Post by Ryn on Jun 21, 2012 20:32:10 GMT -5
(Hello everyone, I started this story in February but due to school and track and field I had to stop working on it. NOW after months of work it is finally finished. My first story of many that's going to be on this site. I hope you all thoroughly enjoy this as I had worked pretty hard on it PLEASE tell me what you think of it.
For those who don't know Crux are an anthromorphic mix of human, dragon, wolf, and rabbit. Visit Ryn's character sheet for a visual image.)
The cool Spring air in the wonderful city of Avaleur was about to create a much needed hot day after a brief period of rainfall and cold weather, but as for Ryn Isamu, a powerful Crux and leader of the Kazukai Clan, he wasn’t feeling all that well. He woke up in his house in the community of Rorikstead, a small town located 8 miles from the gates of Avaleur, and coughed. He sat up on his bed which was in the middle of the room against the wall. His long tail hung off the edge of it. His large house was made of Oak which would make it cool in the Summers and warm in the Winters. Along his walls he had mementoes collected on his previous adventures, a few artworks of scenic paintings and scrolls, and above his bed was a hung up dragon hide.
On his oak floor was a bear rug and a chest in front of his bed. In the corner of the room was a sturdy staircase that led to the lower levels, his kitchen and living room.
He felt very groggy. The sunlight shining from the window to the right of his large bed made him shut his eyes. It was warm on his snow white fur but his very large ears went down as his head pulsated in pain.
“Wake up Chucklehead!” Nat, his girlfriend, says knocking on his window. Since hearing was extremely amplified for Crux because of their very large ears the thumps from the window were like drums going off which only worsened Ryn’s headache. He smiled trying to suppress and fight off whatever pain he felt and got out of the bed, stumbling a bit. His long tail made a thump sound as it made contact with the smooth oak floor and his the warm floor felt good on his paws. Throughout the night he was shirtless because he had a bad habit of blasting things in his sleep. He wore only black sweatpants that went down to his feet. As he got up his whole body felt drained of it’s energy. He opened the window and Nat immediately hugged him tightly and kissed him, her tail intertwining with his. Ryn smiled happily holding her. He loved her and Namesiwa’s dying wish was for Ryn to not let Nat be the one that got away. But was Ryn truly ready to settle down?
“Hey beautiful.” Ryn greets, his arms still around her. “What are you doing here so early?”
“Well we’re supposed to be training the kids today remember?” Nat asks. “I thought I’d stop by and go with you.” She smiles.
Ryn was bewildered, his green and orange eyes widened and his tail began to sway. How could he have forgotten? As the Clan leader of the Kuzukai it was his duty to train the new generations of Crux, and now that the Clan had moved to Avaleur he was not only training Crux but other kids from around the city.
“That’s right.” Ryn says remembering, he had to get ready.
Nat kept him from moving and she looked him in the eyes a bit worried, “Hey, are you okay?” She asked feeling his head.
“Yeah…I’m fine why?” He argues, even though he felt very weak. He went to his dresser being sure hold in whatever coughs that were trying to come out. He pulled open the top dresser drawer and after moving stuff around he saw a photograph of his father and him together when he was younger. He looked at it for a moment puzzled, he never remembered this photo being taken, and then continued to search for his everyday clothes.
Nat followed him not giving up.
“Ryn don‘t take this the wrong way if I‘m wrong.... But I think you‘re sick.” She says.
“What? No I‘m not.” Ryn lies, his head still hurting and his body still feeling weak. He felt something, a pressure building up in his nose. His green eye twitched as he inhaled. “ACHOOO!” Hot, scorching fire blew from his mouth and ignited the wooden wall. Nat quickly rushed and put it out by frantically patting it down. The ending result was a large scorch mark on his wall.
“Yes…you are.” She chuckled and grabbed his pawed hand starting to lead him back to his bed.
“No really I can tough it out we have to train and…Ah..Ah…Ah-” Nat plugs Ryn’s nose before he could sneeze again.
“Thank you.” He says. “ How could I be sick? I’ve always been so…..healthy?” Ryn asks dumbfounded his nose fully stuffed and his ears going down.
Nat rolled her eyes and laid him back on his bed. Ryn stubbornly got back up.
“I mean what about the Cruxlings? They need the training and-”
Nat pushes him back down.
“Don’t worry.” Nat assures. “The Cruxlings need you to rest so you can get better.” She says sitting next to him.
As good as it felt to lie down Ryn wasn’t about to stay cooped up on this wonderful day. He stubbornly got back up again.
“Nat…really it’s not… a big deal.” It seemed the more he tried to fight it the worse his condition seemed to get. He began to feel light headed.
Nat lightly pushed his fur covered chest to get him to lie back down.
“Ryn it’s okay.” She says gently. “You won’t be any good to the kids if you show up like this and if you try to go out you’ll just get everyone else sick. We‘ll just have to reschedule.” Nat lied down next to him.
Ryn coughed hard, Nat was right, he’d just slow everything and everyone down while he was in this state. He sighed, he hated feeling useless and not being able to do anything.
Nat hugged him putting her head on his chest and Ryn was taken by surprise.
“Hey…how come you‘re so affectionate today?” He asked curious.
Nat smiled and rested her eyes. “It‘s a long story….I just had a dream last night.”
For a moment silence seemed to be the loudest noise in the room. Ryn closed his eyes, the room seemed to be spinning as his headache got worse.
Nat continued, “I had a dream that we were being attacked…by bandits or something, I can’t remember. Anyway, I was running towards the village as fast as I could but I was so slow. Everyone was fighting the monsters off but they weren’t strong enough. No matter what I did, I couldn’t save anyone. Everyone around me was dying and there wasn’t anything I could do….That was when I saw you get attacked. I tried to fight them but I couldn’t reach you in time, and that was when I woke up.” She hugs Ryn tighter. “I know I act tough and all, but seeing everyone you love die…” She looks up at Ryn who’s asleep and chuckles. “Typical…” She says.
Ryn fell into a deep sleep. His whole body felt like it was floating in the air and he felt very nauseous. Everything seemed to be spinning, images of his past flashed quickly, things from his adventures in avaleur, things from when he was young, and before he knew it everything went black….
He heard his name being called, it started out very faint but it gradually began to get louder and louder. Suddenly he felt a thump on his chest.
“Ryn!” A little girl’s voice said.
Ryn darted up. Everything felt extremely different, his head no longer ached and his strength had returned, he tried to open his eyes but felt resistance. Someone had their hands over his eyes and from the feel of it, it was a crux. Ryn smiled, his sickness must have past and one of the little Cruxlings must have gotten into his house. He playfully went along with it.
“Okay who is-” Ryn stopped mid-sentence. What the heck was that? Was that his voice? It sounded higher pitched. He forcefully cleared his throat.
“Alright now who is this?” He said but his voice still sounded higher pitched and not it’s usual deep tone.
“Ryn you’re such a chuckle head.” The voice giggled and the hands went off his eyes.
Ryn went wide-eyed, it was Nat but a much younger version of herself. She had to have been only 12 or 13. His room no longer looked the same either, it was smaller and more decorated than usual. There was warm sunlight shining through the window that was now at the front of his room rather than the side.
Ryn yelled pointing a finger at Nat. “Nat!? You’re-I’m!?” He looked himself over. He had on a white-T shirt and black sweatpants. His muscle tone was much slimmer and his ears and tail were smaller. His long black highlighted hair was short and spikey and his overall size was smaller too. He yelled again rushing over to a mirror that was at the side of his room. As soon as he looked into it he couldn’t believe what he saw. He was 12 again. His tail fluttered around in panic, knocking stuff off drawers.
“What is going on here? I’m dreaming, I must be dreaming.” He smacked himself across the face.
Nat looked at him in extreme confusion.
“Okay,,..okay I’ll just hold my breathe.” Ryn takes a deep breathe and then holds it in a desperate attempt to wake up.
“Ryn!” Little Nat says walking over to him and punching him in the stomach.
“OOF!“ Ryn doubled over in pain and fell to his knees.
“Didn’t I tell you being stupid was going to start getting painful?” She says holding up another fist.
Ryn looked at her, that punch hurt! This was not a dream. Ryn jumped to his feet paws.
“Nat!” Ryn says grabbing her shoulders. “What happened to us, where am I, why are we so….young!?
He frantically asks.
“Ryn, normally I don’t care but you’re acting really weird.” She says. “I wouldn’t have came to your house if I knew you were going to be like this.” She rolls her eyes again.
