Chapter 4

The Kaiken's Hidden Slumber

The Queen walked with her hands across her stomach, her fingers laced between one another and sried as. her companion walked with her, At a modest height of five foot six inches, The Queen was not short by any means, however compared to one of her long time knights and closest friends, Sir Grym, she was tiny. The large Lupine male stood an astounding six foot eight inches, and was clad in dark red and black armor showing of that he was in fact part of the Queens personal guard. Clad in an ebony coat with lighter accents along the bottoms of his forearms and hands, as well a his lower legs, Sir Grym does not look like someone to be trifled with. Just as he goes to speak some resounding shouts ring out over the crowd, there is some sort of disagreement, and it may turn nasty. With a twinge of discontent, Grym lowers his head to the Queen speaking quickly as they stop moving "M'lady, I am sorry, I have to cut my time with you short, but my duties come first." The Queen nodded after all She made Grym into the knight which stood before her. She knew he did his job the best he could and that was all she could ask of him. So as a parting gift, she patted him on the head and smiled once again "Go on, I will be in the garden once again if you would like to spend some time with me again” And with that said, Grym turned his tail swaying a bit before he crossed the crowd disappearing into it. The Queen continued on back towards her castle.

Her walk was short and pleasant only taking around ten minutes. A few people stopped to wish the Queen a good day. In a pleasant mood, She wandered back into the vast garden she possessed for once, just enjoying it, not worrying about her queenly duties. Lush beds of flowers with a combined fragrance unplaceable anywhere but within her own hedge lined haven, The Queen ended up back at the place she saw her guests earlier this morning. The tall tree with the various citizens around it. Seems like t's a popular tree. She stopped short seeing the familiar pale red hair from one of the peaple she spoke with this morning. The Queen saw just how willing this person was to be arm deep in dirt, and mud just to make the plant life in the garden a touch happier, which in turn made the Queen happier. “How are they feeling today Alice?" The Queen spoke to the woman with the pale hair which caused her to turn. The Queen hid a laugh as Alice appeared startled by the sudden voice behind them. “The plants, My Queen? They are ok, though I'm not sure about one of these flowers, seems nothing do ‘makes them happy.” Alice spoke as they turned back towards the red and black pedaled flower in front of them. Each pedal looked like some sort of blade, curved and beautiful like a scythe. Only a few were open however, the rest of its sibling stalks, were closed showing a beautiful spiral thanks to the shape of the pedals. The Queen smiled looking to the blooms, they were one of her favorite flowers inside the garden. “They are nocturnal, thriving on the less harsh light from the moon than the sun. That is why they are not happy, you are waking them up." The Queen responded shedding some light on the cause of the flowers malcontent.

The conversation continued as Alice asked a few more questions about the surrounding flora, making sure to learn each plants favorite things to keep them all happy. However, it seemed this conversation was a bit to loud as from the tree a person woke, and landed on the ground near the pair speaking. Alice spoke first "W- what?!" it was a mixture of startled and concerned, after all a person did just literally fall out of a tree. The man stretched out his body, putting his hands over his head and flexing up, then putting them behind himself and pulling his shoulders back. He finishes working the sleep from his joints before realizing he has company, he then steps back also startled "Oh! Ah... Good morning..." The Queen snickers a bit and looks to the tree “Seems this tree is home to more than a few families of fauna." The new man is strange in appearance. He is tall, almost as tall as Sir Grym, and very cut. He possesses a thin long tail and slight redish-brown hair, a fair face and light eyes. He is a Kaiken, a type of demi-human race that has characteristics of apes or monkeys. Alice stands up dusting their hands off onto the apron they wear and rolls their eyes "Seems I went from gardener to Inn keeper” The new figure scratches his head, as he laughs nervously "Ahehe.... sorry I didn't know the price for the inn and I didn't exactly have the coin to find out so I used this tree for the night." the man looks up to the tree and smiles at it before he turns around, remembering the Queen from earlier "Oh! Where are my manners, Allow me to introduce myself!” The man pulls from the tree a long red stained pole with gold caps at the ends and slams it into the ground planting it vertically before bowing at his waste very low "My name is Wu Jak Shimon! Wandering warrior and a master of the art of Auramancy.”

