Children of Venom

Beginning of the Poisoning

Many millennia later, life was blooming on the planet. Some mistakes of the gods popped up, but they were simple enough to push back. Over in Ter-da, one of the villages of Earth residing in a dense jungle, there were many mortals. The village’s huts were built upon trees, large bridges going form hut to hut. Each hut was made from trees, built up in the shape of large coconuts, save for holes where the windows would be. The residents were wearing dresses made from leaves and vines. Some people wielding spears and shields or swords wore thick leather.

Five leather-wearing creatures exited a hut with “Jail” written on it. There was a squirrel man with a pair of daggers, a rabbit man with powerful gauntlets for punching, a black cat lady with a spear, a bear man with a twohanded sword with a green gem embedded in it, and a horned owl woman with a bow (with a yellow gem embedded in it) and quiver of arrows. One of them held a piece of paper with “Wanted” written on top of it. In the middle was an image of a female gazelle, wearing a brown veil over their muzzle. Their name was written underneath, “Natasha.”

“Assassin, eh?” the squirrel man said, looking over the paper.

“500,000 gold, that’s a lot for one assassin,” the rabbit man said.

“According to reports, this lady wields two different magical weapons with her,” the black cat lady said. “One with a yellow gem, one with a pink gem, and she herself is devoted to Lag-Ter. Most assassins with pink gems usually use that to steal life force from a target, that yellow gem could probably be used for ranged attacks, as for earth magic…”

“I’d love to talk about how many ways this girl could tear us up, how do you suppose we find her?” a bear man said. “There are reports of her activity everywhere. How do we even know if she’s even close to the village?”

“Someone was attacked,” the owl said. “They say they were trading between Laq-syr and Taur-dege, when their caravan was attacked by a gazelle ‘sending forth wind fast enough to cut wood.’ They’re taken residence at a farm on the way. If we’re going to take out that assassin, that trader may be our only means of finding her.”

“What she said,” the squirrel said. “Meaning we need to get there as fast as possible.” The rest of them nodded in agreement, and boarded a carriage. The squirrel man handed a horseman near the carriage a slip of paper with the farm’s address, and the horse nodded in understanding. he grabbed two handles at the front of the carriage, and began to run, dragging the carriage with him. The five started to sit by in silence, at first.

“So, Felicity, you were talking about Natasha’s magical abilities?” the squirrel man said.

“Oh yeah!” the cat, named Felicity, responded. She looked at the wanted poster, reading over the description. “Well, according to the trader, Natasha uses her yellow gem-ed weapon to send slicing winds at her targets, and she probably uses her pink gem-ed weapon to steal the life force from a target. The reports say nothing about her earth magic though…”

“Maybe we should focus more on each other before we talk about how this lady might dice us up,” the rabbit man said. “Felicity, Brandon,” he said, motioning towards the cat lady and the squirrel man respectively. “You two know each other well enough, but I barely know the people in this carriage.” He turned towards the bear man. “Bruno… Bucky…”

“Cage,” the bear man answered.

“Cage! Almost had it,” the rabbit man said. “Why does someone in the earth goddess’ territory need a weapon with earth magic?”

“I was just visiting from Hop-cryo,” the bear named Cage said. “The warden wanted Natasha down, so, since I was visiting, I decided I’d offer my services and get some gold for it.”

“See? That’s good!” the rabbit man said. “Now I know more about you. We get more of this, and we can get some necessary synergy ready when we need to face Natasha.” He turned towards the owl. “And how about you, Grace?”

“That wench killed my son,” the owl named Grace said. There was a moment of silence in the carriage, the awkwardness palpable.

“…OK,” the rabbit man said, trying to break the silence. “Felicity, you don’t look like you’re from around here.”

“Well, looks would be deceiving,” Felicity said. “I was born here, grew up with the spear, and heard Natasha was a danger to many people. I decided I should help get rid of her.”

“And I followed,” Brandon said, wrapping a hand around one of Felicity’s.

“So, let me see if I understand,” the rabbit said. “Lady with a sense of justice,” he pointed towards Felicity. “Doting lover,” he pointed towards Brandon. “Guy looking for gold,” he pointed towards Cage. “Vengeful loner,” he pointed towards Grace. She narrowed her eyes at him, climbed out a window, and sat on top of the roof. “You’re not helping your case,” he shouted at the roof.

“Troy, since you’ve been rooting through our past, I think it’s fair that you explain a bit about yourself,” Felicity said.

“I suppose it is,” the rabbit named Troy said. “Well, I owe some guys gold, and I’ve gotta make a lot fast.”

“That it?” Felicity said.

“That’s it,” Troy said. There was another pause. “Should someone get Grace down? I don’t imagine we’ll look discrete with the sharpshooter on top.”

“As long as Natasha doesn’t know we’re after her, she’s alright up there,” Brandon said. Felicity nodded in response. There was another pause. This time, the pause lasted the entirety of the trip. The group eventually found themselves at the farm in question. They exited, Brandon payed the horse man, and the group marched to the farm, Grace lagging a little behind, scanning the area around her.

