Tail of a Warrior: Chapters 1 and 2
Tail of a Warrior: Prologue
In a world of war and destruction, of skin, scale, feathers, and fur, we find two young heroes fighting against the odds in a crumbling world. Do these two have what it takes to fight against the forces of evil and win this war for the good guy's side? Or will they fall victim to the many plagues of this world? Stay tuned, and find out.
Tail of a Warrior; Chapter One: Rainfall
"It was never supposed to be like this. When the Kitsune brought their magic here and created anthros, there was never supposed to be a war. But now here we are, anthros fighting other anthros. . . The world is falling apart, and if something doesn't change soon, it will meet that end."
A lone wolf in a black hoodie and sweatpants with the hood up sat crouched on top of a very thin ledge on the side of a building, looking out at a futuristic city below that had tube shaped walkways, moving sidewalks, flying cars, and seemingly no bottom as there was very tall buildings in the city. There was a storm above the city, and it showed no signs of letting up. Lightning flashes, revealing the wolf's black and gray fur; he has black on most of his body, but his tummy was gray and that gray lead all the way up to the end of his chin. He had aqua marine eyes and red hair on top of his black fur, and also had no shoes on.
He sighs and takes a deep breath; extending his claws as he holds his arms shakily out to his sides, always hesitant of performing a jump off a building. He gulps and closes his eyes as he shifts his balance, allowing himself to fall forward, like a shadow falling with the rain in the dark. It was midnight, and the city was just barely lit up, only signs in Japanese were lit up, and then there was the moon high above in the sky, behind the clouds.
As he fell, he could feel his heart pounding with fear as he somehow begins to slow down in his falling, nearing the smaller buildings near the surface of the city. The rain immediately around him also appeared to float as it, too, was slowing down. He cringes and opens his eyes as he grabs onto a metal pipe with his paws, letting off a low growl as he uses the pipe to swing forward and the rain begins falling at a normal rate again while he flies into an open ventilation shaft.
Completely unknown to him, there was another set of eyes, watching, waiting for the right moment to strike. This was a solid black fox with purple eyes, having a katana tied to her back and she was in a ninja outfit. She stalks silently behind the anthro wolf, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, sporting a mean looking smirk beneath her mask.
Suddenly, the wolf stops, sitting atop a roof staring down at an alley way in which he could actually see the ground since he was only one story off the ground. But, he had no time to take in what he saw before he was suddenly struck from behind as the fox had slammed straight into him with her feet-paws, causing both of them to fly forward into the alley. The wolf lets out a yelp in pain as he lands on the concrete on his tummy and a small whimper escapes his throat as he feels the cold metal of a blade touching the back of his neck.
The fox was standing with her right paw pressed against his back and the left on the ground while she held the tip of the katana to the wolf's neck, still smirking evilly. "You should have stayed home, pup, you're on my territory now." Came a very mean sounding female's voice as she slowly increases the pressure on the sword pressing against the wolf's neck, causing him to whimper in pain as his neck begins to bleed. Though it was like she only wanted to hurt him as she had missed his spinal cord on purpose and only let the blade enter him a millimeter's distance.
The wolf shakily flexes his right paw, causing the rain around them to stop falling and lay suspended in mid air. He then lets out a slow, soft sigh as all the rain drops freeze over into spears of ice and aim at the fox. But, before the ice moved, a torrent of water from the rain that's still falling gets blasted at the fox, knocking her off the wolf and separating her from her sword. The wolf stands up and gets in a fighting position, despite his vision being blurry and he was dizzy, the back of his neck was stained red by his blood as it continued to leak from the wound.
The fox just stares at him, shocked by what she sees from his face, "R-Ryder?" She says shakily, before the wolf just falls forward, unconscious. She had hit a pressure point in his neck, but didn't go deep enough to knock him out instantly.
The fox quickly runs over to him and catches him before he hits the ground. "Ryder, what on earth could you be doing here. . ." She says as she looks up to see many robots and machines surrounding them. The robots looked almost humanoid, but had reptile-like tails, but were made of solid metal and they had red eyes. The color of their metal was silverish-blue. The fox growls as she looks up at them and she stands up with Ryder now in her arms. Every rain drop that landed on her body was disintegrating into steam as it touches her. She then growls, "Be gone, fowl machines!" She whips up her free, left arm and a torrent of fire shoots out of the ground in a circle around her as both she and Ryder vanish into black smoke.
