We join our heroes as they are currently making their way through a jungle towards the jungle kingdom (Wonder why it's called that...)
"Ugh, it's so hot!" Moaned May as she slumped on Jack's back, said person wasn't doing much better than her, her was panting like crazy. His thick fur made him feel like he was being cooked alive, he had resulted to walking since running would make him fry. Ash sighed, "Even though it's almost winter, this place is still boiling..." Cynthia nodded, "Some kingdoms aren't affected by season change" Suddenly, Jack's ears perked up, "What is it Jack?" Asked May, although she didn't get an answer, Jack simply picked up the pace.
The group made it to the top of a small hill and saw a huge river below, they all took a breath of awe, except Jack since he already knew that it was there. Ash cheered, "Yes! Finally, we can cool down, the water looks great!" May laughed, "It's beautiful, look at the trees lining the edge, it looks so peaceful" Cynthia smiled, "The water looks safe to drink from, as well as swim in, let's go cool off" At that, Jack walked towards the edge of the river, once he got there, the group jumped off and took off the top layers of their clothes. Cynthia and May wore white blouses and with black shorts and Ash changed into a pair of dark blue shorts in a, Jack stayed in his wolf form and dived straight in.
The bight sunlight shined on the surface of the water, giving it an array of different shades of blue, the river bed was made out of thousands of pearly white pebbles. The edges of the river were lined with trees that had overhanging branches, they lightly touched the surface of the water, creating small ripples on the slow moving river. The temperature was perfect and the water was around a metre deep, Jack was too big to submerge fully so he transformed back into his human form and went to change into a pair of black shorts.
Cynthia sighed, "This is the life, not a worry in the world, just time to relax" May giggled as she watched a small silver fish swim around her ankles, "Don't forget about our quest, we can't just let Ash or Jack go off without us" The woman smiled and looked at her, "May" The brunette brought her sapphire eyes up to meet her silver ones, "Yes?" Cynthia's smile turned into a sly one, "Do you like Ash?" The princess' face turned scarlet and she suddenly found more interest in the river bed, "W-Why would you a-ask that?" She shouted frantically, earning a chuckle from Cynthia.
Ash was browsing the river bed, the teen was looking for any interesting stones or gems, he looked up and noticed something pink hanging from a branch that was just above the water. He raised a brow, "Wonder what that is..." The raven haired boy waded over to the object, as he got closer, he saw that it was a sphere shaped fruit. He plucked it off of the branch and took a bite, being stupid enough not to check if it was poisonous or not...Luckily, it wasn't, but it did taste very sweet. He grinned, "This is good!" He said to himself as he plucked off a few more and headed towards May and Cynthia, "Hey! Guys, you've gotta try this!" He said as he handed Cynthia one, the woman took the fruit and sniffed it, "I swear Iv'e seen this somewhere before...Oh well" She said as she bit into the soft fruit, May took the fruit as well, her blush still visible on her face. The brunette took a bite and squealed, "It's delicious!" Ash's grin widened, the teen was proud of his discovery, he headed over to Jack.
Jack was watching the different types of birds that would cross over the river every now and then, he licked his lips a few times whenever he saw a fat one, Large amounts of splashing brought him out of his thoughts. "Hey, Jack! Try this!" Said the teen as he was running towards him, unfortunately, Ash slipped and fell face first into the warm water. The fruits he was holding bobbed to the surface and slowly floated downstream towards the brunette, he picked one up and looked closely at it, Ash broke through the surface and noticed that he was holding the fruit. "Go on, it's really tasty!" Jack's eyes suddenly widened, "Ash, you haven't eaten any of these have you!?" The teen raised a brow, "Yeah, why?" Jack sighed, "Oh man...Do you know what these things are?" The teen shook his head whilst scratching the back of his neck, "These are bomba fruits... they're seventy percent alcohol..." Ash flinched, "S-Seventy!?" Jack nodded with a distressed look on his face, "If it's only you then we're fine, your regeneration will stop you from being drunk" Ash awkwardly laughed, "Y-Yeah...Ha...If it's only me then it's fine..." Jack raised a brow, "Don't tell me you-" "Gave some to May and Cynthia...Yeah..." Jack slapped his hand to his forehead, "We're gonna have one heck of a day..."