“Is everything alright up there?” A stern voice asks. The sound of footsteps were coming up from the stairway.
Ryn went wide-eyed. He hadn’t heard that voice in a very long time. It couldn’t be…
The figure that came up was a White furred and Black striped Crux. It was a male, in his 40’s, who had the muscle tone of an elite warrior. He had a long tail. He wore a Black trench coat, and black pants. On his face was a scar going across his eye and extra fur where the chin was, representing a beard.
He crossed his arms.
“Now Ryn what have I told you about playing nice with Nat?” He asked.
Ryn backed up against the drawer pointing a finger at the man with his jaw dropped. His heart raced.
“There’s no way…This isn’t real..” He said in shock. This had to be a dream but…it felt so real.
The man raised his eyebrow then walked closer to Ryn. He raised his hand and then flicked him on the forehead. “Ow.” Ryn said grabbing his forehead in minor pain.
“Was that real enough for you?” The man said as Nat giggled.
Ryn was wide-eyed, his emotion of shock became an emotion of happiness. He hugged the man very tightly but because of his smaller size Ryn only came up to the his chest.
“Father…” Ryn was nearly in tears.
The man laughed hugging back. “Ryn I’ve only been gone for five minutes.” He says.
“It felt like two years.” Ryn said.
Ryn’s mother died giving birth to him leaving him solely to be raised by his father. His father died of a heart disease two years ago when Ryn was 22. Seeing him again was a miracle.
“Thanks for waking him up for me Nat.” He says.
“Not a problem Mr. Isamu.” Nat says sweetly like a little girl who loves attention. Then she teleports away.
Ryn was amazed to be a kid again but his mind raced with questions. How did this happen? Why did this happen? Everything felt so real but there was just no way it could be. He turned to a window and opened it. The smell of the sea and the warm weather meant that he was back in Tetra. He smiled, whatever this was, a vision, a dream, a coma, he was grateful for it.
“Well I‘m not old or decrepit yet, I have to get back to work.” Mr. Isamu said.
Ryn quickly turned to him, “No wait!” He said eagerly digging through his drawers for clothes. “I’m coming with you.” He saw a bunch of old mementoes that he’d lost, they brought back tons of memories
His dad looked at him like he was crazy and laughed.
“No way, you have school and fighting off all the Hydras is too tough for someone you’re age.” He insisted.
Ryn looked at his dad. How was he supposed to say that he’d already graduated from all the lessons they taught in the community?
“But I know everything there is to know.” Ryn grins folding his arms. He knew his dad couldn’t resist a challenge.
“Is that so?” His dad asked raising an eyebrow. Ryn nodded.
“Okay then you won’t have any problem telling me…who the king of Tetra is will you?”
“Samuel Lawson IV.” Ryn says quickly and he raised his eyebrow.
“Well that was an easy one.” His dad chuckled. “Who….wrote the Treaty of Fidelite?”
“Devan ‘Sharp’ Weaving.” Ryn answers.
“Okay, okay….who was the last king of the city of Avaleur?” His dad grinned.
Ryn laughed, if it wasn’t for his adventure with the dark and light winged angel Kavanah he would have never gotten this.
“King Charles III.” He grins putting the last of his equipment on. Ryn wore a tight black shirt and baggy black pants along with black sleeves for his footpaws. He carried a large iron great sword on his back.
“Well well well, color me impressed, you‘re smarter than you look.” He pats Ryn on his spikey black hair
Ryn rolled his eyes at the joke.
“But that’s just history, and history isn’t going to stop dragon from trying to eat you. What’s the quickest way to kill one of those?” Ryn’s dad smiled, he knew Ryn wouldn’t get this.
Ryn thought for a moment, “Cut off the wings and the tail.”
“Wrong, the quickest way to kill a dragon is to drive a sword through its heart.” Ryn’s dad smiled sympathetically. “Sorry son you lose.” He turned around about to leave.
“Except…a dragon can live through that long enough to kill you and whoever your with, but if you cut off the wings and the tail the dragon can’t move and will succumb to its injuries.” Ryn grinned. (Hey that rhymed)
His dad looked at him, a bit shocked. He was right.
“Well if I didn’t know any better I’d say you’ve been taking lessons from Master Leo” A brief moment of silence passes.
“Fine you don’t have to go to school today… But only if you really want to come with me. Just don‘t get too far from my sight alright?”
Ryn nodded.
“That’s my boy, come on we’re meeting Cam at the edge of town.” He turns around remembering something. “Oh and brush your teeth, you’re not walking out of the house looking like that.”
Ryn and his father walked from their house. Ryn was amazed with all the memories from the old community that he once called home. He always liked the Tetra land better than Avaleur’s as it was always more fertile and soft, not to mention the climate was always sunny and warm while avaleur‘s was chilly and rainy. Other Crux Ryn’s age ran around either training or play fighting with each other.
Ryn kept looking up at his dad at a loss for words. He wanted to tell him everything, just to see what he would say but how was he supposed to say that he had the mindset of a 24 year old from the future or how everything’s changed. His head hurt trying to think about it, Not twenty minutes ago he was lying down with Nat and was an adult, now he was a kid back in Tetra with his clan as if it were 12 years ago.
He tried to think of reason as to why this was happening.
After moments of walking they finally reached a group of warriors on the outskirts of his town. The warriors within’ the group varied from humans and elves, all the way to beast races, but they all had one thing in common, they were all mercenaries hired to cull the population of Hydra within the country. Because of Tetra’s sunny climate and location it often attracted hoards of Hydra, which were very hostile to anyone other than their species. They were very hard to take down, meaning anyone who was skilled enough to hunt them were paid generously in coin. The more you killed, the bigger your pay.
Cam was an old human from Tetra. His real name was Cameron but Ryn’s dad respected him so much he changed his name to that of a Crux. Cameron was much past the age of fighting and hunting, but his charismatic and well-respected personality got him hired to manage the mercenary boards. He was quite pudgy and wore fine clothing. His hair was grey and he had a thick moustache.
He laughed and smiled as he saw Ryn’s father.
“Ho ho if it isn’t Mr. Death himself.” He says limping over. Cameron’s knee was shattered in the big battle between Tetra and the great dragon Iormungand decades ago. Ryn had always wondered how powerful such a creature was to almost destroy the great city of Tetra.
Ryn’s dad gave Cameron a friendly hug.
“Mr. Krekel always good to see you again.” He says. “You remember Ryn, he’s hunting with me today.”
Cam smiled looking at Ryn. Ryn remembered Cameron he always talked to him when he was little, and he was even at his dad’s funeral.
“Well hey there chap, going hunting with your ol’ man today huh? Well that’s a big sword you have there, can you use it?” He asked.
Ryn crossed his arms raising his eyebrow.
“I can take care of myself.” He says. He knew Cam well in the future and he reminded him a lot of Commander Roland in Avaleur.
“Ho ho well you sure are getting your father’s spirit.” Cameron laughed to Ryn’s dad.
“Alright everyone gather round.” He said as all the other mercs came closer. Some laughed at the site of Ryn. It was unheard of for someone his age and size to be there. “You all know the rules, hunt as many hydra’s as you please at your own risk, survival is your own responsibility. Bring the hides back as proof of game and yada yada yada don’t try to kill each other.” Cameron grabs a scroll and reads it.
“Prices for hides have shot up a hundred coin. Apparantly the Dukes nephew was killed after going on a hike, god rest that child‘s soul.” He reads. The other mercs begin to chatter amongst themselves. If one killed enough of them they could be leaving with a hefty paycheck.
“And with that, consider section 4B of Tetra open to the licensed mercenaries, or whoever else wants to get themselves killed.” He says.
As all the other warriors head off Ryn’s dad turned to Ryn.
He gave him a very stern look that made Ryn’s ears go down.
“Alright bud, I want you to stay close to me. If anything happens you just teleport away okay?” He asks.
“Relax I’ve got this.” Ryn says walking past him. He still had the mindset as if he were 24. If he was going to be stuck here for a day he might as well enjoy it.
“Ryn I’m serious.” His dad says grabbing his arm. “I don’t want you getting hurt out there. I know you feel like this is like one of our training sessions but this serious. You heard what happened to the Duke‘s nephew and if something ever happened to you I‘d-”
Ryn looked at him.
“Dad! I know you think that I‘m going to go recklessly charge in the forest like some berserk maniac because you’re my dad and it‘s your job to worry but please relax, I know what I‘m doing.” He pulls away slowly and starts walking down the main stone path.
