Author's note: Hi. I am new to this stuff, thanks to covid I have been getting into writing a lot more than I used to. I have been a huge fan of KFP for a bit now and I am hoping that this story keeps everyone in character. First the OCs are gonna be introduced, so be patient. The main cast will be here soon.
Anyways, hope you enjoy this. Lemme know what you think.
The Re-awakening
A shack, worn down by the mischief of nature sits idly by in an oddly withered clearing. Grey wilted and dying; the grass bears more resemblance to withered tombstones under the dark and dank sky. Curtains of clouds cover the sky, praying that the Gods above would not have to look upon the unholy majesty of this filthy place. Whilst nature silently shuns the shack, the structure still sits idly by as a purple aura begins to surround it, its brightness growing more intense at each passing second until it slowly fades away.
A squawk of irritation bellows from within the cabin and the door is forced open, letting the ungodly plumes of smoke exit into the air and further poison the nature around. A Raven steps out of the cabin waving away the smoke, his lime green eyes luminous from the dark energy that he had just toyed with. Battered and torn rags drape his form, hiding his equally mangled body. He barely remembers where he had attained those garments from, probably robbed it from one of his test subjects if anything. His name is Fuhuo*, a necromancer who prefers to remain hidden from the prying eyes of the world so that his experiments could remain safe and unjudged. A look of anger flares in his eyes as his latest experiment just resulted in yet another failed attempt, the thought of giving up on it resting within his mind. He swats away this blasphemous thought and moves back into the cabin, slamming the door on the way in.
Multitudes of scrolls litter the cabin, detailing various incantations and unholy curses that would make the bravest of warriors quiver in fear, several cauldrons remain haphazardly tossed aside to make way for his most recent work and many vials of potions remain strewn about. As Fuhuo makes his way to his subject, his eyes quickly dart to a table draped in a black cloak. His face contorts in disgust of his past failure, an experiment that could never succeed for reasons that had the gall to elude him. As he quietly abandons his previous guinea pig, he looks upon his latest subject with some twisted sense of admiration.
On a flimsy wooden table lies the ancient skeletal figure of a feline, with cracks that littered almost every single bone in its body. Lying next to this sorted heap of bones are two scrolls, the left one looking far worse for wear. The scroll on the right contained the curses and spells needed for this horrifically delicate procedure, whilst the scroll on the left contains a drawing of a lightly muscular, yet dainty female tiger with the name Nuba* written underneath it and her profile underlining it. As Fuhuo stares at his skeletal subject, he wonders how long it has been since he had ripped that document out of the mythological archives within the emperor's palace. How long he had kept the profile of the female that he has worshipped for so long. There is no time for that! He shooed those thoughts away, new thoughts of his past failures fuelling him to make one final attempt. As he takes a deep breath he looks upon the incantations from the right scroll on more time, hoping that now he would be able to keep it going for long enough so she may be able to walk amongst the living again.
"Forsake the spirit realm!" His sickly green eyes pierce the room with its glow as Fuhuo begins his unholy chant. "Forsake Yanluowang!*" the dark purple aura begins to surround the room once again and Nuba's skeletal remains begin to levitate off the table. "Forsake all of those fools who had dared throw your life away!" Fuhuo's wings begin to shake as his soulless eyes bore into his subject. "You will be brought back from the abyss!" The table underneath Nuba's skeleton begins to groan and crack. "And you shall bring terror to those golden hearted fools!" The vials scattered around the room begin to vibrate and crack. "Those eager to love!" He begins to sweat as his entire body starts to shake and is enveloped by a sickly green aura. "Those foolish enough to want the pain that they shall receive!" The cracks in Nuba's skeleton fade away and bits of flesh and blood begin to wrap themselves around her figure. A sinister smile creeps upon Fuhuo's struggling face. "Bring them eternal damnation!" The table and vials shatter, throwing debris around the room as the shack begins to shake as well. Fuhuo laughs maniacally as Nuba's skin is almost fully healed and her fur begins to grow back. He then roars, "Extinguish the fire in their souls and make them cold once again!" As the purple aura surrounding the shack shines with full intensity, Nuba's skin and fur is fully repaired. The purple aura fades once again and Fuhuo falls to the floor in exhaustion.
Nuba has been resurrected.
As the true weight of the situation dawns upon Fuhuo, he springs up from his spot on the ground and smiles broadly in triumph. He looks upon his work, his success, in all of its glory. The white tiger's unconscious body lays there in all of her beauty, each stripe accentuating her feminine curves and her physique mimicking that of a goddess. As he approaches Nuba, she begins to groan and writhe on the ground, readjusting to the realm she had once left behind. She slowly opens her eyes revealing cold, piercing amethyst jewels that had lurked underneath. Fuhuo was almost hypnotised by her beauty until he realised that she was completely bare naked. "My dearest apologies. Just give me one moment." Fuhuo swiftly sputtered before rummaging around the room for any garments.
