The White King

First Light

Donn bites into an orange, rind and all, and gulps down the sweet citrus filled interior without pause.

It was delicious, that much was certain, but oranges were the only fruit the caravan carried... Anything tasted worse after having it multiple times a day over a week.

They had a wide variety of grain based foods at least, ranging from croissants to a few different kinds of muffins.

Nothing to truly keep a carnivore like him satisfied, though. While it's true that both humans and foxes were omnivores, meat contained nearly everything he needed to survive.

That, and it tasted like ambrosia... to him. Obviously, that wasn't the case for everyone.

There was even a vegetarian among the group he was traveling with. His name was Origin-oh, but Donn had grown to calling him Oregano.

Speaking of which, spices were practically overflowing a few of the carts. While it was basically just pepper, pepper was incredibly valuable among many southern societies as a food preservative and flavoring.

If you went down far enough, it's value by weight was higher than gold.

There's not a lot that can compete with that, he thought, licking his lips at the dragons hoard he could acquire. Unfortunately, that would require he steal it all away from the group.

It may have only been a week, but- with the exception of the six people who tried, unsuccessfully, to steal the already double stolen carts- he'd only been able to talk with them for the last days. That kind of forced him to bond, and their relatively tragic backstories started wearing down his guard.

They managed to make stealing from them sound like a bad idea without ever even insinuating that they were a threat.

That was a truly terrifying skill, but it was one Donn was okay with. Having friends, even if they were ordinary village folk, and adults at that, was nice.

Better yet was that he had another whole day of travel before they finally reached town.

From there, he would probably be forced to leave again. While his bounty was primarily given to northern towns, Giovanni clearly had a presence in the town, and...

Let's just say Donn wasn't on the best of terms with him.

One more day until we part ways, he thought somberly.

He'd never really had long term friends. Partners, sure, but there was always the fear that they would backstab you at any moment. Fortunately, thieves generally leave without murdering the other person, so he'd only lost a few particularly valuable items out of the various betrayals.

Not to say he hadn't done the same, though. The water was one such item.

Speaking of water, Donn's feet sunk slightly, prompting him to look down at what appears to be partially dried mud.

That's odd... It hasn't rained recently.

His eyes trail upward, moving along the length of the caravan, and there it was, all the way across. The mud wasn't deep enough to do any more than slow them down, but...

"DUCK!" he calls out, throwing himself to the ground as well to dodge a volley of arrows.

That turns out to be the completely wrong idea. A second later, once all of them were as close to the ground as possible, a crack of thunder releases itself.

It was broad daylight.

A bolt of energy shoots down from a nearby pine tree, the electric shock spreading through the soaked soil to hit the men lying directly in it.

The attack was weakened of course, making it less than lethal, but...

Voices fill the air, a mixture of pain and what Donn's currently uncooperative mind can only think of as a battle cry filling the air.

He wasn't that far off, actually, something that surprising him when his senses decided to work again. It truth, it seemed to be a celebratory call.

Just over a dozen men reveal themselves, stepping from the distance forest and making their way for the caravan.

Among them was a wizard.

When we're talking wizards on Kosmos, we're not talking the traditional robed figure. While costumes like that still exist, the real wizards all dress for combat. If the robes and hats did nothing to help, why wear them?

Instead, they often wore light armor laced with nickel, the most magically conductive metal. Additionally, they often had an emblem of some kind to advertise their services, making most of them mercenaries.

In this case, he was a destruction magic user, one who specializes in the use of high power-high cost magic with the intent of obliterating all in their path.

The rest of the group was wearing similarly light armor and brandishing a wide array of swords and spears, though swords seemed more common.

And my luck drops a day early... Yay...

The wizard walks up to him, soloing him out based on his appearance. Foxes are obviously gifted at leadership, after all.

"Is this the only caravan?" the man asks, apparently not getting that, regardless of the truth, the answer would always be yes.

Speaking of: "Yes."

He nods a few times, his eyes turning towards the road they'd come along.

"I'm going to be courteous, from one fox to another," he says, pulling down his hood to reveal nearly identical ears to Donn's. "You can all leave, but we're taking everything here."

Donn looks up at him from the mud, his expression blank due to the artificial stiffness of his facial muscles.

"That's it?" he asks, clearly confused.

"Yep."

While that sinks in, several of the people he'd been traveling with start yelling at the bandits, claiming they need the caravan for something.

They were idiots.

They made the wizard angry.

"Shut up!" he returns, his harsh tone silencing Donn's group. "Another peep out of any of you, and more than just your-."

He freezes mid sentence, his ears rotating towards the forest behind him.

A twig had snapped.

An important part of surviving in the wilderness was a caution towards literally everything. It might not seem worthwhile to watch a rabbit for an hour before killing it, but you don't want to encounter a Rahare.

God damn those things were terrifying in battle.

A snapped twig in the middle of this meant it was something bigger.

Within the span of a second, the fox pan whirled around and shot a bolt of lightning into the forest.

There was nothing there.

I heard it too...

While Donn was limited to the ground, that only really impaired his vision. Many of the people there had heard the little break.

And then they heard another snap, this one a far more visceral sound.

It was the shattering of an arm.

"It's not nice to threaten people," a voice remarks, obviously missing the irony of that statement.

