Librasika's Journey

Written by Tigs

Keymaster… Keymaster… A spectral pair of eyes glittered in the darkness, staring, beckoning her to come forward. Librasika was confused, hesitant, but so eager to leap into that welcoming darkness. Don’t leave me alone… I can’t face this alone… Please be real… But as soon as she ran forwards a spiraling darkness consumed her and she awoke with a start. How could she have been so foolish to have fallen asleep in the park like that?! Goodness, she was lucky to be alive. It had been too long since she’d been off her beat, and so she cautiously continued around town, a cloak thrown over her head to try and hide her features so none would see that she was, in fact, one of the most hated mixes of all. The mix of a Euclides and an Amuni. One blessing she’d been given was her dark coloration, blending in easily with the night, canine form slipping silently from one shadow to another, trying to find someone who could point her in the right direction.

Neutral company was her favorite, the Defore cared not who or what she was, but then again of all she’d asked so far, none of them had heard of this Keymaster. An old woman sat on a box, waiting for her, the look on her face raising suspicion from the canine femme. She was an Euclides, of what type Libra couldn’t tell for sure. This could be a trap, but so could any of the other tips she’d eagerly accepted. She had to face it- what did she have to lose?

“Good evening, I have come as you requested. I am alone.” She dipped her head in appreciative respect and waited for the other to speak.

“Very good, smart girl. Now you listen here, I can’t tell you exactly where to find him, but you must make haste. He has a great deal of power, beyond your imagination! But he is old like me, and dying. They say he is looking for a type of heir… a protégé if you will… to carry on his work. I don’t suppose that interests you at all?” She let out a soft cackle before sitting back and inspecting the canine with a smug grin. She knew her words had been heard.

“Thank you for the help, I will certainly make haste then. I don’t suppose any of your sources know his location?” Her eyes were as pleading and desperate as her words, seeking the answers through the eyes of the old woman. Her laughter was enough to assure Libra that she was on her own for this one. Hanging her head in frustration she turned and sprinted into the night.

Nothing but a ghost, a legend. He’s long since been killed by those who despise his cause. He lives, be quick child, he hasn’t much time left. He needs you…

...But I need him.

She flicked the short mane out of her eyes, blinking against the harsh streetlights and peering out into the darkness. This was hopeless, completely hopeless. How could she ever-

“Psst.”

The sound came somewhere to her left and she turned defensively, eyes rapidly scanning the surroundings. “Over here.”

A lightly colored paw waved her over, beady eyes glowing in the shadows.

Carefully she stalked closer, sitting a small distance away, making the suspicion that she felt register in her expression. “Who are you?” The words were predictable, probably wouldn’t get her anywhere, but she was nervous.

“A friend, you could say. Come closer, I can’t let just anyone hear what I have to say.”

The paw once again ushered her closer, and she came as beckoned, glancing around to make sure they were alone. She couldn’t tell if this one was an Euclides or Amuni, but at this point it didn’t really matter anymore. Help was help, and she was desperate.

“He hides in an underground lair, some say there is an old church down there that his followers built for him. The tunnel leading down can be found carefully hidden in a cluster of trees deep in the Verboten Copse. Hurry now before daylight gives you and the hideout away!” With that, he scuttled off into the trash and debris, and probably into a crack in the building.

She let out an irritated sigh and just as she turned around she caught a glimpse of a piece of paper. It was a crudely drawn map with directions on it in the form of words and distance. North 3km, scribble scribble… this was certainly hard to read. She managed to make enough out of it to follow it to the edge of the Verboten Copse, glancing around for any signs of others like her. So far it seemed empty, which was a little suspicious.

Don’t be stupid… why would they be out here on the edge? They’re probably deeper inside. She continued to follow the directions, getting lost only once where she thought ‘East’ had read ‘West’. Finally she was paused before two trees crossing each other like an ‘x’ before reaching high into the sky. Beside them on either side were two bending in as if to make a bridge. Quite a noticeable landmark… she wondered how they hadn’t been discovered sooner.

