Fenrir: Dawn Rising (Part 1)

"One must want nothing to be different. Not forward. Not Backward. Not in all eternity. Not only to bear what is necessary. But to love it." - Friedrich Nietzche

The Curse of Fenrir came to an end, when the enraged vampire lord, Fenrir, was defeated. The vampire, who was overcome by rage having seen his loved one, Terra, slain before him, soon held a grudge, not only against the Dangan lineage, but also against life itself. He wanted everyone and everything to suffer fates far worse than death.

Jackal Pawpad, who had extensive surgery to recover from the damages inflicted upon him by Terra, didn't abandon his search for the mysterious jackal who showed up following Fenrir's defeat. He had often wondered if the being he saw was real or just an apparition created by his own mind, from the heat of the battle.

Deg Dincht, who now hosted the acclaimed Destroyer, known as Solus, searched Spira for the third sword, with no findings what-so-ever. He returned to Corneria, to see if there were any leads there. However, he was about to run into events he would soon come to despise. However, Solus, himself cares not for Deg's ambitions. He has only one goal in mind. To destroy all who oppose him, starting with Ris, who he believes may have some connection to a Pantheonic legend.

Cebelrai, who had all that she needed, began working on creating an army of False-Pantheons. Her "worker ants" as she calls them. Her plans were in motion. But what her goal was, exactly, no one knows.

Adam, who abandoned his name, Thorn, for the name North, decided to leave his days of being a part of the New Demons behind and lived with his aging mother, Kaede Rosso, who had been in need of him, since Jack had abandoned them. However unknown to even Adam was that Kaede had a daughter, who was now an adult. Her name, Alice. Unlike Adam, who despised Jack for all he stood for, she looks up to him as an inspirational figure. And also, unlike her brother, who gave up his father's name, she embraces it. Alice Thorn had made herself a known figure in the police force as a vigilante who targets anyone she pleases.

What happened with Ris, Miles and the rest, were mysteries. But what will become of the Pantheons, Setzenians and the Dangan lineage would be decided, when Eclipse Castle shows up once more.

The blood rain, which once turned every living being it touched into vampires, was now gone. Once Fenrir was defeated, those that had changed turned back to the way they were. But there were some who remained vampire and continued working for Fenrir. At least... almost all of the vampires did...

Fenrir may have been defeated but it was clearly not over, yet. Because the Curse of Fenrir is still active, Fenrir will continue to rise from the dead until the day he either succeeds, or until the time of Jörmungandr comes around once more.

"So, I'm only hoping you understand what we are going up against. I do not want to force my granddaughter into doing anything she doesn't wish to do!"

There were two squirrels, one of which was much, much older than the other. One was a rather young looking girl, really the ripe age of eighteen. She was clad in a white short-sleeved button-up shirt with some brown belts slung around her, with a black utility belt with a gold buckle. She wore brown shorts, with one black stocking on one leg and one brown, striped stocking on the other, with brown buckled shoes. Her elbows were protected by black elbowpads, and she had brown fingerless gloves on. On her back was an authentic katana, and at her side was an old-looking pistol. Much older than anyone sane would use these days. She had a black hat on her head, her brown-and-cream colored bangs falling in front of her bright teal eyes.

Her old companion was hunched over, clad in a bathrobe with a Hawaiian shirt and sweatpants, walking in front of her, using a cane to support himself. He seemed to talk a lot for a sickly old man.

"You are not to confront Fenrir. You may fight any of his servants should they stand in the way of our objective. Once you retrieve certain object, you are to bring it to me... first things first, we will have to secure a safe room. Preferably a library. Eclipse Castle contains many tomes I am very, very interested in."

The female was Aetsia. She nodded with the old man's, her grandfather Nickolas, explanations. "If only you could speak, little lady. Such a grave injustice to keep a lovely girl like you from speaking... fate can be cruel sometimes."

Aetsia shrugged at her grandfather's assessment of fate. She just wanted to find this lake and go on an adventure!

