Shaydes of the Past 2- Tiger's Eye
#7 of Shades of Grey
Shayde of the Past 2- Tiger's Eye
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This story features Zeng the tiger, a character belonging to Dragon Knight. Check out Zeng's story here: [http://dragon-knight.sofurry.com/](%5C)
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The tiger prowled through the woods, his eyes intent on trail before him. It was almost invisible, but to a seasoned hunter like himself, Zeng could make out every tiny detail. A light coating of frost was all that was left, but the smell was evident.
Zeng bent down and picked up a blue-tinged leaf, its fragile shape locked in frozen solidity. He twirled the leaf between his digits, and it snapped, falling to the ground. He watched it as it broke on the ground, and a snarl curled his lips, revealing his sizable and very sharp teeth.
'Glayce...' he hissed. 'I've been tracking you for months now...you cannot hide for long now...this trail is still warm' Or, he thought to himself, it is cold...which in this case means it's warm... Shaking his head at this internal folly, he crouched back down and flitted forward.
Zeng had grown up in a small village, where he was the prime hunter of village, having proved his strength in killing a wyvern at the tender age of 9. Since then, his strength and skills had improved exponentially. But this happiness was short-lived, as his entire village had been destroyed by the frost dragon, Glayce. Zeng had tried to kill the icy dragon, but Glayce had escaped, apparently fearful of a mark on Zeng's shoulder. Since then, the tiger had been hunting down Glayce to avenge his village.
As he crept through the woods, Zeng suddenly noticed a shadow pass overhead, followed shortly by a roar of rage...the kind emitted by an angry dragon. His heart leaping, Zeng quickly scaled the nearest tree, checking to make sure his weapons, a great-axe and a claymore, were securely strapped to his back, and cautiously peered out, looking for the dragon. He didn't see anything, apart from a curious cloud of greenish smoke, rising from the canopy. The smoke was coming from the leaves, and they appeared to be burning. Without fire. Zeng was puzzled by this, until he saw the trail of smoking leaves, coming right for him, hot on the heels of a dark shadow and a bellowed roar...
Shayde woke up very suddenly, his hand flying to the handle of his katana. His dark blue eyes were wide as he peered into the gloom, his breath coming out in bursts. Cold sweat matted his black and yellow pelt, the remanent of his most recent replay of his nightmare. The shouts, the screams of pain, the horrible sound of a gun being shot, of claws lacerating flesh, and worst of all, his mother's last word...a painfully whispered "Run...".
Shayde had been living in various homes for a few years now, never settling down for long, before his mind and heart forced him to move on. His life had changed forever on his ninth birthday, when a tiger had stolen away his childhood, killing his parents before his young eyes. He had killed the tiger, but the damage had been done, and Shayde now found it almost impossible to be around people for too long, his mind slowly forming suspicious thoughts about those with good intentions towards him. Why did they take pity on him? Why were they willing to have him? He didn't know, and he didn't wait around to ask, preferring to run away before too long.
He was currently staying at the home of an old sun-bear. The sun-bear, Ty-Long, was a withered old creature, but his mind was as sharp as Shayde's blade. Shayde had tried to run away several times before, but Ty-Long had managed to keep him there through a combination of coercion and brute force. After all, the bear was a master swordsman, and his walls were decorated with his various weapons, ranging from simple daggers, to huge two-hand swords that, he said, could cleave a house in two.
'But the might of a blade is not the only thing needed,' he told Shayde, after divulging this 'fact', 'One must also have the strength of mind and body to wield a blade.'
Shayde took this advice like all the rest; with a barely covered yawn and half-lidded eyes. At fifteen, he viewed the world with the cynicism of that age, treating the elderly as waffling relics of their age. But Ty-Long had one thing Shayde was interested in; weapons. He drank in the sight of all those blades, hanging off the wall, glinting in the light. He could spend hours just staring at them, almost drooling with desire to touch them. But he didn't...Ty-Long had made it quite clear no-one was to touch the blade. On Shayde's first night, he had crept out and tried to take down a long sword. No sooner had he placed a paw on the sheath, then he'd found himself on the ground, looking up the blade of the sword, being held by the bear. Ty-Long didn't look angry; he simply stared at the Labrador.
