Chapter Ten: A Crimson Stained History
The illuminating orange and scarlet fire cackled between the two canines as they sat on opposite sides of the flame. Damien's onyx colored pools gazed deeply into the intense flames, every once in a while turning back to grab a piece of firewood and throwing it into the fire.
Lia was just polishing her Tri-Claw with a rag that she had in her pocket, the sleek and shiny metal weapon gleaming when the moonlight hit it at the perfect angle. After a few minutes, Damien reached into his pockets and pulled out a brown paper bag.
He reached inside and pulled out a zipped up bag full of marshmallows he had been saving. Unzipping the bag, the golden hound reached into the bag and pulled out two marshmallows, putting one marshmallow on two separate sticks before handing Lia one. She nodded and placed her food over the fire to cook with her comrade following suit.
"You know, you're not bad for such an idiotic dog Angels." Lia said gaining a smile from Damien.
"Right back at ya Desert Mutt. You're not as uptight as I thought you were. Not saying that I thought you were super uptight, I just-" Damien paused as he gazed at Lia's vermillion eyes. "I'm just going to shut up now before you hurt me."
"Damien, I wouldn't hurt you…as bad as you might think I would." Lia stated earning an uneasy chuckle from the cocky canine. "But I can probably say that you're like a-" Lia paused and looked at the male for a few seconds.
"Are you trying to say 'friend' Lia?" Damien asked.
"No…ally is the better word for it. You're a great ally in the heat of battle." Lia complimented although Damien could tell that she was lying.
Damien's good friends always seemed not to be able to admit their friendships to him. Mario was calm and serious most of the time, usually void of emotions so he can get the job done. They had grown up together and become the best of friends even though Mario wouldn't admit it.
He usually would bring back a bad memory and use it against Damien to change the subject. In the end, Damien could always trust Mario when he needed him most. Then there was his other good friend Throttle, the self imposed party animal and craziest rocker to ever grace the planet.
Damien and Throttle were also good friends although Throttle had some mental issues and had to be sent to mental facilities now and then. Throttle was always there when Damien needed back up however, after receiving a message for rock band auditions, Damien hadn't heard from the mongoose since. The mongoose never told Damien that he was his friend but then again, he didn't have to.
Damien understood that Lia wouldn't say that Damien was a good friend to her, maybe she was ashamed that she had a strong friendship with the hound or maybe she was shy and actually had stronger feelings for the hound. He certainly was a ladies' man in his world and that was one pretty small world.
The thoughts and possibilities were endless and although the topic wasn't really up for debate, the golden hound pondered to why he even cared. A snap of Lia's fingers brought him out of his thoughts. Damien's ebony pools went from Lia's amber ones and glanced over to his marshmallow which was ready to be eaten.
"Thanks Desert Mutt, I would have burned my marshmallows into ashes if you hadn't snapped me back into reality." Damien said before softly blowing his food to cool it down and make it easier to eat.
"You're welcome idiot." Lia muttered before biting into her own marshmallow.
"So…do you mind me asking you a question or two?" Damien asked gaining Lia's attention.
"Sure, ask away." Lia replied nonchalantly.
Damien tapped his index finger on his chin, pondering on the many questions he could ask Lia and ruled out the ones that he deemed unimportant or vulgar. He snapped his fingers in excitement and gently smiled at the jackal.
"How's your family? If you have any that is." Damien questioned.
"All my family are dead except my father but that's a completely different story." Lia whispered solemnly and Damien nodded. "How's your family?"
"My family died when I was only seven years old and then there's my older brother Darius whom I hate with a fiery passion. Next time I see him, I'm going to crush him like a fly and make him pay for doing what he did to me all those years ago." The dog slammed his fist into his palm to express the seriousness in the statement.
Lia nodded to his response and looked down at the ground. Damien had told her about his elder sibling. Darius, the Posinegi swordsman and the stronger of the two, had made Damien's life a living nightmare and could only laugh maniacally as he did the devilish deed.
That was probably why Darius had nicknamed himself the Devil of the two while his younger sibling was the Angel. Two brothers, both on neutral sides of the clash. Darius had a strong sense of justice though the way he brought about his justice was sick from what Damien told her.
Then there was Damien himself, a kind hearted immature soul who had to share half of his heart with a monster he called Nightshade. However, maybe there was a way to balance out the two souls…maybe someone could teach him. The jackal pondered about that for a few seconds before returning to her conversation with Damien.
"I see." Lia stated.
"Can you tell me about the Redclaws and if you don't mind, your father?" Damien asked uneasily.
"Sure…it's a long story though," Lia stated earning a nod from Damien. "Well it all began in Areno."
Flashback
Cheers, screams and hollers could be heard all over the stadium as the two fighters stood yards apart from each other. Rows full of people gazed at the two combatants, eagerness shown in their eyes. Up near the top of the stadium was the soon to be former leader of the Redclaws and four representatives he had chosen to watch the battle and help him choose a new leader along with the many other votes from the other tribe members.
