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The following is a fan-based

FICTION

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Chapter 8: Friends, Trials, and Chaos! (4)

Beta-Reader: Ant0nius

~Frankie's POV~

Body-painting wasn't something I was well-versed in.

Sure, I had heard of people having gone and made experiences through this oddly-intimate art. Turning one's body into a canvas sounded poetically interesting, yet there was still the practical issue of showing skin during the process. And I'm not referring just to arms, legs, and the face.

Torso, upper and lower back… stomach. And even more.

While I wasn't overly shy in showing some of my chest around on specific occasions like visits to the beach or some fun by a swimming pool, the fact that I was doing this for the sake of painting felt quite awkward. Not unpleasant, just embarrassing.

Still, I had made a promise to Angel, and had no reason to back away so suddenly about it. After we finished cleaning up the kitchen area, I proceeded to walk alone by the section of the dorms where the dark-furred bunny had mentioned to be staying at.

I quickly took notice of the 'change' between the various zones assigned to the students from the other years. Angel might've been a year older than me, yet I would soon learn that her dorm room was way better than my early expectations.

Once I arrived at the door, I proceeded to deliver three quick, but soft, knocks. Backing away, I barely heard a muffled 'a moment' from the other side and soon footsteps started to approach. The lock was unlocked, and the door was moved to allow the young woman to peek outside. She blinked, a small smile on her face.

"I see you're punctual."

The comment was met with a nod, but I delayed verbally responding only for the time to enter inside, right as she stepped aside and allowed me passage. I hummed, eyes giving a quick scan around the room.

"I didn't have much to do up until now," I muttered quietly. "How are you?"

The query was met with a blink as Angel closed the door and reached for the queen-sized bed to pick a small box. Her ears twitched at the words, but she seemed fairly calm.

"Peachy," She replied distractedly, before offering me a little more attention once she was done with checking on the box. "Genuinely so. I've had a particularly smooth day. What about you?"

I shrugged. "Helping one of my friends with some cooking. Nothing too burdening."

Pink eyes sported a degree of interest at my response.

"Is that so? Was it… Hope?" She pressed carefully. Her tone was restrained, holding back much of her curiosity as I nodded.

The lack of a more elaborate answer seemed to stop the brief conversation, with the girl gesturing for me to follow into… another room connected to the main one. I'd always thought that dorm-rooms weren't meant to have more than a single room for each group.

Yet this seemed to be a unique case and… I found myself standing before an artistic workshop, one filled with plenty of curious objects to study. Various designs were framed with some signatures, some having Angel's name on them while others having differing signatures. A small section was dedicated to contain the equipment, and I could already see brushes and cans of colors there that waited to be used.

"I don't think I've asked you about this. Have you ever tried this before?" The Prime inquired with a quick glance in my direction, her sight returning to the now open box as she patiently put the various substitute pencils together with the rest.

"Not yet, - only heard about it," I admitted without lingering too long over the question. She seemed a little bit annoyed by this, yet the dark emotions vanished in her features as she nodded in understanding.

"I suppose that would do. You don't need to do anything after all."

She placed two pillows down, sitting by one while gesturing to me to follow her example, before taking a seat by the unoccupied one. She had a small drawing board, pencils, pens and brushes being kept by her left side and some colors on the other side.

"I had some thoughts up until now. Right now, I can offer you a look at a couple of sketches I was working on. Nothing too complicated," Angel commented as she turned her board around. I started to give it a proper look and… I was awed by the examples there.

One had a vine-like complex with a dark-gray and white thematic alternation. It's pattern was enticing enough to make me almost pick it up instantly. The entire complex would look pretty neat if limited by one of my arms and then go 'hiding' behind my shirt. Glancing lower, I then studied the two other styles.

The next one looked like some small-character writings that were interrupted by vertical bars once every couple of centimeters. I could imagine it being quite cool if drawn around the middle of both of my arms, just a little higher from the elbows.

Finally, I took some seconds to analyze the heartbeat-like motif used similarly to the first style. It looked pretty nice, but not the kind of stuff I would try out because it didn't match well with my own 'theme'.

Deciding between the two choices got me silent for a little while, with Angel continuing to stare patiently and seemingly understanding my slow decision-making. Maybe this wasn't the first time she had to deal with someone as indecisive as me.

In the end, I stuck with the first option. Something that gained a smile out of the bunny as she nodded at my choice.

"I was thinking the same. Let me guess, you didn't feel the third one much?"

I blinked, but gave a genuine nod as she sighed.

