Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ Flight of the Shadow Clans ❯ Cale's story ( Chapter 1 )
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By: Rocky Oberlin 
Cale's story on how they first arrived at the Nether Realm.
Anime/Manga: Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Fantasy | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 04.16.2006 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.2K | Visits: 546 | Status: Work In Progress
Cale's story on how they first arrived at the Nether Realm.
Anime/Manga: Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Fantasy | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 04.16.2006 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.2K | Visits: 546 | Status: Work In Progress
Flight of the Shadow Clans
Chapter One
Rocky Oberlin
Disclaimer: Don't own the Ronin Warriors and don't own the idea of ShadowDancers and SunSingers. The story line is mine.
Dedicated to Inda for pestering me the most to write a sequel. Sorry I can't think of how to end the story, but I can think of how to begin it.
Cale's Story
Cale was certain that he and his sister was the last in the area. He hadn't seen any of the other Shadow Clans since the curse was first discovered. It was sad that his sister was born just after the deadly plague came on them and he was aggrieved that she would never get to see the sunlight. He tried to tell her, when she was young, about the blue skies and the golden sunlight that showed the vibrant colors of the world, but she only saw the shadow-darkened colors when the sun was resting. It has become too dangerous for them to live alone anymore so Cale thought to hide with the FireDancer Clans. They were a godsend, but when superstitious villages attacked them, Cale almost lost his baby sister and most of the FireDancer Clan they were hiding with. If was final, he needed to move Mia someplace that would hide her in the day and cover them both in darkness and shadows. He would have to go back to the cursed Nether Realm.
Cale regretted his decision as soon as they walked through the Gate into the darkened world. He could see the land was just starting to recover from the darkness that had been killing it when the curse razed it, but he didn't know how long ago the shadowed realm had been revived. Or who revived it. When he was a child, Cale heard rumors in the dying land that a tyrant had cursed the realm when he couldn't conquer it. Now, after five years, it was starting to grow back to the beauty it once had been. How? That was the question the remained unanswered.
"Where are we Cale," asked a childish voice.
He looked down at his five-year-old sister and smiled at her. "We're in the Nether Realm, Mia. I thought we could stay here for a while."
"But what about the FireDancer Clan that we were staying with? Why couldn't we stay with them?"
Because they are in as much danger as we are, thought Cale. "They were going someplace else, Mia," he said gently. "We wouldn't have been able to follow them to where they were going. There are places that don't have caves and thick stands of trees to hide in."
"Oh." Mia's wide eyes looked up to her older brother. "Why does this place look like the time the volcano threw up fire on the land?"
"Because it had a tough couple of years," the fourteen-year-old said. A tough couple of centuries are more like it if what the Elders said was correct.
Cale sighed. This was to be home from now on; they had to get used to it.
"Why are the Shadows sad big brother? They are crying for something."
"They're sad because there is no one to talk to, little Shadow. All the people that could talk to them are gone."
"Gone where?"
The blue haired boy winced. Yes, gone where. If there had been any in the area, then the shadows would have told him. There was no one, any who could help them in the whole blighted land. Cale fortunately remembered some of the rituals that were involved with crossing the Gate to the Nether Realm and he followed them as best he could. There was no Elder to come to correct him in the passage. There was no clan to take them in. Cale was alone with Mia in an unfamiliar world.
"I don't know. May be they went to the Mortal Realm." Cale winced at his lie as the shadows told him the terrifying stories that showed how the conquering tyrant murdered the Shadow Clans.
"You can talk to them, Cale. Then they won't be sad."
"Yes, Mia, I will talk to them, but it will be later. We need to find someplace to stay."
"Where are we going to stay? Are we going back to stay in the Mortal Realm?" Mia looked hopeful; she wanted to go back to the place she knew for so long. She was disappointed when Cale shook his head.
"We have to stay here for a while," he said. "We don't have the supplies to go back across right now. May be we can go back in a little while." Mia pouted, but she understood; she was a smart child.
"I'm hungry, when are we going to eat?"
--------------------------------------x--------------------------------- -----
Cale was getting nervous just standing in the anteroom of the palace's throne room. He didn't want to be here, but he had no choice. Two long months of living off the land and hiding in caves made him fear for his little sister more than for himself. The nights had gotten colder and she was shivering in the meager blanket they shared. It was a godsend when the stranger approached him with an offer of food and shelter. The Shadow siblings had no other real options but to take the man up on his offer and join him in his home.
