[Drip-Drip]
In a massive dark cave somewhere in the western kingdom of Pandora, a woman's hand touched the cold wall of the cave, blood dripping from her leg. She was barely walking, breathing heavily as she slowly moved deeper into the cave.
"It's been a few days since I arrived here. I searched high and low for intel on that man," she thought to herself.
"I asked commoners, but every time I mentioned that red-eyed man, they looked at me with eyes of anger and sadness, almost as if he was standing right in front of them."
"I even pretended to be one of the wealthy, but even they looked at me the same way the commoners did. It was as if the minds of the rich and poor were linked despite their lifestyles."
"And despite all my ninja skills, I still couldn't find anything."
"It all proved useless."
"The only thing certain here is the excruciating and terrifying fear of Los Lobos, the four-person pack commanded by Viktor, the ruling King of Pandora."
"The kingdom is divided into five parts, with each Los Lobos member ruling separately."
"In the area of the wolf where I am, they got wind of my little mission and started chasing me."
"I wish I could see you one more time, Lady Miku. I hope you would call me by my name just once more."
"But I guess that won't happen—"
[Drip-Drip]
"And to think they will find more information about me than I can about them is..."
[Whoosh-Thud]
Suddenly, in a blur, someone kicked the woman's bleeding leg, and she dropped to the ground.
"Here ya are! My nose don't miss, huh?" A man with triangular furry ears slightly above where human ears would be spoke. His voice echoed slightly in the cave as he spoke.
[Spit]
The woman spat blood. "And here I thought beastmen had ears on their heads."
"You sayin' such dumb stuff for someone who's about to get caught, huh? I got orders to bring ya in alive, but maybe that's just a bonus for me..."
"Ya should be thankin' your lucky stars that the greatest Lobo's here to snag ya."
"Now c'mon, just come with me already. I ain't lookin' for trouble; I just wanna ask ya 'bout that guy you were questionin' in town," he added, flashing a grin that showed off his sharp teeth.
He had long reddish-brown hair mixed with tawny and gray-black. He wore an open charcoal leather jacket with a unique design over a warm beige top.
His charcoal gray trousers fit snugly to complement his coat, and he had a tilted light brown belt around his waist along with a dark leather arm guard on his left arm.
A scar marked his chest, and he wore a bracelet made of teeth on his right arm.
[Smack]
"Ngh..." The woman let out a pained gasp as her eyes went blank, and she fell unconscious, blood trickling from her mouth and stomach.
"I guess I hit ya too hard—my bad," the wolf man grinned, shaking off the blood like it was just a lil' scratch.
Suddenly, someone else appeared in the cave—a man.
"Leave her be, ye bastard!" he shouted.
"If it isn't Ewan," the wolf man replied.
"To think I'd find ya here, of all places!"
A man stands about 187 cm tall with a lean yet muscular build. His hair is styled in a pinkish-purple shoulder-length mullet, with dark greenish-gold roots and ends. His narrow eyes are a striking light purple.
He wears a long, open navy overcoat where strings hang instead of buttons, featuring striking cream accents with unique designs.
Underneath the overcoat, he sports a crisp white shirt with the top two buttons undone for a relaxed yet stylish look. His charcoal gray cargo pants are adorned with subtle golden accents and feature a dangling belt, adding a touch of flair to the outfit.
"You're the one to be chattin', Virk!"
"I take it ye're no leavin' without a scrap, then?" Ewan asked.
"Yer right on th' mark, my man," Vrik admitted.
"Looks like there's no other way." Ewan said as he grabbed a hair tie and started to tie his long hair into a man bun, although some strands still fell forward.
Ewan, assumed a fluid stance, his body coiled like a spring. His eyes assessed Virk's position.
Meanwhile, Vrik rubbed his ears with his hands like a wolf. "Boss gonna be so pumped seein' not just one, but two targets down on their knees right in front of him!"
[Woosh-Shatter-Bam-Bam]
Virk lunged forward, a blur of dark cloth. Ewan appeared next to Virk with speed that shattered the cave walls. They started throwing punches and kicks at each other while dodging at the same time. Their fists and kicks sang through the air—a staccato rhythm of clashes and near-misses—performing acrobatic maneuvers to evade attacks.
[Wham]
Time seemed to slow down as a kick from Ewan passed inches above Vrik's head. But Virk's response was instantaneous. With a graceful pivot, he redirected the Ewans momentum.
[Bam-Bam]
Then they continued their fast-paced fighting; the cave shook as if an earthquake of high magnitude was happening.
Virk parried a vicious uppercut, then countered with a spinning kick that sent Ewan reeling. Without missing a beat, Ewan flowed into a low sweep, destabilizing Virk who had been attempting to flank him.
