The War Within
Imperial Year 1014 (Ten Years Prior to Present)
Just as humans gradually decompose, so too do countries inevitably crumble. Even the Capital that had flourished for a thousand years, is now decaying into a living hell. Monsters in human skin infest the entire nation like insects parading through their tunnels. The past couple of decades have been plagued with a sharp increase of government corruption, economic recessions, eroding public order, and rampant poverty.
Villages selling their innocent children to the evils living comfort behind the Capitol walls, just to keep up with the iron-heavy taxes, was such a common occurrence that many people have gotten used to it, filtering out those stories whenever they were heard in taverns, brothels, or streets.
Even the rich were not safe from each other. A constant struggle to take a step up the hierarchical ladder caused a war through constant blackmail, fraud, and false accusations.
Every day, at the very least, one hundred people would go missing and at the same time, two hundred dead bodies would be found throughout the city.
Blood flowed freely and repeatedly.
All of this was rooted to one particularly vile monster...with the face of a human…
An overweight, elderly man with coarse gray hair, hungry, dark, yellow eyes, and a long white beard that extended down to his abdomen. He wore a long gray coat, a dark green shirt and pants of the same shade, and a pair of brown, leather boots. Holding up his blubbery belly was a thick leather belt, and a furry, dark-gray scarf hung around his neck. An intriguing-looking, dark-purple crown with three diamonds rested upon his head.
Prime Minister Honest. The monster that controlled the world through his personal puppet, the naive Child Emperor.
In his hand was the roasted leg of a pig, and he brought it up to his mouth to take a large bite as he looked over his kingdom through the window of a room high in one of the many spires of the gigantic and luxurious Imperial Palace. The meat juice splattered out onto his face and soaking his beard. He slowly chewed on the fat as he was already plotting his next course of action, and a sinister, toothy grin stretched across his face.
His thoughts were interrupted by a series of knocks on the door.
"Come in," he ordered as he tore off another chunk of meat.
The door swung open and in walked a tall, lanky man, wearing a particularly flamboyant outfit. A blue jumpsuit stitched with diamond patterns, and long hot pink feathers formed a collar around his neck. A pair of ripped jeans were worn as were leather loafers that had higher heels than normal. Although his face showed age with wrinkles hidden slightly through makeup, the man had dyed his combed hair bright green with random purple strands, and also had on a pair of yellow-framed sunglasses.
The man dramatically spread out his arms as he gasped, "Honest! It has been too long!"
The clacking of his heeled shoes echoed through the conference room they were in.
Honest opened his arms as he let out a hearty laugh - which caused bits of meat stuck in his teeth to fly out - and walked up to the brightly dressed man, "Professor Fashio! Welcome back old friend,"
The two wrapped their arms around each other for a second before releasing.
"I have missed you, Honest," Fashio sighed as he patted the overweight's shoulder, who grunted a response.
"Well, let's get to business now, but later," Honest grinned, "I've recently acquired a couple of fresh girls from an auction in the West District. We can drink and play around later like the old days,"
"Ooh," Fashio shivered while licking his lips, "Enticing, but as you said, and like always, business first,"
The flamboyant professor snapped his fingers twice. "Come in, my lovelies,"
The door to the room opened again and in walked six half-naked humans, four male, and two female. Each of them had donned a spiked helmet covering the head from the top to the bottom of their eyes, and each of them had a ball gag tied to their mouths so tightly, that the skin of their cheeks was folding in. Saliva dripped out like a slow waterfall.
Each of them was carrying a suitcase, and the spike-faced slaves set them down along the table in the middle of the room. Another two snaps from Fashio and the group retreated.
"Thank you darlings, I'll be sure to award each and every one of you tonight...or tomorrow,"
Honest raised an eyebrow, intrigued at the suitcases upon the table. He walked forward to take a closer look at them, but not before tossing the unfinished leg of the pig out the window.
"What are these?" asked Honest, sliding his thick hand over the hard case of one of the suitcases.
"Teigu," Fashio answered nonchalantly as he flipped his hair with a proud grin.
"Really?" Honest raised an eyebrow, "Did you find some of the ones that we thought we lost?"
"Heh, no," Fashio snickered, "Even better…,"
"Explain friend,"
"When I was searching for new materials and life to experiment with and on, my team and I stumbled upon an Old Teigu Creation Laboratory in the Mountains of the North-Eastern Border. It was buried from centuries of heavy winters, and naturally, for the name of science, we dug it out and started a small expedition inside," explained the Professor, "What we found on the bottom-most floors, inside a room hidden and sealed by the Lab's previous users...were these..."
Fashio danced his fingers atop one of the suitcases which had [50] labeled on it with white paint, before continuing.
"...Three Unfinished Teigu,"
Honest's eyes widened, as he stepped forward, "Unfinished Teigu you say?"
"Yes, it seems that these were never complete for some unknown reason," The professor nodded and shrugged, "Either they were failures and discarded, or if their cores made them hard to craft, or if they simply just didn't know what to craft them into, we will never know,"
"And what about those other three?" asked Honest, gesturing to the suitcases on the other side of the table.
Fashio waved off his question, "Oh, those are just some Shingu we found in the basement,"
"I see," rumbled Honest. He then looked at the Professor then back at the suitcases before asking, "So, why did you show this to me? What are you going to do with them? You're not planning to finish making them, are you? The materials used to craft those weapons are either extinct or extremely hard to obtain, and nowadays some of those materials are downright mythical,"
"No no, I don't plan to continue their creation in the way that you're thinking…but I do plan on finishing them," said Fashio with a smirk as he spoke, "Honest, please do tell if I'm wrong, but you're planning to create squadrons of...Child Assassins, to combat the ever-growing Revolutionary Army, correct?"
Honest nodded, "Yes, we're finalizing the details now, in fact, your younger brother Stylish, is helping with that. But what has that got to do with your ideas?"
