The Night Hunter Chapters 1-7 (Fan) (Orig)

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Hopefully I'll get more responses for my works :3

CHAPTER 1 IS BAD, I KNOW, BUT STILL, KEEP READING, I GET BETTER BY CHAPTER 3

Chapter 1

The night air was cold and snowy. Snow dropped from the sun-blocking clouds like feathers falling from the back of a raven flying through the twilight sky. A blanket of snow lay flat on the ground as the gentle wind of the night swept across it with great kindness. Houses were lined up on each side of the street. Each looking exactly the same except for what lay hidden inside of each. Smoke filled the air from the chimneys of those who were still letting their fires burn. It was dead silent, there was no presence on the street. Except for a dark figure leaning against a cement wall. His expression was almost angry looking, his beard covered with little snow flakes, his eyes sparkling with anger from within. His eyes dashed back and forth has he heard footsteps in the distance. Another dark figure approached from the darkness.

"Who's there?" he whispered through his freezing lips. The dark figure froze in place, he had not expected someone else to be there.
"Name yourself!" snapped the hooded figure, anger rising in his. The dark figure merely stood there, as if to think if he stood still, he would not be seen.
"I said, Yinmoodoe samatar!" yelled the hooded figure to the dark figure in his native tongue.
The dark figure turned his head, he had no beard or mustache, but a surprised expression. His face was as pale as a white wall, and his mouth was ajar by about an inch.
"You speak my language?" He whispered to the hooded figure. The hooded figure let out a chuckle.
"Why, of course I do! Why do you think I am here in a hooded coat waiting? Do you think I am just some, old man who sits and yells at people?! I am the one who you sent that letter to, and I am the one who responded to that letter!" He was getting irritated now.
"So, you are...? The Bounty hunter? The one everyone talks about?" His voice had dropped to a whisper as he slowly walked toward the hooded figure, hoping not to wake anyone, or get anyone's attention.
"Yes. I am the one you seek." Said the hooded figure as he, too, started to walk slowly outward from the wall. "What do you need me to do?"
"I need you to seek a man that has been trying to kill me for many years. His name is Brandalic." said the dark figure, who, as he stepped into the light emitted from the houses, had 3 giant scratch marks on his left cheek.
"Brandalic" repeated the hooded figure. He hadn't heard this name before. Was it foreign, he thought. Maybe, but we best worry about this later. "How much will you give me for killing him?"
"One thousand gems." whispered the man.
"Hmmm... I might consider it-"
"TWO THOUSAND, AND THAT IS MY FINAL OFFER!" quickly yelled the man. He seemed frightened, like something terrible was going to happen.
"Alright." said the hooded figure. "Might I ask what your name is?"
"M-My name?" said the dark figure rather nervously.
"Your real name. Not the one you used in the letter."
"Why?"
"Because I need the person I kill to know who was my hirer!" anger was starting to rise from his voice again.
"Rancko." said the man, still, rather nervously.

And then, as fast as Rancko said his name, he stopped moving. His eyes were wide as fear and pain flushed through them.
"Wha-... ugh... what... did you.... do?!" screamed Rancko, as blood dripped out of his mouth.
People were starting to get out of their houses, looking horrified at what they saw.
"I did not do this!" yelled the hooded man furiously. He looked around. The people saw him, they knew what he looked like. He had to escape, fast.
He sprinted to the right, roaring at the people who tried to stop him.
"Police." he muttered as he ran from the uniformed men.
As he ran, he noticed that he left huge footprints. These were no good. He had to give them the slip, but how? He quickly swept his surroundings left and right. He quickly saw a ladder to his right, but it looked very unstable. The cold had made it contract and it looked like it could break easily. He took his chances. He ran for it, and jumped on it and started climbing. The uniformed men were right on his tail, they too, followed him climbing. He was just about to reach the middle when he felt a hand grab his leg. Furious, he tried to kick the source of the hand away. It wouldn't budge. He looked down, a uniformed man had a free hand on his ankle, he looked very angry, as he tugged down on the ankle. The hooded man took aim, and kicked him in the face. Blood splashed out his nose and he fell, as did his friends, but they were back up on the ladder and after him again. The hooded figure climbed and climbed. He knew, that if the uniformed men climbed high enough, the ladder might snap. He thought he had more time, but instead, he heard a loud: CRACK!

He felt the ladder give way, he heard men screaming, as the ladder fell over. Luckly for the hooded figure, he got a good grip on the roof of the house. He slowly, and hopefully not taking any tiles off, climbed on the roof.
"Why must you chase me? What is your reason?" he said this in the most innocent voice he ever could manage without showing a little anger.
"You are under arrest for the murder of dozens of people all over. Including this man!" one officer said as he pointed to the dead Rancko on the ground a couple yards away.
"I am, am I?" chuckled the hooded figure. He knew now that they probably got a wanted poster in the police station somewhere.
"I guess you are!" said another hooded figure sternly.
"Hmhmmm... Yes, after all, I AM, The Night Hunter..."
And with that final sentence, he disappeared without a trace.