“We’re here for Peter,” Brandon told the rooster owner. Said rooster bowed, and stood aside as the group entered.

“Who’s there?” a voice upstairs said. The group heard someone come down the stairs. They were soon greeted by Peter, a coyote man dressed like he just came from the desert. “Who’re you guys?”

“We’re currently employed by Ter-da’s prison warden,” Brandon began. “We’re asked to take down Natasha, and we understand you’ve had an altercation with her?”

“…Yeah… I saw all of my fellow caravan slaughtered,” Peter said. “I can’t imagine who would want an entire caravan dead, and I know she’ll be after me.”

“We’re aware, and we’ll be sure to take her down before she can do anything to you,” Felicity said.

“Now, to help deal with her, we need you to tell us a bit about how she fought,” Brandon said.

“I just remember her cutting through the fields and my allies from afar,” Peter said. “Now, I remember her sweeping her cutlass around her, surrounding herself in powerful winds. She began to fly.”

“She uses sky magic to slice from afar and fly,” Cage noted.

“Any earth magic?” Brandon asked.

“…I didn’t see any,” Peter said. “Just winds and her other cutlass draining the life force of my fellow men.” There was silence.

“Did anyone else request to see you?” Felicity asked.

“No, you guys are the first,” Peter answered.

“Maybe she doesn’t know he’s here,” Grace said.

“So we still don’t know where she is or how to find her,” Cage said.

“Well, there might be one way,” Troy started. The rest of the group and Peter turned towards him. “Natasha would be looking for him, wouldn’t she?” Each group member rose an eyebrow at his statement.

“Are you suggesting we use this guy as bait?” Brandon asked. Peter’s eyes shot open in shock.

“The hell-?!” Peter stammered out. “You can’t be serious!”

“Are you serious?!” Brandon shouted out. “Do you want him to die?”

“We’re not gonna let him die,” Troy said. “We just need to be on guard when that assassin shows herself. We don’t have any clue what her MO is, the only way we’re gonna draw her out is with bait.”

“He may have a point,” Grace said. Now all attention turned towards her. “We’ve been talking about how we have no way to find her. Now, we have a confirmed target and can bring her to us.”

“Are you serious?” Felicity said. As Felicity question her, Peter began to slink away towards the stairs.

“What do you suggest?” Troy asked. “How do you suppose we draw her out?” There was silence again. Neither Brandon, Felicity, nor Cage had a rebuttal, which worried Peter even more. But, surely, they wouldn’t consider it. There’s no way they would risk putting him in danger just to get some gold.

“Well, it’s the only plan we’ve got,” Cage said. When Brandon and Felicity began to realize they couldn’t rebut the others, they acquiesced as well. All attention was turned towards, Peter, who tried to run up the stairs. But, during his run, he got himself tripped up on a step and fell forward, leaving himself completely exposed.

Peter was tied up and put on Cage’s back like he was a backpack.

“This is insane!” Peter shouted. “Let go of me!” He thrashed about on his shoulders. The group proceeded to march about the trail, careful to avoid other bystanders, for fear of being (rightfully) accused of kidnapping. They traveled throughout the whole day, and there wasn’t a sign of Natasha. Night began to creep up on the group, and they were near a cave.

“It’s time to set up camp, guys,” Brandon said. The rest of the group nodded in response. “Now, who’ll be our first watchman?”

“Leave that to me,” Grace said. She was already readying her bow.

“Noted. Wake one of us up after an hour, and, if you see any sign of her, wake the rest of us up,” Brandon said. The group went into the cave, except for Grace, who stood in the shadows of the entrance of it. The four set down sacks, and sleapt within them. Peter was still strapped to Cage’s shoulders.

After 3 hours, Troy began to stir in his sleep. He woke, and decided to walk towards the entrance of the cave. There, he saw Grace, still standing at the ready.

“Weren’t you supposed to wake someone up a while ago?” Troy asked.

“And give someone else the chance to strike down that bitch?” Grace said.

“Wait. Are you planning on fighting her alone?” Troy asked.

“It’s what Timmy would’ve wanted!” Grace said, eyes still trained on the outside.

“You’re not going to be ready when she does come,” Troy said. “You can’t avenge the little guy if you’re fighting sleep.” Grace was silent, but she showed no sign of leaving her spot. Troy simply approached and stood next to her. “What happened?”

“He was delivering gold to the Global Capital,” she answered. “…He was 18 when Natasha did him in… After my husband left, he was the only person I had left in my life…”

“…I’m sorry,” Troy said.

“…You were awfully vague when you described yourself,” Grace said.

“I’d rather people not got too attached to me,” he said. “I swear, the gods have some grudge against me, because I’ve barely survived time and time again. I don’t know how much longer my luck can last.” There was another pause.

“You got anyone back home?” Grace broke the silence.

“Not a one,” he said.

“So, two loners out here, eh?” Grace said.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Troy said. There was more silence. “I guess the best we can do is live for the guys that were there for us, right?”

“Of course, but not before I smite that bitch for him!” Grace said.