(After sunset)
The sun had disappeared behind the horizon but the temperature had only lowered slightly, Jack and Ash were sitting around a fire, far enough away to not feel the heat. The only sounds that could be heard were the sounds of insects and nocturnal animals in the jungle, the crackling fire, the slow flowing of water from the river...And the sounds of random gibberish coming from May and Cynthia...May was currently giving her opinions about the jungle to a rock and was kicking it for not responding, Cynthia on the other hand, was pressing herself against Jack's back with her arms around his chest. "H-Hey...*Hiccup* H-How...Does that t-thing...in your pants work...I-If you like *Hiccup* Bang a human...D-Do you get p-puppies or *Hiccup* baby people?" Ash looked at Jack and chuckled, he had his arms crossed and a pissed look on his face, as well as a small blush. Cynthia started playing with his ears, "I-I'm...gonna call you *hiccup* fluffy...c-cuz your s-so cute!" Jack sighed, "I think I should put her to sleep, she's going to end up hurting herself if she stays awake" Ash nodded, "That's a good idea" Jack stood up and turned to face Cynthia, she giggled and stumbled up to him, she reaked of alcohol. "S-So you are the m-murderer! You *Hiccup* Are goin to jail for a l-long time, b-buddy boy!" Jack put his arms on her shoulders, "I think it's time you went to sleep" Cynthia looked at him with a face that said, "Are you being serious?" "W-What, you gonna pull a fast one on me *hiccup*" She slurred, Jack rolled his eyes and ignored her vulgar comment, he transformed into his werewolf form and Cynthia's eyes widened. "P-Puppy!" She cheered as she chased after Jack, who was heading towards her sleeping bag.
Ash laughed, it was like Cynthia had a whole other side to her, he looked over at May. She was now punching a tree and shouting curses about a bush head guy, whoever that was. The teen stood up and walked over to her, she noticed him and stumbled over, stopping just in front of him. "H-Hey! You! Are you a man!?" Ash became confused, "Yeah...Why?" May put her hands on her hips and spoke in a deeper voice than her normal girly one, "Prove it bitch! Head butt that guy!" She said whilst pointing at a tree, Ash raised a brow, this was the exact opposite of May. A tom boy who was loud mouthed and had a huge ego, May was a relatively shy girl who had a caring personality. "Show me how manly you are, do it!" The teen shrugged and walked over to the thick trunk, he moved some vines out of the way and looked at May, she crossed her arms. "I'm waiting, you scared?" Ash rolled his eyes and smashed his forehead into the bark, the impact created a small crack, Ash didn't even flinch. May clapped her hands slowly, "I guess you do have a pair" The raven haired teen turned to face her, "I think you should rest now-" He was interrupted by he babbling, "Hey, how many bears have you killed with your fists?" Ash's mouth dropped and his brows furrowed, "Wha?" May started stroking her chin, "My score is twenty, beat that sissy" Ash sighed, "Come on, go to sleep" He said as he started pushing her towards her sleeping bag, "Get off man! Or else I'll crack that thick skull of yours!" Ash was shocked at how violent this side of May was, he scooped her up and carried her the rest of the way, she suddenly became very quiet. "I miss my family..." That caught Ash off guard, he put her down in her sleeping bag and looked at her. He was surprised when she crawled under the covers and growled at him, "Stop lookin at me! Do you want me to gouge out those eyes?!"
Ash was laying in his sleeping bag, looking up at the night sky, most of it being hidden by the jungle's trees above. For some reason, he couldn't shake off a bad feeling that he had. Back in Petalburg city, a certain prince was furious.
