Legacy of Travas Chapter 17: The Will of a Warrior, a Legacy of Kain + Extinctioners Crossover fanfic

Legacy of Travas

Chapter 17: The Will of a Warrior

*Within the Blue Lady Shop, about twenty minutes after the fight*

Darkness overcame the room inside the Blue Lady Shop, so much so that it was pitch black all around the interior of the shop. But soon that began to abate when Travas began to awaken from his state of unconsciousness. His eyes could barely open narrowly and his vision was blurry to the point where he could barely look around his surroundings. However, what had bothered Travas the most was that he could barely move his body, so much so that all he could do at this time was hardly move his neck around.

"Huh… where… where am I…?" Travas asked within his mind as his vision began to clear up slowly. "Am I… Am I inside the Blue Lady Shop…" he continued thinking until he suddenly felt a soft hand rubbing his forehead. In response, he slowly turns to see that it was his girlfriend, Umah that was providing a comforting touch to his forehead. And in that moment she smile upon her boyfriend's awakening.

"Welcome back, Travas. How do you feel now that you have awakened from your slumber", Umah asked as she kisses his forehead gently.

"Other than my body feels like it went through a shitload of prison wires, I feel relieved now that you're here", Travas replied as he gently strokes her cheek with his hand-paw on his right uninjured arm, causing her to blush as a result. Within that moment, Vorador, Janos, Celestia, Doyle, Aramantha, and Johnny arrive and enter inside the shop, noticing Travas' awakening.

"Travas, I see you have awakened at last. How do you feel at this moment", Janos asked as Travas tries to turn and face him, despite his aching neck.

"Well… let's just simply say that I'm getting there. Ow…" Travas answered as he chuckled painfully while rubbing the back of his head with his right hand-paw.

"You are rather fortunate that you managed to survive the battle against the Sarafan Warrior from earlier. However, Umah had told me about him knowing your identity and of your origins. Have you met this warrior from somewhere before or has he known about you for some time now", Vorador asked as Travas carefully began to sit up straight, thus revealing his somewhat bandaged torso and arms.

"As a matter of fact, I do. The warrior goes by the name of Miles Sullivan", Travas answered as the others, with the exception of Umah, Janos, and Johnny, gasped in shock upon hearing the name.

"We have heard tales of his battles within Nosgoth, and from the information we were able to come by, he has shown to be the most powerful warrior amongst the Sarafan. It is best that you try to avoid him at all cost", Vorador warned as Travas tilted his head down slightly.

"Yeah… I understand", Travas spoke calmly while looking upon his own coldly. "Damnit… what the hell's gotten into me when I fought Miles some time ago? It's like I felt some sort of surprise rage build from within me… including for the fact that he knew about my origins, death, and resurrection as a vampire", he thought within his mind as Umah placed her right hand on his right shoulder, thus turned to her and softly smiled as she did the same for him.

"Don't worry, Travas… everything will be alright", Umah said as Travas nodded while softly smiling upon her. Then Vorador walks closer to Travas as he cleared his throat.

"Welcome to Sanctuary, Travas, for here we have conducted much of the Cabal's discussions along negotiations on some occasions. Unfortunately, however, we have had Kain work amongst our group during the time we were trying to assassinate the Sarafan Lord. Speaking of which, I believe that it is time that we made our discussion concerning Kain's ambitions. Are we all agreed", Vorador asked.

"Right", everyone but Vorador spoke in unison as a response.

"Now then, it has come to our attention that Kain's ambition to rule the land of Nosgoth and obtain divine power has become a problem for us all. It seems that he began hunting us down one by one over the past several months. Though some of us were grateful for him assassinating the Sarafan Lord, who had actually been the Hylden General in disguise… I can no longer tolerate such monstrous, treacherous actions he's conducted against us or the other members of the Cabal. Nor can I ever forgive him for what he had done to Umah at the wharves several months ago", Vorador spoke as Travas notices Umah's sadness slowly beginning to overcome her. Within that instant, Travas carefully turns to her while sitting up and places his right hand-paw on her left shoulder. In response, she begins calming down and holds onto Travas in a thankful manner.

"So what are we going to do about Kain's Ambitions at this time", Travas asked as Vorador looks towards him and the others look upon Vorador himself.

"As of right now, we are only going to keep his ambitions in check" Vorador replied as Travas gave him a slightly confused look. "In plain terms, we will make sure that he doesn't try and take over Nosgoth under any radical behavior. If he does, then we shall step in and stop him at whatever cost necessary", he explained further as Travas nods in response.

Within a moment after Vorador explaining the plans, Amy enters within the threshold of the Blue Lady Shop and sees some of the members of the Vampire Resistance within. She then heads towards Vorador and Travas with a worried, urgent expression on her face.

"Thank goodness you guys are here. There's been a massacre that just happened within the Sarafan Keep", Amy explained as the other members of the Cabal turn to face her with eyes shot open. "I'm not for sure who it was, but I think this might've been the work of Kain".

"Kain…?! What business did he have within the Sarafan Keep", Travas asked as Amy turns to face his injured state. "Now that I think about it, I think I heard another Sarafan Guard mention something about an event like this happening earlier this morning", he continued while stretching his arms in order to relieve some of the pain on them.

"Apparently some time ago, and it seems that Kain had assassinated barely over half of the army comprised of young, new recruits", Amy explained as Travas' eyes shot open in slight shock.

"This isn't good… it looks like Kain took his ambitions a lot more serious than we ex-" Travas spoke until he yelps in pain from trying to move around at that moment. But shortly afterwards, Janos comes back with a mug of blood and the suppression medication and hands it to Travas.

"Travas, take this. It will revitalize some of your strength and heal some of the injuries you sustained from the battle earlier. At the same time, you should take the medication to help suppress the predatory blood thirst for a time being", Janos suggested as Travas nods and takes the mug of blood and the suppression medication from Janos. Thus he puts the medication into his mouth and drinks the blood within the mug in one go.

