This story is mine but all characters and places are copyright of Squaresoft. Except for the ones I create.
Authors Pre Notes:
Just so you know. This chapter introduces a new character into the story. It is mainly his background and tells a little about his past adventures. It may seem rather unimportant but if you bear with me you will see later on just how important it will be. Well, enough of my ramblings. On with the story.
Chapter Eight
Strike's Pain
Sensing that night was quickly closing in; the man reined his horse to a stop and dismounted. He had been riding since dawn and figured it wouldn't help his journey any if he killed his horse from exhaustion. After dismounting he turned to the task of unsaddling and feeding the tired animal.
Sensing movement Taron Strike turned his head away from the horse as he spotted a large wolf slinking along the treeline nearby. Instead of reaching for his katana or his ax he simply went back to the task of cleaning his horse and prepared to set camp.
"SwipeClaw you overgrown fleabag! You'll have to do better than that if you want to try and scare me." He yelled at the wolf causing it to look up at him. The wolf seemed to understand because it stood up and trotted over to where Taron was preparing to make a fire to cook dinner.
In actuality the wolf did understand him. The two of them were a bonded pair. They were linked to each other through a mental link that allowed them to communicate just as two humans would. Only no words were spoken aloud, it was done through thoughts and images.
'Who ever said I was trying to sneak up on you? I just happened to be stalking a rabbit until you yelled and scared it away.'
'Sure you were SwipeClaw!' Taron laughed as he glanced down at the wolf stretched out next to him by the fire. Even after all these years he still marveled at the wolf's appearance. SwipeClaw was larger than most wolves and even though he was in a relaxed position at the moment, you could still tell that he was covered in muscle underneath his fur. He had thick reddish brown fur with spots of black mixed in around his flanks. The most amazing thing about him though were his eyes. The left one was sea green but the right one was a deep blue that matched Taron's own eyes.
'Speaking of rabbit. Are you hungry?'
'Who me? Hungry! Of course I am.'
'Well then Swipe lets go hunting.' Taron stood up and moved over to his saddle where he grabbed his bow and his quiver of arrows. Then checking to make sure that Swipe was following turned and headed out into the forest.
Less than an hour later the two were sitting around a fire with full stomachs and several extra rabbits cooking to take with them on their journey the following day. Taron, using his saddle as a backrest, sat staring up at the stars thinking about many different things.
Swipe trotted over next to him and plopped down with his head on Taron's lap. 'Can you tell me the story again?'
'Which one? You've been around for all of our adventures.'
'The first one. When I was a cub. I was too young to remember it.'
'Sure, just as long as you don't keep interrupting again.'
"Ok then, let me think. Well it started before you were born so I'll start from there. It went like this…"
7 years before.
"Taron hurry up we're going to be late!" Came a voice from outside of the hut Taron and his father lived in. Taron jumped up from where he had been napping and rushed outside to find out who had yelled.
It was his best friend Sierra. She stood slightly shorter than him and had red hair that looked like it was on fire in the sunlight. She was considered one of the best looking women in camp and many of the boys constantly tried to win her attentions. Most gave up after a few tries though as it was such a rarity to see her away from Taron's side. She was only a few days younger than Taron and today was the day they were both supposed to go see the wolf pups. If they were lucky one of the pups would pick them as a bond.
Taron couldn't help but shudder as he remembered how the pups bonded. They would watch all of the people who were visiting them and when they found one they liked then they would bite that person on the hand.
But being a Wolf Nomad meant that when you turned fifteen you went and found a wolf to bond with. Now it was Sierra and Taron's turn. Plus once you were bitten it meant you were considered an adult.
As they approached the hut with the wolf pups he noticed that Sierra was shaking slightly. "Don't worry I'm sure it will only hurt for a second." Sierra nodded at him and then surprised him by reaching out and grabbing his hand. Taron could only wonder about it for a moment though as they had now entered the hut.
Walking forward Taron looked around and noticed that no one else was in the room except for a large she-wolf and several pups. The wolf looked up at them as they approached. Taron thought for a second as he tried to remember the wolf's name.
Oh yeah its TrueClaw. He thought to himself as they drew to a stop in front of her and knelt down.
TrueClaw looked at Taron for a moment before sweeping her gaze to Sierra and finally down to her pups. Looking down she noticed one of the pups had wandered off towards the door. Taron followed her gaze and noticed the same thing. He stood up quietly so as not to startle the other pups and stepped over to pick the wanderer up.
With surprising speed it turned and stared back at Taron. Taron was immediately caught off guard by its two different colored eyes and simply kneeled there looking at it. The pup suddenly and without warning snarled at him and dove forward sinking its milk teeth into his left hand.
'SwipeClaw. SwipeClaw I am.' The pup then noticed Taron's bleeding hand and licked the wound clean.
'I choose you!' Mumbled the little pup before falling asleep in Taron's hands.
Taron, at a loss for words cradled SwipeClaw to his chest and turned to see that Sierra was doing the same with a little female pup.
'Her name is SilentClaw' spoke Sierra. Taron jumped and almost dropped Swipe in the process as he realized that Sierra had just spoken in his mind. With a look of confusion on his face he motioned her outside and the two left the hut and emerged into the bright sunlight.
"What was that?" He immediately demanded as soon as they were out of earshot of anyone else.
"I don't know, it just happened. Maybe it was because the pups bonded with us at the same time." She guessed. "That would be nice. We'd be one big happy family."