Ryder first begins to open his eyes as his ears stop ringing from the blow and he could now here the pitter patter of rain against the metal frame of a small shack that he now found himself in. He looks up and through the blurriness of his vision over to the fox, who had removed the headpiece of her ninja uniform to reveal flowing purple hair and her solid black fur. Ryder groans and sits up, getting into a fighting position again but whimpers and clutches his stomach the moment he moves.
The fox hears this as her ears twitch some, "It's probably best that you don't move too much, I was unable to defend you from everything. Some of the machines were able to injure you further than I did while we were escaping. And I'm sorry about that."
"Where am I? And who are you?" The wolf asks, looking at her as his vision slowly clears up.
"We are on the outskirts of the city, near the jungle. And my name is Phoenix, a Freedom Fighter."
His eyes widen as he hears that. "Ph-Phoenix?!"
"Yes, it's me, Ryder. . . The Kitsune are not pleased with what has happened to your world, and so they left, but I got left behind. Now I'm trapped here, in the middle of this war. And I'm sorry for attacking you. . . I thought you were one of THEM."
Ryder nods and looks at her, "To tell the truth, I really don't know what side I'm on. I was threatened by some people saying they would kill me if I didn't track down one of the Kitsune. They would even pay me if I managed to capture a nine-tailed one. . . like you."
Phoenix is a nine tailed kitsune, yes, but she has the ability to mask this by merging her tails. Currently, she has only one tail. "Ryder, I know you're not evil, and I promise to protect you from those guys as long as you're willing to help me."
"What do you need help with?" Ryder asks, looking up at her.
"I'm going to attack the main building, where they keep all their tests and formulas; I want to capture their secrets. But first, we need a crew, more anthros who are willing to risk everything for freedom."
"I already know of two who would be willing to help, possibly even a third. Ryuu and Katallo are definitely willing to help. Ryuu is a nine-tail, like you are. And Katallo is a water elemental, like me. Two water elementals would be perfect in an attack during a storm. Heck, we could even start a storm for cover. And Ryuu is a fire elemental, as well as a spellcaster. Now the third. . .I'm not sure if he'll wanna join us or not. Prince Komodo Tenkai, a Kitorian."
"Isn't Kitor a dead planet, though?"
"Yes, it is, but the ones who survived the death of Kitor now live on a machine world named Ventrii, with another species similar to them in some ways. He would be very useful to us since he can both cloak himself, and manipulate machinery and metal."
"He's a technopath?" Phoenix asks in shock, knowing technopaths are a rarity.
Ryder nods, "Ventrii is a planet of technopaths, that's how the planet came to be. It is made out of an indestructible metal/diamond alloy. And all we gotta do now is find those three. I heard they all live in Zero City."
Zero City was the location of the First Sighting, or the Rise of the Anthros. It was where the portal between the Kitsune Kingdoms and our world formed, and two kitsunes stepped through it. Those two kitsunes were Ryuu and Phoenix. Many humans watched in both awe and horror as they caused a cloud to engulf the city. And one by one, ever human in the city were changed into forms that represent their souls. They were turned into two legged animals. The virus that did this to them was named the Zero Virus and was given to the humans of the city by that cloud. It was then after reported that the same cloud had infected several cities all over the world, putting a stop to the nuclear war that was sure to come while the people banded together to try and save however many people they could from this disease. That was before the two kitsunes explained to the people that they meant no harm, they only sought to end the coming war before it started, a war that would have surely destroyed the entire world. This calmed the people's rages and fear of the kitsunes, but also brought out those hungry for power as they began to attempt capturing the kitsune. After several kitsune had died in battle, the rest of them fled from earth, leaving only two behind in their wake; the original two, Ryuu and Phoenix.
"So, now after all these years of hiding, I have to return to the original location of the virus spread?" Phoenix asks with a sigh as the two walk through a forest on the outskirts of Zero City, still under the cover of the rain.
Ryder nods and frowns, "I thought you would have at least been happy to be back with your partner, Ryuu..."
"Yea, but I never thought he would be back where it all began. And honestly, I knew the humans couldn't be trusted with our knowledge, or their new forms. We shoulda left earth to fend for itself."
"Yea, but if you had done that, then you wouldn't be friends with this 'puppy', now would you?" He asks with a smile, referring to himself as the 'puppy'.