The instant Travas finishes drinking the mug of blood, his injuries began to close, though the bandages on some of them needed to remain there for almost the remainder of the day. However, Travas was now able to stand on his feet and heads to grab his clothing. In a moment, he puts on his black tank top and his now torn up Motorhead "Overkill" Sleeveless shirt. Then he and Umah walk towards Amy as they began to make their way towards the exit.

"Janos, Umah and I will go with Amy to the Sarafan Keep and investigate what happened on the site, is that alright", Travas spoke as Janos nods towards him in response. "Alright, let's get to it", he continued as he, Umah, and Amy made their way out of Sanctuary.

The moment that the two made it outside, Travas, Umah, and Amy head for the parked Motorcycle not too far from their location. As soon as they got on, Travas presses on the gas and starts to drive towards the Sarafan Keep by means of getting there faster. As they were getting closer, they began to see a large crowd of people walking or running towards the Keep, wondering what had happened earlier that day.

After about two to four minutes of driving through Meridian and avoiding large crowds of approaching people, they finally arrive to the bloodied Sarafan Keep. Though Umah and Travas were not entirely fond of the Sarafan, they still kept true to their word and began to head for the entrance of the Keep. The instant they entered the Keep, Umah and Travas' eyes shot open in shock upon the bloody scene they now bestowed upon, seeing countless number of bodies in which some of them were nothing but blood-stained bone.

"My god…" Umah spoke as she slowly explored the scene, shocked upon Kain's bloody work within.

"By the maker… this is without a doubt the work of Kain. Though I'm not necessarily fond of the Sarafan, this is just way too fucked up… especially for the new recruits that were killed in battle with little to no experience in combat whatsoever", Travas spoke as he examines the sight with shock and some horror on his face.

As he continues to look around the bloody scene, he notices many mourning families of the warriors that were killed in the massacre. There was, however, one particular family near the clinic tent that he noticed upon which were similar to his own family, but not by species. The parents of the family had two mourning sisters that were under the age of five. In a similar notion, the parents themselves were close to the same age as his parents on Alopex. Though Travas was curious to ask about their loss, he continues to investigating the site and look for any information concerning the massacre Kain had committed earlier that day.

While the vampuric duo was investigating and Amy was helping the survivors, Travas discovers a surviving Glyph Sarafan Knight within a pile of rubble near the side of the Keep. Travas approaches the pile of rubble with caution and begins to remove some of the destroyed cement piled on top of the warrior. Once the pile of rubble was removed from the warrior's body, Travas picks him up, places him on his back, and takes him to the Clinic Tent as the Glyph Sarafan Knight's armor reacts to Travas' vampuric body.

"A… a vampire…" The Glyph Sarafan Knight softly, but painfully spoke as Travas looks down upon him with a calm gesture.

"Take it easy, sir. I'm not going to hurt you in any way whatsoever. I'm only taking you to the clinic so the doctors could treat your injuries", Travas replied calmly as the Sarafan, though unsure to whether or not to trust him, began to calm down upon his sincerity.

"What… why are you trying to help me", The Glyph Sarafan Knight asked softly as he grunts in pain while Travas continues to carry him to the Clinic Tent up ahead.

"I'm doing this because it's the right thing for me to do… and it is obvious that you are in need for medical attention at once", Travas answered as the Glyph Sarafan Knight nodded in response. Shortly after, they arrive upon the Clinic Tent as Travas carefully places the injured warrior on one of the cots nearby. After placing the warrior on the cot, Umah and Travas began to make their way towards the exit of the Keep, but then Amy steps in front of them with something on her mind.

"Travas, Umah… Thank you for helping out with finding some of the survivors", Amy spoke as she hugs the two, while they did the same for her.

"It's not a problem, Amy. It's great to see you again", Travas said as Amy nods in response.

"It's a pleasure to help you, Amy. I hope you do well with the Sarafan while continuing to be a member of the Cabal", Umah whispered as Amy nods. "We will see you another day", she continued as she and Travas get onto the motorcycle and drives off towards the city's exit.

As Travas was driving, thoughts about the Sarafan Keep massacre continue to coarse through his mind at a constant rate. The moment he arrives upon Provance, Travas finds the closest parking spot he could find and parks on one of the available lots. Umah looks upon him in confusion as Travas turns to face her calmly.

"Travas… is something wrong", Umah asked slightly worryingly while placing her right hand on his cheek.

"Umah… when we get back to the Citadel… I think it may be best for me to go to the Northern Mountains for a couple of months and train in order to ensure that Kain's ambitions can be stopped", Travas replied as Umah's eyes slightly widened upon hearing this.

"I know that we must stop Kain's ambitions at whatever cost necessary… but why do you need to train within the Northern Mountains", Umah asked curiously, yet worryingly as Travas starts to stroke her cheek gently.

"To be honest, Umah, I don't know exactly why… but I feel that it's necessary for me to do so", Travas answered as his girlfriend nods in response.

"Very well, Travas… But know that during your training every now and then, I will check on you to ensure that you're doing alright. Understood", Umah replied as Travas softly smiles and chuckles in response.

"Fair enough, Beautiful", Travas spoke as he kisses her lips gently, making her blush in response and kiss him back. "Now then, shall we make our way back to the Citadel", he asked.

"With pleasure, hon", Umah answered as the vulpin nods and turns to see the road while pressing on the gas, thus making their way towards the Citadel.

As they continued to drive among the road, Umah slightly tightens her hold around Travas lovingly and worryingly due to her concern about his upcoming training at the Northern Mountains. Before Travas turned to the road that directly led to the Citadel, he turns to her and smiles upon her, ensuring that everything will be okay. With this, he continues to drive towards the Citadel as Umah softly smiled upon him and rested her head on his back.

