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The sound of an alarm clock was heard as the female Zacian started to stir. Fae started opening her blue and gold eyes, still heavy from the deep sleep. She had been sleeping on her stomach since her metal like wings are not very flexible. She stretched her white limbs as she sat up, shaking off the remaining sleepiness. Glancing at the clock, she saw it was about 8 AM. Fae got out of bed and opened the curtains, letting in the morning sunlight.
Fae sat in front of her vanity and started to brush her fur. She started with her tail long, flat tail, which started with light blue fur and suddenly changes to dark blue and goes down to her ankles. It was rather flexible, so grooming it was rather easy. Fae then moved to her hair, focusing on the two blue strips of hair that hung down the mess of long, dark blue hair she had. Directly in the path of the rising morning sun, Fae’s hair and fur sparkled in the light. After completing the two strands, the Zacian moved on to the longer, dark blue hair that hung down her back. Brushing out the bedhead look, Fae had few options with the hair directly on top of her head since her ears and the crown like structure had a similar metal like quality like her wings.
If you looked closely enough at the gold and blue “crown” you would see scratches on the surface. They are the only signs of the many battles Fae has taken apart in. That, and the sword lying against the side of the vanity. Made of metal, it had a blue gem in the hilt and had an unusual structure to the blade. Fae had finished brushing her hair when she set the brush down and reached for her sword. She pointlessly examined the blade to see if it would need to be sharpened, a habit she picked up during times of war. Since it hadn’t been used a whole lot recently, the blade was still sharp. The shiny Zacian set her blade on the vanity and went to her closet to change out of her nightgown and into one of her favorite sundresses.
After breakfast, Fae kept an eye on the time. She was going to meet with a researcher who reached out to her about something. A protogen named Dial managed to call her and wanted to meet over lunch for something. She still had plenty of time to kill before then, so she picked up the romance novel she had been reading. Although she couldn’t seem to focus on it, her mind kept wandering to the request Dial had made. “I’ve heard that you are an ‘expert’ on some historical events. A paper came out recently and I wanted to see if you had anything to say about it. Could we meetup some time?” Fae was a little suspicious of some stranger calling her up out of nowhere and asking to meet with her. Still, she agreed to meet with them so long as it was in a public space.
It had turned out that, by complete chance, the two had been living only an hour away from each other. Honestly, to Fae it seemed like something out of previous romance novel she read. Of course, it was about two young lovers, and Fae was by no means young. She wasn’t even sure of her exact age at this point. You start to lose count after the first millennium, or rather, you lose the desire to keep track.
Fae’s memory remains rather sharp on major events. Although that does mean she still has some vivid memories of her many battles, though it doesn’t bother her that much. She was a warrior; violence didn’t faze her. From what Dial mentioned, it should be about a specific battle in a war about 2052 years ago. Looking at the time one last time, Fae decided she would arrive extra early rather than trying to spend the time away not reading.
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Fae drove half an hour to the meeting point, a French café that served excellent pastries. Fae had been meaning to visit it sometime and having the meeting there was an excellent excuse. Arriving, Fae ordered some beignets. A simple enough dish, but when done properly it was delightful. The shiny Zacian grabbed the powdered pastry in her black fingers and ate them. The amount of powdered sugar was perfect, although it still covered her fingers and muzzle. She was about to clean it off when she heard “Are you Fae?” coming from behind her.
Turning, she saw a dark blue furred figure with electronic components and scrap like armor behind her. They had a black, boxy visor that had orange lights in the shape of triangles for eyes and a jagged line for a mouth. The figure also had a turquoise-colored gear like pattern in 4 panels, two on his head and two on his thighs. The gear ticked along with the passing seconds. The center of their chest had a gradient color, starting from red at the top and slowly turned to orange at the bottom. Fae had never seen a Protogen, but she had heard of them described and knew this was a protogen. She also knew the person she was meant to interview in an hour was a protogen. “Yes, I am Fae. I presume you are Dial?” Fae responded, wiping off the excess sugar from her lips.
“Indeed I am. I wasn’t expecting you to be here so early.” Dial said, taking a seat across from Fae. Dial’s glass like tube tail moved fluidly, the orange rings shift around the shaft as it bended, a large tuft of dark blue fur at its end. The waiter came by, and Dial ordered a Pain au Chocolat.
“I typically like trying to get to meetings early. You never know what might happen.” Fae said. Dial agreed with Fae’s sentiment. The protogen’s pastry having arrived, Dial’s visor opened up to eat his flaky treat.
“So,” Dial began, “A new paper recently came out about an archeological dig site.” As his glowing mouth moved, it was covered by flakes of the pastry which didn’t move at all. The slightly synthetic sounding voice continued, “There was evidence of a town in an area that wasn’t known to previously host a town. Evidence suggests the town was destroyed about 2000 to 2100 years ago.” Finally realizing he had crumbs on his face, he wiped them off before finishing his thought. “There happened to be a war in the area around 2053 years ago. I was hoping that if you were there, you might know of something about it.”