Then the other shoe dropped. The stranger was an officer to Lord Tulpa's army and Cale was expected to join as thanks for the offer given to him by the officer. The blue haired teen was given the ultimatum to join Tulpa's army or he and Mia was to go to the slave pens. Mia looked frightened at the idea of the slave pens and Cale would rather live and die in a cave then to put his little sister into that environment. That decision landed him here, waiting for the ax to fall and for him to sell his soul to a demon.
"Lord Tulpa will see you now," came the nasally voice of the mage.
Cale didn't like the- What was he anyway? A ghost? A man? The color of his skin made him look like he was permanently sick. Of course, if Cale had to work with the powers this thing did, Cale would look that sickish color too. He bowed to the mage and followed the thing in; he didn't think the sneer ever left the green face of this twisted man.
"Lord Tulpa, a new recruit for you to look at."
Cale knelt to the ruler of the Nether Realm. It wouldn't do for him to die at this tyrant's hand and leave Mia to the tender mercies of the army officer or the slave pens. He could lick boots for a while; Mia's safety depended on this. Cale took a deep breath. He could do this.
"My Lord Tulpa, I am Cale of the Shadow Clans. I wish to serve you here in the Nether Realm." There, he just said his first lie to the one who could be his new master. Cale winced at the gravelly chuckle that rolled down from the shadow darkened throne. He watched the shadows roil restlessly in the area as if they wished to be someplace else.
"So, a member of the Clan that I killed so long ago wishes to serve me. Tell me, what can you do, little Shadow keeper?"
The best lie is often a partial truth. "I can Speak to the Shadows, Lord Tulpa."
The following silence was thick and taunt with anxiety; cold sweat ran Cale's back as he waited for his sentence. "You will serve me willingly, Shadow Speaker? You will use your power to serve my purpose?"
"Yes, my Lord."
"Good. You will join Dais and learn from his tutor. The two of you will one day lead my army under my Lady Kayura and me. Badamon, show our new Demon General to his new rooms."
"Very well, Lord Tulpa." Badamon sneered at the kneeling teen. "Come with me."
"My Lord," ventured Cale. "I was wondering about my sister. What about her?"
"You dare question your Lord about a simple sibling," shrieked the mage. "You will learn to respect your Lord."
"Hold Badamon," said Tulpa after a moment. "You have a sister, little Shadow Speaker?"
Cale silently let out the breath he had been holding. "Yes, my Lord. She is five and I don't want to leave her alone. She is all I have left."
Tulpa chuckled and a wave of foreboding crashed down on Cale. "A sister... Very well, she will stay with you in your rooms. We will see if you deserve a house later on."
Cale prostrated himself before the cruel tyrant. "Thank you, my Lord. You are most generous."
"If you fail me, your sister will pay for your mistakes," warned Tulpa. "I don't like failure."
"Yes, my Lord."
"Leave. Badamon will show you to your rooms. You can get your sister later."
"Come. You've taken up enough of Lord Tulpa's time." The mage flew from the throne room and Cale had to run to catch up. He wouldn't fail Mia; he couldn't fail her.
--------------------------------------x--------------------------------- -----
"Where are we going?" asked Mia.
"To where your brother is living, now shut up," growled her host.
Mia huddled in on herself as she ran to keep up with the cruel officer that had taken in her brother and her. The little ShadowDancer listened as he mumbled and cursed about the new Demon General he would have to take orders from. As if it wasn't bad enough he had to take orders from the witch Lady and a fifteen year old boy, now there was another who would be telling him how to do his job. The officer snarled at Mia as she fell behind again and growled for her to keep up. Mia ran a little faster on the cold marble floors to keep up with the infuriated man as he lead her into the palace living quarters. She skidded to a stop when he halted in front of a pair of doors and pounded on the wood to ask for entry.
She and the officer were surprised when Cale opened the doors and Badamon stood behind him. "Yes?"
"I brought your sister," snarled the officer. He didn't pale at the sneer Badamon gave him. "Good luck, kid. You're in way over your head." He turned a plowed past Mia; he wanted to leave the area as fast as he could. Mia fell to the floor when the officer stalked past her.
Cale ran out of his rooms and knelt next to his little sister. He held her close as she cried into his chest about the mean man and how the palace frightened her. All Cale could do to comfort her was rock the child back and forth. He didn't know if he could earn that house Tulpa promised or if he would even be given one if he did earn it. "It's all right. We're safe." But how safe were they really? Cale wished he knew the answer to that question.
"Get back in here," ordered Badamon. "Master Tulpa didn't take you in for you to waste his, and my, time comforting that brat."
