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The Brave

A few hours later, Riku finally began to regain consciousness. He's vision was blurry at first, and he heard a feminine voice, but he didn't recognize it. As his sight began to clear up, he noticed a white face. His first thought would've been Yula if it wasn't for the voice. Finally, he could make out blue hair and yellowish eyes.

"Hey, are you alright?" asked the squirrel huntress. Riku quickly got to his feet, immediately taking an aggressive stance and drawing his sword to her throat. She gulped. "Take it easy," she said nervously as she gently pushed the blade away with a finger, "we're not going to hurt you." Riku didn't relent, and gave her a leery stare.

"Why should I believe you?"

"Relax, will you?" a different voice stated. Looking behind her, he noticed the red hare he had done battle with not long ago leaning against a tree, arms crossed. He still wasn't fully convinced, until he felt a hand on his shoulder, looking to his side to see Yula.

"It's okay, Riku," she assured him. Seeing that the wolfette was unharmed, the jackal seemed to calm down and put his blade away.

"Sorry about all of that," the squirrel continued, "You have to understand it was nothing personal."

"I figured that," he replied with a roll of his eyes.

"I'm Mira, and that's Kimiko," she gestured towards the lagomorph.

"I prefer Kimi."

"A pleasure," he replied, but didn't sound like he meant it.

"Kimi and I have been doing some think, and there's something we need to discuss with you," the white rodent stated.

"We really should be going..."

"Please? This will only take a moment," she started pleading. Clearly she was the sweet one of the two. He sighed and nodded. "You see we'd... like to join you." Shocked by her request, he was about to protest until he was interrupted, "I know it's a little odd after what we tried to do, and we realize what we're asking of you, but Kimi and I are willing to take the risks." As he was about to speak, Yula came up and whispered in his ear, explaining what had happened after he lost consciousness, about Syncros, bringing him to his decision.

"What do you get out of this?"

"Adventure and a new friend."

"And a bigger hunt," the hare added with a chuckle.

"This isn't a joke, Kimi," he exclaimed with a hint of disdain in his voice.

"I'm aware of that." She sighed, stood up and stretched before gathering her gear. "So, are we going or what?"

~~~~~~

Now accompanied by Kimi and Mira, Riku set out to find the first tomb, while briefly explaining his current objective to his new allies. Aside from the local wild life, they seemed to be the only ones around for some time. It was quiet, but since nature seemed to be acting normal, they didn't worry much about it. Yula was beginning to grow weary from the constant traveling. Riku took notice and stopped.

"Is there a problem?" Kimi asked.

"No. I just thought it would be a good time to rest." Yula gave a sigh of relief and took a seat next to him when he sat down, soon joined by the others.

"Maybe we can get to know a little about each other better," Mira suggested.

"That's a good idea," Yula added, "So who's first?"

"Why don't you start, Kimi?" the archer suggested.

"Ok so I guess I'll start at the beginning." The huntress took a moment and cleared her throat. "When I was younger, my father forced me to train in martial arts. Being that I was the only child in my family it was up to me to keep up the tradition of bounty hunting. He showed me all the tricks, poisons, and weak points. My first mission was to hunt my uncle, and they preferred him dead. But I was afraid and couldn't go through with it, so I let him go. Ashamed, I never returned home and wandered as a nomad hunting to make money to survive, that's where I met Mira."

"Interesting," the wolfette thought. "What about you, Mira?"

"I was born an orphan, so I didn't have much. I had to sneak around and steal to get any food and soon I made a name for myself as a thief. Every officer tried to catch me, but I always ran back to my hideout under the bridge entering town. They had a large bounty on my head, though not nearly as large as his," she gestured to Riku. "Anyway, I thought hunters would be a problem. One day after stealing some bread, I was stopped by Kimi. She tried to catch me, but I managed to escape back to my spot. But she followed me back, sniffing out my scent, but when she arrived she didn't fight me. Instead, she offered to let me come with her and form a team." Though he was listening, Riku was looking into the distance. He always seemed to be on high alert, even at the most serene time. He stepped away for a moment and left the ladies alone. Kimi scoffed at his sudden and rude disappearance.

"Don't mind him," Yula intervened, "he's always had trouble being around others. We've only just met, and I've been finding it difficult to get him to open up."

"We won't push him then." Kimi assured, "So what's your story, pup?"

"Me? I'm afraid I'm not very interesting..."

"Come on," Mira gave her a playful shove, "We shared our stories. It's only fair we hear yours." Yula giggled at the friendly shove.

"Okay, if you insist." Taking a deep breath, she began explaining her past. "I was born the daughter of a chief in a small village, and since I was young, I wanted to be a doctor, but more than anything, I wanted to travel. But my father forbade it because of my bloodline, and said my place was in the village. Then he suddenly fell ill, and promised my hand to the son of another chief, his way of keeping me home I suppose. And when I met Riku, I saw it as an opportunity to get away and see the world."

"That's very brave of you," the lagomorph stated. Yula's ears perked up at her remark.

"Anyone who can stand up to me with my blade to their face is the bravest I've ever seen." She gave the wolfette a playful punch on the arm, though it did hurt her just a bit as she started rubbing it.

Riku eventually returned, with the same expression as when he left.

"Well, where have you been?" Kimi's greeting was ignored. He looked at Yula.

"How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. Thanks for asking."

"So what about you, big shot?" the huntress added, "What's your story?"

"Kimi.." the white pup tried to stop her, but was cut off when a hand touched her shoulder.

"It's okay," he assured, "I'd rather not dwell on the past for too long, so I hope you don't mind a short story." He took a moment to gather his thoughts. "I was born in a noble family, raised by a single mother. Since my teen years, I dreamed of becoming a knight to serve my people. My teacher saw great potential and started training with me as well as others. For over five years I trained, and five years I was the top of my class. But then my initiation came."

"Initiation?"

"It's a ritual my people go through when we come of age. It's our passage into adulthood, through which we inherit the powers and sometimes traits of one of our gods." Riku looked down steadily as the memories came rushing back, and showed them the marks and symbol on his cheek, "I was the exception though, because darkness has no such deity. When I received my powers, I broke the seal that held the shadows back for centuries. Now everywhere I go, people who recognize me blame me for all the pain and suffering that's happening, and want me dead. I've been on the run since." Kimi and Mira couldn't help but stare as they tried to process the new information.

"That reminds me, I don't believe you've been brought up to speed about the task at hand. I don't know much myself at the moment, but right now I'm supposed to locate four abandoned shrines, confront the guardians of Aberuth, and collect their rings. The first one is somewhere here in the forest."

"How can we help?"

"Just help me see this through."

