Haruki, Pt 1 by Drake Beowulf

Haruki, Pt 1

#1 of Haruki

This is the first chapter in the story of my fursona, who has not been in any of my stories before. Please enjoy.

Lying on my stomach in the tall grass, I licked the tip of my knife softly with my tongue while watching the male deer graze in front of me. I was supposed to be hunting him, but I had slipped into one of my moods where I did more thinking then anything else. I only half watched the buck, waiting for him to turn so that I could sneak up on him easier.

I was so caught up in my thinking that I did not notice the person who had been watching me until they had stepped on my back and shot an arrow at the buck. The arrow hit the buck in the eye as it looked up to investigate the sounds coming from the grass. It fell, killed instantly.

As soon as I tried to look at the person whom was still half standing on me, they quickly stepped on my head so that I could not look at them.

"What are you doing here, you worthless filth mutt? This is not your territory! You break the oath between our people."

Great, I thought, _I was snuck up on by a woman. "_I'm sorry. I was only looking for food for my pack. Surely you have heard of my pack's recent plight." The female removed her foot slowly from my head, and I rolled over onto my back, got my first look at her.

She was a lioness, and a well known one, even among the wolves. She was the tallest of her pride, and the mate of the largest male, whose size was second only to her own. Her temper was famous, as was her willingness to kill anything stupid enough to piss her off.

She opened her mouth, and closed it slowly, as if she decided not to say what she was planning on saying. She paused for a second, and then spoke.

"Yes, I have heard of the alpha female's death and the disease plaguing your territory. True tragedies to your pack, and you have my people's sympathy. Nevertheless, you are old enough to hunt, and therefore old enough to know of the agreement settled between your... kind... and mine. Leave now, and you will be spared. Leave the buck." With that, she began to turn around.

"Wait, you must-" I never got to finish. The lioness quickly spun around and stomped on my groin. I screamed in pain, but her yell easily drowned me out.

"I MUST DO NOTHING! I have no reason to help you, OR your pack." She then removed her foot, but did not turn to leave this time. Instead, she stood over me and watched as I curled into a ball and threw up from the pain. Sighing softly, she sat down beside me. "Tell me when the pain has eased enough for you to walk, and I will assist you to the edge of your pack's territory. You are pretty tall. And your fur. I like it a lot. Black as the moonless night. Muscular. You must be a great asset to your people right now."Â I didn't reply

*Â *Â *

It took a while before I was able to walk, and then the lioness helped me to a tree marking the point where our boundaries met. She then started a signal fire and waited with me for some one to come, which only took about half an hour.

"Haruki! What's wrong! What has this flee infested whore done to you?" said my pack member, Beowulf, pointing his knife at the lioness.

The lioness's eyes grew wide at hearing my name, before she realized she had been insulted. "Haruki...? Wha- FLEE INFESTED? You invite WAR between our people!" she yelled back, pointing her drawn bow towards him.

"ENOUGH!" I yelled.Â "She is the one who helped me here, when she had every right to kill me. Lower your knife!" Beowulf obeyed reluctantly, and the lioness lowered her weapon in turn. She then looked at me.

"So... you are Haruki. â€˜Radiant Light', I believe?" she asked.

"'Radiant Sun', but close enough." I replied.

"Very Well. My Pride does not give names to our children, but you, and ONLY you, Haruki, may call me Fallon. Meet me here in seven days, Haruki," she glared at Beowulf harshly, "and bring no one else." With that, the lioness left.

I stood up and looked and Beowulf, my uncle. I could see the anger in his eyes. I could feel my ears lower involuntarily, and my tail seek shelter between my legs. I'm not easily intimidated, but this male, even though he was technically of a lower ranking in the pack then me, was one of the few who could scare me.

"What were you doing in lion territory? You're lucky The Nameless Lioness took pity on you. We already lost the Alpha female, and the Alpha male has acquired the Disease.Â We don't need to lose you too."

"I'm sorry, uncle. I was trying to get good meat. The animals in our domain are all sick, and they contaminate us. The Shaman says so."

