Rune Caster
Chapter 1: Skies of Departure
“When the world survived utter chaos, the lands were ravaged and raised towards the heavens, keeping it out of reach. However, this only fanned the flames of those who wished to reach them. Where there are strange and dangerous creatures, hidden treasures, uncharted islands, and ruins, they will be there. These people who are in search of the great unknown are called Reavers!”
The sun was starting to settle down on the town of Mundall. In the outskirts of the town, an important meeting was about to take place.
“I’m glad that you’re here,” a man was sitting in front of a rug, facing the sunset.
His visitor was a fenger. The boy had the physical characteristics of a tiger and a fox. He had a snout and face like a fox with large ears and a long fluffy tail. His tiger side was shown in his white fur with black stripes. The kid had gray eyes, pink nose, and white hair with black highlights.
“I came here as fast as I could,” the kid was panting. He’d been running for a while. The man could see that the kid lost track of time and was forced to rush all the way across town to reach the meeting point. “I didn’t come here late, did I?”
The man pointed at the sunset, letting the boy know that he arrived just in time.
“Sunset!” the boy smiled as he dropped himself to the ground to recover his breath.
“Try to rest for five minutes,” the man told the boy.
“I’m not that tired,” the boy protested meekly. “I think that I can stand up on my own in about a minute.”
“Do you want me to tell you a story?” the man chuckled as he watched the young boy panting.
Mundall was a sleepy rural town located in the west of Ivor. It was a farmer town where life was peaceful. It was an unknown town whose popularity tended to come and go with the passage of time. As such, very few knew where the town was on Ivor.
It was a shame though. Besides the farms, Mundall had good commodities. It had a popular bar and grill where the workers could hang out at the end of the day. And there was a butcher shop that sold a good variety of meats.
The man personally went to the bar and grill to have a last dinner in Mundall. And he went to the butcher shop to stock in supplies.
The life of a Reaver was a hard one. He didn’t know when he was going to return to Mundall. It may take a few years. Or maybe he wasn’t going to return. That’s why he wanted to tie up some loose ends.
“I recovered!” the boy suddenly stood up with energy.
“That was more than one minute,” the man laughed, teasing the boy for failing to live up to his boast.
“Still less than five!” the boy protested as he puffed his cheeks.
The man burst in laughter at the boy’s stubbornness. He was going to miss him.
“You gonna leave?” the boy asked the man, noticing that there were supply bags around him.
“Yeah,” the man nodded his head. “I have to continue my adventures, kiddo.”
“Can I come with you?” the boy asked, half hopeful and half desperate.
“Sorry, kid,” the man ruffled the boy’s head. “You’re not strong enough.”
“I am strong enough!” the boy puffed his chest in an attempt to look tough.
“You’re a kid,” the man sighed.
“I can be one!” the boy protested, tearing up. “You can be my teacher. You can teach me any stuff that you know. I’ma fast learner. I won’t hold you back, I swear.”
“Believe me, kid, I’d love to,” the man stared at the sunset, patting the spot in front of him so that he could talk to the boy like he would with a man.
Wiping his tears away, the boy bravely walked to the man and sat in front of him.
“Do you know the purpose of the Reavers?” the man asked the boy.
“Yes,” the boy beamed as he remembered a short story about them. “Reavers are in every place where something interestin’ is happenin’ around the world. They are strong enough to beat big and scary monsters! They’re smart enough to find hidden treasures. And they’re brave enough to explore uncharted islands and ruins!”
“Exactly,” the man smiled proudly at the boy. “The purpose of the Reavers is to search for things hidden in the great unknown.”
“Have they ever found it?” the boy asked.
“No,” the man smiled. “I don’t think Reavers would exist anymore if they found the great unknown. If they found the unknown, then it becomes known.”
“Maybe they could keep it a secret,” the boy proposed.
The man burst in laughter, amused by the boy’s optimism.
“Hahahaa!” the man burst in laughter. “Yeah, maybe! Reavers have many virtues and dreams,” the man ruffled the boy’s head. “They have courage, wisdom, willpower, curiosity, desire, and more. And those dreams give us the drive to continue our journey.”
“And what is my dream?” the boy asked, tilting his head.
“I don’t know,” the man smiled. “That’s something that you find on your own. But you’ll know when you find it.”
“I wanna be one of them,” the boy stated. “Isn’t that a dream?”
“Sure,” the man affirmed the boy’s question and then corrected him. “But being a Reaver is like a job. A dream is what pushes you to be one.”
“Oh…” the boy said weakly, his long ears pointing down, feeling downtrodden.
“Like I said, it’ll come to you soon when you learn more about where you live. I think I’ll help ya with that,” the man pointed at his bag. “I want you to open up my bag. I need you to pull something for me.”
“What do you want me to give you?” the boy asked as he opened the bag. “Is it a weapon? Or a gadget? Or is something cool?”
“I want you to give me a scarf,” the man stated.
“A scarf?” the boy sounded disappointed.
“Yes,” the man nodded. “It’s a red and yellow scarf.”
“This one?” the boy asked as he pulled off the scarf. It looked like one of those circuits that he saw on an electronic machine. It was hard to say if the scarf was red with yellow or if it was yellow with red.
“That one,” the man nodded his head.
Reluctantly, the boy gave the man the scarf and then sat in front of him.
“What’s so special about it?” the boy asked with a raised eyebrow. “Is it some kind of magic scarf?”
“Something like that,” the man replied as he used a knife to cut through the fabric of the long scarf, handling a piece of it to the young boy.
