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It was pitch black, wet and humid. The feet of a man of small stature with a white head of hair splotched and dug into the mud. Pristine clothes of holy-white dirty in the grime and sweat of his dungeon. Injuries all over his body bled thick red blood. Sweat flooded his skin in efforts to recover his dwindling stamina. Far behind him the chime of the Crystal Bell sounded out in warning of his escape. Torches were lit in the walled camp as orders thundered. The air of righteous anger spreading within the Crystal Palace reached Jean and clawed at his heart and mind. Thoughts of his Sister commanding those fanatic knights of their creation, to chase and capture or gut the traitor he had become sent dizzy spells bouncing in his skull, and the thick raunchy smell of bile rose in his throat. He felt sick, ready to let go and die under the cover of the night. But fire burned in his eyes. Memories of horrid deeds gripped his legs with their cold slimy hands. Their calls of revenge fueled the fire and pushed his feet forward despite his desire to give in. Hell would no have him just yet. He had a duty now, to those poor souls he condemned and to those he will if he falls now. He sprinted through the growing evergreen forest, as it collapsed on him in its slow, haunting, twisting hunger.
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“Let me at them! I say let me at them!” Ru Feng thundered. A young man, more so than all others of his party, muscle bound, a freak of the Gym, and general good. He carved a path through the thriving forest, urgently, his shouts of battle-lust only making the rest cringe.
“YAWOuH!” Carius yelped, jolting up and away, barely dodging the crunch of a starving dogs maw. “Will you hurry up Ru Feng? My ass is about to be dog food, any second now!” He cried.
“Then let me at them! I’ll tare these doggies apart!” Ru Feng smiled with gusto. Chased flared, pearls shining in the morning light.
It was his misfortune that right as he spoke four soft padded feet landed on his face and clawed at him with their juvenile strength. Ru Feng stopped in his tracks and tossed the cat using his face like a scratch pole over the party casually. Only to notice that along with it tens more cats of all colors jumped down from the canopy of the forest having waited in ambush for prey to pass by.
Carius ducked under the horde of flying cats his teeth rattling as he grabbed at Ru Shi’s pants with shaking hands. “This is crazy…” He stared back in horror as the pack of starving, malnourished dogs got surrounded and swarmed by a veritable wave of furry killers. Sprinting and rushing about in, carving the skin of those dogs like it was simply butter. “What are we waiting for guys! Get away, Now!” Carius shouted, pushing Ru Shi forward. ‘Oh man, I am such a coward… I can’t do this anymore….’
The Party of four, two of each clan had come about only a few hours ago, when they had set off from Grounds of the recovering United Clans for a very important mission. Their situation could not have been avoided.
It had been a few days since the devastating attack of the King Boar, The First Realm Spirit Beast with an affinity for flames. The destruction it had brought was immense. It would have made plenty lose hope, yet because of the efforts of the Ru Clan and their alchemy many were saved, many were healing, and the situation had stabilized. But many died as well, too late to treatment, too far gone for any pseudo immortal pills and concoctions to work.
Atlas was silently working on some forms of the Clan Martial Arts. Flowing from one to the next, one for every two beats of his heart, slow and deliberate. His lungs hungered more with every breath he took. Yet Atlas solemnly persisted. He tuned out the world as he felt his weakened state, his body was still healing. Eventually, tired of repeating the same forms, those that he had spent countless hours, blood, sweat, tears to perfect and etch into his being, he shifted his body in a lighter stance. A Dance of sorts, a piece of culture his mother had imparted, the only thing his father had encouraged. A shifting of forms, a confluence of actions that could mean many things. Forms that could be used in tandem and apart, that could connect in myriad ways and could lock or unlock a new part of the Dance never acted before to an infinite pattern with no limit. Ru Shi, watched from nearby as Atlas danced his prayers to his clansmen and relatives. People he had grown up with and had shared meals with. A last moment of joy for the departed.
Similarly, at the Ancestral graves of the Clan, in a secluded, walled off area behind the Main building of the complex. Graves, Monuments, mementos stuck up from the ground in the thousands, every monument important, every stone cleaned, all pristine and ordered.
At the center of the graveyard a shrine whose pedestal had been filled with ashes and essence sticks burned a mournful smell. Hundreds of people prostrated themselves near the urns, at the first step of the shrine the Sect Patriarch bashed his head into the ground and stayed unmoving even after the essence burned out completely and no more of its thick smell reached him. Such was his duty. His fingers and arms growing numb, his forehead bleeding and his body bringing bile up his throat. Yet there was no thought in Archeseus’ head other than remorse. Chimes sounded out when the ash turned a cold blue. A signaling of the paid dues, the heat gone with the spirits of the dead to warm their fleshless, cold, rest into eternity. And the living could now move on, knowing that the proper rights had been completed.
As the Clan retreated slowly from the ceremonial grounds Xanthip supported her brother to stand and walk. The left the walled of graveyard, the most sacred place. And through an underground passage returned to the main manor and its polished wooden floor. Patriarch Ru Wai stood at the entrance and took over from Xanthip to help Archeseus walk despite his state, shaking, a thousand pinpricks on his pale flesh. The pair stood at the entrance, above the wide steps. They addressed their two clans, now one.
