Chapter Seven: Splitting Paths

A freezing rush surged through her body, her cheek feeling the effects the most since it was where she was being touched. Her eyes began to creep open, her vision slightly blurred for the moment. The figure above her was a mixture of ebony, white and gold.

The female instantly knew who it was, her comrade Damien obviously concerned with her well being. Lia the Jackal rose up slightly, the palm of her hand rubbing against her temple to dull the pain she got from her battle against Carnage. The Angel sighed of relief, his cocky grin somehow still plastered on his face after defeat. This dog was just so complex to her, Damien slowly digging through his ear using his index finger.

Lia looked around at the scenery, snow blanketed the ground and kept it under cover with many other secrets. The frozen substance was at least an inch deep and almost everywhere varying from trees to rocks to even Damien's head.

It was obvious that the group was now in White Acropolis. She looked at her golden hound comrade, noticing some changes. The dog changed his attire a little bit but not drastically. Instead of a bandanna, he now wore a checkered patterned scarf with little black and white strings at the end. Plus, he hid away the sunglasses and replaced them with a pair of black lens goggles with a white frame. He smiled when he saw the jackal up.

"So how ya feeling Desert Mutt?" Damien asked sympathetically, the jackal somehow ignoring his nickname for her.

"I've felt better but getting stabbed in the stomach by a giant coyote and his claymore isn't always the best experience I'll tell you that much. How about you? It isn't everyday you fall from the air using a massively large attack to decimate a group of scorpions." Lia stated, Damien slightly chuckling while rubbing the back of his head.

"Hell, I think I feel like a million bucks or maybe even more. This angel got wings baby and he gonna keep on flying high until the last minute he breathes. God, the rush of battle and adventure invigorates me." Damien exclaimed.

The duo of hounds chuckled at his bravado although it wouldn't allow them to forget their defeat at the hands of the Blackheart Tribe. With the coyote now in control of Redclaw territory, what would Lia and her people do now?

She couldn't go back and expect Carnage to give her land back without a fight. Her tribe would be slaughtered due to the number of casualties and low amount of resources. Damien, although with his amazing abilities and skill in battle, wouldn't be able to hold them off for long either so it was a lose-lose situation at the moment. Ceasing their laughter, the two rubbed the back of their heads, silence overtaking the mood at the present time.

"Now what? You kind of lost most of your people, your land, your...dignity and your right to call yourself equal to that of your rival. How are we going to go about this? Am I leaving to find my answers and letting you go back to fight for your people...or shall we come up with a good idea on how to go about this ordeal?" Damien asked, surprisingly acting all smart of a sudden, the moment crashing down once he started doing the moonwalk for absolutely no reason at all.

Lia rubbed her hand on her chin, deeply thinking about things like her problem with the Blackheart Tribe, Damien's criminal record and the fact that he needed someone to help him control his powers, those going along with her people and Damien's safety along the way.

Like her father always taught her, the toughest decisions always come down to the things you care about the most. Sighing, she gazed at Damien who had his tongue out for whatever possible reason.

"I'm not going to abandon my tribe..." her eyes gazed over to the remaining members of her tribe and then back to the golden hound, "But I'm not going to abandon you either. I'm so confused on what to do right now that my mind is almost as blank as your own." Lia screamed.

"Oh I completely understand and I wouldn't be...HEY!! That's an insult!" Damien exclaimed, the girl across from him being completely serious right then and there. "Um, continue please."

"Damien, I've known you for about three days but I'll be the one to admit, you've given me a great experience and I wouldn't say anything less about you except that you're stupid, immature and pretty self-absorbed." Damien's face turning more red than a tomato, "But you're kind, funny, caring and..."

"And?!" Damien asked as if the answer to his question would change his life forever.

"And...sensitive to other people's feelings. This, although true, won't allow me to leave my duty to lead this tribe to victory so sorry, you're on your own. Goodbye Damien and good luck on your journey to find a teacher. Make sure that those agents at G.U.N don't capture you." Lia said, embracing the golden hound for a few seconds, the dog's cheeks turning pink at the action.

"And good luck to you getting your land back and defeating Carnage! I'll come back someday and see how you and your tribe are doing. But other than that, see ya!" Damien stated, giving her a thumbs up before dashing off into the snowy trees, the golden dog obviously eager to end this journey and accursed problem of his as much as the ebony jackal was.

Good luck Damien Angels and may the strength of the Redclaw Tribe and complete luck that you always pull off at moments be with you throughout this long and perilous journey.


In the depths of Kingdom Valley near the City of Water, Soleanna, Darius Angels slowly took in the view of the ruins that used to be some sort of laboratory. The gray hound's scarlet eyes showed signs of boredom and somehow interest.