“How is this a magic scarf?” the boy asked. “Does it let ya run really fast? Or give ya super strength?”
“This scarf has seen me through a lot of adventures,” the man told the child. “Some of them I couldn’t have survived without it. So it should offer the same protection to you. And no matter how far I am, my strength, my will, and my luck will be with you always.”
The young boy took the piece of scarf and put it on. The man cut the right amount of length, as it neatly wrapped around his left arm.
“This is a good luck scarf then,” the boy pointed out.
The man stood up and stared at the boy. “More or less. As long as you wear it, I will always be there with you.”
The boy’s tears came out. He lunged at the man and hugged him.
“I don’t want ya to go, Dad!” the boy cried.
The man clenched his teeth hard as he hugged his son back. He dreaded the separation, but he knew that he couldn’t be a Reaver and a father at the same time. He needed to find the great unknown.
“Stand up straight, son,” the man grabbed his son by the cheeks. “I want to have a look at you.”
The boy wiped his tears away and then adopted a confident face. He was trying to look tough for the sake of his father.
“This isn’t goodbye,” the man told his son. “It’s a promise that we’ll meet again. Not all departures have to last forever.”
“I promise that I will find ya, Dad!” the boy told his father.
“Can I trust you then, Kay M. Crossroad?” the man asked his son, addressing him by his full name to emphasize how serious the promise between them was.
“You can trust me, Dad!” Kay stood firmly like a soldier.
“Promise that you will have a good life in Mundall,” the man told Kay. “Promise that you will take care of your grandmother and your cousin. Promise me that you’ll grow big and strong enough to look after yourself. And promise that you will always be happy with the life that you lead.”
“I promise,” Kay nodded his head.
Father and son separated. The sunset was about to end. It was going to be night in a few minutes. The man stood up so that Kay could see his father one last time.
“I already said my goodbye to your grandma and cousin,” the man told Kay. “But I want you to look after ‘em.”
“I will,” Kay promised, turning his back on his father at the same time as his father turned his back on him.
Father and son moved in opposite directions. Neither looked back. They focused their eyes on the scarfs that they wore, each ready to make their own adventures.
It was an average day on Wester Port Town. The people were busy living their daily lives. They were all moving around in a crowd.
Among the crowd, there was a Fenger who was running among the crowd. He was in a hurry. He needed to reach his destination fast.
He was a 6’1 tall adult male. He had white fur with black stripes. He had white hair and ears with black highlights. His gray eyes were looking around the city, trying to find the quickest path to his destination. His long bushy tail was wagging excitedly as he kept moving forward.
He wore a red coat that was decorated with belts. The belts were black with golden buckles that rested on his collar, shoulders, and waist. On the back of his coat there was a symbol that consisted of a black circle with an X on it. Underneath his red coat, there was a white shirt with a black collar that matched his fur. He wore black pants that were tied up with a golden-buckled black belt. The pants were decorated with a couple of golden rings on the seams, a set of three golden buttons on the sides of the upper and lower legs, and a couple of little belts above his ankles. To the sides of his pants, he was carrying two brown pouches. He wore black shoes with gray leather toes and heels and black fingerless gloves with golden tips on the knuckles. And on his left bicep he was wearing the red and yellow scarf that his father gave him years ago.
As he promised his father, Kay waited years before he took his first step to fulfill his dream. He made the best of his time by working at Mundall at any occupation that was available. He did farm work. He hunted meat to learn how to survive in the wild. And he also worked at the bar and grill to learn how to cook.
Once he turned 21, Kay recognized that he was ready to leave Mundall and travel the world in search for adventures. He had a strong body, well-toned because of his years of rigorous training in preparation for this day.
Though Kay had the strength to survive on his own, there was something that he needed to do first to start his adventure. He needed to get a ship.
Having lived in Mundall, Kay didn’t know anything about the outside world. Fortunately, his father told him all sorts of stories which gave him an idea of where to go first.
One of Kay’s favorite parts about his father’s stories was learning about airships. He wasn’t used to transportation vehicles apart from Magus Gear wagons. As such, technological marvels let him baffled with excitement. He wanted to ride any vehicle available in Kor, but airships were his first on the list.
He never flew in his entire life, so he was excited to experience such sensation. From what he heard, anyone who wanted to travel across the Overland needed a decent-sized airship as a method of transportation.
“Just one stop and I’ll finally hit the skies!” Kay shouted with a mixture of hurry and excitement. His childhood dream was going to start, and he certainly didn’t want to miss his flight.
He needed to reach the town’s skydrome to catch his flight. But he couldn’t’ see it among so many people.
“Gotta improvise,” Kay jumped on top of a fence. And from that fence, he jumped to a light pole. He climbed his way up to the top of the pole to get a better look from there.
The Fenger stared at his surroundings. There were shops and people beneath him, so he needed to look at the borders of the town to find the skydrome.
“There ya are,” Kay grinned, tail wagging with satisfaction as he saw the skydrome.
The skydrome was a huge dome with a retractable upper half. It was designed as a landing spot for airships. As one airship was parking, another was about to take off. The top half was currently closed, implying that his flight was not going to come up.
“I still have time,” Kay smiled with relief. “If I do some roof hopping, maybe I’ll be able to reach there in time.”
VROOM!
A shadow flew over Kay. His ears rung as he heard an engine above him. The Fenger raised his head to see that an airship was flying to the skydrome. The upper half of the dome was opening. That meant that the airship was going to park and it was going to be followed by the next one flying out of there.
“Uh oh! Gotta step it up!” Kay jumped on top of the roof of the closest house. And then he sprung fast, jumping across the roofs of every building between him and the skydrome.