(In the palace)
"I don't fucking care! Find them! I know that brown haired bitch is with them! We can't have a moon shifter running amok, my useless father was supposed to have wiped them all out!" Bellowed a very pissed off prince as he slammed his fist on the huge oak table in the meeting room, his name was Drew, or according to May, Bush head. He was still furious at her for running away, he treated her so well! The teen's advisor, Harley, crossed his arms. "I know right? She just up and left you, but in other news, not only has a moon shifter been spotted but an aura user has as well! May, the aura user and another woman were seen riding out of the city towards the exit of the kingdom." Drew growled, "I'm gonna slit both of their necks, right in front of her, the other woman can be my toy..." He said darkly with a menacing laugh that echoed around the cold stone room, Harley grinned, "We had reports from some bandits we bribed in the forest that they were heading towards the jungle kingdom" Drew cursed, "Do they know of my father's plan?" Harley nodded, "Most likely, a servant caught them going through his belongings after they killed him" The prince grinned, "Well, let's go and tie up some loose ends..."
(Back with our heroes)
Ash was about to fall asleep until he noticed a dark figure slowly rising up into a crouching position to his left, it was Jack. Once he was up, he began to sneak over towards the teen, he was moving cautiously, taking care with every step. Was he trying to remain undetected? Once he got close enough, he nudged Ash slightly, "Ash, don't move or make any noise" He whispered, "We're being watched...It's not an animal, it smells like a human, I can't see them, they must be hiding in the bushes." Ash was aware of Jack's night vision, the teen nodded, knowing that his friend could see him clearly. "I think they know that I'm a moon shifter, they're using coverings for their skin that makes it hard for me to find their scent." Ash looked towards the bushes, he couldn't see much since it was almost pitch black, apart from the moonlight that was mostly being blocked out by the trees above. "What do we do?" Ash whispered back, he saw Jack look around, "They don't seem like they're going to attack, maybe they're studying us..." Ash slowly sat up and scratched his growing stubble under his chin, "Could be some kind of jungle dweller" Jack nodded slowly, "Maybe they're lost...But why wait till night fall? I caught a whiff of their scent earlier but they ran away..." Ash heard a twig snap in the bush, the person was moving, he looked at jack with a confused look on his face. "Further away" He whispered simply, "Maybe we should follow them?" Jack seemed to think about this, after a while, he slowly nodded. "Okay, but we can't be away for long..."
(In the darkness)
Ash stumbled for the third time, walking through a jungle with no light wasn't exactly easy...He was trying to be as quiet as possible since Jack was tracking their target using his hearing. The pair broke through the undergrowth and walked into a grassy clearing at the edge of a cliff, Ash could see tiny dots of orange in the distance. "Is that the jungle kingdom?" He asked curiously in a quiet whisper, "Yeah" Replied Jack, still focused on following the mysterious person.
Ash took in the view, it was beautiful, the river that they were camping by ran over the edge of this cliff and all the way to the jungle kingdom. The moonlight reflected off of the surface of the distant river, making it look like a silver road. The teen looked at Jack, it was easier for him to see his friend here since there were no trees. The man sighed and walked back over to Ash, "They're close, but they've done something to their scent, probably rolled around in some mud. Tracking by scent isn't an option any more and there are too many noises in this jungle for me to pick up the quiet footsteps of who ever we're following..." Ash crossed his arms, "Damn, if they know that your a moon shifter then that could be a problem...Perhaps it was a thief, or a spy!" Jack sat down at the edge of the cliff and let his legs hang over the edge, Ash did the same. "They were probably a human spy from their kingdom, they must have been leading soldiers to us..." Ash nodded, they both sat in silence for a while, listening to the roaring of the waterfall and the sounds of the jungle night life.
