Legends of Darkness prologue

Story by DarkPrinceRiku on SoFurry

, , , , , , , , , ,

#1 of Legends of Darkness

I've finally managed to get this started. Might try a comic of this later, or maybe not.

Rated M for the contents of future chapters.

For a better understanding, I'll give a brief description of some things I left out.

Note: During his teens, Riku had allowed his hair to grow out more, and has it braided in Egyptian locks. As for his height, he is about 5' 6", while the average jackal is somewhere between 5' 8" and 6'.

Trainer and Oka: the only thing that was not mentioned is that neither of these two has any hair. Jus the snowy whit fur.

That should just about do it. On to the first chapter. cx


Life Story

In a desolate world known as Aberuth, a world filled with numerous deserts, a kingdom known as Sirencester, the main capital city ruled by a race of anubian jackals, the dominant race in these lands, stood proudly over this seemingly lonely desert. But this story is not about their rule, or their dominance over the other races that walk the land. This is about a young pup born and raised under their ways. One day, he will learn of his true destiny. His new is Riku, and this is his story, one of war, love, and absolution.

Deep in the city of Sire, in an old chanter's cottage, a young jackal female, with the darkest brown fur, green eyes and markings, shoulder length, black hair, and a small, green mark on her cheek featuring three leaves together, had just given birth to her child only moments ago. She laid comfortably on a bed supplied to her. A servant had brought her a glass of water, and a wet towel. Moments later, a cleric brought her newborn to her, placing it in it's mother's arms. It was a little boy pup, black in color, and a small head of black hair, matching her own. She gave him a gentle stroke on his cheek. He opened his tiny brown eyes for the first time and looked up at his mother. She gave a comforting smile as she kissed her child's forehead.

"My little Riku," she whispered as she named her child.

~~~~~~

Eight years later...

Riku sat in his bedroom, staring out his open window. It was dark out, and stargazing was his favorite pass time. He heard a knock at his door. A red vixen entered. She had brown eyes, much like his own, and her dark brown hair reached down past her shoulders. She wore a green robe, with traces of gold in bordering areas, such as the end of the sleeves. It made her seem like royalty, but considering she wasn't a jackal like him, she was little more than a lowly servant.

"You're up late, aren't you?" she stated, "What are you doing?"

"Hi, Juli. Just looking at the stars." The vixen known as Juli, short for Juliana, was his mother's servant, but was treated more like family, and served as a nanny for Riku. "Where's mom?"

"She was called for a meeting, so it looks like its just you and me tonight." Riku was a part of one of the noble families, so his mother wasn't around a lot. He didn't mind though. He loved being with Juli, and he knew the vixen loved spending time with him. He gave a yawn. Juli muffled a laugh, "Time for bed little one."

"But I'm not tired," he said with another yawn. She encouraged him with a gentle push.

"Come on, now. Off you go." She guided him to his bed. He snuggled under his warm, silky covers, and slowly drifted off to sleep. Juli gave him a kiss on the forehead. "Good night, Riku."

~~~~~~

Another ten years later...

As Riku entered his teens, he began rigorous training. His dream was to become a knight, for the purpose of serving and protecting his people. He became fascinated since learning of his father's history, at least from what his mother told him, though she rarely spoke about it.

His father was a royal knight, who answered only to the pharaoh, and was killed only months before he was born. Riku was named after him to carry on his spirit. The young pup was met by the royal trainer, a snow white jackal bearing golden marks and eyes, and a twin thunderbolt mark on his cheek. He saw great potential in Riku, and invited the pup to train with him.

The time came when he an several others would have to demonstrate what they've learned, by facing off with one another. He had never had any direct contact with others before, but he was smaller than the rest, and often ridiculed for it. Compared to servants, however, his height was about average. He never let it bother him though, because he was about to show them size doesn't matter. It only makes him a smaller, faster target.

The days end came near, and everyone had already faced off, except for Riku and one other. As the last two stepped out of the ring, he heard his name called, as well as his opponent.

"Riku Wyvernshade and Oka Runefall, step forward." He and another jackal did as instructed. The jackal he faced was white, just like his trainer, but without any marks and green eyes. Riku knew this jackal. Since he started going out, he was often picked on, mostly by Oka, supposedly the strongest one in the class. Now was his. Chance for a little payback. The trainer tossed a pair of wooden staves at them, one for each. Both readied themselves as they awaited their instructor's go. "Begin."

The white jackal immediately. Made a dash for him, and as soon as he made a swing, Riku jumped overhead and smacked Oka behind the head, causing him to nearly fall over. Once Oka recovered, he made another attempt at Riku. He saw the swing coming, and blocked an overhead smack with his own stave, followed by a few attempts at his sides. An opening was made for him, and Riku didn't hesitate. He knocked Oka's attack out of they're way, gave him a quick but hard smack on the leg to drop him to one knee, and then a hard hit on the side, hard enough to knock him back a few feet.

Oka managed to make a quick recovery, but not before Riku was already on him again, managing to smack his rival's weapon out of his hands, hitting him a few times with an upward staff twirl, and finishing with a quick spin leading to a leg sweep. Before Oka could do anything else, Riku stood over him with the stave pointing at him, claiming his victory.

"That's enough," the trainer announced. Riku stood down, allowing Oka to stand. Their teacher stood before them, and looked at Riku first. "You did very well, Riku. You will make an excellent knight." Riku gave a respectful bow. The trainer looked at Oka, disappointment spreading across his face. "You were too aggressive in there. You need to have more patience. That kind of performance will only get you killed in battle. I expect more from my own flesh and blood." Oka responded with a nod, though the words from his father, the trainer apparently, cut him deeply.