"Thank you miss," Ken smiled. "Of course, dearie. Be sure to come again young man," the older woman replied warmly. Putting the fresh vegetables into his bag, Ken nodded once more to the woman and began his walk back home. Ken hummed happily to himself as he started to imagine how good the soup he planned to make would be.
The first couple of weeks was a bit of a learning process for Ken as he started to cook for himself and his companions. After a bit of trial and error, he managed to finally perfect his soup recipe.
It was pretty basic, having some potatoes, veggies, and meat in some broth. It paired really well with some bread, and he was able to make a lot of it. Soup was his go to meal for feeding a couple dozen rats and two mice, along with himself.
Roughly half way through his walk, the sound of someone in distress reached Ken's ears. "P-please don't hurt me!" A feminine voice cried out. Ken's head whipped in the direction of the voice, noticing a dimly lit alley to his side.
"Ha ha ha, don't worry, we'll be fast," a more masculine voice replied. "Yeah, we'll make sure it won't hurt," another male's voice laughed.
Before Ken could realize what he was doing, he found himself running into the alley with his groceries still in hand. He currently didn't have a plan, and he certainly wasn't strong or intimidating. Normally he'd try to avoid jumping into situations that he wasn't already involved in. But something inside of him told him he needed to help this woman.
Finally reaching a bend in the alley, Ken slid around the corner just as the feminine voice yelled out once again, "I don't want to die! Please don't eat me!"
Ken stopped as he took in the site in front of him now. To his left, a brown furred rabbit with antlers shook as its back hit the wall behind it. In front of it were two very large dogs who were slowly approaching the smaller creature. While the jackalope's antlers reached Ken's knee in height, the backs of the two dogs were up his thighs.
Ken only took a moment to observe the situation before calling out, "Hey! Get out of here!" The heads of all three animals instantly whipped their heads in Ken's direction. "A human? He's not big at all. Maybe we could kill this strange rabbit then attack him?" One of the dogs questioned. "You idiot," the other one started, "What if he can use aura or magic to attack us? Then we're both screwed. Let's just grab the rabbit and get out of here."
Before the two dogs could continue their advance, Ken spoke again, much firmer this time, "If you touch that rabbit, I'll kill you both." Ken wasn't sure if he could actually take on the two dogs, but he wasn't going to offer up that information. For now, he was going to try to intimidate the dogs away.
"Did he hear you?" One dog whispered. "No way, that's not possible. He probably just wants to eat the rabbit for himself. I've seen a few humans eating rabbit stew." The other replied.
Ken eyed the two dogs as they talked quietly to one another, trying to figure out what they should do. Quickly turning his attention to the rabbit, he had finally noticed the antlers adorning the creature's head. That was definitely odd, considering he had never seen or heard of such an animal. Maybe it was some sort of mutation?
Still eyeing the strange animal, Ken could tell it was obviously terrified. The poor thing was shaking violently with wide eyes, looking between him and the two dogs. "I'm not going to eat you," Ken spoke softly, "I heard you as I was walking by and I'd like to help."
As he spoke, the dogs dropped their conversation and looked at him with turned heads. "I think he's actually able to hear us," one dog spoke up. "It doesn't matter," the other barked, "grab the rabbit and run!" The second dog began to turn its attention back on the small animal still against the wall.
'Shit!' Ken thought as he threw down his groceries. Not wasting any time, he yelled out, "Haste!" Ken's body lurched forward as he began his own descent onto the rabbit. The small animal shut its eyes in fear and cowered even further into itself.
Within only a couple seconds, Ken slid in front of the rabbit, knocking the closest dog away just before its jaws clamped down onto the small beast. While Ken was glad he was able to stop the first dog, he unfortunately was not fast enough to stop the second.
Just as he began to hastily pick up the rabbit, the second dog's jaw clamped down onto his right shoulder. Gritting his teeth from the sudden flash of pain, Ken stood up now holding the rabbit, along with the dog still firmly clamped onto his shoulder.
Ken's instincts kicked in as he slammed his shoulder containing the dog into the wall. The large animal yelped as it let go of him, quickly falling to the ground and retreating a few steps.
Blood began to ooze from the tear in Ken's shirt, but he didn't have the time to attend to it currently. Ignoring the pain, he quickly turned back towards the way he came from and used his haste spell to retreat.
"What the hell are you doing? Get him!" One of the voices called out from behind him. "He just used magic right now. What if he has something to attack us with?" The other replied. "You idiot! If he had one, he would have used it by now! Don't let him get out of the alley!"
Ken continued his mad dash through the alleyway with the dogs still hot on his heels. His haste spell would give him a small boost in running, but it was a D rank spell that quickly faded. It didn't help that his mana pool was not large by any means, being born with a smaller than average mana core. It also wasn't like he was an adventurer or a noble who was able to get their hands on items that could expand the size of their core.
With the dogs on Ken's heels, he was quickly approaching the street. Just as he was about to reach the threshold of the street and alleyway, two sets of jaws clamped down on both of Ken's legs and pulled backwards, causing him to lose his balance.
Ken turned his body so his shoulder would hit the ground first, taking the brunt of the damage. Two dogs worked in tandem as they slowly began to drag Ken further into the alley. "Get out of here!" Ken yelled as he threw the strange rabbit back towards the street, "I'll figure out how to get myself out of this! Just run!"