Mr. Isamu looked at Ryn puzzled, he’d never acted like this before.
“Son do you even know where you’re going?” He asked.
“I’m going West. Hydra’s like sunlight and there’s a clearing just a mile away from the lake.” Ryn answered, his voice cracked. He began to hate his undeveloped 12 year old voice.
Mr. Isamu was surprised, even he didn’t know that. He walked with Ryn observing his strange yet mature behavior.
Meanwhile Ryn the whole time kept thinking of questions to ask to his dad. That was when the biggest question of all hit him.
“Dad?” Ryn asked as he kept walking along the stone path.
His dad looked at him.
“If you had one day to relive you’re childhood, what would you do?”
“What me?” His dad laughed at the thought of the puzzling question.
“Yeah.” Ryn said stopping. “If you had one day to be a kid again, what all would you do?”
His dad thought to himself for a moment.
“Well….I sure as hell wouldn’t waste it.” He said. “I don’t know, I’d probably try to do everything I possibly could. I’d probably do a few things differently….” He looked at Ryn before continuing.
“Why do you ask?”
“Well….what if I told you-” Suddenly a large and spiked tentacle shot out at them.
Ryn’s dad instinctively caught the large tentacle with one hand. Ryn crouched and immediately shot a massive lightning ball at the creature. It caused a small explosion in the forest and within five seconds of a roar, the creature fell dead.
Ryn looked at his pawed hands, he was not this powerful when he was 12. He had retained his power from when he was 24. His dad looked at him with his jaw dropped.
“Ryn did you just…..” As he looked he saw a clearing of the forest was destroyed by the explosion and that the creature was an elder hydra. The lightning ball was a specialty move, meaning only beings that specialized in that element could become a master at it. Crux didn’t specialize in an element until they were at least 21.
His eye twitched as he looked at Ryn.
“What if I told you that that was happening to me?” Ryn says referring to the question he’d asked his dad.
**
And so Ryn told his father everything throughout the day. The Hydra’s were easy to kill with the two working together, but Mr. Isamu found himself dumbfounded the whole time Ryn explained to him. They sat down next to a lake while Hydra kept falling into a pit trap they set. They ate a lunch that Ryn’s dad had packed earlier. One would think it was a whole feast made for four with all the food set out.
“Okay so wait a minute.” Ryn’s dad said gnawing on a rice ball . “So you’re not….from this…” He had trouble putting a well thought question together.
“So you’re from the future…but in your 12 year old body?” The more he came into grips with what was happening the more confused he got.
“That’s right.” Ryn says eating chicken leg after chicken leg. As much as his dad ate, Ryn always had a bigger appetite than him. It was partially the reason the Avaleur pub kicked him out, twice.
He kept staring at Ryn as if he were an alien.
“And…you and….. Nat?” His face was of shear shock, his eyebrow twitched.
Ryn again nods his head.
“WWHAT!?” His dad falls back, his face in a state of pure dumbfounded ness. His eyes staring into the sky. “Oh my god…Eli was right….” He muttered to himself…”
After a moment, and another hydra falling right into a pit trap, Ryn’s dad jumped to his feet paws. His emotion changing from shocked to eager.
“Well, don’t make me inquisitive, where am I in the future?” He said eager to hear.
Ryn looked down, his heart sinking a little, his large ears went down.
Ryn’s dad looked at him and immediately knew the answer.
“Oh….Well hey…,” He says patting Ryn’s head again. “It’s okay, we all gotta go sometime right?”
Ryn looks back at him.
“I mean it’s not like I’m going to grow weak and die of some disease or something like that.”
Ryn looked down again.
“Oh….” His dad said again. “Wow really?” He asked dumbfounded.
Ryn didn’t know why but he felt a sense of guilt, how would one feel telling their parent that they were going to die in the next 12 years.
Trying to switch from the dark subject Ryn’s brought the question of Nat back up.
“Hey what’s the deal with you and Nat being a couple? You sly dog, how did that happen? From what I can see you two are always at each other’s throats, one time almost literally. Heck one time two fought so long you‘re tails got tied in a knot.”
Ryn smiled thinking about that moment with Nat.
“It started when we were teenagers really, her family was going through some…things and she moved in with us. We trained day in and day out with you, and one thing led to another…”
“Another?” Ryn’s dad asked with his eyebrow raised.
Ryn laughed.
“Well when her dad died, something just changed..we quit arguing and fighting and started to actually like each other.”
“Wow, so Ray didn’t make it either huh?” Ryn’s dad asked.
Ryn nodded.
“So have you two….?” Ryn’s dad asked.
“Have you two what?”
“You know, have you two….? “ Ryn’s dad bumped his knuckles together.
“I’m still not following…” Ryn said obliviously.
“Come on, have you two rocked the boat?”
Ryn tilted his head confused still.
“Have you two done fondue, have you done the donut and the hot dog, have you put her on your wheel barrow and-”
“Okay I get it!” Ryn interrupts laughing.
They both laugh for a moment.
“More importantly though…” His dad said getting serious again. “Ryn do you love her?”
Ryn hesitated for a moment because of how sudden the question came.
“I-I uh-”
“Ryn if I never told you before I died I’ll tell you now, don’t make the same mistake I made with your mother, if you really love her, let her know. Don’t wait, or else you’ll lose her. And you may never be able to get her back.”
Ryn nodded understanding.
“So tell me about Avaleur, it’s amazing that town is still there with the war that happened a few years ago.”
“You have no idea.” Ryn laughed.
“Tell me about Roland, a Kingdom’s only as strong as it’s general after all.”
“Roland?” Ryn thought about what to tell his dad about his best friend.
“Well the guy’s an overall very good person, he keeps things in perspective and never loses his cool. I really don’t think I’ve ever seen him mad before. His leadership has actually kept the town from being taken over, twice. I mean if it wasn’t for him Avaleur would have gone up in flames a long time ago.” Ryn explained.
“Sounds like he’s a one man army.” His dad said.
“Well don’t get me wrong, We’re the ones who actually trained the troops, he’s the mastermind behind all of it. He put order into Avaleur.”
“Well speaking of order, who’s the King.”
Ryn was surprised for a moment when he remembered what happened to Phillis.
“Well don’t keep me guessing, who’s the King?” His dad asked again.
“Queen actually…” Ryn corrected.
His dad raised an eyebrow.
“Queen? Oh come on now, next thing you know the soldiers are going to be wearing dresses and be in the kitchen.” He joked.
“She’s tougher than all the soldiers dad. Heck she dates a werewolf.” Ryn laughed.
“Really? Wow the standards for being a soldier really must have gone down. Didn‘t know cooking and cleaning and dating a dog made you a soldier.”
Ryn and his dad laughed for a moment.
“Well what’s her name?”
“Her name’s Namari.” Ryn answered.
His dad immediately went wide-eyed.
“Uh…Ryn..she wouldn’t happen to be an elf now would she?”
“Well yeah she’s a high elf and-”
“W-WHAT!?” His dad falls back again with a bewildered look. “Little Namari, the princess of Fidelite!? She’s the queen of Avaleur!?”
“Woah dad calm down! I mean she didn’t start out as Queen , she was the hand to the King Philis Von Christ and-”
“W-WHAT!?”
**
After a lunch break and afternoon of hard work and extreme explanations, the sun began to set on the beautiful day. Ryn and his Dad made their way to the shore side, after picking up a very hefty paycheck, and sat at a ledge that overlooked the ocean perfectly and watched the sunset.
“Dad, what was mom like?” Ryn never got to meet his mother, he knew he asked this question a million times when he was little but now that he was older he missed hearing his dad’s response.
Ryn’s dad chuckled at the question, “I guess some things never change huh?” He cleared his throat as if he were about to tell a story.
“Well your mother was a fighter, and I don’t mean with her fists and brute strength no, I mean her spirit. She never gave up on anything she did and would do anything to protect the people closest to her. She was as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside too. Bet you didn’t know that you have her eyes, one orange and one green. On the battlefield she was a genius, and I don‘t mean she sets a few traps and sprang them until she won, I mean she could mentally beat someone into a pulp, before the fight had even started…guess that‘s how you could say we met.”
Ryn listened, how he missed his dad so much and now to talk with him one more time. An overwhelming sense of grief hit him. He began to tear up.
“And she was an amazing dancer, the best in the country if you ask me.” He noticed Ryn.