~~~~~~

Riku and company continued deeper into the forest, eventually passing by a lake. A large nearly collapsed stone building lied nearby, though it's large, solid steel doors remain intact. On either side of the stone staircase sat a life sized statue of a male lion. As he was climbing the stairs, Riku began to hear the voice of Syncros.

"Behind these doors lies Lucretia the Brave. But the dark poison prohibits anyone from entering. Your dark power should shield you. Once inside, you will be on your own." As he finally reached the top of the stairs, he took a deep breath and turned to his comrades.

"My first test lies beyond here. But I must go alone."

"What?" Yula cried out, "But Riku, you can't.." She stopped by the raise of his hand.

"I'm afraid it's the only way." He looked to the hunters for a moment. "Take care of her, alright?" The two nodded simultaneously.

Turning to the large doors, a single touch caused a surge of his dark energy rushed through the lion pattern. The eyes glowed viscously as the doors slowly opened and revealed a large wall of dark energy. This must be the poison Syncros mentioned. He stuck a hand through. Immediately a bunch of tiny purple dots surrounded him. The way they moved made them seem alive. Their light flickered on and off like fireflies in the night sky.

"Those are dark cells," the deity's voice stated, "they create a toxic atmosphere like that of the dark world, though not nearly as powerful. The shadows use these to claim territories in our world. You are about to experience what it will be like in the realm of shadows." The cells seemed to scatter and leave him alone. Perhaps they think he's one of them? With a deep breath, he pushed himself all the way through, and heard the doors close behind him.

~~~~~~

It was dark, and very difficult to see. Riku took a deep breath of the dark poison. Where others might have suffocated, he found it invigorating, and felt calm, almost as if he was being welcomed by the dark. He proceeded forward, taking note of the statues covered in a moss like substance that glowed violet, and approaching another set of doors. It took every bit of strength he could muster to push them open. He took a quick look around this new area. It was large and round, at the end was a small staircase, a few statues depicted religious figures, and a pedestal engraved with an ankh cross. This particular area was surrounded by several candelabra that could be depicted as once being gold, but now rusted to a more blackish color from the toxic atmosphere, glowing in black flames.

A figure kneeling in front of the pedestal could be seen, as though praying. It's head lifted as it stood and turned around. It was feminine from what he could tell, although the light brown fur was ruffled and tainted black in some areas from the dark poison. Her armor was light and rusted from age, but still sturdy, though only everything above the belly was covered, and the lower half was only down to her upper thigh, with the addition of leg and arm braces. Such light armor wasn't uncommon for a knightess, for many disliked the weight of a full suit and prefer to remain as light and flexible as possible. The only visible part of her face was her tainted eyes and round cat ears, the rest covered by a skin tight helmet. She had a short tribal warrior's ponytail.

On her finger, Riku could see the ring he came for, though its mark was too far to make out. She just stared for a moment. Her glare gave him an uneasy feeling as he gripped his sword, ready to draw it out. The lioness gave a sinister growl and drew out her own blade. Her sword wasn't unlike his own, save for having the standard hilt. He drew his blade in unison as she made a dash at him and locked swords with the pup, and rapidly twirling and swinging from one side to another. Riku tried desperately to block, but he had never dealt with such a nimble opponent. Swings came at him with such ferocity from below, up high, and from the sides, there was almost no time to think.

It was clear that a head on attack was useless, the lioness did a backflip and kicked Riku in the jaw and created some distance. He rubbed his snout. She didn't kick him hard enough to break it, but it hurt just the same. The lioness held out her free hand. Dark energy channeled through her body and down her arms into her hands. She grabbed the sword with both hands and swung back to allow the energy to channel through it, then quickly swung forward like a golf club to send out a wave of energy. It was quick, and with no time to think, Riku just covered himself with his arms. The impact was strong enough to stagger him but not enough to knock him off his feet.