“We, have run out of medical supplies.” Ru Wai stated clearly, brutal honesty was needed for this crowd. Although already silent the hundreds of battle hardened men and women almost stopped breathing. “If we remain as we are, the foraging we do in the surrounding forest won’t last us till sun down tomorrow. Those that still need treatment, and those that will in the future will be helpless., The Ru Clan can do nothing with its knowledge alone.”
“Thus.” Archeseus continued. “We have concluded that a group must go south, to Borsi, and scavenge for any and all pharmaceutical supplies. As wondrous as the Alchemy of our brethren is.” He stopped his speech and nodded at Ru Wai. “There are simply too many unknowns that the gap of tens of thousands of years has created in the recipes passed down and the emerging spiritual herbs. If we add to that the sheer size of the people we need to treat those extra supplies will be needed with certainty.
“After taking into account the strengths of all clan members and also the safety of the Estate it has been deemed that two from the Laertis Family and two from the Ru family will go. My son and Heir, Atlas, and his youngest Uncle Carius, our capable sentry.”
“From my family it will by my daughter and Heiress, Ru Shi, the most talented alchemist within the whole clan, as well as our bravest and youngest warrior Ru Feng, a man of might and action through and through.” Ru Wai announced after Archeseus. Despite his best efforts he cringed at the mere mention of his daughter. A sick fear crawled back into his mind after years of suppression. Sticky and coughing and old.
“Once again. We have given great consideration to this party and each member is indispensable. The Party won’t change. I’d like all those named to present themselves, they must depart immediately after all.
The party of four assembled in short order. They had been notified. Not to mention the physical preparations of equipotent, there a big component to their success that relied on their mental, if they were caught unaware they would be in danger the moment they walk out of the walls. Though the safety of those walls was already being questioned and deserved serious scrutiny after the events of the previous week.
Atlas and Ru Shi came together. One drying himself with a towel, his skin hot to the touch, slick with sweat while, while graceful, sharp, with billowing silks, chains, anklets and earrings adorning her body. Bow strapped on her back. Fingers tied with tape for faster shooting, her unruly hair tied in high bun.
Then came Ru Feng, he stood next to Atlas and their differences showed. Young, Tall. He stood two heads taller than Atlas. With hair cut short nearly to his scalp, a jaw that could break rocks and bulging neck muscles that danced wildly with his every move. His Arms and legs looked to be carved from marble and his veins surged on the surface of his skin like rivers. ‘I think I can hear his heartbeat all the way from over here… Carius can for sure.’ Atlas thought of the muscle bound beast in human form that was Ru Feng. “Do not worry everyone. Heroics and all, I’ll make sure we get back safe and successful.” He boasted. His voice young and supple compared to his grizzly appearance. His chest bloated with air, it’s sheer size birthed confusion within the women of the Clans.
Finally Carius walked forward next to Ru Feng. His back was bent, neck craning forward as he scrathed it with all his inhibitions laid bare. He made for a sharp contrast to the rest with his thin, lithe form. His long hair tied in a ponytail reaching all the way to his waist. The untamed forest of hairs growing on his chin and upper lip spoke to his age difference with the group, and the wise glint of his black eyes proved him responsible enough for leadership in the eyes of those that could tell.
“Very well.” Patriarch Archeseus nodded at the gathering of young warriors, talents, prospects. ”I wish you fortune on your trip. May you find your journey peaceful and your return easy.” Patriarch Archeseus declared. The party of four clasped their fists together, bowed down past waist height and promptly turned around, taking off at a steady walk for the southern gate of the Laertis Estate. Cheers and hopeful remarks sounded out as they went.
Presently, with Carius at the forefront they pushed past the last clump of foliage into the clearing separating what once was civilization and the growing, virile green forest on their backs. Smiles rose to their faces but the angry, hungry animal cries hot on their heels did not let them stop for a second. They had run for hours on end through the thick green, bushes and vines, dodging or killing any and all dog and cat beasts that had come their way, with a particular instance of two Spiritual beasts, one of each species, had converged on their position and talked it out amongst each other. It had been surreal to the party, seeing two animals with the auras of Mafia bosses talking it out in what would have to be Italian American of the animal world.
The city brought a distorted hope to them. A dilapidated, overgrown, mess of green and gray. Cement blocks with rebar jutting out of them collapsed over cracked asphalt all layered by rapidly growing vines, moss and shrubbery. Nature had overtaken this city of tens of thousands and bent it to its will. Flowers of all colors budding in between thorny stocks wafted thick smells into the destitute landscape. Teeming with life, yet without any of the signs caused by human habitation that even Atlas in his permanent seclusion had come to know.
All scenes that the party had no time to appreciate as they rushed into the city proper. Right their heels wolf like dogs and dog like cats chased, foam and spittle dribbling from their maws.
“Pick up the pace. We’ll lose them in the city.” Carius demanded as he looked back and shivers traveled down his spine.
“Lead the way then, You’re the only one that’s been to the city before.” Atlas picked up his pace as they exited the dirt and mud of the still wet forest and stepped onto the hard tar, the friction pushing him ever forward, ever faster, away from the pets turned gangs.