Cale bristled at the comment and Mia quieted her sobs into the silent tears. The blue haired teen looked down at his sister and vowed to make the mage pay for insulting his sister like that. And Tulpa will pay for killing our Clans, vowed Cale. All he had to do was wait and watch.
Chapter One
Rocky Oberlin
Disclaimer: Don't own the Ronin Warriors and don't own the idea of ShadowDancers and SunSingers. The story line is mine.
Dedicated to Inda for pestering me the most to write a sequel. Sorry I can't think of how to end the story, but I can think of how to begin it.
Cale's Story
Cale was certain that he and his sister was the last in the area. He hadn't seen any of the other Shadow Clans since the curse was first discovered. It was sad that his sister was born just after the deadly plague came on them and he was aggrieved that she would never get to see the sunlight. He tried to tell her, when she was young, about the blue skies and the golden sunlight that showed the vibrant colors of the world, but she only saw the shadow-darkened colors when the sun was resting. It has become too dangerous for them to live alone anymore so Cale thought to hide with the FireDancer Clans. They were a godsend, but when superstitious villages attacked them, Cale almost lost his baby sister and most of the FireDancer Clan they were hiding with. If was final, he needed to move Mia someplace that would hide her in the day and cover them both in darkness and shadows. He would have to go back to the cursed Nether Realm.
Cale regretted his decision as soon as they walked through the Gate into the darkened world. He could see the land was just starting to recover from the darkness that had been killing it when the curse razed it, but he didn't know how long ago the shadowed realm had been revived. Or who revived it. When he was a child, Cale heard rumors in the dying land that a tyrant had cursed the realm when he couldn't conquer it. Now, after five years, it was starting to grow back to the beauty it once had been. How? That was the question the remained unanswered.
"Where are we Cale," asked a childish voice.
He looked down at his five-year-old sister and smiled at her. "We're in the Nether Realm, Mia. I thought we could stay here for a while."
"But what about the FireDancer Clan that we were staying with? Why couldn't we stay with them?"
Because they are in as much danger as we are, thought Cale. "They were going someplace else, Mia," he said gently. "We wouldn't have been able to follow them to where they were going. There are places that don't have caves and thick stands of trees to hide in."
"Oh." Mia's wide eyes looked up to her older brother. "Why does this place look like the time the volcano threw up fire on the land?"
"Because it had a tough couple of years," the fourteen-year-old said. A tough couple of centuries are more like it if what the Elders said was correct.
Cale sighed. This was to be home from now on; they had to get used to it.
"Why are the Shadows sad big brother? They are crying for something."
"They're sad because there is no one to talk to, little Shadow. All the people that could talk to them are gone."
"Gone where?"
The blue haired boy winced. Yes, gone where. If there had been any in the area, then the shadows would have told him. There was no one, any who could help them in the whole blighted land. Cale fortunately remembered some of the rituals that were involved with crossing the Gate to the Nether Realm and he followed them as best he could. There was no Elder to come to correct him in the passage. There was no clan to take them in. Cale was alone with Mia in an unfamiliar world.
"I don't know. May be they went to the Mortal Realm." Cale winced at his lie as the shadows told him the terrifying stories that showed how the conquering tyrant murdered the Shadow Clans.
"You can talk to them, Cale. Then they won't be sad."
"Yes, Mia, I will talk to them, but it will be later. We need to find someplace to stay."
"Where are we going to stay? Are we going back to stay in the Mortal Realm?" Mia looked hopeful; she wanted to go back to the place she knew for so long. She was disappointed when Cale shook his head.
"We have to stay here for a while," he said. "We don't have the supplies to go back across right now. May be we can go back in a little while." Mia pouted, but she understood; she was a smart child.
"I'm hungry, when are we going to eat?"
--------------------------------------x--------------------------------- -----
Cale was getting nervous just standing in the anteroom of the palace's throne room. He didn't want to be here, but he had no choice. Two long months of living off the land and hiding in caves made him fear for his little sister more than for himself. The nights had gotten colder and she was shivering in the meager blanket they shared. It was a godsend when the stranger approached him with an offer of food and shelter. The Shadow siblings had no other real options but to take the man up on his offer and join him in his home.
Then the other shoe dropped. The stranger was an officer to Lord Tulpa's army and Cale was expected to join as thanks for the offer given to him by the officer. The blue haired teen was given the ultimatum to join Tulpa's army or he and Mia was to go to the slave pens. Mia looked frightened at the idea of the slave pens and Cale would rather live and die in a cave then to put his little sister into that environment. That decision landed him here, waiting for the ax to fall and for him to sell his soul to a demon.
