So, yeah, with as many stories as I am, I am now posting the first chapter of yet another story. No wonder I cannot post anything with enough regularity!
But, anyways, here is another story.
Oh, and just for the people who are familiar with The Dragon Knight, I'll let you know that this story is greatly off-canon.
I idealized this story back before the second season of TDK was even out, and before season 3 was even a thing.
So, yeah, this story does not follow the canon of the series past season one. It may follow some canons from season two, but it is definitely off-canon to season three, starting with the fact that both the weasels are still alive and still bad guys.
Also, just so we have no doubts, this story does not take into account Kung Fu Panda 4.
Like I said, I idealized it before season 2 was even out, and since DTK is inherently non-canon to the main movie series, I am considering that is only follows the canon of the first three films.
Anyways, that was it for the obligatory informative disclaimers.
Now on with the first chapter of this wacked new story!
Every country needs prisons.
They need this place to put the criminals of society, so they can be kept away from the innocent whom they preyed upon and pay for the infractions they have committed.
It would be great if there was no need for such places. If societies of the world could be so advanced that there would be no crime and no injustice, what would render those kinds of places useless.
That would certainly be a perfect world.
However, this was not the case of this world. So, prisons were needed to place the criminals of society in each country. And, among prisons, there was always at least one on each country that served as a place to send the worst of all criminals. A place made to be secure and inescapable, where they often sent the ones who have made the worst things.
In China, such place was Chor Gom.
In England, it was the Raven's Nest Fortress.
Set atop of a cliff on the edge of the ocean, the place was once the fortress of a fearsome warlord who lived nearly two centuries prior. It had been built to be an inexpugnable fortress, a stronghold where none of the enemies of the fearsome Gorefield the Gloom Bringer would be able to reach him and his advisors.
Now, many years later, the place had been repurposed by the royal family to serve as a place of incarceration. What once was an inexpugnable stronghold for a lord of war keen on conquering all of Britain, was now an inescapable prison where the worse criminals of the Great Isle were sent to be kept away from the good citizens of the land while they paid the price for their crimes.
Safe to say none of them would be getting out of there unless they were old and decrepit, or until they were to be taken to the execution stand to pay the ultimate price for their transgressions.
However, there were two of the inmates in there that certainly were not keen on getting out of there on either of those conditions.
They wanted to get out on their own terms.
And they wanted as fast as possible.
That was why, on the afternoon, during their evening time out for exercising and entertainment, the two of them met.
Raven's Nest was separated in two wings. In one wing were kept the male inmates, while the other one was dedicated to the female criminals. Each wing had their own guards, of the respective gender of the inmates. They did it to avoid certain "complications" among both the inmates and the guards who watched over them.
Even their exercise areas, while having once been a single great field, were now separated by a great metal fence keeping the men on one side to directly interact with the women on the other side. Their only interactions they could have was talking to each other and passing their hands through the fence.
And this was perfect for the two criminals who we mentioned earlier, who had both been put in opposite wings due to being of different genders, despite being siblings.
"So, that poor sod really got it for us, didn't he?" The female weasel said, as she looked up at her brother. She could not get over how stupid those clothes they gave to them looked. They were just plain cloth colored a dirt white, like the clothes wore by the monks on the monasteries of their country. For her, they seemed like ugly pajamas.
The worst was her being forced to wear only a dress-like tunic, while her brother was given the liberty of wearing a shirt and a pair of pants. All because she was a woman. Ugh!
"Yeah, the promise of power and riches was enough to convince him." The male said to his sister, as he smirked. "Good to know that some members of the guard are still stupid and greedy."
"Well, that certainly works on our favor." The female weasel said, as she took the object her brother gave to her, a plain and small jewelry box. "Glad he was not too stupid to find it."
"So, it will be today." Klaus said to her, "After five years, we are finally getting out of here."
"I waited much longer to get out of prison last time." She said to her brother. "Don't you go thinking those five years are a lot."
