{"sf1_id":565836,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Skyfall Chapter 12","author":"Abyssa","words":4534,"posted_at":"2013-07-21T02:40:00.000Z","tags":["Alien","Anthro","Canine","Human","Hybrid","Laboratory","Magic","Male","Phoenix","Werewolf","Wolf","space"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/565836-skyfall-chapter-12","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/565836","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=565836\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"Kato was supposed to be the strong one, the one I\ncould depend on tonight. I realized now that I couldn't count on Misha for\nanything...I always went to Kato when I needed help. But now, he was the one in\nneed of help. Honestly I wasn't sure if I was going to succeed in this, but\nKato still couldn't use magic, he was barely conscious. \n  Kato, Misha and I stood on\nthe edge of the plateau overlooking the valley. The cold breeze fluttered\nthrough my fur as I looked down into the dark, still valley. Despite being up\nall night, I felt wide awake. This was most likely due to the fact that I was\nafraid Sheila would attack Misha and I tonight while Kato was still drained.\nApparently, it was also my responsibility to ensure Sheila did not return from\nEldon. I sighed.\n  \"I'll be able to contribute\nsome energy. Follow my energy to the location; it will lead us where we need to\ngo.\" Kato said, leaning on me. \"Sorry about this...\"\n  \"It's not your fault,\nKato.\" I said. I closed my eyes and began to focus on calming my mind. \"Are you\ntwo ready?\" \n  Misha nodded and reached\nhis hand out. I reluctantly took his hand and wrapped my arm around Kato to\nsupport him. I felt Kato's energy channel into my body. My mind felt like a map\nwas being etched into it. I furrowed my brows as I felt the lines of energy\ndraw the location in my mind. \n  Once I was able to grasp\nthe location in my mind, I focused on taking in some of Misha's energy. I let\nhis energy swirl up my arm and into my heart, where I had collected Kato's\nenergy. At my core the energy combined and I began to feel my own energy join\ntheirs. The familiar tingle of my energy breaking up into different pieces\nconsumed me.\n  I glanced over at Kato,\nwho's form had completely vanished in a swirl of energy particles. My own form\nbroke apart and began to shift into the realm that Kato was entering. Misha's\nform soon followed us.\n   I couldn't see anything. My vision was\nblinded by swirling energy particles. I felt nonexistent in the sea of light,\nfloating along with the tides. \n  Suddenly a sharp pain\nentered my being. Every particle of me was slammed with the intense pain.  Misha's energy surrounded me and caused me to\nfeel trapped. I felt as if I were being strangled.\n  My energy was hurled back\ninto my physical form as I materialized at my destination. I shook and coughed\nviolently. I clawed at the ground as I struggled against the pain.\n   I felt a hand on my shoulder. \"Decipher!\"\nCaliber's voice boomed in my head, \"Shit. Kato, are you alright?\" \n  \"I'm fine. Get the crystal\nout of Decipher's bag.\" \n  \"I don't see it!\" \n  \"Here it is.\"\n  All the echoing voices\nmade my head spin as I vomited blood.  \n  \"Decipher, here!\" Misha\napproached me. I snarled and jerked away from him, staring up at him with a horrified\nexpression. His energy was repulsive. I would have run from him if I could have\nmoved.\n  \"Get the fuck away from\nhim, Misha!\" I heard Kato yell. Sheila's laugh sounded in the distance. \n  \"You fools should've taken\nhorses. Look what you've done to him!\" She mocked.\n  Kato crouched down next to\nme and placed the energy crystal near me. I shivered in fear and curled up. I\ncouldn't control my body; I was terrified. \n  I felt Kato place the\ncrystal on my back. Soon the energy was travelling into my body, and I became\nstill. \n  \"Give him space.\" I heard\nKato say as he stood up and backed up. \n  After a few awkward,\nsilent moments, I was able to sit up. My chest was covered in blood. I coughed\na few more times in attempt to rid my throat of the sticky substance.\n  Kato reached out his hand,\n\"Come on, we need to get you cleaned up...