"I need test subjects, fresh, healthy, subjects. Ones that can still grow, that can adapt...evolve. Like some Teigu I suppose," Fashio chuckled with a hand over his mouth.
"Where are you going with this?"
A crazed, malicious grin grew on Fashio's face as he revealed his intentions.
"I want to see why these Teigu were left to sleep in a sea of dust! I want to see the secrets of the Danger Beasts they once were! Everyone knows that Teigu can reject any who isn't compatible, who isn't worthy of its power, I want to see what happens if we force that compatibility! I want to see what happens if we force the Teigu to evolve!… Through Reverse Bioengineering and updated Alchemic formulas, I want to fuse these unfinished weapons with humans, human children!"
"Don't you see, Honest? We don't need all those impossible-to-acquire ingredients to complete those Teigu, after many sleepless nights I've worked it out! The final, and strongest ingredient, is Life itself! It is said that all Teigu have a sliver of life remaining from their original Danger Beast bodies, I will simply just be giving them a new body. After all, two negatives can create a positive… Two lives can create, an instrument of death,"
"Oh? You have made me interested, old friend," admitted Honest, his signature sinister grin stretched across his face.
Fashio continued his outburst excitedly as he started to salivate.
"If this succeeds, I'll be known as the greatest scientist since the creation of the Teigu themselves! The one that pushed human evolution forward! The one to finally figure out human immortality! Perhaps the one to successfully create a whole new species of humanity! And I'll call them-,"
"But what do I get out of it?" Honest asked as he cut him off.
The flamboyantly dressed scientist slowly stepped toward the Prime Minister.
"The Perfect Specimens to Perfect Servants of our Great Empire! And if you want someone dead with no loose ends...The Perfect Assassins!" exclaimed Fashio, the mad professor grabbed Honest by the shoulders and stared into the overweight's saggy eyes with his psychotic gaze, "With their power, we won't just stop at crushing the Revolutionary Army. We can go even further. We can expand the Empire. We can conquer the World,"
"You're very confident in your future creations," said Honest, then he chuckled maliciously as he got up to pour wine into two goblets, "However, I have confidence in you old friend. I give you full permission to use as much of the Empire's resources as you need to create these...these future, indomitable…conquerors,"
Honest handed a goblet to Fashio, who took it with a toothy smirk.
"I prefer the term...Hybrids," the professor said.
"Very well, Hybrids then. In three days' time, we will be putting hundreds of children through a test in the forest towards the west, you may choose your first subjects from any of the survivors there, any but the first seven to arrive," informed Honest.
"I have no qualms with that," smiled Fashio, "But I would like to renovate the Old Teigu Lab in the mountains, and use that as my base of operations,"
"Done,"
"Well then," Fashio raised his goblet, "To a future of victories, pleasures, and prosperity for the Empire...of the World,"
Honest mirrored the professor's action, "Here's to the Empire of the World, and your future success in…,"
"The Hybridization Project,"
Far from the walls of the Capital, nearing the south border of the nation, stood a moderate-sized village. Most buildings were made of brick, wood, and clay, with none of them, save for the house of the village head and the town hall, exceeding two floors in height. A thin, crystal clear creek flowed gently through the center where villagers would usually get their water for their daily necessities.
The jingling of bells hanging from the collar of cattle rang through the peaceful, crisp morning air as an old farmer and his wife and son led their herd out of their shed and into the fields. The task was something they had done so many times for many decades, that they could do it with their eyes closed.
After a filling breakfast, children would run across the cobblestone paths with their hound companions to the nearest meadows to play, and the men and women of the village would head to work. Most of them were farmers, others were hunters. But there were also; sailors, fishers, cooks, blacksmiths, butchers, leatherworkers, teachers, doctors, and stonemasons. Around the early hours of the morning, the Guards would head back to the barracks to change shifts with their brothers-in-arms.
Compared to the other hundreds of villages spread out across the countryside of The Empire, this quaint village was one of the most tranquil. A fact that the villagers were proud of, and with the number of different businesses set up inside the village, paying off the stress-inducing taxes was still doable, albeit each time they were painstakingly close to missing the deadline, thus the Capital left them mostly alone. However, they did occasionally send inquisitors or investigators to do regular checkups on the village, to make sure that they hadn't been hiding extra riches, and to make sure that they hadn't sided with the Revolutionists.
The adults did their best to even out the shaking scale of balance they had with the Capital. They knew that it would not hold with the Empire being the Empire, but even so, worked to the point of exhaustion every day to delay the inevitable for as long as possible. To keep this ticking clock called peace was their priority.
On the other side of the village, the repetitive clacking of wood against wood could be heard. The source was coming from the front yard of a cottage made of stone with a wooden roof.
A young boy, no older than the age of seven, with short, messy, jet-black hair, bright orange eyes, and a slightly pale complexion, was swinging a wooden training sword towards someone over three times his size. The boy's simple gray tunic and brown shorts fluttered as he kept his assault.
The older man looked to be in his mid-twenties and also donned a simple countryside attire, with the only difference being that his tunic was a cream color and instead of brown shorts, he was wearing trousers, and the two of them had simple, cloth shoes hugging their feet. The man was tall with wide shoulders, signifying the bulk he hid underneath his single layer of clothing. He had fiery-red hair that smoothly pointed up with a bit of a wave at the tip, mimicking an actual flame. The man also had a short groomed beard the same shade as his hair.
He snickered as he looked down at the attacking boy with his blue-green eyes. As the boy was coming in for another strike, the man swiftly and easily knocked him off balance, before kicking him across the pale grass. The boy rolled across the ground until he came to a stop, laying on his front.
"Again," the man demanded with a smile and twirled the training sword in his hand.
The boy remained motionless on the ground, which caused the man to roll his eyes.
"C'mon boy, I know you're not injured or dead, I didn't even kick you that hard," he said, but received no response from the child.