'Do not touch what you cannot use, young one,' was all he said. 'Play with your stick first. Learn to use it.'
The 'stick' in question was Shayde's katana. Or, more aptly, his father's katana. He had taken in from his house all those years ago, after using it to kill the tiger. The heavy blade was hard to wield, but Shayde was determined to master it. Ty-Long had seen him train with it, and had imparted several lessons to him. Honour was chief among them. The ways of giving your foe a chance to defend themselves, and to fight with honour, not employing cheap tricks or flashy moves. Shayde was initially worried about the frail-looking ursine, but Ty-Long was the one hitting Shayde more often, landing cuts and blows every day for the year or two he was there. He had pushed Shayde hard, pounding the lessons into him with savage force, pushing the dog to his limits, and then some more.
Now, he was strong enough to use the katana with one hand, and still able to cut through a block of wood without expelling too much force. His body had been sculpted from the unfit, slightly emaciated body of a 13 year old living on the streets, to the lean, moderately muscled body of now. He could pad around on his paws, making no noise whatsoever, and sneak up on the birds in the garden, catching them completely unaware.
Ty-Long had given him a pair of black baggy pants, lined with red on the waist and down the legs, as a gift a few weeks ago. Shayde treated these as he did his katana and bandana; with a reverence he didn't keep for much. Along with the katana, his bandana was the only other reminder of his childhood. A gift from his mother, the red bandana was treated to soak up and clean anything it came in contact with, and still remain as clean as ever.
One morning, Ty-Long told Shayde to go into town and buy some supplies. Shayde had caved to the demands, because refusing resulted in pain, and had walked the mile or two to the nearest town, situated out in the woods. As he walked, he passed several others, who were whispering to each other.
'...cursed, I says...' said one, a jumpy-looking mouse.
'You're barking mad,' said her companion, a ferret. 'I've never 'eard of such twaddle! Trees don' jus' die like that!
'Believe what ya want,' counted the mouse, her sizable nose in the air, 'but I knows what I knows. Them trees over there jus' up and died...melted like...'
The two continued to argue, leaving Shayde to ponder their words. Melting trees? He snorted; the ferret sounded right on the money...who'd ever heard of melting trees.
After he'd bought the stuff he needed, Shayde was about to start back to Ty-Long's place, but was stopped by a sudden roar. All the creatures outside froze in fear, looking around themselves. Suddenly, a shadow blitzed over them, trailing a slight greenish haze and the smell of something horrible. The haze settled on the ground, and issued a hissing sizzle, carving a clean hole in the ground. Everyone stared at this hole, before a crashing sound issued from the woods, and a tiger sped out, evidently chasing the dragon.
Shayde stared at the feline. It looked exactly like the tiger from his past, right down to the markings. Rage flooded his body, and he dropped the foodstuffs, instead unsheathing his blade and charging after the tiger.
'Oh, crap!' whispered Zeng, as he saw the trail fly towards him. He fell off the branch, twisting in the air to land on his feet, and looked up. A green haze settled where he just was, and promptly ate away at the wood, making it seem the tree was victim to a nest of particularly famished termites. He stared at the tree as it hissed and melted, and his sharp eyes suddenly saw something. A pair of glittering purple eyes, staring haughtily down at him. Through the greenish haze, he made out the body of a dragon. His blood boiled, and he leapt at the dragon. The dragon didn't move as the tiger closed in. It was a small dragon, barely bigger than Zeng's leg, but its eyes shone with a Napoleonic attitude.