"The last pick was kind of a random one. I was distracted when I thought about it and… it became that."

Putting her board down, she started preparing the small brush and the small can with the dark-gray color, her attention divided between me and her final steps for the preparation.

"You should start to remove your shirt," The Prime hummed calmly, her head tilting a little as she sighed over the blend smoothly coating the brush. "The design will end just a little bit before your neck but… it would be best to remove it now, instead of risking ruining the entire process."

I nodded, flashing a nervous look as I slowly started to pull up my shirt. I had expected this… yet I still felt rather awkward by the prospect of being bare-chested in front of someone I barely knew. Especially if said 'someone' was a gorgeous girl like Angel.

The bunny didn't seem to mind much about my uneasy self, her sight fixing momentarily by my chest, half-mesmerized by the toned stuff there and… she turned to my left arm, her hand reaching to carefully lift it up.

"Stay still like this, please."

I nodded, holding the limb stretched as she gave it a proper look around as to plan out where she was supposed to start with the motif. Soon Angel started to paint by the left side of my hand, carefully building up the style vertically for a few centimeters. Then the girl slowly turned the line diagonally on the right, starting what looked to be a spiral.

The more she progressed, the more she was forced to make brief pauses to pull the pillow and herself closer to where I was sitting. I wasn't minding much about it at first, but then she grew quite close to me and I couldn't help but stare a lot at her focused expression. She just looked so… passionate with the current project.

I was forced to turn my stare away multiple times as I really didn't want to make this more awkward than it needed to. The Prime shifted a little more closer, to conclude the section above the elbow, but she was ultimately forced to go around and settle on my left side as to conclude the area that reached up to my arm-joint.

Finally she reached for my upper back, near my neck, as she prepared to conclude the careful operation. I was unsure how much time had passed since we had begun, yet I was quite sure it was well beyond the half an hour I had estimated up until we had started. Angel didn't seem to mind the lengthy amount of time spent in this endeavor. She actually seemed to enjoy it from the tiny smile present during the entire process.

A pleased sigh left her lips as she retreated one last time with the brush, and I knew that we were finally done with the painting. Now, it was time to wait for the color to dry up. She stood up from her pillow, picking it up as she moved back to her initial position as I took a moment to look at her hard-work.

"Truly a masterpiece, Angel," I commented bluntly, drawing a nod from the girl.

"It's a little easier compared to fur-painting, but I had to be careful to not brush too hard. There were some close calls of me getting to ruin this- but yes, it's a nice work."

She took her board in her hands, scribbling on it for a while as I glanced back at the drying paint, feeling unsure of how I was supposed to keep up a discussion with the bunny. I knew that she seemed quite attached to body-painting, yet I wasn't much sure that I could keep up a decent conversation without making things turn weird.

Yet, I still tried and the results were… interesting to say the least.

"Is this your first time body-painting a human?" I inquired quietly, glancing back at Angel as she stopped with her writing.

"It is," The young woman confessed without hesitation. Her pink eyes stared up from the board and up to my face. "I've studied the concept for some time now, and I've come to realize that humans were the ones that sparked the interest within Primes to try and experiment with this."

I frowned at that. "Wait, you mean that it wasn't a common custom?"

"Not before the first decades of life in Neo-Earth," The Bunny continued with her explanation, showing quite the knowledge over the topic. "There were attempts. I remember studying sometime ago that there were rituals for the Dragon Gods that made use of paints to apply to the body… but these traditions were limited to that."

"I suppose it might be… related to the fact Primes have to paint over their own fur," I suggested, starting to get fascinated by this very subject. It wasn't the first time I learned something more about Primekind that up until now I wasn't aware about.

"I couldn't find anything to support that idea, but I too feel that it might be the reason why the practice didn't spread that much," Angel added with an eager voice. "Either that or it might be related to the whole 'Narakhan' situation."

I felt stopping at that very term, confused as this was the first time I heard about it.

"Narakhan?"

She blinked, surprise adorning her face. "You've never heard about the tribes? I… I guess I shouldn't be surprised that humans don't know much about them."

I gave her a curious look, spurning her to continue with this new topic. There was a hint of uneasiness at starting to discuss this, but she indulged without any complaints.

"Narakhans are… kind of the generic bad guys. Not all of them are evil but they were on the same side as the Emperor," The bunny explained with some hesitation. "They still exist, some having forsaken the old connections to the big guy. These in particular have some administrative holds away from the major hubs to create any diplomatic incidents, but they all have to deal with some magical bond with what's left of the Emperor's… evilness."

