come sooner as I have most of it written as I finished this one. But it was after re-reads a little too rushed so I lengthened this part into it's own chapter and after about two...No three? Months decided to update.