Within a course of at least fifteen minutes, they arrive to the underground entrance of the Citadel and drove towards the Underground Chambers. Once the vampuric couple parks the motorcycle, they head directly towards Travas' room to begin packing some necessary supplies for Travas' trip to the Northern Mountains. The moment they enter Travas' room, Travas began to pack up some pairs black Gi pants, blood-red sleeveless Gi shirts with the Solarfox insignia on it, his black belt, black Gi long-sleeve shirts, and other clothing materials required. After Travas finishes packing up his clothes and other necessities, he changes into a black pair of Gi pants and long sleeve shirt along with a blood-red Gi shirt over it. Then, he tucks the Gi pants leg openings into his metallic boots and grabs his bags before looking at Umah and heading out of his room.

After Travas finishes changing, he heads for the Balcony within the Main Chambers just upstairs from his current position. When he got upstairs, he is met by both Janos and Vorador, who were curious about Travas' packed essential belongings.

"Forgive my curiosity, Travas, but is there some place you're about to journey towards? I ask since I see you carrying packed essentials on you at this moment", Vorador asked as Travas turns to face him.

"The reason why I'm about to leave is because I am headed towards the Northern Mountains to train alone. I need to do this to ensure that I could prevent Kain from obtaining his true ambition for power over Nosgoth", Travas explained as Umah arrived and began holding onto him gently.

"I understand… very well then, I wish you good luck upon your training within the Northern Mountains. But beware that there have been rumors of demons lurking within the mountains, so I urge you to try and train with the upmost of care if you can", Janos spoke as Travas nodded in response.

"I will, Janos", Travas replied while turning to face Umah. "And don't worry, Umah, I'll be alright", he continued as he kisses her lips and strokes her cheeks gently.

"I know you will… but I will check on you every now and then. Just remember that, alright", Umah spoke softly as she rested her head on his chest while Travas rested his muzzle on her head. Then he kissed her one last time and made his way towards the balcony door.

"Alright… I'll see you guys in a couple of months. I love you, Umah", Travas spoke as he waves them goodbye and flies towards the Northern Mountains.

"I love you, too, Travas", Umah spoke softly to herself as she places both of her hands over her heart and looked at an angle down, blushing softly in the process. In response, Janos approaches her and places his left hand on her right shoulder, thus causing her to turn and face him.

"Umah, I know Travas will be safe. I can sense that he's gotten stronger over these past several months. It is best that he performs this trial alone… but I know that he will prevail over his training", Janos spoke in a wise tone as Umah looked upon him curiously. Then, she turns to the direction in which Travas had taken to the Northern Mountains. Although worried thoughts about her boyfriend began to course her mind, she nods in response and heads for her and Travas' bedroom downstairs to get some well-deserved rest.

*North of the Citadel*

While the day continued to progress, Travas continues to fly towards the Northern Mountains of Nosgoth to begin his training. As he drew closer, he began to notice a slight climatic change within the weather, thus going from being a nice, cool, partially cloudy day to a clouded, snowy environment within a few minutes into the trip. Soon enough, he makes it towards his destination, located just northwest of Coorhagen.

Upon landing, Travas began to examine the cold mountain site and nods, showing approval to it as he began to meditate for the first half hour by means of obtaining focus. As he meditates, he feels a cold, but pleasant breeze blow through his fur and tail as he softly smiles in comfort. After about a half an hour passes, he stands up upon his feet and gets into his battle stance, thus beginning his training.

"Alright then, let's get to it", Travas thought to himself as he jumped upwards and began doing some fast roundhouse kicks and fierce punches while in the air. Over time, he began to pull off some practice counterattacks to help with his reflexes. While he was practicing his counterattacks, however, he notices an avalanche of boulders coming from a higher mountain heading towards his location. In response, Travas began to smirk as he heads towards the avalanche and begins to use his physical combat skills against the upcoming boulders ahead.

After about half an hour passes by and while Travas was destroying the first wave of approaching boulders, he spots yet another wave of boulders coming from above. And just like the first avalanche, he begins to strike against them with fierce strength. But unlike the first wave, he only uses his hand-paws to strike against the approaching boulders with a powerful force upon them.

Though he was doing at the start of the second wave, things have begun to get worse when Travas tries to block one of the boulders, causing him to begin plummeting towards the ground after it hit him fiercely. But before he hits the ground, however, he manages to push the boulder to the side and destroy it with an energy blast. It was then that he began to land on the ground, panting in relief as the second wave had begun to stagnate. However, he also noticed that his forearms were bleeding and heads for his bag, grabbing the flask of blood from the front compartment and drinks from it almost immediately. Thus, his injuries began to heal, though the injuries still needed to be bandaged to continue the healing process.

"Damn, talk about a rocky start to my training… looks like I'm gonna have to be more careful when it comes to training with boulders", Travas thought within his mind as he continues wrapping his felt forearm in bandages. Once the bandage is tied up, Travas begins to wrap the other one up in bandages while surveying the environment closely. As soon as he finished bandaging up his forearms, he gets back up and begins to meditate once more, thus allowing the cold breeze to flow through Travas' fur once again.

*Within the Depths of Avernus Cathedral*

As Travas continued his training within the Northern Mountains, the notorious vampire, Kain, awakens within the interior of Avernus Cathedral. Though the Cathedral had been abandoned, it was not uninhabited as he spots a hooded mysterious human resident resting on one of the benches in the front. The mysterious hooded human sits up and turns to face the vampire as Kain looks upon him in a curious manner.

"So, the vampire, Kain, returns upon my quarters once again, I see. And I sense that you're here to acquire information from me at once, am I right or am I not", the Mysterious Hooded Human asked as Kain sits upon one of the benches in front of him.

"And so you've read my mind… I acquire information regarding another powerful Sarafan warrior that has returned upon the land of Nosgoth during these recent times", Kain replied as the hooded mysterious human nods in response before softly smirking.

"Very well… the Sarafan Warrior you speak of has gone by the name of Miles Sullivan. Before you had awakened from your two hundred year slumber, however, he had left Nosgoth to compete in an off-world tournament located upon a mysterious land known as the Alopex Space Station. In a similar notion, this has been said to be the place where the vampire, Travas, had originated from", the Mysterious Hooded Human answered as Kain became slightly confused by some of the man's explanation.