Jack randomly asked a question, "How do you deal with it?" The raven haired teen became confused, "Deal with what?" Jack looked at him with a slight look of sadness in his eyes, "You know, your race being close to extinction..." Ash smiled, "I think about the people who lived in my village, Gary, my mom and others too. I think about how I can stop the killing by finishing this quest." Jack grinned, the teen returned the question, "How do you deal with it?" The man scratched his stubble, "Go on hunts or talk to Cynthia..." Ash became confused, "How about other moon shifters?" Jack's face suddenly shaded over, "I-I...can't do...That" Ash could tell that this was bugging him but wanted to know more, "Why...Not?" Jack sighed and went silent for a few seconds, he supported his head with one of his arms and spoke slowly, "I'm...The last one..." Ash's eyes widened, "Really?!" Jack simply nodded, "It happened when I was a kid..."
(Jack's memory)
In a far away mountain range, a certain brown haired child was receiving a scalding from his mother. "How many times have I told you? Don't go messing around with mountain goats! Just because you've learned how to transform doesn't mean you can beat everything that comes your way, you need to learn when a fight is too difficult for you jack..." Said a woman who had light brown hair that went down to her waist, she was wearing grey trousers with a black tunic and a pair of black boots. Her eyes were burgundy colour and had a look of anger in them, as well as a hint of worry. Her name was Krista. "Do you understand? Jack?" She asked, becoming worried when she didn't get an answer, she crouched down and put her hands on the boy's shoulders.
He looked into her eyes with his scarlet ones, tiny tears could be seen in his eyes, "But dad would have been proud! Never back down! That's what he always said!" The subject of her husband silenced the woman, her face turned to one of sadness, "I know that you want to make your daddy happy sweet heart, but that doesn't mean that you have to put yourself at such a risk." She looked him over, he was wearing a grey shirt with brown trousers and a pair of brown sandals, he was covered in cuts and bruises, his hair had bits of dust and dirt in it. He was five years old and already had that glint of confidence in his eyes that his father had, sadly he was now deceased. He had been killed by a raid that had taken place on his camp whilst in the human kingdom with his resistance crew.
They boy looked towards the ground, "I'm gonna get strong and go to the army" He mumbled, his mother sighed, "Not before you take a bath, off you go!" She said as she nudged him up the stairs, earning childish giggles from her son. She smiled, she was secretly proud of her son, he was acting just like his father did when he was his son's age. A scream from outside made her spin around and run to the window, through the decorated glass, she could see several moon shifters fighting against humans that were storming through the village gate. A look of horror appeared on her face when she saw the local shop keeper, in his werewolf form, get stabbed by a sword in his chest. He fell to the ground and didn't get up, "Oh no..." She whimpered, she looked at her hands, they were shaking violently.
The woman turned around and ran upstairs, she reached the top and saw that her son was just coming out of the bathroom, "Honey! Come here!" The boy tilted his head in confusion but obeyed and walked over to his mother, he was scooped up and taken downstairs. "Mommy, what's going on?" He asked confusedly, the woman looked at her child as she ran, "S-Some bad people have arrived, we need to get you out of here" The boy frowned, "But daddy wouldn't run...I want to fight!" The child then wriggled out of his mother's grip and ran towards the sounds of battle, morphing into a werewolf the size of a child as he did so. "No! Jack, come back, it's too dangerous!" A woman that was running past stopped and took her arm, "Come on! We can't stay here, the woman and children need to evacuate, we can't let the men risk their lives for nothing!" Krista shook her head, "I can't, my son just ran towards them!" The woman's mouth dropped, "You better be careful, good luck!" She shouted as she continued to run with the other people.
"What the hell is this thing?" Said a soldier as he picked up a werewolf that was considerably smaller than all of the others he had killed, it took it's chance and scratched the man's eye, he bellowed in pain. "Gah! You little shit! Die!" He threw the wolf to the ground, making it yelp in pain, he then stepped on it and started adding more weight. Other soldiers stood around and laughed, suddenly, the man who was stepping on the wolf had his head ripped off from behind. His corpse slammed into the ground, revealing a normal sized wolf that was snarling at the soldiers, they all jumped back. The bigger wolf picked up the smaller one and started to run, "After that bastard!" Shouted one of them as they all roared battle cries and began to chase their target.