Zeng grabbed the dragon, and he thought he heard a snort of mirth, before the dragon seemed to waver before his eyes. Its scales shone, and suddenly expelled a film of greenish fluid. This fluid, when it touched Zeng's bare paws, burnt like fire, and Zeng released the thing, howling in pain. His paws steamed as the green film bubbled on them. Acid! Zeng realised. His paws were melting! Still howling in pain, Zeng staggered to a small brook bubbling along, and sunk his burning paws under the cool water, groaning in pain and relief. The dragon, meanwhile, was chuckling to itself.
'Nah uh,' it said, it's voice sounding high enough to be female. 'I may be small, but you don't touch me!' It leaned over and spat at Zeng, its phlegm a bright green that landed on his neck and burnt him as well. Roaring again in pain, Zeng tipped forward and plunged into the water.
The dragon was now rolling around in laughter, its iridescent green scales shimmering in the light. Zeng slowly rose from the brook, water streaming off his whiskers as he glared at the diminutive dragon. The cold water had diluted the acid enough so it didn't burn anymore, but he would need a healer soon, before any nerve damage was done. He tore off the sleeve of his shirt and used it to bandage his blistered paws, growling obscenities to the dragon.
Suddenly, the dragon stopped her rolling in mirth, staring with wide eyes at Zeng's shoulder, where a curious mark stood out against his fur. It looked like a wyvern that had been impaled by a spear, and such a mark was burnt into the psyche of every draconian in the world...the mark of a hunter. The dragon slowly stood up, not taking her eyes off the tiger, and then quickly spat a cloud of acid at Zeng. He ducked under the cloud and saw the dragon shimmer out of view; obviously this dragon could camouflage herself as well. However, a faint greenish haze indicated where she was, now streaking away. Zeng paused at the riverbank to shake himself off, and then charged off after the dragon. He followed her out of the forest and into a village in a clearing. Paying no heed to the faceless blurs beside him, he kept up the charge on the dragon.
Shayde followed the tiger closely, not taking his eyes off him. He was so similar to the tiger murderer, Shayde's mind was playing tricks on him, surely. The tiger seemed to be following a greenish haze, barrelling heedlessly through the foliage.
Finally, the haze vanished completely, and the tiger was left by himself in the middle of the woods. From his hiding spot behind a bush, Shayde saw him look around frantically, before lifting his head to the sky and roaring in rage. Shayde stealthily made his way out of his hiding place, standing behind the tiger.
'Hey! You!' he called. The tiger whipped around, looking at the dog behind him.
'What do you want, mutt?' he asked, not caring much about Shayde, even though his katana was bare in his hand, and held at the ready. The dog, Zeng surmised, didn't look like much of a challenge. He continued to look around for the dragon.
'Revenge is what I want!' shouted Shayde. 'One of your kind killed my family!'
'So what,' said Zeng, 'That's not my problem. There are hundreds of tigers out here...'
'You look like their killer! Everything about you says you are related!' countered Shayde.
Zeng paused in his search. The only tiger he knew around here was his cousin, Tien. Tien was a loose cannon, quite capable of losing his cool at the drop of a whisker.
'You must mean Tien, my cousin,' said Zeng. 'So, how come you're alive?' Tien wasn't known for his mercy, preferring to kill with detached apathy.
'I killed him! When I was a pup,' said Shayde quietly, the memory coming forward. 'I have...never forgotten that day...'
Zeng looked at Shayde full on now. The pain was evident on the dog's face, and Zeng believed him; Tien was like that. It was just like him to attach larger foes, leaving himself open to weaker foes.
Shayde shook himself out of the memory, glaring at Zeng.
'I swore I'd kill every tiger I see!' And with that, he launched himself forward at Zeng.
Zeng was surprised with the attack, but not unduly worried. He let Shayde come in close, then quickly unhooked his greataxe, bringing the huge blade swinging down and sinking it into the ground an inch before Shayde's nose. Shayde stared at his distorted reflection in the shiny blade, then took a step back and swung again at Zeng. Without a thought, Zeng unsheathed his claymore and blocked Shayde's blow, the force of the dog's swing sending a surprisingly large shudder up the blade. Leaving the greataxe buried in the ground, Zeng came at Shayde with a flurry of attacks, forcing him back.
