Legacy of Death_Revenge

by Thomas J. L. Green

  “You had the first month to do it without weights. That didn’t happen, did it? Now get your lazy ass up, pick the barrel and get to the last two thousand squats!” Zakuma stated meanly.

  I will, fucking murder you! Just wait till I can take out my claws.

  “Whales east!” thundered from the crow’s nest.

  “Feeling like hunting your own meal?” Zakuma smirked at Luna.

  “Always,” Luna shot up to her feet, forgetting the tiredness and ever-present muscular pain. Workouts with Zakuma had two phases. First one was exercising until she started vomiting. The second phase was half an hour break during which she consumed as much raw fish meat as she could. Afterwards came again the first phase. Luna didn’t mind it nearly as much as she kept saying she does. It turned out that traveling on a ship is hundred times more boring than traveling on a coach… and Luna couldn’t stand traveling on a coach without a copious amount of drugs to keep herself entertained.

  “How do you hunt a whale?” Luna asked Zakuma as they got on the small boat.

  “Hit it with a harpoon, wait for it to get tired as it drags your boat behind itself, finish it off once you get close.”

  Luna’s eyes brightened in a happy look.

  I finally get to kill something. It’s about fucking damn time.

  Zakuma returned the smile and handed her a harpoon.

  “Focus on accuracy, not strength. You don’t need to kill it with the throw, just hit it,” Zakuma explained softly.

  I like this tone… way better than the constant bitching and throwing Miranda in my face. I’m not saying it isn’t effective, but I still hate it.

  Luna stood at the front of the boat and focused. The harpoon felt light. Breeze of the sea gently caressed her face. There were six whales around and about twenty boats rowing to them. Reflection of the sun made the sea look like it was made of gold. Luna raised the harpoon and waited. As the whale turned sideways. Luna stepped forward and threw the harpoon. It split the air so fast Luna could barely see it and disappeared inside the whale. Only the rope coming out to the anchor at the boat was visible. The whale groaned in pain.

  Not dead yet.

  Luna picked up one of the finishing spears and leaped off the boat. She smelled blood. It was all that mattered.

  OUCH!

  Pain shot through Luna from her leg.

  Really?

  The large shark had her leg held firmly in its jaws. Luna raised her spear hand. The second shark caught it and she let go of the spear.

  “HELP!” Luna shouted.

  “Nobody help her, she can manage,” Zakuma told the men at the boat. They obliged. The sharks were trying to tear her apart as the third one was circling around.

  “HEEEEEEEELP!”

  “Oh, come on, Luna. It’s just fish. What will Miranda say if she saw you right now?” Zakuma tossed up.

  The third shark lunged itself at her side. Luna sprung her body and narrowly avoided it. Her arm and leg were on fire.

  Pathetic. That’s what she would say. And she would be right. This is pathetic…

  ‘RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!’

  Fingers on her left hand turned into claws. Luna slammed them into the head of the shark holding her right arm. It went straight through its skull. Luna tore apart its jaws, freeing her hand. She kicked up her leg to get the second shark closer and ran her claws through it.

  I’ve missed you... you wouldn’t believe how much.

  ‘Stop crying and go get the last one. I’m hungry.’

  Sure.

  Luna turned to the third shark who was swimming away. She put her hands on her body and started weaving her legs to swim. She sank after the shark. Deep, deep into the sea. The shark was fast. It wasn’t fast enough. It turned to defend itself when she was upon it. She could feel its terror as it saw the nightmare of fangs what was her mouth. Luna dodged the counter-attack and bit off a piece of its skull.

  Delicious… I can’t believe how much I’ve missed this.

  ‘I can.’

  Luna grabbed the corpse of the shark and swam up.

  “I think I’m ready for the combat training,” she announced victoriously as she got back up to the boat with three dead sharks. Her arm and leg were long healed.

  “First, we help with the whale, then we get to it,” Zakuma agreed.

  “Right… what’s there to do with it now?”

  “Now, we cut a way into it and scrape out all the fat. That’s how whale oil is gathered,” Zakuma revealed.

  “That’s disgusting,” Luna shrugged.

  “You have no idea…. although you will have one soon because you are going in,” he grinned.