WOOSH!
Kay performed several jumps to reach a house and move on to the next one. He landed in the middle of the roof and kept running while keeping the momentum.
“Those were some good jumps!” Kay laughed as he hopped into another building, this time at a smaller distance.
Though Kay had years to think about his adventure, he didn’t know where to start. He just wanted to explore what the world had to offer before picking up an objective.
The Fenger saw no more buildings that he could use as platforms. He was going to need to maneuver through the crowd again. The main difference was that the skydrome was present. He saw the airship parking inside the skydrome.
“So, you think that this flight is going to be safe?” Kay overheard a couple of civilians chattering as he landed on the ground and joined the crowd. “Don’t know, these raids have been getting out of hand. The Sentinels really need to deal with those damn Reavers soon. Three flights have been cancelled this week.”
“Reavers?” Kay repeated. “Why would Reavers need to attack other people’s ships?” Kay said under his breath, confused by the conversation that he overheard.
“Alright! Please stand in a line and have your tickets or ID ready!” a security officer called out to the crowd.
Kay’s eyes widened as he checked his belongings.
“ID?” Kay muttered as he tried to see the document. “Crap, I forgot Dad mentioned ya need one of those to board an airship like this one.” Kay sulked as he walked away, realizing that he couldn’t get on without a ticket.
The Fenger left the skydrome and jumped into the nearest roof. He sighed and waited until the last airship of the day departed.
“So now what,” Kay sighed.
He sat there and waited for the airship to travel. He tapped his knees with his fingers, feeling anxious and impatient. As he stared at the skydrome, he felt something welling inside of him.
“Screw that! I ain’t gonna let this hold me back! Can’t fly high if I’m weighted down.”
A minute later, Kay stood up and started running circles around the skydrome, looking for an access point.
“C’mon! There’s gotta be another way in,” Kay muttered beneath his breath as he was searching for an access point. He gave the skydrome a full lap to memorize its structure. The dome was open, so he could enter from above. But he needed to avoid being seen by everyone. His answer came in the form of cargo being loaded into the airship.
“Cargo? Sweet…” Kay sighed as he got on top of the skydrome. He saw a few machines carrying cargo boxes. Smirking, Kay jumped down and entered into one of the cargo boxes.
He lied down on the box, surrounded by a bunch of pillows that the stewards and stewardesses gave to the passengers. Kay chuckled at his good luck, feeling as the crate was picked up and put into the storage facility of the airship.
“I’m in,” Kay told himself. “Now I just need to wait until the airship lifts off from the skydrome and then I sneak in with the passengers.”
It wasn’t a perfect plan. Kay knew that he was going to get arrested for sneaking into an airship, but he also knew that the arrest wasn’t going to be on Ivor. Regardless of whether he was caught or not, he was going to be in a new continent anyway.
VROOM!
Kay felt the crate moving and shaking. He figured that it was the airship moving forward and up into the sky. A chill ran down his fur. He started grabbing the pillows and putting them around him to act as a makeshift blanket, but then he realized that he didn’t feel warm in spite of the cover.
“Sounds like we’re moving,” Kay grinned as he pushed out the cover of the crate and got out.
To his dismay, the cargo room had no windows, so he couldn’t see the sky. He needed to go up to the main hall to find the windows.
“It’s time for my own private tour,” Kay smiled mischievously as he got out of the cargo room and explored the airship.
It took Kay a couple of minutes, but he was slowly approaching his destination. He opened a hatch on the bottom door. He made sure to check on both sides to ensure that the coast was clear.
WHAM!
The bottom door was abruptly slammed into his head by a cart. It knocked Kay down the stairs while the stewardess who walked with the cart gasped.
“I think there’s a bit of turbulence,” the stewardess remarked. From her tone of voice, Kay was able to infer that she was new to the job. “I better keep moving.”
As the stewardess moved, Kay was left dizzy from the impact of the door slamming on his head. He grunted in pain as he rubbed his throbbing skull.
Kay waited a couple of minutes until his headache disappeared. Once the pain was gone, he climbed up the stairs and opened the bottom door. He checked on both sides to ensure that there was nobody to arrest him and no stewardess who’d accidentally step on him with her cart.
There was nobody here, but he wasn’t going to take the chances. He opened the hatch door and silently left the room. He then stared at the corridor to see if nobody saw him. The lack of people told him that his infiltration was a success.
He put his hands inside his pockets and casually walked across the main hall to seem innocent. Fortunately, the people were more interested in talking with each other to notice his presence.
He kept walking until he reached the ship’s observation deck. And that’s when he realized that the observation deck had a clear view of the skies. He wasn’t just watching the sky. He was at the sky, enjoying the wind on his face.
“WHOOOOAAA!” Kay ran across the observation deck, grabbing onto the edge of the ship to see what was in front of him.
Everything looked so small from above. But he was capable of seeing everything. He saw rivers, mountains, and forests. And they all looked so much smaller than him now that he was looking at them from the sky.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
He kept moving across the observation hall, paying attention to the windows. He got a view of the passing clouds, wondering if he could open the windows and touch them.
“YEAAHHHAAAHHAA!” Kay shouted. “I finally made it to the skies!”
His shouts of excitement caught the attention of the crowd, but he didn’t care. He needed to see the whole airship.
BING BONG!
Kay’s ears perked up upon hearing a loud jiggling coming from above.
