FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

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CHAPTER 17

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I awoke in the strange room. The smells were unfamiliar. I sat up in bed and looked out the window. The sun was just beginning to rise over the horizon. The sky was a beautiful shade of orange. It had all the signs of going to be a beautiful day. But I didn't have the luxury of relaxing. Every minute we spent here, allowed the curi'nakra to get further and further away. But without a proper lead or destination in mind we could end up going in the entirely wrong direction. As soon as we had a lead we were going to leave this town.

I could not fathom why they would have come this far South. There had to be something here that they could not get up North. What ever that was we had to find them before they could complete what ever scheme they had planned. The prophecy clearly stated that curi'nakra would eventually unleash a horde of demons upon the mortal realm. But beyond that I had nothing to go on.

The Southern regions were far more densely populated than the regions North of the Dark Forest. The natural divide the forest created meant that each regions politics rarely interacted. Meaning they had their own problems down here. The most prominent one was the conflict with Gir; a country to the East, ruled be several lion prides. Their conflict was almost as notorious as the conflict between the wolves and dragons in the North.

The Primal Lands to the South was also a notable and ever present source of conflict in the South. Those lands were filled with violent tribes of furs. A mountain range known as Xiahou'quin, the Great Barrier, prevented most of those tribes from marching North into the Tribal Lands. If the curi'nakra was heading into the Primal Lands then that would pose a major issue to our pursuit, but the danger posed to us would be equally as perilous to them as well.

I got up and began putting on my armour, which was freshly cleaned just yesterday. Once I was dressed I slipped out of the house, avoiding the kitchen where I could hear and smell breakfast being made. I headed to the training grounds were several warriors were already running morning drills. I kept my distance and found a quiet spot to run through my morning exercises. I ran through some of my own drills, practising my martial arts.

While I was practising I noticed Loire and Mantou training in paw to paw combat with some of the other warriors on the other side of the training grounds. They were holding their own, but some of the local warriors were pretty good. A muscular cheetah seemed to be giving Mantou a hard time.

He was faster and more agile than Mantou was. He seemed to have some martial arts training. Time and time again he managed to pull Mantou to the ground and lock in one hold or another that completely immobilised the bigger drake. The cheetah seemed to notice me watching and waved me over. I was hesitant, but I decided that it was best to make some sort of connection with the locals.

"You want to join big guy?" The cheetah asked with an infectious smile.

"You don't want to fight me." I smirked, throwing out some bravado. Warriors tended to react positively to this behaviour. "Not unless you like losing."

"Oh a tough guy!" The cheetah chuckled. "I saw you fight Karn. The little shit is an ass and deserves a good beating! He knows his way around a sword, and yet you fought him unarmed."

"It was hardly a fight." I said. "The fight was over before it really started."

"But it was obvious that you were going to hand his tail to him! He is always shooting his maw off, picking fights with furs bigger than himself! He needs someone to put him in his place!"

I have to say it was refreshing hearing someone say that about the young drake. I had promised not the hold any ill feelings towards him, but that was easier said than done. But more importantly the cheetah didn't seem to agree with the reason Karn had picked a fight with me. The two Zangarians standing behind him seemed to agree with the cheetahs comment.

In addition to the cheetah, the two Zangarians, Mantou and Loire there were two other furs in the group. A tall, brown and black speckled stallion, and a shorter but much stockier black pelted bull. They all wore little more than loin cloths. It was not uncommon for warriors to practise without their armour.

"What happened to your armour?" The bull asked.

He was of course referring to the three claw marks that Khaine had left across the chest, during our fight back in Banuke. His claws had carved fairly deep into the leather above the metal chest plate, which had also been notably marked by the claws.

"Got into a fight against a wolven k'tan."

"Shit! You fought Zaraki Kamir!?" One of the drakes exclaimed.

"Yes, but this was caused by another."

"There's more than one!?" The drake said with surprise. "Damn... just when you think things can't get any worse."

"Heh, if you have fought against wolven k'tan then I guess we won't stand a chance against you!" The cheetah smirked.

"No you wouldn't." Mantou declared. "He'd kick all your tails!"

"Well that sounds like a challenge!" The bull grinned, punching the palm of his other paw.

"What do you say?" The cheetah asked.

