Mask
#1 of One Shots
A/N: So,I've had some writer's block and this was something I did to just get something written. Don't know if I will ever come back to it, which is why I made a one shots folder, but maybe i will eventually make a sequel. Assuming of course that there is interest in such a thing. If not, then this will just stand on it's own. Oh, there is a good amount of swearing in this one, if that offends you please leave now.
Please Vote, Fave, Comment, constructive criticism is always welcome!
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"Vel, I can take care of this myself" I growled. Why hasn't the damn Husky learned this by now? I've only taken care of all of my injuries without help.
"Mask, ya got yaself a nasty wound runnin 'cross your back an I don't think ya can reach da whole ting. Jus' let ole Vel help ya out dis one time." He said in a soft, and what he thought to be, reassuring voice.
Mask, how long have I been called that? Is there anyone alive who even remembers my real name? I sure as hell don't, but I guess my parents would, though I'm not going to go anywhere near them anytime soon. Do NOT need to deal with that crap again. My life has been just fine since I left.
Since I left, haven't thought about that in a-
"OW! Fuck! Who?" I shouted as all of a sudden I found myself face down in the dirt with a rather large weight sitting on my back. My injured back. My back with a damn fine sword wound stretching from one side to the other in that one spot where you can't quite reach.
"Who do you think it is, pussy cat?" answered a gruff voice from on top of me.
"Darren! Get your fat bear ass off of me! I swear I'm gonna-"
"Hey, I'll have you know my ass is not bare. I'm still in my armor so you don't have to worry about getting bear cudies. I know you pussy cats worry about stuff like that, so I thought I'd look out for ya."
I sighed and watched Vel gather up his medical tools with dread. They can't find out about me. What would they do if they learned the truth? Toss me out? Disown me? If that happened, where could I go? Word would spread pretty fast that I got disowned by the best mercenary group this half of the kingdom has to offer. That kind of reputation would ruin any hope of future employment...not to mention everyone would KNOW. Hell, I'd probably become the fascination of some damn mage and be hunted down for him to study. Stuck up bastard.
"Mask," began a deep powerful voice from behind me. "If you weren't being so difficult Darren wouldn't have to sit on you. Even if you are only a temporary member, we are a team and team mates look out for each other. I thought this past month of hunting down the Defiance band of outlaws had taught you that?"
"I thought I had told you that I value my privacy, the one thing that is truly mine in this world, Will. I told you I can handle any injury that comes my way by myself."
Will, the leader of the group and a Lion of few personal words. At least, in public. Stuck up prick could talk your ear off if he thought no one else was listening.
I was right though, I can handle any injury life throws at me. Just because it's in a way they can't copy doesn't mean I can't do it. They just want to finally have a peek beneath my armor, to remove my mask and see if I am really the Cheetah I say I am. They just want to compare battle scars, just like they did with everyone else who partnered up with them on this mission.
This mission. We started out as a band of nearly two dozen mercenaries poised to finally remove the Defiance threat from the kingdom. Damn bandits have more members than we thought. There's only four of us left now. Myself, Mask the Cheetah, wielder of the quickest blades this side of the mountains. Vel, member of the Ardo band of mercenaries, the keenest eye in the world. He makes Robin Hood look like a cub playing with sticks. Seriously, the dog's amazing. There's Darren, the fat tub of lard who is actually anything but. He has more muscle in his pinky than most people do in their entire body. He wears his plate armor over a vest of chainmail and walks as though he's wearing nothing more cumbersome than my leather armor. Also a member of Ardo. Finally there's Will, the leader of Ardo and the best strategist I've ever met. Damn Lion could maneuver a person onto his own spear. I'm not shitting, I've seen him do it. It was scary as hell and I'm glad he's on my side.
I knew getting into this was a bad idea, too many people. But still, the pay-
The screeching sound of metal being forced apart stopped my ruminations and I had that feeling of being watched. Of course everyone was watching me though, after all,
"Yeah, I know, my tail is fake. Why do you think it was always covered in leather? Leather won't do anything to save a tail." I half growled, half mumbled.
"Well, mon. Now I know why ya been so keen on doing things with no one around. If I had ta take off ma tail in order ta sleep I would too. Wouldn't want nobody finding out about dat, ya can be sure."
He gave me a sympathetic pat on the head and continued, "But since ya big secret be out in da open now, ya might as well let ole Vel help ya out. I promise not bother ya with it again though, nobody ought ta go through life like dat."
If only that was what I was hoping to avoid. No point arguing with him though, he thinks he's got me figured out. Dumb dog. That's not it, not by a long shot.
...Wait, maybe I can use that to my advantage. Now that he knows my "big secret" maybe I can convince him to let me tend to things myself. Maybe I can...
"Um...pussy cat? Where in the name of all that is tasty is your fur?" Yeah, he might not be a tub of lard, but he sure as hell eats like one.
Wait, they already got my armor off..."Damn it Vel! You were supposed to let me go do things my way once you saw my secret, not continue along as if nothing was wrong! How did you get my armor off so quickly though?"
"That was my doing" Will said slowly. "You had numerous small incisions on the back of your armor and honestly, it is beyond repair. So I cut it off. Your undershirt too. Did not expect you to not have any fur. What are you Mask? And be honest."