Wa Jak returned from his bow and lifted the staff, fighting the urge to flourish it before he sits into a holster on his back, a simple leather strap that was buttoned to secure the staff in place. He then turned his gaze to the Queen and Alice, the former standing with a simple smile on her face before she bowed her head in return of the introduction. The latter however, was in a state of shock by the sudden display and a bit displeased as said newcomer could have damaged a plant if he wasn't careful. Alice mumbled under their breath as they tuned away from the Kaiken, "Please try to be careful." Alice then left the group only. traveling about five feet before stopping to weed a plot of vividly colored flowers. The Queen spoke second, keeping her gaze on Wu Jak "I can tell you possess a fair amount of martial prowess, There is a place you can practice if you so choose Mr. Wu Jak" She covered her mouth with a hand hiding a subtle snicker. She knew she was much, much older than him and yet, she felt like teasing him a bit. After her snicker, the Queen motioned through the garden to a large open area with some straw dummies placed through out it. Wu Jaks face lit up several shades of scarlet as he heard the Queens words. He didn't hear the snicker due to his focus being broken by what she said. Once he shook off the strange bashful feeling he had, Wu followed the motion of her hand to see the training grounds. He felt a rush of excitement, It had been ages since he could practice let alone train. He smiled looking back to the Queen before he bowed to her, expressing a fair amount of thanks. He then practically skipped over to the training grounds. As Wu left the Queen continued her routine and turned to head back into her castle, while she moved her shadow seemed too shift in shape as a being literally crawled out of it. A shadowy wolf-like figure slowly stood over the Queen as the darkness dripped from his body, Sir Grym slowly returned to his normal form, As the Queen's almost literal guard dog, he possessed some interesting powers. Most of which he never got to use. Her stride was slow and leisurely. Sir Grym spoke to her as they walked, his attention split between the Kaiken and his monarch, "My Queen, that issue in the marketplace was dealt with, who was that?"

The Queen returned her hands to their natural place in front of her before she spoke "A warrior Kaiken with a knack for Auramancy apparently. Since you have done your duty today, you may go ‘play’ with him but do be careful.” She didn't look back at him as she spoke for she knew what he was going to do. With that in mind, the Queen casually continued forward towards her castle to prepare for the next part of her routine, assisting her people with their issues or requests, things that must be brought to her in order to be fixed. Sir Grym on the other hand practically bounded over to the training grounds. He slowed his excited scramble to a reformed walk as he approached the Kaiken. He was about the same height as Grym and while it wasn't uncommon for Grym's race to be tall, he had yet to meet someone not of Lupine descent who was near his height. Grym examined Wu as he stretched watching him loosen his limbs, no doubt for more fluid movements. He was getting excited again. He was eager to see if he had found another sparring partner. Grym's excitement almost forced him to shout his next words "Hey! Kaiken, what is your name?" Grym was standing a modest distance away from him just in case the Kaiken was jumpy. Grym hated jumpy people. Wu did in fact jump a bit at the sudden words spouted to him. He looked up and saw a lupine, one wearing black armor with red accents. Wu felt a sudden rush of panic, had he done something wrong? Why was there a guard, or worse, a knight here? Was he in trouble? He went to speak but was cut off by the lupine again. "My name is Sir Grym of the Queen's Knights. You look pretty tough, shall we spar?" Wu Jak felt his brain stop working for a second. A knight, was asking him to spar? He had several questions but felt it wise not to ask as he did not know the temperament of this lupine. He nodded his head slowly as he chose his words "I don't exactly have a gauge of how strong I am, but I wouldn't mind the practice. After all, The Queen wouldn't pick a pushover for a Knight. My name is Wu Jak Shimon! But please Call me Wu." Wu let out a formal bow again, a reaction more than conscious choice.

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Grym stepped forward and smirked, he was going to have fun with this. "First, claim all weapons you plan to use in this fight. From there we shall begin, and I'll even let you have the first hit" Grym stopped after positioning himself in the middle of the grounds, large open section devoted for this type of training. He held his hands by his sides and allowed his darkness to creep up one of them, once it reached his elbow, Grym reached into the air but found a swirling black rift from which he pulled a blade whos color was that of the night sky. A polished longsword that had possibly seen many uses and was very well taken care of. Grym spoke again “I will use my darkness, and my Ebridite blade. Nightstalker. What shall you use?" Wu watched the display and knew very quickly he needed to be careful. Rumors said the Knight's were not weak, and some of them had terrifying powers. Hiding any signs of nervousness or fear, Wu reached behind himself and grabbed his Staff holding it out with one hand as he spoke “I will use My staff, and my ability of Auramancy." With his words said, Wu dropped into his stance, his legs spread wide and his center of mass low while the staff was held in both hands with one end out, much like a spear. He steeled his eyes and prepared for anything. Grym on the other hand did not move much at all, He left the blade pointing down in a sort of relaxed position. He also left the darkness up his free arm. Grym spoke to shatter the eerie silence that stood over the training grounds. "I did say you could have the first strike Wu, So by all means. Make it count.” he didn't move, or even brace. Grym was sure whatever was thrown at him he could counter or block with ease, after all he is a Knight. Wu did not speak, instead he sprung to action, lunging forward to strike the chest of Grym with the tip of the Staff. While his movement was fast and well timed, Grym was faster. The shadowy Lupine simply flicked his wrist and slapped the spear with the broad side of his blade, sending the staff upwards. As a counter Gyrm took a single step forward, with is free hand he sent forward a punch aimed for Wu's abdomen. Wu reacted by instinct to the punch and flipped his staff around planting it next to him before he used it as leverage to dash around the strike. Wu was already panting, he could feel the adrenaline in his body already. One wrong move and he could be seriously hurt or worse... Wu regained his posture and kept his breathing level as he waited for Grym's next attack.