"Magical?"

"Okay, it's complicated and- how about we play a game?" Angel suddenly proposed. "You offer questions, but I get to ask my own questions too."

I blinked, surprised by this little 'strong' development, but I eventually shrugged. "Sure."

"Let's start with something simple," She said before easing up her posture and offering me a smug look. "What is 'Hope' to you?"

...Oh boy, it was going to be one of those days, wasn't it?

"A friend," I calmly answered, only for the bunny to lean closer and narrow her eyes in a teasing light.

"Is that so? Are you sure that's the correct answer?"

Is there even a correct answer? I was just answering truthfully to her queries. Could it be that… she was suspecting about something more?

…

Doubtful. Very doubtful.

"Yes," I dryly remarked, before giving her a calm look. "Now, what were you talking about with this 'magic'?"

"As I've said before it's quite complicated. The only thing I can mention right now is that the Crests have their clans and from there the Knights are 'created'," The girl replied with a huff. "Magic is something from the Dragon Gods, I really don't know how and why, but it does exist."

I nodded, but I noticed quite quickly that she was getting rather annoyed by talking about this very subject. Perhaps I should be switching topics again back to body-painting.

"Now, next question… since Hope is just a 'friend', you wouldn't mind if she started going after someone that isn't you, right?" The bunny asked quite fiercely, maybe in the efforts to get a rise out of me. "It's hypothetical, but how would you react to that?"

"With a smile and perhaps helping her… just like I'm doing right now."

I had to hold back a snort as I saw a confused look appear on her face, then slow realization melted her lack of understanding in the purest form of clarity.

"Is she already going for someone?" The Prime asked with utmost surprise. "But- She didn't seem to- I mean, you two do look fairly close."

"I'm helping her with that very situation," I admitted with a sigh, trying to hold back any other unpleasant thought to linger further from there. "Since I know the guy she is interested in, she wanted an ally to trust and rely on, and I accepted her request."

"That's just plain dumb. Why would you even want to do that?" She pressed on with some indignation. "You wouldn't gain anything out of it-"

"Actually, we agreed to help each other with our romantic issues. I help her with that and she helps me find a girlfriend," I interrupted with some insistence. "I'm not really making it freely."

"And how is your part faring right now? Have you made any progress yet?"

"Kind of?" I half-answered, still unsure if I was making 'progress' right now.

"I'm half tempted to call you out on this very situation. I think I can see that you're heads over heels with that 'happy girl'," Angel said, my posture tensed up at her words, but she wasn't done yet. "But I think there is more to that. Maybe I'm wrong about you being infatuated with her, or maybe you're just delusional about it."

"I'm just a friend to her."

"But you wouldn't mind meaning more to her," The Bunny rebuked calmly, taking a moment to sigh before standing up. "The color has dried up. And you should start going before you end up turning late."

I blinked at this unexpected attempt to conclude the discussion. I tried to protect, but her hand quickly reached for my mouth as I stood up and took a step towards her.

"We will talk later. I think we will have plenty of occasions to share more meaningful conversations," Angel continued with a small smile. "I find your plight interesting. Mind you, I find no amusement in gossip and rumors, but I do find the occasional story like yours to be endearing to see unfold. If you need someone to talk to, don't hesitate calling. You have my phone number, and I will be available mostly after the lectures."

This very conclusion felt… confusing. It was odd, strange and- and I was unsure what to make out of it. Was she offering help, or was she just trying to milk as much entertainment she could out of this very situation?

I hadn't admitted to any of her accusations, yet I hadn't actually replied to any of those. Silence was tacit agreement for many, and I could see the Prime make use of that to win any debate I could make against these thoughts.

"Why?" I ended up asking. There were many questions storming my mind, but those all boiled down into that simple but complicated mess of a word.

She blinked, delivering a sigh before giving a proper answer.

"Because I want to. I want to see how this goes on, how will you deal with it? Will you be rewarded, or will you not?" She pinched at my cheek, then patted it. "Now go, I really need some time alone right now."

I gave her a confused glance at these last words, but I ultimately was forced to nod and comply with her request. Once I was done putting on my shirt, I reached for the door, closing it behind me with a soft noise.

Sighing at this confusing predicament, I continued pondering over it up until I reached the dorm-room. Distracted by my thoughts, I entered inside without paying much attention to my surroundings and… soon I found myself swarmed by a certain Gazelle and Cat, both teaming up to try and pestering me up with questions related to how the body-painting session had gone.