“Hey Hey , what’s the matter bud? You want me to stop? I didn‘t mean to upset you I just-”
“No it‘s not that…” Ryn says wiping away his tears. “I just…I never thought I’d ever see you again.”
“It’s okay bud…it’s alright.” Ryn’s dad hugged him tightly. “I’m not afraid of death Ryn, I’m not sad about it at all.”
Ryn looked up at him.
“If anything I’m happy, Ryn you’ve made me the proudest dad in the world today. You’re the leader of our clan for future generations, and you’ve led them to prosperity. And you and Nat…”
Ryn wiped his tears and his grief turned into happiness.
“Promise me you won’t let her go Ryn, no more waiting, tell her that you really love her.”
Ryn nodded, his dad was right, for awhile Ryn had been afraid to ask Nat the big question. Maybe it was time he finally asked.
“Hey, hold on a moment.” Ryn said. “How am I even supposed to get back to my own time? I mean for all I know I could be stuck here and have to relive everything all over again.”
Ryn’s dad nodded and they thought for a moment.
“Hold on.” Ryn’s dad said as he went through his bag. “Wait just one moment.”
Ryn raised his eyebrow, wondering what his dad was doing.
“ Before you wounded up here did you get hit in the head, were you in a fight and..?” He asked.
Ryn shook his head, “No?”
“Were you sick at all, really sick? Like almost puking your guts out sick?”
Ryn thought for a moment, in the morning he was as sick as his dad described but he still didn’t know where this conversation was going. He nodded his head.
His dad chuckled, “Did you think about any particular memory? I mean did you see or think about something from when you were younger?”
“Yeah,” Ryn nodded again remembering what happened this morning. “I saw a picture of me and you when Nat came in and-.”
“Son of a gun you time ported!” Ryn’s dad laughed. “Wow just when they tell you it’s only a legend and Bam it happens to your own child.”
“Huh?” Ryn asked very confused, both his large ears went down.
“Okay let me explain. As you know our kind, Crux, have the natural ability to teleport from one place to another, walk on walls, see things others can‘t , yada yada yada... Now when a teleporter, usually Crux, gets very sick it sets off a gland in your body for self preservation so you don’t sneeze and wind-up on top of the Tetra Tower, it’s the tallest building in the world in case you’ve forgotten. Anyway, this gland amplifies your teleporting abilities to an extreme level, and in very powerful Crux, gives you the ability to teleport through time itself.” He says.
Ryn was still very confused.
“Ryn you just involuntarily teleported through time.” His dad laughed getting to his feet paws and pacing around. “Time-porting is very rare.”
Ryn got up to his feet paws as well, looking out as the sunset was beginning to turn into night. He thought inquisitively.
“How rare is it?” Ryn asked. “I mean how often does it happen?”
“Think of it this way. Have you ever seen a white werewolf before?”
Ryn shook his head no.
“Me neither, it’s that rare. Remember Grand Master Lee?”
“Yeah.” Ryn laughed, that was a name he hadn’t heard in awhile, he was the clan’s former leader two generations before Ryn’s father came along.
“Well stories have it that he had an experience of time-porting too.”
Ryn’s dad put his hand his on Ryn’s head roughing up his hair like he always did, “Well Ryn, you know I love you very much and I always will, and I couldn’t be more proud of you for all you‘ve accomplished in the future, but I’m going to need my 12 year-old son back now.” He smiles and holds out a Camera he retrieved from his bag with his long tail.
“I can’t have you stuck back in time, what kind of dad would I be if I let that happen huh? What if you alter your own timeline and next thing you know you have to pick a boy and girl from each country to go fight to death in an arena where there can only be one winner?” He asks.
“That sounds familiar…” Ryn says.
They both smile and give each other one last hug.
“Will I ever see you ag-”
“Save it.” Ryn’s dad interrupts. “This isn’t goodbye forever bud. Whenever you need to talk you know where I’ll be.”
“Dead?” Ryn asks.
“Yes…No! I mean right here, in this time. And who knows, maybe if you’re a skilled enough teleporter you can come visit me on the other side.”
“That can happen? Teleporting to the spirit world?” Ryn asks.
His dad shrugs his shoulders and smiles. “We’re Crux bud, anything’s possible.”
Ryn smiles at the possibility.
“Alright now the flash from the camera should jolt your memory and make you teleport back into your own time.” He says. “Don’t ask how I just know that’s how it works.”
“If there‘s such thing as teleporting in the past, is there such thing as teleporting into the future?” Ryn asks.
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Ryn’s dad laughs.
He holds the camera in front himself and Ryn.
“I mean if you can teleport to the spirit world teleporting to the future would be-”
“Cheese on three, one, two,…”
“Wait!” Ryn exclaims. “Do you think I could take you in a fight?”
“Pffft, not a chance.” His dad says. The flash of the camera goes off and Ryn’s mind goes spinning. Everything seemed to be moving by him, he heard many voices of many people from his past and then everything went black again. A voice that was faint was speaking, Ryn couldn’t understand it at first, but then it grew louder and louder and the smell of smoke was in his nostrils.
“Ryn!” A woman’s voice said. “Get your fuzzy butt out of bed you just set your house on fire! The town is under attack!”
“Nat?” Ryn said opening his eyes and seeing everything. It was night time now, he must have slept all of his sickness off because he felt much better now. He looked himself over, his claws were much bigger and so were his ears, his tail was also longer, he was 24 once more. Relieved that he wasn’t in some bizarre time he looked around and saw Nat frantically trying to put out a large fire that had started at in the middle of the room.
“Hi Nat!” Ryn waved relieved to see her again.
“Hi Nat? Hi Nat!? Don’t just sit there and wave to me, help me put this out!” Nat summons water to put out the fire.
“Bandits! There are tons of them. Heh, they picked a hell of a town to raid.” Sounds of fighting could be heard from outside as the Crux warriors fight off the hoards of thugs and bandits attacking.
Ryn thought long and hard about what his dad had told them, he knew that what he experienced was very real and that he would honor his dad’s wishes.
“Nat I have a question.“ Ryn said getting up and standing on his bed.
The sound of wood crashing down and yells could be heard from downstairs.
“And I have a life but you don’t see me flaunting it when I’m under attack!” A few bandits run up the stairs.
“Get them!” One yells.
They charge at the two with swords and axes, ready to pillage the whole village.
“Nat will you marry me?” Ryn asks and teleports in front of Nat.
A bandit lunges at Ryn, but Ryn quickly grabs the bandits arm with his tail.
“You have a hell of a sense of timing!” Nat says kicking the bandit that attacked in the face, sending him spiraling into the wall.
“Well what do you say?” Ryn says taking two swords off of his wall, one with his hand the other with his tail. He gives Nat one as more bandits try to charge at them.
Nat blocks and then kicks a bandit back, “I’m going to have to say, NO!”
Ryn blasts the bandit that was kicked back with a lightning ball. It sent the bandit right into another one.
“You want to stay single? Well we don’t have to make it official.”
“Nope…“ Nat moves in front of Ryn and fights off three bandits that tried to attack at once.
“Well how about we just move-in together?” Ryn asks imbuing the sword with lightning and sending a large blast at the bandits to push them back.
“No!” Nat says.
“Well why not? Is there something wrong with me?” Ryn asks.
Some bandits that knew magic very well began blasting fireballs at the house.
The house begins to catch on fire and quickly spread.
“No, I’d just rather do things my way.” Nat says.
They both teleport outside, startling and surprising the bandits.
“Ryn will you marry me?” Nat asks.
Now Ryn was surprised.
“W-what?” He asks.
As the bandits charge Nat and Ryn go back to back fighting off the group of bandits.
“I’ll say it again, Ryn marry me?”
Ryn smiled.
“I’d love to.”
The bandits began to shoot arrows. The other Crux seemed to be holding them off and defending themselves very well.
Ryn creates a lightning aura to block the arrows.
Nat turns Ryn around towards her. “And I want a real wedding with flowers, and a cake….it‘s been my dream ever since I was a little girl…”
Ryn nods. An arrow gets through the lightning aura and hits Nat in the leg.
She clenches her teeth in pain and is about to fall, but Ryn turns and catches her. Another arrow hits his leg and he falls with Nat on top of him.
“Hey, “ Nat says grabbing Ryn’s ear. “Don’t you dare think about cheating on me…”
“Me? I wouldn’t dare.” Ryn says catching an arrow that was about to impale him.
Nat blasts the archer that was attacking them with fire.
They both slowly get on their feet paws as the last of the bandits begin to surround them.