Shayde was a bit worried by now. He may have been strong, but the tiger was stronger, and he was using his greater height and strength to force him back and down, sapping at his strength with each blow. He was missing blocks as well, receiving several new cuts across his arms and chest, but try as he may, he couldn't land a hit of his own; Zeng was too fast.
Suddenly, Zeng dropped his guard for a moment. Shayde leapt forward, hoping to score a hit, but Zeng twisted out of the way, lashing out with his blade as he past. A line of pain ripped across Shayde's chest, and he looked down to see his chest and belly darken with his own blood. He dropped to the ground with a cry of pain, holding his arms across the wound, and letting his katana drop at the same time. Swiftly, Zeng grabbed the blade and held both weapons at Shayde's face. Shayde closed his eyes and waited for the death-blow. He couldn't avenge his parents, and he was going to die at the hands of another tiger.
He waited, and when death didn't come, he looked up. Zeng was staring at him, something like pity mixed with scorn, on his face. He angled the katana down and drove it into the ground, up to the hilt.
'Don't come looking for death again, pup,' he advised with a growl, 'Next time, I won't be so lenient! I let you live because you did the world a favour in killing Tien. Now get out of here, you pathetic excuse for a sword-wielder!'
When Shayde didn't move, Zeng snorted, wrenched his axe from the ground, and then left the clearing. Shayde continued to sit there, not moving at all, except for the silent tears rolling down his face, and the blood trickling over his arms.
Ty-Long found him there half an hour later. The old sun-bear took in the sight of his wounded house-guest and the sword plunged into the ground, then walked over and pulled the sword from the ground, setting it down beside Shayde.
'What happened here, young one?' he asked. Shayde sniffed once, then recounted the tale.
'So, you went seeking revenge with hate clouding your heart and eyes?' asked Ty-Long. Shayde blushed a bit and nodded. The bear leant back a bit.
'Ah, young Shayde. I have told you many a time; hate is your foe, not whoever you are fighting. A heart filled with hate is the heart that will soon bleed. You cannot hope to beat a foe if you cannot take yourself away from such emotions.'
Shayde looked at the ground, shamed. Ty-Long's gentle rebuke was painful to receive, but he knew the old bear was right. He did harbour a huge grudge against tigers, and he couldn't let that go easily.
Ty-Long examined the wound. 'You are lucky,' he said. 'This is not a very bad wound. Your foe must not have wanted you dead.'
'He...he was too quick,' said Shayde. 'I couldn't...even make a single hit on him.' He looked up at the bear, shame in his blue eyes. 'I thought I was good enough...'
'You will get there.' Ty-Long said gently. 'Use the shame of your loss to better yourself.'
Shayde nodded. He would get better. But first, he needed to find the tiger again, and apologise for his outburst. He stood up and winced, the wound still sore. Ty-Long pulled out a piece of material and wrapped it around Shayde's chest.
'This will stop you from getting hurt more. It is just a bandage, no chemicals...' Ty-Long was against such advances in modern science and technology, preferring the lifestyle of the older days, and his way of life was starting to grow on Shayde. It was nicer to live this way, out in the country, away from all the bright lights and mechanical vehicles of the city. Though he would never give up his bandana...it was too precious to him.
'I must go and find the tiger,' he said, bowing as best he could to the old bear. 'I need to make amends,'
'Go then, young one. Make peace with the demons of your past.'
Zeng was back on the dragon's trail, searching for the telltale signs of her acidic presence. His paws itched furiously under the crude bandages, especially after his brief fight with Shayde. The dog had potential, Zeng mused. All he needed to do was open his eyes and shut off the hate, and he may have been the victor. He would like to fight the dog again, under better circumstances maybe...