Dial handed Fae a copy of the paper, opened to the location with some photos of the area. The photos did seem familiar to Fae, so she really tried thinking back to that war. “Hmm… Yeah, I think I was there. It was a town called ‘Shapper’. It was caught in the middle of a terrible battle, and the whole place was burnt to the ground.” The zacian paused to eat another beignet before continuing. “I was able to get everyone evacuated, but the sheer number of opponents forced me to withdraw.” Placing her black and white hand on her forehead, she scratched at the blue indents on the gold crown. “I can’t really remember all the details at the moment, but I’m sure it’ll come back to me eventually.”
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While Fae was still attempting to recall more details, she heard a female voice behind you. “There you are, Dial!” Turning, she saw a peach and white furred kitsune girl. Her body was covered in brown markings and strange patterns. The kitsune had a nice hourglass figure, wearing crop top over a fishnet shirt and shorts that only accentuated her figure. She had 5 long, brown tails that lightened up until they suddenly were tipped in white. The tails had blotches of dark brown in the middle, covered by a white crescent and curved diamond pattern. The kitsune was wearing a black leather collar with a golden bell, just below it you could see a heart shaped pattern in her fur. Her short hair started out red but transitioned to yellow as it got further from her scalp. Her magenta eyes sparkled with a slight bit of mischief.
“Rao? I thought I told you I was going to be in a meeting.” The flustered protogen said. Rao walked up to the table the two were sitting at and pulled another chair for her to sit with the two.
“A meeting? At this café?” the newcomer said to Dial. “It seemed more like a date to me. And here I thought you were loyal.” The kitsune sounded a little hurt.
“What! No! I...” Dial went, trying to think of a way to best explain his choice of location. One could swear the black visor turned slightly red as if he were blushing. Fae was watching the whole interaction play out, reminded of another romance story she read.
Rao began to laugh. “I’m only pulling your leg, don’t get your circuits in a twist.” Rao reached to get the leftovers of Dial’s pastry and began to eat it. Dial protested Rao stealing his food, attempting to grab it back from her. Despite Dial being taller than Rao, the kitsune simply shapeshifted a bit to extend her hand out of the Protogen’s reach.
Fae did her best at hiding her laughter. These two seemed like such an unlikely duo. A partially artificial scientist and a prankster kitsune girl. Dial seemed pretty kind, although he could be easily distracted and flustered. Rao seemed nice, but also had a bit of mean streak that was more teasy than anything else. Fae had seen many people with similar personalities to the two over her long life, and they were often a joy to be around.
Rao started to look Fae up and down as she finished the treat, the Protogen having given up attempting to take his pastry back. “Besides, the more the merrier, as they say. So, this is the expert you were talking about.” Rao offered her hand to Fae, “Pleasure to meet you, I am Rao.”
“My name is Fae, and the pleasure is mine.” The two shook hands. Turning back to Dial, Fae continued. “As I was saying, if I think about it, I’ll likely recall more of that day. Anything else?”
Dial dug out another photo. “There was a strange cut mark found in some wood. I was wondering if you knew anything about it.” Dial showed Fae the photo, it was of a partially burnt piece of wood that had a unique cut indent. Fae instantly recognized it.
“I do. It looks like the cut made by my blade. Probably a missed swing or deflected blow that caused me to strike the wood.” Fae admitted. “I can bring it next time, if you want.”
The protogen’s visor displayed an exclamation mark down the center. His turning gear patterns on his thighs and side of his face speed up for a few seconds out of excitement. “That would be amazing!”
“Alright, now my interest is piqued as well. I hope you don’t mind the extra company Dial. Or was this actually meant to be a secret date?” Rao said with a sarcastic smile. Dial did his best to ignore that last comment.
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Fae parted ways from the duo and returned home. She kept recollecting the time she was asked about piece by piece. It was moonless night; Fae was in full plate armor and leading some of the soldiers from the army she had decided to support in this war. It happened to be the last battle of this war that she fought in.
After learning of the movements of the enemy troops, Fae led her troops to defend the town. “Gold and Silver squad, you’re in charge of evacuation. Take the civilians and meet up with Red and Blue squads. Emerald squad will stay with me here to slow their advance.” Fae ordered the squad leaders. “Since only Emerald squad will remind behind with me, we will be outnumbered. We won’t be winning this fight, so focus on keeping yourselves alive. Once I give the signal, retreat across the bridge.” Given her experience, the squad leaders agreed to her plans.