The rabbit stood there with wide eyes, watching as Ken began to swing and kick at the two dogs. But they were reckless in their attacks, biting and pulling whatever chunks of flesh they could sink their teeth into. One of the dogs had let go of one of his legs and had gone straight for his throat. Putting his arm up just in the knick of time, the large animal sunk its teeth into it, beginning to rip and tear through skin and muscle alike.
"You fuckers!" Ken spat as he tried to use his free arm and leg to kick and punch the two large dogs away. Despite his best efforts, he was still relatively weak and he could tell this was a losing battle. Blood was quickly pooling beneath him as he desperately tried to break free from their grasp to no avail. 'This is a shitty way to die,' Ken thought wryly. Just when things were going good in his life, they got real shitty real fast.
Ken was able to get a few good hits on his attackers, but it was obvious they were doing a lot more damage to him than he was to them.
Fatigue and pain were continuing to build in Ken's body, and he could feel his movements starting to slow. Finally accepting that this was it, Ken turned his head around. The strange rabbit stood at the edge of the alley, looking over its shoulder back at Ken as if it was unsure whether to run or not. Nodding weakly, Ken motioned for the animal to make its escape.
It paused for a moment, before finally turning away and running into the sunlight. Ken grimaced when he felt a set of teeth close around his throat, tearing into his windpipe. It was over for him, yet strangely he was no longer thinking about his own survival, or in this case, death.
As his windpipe was violently ripped out, he thought about when he first met Rex and Dex. Then his short time in jail, where he met Fitz and the other rats. His mind showed a flurry of images of their last few weeks in the house. If Ken had to say anything about his recent time with them, he would say it was fun. He hoped they would find a way to survive afterwards.
Thankfully for Ken, the excruciating pain that coursed through his body was rapidly waning as it was being replaced by a deep coolness. The world around him seemed to dim and the feeling of wanting to take a deep sleep was taking hold of him.
With his vision almost completely dark, a sudden vibrant, cylindrical golden light erupted from the clouds above. At an incomprehensible speed, the large circle of light shot down towards Ken. Though it wasn't just him, it looked as if the light covered multiple blocks of homes and businesses around Ken. The light that penetrated the clouds blanketed a small part of the city, visible to all.
The golden light was blindingly bright, but it left a sensation of warmth that quickly began to chase off that bone chilling coldness. As the welcoming heat filled his body, his vision began to return. Unfortunately, his other senses also returned, making him feel all the pain that he was experiencing just before. But again, that too began to fade. It was replaced by the odd sensation of his body being put back together.
Within a minute, Ken's body felt normal enough for him to groan as he sat up. As he did so, he brought a hand to his throat. He could tell he was breathing normally, but he still wanted to feel it for himself. After confirming it was back to normal, he glanced down to the rest of his body, which was also all back to normal, minus his clothes which were in tatters. In fact, some of the scars that Ken had were now gone. 'What the hell is going on?' he thought.
He then suddenly remembered what had transpired just a few moments ago, and quickly scanned his surroundings, yet the two large dogs that were there before were gone now. Instead, a very large, yet familiar rabbit stood tall just outside of the alley. This time however, the small furry creature was not so small anymore.
The previously small and cute rabbit was now nearly the size of a two story large building, with its bulk to match. The previously brown fur was now a beautiful snow white, and the antlers were more ornate in nature. Threads of ethereal light were woven into beautiful patterns that resembled a crown, yet Ken felt as if a human couldn't come close to even replicating something so regal and elegant.
Ken slowly stood, making his way out of the alleyway, stopping just past the threshold. He could see that everyone in the streets had all stopped in shock as they watched the large mythical creature sitting in the street.
"You not only saved my life, but you even gave yours in my stead. Fortunately, it seems that this was the reason I was sent from my realm here. I am accepted now. I now bear the knowledge and powers of my kind." The large rabbit said in a much more regal and mature tone than before.
Only one thought crossed Ken's mind after the creature stopped speaking, 'Did she just say I actually died for a moment there?!' Before the panic could rise in his chest, the creature spoke once again.
"My time is short, Inheritor of Ransein, but I will once again thank you. It is certainly strange for a human to be a part of one of my kind's trials, but even more so when an Inheritor is involved. Nevertheless, I am sure I will see you again someday. Use your power to become strong, Inheritor. You will need to be so in the near future."
The magnificent creature bowed its head towards Ken, almost colliding its horns with the buildings nearby. In truth, Ken had no fucking idea what was going on, but he was alive which was his first priority currently. Though, he did notice a few heads turn in his direction, which made him grimace internally.
"Uh, it's no problem," was all Ken could mutter out. He felt a bit awkward and confused at the moment, but he'd have to try to actually think about what the creature was saying at a later moment. The rabbit nodded, and soon, its body began to glow slightly, and the edges of the circle of golden light began to close.
"Remember, do not neglect your power. Grow strong, Inheritor of Ransein, and now, friend of the Jackalopes. I look forward to our next meeting." The beast said one last time, before finally fading into the golden light that retracted back towards the heavens.
Ken watched until the last of the golden light disappeared behind the clouds. Sighing deeply with a lot of questions and a few horrifying memories he might have to drink to forget, Ken rubbed at his temples.
Feeling a headache coming on, Ken noticed as people began to turn their heads away from the sky and towards him. He definitely needed to get the hell out of there.