  “You want me to crawl into the whale to scrape out its fat? How is that part of the training?”

  “It’s not. But you are the slimmest and most agile person around, so you will be able to reach every nook and cranny. Why? Well, we need to contribute to the ship, don’t we?”

  Riiiiight… Zakuma is cleaning the decks, hunting fish and preparing our meals. I hope it’s not as bad as it sounds.

  “It’s been three days and I still stink! FUCKING WHALE!” Luna complained as she was going through the morning routine.

  “It’s not so bad, you will get used to it,” Zakuma tried to comfort her.

  “I REFUSE to get used to it! I want my essences, perfumes, fragrance candles and incenses! I can live without having them for a time, but it’s the FIRST thing I’m getting once we reach land!” Luna exclaimed, “anyway, how about the combat training?”

  “Right. This one will be different. First I need to see how you fight… so attack me!”

  “You are an asshole, but I don’t really want to hurt you,” Luna contested.

  “Chickening out before the fight? I’m sure Miranda will be full of empathy and understanding when she hears that,” Zakuma smirked.

  GGRRR! He’s hanging Miranda in front of my face like a carrot in front of a donkey… I hate how well it works!

  Luna turned her fingers into long claws and stepped in for a swipe. Zakuma avoided it easily. She tried again. Again. Again and again.

  “I think I’ve got the general idea,” Zakuma evaluated after quite a while.

  “NOT YET!” Luna shouted angrily, summoned Nightweaver into her hand and swung it at Zakuma. He avoided it easily. Again. Again and again.

  “How the hell are you doing this? I’m not getting even close!” Luna shouted in frustration.

  “Technique. Who taught you how to fight?”

  “James and Raven. Raven just with the sword,” Luna replied.

  “I don’t know much about sword fighting so I can’t evaluate it. But the form looked good, concise and I actually had to try to avoid the attacks. Raven did a good job teaching you, so that part is fine. James… well, James taught you how to fight the only way he knows. The issue is, style of James is not very useful for others since it’s based on him being able to ignore most attacks,” Zakuma described.

  He definitely knows James... pretty well at that. Let’s dig a bit into it. I swore I wouldn’t ask him questions, but it’s not a question when I don’t phrase it as such.

  “I can also regenerate!” Luna protested.

  “I see James didn’t explain you the nature of his power. I will leave it at this then, you are relatively vulnerable to poisons and your regeneration isn’t nearly as limitless as you would like it to be. Take too much damage and you are going to run out of magic and die,” Zakuma replied.

  Unlike James… Zakuma knows James really fucking well. He wasn’t just sent by James; he is one of his friends or associates.

  “So, what will you teach me?”

  “General hand to hand combat and a few moves with the claws. Those are rather intuitive plus you have a lot of practice in the area. It’s defense and grappling where you are a blank sheet, so to speak,” Zakuma laid out.

  “Grappling? Why would I bother with that since I can just fuck things up with my claws?” Luna conteste
d.

  “Armored opponents are hard to get with claws, especially when they have a shield. Plus… is grappling really the thing you should complain about? I thought you would want to do nothing else since you need it for Miranda,” Zakuma chuckled.

  Right! “This reminds me, I remember Miranda said something about a Holy War coming up, I don’t exactly remember any details though,” Luna mused.

  “From what I understand, this is it. We are about to arrive at the Sea of Serpents where we are to wage war against the Storm Pirates. It is what I am preparing you for, after all.”

  “Oh, is Miranda going to be around for it?”

  “I don’t know,” Zakuma admitted, “in any case, you should take your training more seriously, so your performance isn’t just a pile of pathetic losing.”

  This isn’t what I’m worried about. What worries me is what if she is NOT here for it? Will I spend the next months, or even years, waging war without seeing her? That’s not how I’ve imagined things going, not at all!

  8

  Elizabeth

  “CHRRRRRRRRRR pschi pschi pschi pschi pschi… CHRRRRRRRRRR… pschi pschi pschi pschi pschi….”

  “Uggghh… STOP SNORING, ASTRIL!” Elizabeth exclaimed.

  “CHRRRRRRRRRR pschi pschi pschi pschi pschi… CHRRRRRRRRRR… pschi pschi pschi pschi pschi.”