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Chapter 2: Slaying Methods

Frost trickled on his neck as the winds guided it onto the dark figure walking down the street. He, just moments before, bumped with death once again. He, just moments ago, watched as a man was sniped to death in front of him. Why did the man not kill him? Why did he shoot the man he was talking to? Still, answers he did not know. "It's getting cold..." he muttered as the snow continued to caress his round nose. He continued to walk down the empty road, hiding when a carriage were to pass by. As the snow and sleet continued to fall, the wind wailed what sounded like to him voices. The voiced continued to say the same thing in his own ears, "Simono Jendei... Simono Jendei..." Was he hearing things? He thought so. He had not slept all day and night. How could he sleep? For all he could know, the unknown sniper could be waiting for him. He continued to walk until he heard something. It sounded like footsteps. He quickly jumped down to a crawl. As he lay there, motionless, the footsteps grew closer. He could not see who the unknown figure was, but whoever it was, knew he was there, because right as he tried to crawl away he heard a deep voice.

"Show yourself." The voice sounded deep. Deep enough to be a big man. It had a tone that made your chest quiver with fear.
"I said, show yourself. Need we make this difficult?" He heard a rifle reloading. His heart was racing now. If he can just get up...

BAM!

A bullet just whizzed by his head. He got up and ran for it. He heard more gunshots and felt more bullets whiz by. He stopped for a second to slow down, thinking he was a long ways from the man. He felt an arm wrap around his neck. The man was trying to choke him. "Well, well, well... We got ourselves a little thief huh?" The man said as he found all the money the dark figure had pick-pocketed from people before. "A man like you can bring me a PRETTY big award! Heheheh..." He started to tighten his grip on the dark figure as he talked. "You gonna say something? Huh? THEIF?" His grip was getting tight now. The dark figure only had one chance to say this. "You're...not the one... get-ting the reward... bast-ard..." He was starting to choke. The big man laughed. "Oh really, and who is? HAHAHAH!" And the dark figure really wished the man hadn't said that.

And the dark figure replied,

"I am..."

The black figure smacked his heels together and knifes came out of each shoe. As this happened, he jabbed his heels into the man's legs. The man yelped and the dark figure flipped over the mans head while holding onto his arms. In the process, flipping the man over. The man got up and bellowed, "WHY YOU LITTLE FU-" but before he said that, he looked down at his legs. His legs were starting to burn. They were not on fire, but burning. "MY LEGS! AAAAAH! MY LEGS! OH GOD MY LEGS! AAAAAAAAAH!" His legs gave in. "What the.... WHAT DID YOU DO?!" He screamed. The dark figure laughed. "Why are you laughing?! WHO ARE YOU?!" The dark figure stopped laughing as the man asked his question.

"I am Jendei... The Night Hunter. And you, my friend, have been my first little guinea pig for my newest poison..." Jendei laughed harder. The man bellowed, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN POISON?! WHATS HAPPENING?!" His arms started to give way too. Jendei stared at him. "It is a poison of many fates... You have already hit the first phase... Numbness. Your body parts will start to quickly numb. Sort of like, the sensation of being on fire first... But much more painful... Heheh..." Jendei laughed harder this time. The man was starting to become very hot now. "Wuhh.. wuhh..." Jendei stared at him once more. "Looks like your hitting stage two... You start to heat up... Rather slowly I must say... But your body temperature will get very high... Oh yes..." The man was bleeding out of the mouth now. "Wuhts... happnin... to meeeeh?!!" The man mumbled. Jendei walked over to the man. "Well, well, well... Looks like your final stage... The one I have been waiting to see... Wanna know what it is? It's..."

BOOM!

"....Spontaneous combustion....The poison was part gasoline my friend! Your body heated it up!" He yelled to the burning man. "And now my friend..." He said to the terrified, burning man.

"You will burn....and burn.... and burn...."

Jendei laughed at the burning man.

"Now! I bid you, farewell..."

As Jendei walked away, the burning man continued to burn. In his own bodies inferno, fear.

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Chapter 3: The Ice Dogs

The snow and sleet stopped falling from the sky, and the road was clear again. This was good and bad for Jendei, as now the oncoming travelers could see him. He quickly had his hood on in a flash and kept walking. His next stop would be a town called "Kasei-kono" or, in English, "Land of the ice dogs" Jendei had encountered ice dogs before. They come over to you looking like a regular white wolf, growling and all. They give you the impression that it is just a wolf, and nothing else. Then when you attack, they transform into something that is not a wolf. They turn into what you fear the most, and attack you head on. There is no way to get away. You can either let it devour you, or fight it. Fighting one is difficult, as it turns into the thing you mostly fear. But if you stay strong, and fight it, it should be no problem. Last time wasn't so easy, Jendei thought. How was he going to get through a whole town where they lurk? He tucked his hands into his pockets, one hand holding a knife in case, and put his hood on.