\" Kato said as he pulled me up, \"You're\ngoing to attract every predator in Skyfall.\" \n  \"The stream's right behind\nthe shrubs there.\" Caliber said, helping Kato support me as I staggered\nforward. \n  Misha stayed close by our\nsides. I could tell he was nervous. Sheila seemed either nervous or excited as\nwell. She must have realized she was outnumbered, even if two of us were\ndisabled at the moment.  \n  Caliber and Kato helped me\nstrip off my clothing and clean the blood off of my fur. I looked up to the\nsky, realizing that the sun had already risen. It must have taken us hours to transport here...\n  My heart ached, literally.\nEvery beat sent a wave of pain through my chest. I held on to my chest as I\nrinsed the blood out of my fur. At least the painful energy had worn off, and I\nwas no longer afraid of Misha. I glanced over at him. He was leaning against a\ntree and watching me with a concerned, pained look. \n  His genuine concern made\nmy heart settle a bit and the pain dulled. I could tell he desperately wanted\nto approach me. His eyes stared at me longingly. Part of me wanted to fulfill\nhis desire and wrap my arms around him. I was trying to hide how much I missed\nhim from myself. He looked so different in this setting, with his village\nclothing and sunlight flickering through the leaves down onto his face. I met\nhis gaze briefly. \n  \"How are you feeling?\"\nCaliber asked. \n   I shook my head to rid my fur of the\nexcess water and stepped away from the stream. \"I feel much better.\" I said as\nI slipped my shirt back over my head.\n  \"Come on.\" Kato said, \"You\ncan ride on one of the horses for the next hour or so. You shouldn't be walking\nin this condition.\"\n  I had completely forgotten\nabout the horses. I hadn't even seen them yet. Kato led me out to an open area\nwhere three large horses were grazing. Two of them were a deep brown with black\nsocks and white speckles on their backs, and one was painted with black and\nwhite splotches. The painted horse seemed to have a more delicate build. Her\nlegs were lean and she looked as if she could run quite fast. They were\nbeautiful creatures, but they still seemed dull when I thought of Asodar's\nstar-speckled pelt and massive size. These horses were half the size of Asodar,\nif that. \n  Caliber approached the\npainted horse with a lightweight saddle, placing it on the beast's back and\nstrapping it on. I watched Sheila put our bags and supplies on the other two\nhorses.\n  \"Climb on up.\" Caliber\nsaid, gesturing to the horse, \"She's a good girl, don't worry.\" \n  I nervously climbed onto\nthe horse's back. Caliber fitted the horses head with a pair of reins and\nhanded them to me. \"She knows where she's going, and she's a good girl. But if\nshe takes off, just pull back to stop.\" He said with a wink. \"Come on.\"\n  We began our trek into the\npass. I could see the two massive mountains towering above us on either side. I\nshuddered with the eerie feeling the mountains carried. I perked up with the\nthought of Asodar.\n  Skyfall holds every answer you have ever sought.  I wanted to jump off\nthe horse and explore, but my body refused to let me. I sighed. Perhaps on the\nway home I would be able to explore a bit. \n   My horse led the other two and followed\nbehind Kato and Sheila. Caliber and Misha walked farther back with the other\nhorses.\n  \"Alright everyone.\" I heard\nKato call out, \"I don't want any shit. If you wander into some death trap made\nby a giant spider, that's your own damn fault and I'm not climbing down to get\nyou. Be smart. Don't stray, or you will die.\"\n  Kato stared right at me\nwhen he finished his statement. I swallowed hard.\n  Caliber laughed, \"Giant\nspiders? That's the least threatening thing I can think of.\" He said as he\npulled out a longbow from one of the large packs the horses carried. He slung\nit over his back and grabbed a quiver loaded with arrows next.\n  \"Yeah.\" Sheila said,\nspinning her dagger in her hands, \"We should be worried about slithurms. Nasty\nbastards are coming out of hibernation around this time.\" \n  I suddenly wished I had\ncompleted my weapon. The blade on its own was rather useless to me. I sighed\nand sat back in the saddle. \n  \"And drakes! Fucking drakes\nare everywhere.