Krista rounded a corner and put Jack down in a barrel, she transformed back into her human form and so did he, "Mom? What are you doing!?" His mother smiled sadly at him, "I'm protecting you...Stay in here, you'll be safe." She leaned down and planted a kiss on his forehead, "But what about you?" He asked worriedly, his mother let loose a few tears, "I don't think I will be able to see you again...*sob*...Stay safe honey, make friends, protect them. I only wish could have seen you grow up..." She said as she broke down into full out crying, before her son could say anything else, she closed the lid in the barrel and ran down the alleyway.
The soldiers rounded the corner and spotted their target at the end of the alleyway, "Hehehe, dead end..." Said one evilly, another one laughed as he drew his sword, "Looks like it's the end for you..." The all charged towards the wolf, it was snarling at them as it grew its claws to twice their original size. The next things that Jack heard from inside the barrel, was the sound of two men being killed, and the cry from a werewolf. He was too terrified to move, when he heard the soldiers leave, he launched out of the barrel, only to see his mother's corpse.
(End of Jack's memory)
Ash's eyes were wide, "I'm so sorry..." Jack laughed, a cold, empty laugh that made him seem as if he didn't even care. "I was weak...I couldn't save her, so from that day on, I made a vow. If I made any friends, I would guard them with my life. Nobody made it out of that village...I went to check the place that we were told to evacuate to, I only found corpses...That was the last group of moon shifters that existed, we had all agreed to live together so that we could keep track of how many of us were left...Guess that was a bad idea huh?" Ash threw a rock over the edge of the cliff, "I can sort of relate, I lost my mother to humans when they attacked my village, only a few of us survived..." Jack smiled, "I don't want to die...Not because I want to live forever, but because I don't want my race to be forgotten. It can't end like this, I need to pass on the legacy..." Ash raised a brow, "Is it possible to breed with humans?" Jack looked up at the stars, "I don't know...My offspring's powers may be severely weakened by having a human mother, they may even just turn out as normal humans." Ash sighed, "Probably the same with me..." Jack looked at him with a grin on his face, "You upset about not being able to bang someone?" Ash's face went scarlet, he waved his hands around as he tried to defend himself, "N-N-N-NO, I-I was j-just wondering..." Jack chuckled.
Not very far away, two figures were crouched in the bushes, watching the teen and his friend. "I'm certain of it!" Said the one furthest to the right, his companion looked at him, "Are you sure?" He nodded, "That guy managed to follow us, even though we already had coated ourselves in mud and were sneaking. He's a moon shifter, probably the last!" his friend looked back at the pair, "Who's the other guy?" The first one shrugged, "I dunno, probably his travelling partner, as well as those women." The second one laughed quietly, "We finally found one huh? Can't wait to tell our brother about this!" The first figure began to sneak away, "Come on, let's get a head start to the jungle kingdom, that's where they're probably heading." His friend nodded and they both slipped into the darkness.
(A few days later)
Ash, Jack, May and Cynthia made their way into the jungle kingdom's walls. It was a beautiful looking city, the buildings were crafted out of white stone and were slightly covered in vines, they were standing in a wide open courtyard that was lined with market stalls. In the distance, the could see the spire of the temple palace, the location of their next target. Ash looked around, he could see many different races that were talking and exchanging goods with each other. To the group's left was a tavern that was producing a lot of noise, to their right were many market stalls, their owners yelling about how their prices were better than their neighbour's. "Wow...This place is busy!" Said May with a look of awe on her face, Jack nodded as he looked around, "Indeed, the jungle kingdom is one of the kingdoms that is known for it's trading. Lot's of different races come here to get things that are not obtainable in their own kingdoms." Cynthia noticed a big group of people that were crowded around something, they were cheering and throwing money into the centre. "What's going on over there?" She asked as she pointed towards the crowd, Ash shrugged, "Let's go take a look."