“The Skydrome airlines wishes to thank all passengers for their patronage. This ship is bound for Zu’van. Next stop, Heartland! I repeat! Next stop, Heartland! We will reach Heartland in one and a half hours. The airship will stop there for 35 minutes. When disembarking, please make sure that no personal belongings are left behind. Thank you and have a nice day.”
“Whoa…fancy!” Kay smiled after hearing the automated voice over announcement.
Having nothing better to do, Kay explored the airship, happy to know that his adventure was going to start soon.
At the top deck of the airship, a young woman was enjoying her luxury suite. She was sitting in a queen-sized bed as she enjoyed her first-class treatment. She was a red fox Korkin with reddish orange fur. She had brown fur on her chest and belly, her hands, and her feet. She wore a blue blouse that exposed a bit of cleavage and part of her back. She also wore white sleeves with golden trims that left her shoulders exposed. She wore dark brown pants with crisscrossed patterns that ended at her ankles, revealing brown leather sandals on her four-toed feet. Her pants were tied up with a brown belt with a golden buckle and she carried a holster that contained a gun and whip on her left hip. Her long bushy tail was orange with patches of light brown fur and brown fur at the tip.
She had long hair that reached her upper back. The top of her hair was brown, but the bottom was purple. Her ears were orange with brown tips, and the left ear had four golden earrings. Her blue eyes sparkled with happiness as she checked herself in the mirror.
After a hard day of work, she stared at her reflection in the mirror to build confidence She was at the prime of her youth, and it showed in her body. She was 5’9 woman with a curvy body that had wide hips and a large bust.
Once she finished admiring herself, the young woman lied down on her bed and relaxed.
“Never thought we’d leave, what even was the hold-up?” Trixta sighed as she picked up her bag and opened it to reveal a strange looking glass.
The frame was made of gold, and the mirror was made of a polished crystal. It looked like a hand mirror, but the materials were worth a fortune.
“Hehehe,” Trixta chuckled in satisfaction. “I can’t even imagine all of the money that I will make with this chico.” She said this while reading what seemed like a map of some kind.
All I need to do is look around in Heartland and find a shop that is willing to do business with me, then I can move to my next gig, Trixta thought with satisfaction as she put the mirror back in her bag. In a couple of hours, she was going to get her next payment.
She wanted to sleep. It took her a lot of effort to steal the mirror, but she was too excited to take a nap. She needed to counter her excitement with total relaxation.
“I could use a little sunbathing,” Trixta smirked. “A true woman from Joya de Sol always makes sure to get her daily sunlight.”
The red fox walked out of her room, making sure to carry her bag to ensure that her treasure was not going to be stolen. She closed her eyes and hummed a song that she learned back home, thinking of the kinds of stuff that she was going to buy once she got paid.
WHOMP!
“Ay!” Trixta shouted as she bumped with someone.
“Ugh!” a young male grunted in pain.
“Que te pasa?” Trixta stood up and glared at the person who bumped into her.
He was a young Florian male, who was a few inches smaller than her. He had green skin with spikes for cheeks that resembled thorns. His hairstyle resembled a bush. He had a pink flower of five petals resting on the left side of his head. He had yellow sclera that complemented his green eyes.
He wore a grayish-brown vest with a white shirt underneath and a red tie. On his neck was a pair of yellow goggles. He had a belt with a pouch wrapped around his waist. He wore blue pants and gray shoes.
“I’m sorry, miss,” he apologized.
“No digas nada,” Trixta groaned more out of exasperation than anger. “Just be careful where you walk from now on.”
The red fox turned her back on the Florian. Though she was annoyed at having been knocked to the ground, the happiness at her success prevented her from being mad at him for too long.
I really need to pay more attention, the Florian thought as he stood up. To his relief, there was nobody else besides the red fox that collided with him.
He walked around the top deck, talking to himself as a way to fend off stress.
“Just say calm, Wilt,” he muttered silently. “You made it this far. Just a few more things, and I’m home free.”
The young Florian opened his pouch to reveal a notebook. Inside the notebook were notes that he took about his father’s schematics.
I won’t let anyone get this data! Wilt thought as he closed his notebook and stored it in his pouch, beginning his mission.
“Enter in and out,” Wilt told himself. “I just need to get the last few materials. Then I can head home without getting caught.”
The Florian stared at both directions to ensure that there was nobody present. It didn’t matter if it was a security guard, a steward, or a passenger. His reactions made it seem like he was afraid that he was going to be killed.
“Nobody here,” Wilt muttered in relief as he descended across the airship. Moving across the top deck was easy since most of the passengers were enjoying their first-class treatment. For the main hall, he needed to be extra careful. There were too many eyes watching his every move.
Despite his fear, Wilt kept moving forward, motivated by his race’s desire for sunlight.
“I’ve been indoors for days, my leaves are starting to wilt…huh,” Wilt realized something and then frowned. “Darn it, Dad! You and your crappy sense of humor…” Wilt walked towards the stairs leading to the top deck.
The first thing that he saw was that red fox that bumped into him an hour earlier. She was sunbathing. Since she already used revealing clothes, she didn’t need to change into a bikini. She just kicked off her sandals and laid down on a table.
I better sit away from her, Wilt thought, not wanting to risk her being angry at him from their early bumping.
The Florian sat on the opposite end of the shift. He didn’t need to sunbathe like her. All that he needed was a bit of sunlight for revitalization and he was good to go. As he sat, Wilt saw how small the Midland was.
Someday, I will get to enjoy this view as much as I want, Wilt thought, imagining how many airships he was going to build and fly. He was eighteen years old. He had a whole life ahead of him.
SNORE!