One of the combatants was a young black female jackal with a metal gauntlet attached to her right wrist with three blades pronged out of it. Lia stood there determined in her battle stance as she gazed at her opponent.
Her opponent was a middle aged ebony male jackal with amethyst colored eyes. He adorned a beige colored cloak and from under the sleeves, Lia was able to spot two golden scimitars dangling on his fingers from the chain he had on the hilt for each blade.
"Areno was a special battleground where the six tribes: The Bluefins, the Greyfangs, the Blackhearts, the Redclaws, the Greenwings and the Whitetails would do battle for pride, leadership roles, items meant for trade or just for pure excitement and the love for battle. After Carnage had taken control of the Blackhearts, he took over four of the other five tribes and eliminated each tribe until there was no tribe members from each group left remaining."
"He had then decided to leave his quest for desert dominance for a few days so the Redclaws could choose a leader. Abiding by the rules of the leadership role, the tribe members would usually vote for a new leader when the previous declares he wants to step down."
"Naturally, I was voted to take his place but my father argued with the council saying I was weak and far from ready to take the leader position. Since my father held a large amount of authority in the council, he stated that I should fight him to decide if I was ready to become the next leader." Lia explained.
Lia stood her ground against the male jackal in front of her, she was ready to prove her declaration against her father. The previous leader waved his hand, signaling that the battle had started. The two jackals dashed at each other, their weapons clashing together in a fury of sparks.
For a few seconds, it was a stalemate until her father kneed her in the gut. Lia gasped for air though she wouldn't get much as her father began to knee her repeatedly until she kneeled in front of her guardian. The male laughed and unfortunately for him, Lia didn't find the humor in the battle.
With one quick and precise strike, she stabbed her Tri-Claw into her father's leg, blood gushing out from the flesh wound. Lia retracted the weapon from her father's body and drop kicked her father to the ground. Her father fell down, hisses of pain escaping his mouth through the grinding cracks between his teeth.
He grasped his daughter's leg and threw her upwards and he allowed gravity to take control, Lia smacking down into the ground and forming a small sized crater.
"My family may have all died but my father was strong, he was one of the greatest fighters in all of Areno to be exact and he always seemed to be on the move. When I became old enough, I participated in the arena to defend my tribe. At first, I was a weakling but with each and every battle, I grew stronger and wiser with each battle until I could be called a first class warrior." Lia stated.
Lia flipped up and was quickly met with a roundhouse kick to the face, the force sending her skidding away a few feet. Her father then dashed over and kicked her in the chin with the heel of his foot, his daughter flying up before the jackal's opponent grabbed her by her ankle and slammed her into the rough ground multiple times until she wasn't able to flinch at the brutal flurry of attacks.
Lia's body slumped out of her father's grasp and her body laid on the ground. As she was about to get up, her father stabbed his blade into her stomach, blood gushing upwards like an erupting volcano. Crimson stained the area around her limp body, her father pulling out his scimitar from her body.
"As I told you time and time again dear council…my daughter is not fit to take the position of leader for the Redclaw Tribe. She is weak and not ready to lead this tribe especially with that carnivorous Carnage leading the Blackhearts to take out the Redclaws permanently like he did with the other four tribes!" her father exclaimed.
The former leader rose up from his seat and glared down at Lia's father with his hazel pools. He shook his head and placed his hands on the balcony in front of him.
"You just don't get you ignorant fool. Isn't it obvious what your daughter has that you'll never see?" the former Redclaw leader asked.
"No, enlighten me." her father said.
"You beat your daughter within an inch of her life and you still can't see how truly cruel you are. Your daughter is compassionate to the members of this tribe and she held back against you because she still loved you yet you were too blinded by rage and fury to even understand that. My verdict, the council's verdict and the entire tribe's verdict stands. Lia is now the new leader of the Redclaws," the leader exclaimed, "And as for you, you will be put on trial for banishment from the Redclaws."
End Flashback
"After I became leader of the Redclaws, the tribe voted to have my father banished from the tribe and he was voted against. Unfortunately for him, I didn't argue their decision." Lia explained as Damien could only nod stupidly. "Now if you don't mind, I would like to get some sleep. Good night idiot." Lia said before closing her eyes.
"Good night Lia, sweet dreams." Damien muttered before vanquishing the flames and going into a slumber of his own.
To be continued…
A/N: Eh, not much really happened in this chapter. Basically, that's Lia's history in a nutshell and you could thank Babylon Sky Hawk for it because it was his idea, I just wrote the chapter which I found decent. What is store for Damien and Lia? What is going on with Darius and Mario? What shall happen next? You'll have to find out some other time because I have a storyboard project for the Julius Caesar book due this Friday meaning no updates until I get it done. Bye!