\" Caliber shuddered, \"Will we hit the Edge before nightfall?\"\n  \"We better.\" Misha mumbled.\n  \"I'm not travelling past the\nEdge after dark.\" Kato said.\n  I watched as the shadows of\nthe mountains covered us. We were walking through the pass now.\n  \"Hey, at least we have a\nwolf with us!\" Caliber said, slapping my thigh. \"That should make us safe from\nthose, right?\"\n  \"I can speak wolf.\" I said.\n  Misha turned to me,\n\"Really?\"\n  I nodded. He didn't say\nanything else.\n  \"Good, so that means you\ncan tell all the werewolves, wolves and whatever other canines we encounter,\n'fuck off assholes, these are my bitches!' then?\" Caliber said, elbowing my leg\nas he walked beside me.\n   I smirked. Caliber was such an interesting\nguy to have around. His obnoxious humor was a nice touch today...I needed some\nobnoxious humor.\n  \"Sure, you can be my\nbitch.\" I said with a toothy grin.\n  \"Whoa!\" He laughed. \"Down,\nboy!\"\n  Misha glanced over at us.\nWas he glaring? He couldn't possibly be jealous of my joke. I was tempted to\nroll my eyes, but instead my eyes remained fixed on his. After a few moments,\nhe finally looked away. \n  We continued into the pass.\nAs we explored deeper into the pass, things became more still and eerie, and\nthe group was silenced as well. We walked in silence for what felt like hours. \n  I began to see shadows\nmoving out of the corner of my eyes. I had assumed it was my imagination, until\nI saw Caliber shoot an arrow at one of them. The shadow burst into a puff of\nblack smoke and swirled away with a whizzing noise. \n  \"Hey!\" I heard Kato shout,\n\"Don't mess with the shades.\" \n  \"But they're so annoying!\"\nCaliber complained as he retrieved his arrow. \n  \"Just wait until mommy\nshadow comes out.\" Sheila hissed, smacking the back of Caliber's head.\n  \"Seriously, Caliber.\" Kato\nsaid sternly, \"No shit. Stay alert for real threats.\" \n  \"Fine.\" Caliber grumbled,\nslinging the bow across his back. \n  The silence returned to the\ngroup shortly after, and the darkness of the shadows made me uncomfortable. We\nwalked through certain areas that were extremely tight, barely enough room for\nthe horses to walk through the cracks in the massive rocks that had fallen ages\nago. The horses were all very calm and seemed to know exactly what they were\ndoing, which made me feel better.\n  As we continued on I began\nto feel more exhausted. My body felt completely drained of energy, and I had a\ndifficult time sitting up. I leaned forward and rested on the horse's neck. The\ngentle rocking of the ride eased my mind and made me drowsy. \n   I began to drift into what must have\nbeen a dream. The white mist flowed through my mind and carried me to a strange\nplace. Everything was so blurry...\n  I saw a brown jay\nfluttering in the white sky, dodging silky petals that floated down from the\ntrees above. I was lying in a sea of white petals, they felt airy and soft. The\nwhite faded and the muted blue sky shined through the haze.   Clink.\n  My ears perked forward as\nI heard the chime. It echoed in my ears just once. One sharp, distant,\n   Clink.\n  There it was again! I sat\nup slowly, searching for the noise.\n   My\neyes scanned the field. All I could see was an endless sea of white petals and\nfields of silken grass.\n  I stood up and walked\nthrough the petals, waving my hands to try and move them out of the way. I\ncouldn't see anything. The clinking noise continued. \n  I stepped onto a hard\nsurface, hearing my claws tink against\nit. I looked down and saw a blue crystal stepping stone. As soon as I saw it,\nthe entire landscape changed. The colors instantly became inverted. Everything\nwas black now with shimmering blue highlights. I heard what sounded like a\ndistorted lightning crack. The sound was fuzzy with static. The shrill, distorted\ncracking happened a few more times. I covered my ears and fell to the ground. \n  I sank trough the black\npetals and hit a hard, crystal surface. I looked up to see a hole in the\nceiling of petals. \n  The floor you walk on is slick; there is no true ground for you to\nstand on.   I shuddered as the voice crawled through my\nhead.