Bowing his head, Beowulf turned and began to walk away. After a couple steps, he stopped and looked at me to see why I wasn't following. Holding my groin and wincing, I managed to smile and point a thumb behind me over my shoulder. "I won't be having pups for a while." I said, sticking my tongue out slightly. Beowulf did not find it humorous.

"You mock our predicament. Walk like you deserve the honor bestowed upon you!"

"Then maybe you should walk like the disgrace that you are!" I muttered softly. But not softly enough. Beowulf had heard me, thrown a rock at my head and continued walking.

I managed to barely dodge the rock, and, growling softly, began to walk slowly after him.

*Â *Â *

As Fallon had told me to, I met her at the tree. I never expected to see what I saw though.

What had to be half the lion pride was standing at the tree, with about thirty deer carcasses and countless skins filled with water.

"Greetings, Haruki. I come bearing gifts for you and your tribe. I bring you food and water from our domain, in hopes this small contribution will weaken the disease's hold on your people. I also offer you the help of our shaman, so that she may work alongside yours in order to help find a cure for your blight. With the permission of a pack leader, we will gladly help transport the supplies to a closer location to your settlement."

I didn't know if it was intentional or not, be Fallon had emphasized the words "pack leader". I carefully recalled everything I had said to her, trying to figure out what she knew. I could not think of any reason why she would know, so I decided to attempt to figure out if she did know anything.

"Fallon, Nameless Lioness, with all due respect you should have informed me you intended to do this so that I may have brought the Alpha Male."

At this point a male, he had to be Fallon's mate, chuckled. "Ah, young pup. You know so little. It must be nice to be so light in the head. Brings fewer burdens, compared to a full brain. We know the Alpha male is dick. We also know who you are, despite your pack's attempts to hide it. Your father wouldn't allow any child to bear the name â€˜Radiant Sun' except his own."

I was in shock. I couldn't believe so many years of carefully hiding my real identity from the outside world had failed, and that the lions, whom my people have never really gotten along with, had figured it out.

"How do you know? How did you find out? My name couldn't have given it away." I whispered, slowly reaching for my knife. This was starting to look really bad...

"Oh, we were told. Turns out one of your kind fancies my younger sister, and has been sneaking over for the past year. I just found when I returned from this very spot. He is quite friendly, I must say, and cares about his people deeply. He seems to feel he can help strengthen the relationship between our two territories. But enough of this, Haruki. You have the power to invite us into your village. Lions, begin picking up the supplies. You, future leader, can leave now, and warn your people of our coming. Inform them of what we bring, and invite any of them who do not trust us to follow my people with their knives. I will personally eat a portion of the meat and drink some of the water to prove to you it is perfectly fine to eat." Fallon smiled softly, kindly.

Looking at all of the lions, I saw no reason not to trust them, and thus began to walk back to my village.

The lions arrived about ten minutes after I did, and four wolves, one of which was Beowulf, took up the offer of following them with knives. I led the lions to where we stored food, and the lions began to put it away, except for a deer and water skin, which I myself had picked. Beowulf cut off a hunk of meat and handed it to Fallon, who ate it without hesitation. She then took three big swallows of the water.

"Fellow creatures of the Earth. Long have we quarreled. It is the wish of one of your own, and my little sister, that this come to an end. We offer this gift, leave you with the promise it is clean. We will understand if you decide to deny it. And to Haruki, who has endured so much in his short life: the shame brought upon his family by one forsaking his duty, the loss of his mother by my hands, and now the sickness ravaging your kind, I offer you my shaman. May she help you in any way she can." Every word of Fallon's mate's speech seemed to hang in the air. For some, a blessing, for others, a possible curse that could only bring about further suffering.

I knew this, and as the future Alpha Male of the pack, I took it as my duty to help placate any fears. Standing in front of Fallon, I bowed slightly. "On behalf of my people, I thank you for this wondrous gift."

To my surprise, not only did Fallon bow, but so did the entire party of lions. Some even got down on one knee, a gesture usually saved for the leaders of their own pride.

I couldn't help but smile. Feeling like I had accomplished so much since my father had become ill just two weeks ago.

Little did I know not all was as it seemed...

*Â *Â *

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