Disclaimer: I don't own anything involving the Harry Potter series.
Claimer: I only own my OCs and the plot.
Shadow Lion
Severus 21
"That's enough practice for today," Shun announces as everyone drops to the ground, slightly tired from the workout they had had. "Rest up and tomorrow we'll do a trial run for the raid on Malfoy Manor."
The day went by faster than what Shun hoped for. He only did half of what he had planned for them. However, considering last night was the full moon, he didn't want to put more strain on them during their training session. So he eases up on the exercise and has them do a bit of tai chi and yoga instead. The motions were a bit ridiculous for them to do, but it helped them to put less strain on their body as they slowly healed.
Everyone in the werewolf base felt well in the afternoon and that's where Shun started their training again. He could tell from the results of yesterday's training showed in today's session. Most of them had slowly gotten used to the techniques he had taught them and already they were adding their own style of fighting as they sparred against each other in the ring. They even adapted to using their wands with the techniques.
As far as Shun knows, they can stand an even chance against Voldemort's Death Eaters using just their wands. However with the fighting techniques he taught them, they'll be more of a threat in battle and have more of an advantage against the Death Eaters with the element of surprise on their side too.
Shun looks up to see the sun's position in the sky and he can tell it's late in the afternoon, close to sunset. He watches them finishing their dinner (he made fried rice for them) and taking the night off, he walks into the tent where Melinda and three of her hand-picked group leaders are waiting for him.
Claud West has a muscular stature complimented by great physical strength and skills, not to mention he makes good tactical decisions to take down his opponents easily from what Shun observed in those sparring sessions. He's one of the few who recovered quicker than the others from their transformation and Shun could tell he has great authority over the others despite he was somewhat of a grunt under Greyback's control. He and his group are in the first assault in taking on the Death Eaters after the Order raids and draw them out.
Aaron Blake, who, in his opinion, is the best spellcaster in the pack. He strikes with great precision and accuracy. Shun can tell he can stun any enemy with a single casting. He and other selected spellcasters are to be stationed in the treetops to drop the Death Eaters with stunning spells during battle.
Simon, who volunteered to be used by him to show various fighting styles, has great tracking capabilities. Shun can use him to find and capture any escaping Death Eaters. He and a small group will be place around the entrances of the manor to capture any Death Eater that try to run away to avoid combat. Posing as Greyback's men until the right moment; they can knock them out and capture them. If anything were to go wrong, they will also act as the final reinforcement.
Melinda and her group will be the second wave of assaults and handle guerrilla tactics when the first wave's defenses weaken and are in need of support.
Thankfully Malfoy Manor is by a large forest and they can bypass the Death Eaters easily. The manor is surrounded by a large garden with a grand entrance at the front of the estate. Obviously the battle will begin in front of the manor, but there are five points of entry into the manor: the front, back, the two sides, and an underground passage which leads away from the manor. Two pairs from the tracking group will be stationed near the back, the two sides, and the underground passage. Assuming Dumbledore's line of logic and course of action, he would order a frontal assault and an attack from behind so he planned to tell each pair to stay hidden and avoid confrontation with the Order.
Most of Greyback's former werewolves had been to Malfoy Manor before, accompanying Greyback to the meetings or acting as Greyback's representative while he hunted for new prey. Based on their input Shun learned that Voldemort and his Death Eaters don't really care who the representative is because they could recognize they were from Greyback due to the dirty robes and their personal stench. If that is the case then Shun found his way inside the manor.
However Shun did not want to raise any suspicion that one of Voldemort's allies (Greyback's former werewolves) and one of his Death Eaters (Regulus) betrayed him for their safety. Whether or not Voldemort is defeated and hopefully killed in the raid at Malfoy Manor, his loyal Death Eaters will want to take revenge on the people who betrayed their Dark Lord.
One of the precautions Shun took is that he gave enough masks for everyone participating in the raid so the Death Eaters would not recognize them as being from Greyback's group. As for getting inside, Regulus agreed to take the risk of bringing him inside the manor, but there needs to be a way for Regulus to leave the meeting early before the raid begins. How though?
There is one way he could possibly see Regulus leaving the meeting early without raising suspicion: Voldemort would have to assign Regulus a special task to perform for him right away. A task Voldemort might have in mind is acquiring a position of some kind in enemy territory, like the Ministry or... HOGWARTS!
