Chapter 1: The Fluffy Boi
Deep within the jungles of Anima in the Mistral Kingdom, there lies a village that was known as {Numagakure} which roughly translates to {The Village Hidden in the Swamp}. It was founded as a small haven of sorts for both sides who fought in the Great War so they could live peacefully and without any racial segregation from either side. Over the past eighty years, the once small village has blossomed into a full-blown town with its own way of life and culture as well as traditions. Everyone was going about their business with their various jobs, just your typical day in the village…
"I won't allow him to go to Haven! He's far too young for something like this!"
"For Oum's sake woman it's his choice and you already allowed him when he asked! You can't go back on it now!"
...and it wouldn't be your typical day in Numagakure if a certain couple wasn't butting heads for one reason or another. The arguing couple in question looked to be a pair of Faunus of the same species with both of them being up in the other's face.
The woman stood at 6ft 2in and was in her late eighties but looked to be in her mid-forties at the very least especially with how toned her body looked. Her skin was a caramel brown color while having long silvery-white hair reaching past her waist while being tied at the end by a red bow, her eyes were a dull gold color, and has a long thick lizard tail the same color as her hair while having faint freckle-like spots all around her tail the same color as her eyes. She wore a simple off-white kimono with a red sash tied around her waist and tabi sandals.
The man stood five inches taller while also being in his late eighties and like his wife, looked to be in his mid-forties as well but had a slightly more bulky and defined physique. His skin was a slightly darker shade than hers while having short gunmetal gray hair that had a slicked-back spiky look. At the same time, his eyes were a strong blue color and having a similar lizard tail for his Faunus trait the same as his wife but it was the same color as his hair and had a slight hue the same color as his eyes. He wore a men's kimono colored black with a gold eastern dragon decorated around it, having a blue sash around his waist and matching tabi sandals.
"I don't care, Mako! I wouldn't have a problem if he was going to Sanctum but to go to Haven? No, I refuse!" The woman exclaimed to her husband who could only sigh tiredly while pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Amaya it's not our choice to make. Both Takumi and Sachiko have already given their blessings for him to go. Hell, they're the ones that recommended him to begin with," Mako said making his wife huff angrily.
"They don't have time to come visit their own son but they can enroll him into a Hunter Academy? The nerve of those two!"
"You know good and well why they are doing this, Sachiko especially," Mako chided his wife.
Amaya went somber at that as she knew her husband was right on that front. Her poor daughter-in-law has been becoming more worried as of late and she doesn't want Konner to see her in such a state.
"I know dear but still…I wish they would have spent more time with Konner these past couple of years before sending him off to Haven. Especially with what happened years ago that forced us to move here," Amaya sighed sadly as her husband embraced her lovingly.
"I do too but hopefully with how their job is they may be able to request him and the team he's on for assistance," Mako stated. "Speaking of which, where is Kon? It's almost time for him to leave."
Amaya answered by pointing in the direction of the jungle. "He said he wanted to give out one last show for the local animals before he left for Haven."
"Then he'll be fine, Betty Swoops will go collect him when it's time for him to go," Mako mused.
"You know, most guardians would be worried for a child that's in the middle of a swamp filled with dangerous animals and possibly Grimm," Amaya offhandedly commented.
"True, but if you're a Xandrite, you'd be more worried about the thing attacking them instead," Mako chortled.
This makes his wife huff good-naturedly before going back into the house to make sure her grandson packed all of his supplies and gear properly. Mako meanwhile stayed where he was, enjoying the gentle morning wind washing over him as he had a thought.
'I'm not sure why but I have this feeling…this feeling that things in the next coming months are going to be most interesting. I wonder if you'll be able to adapt to these changing winds, my grandson.'
KHGM
Further away from the village is the {Cauldron Lake} which earned its name due to the fact that the entire lake is blanketed in a strange milky white mist that mysteriously rises out from the lake constantly. The only things that can be seen from the mist were the moss-covered boulders scattered all around...and one of them was currently being occupied by someone sitting cross-legged.
The person in question appeared to be a young boy with bronze tan skin and black hair styled in short and messy dreadlocks reaching down to his shoulders. He also appeared to be a Faunus due to the four long and fluffy swampy green-colored wolf tails swishing slowly behind him with a pair of large matching colored fluffy wolf ears that occasionally twitched about. His bright golden-colored eyes narrowed in concentration as he tuned up an ambidextrous electric guitar that was black and gray in color.
