Hello there! Long time it's been hasn't it? OMG! It's been so long…It feels good to write again! Yep ;) New chapter for you, hope its ok! FINALLY! We'll be moving on to the army arena! So if you have an army oc, please post it here Ugh…sorry for the crap quality this chapter is in, its been a while since I've written anything, hopefully the next one will be better. Enjoy.
Running through streams of fights and fire, the two managed to get to the safety place in one piece. The tiger and wolf cub both leapt down into the bushes that concealed the secret entrance outside of the temple, covering the cave hole. Once they entered the two buckled over and breathed heavily, trying to retain their breath, voices of trembling whisper and whimpers could be heard inside.
"Daisuke!" Someone called, making the young tiger's head snap up. The sight of his Uncle Yin made him feel much relief, before the large Siberian tiger came over to them. He, by the sight of his chef clothing, was obviously the cook of the temple. A large paw was placed on his shoulder before he looked him over, failing to acknowledge that Feral was right next to them.
"Come now, all of the students are here, we must take our leave, the baboons are being taken care of by Master Tora and the others. Hurry!" He spoke quietly before taking the lead. All of the students followed suit, before they all quickly left.
Daisuke was followed shortly by Feral, after her four legged running, she had snapped back into two leg running as soon as they came. The group had come to a place that neither of them recognized, it was a similar temple, but it seemed…different somehow. Everyone was covered in soot and dirt from the explosions and tunnels, leaving them to look like dirty kids from the streets.
"Sanctuary! We seek Sanctuary!" Yin screamed as he banged on the doors. The students huddled together in the cold, the rain pouring down on all of them as they stood there on the steps, gazing up at gigantic doors with brass lining.
After what seemed like an eternity, the door creaked open. In the doorway, a rather large ape looked down at them with an expression that made Feral feel all too unworthy to be in his presence. The aura he carried felt completely different than what she usually felt.
After a moment or two passed, he finally spoke in a hoarse throaty old man's voice. "Yes. Please do come in. You are welcome here at the Buddhist Monkey temple." He disappeared behind the doors again, before they were swung open to reveal a large courtyard with the temple sitting dormant in the middle of it.
The large ape guy lead everyone to a large room where a Buddhist statue with it's familiar smiling face stood in all its tall glory.
The students all together looked small in size and quantity when it came to this room. Feral and Daisuke lingered back as the group stayed huddled together, the two looking around in awe at the giant place.
"You may stay here for the night. If you are hungry, there is food in the kitchen."
After the monkey went off with Yin, the students and everyone fell asleep.
In the middle of the night, Feral awoke, looking back at everyone else. Her eyes swept over the students before staying on Daisuke for a moment. His ear had been bandaged up and wrapped around his head to keep it from falling off when he slept. Feral's eyes closed slightly before she stood up and silently went off towards the kitchen.
The place was so similar to her temple, yet differently placed. The kitchen was her destination, after the fight, her strength felt so drained, she could hardly walk, her muscles were sore and felt as they did when she had first came to the temple. Shaking herself from the memories, she had finally come to the kitchen before grabbing a slice of bread and cheese, before taking her seat in the lonely corridors.
Finally sitting down to eat, she took a bite of the food. It was quite delicious! Her taste buds were singing from the flavors of the bread and cheese together, which was very vibrant in taste compared to the usually dull tasting food. Feral's tail swung happily back and forth as she ate, feeling as if she was on cloud 9.
Her eating distracted her from whatever was behind her however as soon her small happiness would come to an abrupt halt. A long thin tail wrapped around her neck before throwing her backwards, her food falling to the ground as she skidded across the floor.
At the end of her fall, she rolled backwards before crouching as she looked up at her attacker.
"Hey I was eating that!" she snarled at whoever it was, tail puffing up in frustration. The wolf had barely any time to react before a barrage of fists came in at her, deflecting them one by one, her speed doubling against the furry of attacks before she leapt backwards to escape the flying fists. This masked person didn't stop and continued to go at her, wherever she went, the creature followed in sync with her.
Landing on the table where she had been eating, the creature came in the light to reveal that it was a monkey. Bringing her right arm upwards, she deflected a left straight punch, before swinging her fist downwards to black an incoming kick. The fighting was similar to Wing-chun, very close combat and very fast punching and kicks.
Feral felt at even odds with whoever this person was, however the cheese that had somehow stayed on the table gave her a slight advantage, driving the person backwards, his foot caught on the cheese before he slipped and fell backwards off the table, just as he was going head first, he flipped and landed on his feet before leaping backwards once more, sitting in a crouched position.
"Why are you attacking me? Your scent is the same as this place! I thought this was suppose to be a sanctuary for us" She spoke further. The masked person was quiet a moment longer before finally taking off his mask.
He had a handsome face, for a monkey. He grinned at her. "Eh I just wanted to see your style of fighting that's all. You seem to be pretty good for a girl."
Feral blinked before her gaze turned blazing. "A girl?" Feral looked at him in surprise. She had never dealt with gender issues before, so his words surprised her. This cheeky brat really had a funny way of showing his acknowledgement. Letting out a scoff Feral turned to the side, arms crossed. "Martial arts, does not differentiate between genders. Besides, if you wanted to spar, you could have said something instead of sneaking up on me and –"
"Yeah yeah, whatever. Come on, I help me peel these potatoes. We have a lot of people to feed, and I need some help." He more or less, commanded. Feral looked at him in a rather pissed off way, however knowing he was right, she sighed, feeling her good nature come on, she felt she should help him anyway.