The way she said it was slightly aggressive. The male looked at her, before he said:
"We are getting out today, Veruka."
She looked up, her eyes meeting her brother's.
"We are getting out, and once we do, we will get what is ours. No one will stand on our way this time, and if they do, we will make them pay." He assured her.
"Hey, Dumont!" Said a voice, as one of the guards, a burly bull, approached the weasel. "What are you doing there?"
Klaus immediately turned around to look at the bull.
"What? A man cannot have a talk with his sister?"
"Not when he is that close." The bull said, "Back away from the fence."
Klaus looked at Veruka, and he mouthed to her:
"We'll get what's ours."
With this, Klaus went back to the other male inmates, aiming to get back to his exercises, while Veruka was left to go back to the females, who were practicing "more proper exercises for women", like simple jumping and stretching sessions.
Sometimes Veruka really hated living in a patriarchal country. And it could still shock her how male-oriented things were in there, considering they had a woman sitting on the throne!
China was much more liberal on things like that.
She actually missed that place. Especially the food.
And a certain someone whom she met in there.
Well, she would be meeting with him again soon. Right after she broke her brother and herself out of that blasted prison.
And it would be all thanks to the one item she was now hiding inside her prison clothes.
As soon as exercising time was over, the prisoners were all taken back to their respective wings, where they would be escorted to their cells and locked away for the rest of the evening until it was morning once more and they would resume their daily routines.
"Get inside, Dumond." The female horse said to the inmate as she gestured to the door. Veruka could still see the fear on her eyes as she talked to her. It made her want to giggle.
This girl probably heard of her and was weary of what she could do.
Well, you would be too if you heard that the inmate you are dealing with is a sorceress with terrifying magical powers.
As soon as she was inside, she locked the door behind the white weasel in plain clothes, and then she turned to her captain, a female lioness with the same uniform as her.
"Are you sure we should not close the latches on her windows, ma'am?" The mare asked, to what the lioness said to her:
"Easy there, rookie, the sun hasn't even set yet. And, even if it had, she is powerless unless she is bathed by the light of a full moon, and that is at least two more weeks away. We will be safe."
Behind the door of her cell, Veruka had a grim expression on her face.
"We'll see about that..." She said to herself, as she walked to her bed.
She had been given one, as well as a few other luxuries, like a mirror and a brush for her hair and fur. Things that she earned through her good behavior on the past few weeks.
The thought of how much she had to pretend to be a nice girl to earn those things made her sick to her stomach. However, it was all worth it, once she had earned the most important thing she needed: three innocent looking plants for her window with bars, in tiny little pots, on the perfect spot to catch both rainfall and sunlight during the day.
Those were the very reason why she went above and beyond to pretend to be good lately, all so she would be able to ask for those three little plants, one at a time, to "liven up her gloomy cell".
She still could not believe the morons bought it!
Now, for the final item she needed, the one that she received from her brother just an hour ago.
She removed the box from her clothes and placed it on the bed.
She was practically trembling with anticipation now.
She slowly opened the box to reveal it contained...
A small bracelet with a pink polished gemstone in it.
What? It was a jewelry box! What did you expect to be inside of it?
"Yes!" Veruka said to herself as she saw exactly what it had hoped inside. Now, she only had to put it on her and hope it worked.
The bracelet easily slid past her hand and into her wrist, fitting like a glove thanks to the cords and the moldable leather. Veruka looked at it for a few seconds, anxiously waiting to see if there would be any reaction, to see if there was any truth to what the old books said about it.
And then, the gemstone in the bracelet started to glow, emitting, a soft, pale light identical to that of the moon.
"Yes!" Veruka said, this time even louder. Loud enough to cause the guard outside of her cell to bang on the door.
"Dumont! What was that?"
"Oh, you will see right about now." Veruka said, and then she turned her attention to her window, where the three plants were innocently sitting on their pots by the window.