Adorned for combat he wore a gray-colored long-sleeved shirt under a pair of forest green-colored overalls, a blue unzipped puffy hoodie vest with his emblem on the back, and gray steel-toed combat boots. To finish his look he wears a cloudy gray-colored Victorian poor boy hat on his head with a pair of bullet button steampunk aviator goggles wrapped around it and two purple wrist bracers over a pair of black fingerless gloves. His emblem is a pentagon with the corners being replaced with circles, each circle having one of the five main elemental Dust Crystals of Fire, Wind, Lightning, Earth, and Water clockwise in their respective colors while in the center of the pentagon is a circle holding the Gravity Dust crystal in its respective color.
Strapped to the right side of his waist was a traditionally hand-crafted curved tanto sword with a gold samegawa and a purple-colored tsuka and sheath with a coiled black eastern dragon design around it.
This was Konner Xandrite or Kon as he's usually called by everyone in Numagakure as he usually preferred. After a few more moments of tuning, Konner was satisfied before he stood up on his rock and held the instrument correctly in his hands. He then noticed he had gathered a small family of river otters who watched him expectantly.
"Thanks for coming out everyone, this is gonna be my last song for a while so allow me to give you all a good one," Konner said before he started to play.
[Cue BGM: Ichika Nito || Guitar And Gaming Lofi 1 hour mix]
The sounds of the guitar's music echoed gently throughout the lake and as Konner played he noticed that the otter family began to bob their heads to the beat of his tune. Smiling he closes his eyes and begins to channel his aura into his guitar, making the sounds coming out seem more soothing and alive like he was.
As the young faunus played, other swamp-dwelling animals began to be drawn to the music. In the water were beavers, water snakes, turtles, and ducks while a few frogs and heron birds sat on the lily pads and rocks, enthralled by the tune. Back on land, the boy noticed some deer, bobcats, and even a bear or two listening to the gentle guitar music and in the corner of his eye, Konner swore he saw a couple of alligators floating behind him while listening to the music as well.
About halfway through his music, Konnner felt a familiar weight on his right shoulder and looked over to see it was his companion/battle pet Betty Swoops. Betty Swoops is a pure white female Dove that was two times bigger than the average dove with bright purple eyes while being dressed in a light gray flight vest with a large silver zipper in the front while along with a hoodie with pale purple fur lining the hood and having a small sky-blue bandanna tied around her neck cowboy style. On the back of the vest was an emblem of a pinkish-purple heart with white wings wrapped around it.
The boy gave a nod of greeting to the bird with the latter cooing softly before nuzzling his cheek in greeting which he accepted with a smile. After a few more strums, Konner brought his small performance to an end.
[End BGM]
The animals all gave out sounds of applause for the faunus boy's performance before dispersing to go about their business, now in much happier modes than before. Konner sighed contently before looking at Betty Swoops to address her properly.
"Sorry for making you wait girl, you know how I get when I'm in the zone," The boy chuckled.
Betty Swoops then gave a series of chirps and coos which Konner seemed to be able to understand as his eyes widened in realization.
"I've been gone that long?" Konner asked, earning a nod from the bird. "Shoot I better hurry and get back then to get rea-"
*BLAM!*
A gunshot sounded off, making Konner swiftly raise his hand as the bullet collided with a small buckler shield constructed of his neon green aura. Betty Swoops thrilled in anger while Konner's eyes narrowed as he saw the culprits at the shore, a large group of bandits brandishing various weapons, and looked to be led by a woman in the front with a leather jacket.
"You know, you guys are a little too close to the village for my liking. If you all turn around and go home I'll forget this little misfire never happened," Konner said trying to reason.
"I can't do that. I got a bone to pick with your mud hole of a village. If he likes living there so much with her so much then I'll just have to burn them and that place to ashes." The woman replied firmly.
Konner and Betty Swoops could only look at the woman with deadpanned expressions.
"Really? You're gonna raid my village because you got rejected?" Konner questioned while fiddling with one of the tuning pegs of his guitar.
"Getting all the good loot that dump has is also a bonus so there's that," The woman said
"Right…by the way, what's your name bandit lady?" Konner asks, subtly tensing his muscles for action.
Betty Swoops, knowing what her pup was about to do, took off into the air but no one paid her any mind.
"Catalina, why?" The woman answered, making the young Faunus smirk.
"Just wanted to know the name of the woman whose ass I'm about to kick," Konner said cheekily before pointing the headstock of his guitar, [Omnisynth], towards them which opened up to reveal a gun barrel. "Let's rock and roll!"
[Cue BGM: Let the Battles Begin! - Final Fantasy VII - Super Smash Bros. Ultimate OST Extended]
Catalina ordered the bandits to fire at the boy but Konner was faster and strummed his guitar to fire a barrage of neon green aura lasers at the bandits, nailing a few and making the rest scatter. Konner then performed a Flash Step and disappeared before reappearing right above a burly-looking bandit with [Omnisynth] held over his head.