"So what's your name anyway? My name is Jin" The monkey explained before giving her a knife. Feral looked from right to left, before sitting down on a stool next to this strange monkey. "Well?" He asked, a large grin on his face. Feral blinked.
"O-oh um…it's Feral…" She spoke quietly, before starting to peel the potatoes with him. After a while, the two began to chat, mostly with Jin talking more so than Feral was.
"I want to be like Master someday and harness my inner peace."
'You're a long way off then…' Feral thought absent mindedly.
"Hey check it out Feral. We're almost done!" He cheered, before he began to peel faster. Feral looked at him in surprise, before she began to do the same thing. When Jin took notice, his eyes narrowed before he began to peel faster, eventually the two were peeling faster and faster before they finished at the same time.
"DoNE! I finished first! No I did!" the two shot daggers at each other, snarling before it spewed into another sparring match.
It went on like this for some time throughout the weeks before Feral and her class were finally able to go home. On her way she said her farewell to her new friend/rival Jin.
"We should be sure to meet each other again when we get older! Feral explained. "Yeah well, I'll always be here so if you ever need a place to stay again go look somewhere else!" He replied, before he let out a bit of laughter, a grin on his face.
"Nah I'm just joking, seriously though if you ever need somewhere to stay come to this place, you can help me peel potatoes again, and this time, I won't interrupt your bread and cheese meal…maybe" He winked at her. Feral had grown used to this monkey's constant pranks and yet light hearted attitude with her. She enjoyed his company and it hurt almost to not be able to see him again anytime soon. However, it was her time to go home and get back into her own routine again, much to her despise. She had liked having more than one friend that was accepting of her.
A few weeks later….
After being home for more than a few weeks, Feral and Daisuke had regained their friendship, but it was now time for her to take her leave of the temple. Her father had returned for her after all the time he had been gone. The two had set their journey back home, which took a little more than half a year before they came back to familiar surroundings.
"My home!" The words had never tasted sweeter on her tongue than now. Leaping into the trees, her overlook of her home had grown wider and bigger than before. Her eyes glistened in content as she stood in her favorite tree once again, however it seemed she had grown twice her size from before, the tree itself had grown taller, as if to keep up with her height.
"I never thought I would see this place again" She whispered before leaping down in excitement. Her legs were much stronger than before, her once soft body had become toned and well muscled beneath her black outfit. Her once large and innocent eyes had slanted since her time, becoming almond shape and darker in color, a more gold orange color had permanently settled in her gaze. Her stubby claws had become sharp and longer than before, yet were sheathed beneath a fold of skin so the points only stuck out a little bit.
Running into her village, she gazed around, something wasn't right…It was way too quiet. Her father had sensed the same thing as well.
"Where is everybody?" Feral wondered aloud. Trekking footsteps sounded before a willowed old voice sounded.
"I'm afraid…the tiger army has taken over this area Feral. He killed a lot of our family…including…Jackal and his mother…" The willowed old voice belonged to a frail looking old dog, his clothes hung off his bony limbs.
"What?" Feral looked at him in surprise, her eyes widened in shock before she looked around. Very few families still lived here.
A paw was placed on her shoulder, her father.
"I'm sorry…Feral." His deep smooth voice sounded. The shock had overtaken her momentarily before she pulled away from him in a jerk.
"You knew?" She asked.
Dagger looked at her calmly. For a moment, the wolf girl felt like fleeing, not wanting to hear what he was going to say, something kept her rooted to the spot however, forcing her to stay.
"…Your mother died before the invasion. They didn't see it coming…all of them…including your cousin were either taken hostage or killed for fighting back. Even my men…it was an ambush…they didn't see it coming…" Dagger replied quietly.
"WHERE WERE YOU?" Feral snapped at him. "Where were you when they killed everyone? When they were attacking? DAMN YOU!" Feral launched an angry fist at her father. Dagger was hit in the stomach, knocking him out of wind.
He let out a gasping sigh, not really expecting it. Feral took off running to her own home. The old man took a step after her, but Dagger stuck his arm out.
"Let her be." He said quietly.
…
Feral threw open Jackal's door, looking at the torn apart insides, as if a tornado had went through it.
"Jackal!" Feral cried, looking around for anyone, pleading for a response…none came.
After the search through his house, she stepped out of it, her head spinning with disbelief. They were right…he wasn't there anymore. They…they caught him…
Coming to her house, she fell knee deep in snow…looking up at what was once her house…now a barren pile of fire and ashes. She couldn't believe it…her entire family... was gone within a blink of an eye…everything and everyone she knew…she loved and cared for…was gone.
….. … …..
After a few days, Dagger finally came to Feral, who was sitting in a tree alone, her eyes had bags beneath them, showing her insomnia had overcome her, not allowing her to sleep.
For a moment he didn't speak, before he appeared next to her.
"…I know how it feels…to lose your family…" He spoke quietly.
Feral made no sound, sitting with a dark and blank expression on her face.
"…Jackal may still be alive…"
Feral looked at him in surprise, her eyes widened. "W…what?" her voice barely above a whisper.
"The tiger army had left a lot of bodies after the attack…only his mother's was found…there is a good chance he is still alive…if you want to find him…you must find the tiger army…they are at war with another army…that is acting against them…"
Feral looked at him in disbelief. He wanted her to join the army? Was that what he was hinting at? After all the cruel dealings she had with armies, she was against the idea of fighting for or with or around anyone from those military dogs…but at the same time, she may have a chance to save Jackal…if he was still alive.
"…" Feral stood up. "Father…I'm going to join the army."