"Lord Tulpa will see you now," came the nasally voice of the mage.
Cale didn't like the- What was he anyway? A ghost? A man? The color of his skin made him look like he was permanently sick. Of course, if Cale had to work with the powers this thing did, Cale would look that sickish color too. He bowed to the mage and followed the thing in; he didn't think the sneer ever left the green face of this twisted man.
"Lord Tulpa, a new recruit for you to look at."
Cale knelt to the ruler of the Nether Realm. It wouldn't do for him to die at this tyrant's hand and leave Mia to the tender mercies of the army officer or the slave pens. He could lick boots for a while; Mia's safety depended on this. Cale took a deep breath. He could do this.
"My Lord Tulpa, I am Cale of the Shadow Clans. I wish to serve you here in the Nether Realm." There, he just said his first lie to the one who could be his new master. Cale winced at the gravelly chuckle that rolled down from the shadow darkened throne. He watched the shadows roil restlessly in the area as if they wished to be someplace else.
"So, a member of the Clan that I killed so long ago wishes to serve me. Tell me, what can you do, little Shadow keeper?"
The best lie is often a partial truth. "I can Speak to the Shadows, Lord Tulpa."
The following silence was thick and taunt with anxiety; cold sweat ran Cale's back as he waited for his sentence. "You will serve me willingly, Shadow Speaker? You will use your power to serve my purpose?"
"Yes, my Lord."
"Good. You will join Dais and learn from his tutor. The two of you will one day lead my army under my Lady Kayura and me. Badamon, show our new Demon General to his new rooms."
"Very well, Lord Tulpa." Badamon sneered at the kneeling teen. "Come with me."
"My Lord," ventured Cale. "I was wondering about my sister. What about her?"
"You dare question your Lord about a simple sibling," shrieked the mage. "You will learn to respect your Lord."
"Hold Badamon," said Tulpa after a moment. "You have a sister, little Shadow Speaker?"
Cale silently let out the breath he had been holding. "Yes, my Lord. She is five and I don't want to leave her alone. She is all I have left."
Tulpa chuckled and a wave of foreboding crashed down on Cale. "A sister... Very well, she will stay with you in your rooms. We will see if you deserve a house later on."
Cale prostrated himself before the cruel tyrant. "Thank you, my Lord. You are most generous."
"If you fail me, your sister will pay for your mistakes," warned Tulpa. "I don't like failure."
"Yes, my Lord."
"Leave. Badamon will show you to your rooms. You can get your sister later."
"Come. You've taken up enough of Lord Tulpa's time." The mage flew from the throne room and Cale had to run to catch up. He wouldn't fail Mia; he couldn't fail her.
--------------------------------------x--------------------------------- -----
"Where are we going?" asked Mia.
"To where your brother is living, now shut up," growled her host.
Mia huddled in on herself as she ran to keep up with the cruel officer that had taken in her brother and her. The little ShadowDancer listened as he mumbled and cursed about the new Demon General he would have to take orders from. As if it wasn't bad enough he had to take orders from the witch Lady and a fifteen year old boy, now there was another who would be telling him how to do his job. The officer snarled at Mia as she fell behind again and growled for her to keep up. Mia ran a little faster on the cold marble floors to keep up with the infuriated man as he lead her into the palace living quarters. She skidded to a stop when he halted in front of a pair of doors and pounded on the wood to ask for entry.
She and the officer were surprised when Cale opened the doors and Badamon stood behind him. "Yes?"
"I brought your sister," snarled the officer. He didn't pale at the sneer Badamon gave him. "Good luck, kid. You're in way over your head." He turned a plowed past Mia; he wanted to leave the area as fast as he could. Mia fell to the floor when the officer stalked past her.
Cale ran out of his rooms and knelt next to his little sister. He held her close as she cried into his chest about the mean man and how the palace frightened her. All Cale could do to comfort her was rock the child back and forth. He didn't know if he could earn that house Tulpa promised or if he would even be given one if he did earn it. "It's all right. We're safe." But how safe were they really? Cale wished he knew the answer to that question.
"Get back in here," ordered Badamon. "Master Tulpa didn't take you in for you to waste his, and my, time comforting that brat."
Cale bristled at the comment and Mia quieted her sobs into the silent tears. The blue haired teen looked down at his sister and vowed to make the mage pay for insulting his sister like that. And Tulpa will pay for killing our Clans, vowed Cale. All he had to do was wait and watch.