The cave became a battlefield. In a display of agility, Virk ran up the side of a wall, pushing off to deliver a devastating aerial attack on Ewan.
[Smack]
In a burst of speed, Virk executed a series of precise strikes, targeting pressure points with almost supernatural accuracy. His movements became a blur. Each hit landed with bone-jarring force, causing Ewan to stagger back in shock and pain.
Ewan landed a powerful punch on Vrik's serratus anterior, pushing him far back, but Vrik quickly composed himself and jumped high to hit Ewan with both fists.
[Thud]
Ewan feels the vibrancy as Vrik's hit lands on the ground.
Vrik slowly stood straight, bending his back a bit. "And here I thought average human reaction time was 10-15 milliseconds."
[Drip-Drip]
"Huh?" Ewan looked at his arm that was no longer there.
"Lookin' fer this?" Vrik growled, his voice low and threatening.
As Ewan turned his head, he saw Vrik in front of him holding his left arm.
Suddenly, Virk lunges forward with inhuman speed, his claws extended. Ewan barely manages to dodge, feeling the rush of air as Virk's attack misses him by mere inches. In retaliation, Ewan executes a lightning-fast roundhouse kick, aiming for Virk's temple.
[Whoosh-Crack]
Virk catches Ewan's leg mid-air, his grip like iron. With a snarl, he twists, attempting to throw Ewan off balance. But Ewan is ready. Using the momentum of Virk's throw, he spins in the air, his other foot connecting solidly with Virk's jaw.
[Thwack]
The impact sends Virk staggering back, but the beastman recovers quickly. Virk's muscles bulge, his form seeming to grow larger as he embraces his bestial nature.
The two fighters clash again, their movements so fast they appear as mere blurs to the untrained eye. Virk's claws rake across Ewan's chest, drawing blood, but Ewan doesn't flinch. Instead, he counters with a series of rapid-fire punches, each one infused with Zor energy.
[Bam-Bam-Bam]
Virk howls in pain as Ewan's fists connect, each blow feeling like it's backed by the force of a raging inferno. But the beastman isn't done yet. He feints left, then suddenly drops low, sweeping Ewan's legs out from under him.
As Ewan falls, Virk pounces, his claws aimed for Ewan's throat.
But Ewan twists in mid-air, narrowly avoiding the lethal strike. He grabs Virk's arm and uses the beastman's own momentum to throw him against the cave wall.
[Crash]
The impact shakes the entire cave, causing stalactites to rain down from the ceiling. Both fighters leap and dodge.
As they face each other again, both are breathing heavily, their bodies covered in cuts and bruises. But neither shows any sign of backing down. The air around them seems to shimmer with the intensity of their clash.
[Smack-Thud]
Vrik shoved his knee into Ewan's solar plexus and threw him straight into the cave wall.
As the fight reached its crescendo, Ewan found himself momentarily overwhelmed, backed against a wall. Time seemed to slow again as he assessed his options.
[Vwoop]
Ewan extended his right hand to the side and opened a portal.
"He's usin' his First Nexus t' escape again!" Vrik thought, frustration bubbling beneath his tough exterior.
[Whoosh-Zap]
As Vrik moved quickly towards Ewan and appeared in front of him, Ewan shifted his portal in front of Vrik, causing him to enter it.
[Vwoop]
"Ye daft wolf! Ye didn't think I could use my portal like that, did ye?" Ewan said as he shut the portal.
"I dinnae even know where ye ended up, but I hope it's far away from here."
Then Ewan started heading towards the woman.
[Lift-Whoosh]
He picked her up in his arms and vanished into thin air, moving with immense speed.
Hours passed; it was now around 3-4 AM. The woman finally opened her jewel-like turquoise eyes in the dimly lit, ruined mansion—an abandoned place with broken windows and greenery growing all over, deep in a forest.
Ewan lived here, as he had no other place to hide from the Kaals. He had been staying there for several months, constantly changing his hideout.
"Wha..."
"Where...am...I?" the woman asked, putting her hand on her forehead.
She found herself in a room lit by only one small lantern on a table near her bed. She lay on a bed larger than a super king, its surface old and worn out.
The room itself was huge but sparsely furnished; it had only one broken mirror on the floor, the table that held the lantern, and a Bergère chair near the window in the corner.
The woman savored the feel of the torn blanket and the mix of unpleasant scents as she sat up in bed.
"Where am I?" she asked herself, looking at the windows that revealed nothing but darkness outside.
An unsettling sensation coursed through her in the pervasive silence of the room. It was as if she couldn't hear any signs of life that should normally be present.
"Aw, ye're awake! That's nice," a voice came from the corner where the Bergère was. It was dark, so the woman couldn't see who was sitting there.