She began to feel around on the ground for this fake grass above the trapped door, scratching at the earth now and then to test the dirt. So focused was she in her work that she didn’t notice the figures on either side, lunging in with teeth bared and nails unsheathed. It had been a trap. The first one knocked her on her back and away from the second, which was fairly lucky because the landing of the second larger form shredded the grass and dirt beneath him into a small mess of raw earth. Swallowing audibly she scrambled backwards as the rushed at her again. Her legs came up almost automatically and thrust the smaller form over her head… an Amuni, how surprising. Luckily not of the winged variety, or else he would have easily caught himself in flight. The second picked her up in a massive canine jaw. Amuni as well, come to erase her from existence and cleanse the name of the Amuni to make up for the one who had been so foolish as to create her. Anger found her like a warm wind as he began to bite down hard on her shoulder, paws swinging at her wildly. Her jaw found his throat and began to chew viciously through the fur until the soft skin began to shred in her mouth like clay, and blood came out in a wash.

Die...

The smaller male had landed and bolted back to assist his companion, tearing at her legs and biting her hind. It was no use, she’d found a death grip… literally, and was using it well. He started to slump down, releasing her torn and wounded shoulder, breath coming out in gurgled rasps as blood spurted from his mouth and throat in an almost unrealistic display. A cry of anger brought her around to the male behind her who grabbed a leg in his mouth and threw her with the ease of one filled with rage. Her body was sailing through the air… it was almost a pleasant feeling if she hadn’t known that it would end so abruptly. And it did, with her skull cracking hard against the firm base of a tree, her body sliding down to slump against the ground.

A hazed vision revealed the male grinning down at her, baring his teeth in a snobbish smirk. “You’re mine, now. And you will pay!” With the last being a war cry from his lips, his clawed paw came down like a fist aiming for her chest, to reach in and stop her heart. She’d put up a good fight, but this was just how it was meant to be. Her kind were not meant for this war of two so different races.

But something stopped that crushing blow, a blur of colors similar to her own, but different. Locked in a ball of teeth and nails and pain, one of her own kind was fending off her assailant. She tried to move forward, tried to help the one who had come to save her, but found that she was too overwhelmed. Combine that with a concussion and massive blood loss from her shoulder and smaller wounds, she was dancing on the edge of unconsciousness.

“H..help me.” She mumbled deliriously before falling to the floor in a slump.

When her eyes reopened she was flying- no, running? Not quite. She looked down to see the same male from before who had come to her rescue. It was lame, but she said the only thing that came to mind. “Thank you for… uh, earlier. What happened?”

His ragged breath told her it might be a while before she received a response, but he managed to get a few words out in between panting. “Talk later. Not free yet.”

Confused, Libra turned her head to look behind her, though it took two tries before she could focus her eyes, as the first turn of her head almost made her loose the small dinner she’d eaten. Behind them, two more Amuni were taking chase, rage in their eyes like the male she’d seen last. She assumed her new companion had killed him and then these backup goons had showed up.

“Where’re we going?” She mumbled almost incoherently, turning her head back around to face front. The trees parted to reveal the back of the city, and before she could ask about the dead end ahead, she was whipped around to the side, clinging on now for dear life as the agile male dodged, swerved, and ducked between pieces of wood and metal, boxes of both materials and cardboard. A loud ‘oof’ let her know that one of the two pursuing them had stepped the wrong way and ran head-on into some of the scraps. The second seemed to be gaining however, obviously as familiar with this alleyway as the male below her. Silently she urged him to run on faster, noticing the swiping paw behind her which was getting increasingly closer. He was tiring… but she didn’t know if she could walk yet, let alone jump off and run. Please, please let it not be any farther…

A claw hit home into one of his hind legs and she felt herself being propelled forwards, watching behind her as the darker male was consumed by the Amuni into another ball of scratching and biting and tearing at flesh. She had to help… had to- OOMPH. Her back hit a wooden ramp and she lay sprawled, dazed for a moment.

“Go now! I’ll join you if I can! If I can’t… it’s best... you have a… rgh... head start!” His voice chanted after her eerily, like from another dimension.

Her head was pounding but her vision had cleared enough that she didn’t ask twice, turning and running up over the ramp and onto the rooftop beyond. She leapt up onto a higher building and kept leaping along a line of buildings heading east. It was the only direction she had and at least she was getting some distance between herself and the others until she could find a way to get down.

Keymaster… the words whispered again in her head and she found herself biting back angry tears. Where was he? He was supposed to save them, how could he let that poor male die? She hadn’t even gotten to properly thank him, or ask him his name… Lost in her thoughts, it took her by surprise when she landed hard on the roof of an old abandoned library, the shingles and roofing creating a depression where her foot had sunken in and gotten stuck. Lifting it out carefully, she noticed she’d twisted it. Growling in frustration she made her way down to the back entrance, sneaking inside of the dimly-lit interior. Wait… dimly-lit? She was sure this place had been abandoned for years.