As the group arrived, they saw that two bulky looking men were circling each other in the middle of the mob of people, one man threw a punch that was countered by the other. "Look's like competitive fighting, the winner probably gets whatever these people throw into the ring." Jack said as one man was thrown to the ground and then jumped on by the other. Ash noticed a grin on Jack's face, "Something tells me that you wanna take part." The man scratched the back of his head and nodded, "Yeah..." Cynthia frowned, "I don't think so! It's too dangerous" Jack sighed, "I can take these guys..." The were interrupted by a deep rumbling voice, "What was that?" The group looked towards the sound of the voice, it was the winner of the previous fight, he was looking at them with anger in his eyes. "You think you can take me? Care to prove it?" Jack's grin appeared again, as well as a determined look in his eyes, "Gladly..." He said slowly as he took off his trench coat and handed it to Cynthia, she looked anxious but still took the coat.
Jack rolled up his shirt's sleeves, the man laughed, "You look like a weak buiseness man" It was kind of true, Jack was wearing a white shirt, black trousers and black boots with a black hat that resembled an aura guardian's hat but without the symbol. The brunette chuckled, "And you look like a sweaty meat bag who's begging for a good beating" The crowd made different sounds at Jack's remark, some laughed, some gasped and others roared in excitement. Jack looked his opponent over, he was a bulky looking human who had sandy blonde hair and amber coloured eyes. He had a few scars on his chest and arms, his face was red and he was covered in sweat, probably from previous fights and the heat of the sun that was blazing down on the both of them. A short dumpy man in a suit stepped in between the both of them, "The rules are simple gents! No weapons or magic, stay inside the ring and the first one to loose conciousness looses. This fight is between Lucas Golding and..." He said whilst looking at Jack, "Jack Nightblood" He said confidently, Ash and May became confused, "Is that Jack's second name?" Asked May, Cynthia nodded, "He's quite proud of it as well, he's not afraid to let everyone know...He can be quite reckless sometimes..." She said as she looked at her childhood friend's confident face, Ash smiled, "It sounds cool"
"Begin!" Shouted the short man, he barely avoided Lucas as he charged towards Jack, attempting to knock him to the ground. The brunette waited till the last moment and then sidestepped, he stuck out his foot and watched his opponent go flying to the ground, he landed just inside the ring. As he got to his feet and turned around, his face was met with a swing from Jack's foot, the force made him slam into the ground, he recovered by rolling and stopping in a crouching position. Ash, May and Cynthia cheered but were drowned out by the other cheers from the crowd. Ash laughed, "I didn't know that Jack was this good at hand to hand to combat" Cynthia took a break from cheering and smiled, "It's one of his areas of expertise" Her statement was proven as Lucas wrapped his arms around Jack's waist and lifted him up, he was quickly countered by Jack's elbow which was smashed down onto his head, he roared in pain and backed up.
Lucas' balance was beginning to fail as he stumbled around slightly, Jack took up the attack by charging forward and directing his opponent's weak punch to his left, the brunette then slugged him with his right hand and kicked him in the stomach. The crowd was going wild, Lucas had fought twenty opponents and won all of his battles but this guy had come out of nowhere and kicked his ass. The human was panting heavily, he had one hand on his stomach and the other was hanging by his side, what made it worse was that his opponent had barely broken a sweat. He roared a battle cry as he charged towards Jack, the brunette held up his fists and crouched slightly. Once Lucas was close enough, he dodged the man's arm swing and swept him off his feet using a leg spin. Whilst he was still in the spin, Jack jumped into the air and brought his elbow down on Lucas' forehead, knocking him out cold and finishing the fight.