“I want to be a bride…take me home Ryn.” Nat says.
Ryn smiles very happily and they both kiss.
They both turn, ready to finish off the last of the bandits and enter the new day as husband and wife.
For those who don't know Crux are an anthromorphic mix of human, dragon, wolf, and rabbit. Visit Ryn's character sheet for a visual image.)
The cool Spring air in the wonderful city of Avaleur was about to create a much needed hot day after a brief period of rainfall and cold weather, but as for Ryn Isamu, a powerful Crux and leader of the Kazukai Clan, he wasn’t feeling all that well. He woke up in his house in the community of Rorikstead, a small town located 8 miles from the gates of Avaleur, and coughed. He sat up on his bed which was in the middle of the room against the wall. His long tail hung off the edge of it. His large house was made of Oak which would make it cool in the Summers and warm in the Winters. Along his walls he had mementoes collected on his previous adventures, a few artworks of scenic paintings and scrolls, and above his bed was a hung up dragon hide.
On his oak floor was a bear rug and a chest in front of his bed. In the corner of the room was a sturdy staircase that led to the lower levels, his kitchen and living room.
He felt very groggy. The sunlight shining from the window to the right of his large bed made him shut his eyes. It was warm on his snow white fur but his very large ears went down as his head pulsated in pain.
“Wake up Chucklehead!” Nat, his girlfriend, says knocking on his window. Since hearing was extremely amplified for Crux because of their very large ears the thumps from the window were like drums going off which only worsened Ryn’s headache. He smiled trying to suppress and fight off whatever pain he felt and got out of the bed, stumbling a bit. His long tail made a thump sound as it made contact with the smooth oak floor and his the warm floor felt good on his paws. Throughout the night he was shirtless because he had a bad habit of blasting things in his sleep. He wore only black sweatpants that went down to his feet. As he got up his whole body felt drained of it’s energy. He opened the window and Nat immediately hugged him tightly and kissed him, her tail intertwining with his. Ryn smiled happily holding her. He loved her and Namesiwa’s dying wish was for Ryn to not let Nat be the one that got away. But was Ryn truly ready to settle down?
“Hey beautiful.” Ryn greets, his arms still around her. “What are you doing here so early?”
“Well we’re supposed to be training the kids today remember?” Nat asks. “I thought I’d stop by and go with you.” She smiles.
Ryn was bewildered, his green and orange eyes widened and his tail began to sway. How could he have forgotten? As the Clan leader of the Kuzukai it was his duty to train the new generations of Crux, and now that the Clan had moved to Avaleur he was not only training Crux but other kids from around the city.
“That’s right.” Ryn says remembering, he had to get ready.
Nat kept him from moving and she looked him in the eyes a bit worried, “Hey, are you okay?” She asked feeling his head.
“Yeah…I’m fine why?” He argues, even though he felt very weak. He went to his dresser being sure hold in whatever coughs that were trying to come out. He pulled open the top dresser drawer and after moving stuff around he saw a photograph of his father and him together when he was younger. He looked at it for a moment puzzled, he never remembered this photo being taken, and then continued to search for his everyday clothes.
Nat followed him not giving up.
“Ryn don‘t take this the wrong way if I‘m wrong.... But I think you‘re sick.” She says.
“What? No I‘m not.” Ryn lies, his head still hurting and his body still feeling weak. He felt something, a pressure building up in his nose. His green eye twitched as he inhaled. “ACHOOO!” Hot, scorching fire blew from his mouth and ignited the wooden wall. Nat quickly rushed and put it out by frantically patting it down. The ending result was a large scorch mark on his wall.
“Yes…you are.” She chuckled and grabbed his pawed hand starting to lead him back to his bed.
“No really I can tough it out we have to train and…Ah..Ah…Ah-” Nat plugs Ryn’s nose before he could sneeze again.
“Thank you.” He says. “ How could I be sick? I’ve always been so…..healthy?” Ryn asks dumbfounded his nose fully stuffed and his ears going down.
Nat rolled her eyes and laid him back on his bed. Ryn stubbornly got back up.
“I mean what about the Cruxlings? They need the training and-”
Nat pushes him back down.
“Don’t worry.” Nat assures. “The Cruxlings need you to rest so you can get better.” She says sitting next to him.
As good as it felt to lie down Ryn wasn’t about to stay cooped up on this wonderful day. He stubbornly got back up again.
“Nat…really it’s not… a big deal.” It seemed the more he tried to fight it the worse his condition seemed to get. He began to feel light headed.
Nat lightly pushed his fur covered chest to get him to lie back down.
“Ryn it’s okay.” She says gently. “You won’t be any good to the kids if you show up like this and if you try to go out you’ll just get everyone else sick. We‘ll just have to reschedule.” Nat lied down next to him.
Ryn coughed hard, Nat was right, he’d just slow everything and everyone down while he was in this state. He sighed, he hated feeling useless and not being able to do anything.
Nat hugged him putting her head on his chest and Ryn was taken by surprise.
“Hey…how come you‘re so affectionate today?” He asked curious.
Nat smiled and rested her eyes. “It‘s a long story….I just had a dream last night.”
For a moment silence seemed to be the loudest noise in the room. Ryn closed his eyes, the room seemed to be spinning as his headache got worse.
Nat continued, “I had a dream that we were being attacked…by bandits or something, I can’t remember. Anyway, I was running towards the village as fast as I could but I was so slow. Everyone was fighting the monsters off but they weren’t strong enough. No matter what I did, I couldn’t save anyone. Everyone around me was dying and there wasn’t anything I could do….That was when I saw you get attacked. I tried to fight them but I couldn’t reach you in time, and that was when I woke up.” She hugs Ryn tighter. “I know I act tough and all, but seeing everyone you love die…” She looks up at Ryn who’s asleep and chuckles. “Typical…” She says.
Ryn fell into a deep sleep. His whole body felt like it was floating in the air and he felt very nauseous. Everything seemed to be spinning, images of his past flashed quickly, things from his adventures in avaleur, things from when he was young, and before he knew it everything went black….
He heard his name being called, it started out very faint but it gradually began to get louder and louder. Suddenly he felt a thump on his chest.
“Ryn!” A little girl’s voice said.
Ryn darted up. Everything felt extremely different, his head no longer ached and his strength had returned, he tried to open his eyes but felt resistance. Someone had their hands over his eyes and from the feel of it, it was a crux. Ryn smiled, his sickness must have past and one of the little Cruxlings must have gotten into his house. He playfully went along with it.
“Okay who is-” Ryn stopped mid-sentence. What the heck was that? Was that his voice? It sounded higher pitched. He forcefully cleared his throat.
“Alright now who is this?” He said but his voice still sounded higher pitched and not it’s usual deep tone.
“Ryn you’re such a chuckle head.” The voice giggled and the hands went off his eyes.
Ryn went wide-eyed, it was Nat but a much younger version of herself. She had to have been only 12 or 13. His room no longer looked the same either, it was smaller and more decorated than usual. There was warm sunlight shining through the window that was now at the front of his room rather than the side.
Ryn yelled pointing a finger at Nat. “Nat!? You’re-I’m!?” He looked himself over. He had on a white-T shirt and black sweatpants. His muscle tone was much slimmer and his ears and tail were smaller. His long black highlighted hair was short and spikey and his overall size was smaller too. He yelled again rushing over to a mirror that was at the side of his room. As soon as he looked into it he couldn’t believe what he saw. He was 12 again. His tail fluttered around in panic, knocking stuff off drawers.
“What is going on here? I’m dreaming, I must be dreaming.” He smacked himself across the face.
Nat looked at him in extreme confusion.
“Okay,,..okay I’ll just hold my breathe.” Ryn takes a deep breathe and then holds it in a desperate attempt to wake up.
“Ryn!” Little Nat says walking over to him and punching him in the stomach.
“OOF!“ Ryn doubled over in pain and fell to his knees.
“Didn’t I tell you being stupid was going to start getting painful?” She says holding up another fist.
Ryn looked at her, that punch hurt! This was not a dream. Ryn jumped to his feet paws.
“Nat!” Ryn says grabbing her shoulders. “What happened to us, where am I, why are we so….young!?
He frantically asks.
“Ryn, normally I don’t care but you’re acting really weird.” She says. “I wouldn’t have came to your house if I knew you were going to be like this.” She rolls her eyes again.
“Is everything alright up there?” A stern voice asks. The sound of footsteps were coming up from the stairway.