Nuba's face alters from one of confusion to one of curiosity as she slowly sits up on the ground. She looks around the room, noticing the broken vials and the cauldrons hastily thrown aside. So, he is a sorcerer of sorts. As Fuhuo continues to look around for something to cover her with, she inquires "Would you care to enlighten me on what is going on?"
Finding no suitable clothing within the organised chaos of his shack, Fuhuo quickly yanks the black tarp off his failed experiment and hastily goes back to Nuba, making sure that he didn't keep her waiting. "To put it simply, I have brought you back to the realm of the living." He explains, as he courteously presents the tarp to her.
She looks down her body, only now realising her vulnerable state, but gives it little thought as she stands up and gently takes the cloak from his wing. "I am well aware of that. What I meant was how long has it been? What has changed? And most importantly, why bring me back?" She inquires once again in a chillingly polite tone.
"It has been 30 years, give or take, since your death. As for what has changed…" Fuhuo accounts, "The dragon warrior was revealed within the past few years and he has done truly impressive things. But he contains one of those pure, incorruptible hearts that I know you despise so much."
Nuba looks at him quizzically, "And how are you so certain of what I despise?" Nuba implores, truly intrigued with his motives. Fuhuo moves to one of the scrolls that had been thrown off the table during her resurrection and shows her the profile. A disbelieving smirk plasters itself on her face, "Don't tell me I have some sort of cult following?"
Fuhuo quickly shakes his head. "Nothing like that. Although I have been a follower of your ideology for some time now, I simply think that those who believe in the love that they fantasise about should be punished for their insolence." He explained, attempting to make clear the level of his worship and devotion to her.
Seemingly flattered, she adopts a warmer countenance and puts the black tarp behind her back, making sure her front is in full display for him. "So why resurrect me? I'm sure the dragon warrior has had some truly horrifying foes that he would not want to face again." She asks in a smooth and silky voice.
The Raven stumbles over his words slightly, unprepared for the sudden treatment that she was giving him, but quickly brushes it aside to make his point clear. "Your skill and knowledge of kung fu would surely upstage the dragon warrior's with little effort. Plus, they would not expect you considering how most people believe you to be a myth." Fuhuo stated, hoping to win her favour.
A myth? We'll see about that. The tiger lightly smirks at that thought as she saunters towards Fuhuo, gazing directly into his eyes. "Well. It would be rude of me to not show my admirer my appreciation for their dedication." She whispers in a soft but still silky voice as she gently cups his right cheek and puts her other paw on his shoulder.
Her smoky timbre caresses his ears as her eyes gently lull him into a sense of sweet serenity. He is powerless as her body presses up against his, her lips make full contact with his beak. She moans into the kiss, withering his control down to nothing. He did not expect a reward for his efforts, but it was one he would certainly not refuse. Yet something didn't feel right, for some reason his throat felt slightly tighter. Unbeknownst to him, purple marks trace the veins in his neck as his throat constricts. As his struggle to breathe intensifies, his eyes are greeted by her once gorgeous gaze now piercing him with their coldness. He tries to move his head back but realises that she had snaked her paw up to the back of his head when he was distracted. As she holds him in place, her kissing becomes rougher and rowdier as her amethyst eyes glow and the purple marks on his neck shine with greater intensity. As his struggle for air increases, she lets him go and he flops to the floor, his wings grasping at his neck as he gasps for air. The tiger's cold gaze remains on him, wrapping the black tarp around her front as he suffocates. As the Raven gasps one final time, a ghost of a smile appears on Nuba's face, relishing the fact that she was able to do this once again.
As the life drifts from his eyes, so does the dark energy that was once stored in them. Nuba continues to stare at the necromancer that now lies dead before her, the irony of his fate bringing a microscopic smile to her hardened face. Whilst his deeds were certainly worth her gratitude, she just had to teach him a lesson that showing such morbid dedication to someone will only bring pain. A lesson that he was hoping she would teach everyone else, once again the irony is not lost upon her. But the raven's amorous babblings certainly piqued her interest, the legendary dragon warrior picked at last. Just as he had foretold. Whilst she was curious as to his strength, she was much more interested in this golden heart that he possessed. If it were indeed true that he was a being of such purity, then breaking him down will surely show everyone the price of their hope. A menacing smile crawls upon her face with this thought.
She was about to make way for the door when something catches her eye. As her eyes dart to the table off in the corner she recalls that was where the raven had retrieved the black tarp from. Despite her feline eyesight, she had trouble distinguishing the figure clearly, as if the shadows from within the room were begging for her to leave it be. Yet, her curiosity draws her closer to the inanimate being, this shadowy creature. As she gets a closer look her eyes widen, not in shock or fear but in intrigue. She looks at the mangled corpse of an animal on the table, by all means a horrific abomination. Its torso, arms and head were clearly made from a male orange tiger with misshapen, ghastly muscles and the colour almost completely faded from its fur. Its tail belonged to that of a crocodile, albeit with several scales missing and some bone showing near the end of it. The metal sheets and pieces of shrapnel keeping the legs together made the origin of its species…unrecognisable. With horrendous scars and massive stitches blanketing its body, it was in no doubt some freakish monster.