The white sleet spread apart as his feet connected with the ground. A brisk wind connected with his face and sent shivers down his spine. This was definatly a ice dog HQ. No doubt. He started to walk through the gate of the town. People were walking along doing their own thing. Some people were chatting, and discussing the daily news. He walked to the street corner and saw his face on a poster. "Eh, you reckon that guy will come here?" Jendei turned around a little to see a man talking to a friend. "Nah..." Said the other. "If he were stupid enough to come here, he would be dead. The ice dogs would get him first, wouldn't they?" The first man looked convinced. "Yeah, no one in their right mind would come here if they are on a wanted poster..." Both men crossed the street into a department store. Jendei layed his eyes on the wanted poster. It said that he was wanted dead or alive for a 20,000 Ronj award. He had to get through this town quick, but first he needed to get a drink. He saw a bar across the street. He entered.

The room was warm and littered with smells like vomit and beer. Perfect. He was in a pig bar. He walked to the bar tender and said "One beer please..." and the bar tender sent him one. The bar looked rather dirty. It had stains on the wall that looked like blood stains, and some that looked like nothing he had seen before. Across the room some guys were talking about politics on what should be enforced in the law, and what shouldn't. There were some people just sitting doing nothing, and that occasional table where there is that unlucky guy who just lies his face in his own sick. He heard a bang and a woman came running out and yelped as a big drunk man came running toward her. "Hey pretty lady... Why don' yeh give meh a kissss... mmmmm" he smacked his lips. She stared at him for a second and smacked him across the face. "YAH FILTHY LIL ASSH-OLE! HOW DARE YOU!" The man bellowed. He grabbed her by the arm and brought his fist up and began to swing when...

SLICE!

His hand started bleeding. One moment, Jendei was sitting in a chair, the next, right next to him with a knife in his hand. The room went silent, everyone who was doing something, anything, stopped to see what was going on. Jendei looked around quickly, no one saw his face, good. He looked at the man next to him who was now bleeding from his wrist. "I wouldn't do that..." muttered Jendei. The man looked at him, frightened and angered, then said, "WHY YEH...! YAH CUT MEH! YAAAAH CUT ME! GAAAAAH!" He ran at Jendei, readying up a head butt. He was almost there when...

BAM!

Jendei stepped out of the way and tripped the man. The man went tumbling to the ground, in the process, smacking his head on a bar table. Everyone was still silent. His friends, who were not drunk, stared angrily at him. One of the men ran out with a knife and raised his arm to stab him. "This is too easy.." Jendei thought as he grabbed the man's wrist, bringing it down, and slamming his other arm into the man's arm, between the point where the two bones in his arm met. This broke the man's arm. The man yelled and fell limp. Other men started to come out and fight with knifes, bar stools, anything that could kill Jendei. Yet, he always dodged, conquered, and destroyed each man after each attempt. After all the men were down, he stood and stared. They could have left him alone, but no, they had to get their butts handed to them. He started to walk back to the entrance of the bar when he felt something very familiar press against the back of his head. A gun barrel.

"You little ****. You think you can just come here, injure all my customers, and then walk out? You make me sick..." It was the bar tender. He sounded very angry. Jendei was about to attack, when...

WHACK!

He felt the gun barrel leave his head. He turned around to see the girl before, holding a stool leg. "Nice fighting you did there..." She laughed a little. "Teach me sometime?" From outside, Jendei saw a police officer look at him. Crap. The police officer looked at the wanted poster and then Jendei. "IT'S HIM!" He cried. "IT'S THE KILLER! HE'S WITH A FRIEND! GET THEM!" The police officer blew his whistle and ran after them. Jendei grabbed the girl's hand and dragged her. "Come on! Their after you too!" He yelled over the whistling. "Alright!" She replied. Jendei looked around. He threw some tables over to hide them quickly. He saw a back door, he and the girl ran to it. Locked. "Well, not for long..." Muttered Jendei as he reared back, and crashed it open with his foot. They ran outside and saw a ladder, they climbed it. Same way as before, the police officers climbed too. Once they were on a roof, he saw a gap between rooftops. "We'll have to jump over!" He yelled to the girl. "At the count of three!" The police officers were reaching to top of the ladder now. "ONE! TWO! THREE!" They jumped, and almost slipped off. "Come on! Lets keep jumping, I see the way out of town! Lets go!" Jendei said to the girl. She nodded. They continued jumping, until they reached the end. They saw a ladder, and quickly climbed down it, and ran out of the gates. They kept running until they were sure they were safe.

"So, what's your name?" Jendei asked the girl. The girl looked at him. "What's MY name? What's YOUR name?" Jendei looked at her too. "I'm Jendei." He muttered. She looked at first frightened, then excited. "JENDEI?! THE JENDEI?! THE NIGHT HUNTER?! OH MY GOD!" She looked very excited. She started staring at him more than usually now. He felt a little uncomfortable. "Umm... So, I told you my name, what's yours?" She hesitated for a second, as if she didn't have a name. "Well, my name is Siemo" She said. She blushed a little. She must of not liked that name. "Siemo..." repeated Jendei. "What language is that?" He asked. She stared at the starry sky for a second. "It's Yumonian, for 'Bringer Of Smiles.' " She chuckled then smiled a little. "You think it fits me?" She asked him. He looked at her for a second, then the sky. "Well, it brought me smiles when you took out that bar tender." He laughed. She laughed too. They both looked at the sky. "Well, we should get going..." He said finally. He and Siemo got up and began to walk. Then, the unthinkable happened.