Wilt looked up and noticed that there was a Fenger above him. Not only that, the Fenger was taking a nap on top of the ship. The Florian’s jaw dropped. That was a security hazard! What was he thinking?
Wilt stood up and was about to wake up the Fenger to prevent an accident.
CRASH!
The airship started trembling. Wilt was knocked on the floor. And so was the red fox who was sunbathing.
“Que demonios?” the red fox landed on the floor, grunting in pain as her sunbathing was interrupted by a tremor. “Who broke the damn airship?”
“It’s not broken!” Wilt shouted in fear at the Fox Korkin. “Somebody crashed into our airship!”
“Ay mierda!” the red fox put her sandals back on and picked up her bag, checking its contents as she stood up. “Are we getting attacked by Inxectors?”
“No,” Wilt shook his head. “All airships are programmed to follow specific courses that will prevent attacks from Inxectors.”
“Then who the hell is attacking us?” the Fox Korkin demanded.
Wilt’s answer came up when a bunch of bandits started to board the airship.
“Nobody moves,” one of the bandits shouted. “This is a raid! We are not leaving until we’ve confiscated every valuable from you here.”
“They’re Reavers,” Wilt answered the female’s questions.
The red fox stared at the Reavers. And then she stared at the bag. Then she frowned angrily and said something that perfectly encapsulated the dismay that she and Wilt were feeling at the moment.
“Me lleva la mierda!”
A few minutes earlier, in a different ship, a man was using his binoculars to check on the sky. A black cat dressed in a green jacket, green pants, and green boots. Even his binoculars were green.
To his delight, it was a skydrome airship. He found another target.
“Lady Vera!” the cat shouted as he put down his binoculars and ran across the airship. “I found something! I found something!”
The Reavers inside the ship dropped their activities and followed him. Their leader demanded their presence so that she could tell them what she wanted them to do.
He reached the control center of the airship, where Lady Vera was waiting for him.
Lady Vera was a Wolf Korkin with white fur. She wore a dress that exposed the middle of her breasts. It had suspenders that kept the dress close to her body. And it ended in a long skirt that reached the middle of her legs. She wore thigh-high boots. On her neck she wore a fancy scarf that she stole during her first raid.
Her blue eyes were complemented by purple eyeshadow. And she had blonde hair that was curled to the left. She sat in the middle of a seat that resembled a throne.
“What brings you here?” Lady Vera purred. “Did you find a juicy target for us to steal?”
“Yes,” the cat nodded his head rapidly. “It’s a skydrome airship.”
“Perfect,” Lady Vera purred as she stood up from her throne. “I think that we are going to break our record of more airships raided in a month.”
“Do we go to the battle stations?” one of the crewmembers asked.
“I’m already in my battle station,” Lady Vera smirked as she showed the cat her gun, pointing it straight to his face. The cat remained frozen, feeling that Lady Vera was going to pull the trigger to shoot him.
“Relax, boy,” Lady Vera smirked as she put the gun on her hip. “I’m not going to shoot you. I need as many men working on the raid for it to work. Men who can do their jobs right…”
The cat sighed in relief. He hated it when Lady Vera pointed at him with her gun.
“Alright, boys! You guys know the drill!” Lady Vera shouted. “I want half of you to join me in raiding the ship. The other half I want here so that we can make the getaway.”
“Yes, Lady Vera!” the crew shouted.
“Give me visuals on the target,” Lady Vera told one of her navigators.
“Let me give you the coordinates,” the navigator typed some buttons on a keyboard, transferring the info of the binoculars to the main computer.
“I got the data,” a dog shouted as he maneuvered the airship to the same air route coordinates that the skydrome airship was on.
“Put in the visuals!” Lady Vera ordered.
The screen showed a visual of a skydrome ship. All of the Reavers on the ship started cheering.
“Another ship to raid!”
“We’re gonna be making a bank!”
“For the Violent Gale!”
Lady Vera enjoyed the cheering of her crew. A good captain drove power from the people that she accepted on her crew.
“Spread the word to the rest of the ship!” Lady Vera ordered her crew. “We’re setting sail to our new target!”
“Aye, Lady Vera!” the Reavers shouted and left the control room.
“We’re on a roll now,” Lady Vera said as she sat on her throne. “No one will be getting in our way.”
Back at the skydrome airship, Kay was having a good nap. There was something magical about sleeping on the sky. The wind ruffled his fur. The whistle of the wind acted like a lullaby to him.
BOOM!
The airship suddenly started shaking. Wilt and Trixta were trembling, barely able to stay on their feet.
“What’s happening?” Wilt shouted, wondering what the Reavers were doing to the airship that made it shake so much.
“Oye, que diablos!” Trixta shouted as well.
“Nobody moves,” a cat Reaver shouted. From the way that he approached the passengers of the airship, it was implied that he was a high-ranking member of the crew. “This is a raid! We are not leaving until we’ve confiscated every valuable from you here.”
“A raid?” Trixta asked, sounding more annoyed than scared. She stared at her surroundings to see what was happening around her. She wanted to find an escape route, but what she found disheartened her.
The airship was filled with bandits. She stared to the side and noticed a different airship flying next to the skydrome airship.
BOOM!
The second airship fired an energy blast at the skydrome airship. The ground shook beneath her feet. Then she saw that the energy blast didn’t vanish. It looked like some sort of solid matter, acting like a tether that kept the invading airship attached to the skydrome airship.
The Florian and the Fox Korkin raised their hands in surrender when the cat Reaver pointed his gun at them. And then there were more thieves pointing guns at the passengers.
“Oh crap,” a passenger whispered. “These guys are Reavers!?”