"Alopex Space Station…? You mean like a floating land located amongst somewhere within the stars above", Kain asked in a confused tone as the man nods upon the vampire's words.

"Correct you are, Kain. However… this isn't like any natural land that floats within the stars, but that of artificial creation by a race similar to Travas' own", the Mysterious Hooded Human explained as Kain nods in understanding.

"I understand… however, I have acquired enough information from you, hooded man… it is time that I begin training so that I could become stronger than both Travas and Miles combined", Kain spoke as he was about to depart from Avernus, but stops on his tracks as he suddenly remembers something. "But before I depart from Avernus, it is required of me to place the Soul Reaver within the heart of the Cathedral itself so I can claim it back once I am done training. I do humbly ask that you guard the Reaver with your life… and that you do not relieve me from the sword's ownership as well", he continued as he began to walk towards the heart of the Cathedral, upon which the Reaver will remain until he makes his return upon the dreaded place.

*Amongst the Northern Mountains, North-west of Coorhagen*

As the hours pass by like minutes, Travas continues to train amongst the Northern Mountains regardless of his injured forearms. This time, however, he begins to do some push-ups on his knuckles while the cold breeze blew through his fur. Within the end of the half-hour, he finishes and lies upon the cold surface of the mountains, allowing the cold winds to cool him off.

Though the day had progressed on as well as his training, Travas also came into realization that he needed to build a cabin by means of having a place to stay for the next couple of months. As a response to this sudden thought, he heads down to the woods close to Coorhagen and begins to gather some lumber for the cabin. Once he got there, he began to form an energy-based blade-like weapon on his right hand and begins cutting some of the pine trees down until he had the required wood he needed.

Once the vulpin gathered the required amount of lumber needed for the cabin, he uses his telekinetic abilities to lift the wood as he began to fly back towards the same spot in the Northern Mountains that he was training at. The moment that he arrived, he begins to use the same energy-like blade on his right arm to cut some of the stone boulders that were close by and began to make a hammer and a large number of nails to help bind the wood together. As he was making the hammer and nails, the sun had begun to set and darkness had now overcome the land of Nosgoth. Though it was now dark outside, he soon finishes making the hammer and nails he needed to construct the cabin with and began building it immediately, though precise to avoid any mistakes with the construction.

Though hours have seemed to pass like days to Travas, he soon manages to get the cabin properly built as the air chill began to drop to nearly below freezing. He enters the Cabin and closes the door behind him as he turned on his flashlight to see where he was going. As he was looking around the interior, he began to set up his sleeping bag and other furnishing materials to keep him warm throughout the night. Before he falls asleep though, he looked upon a photo of him holding Erica with Scarlet sitting next to him, having been taken sometime around November of 991.

"I know things for me in Nosgoth are getting slightly worse for me by the minute… especially right now", Travas thought as he continued to look upon the photo before sighing in worry. "I hope you guys are doing better than I am right now… but all I can do is pray that you guys can continue on without me…" he continued thinking while sighing in a mix of both worry and depression. Shortly afterwards, he places the photo back into his bag and snuggles into the sleeping back and drifts off into an exhausting, yet much needed sleep.

Once dawn had risen upon the land of Nosgoth, Travas awakens from his slumber and heads for the front door. Outside, he noticed that the entire Mountain Range was covered in snow. This had given Travas some sort of comfort as he began to look for a hot spring to bathe in… and to his luck, he spots one just within fifty meters of his current position. He then began to grin as he grabs a towel and flies towards the spring, eager to get cleaned before he continued training that day.

After he was stripped down, he enters the spring and sighs with instant relief from the aches he felt from yesterday's training. He also allows the hot spring waterfall to rinse him off as he shuts his eyes and smiles to himself. Travas remains within the spring to soothe his skinny, yet muscular built body. About five to ten minutes later, he finally gets out of the hot spring and uses a towel to dry of most of his body before wrapping it around his waist. Though it was cold outside, he remains close to the spring as he began to put on a clean pair of his packed Gi clothing he packed yesterday.

Once he finishes getting dressed, he flies towards another part of the Northern Mountains to train away from the recently built cabin in order to keep it from getting destroyed. After he flew about a hundred meters away from the cabin in the north-eastern direction, Travas lands on the rocky surface and begins to meditate for a brief amount of time, allowing him to train with ease for the day. From the moment he finished meditating about a few minutes later, Travas had instantly ran for one of the piles of boulders as he lifted one of them and flew towards it while fiercely punching it into shattered pieces. He soon began to perform some counter kicks on the remaining pieces of the boulder until there was almost nothing left.

As he continues destroying one after another continuously, he starts giving out a mix of fierce punches, kicks, and energy blasts to balance his training. Once he had finished, he grabs his flask of blood and finishes off what was left of it, allowing him to rejuvenate his body from the minor injuries he's sustained. After drinking the blood, Travas flies back to the cabin and begins to create some window openings for the Cabin by means of obtaining light for the interior. Though he had managed to make the appropriate window sizes for the Cabin, he begins flying towards Coorhagen to find some glass and window frames for the windows.

Once he had arrived, he looks to see some reconstruction around the town. To his luck, however, he spots a newly built furniture store nearby and enters inside. Upon entering, he looks around for window frames of the appropriate size for the Cabin while browsing for some tools as well. After about twenty to thirty minutes of looking, he finds the right frame sizes for the Cabin as well as some screws and screwdrivers to use.