\n  It begins with blood; walk past\nthe wasteland of your life. The voice surrounded me, shaking my entire\nbeing. There were trees, yes, but they grew\nin the soil of lies.\n  A massive wolf stood in\nfront of me. Her shadow danced around me, carrying a life of its own. Her face\nwas barely illuminated by the glow of her deep, violet eyes. \n  You have taken my form. Do you deserve to wear it?\n  I shook as her eyes probed\nme. I knew I couldn't hide anything from her. This was the Goddess...  \n  \"I don't know what to do.\"\nI whispered, falling to my knees.\n  The wolf's face twisted\ninto a snarl, revealing shimmering, crystalline teeth.\n   Very\nwell. Continue your path of destruction, your destined path.  \n   The crystal surface I stood on\nshattered. The world around me broke into pieces and released a horrible sound.\nI screamed in pain and clutched my ears.\n \nWith a gasp, I jumped awake. I panted heavily, clutching onto the\npainted horse's back. She whinnied and jumped at my sudden grab.\n  \"Thank god you're awake,\nDecipher!\" Caliber said. \"We're almost to Eldon.\" \n  \"Al...Already?\" I asked,\nshaking as I slowly sat up. \n  \"You've been passed out\nfor a long time.\" Caliber said. \"We stopped and slept a night in an inn and\neverything!\"\n  \"You're joking.\" I said as\nI rubbed my eyes.\n  \"He's not.\" Kato called\nback. \"We couldn't get you to wake up. Misha said you had gone into a coma due\nto loss of energy. I'm glad you're awake! By the way, are you alright?\"\n  \"Uh...Yeah, I'm okay now. I\nthink.\" I said.  I couldn't believe how\nmuch time had passed. I glanced around with a twitch of panic. Where was Misha?\n\n  I saw him walking behind\none of the larger horses and sighed with relief.\n  \"Did you speak with Asodar\nagain?\" Caliber whispered. \"I can tell you had some sort of experience...\" \n  I shook my head, \"No\nactually...I-\n  \"Shh..\" Caliber cut me off\nand jerked his head towards Sheila, who was walking ahead of Kato. \"We'll talk\nlater.\"\n  Caliber didn't want to\nhave a religious discussion around Sheila, it seemed. I nodded. \n   Misha\napproached us, \"Decipher! I'm so glad you woke up.\" He said. He reached his\nhand out to touch me, but awkwardly pulled away and scratched his head, \"I was\nworried you would miss our arrival into town!\" \n   I glanced backwards. The mountains were\nfar in the distance. The path in front of us was a wide, dirt road that snaked\nthrough a large meadow of tall grass. I could see a few small buildings in the\ndistance. \n   We approached the buildings quickly. They were\nsimply built and rather small when compared to the lab. The cottages were\nsprinkled throughout the edge of the meadow. Eager to stretch my legs, I hopped\noff the horse I was on and began to trot down the path. It felt great to walk\non the soft, warm dirt again. \n  \"Let's take the horses to\nthe stables and then head to the inn.\" Kato said. \n  We walked down the road,\nwhich turned into a brick path once we reached the outskirts of town. \n  It was early afternoon\nwhen we entered town. We brought the horses to a stable at the edge of town and\nremoved our packs from them. Caliber spent time petting the painted horse's\nnose and saying goodbye to her before we carried our packs out. \n   \"We'll be staying at the tavern across the\nway.\" Kato said, pointing towards the lively building across from us. \n  We stepped inside the\ntavern. I looked around at all the people; the place was alive with music and\nfriendly conversation. A few people looked at me with a puzzled expression, but\nthen continued to mind their own business. My mind flooded with memories that\nwere not my own.\n  A man in the corner of the\nroom was playing a lute, strumming wildly and filling the log building with a\nresonating, lively tune. I smiled. The\nbusiness here was always good. The tavern sat on the outskirts of town, where\npeople came to relax from the busy work and lifestyle of the town. This was one\nof the few places you could go and have a friendly conversation with just about\nanyone. The thought echoed in my mind as if it were my own. \n  \"There's five of us.\" I\nheard Kato say to a man behind the counter. \"We've paid already. We'll be here\na few nights.