The evacuation was almost complete when the enemy troops arrived. They came bearing torches, ready to burn whatever was in their path. Fae readied her blade and charged towards the enemy. The noble warrior fought her way through her enemies. Up until this battle, she had been able to cleanly cut through most of the weapons due to her physical strength and trusty blade. This time, however, Fae noticed she wasn’t cutting through the metal weapons as cleanly as before. Fae never did find out if it was because the other army had been improving their weapons or her own blade was becoming dull. Either way, Fae was tiering out faster than normal.
The Zacian’s long hair flowed as she fought off the assailants, sparkling in the fire light. Due to the sheer number of opponents, Fae couldn’t stop all of them from setting the town ablaze. That is when a large lion swordsman appeared and challenged Fae to a one-on-one fight. An odd move given the circumstances, but they were adamant, even saying “None of you touch her. She’ll be my opponent.” Fae accepted his challenge but kept part of her attention on the growing circle of soldiers around her.
The swordsman was not only strong, but skilled. The clang of their swords clashing rang across the battlefield. Each one parrying the other’s blow almost perfectly. Despite the circumstances, Fae was enjoying the fight. A real challenge for once. Fae had one advantage over her opponent, her sword was lighter and more maneuverable. After a feint, she attacked from above. Her opponent was barely able to lift his sword in time to block, but the angle caused Fae to slide down and imbed her sword in the side of burning house. Before she could pull her sword out, the swordsman swung his blade down at her arms. Fae had to let go of her blade to dodge the attack.
Fae quickly weighed her options. Without a sword, she could get in close and fight with her fists. Or she could launch a ranged attack with her powers, but it would be rather weak and give away one of the aces up her sleeve. Fae chose to rely on her physical strength to get through this. Getting up close, she punched at his plate armor. She was strong enough to dent the armor, although the effort did hurt her hands. Dodging his swings, she continued to land blows, although at this rate her hands would break before he fell. She needed to get her sword back. An idea quickly flashed into her mind; she had no choice but to go with it. Landing one more blow, Fae turned to retrieve her weapon. The lion seized the chance to swing at her again. Fae planned for this. Grabbing hold of the hilt in her hands, she twisted her body so the next sword blown would land on one of her metal wings. Combining her own strength with the momentum of the blow to her wing, she pulled the sword out.
Fae underestimated the strength of the pull and how damaged her hands were, so her sword flung out of her grasp. On the ground, she swung her leg at her opponent’s arms, knocking his own sword away. Fae quickly got up as the swordsmen tried to retrieve his own sword. Grabbing him by his chest plate, she pulled him up and headbutted his armored head. Her natural metal crown provided her more protection to this action than her opponent’s helmet. The swordsman fell to the ground, unconscious from the blow. Fae had won the fight.
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Not pausing for a second, Fae gathered her blade and fled from the troops. The fight had taken a lot out of her, she couldn’t survive against such a large number of opponents now. Rushing past her fallen opponent, she left them alive in the hopes of maybe fighting them again another day. Or if the war ended soon, a drink.
With the evacuation long over, Fae decided it was time to retreat. Gathering her supernatural power into her free hand, she launched it skywards. It exploded in the sky, lighting up the night with a pink light. With the signal given, the members of Emerald squad started to retreat. With the burning buildings collapsing around her, Fae ran as hard as she could.
With her lungs burning and legs aching, Fae saw the bridge at a distance. She noticed she was the last one to arrive. The bridge was a wooden suspension bridge that hung over a raging river. If they made it across the bridge and destroyed it, they would force the enemy to have to cross further up or down river, which were more heavily guarded positions.
Exhaustion was catching up to Fae, and she was slowing down. She could hear the fast-approaching army behind her. She wouldn’t be able to make it across the bridge before they caught up to her. Fae quickly summarized the possible outcomes. If she attempted to cross the bridge, the enemies would catch up to her somewhere in the middle of the bridge. From there, either Emerald squad or herself would have to destroy the bridge, sending Fae down the rapids that she likely wouldn’t survive. If she didn’t cross and instead destroyed the bridge from this side, she would be forced to fight off a whole army. She wouldn’t last long in that scenario either. That left only one option, using her trump card.
Pouring her power into her sword, it grew in response. The hilt extended to more easily allow her to grip it with both hands. Pushing her exhausted body past its limit, she began to speed up. The wings on her back detached and flew to her sword. Attaching to the sword as if they were always a part of it, the blade began to glow. The massive blade was ready for use.
Reaching the edge of the bridge, Fae suddenly stopped. Crouching down, muscles tensed, Fae’s focus narrowed to the other side of the bridge. In an instant, Fae’s legs pushed with all their might, shoving some of the dirt back. The explosion of force was enough to send Fae half-way across the bridge in an instant. As she glided through the air, the sword sliced through part of the bridge like a hot knife through butter. Once there, Fae swung her blade diagonally across the bridge, severing the two sides from each other. The swing was so powerful, it temporarily created a 5 foot deep slash in the water below. This is where things could end badly. Fae needed to apply enough force on the falling bridge in front of her to launch herself further across and reach the other side but not enough to break the wood or rope. She needed the tension to push off of. If it broke, there wouldn’t be enough force to launch her much further. Another matter was Fae only ever had to do one massive lunge with this move. She wasn’t sure if she could do a second one. She had no choice but to try.