"Oh shi-!"
*WHAM!*
Konner interrupted the poor mook by slamming the guitar directly into his face, shattering his Aura in the process as he crumpled to the floor in a heap. Using the momentum of the strike, Konner flipped back into the air to bounce off a tree branch and deliver a drop kick into another bandit which sent him flying into a few more. Landing on his feet, Konner strummed his guitar to taunt the bandits while smiling cheekily.
"That all you clowns got?"
That infuriated the bandits as a good portion of them rushed the boy in order to pummel him but he quickly Flash Stepped away… and appeared hovering over the bandits with all four of his tails rotating behind him rapidly like a propeller. This made Catalina and the bandit's jaws collectively drop, they heard rumors of a multi-tailed kid being able to defy all laws of physics in order to fly. They didn't really believe it…until now that is.
"How the hell is he doing that?!" One bandit exclaimed.
"Fuck you that's how!" Konner shot back before he began to rain down laser fire on them with [Omnisynth].
The bandits scrambled to not get hit but many of them were shot down, not dead but out of the fight. Some started to take shots at him with guns and crossbows but Konner was able to bob and weave out of the way easily while continuing to shoot the bandits down. Betty Swoops was not idle as she began flying in and out of the battlefield, distracting the bandits long enough for Konner to put them out of commission with his aura lasers.
Getting bored with just shooting the bandits, Konner dropped down nailing a bandit in the head with a spinning axe kick and then proceeded to wreck the bandits in close combat with his martial art training. Due to his unique style, he could avoid the sloppy attacks with ease and deliver his own brand of pain with fists and kicks as well as slamming his guitar into their guts…or their heads. He then turned on his heel to catch the fist of the bandit with brass knuckles much to the bandit's shock.
"Yeet!" Konner shouted before tossing the mook into another two bandits with one hand, sending them all into a sticker bush.
Catalina charged the boy with a pair of serrated knives to slash him up but Konner drew his tanto, [Triune Fang], to block them and hold her back.
"Why do you have to be in my way?! This doesn't concern your brat!" Catalina snarled.
"You know you sound really stupid right now right? The village you're threatening is the place I call home. Of course, it concerns me!" Konner exclaimed back.
He channels his Aura into his tanto to make it sharper before slicing through Catalina's knives, destroying them, and giving Konner the opening he needs to spartan kick her back into a few more bandits. The boy then notices some bandits armed with melee weapons surround him, making him smirk before he places [Omnisynth] back on his back and holds [Triune Fang] up in challenge.
"Bring it on jackasses," The boy taunts.
The bandits however just laugh at his choice of weapon to fight them all.
"You should have just kept using that banjo of yours kid! It's gonna take more than a little knife to take us on," One bandit with a longsword sneers.
Konner bristles at the fact the bandit called his "tanto" a knife. If his cousin Ruby was her, she'd rage and rage about how a tanto and knife are not the same.
"Just for that insult, I'm really gonna hurt ya," Konner says before he performs another Flash Step to vanish.
[Cue BGM: Japanese Battle Music - Blades of the Warrior | Ninja and Samurai (1 Hour)]
The boy appeared above and the bandit was barely able to raise his sword in time to block Konner's first strike which made the man's knees tremble. Konner used his tails to fly back before his sword glowed with aura.
"Power Thrust!" Konner said before diving down at him, blade poised to strike.
The bandit dodged barely enough to not get skewered, but not his lower right leg which had a deep cut making the man fall back with a scream. More bandits decided to rush Konner but he quickly swapped [Triune Fang] from tanto mode to its katana form before raising it up as the metal sparked to life with flames colored by his aura.
"Blast Edge!" Konner shouted before stabbing the flaming blade into the ground.
The result was a quick yet violent explosion of Aura which sent the rushing bandits flying back, most had the Aura's shattered from either the blast or impacting the ground so hard. Ripping his sword out the ground Konner deflected the strike of a spear-wielding bandit before kicking them away before getting into a blade clash with burly bandit using a battle ax.
"You think you're hot shit, huh punk?!" The bandit spat.
"Compared to idiots like you? Yes, yes I am," Konner bluntly stated, uppercutting the bandit away before returning [Triune Fang] into it's tanto form and sheathing it. "It's clear you're all barely trained and I'm done playing games.
He gripped his guitar like a club and activated a switch, shifting the instrument into a war fan.
"Now here's some air time!" Konner said spinning in place.
He created a powerful yet barely controlled twister that sucked up most of the bandits and sent them flying away or into other members of their group. Catalina clung to a tree using a knife to keep herself attached to ground level. The attack soon ended and any airborne bandits came crashing down while Konner righted himself firmly on his feet.