She then stretched her arm with the bracelet on it towards them. Soon, the soft light coming from the bracelet changed, as it was overwhelmed by a strong light coming from Veruka's own hand. A green light, which also affected one of the three plants.
The rose twitched and shifted on the vase, as its stamen began to grow and gain more spikes.
"Dumont, did you hear me?" The mare outside of her door said as she banged on the door with the butt of her spear. "What was that thing I heard? What are you doing out there?"
There was no answer, just a strange, hustling sound coming from beyond the door.
"Dumont! You still there?" She asked, and that was when she heard the bang.
A loud, strong bang on the door of solid steel, coming from the other side.
Followed by another. And then by another.
The mare retreated, as she saw the door starting to acquire bumps from the strength of the blows it seemed to be receiving from the other side, such was the strength behind them.
Saying that the mare was terrified would have been an understatement.
"C-C-Captain!" Was all that the mare had time to say, before the door was forced out of it's ridges by the force of the many vines covered in thorns that were coming from the other side of the door, whipping about and feeling all over like the tendrils of an unspeakable horror looking for their victim.
The terrified neighs of the mare called the attention of the other female guards, who arrived in time to see their friend being restrained by the many vines, which where quickly spreading and then lashing at the other guards. Their thorns pierced their skin and even their armor, while the vines themselves wrapped around them and squeezed with the force of a constrictor snake.
Meanwhile, Veruka walked out of her cell, with her hand still emitting the same green glow as the rosebush vines as they restrained the female guards of the place and continued to spread, growing with a speed that would put even bamboo to shame.
"Sorry, ladies." The white weasel said, "As much as I enjoyed our time together, and as fun as it is seeing you all squirm like fishes on a hook, I have to take my leave now."
She approached one of them, the lioness captain.
"But I will be taking a little something to remember you." She said, and she pulled something out of the lioness' belt: a bunch of keys.
The keys of the doors of this very same prison.
"Buh-bye!" Veruka said, as she started walking away, leaving the lady guards trying to squirm their way out of the vines she arranged for all of them, trying to escape but only managing to scrap themselves further on their thorns.
With the keys on her hands, Veruka made her way across the hallways of the castle, which she now knew as the back of her hand after five years as a "guest" in there. It was not hard for her to navigate on those long stone halls and find her way into the male wing of the Raven's Nest. The keys on her hand serving to open any doors that stood on her way.
However, that was not to say that her path was unobstructed.
There were guards on the male wing as well, and they all were not keen on having a prisoner out of the cell and walking across the prison as she saw fit.
"Get her!" Said one of the male guards, a bull with an impressive set of horns, as he and all the male guards ran towards her with their weapons in hand and ready to either subdue or end the weasel.
Veruka, however, was mostly unimpressed with them.
She merely picked another one of her vases and tossed it in direction to them.
Immediately after tossing the vase, her hand glowed green as she activated her magic, causing the vase, full of pansies, started to glow before it hit the ground.
As soon as the vase fell, it shattered, spilling soil and the glowing flowers onto the ground.
The flowers, however, did not limited themselves to the place where the vase fell. They spread across the ground like a living wave of colorful plants, covering everything on their path.
Including the guards.
They all cried out in surprise as those small flowers started covering their bodies like an aggressive blanket, covering them so much that they could no longer move, and all of them ended up falling to the ground as the flowers grew in such number over them that they could hardly even move.
In fact, some of them found it hard to even breathe.
"I'd love to stay and talk, gentlemen, but I gotta reunite with my brother now." Veruka said, passing by the guards, who were struggling under that blanket of flowers. One of them tried to reach out for her but found it hard to keep his hand up. Meanwhile, another one seemed that he really could not breathe, as he was taking in deep, gasping breaths, as if the weight of the flowers was actually crushing him.
"No need to get up, I can find my own way." Veruka said, as smirk on her face as she passed by those big and manly guards, all of them powerless to stop a small weasel lady from getting past them.