Placing her foot on the plank, Fae quickly tensed her muscles for a second lunge. She wasn’t building strength as quickly as she wanted, but she had to try. Pushing with all the might she could, the remainder of the bridge held. Fae once again glided through the air, but for a shorter length. She fell short of the other side. She was going into the river at this rate.
Feeling the power in her blade fade, its glow starting to dim, some instinct in Fae told her to throw her sword. She couldn’t even think about why before she did. Throwing the sword with all her might, the massive blade flew past the other end of the bridge, and it embedded itself into a large tree. When the power finally faded, Fae’s metal wings separated from the sword. As Fae started to fall towards the rapids, so too did her sword fall from between her wings. That is when Fae felt a tugging sensation coming from her left shoulder blade. The pull became stronger, strong enough to drag Fae through the air to her compatriots. As she got over land, she felt her right wing reattach itself to her. She continued to be pulled by this force until she found herself slamming against a tree.
Finally able to analyze what happened, Fae realized her left wing got stuck in the tree trunk. Trying to return to Fae caused her to be pulled towards it. Looking back to the bridge, she saw it had fallen into the river, completely destroyed. Finally in the clear, Fae gave a sigh of relief. Time to head back to base for a good rest. Fae tried to pull her wing out from the trunk, but her exhausted body couldn’t produce any significant force. Fae looked to the bewildered Emerald squad. “A little help here?”
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Fae didn’t remember all of this in one go, it took a couple of weeks to fully recall the event. Fae kept meeting with Rao and Dial as she remembered bits and pieces, keeping them up to date about what she remembered. She did, however, leave out the fact she got stuck in a tree. The more time she spent with the two, the more she enjoyed their company. At the end, she saw the two of them as friends. Eventually the three would just go out for fun.
This night, the trio went out for some bowling. It was Dial’s suggestion, despite his rather large fingers being unable to fit in the bowling ball holes. It turned out; he had another arm with thinner fingers that he used for bowling among other things. Once settled in their lane, Dial pointed at Rao and said, “No cheating.”
Rao shrugged, and started off the game. Taking turns, it was a rather even match since none of them were particularly skilled at bowling. While Dial was eying up his next throw, Fae spoke to Rao. “So, you moved from Japan to follow Dial? Do you ever regret your decision?”
Rao’s response was immediate. “Not really. It was scary at first, but something about Dial just made me feel at ease. I think I needed a change like this.”
Fae continued, “How about Dial? He seems nice enough.” Looking back to the Protogen, she saw he was stuck with a 7-10 split. He seemed to be trying to figure out how to best throw the ball.
“Yeah, he is rather nice and honest almost to a fault. Despite his looks, he is a total softie. Although he can be easily distracted.” Rao said, also watching Dial as he threw the bowling ball. He only managed to get one pin. Rao got up for her turn, using two of her tails to grab a ball. Dial returned back to sit down.
“So, how did my experience help with your research?” Fae asked the Protogen.
“It was a great help. It helped clear up some theories floating about. Although some people are trying to dispute your story.” The protogen said. “I’m amazed you still remember it so clearly.”
Fae shrugged. “Just good memory, I guess.” She then changed the subject. “Truthfully, what do you think of Rao?”
Dial quickly looked at Rao, and then back to Fae. “She can be a bit of a handful with her pranks, but she is a real sweetheart. Although she doesn’t really think of the risk to some of her actions.”
After a while, the three finished their game. As they were leaving, Fae had one final question. “I was wondering, do you have room in your house for one more?” Dial and Rao were both surprised by this question. Fae began to elaborate, “I mean, it gets annoying having to travel a descent distance to keep meeting up with each other. Honestly, I’ve been enjoying your company and wouldn’t mind living with you. I’d help pay the bills, of course.”
Rao spoke up first. “Sure! As I said when we met, ‘the more the merrier’.”
Dial was caught off guard by the question. “Well, we don’t actually have a house together. We have been thinking of getting one, but only big enough for the two of us.”
Rao wrapped her arm around Dial, putting him in a headlock. “Stop overthinking this, you overgrown toaster! We can simply look for a house big enough to accommodate the three of us. Just say yes, it’ll be fun!”
Fae couldn’t help but giggle a bit at the scene in front of her. It made her feel like it was the correct decision to live with them. Something about them seemed almost magnetic, like something straight out of a story.