  It’s hot in here… too hot. DAMMIT!

  “AAAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH! FUCK!”

  “CHRRRRRRRRRR pschi pschi pschi pschi pschi… CHRRRRRRRRRR… pschi pschi pschi pschi pschi.”

  “GOD! Tell me you didn’t use all the firewood, AGAIN?” Elizabeth Collward shouted as she was getting up. Her body was wrapped in agonizing pain. Her head felt like it was hit by a hammer. She was so tired she swore she would faint in less than an hour were she able to get up, but that didn’t matter nearly as much as the big burning pile of wood in the middle of their hut. I spent two days cutting the firewood… and we are already out? She uses it faster than I cut it! “Come on, Niuffie, let’s go,” she motioned to the baby tiger. Niuffie meowed and went to rub herself on Elizabeth’s leg.

  “CHRRRRRRRRRR pschi pschi pschi pschi pschi… CHRRRRRRRRRR… pschi pschi pschi pschi pschi.”

  Elizabeth peered down at Astril. Astril Hellwind lied spread-out on the ground. Her hay-like hair was messed up all over her as she slept on the floor of the hut. Naked and snoring.

  “CHRRRRRRRRRR pschi pschi pschi pschi pschi… CHRRRRRRRRRR… pschi pschi pschi pschi pschi.”

  I wish I could trade her for a swarm of immortal mosquitoes. Even those would be a better company! Elizabeth put on her armor and went to the forest. Niuffie, her baby tiger got up as well and followed her silently. The fresh air of the forest soothed her hurting body. Light breeze caressed her face; it eased her suffering. To walk the path through the forest to get to the pond was the most routine thing she had ever done. The pond was calm and clear, like from a painting. Her torture cell, that’s what this place it was. She bowed down to drink. The reflection of herself wasn’t uplifting. Her young soft skin was marred with a mixture of bruises and swelling, while her once beautifully arranged golden hair was a horrendous mess. Living in the forest was a sharp change for the daughter of a rich entrepreneur.

  Stand and fight… easier said than done, dad!

  Elizabeth heard the step but couldn’t react. Boot hit her in the behind and she fell into cold water.

  “Glagh, ASTRIL!”

  “Why didn’t you dodge?” Astril smirked as she peered down on Elizabeth into the pond, “You should pay more attention.” Astril had her green-brown scale armor on; her yellowish eyes shone with malice from among her unarranged hair.

  “Can’t you let me be for a bit? I haven’t even woken up!”

  “If you can swim, you can fight. Now get out. You forgot your weapon, minus three points.”

  “I don’t give a shit about your points!” Elizabeth spat.

  “You should, minus fifty-two means I use the stick,” Astril smirked.

  “Oh, come on! I will never even get to zero! How am I supposed to get to one thousand?”

  “Land a hit on me. The clean one is for five thousand,” Astril retorted and flexed her hand in which she held a long wooden stick. She stabbed the stick into the pond, caught Elizabeth from bellow and swung her up.

  “AAAAAAAAAAA!”

  She threw her over her head and slammed her into the ground. “Screaming like a little girl… minus one point,” Astril evaluated.

  “OU! I think you broke my arm,” Elizabeth whimpered.

  “Lemme check,” Astril jabbed Elizabeth’s arm with the wooden stick.

  “LET ME BE, GODDAMIT!” Elizabeth shouted.

  “Feels fine. It’s bruised, not broken. Faking injuries, minus two points. Now get up!”

  “Uggghhh,” Elizabeth grunted as she got up.

  “Catch!”

  Astril took a large wooden puppet off her back and threw it at Elizabeth. By pure instinct, Elizabeth extended strings of magic from her fingertips and attached them to the puppet. The puppet slid through the air and wrapped around her.

  “YES!” Elizabeth raised her hands in celebration.

  Astril’s palm hit her in the middle of the chest and threw her backward. “Caught the puppet, plus ten, lost focus, minus three,” Astril evaluated.

  “COME ON! The midair catch should be worth at least fifty points,” Elizabeth protested as she got up to her feet.