"You don't want that fight." I smirk. "I won't be holding back!"

"You really are a cocky son of a bit... Oh sorry." The stallion apologised.

"It's fine." I assured him. I hated that phrase, but he obviously had meant no offence. He apologised the moment he remembered about my wolven heritage.

I backed up a few paces and raised my paws to fight. The five furs smiled at each other and positioned themselves in readiness to fight. Mantou and Loire moved to the side, neither of them wanting to join this fight. I eyed up each of the warriors before me. The cheetah seemed to know some marital arts so I would need to watch out for him. The bull and the stallion definitely had a weight and strength advantage over me, unless I used my nen. The two Zangarians might be able to use nen in order to counter my own.

The bull was the first to charge forwards. I dashed towards him, but at the last moment I spun to my right and slipped past him. As he passed me I shoved him forwards, causing him to stumble and fall. I dashed between the two Zangarians, they were spaced out too far apart to reach me. Perhaps they didn't expect me to take the offensive, but taking the offensive was my best chance in keeping the group off balance and unable to coordinate their attacks properly.

With the Zangarians unable to reach me I ran towards the stallion at the back of the group. This seemed to catch the stallion by surprise and he swung in desperation at me. I easily ducked beneath his fist and drove my palm into the underside of his muzzle. His head snapped upwards and he staggered backwards. I leapt, spun in mid-air and extended my right leg and struck the stallion in the center of his exposed chest. He fell onto the ground with a grunt.

The moment my foot-paws touched the ground I was forced to block a high round house kick to my head from the cheetah with my right forearm. He was fast! He had been standing at least six yards away the moment my first attack struck the stallion. My wrist guards absorbed most of the impact, but the kick had a good deal of force behind in. As he retracted his leg I spun round to my left and leant backwards to avoid the following reverse spin kick

.

He was good! I punched him in the side and as he recoiled from the blow I shoved him away from me. The two Zangarians were now right on top of me! I turned and blocked one of the Zangarians punches. I blocked the blow and then drove my elbow across his snout. He staggered off to the side, but I had struck him knowing I was going to take a blow from the other drake. The Zangarian punched me in the lower back, my armour absorbed the majority of the impact, and then he grabbed me from behind. Before he could fully restrain me I grabbed his wrists, spun round and drove my knee into his stomach.

I rolled away to avoid yet another kick from the cheetah. I rolled into a crouched stance, surprised to see the bull standing over me with his arms raised. I didn't have time to dodge, so I raised my arms to block as he brought both of his fists down upon me in a clubbing blow. The force of the blow washed through me, once again my wrist guards taking the brunt of the blow, but the bulls strength was no joke! The bones of my arms throbbed with a dull pain. Using my legs I pushed myself upwards and shoved the bull backwards before striking him in the snout with a punch.

The punch had just enough force to make his eyes go squint for a split second, it was only enough to stun him and create an opening for a follow up attack. But I didn't have time! I sensed the cheetahs approach and managed to turn and raise my arms to block the leaping kick to my chest, but was knocked backwards into the bull who instinctively wrapped his arms around me.

The speed and fluidity of his movements as he moved between kicks was impressive. Before the bulls arms could close around me I ducked down and rolled away from him. As I stood the cheetah was already on the attack! I blocked the kick and retreated backwards, attempting to keep some distance between us. As he attempted to kick me in the chest I caught his ankle with both paws. He leapt up and I ducked, avoiding his other foot-paw from hitting me in the side of the head. Before I could do anything he brought his other foot-paw to kick my wrists. I lost my grip on his ankle and he rolled forwards.

The two Zangarians chose that moment to attack. I blocked the first ones punch, dodged the other and punched the first one in the stomach before kicking the other in the chest with a backwards kick. I grabbed the arm of the first Zangarian, leapt up and dragged him to the ground. Once I had him on his back I punched him in the muzzle and then leapt up and drove both my foot-paws into the chest of the Zangarian. I knocked him onto his back and came crashing down on top of the Zangarian below me. I rolled off of him and readied myself.

