Chapter 1: Hello Neko, Goodbye Old Life
Okay, this was by me and cowritten by Chaos. It is a lot better thanks to him! So he gets half the credit. I'd appreciate it if you send reviews. The more reviews, the more hype I have, the more I'll have the urge to write another chapter! Alright, on to the show!
It was cold and wet. I hate cold and wet. There is nothing about cold and wet that is likeable. Well, maybe sorta welcome on a hot summer's day, but this was the type of cold and wet that sent chills down your back in the middle of winter and made you swear never to go near a damp chilly place ever again.
Like I said, I hated cold and wet.
It has to be in typically obvious places where awful stuff happens, doesn't it? For example ghosts only show up in old deserted mansions. Godzilla always attacks the most densely populated areas. Bad stuff happens in damp, slimy caves.
Yep, I had that feeling.
The comforting weight of the diary in my hand was something to hold on to, at least.
Oh, wait. I need to explain all of this, don't I? Oi. Before anybody says anything about fools looking for treasure in typically obvious places, I had been looking for the diary before. And yes, it wasn't mine, so no breach of privacy. So there.
In fact, it belonged to an old friend of mine - well, not exactly - she had said it was her grandfather's. And when I say old friend, I mean the sort of old that means you haven't seen them for a sizeable amount of time, just enough for both of you to fall out. We hadn't been getting along that well.
So call me stalker if you may, holding someone else's diary trying to find out more about their past. But my real name is Chelle Suzaka. Middle name is Leena... isn't that weird? Well, nobody should call anyone by their middle names when there are perfectly good first names.
I also happen to be trained in combat both armed and unarmed.
Well, that's good ol' Koneale Academy for you. Militant to the core, rock-hard endurance training, stuff like that. I was hoping to graduate one day and get out of the hellhole. I mean, who goes to a military school for the sake of it? I'm just looking for an eventual job like all the rest of you.
I'm depressing.
Oh well. For parties there was always Josh, the lummox. He was almost always upbeat, happy, cheerful - everything you could ask for in a guy. He says it comes naturally. I also say his swearing dilemma comes naturally. But having a joker like him around was always useful - never can have too many laughs at the academy. We had to find some way to allieviate the boredom, after all.
Where were we again...? Oh, yeah. Cold and wet.
We had gotten the diary, and were now on our way to getting out. Unfortunately, that posed a bigger problem than anything else might have done under the circumstances.
"Chelle, shouldn't we go this way to get back?" Josh asked for the nth time at the nth fork in the passage we had come across, 'n' being any number. "We've haven't been this way before..."
"...Whatever." I shifted my grip on the diary, flipping the tatty old leatherbound time capsule open. "This thing was left here... maybe there's a note on how we should get out."
"Chelle!" Josh looked at me. "That's someone else's diary!"
"You got a better idea?" I shot back. "I'm sure we'll blunder on the right exit sometime in the next century..."
He sighed. "Okay..." He returned to my side, peering anxiously over my shoulder. He was curious, after all.
My finger paused on a random entry at a particularly yellowed page, and I scanned the contents.
September 6, 2005
I am looking for a cure for my granddaughter, Saki. She is so young, and to have such an affliction! I must find a way to save her. My son, the irresponsible young man that he is, has left for Saturoa. It is up to me, loath as I am to admit it. The young girl looked terrible the last time I saw her - stick thin and paper white. It is not natural. Well, such is the ailment of Jraisona Syndrome. The medtech said she would slowly waste away if she was not cured soon.
There is some life in me yet, though. I'll show everyone that I'm not just a frail old man to be trifled with. The vaccine will be hard to find, however - the only source of the biomaterial needed for it is from a legendary item called a Fujin Fang.
I don't have much time... if this diary is found years later, and if I die trying to save my granddaughter, let this be my legacy. I will have died trying, and therefore can rest at peace.
Raul A. Carun
I couldn't help myself, as my eyes glazed and my mind drifted away to a time years back, when I played with Saki as a young girl, while the fatherly figure of the old man had smiled in the background, always there with an interesting story when we needed it, his aged hands always ready with a new trick that we tried in vain to learn.
Josh spoke at exactly the wrong moment, dragging me back to the present. "What's the delay? I thought you were working on a way out of here?"
I scowled. "Give me a sec, okay?" I let the pages of the book slip through my fingers, one after the other, until I catch a brief glimpse of something that looks like a map.
"I'm waaaaaiting..." His voice dragged out the word. I considered the implications of stabbing him through with my kodachi-ryu (long ninja knife), but thought better of it.
"Here." I thrust the corresponding page in his face. "Happy?" It was a rather crude line drawing, in pencil that had nearly totally faded, but the schematic was still visible.