For Gyrm, a battle was home. He enjoyed the thrill of a fight, the possibility of injury and the brush with death that each encounter carried with it. Wu dodging was exactly what he expected. Grym spun wide dragging the very tip of his blade across the ground, darkness sliding up it as he sent it out like a wave off the blade. Wu reacted again but this time he had a plan. Wu stepped away from the blade of darkness letting it pass by him before he lunged once again, his staff finding its mark this time. The end of Wu's staff striked firmly against Grym's abdomen before the force of the blow slid him backwards by a few feet. The Lupine touched his stomach then looked to Wu growling a bit with a smile. "Lucky strike, you won't get another." Grym placed his sword in the ground for a moment before the darkness on his free arm slid further up his body consuming it completely. Now Grym no longer resembled a flesh and blood Lupine, instead, he looked like a burning wolf like shape stood on two legs. His eyes had lost their iris as well leaving them blank and empty. Grym began to cackle as he walked forward towards Wu taunting him as he moved "Go ahead! Try again!" Wu reacted to the transformation as anyone would. He was shocked. The Knight in front of him looked as if he lit himself on fire, yet, the flames did not burn upwards but drip off of him onto the ground. Seeing no other path out of his current situation Wu began an onslaught of rapid and short jabs with his Staff aiming at Grym's chest and stomach, his final strike was a large sweep which Wu watched literally “cut” Grym in haf at the waist. He outwardly panicked now. None of his strikes had hit anything solid, it was as if he was striking air. Grym's laugh ceased as he gripped Wu's weapon jerking him forward staring down to him eye to eye. “My turn" Grym proceeded to slam his fist into Wu's stomach knocking all the air from his chest by spasming his diaphram. The second strike Grym hit Wu with send him back into the arms of a training dummy. Internally Grym was overjoyed, his darkness was free and it was having the time of its life, however, somewhere in his head, the normal Grym screamed out to try and get control back. The cry was in vain. For the thrill of the fight had taken him and it would take more than a cry from his normal self to bring him back.

Wu hit the dummy and it stopped him hard. He struggled to breathe, it was not the hardest hit he had taken but it was within the running for the top ten. He braced himself on his staff and stood up using it to help keep his balance while he sorted out his equilibrium. That combo of hits was jarring and vicious. No wonder Sir Grym held the title of Knight. He was vicious if he needed to be. Grym walked around in a small circle as he spoke, his breaths sounded lie a strained cackle mixed with an animal like how. "I hope your stronger than you look! Because after this next strike, you'll be lucky to be conscious let alone standing.” Grym opened his arms as darkness began to pool at his palms forming into two massive orbs that crackled and seemed to burn the very air around him with their influence. Wu saw the attack forming and smirked, He grabbed the staff in both hands as his own palms lit up with a white light, His Aura. A manifestation of his own wills and emotions. White was neutral and his most commonly used aura. He adjusted his grip to the middle of the staff and began flourishing it while pushing his aura into the weapon creating a sort of hemi- sphere in front of himself made of said white aura. Wu spoke only two words but their impact set Grym off like a flame to tinder. "Heaven's Ward!" Once his words were spoken the hemi-sphere seemed to solidify. then begin to fade, each pass of the staff within its limit refreshed the shield Wu had formed and he hoped it was enough to defend against what was about to hit him. Grym heard the words and it snapped his attention to Wu, seeing the Kaiken standing so soon after the strike he moved his hands forward and spoke "Umbra Cannon!" Once the words rang out over the grounds the orbs coalesced into a single form which launched a large beam of darkness directly forward right at W's shield. The unstoppable force met with the possibly immovable object, the resulting clash of powers cause an intense light at the point of contact. As Grym funneled more power into the beam making it increase in strength and width, Wu sped up his flourishes refreshing his shield faster to keep up with the assault Unknown to Wu, Grym had begun to step forward, slowly but surely closing the gap making the beam he fired more and more of a threat. The Shadow Lupine reached a mere five feet from the Kaiken the beam bearing down and actually breaching the edge of the shield, looping back around behind it to where Wu stood. He saw the excess he wasn't blocking coming for him. He had to think of a solution and when he finally got an idea, he was also given the window to use it in. Grym moved his arms back just enough to give a break in the beam as he charged up for what he thought was the final and breaking blow. He would never know how wrong he was, for as the bear let off its juggernaut like attack, Wu makes a large sweep with his staff, white aura burning from both the metal caps and his hands as Wu lept upwards spinning to gain momentum before slamming his staff into the ground the same way a lumberjack cuts fire wood. The resulting eruption of aura from the weapon sent Wu backwards into a large Cindervood tree which caught him with a protesting whine as the tall but thin trunked tree bent a bit. Gyrm however was launched into a stone wall that surrounded the training grounds on two sides. The flash of Aura and sudden shock of the attack had pulled both of them out of their adrenaline highs and brought them back to reality. The Queen would not be happy to hear Grym got carried away... Again...