\"\n  The man behind the counter\ntossed Kato a bottle of ale. \"Good to see you again.\" He said, glancing at me,\n\"Who's the fuzzy one?\"\n  Kato beckoned me forward.\nI nervously approached the counter.\n  \"This is Decipher. He's\nsome sort of werewolf hybrid with amnesia.\" Kato said. \"We think he's\noriginally from here, though. Decipher, meet Nikolai.\"\n  The bartender nodded,\nreaching out a large, strong hand. I reached out mine to shake it, but he\ngrabbed my hand and shook me so much I jerked forward. \n  \"Call me Nik.\" He said\nwith a grin. His face was square with blocky features, and would have been\nintimidating if he didn't have such a genuine smile. \"Pleasure to meet you!\"\n  \"Yes.\" I said as I gained\nmy balance again, \"You as well.\" \n  Misha and Caliber had sat\ndown at a table, and I didn't see Sheila anywhere. I joined them while Kato\ncontinued chatting with the Nikolai.\n  \"So, do you remember\nanything yet?\" Caliber asked, leaning forward expectantly.\n  \"I...yeah actually.\" I\nsaid. \"I remember there's a fountain at the center of town...\"\n  For some reason, the\nimage stuck out in my mind. It was a beautiful with a sculpture of a sea\nserpent coiled around a shimmering crystal. The crystal that sat at the center acted\nas a battery for all the energy used to power the town. The image of the\nsparkling stone burned in my mind, it must have somehow been an important\nlocation to the werewolf who's DNA I had taken. \n  \"We should take you\nthere! Official business doesn't start for me until tomorrow.\" Caliber nudged\nMisha, \"How about you? What are you even doing here?\"\n  Misha shook his head,\n\"No, I have business to attend to. Doctor Hale wants me to retrieve some more\ningredients for various things. Some are found in the forest, and others I need\nto visit the local medicine woman for.\"\n  I remembered my\nassignment and cringed, \"Oh. I have to stay with Misha.\" I said.\n  Misha and Caliber turned\nto me at the same time with similar expressions. Caliber was confused and had a\nraised eyebrow, while Misha looked confused but hopeful.\n   \"Am I allowed to talk about my assignment?\" I\nasked, scratching my head nervously.\n  Kato approached our table\nand sat down a tray of drinks. \"That's right.\" Kato said, \"You were telling me\nabout that right after I got drugged. Did we ever talk about that?\"\n  \"No.\" I said as I took\none of the large mugs and lapped at the golden liquid. The fermented taste of\nthe ale stung my throat, but a sweet aftertaste came with it. It was delicious.\n\"How are you feeling, anyway?\"\n  \"Very well rested.\" Kato\nsaid, taking a swig of his own drink. \"And, being your trainer, I  was informed of your assignment. Since it's\nyour first official assignment, I'm supposed to stay out of it.\"\n  I felt a bit nervous. I\nhad assumed I would be on my own against Sheila, but knowing that Kato wasn't\ntechnically allowed to help me made me uneasy.\n  \"Where is Sheila?\" I\nasked.\n  \"She bitched about her\nassignment before running off into the woods.\" Caliber said as he chugged half\nof his ale, \"Gods, I am exhausted.\"\n  Misha nodded, \"I think\nI'll go up and sleep for a few hours before I head to the gardens.\" He said,\n\"It's best to search for the herbs at night, anyway.\"\n  Caliber sighed, \"Yeah, I\nsuppose I better rest up as well.\" He turned to me as he finished off his\ndrink, \"I'm sure you'll get to see the fountain, anyway.\" \n   Kato tossed two rusty keys on the table and\nsat up in his chair, \"We only have two rooms this time.\" He said, \"I figured\nDecipher, Misha and I in one room, with Caliber and Sheila in the other.\"  \n  Misha took one of the\nkeys and nodded at us, \"See you upstairs.\" He said.  \n  \"Don't make me room with\nher!\" Caliber whined, \"I already had an eight hour horse ride alone with her.\"\n  \"Don't complain,\nCaliber.\" Kato said sternly, which made Caliber sink down in his chair. \"Sheila\nwon't last us the whole trip, anyway. You're the only one she probably doesn't\nwant to kill. We want to avoid as much drama as possible until it gets done.\" \n  Caliber gave Kato a\nsurprised look and then stared at me, \"Oh. I get it.