"Kreacher!" Shun calls out, startling the group leaders in the meeting. It's no wonder why. He walks into the tent quietly and suddenly he shouts out a name; they might think he's insane, but he doesn't care at the moment.
The idea of having one of Voldemort's Death Eater becoming a professor at Hogwarts would be outrageous. However, Voldemort himself won't be able to resist the opportunity of infiltrating Hogwarts to spy on Dumbledore and his group. There might be other reasons Voldemort would allow Regulus to leave early before the upcoming raid, but this could be the most important position for the war. Not only it will give Voldemort somewhat of an advantage over Dumbledore, but it will be a double advantage for Shun as well to keep track of both opposing sides.
The only problem to this is: will Regulus be willing to go through this?
Kreacher apparates into the tent. "You called Master Shadow Lion." Shun kneels down to Kreacher's level.
"Would you get Regulus for me after this meeting is over? I need to discuss something with him," He whispers in the elf's ear. To everyone besides him and Kreacher, Regulus is the masked companion to Shadow Lion and they don't know who he is or what he looks like. It's not that Shun doesn't trust them; he doesn't want jeopardize Regulus' safety in any way possible.
"Of course." Kreacher disapparates as Shun turn back to the group in the tent.
"Anything wrong?" Claud asks curiously, knitting his thick eyebrows.
"Not at all," he says. "Just making some arrangements. Shall we get started?"
Shun walk up to the table where the layout of Malfoy Manor is. He then points to the forest surrounding the area. "This forest is where we are going to be before the raid starts. Dumbledore and his group will be coming as well so after they arrive; I will make contact with them alone with my partner as each of your groups takes position."
"Simmons, your group will be stationed near the entrances of the manor in case any Death Eaters try to escape during the raid. If there are any of them guarding the entrances, just tell them you were sent by Greyback to act as bodyguards or knock them unconscious and take their places. Claud, your group will be stationed on the west side of the manor and Melinda; your group will be stationed on the east side. Aaron, your spellcasters will be hidden in the treetops on both sides of the manor and perhaps on the roof as well if possible."
"After confronting Dumbledore, my partner and I will sneak into the manor undetected. I will launch two signals in the sky, the first will signal Dumbledore's group to start the raid and the second signal is when our assault begins. Any questions?" Aaron raises his hand. "Yes?"
"I don't see the point of having a meeting in the first place. You seem to have everything under control." Aaron proclaims. "All we have to do is attack the manor and every Death Eater we see."
"That may be true however we need to prepare for the worst and if we do this right then we might only suffer minor injuries at most," Claud explains to Aaron.
"Exactly," Shun says. "We don't want - I don't want - anyone of us to die by their hands. I've already asked so much of you in fighting alongside me against Voldemort and I don't want to see you all killed in the process. So please cooperate with me and I promise all of you will be greatly rewarded for your hard work."
"What kind of reward are we talking here?" Simmons asks curiously but then he looks slightly embarrassed. "Never mind what I said. I didn't mean to come off as greedy."
"It's okay. Trust me; the reward will be worth it for you and everyone else here." Shun tells them. "But enough about that. Let's focus on the plan so we can do a successful trial run tomorrow."
"But wait, who will be acting as the Death Eaters for tomorrow's trial run?" Melinda asks him. "Our forces need some wizards to practice on otherwise we would get careless in the raid and get killed."
"I have that taken care of that and my partner will take part in it too. I can assure you that your opponents will have a mark across their chests so everyone will know who to target." He tries to make his answer as detailed as possible and luckily it's satisfying enough for them. "We made the preparations and now we have to practice the execution, so for tomorrow you all can expect both a ground assault and an aerial assault."
"Aaron, your group's task is to start the aerial assault before they have a chance of taking down anyone in Claud's and Melinda's group," Shun instructs him. "Simon, your group can expect some Death Eaters trying to escape so lay some traps. I'll show you how tomorrow before practice."
Then Shun turns to Melinda and Claud. "As for you two: Melinda, I want your group to be Dumbledore's group for tomorrow so Claud, your group's task is to protect Melinda's group members and at the same time immobilize as many Death Eaters as you can. Does everyone understand what to do?"
"Yes sir," they all speak in unison with a nod.
"Good, the trial run will start in the afternoon and I'll call for you all when it's time," Shun announces. "Everyone get a full night's sleep and I'll see you in the morning."