The cheetah attacked with a low sweeping kick which I somersaulted over. As I landed I came muzzle to muzzle with the stallion and wasn't able to block his punch. His blow caught me in the side of the head, it hurt but I rolled my head with the impact, lessening the effect of the blow. I remained standing and as he threw his next punch I grabbed his arm and twisted my hips, dragging him up and over me. He landed on his back with a heavy thud, driving a good deal of air from his lungs in the process.

Once again the cheetah was on top of me in an instant, keeping the pressure on me. He leapt on my exposed back and we rolled over one another. He rolled off of me and we both scrambled up to our foot-paws. He swung first, I leant back to avoid the blow and threw my own punch which he blocked with his right forearm. We exchanged a fast flurry of punches. His punches lacked the power of his kicks, but they came fast! He was faster than me, but I was better at predicting his moves. He managed to catch me across the muzzle a couple of times, but I made sure I landed a few of my own.

I weaved my body to dodge a right hook from him and then raised my right shoulder as if I was about to throw a punch. He reacted, ducking down to avoid the blow that was never going to come, just as I had hoped. I knew how he was going to move and threw my left fist into the side of his head, catching him above the eye. The punch caused him to lose his footing momentarily, but that was the opening I needed. I wrapped my arm around his chest, wrapped my leg around his and then swept his leg out from under him and shoved him into the ground with all my strength.

He hit the ground hard, I heard the air from his lungs rush out of his maw and he was left with a barking cough and gasping for air. I heard the heavy hoof steps behind me, but before I could so much as look over my shoulder I felt the heavy bulk of the bull striking me. My foot-paws left the ground and I hit the ground hard with the mass of the bull atop me.

He straddled me and wasted no time in laying into me with his fists. I was barely able to block his powerful blows with my arms. As he pulled his arm back for a powerful punch I stopped blocking and moved my head at the last possible moment. His fist thudded against the dirt and I grabbed his head and pulled him down into a headlock.

As I drove his muzzle into the ground beneath me I rolled us over and was now on top. Aware one of the Zangarians approaching. I released the headlock and rolled off of the bull and back up onto my foot-paws in time to block the drakes fist. I lashed out and caught him the side of the muzzle with a fast jab, quickly following that up with leg sweep which swept his legs out from under him. He gasped as he was suddenly falling sideways and landed on the ground with a heavy thud.

The other Zangarian tried to grab me, but I spun round to the right and escaped their grasping paw and drove my fist into the side of their head and then drove my knee into their sternum. As they doubled over from my blow I somersaulted forwards, my legs struck them across their back and knocked them muzzle first to the ground. I rolled backwards and quickly rose up to my foot-paws and turned to the stallion who was struggling to stand.

Seeing his four comrades laid out on the ground he raised his paws and shook his head, admitting his defeat. The stallion grunted and lay back down on the ground. The fight was over. Everyone was either incapacitated or lost the will to fight. I sighed and allowed my arms to fall to my side. There was a loud cheer and I turned to see a dozen other warriors cheering us on. I waved and walked over to where Mantou and Loire were leaning against a boulder. Loire tossed me a water sack and I took a swig of water, the cool liquid felt amazing and cooled my body from the inside out.

"Damn it... you're just too damn strong!" The cheetah cursed, his breathing still a little hoarse. He got up, clutching his ribs, and me approached my with an outstretched paw. We shook paws and I offered him the water sack. "Where did you train? There is no way you learned to fight like that without a Master."

"I was trained by a tiger. His name was Aceh Amur."

"Amur!?" The cheetah exclaimed. "As in the Amur dojo in the capital?"

"He did say his family had a dojo." I nodded. "But I'm not sure if it's in the capital or not. He has a dojo of his own in Zangar."

"Zangar have their own dojo now?" One of the Zangarians asked, I nodded at him.

"Where did you study?" I asked the cheetah.

"I studied in the Kiminari dojo. They are one of the main rivals to the Amur dojo." He grinned.

"I heard there were a lot of dojo down here." I said, remembering stories from Aceh about the large tournaments the dojo held. It was quite a major spectacle from how he described it.

"Your skills are seriously insane. Not to mention the fact that the guys were saying you're a k'tan as well? We have a few k'tan here in town. When they use their nen they are considerably stronger!"

"I wasn't using my nen, just in case you were wondering."

"I didn't think so. If you were I don't think any of us would have gotten up after your first hit!" He chuckled.