True to her word, Veruka managed to find her brother's cell rather easily, ignoring all the other inmates who were talking to her. Calling for her and begging her to help them. Veruka didn't gave two shakes of a tail about any of those losers.
All she cared about was her brother.
And he was smiling at her as soon as she opened the door from his cell.
"I told you that this jewelry would suit you, sis." Klaus said as he walked out of his cell, referring to the bracelet she had on her wrist.
"Yes, you certainly did." Veruka said, looking at it. "I'm normally not a fan of jewels, but I can't help but love a functional accessory."
"You certainly do." Klaus said to her. "Now, what about we leave this place?"
"Oh, we will." Veruka said to her, "But not dressed like this. Let's go get our clothes, I know where they put them."
The clothes of the weasels were kept in storage, along with the rest of the belongings of all the inmates of Raven's Nest. Put in there inside of locked chests as soon as they checked in the place and meant to be kept in there until the day they were pardoned and allowed to leave.
"Now that is more like it." Veruka said as she put on her usual clothes. Those suited her much more than the plain clothing they gave her on that stupid place. Klaus too was wearing his usual clothes, and those were much better on him than those cream-colored pajamas.
Now they were ready to leave.
However, the guards were still not just going to let them leave that easily.
"Get them both!" One of the guards, another captain, said as nearly all the guards of the prison, male and female, were ready to go at the weasels and drag their sorry tails back to their respective cells.
The Dumont siblings, on their end, only shared a look, both smirking, before Veruka tossed the final vase forward, causing it to shatter and for the single plant in there, a blooming stamen of lavender, to lay on the ground.
With a sleight of her hand, green light came forth, and the stamen of lavender firmed itself into the ground as it grew and grew.
The guards stopped for a moment, wondering what kind of sorcery the witch could be trying to use now.
That was when the smell hit them.
Carried by a sudden gust of wind, it was a soft, but overwhelming smell. Sweet, but at the same time with a tinge of bitter in it.
In a matter of seconds, the guards were finding it hard to keep their eyes open.
In less than a minute, they had all fallen to the ground, all of them asleep, as the smell of the magic-grown lavender acted as a sleeping gas, causing them all to fall into a dreamless slumber, with some of them even snoring loudly.
Klaus and Veruka were then unimpeded to leave the prison, as they simply walked out of the ward calmly past the many sleeping guards. Both smirking behind the cloths that they were using to cover their faces to protect them from falling victims to the same magic smell that caused the guards to fall asleep.
In the end, escaping of the "inescapable" Raven's next proved to be as easy as walking unimpeded through the from door, what was exactly what the weasels did.
"Hey! HEY!"
The voice caused the two weasels to turn around as they had walked a few yards away from the front gate. There was a guard running towards them. A lion with a bald spot on the top of his head, making him look quite comic to the person who met him.
"Dumont! Wait!" He said, talking to the two siblings, who had the same last name. However, he was, most specifically, talking to the Dumont brother. The one with who he had been talking in secret for a few weeks now.
"Ah, Glooms." The male weasel said to the lion, pulling down the tissue on his mouth so he could give a friendly smile to the lion talking to him. "My favorite little traitor."
The lion flinched and made a face as he was called that, but he said nothing in return, once he knew that it was truth. Instead, he only said:
"Dumont, I did everything you asked of me." The lion said to him. "I got you your bracelet so you and your sister could escape, just like you asked. I did my part of our agreement."
"Indeed, you have." Klaus said to the lion.
"So, I'd like the know when I will be getting my reward." The lion said to him, "The riches you promised me? Wealth beyond my wildest dreams? When am I getting it? Tomorrow? Next week?"
"Quite the greedy one, ain't he, brother?" Veruka asked, looking at the lion. "This might be quite the problem."
"Look, I only want what I have bene promised." The lion said to the weasels "That's why I did what I did."