Honesty? He wants honesty? Normally I'm happy to oblige, but this is the one thing in my life that I am never honest about. They're going to figure out what the fuck is going on sooner or later though. Once they take off my mask anyways. Might as well tell him.
"Vel, take of the kitty cat's mask and let's see what he is, please." Darren said sweetly from atop me.
"No," Will quickly interjected. "He will be given the opportunity of unmasking himself first. If he still has not spoken by the time Vel has finished closing his wound, then we will unmask The Mask."
"No point dancing around it anymore." I sighed before continuing, "Vel, you might as well get to work, this is going to be a bit of a long story. And please, no interruptions. Everything will be explained in the end, I promise."
I waited for an affirmative from everyone before beginning my tale. "It all started when I was but a cub. I was still normal back then, had spots and a tail and proper ears and claws. My father used to tell me a story before bed every night. One night, he mentioned something called a 'human' and I immediately wanted to know more, but he would not tell me. I don't remember how long it took, but shortly afterward, I woke up to find myself without fur, with strange legs that only bend once, without claws, with a nose that can't smell anything. I awoke to find myself a human cub."
"I went straight to my parents, scared out of my mind. My parents reacted just about how you would expect them to seeing a little human run towards them screaming 'MOMMA! POPPA!' at the top of its lungs. They shrieked, called me hell spawn, among other things, and locked me in my room.
"Fortunately, I was old enough that I understood from that experience that no one would accept me as me if they saw that I was human. I put on some baggy clothes, climbed out of the window, and ran away from home. That was the last time I ever heard my real name. It's been so long that I don't even remember it."
"I roughed it in the woods for a while, learning how to hunt and only trusting fruit that I had seen before. Finally, some bandits camped near the tree I was living in. Yes Darren, literally. That tree was my home, my shelter for the time I lived in the woods. It was comforting to have a place to call home since I had lost mine."
"The bandits camped under my tree that night, lighting a fire and keeping watch all throughout the night. Early the next morning, I was awakened by a loud commotion. Mercenaries had found the bandits and a fight had broken out. The mercenaries were outnumbered, but they were much more skilled than the bandits were. They lost a few, but in the end they won."
"They gathered their fallen and buried them a short way from the site of the battle. They never found one of the bodies though, that of a young Monkey about my size. From my vantage point in the tree, however, I knew just where to look. The mercenaries left several hours later after burning the bodies of the bandits and making sure the pyres didn't start a forest fire. Once they left, I found the Monkey and took his leather armor."
"It didn't fit very well, but it was close enough and he had a covering for his tail. Using some leaves, I stuffed the tail full and put on the armor. Only then did I notice that my face would give me away. So I decided to fashion a mask of my own out of wood. It was very similar to the one I'm wearing now, only much cruder. A cub is only so skilled after all."
"I was unable to find the Monkey's weapon, so I crafted wooden "swords" out of sticks and practiced with those as best I could. I did find a new tree though, the Monkey began to smell after a couple days."
"Some time later, a few months if I recall correctly, another band of mercenaries passed through my territory. This time, they found me. It wasn't exactly difficult to do. The only reason I stayed hidden the first time was because the mercenaries had bigger fish to fry that day."
"They pulled me out of the tree and tried to talk to me, but I didn't want to listen and I used my "swords" against them. Finally, they pinned me to the ground and asked if I wanted to really learn how to wield a sword. After some swearing I managed to get the point across that I wasn't going to tell them my name. That didn't faze them one bit, they took to calling me 'Mask' and before I could even think about it, one of them had picked me up and was taking me with them."
"I didn't really care, if they were bandits then I was going to die. If they were mercenaries, then I was going to learn how to use a weapon and maybe even find a new life. Fortunately for me, they gave me my privacy and let me keep my mask and armor on at all times. And they were mercenaries, that was good too as that is where I learned swordplay."
"I traveled with them for a while, accumulating my fair share of scrapes and cuts. After watching the resident medic do his work, I quickly learned how to do it myself. Fortunately I am human now, and the only perk I have found to it is my ability to heal. Any flesh wound that I have when I go to bed is healed when I wake up the next morning. I don't know if I can regrow a limb or an ear and I have no intention to find out. Blood loss, however, does not go away overnight. If I lose a large amount of blood, I will still feel weak the next morning. I will be keeping the rest of it inside me though."
"So there you have it, my big secret revealed for you. Are you happy now?" I growled once I completed my narrative. Bastards better be happy.
"So you were born a Cheetah, right?" Darren asked quietly.
"I thought I went over that. Yes I was." I responded tersely.
"Well mon, can't say as I've ever heard such a tale before in ma life, but ya got ole Vel's support, whatever ya do. If ya want ta keep ya secret a secret, dat be fine with me mon, I won't tell nobody." Vel pledged in a shaky voice.
"Don't worry Vel," Will began, "You won't have to tell anyone. I'll do that. I've had a contract for years stating that if I ever met a human, I would take him to Archmage Talon. And that's exactly what I'm going to do."
"Damn it," I breathed, "I knew something like this would happen if word got out. Just make it quick, will ya?"
"Have no fear, Mask," Will growled, "My contract states that I am to bring any human I find to Archmage Talon alive." He said the last word in such a sinister tone that my blood froze for a moment.
"I doubt, however, that he would want you to know where you are, so I will have to-"