"There's one more thing I want to tell you," Shun says as the group leaders were about to leave. "There won't be any training sessions tomorrow so tell everyone they can relax or train if they want to."
As they turn to leave, Kreacher apparates in the tent with Regulus. Thank goodness that Regulus took his advice to wear the mask while he's in the werewolf base; you can't be too careful.
"Hey Shadow Lion, what do you need from me?" Regulus asks him casually.
"There's something I want to discuss with you, but not here." Shun tells him. "We better get back. Hikari and Itsuki sensei could be waiting for us back at the house."
"Of course," Reg agrees.
After leaving the tent, Shun side-apparates with Regulus to the front of his house. They see Itsuki's car parked nearby, revealing that Itsuki is inside the house with Hikari, Kai, and Michael.
"So how are feeling starting your ninja training with Itsuki soon?" Shun asks him as they walk to the door.
"To be honest, I'm a little nervous," Regulus replies. "Would you give me a clue as to what I'm getting myself into with Itsuki?"
Shun laughs and claps Reg's shoulder. "I would love to, but I can't. If I told you anything about the training, your body will try to prepare itself for the challenge you have to face and you'll be so cautious that it will ultimately lead you to fail. So no spoilers."
"Is there anything you can tell me then?"
Shun cups his chin, thinking. "Well," Shun starts off, "what I can tell you that the training will give you something you wouldn't expect depending how you view it, but the results are worth it."
"I'll take you word for it."
Shun unlocks the door and they walks inside to see Itsuki sitting with Kai on his lap and Michael sleeping near the fireplace.
"Ah Shun, Regulus, I have some good news for you." Itsuki gestures them to take a seat.
"Excuse me Itsuki sensei, where is Hikari?" Regulus looks around curiously.
"She had to leave to meet up with her coach, but she should be arriving back shortly." Itsuki tells him.
"So what's the good news Itsuki sensei?" Shun takes a seat on his couch, Regulus follows suit.
"After I spent all morning calling and meeting various land owners and district attorneys, I was able to buy the land we need to build our base near Scotland." Itsuki tells them and then turns to Regulus. "That means we can get started with your ninja training right away, Regulus."
"That's great," Reg says, feeling slightly nervous.
"For now we can train in Shun's basement if he doesn't mind."
"Not at all," Shun replies. "I'll take care of Kai while you two are training."
"Excellent." Itsuki hands Kai over to Shun. "I'll be back soon Kai."
"Bye-bye." Kai waves his little hand before he puts it in his mouth. Itsuki, followed by Regulus, walks out of the room and goes into the basement.
"Ok Kai," Shun lifts him up to face him. "Let's spend some quality time together before Reg discovers how painful the first lesson will be." Kai giggles at that.
After playing with his son for about an hour, Shun put Kai to bed in a small crib Itsuki conveniently brought with him from Japan. As Shun backs quietly away from his son who's sleeping peacefully, he thought to himself: 'It's amazing how Kai can relax being with me even though we only met this morning. I wonder if Kai sees me as his father already ...No that can't be it, not yet anyway. Maybe he senses that we have some kind of bond. Still, I want to be a great father to him no matter what.'
Shun quietly closes the door to his bedroom and walks back to the living room and relaxes in his recliner, his eyelids feeling heavy. 'Just thinking about being a good father to Kai makes me wonder if my parents were good to me ...before I lost my memories. Whatever happened to them?'
Shun yawns and closes his eyes, letting his mind be at ease for once since he came to the U.K. He found himself in a small, dark room. It was a closet because of the clothes that's hanging above his head. The closet door had small openings to see what's happening outside.
For some reason he felt scared about something as he looked out of the closet's peephole. What he sees is revealed by the light from a fireplace that shows two silhouetted figures of a man and a woman. Shun can tell right away what they're doing from the sounds of a violent beating the man was inflicting on the woman.
"Don't hurt mum, Dad! Don't hurt her anymore!" A little child's voice cries out as his tiny hands bang against the door. The beating sounds stop immediately and suddenly the closet door is pulled open with a large hand grabbing his front roughly and then dragging him out on the floor of the living room.
"Didn't I tell ya to shut up in there?" The man with a hook nose says in an angry drunken slur. Then he starts to unbuckle his belt. "This will teach ya not to disobey me." He whips out his belt with the buckle dangling above his head menacingly. The frightening man in front of him is readying his belt when-
BAM!