\" He mumbled, snatching\nMisha's unfinished drink, \"Well in that case, I am going to drink until I pass\nout.\" He said, chugging the drink. Once he finished he turned to me, \"Do you\nreally think you can take her out?\" He whispered.\n   I nodded, \"I think I can.\" I said with a\nshrug, \"We'll find out soon enough, anyway.\" \n  \"Well,\" Caliber\nstretched with a yawn, \"I'm going to sleep now.\" \n  Caliber took the other\nkey and headed up the narrow wooden staircase that led to the rooms. Once he\nwas out of sight, I turned to Kato.\n  \"You're a phoenix.\" I\nsaid. I had been dying to bring this up to him since I had found out, but there\nwasn't a good opportunity.\n  Kato shivered at the\nwords, \"So Misha told you my story?\"\n  \"Well, you kind of\nexploded in a heat wave back in the lab.\" I said, \"I demanded answers from\nMisha, yeah.\" \n   Kato tossed his mug down on the table and\nrubbed his forehead. \"Why are you bringing it up? Is there something else you\nwant to know?\"\n  \"I suppose I'm just\ncurious...how did you become a combat trainer for Hale?\"\n  Kato sighed, \"I enjoyed\ncombat. I was good at it, and after Hale had let me out of my cage, I decided\nto pursue it. It was a good way to vent my anger.\"\n  \"What did they do to\nyou?\" I asked quietly.\n  \"I'd rather not talk\nabout that.\" Kato said as he rubbed his wrist.\n   \"What does the mark mean?\" My questions\ncontinued to pour out.\n  \"It's the mark they\nbranded me with. I use magic to keep it hidden when I can.\" Kato sighed as he\nanswered my onslaught of questions, \"It means 'fallen phoenix', a reminder of\nwhat I am, and a warning to everyone else.\"\n  \"Why have you stayed\nwith them...why don't you escape?\" I asked. I felt so sorry for the phoenix.\n  Kato met my eyes. His\ngolden eyes were blazing much like I had seen before, and he hissed, \"Why don't\nyou?\" \n  I sat speechless. I did\nnot have an answer for that question. Honestly, it was because I was too much\nof a coward to experience the rest of the world. My chest tightened as I spoke\nmy next words.\n  \"Kato...\" I began, my\nbreathing uneven, \"I am...not from here.\" I whispered.\n  Kato raised an eyebrow,\n\"We know that.\" He said, folding his arms, \"Are you keeping secrets about your\nhome?\" He was irritated and wanted answers from me. Kato deserved answers. \n  \"I don't really have\namnesia.\" I admitted, \"I am not from this planet! I travelled from the stars,\nfrom a horrible place. I ran from my home after something terrible happened...I\nnever expected to live. My craft crashed into the Skyfall mountains where I\nencountered a werewolf...\" My confession spilled out, \"I am able to mimic DNA\nstructures in other living things...so that's what I did, but the werewolf was\nonly halfway through it's morph. That's why I turned into this!\"\n  Kato stared at me with\nan astonished expression. He looked around to see if anyone had been listening.\nLuckily, the musician seemed to cover up all conversation unless you were right\nnext to the person. My heart was pounding as I waited for Kato to respond.\n  \"You can never tell\nMisha the truth.\" He finally said. His dark tone sent a shiver up my spine.\n  \"Why?\" \n  \"Misha studies genetics,\nDecipher!\" Kato nearly yelled, \"If you tell him, he will tell Doctor Hale, who\nwill almost certainly order Misha to do terrible things to you. They already\nwanted to test some new drugs on you that had the potential to destroy your\ninternal tissues!\"\n  I thought back to Kato's\nconversation with Misha in the showers that had happened many weeks ago...could\nthis have been want they were talking about?\n  \"Do not tell Misha.\"\nKato said. \"We'll talk more later. Come on, I need to get some rest.\"\n  I followed Kato up the\ncreaking staircase. \"Hey, Kato.\" \n  He turned to me with no\nanswer.\n  \"Maybe I can help you...be\na phoenix again.\" I said. \"I can help you transform again.\"\n  He gave me a sad, small\nsmile \"Maybe, Decipher.\" He said. \"You are too good to me, friend.\"","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/565765-skyfall-chapter-11.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/566095-skyfall-chapter-13.json"}