Nuba continues to stare upon this creature in wonder, pushing its face to one side to reveal that its right jaw was poorly replaced with a metal hindrance. Near the right side of its head, she notices several papers with detailed diagrams and pictures of the thing that lay before her. As she looks upon the schematics, she notices that each diagram was of a different model, with numbers going from 1-44. So, I take it you're his latest one then. She reads upon the notes further until one particular note captures her eye "The latest model's organs should be capable of working this time and as for all the parts, they should be compatible. Now if only I could find out what the hell is keeping my curses from working. For some reason they're not working with this body, yet they were working just fine with the other corpses. The corpses that were made of one…kind…of animal… So that's it. It just won't work because this thing is made of multiple animals at once. It had such potential… I guess the Gods simply cannot allow that out of all things."
Her eyes dart from the notes to the experiment that lay before her. Part of her thinks she should leave this thing, if even its creator has abandoned it then surely, it's not worth anything to her. Yet her curiosity gets the better of her again as she recalls part of her training from oh so long ago. I wonder if… She slowly begins to get in a wide stance as her arms rotate round her form until her paws meet, her fingertips meeting the end of her palms. Her paws slide across each other until she locks her finger together and her paws flash a golden light that soon wilts into a dark shade of purple. She waits for the purple light to glow at its full intensity and slithers her arms out in front of her, her palms facing the creature. Several tendrils of purple chi slither out from her palms and snake its way into the abominable being, lighting up its artificial veins in a sickly purple glow. She focuses her gaze onto the being's chest, her amethyst eyes luminating that same purple light. As she does this the beast's gigantic heart begins to glow under its decayed skin, a much weaker glow than the rest of its body. Nuba tenses her muscles and grits her teeth as the weedy purple tendrils send out an unholy hiss and increase their brightness. This goes on for several minutes until she hears an unmistakable sound underneath the soundscape of her serpentine chi. A heartbeat. As she slowly retracts her purple tendrils, their hissing dies down and the luminosity of their purple colour dims as well.
Silence.
Nuba looks to its body once more, listening out for that sign that it was truly-
Bump Bump.
Hollow drums of the creatures beating heart echo around the flimsy cabin and ring out to the outside world. The skies cry in response to this fleshy gong, traumatised by the horror that has just taken place and drowning the withered grass with its rain. The white tiger who had brought about this event could only respond with a sick grin as she heard the heart's repulsive rhythm confirming her success. Granted its unusually slow pace was somewhat concerning, but then again no one had ever seen a being of this kind before.
As Nuba continues to gaze in wonder at the beast before her, its eyes snap open revealing faded amber eyes, bloodshot yet cold. As it gets up, the crackling and snapping of bones plague the air causing a minor twitch to form in Nuba's left eye. It stares down at its arms, slowly forming two fists inciting yet another sickening crack to come out of its worn knuckles. As it moves to get off the bead, its metal limbs release hideous shrieks and groans from its rusted joints forcing the white tiger present to cringe. The beast's eyes pierces into hers, silently asking if she was the one who had brought him here. She stares back, folding her arms to assert her authority, making it clear who was truly in charge. It slowly nods in understanding and stands up to its full height, towering over the white tiger in front of him. She looks to his muscles; mangled, tense and unnaturally big. She smirks. "You could be of great use in the long run." She gently coos to it, placing her paw on its heavily scarred chest. She looks down momentarily and swiftly takes off her tarp, wrapping it around the abomination. "You'll need this more than me." She whispers as she strides over to the now late Fuhuo and snatches his ragged robes off his body. She was almost tempted to laugh at his incompetence of failing to bring life to this creature when it was his main art, but resisted, it would be unfair to mock the person who brought her back to the living.
She looks back to the creature in front of her "So what do I call you?" She ponders, crossing her arms. "No. 44? Nah that's boring… How about… Jiangshi?* You don't exactly hop but calling you anything else wouldn't really fit." The beast blankly stares back at her. "Jiangshi it is." She confirms with a slight smirk. As Nuba saunters away from the cabin Jiangshi slowly follows after her, its limbs cracking and groaning with each step.
Amongst all this madness the shack still sits idly by as the heavens weep from this perversion of nature, the world being brought a new terrifying threat once again.
1* Fuhuo = Resurrection in Chinese
2* Nuba = Name of a drought vampire demon in Chinese mythology (Involving the 4 rivers)
3* Yanluowang = Chinese god of death
4* Jiangshi = Hopping zombie from Chinese mythology