He had reached the bottom of a cliff when he smelt something behind him. Turning, he saw it was Shayde. His eyes narrowed for a second, but then he noticed the difference. Shayde was calmer now, his katana sheathed on his hip, his eyes downcast.
'What do you want now, dog?' he asked, not as venomous as before.
'I...I wanted to apologise for what I did back there,' replied Shayde. 'What your cousin, Tien, did wasn't your fault. I should not have blamed you for what he did...'
Zeng kept one eye on Shayde, the other on the surrounding area, looking for any telltale green haze. Shayde sounded sincere.
'That's okay,' Zeng said gruffly. 'I could see you have issues with us tigers. But maybe if you'd approached the situation differently, you wouldn't be so hurt now. You need to let go of hate and stop seeking revenge.'
Shayde nodded, then stepped forward. He held out his paw. 'My name is Shayde, I don't think we were introduced before...'
Zeng looked at the paw, then carefully shook it. 'I'm Zeng,' he said. Shayde noticed the bandages.
'What happened to you?' he asked. Zeng told him about the dragon. Shayde looked puzzled, then pointed behind the tiger.
'You mean, that dragon there?'
Zeng whirled around, only to see the dragon sitting on a rock, twiddling her talons at him in a mock wave, completely at ease.
'Hi there kitty,' said the dragon. 'Since we're all so friendly, Jade's the name!'
Impudent dragon, thought Shayde. She's a real piece of work, isn't she? Zeng carefully approached her.
'My fight is not with you, whelpling,' he said, even though he wanted some payback for the pain she caused him. 'I seek a larger foe, Glayce the frost dragon.'
Jade yawned widely, breathing out a cloud of acid as she did, blowing it towards the tiger. 'Never heard of him,' she said. 'Anyway, why are you after a dragon? Don't you crazies go after wyverns?'
Zeng gritted his teeth, itching to wring the little dragon's neck. Only the thought of more burning acid stopped him.
'Glayce killed my village,' said Zeng shortly. 'I want him dead!'
'Aww, poor baby,' Jade twittered, 'and yet, you tell your doggy here to not hate things...how hypocritical of you.'
Shayde had heard enough of this small dragon's overly-large mouth. He unsheathed his blade and pointed it at her.
'Shut up,' he advised. To which Jade replied by hocking a large wad of acid at him. Shayde ducked and turned as Zeng shouted a warning.
'Careful! It's acid!' Shayde felt the acid hit his neck, and waited for the burn, but it didn't come. Twisting around, he saw that the acid had hit his bandana. He tore it off and threw it on the ground, where is hissed and smoked. But amazingly, it didn't melt. It seemed to flex a bit, then the acid simply rolled off.
Shayde gingerly picked it up. There was no hole in the red fabric. 'Oh, that's cool...' he said.
Zeng stared at the bandana, then held out his paws. 'Can I borrow that?' Shayde nodded, and Zeng wrapped the bandana around one paw. He nodded in satisfaction at the knot, turned, and punched out at Jade. She wasn't unduly worried, as her acid would just burn through the material after a while. Then Zeng's fist connected with her belly, and she shot into the ground, gasping for breath. The acidic film on her body coated the bandana, but just fell off. Seeing this, Jade gave a shriek of rage and vanished as her camouflage power kicked in. Zeng growled out a curse, then swung around, punching at the air.
'What can I do?' asked Shayde. He looked around for something to use, but couldn't find anything that would protect against acid.
'Keep an eye out for her!' muttered Zeng. 'She has a green haze around her.'
They kept searching, but they couldn't find her. Finally, Shayde turned to looking into the woods again.
'Maybe she's gone?' Suddenly, he felt a presence behind him, and turned to see Jade's eyes just behind him.
'Hi pup!' she said, then exhaled a huge stream of acid at Shayde's unprotected front. Shayde tensed his body and closed his eyes for the pain, but, like before, it didn't come. He opened them to see Zeng right in front of him, one paw gripping the dragon tight, and the other, the one not protected by the bandana, holding Jade's jaws closed.