After the last story, I was given some feedback on my writing. So I have taken it to heart, and am changing up the structure a bit. I'll probably stick with this style moving forward.
Zacian belongs to Nintendo.
Fae sat in front of her vanity and started to brush her fur. She started with her tail long, flat tail, which started with light blue fur and suddenly changes to dark blue and goes down to her ankles. It was rather flexible, so grooming it was rather easy. Fae then moved to her hair, focusing on the two blue strips of hair that hung down the mess of long, dark blue hair she had. Directly in the path of the rising morning sun, Fae’s hair and fur sparkled in the light. After completing the two strands, the Zacian moved on to the longer, dark blue hair that hung down her back. Brushing out the bedhead look, Fae had few options with the hair directly on top of her head since her ears and the crown like structure had a similar metal like quality like her wings.
If you looked closely enough at the gold and blue “crown” you would see scratches on the surface. They are the only signs of the many battles Fae has taken apart in. That, and the sword lying against the side of the vanity. Made of metal, it had a blue gem in the hilt and had an unusual structure to the blade. Fae had finished brushing her hair when she set the brush down and reached for her sword. She pointlessly examined the blade to see if it would need to be sharpened, a habit she picked up during times of war. Since it hadn’t been used a whole lot recently, the blade was still sharp. The shiny Zacian set her blade on the vanity and went to her closet to change out of her nightgown and into one of her favorite sundresses.
After breakfast, Fae kept an eye on the time. She was going to meet with a researcher who reached out to her about something. A protogen named Dial managed to call her and wanted to meet over lunch for something. She still had plenty of time to kill before then, so she picked up the romance novel she had been reading. Although she couldn’t seem to focus on it, her mind kept wandering to the request Dial had made. “I’ve heard that you are an ‘expert’ on some historical events. A paper came out recently and I wanted to see if you had anything to say about it. Could we meetup some time?” Fae was a little suspicious of some stranger calling her up out of nowhere and asking to meet with her. Still, she agreed to meet with them so long as it was in a public space.
It had turned out that, by complete chance, the two had been living only an hour away from each other. Honestly, to Fae it seemed like something out of previous romance novel she read. Of course, it was about two young lovers, and Fae was by no means young. She wasn’t even sure of her exact age at this point. You start to lose count after the first millennium, or rather, you lose the desire to keep track.
Fae’s memory remains rather sharp on major events. Although that does mean she still has some vivid memories of her many battles, though it doesn’t bother her that much. She was a warrior; violence didn’t faze her. From what Dial mentioned, it should be about a specific battle in a war about 2052 years ago. Looking at the time one last time, Fae decided she would arrive extra early rather than trying to spend the time away not reading.
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Fae drove half an hour to the meeting point, a French café that served excellent pastries. Fae had been meaning to visit it sometime and having the meeting there was an excellent excuse. Arriving, Fae ordered some beignets. A simple enough dish, but when done properly it was delightful. The shiny Zacian grabbed the powdered pastry in her black fingers and ate them. The amount of powdered sugar was perfect, although it still covered her fingers and muzzle. She was about to clean it off when she heard “Are you Fae?” coming from behind her.
Turning, she saw a dark blue furred figure with electronic components and scrap like armor behind her. They had a black, boxy visor that had orange lights in the shape of triangles for eyes and a jagged line for a mouth. The figure also had a turquoise-colored gear like pattern in 4 panels, two on his head and two on his thighs. The gear ticked along with the passing seconds. The center of their chest had a gradient color, starting from red at the top and slowly turned to orange at the bottom. Fae had never seen a Protogen, but she had heard of them described and knew this was a protogen. She also knew the person she was meant to interview in an hour was a protogen. “Yes, I am Fae. I presume you are Dial?” Fae responded, wiping off the excess sugar from her lips.
“Indeed I am. I wasn’t expecting you to be here so early.” Dial said, taking a seat across from Fae. Dial’s glass like tube tail moved fluidly, the orange rings shift around the shaft as it bended, a large tuft of dark blue fur at its end. The waiter came by, and Dial ordered a Pain au Chocolat.
“I typically like trying to get to meetings early. You never know what might happen.” Fae said. Dial agreed with Fae’s sentiment. The protogen’s pastry having arrived, Dial’s visor opened up to eat his flaky treat.
“So,” Dial began, “A new paper recently came out about an archeological dig site.” As his glowing mouth moved, it was covered by flakes of the pastry which didn’t move at all. The slightly synthetic sounding voice continued, “There was evidence of a town in an area that wasn’t known to previously host a town. Evidence suggests the town was destroyed about 2000 to 2100 years ago.” Finally realizing he had crumbs on his face, he wiped them off before finishing his thought. “There happened to be a war in the area around 2053 years ago. I was hoping that if you were there, you might know of something about it.”