"You know, I'll never get over how cute you were when I met you and was your caretaker for 14 years. You were a poor orphan back then, do you remember? The day I picked you up, you looked so sad, but the moment I gave you a hug, you warmed up and I could tell there was an instant connection. And yes, I agree knowing you is better than running from the humans, and I actually kinda miss being your mommy." She says with a smirk, making Ryder blush.
"I kinda miss it, too. But, we can't go back to that, not even with Ryuu's special power; the world is more important than the happiness of a lonely puppy." He says, lowering his ears as they near the city and an apartment complex.
"Maybe when we stop this war you can come back to live with mommy....would you like that?"
He nods and smiles as his tail wags a little, but his expression turns to that of horror as the complex in front of them bursts into flames. The flames seemed like they were fueled by magic, not oxygen, as the rain did not put them out. But, just as quickly as the flames formed, a figure jumps out of a second story window. It was a red fox with nine tails and wearing a skin tight armor plaiting that looks like shorts and a T-Shirt, but were white and thick. The fox had white tips on his ears, paws, and tail, and he has white fur down from his chin to the bottom of his tummy.
"Ryuu!" Phoenix exclaims as she runs over to him, stopping his fall with a burst of wind. "What happened?!"
"An hour before you showed up........they came. They took Katallo!"
Tail of a Warrior; Chapter Two: Zero City
During the events of the two anthros in the massive city, something terrible is happening in Zero City. The storm still rages above in the sky as a solid black wolf with pink hair and aqua marine eyes walks through the streets, unaware that he was being followed by those evil machines. All he heard was a 'pop' before he felt a sharp pain in his arm. He turns to look behind him as his vision blurs and he lets out a whimper, toppling forward just as he notices a dart stuck in his arm. The dart looked like it has an experiment number on it, as though it were new and he was the test subject.........this can't be good.
He whines in pain as his ears begin ringing and he feels every muscle in his body contract and tighten, but at the same time he felt like he was losing muscle. And the black trench coat and grey shorts he was wearing felt as though they were becoming baggier, but how could that be possible?
He struggles through all the pain coursing through his body to reach his left arm forward and grasped the dart before tugging it out of his arm, beginning to get very dizzy, but not before he noticed that his paws had grown a decent amount pudgier. But if his clothes were getting baggy and he was losing muscle, why would he be growing pudge? He couldn't put any sense to what was happening around him before he saw the same robots from before walk up and pick him up. All went black to him as they carried him off through the streets, another pair of robots grabbing his forgotten clothing.
The next thing the poor wolf knew, he was waking up in a bright room, staring at the ceiling. He could feel an IV in his arm, and could clearly tell he was restrained, and too weak to move even if he wanted to. He mumbles something before a pacifier with the same number as before on it is inserted into his mouth and the shadowy figure that did it just tells him "Don't suckle". But, no matter what he tried, he couldn't stop himself from beginning to suckle on the pacifier, confused as to why he was unable to stop when he was told not to suckle at all in the first place.
But soon, those thoughts were gone as the poor wolf's body goes numb and he relaxes, despite being in such a scary environment. He was becoming sleepy, and could barely recall anything that had just happened to him. This lack of memory was slowly increasing with each suckle. Until, finally, he falls asleep, barely able to remember anything that had happened to him that entire month.
When he wakes up again, he feels much stronger and could barely remember anything. He also was no longer in the bright room anymore, now he was in a dimly lit room surrounded by wooden bars that, for some reason, didn't appear to be extending all the way up to what appeared to be a very tall ceiling.
He slowly sits up, but freezes in movement as he looks down, having heard a rustling noise. He is shocked when he sees that his legs are being forced apart by a white, bulky piece of clothing that had tapes on the sides of the front holding it all together. It was a diaper, and he was sitting on a mattress surrounded by bars.
First thing to run through his mind was how did they find a crib big enough to fit him, let alone build a room tall enough to make him feel like a cub? Unless........no.....it can't be. He can't be a cub again! Can he?
Realization came by fast as he gently rubs the fur on his tummy, feeling that it was softer and his tummy had a bit of baby fat on it now, serving to make him blush. He stands up in the crib and looks around, he felt a lot better than he did back in the insanely bright room, and was able to stand again, but what he saw when he got a better view of the room shocked him. He was in a nursery, and there was a camera attached to the wall, obviously watching him. So, first things first, he does what he had been trained to do and focuses on the camera, placing his paws in front of him and slowly balling them into fists, watching as the red light on the camera dims. Then, he quickly expands his paws back into flat palms and the camera explodes with battery acid and other chemicals found in batteries.