All of the passengers were in a state of panic. They started crying, screaming, and begging for help. It was a total chaos as the Reavers were ready to beat them up for not complying with their demands.
BANG!
Everyone stopped on their tracks. A white wolf lady walked in. From the way that she strutted, Kay and the passengers could see that she was the leader of the Reavers.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, future victims,” she addressed everyone currently present at the airship. “As you may have guessed, this is a Reaver raid. I’m gonna order my crew to steal all of the valuables that you possess. If you resist, I can guarantee that your life will also be taken. Now, any objections?”
Nobody answered. The younger passengers were crying or hugging each other.
“I thought so,” she smiled. “Boys! It’s time to show them the might of Vera Aloe, the Violent Gale!”
Once she gave the orders, the raid truly begun. The passengers started to run in panic as they were chased down by Reavers. Though the passengers were numerous, they were untrained and unarmed. They were all surrounded by Reavers who put them in a corner.
“If you know what’s good for you, none of you move!” a dog threatened a couple of girls who were hugging each other and crying.
As the Reavers were taking care of the top deck, Lady Vera walked towards the main hall. She took out her gun and pressed the trigger.
BOOM!
A blast of air was shot from her gun. It left a dent on the roof that made everyone scared. With her demonstration done, Lady Vera pointed her gun at the passengers.
“Alright, listen up!” Lady Vera called out to the passengers in the main hall. “If you value your hides, you’ll give us all of your valuables.”
She snapped her fingers, ordering her Reavers to bring the passengers of the top deck to act as hostages and examples of her raid.
“What’s going on?” one of the passengers spoke.
“It’s the Violent Gale, Vera!” another one announced.
“She’s been attacking airships for weeks now,” a third one lamented. “Why did this airship had to be her latest raid?”
Lady Vera rolled her eyes, annoyed at the chattering. She pointed her gun at the passengers, who shrieked in fright. Despite the screaming, none of the passengers made a move to escape or resist.
“Better,” Lady Vera smirked, glad to have control of the situation. She turned to the Reavers working for her. “Get their valuables. And try to be fast about it. I don’t want you wasting time bullying the passengers.”
“Yes, Lady Vera!” the grunts nodded.
“And I want some of you to get down there and find some goods!” Lady Vera pointed at the floor, but her servants knew that she meant the cargo room.
“Got it, boss!” the Reavers nodded their heads and split up. One group was demanding riches from the passengers and the other group was going to the cargo room.
“Damn Reavers,” Trixta muttered, having used the multitude of scared people as a cover to hide from them. She opened her bag and verified that the mirror was still there. “Can’t let them get this.”
As she pondered how to escape, she noticed the airship that the Reavers used to start the raid. It was empty and unguarded, meaning that she could use it to escape and even keep the riches inside.
“A la suerte!” Trixta cheered silently as she moved to the Reaver airship.
I hope they don’t find me here! Wilt thought as he used the potted plants that he gathered in front of him as a disguise. He used the chaos caused by the passengers to hide behind some potted plants and shrubs, using his green coloration as a camouflage to remain hidden during the raid.
The Florian was nervous as he heard the sound of footsteps approaching him. He heard the Reavers walking next to him. The footsteps got louder, and then they got softer. They were walking away from him.
Wilt opened one eye, feeling relieved that they left the room where he was hiding.
Why is this happening? Wilt thought with dismay. I gotta hide till they leave.
THUD!
The white-furred Fenger that he saw sleeping on the roof suddenly fell and landed on the floor, making Wilt shout in fear. He gasped upon recognizing the Fenger, wondering if he was okay after falling from such a height in the middle of a nap.
“Ugh,” the Fenger groaned and yawned. “I’m still sleepy...those jerks are in for a good whoopin when I get my hands on em.”
“What was that?” a Reaver screamed.
He was a dog who was leading a group of henchmen to the spot where the Fenger landed. The Reavers pointed their guns at the Fenger, demanding his name.
“Who the hell is this guy?” the leader of the squad asked.
Kay stretched his back and arms, trying to shake off his sleep.
“Look up there, boss!” one of the Reavers pointed at the air ducts. “This brat was on the rooftop.”
“Not the weirdest place I’ve been on this ship,” Kay shrugged his shoulder. “I was nappin on the roof a few minutes ago until you guys showed up.”
“Why were you sleeping on a roof?” a third Reaver asked, sounding more curious than demanding.
“Ya never slept on a roof before?” Kay asked with a taunting expression. “It’s very breezy up there. I’d recommend it.”
“What the hell is going on here?” Lady Vera asked, having arrived at the scene with a bag of confiscated goods.
“We found this tiger lurking on the roof, Lady Vera!” the dog Reaver told her.
“Why should I care about that?” Lady Vera asked angrily. “He’s just some idiot. Take him out!”
“Yes ma’am!” the Reavers pointed their guns at Kay and Wilt. While the Florian looked scared, the Fenger looked bored.
“You mind telling me who are these guys?” Kay asked Wilt, not caring about the guns pointed at him.
“WHAAAAH!” Wilt crouched, covering his face with his arms. “We’re gonna DIIIEEE!”
WHAM! BAM!
Kay moved with fast speed, punching the two Reavers in front of him. The first one got a straight punch to the face that made him spin in the air and land on his head. The second got a punch to the stomach that made him fall to the side.
Everyone was left stunned at the Fenger’s initiative. Wilt gasped when he saw that they were both still alive. The Reavers were shocked at seeing two of their own being taken down so quickly. And Lady Vera was disbelieving.