After Travas purchases the window frames and tools he needs, he flies back towards the Cabin within the northwestern part of the Mountains. When he landed in front of the Cabin, and to his surprise, he spots a basket full of food, bottles of fresh demon blood, and a letter attached to the handle on one the left front windows. He examines the letter and finds out that Umah was the one that sent it to him. He opens the letter and begins to read the letter thoroughly as it was read:

Travas,

I had a feeling that you may in need of some food during your time training within the Northern Mountains. As a response to this feeling, I had chosen to acquire you some food and leave it inside a basket by means of helping you. Though I do worry about you every day, I know that you will do well on your training. I will see you at the Northern Mountains hopefully before the end of the month. Until then, I want to wish you the best of luck while you are training.

With love,

Umah

Oh, and P.S.: Within the north-western forest near Coorhagen, you will find various trees and bushes containing various kinds of fruits and other kind of goods within.

After he finishes reading the note, he chuckles and sets the frames and tools down while gathering some firewood to begin cooking some of the food. While the food was cooking, however, he began to work on some of the windows for the Cabin. Once the food was ready some fifteen minutes later, he takes a break from working on the windows and began to eat his lunch.

"Man, does Umah know the right foods for me. I definitely gotta thank her for all she's done for me whenever I see her next time", Travas thought within his mind as he continues to eat some of the food he had obtained suddenly from Umah while he was out.

Shortly after Travas finished eating, he begins to perform some basic workouts in his exercises. Soon enough, he began to do some sit-ups and eventually some push-ups, both well within the hundreds range. The moment he finishes his exercises, he begins to meditate once more to relax both his body and spirit.

Over the course of two weeks, he continues his training while working on the Cabin at the same time. But just before the end of the second week, Umah comes and greets the vampuric vulpin lovingly as he did the same for her. During the day she visited, Travas shows her a bit of the progress he was making as well as the work he did around the Cabin. When nighttime approached later that day, the two had rest upon a recent king sized memory-foamed mattress Travas had gotten a few days prior… as well as performing other 'private' matters during the cold night.

On the next morning, Travas kisses his girlfriend goodbye as Umah starts to head back for the Vampire Citadel. After Umah left the scene, he continues on his daily training routine he had been doing for the past couple of weeks he was there. This time, however, he began attempting to summon the same red-purple like energy he had 'involuntarily' used in the past, but willingly if possible. Though he had given a strong effort for a good few minutes, he fails and collapses onto his hand-paws and knees in exhaustion. After a bit of time passes, he once again gets into his meditating position and begins to meditate once more to soothe his mind.

Over another course of two weeks, he continued to train under the same routine while continuing his attempts on summoning the same red-purple colored energy at will. Though he had improved his skills during this time, it still proved to mean nothing to Travas since he wasn't able to summon the same red-like energy at will yet. Because of his failed, but strong efforts, he collapses to the point where only his knees and hand-paws could support his body.

"Damnit… why the hell can't I summon the same energy that I have summoned when I was on the verge of dying…? Is it because I can't pull it off until something drastic is about to happen to me… or do I need some other source of influence that would allow me to summon it at will", Travas asked within his mind as he began to feel that same sharp pain in his head once again as he covered his eyes painfully. "Damnit… why now?!" he yelled as the vision began to play within the depths of his mind.

*Vision*

Located within the control room of the Alopex Academy, a group of computer engineers began setting up the environment for the Simulation Room. As they were setting up the environment, a small team of five vulpin cadets wait within the Simulation Room lobby. They were all dressed in black skin-tight tank tops with the Solarfox Insignia over the right side of their chests and green slim-fitting camouflage pants with the leg openings tucked into their black combat boots. The five vulpin academy students were also equipped with dark brown knee pads and thigh straps, holding their laser pistols, and black chest straps holding their combat knives in place.

Once the engineers finished setting the codes for the environment, they give the five vulpins the cue as they step forth upon the platform, preparing for whatever simulated or living enemies may appear within the interior of the simulation room.

"Alright, Cadets, within a few moments, you will all be entering upon a simulated forest created to help you foxes increase your training within a more 'natural' environment", The first engineer spoke within the intercom as they all nodded towards the direction where the intercom was before turning to face the Simulation Room entrance. "Captain Redford Firefox… good luck to you and your team", he continued as another engineer starts the countdown sequence to the Simulation.

"Alright now, foxes, simulation begins in five… four… three… two… one… now", the second engineer spoke as he presses the button to the simulation room, allowing the forest environment to appear before the foxes. In that instant, they enter the Simulation Room and begin to explore the 'forest' while keeping an eye out for any of the other enemy teams inside.

As the team explore within the first fifty yards of the environment, they discover that the environment seemed entirely lifelike to them, so much so that they began to think that it was real. But before they were able to go any further, the artic vixen began to hear rustling noises from some of the bushes within twelve meters ahead of them. Thus, the team hides behind some of the surrounding trees within their positions while examining the bushes ahead of them.

"Erica, what is the status of the environment? Are there any enemies found within the distance", Redford asked as Erica was looking at her forearm computer.

"Affirmative, Captain Red, but it seems our opponent is living and not one of the simulated ones", Erica answered as the others look upon the bushes carefully.

"Well now, looks like we got ourselves some live ones as a starter. Lucky us, I suppose", Redford replied as he turns to face the white arctic vixen to his left. "Scarlet, Sly, and Erica, hold your positions. Artica, I need you to go check out the bushes up ahead and try to identify the subjects hiding behind the bushes", Redford spoke as Artica nods and began to walk towards the bushes with caution. Then all of the sudden, a black fox with white fur and blue colored eyes jumps out of the bush as Artica jumps backwards in response to his sudden appearance.

"Matt, what the kenal are you doing here?! You haven't been assigned to the Simulation Room yet", Artica asked calmly, though furiously as she began to slightly growl upon him.

"You have no business here, dude. Get the fuck out of here and wait til you're assigned, you total ass wipe!" Sly yelled as Matt began chuckling to himself.

"Why the fuck should it matter to you guys anyhow, the only one I'm here to take out right now is Erica, since she had basically both humiliated and fucked me over during the marksmanship tournament semi-finals about a month ago", Matt explained coldly as he turns to face Erica dead in the eye.