Josh's eyebrows creased as he went over the map. "A poor map by any standard, but good enough." He has so little patience... and when he gets angry... he gets ANGRY. Seriously, not a pretty sight. "I think we're right here... hey, wait. What's this little mark there? I can't see the - "
I sighed and ignored the voice droning on, my eyes flicking over our surroundings. There was a hint of something there that looked kind of like a mess of framework... Picking a Mechlite academy issue pocket torch out of my pack, I turned it on and swung the dazzling beam around.
Wait a second... those sort of looked like... My mind flashed back to a biology class, being shown something that also resembled a framework - !
They were BONES!
Shuddering violently, I grabbed Josh by both shoulders, and turned him around facing the cobwebbed skeleton. He was annoyed for a split second, and then he was the bones. With a gasp of surprise, he dropped the diary.
I was there ready to expect a screaming and whimpering Josh, but he was busy, muttering to himself as he ran his fingers over the ghastly frame. Me, I wouldn't even want to go near that thing, let alone touch it.
It was a human skeleton.
Pulling a datapad out of his pocket, he ran the scanner over the femur of the skeleton, lying haphazardly to one side like some sort of obscene string puppet joined by cobwebs. There was a series of beeping noises, then he exclaimed. "This thing is around sixty-five years old!" He patted the datapad with pride. "I've been wanting to test this baby out since last week."
I was in shock. "... Did you say about sixty-five?"
Josh nodded, blinking in the glow provided by the Mechlite. "Yep."
I chose not to mention that those were probably the bones of Saki's grandfather, perished in his quest for a cure. Sixty-five... was he really that old?
Then I paused, my brain working overtime. The skeleton wasn't complete... it was scattered around, the smaller bones being the only things that were easily recognizable, besides the skull.
He had been attacked.
"...Josh...?" I ask. "Maybe we shouldn't be here..." It takes a serious effort to keep my voice from shaking.
He sighed in exasperation, as if he was explaining something to a child who didn't understand. "Look, Chelle, whatever killed this guy wouldn't be here after two whole years!" He had a point there, but I couldn't help wondering: what if he was wrong?
"Look at this." He pointed my Mechlite up, next to the small pile of aged bones. "This... it's an altar of some sort, isn't it?" Altars were nearly unheard of, but if there was ever an altar, this was one of them. Ornately carved figures, human and inhuman, covered the rectangular construct. And at the top of it, catching the light from my torch, rested a two-inch long, gleaming white object. "Now I know what the symbol on the map meant." Josh exulted. "We're in the room where that fang thing is!"
"...Let's just get out of here." This was creeping me out. I couldn't help but grip the handle of my kodachi blade. "I don't think we should be here."
"Maybe you're right, Chelle. Come on, let's go." He stood up, tossed me my Mechlite, and walked back the way we had come. "Get the diary."
Sighing, I grabbed the age-worn book from where it had been placed on the altar. Old Raul had died in vain after all. He had failed to find the fang. Well, okay, maybe he did, but something else got him first.
Then I paused. I don't know what it was, maybe instinct, maybe even ESP, but I looked at the puddle of water on the floor that had dripped down from the damp ceiling.
Shaking off the feeling that something was about to happen, I turned to look for Josh. He wasn't there. I could hear his footsteps on the path ahead. "Wait up, Josh!" I call, but he doesn't answer.
A dull thud shook the room I was in. The puddle on the floor rippled, and then went still.
Another followed.
And another. They were coming faster now, increasing in volume and rapidity. Frantic, I felt in the wall where the entrance to the room was supposed to be. To my horror, it wasn't there.
Scrabbling for my Mechlite in the darkness, I dropped it with shaking fingers. It clacked uselessly against the stone floor before going dark.
Oh, hell. It's just not my day, isn't it?
Whirling, I slipped my kodachi from its sheath behind my back in one smooth motion and peered towards the direction of the thuds.
Another thud.
Then silence.
My eyes struggled to get used to the darkness. But I at least knew that something was in the room with me. The sounds of snorts and heavy animal breathing permeated the room, as well as a horrid smell of rancid flesh. My defensive grip on the long knife wavered slightly, as I tried to stay silent, hoping beyond hope that the beast didn't know where I was already.
The thing roared.
Breath smelling of dead animals and probably Raul breezed across my face, along with a small spray of spit. I winced. This thing was SO going down for that.
My right hand slipped to my belt, hoping that I had a spare glowstick there besides the now-useless Mechlite. Cracking it once, I look up.
And up. And up. And up some more.
"...crap." I empathically state.
The monster, more like a large, toadlike lizard blown to massive proportions, looked back at me, large eyes unaccustomed to the light.
I attacked.