There was a growl of a Ice Dog.

Jendei turned around quickly, as the ice dog walked over. It looked furious. Jendei took out his knife and prepared...

Because as he wielded his knife, the ice dog began to transform into something Jendei always feared all his life, ever since he was born,

It transformed...... into.......

Jendei.... A mirror image of himself.

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Chapter 4

Fear crept through Jendei as the white ice-colored wolf walked toward him. As it walked toward him it slowly transformed into something he'd feared all his life: Himself.

The sky instantly darkened. Tree leaves started to slowly drop as the snow from the mint blue sky followed, caressing the veins on the leaves. Everything was silent now except for the heavy breathing of Jendei and the Ice Dog. Fear crept through his veins, stinging every inch of his body, making his vision blur. He was scared. This is the only time he is scared, whenever he looks at himself and feels... Pity, for what he is. He both loves himself and fears himself in so many ways his brain can't think. The Ice dog just finished his process of transformation, in term grabbing every freckle, every memory, every possible advantage it could use.

"So..." The Fake-Jendei spoke. "It looks like we have a theif here.... Hmm... A very grrrracious one..." Jendei stared in fear as the ice dog spoke. He can't remember the last time he saw one speak to him in his own voice. "Shut your snout ice devil..." Jendei said sharply. He had to overcome his fears. This was only a ice covered wolf. Nothing more. He is just trying to scare you so it will be an easier kill. "Hmmm...." Said the ice dog, very calmly. "We have a smart arse too, don't we?" The ice dog started to walk around Jendei, like he couldn't get enough of him. As the ice dog circled Jendei, Jendei pulled out his blade. The ice dog chuckled. "I would not want to do that..." He said humorously. "Don't you remember? I know all your moves now. I know what you will do before you even think it!" He continued to circle Jendei. Jendei wanted to slice that demon's head off, but he couldn't, because that demon might slice his off instead. He thought quickly. He must be kidding himself, should he put the knife away? Or should he stand and fight like any other man would. Then it hit him, he wasn't like that. He isn't like any other man. He is Jendei, The Night Hunter.

But still, tossing his knife to the side would make him vulnerable to any attack. His head was spinning, his mind was twirling like a whirlpool. Toss? Or don't toss? Get your head chopped off? Or not? Make a risk? Or Don't? Choices, so many choices, and only 2 solutions would come out of it:

He lives, or dies.

The snow was falling faster now. It was slamming against his face and giving him a quick sting on his very skin every time it hit. The wind was howling a tune that roared into his ear drums louder than a horn. Yet, his, and the ice wolfs breathing could still be heard. He finally made his decision.

He tossed the sword to the side. It landed with a thud to the ground. The ice wolf watched it happen and said, "Well, good boy. Looks like the wolf has taught the human now huh?" The ice wolf made a cold chuckle that made the very hairs on his body tingle with fear. He couldn't remember when he heard that laugh, but he knew he did it one time in his life. Jendei looked at the ice wolf and said coolly, "You don't scare me..." The ice wolf stared at him and said, "Ohhh, I don't? Well, maybe what I tell you will. Remember that night, 25 years ago?" All the sudden, Jendei went still. He remembered that very clearly. "You were 12." continued the ice wolf. "You were just working in the field, doing work. But what's this? You hear a noise." Jendei's eyes widened as the ice wolf talked. "You know what noise that was? Screaming. Many, many, many, people screaming." Jendei shook his head. Tried to get the memory out. It wasn't real. He wouldn't allow it to be real, not anymore. The ice wolf chuckled coolly again at the look Jendei was giving him.

"You went to investigate didn't you? Wanted to see what was wrong? Well, you did... And what did you see? Face to face?" Jendei fell to the ground now. His body was shivering. He couldn't take it. The ice wolf started to walk toward him. "I know what you saw... Death." Breathed the ice wolf into Jendei's ear. "You saw your village, your friends, the village people. All dead." The ice wolf chuckled in the same cool chuckle again. Jendei couldn't move. He wanted to kill the demon wolf. But he was paralyzed by his own fear. "But what's this? You hear more screaming? Who could possibly still be alive?" This sentence made Jendei stop breathing. His parents. "Mom... Dad..." He moaned sadly. The ice wolf stopped walking. "That's right..." He whispered cruelly. "You found them didn't you? You watched them get beaten? Poor little Jendei, watching his mother and father get beaten to death? Oh boo hoo!" The ice wolf really was amusing himself.