The wizard is the first mobile person to react, his hand whipping up towards the new individual and spewing a combination of fire and lightning.

Unfortunately, the glowing figure foresaw that and easily brought one of the wizard's own men into the line of fire.

"Two down, eleven to go," he declares, cracking the knuckles of his fist.

It was a complete slaughter from there.

~~~~~

Exactly two of the bandits survived that 'fight' without substantive injuries: an owl pan, who survived his neck being snapped just under 180 degrees and was smart enough to stop moving, and the wizard, someone who was currently being held against a tree by a set of six spikes driven through his outfit.

Not the best day for them, that's for sure.

The caravan goers had regained the ability to move, but they were in a kind of stunned silence after that battle. There was no escape, no safety, and no hope for them.

Brutality was quite powerful.

The shining figure dims down somewhat, turning to a more candlelight level glow and revealing his form.

He was around 6′1" with an obviously athletic form. White and black fur ran all the way up his back, ending at a tail and ears. Lastly, and probably most importantly, his slitted yellow eyes peered dangerously into the wizards own bright orange orbs.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" he asks, giving the wizard a chance to redeem the group.

"Aš esu pasiruošęs mirti. Prašome nedvejodami mane nužudyti," he says, hanging his head downward without further comment.

Narrowing his eyes at whatever the man said, the still illuminated figure plunges his bare fist directly through the mans skull, killing him instantly.

While the rest of them resist the natural urge to vacate their stomachs, the furred figure says a few words.

"Tegul Dievas yra gailestingumo," the man says, crossing his heart with his non-bloody hand. That said, he turns back to Donn. "My name is Nacah, and I live nearby. I sensed his use of magic and came as soon as I could."

Donn nods, his eyes still pinned on the gruesome sight. "Thank you, Nacah... We appreciate your help, but... Was killing him necessary?"

Given a moments pause, Nacah answers that as honestly as possible. "He wanted to die."

Since nobody but Nacah seemed to understand the language the two of them spoke, there wasn't anything they could do to confirm or deny that. The wizard didn't resist being impaled, but how much of that was being restrained versus being willing was a serious point of contention.

Despite that, Donn gave him the benefit of the doubt. From what he could see, nobody else had actually died from the event, so he showed at least some mercy.

Donn actually turns his head, finally realizing something.

"How did you break the twig?"

"Huh?" Nacah prompts while turning in the direction the noise had come from before.

"How did you break the twig? It clearly wasn't magic; both the wizard and I would notice such a thing. I thought it could be a trick of stealth, but they had a number of very keen eyes and ears trained on the area..." He doesn't bother elaborating further, figuring Nacah got his point.

"Ah..." he says, turning back to Donn. "I... I didn't originally plan to get involved." He beckons towards a distant patch of brush. "You can come out, now."

Schwarz pops up out of a cluster of brambles, visibly undamaged by the thorns the plant contains.

That doesn't mean it doesn't catch all over his body, forcing him to free his bear pelt kilt and bracers from the damn plant.

Eventually, after what probably felt like it took a million years to the now embarrassed German Spitz pan, he wrenches himself free of a few remaining coils and towards his new mentor.

"Heh-heh," he says, rubbing his neck in awkward apology. He hadn't meant to throw himself into it, but it was a reflex to a cold feeling that ran up his spine.

Fortunate, too, since he would have been pegged by lightning if he hadn't reacted quickly.

"It's alright, Schwarz, but watch your footing. I had to injure a lot of people to get you out of that."

Schwarz nods with a smile, one that spoke of a surprising level of devotion. It had only been a day since the two had met, but Nacah was actually really easy to bond with.

Well, outside of combat training...

He did say he needed practice, though. Something about getting rusty.

Regardless, Schwarz really shouldn't have volunteered to be a sparring partner. As everyone but the man himself knew, he was an absolute monster on the battlefield. His lunges were a complete blur and the glow around him could manifest into all manner of weapons for his attacks.

"So... You were intending to just watch?" Donn asks, both confused and offended. He might be a criminal, but he stole for his survival.

Mostly.

"Yep," he says, the statement completely lacking in the kind of apology he was expecting.

Charles, the leader of the caravan prior to Donn's entrance, walks up to Nacah with a hand held forward.

"Thanks anyway. We would have been screwed if you hadn't come along."

Nacah takes the hand, shaking it firmly before releasing the mans unfortunate limb. "No worries. We'll be leaving now," he says, gesturing towards Schwarz for him to head on back.

"Alright. Safe tra-... What are you doing?" Charles asks, watching him carefully.

"What?" Nacah questions, completely ignoring the cart full of oranges set atop his shoulders. "I'm going."

Charles pinches the bridge of his nose but lets it pass with a wave. "Do as you please," he says, turning to lead the caravan forward once more.

Donn is the only one not to set on the way, the fox pan far too busy observing what Nacah was doing.

With minimal effort, he turns around and starts sprinting into the woods.

I had to leave them at some point, Donn thinks, tailing behind them. If he couldn't stay, he could always just steal the cart back and drop it at the village.

The White Tiger doesn't so much as turn to face his pursuer, his own eyes fixed on the distant form of Schwarz.

He had finally started creating a dim glow of his own, even if he didn't see it.