"You mean, why you have betrayed your fellow guards of the royal army, and helped two of this country's greatest criminals escape from the prison to they could resume their monstrous acts and find a new way to get what they want?" Veruka asked, "How does it feels, lion-boy? To betray your whole country and everything you, as a member of the royal guard, were supposed to stand for?"
The lion's face hardened.
"Watch it, witch!" The lion said, only for Klaus to put up a knife and flash it on the starlight at the lion. This was enough to make him stand down.
"I dedicated my life for this country!" The lion said to them. "I fought for years and protected the royal family all of my life! I neglected my own family to do so! So much that my wife left me and now my children refuse to even talk to me! And what was my reward in the end? To be put on this dead-end job, watching over the worst criminal scum of this country until the day I'll retire and be left with nothing but a measly pension until the day I die!"
The two weasels looked at him as the lion vented. Sharing a light look among themselves as they heard the feline complain about his unfair life, and how he deserved better after a whole life of dedication to the armor he was currently wearing.
The same armor he betrayed for the promise of a fortune.
"This country did nothing for me in the end! So, excuse me if I decided that, from now on, I shall look only after myself." The lion said to the two. "That's why I'd really like to know if I will receive my promised reward for helping you two or not! I risked a lot to be able to help you two getting that blasted piece of magic jewelry! I. Want. My. Gold! I deserve it!"
The two brothers shared another look among each other, and then Veruka looked back at him with a smirk.
"Oh, so you want what you deserve, don't you?" She asked him, her voice as sweet as poisoned honey. "Very well then."
The lion didn't even had time to react, as everything that happened next was so fast. Veruka turned her attention to a nearby tree, her hand once more glowing green. The roots of the tree sprouted from the earth, charging straight at the lion and wrapping around him like the vines back on the prison did for the female guards.
"W-what is this!?" The lion said, and Veruka only looked back at him with that same wicked grin and a glint on her crazed eyes.
"This is your reward, you poor, money-hungry fool." She said, and then she clenched her hand in a fist. What caused the roots around the lion to squeeze.
They squeezed so hard, that something gave in under their grasp, producing a loud, sickening crunching sound.
The next sound heard was a *thump*, as the now-lifeless lion was dropped into the ground.
The two siblings looked at him for a few moments before they, without any regard for the lion whose life they just taken, turned around and left, disappearing into the night.
Two days later
When the ruler of your country summons you for an emergency audience, you drop everything you are doing and answer. That is an unspoken law in nearly all countries. Especially if you were a person with an honor oath to serve said country and ruler.
In England, the ones who fell under such categories were the knights, bond by honor and duty to serve the country and the crown.
And that was why, when the Queen herself summoned a knight, or a group of them, to her presence, they always answered without fail.
Like the deer and bear who were both making their way into the throne room of the palace, passing through the main hall of the palace and walking in direction to the Queen, as the corgi woman sat on her throne wearing her fine clothes and the magnificent crown resting over her brows.
They stopped before her throne, right at the foot of the stairs that lead to it.
"My Queen." The bear said, as she had her head down, alongside the deer by her side, in a sign of respect for their ruler. "Before you are the knights Luthera of Langley and Collin of Lacorni, who have come in answer to your summon and present themselves before you."
Then Colin said:
"How may we serve you, your highness?"
They were both being awfully formal while talking to the queen. It was protocol in situations like that. After all, they had both receive an emergency summon by the Queen to come to her presence, so they both knew that, whatever were the circumstances behind such a summon, they must be truly serious.
Little did they knew how right they were.
"My knights." The Queen said to the two of them. "I have dire news for both of you." The way she spoke let them both knew that they needed to brace for the news.
"Klaus and Veruka Dumont have escaped from Raven's Nest."
Luthera visibly flinched. Colin looked at her from the corner of his eye, and he saw the tension on the body of his friend and fellow knight as she heard the news that her brother's murderers were, once more, roaming free.
"How did this happen?" Luthera asked, keeping her voice even and steady, and not to let her tension show on her way of speaking.