The next step is escaping from the crib......which he apparently did not think about at first. He slowly stands up on the ends of his paws and grabs onto the top of the rail, grunting as he slowly lifts himself up and gets into a sitting position atop the bar. He then stares down at the floor and gulps. He didn't think it would be too far of a drop, but he was wrong. He looks back at the mattress in the crib, something inside his brain telling him to get off the rail and back onto the mattress, but he tries his best to ignore it.
However, his decision was made for him and he falls off the rail and onto the floor with a loud THUD. He stands up, wobbling a little from hitting the floor, and slowly toddles his way over to the door, finding it was a lot harder to walk in a diaper. He finally makes it to the door and growls to himself as his thighs burned some from how he was walking with the diaper. He was trying to force his legs together rather than walking normally with the added bulk. He reaches for the handle and grabs it, but before he can open it, the handle turns and the door swings open, knocking him onto his back and making him yelp.
Instantly, he begins crying loudly from the collision, not even having a second though about it. Whatever they had done to him was working, and he was helpless now. He cannot escape on his own, and soon he won't even know why he wants to escape as his mind was dulling to match his body. Though one thing was for sure, even though these tears were mainly generated by his increased emotions, he was terrified that these people were going to kill him. These tears were real.
His cries turn to sniffles as he feels something pick him up. It was soft, red fur now surrounding him. When he looks up, he sees red eyes and a smiling face. "Wyuu!" He exclaims, quickly covering his mouth after doing so, realizing his voice had changed dramatically. He instantly hugs the red kitsune, who smiles and pets his back, making his paw glow some. Normally, this power of Ryuu's would turn regressed anthros/humans back to normal, but something was wrong. The more Ryuu tried to turn Katallo back, the further Katallo's mind dulls.
Realizing this, Ryuu takes his paw away and frowns, seeing Katallo's look go blank; most of the knowledge in him now gone. "I'm so sorry Kat, but I can't help you..." He says as he holds the wolf close, he just looks at him strangely. Katallo no longer recognized him, and Ryuu felt like this was all his fault. That he should have been there to save him from the drones. A few seconds pass of them standing there and cuddling as a loud explosion goes off nearby, making Katallo jump some before an alarm starts to sound throughout the entire complex.
Ryuu waves a paw over Katallo and he disappears, now tucked away safely inside Ryuu's personal pocket dimension that lies within the confines of his stomach. It is secure from anything and everything, but is only fueled by Ryuu's life force. If Ryuu dies, the dimension swallows itself, killing anything within its confines.
Just as he looks up to see where the source of the alarm was, he sees Phoenix, now sporting nine tails, running through the halls alongside Ryder. Ryder was channeling the water through the pipes inside the walls and flooding the halls behind him as they ran, cutting off any hopes of an ambush from the enemy, perfect for an escape. "Come on, we destroyed the barrier to the core, the whole place is gonna blow. We hafta get outa here!" Ryder exclaims to Ryuu as they rush by, a hint of worry in his tone.
Ryuu darts off after them, moving a lot faster than the water. "How much time do you think we have?" He asks, looking to Phoenix.
"About 30 more seconds. There's a window up ahead that we can jump through."
The sound of pipes breaking continued to ring out behind the while the hallway floods as they continue to run towards an observation tower in the complex. The three of them make it into the tower and dive through a window, vanishing in flames just before the entire building is swallowed up by a giant, white ball of energy. When the light fades, the entire building is gone, leaving no traces but a large crater in its wake.
The three heroes reappear back near Katallo's apartments, exhausted. "What the fuck were they doing in that building?" Ryder asks, panting some from all the running.
"I have no clue.....but whatever they did to Katallo cannot be reversed." Ryuu answers. "He was regressed back into a puppy, and his mind has been erased. We need to leave him with somebody we trust before continuing this war. We have no choice." He summons Katallo from the pocket dimension and wraps his arms around the small pup, who had long since fallen asleep. Phoenix looks down at him and sighs. "I can care for him, but for safety reasons, I will take him to the Shining Garden. He will not be submitted to any more pain so long as I am breathing."
Phoenix takes the pup from Ryuu and vanishes in a bright light, leaving no trace that she was ever there. The Shining Garden is a spiritual haven, protected by the Kitsune Council. No mortal can enter the haven unless granted access by a kitsune, such as Phoenix. It was the perfect place for Katallo, while she tries to figure out the effects of what had happened to him.