Ryn went wide-eyed. He hadn’t heard that voice in a very long time. It couldn’t be…
The figure that came up was a White furred and Black striped Crux. It was a male, in his 40’s, who had the muscle tone of an elite warrior. He had a long tail. He wore a Black trench coat, and black pants. On his face was a scar going across his eye and extra fur where the chin was, representing a beard.
He crossed his arms.
“Now Ryn what have I told you about playing nice with Nat?” He asked.
Ryn backed up against the drawer pointing a finger at the man with his jaw dropped. His heart raced.
“There’s no way…This isn’t real..” He said in shock. This had to be a dream but…it felt so real.
The man raised his eyebrow then walked closer to Ryn. He raised his hand and then flicked him on the forehead. “Ow.” Ryn said grabbing his forehead in minor pain.
“Was that real enough for you?” The man said as Nat giggled.
Ryn was wide-eyed, his emotion of shock became an emotion of happiness. He hugged the man very tightly but because of his smaller size Ryn only came up to the his chest.
“Father…” Ryn was nearly in tears.
The man laughed hugging back. “Ryn I’ve only been gone for five minutes.” He says.
“It felt like two years.” Ryn said.
Ryn’s mother died giving birth to him leaving him solely to be raised by his father. His father died of a heart disease two years ago when Ryn was 22. Seeing him again was a miracle.
“Thanks for waking him up for me Nat.” He says.
“Not a problem Mr. Isamu.” Nat says sweetly like a little girl who loves attention. Then she teleports away.
Ryn was amazed to be a kid again but his mind raced with questions. How did this happen? Why did this happen? Everything felt so real but there was just no way it could be. He turned to a window and opened it. The smell of the sea and the warm weather meant that he was back in Tetra. He smiled, whatever this was, a vision, a dream, a coma, he was grateful for it.
“Well I‘m not old or decrepit yet, I have to get back to work.” Mr. Isamu said.
Ryn quickly turned to him, “No wait!” He said eagerly digging through his drawers for clothes. “I’m coming with you.” He saw a bunch of old mementoes that he’d lost, they brought back tons of memories
His dad looked at him like he was crazy and laughed.
“No way, you have school and fighting off all the Hydras is too tough for someone you’re age.” He insisted.
Ryn looked at his dad. How was he supposed to say that he’d already graduated from all the lessons they taught in the community?
“But I know everything there is to know.” Ryn grins folding his arms. He knew his dad couldn’t resist a challenge.
“Is that so?” His dad asked raising an eyebrow. Ryn nodded.
“Okay then you won’t have any problem telling me…who the king of Tetra is will you?”
“Samuel Lawson IV.” Ryn says quickly and he raised his eyebrow.
“Well that was an easy one.” His dad chuckled. “Who….wrote the Treaty of Fidelite?”
“Devan ‘Sharp’ Weaving.” Ryn answers.
“Okay, okay….who was the last king of the city of Avaleur?” His dad grinned.
Ryn laughed, if it wasn’t for his adventure with the dark and light winged angel Kavanah he would have never gotten this.
“King Charles III.” He grins putting the last of his equipment on. Ryn wore a tight black shirt and baggy black pants along with black sleeves for his footpaws. He carried a large iron great sword on his back.
“Well well well, color me impressed, you‘re smarter than you look.” He pats Ryn on his spikey black hair
Ryn rolled his eyes at the joke.
“But that’s just history, and history isn’t going to stop dragon from trying to eat you. What’s the quickest way to kill one of those?” Ryn’s dad smiled, he knew Ryn wouldn’t get this.
Ryn thought for a moment, “Cut off the wings and the tail.”
“Wrong, the quickest way to kill a dragon is to drive a sword through its heart.” Ryn’s dad smiled sympathetically. “Sorry son you lose.” He turned around about to leave.
“Except…a dragon can live through that long enough to kill you and whoever your with, but if you cut off the wings and the tail the dragon can’t move and will succumb to its injuries.” Ryn grinned. (Hey that rhymed)
His dad looked at him, a bit shocked. He was right.
“Well if I didn’t know any better I’d say you’ve been taking lessons from Master Leo” A brief moment of silence passes.
“Fine you don’t have to go to school today… But only if you really want to come with me. Just don‘t get too far from my sight alright?”
Ryn nodded.
“That’s my boy, come on we’re meeting Cam at the edge of town.” He turns around remembering something. “Oh and brush your teeth, you’re not walking out of the house looking like that.”
Ryn and his father walked from their house. Ryn was amazed with all the memories from the old community that he once called home. He always liked the Tetra land better than Avaleur’s as it was always more fertile and soft, not to mention the climate was always sunny and warm while avaleur‘s was chilly and rainy. Other Crux Ryn’s age ran around either training or play fighting with each other.
Ryn kept looking up at his dad at a loss for words. He wanted to tell him everything, just to see what he would say but how was he supposed to say that he had the mindset of a 24 year old from the future or how everything’s changed. His head hurt trying to think about it, Not twenty minutes ago he was lying down with Nat and was an adult, now he was a kid back in Tetra with his clan as if it were 12 years ago.
He tried to think of reason as to why this was happening.
After moments of walking they finally reached a group of warriors on the outskirts of his town. The warriors within’ the group varied from humans and elves, all the way to beast races, but they all had one thing in common, they were all mercenaries hired to cull the population of Hydra within the country. Because of Tetra’s sunny climate and location it often attracted hoards of Hydra, which were very hostile to anyone other than their species. They were very hard to take down, meaning anyone who was skilled enough to hunt them were paid generously in coin. The more you killed, the bigger your pay.
Cam was an old human from Tetra. His real name was Cameron but Ryn’s dad respected him so much he changed his name to that of a Crux. Cameron was much past the age of fighting and hunting, but his charismatic and well-respected personality got him hired to manage the mercenary boards. He was quite pudgy and wore fine clothing. His hair was grey and he had a thick moustache.
He laughed and smiled as he saw Ryn’s father.
“Ho ho if it isn’t Mr. Death himself.” He says limping over. Cameron’s knee was shattered in the big battle between Tetra and the great dragon Iormungand decades ago. Ryn had always wondered how powerful such a creature was to almost destroy the great city of Tetra.
Ryn’s dad gave Cameron a friendly hug.
“Mr. Krekel always good to see you again.” He says. “You remember Ryn, he’s hunting with me today.”
Cam smiled looking at Ryn. Ryn remembered Cameron he always talked to him when he was little, and he was even at his dad’s funeral.
“Well hey there chap, going hunting with your ol’ man today huh? Well that’s a big sword you have there, can you use it?” He asked.
Ryn crossed his arms raising his eyebrow.
“I can take care of myself.” He says. He knew Cam well in the future and he reminded him a lot of Commander Roland in Avaleur.
“Ho ho well you sure are getting your father’s spirit.” Cameron laughed to Ryn’s dad.
“Alright everyone gather round.” He said as all the other mercs came closer. Some laughed at the site of Ryn. It was unheard of for someone his age and size to be there. “You all know the rules, hunt as many hydra’s as you please at your own risk, survival is your own responsibility. Bring the hides back as proof of game and yada yada yada don’t try to kill each other.” Cameron grabs a scroll and reads it.
“Prices for hides have shot up a hundred coin. Apparantly the Dukes nephew was killed after going on a hike, god rest that child‘s soul.” He reads. The other mercs begin to chatter amongst themselves. If one killed enough of them they could be leaving with a hefty paycheck.
“And with that, consider section 4B of Tetra open to the licensed mercenaries, or whoever else wants to get themselves killed.” He says.
As all the other warriors head off Ryn’s dad turned to Ryn.
He gave him a very stern look that made Ryn’s ears go down.
“Alright bud, I want you to stay close to me. If anything happens you just teleport away okay?” He asks.
“Relax I’ve got this.” Ryn says walking past him. He still had the mindset as if he were 24. If he was going to be stuck here for a day he might as well enjoy it.
“Ryn I’m serious.” His dad says grabbing his arm. “I don’t want you getting hurt out there. I know you feel like this is like one of our training sessions but this serious. You heard what happened to the Duke‘s nephew and if something ever happened to you I‘d-”
Ryn looked at him.
“Dad! I know you think that I‘m going to go recklessly charge in the forest like some berserk maniac because you’re my dad and it‘s your job to worry but please relax, I know what I‘m doing.” He pulls away slowly and starts walking down the main stone path.
Mr. Isamu looked at Ryn puzzled, he’d never acted like this before.
“Son do you even know where you’re going?” He asked.