"They used sorcery." The queen said to them, "Veruka Dumont received a magic item that she used to enhance her own magical powers. Apparently, it was brought inside by one of the guards."
"So, they had inside help." Luthera said, "I will find that traitorous vermin and I'll crush his body with my own hands."
"I am afraid that the Dumont have already done so." The Queen said, "His corpse was recovered just by the gates of the prison."
Of course it was. Of course those weasels would dispose of the person who was foolish enough to help them as soon as he was no longer useful.
Well, serves him right. Luthera thought.
"You two have experience with those weasels." The Queen said to her two knights. "I am tasking you both with the mission of finding those weasels and bring them back, either dead or alive."
The way the queen said the last part was her way of saying "you have my permission to end them this time". That was how much she knew they both were dangerous.
"I will do so, my queen." Luthera said, "I will search every corner of England until I find both of them."
"I am afraid you might have to look further than this country." The queen said somberly. "It was found that the Dumont siblings have been studying maps and navigation charts. Foreign."
Luthera tensed.
"And yesterday, my agents have confirmed that they have arranged for a boat to take them out of the country, for which they paid with stolen gold." The corgi said, "They are headed for China."
This was exactly what Luthera had hoped not to hear.
"The last time they left the country, they posed a danger not only to England, but to the whole world." The Queen said, "We cannot allow for it to happen a second time. You must chase after those weasels and detain them before they can hurt any more innocents than they already did five years ago."
The two knights bowed their heads even further.
"As you wish, my queen." Colin said, and with this, the two of them were dismissed from the presence of their ruler, and they both went on their way, both knowing that they now had a mission to perform.
However, before that, Luthera had to go back to her house, as she needed to make arrangements for their trip.
As well as for how things would be on her household during her absence.
Near the end of that same day, they were both on a ship, which was departing form the port and into the open sea. This boat would be taking them on a long journey towards a place that they had last visited five years ago.
However, this time, there was the difference that one of them would not be hunting after the other, and instead they would be together from the very start, as fellow knights chasing after the real criminals.
"So, here we are, off to China again." Colin said, as they both looked at the endless sea ahead of them. Somewhere in the horizon, was their destination, a land where Colin thought he would never be again. That they were going there once more brought him many memories.
Both good and bad.
Neither of them knew what to expect, but they both knew that they would be in for a difficult time, if the reports they heard about the weasels on this escape were true. They both talked of the mission ahead of them, and how they knew they would have to give it their all so they can detain the weasels or, in the last case, put an end to their evils once and for all.
As they talked, Colin noticed that Luthera seemed distracted, nearly distant. He knew what this was about.
They were still close friends. Close enough that she opened to him about the things that troubled her.
Both on her work as a knight, and on her homelife.
And he knew that things have been a little difficult on her household on the past weeks. But still, the sister of Alfred remained strong and resolute, so much that it would certainly have made her late brother proud.
And still, Colin could see something on her eyes as they spoke of China.
Something that was not as much worry as it was... excitement.
"Looking forward to seeing him again?" Colin asked her, with a smile. She looked at him, and then looked away, as a blush came to her face. This caused the deer to chuckle.
Yes, of course she would be looking forward to seeing him.
"We will pay his restaurant a visit when we have the chance. After our mission is over." Colin said to her. "With a little luck, we all may able to have a nice feast as we reminisce of the past."
Yes, that would be lovely.
That would be very good for Luthera indeed.
She would love to be able to sit down with him and talk.
There were a lot of things she wanted to tell him.
As the two knights stood by the edge of the boat, learning over the rails as they looked at the endless sea ahead, they both failed to look the pair of glowing eyes looking at them.
No.
They were two pairs of eyes looking at them, as the owners of said eyes hid inside of a barrel, undetected by the crew as much as by the knights.
Those two clandestine passengers would remain hidden in there during most of their trip, and they would always be on the lookout for the two knights who they were following...