The crowd roared as the final blow was dealt, the threw their gold coins into a pot that was then given to jack, he grinned and thrust his fist into the air, earning more cheers. He returned to his friends, Cynthia smiled at him, "Happy now?" Jack nodded with a bigger grin on his face, "That was fun" May clapped her hands together, "That was great Jack! I never knew you could fight like that!" The man smiled, "Thanks May" Ash chuckled, "You have to teach me how to do that" Jack laughed as well, "You can teach me how to use a sword in return then" Ash held out his hand, "Deal" They both said as they shook on it with determined looks in their eyes.
(10 Minutes later)
Ash was browsing the market stalls when he caught something out of the corner of his eye, three cloaked figures were leaning against the wall of a local bath house, they seemed to be watching Jack. The teen couldn't see their faces or any weapons that they had since they were wearing cloaks, he made sure his hood was covering his face and slowly made his way over to Jack, who was discussing whether to buy a necklace or not for Cynthia with May. Ash acted like a normal person and went to look at things on the same stall as Jack, "Don't act like you know me, just carry on with what your doing." He said quietly to Jack, who winked with a tiny nod. "Don't look, but there's three cloaked guys over by the bath house, they're watching you every move for some reason..." Ash could tell that his friend was thinking since he was staring at seemingly nothing. May had heard this as well, "I'll go and see if I can eavesdrop on them" She said whilst acting like she had lost interest in the stall and walked away.
May slowly Made her way over to a bench that was near enough to the figures to hear them but not be noticed. They didn't see her since their eyes were locked on Jack, May sat down and listened until she heard one of them speak. "Is that the guy?" The other nodded, "Yeah bro, that's him, I'm pretty sure he's a moon shifter." May's eyes widened, if this information got out, Jack could be in trouble. "Maybe we should turn him in to the king, we could get a lot of gold for doing it." A person sat down next to May, she glanced at them and could tell from the body build that it was a male. He was wearing an outfit similar to Jack's except it was blue, he didn't have a hat, a scarf was around the bottom part of his face and his shirt was black, he also had grey trousers. His hair was purple and his eyes were black, he was slouched forward with his hands together, he seemed to be staring at the ground. May's attention was directed back to the cloaked figures when one of them spoke again, "Nah, I wanna meet this guy, we saw how well he can fight. He could be useful. We can't just let a moon shifter go like that." The man that had sat next to May stood up and walked away, the figures began to walk towards Jack and Ash. May stood up and followed.
Jack felt someone tap his shoulder, he turned and was met by the darkness of someone's hood. He raised a brow, "Can I help you?" The hooded figure chuckled, "Indeed you can, we would like to ask you a few questions, but not here..." He said whilst looking around, Jack looked at Ash, the teen nodded at him. "I'll be bringing my companions with me" One other figures nodded, "That's fine" Jack turned towards Ash, "Could you go find Cynthia?" Ash nodded, "Sure" The teen the turned and ran to look for the blonde haired woman.
(In the 'magic items' part of the market)
Ash had found Cynthia purchasing what seemed to be an orange gem, he raised a brow and walked over to her, "What's that?" He asked curiously, Cynthia smiled when she noticed Ash, "Oh, hi Ash, this is a telepathy seed. If something that can't talk eats it, then it gains the ability to talk to people using its mind." Ash grinned, "Sounds cool, but who are you going to use it on?" Cynthia smiled again, "Jack of course" Ash remembered his mission, "Oh, yeah! Cynthia, Jack asked me to come get you, these guys in cloaks said they want to talk to him in a private place." A look of concern appeared on Cynthia's face, "Guys in cloaks?" Ash nodded, she put the telepathy stone in her pocket, "Right, let's go"
(Back with Jack)
May looked at Jack, he didn't seem to be concerned about these guys, she on the other hand was feeling slightly afraid. The sight of Ash and Cynthia calmed her down slightly, "Okay, your friends are here, now let's go." Jack nodded with a serious look on his face.