"Who are you?" she asked seriously.
"Ah reckon ah should gie ye a wee introduction—" said the man as he got up and slowly walked towards her.
"Sorry, but I don't understand what you're saying very clearly. I don't want to be rude, but your accent is very different," the woman said, a bead of sweat forming on her temple.
"Why are all folks outside Scotty like this?" the man whispered to himself as he held his hand to his face.
"Okay, as I was saying, I should introduce myself. I am Ewan."
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Ewan. Could you tell me what I am doing here and who you are?" The woman asked without introducing herself.
"I'm sorry if I've given you the wrong impression; I am not your enemy, miss..."
"It's Kimiko," she replied as Ewan tried to address her.
"Right, Miss Kimiko. You shouldn't worry; the lobos won't hunt you here. You may rest, and tomorrow I shall answer your questions," said Ewan as he removed his hair tie.
After that brief conversation, Ewan left the room, leaving Kimiko alone.
"I guess I have been spared again. So many times I've come close to dying, yet I still live. I wonder if it's a sign from the Almighty," Kimiko thought, looking at her calloused hands.
"I perceive that you are in peril, Lady Miku, and I yearn to once more stand resolutely by your side... yet, knowing you, you wouldn't want me to leave the mission that you entrusted to me."
"So I promise that I will complete this mission no matter what fate is waiting for me."
The next day, the sun rays cut through the windows, hitting Kimiko's face. Her eyes twitched, and she opened them.
"Ah, ye're awake. I'm glad," Ewan's voice sounded as Kimiko sat up.
"Were you watching me all night?" Kimiko asked as she could finally see Ewan's face.
"No, no, I just came a few moments ago with some apples that I found nearby," Ewan answered as he showed two apples in each hand.
[Rustle]
Kimiko got out of her blanket.
"Let me formally introduce myself; I am Kimiko from the Eastern Kingdom," she said properly again, bowing slightly—the Eastern way of introducing oneself.
"I am grateful to you for saving my life," she added, still bowing.
"Please lift your head; I am no one to deserve that respect," Ewan said, holding both hands open towards her, trying to reassure her.
"I guess you don't understand. This is how the people of the East introduce themselves," Kimiko explained.
"Oh, I see. I have never seen an Eastern person before you, miss," Ewan said with a surprised look.
"Now, can I ask you why you saved my life and what your intentions are?" Kimiko said, making eye contact with Ewan, both of their narrow eyes meeting each other.
[Swish]
Ewan threw one apple at Kimiko, and Kimiko glanced at it.
"Please don't worry; nothing's wrong with that apple," Ewan reassured.
But Kimiko didn't bite; she looked at Ewan with seriousness.
"This woman isn't just a normal person," Ewan thought. "She can see right through me. Even though she doesn't possess Zor energy, she is superior to an average person."
"She is stubborn. I wonder where she got that trait from," Ewan concluded, analyzing Kimiko's behavior.
"Then, I'll start explaining," Ewan said under Kimiko's gaze.
"I am also a target of Los Lobos, just like you. I guess that should explain half of it."
"And... don't take me wrong, but I have been following you for a while now."
"Why were you following me? Did someone ask you to do it?" Kimiko asked.
"No one told me to do it. I was following you because I thought you were sent by Los Lobos, and I had never seen a cloaked woman before in the area, so that increased my suspicion."
"But you didn't have any Zor energy, so I thought that you were here just to gather information on me. When I saw that Virk and his people started chasing after you, it became clear that you weren't with them or that you had betrayed them. I observed that for a while."
"But when you were being attacked by Virk, I knew it was serious."
"That still doesn't explain why you saved me," Kimiko questioned.
"Yeah, that... I guess I just felt you were important to someone, so I jumped in to help."
"What I mean is that I just wanted to save you," Ewan said, looking out the window as if recalling something that hurt him deeply inside.
"You sound a lot like that fool," Kimiko said with a smirk, closing her eyes.
"What fool?" Ewan asked, looking at her.
"The reason I came here... to search for information on that red-eyed man—"
"Red...eyed...man?" Ewan's eyes widened at Kimiko's words.
"What's wrong? Do you know him? He is the only red-eyed man I've seen," Kimiko said with a surprised expression.
A silence fell over the room for a few moments as Kimiko looked at Ewan, noticing his eyes starting to water.
"So that Puddingbrain is still alive," Ewan whispered in disbelief.
"Where is he!? Where is Felix!?" Ewan asked desperately.
"Wait, so you do know that fool—"
[Wisp]
"Please refrain from calling my little brother a fool," Ewan said in an irate tone as he enveloped himself in his smoky gold aura.