"Hey, you lost that tournament fair and square, Matt, and I haven't done jack shit to even fuck you over. So why don't you do us a favor right now and go fuck off", Erica yelled furiously as she gave him the finger, thus causing Matt to growl furiously, but calmly upon her actions.

"Very well then… if that's how you wanna act, then so be it. But I'm not going to leave that easily… but if you're wanting me to, then looks like you're going to have to take me out the old fashioned way", Matt spoke as he drew out his laser pistol and began firing upon Erica, for which she had dodged with little to no effort.

"Why you little", Erica started aggressively as Matt began to smirk in delight while drawing out her laser pistol.

"Let the battle begin", Matt spoke as he began to laugh hysterically and jump upon the trees branches above. As a response, Erica and Artica began chasing Matt from the ground as Sly, Redford, and Scarlet began chasing him by jumping on the tree branches above.

As the chase continues on, Matt started firing some heavy shots from his laser pistol towards the opposing team pursuing him. In a similar manner, Erica and Sly began to fire some shots towards Matt as the team continued to go after the fox. Within a matter of a few moments, Matt makes an abrupt stop at an open field deep within the woods, thus causing the others to stop in response.

"I assume that you're running out of places to hide, Matt", Erica sarcastically spoke as Matt began to smirk and chuckle in delight.

"Oh no, Erica…" Matt answered while smirking in delight. "In fact, I have you right where I want you foxes", he replied while grabbing some sort of detonator he had kept in his pocket for some time. In that instant, he presses on the switch and the mines within surrounding field detonate within fractions of a second after another. The team almost immediately starts dodging as many as they possibly could… and to their luck they manage to avoid any of the blasts or any surrounding objects affected by the blast from striking them.

"Hey! This is against the entire Academy's regulations! You're not supposed to be using any mines inside the Simulation Room or during a simulated training session whatsoever", Redford yelled as Matt began to laugh hysterically upon his comment. But unknown to the others, except for Erica, for she paid attention, a green aura-like barrier began to form well within the distance, roughly about a hundred and fifty meter radius, and encircles the entire field and forest area in it. In a similar notion, Erica also notices a few bolts of lightning strike somewhere in the forest within the distance, though the others still haven't noticed what was going on.

"I can give less of a shit about what the fucking regulations are. All I want is to take my revenge against Erica and that's it. But if I have to go through you guys just to get to her, then I shall do so with pure satisfaction", Matt yelled as he throws a flash grenade towards the team, thus blinding them as it exploded a strong, bright-white colored light on the team.

"Damnit… where did he go", Redford thought to himself while rubbing his eyes. "I'm going to beat the shit out of him whenever I get my hand-paws on that bastard", he continued thinking as his vision began to clear up, allowing him to see the environment around him.

As Redford recovers, Matt immediately starts to throw pipe bombs towards the team. At the moment they exploded, Redford had been hit by the shockwave and was blown towards a tree, though was not seriously injured by the blast itself. Matt merely smirks upon this as Scarlet ran for her pre-mate and Artica went to assist her on helping their Captain. Sly on the other hand begins to deal with Matt while Erica was reloading her laser pistol.

Though Erica became suspicious of the strange green aura shield and the strange lightning bolts that came afterwards, she finishes reloading her laser pistol and begins to aim it towards Matt. She soon began to fire towards him with Sly as Matt started dodging their shots almost effortlessly, attempting to give the two a hard time. But thanks to Erica's marksmanship, she fires upon the next branch Matt lands on, making him fall to the ground painfully. However, though injured, he manages to recover and fires a few shots at Erica, all of them missing except for the last one, hitting her left lower leg and causing her to fall onto the ground. In response, Scarlet and Artica run towards Erica while holding their captain with his arms around their shoulders.

"See I've told you this quite a few times in the last couple of weeks, Erica", Matt spoke while grinning evilly as Erica holds onto her now bleeding left shin. Soon, Sly picks her up and places her left arm around his shoulder. At the same time, Erica starts to hear faint sounds of heavy footsteps within the forest in front of her, making her become more suspicious about what else might be lurking about. "Now that I have you where I want you, I agree that it's time that I place you out of commission… permanently", he continued as he pulls out a twelve-gauge shotgun from behind his back while Sly pulled the trigger to his laser pistol, only to discover that he ran out of ammunition. At the same time, Matt began to lead the weapon with his twelve-gauge shotgun shells as Sly looks at him with disgust.

"Damnit, I'm out of ammo. Guys, I need one of you to fire at him now", Sly yelled as he looked at Scarlet, Artica, and Redford, only to see that they had their hands full. "Fuck… looks like I have to do something about this before he kills us", he thought as he carefully set Erica down onto the grassy field. But just when he was about to run towards Matt, however, he stops and spots some strange creature running towards them within the distance. "Huh… what the kenal is that in the distance", he asked within his mind as Matt cocks the shotgun after loading it with twelve-gauge shotgun shells.

"Well, Erica, soon you and your buddies here will become nothing more than dead bodies with their fucking brains blasted off of their heads", Matt spoke sadistically as he aims the shotgun towards Erica's head as she growled upon him.

In response, Scarlet and Artica set Redford down as they ran to try and stop him from killing Erica. But before going any further than a few feet, they notice an approaching figure from the distance, wondering what the mysterious being was, for it had two blade-like arms equipped on it. But despite this, Matt begins to chuckle evilly as he now sought the opportunity to eliminate Erica from the face of Alopex.

"Well, Erica… IT'S TIME FOR YOU TO-" Matt spoke and tried to finish until he felt some sort of blade-like weapon pierce right through his torso from behind. He looks upon the blade and then towards the mysterious greenish colored being with frightened shock before the being threw him to the side, hitting a pine tree nearby. Before Matt was able to fire a shot at the monster, however, the being uses his left blade-like arm to sever his head from his body, thus causing Matt's body to collapse in a pool of his own blood. The being now turns to face the team and chuckles evilly as Erica's eyes widen in shock upon recognition of what it was.