Thinking about it for a second, Taron had to agree. He had known Sierra for a long time and of late he had started to think of her as more than a friend. "I'd really like that. A lot!"
From that day forth; the four of them became inseparable. Over the next several years Sierra and Taron's feeling quickly grew from those of friendship into those of two people in love.
So it was to no ones surprise when Taron asked Sierra to marry him shortly after they turned eighteen. The tribe held a large celebration and rejoiced that the two had found each other.
Present…
Taron finished his story and looked down to see that Swipe had fallen asleep with his head on Taron's lap and was snoring. Giving him a quick pat behind the ears, Taron looked back up at the night sky and thought about his sweet Sierra.
Things were great. They loved each other and were beginning to think about children. Taron had become the lead scout for the tribe and when they moved camp each fall and spring he would range ahead to find the best route. He could then send the directions back to Sierra and she in turn would pass them on to the others.
The tribe had been skeptical at first about Sierra's powers but once she proved them to the tribe they became very useful.
It was during one of Taron's scouting journeys that his world had shattered forever.
Two years ago…
"What do you think Swipe?"
'I think this looks like the safest route out of any we've checked so far.'
Taron looked out over the pass in front of him. It led down the final stretch of mountains before the warmer prairies of lower Trabia. It had been the driest and flattest route that Swipe could sniff out. Trusting the wolf's judgement he sent the images of the pass back to Sierra and prepared to return to meet her halfway.
Over the next half an hour he rode upwards towards the top of the pass where he would meet up with everyone else. SwipeClaw trotted along next to him and on occasion would lope ahead to inspect an interesting patch of snow.
WHAMM!! The image hit him like a hammer and caused him to tumble backwards off his horse and slam hard to the ground. Swipe immediately noticed and charged back towards him.
It was an image sent from Sierra but it was so jumbled he had been unable to understand it. Then another one hit and he was able to see part of it. He saw men charging forward from all directions with various weapons held high.
Then he saw men and wolves alike locked in battle! He could tell from Sierra's fear that they were outnumbered.
Then a final image appeared before his eyes and burned itself into his mind.
All he saw was a sword descending and then the link was gone.
Screaming and half mad with pain Taron climbed to his feet and pulled himself onto his horse and tore off up the hill towards the battle. With Swipe at his side he rode for another half an hour until his horse had to slow from exhaustion. He could see smoke not far ahead and urged his horse onwards. He was just cresting the hill when the attack came. But not from in front as he would have expected. He was hit with an arrow in his left side and knocked from his horse.
Ignoring the pain he quickly rose and pulled his katana from its sheath on his back. Spinning he saw several men charging towards him. He quickly grabbed his axe from his belt and flung it at the nearest target killing him instantly. Then they were on him and there was no time for thought. Only actions and instincts. He barely noticed as SwipeClaw jumped up on an attacker and bit into his throat. Slamming his sword into yet another attacker he spun and ducked a blow from a mace meant for his head.
Despite his best efforts he was slowly being pushed backwards towards a cliff edge. It continued for several more minutes with Taron gaining ground and then losing ground. As he spun to slam the handle of his katana into an attacker's nose he felt another slip under his guard and slam a sword into his side.
His armor took the majority of the impact but the force of the impact shoved him backwards several steps. That was all it took. His right foot came down on air. And then he was falling. Just before he hit the ground twenty feet below he saw the attackers grinning face staring down at him.
He didn't know how long he was knocked out for, but when he awoke it was dark out and he was lying on his back staring upwards. Checking carefully to see if anything was broken he sat upright and looked around confused as to why he was at the bottom of a cliff. Then as the days earlier memories rushed back to him he bolted upright ignoring the protests of his injured body and began the arduous task of climbing back up the cliff.
When he reached the top his heart froze when he saw SwipeClaw laying on his side and not moving. Rushing over to him he breathed out in relief upon sight of his bondmates chest rising and falling. He had a large bump on his head but other than that he would be alright. Turning he struck out as quickly as he could for where he could still see smoke rising from the trees.
The sight he found sent him into dry heaves. Slaughter! Everyone, including women, children and wolves. Searching around he found what he had hoped he wouldn't find. Laying on the ground near the still burning wagon was a burnt necklace with a dove on it that Taron had given to Sierra the night they were married. Collapsing to the ground he stared at the wagon and watched his whole life burn to the ground. His precious Sierra had been in that wagon.
For how long he laid there he didn't know. He dimly sensed Swipe sit down next to him and let out a mournful howl.
When Taron arose he was a different man than a day before. Looking around he spotted another body, but it belonged to one of the enemies. Stooping down he picked up a broken neck chain that had a talisman with a snake on it and a woman on the other side. Looking around at the other bodies he noticed they all wore similar items.
Taron Strike vowed that day that his new job in life would be to hunt down everyone who had done this.
Present…
Taron snapped awake and sat upright in shock as a cold wet nose poked him in the face.
'Gee you going to sleep all day or are we going to continue towards Trabia Garden.'
'Oh sorry, Swipe, I was having a bad dream. Yeah, let's go see if these SeeD's know anything about Talismans!'
Authors Note:
Well that's the new character. He will be playing a major role in this story. Next chapter will have the gang back in it and a major revelation will come to light. Thanks to Team-senshi for the extremely helpful criticism and to gigashadow for their reviews. See ya next time.