Then with a lower voice that almost sounded akin to a growl, he spoke again, "Hei, I'm warning you, don't be lazy, we have five minutes of training left before I need to go to work and you to school,"
Still no response.
"If you don't get up, I'll eat the last slice of melon, tell your teacher to give you extra homework, and sell your toys,"
Immediately, the boy named Hei, pushed his body off the ground with great speed as he exclaimed, "Fine! I'm up!"
"Good, now come at me again," the man ordered, causing the boy to groan as he inclined his neck and looked towards the blue sky, inhabited with dozens of fluffy clouds.
"Uncle, we've been doing this since before sunrise, can't we finish a bit early today?" he complained as he looked back at the red-haired man, "Besides, you know that I don't like to fight,"
The man blew some air out of his nose with a simmering frustration, "Hei, I know, but how many times do I have to tell you that this is all self-defense. If you want to go out and explore the world when you grow up, learning to defend yourself is very important. Danger Beasts are lurking around every corner," then he added with a silent snarl, "And human filth that are worse than any Beast,"
"I get that Uncle, but can't we take breaks once in a while? One day of missed training won't kill me," replied Hei.
'Don't jinx it kid, in the world we live in, it very well could. But I'll do everything I can to prevent that from happening. To keep my promise to his father,' the Uncle thought, before looking back at his nephew, "Fine, we'll take a day off tomorrow, and only tomorrow, we'll go straight back into it the day after,"
"Yesss!" Hei cheered, throwing his wooden training sword in the air.
"But as for today, we haven't finished yet," The older man raised his wooden blade and pointed the tip at the younger male, "Now, again,"
A look of exasperation washed over Hei's face but he readied the sword anyway, loosely holding it in front of him in a lazy stance.
The man took notice and sighed, 'I need to get him motivated somehow,'
"Boy! If you manage to get a hit in on me, we'll take the day after off too," he announced.
Hei's orange eyes lit up and sparkled, as he gasped excitedly, "Really?"
"Yes,"
"All right!" The boy cheered excitedly and instantly fixed his combat stance. A grin was plastered on his face, along with a determined gleam in his eyes, "Hope you're ready, Uncle!"
The older man nodded.
Hei shot towards him and unleashed a barrage of slashes and stabs as fast as his little muscles could handle. His uncle blocked, parried, and dodged every attack expertly with his movements being slower than usual to accustom to the boy's speed. To trained eyes, it was clear that he was still in control of the battle, despite being on the defensive.
But the older man couldn't help but notice the slight changes in his nephew's attacks, 'I can't believe it, he's actually getting faster, and his moves are sharper and stronger… All because I promised him a two-day break from any training if he lands a hit on me… Seriously, this kid,'
Suddenly, Hei dropped down to attempt a sweep on his Uncle's legs, who simply stepped away. As the boy was coming back up, he received a smack on the head from the man's wooden sword.
"Oww," he whined with gritted teeth as he rubbed the top of his head with both hands, dropping the practice weapon.
"Looks like I win," said the older man with a smile, he bent down and picked up the boy's training sword off the ground, "You did well, trying to catch me by surprise like that but you let your guard down in doing so. Your sweeps are looking much better though,"
The red-haired man turned around and started to head back to the house, "That's enough for today, we'll pick up where we left off tomorrow. But for now, let's go back in and get cleaned up, I'm sure your Aunt has cooked up something tasty for breakfast too,"
As Hei followed his uncle back to the doors of their quaint residence, something in the corner of his eyes caught his attention.
Suddenly, the older man felt something smacking the back of his head. It didn't hurt, but he instinctively turned around, and his teal eyes widened.
Standing behind him was Hei, who was staring up at him with a victorious glint in his eyes. In his hands, he held a woven rope that he had found on the side of the front yard, buried in the soil of a vegetable patch.
"Got you," he toothily smirked, "You said I just need to land a hit on you, and you never told me any rules. So this counts, right?"
The Uncle briefly had a flash of rage and fear in his quivering eyes as he snatched the other end of the rope. The way his nephew was standing, the look in his large orange eyes, and the 'weapon' in his hands. It reminded him too much of something he entombed in the back of his mind many years ago.
'He looks...nevermind,'
"Uncle? Are you okay?" Hei asked worriedly while relaxing his body and letting the childish innocence radiate from his body once more.
The older man shook off his thoughts, "I-I'm fine kid, don't fret over your old uncle, okay?"
"If you say so," replied Hei.
"Good, now come on, breakfast won't eat itself,"
The black-haired boy grinned at the word 'breakfast' and hopped forward to his uncle's side.
Just then a guard equipped with steel-plate armor and a steel helmet with a spear in his hand paced up to the front fence of the cottage.
"Lieutenant Blaine, sir!" the guard yelled with a salute.
The red-haired man turned around.
"What is it?" he inquired.
"You're needed at the Barracks. They've been sighted close to the lake to the west, we suspect that they've set up camp there," the guard informed.
"Damn, already?" Blaine hissed quietly.
Hei looked between the two men, a confused expression evident on his face as he didn't understand what they were talking about.
"Uncle, what's going on?"
Blaine knelt and placed a hand on his nephew's shoulder, "Hei, go back inside and go to school, just continue your day as usual. Something came up at my workplace and I won't be back for a while. But, remember, in the unlikely event that the great bell rings three times, you find your Aunt and run to that place I showed you in the forest. Do you understand?"
Hei nodded.
"Good,"
When Blaine stood back up, the door to the cottage opened revealing a beautiful young brunette woman with soft facial features, wearing a basic tunic dress and an apron.
"Honey, what's going on? Why aren't the two of you back inside yet?" she asked.
"The kid was just heading back in, weren't you?"
Hei nodded again, still a little confused, especially when he saw the guard tapping his foot impatiently while looking around anxiously as if he were about to be attacked.
"Hei, come," his aunt waved towards him, and the black-haired boy walked to her side. The brunette looked back at Blaine, "And what about you?"