Dial handed Fae a copy of the paper, opened to the location with some photos of the area. The photos did seem familiar to Fae, so she really tried thinking back to that war. “Hmm… Yeah, I think I was there. It was a town called ‘Shapper’. It was caught in the middle of a terrible battle, and the whole place was burnt to the ground.” The zacian paused to eat another beignet before continuing. “I was able to get everyone evacuated, but the sheer number of opponents forced me to withdraw.” Placing her black and white hand on her forehead, she scratched at the blue indents on the gold crown. “I can’t really remember all the details at the moment, but I’m sure it’ll come back to me eventually.”
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While Fae was still attempting to recall more details, she heard a female voice behind you. “There you are, Dial!” Turning, she saw a peach and white furred kitsune girl. Her body was covered in brown markings and strange patterns. The kitsune had a nice hourglass figure, wearing crop top over a fishnet shirt and shorts that only accentuated her figure. She had 5 long, brown tails that lightened up until they suddenly were tipped in white. The tails had blotches of dark brown in the middle, covered by a white crescent and curved diamond pattern. The kitsune was wearing a black leather collar with a golden bell, just below it you could see a heart shaped pattern in her fur. Her short hair started out red but transitioned to yellow as it got further from her scalp. Her magenta eyes sparkled with a slight bit of mischief.
“Rao? I thought I told you I was going to be in a meeting.” The flustered protogen said. Rao walked up to the table the two were sitting at and pulled another chair for her to sit with the two.
“A meeting? At this café?” the newcomer said to Dial. “It seemed more like a date to me. And here I thought you were loyal.” The kitsune sounded a little hurt.
“What! No! I...” Dial went, trying to think of a way to best explain his choice of location. One could swear the black visor turned slightly red as if he were blushing. Fae was watching the whole interaction play out, reminded of another romance story she read.
Rao began to laugh. “I’m only pulling your leg, don’t get your circuits in a twist.” Rao reached to get the leftovers of Dial’s pastry and began to eat it. Dial protested Rao stealing his food, attempting to grab it back from her. Despite Dial being taller than Rao, the kitsune simply shapeshifted a bit to extend her hand out of the Protogen’s reach.
Fae did her best at hiding her laughter. These two seemed like such an unlikely duo. A partially artificial scientist and a prankster kitsune girl. Dial seemed pretty kind, although he could be easily distracted and flustered. Rao seemed nice, but also had a bit of mean streak that was more teasy than anything else. Fae had seen many people with similar personalities to the two over her long life, and they were often a joy to be around.
Rao started to look Fae up and down as she finished the treat, the Protogen having given up attempting to take his pastry back. “Besides, the more the merrier, as they say. So, this is the expert you were talking about.” Rao offered her hand to Fae, “Pleasure to meet you, I am Rao.”
“My name is Fae, and the pleasure is mine.” The two shook hands. Turning back to Dial, Fae continued. “As I was saying, if I think about it, I’ll likely recall more of that day. Anything else?”
Dial dug out another photo. “There was a strange cut mark found in some wood. I was wondering if you knew anything about it.” Dial showed Fae the photo, it was of a partially burnt piece of wood that had a unique cut indent. Fae instantly recognized it.
“I do. It looks like the cut made by my blade. Probably a missed swing or deflected blow that caused me to strike the wood.” Fae admitted. “I can bring it next time, if you want.”
The protogen’s visor displayed an exclamation mark down the center. His turning gear patterns on his thighs and side of his face speed up for a few seconds out of excitement. “That would be amazing!”
“Alright, now my interest is piqued as well. I hope you don’t mind the extra company Dial. Or was this actually meant to be a secret date?” Rao said with a sarcastic smile. Dial did his best to ignore that last comment.
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Fae parted ways from the duo and returned home. She kept recollecting the time she was asked about piece by piece. It was moonless night; Fae was in full plate armor and leading some of the soldiers from the army she had decided to support in this war. It happened to be the last battle of this war that she fought in.
After learning of the movements of the enemy troops, Fae led her troops to defend the town. “Gold and Silver squad, you’re in charge of evacuation. Take the civilians and meet up with Red and Blue squads. Emerald squad will stay with me here to slow their advance.” Fae ordered the squad leaders. “Since only Emerald squad will remind behind with me, we will be outnumbered. We won’t be winning this fight, so focus on keeping yourselves alive. Once I give the signal, retreat across the bridge.” Given her experience, the squad leaders agreed to her plans.
The evacuation was almost complete when the enemy troops arrived. They came bearing torches, ready to burn whatever was in their path. Fae readied her blade and charged towards the enemy. The noble warrior fought her way through her enemies. Up until this battle, she had been able to cleanly cut through most of the weapons due to her physical strength and trusty blade. This time, however, Fae noticed she wasn’t cutting through the metal weapons as cleanly as before. Fae never did find out if it was because the other army had been improving their weapons or her own blade was becoming dull. Either way, Fae was tiering out faster than normal.