“W-what?” Lady Vera stammered.
“No seriously,” Kay sighed, once again focusing his attention on Wilt. “Who are these guys raiding the ship? Are they the airship-raiding bandits that I heard so much about?”
“Huh?” Wilt raised an eyebrow.
“Oh, a tough guy,” Lady Vera clapped at Kay. Her tone of voice was sarcastic, not even hiding the anger that she felt at him for defying her. She stared at her subordinates with a glare in her eye. “All right! All of you! GET HIM!”
The Reavers pointed their weapons at Kay, who adopted a fighting stance. Since their main shooters had been defeated, they were all going to fight him with swords and knives.
“Hey you,” Kay told Wilt. “You should probably get out of the way.”
“Uh right…” Wilt stood up, feeling less scared than before. “Good idea! Good luck in your fight.”
The Florian stood up and ran out of the room. His survival instincts told him to find his way out of the airship. But he only ran until he reached a wall, and then turned back to see how the Fenger was going to do against the Reavers.
The Reaver henchmen charged at Kay, who dodged all of their attacks. Despite their fierceness, their technique was unrefined. They only tried vertical and horizontal slashes, which made them predictable.
“I got you now!” a swordsman Reaver tried to cut Kay to pieces. The Fenger just used back steps to get out of the cutting range of the sword.
POW!
Kay punched the swordsman in the gut once he got the timing right. As the swordsman fell, more Reavers tried to take down Kay. But the Fenger was ready this time. He greeted one of his assailants with a roundhouse kick that made him fall on two associates. Then he jumped in the air and performed two consecutive spin kicks that knocked down a large number of Reavers.
A swordsman charged at Kay with a claymore. The Fenger backflipped away from the giant sword to avoid being cleaved in half.
“Every Reaver in the ship!” Lady Vera shouted in a communication device. “I want you to come to me with your weapons ready! We’re making an example out of a passenger!”
As Lady Vera gave her orders, more Reavers came in to attack Kay.
“There’s too many of these guys!” Wilt remarked fearfully, afraid of what was going to happen to his savior. “He’s not gonna be able to take them all! It doesn’t matter how good he is, there’s a limit to what a person can do against large numbers of opponents.”
“Would ya mind giving me some space?” Kay turned around and ran across the hall.
“He’s running away!” Lady Vera pointed at Kay. “He’s reached his limit. Catch him and bring him to me! I’ll shoot him straight in the head!”
“What’s he doing?” Wilt asked, noticing that Kay was smiling rather than showing fear, as if he had a plan.
As the Fenger kept running, some sort of visible darkness gathered around him. The darkness focused on Kay’s hand as he clenched it into a fist. He then turned around to face the large number of Reavers that were chasing him.
“BLACK BULLET!”
Kay threw a powerful punch, shooting a mass of darkness that was the size of his fist and shaped like a bullet at his pursuers. The moment the darkness hit the Reaver at the front, it expanded with a loud explosion. The Reavers were sent flying in the air and landed on the ground, visually unconscious.
“What the…?” Lady Vera was too stunned to finish her question.
“The heck is that?” Wilt finished Lady Vera’s question without either of them knowing.
“WHOOO!” Kay fist pumped. “That was one heck of a Black Bullet!”
Lady Vera stared at the Fenger and then at her subordinates. She’d been a thief for a long time, and she knew what Kay was now that she saw him in action.
“So, you must be a Caster,” Lady Vera remarked, cocking an eyebrow at Kay.
“Pretty much,” Kay smirked confidently. “I’m a Shadow Caster actually. Also, I’m a Fenger!”
“Shadow?” Wilt asked silently. It was his first time seeing a Caster in action, so he was taken by surprise at what he saw.
“Whatever!” Lady Vera pointed her gun at Kay. “Caster or not, you are no match for a Reaver like me! With my Magus Gear, I’ll blow your scrawny ass away.”
“Hold up, these guys I’ve heard about before are Reavers?” Kay asked, sounding dismayed and disappointed at Lady Vera. “What kinda Reaver attacks ships and steals from people? Sounds like a buncha shitty thieves to me.”
A vein bulged in Lady Vera’s forehead. Nobody dared to talk to her like that since she started her career. It didn’t matter if her opponent was a Reaver, she wasn’t going to let him get away with insulting her.
“And you’re just some little shit punk who needs to get his mouth shut!” Lady Vera prepared to fire her gun. “Allow me!”
BOOM!
Lady Vera pulled the trigger, releasing a blast of air from her gun.
Kay’s eyes switched from annoyed to surprised. The Fenger jumped out of the way before the pressurized air struck him. It left a dent on a wall, letting him know how dangerous it was to get hit by the air bullet.
“WHOA!” Kay sounded impressed. “That Magus Gear is pretty cool!”
Lady Vera screeched angrily as she kept shooting at Kay. Despite the power of her Magus Gear, Kay was having fun dodging her blasts. Lady Vera chased after him, forcing Kay to run around the ship to avoid collateral damage.
“Stand still and get blasted already!” Lady Vera shouted as she shot at him three times.
She kept firing wind blasts at Kay, but he kept dodging them by jumping out of the way.
I have to calm down! Lady Vera thought as she ran. Shooting is about precision rather than speed. He’ll dodge my blasts if I fire straight at them. But what would happen if I shoot him before he has the chance to react?
Calming down, Lady Vera shot at Kay again. He jumped out of the way. Rather than raise her gun to aim at him while he was airborne, Lady Vera kept the gun pointed at the spot where he was going to land.
BOOM!