The old squirrel opened up a book, looking and flipping through pages. "We shall find it soon..."

As usual, Ris was leisurely and unknowingly relaxing before an event that would likely change his life, laying peacefully under the cool shade the trees of the forest provided. His mind was drifting, not focusing on one thought for long before moving on to the next. The blue Arctic Fox had just wanted a break from nearly everything, and a break he found--for now, at least.

A lynx-girl, similar to the age of the arctic fox, made her way to where he was relaxing. It was a slightly windy day, which made her wrap her hooded cardigan around her tighter.

"Why do you pick the most desolate spot to meet, Ris?" the girl said.

Ris smiled, opening his eyes and looking happily at the lynx. "What, you don't think it's nice? Away from the noise, the traffic, the angrily shouting people?" Getting to his feet, the fox took a quick moment to brush himself off, giving the tails of his headband a light tug before letting his hands return to his sides. "Feeling okay?"

"I'm fine," the lynx replied. "It was just my opinion that you always got so much pleasure out of walking around town with me on your arm, like a trophy or something."

The girl crossed her arms under her chest, cocking her eyebrows up at him.

"Pfft, trophy. You know I think I'm lucky to have you, but you're not a toy." Ris said with a light roll of his eyes, mimicking her stance--though his smile showed he was just teasing her. "But you're here, so no need for any of that now, right?"

"You can't take a joke, can you?" Luna said, patting her paw against his cheek as she walked past him, sitting down against the tree like he had been.

"I guess we'll do this relaxing thing, like you wanted," she said, tail lightly flicking through the grass.

"No, no, you're the woman of this relationship...obviously...so it's only right we do what you want to do." Ris said, walking up to Luna and giving her leg a gentle nudge with his foot. "So, what say you?"

"Oh, we always do what I want to do. Why don't you grow a backbone and we'll do what you want to," Luna told him, patting the spot next to her.

Ris rolled his eyes again, rather reluctantly sitting down beside her. "I've a backbone, just...thought I'd be nice...again..." he mumbled.

'Besides...I'd only planned on waiting here till you told me what you wanted to do...' he thought to himself, almost embarrassed by it now.

"Mmm~..." Luna purred, nuzzling into his chest with her paws lacing fingers around his. A soft kiss was planted on his heart before laying her head down on his lap.

Jackal had continued searching the forest for the figure he saw, back at the castle. He knew it wasn't anyone he's seen before. And it certainly wasn't Deg. He grew more and more frustrated as he found no leads. Out of anger, he reared his fist back and punched a tree, shouting as he did. His fist entered the tree, shattering the bark like glass. He breathed heavily a few times before calming himself down, taking deep, controlled breaths before tugging at the tree, trying to pull his fist back out. However, his paw was stuck inside the tree. "Uhh... okay... I'll just give it a bit more of a pull." He grunted as he continued trying to yank his fist out of the tree, but to no avail. "Well, that's just bloody charming!"

Just inside the city, in a house, an albino jackal seemed to hold Adam and Kaede at gunpoint. "I've got no business with you, Bro. Just tell me where Dad's been all this time."

Adam rolled his eyes, "I don't know what you're talking about, I've never seen you before in my life. You're no sister of mine and as for 'Dad' don't waste your time with that loser!"

The snow-furred jackal sighed, shaking her head, before growling slightly, getting annoyed at the hybrid's attitude, "Whatever you say, Addie. Just tell me and I'll leave peacefully. Simple as that."

"Fine! Eclipse Castle! There!" Adam shouted at her. Kaede, who was now aged, grabbed Adam's arm and pulled him back, "Adam!" She clearly didn't want him to say anything.

"Eclipse Castle? Where is that?" She asked. Kaede closed her eyes and thought about the situation, "You really want to find him don't you, Alice?" To this, the white canine nodded. "In the forest... Adam will show you, the way..."

Adam turned to Kaede, confused, "Wait, what!? You know her!?"