"I need to head to work earlier than usual today, something has come up," Blaine told her, "The men have seen them around here,"
The woman gasped, "Already, but we only just paid the taxes last week,"
"Either way, as Lieutenant I need to go and assess the situation," said the red-haired man, "I'll be back soon,"
The brunette's face warped with worry, "But you left your Te-,"
"I'll come back for it if it gets serious," Blaine said, cutting her off. He then smiled warmly at his wife, "And I'll come back to the two of you once I'm done with work, like always, I promise,"
She nodded, "Be careful,"
Blaine shot her a thumbs up before walking off with the guard. Whispers of their conversation could be heard as they were heading down the cobblestone path.
"Sir, we've sent multiple scouts already, they should be back in a couple of hours,"
"Good, but arm everyone just in case and get everyone into the defensive positions, we don't know their purpose this time,"
"Yes sir."
Hei cocked his head as he and his aunt watched the two men disappear in the crowd of villagers down the road.
"What's going on with Uncle? I've never seen him so serious before," he asked looking up at the woman.
She didn't answer, instead, stared at her husband's last position for a few moments longer, before gently guiding her nephew back into the house.
"...Come on, let's eat and get you ready for school," she said, avoiding the boy's question entirely.
However, the school was the last place Hei was going. As soon as he knew he was out of sight, the boy rushed down another route, weaving through stalls and carts of the market. Strapped to his back was a loose cloth bag containing the same rope he had used to attack his uncle the same morning.
Soon, he exited the village's alleyways and found himself in an expansive meadow. This was the farmer's district of the village. The wind softly brushed his face as he rushed through the lush green grass, in front of him he could see a hill with a large tree at the top. Standing in front of the tree were two figures that were short in stature but their silhouettes clearly showed that it was one boy and one girl. Hei smiled happily when he saw them and sped up to run up the hill.
"Sorry I'm late," he panted, his hands on his knees as he reached the two.
The girl had slightly wavy, light-auburn, almost peach-colored hair that fell to just below her shoulders. She also had large, bright red eyes and wore a pale-blue, one-piece dress. In her hair was a light red, butterfly hair clip.
The boy was the tallest out of the three. He had short, light blonde hair and blue eyes that were accompanied by a kind and gentle face. He wore a basic-looking, long-sleeved, light brown tunic with the sleeves rolled up and white trousers.
"About time too," The girl scolded with her hands on her hips, "I can't believe we're skipping school for this, I swear if we get caught-,"
"Be nice, Chelsea, I'm sure Hei has his reasons," said the boy who was leaning against the tree trunk, "And we're not going to get caught, we've been planning this all week,"
"But Natala, that's what you said last time," Chelsea retorted.
"That's you because you revealed yourself, Chels," said Hei
"How many times do I have to say that it was an accident," Chelsea pouted, crossing her arms and looking away from the black-haired boy.
"Well, then we'll just be extra careful today," said Natala, pushing himself off the tree and snatching up the bag placed at his feet, "Did you bring it, Hei?"
"Course I did," Hei responded as he showed his two friends the rope in his satchel, "What about you Chels?"
The girl lifted her satchel - that was strapped around her shoulder - up In response, revealing it to be full of mostly good quality vegetables.
"Good," Natala commented, then from behind the tree, he pulled out a spear that he may or may not have 'borrowed' from his father's collection. That man was one of the village's blacksmiths.
"Let's go, we have to make it back by a little over sundown to avoid suspicion," the blonde continued.
"Right," Hei and Chelsea nodded.
The trio started to sneakily make their way to the edge of the village's borders, which was a tall stone wall. They managed to avoid the eyes of anyone that knew them and their families personally as well as the guards. The trio had a couple of close calls as they went through the market square, but in the end, still made it to the wall.
Natala brushed some shrubs aside revealing a crack in the wall just large enough for children like them to fit through.
"Remember, if we capture this beast then we'll be famous throughout the whole village, and we won't have to do chores or go to school ever again. Any second thoughts?" he asked as he looked back at his two companions,
"No," Hei shook his head.
Chelsea mirrored his action, albeit a little delayed. There was a simmering sign of hesitation in her expression.
"I'll see you on the other side then," said Natala, who pumped his fist in front of his chest.
The blonde slipped through the crack rather easily. As soon as he was out of the village he spun around to whisper through the crack.
"Coast is clear, quick one of you hand me my stuff,"
Hei hung Natala's satchel onto the end of the blonde's spear, then he carefully poked the spear and satchel through the crevice. When he felt pressure on the other end, he whispered, "Got it?"
"Yeah, I got it," Natala whispered back, "I'll stand guard, one of you go next,"
Hei looked back at his female friend, "Chels, you next, I'll bring up the rear,"
Chelsea stepped towards the crevice but then stopped as she put her hands on the damp stone.
"Actually, can you go first Hei?" she asked with a bead of sweat rolling down her temple and a quiet gulp, "You're always bringing up the rear in whatever we do so it might be a good change of pace,"
The orange-eyed boy thought for a moment before nodding, "I guess you're right. Okay, move over,"
Just as Hei entered the crevice, he felt someone tugging at his sleeve. He looked back to see a sheepish Chelsea gripping onto his shirt.
"What's wrong, Chels? Did you change your mind all of a sudden? You wanna go second?"
"N-No, it's...that...can we not do this today?" she said timidly with her red eyes flickering around.
"What are you talking about?"
"We're not meant to leave the walls without an adult, it's dangerous out there… Let's just...go home,"
Hei raised an eyebrow, "Out of all days you want to be a goody-two-shoes you choose today? You weren't like this when we pranked the teacher two weeks ago,"
"I just don't want to leave the walls, okay!? Mama says that the scariest Danger Beasts are waiting for kids like us to walk out for an easy meal, she also said that there are things even worse than Danger Beasts out there," Chelsea retorted.