"Oh man, I still gotta work on that," The boy groaned before shaking the dizziness out of him and looking around the battlefield. "Wait, where'd that Catalina woman go?"
Hidden behind a tree, Catalina pulled out a [Molotov Cocktail], lighting it on fire before tossing it at the back of his head. Smelling the burning rag, Konner rolled out of the way as the bottle hit the ground sparking a fire.
"Oh hell no, I'm not losing this place because you wanna be an anarchist!" Konner exclaimed before flexing his right wrist gauntlet to dispense a blue guitar pick with a sea green bubble picture on it. "Time to get wet, Hydro Wave!"
Strumming his guitar in a powerful tune, Konner conjures a wall of rotating water around him before sending it out in a small tidal wave to quickly douse the spreading fire and wash away the bandits, Catalina included as she screamed in shock and anger. Catalina treaded against the water before lunging for Konner ready to choke him only for her to get hit by a white blur, sending her hurtling into a tree face first.
"Thank you Betty Swoops!" Konner called to his bird who thrilled in welcome as the bandits started to stand up to attack him again.
A pair of bandits to his left raised machine guns and prepared to open fire on him, but Konner swiftly raised his arm up, showing a stone-like item with a ᛉ symbol that glowed with mystic energy.
"Algiz!" The boy shouted.
As the bandits fired, a shield made up of astral magic with the ᛉ symbol at the center appeared and not only blocked the bullets but repealed a few of them back into other bandits making them scream in pain.
"Gotta love [Elk Runes] baby!" Konner laughs.
One bandit snuck up behind the young faunus and grabbed him by the tails…only for them to lock on tightly to both his wrists much to his shock. Konner then glanced back at the now sweating mook with an evil glint in his eye.
"You shouldn't have done that buddy."
What followed next could be described as completely comical as Konner used his tails to slam the bandit into the ground multiple times before rapidly spinning around like a helicopter to then fling him into the bandits firing the machine guns. Konner then jumps high in the air as three bandits try to sneak him but they miss and he counters by throwing multiple [Shurikens] into their hands, making them scream in pain while dropping their weapons in the process before the boy lands between them and slaps them all away with his tails.
"How are we getting our asses whooped by a kid?!" One bandit raged.
"Maybe if you guys actually trained properly and not just tried to swarm people with numbers, you'd actually be a threat," Konner suggested with a roll of his eyes. "But let's wrap this up, I got places to be and this is getting boring. Betty Swoops! Your turn, girl!"
The bird appeared in an instant before her wings glowed with her golden-colored aura and with a flap of her wings, Betty Swoops launched a volley of feather projectiles at the bandits. Due to them being hardened by her aura, the feathers did much more damage as the bandits screamed in pain as it felt like they were being hit with dozens of knives at once. They fell to the ground twitching in pain and seeing no more bandits getting up wanting to fight, Konner hung [Omnisynth] around his back once again while Betty Swoops landed on his shoulder.
"I believe that's your curtain call."
[Cue BGM: Untertale OST - You Idiot Extended]
*BLAM!*
A gunshot rang out again and Konner sharply turned to see a bandit now had a hole in his head before falling down as a new face walked up. This man was a tall one, about 6ft 5in, clad with dark pants, heavy combat boots, throwing knives strapped on his leg, pouches around his waist for various tools, a long-sleeved black shirt covered by a sleeveless flak jacket, and fingerless gloves that showed a hint of tanned skin. The only thing that could tell that he was a bandit was his patterned poncho and cowboy hat. He had long shaggy raven hair with red ends but his face was hidden under a mask fashioned to look like an Alpha Beowolf skull.
"Oh Oum, it's Zed!" A bandit whimpered in fear as the others were practically shaking in place.
'Zed? He must either be the leader or the second in command if these guys are terrified by this guy's presence.' Konner thought, tensing up for another fight.
Thankfully his worries were unneeded as Zed walked right past Konner and up to Catalina before grabbing her and slamming her into a tree.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He snarled.
"Fuck you, Zed! He betrayed u-!"
In an instant, his arm glowed a brick red color and Zed phased through Catalina's head to grab her brain getting her to scream out in pure agony as her bulging eyes could only look at Zed in horror. She could hear her heartbeat pound as her mind raced while Konner and the bandits watched with bug eyes.
'What the hell?! Is that his semblance? Crap, I don't think I have anything in my arsenal to go against someone whose semblance makes them a literal ghost sans calling an exorcist,' Konner thought, sweating slightly.