She pressed the trigger. A compressed ball of wind was shot from her gun, striking Kay on the back. The Fenger cried out in shock as the wind ball knocked him into a guard rail behind him.
“I got you!” Lady Vera shouted triumphantly.
“Ack,” Kay groaned as he turned around, putting a hand on his back from where the air blast hit him.
BOOM!
A second wind blast hit him head on. She made sure to increase the amount of wind pressure to create a wind dome.
“OHOHOHOHOHOHO!” Lady Vera laughed haughtily as she kept shooting at the wind dome to further ensure Kay’s death. “Damn good all that jumping around now that you’ve flown of the edge!”
She kept laughing for a few seconds and then stopped when she noticed something once the air dome dissipated.
Kay was standing on the spot where he was blasted. His guard was up, and he did not move an inch.
“The hell?” Lady Vera asked. “Just who is this guy?”
“H-he didn’t even flinch!” Wilt shouted in amazement.
“All done? Cool. My turn!” Kay grinned as he lunged forward.
Lady Vera hissed as she started firing at Kay. She thought that she could hit him again now that he was running straight ahead. She was wrong. He kept dodging her air blasts until he was close enough to her. He cocked back his hands as shadows gathered around them.
“BLACK BEAK!”
Kay lunged at high speeds before striking Lady Vera with both fists.
BOOM!
“GYYYAAAAAAAHHHHHH!” Lady Vera shrieked as the explosion from Black Beak sent her flying upwards into the sky and out of the airship.
Kay placed a hand on his forehead to see where Vera was going. He noticed that her body was going to crash into a Reaver airship connected to the skydrome airship.
“Gotta make sure she’s down,” Kay remarked, trying to see where she landed. But he needed to find a better vantage point first.
The Fenger ran to the top of the skydrome airship, leaving Wilt alone and stunned by Kay’s victory over Lady Vera.
“And he beat her in a single hit…” Wilt was shocked and awed with what he witnessed.
“Whew…uhh…you guys think that was too much?” Kay looked around, casually asking Wilt and Vera’s crew before he stepped on the energy anchor.
“WHAT DO YOU THINK?!” Vera’s crew angrily yelled at Kay.
The Fenger shrugged his shoulders and went to the top of the airship to see if he could find Vera. The Reaver crew wisely decided not to go after him. As they watched the Fenger go, Wilt was staring with awe at him.
“This guy…he’s the answer that I’m looking for!” Wilt thought to himself as a smile spread across his face.
The first thing that Trixta did when she entered the Reaver ship was to try to escape with it. Unfortunately, she didn’t know how to turn off the energy anchors, so she was suspended in the air for the time being.
Seeing that it was impossible to leave for the time being, Trixta decided to explore the airship in an attempt to find treasure and to see if there were some escape vehicles that she could use to run away with the treasure that she gathered.
That being said, finding treasure in an airship filled with thieves proved to be harder than Trixta thought.
Where the hell is the treasure room? Trixta thought angrily. If I had an airship like this, I would have made one of the rooms into a treasure room!
Annoyed at the lack of treasure rooms, Trixta decided to check on the captain’s quarters to see if there was at least something valuable that she could steal.
The red fox was annoyed when she noticed that the room didn’t’ have anything valuable. It had a bed, a bathroom, a vanity mirror, a desk, and it was filled with lots of pictures of Lady Vera.
“Oh come on!” Trixta complained as she started scanning the room, starting with the desk. “This puta has plenty of pictures of herself yet she can’t afford to have a safe anywhere?”
The desk was empty apart from some cartography tools, maps of sky routes, and a captain’s log that she wasn’t interested in reading. She closed the desk shelves and then stared at the rest of the room.
The most prominent feature was a portrait that showed Lady Vera. She was semi-nude in the picture, using a revealing underwear and bed sheets to flaunt her beauty. The average male would be impressed, but Trixta was not amused at the wolf’s vanity.
“And this is overkill,” Trixta remarked as she pointed at the woman in the portrait as if she were talking to her. “You aren’t that sexy!”
An idea came to mind. What if the portraits were a diversion for intruders? What if they were meant to convey something that was hidden? It was a theory, but she was up for trying it if she got treasure.
Trixta grabbed the portrait with her hands and lifted it, putting it on the side. She happily yipped when she saw a built-in hidden safe behind the portrait that she removed.
“Vaya!” Trixta clapped her hands greedily. “Now we’re talking.”
She only needed her fingers and ears to open the safe. And then she was going to see if there was a scape vehicle that she could steal from the airship to escape.
CRASH!
A body collided against the window of the room. Even as the window shattered to pieces, the body kept flying until it collided into a wall. Though the wall stopped the momentum, it broke from the impact, leaving a pair of booted legs sticking out.
“Oye! Que mierda!” Trixta exclaimed as she got away from the safe and approached the body to see if the crash victim was still alive.
Trixta gasped when she noticed that it was Lady Vera. She was battered and had burns all over her body. Though she was glad that the thief who attacked the airship she was boarding got what was coming to her, Trixta was feeling confused.
Who did this to Lady Vera? And was that person good or bad? She needed to get away from here before she got caught in the fire.
Gulping, Trixta walked towards the broken window. She looked down at the skydrome airship and noticed that there was a Fenger standing at the top of it.
The Fenger smiled and pointed at the broken window. Trixta hid back into the room, trying to hide from him. But from the corner of her eye, she realized that the Fenger wasn’t pointing at her. He was pointing at Lady Vera, who was still visible from below.
“By the way, lady, the name’s Kay Crossroad! And I’m a Reaver!”
Chapter 1: End