"Chels, we've been planning to hunt the Jade Ram all week. It's super rare and only appears during a few days in the spring each year," said Hei, reminding the girl of their goals, "If we manage to get it and bring it back, then we-,"
"We'll be famous and people will respect us, I know. But maybe it's just a myth after all," said Chelsea.
Hei furrowed his brows, his orange gaze briefly flicked towards his friend's hand that was still tightly gripped to his sleeve.
"C'mon...we'll come back and do it with a bunch of guards, your uncle is the Lieutenant isn't he, he can gather a lot of people for it. For now, let's go home, please Hei," begged the peach-haired girl, desperation evident in her tone.
Hei sighed, "I'm sorry but I can't leave Natala out there, he might be the oldest and strongest out of the three of us but still,"
"Then call him back," snapped the girl.
"But that's not fair," Hei shot back.
"Not fair?" echoed Chelsea, "Not fair?! I'm just trying to stop my two best friends from being eaten by monsters and you're saying that it's not fair! I swear-!"
As Chelsea continued her rant, Hei dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out a small wrapped ball on a stick. With the girl distracted by her words, Hei quickly unwrapped the small item in his hands.
"-Do you know how much trouble I'll be in if you two don't return!? Do you know how lonely I'll be if you two get killed! Do you kno-,"
Hei placed the lollipop into Chelsa's mouth, who calmed down immediately after tasting the sweet taste of strawberries, effectively silencing her.
"Better?"
"...Better,"
"Goody, now are you coming?" asked Hei.
Chelsea pursed her lips while flicking the lollipop from side to side, then finally she answered, "Fine, but only till sundown, got it?"
"Yeah,"
On the other side, Natala had a look of relief on his face as the two emerged from the crevice, "What took you guys so long? For a moment I thought that you were caught, or worse, ditched me,"
"Hah! I would never," gasped Hei dramatically, then he teasingly smiled and pointed to Chelsea with his thumb, "But she almost did,"
"Hey! I was just worried about the two of you," she shot back, "The two of you always do the stupidest things when I'm not around. I'm just here to keep you two alive,"
"Rigghht, and who was the one shaking and begging me to go home with you three minutes ago?"
Hei was met with a smack on the head for the second time that day, but this time it was courtesy of Chelsea who had karate chopped him.
Mumbling inaudible words, the girl marched forward toward the forest as the two boys followed after her.
"Did you use the 'Lollipop Tactic' again?" Natala whispered.
"Yeah, but I think the adults call it a bribe," answered Hei, "But honestly speaking, she always seems a lot more calm and level-headed with a lollipop in her mouth,"
Hours had passed and the trio was hiking through the forest, still in search of the mythical Jade Ram that they were hunting, or at least trying to hunt. The trio decided to take a break and rested on a short, natural plateau on the side of a hill.
"I'm hungry," commented Hei as he stared up at the blue sky.
"Me too," agreed Chelsea.
"You had two lollipops," the black-haired boy mentioned, "I don't have any left because of you,"
"Yeah, but that isn't lunch," the peach-haired girl responded with a shrug.
"We could always go back for the vegetables we set as bait," Natala suggested.
"No, that's for the Jade Ram," said Chelsea.
"And I don't have any more rope to make a trap," added Hei.
"Right then," huffed Natala before he stood and stretched, then he picked up his spear, "Guess I'll have to go find a rabbit or something. I saw a nest as we were coming up this hill, so just don't move okay?"
"Okay / I don't want to anyway," Hei and Chelsea responded simultaneously.
Natala smiled before turning around to head back into the forest when suddenly, their female friend raised her voice as she pointed towards the sky.
"Hey! Isn't that smoke?"
Both Natala and Hei looked up at where she was pointing.
"That's in the direction of the village isn't it?" Chelsea asked, while still staring at the rising black clouds.
"You're right," Hei said quietly as he sat up. He didn't know what it was but an uneasy feeling was starting to well up inside him, "Should we head back? Just in case?"
"I don't think it's something too serious," said Natala, "It's the Town Head's wife's birthday today isn't it? You both know how extravagant he can get for these types of parties. They're probably just celebrating early,"
"Guess you're right," murmured Hei.
In the corner of his eyes, Natala could see a speck of orange in the sky.
"Well, would you look at that? I guess it's not that early, after all, it's almost sundown," he said as the tree canopy was blocking out the western sky, it was now dyed in a warm orange and red glow.
"One last stretch before heading back? What do you say guys?" asked Natala.
"Let's go then," Hei said as he got back onto his feet and dusted off his pants, "I'll just eat more for dinner today,"
Chelsea nodded in agreement, who shook the dirt off her skirt, "Yeah,"
The trio walked through the lush undergrowth for another hour. Then suddenly, Natala saw something that caused him to duck behind a fallen log. The other two immediately followed suit.
"Is it the ram?" Hei asked silently.
"No," said Natala as he poked his head up to take a peek, "It's...the Imperial Army,"
"What?!" Chelsea gasped.
Hei raised an eyebrow at his female friend's sudden outburst.
"Shhh," Natala's finger shot in front of his mouth, "Don't let them hear you,"
"Mama says that they're bad news," commented the peach-hair girl who started to sweat nervously.
"Dad says the same," added Natala.
"But they'll listen to my Uncle, right? He's pretty high-ranked, isn't he? I don't see why we're hiding from them,"
None of his friends responded.
"...Right?"
"I...I don't know," replied Chelsea.
Natala took a peek over the log again. He clicked his tongue when he realized that the three of them were dangerously close to the Imperial Army's camp. Tents were set up between the trees of the forest and there was a campfire in the center. Most of the soldiers were loitering around, others were getting their weapons and armor checked, some were having their evening meals, and the selected few were patrolling and guarding the camp.
The blonde boy then ducked down and turned back to Hei and Chelsea.
"Say Hei, do you know which army your Uncle serves?" he asked in a serious voice, with an equally stern face.