The Zacian’s long hair flowed as she fought off the assailants, sparkling in the fire light. Due to the sheer number of opponents, Fae couldn’t stop all of them from setting the town ablaze. That is when a large lion swordsman appeared and challenged Fae to a one-on-one fight. An odd move given the circumstances, but they were adamant, even saying “None of you touch her. She’ll be my opponent.” Fae accepted his challenge but kept part of her attention on the growing circle of soldiers around her.
The swordsman was not only strong, but skilled. The clang of their swords clashing rang across the battlefield. Each one parrying the other’s blow almost perfectly. Despite the circumstances, Fae was enjoying the fight. A real challenge for once. Fae had one advantage over her opponent, her sword was lighter and more maneuverable. After a feint, she attacked from above. Her opponent was barely able to lift his sword in time to block, but the angle caused Fae to slide down and imbed her sword in the side of burning house. Before she could pull her sword out, the swordsman swung his blade down at her arms. Fae had to let go of her blade to dodge the attack.
Fae quickly weighed her options. Without a sword, she could get in close and fight with her fists. Or she could launch a ranged attack with her powers, but it would be rather weak and give away one of the aces up her sleeve. Fae chose to rely on her physical strength to get through this. Getting up close, she punched at his plate armor. She was strong enough to dent the armor, although the effort did hurt her hands. Dodging his swings, she continued to land blows, although at this rate her hands would break before he fell. She needed to get her sword back. An idea quickly flashed into her mind; she had no choice but to go with it. Landing one more blow, Fae turned to retrieve her weapon. The lion seized the chance to swing at her again. Fae planned for this. Grabbing hold of the hilt in her hands, she twisted her body so the next sword blown would land on one of her metal wings. Combining her own strength with the momentum of the blow to her wing, she pulled the sword out.
Fae underestimated the strength of the pull and how damaged her hands were, so her sword flung out of her grasp. On the ground, she swung her leg at her opponent’s arms, knocking his own sword away. Fae quickly got up as the swordsmen tried to retrieve his own sword. Grabbing him by his chest plate, she pulled him up and headbutted his armored head. Her natural metal crown provided her more protection to this action than her opponent’s helmet. The swordsman fell to the ground, unconscious from the blow. Fae had won the fight.
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Not pausing for a second, Fae gathered her blade and fled from the troops. The fight had taken a lot out of her, she couldn’t survive against such a large number of opponents now. Rushing past her fallen opponent, she left them alive in the hopes of maybe fighting them again another day. Or if the war ended soon, a drink.
With the evacuation long over, Fae decided it was time to retreat. Gathering her supernatural power into her free hand, she launched it skywards. It exploded in the sky, lighting up the night with a pink light. With the signal given, the members of Emerald squad started to retreat. With the burning buildings collapsing around her, Fae ran as hard as she could.
With her lungs burning and legs aching, Fae saw the bridge at a distance. She noticed she was the last one to arrive. The bridge was a wooden suspension bridge that hung over a raging river. If they made it across the bridge and destroyed it, they would force the enemy to have to cross further up or down river, which were more heavily guarded positions.
Exhaustion was catching up to Fae, and she was slowing down. She could hear the fast-approaching army behind her. She wouldn’t be able to make it across the bridge before they caught up to her. Fae quickly summarized the possible outcomes. If she attempted to cross the bridge, the enemies would catch up to her somewhere in the middle of the bridge. From there, either Emerald squad or herself would have to destroy the bridge, sending Fae down the rapids that she likely wouldn’t survive. If she didn’t cross and instead destroyed the bridge from this side, she would be forced to fight off a whole army. She wouldn’t last long in that scenario either. That left only one option, using her trump card.
Pouring her power into her sword, it grew in response. The hilt extended to more easily allow her to grip it with both hands. Pushing her exhausted body past its limit, she began to speed up. The wings on her back detached and flew to her sword. Attaching to the sword as if they were always a part of it, the blade began to glow. The massive blade was ready for use.
Reaching the edge of the bridge, Fae suddenly stopped. Crouching down, muscles tensed, Fae’s focus narrowed to the other side of the bridge. In an instant, Fae’s legs pushed with all their might, shoving some of the dirt back. The explosion of force was enough to send Fae half-way across the bridge in an instant. As she glided through the air, the sword sliced through part of the bridge like a hot knife through butter. Once there, Fae swung her blade diagonally across the bridge, severing the two sides from each other. The swing was so powerful, it temporarily created a 5 foot deep slash in the water below. This is where things could end badly. Fae needed to apply enough force on the falling bridge in front of her to launch herself further across and reach the other side but not enough to break the wood or rope. She needed the tension to push off of. If it broke, there wouldn’t be enough force to launch her much further. Another matter was Fae only ever had to do one massive lunge with this move. She wasn’t sure if she could do a second one. She had no choice but to try.