"Why is it every time I meet you, you are fighting someone?"

I turned round to see Malnark shaking his head at me. Hanril was with him. The two of them walked towards us.

"It was just a friendly fight sir!" The cheetah immediately responded in my defence.

"It looked a little more intense than that." Hanril commented.

"They'll be fine. A few cuts and bruises is all." I assured him.

"Regardless it was an impressive fight." Hanril responded. "There are not many who can take on five furs, let alone five trained warriors in a fight alone."

"They were tough." I admitted. A small compliment to my opponents to help smooth over the loss they had just suffered. "You've trained them well."

"Thank you." Hanril smiled. "But my training pales in comparison to that of the Guardian Deities apparently." He chuckled.

I felt a cold jolt run down my spine. I hadn't wanted that information to slip out, but Hanril had let it slip. A quick look around told me that a number of the warriors had heard his comment. There was no point in hiding it now.

"When you're trained by the Deity of War herself, you learn a few things." I forced a smile.

"What!?" The cheetah exclaimed, looking at me with a look of disbelief.

"I learned martial arts from my Master as I said," I clarified. "But I honed my skills under the tutelage of Jan'Zar, and the teachers she picked for me." I explained to the cheetah and the other warriors in ear shot. Their expressions were quite priceless.

"I know you aren't going to be here for long. But would you consider helping the warriors train while you wait for Kantril?" He asked eagerly. "A warrior of your calibur would surely be able to teach them a thing or two in a short amount of time."

Truthfully I'd rather not, but the expectant gaze and friendly smile Hanril was giving me made it hard to refuse. I looked at Malnark who gave me a nod of approval. I let out a heavy sigh. It was probably for the best. If I didn't busy myself while we waited for the merchant to arrive I would just grow impatient and frustrated. The exercise would do me good as well.

"I've got nothing else to do while we wait."

"Thank you very much." Hanril bowed his head. "Now if you excuse me, I have some business to take care of." He turned and took a couple of steps before turning back to me. "Do me a favour and try not to hurt any of them."

"I'll be gentle." I grinned.

Hanril shook his head and walked off with Malnark. The cheetah, the two Zangarians, the bull and the stallion were all looking at me with dumbfounded expressions. Some of the other warriors had over heard our conversation and were talking about me loud enough for me to hear every word. For the most part most of them seemed to doubt the legitimacy of the claim, others were excited about it.

"Well I guess the secrets out." Loire patted me on the shoulder. "What do you want to do?"

"Find out who wants training." I said with a shrug. "Anyone who wants me to train them can meet me here in an hour."

"Where are you going?" Loire asked as I headed towards town.

"I'm going to get breakfast." I stopped and looked over my shoulder at the crowd of furs watching. "Those of you who want training from me might want to skip breakfast."

"Why?" One of them asked.

"Because you're likely to throw up!" I declared with an ominous tone as I walked away.

There was the chance that the would throw up, but the threat was meant to weed out those who were not going to take the training seriously. They would just be a detriment to the others. My time here was limited, so I was going to need to pass on as much as I could in a short time. I couldn't do that while dragging dead weight.

"Didn't you just promise Warlord Hanril to be gentle on us?" The cheetah I had been fighting chuckled nervously. I stopped and turned back to him.

"That fight we just had... that was me being gentle." I smirked.

When I first arrived in Aaru, every day I would have broken bones by the end of my training. But I wasn't going to go that far with them. For one I didn't have the ability to mend broken bones over night.

"Oh... fucking great!" The cheetah forced a toothy grin and glanced nervously at his fellow warriors.

"I'll see those of you willing to go through hell in an hour."

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When I returned to the training ground a group a dozen furs were waiting for me. Six Zangarians, two bulls, a stallion, a fox, a cheetah and a gazelle. Amongst the group were the five warriors who I had fought with earlier. They all looked nervous. Loire and Mantou sat a short distance away and walked over to join the group when they saw me.

"You guys want training as well?"

"We're not expecting to become insanely strong like you, but we are curious about the kind of training you were put through in Aaru." Loire grinned.

"Do your worst!" Mantou challenged, earning a punch in the shoulder from Loire. Several of the other warriors hissed at him to shut his muzzle.