"KYAAAAAAA..." I barked out the karate 'kiai' yell used for focus, and slashed down and up, a hit with all my available strength, which was still quite considerable. Blood trickled down the length of my kodachi-ryu.
The monster looked down, bug eyes rolling around, to see the two insignificant, tiny cuts on it's chin. It looked like something you could put a Band-Aid on. Pitiful.
It sprung forward, intending to squash the insignificant, tiny bug that was me. The ceiling was unfortunately too high for it to bonk its own head. It came down like a penny off the top of the Eiffel Tower and crunched into the ground where I would have been.
I had rolled, seeing the attack coming a mile off. Jumping backwards, I tried to clear as much distance as I could from the beast...
And a long, slimy tongue shot out like lightning from the monster's mouth and slammed into me.
It felt like a slobbery, wet sledgehammer had been applied to my ribs. I flew backwards, bounced off a wall, and lay on the floor in a crumpled heap.
I sighed. So this was it. The end. For me, as it was for poor Saki's grandfather. It was all over.
Huddled against the wall, I sidled closer to one side of the room, hoping that I would somehow manage to blunder on the door... hey, go with what works, as they say. No way was I dying at the hands of some oversized Prince Charming.
The frog-thing waddled towards me, black energy arcing around its body as its eyes glowed with something the virtual opposite of light.
Okay, an oversized Prince Charming with some very dangerous-looking evil power in it. That I could handle.
The awful tongue came towards me again. But this time I was ready. I knew what was coming, and I could adapt to the situation. Just like Sensei taught.
I ducked under the blindingly fast attack and slashed upwards with my kodachi at the same time, severing around three feet of slimy tongue.
Blood and muck sprayed everywhere. The thing wailed, retracting what was left of the appendage. It seemed to grow in rage at the way I had hurt it. I couldn't be sure, but the dark glow around it seemed to nearly triple.
A beam of pure darkness knocked me back against the altar. I heard a few things snap inside me, and knew this was a battle I was destined to lose. There was no way I could win against something that large...
I reached up to the altar to pull myself up. This thing was not taking me without a cost. But my hand, reaching for something, instead pricking myself on something that seemed sharp enough to cut air.
I stood up on shaky legs, my left ankle feeling like it had been run through a Cuisinart. "What the..." I gaped at the Fang, tipped with a small amount of my own blood. It glowed a crystal blue.
The monster paused as if noticing I was finally worth its attention. Another bolt of dark energy zoomed towards me. Instinctively, I raised the fang in a useless gesture of defiance.
A bolt of blue energy zapped from the fang to impact the black. They canceled each other out in a small explosion, lighting up the whole room, dwarfing the artificial luminesence of the glowstick.
"Whoa." I looked at the fang with new respect. Then I clasped it in both hands.
Energy flowed through me, so much energy that I had never felt before in my life. Power coursed like liquid fire through my veins, as my adrenaline spiked and I screamed in pain.
"AAAAAAAHHHH!" Curling up in a fetal position, arms around knees, the pure energy rushed through my body. It was like a dam inside me had somehow been broken, destroyed, and everything was all rushing out and into the poor city of Chelle.
I looked at my hands, and as I did, I saw my slim fingers grow shorter, as my nails hardened and lengthened, forming into claws. A slight burning sensation washed over my body in waves, and when my brain started working I was staring in shock at my lightly brown furred arms and legs. My head pounded as I screamed, tears streaking my cheeks at the pain, the pain of it all, if the pain could just go away...
Ears shifted further up the head, sharpening. Eyesight became incredibly keen, seeing the world through emerald orbs, as new muscles flexed and rippled. My spine lengthened out, stretched, until I had a tail that very quickly was covered in fur as well as the rest of my form. It hurt, oh it hurt... all that power... doing its cruel work on all different parts of my body.
Transformation complete, I stretched and yelled, into the ceiling, into the sky above, into the heavens.
I saw the barest reflection of myself in the puddle that was still there despite all that had happened.
I was a freak! A living cross between… between some sort of feline and a human!
I closed my eyes, trying to shut it all away, wishing for it to end...
The toad thing, looking in interest at the new me, finally decided I was a threat again, and flung twin bolts of energy at me.
I stared at it, rage burning in my new eyes. "No. Not this time."
I ducked under one, and batted the other away, a brief surge of blue energy appearing in my right hand… er… claw. Marveling at my increased reflexes and speed, I laughed in outright joy. The monster retaliated by flinging out more pulses of energy at about two a second.
I leaped from position to position, landing crouched, catlike, ready to spring again. Grinning widely as energy tore up the ground between me and the creature, I sprang up onto the wall for a height advantage, and leapt at it. Twisting my body gracefully in midair as black ichor sizzled around me, getting close to me but never hitting, I started my descent, my kodachi hooked on my tail.