Shun awakens in cold sweat. He turns to see Hikari walking in to his living room. Obviously she slammed the front door closed since she always does that after a workout or something stressful happened to her, but that's the least thing on his mind.
That man in his dream ...never in his life had he felt so powerless and scared like that man made him feel. Shun has faced multiple life-or-death situations before, but it's so unreal for him to feel that much fear caused by one man and he knew exactly who the man was.
'My own father,' he thought with a huff. 'Well it explains that question and the scars on my body before I started out.' It's not a coincidence he'd had that dream before, it's one of his memories of his previous life. Another piece of the puzzle found, but it doesn't mean he wants to pursue the rest.
The anxiety and desperation for his lost memories almost destroyed him when he started his training. If Aimi hadn't made him promise not to despair over his missing memories, he might not be where he is today. Another reason why Shun will always be grateful to her. 'Besides that last memory means nothing to me now other than the fact that I vow never to be like that man to Kai ever,' Shun thought to himself.
"Shun," Hikari greets him. "Penny for your thoughts?"
"It's not much to bargain for but I'm just wondering what I should do now." Shun lies to her. He doesn't feel like talking about his rediscovered memories right away. He looks at the clock to see only an hour has passed since he tucked Kai in.
"Well you can tell me what's on your mind later. So where is Itsuki sensei and Reg-chan?" She asks him. He can tell that Hikari knew he was lying, but decided to let it pass.
"They're in the basement starting Reg's ninja training." He answers. "I wonder how he's doing."
"Give him a few years of training and he could be as good as you, Shun." Itsuki walks back into the living room supporting Regulus.
"Oh so you are finished with his training session for today," Hikari states the obvious.
"It wasn't a training session, it was torture," Regulus wheezes out, holding the right side of his abdomen then turns to Shun with an angry look on his face. "You could of at least have warned me how painful the first lesson would be!"
"I presume you did the endurance test on Reg." Shun says to Itsuki and then flashes Reg an apologetic look.
"I did and I must say he was able to handle it better than I expected and he even learned the lesson behind it after a half an hour." Itsuki tells him. "However he has a long way to go before he could be a fully-fledged ninja."
"It still hurts that you had to practically stab me with your finger to push back the muscle," Regulus says, regaining some strength in his voice. He let go of Itsuki to stand on his own, still holding his hand over his abdomen where Itsuki 'stabbed' him. "I never would have thought such a little thing could cause such great pain."
"Wait! I thought he has to endure that pain overnight? Don't tell me you undid it already?" Shun asks Itsuki. He shakes his head.
"No, young Regulus still has it; he's starting to adjust to the pain. Better than what I expect." Itsuki answers as he helps Regulus lie down on the couch to rest.
"Well when you have an older brother who pranks you almost every day at Hogwarts that could send you to the hospital wing; you're no stranger to pain," Regulus simply states his input on the matter and then cringes in pain.
"Poor you, what kind of brother would do that?" Hikari puff her cheeks in annoyance. "If I ever see him, remind me to smack him for you."
"Well I won't forget then," Regulus smirk slightly over his pained expression.
"Anyway Reg, there's something I've wanted to discuss with you," Shun says to him.
"What is it Shun?"
"I want to confirm something that might seem out of the blue to you, but do you know if there are any openings at Hogwarts?" Shun asks him.
Regulus pauses for a moment. "You're right, that is out of the blue," he comments then continues. "I heard that old Slughorn is retiring this year so there is an opening for a potions professor and I definitely know there is an opening for Defense Against the Dark Arts. Why do you ask?"
"There's something I need you to do and you might not like it."
Shun explains to Regulus in full detail about his plan of him getting him out of the meeting with Voldemort as early as possible by giving the Dark Lord the idea of having one of his subordinates applying for one of the open positions at Hogwarts and then spying on Dumbledore and the Order.
Itsuki cups his chin, evaluating the notion. "That's an intriguing idea, having someone spy on both sides of the war would prove best for us with young Regulus as the most eligible contender, however it's up to him to decide."
"Do you really want me to do this Shun?" Regulus asks him seriously after a period of silence.
"No," Shun answers honestly. "I don't like the idea myself, if anything I would be the spy but I can't since I don't have the credentials for the role. Besides the point of this idea is to get you out of the meeting early so you won't get caught in the raid and this idea could backfire if I don't kill Voldemort during the raid."