"Ummm..." The cheetah from earlier stepped forward, obviously with a question to ask. "Earlier when you said you were going easy on us... just how serious were you being?"

I had to tread carefully here. I didn't want to hurt their pride too badly, they had already lost to me in a fight with a five-on-one advantage after all, but there was no point in lying to them. My next words would either motivate them or demoralise them.

"I tried not to hurt you, so I did pull my punches a bit." I admitted. "But you all put up one hell of a fight!"

"Told you they lost!" The bull who had not been involved in the fight earlier snickered to the other two Zangarians who chuckled in amusement.

"Something funny?" I asked.

"I was just telling them how pathetically these guys lost earlier!"

The five who I had fought earlier looked embarrassed. I took several steps towards the loud mouthed bull and stared him dead in the eye. He, like the two Zangarians who laughed, was obviously older than the others by a fair number of winters.

"You think you could do any better?!" I asked with a snort, posturing a little for effect.

If I was going to train these furs I needed to make sure they all knew I was in charge, and to do that I needed to put the bull in his place. He was taller than me by nearly a foot, not including his horns. He stared down at me defiantly and snorted.

"Of course I do!"

"Then prove it!" I dared him. "Lets see if you have what it takes!"

He tensed, his paws balling up into fists. For a moment he considered doing it. He wanted to. He was bigger and stronger than me, but I was faster. He knew that as well, and a moment later his better judgement kicked in. He took a step back from me. A clear sign of submission for everyone to see.

"Lets make one thing clear!" I declared to the group. "I am going to push you to your limits and then push you some more! It will be hard! It will be painful! But you will become stronger because of it! Remember what I teach you, because I won't be here for long! Any of you who can't handle that can leave! I don't have time to hold your paw!" As I said that last part I stared right at the bull. He snorted in annoyance but didn't say anything more. No one made to leave. "Good! First thing we are going to do is a race."

"A race?" Loire said curiously.

"We are going to run to the main gate and then back again." I explained. "The rules are to avoid injuring the other participants and any of the towns folk as you make your way through town, and attempt to make it back here as fast as you can. You can take any route through the town that you want. I will also be participating!"

"No offence but this doesn't sound that hard." Mantou chuckled.

"Did I forget to mention that the last fur to arrive back here will demonstrate the next exercise to the rest of the group?" Everyone seemed to grow worried at the mention of a forfeit; the atmosphere grew tense and serious. "Try and keep up if you can!" I smirked. "Begin!"

The race would allow me to gauge each furs individual stamina and speed. The cheetah, the fox and the gazelle were the obvious choices for coming in first. Their species were naturally more nimble and agile than the others, but there was always the chance one of the others would surprise me.

The bigger furs, the bulls and the stallion were less agile; but had longer gaits. It would be a tight race that was sure. I was participating not only to keep an eye on how they were doing, but also to show them that I meant that they could take any route they wanted through the town. That was part of the training which taught me to be able to read the flow.

The flow was more intuition than anything else. But it was also a living thing. A flow of energy that changed every second in response to the everything around it, including your own physical limitations. Every living thing was aware of it on some level. Some would call instinctual, and to a degree it was, but you could train your senses in order to see the multiple routes open to you. I learned to free run through the forests of Aaru, running gauntlets of traps and obstacles, learning to read the flow in order to find the fastest route and emerge unharmed.

At the edge of the training ground, where the ground began to slope downwards at a steep angle I paused and waved the others on. I wanted to see how they would tackle this first obstacle. Would they take the path, which curved this way and that, allowing for a more comfortable, but longer descent, to the bottom? Or would they run down the steep slope in the hope to gain some ground on the competition?

The larger furs, the bulls and stallions took the path. The Zangarians leapt as the reached the edge and used their wings to glide down to the bottom. The cheetah and the gazelle ran headlong down the slope at full speed. I would be impressed if they managed to keep that pace without falling or slamming into the side of the building at the bottom of the slope. The fox took a slightly more interesting approach. He had grabbed one of the steel shields from a weapons rack as he passed by it, tossed the shield on the ground and leapt atop it and used it to slide to the bottom of the slope; very clever. There were a few interesting individuals in this group. I was eager to see what some of these furs were willing to do to win this race!