His mind for the past few days had been on his feeble younger brother Damien and his improvement. It had only been less than a year since the two had last seen each other, the dog suddenly being able to turn into destructive beasts like Nightshade.

My brother Damien...how have you grown so strong? I have never faced a force like that since that hedgehog almost defeated me in battle a year ago. I wouldn't be surprised if you had beaten me in Dusty Desert. Your attack suddenly cut off...actually your powers cut off allowing me to hit you with a Posinegi Burst.

To tell the truth, I wouldn't even be standing here if the attack hadn't failed. How have you been able to accomplish something in less than a year that I even have yet to do?! It makes no sense at all!

The hound wanted to punch something so bad but he controlled his emotions and didn't pass the boiling point of it all. Darius sighed weakly and continued to trek along the path given to him. His broadswords were strapped to his back, his weapons of pure insanity as he liked to refer to them.

What if the dog is still alive? It would spell anger all over my face if he is. That Posinegi Burst at CLOSE range should have killed him brutally and yet...it feels like he's still alive. I don't know but I have a gut feeling that this isn't the end of my younger brother but hell...he's always been a persistent fellow when it came to his goals and dreams.

My only dream was to prove to father and mother that I was better than him...to prove that I was actually worth something...but they never gave me a chance.

Darius never really cared about Damien when he was born, just a stepping stone to whatever he wanted and he thought that he would obviously overcome the overwhelming effects of having a younger sibling. He certainly was wrong and he felt the lingering effects even to this day.

Damien...the name was liked memorized in his brain and all he could focus on, maybe it was the reason he was so maniacal, maybe it was the reason he had drastically changed after his parents' timely deaths or just maybe...it was the reason he still had a reason to live.

It seems to me that he's the reason I'm haunted by the thought of failure. I never thought of my life any more or any less until he came into the world and to be honest...I wouldn't be as strong as I am without him. People would call him a friend and friends are reasons to do crazy or unjust actions.

To me, my brother is an incentive, my reason to live was realized once he came to this world. But why should I focus on it this much? Is it because I'm killing off my own flesh and blood? Does he hold the key to my existence or do I just use him as an excuse?

The gray hound wasn't ever sure about why he wanted to kill Damien, he did think that proving he was better could be a reason but even if he killed Damien, would he be better? Not really, there was still the whole world that may consist of people at equal standards or even above his standards.

These things wouldn't make sense to the average person but it was Darius Angels...he was far from average. He hunted his brother for purposes he didn't understand himself, he loved to bring pain to others and he often liked knowing that pain was just a feeling that he could watch others be in.

Did this make him happy? It obviously did, he had never been happier in years. When his parents died when Damien was 7 and he was 9, he was given the utter responsibility to take care of his younger brother.

When I was assigned to take care of my brother, I thought it would allow me to put myself further up in the world and make him miserable and lonely. It seemed that my idea backfired when Damien became friends with that yellow hedgehog Mario, he became happy and was never lonely. I gave him a lesson in how to become stronger.

Use your allies and family as stepping stones to reach higher goals in life and become stronger than you possibly could be. He decided to become restrained by his friends and life so I had to do what I did to help him but he ran away one night and I hadn't seen him until this day.

He possibly could have learned my lessons and become stronger that way...but he's too kind and caring to do that...so why am I the weaker one?! Was he the lucky one of the pair? It's true what they say, the apple does not fall far from the tree.

Darius cracked his neck, the bones popping into place on command and the noises echoing throughout the surrounding area but no one was around to hear. That's the way he liked it though...at times anyway. Silence was what he got most of the time as the lone wolf in the pack.

Would he ever change? Possibly after he completed his goal in life or his supposed goal. Reality was catching up to him and fast, he wouldn't be able to deny the fact that some things he could never understand or achieve. If it was his wish, he could die trying to deny the facts and logic in life.

Did it make his life, his goals, his reality any better than it used to be? That he did not have an answer for but as long as Damien continued to live, he didn't have to question anything but where was Damien and how to kill him.

"Damien...prepare yourself because the real battle will come soon and in this one...you'll lose more than some blood...you're going to lose your life and I will fulfill my duties..." Darius muttered, his feet carrying him towards the exit of Kingdom Valley.

To be continued...


A/N: Well this was a great plot development chapter don't you think guys? Damien and Lia have split paths, Damien going to find his teacher while Lia goes to take back what is rightfully her own. We even got some background on Darius and boy, does he seem like a complex individual. Why are the Angels Brothers so complex in different ways? Because I intended them to be, that's why!!

And this isn't even all that Darius is hiding but I won't give away all the secrets yet. If I thought the Darius part was needed...not really but it gave some insight didn't it?! Yes, I won't be updating as often because my school is real tough on me so yeah...blame them! Happy Martin Luther King Jr's Birthday guys! Well read and review with honest feedback. Until then, see ya!