At least the day was mostly done for…

~Change of POV~

Prism City was… a dreadful hive of Primes and Humans. A hideous creation that represented everything that her kind hated the worst about the 'winning side' of the war. She had heard the tales about the happiness and joy filling the heart of those born after the alliance had melted into a full-fledged cultural union.

…

What a squalid thought, to see two kinds of parasites enjoying each other's company so closely. It almost made her belch… but she couldn't let 'childish ideas' damage her way of success.

The elders had seen fit to give her the most glorious of missions. Something born from the luck favoring her and those that had been born and grown to adore the deeds of the magnanimous emperor that once wanted to dominate the galaxy.

Ifera was one of the youngest members of the newest generation of Narakhan warriors, her tribe having long favored her ascension to a higher rank because of her devotion and her undying loyalty to the one true God that once roamed the universe.

A simple Coyote with long dark-blue hair, her dark marks were well-spread over her left arm and the left side of her face. A mask and some proper cloth from her dark-violet dress served to cover the tale-telling signs of her affiliations, thus neutralizing the chances of getting discovered by any Knights defending her targets.

And while her prodigious mind and skill with daggers had proved to many of the leaders that she was worthy of being granted a higher rank, they had still decided to send her in this arduous quest within the heart of the newer continent. Yet she couldn't whine about the difficulty, as she knew that the rewards were all worth it and much more.

She was shocked, no- she was giddy at the fact that she was bestowed with the chance of capturing the daughter of Love, and the son of Bravery and Light. The second target was the bigger treat, and a must to capture considering the circumstances behind his upbringing.

With the fact that he was the best possible source of information over who was meant to become the next Queen, Ifera had to at least try and capture the young man before he had the chance of getting a proper squad of Knights to defend him and his little friends.

Almost groaning at the mere thought that someone would actually go as far as befriending the children of those that were the puppets to the fake Dragon Gods, the Coyote tried attaining a peaceful posture as she quietly continued to sit alone in that mostly deserted park. The place was just pleasant enough to allow her to find enough serenity to corroborate a decent plan to kidnap the two individuals.

Prism Uni wasn't that far from where she was, yet there wasn't any rush to see the completion of this mission. Right now nobody knew about her presence here, and if she ended up pushing her luck by trying with a quick, badly-pondered attempt, the Narakhan knew that it would only see things get more complicated than she needed those to be.

She needed to focus and make a grandiose plan. She needed to make sure that there was accurate attention to every detail, even the most insignificant of those and… she needed to see what kind of people the Crests' spawns were.

What they liked, what they despised, their loved ones and… their flaws. The Coyote needed everything that could help her with her success, and then things would turn properly in her favor.

The council of elders had granted her plenty of resources, from money to underground informants that pended to her orders. This was going to be the greatest mission ever funded since the end of the war.

It was a grand honor to have been chosen to head this important task, and the Narakhan was ready to go through with it and make sure that there were no issues between her and the completion of such a monumental victory.

Her happy musings came to an end when she noticed a small rubber ball rolling quietly right by her bench, her stare turning to the simple toy as curiosity swelled at the unexpected arrival. Yet her surprise turned in tension when her ears caught some footsteps approaching her.

Two children, both Golden Retriever Primes. They seemed to be twins. Brother and sister. They paused for a moment when they finally got sight of where their ball had gone, the boy behind in front while his sibling hid behind his frame, still peeking over his shoulder to look at Ifera.

The Narakhan frowned at the standoff, feeling particularly annoyed by the fact that they were interrupting her happy thoughts of bringing back the legitimate ruler of the galaxy and killing all the Crests.

Should she make these two examples of her wrath? Taint the green hill with red? It would just be proper Narakhan's custom to return hatred with hatred. But… considering that her current mission depended on her anonymity early on, Ifera was legitimately concerned over the opportunity of messing things up because she couldn't muster up some good act to keep the two from pestering her.

"Take the ball and leave," The young woman ultimately muttered, staring away as to not get herself irked by the two disgusting brats. She didn't need to deal with this, not when her life was gaining even more meaning and purpose. She was ascending to a degree well beyond what a normal Narakhan should expect and-

"Why are you all alone here, miss?"

…

Still with her mask on, Ifera turned to stare at the girl, now standing distant from her a couple of meters, as she seemed to be waiting for some answers to that sudden question. Her brother had gone to slowly pick up the ball and was now standing beside his sibling, giving the woman the same curious look.

"I was minding my own business, like you two should," The Narakhan replied coldly, trying to convey her chilling glare through the full-face mask.