The snow was starting to speed up. "Remember?" said the ice wolf. "When you saw your mother's eyes for the last time?" Jendei was shivering in anger and fear. "How you couldn't live through this? How you couldn't bare watching them suffer? Heheh..." The ice wolf snarled a little. The fear right now was being suffocated with anger. His veins were pumping blood through his body like a giant water pump. His heart was racing so fast he was afraid he might burst. "Then... What did you do?" The ice dog said to Jendei. Jendei froze in place, as if killed while in mid-heartbeat. The ice wolf too, stopped, right next to Jendei's ear. "Boy, what did you do?" the ice wolf whispered into his ear. Jendei stood up, and stared into the ice wolf's white eyes. He did not see Jendei, in the ice wolf's eyes, he saw death. The wind howled loudly, wailing as it rushed around them. "What did you do to the men boy?!" The ice wolf screamed at Jendei. Jendei stared into his eyes, deeply, staring into death. Then, the ice wolf went still. "A....ahh....urrgh...." He spluttered out with blood. The ice wolf looked down onto his stomach. He had been stabbed. He was bleeding profusely. Jendei took slow, gentle strides toward the ice wolf. He leaned close to his face, close enough to smell the blood being spilled from the demon's spirit. He then breathed into the ice wolf's ear, every word burning as the breath touched the ice wolf's skin. "I killed them..." He breathed. The ice wolf looked around and saw who the stabber was. It was Siemo. She had a look of anger so blinding, that the ice wolf's eyes glowed at the very sight of it. She slid the sword out of his stomach, making sure every drop of blood was not wasted on oblivion.

"And you know what I did next?" Whispered Jendei to the dying wolf. The wolf looked up with eyes that were turning black. Black as a crow flying in the evening sky searching for prey. Jendei looked into his eyes, as if searching for something. He then leaned in, closer than ever before, lips almost touching the ice wolfs ears, and said. "I laughed... Heheh..." He did the laugh that the ice wolf did, that the killers who murdered his parent's did, that he did.

He then stood there, watching as the ice wolf slowly melted into a black liquid that was as dark as oil, but as shiny as gold. It contained both fear, and anger. Both happy, and sadness. Siemo grabbed his arm and paused before saying the only words that would make him move. "Let's go..." As they ran across the snowy field, Jendei finally remembered what was wrong on the night when he killed the men. When he watched the men kill his parents, there were 6.

When he killed the men, there were 5.

He had some hunting to do, he thought, as him and Siemo ran across the field towards the night sky.

[Link]

Chapter 5

The sky slowly turns to a purplish blue as the clouds part and let the sun rise into the morning sky. The grass is nicely painted a silverish white from the snow before hand. As the sun slowly rises, a grasshopper leaps up from his hiding place in a tree and looks out at the white sea before him. He hops out of his hole in the tree leaving his family behind for the moment. He hops along the thin coat of white grass over to a sign that says “You are now leaving Kasei-kono” Or in english, “You are now leaving The Land Of The Ice Dogs” . The grasshopper watches as two figures run by, barely knocking the poor grasshopper over. The grass hopper hesitates, then follows the figures. He jumps, and jumps after them. They are running too fast for his legs to keep up. He is almost near them, barely touching the taller figure's feet when suddenly - ....

He hears voices. Soft voices. Soft enough for the figures to not hear them, but loud enough for a silently walking being to hear. The curious grasshopper starts to hop over towards the voices. As he hops his way through the snow, he notices the tree branches are covered with a thin coat of frost that was so fragile, they were like glass. He quickly saw the sources of the voices and ran over to them, but at the same time, trying not to let them know he was there. He jumped under the bottom of a fence and saw three figures standing next to each other. He quietly jumped on top of a fence post and listened as one of the tallest figure, or the first figure, started to talking.

“What are we going to do?” said the man. He sounded worried, like this was the last thing he was going to say. The man's expression on his face was a pale, scared expression that showed fear, and dread at the same time. His hair was blue, like ice, and it was smoothed down over his face. He was wearing a black robe with the hood pulled down, his robe had a symbol on it that showed a volcano shooting ice. It was the symbol of the Ice dog's lair.

“Nothing at the moment...” said the second man. The second man had a clean bald cut, but still had a long beard. If you first looked at him, you would think all the hair got cold and ran down to his chin for warmth. He too, was wearing a robe with a volcano on it, but his was shooting fire. His face was very bright in color, unlike the first man's. He had an expression on that represented anger, and solitude. “He still doesn't know who the last killer was... We best not attack him and let him find out...” He then tucked his hands in his pockets.

“I agree with Vulcano...” Said the third man. He looked energetic, but at the same time, unemotional. His hair was spiky, and white. He was wearing a white robe as well, with a volcano on it too. But his, was shooting lightning. His face was a color that represented a mix of gold, and white. “We must not let him know the killer is with us, well, not until we are ready... Right Vulcano?”

“Yes Lampo.” said Vulcano, who glanced onto the ground. It was slowly melting around his feet. “We need to keep our heads down for now. Stay in our own tribes. Do our own things. Don't you agree Leone?”

Leone stood there, looking at the snow. He started to lean down and pick up a snow. His hands took the snow and rolled it into a ball. He then mumbled something in an ancient language and the snowball turned into a clear ball of ice. “But are you sure? I-I mean, are you sure he doesn't know? What if he gets us right now? W-What do we do then?” His voice was very shaky now. He sounded very fearful.

“Quiet down now Leone, don't cry now.” An unknown figure said.

Leone looked around. He looked as scared as ever. Vulcano and Lampo started to look around too. “Master?!” said Leone fearfully.