“I’m going West. Hydra’s like sunlight and there’s a clearing just a mile away from the lake.” Ryn answered, his voice cracked. He began to hate his undeveloped 12 year old voice.
Mr. Isamu was surprised, even he didn’t know that. He walked with Ryn observing his strange yet mature behavior.
Meanwhile Ryn the whole time kept thinking of questions to ask to his dad. That was when the biggest question of all hit him.
“Dad?” Ryn asked as he kept walking along the stone path.
His dad looked at him.
“If you had one day to relive you’re childhood, what would you do?”
“What me?” His dad laughed at the thought of the puzzling question.
“Yeah.” Ryn said stopping. “If you had one day to be a kid again, what all would you do?”
His dad thought to himself for a moment.
“Well….I sure as hell wouldn’t waste it.” He said. “I don’t know, I’d probably try to do everything I possibly could. I’d probably do a few things differently….” He looked at Ryn before continuing.
“Why do you ask?”
“Well….what if I told you-” Suddenly a large and spiked tentacle shot out at them.
Ryn’s dad instinctively caught the large tentacle with one hand. Ryn crouched and immediately shot a massive lightning ball at the creature. It caused a small explosion in the forest and within five seconds of a roar, the creature fell dead.
Ryn looked at his pawed hands, he was not this powerful when he was 12. He had retained his power from when he was 24. His dad looked at him with his jaw dropped.
“Ryn did you just…..” As he looked he saw a clearing of the forest was destroyed by the explosion and that the creature was an elder hydra. The lightning ball was a specialty move, meaning only beings that specialized in that element could become a master at it. Crux didn’t specialize in an element until they were at least 21.
His eye twitched as he looked at Ryn.
“What if I told you that that was happening to me?” Ryn says referring to the question he’d asked his dad.
**
And so Ryn told his father everything throughout the day. The Hydra’s were easy to kill with the two working together, but Mr. Isamu found himself dumbfounded the whole time Ryn explained to him. They sat down next to a lake while Hydra kept falling into a pit trap they set. They ate a lunch that Ryn’s dad had packed earlier. One would think it was a whole feast made for four with all the food set out.
“Okay so wait a minute.” Ryn’s dad said gnawing on a rice ball . “So you’re not….from this…” He had trouble putting a well thought question together.
“So you’re from the future…but in your 12 year old body?” The more he came into grips with what was happening the more confused he got.
“That’s right.” Ryn says eating chicken leg after chicken leg. As much as his dad ate, Ryn always had a bigger appetite than him. It was partially the reason the Avaleur pub kicked him out, twice.
He kept staring at Ryn as if he were an alien.
“And…you and….. Nat?” His face was of shear shock, his eyebrow twitched.
Ryn again nods his head.
“WWHAT!?” His dad falls back, his face in a state of pure dumbfounded ness. His eyes staring into the sky. “Oh my god…Eli was right….” He muttered to himself…”
After a moment, and another hydra falling right into a pit trap, Ryn’s dad jumped to his feet paws. His emotion changing from shocked to eager.
“Well, don’t make me inquisitive, where am I in the future?” He said eager to hear.
Ryn looked down, his heart sinking a little, his large ears went down.
Ryn’s dad looked at him and immediately knew the answer.
“Oh….Well hey…,” He says patting Ryn’s head again. “It’s okay, we all gotta go sometime right?”
Ryn looks back at him.
“I mean it’s not like I’m going to grow weak and die of some disease or something like that.”
Ryn looked down again.
“Oh….” His dad said again. “Wow really?” He asked dumbfounded.
Ryn didn’t know why but he felt a sense of guilt, how would one feel telling their parent that they were going to die in the next 12 years.
Trying to switch from the dark subject Ryn’s brought the question of Nat back up.
“Hey what’s the deal with you and Nat being a couple? You sly dog, how did that happen? From what I can see you two are always at each other’s throats, one time almost literally. Heck one time two fought so long you‘re tails got tied in a knot.”
Ryn smiled thinking about that moment with Nat.
“It started when we were teenagers really, her family was going through some…things and she moved in with us. We trained day in and day out with you, and one thing led to another…”
“Another?” Ryn’s dad asked with his eyebrow raised.
Ryn laughed.
“Well when her dad died, something just changed..we quit arguing and fighting and started to actually like each other.”
“Wow, so Ray didn’t make it either huh?” Ryn’s dad asked.
Ryn nodded.
“So have you two….?” Ryn’s dad asked.
“Have you two what?”
“You know, have you two….? “ Ryn’s dad bumped his knuckles together.
“I’m still not following…” Ryn said obliviously.
“Come on, have you two rocked the boat?”
Ryn tilted his head confused still.
“Have you two done fondue, have you done the donut and the hot dog, have you put her on your wheel barrow and-”
“Okay I get it!” Ryn interrupts laughing.
They both laugh for a moment.
“More importantly though…” His dad said getting serious again. “Ryn do you love her?”
Ryn hesitated for a moment because of how sudden the question came.
“I-I uh-”
“Ryn if I never told you before I died I’ll tell you now, don’t make the same mistake I made with your mother, if you really love her, let her know. Don’t wait, or else you’ll lose her. And you may never be able to get her back.”
Ryn nodded understanding.
“So tell me about Avaleur, it’s amazing that town is still there with the war that happened a few years ago.”
“You have no idea.” Ryn laughed.
“Tell me about Roland, a Kingdom’s only as strong as it’s general after all.”
“Roland?” Ryn thought about what to tell his dad about his best friend.
“Well the guy’s an overall very good person, he keeps things in perspective and never loses his cool. I really don’t think I’ve ever seen him mad before. His leadership has actually kept the town from being taken over, twice. I mean if it wasn’t for him Avaleur would have gone up in flames a long time ago.” Ryn explained.
“Sounds like he’s a one man army.” His dad said.
“Well don’t get me wrong, We’re the ones who actually trained the troops, he’s the mastermind behind all of it. He put order into Avaleur.”
“Well speaking of order, who’s the King.”
Ryn was surprised for a moment when he remembered what happened to Phillis.
“Well don’t keep me guessing, who’s the King?” His dad asked again.
“Queen actually…” Ryn corrected.
His dad raised an eyebrow.
“Queen? Oh come on now, next thing you know the soldiers are going to be wearing dresses and be in the kitchen.” He joked.
“She’s tougher than all the soldiers dad. Heck she dates a werewolf.” Ryn laughed.
“Really? Wow the standards for being a soldier really must have gone down. Didn‘t know cooking and cleaning and dating a dog made you a soldier.”
Ryn and his dad laughed for a moment.
“Well what’s her name?”
“Her name’s Namari.” Ryn answered.
His dad immediately went wide-eyed.
“Uh…Ryn..she wouldn’t happen to be an elf now would she?”
“Well yeah she’s a high elf and-”
“W-WHAT!?” His dad falls back again with a bewildered look. “Little Namari, the princess of Fidelite!? She’s the queen of Avaleur!?”
“Woah dad calm down! I mean she didn’t start out as Queen , she was the hand to the King Philis Von Christ and-”
“W-WHAT!?”
**
After a lunch break and afternoon of hard work and extreme explanations, the sun began to set on the beautiful day. Ryn and his Dad made their way to the shore side, after picking up a very hefty paycheck, and sat at a ledge that overlooked the ocean perfectly and watched the sunset.
“Dad, what was mom like?” Ryn never got to meet his mother, he knew he asked this question a million times when he was little but now that he was older he missed hearing his dad’s response.
Ryn’s dad chuckled at the question, “I guess some things never change huh?” He cleared his throat as if he were about to tell a story.
“Well your mother was a fighter, and I don’t mean with her fists and brute strength no, I mean her spirit. She never gave up on anything she did and would do anything to protect the people closest to her. She was as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside too. Bet you didn’t know that you have her eyes, one orange and one green. On the battlefield she was a genius, and I don‘t mean she sets a few traps and sprang them until she won, I mean she could mentally beat someone into a pulp, before the fight had even started…guess that‘s how you could say we met.”
Ryn listened, how he missed his dad so much and now to talk with him one more time. An overwhelming sense of grief hit him. He began to tear up.
“And she was an amazing dancer, the best in the country if you ask me.” He noticed Ryn.
“Hey Hey , what’s the matter bud? You want me to stop? I didn‘t mean to upset you I just-”
“No it‘s not that…” Ryn says wiping away his tears. “I just…I never thought I’d ever see you again.”