The three cloaked figures led the group to a restaurant, it was made out of the same material as all of the other buildings but was decorated with several different flags and banners, making it look very formal. Jack, Ash, May and Cynthia stepped through the front doors and could see that there were lots of people inside, mainly girls, that were being waited on by different butlers. Ash raised a brow as the group followed the cloaked figures into a side room, they stepped inside and saw that the walls, floor and ceiling were all made out of marble. In the centre of the room was a large wooden table, the figures gave the group a motion to sit, they did so and Jack spoke up. "So what have you called me here for?" The middle figure spoke up, "First, allow us to introduce ourselves." Jack crossed his arms and nodded. All at the same time, the figures pulled off their cloaks, revealing a blue haired on to the left, a red haired one to the right and a green haired one in the middle. The green haired one spoke first, "Pleasure to meet you, my name is Cilan" The red haired one spoke next, "How ya doing? My name's Chili!" The blue haired one spoke last, "Nice to make your acquaintance, my name is Cress."
Ash raised a brow again, "Butlers?" Cilan chuckled, "No no, We are connoisseurs" Jack became confused, "So what do you want with me?" Chile crossed his arms, "Humph, well, we are aiming to be grade A connoisseurs in race culture. Of course, to do that, we need to ask the races about their culture. We are aware of you being a moon shifter so we would like to ask you a few questions about your culture, you being a moon shifter will be kept secret of course." Jack sighed and nodded, "Fine, but let's make this quick." The three brothers nodded.
(After a few questions)
The sound of the front door being kicked in brought the group to alert, they could hear the voices of guards, "Moon shifter! We know your in here! By order of the king, surrender now!" Jack cursed, "How did they find us!?" Ash glared at the three brothers, the waved their hands to try and defend themselves, "I-It wasn't us, we would never turn in someone who has agreed to work with us!" Cynthia looked extremely worried, May suddenly remembered something, "Wait! Earlier on, when I was listening in on those guys" She said whilst looking at the brothers, they were shocked that they had been spied on, "Another guy came and sat on the bench next to me, he didn't do anything, he just sat there...He must have been listening too! He probably turned Jack in!" Jack cursed again, "If I get caught then that's definitely going to be an execution, they're bound to have silver weapons here..." Jack's eyes suddenly widened, "That's it!" Everyone in the room looked at him with confused looks on their faces.
"I know what this king is like, he likes to set an example to his subjects, there's no doubt that the execution will be public. He will be overseeing the execution as well since I'm a moon shifter, that's you chance to take him out Ash." The teen thought for a moment and then nodded, "It's going to be risky..." Jack's face went from serious to slightly sad, "Yeah...I know..." Cynthia didn't look happy at all with this plan, May was also looking a bit scared. Jack then grinned, "Hey, if we don't take risks, how are we ever going to get anywhere in this journey?" They all slowly nodded, Ash then grinned as well, "Let's teach that fat bastard a lesson!" Small smiles broke out on both of the girl's faces. "Allow us to help as well" Said Cilan, "Yeah! Well get rid of the guards for you guys!" Cheered Chili enthusiastically, Cress flipped his hair and grinned, "We'll be done in no time" Jack laughed, "Let's do this!"
(The guard's point of view)
"The culprit was stupid enough to show himself after all" Said the chief, the man simply grinned, "Take me away boss man" His subordinates growled, "Don't talk to the chief with your filthy mouth you dog!" They got a simple chuckle, the chief raised his brow, "You seem very calm for someone who is soon to die..." Jack grinned with a determined look on his face, "Death is like a dream to me" The chief laughed, "It will soon be a nightmare" His laughter was cut off by Jack's confident voice. "Not if there are people to wake me up..." Jack said as he was cuffed and taken away.
Thanks for reading! Hope you guys liked this chapter, I introduced some more characters from the anime, hope they're not too out of character...So, will Jack be killed? Will the king be killed? Will you be able to guess who the mystery character is? Until next time...
Reviews appreciated!