A giant black cloud appeared in the middle of them, it slowly started to swirl like a tornado. As the wind picked up, a man started to slowly step out. He was wearing a hood, so no one could see who the person was. His feet did not touch the ground, but instead, glided on top of it. He slowly glided across the snow over to the three fearful men who stand there. As he glided across the snow, the wind underneath his feet spread the snow apart, showing his path. Leone, fearfully, bowed to the man's feet, quivering in doing so. The unknown man was wearing a gray robe, that looked ripped in places. It had a symbol on it that did not show a volcano, it showed a tornado instead.

“M-Master...” said Leone fearful once more. The unknown man waved his hand and Leone quickly was shot up in the air and landed on his feet. “No need to bow, Leone...” said the unknown man. Vulcano walked forward “So, what is the plan now Ciclone?” he said. Ciclone looked at him and glided over. Vulcano looked into Ciclone's eyes and saw that they were silver. He never saw his master's face before.

“I am not sure.” said Ciclone. “We may have to wait a little while... Things are getting out of hand in certain places. I need to attend to those first...” He glided away and stopped. The sun was above the horizon now and was starting to brighten up the ground. Ciclone looked at the others, who tried not to make eye contact, or just weren't interesting in the gaze. “We must get going, before someone notices us.” He looked at Lampo, Vulcano, and Leone quietly.

“We will discuss the killing of Jendei the Night Hunter in a few days time.” Ciclone said quietly.

Then, he raised his hand, and so did the others. He then shouted a word of ancient language and black smoke erupted from everywhere.

The grasshopper flew back upon seeing the black smoke and hopped over to where the men were standing. He sniffed the ground and hopped as fast as he could back to his home and went in, and hid for the rest of the day.

[Link]

Chapter 6: Part 1

As his foot slammed against the cold forest floor, he thought of what he saw. The Ice wolf turned into a black-gold liquid of which he never saw. He continued to run across the cold floor and remembered when the ice wolf died. When this happened, he could remember, deep, deep, deep, in the back of his head, he heard a voice whisper, “I'm sorry...”

Why did it say that? Why “I'm sorry” ? Was he going mad? Did he have feelings for that Ice wolf? “No...” said another voice. “You were just sorry you didn't kill him faster...” He tried to ignore the voices, but they were getting louder. “You were sorry you didn't come home that night...” No. He was not, this was not why he was sorry. It was another reason.... Another- “You were sorry about killing those men.” No! He was not! Those men killed his parents! He was not going to stand for this. Even if he was going mad. “You are just a worthless coward! You only killed five! One is still out there!” He knew this, but it was not his fault, the man was just lucky.

“You let him leave!”
No...
“You let your parents die!”
No....
“You are not Jendei! You are just a fool!”
Jendei fell over.
“NO!” He screamed at the top of his lungs. He fell over face first in the snow and blacked out.


“Jendei?” a voice said. “Jendei?” it said again. He opened his eyes a little, he felt warm air. Light poured into his eyes like water over a waterfall. He blinked a couple of times and squinted. Blurry figures sat before him, he held his hand to his head. It hurt like hell. He felt upward more, there was a bandage. He felt over the middle of the bandage and felt a blood curdling pain. He writhed at the feeling of it. One of the blurry figures grabbed his hand, and held it away from his head. The hand was cold, like ice, but at the same time made him feel warmth. He opened his eyes wider to see who the figure was, but his eyes refused.

“You need some sleep...” said the figure. It's voice was a little distorted. He must have hit something, hard. “Jendei... Are you still with me? Hello?” The figure waved it's hand in front of Jendei's eyes. Jendei did not respond, but only stare into space. “Hmm...” mumbled the figure. “I should get you some ice...” The figure stood up and walked away. He heard walking, then a boom. It sounded like a explosion, but counting on his ears being all fuzzy-like, it must have been softer. Then he heard running. The lamp over on the side of him went out. It was pitch black except for the light from the other room.

“Hey!” yelled a voice. “Yes?” said a voice. His hearing was starting to clear up, but his vision was still dead. “What do you have up there?” said the other voice. Jendei heard walking. “Nothing...” Said the second voice, which he could tell was a lady's voice. “Nothing huh?” He heard walking. A figure ran in and jumped to the floor somewhere. He heard scurrying on the floor and then a whisper in his right ear.

“Jendei...” Whispered the voice. It was Siemo. “There are two men down there looking for you...” He heard the footsteps going upstairs. Siemo jerked at the sound of it. “Dammit...” she said sharply. The footsteps ran into the room and turned on the lamp. Siemo grabbed her sword and swung, but missed. “Hello girly...” snarled one and Jendei heard a loud punch. Siemo yelped and fell to the floor. He saw the figures, clearly now. They were both wearing black robes. The one who seemed to have punched Siemo had a volcano on his robe. The other one had a lightning bolt. The lightning bolt one leaned in and whispered, “Well well well... Who do we have here?” The figure poked Jendei in the forehead, making Jendei jerk violently at the pain. “Heheheh...” said the figure coolly. He looked at Siemo. “Take the girl... And get your minions to take Jendei to the castle...”