"I know he did. But we have the treaty to keep, and I won't let you piss on it because he found someone better and opted to retire the life of a bandit." Zed said coldly. "And before you die, yes…his new woman is an upgrade over you."
*CRUNCH!*
Zed harshly squeezed his intangible hand making the top half of Catalina's head explode in a shower of gore. Chunks of her skull littered the ground, blood and brain matter stained the trees, and her limp corpse fell to the ground.
"I'm going to need to seriously-"
*BLERGH!*
Zed turned to see Konner who was vomiting, horrified at what he witnessed with even a few of the surviving mooks puking as well.
"I'm sorry about this waste of space bothering you. Won't happen again." Zed said plainly before walking away. "As for the rest of you, get your shit and help the ones that can't walk and the dead…be quick about it or you'll end up like Catalina"
The mooks immediately jumped to action to do so, not wanting to die horrible deaths, before hurrying after Zed, leaving Konner alone as he collapsed on his ass breathing raggedly.
"Ok…I think I'm gonna need some therapy after seeing that," Konner wheezed while Betty Swoops did her best to comfort him. "I'm ok now girl. Lets…let's just go and not tell anyone about this, especially grandma."
He stumbled back home in serious need of some food…and some rest before making the long trek to Haven later today.
KHGM
A large crowd of villagers was gathered at the main entrance of Numagakure as Konner was seen at the front with a forest green camo duffle bag hanging from his left shoulder while a small matching colored fanny bag with a red cross medic symbol full of healing items and other gear hung from the backside of his belt. They all came to give Konner well wishes as he was finally ready to leave for the capital, {Comforton City}, to get into {Haven Academy}. His guitar, [Omnisynth] was placed safely in its own case which was slung over his shoulder.
"Well...this is it, everyone, I'm off to become a Huntsman!" Konner said with a grin before gaining a thoughtful look. "You know, I think I'll probably be the youngest to enter a Huntsman academy now that I think about it."
"I still have some apprehensions about you going so early...but I know I can't stop you once your mind's been set on something," Amaya sighed before kneeling down and pulling her grandson into a loving hug. "Just promise me you'll be careful my little pup?"
"I will grandma, don't worry," Konner softly assures, returning the hug before breaking it and then hugging his grandfather who also returned the hug. "Later gramps, keep grandma safe and happy for me ok?"
"I've been doing a pretty good job for the last sixty years of our marriage but I'll do my best to double my effort with you gone, boyo," Mako jokes, earning laughs all around. "Just make sure you look after yourself in Haven and make some good nakuma that will have your back like Betty Swoops."
Said bird made a series of coos while flapping her wings when her name was mentioned, making Konner chuckle and pet her.
"I promise!" Konner said before leaving through the gate while waving behind him. "Goodbye everyone I'll see ya soon!"
The villagers cheered while giving their farewells wishing him a safe journey and it would seem so at least for the first few miles...that is before a familiar figure made himself known and it was the last person he wanted to see.
"Zed," Konner said concerned while Betty Swoops puffed her feathers up in challenge. "What do you want?"
"I came to wish you good luck on the journey to Haven," Zed said, crossing his arms.
"Is that sarcasm? Is this some sort of trap?" Konner asked.
"No, my last favor to you is to make sure you get to Comforton safely," Zed said much to Konner's confusion.
"What? Why? What about your bandit group?" Konner remarked.
"Let's just say, I owe your family a favor and as for my group, I'm retiring. I can't be a bandit forever." Zed said with an earnest chuckle. "High time, I made a move to the capital myself."
"You're a strange man, Zed. But...you'd probably know the quickest way." Konner said as Zed adjusted the straps on his own bag. "But why should I-"
"Trust me? Because I don't kill kids and I owe your grandfather." Zed said simply. "Plus, it's not exactly going to be safe near those bandit camps, even for me."
Konner did not realize at the moment that something was up, but soon found they were both traveling on that path together.
It was only under the guise of the night they got to the capital that Konner discovered the truth...long after they split. Zed's group was all but killed by Atlas soldiers. In Zed's act of kindness, Konner realized he was also used as a shield. No one would assume he was a bandit with a kid around, something that pissed Konner off to no end. Yes, Zed had kept his word, but he still used him to make a gain for himself. Konner made a promise to deck that shifty snake the next time he saw him…if he could catch him that is.
TO BE CONTINUED…
A/N: Well that was Chapter 1 for Epics of KHGM! What did you guys think of it and Konner? I do apologize if the fight scene was a little wonky, I'm still not all that good with fight scenes even after all this time and with help but I hope it was satisfying for you guys. Leave a review of your thoughts and criticism as all are welcomed and I'll see you guys in the next chapter!