Without thinking, the tail moved like a third arm as I passed the creature's face, blade shimmering in a silver line, puncturing both of the buglike eyes in one blow.
Wounded, it staggered, as I landed, the thing facing my back sightlessly.
It roared this time, more in pain than in anger, and charged. I jumped clear - a standing jump of nearly 30 feet! - over its head at it crashed into the wall behind me, kicking up a large dust cloud and a sizeable amount of rubble.
I took a deep breath, readying myself as the thing dragged itself out of the crater in the wall and turned to charge at me again. Unbidden, a word came to my mind, as the Fujin Fang revealed its true power.
"...Blade of wind, shear the threads that bind flesh and bone!" I muttered, half under my breath, a ball of compressed air gathering in between my hands. "...Kamaitachi!" Hurling the ball of air out in front of me, I watched in complete and utter satisfaction as the air actually rippled away from the attack I had used, and the attacking, charging monster collapsed, blood spraying from multiple deep slash wounds inflicted by the wind itself.
I grabbed my kodachi, focusing every ounce of power, rage, and anger my new form had into one single attack. "Now... die." I seethed.
Somersaulting over the beast, I came down upon it's head with my kodachi. It was like a hammer on a nail; I took the kodachi and placed it downwards as I went into a screwdriver position, spinning downwards in a move designed to kill.
As the monster looked up, my blade connected with its skull, shredding delicate organ tissue and bone beyond that. Blood spewed everywhere, forming crimson stains all over the cell floor. With one last second standing, the monster finally collapsed in its place, its soul rising into the air above.
I collapsed, covered in blood, most of it not my own.
"Chelle?" I nearly gasped in wonderment at hearing Josh's voice. It was so good to see him again...! Wait! He COULD NOT see me like this!
Praying to whatever gods were out there, I waited for him to come in, hoping beyond hope that I would be in my old form again.
Josh's familiar face peeked past the doorframe. "...Chelle?" He stopped cold, taking in the bisected monster, me covered in blood, and the large amounts of property damage to the room.
"..So... what do you think?" I gestured at myself.
Josh laughed. "The blood is very you."
Startled that he had not tried to kill me or anything, I looked down at the good old puddle. It was marred slightly by some blood that had splattered across it, but I could see my reflection. The reflection of my good, old self.
Sighing in relief, I stand up, grab my Mechlite and my glowstick, and take one last look at the altar. "What took you so long?" I murmur to Josh, not really listening. "I nearly got myself killed."
"Looks like you had no problem defeating the opposition after all." Josh quipped, looking at what was left of the frog-beast. "Nice work. I mean, how did you get it to shred like that...?"
I gave him a look.
He backed off. "I'll be outside the door, waiting when you're actually ready to leave. Okay?" I didn't bother giving him an answer. Instead, I walked over to the altar, which was surprisingly unharmed. A small piece of paper, caught my attention, neatly folded and tucked in one of the carvings' arms.
I picked it up and unfolded it, silently thanking whatever gods were there that I had my good, old hands back. I read silently, my eyes scanning through the sheet.
To whoever finds this artifact: It's yours. Keep it. You will need it for the trials that lie ahead in store for you. You quest has only just begun. This fang can call upon the powers of the ancient Wind Dragon of the ages, as well as augmenting your natural speed and reflexes. Be warned, however, use this fang for evil, and the Wind Dragon will find you, hunt you down, and murder you. That is, if I don't get to ya first! Warning: accepting the fang's powers may result in transformation.
Riena
P.S.: Transformation is only painful the first time. After then, it comes as naturally as thought.
P.P.S.: Many people may want to take the fang from you by force. Be careful!
After the above, there was a small space, followed by some words written in gold script, by an entirely different hand.
To the girl named Chelle Suzaka: see the room next door. Someone who wants to see you very much is there.
WD
I paused. This Riena, whoever she was, sounded like a complete nut. What did she mean by 'trials that lie ahead'? All I felt like doing was having a long shower, a complete and total body check to ensure me was still... well, me, and some R+R.
Wasn't fighting a toad from hell enough?
Wasn't it?
I sighed. "Let's get back to the Academy." Motioning for Josh, I grabbed the diary. Maybe this thing could come up with some more answers. After a second's thought, I pocketed the scrap of paper signed by 'Riena' and someone called 'WD'. It warranted further investigation - it had my name in it, after all.
Well, I guess it could wait. Being covered in blood was not acceptable. But I would be there tomorrow. Who in hell was WD? How did he know my name? . . . And how the hell did he know I was going to be here?
And I have a fang that grants me access to a feline version of myself. Just great.
Just great.