“It’s okay bud…it’s alright.” Ryn’s dad hugged him tightly. “I’m not afraid of death Ryn, I’m not sad about it at all.”
Ryn looked up at him.
“If anything I’m happy, Ryn you’ve made me the proudest dad in the world today. You’re the leader of our clan for future generations, and you’ve led them to prosperity. And you and Nat…”
Ryn wiped his tears and his grief turned into happiness.
“Promise me you won’t let her go Ryn, no more waiting, tell her that you really love her.”
Ryn nodded, his dad was right, for awhile Ryn had been afraid to ask Nat the big question. Maybe it was time he finally asked.
“Hey, hold on a moment.” Ryn said. “How am I even supposed to get back to my own time? I mean for all I know I could be stuck here and have to relive everything all over again.”
Ryn’s dad nodded and they thought for a moment.
“Hold on.” Ryn’s dad said as he went through his bag. “Wait just one moment.”
Ryn raised his eyebrow, wondering what his dad was doing.
“ Before you wounded up here did you get hit in the head, were you in a fight and..?” He asked.
Ryn shook his head, “No?”
“Were you sick at all, really sick? Like almost puking your guts out sick?”
Ryn thought for a moment, in the morning he was as sick as his dad described but he still didn’t know where this conversation was going. He nodded his head.
His dad chuckled, “Did you think about any particular memory? I mean did you see or think about something from when you were younger?”
“Yeah,” Ryn nodded again remembering what happened this morning. “I saw a picture of me and you when Nat came in and-.”
“Son of a gun you time ported!” Ryn’s dad laughed. “Wow just when they tell you it’s only a legend and Bam it happens to your own child.”
“Huh?” Ryn asked very confused, both his large ears went down.
“Okay let me explain. As you know our kind, Crux, have the natural ability to teleport from one place to another, walk on walls, see things others can‘t , yada yada yada... Now when a teleporter, usually Crux, gets very sick it sets off a gland in your body for self preservation so you don’t sneeze and wind-up on top of the Tetra Tower, it’s the tallest building in the world in case you’ve forgotten. Anyway, this gland amplifies your teleporting abilities to an extreme level, and in very powerful Crux, gives you the ability to teleport through time itself.” He says.
Ryn was still very confused.
“Ryn you just involuntarily teleported through time.” His dad laughed getting to his feet paws and pacing around. “Time-porting is very rare.”
Ryn got up to his feet paws as well, looking out as the sunset was beginning to turn into night. He thought inquisitively.
“How rare is it?” Ryn asked. “I mean how often does it happen?”
“Think of it this way. Have you ever seen a white werewolf before?”
Ryn shook his head no.
“Me neither, it’s that rare. Remember Grand Master Lee?”
“Yeah.” Ryn laughed, that was a name he hadn’t heard in awhile, he was the clan’s former leader two generations before Ryn’s father came along.
“Well stories have it that he had an experience of time-porting too.”
Ryn’s dad put his hand his on Ryn’s head roughing up his hair like he always did, “Well Ryn, you know I love you very much and I always will, and I couldn’t be more proud of you for all you‘ve accomplished in the future, but I’m going to need my 12 year-old son back now.” He smiles and holds out a Camera he retrieved from his bag with his long tail.
“I can’t have you stuck back in time, what kind of dad would I be if I let that happen huh? What if you alter your own timeline and next thing you know you have to pick a boy and girl from each country to go fight to death in an arena where there can only be one winner?” He asks.
“That sounds familiar…” Ryn says.
They both smile and give each other one last hug.
“Will I ever see you ag-”
“Save it.” Ryn’s dad interrupts. “This isn’t goodbye forever bud. Whenever you need to talk you know where I’ll be.”
“Dead?” Ryn asks.
“Yes…No! I mean right here, in this time. And who knows, maybe if you’re a skilled enough teleporter you can come visit me on the other side.”
“That can happen? Teleporting to the spirit world?” Ryn asks.
His dad shrugs his shoulders and smiles. “We’re Crux bud, anything’s possible.”
Ryn smiles at the possibility.
“Alright now the flash from the camera should jolt your memory and make you teleport back into your own time.” He says. “Don’t ask how I just know that’s how it works.”
“If there‘s such thing as teleporting in the past, is there such thing as teleporting into the future?” Ryn asks.
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Ryn’s dad laughs.
He holds the camera in front himself and Ryn.
“I mean if you can teleport to the spirit world teleporting to the future would be-”
“Cheese on three, one, two,…”
“Wait!” Ryn exclaims. “Do you think I could take you in a fight?”
“Pffft, not a chance.” His dad says. The flash of the camera goes off and Ryn’s mind goes spinning. Everything seemed to be moving by him, he heard many voices of many people from his past and then everything went black again. A voice that was faint was speaking, Ryn couldn’t understand it at first, but then it grew louder and louder and the smell of smoke was in his nostrils.
“Ryn!” A woman’s voice said. “Get your fuzzy butt out of bed you just set your house on fire! The town is under attack!”
“Nat?” Ryn said opening his eyes and seeing everything. It was night time now, he must have slept all of his sickness off because he felt much better now. He looked himself over, his claws were much bigger and so were his ears, his tail was also longer, he was 24 once more. Relieved that he wasn’t in some bizarre time he looked around and saw Nat frantically trying to put out a large fire that had started at in the middle of the room.
“Hi Nat!” Ryn waved relieved to see her again.
“Hi Nat? Hi Nat!? Don’t just sit there and wave to me, help me put this out!” Nat summons water to put out the fire.
“Bandits! There are tons of them. Heh, they picked a hell of a town to raid.” Sounds of fighting could be heard from outside as the Crux warriors fight off the hoards of thugs and bandits attacking.
Ryn thought long and hard about what his dad had told them, he knew that what he experienced was very real and that he would honor his dad’s wishes.
“Nat I have a question.“ Ryn said getting up and standing on his bed.
The sound of wood crashing down and yells could be heard from downstairs.
“And I have a life but you don’t see me flaunting it when I’m under attack!” A few bandits run up the stairs.
“Get them!” One yells.
They charge at the two with swords and axes, ready to pillage the whole village.
“Nat will you marry me?” Ryn asks and teleports in front of Nat.
A bandit lunges at Ryn, but Ryn quickly grabs the bandits arm with his tail.
“You have a hell of a sense of timing!” Nat says kicking the bandit that attacked in the face, sending him spiraling into the wall.
“Well what do you say?” Ryn says taking two swords off of his wall, one with his hand the other with his tail. He gives Nat one as more bandits try to charge at them.
Nat blocks and then kicks a bandit back, “I’m going to have to say, NO!”
Ryn blasts the bandit that was kicked back with a lightning ball. It sent the bandit right into another one.
“You want to stay single? Well we don’t have to make it official.”
“Nope…“ Nat moves in front of Ryn and fights off three bandits that tried to attack at once.
“Well how about we just move-in together?” Ryn asks imbuing the sword with lightning and sending a large blast at the bandits to push them back.
“No!” Nat says.
“Well why not? Is there something wrong with me?” Ryn asks.
Some bandits that knew magic very well began blasting fireballs at the house.
The house begins to catch on fire and quickly spread.
“No, I’d just rather do things my way.” Nat says.
They both teleport outside, startling and surprising the bandits.
“Ryn will you marry me?” Nat asks.
Now Ryn was surprised.
“W-what?” He asks.
As the bandits charge Nat and Ryn go back to back fighting off the group of bandits.
“I’ll say it again, Ryn marry me?”
Ryn smiled.
“I’d love to.”
The bandits began to shoot arrows. The other Crux seemed to be holding them off and defending themselves very well.
Ryn creates a lightning aura to block the arrows.
Nat turns Ryn around towards her. “And I want a real wedding with flowers, and a cake….it‘s been my dream ever since I was a little girl…”
Ryn nods. An arrow gets through the lightning aura and hits Nat in the leg.
She clenches her teeth in pain and is about to fall, but Ryn turns and catches her. Another arrow hits his leg and he falls with Nat on top of him.
“Hey, “ Nat says grabbing Ryn’s ear. “Don’t you dare think about cheating on me…”
“Me? I wouldn’t dare.” Ryn says catching an arrow that was about to impale him.
Nat blasts the archer that was attacking them with fire.
They both slowly get on their feet paws as the last of the bandits begin to surround them.
“I want to be a bride…take me home Ryn.” Nat says.
Ryn smiles very happily and they both kiss.
They both turn, ready to finish off the last of the bandits and enter the new day as husband and wife.