Hei shook his head, "Isn't there only one army?"
Natala didn't answer and instead poked his head out from behind the log to take another look. He bit his lip, as the oldest out of the trio, by two years, he knew that he was responsible for the three of them's safety and that he needed to calculate his next moves carefully to not get caught.
"Hei," Chelsea whispered into his ear, "Don't you know, there are two armies in this country. One is the Imperial Army, and the other is the Revolutionary Army,"
"And?"
"They're at war. This whole country has been in a state of civil war and at war with bordering nations since before we were born,"
"What?" hissed Hei with shock, "Why didn't I know about this, how do the two of you know?"
"My parents told me, and I suppose Natala's parents told him too," Chelsea replied, "Maybe your aunt and uncle just didn't want to let you know,"
"...,"
Suddenly, Natala muttered a curse under his breath and he slid back down to the two of them, covering their mouths, and shuffling the three of them into the shadows of the shrub next to them. The two younger kids flinched from the unexpected action. Hei tried to pry the blonde's hand off his mouth but it was as if he had an iron grip.
"Be quiet you two and stay still," his voice was barely a whisper.
When they were silent, the trio could clearly hear the crunching of footsteps on the forest floor's dead leaves. It was getting louder and louder every second. Hei heard Natala nervously gulp and found that his own hands were shaking, so he closed them into fists to stifle it.
Then the footsteps stopped way too close for comfort and were replaced by the metallic clinking sound of an unbuckling belt.
The noise of trickling water succeeded the unbuckling belt, and a fishy stench filled the area along with a deep moan.
In the corner of his orange eyes, Hei could see a dusky yellow liquid rolling down the leaves beside him. His eyes quivered in panic and stared straight up at the leafy shrub in fear.
"Much better," said the soldier as he finished. The soldier buckled his belt back on as he turned to leave, oblivious to the three children hiding only a foot length away.
Natala released his grip on Hei and Chelsea's mouths, and the trio stayed silent for a moment longer until Chelsea broke the ice.
"C-Can we go home now?" she said while sniffling with tears welling up in the corner of her eyes.
Natala nodded but could only say, "Y-Yes,"
The trio got up as quietly as they could, and carefully walked away from the camp, overly careful of any twigs or extra dry leaves that would make a sound if stepped on. They were making good progress, with their fear-induced senses sharpened to the point where it would make any cat species proud, the three of them were able to get further and further away from the Imperial Army's camp.
They didn't care what direction they were going on, so long as they were clear from the camp.
All of a sudden, Natala let out a particularly loud scream.
Hei and Chelsea whipped around to see what had happened.
The blonde had unknowingly stepped into a snare trap large enough to capture deer...and people. His body flung around like a ragdoll as he was leashed forcefully into the trees. A bell that was attached to the top of the trap started to ring violently. The ruckus felt like it could be heard from a mile away.
Unfortunately, their current greatest present concern was way closer than a mile.
The barely audible voices of the soldiers from the camp grew louder and louder, as did the quick and noisy footsteps.
"We caught one, boys!"
"A feast tonight!"
"I do hope it's elk today, sick of the boars,"
Natala snapped his head around in the direction of the growing voices. He then looked towards the duo on the ground with terror glazed in his blue eyes.
"Go!" he rasped in desperation, "Run!"
"We can't leave you here!" Hei shouted back.
"JUST GO! FIND YOUR UNCLE! I'LL BUY YOU TWO TIME!"
"Hei is right! We left together, we go back together!"
"DON'T PLAY HERO! I'LL BE FINE!" Natala yelled, then spoke softly, "I-I'll be fine,"
Hei gulped, then slowly nodded, "We'll be back, come on Chels, I heard my uncle say something about the waterfall this morning. He might be there,"
"Hei! He's our friend we can't-!"
Hei ignored her and grabbed her wrist before starting to sprint through the undergrowth while pulling the peach-haired girl along.
They didn't get far.
From out of the bushes, Imperial Soldiers burst out like predators ambushing their prey. In no time at all, the three children were surrounded by what seemed like the entire camp.
"Oh hoh~," One of the soldiers brushed a thumb across his lips as a malicious grin stretched across his face, "This is even better than a deer. We have enough rations for tonight anyway, it's the lack of entertainment that really gets us irritated but I'm sure this can fix it,"
"I call dibs on the girl first," said another soldier, who licked his lips as he locked his vile eyes on Chelsea.
The girl noticed and let out a high-pitched yelp of fear. She grabbed onto her friend's arm with two hands and pressed her body to his in an attempt to hide from that one soldier.
But Hei was just as equally terrified. When he saw the state that the peach-haired girl was in, a memory appeared in his mind.
"Hei," Blaine said in a cold, stern voice. The boy knew it as the scolding voice and was not proud to admit that he was getting used to it.
"Come here!"
Hei shuffled nervously towards his uncle. He was staring at the floor of their cottage with his hands behind his back.
"Chelsea's mother, Natala's father, and I had a talk just then," said the older man as he crossed his arms, "We won't allow the three of you to meet up for a month!"
"What, why!?" cried Hei as he looked up at his uncle.
"Because we said so,"
"But they're my friends!" the boy argued.
"And you three almost died because of a prank the three of you tried to pull! You and Natala may have gotten out unscathed but Chelsea was hurt! Her ankle might be broken!"
This caused the black-haired boy to go quiet as he dipped his head shamefully, remembering the events that occurred earlier that day. He could only listen as Blaine continued, fuming as he spoke.
"What were you thinking!? Releasing Old Kain's cattle herd onto school grounds then letting them run wild! You three even somehow managed to cause a stampede and you're lucky almost no one was injured! If you were eight years older you would've been arrested for it, you know! Honestly! What goes on in your mind before you do these things!? Is it boredom that propels you?!"
Hei kept quiet.