"Well now, how fortunate for us… for it seems that we have found you at last… wretched fox demon" the greenish being spoke towards Erica as two other beings arrive onto the scene. Both of them had two rod-like features holding electrical energy attached to their arms, rods on their backs, and antennae's on their heads. Like the greenish colored being before the team, as the other brown colored ones began to stare upon Erica, whom which had become frightened upon recognition of what they were.

"No… Not them…" Erica spoke as she crawls backwards away from the mysterious beings frightfully while in pain.

"So the female fox remembers us. How fortunate… and even more satisfying than we have expected, now that we have found you at last", the first brown demon spoke as it and the other two demons prepare for battle, thus causing the rest of the team to prepare in response

"Who or what are these things... I've never heard or seen these creatures before", Artica thought while keeping a close eye on the demons and Erica at the same time. "Has Erica been right about the things she had been saying all along. After we escape, or at least if we do… I'm gonna have to start looking into what she had been saying about these things", she continued thinking while examining the demons closely.

"Guys, I don't know what these things are, but I urge you all to keep on your guard. I gotta feeling that things are about to get worse", Redford ordered softly while standing his guard as best as he could due to his injured state from the earlier explosion caused by Matt.

"Aside from the female vixen crawling from us, what shall we do to the others", the first electric demon asked as he became eager to kill the others.

"You both can do as you please to the others. However, the young vixen crawling away from us is mine and shall be kept alive by means of showing how much we can please our Hylden Masters", the greenish demon answered as he began to walk towards Erica, but this time, she stands up and pulls out her combat knife to fight with.

"Hylden…? I think I've heard that race from somewhere before", Scarlet thought as she and the others run towards Erica to defend her. "But I know one thing for sure, I'm not gonna let them take away my sister from me, her friends, or pre-mate whatsoever", she continued thinking as they pull out their combat knives and prepare to fight against the demons.

"Very well… we can see that you all have chosen your fates", the greenish demon spoke as he looked upon the two electric demons in front of him. "Now, show these foxes what we are made of! Show these wretched creatures no god damn mercy!" he ordered as the other two demons sprinted towards the foxes as they did to the demons. But before anything else is shown, Travas is once again swept back into reality once more like all the visions before him.

*Vision End*

"What…? Were those demons the same exact ones that both the future Kain and Raziel encounter during their journeys…? And why are they on Alopex in the future? What business do they have with my youngest sibling", Travas thought as he starts to get back up onto his feet-paws slowly. "What the hell is going on… has Erica been having these dreams about them in her future or something…?" he continued thinking while trying to get up.

Within a moment or so, Travas barely manages to get onto his feet, dusting off his pants from the snow on his knees. Suddenly, however, he notices Miles Sullivan standing before him, for he sees him wearing a black leather jacket, a gray T-shirt, a pair of sanded-blue slim boot-cut jeans, black leather gloves with thermal gloves inside, and a pair of brown leather combat boots. The sight of the Sarafan leader started to make Travas sick, so much so that he starts to growl softly in frustration.

"Miles, what the hell are you doing here? I don't have intention on getting into another unwanted fight with you right now. Can't you just leave me alone so I can continue my training", Travas spoke loudly and somewhat furiously as Miles begins to chuckle and softly smile in response.

"No drama this time, Travas. I am only here to speak with you and nothing more", Miles replied as Travas continues to stand his ground, though slightly manages to calm down a bit from his sincerity.

"About what", Travas asked calmly while standing his ground.

"About your time in Nosgoth so far", Miles answered as he begins to walk around Travas while putting his hands into his leather jacket pockets. "During the time you have been training so far, I have been roaming around Nosgoth on reasons why you were upon Nosgoth's lands and of your intentions. While I have been talking to some of the townsfolk around cities such as Stahlberg, Meridian, and most recently Willendorf, I have come across some information that you have acted as their savior when you have fought and slain a couple of demons recently. The first was Adrian, the Sun Demon… and the other was Alastair Ballantine, the Water Demon, who had become your most recent kill in Nosgoth. And now I find you here Training amongst the Northern Mountains of Nosgoth. With this I must ask, what has brought you here to train upon a place such as this", Miles spoke as Travas began to sigh in frustration while turning to face him.

"Very well… I chose to train at a place like this to help build my endurance in the cold… and the other is to help me get stronger so I could try to keep Nosgoth's people under my protection. As of right now, I'm trying to find a way to summon the same exact energy I tried to use against you when I was about to die by your hand. But it seems that I can't summon the energy at will unless I find some sort of other influence that would allow me to do so… and I'm having a hard time with that, especially with your presence here", Travas explained as Mile calmly nodded in response.

"I understand", Miles spoke as he slowly and calmly approaches Travas until he was at least at an arm's length away from him. "But before we talk about your energy, it would be best that talk about another problem you may be blindly facing as we speak" he claimed, causing the vulpin to look towards him with confusion. "It seems that there are too many thoughts coursing through your mind that is disabling you from continuing your training", he continued explaining as Travas' expression slightly, yet unexpectedly softened in response.

"Wait… what do you mean", Travas asked curiously.

"In other words, your mind is at the point where you cannot focus on your training, but within your own thoughts keeping you from training at your best", Miles explained as Travas looked upon him curiously. "I can provide you a small tip if you are willing to listen", he continued as Travas sighs in a calm manner.

"Sure", Travas spoke calmly, though in a slightly frustrated tone.

"I was taught this during my early days in the Sarafan as well as from my Martial Arts Sensei I knew in my early twenties. I was told that if I had too many thoughts coursing through my mind, which had ironically caused stress upon me, the best thing to do was to go back to the basics of life", Miles explained as he starts to slowly breathe in and out while raising his hands up to inhale, then pulling them down and moving them in front of him while exhaling. "Now you try", he spoke as Travas nods, closing his eyes and begins to do the same thing.