Kaede nodded, "But before you two go... Alice, could you leave me with Adam for a moment, I have something I need to tell him."

Alice shrugged her shoulders before exiting the room and waiting outside.

Ris couldn't be upset with the lynx before him, his embarrassment quickly melting away to be replaced by a silent feeling of love. Closing his eyes and resting his head back, the vulpine let his tail gently brush over Luna's side, enjoying the company she provided. "Love you."

The old man started to shuffle ahead of Aetsia, hearing voices sweet-talking one another. Soon, he'd stumble upon the lynx and the vulpine, Aetsia following behind him.

".... ehhh, kids these days! Don't you have somewhere less natural to go?! Movie theater or somethin'? FEH!" Nikolas asked as he waddled along. Aetsia lagged behind, then looked at them and pointed to her grandfather before shrugging. She wasn't sure what was up with him!

She then heard someone punching into a tree from far away. Her grandfather didn't seem to notice she stopped following him...

So she went to go investigate that noise! She came upon a jackal with his fist stuck in a tree.

She raised an eyebrow and let out a silent giggle.

Jackal tugged a few more times, tail twitching each time he tugged. He looked around and eventually noticed a squirrel girl looking at him, suddenly feeling nervous he scratched at the back of his head, smiling, while chuckling, trying his best not to look too stupid, which was rather impossible considering his predicament.

He suddenly yanked his fist back out of the tree, but in his paw was an acorn, which must've been placed inside the tree by one of the planet's wildlife.

Aetsia let out a silent laugh, looking at the acorn in his paw. No, she wasn't particularly appetized by acorns. She ate junk food, just like any other squirrel or any other furry out there.

She shrugged, seeing he was fine now before starting to go her merry way. Maybe catch up to her grandpa again...

Luna murmured, "Yeah... I know," while snuggling into Ris's lap, her muzzle resting between his legs.

Always sassy.

Now that that thought was cleared from his mind, Ris' mind turned briefly to the sudden cracking noise he had just recently heard.

'...And nature takes its course once again.' he thought, simply shrugging it off and returning his focus to the loving, although sassy, lynx.

Jackal watched the girl leave and tossed the acorn behind him, over his shoulder. "Dang it, Jackal, you gotta learn to stop being such a fairy and talk to girls more..."

Meanwhile Adam stood in front of Kaede, listening to every word she said. His ears drooped down and his tail hung limp, "So... that girl... she's my sister? B-but how?"

"Alice was born just a year before you were." The aged skunk explained, "I hid her from you because if you'd have known, Jack may have learned about her... I feared for her safety as well as yours."

"Too late for that now, mom!" Adam said, now feeling betrayed, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, Adam, but I didn't want to risk losing either one of you to Jack. He would've used one of you to locate the other."

"And I'm supposed to show her Eclipse Castle..."

Kaede nodded, "Afraid so. Seems she really wants to meet Jack... I was afraid of showing her the monster he's become, but... perhaps it's the only way to see him for what he really is. And I'm going with you two."

Adam was about to walk out, before he stood still for a moment, his tail twitched as he thought deep about something. "You still love him, don't you, mom?"

Kaede didn't answer, but instead closed her eyes, remaining silent. Adam left the room and looked for Alice, "Alice? Where are you, it's time to go?"

"Why'd you pick this place, anyway?" Luna asked, her eyes closed.

"Where else can you go with no one to bother you?"

'...Well...Aside from those squirrels, I guess, but hey, one in a million, right?'

Aetsia looked back to Jackal, then walked back over to him, looking him over, then looking at where he had punched the tree, letting out a little whistle. Well, whistling was something she could do. She was clearly impressed!

Soon, her grandfather had gotten back here. "Aetsia, why are you hanging out with a pink jackal fellow?" he asked.

"My bedroom," Luna simply replied.

Ris grinned. "Fine, let me restate that: Where could the two of us go where there wouldn't be anyone to bother us?"