"Then again Shun, if young Regulus were to proceed with this then Dumbledore can protect him from the Ministry when they're rounding up the remaining Death Eaters once Voldemort is gone." Itsuki counters.
"But Dumbledore knows Legilimency; once he sees Reg he'll know of our plans and our clan." Shun counters back. "It's not like anyone can teach Reg Occlumency immediately."
"Actually Shun," Regulus calls out, grabbing everyone's attention. "I should have told you, but I already know Occlumency."
"Nani?! When did you learn Occlumency?" Shun asks. Now that he thought about it, Shun never asked about Reg's personal life aside from Voldemort.
"I have a friend who I worked with that knows Occlumency and he taught me," Regulus explains. "He's actually my senior in the field I work in and he thought it was best that I learn it."
"What do you work as?" Hikari asks curiously.
"I work at St. Mungos as a healer," Reg answers then shrugs. "I thought I might as well work rather than be a dead beat like some of the other Pureblood wizards in Slytherin who live off their inheritances; I like to keep myself busy."
"I hope you won't be too busy for others things," Itsuki says. "You still have ninja training to do."
"And keeping your girlfriend happy." Hikari adds with a mischievous glint in her eyes and Regulus blush in response.
"I-I don't have a girlfriend at the moment."
"Really? That's too bad." Hikari smiles in a petite way that could bring a man to his knees. "I'm sure with your good looks; you could find someone of your liking."
"Of …of course," Regulus stutters then clears his voice and smirks. "I intend to."
"Anyway," Shun cuts in, ending the flirt fest. "Now we don't have to worry about Dumbledore possibly finding out our plans, but Regulus this is an important decision to make. Do you want to go through with this? We're not going to force you to do something you don't want to do."
"Hmm ..." Regulus cups his chin, deep in thought. If he decides to not go through with this plan, it's alright with Shun. There are other possibilities still to getting Regulus out of the meeting early. However, in the present situation, he can't picture Voldemort being a tolerant enough person to let one of his Death Eaters leave during an important meeting using a petty excuse. Unless it was an important task that could benefit him in the war, there is no way Voldemort would let anyone off the hook. "I'll do it."
Perhaps he'll have to create a situation during the meeting that would force Reg to- wait- What?!
"You're serious Reg?" Shun looks at him incredibly. Regulus is barely a ninja yet he accepts a heavily covert S-rank mission just like that.
"I'm not my brother, but I accept this with my own free will." Regulus tells him with determination in his eyes. That look in his eyes shows Shun that Reg has put serious thought into this and has no doubts about his decision; something Shun can respect.
"...Alright, I have faith in you Reg, don't disappoint me." Shun holds up his fist and Reg then smirks. They fist-bump with grins on their faces.
"I won't. You can count on me Shun."
Shun can't help but feel relieved at Reg's words. They might have known each other for only a year, but something inside him knew he can trust Regulus with the task as if he has known him for a long time. The familiarity is there, no doubt about it.
As much Shun likes the budding bromance to continue, he senses a sudden change in the air.
Ever since he made contact with the Dragon Spirit, Shun noticed something clouding around people wherever he went. He quickly deduce it was their Ki but on a much larger scale. In the werewolf base, in all the children, he could sense pure and innocent life energy coming off them. Not just the children, but the adults too. Shun could sense different types of Ki from them. Sensing Ki from someone else can be rather difficult unless they know how to harness it. It was a complete shock to sense the children's life energy when they are not even aware of it. It seemed that the Spirit King gave him a heightened sense for Ki.
"Shun?" Regulus looks at him questionably, sensing his stunned expression. Itsuki and Hikari look at him in the same way.
He's sensing ten...no fifteen Ki's that suddenly pop up in the area; Ki's that are laced with malice and evil intent! Shun pales having a good idea of who these people are. Shun jumps out of his recliner and looks outside his window, confirming his suspicion.
Death Eaters are apparating just down the street.
Me: There were some things I was uncertain about for this chapter when I wrote this like Severus' home situation for one, I know probably lived in an abusive home but I don't know to what extent. Also if anyone is concern about Itsuki stabbing Regulus, it's a reference from the movie 'Ninja Assassin'.
Anyway, my winter break is over and my little brother's birthday is today, so I thought I should at least update a new chapter to kick off my spring semester. I might not update until spring break, so enjoy.