Placing her foot on the plank, Fae quickly tensed her muscles for a second lunge. She wasn’t building strength as quickly as she wanted, but she had to try. Pushing with all the might she could, the remainder of the bridge held. Fae once again glided through the air, but for a shorter length. She fell short of the other side. She was going into the river at this rate.
Feeling the power in her blade fade, its glow starting to dim, some instinct in Fae told her to throw her sword. She couldn’t even think about why before she did. Throwing the sword with all her might, the massive blade flew past the other end of the bridge, and it embedded itself into a large tree. When the power finally faded, Fae’s metal wings separated from the sword. As Fae started to fall towards the rapids, so too did her sword fall from between her wings. That is when Fae felt a tugging sensation coming from her left shoulder blade. The pull became stronger, strong enough to drag Fae through the air to her compatriots. As she got over land, she felt her right wing reattach itself to her. She continued to be pulled by this force until she found herself slamming against a tree.
Finally able to analyze what happened, Fae realized her left wing got stuck in the tree trunk. Trying to return to Fae caused her to be pulled towards it. Looking back to the bridge, she saw it had fallen into the river, completely destroyed. Finally in the clear, Fae gave a sigh of relief. Time to head back to base for a good rest. Fae tried to pull her wing out from the trunk, but her exhausted body couldn’t produce any significant force. Fae looked to the bewildered Emerald squad. “A little help here?”
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Fae didn’t remember all of this in one go, it took a couple of weeks to fully recall the event. Fae kept meeting with Rao and Dial as she remembered bits and pieces, keeping them up to date about what she remembered. She did, however, leave out the fact she got stuck in a tree. The more time she spent with the two, the more she enjoyed their company. At the end, she saw the two of them as friends. Eventually the three would just go out for fun.
This night, the trio went out for some bowling. It was Dial’s suggestion, despite his rather large fingers being unable to fit in the bowling ball holes. It turned out; he had another arm with thinner fingers that he used for bowling among other things. Once settled in their lane, Dial pointed at Rao and said, “No cheating.”
Rao shrugged, and started off the game. Taking turns, it was a rather even match since none of them were particularly skilled at bowling. While Dial was eying up his next throw, Fae spoke to Rao. “So, you moved from Japan to follow Dial? Do you ever regret your decision?”
Rao’s response was immediate. “Not really. It was scary at first, but something about Dial just made me feel at ease. I think I needed a change like this.”
Fae continued, “How about Dial? He seems nice enough.” Looking back to the Protogen, she saw he was stuck with a 7-10 split. He seemed to be trying to figure out how to best throw the ball.
“Yeah, he is rather nice and honest almost to a fault. Despite his looks, he is a total softie. Although he can be easily distracted.” Rao said, also watching Dial as he threw the bowling ball. He only managed to get one pin. Rao got up for her turn, using two of her tails to grab a ball. Dial returned back to sit down.
“So, how did my experience help with your research?” Fae asked the Protogen.
“It was a great help. It helped clear up some theories floating about. Although some people are trying to dispute your story.” The protogen said. “I’m amazed you still remember it so clearly.”
Fae shrugged. “Just good memory, I guess.” She then changed the subject. “Truthfully, what do you think of Rao?”
Dial quickly looked at Rao, and then back to Fae. “She can be a bit of a handful with her pranks, but she is a real sweetheart. Although she doesn’t really think of the risk to some of her actions.”
After a while, the three finished their game. As they were leaving, Fae had one final question. “I was wondering, do you have room in your house for one more?” Dial and Rao were both surprised by this question. Fae began to elaborate, “I mean, it gets annoying having to travel a descent distance to keep meeting up with each other. Honestly, I’ve been enjoying your company and wouldn’t mind living with you. I’d help pay the bills, of course.”
Rao spoke up first. “Sure! As I said when we met, ‘the more the merrier’.”
Dial was caught off guard by the question. “Well, we don’t actually have a house together. We have been thinking of getting one, but only big enough for the two of us.”
Rao wrapped her arm around Dial, putting him in a headlock. “Stop overthinking this, you overgrown toaster! We can simply look for a house big enough to accommodate the three of us. Just say yes, it’ll be fun!”
Fae couldn’t help but giggle a bit at the scene in front of her. It made her feel like it was the correct decision to live with them. Something about them seemed almost magnetic, like something straight out of a story.
After the last story, I was given some feedback on my writing. So I have taken it to heart, and am changing up the structure a bit. I'll probably stick with this style moving forward.
Zacian belongs to Nintendo.
Category Story / All
Species Unspecified / Any
Gender Any
Size 50 x 50px
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