Pain was etched on Zeng's face as the acid burnt his already injured paw. Jade's purple eyes widened in shock as she inhaled her own acid, causing a massive back-up internally, sending her spinning to the ground in a dead faint, for not even an acid dragon can take a belly-full of acid to the lungs and walk away. The acid seeped back out through her gaping maw like a pool of drool from a drunken sleeper, and she twitched and writhed in pain unconsciously.
Zeng, meanwhile, had collapsed, finally at his limit for pain, the bandana smoking in his paw as it countered the acid soaking it. He lay on the ground, groaning in pain as the acid ate away at his paw. Shayde quickly unwrapped the protected paw and placed the bandana over the wounded one, allowing the treated fabric to soak up the acid like a sponge. The feeling of material on raw bone caused Zeng to pass out, surpassing his pain threshold, and he collapsed further down, supported by Shayde's paw.
Zeng woke a few hours later, in Ty-Long's house. He raised his paw, afraid of what he'd see, but all he saw was a healthy paw. He wiggled his digits experimentally.
'They are fine, tiger,' came a voice. Ty-Long entered the room, carrying a bowl of broth. He set it down beside the bed and examined the paw.
'I decided to use some chemicals on you, even though I am against such things,' said the bear, tweaking the digits to make sure they still worked. 'However, I can make an exception for you. You saved my student. I thank you. And you forced him to let go of his past. Now he can grow into the swordsman he can be.'
He touched the mark on Zeng's shoulder. 'You are destined for great things, young tiger,' he continued. 'You will face many battles, but I feel you will come from them even stronger then you are now.'
'What happened to the dragon?' asked Zeng.
'The little green one?' Zeng nodded. 'I do not know. She was not there when Shayde brought me.'
Zeng gritted his teeth again. Another dragon had evaded him.
'However, the large blue one was still sitting on the cliff-top, just staring at you. It seemed a little hesitant to attack you, even though you were unconscious.' Ty-Long continued.
Zeng's eyes widened. 'Glayce?! He was there?!' He was so close to the frost dragon, but had once again failed at his task.
'I have heard of this Glayce,' said Ty-Long carefully. 'You would do well to avoid him. He likes to make slaves of prisoners. But I feel you will meet him again later, but you may not be the one to vanquish him.'
Zeng looked at Ty-Long, waiting for more, but the sun-bear grinned slightly and stood up. 'My student is strong, stronger then he knows. I also feel this isn't the last time you and he will meet.' With this parting comment, Ty-Long left the room, leaving Zeng with a lot to think about.
Zeng was ready to leave a day later. He paws were all healed up, thanks to a combination of healing chemicals and Ty-Long's knowledge of natural methods.
Zeng and Shayde were by the cross-roads, ready to part ways. Shayde shook Zeng's paw, thinking. There was still a niggling dislike of tigers in his mind, but not as bad as it was before.
'Well, I guess this is goodbye for now,' said Shayde.
Zeng grinned. 'So it seems. I hope we can meet again someday. Maybe we can have a proper fight.'
Shayde smiled in return. 'You just get ready for a beating, cat.'
'Keep an eye out for that Jade dragon, will you? I want to make sure she's still alive when I return.'
'Good luck with hunting Glayce,' said Shayde. 'I hope you find him and make him pay.'
Zeng, remembering Ty-Long's cryptic words, tilted his head. 'Thanks. But maybe someone will find him before me...'
They shook once more, then Zeng turned and started off down the road. A few steps later, he stopped and turned.
'Hey! Shayde!'
Shayde turned back as well. 'Yes?'
'Have you ever thought about being a bounty-hunter?'
Shayde was thrown by this. 'No. Why?'
'Just a thought. Bounty-hunters travel the world. Maybe if you were a bounty-hunter, we can meet up again later. Just think about it, okay?' With that, Zeng turned again and left.
Shayde watched him go. A bounty-hunter? He rolled the idea around in his head. That's not such a bad idea...