Before he knew it she was already on him again, and after a few swings, she threw a kick that knocked him down and a quick twirl which, judging by the angle, was an attempt to decapitate him. His first reaction was throwing a hand up in front of the blade, which deflected with a dark shield. The attack bounced back into a pillar, and the blade was now apparently stuck. When he tried to take advantage of the situation, he was kicked in the chest by two feet, feeling enough force to crack at least one of his ribs, and crashed into the pedestal. Rusted with age, the structure crumbled and left nothing but dust and debris. When he got up and tried to recover, he was greeted by a fist to the face, noticing the feline had abandoned her weapon and decided to use her own hands. He could swear a tooth cracked. He tried blocking more punches and kicks the best he could, but he was constantly being struck in open areas, and suddenly had his legs swept and fell down again, quickly rolled away to avoid another fist with enough force to crack the floor and leave a whole where he just was. He was kicked in the snout as soon as he stood up again, crashing into another column.

He rubbed some blood off his muzzle. His nose hurt, and he didn't doubt that it was broken. Riku was quickly getting tired. He needed to slow the lioness down somehow. He noticed she was clutching her fist, like she was in pain. She must've broken it, or at least bruised it up when she punched the floor, and she was panting like she was worn out. He took a chance and channeled his own energy into his hands, trying to recreate his opponents earlier attack, something he had never done before. And, like his foe before him, he his blade like a club and unleashed his power into a black wave. Unable to react in time, the lioness was knocked back into a column, the same one her blade was stuck in. The pillar collapsed on top of her. Dust flew everywhere. Riku heard a ping in front of him. The rusted blade that was stuck in the collapsed column was now stuck in the ground in front of him. The rubble before him started shaking. The lioness emerged from the ruins, her body cut and bloodied, limping and holding her shoulder with her good hand, slowly approaching the jackal pup.

He was a little surprised that she could keep going after that. Even if she was a servant of the dark now, Lucretia was still flesh and blood. No mortal could have survived that. He was amazed, and appalled the dark poison's influence on people. No matter how much pain you're in, no matter how broken your body may be, you are still compelled to fight to your last breath.

As she got a little closer, enough for a melee strike, her eyes flickered, and she pulled her helmet off. He could barely make out her brownish eyes, changing back and forth to that glowing purple color.

"Help me.." she pleaded, and coughed out some blood, "please." See no other way to help her, he grabbed his blade and the back of her head, looking into her eyes one last time for confirmation as she gave a weak nod. Like a reflex, he jabbed his blade into her exposed abdominal area. Gasping and coughing at first, the dark faded from her eyes, and she gave a grateful smile. "Bless you child..," she said weakly, "bless you.." She was finally gone, no trace of life left in her. Perhaps she was finally at peace. After withdrawing his blade, Riku laid her down gently so it looked like she was only resting, and shut her eyes.

He took a moment to himself, paying his respects to the fallen, and perhaps feeling a bit of sorrow himself. He took a better look at the ring. Other than being engraved with a male lion's face, it didn't look all that special. He removed it from the owner's finger, but it looked a little big for his own. He tried putting it on his finger, and was baffled by a glow and a shrink in the band as it became skin tight on the pup, as though becoming part of him. The lion crest glowed the infamous purple of the darks, that was unfortunately a part of him as well.

He sat down against one of the columns clutching his chest as the pain of his broken ribs began to take effect, at the same time touching his bleeding snout, immediately cringing in pain. It was definitely broken. He felt a light strike him in the face, looking up to notice the dark starting to fade. This place was beginning to heal, though it would be a long process.