"Well, we think it's from bad influence, from each other. And that's why we'll be separating the three of you for the month. We've even talked to the teachers to separate your classes and prevent you from leaving the classroom during break,"
"What?" Hei murmured, "But that's too harsh,"
"Harsh is what the world is! Get used to it!" Blaine snapped.
The boy whimpered as his uncle raised his voice.
A brief moment of quiet filled the room.
"...I-Is...is Chels okay?" Hei said softly while twiddling his fingers.
"She's at the doctor's right now, we'll know tomorrow," replied Blaine.
"O-Oh,"
"You feel sorry now?"
Hei slowly nodded, causing his uncle to let out a sigh.
"Kid," he began with a softer voice as his expression relaxed, and he knelt to be on the same eye-level as his nephew.
"I'm not telling you to stop having fun with your friends, it's only for a month, and if pulling pranks is what makes the three of you happy then I'll allow it to continue. But only if it isn't life-threatening, okay? Only the harmless ones from now on, do you understand?"
Hei nodded again.
"Look," said Blaine as he placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, "I'm sorry for shouting. However, like your father, I owe Chelsea's mother a great debt too. And I'm trying to pay it off by watching over all of you, making sure that you're all safe. But I can't be there all the time...Can I count on you to make sure everyone is safe?"
The boy remained silent.
"...Hei?"
"...I-I'll try,"
Blaine sighed through his nose, "That's better than nothing I suppose,"
"...Run," muttered Hei as he grabbed one of Chelsea's hands and gently pulled it off his arm.
"What?" Chelsea said quietly.
"When I say 'run', run with all the energy you have left and go back to the village," explained the orange-eyed boy.
"Wha-? No, what about you and Natala?"
Mustering up whatever courage was left in his body, Hei straightened himself and answered, "We'll be fine. If you find my uncle tell him and he'll come to rescue us,"
"I'm not leaving you,"
"I don't think that choice is ours anymore Chels," said Hei, "That creepy guy is walking toward us,"
The vile soldier who licked his lips slowly strutted forward with his crazed eyes focused on Chelsea as he chuckled, "Come now, do you like lollipops? I have a lot back at camp, and I'll show you the biggest one if you come with me,"
"Eek!"
Upon seeing him, Chelsea hid behind her friend even more until only her peach-colored hair was poking out from behind Hei's shoulder.
The two children watched as that soldier stopped in front of them.
"Move runt," he growled down at Hei with a sinister grin.
"N-No," Hei replied with a shaky breath. He was trembling, and his palms felt as if he had dipped them in water.
"Hmph," the soldier smirked and cracked his knuckles, "Whatever, I'll enjoy this too,"
The soldier winded his fist back and threw it forward. However, his eyes widened when the black-haired boy caught the punch with two hands.
"What?"
"Run Chels!" He yelled.
The peach-haired girl's worried and fearful red gaze lingered on Hei for a moment longer before she began to dash past them, through the gap the pedophilic soldier made when he stepped forward.
"No you don't!"
The soldier attempted to grab Chelsea, and Hei acted quickly to stop him. Using the soldier's arm like a rope, he pulled himself higher, latching onto the soldier's neck, and tried to strangle him.
Several other soldiers went to follow after Chelsea as she disappeared into the dark greenery. While others remained to watch the show.
The vile soldier reached around and tried to pry the boy off his back, but Hei wrapped both arms around his neck in response.
"Damn you!" the soldier snarled, saliva seeping through his gritted teeth.
The soldier began thrashing around in order to throw the boy off, but he clung on as if his arms were snakes suffocating their prey.
Suddenly, Hei was met with a heavy punch directly in the face.
"How do you like that, you shit!" the enraged soldier roared, "Get off,"
The older man began to repeatedly smash the child in the head with his fists, swinging them widely over his shoulder.
Until Hei's grip finally loosened. The boy was bleeding from his nose and lips, he had a black eye and a gash across his left cheek.
'No!' he mentally screamed.
In a final act of desperation to stop the soldier. Hei's fingers found their way up to grip tightly onto the back of the soldier's armor. With the last bit of strength he had, he hauled himself up and let instincts take over.
"Wha-GAH!" The soldier screamed in pain as he felt a sharp stinging sensation on the back of his neck.
Hei had sunk his teeth into the soldier's nape, one hand was grasping and pulling at the soldier's hair, while his other arm was wrapped around the front of the neck while pushing the soldier's Adam's apple back into his throat.
"GET OFF!" the soldier cried as he ran around in circles, shaking his body as violently as he could to get the child off.
The tips of Hei's teeth began to turn red from the blood seeping out the bite.
Suddenly, a strong force grabbed and tore the boy away from the soldier's back. The older man fell forward onto the ground, he pressed a hand against his neck wound as he spun around.
His eyes widened in horror.
"C-C-Captain O-Ogre, Sir!" he stuttered.
Standing in the middle of the commotion was a large muscular man equipped in the Empire's signature armor. His hair was black and tied back in four braided ponytails. His most prominent feature was the large star-shaped scar over his missing left eye.
"What happened here?" he demanded. When he spoke he revealed his teeth that were filed to be sharper than average.
"That stupid shit bit me!" the soldier on the ground, who still held his wound, sputtered.
Ogre snickered and glanced at the boy he was holding by the back of his neck, "You were taken down by this kid?"
"I wasn't taken down!"
"You dare speak like that to your superior!?" Ogre snarled, his resonating voice caused the soldier to cower in fear.
"Besides, you're on the ground right now! Heh, losing to a mere child, such weakness is not tolerated in my troop," said Ogre.
With Hei still in his hand, the large men slowly stepped towards the downed soldier.
"S-S-Sir?! I-I'm s-sorry sir! I-I'll do better in the fu-,"
The soldier wasn't able to finish his sentence as the sharp, heavy metallic boot of Ogre slammed into his face, with the front of his boots lodged itself into the soldier's mouth and shattered all of his teeth. As a result, he fell back, bleeding profusely from his mouth until he started to choke on his own blood. But Ogre wasn't done, he lifted his boot and stomped onto the soldier's head. Crushing the soldier's skull as if it were like a melting tin can.