“Took you long enough, I hoped you would get stuck up there and figure out where to go.” The voice startled a small yip out of her, and she turned with her hackles raised, teeth bared and ready for more combat. It was the one who had helped her before, though it was hard to tell with the coat of blood covering him.

“Are you alright?” She couldn’t keep the worry from her voice as she stumbled forward.

His chuckle was reassuring, though not by much. “Fine, I’m fine.”

Luckily, on closer inspection she noticed most of the blood wasn’t his, but a few larger wounds were still seeping a fair amount.

“Quite the war we’re placed in the middle of, isn’t it?”

His words were tinged with an ironic sadness that she had felt herself many times. To actually be in the presence of one the same as her was almost too emotionally overwhelming. She thought she’d never find someone who understood what it was like, who had lived the way she had lived, feeling like a freak, an unwanted experiment in breeding.

“He’s very sick. I don’t know if he’ll last many more nights like this. We should make haste and continue on in an hour or two after we’ve had time to rest and clean our wounds. You’re alright now?” The words were casual, off-handed thoughts being spoken aloud.

He… who was he?

“Keymaster? The Keymaster do you mean?” The words were jumbled together in excitement, barely a breath to separate the sentence. He chuckled again, that same warm and familiar sound. He seemed so harmless and quite gentlemanly, but after seeing him fight she knew there was a lot of concealed strength beneath that pleasant harmless exterior.

“Yes. It’s taken me quite a while to find you, you know. You never stopped searching. I had to start following your tracks and speaking to your contacts just to find your trail. That’s what lead me to your trap. That guy has had it out for us since I can remember. A life of dedication you could say.” He hadn’t been familiar to her at all, but then again she’d never been part of this secret colony, she didn’t know their enemies and until today hadn’t fought their battles.

“Here, lie still.”

He moved forward and spread her out in a lying position, licking her wounds expertly before pulling some strange smelling salve out of… somewhere. After her wounds were cleaned and covered in the strange smelling substance she found that sleep was coming fast upon her and wouldn’t take no for an answer. Her eyes fluttered, taking in the sight of blood being washed from his fur… “What’s your name?” She asked, but received no response as the final words released her into a deep sleep. It seemed to last forever, but in reality it had only been almost three hours.

“Wake up, do you feel refreshed? Are you hungry?” It was still night out, though getting progressively lighter. She shook her head and tried to regain her feet, finding it much easier than before.

“So where do we go now?” She took a few tester steps forward and found that it was easier to walk as well as stand. In fact, she felt a lot stronger overall.

“Follow me.” The light seemed to create an arrow of direction, the male following it light an ethereal map. It started to fade into a hazed, more natural light that she realized was created by candles. Whereas the windows and door upstairs had been sealed over with a concrete-like substance, there were simply no windows down here. “Welcome to the true entrance of our refuge.” He said as her eyes took in the glimmering splendor of soft light below her. There was no church, only what would have been a maze of underground storage rooms, destroyed to reveal the below-ground cavern that existed naturally before it had been shaped into a human creation. She had expected to see a mass of figures moving around and going about their business, but she only saw a few figures wandering from one place to another. Then again, theirs truly was a rare species and with good reason.

“Can I meet him now?” She asked politely, her voice soft with wonder as they descended the final few inches and touched the soft rocky ground below.

He didn’t respond, moving in towards the center of the little haven and glancing up at a large temple-like structure that took up most of the furthest wall.

“You most certainly can, my dear.”

The voice was unfamiliar, and she turned to lay her eyes on one who could only be the Keymaster. His body was feline, light in coloration with a soft mane much like her own. She wondered if that was a common mutation of their mixed breed suddenly, but pushed the thought aside. Standing out against all that lightly colored fur was a mask, and she wondered why on earth he would be wearing something like that. His voice had been shaky, uneven and sounding out of breath.

“Are you alright, Keymaster?” All introductions aside, she felt suddenly like she’d known this male for years. His laughter was refreshing, much like her earlier companion, but older and with an edge of tiredness.

“That matters not. Welcome home Librasika.”

Though the words sounded strange and she wondered how he’d known her name, she didn’t question anything. She was home at last, and that was enough for her.