  Astril charged at her. Elizabeth had the puppet block the sweeping strike and shoot a stone at her. Astril spun and kicked Elizabeth in the stomach. It sent her flying into a tree. Elizabeth tried to stand up, but the pain and exhaustion forced her not to. Astril pulled out an apple out of her pocket and bit into it, “Sweet… not like chocolate though,” she evaluated and put it into another pocket. She pulled out another apple and bit into it, “Sour, eww, here, have an apple!” she handed the sour apple to Elizabeth. She was still lying on the ground beaten up to a pulp. She tried to reach for the apple, but her hand wouldn’t listen. Astril put the apple down by Elizabeth’s mouth. She bit into it hungrily.

  “There, there,” Astril said in a soothing voice.

  “How long will this go on?” Elize pleaded.

  “Until you can hit me.”

  “I will never hit you… please.”

  “One day you will.”

  “I can’t do this… I just… can’t do this,” Elizabeth started weeping.

  “Stop crying like a little bitch,” Astril commanded sharply, “remind me, what did your father tell you?”

  “Stand and fight,” Elizabeth replied. They were the last words my father gave me when he visited me in the dream after he had died. It was years ago, but I still remember it like it was yesterday. Stand and fight… what a stupid line. Stand and fight.

  “Then why are you lying and crying? Faye don’t cry. No pain. No fear. No weakness. It’s not so hard to remember!”

  “I’m not a Faye,” Elizabeth contested.

  “You are. I don’t know why or how, but you are one of us. You are a dream daughter of dreams, dreams of our Goddess, the Faceless Goddess.”

  “I am not like you, Astril, I’m not Faye. I’m human.”

  “How would you know?”

  “This is all just bullshit,” Elizabeth sighed.

  “Your father brought you here, so you become one of us. I don’t know how he convinced Zerae to take you in, but she sent me to teach you how to be one of us. So, you will learn it, whether you like it or not.”

  “You told this to me hundred times. It’s still all bullshit. Plus, you aren’t teaching me anything; you are just beating me!”

  “I’m teaching you one of the two most important things you shall need in your life,” Astril revealed.

  Elizabeth just shook her head.

  “Go fix your puppet and cut some firewood. We are out. We continue training once you are done,” Astril remarked.

  “We wouldn’t be out of firewood if YOU
DIDN’T BURN ALL OF IT ALL THE TIME!” Elizabeth shouted.

  “We also wouldn’t be out if you did a proper job and chopped enough of it,” Astril smiled poisonously, “but no, it’s all ‘my back hurts’, ‘I’m tired’, ‘the axe is too heavy’ and other excuses. That’s why we don’t have enough firewood. It’s the same with the apples, can’t you just pick the sweet ones? Why do you pick the sour ones as well?”

  “Why don´t you do it yourself when you are so smart?”

  “Because I know how to do it, but you don’t and so you need to learn it,” Astril replied and poked Elizabeth with the stick.

  “OU! What was that for?”

  “I’m checking if your rib isn’t broken. It’s not, which is good because it means I can start hitting you harder,” Astril revealed.

  “Harder? HARDER? It’s morning and I can’t even stand up and you want to hit me harder?” Elizabeth exclaimed.

  Astril gripped the stick with both of her hands and stabbed. Elizabeth weaved to a side, leaped up to her feet and re-activated her puppet. “Useless whining, minus two points,” Astril smirked.

  The rest of the day was just more of the same. Elizabeth did not score a hit, while Astril hammered her down until she couldn’t move. She went to sleep even more battered than yesterday.

  “Please, Astril… let me sleep… oh,” Elizabeth woke up as a person entered.

  “ASTRIL!” a strong female voice echoed through the room. Elizabeth sat up in her bed, petrified. Amazingly beautiful face, light brown hair, black collar, thick black coat outlined by white fur. Zerae Hellwind stood at the door and was not amused.

  “Meeeeeh… lemme sleep a bit more,” Astril turned around.

  “You were supposed to be at Voidspire by dawn! Get dressed!” Zerae ordered.

  “I don’t feel like… got some chocolate?” Astril smirked.

  “GET. DRESSED.”

  “How about you undress first and come wake me up with some morning fun?”

  Zerae stepped in and kicked at her. It was a swift kick with a heavy boot. Astril sprung up to her feet to avoid it.