Two more robed figure walked in and began to lift him, causing him violent pain in the process. “Be careful, we don't want him dead Lampo...” said the tall figure. Lampo turned around and quickly said “Oh will you hush? I'm just having a little fun, is all...” He leaned over to Jendei, who was writhing in pain.

“Buh-Bye now!” He said coldly to Jendei. Then, he pressed directly on his forehead, and Jendei screamed, his scream echoed loudly throughout the whole place. He then went back to blurry vision and vivid sounds, he saw Lampo say something to the tall figure and nod.

Lampo walked over, and held his hand over Jendei's face. Sparks flew from it.

Jendei blacked out once more.

[Link]

Chapter 6: Part 2 (Final Part/Ending of Chap6)

“Whatcha suppose we do with this Jendei feller?” said a voice. Jendei slowly opened up his eyes and was blinded by light. Nothing was blurry anymore, and he could see as clear as day.

“I dunno... 'Boss hasn't given any other orders yet... 'Gotta take him to the castle I suppose...” He peered over and saw a man with a long bronze colored beard. He, unlike “Lampo”, wasn't wearing a long robe. Instead, he wore a short, thin green coat, with a dagger at his side. “The CASTLE?” says the other voice. “Why there? I hate it there! It's filled wit' nothin' but vermin...” He saw the other man, he wore the same things as the other man, but he was only a little bit taller. “That's where the boss said to take him, dumbass. D'yeh want to get yer throat sliced open like on' of 'dem other fellers?” He saw the first man nudge the second man on the side. “I guess not...” said the second one. “But can I stay out 'er? I hate that place. Gives me 'de creeps jus' lookin' at it...” The first man stopped. Jendei opened his eye a little to see he was looking at the second man. He then continued walking and said “Sure, go on ahead coward...” The second man made a sort of a “HUMPH” noise and kept walking.

Jendei noticed that his body was tense, not limp like a person knocked out or dead. He quickly, but slow enough not to look suspicious, made himself limp again. He then had an idea, he could kill the two men, with the poison in his boots, or his hidden knife in his elbow, or something else. Then he could run and find Siemo and get out of here! That wasn't a bad idea. He looked at his elbow, which was placed by his face, as the first man was carrying him like a deer. Holding on hand and one leg, and letting the other hand and other leg hang over and dangle. He noticed he we stripped of his primary sword. He peered over at the taller man. The taller man was looking at the bushes like something might jump out. Then Jendei noticed that the taller man WAS carrying his sword at his side. That bastard. Jendei needed that! He looked around slowly at his surroundings. As in, pretended he was still out cold by bobbing his head up and down.

Jendei then realized what path they were on. It was the path to Morte Castle. Jendei then shot into a flash back.

Jendei was about 17 years old, 6 years after his parents' death. He was being escorted as a prisoner to Morte Castle. His face was expressionless, as he just got caught robbing a bank. He had a little mustache, but not much. The group Jendei was in was walking to the Castle, or “Hell” as some mostly called it. Jendei felt a poke on his shoulder. It was his best friend, Lanji.

“What is it?” whispered Jendei. He looked around frantically “Hurry it up, before the guards hear us again!” Lanji made a little chuckle before he said “The guard up front, or “Sarge” as they call him.. Heheh, his armor has an open spot! Maybe we could pull one of our maneuvers and get him down, and run for it!” Jendei looked over to the “Sarge”. His armor DID have an open spot. It was on his left leg, right on the back. He could run over and kick his leg out! Jendei leaned over to Lanji. “You run over, and distract him, and I'll get his legs, alright?” Lanji nodded and began running. Jendei followed. “HEY! LOOK AT ME SARGY SAAARGE!” He ran at sarge and hit his chest. At the same time, Jendei ran behind, and did what looked like a low kick to the back of the Sarge's leg. The Sarge fell back and went down motionless. A whistle blew and everyone scattered. Lanji looked at Jendei “Run for it! Haha- Uhh.. Gaah...fuh...” Jendei saw what happened, Lanji got knifed in the chest. He fell over and collapsed. Jendei ran over and looked at him. “Lanji! Get up! Let's go! Come on!” Lanji looked at Jendei and then closed his eyes. Lanji, Jendei's best friend, was now dead. Jendei got up, looked at the guards and ran for it. He kept running. He felt the guards gaining on him. Bullets flying by, knives being thrown. He thought it was over for him. “'Eh? 'Ere it is!” Jendei snapped out of it. He had a second thought about killing these men. It might turn out to be HIM that dies. He then thought of another way to get Siemo out of there. He would let them put him in a cell, and escape from there.

Jendei looked at the horizon, and something rose. Something big, and metal rose. Morte Castle. It was as beautiful, as it was deadly.

As the men continued to walk, Jendei thought he saw, when he looked at the ground, Lanji's face, imprinted in the sand.

[Link]

Chapter 7: Morte Castle, The Entrance

As Jendei lay on the back of his captive, who was carrying him, he glanced around at the castle as it grew taller and wider. He saw guards standing at their posts with swords. He knew why they used swords, it was because they didn't worry about anyone escaping. No one has escaped, and no one will.