Sadly, her hopes of being left alone were dashed away when the young boy frowned.

"But… you weren't doing anything," He commented calmly.

"I was trying to rest."

The quick rebuttal was met with wide eyes as both looked surprised and embarrassed by the situation.

"I-We're sorry then, Miss. We didn't mean to disturb you," The girl apologized quickly, while her brother bowed his head a little.

"W-We will go back playing Basketball then."

But as the two prepared to retreat back to the field to play a little more at their games, the Narakhan stood up and silently stared at them. The sudden development was enough to draw both children to a pause, both keeping their wide eyes onto the now scary woman.

"While I appreciate your humble apologies… I find myself willing to ask you a simple but important question."

She leaned a little towards the two.

"What is this... 'Basketball'?"

Minutes later, Ifera found herself staring at the strange contraption of glass, metal and rubber standing a couple of meters above the ground. Surprisingly enough, both Primes proved to be quite cultured over this curious subject, highlighting the true nature of this deceptive play.

They had been trying their best to get a score out of the high target, yet none possessed the might to throw the ball high enough to reach the precise spot which would dignify a 'point'. It wasn't the full-fledged game, the Coyote discovered while the two continued to talk alternating their speeches, and that this was a fraction of what the true play was.

But even this little task looked fairly difficult for the two and, feeling the need to finally 'return the kindness' by ruining their silly game with her own superior skills. Being offered the ball, the thing that was supposed to go through the hole to 'score', Ifera took a few moments to calculate the proper strength and height which the ball was supposed to have to gain a quick victory to her.

It was within her grasp. It was her destiny to be victorious after all.

So she crouched a little, mustering some strength in her legs and… she threw the ball. Her gloating smirk, already building up at the thought of having shredded to the ground her opponents waned the moment the ball was deflected by the metallic ring. Her red eyes trailed down to the rolling ball, and muted confusion replaced her sureness.

A couple of seconds passed, enough to see the ball recovered and given once more to her hold. She could feel that she had to put more strength, the ring had been too fierce, enough to repel her majestic shot.

So when the woman threw a more powerful hit towards the dastardly ring, her hopes of having found the solution to this childish dilemma soon were crushed when the ball pushed against the ring, the ring pushed back. Brutally and unforgivingly so.

The ball returned back to the sender, the power still there and catching the Narakhan by surprise as it slammed squarely on her mask. She recoiled a little, her attention faltering momentarily before she actually started to realize what had just happened.

"Miss, you should throw the ball to go through the ring- not against it-" The female Prime tried to advise, but Ifera only perceived it as a reason to try with even more vigor. A child wouldn't ruin her good mood because of this blasted game.

"I-I know!" She said, her stutter induced by the leftover of that unexpected retaliation from the inanimate target. This time her mind was meaning it, with her brain having finally realized through unknown means that the ball had to go through the ring, not to slam into it.

This time the shot seemed to come close to score as the ball moved around the ring and… fell off to the ground. A scowl slowly replaced her smile. Now, now there was a reason to see how this happy day was going to be ruined for her.

Without wasting more time lingering on the newest failure, the Coyote prepared for her next attempt. Soon time started to fly away as the remaining few hours of the afternoon went by and those were spent in getting that little ball through the cheeky ring. The young woman could feel aggravated by the close calls, knowing that it was all a trickery to distract her from her real duties, yet the activity had slowly occupied her mind and was now driving her to see it accomplished.

Hours passed and then, as the moon was up in the sky and the children had long left the park to return back home, Ifera started with wide eyes and trembling body at the ring as the ball finally fell through it. It was possible, her success was there for her to see and… she could feel excitement at the results achieved.

This- This meant a lot. She had just done something new and accomplished it in such a little span of time. It was something that sharpened her skill to throw things, to properly improve her capacity in using long-range weaponry.

Yes. She needed to continue. Her mind and fate demanded it!

Without questioning much about the safety of persisting through the activity well beyond midnight, the Narakhan continued with her exercises, knowing to have found a new training task to add to her daily sessions.

And from there, the world shall bow before the Emperor and the one that bravely brought him back! Yes, she could see it happening!

AN

We got the bad gu- Girl. The evil-doer.

She doesn't seem to know how the world truly works.

Things tend to be strange in isolated tribes.

But… she seems fairly naive.

So was Minos, but then he became all smart and wise.

Centuries worth of pranking him into the right path. You may thank me now.

Maybe.

Well, at least I'm not the one writing a silly villain.

She's trying!