The blood of the soldier splattered close to Hei's feet.
Speaking of the boy, Ogre looked down at him and a malicious grin appeared on his wrinkled features.
"As for you," he began, "I may have a use for you and that other kid,"
As he was speaking, a helmeted soldier walked through the crowd made up of the other members of his platoon with a rope in his hands, dragging Natala across the forest floor by the legs.
"Let me go! LET ME GO!" Natala cried as he struggled to get free.
Ogre continued and raised Hei up to his eye level. His one eye staring into the boy's bright orange ones, "Yes, you two look to be made of good material… Perfect for the test,"
Hei glared back at the older man with wide eyes, truthfully he was even more terrified than before. Compared to that soldier, this man gave off the most dangerous energy he had ever felt in his life. It was even worse than all the predatory Danger Beasts he had seen before.
"Back to camp! All of you! Let the Danger Beasts have this one," Ogre ordered.
With their child prisoners in hand, the Imperial Army marched back to their temporary mobile base.
On the border of the camp was a horse-cart with a cage behind it, and Ogre and the soldier pulling Natala made their way to it.
The Captain pulled open the door to the cage and effortlessly tossed Hei into the cage.
Hei gasped in pain as his body collided with the metal barrier. The back of his head smacked against one of the metal bars, and he fell to the cage floor unconscious.
Ogre then cut off the snare around Natala's legs, before proceeding to throw the blonde into the cage the same way he did to the black-haired boy. Natala's forehead crashed into metal bars and was knocked out.
The man then closed and locked the cage door. He slid the key into his pocket and smirked at his captured victims before turning around.
"Watch them," he ordered the soldier next to him.
"Yes sir," the soldier saluted.
Ogre grinned and rubbed his palms together as he made his way back to the center of camp, "Heheheh, Old Honest is going to pay me well for this batch,"
When he was in the middle of the camp, he cleared his throat, "Attention!"
The soldiers stopped what they were doing and stood up straight, facing the Captain.
"Due to the small incident that took place, we have been delayed by several minutes. And I expect every single one of you to be ready for battle in two minutes! For we will join our brothers in the siege of the village by the forest entrance! Understood!?"
"Yes sir!" These two words echoed throughout the camp.
When he came to, Hei found himself curled into a ball inside a small enclosed area with barely enough space to move all four limbs, and only a small peephole above him that provided light.
"Is anyone there?!" he cried out while trying to squeeze his hand up to bang on the barrier enclosing him.
He was met with only silence as he stood up.
A dead silence.
And panic rose inside him as he started hearing the rapid beating of his heart in his ears.
"SOMEONE HELP ME! PLEASE!" the boy screamed desperately while hitting the barrier repeatedly with one hand.
"I'M TRAPPED! PLEASE HELP!"
He felt the barrier sway back and forth from his movement but paid no attention to it as he was still helplessly shouting for someone or something to let him out of this small prison.
With one last smack from his fist, while moving around the best he could in the limited area, Hei felt him and the barrier fall forward.
He grunted in pain when he hit the ground, and coincidentally the barrier containing him shattered into pieces at the same time. Hei looked around as he sat up, and saw planks and splinters of wood around him. He put two and two together and realized that he was confined inside a wooden box of some kind.
Then he noticed his surroundings, he was still in a forest but not the one he was familiar with. This one was much, much, darker and emitted an eerie feeling. The way the wicked trees were bending looked as if they were staring and being entertained at the boy's dismay. Their thicker than normal roots looked as if they slithered and crawled across the soil before coming to a stop.
"W-Where am I?" Hei timidly said to himself.
His orange eyes didn't stop moving as he looked around the forest. Sweat flowed freely down his back as he began to shake.
"N-Natala?!" he called out, hoping for a response from at least one of his friends, "Chelsea!?"
The only response he got was the deep, rumbling snarl of a Danger Beast. Hei whipped around to see a wolf-like, hoofed, Danger Beast that had gray fur, red eyes, and spikes that protruded from its spine and ran down its back.
"Eep,"
The spiked wolf rushed forward and knocked Hei to the ground before he could react. It kept galloping as it decreased its speed to turn around easier. Then with another snarl, it began to charge once more.
Hei crawled away fast in an attempt to get away. His heart was beating even faster in his ears, drawing out any noise.
There was a glint of steel coming from under a pile of broken planks. His eyes widened in the realization of what that object was, it seemed that there was a knife placed alongside him inside the box prison. The boy's arm immediately shot out to grab the knife from under the loose woodpile.
The hooved wolf closed in and lunged. Just as it landed upon him and was about to make the killing bite, Hei snapped his body around and with that momentum, he easily plunged the blade into the wolf's throat.
The Danger Beast's blood spilled out like a crimson shower onto Hei's face and body. It took all of his strength to hold the knife in place as the wolf made a last hopeless effort to snap at the boy's head. Soon, its movements slowed until it came to a stop. After pulling the small blade out of the wolf's neck, Hei's arms gave out and the dead Danger Beast fell onto him.
The orange-eyed boy lay there catching his breath with a wolf carcass on top of him, and when he gained enough strength, he was able to push it to the side just enough for him to crawl out.
Panting, he stared down at the carcass then at the blood on his hands. After a couple of seconds, tears began to drop onto his blood-soaked hands as he sobbed and sniffled.
"...H-how...h-how did it...turn out...like this…?"
The War Within - 1
Hello Everyone! I'm FireMonkeyDragon! Welcome to my newest story [ The War Within ], set in the universe of Akame ga Kill. I've had this idea floating in my mind for a while now and I needed to get it out. If you enjoyed this first chapter or found it interesting, please leave a review and all that good stuff.
Thank You For Reading, and Goodbye!