Or so they thought. As they came closer to the castle, Jendei spotted many escape routes. Why leave so many open areas? Jendei then had a great idea, he would play injured, as an excuse to look around. He took one last breath, and then made a weak groan. The first man looked at Jendei. “Hey, buddy, wakin' up already? Heheh...” his friend looked at the first man. “Yeah, you've been out for quite some time...Heheh...” Jendei made another groan and looked at both of them and said “Where are we..?” The second man giggled and said “Well, we is at... Uhhh... Whut is it again Tropor?” Tropor looked at the man and nudged him hard. “Morte castle, 'ya hear?” They both laughed. “No! Not there! Anywhere but there!” Jendei said in fake-terror. Which was good in his case because these guys were so stupid, it scared even HIM. “Oh yeh...” said Tropor. “We is gonna toss yew in dis here Morte place, an get our 500 gold... Heheheh” Tropor laughed and coughed. His friend patted him on the back, hard. The coughing stopped. “Thanks Ganda. Really needed it...” He coughed a little again. “No prob Tropor...” said Ganda as they continued walking... Or “hanging” in Jendei's case.

They approached the castle gates and Jendei was set on his feet. He pretended he was weak and he fell. A man walked up to him and kicked him. “UP ON YOUR FEET BOY!” The man yelled. Jendei stayed still. As if to keep in character, and to just tease the man. The man grabbed Jendei's arm and lifted him clear up. “When I say up...” The man spat into Jendei's face. “I. SAY. UP!”

Jendei looked at the man. He noticed the scar on the man's neck. A family crest sign. Forcibly put on him. This means one of his family members met the man. “Up you say...” Whispered Jendei. He grabbed the man's hand, and twisted it around, kicked the man in the chest, and punched him in the face when he fell. The guards rushed and grabbed Jendei by the arms. The man got up and looked at Jendei. The man's face was bloody. Jendei left his mark alright. “But down you go...” said Jendei to the man before the guards took him away.

The guards took him inside. The place was a lot tighter than he thought. The outside was just an illusion... The inside was reality. There were guards stationed at every corner, not a prisoner in sight, and the place smelled like horse ****. Yup, this was Morte Castle alright, Morte Castle in a nutshell.

The guards carried him to another big man. The man looked at him. “What do we have here?” He growled in a voice that was so low, it sounded like a tiger took steroids. “'Nother smart ass sir.” said the guard holding his left arm. He had a sort of Scottish-Irish-Romanian accent. “Ahhh....” Growled the tiger man. “How so?” The man holding Jendei's right arm said “Well, he... Umm...” He looked around and the man Jendei whacked ran over. “This little ******* knocked me clean!” yelled the man. The tiger man looked at the other man. “Well... Why are you mad at HIM, and not yourself?” said the tiger man. The other man's face turned to shock. “Whaaat?! Why am I mad at him? Look at my face! Why wouldn't I be mad at him? Mad at myself?! What are you talking about old man?!” The tiger man stared at him, then Jendei, then the man again. “Well...” He said. “You, my best soldier, got knocked over by a NEW PRISONER? If I were you, I would be mad at myself for not being prepared, and not the prisoner...” The man looked at the tiger man, and then Jendei. “Man's got a point... I did knock you pretty good...” said Jendei. “SHUT UP BOY!” The man took out his sword and swung at Jendei. Jendei just stood there. The man froze at Jendei's neck. Jendei stared into the man's eyes. “Go ahead soldier. Kill me. I won't fight back. Come on. I'm waiting...” Jendei smiled slightly. The man was too chicken to slash him. “Your sword is just a piece of metal that can cut flesh, not a weapon to me. You want a weapon?” He looked at the man who was extremely pissed. “You're looking at him...” Jendei snarled. The man looked at Jendei, then said,

“Put him in cell block 7. With all the other,” He smacked Jendei with his fist while yelling “-*******S who disrespect ME!” He smacked him again. The guards yanked him to his feet and pulled him along. They continued walking along the hallway until they were out of earshot. “Heh... You're in for it now...” Said the man on the left. “Yeah... You're really ****ed up now...” Jendei looked around as they walked. The walls were stone, with red paint. It wasn't completely covered with red paint, but splattered. Then Jendei smelled something funny. A little... Salty smell... He couldn't believe it either, but it smelled a little funny... A little.... Fleshy...

He looked around, the hallway was covered with red paint on the floor. It smelled bad. Really bad. “Ugh... What is that smell?!” said Jendei in disgust. The men looked at him and giggled. “You will find out soon enough...”

Then Jendei realized what the smell was. It was flesh. And the paint, it wasn't paint at all.. it was something far more perminate. It was...

Blood. All over the walls. Dripping, pouring. It was getting stronger as they continued walking.

They reached a door. It was large and made of metal. It had writing scribbled on it, phrases like “You will not escape!” “Welcome to hell... You will not survive” and “I entered here a man. And left here a demon.”

Jendei wasn't scared. Just sick. Sick of all this blood. Sick of the people. Sick of everything. Especially sick of the way those bodies were hanging from the ceiling, staring, their eyes... So cold... Yet... So warm... With hatred....