For the next half a minute or so, Travas continues the process and allows all of his thoughts to fade from his mind. Shortly, though he stops and looks at the Sarafan leader calmly. Miles then softly smiles at him as Travas begins to act more calmly than he did moments before.

"Excellent… how do you feel", Miles asked as Travas nods.

"Better", Travas replied as Miles nods and starts looking at him with a slightly serious expression, though calmly at the same time.

"Excellent. However, I believe that we must continue with our former discussion concerning the energy you told me about and currently having trouble with summoning it", Miles spoke as Travas nods in agreement. "Though the energy you used against me may have been powerful, the energy itself was merely nothing more than the simplest form of raw energy. In other words, you haven't the power to tame the energy at this time. Even though the raw energy had saved your life multiple times in the past, soon enough the energy will begin to take a harsh toll on your body, even if it hasn't done so yet. Thus, it could begin to kill you slowly from the inside at any time if you cannot find the means to control the energy and get stronger from it as well", he explained as Travas' eyes widen and his mouth slightly opens in shock, though remained calm.

"What… are you trying to tell me that this energy could kill me at any time it wanted to", Travas asked as Miles nodded in response.

"Precisely", Miles spoke as Travas began shaking his head in denial.

"That's not true… this has to be some sort of theory that had to be proven false… nothing more than a mere joke", Travas denied as he continues shaking his head in denial, unaware that someone else arrives on the scene.

"I'm afraid that what Miles is speaking to you about has been proven to be no false claim, but one that was proven to be true, Travas", the being spoke as Travas turned to face him, noticing that it had been Janos that had arrived on the scene.

"Janos…?" Travas spoke as Janos approached him slightly closer.

"Yes, it is I, Janos Audron. Miles had a few words to me regarding the explanation about the raw energy you used against Adrian and Alastair" Janos answered as Miles began to walk towards the winged vampire. "And if this problem isn't taken care of… then your life could meet a sudden end as a result".

"It's true, Travas. I had come to him explaining about the energy you were giving out during the fight against me a month ago. However, he also told me that you had used the same energy against another warrior named Zepherus at the tournament on Alopex. And I believe that you told him the story sometime before your arrival in Nosgoth", Miles explained as Travas turns to face Janos while still in slight shock.

"Yes… and though you have trained well in the past month alone, Miles and I had come to an agreement that we would help you train for the rest of this month in order for you to obtain better control over your raw energy", Janos claimed as he and Miles got into their battle positions. At the same time, Travas, though shocked slightly, got into his own fighting stance and slightly grins in delight.

"Very well then, I want to see how much stronger I have become over the past month. Do me a favor and give it your all", Travas spoke as the others nodded towards each other in agreement and then faced Travas himself.

"Very well. If that is what you wish, Travas", Janos spoke as he begins to smirk almost delightfully.

"We shall fight you with every bit of power we have", Miles replied as he and Janos look towards the vampuric vulpin.

"Now that's what I like to hear! Let the match begin", Travas yelled with confidence as he flies towards Janos and Miles. But at the same time, the two teleport away from him and towards another location about twenty meters behind Travas. But nonetheless, Travas was able to track them and flew towards them both once more. This time, however, the two began to exchange fierce punches against Travas as he too, did the same against them.

Over the next month, Travas had continued to train both alone and with Janos whenever he came by to visit. Every once in a while during the month, however, Miles would also come in and also spar with Travas. Whenever both Janos and Miles were there, however, the intensity of the training became rather stronger as Travas himself became more confident with his efforts.

As the holidays came like the sand pouring from the top part of the hourglass and into the bottom at a fast rate, Travas finally finishes his training and bows in respect to both Janos and Miles, upon which they, too, do the same in response.

"You have done well, Travas. Though you may have not ascended to the next level from your raw energy, you have obtained something that many could not", Janos spoke as Travas looked upon him curiously.

"What was it that I obtained, if I might ask", Travas asked curiously.

"The will of a warrior, Travas… though we have not expected you to ascend from the training so soon, you have shown your best efforts in becoming stronger for the better of Nosgoth's people", Janos replied as Miles nods in agreement before turning to leave.

"He speaks the truth, Travas. Though the other Sarafan warriors may not understand who you really are and may try to kill you, you have shown me to be not just a skilled warrior, but a possible ally as well", Miles spoke as Travas looks upon him in slight shock, though was intrigued by his words. "With this, I wish you the best of luck, Travas. Farewell", he continued just as he suddenly flies towards the direction where Meridian city was located. Once Miles was no longer in sight, Travas turns to face the winged vampire next to him.

"I'm actually surprised to hear him say that... but I know that he's done so much for me over the past month" Travas spoke as Janos nods in agreement. "Speaking of which, what day is it anyways?" he asked Janos curiously as he looked into his small notebook, for he himself became surprised upon the date.

"If I am not mistaken, I believe it is Christmas Eve morning", Janos answered as Travas' eyes suddenly widen in surprise.

"It's Christmas Eve, already?" Travas shouted with surprise. "Shit I gotta head back to the Citadel and change into something else. I have to do some last minute shopping before it gets too busy", the vulpin continued as he immediately runs into the cabin and packs his belongings. Once he's packed, he and Janos fly towards the Citadel in order for Travas to prepare for the next task he has to fulfill: Christmas shopping.

A/N:

Guess some losses result in heavier training, don't you agree? Well, it seems Travas took temporary residence within the North-western Mountains of Nosgoth after suffering a serious battle against Miles. Ironically enough, however, the same warrior that defeated him in Meridian decides to help him in his training about a month later. As a result, Miles, with the help of Janos as well, managed to help train Travas to become a better warrior. Not just that, but also obtaining the one thing many warriors could not: The will of a Warrior. After his training, however, he was met with an unexpected piece of news: realizing that it was Christmas Eve. Despite this, though, will Travas' formulating Christmas plans work? And what makes of the vision he had regarding Erica, Scarlet, and the other members of their team in the future? Continue reading and one of these shall be answered.