“You’re not gonna do that if you’re sleepy, go get some rest,” Troy said. There was another pause. With a heavy sigh, Grace walked towards the back of the cave, ready to sleep. The group continued to swap positions, keeping watch, until eventually, the sun rose. The group got up and began to walk through the field again, still bringing Peter along with. They approached a forest, when they began hearing something whip from branch to branch overhead. Each member readied their weapons, trying to track the source of the noise.

Eventually, something zipped from the air down towards Peter, on the back of Cage. Cage quickly spun around, swiping his twohanded sword along with. His blade clashed against a cutlass, and the wielder backflipped off of the bear, landing a fair distance away. All members turned towards the attacker, and recognized them as Natasha. They only saw above her neck in the poster, but now they could see her wearing a leather bra and short shorts with a thin slit along the thighs.

“Natasha, we’ve been given strict orders to bring you in,” Brandon started. “Our employers specified that it doesn’t matter whether we bring you in dead, or alive, so, if you wish to live, then drop your-!” In the middle of his boast, Natasha swiped her yellow-gem-ed cutlass around herself, and she was suddenly surrounded in a whirlwind. Using the whirlwind, she sped forward like a rocket. Brandon had to cut himself off and hold his daggers in front of him to block the incoming double-blade strike. Even when he blocked, the force of the flying gazelle propelled him backwards, and he was left dragging his feet across the soil. The other group members were surprised by the strike.

Once Brandon used his magic to form an earthly wall behind him to stop himself, the others got ready to fight. Grace flew to the side, cocked an arrow, and aimed at the gazelle’s side. Her arrow began to glow with electricity, and she let go, sending forth a stream of lightning towards the assassin. Before it could strike her though, the whirlwind yanked the arrow from the air, twirling it around her in tandem with the flow of the wind.

Cage, meanwhile, was coming in from the other side, sword held above his shoulder as he ran. He held his blade above his head, and began to swing down towards her midsection, but the gazelle quickly back flipped off of Brandon, narrowly dodging the crashing blade. She began to levitate in the air, making use of her whirlwind. With a flick of her yellow-gem-ed cutlass, the wind flew towards Cage, carrying the electric arrow with it. Cage leaned away, and the arrow chipped his leather armor as it embedded itself in the ground.

Once the wind was redirected, Natasha began to go into a freefall, Felicity and Troy waiting for her at the approximate landing zone. Once the gazelle got into range, Felicity jabbed upwards with her spear, only for Natasha to use both of her cutlasses to intercept the shaft. The sudden shift in weight forced the spear downwards as Natasha kept herself on top of the spear. When Troy came in to try to punch her, she spun around, legs outstretched, and kicked both fighters away. As Felicity fell backwards, Natasha leapt off of the spear and onto her hooves.

Upon landing, Natasha swept her yellow-gem-ed cutlass horizontally, sending forth an arc of slicing wind towards Brandon and Cage. Bandon leapt away, but Cage had to get nipped by the arc. Felicity and Troy held their pained heads as they stumbled back to their feet, and Natasha kept an eye on the two of them. While she was doing that, Grace cocked another arrow, and began to charge it. Then, Natasha’s attention was drawn to Grace.

Felicity and Troy shook the cobwebs out of their heads, and ran towards Natasha. However, instead of attacking them, they channeled green energy to their weapons. Felicity slammed the butt of her spear onto the ground near Natasha, and Troy slammed his gauntlets on the ground near Natasha. Green energy formed a circle around the assassin, and the ground quickly fell around her, throwing Natasha off balance as the ground suddenly disappeared beneath her.

With that, Grace quickly ran towards the pit, arrow still charged. She got close to the edge, and aimed down at the surprised gazelle. She fired down at her, but Natasha swept her blade in front of her, deflecting the arrow. She then leapt up toward the edge of the pit. Grace grabbed three arrows with one of her wings, and loaded one onto her bow. She fired the three in quick succession at the leaping gazelle, two missing and one getting deflected as she grabbed onto the edge.

She flipped back above the pit, and the two that caused the pits ran up on the sides of her. Troy tried to punch at her, but she dodged under it, and sliced at his abdomen with the pink-gem-ed cutlass. With that single strike, the rabbit’s life force got drained from him a little bit. He barely had time to register that as the gazelle proceeded to follow up the initial strike with a slice from the other blade. Before Natasha could strike again, Felicity jabbed the spear between her shoulder blades, taking out a bit of her life force.

With that, Natasha dodged the next jab, and spun around, yellow-gem-ed blade outstretched. A shockwave of wind suddenly pushed the two away from her. She ran towards the pit, and flicked upwards, creating a current of wind that rocketed her in the air and across the pit. She kept running for Peter. Brandon ran up between Cage and Natasha and blocked her attack. He parried her, and swiped at her midsection, managing to nick her with a blade.

She recovered quickly, and quickly negated his damage by slicing him with the pink-gem-ed cutlass. His life force was transferred to her with that strike. She kicked him away, and ran to Cage, who was about to bring his blade down on her head. She brought both cutlasses up above her head, blocking the strike. She maneuvered it to the side, and then rammed her blades into the bear’s stomach. She sliced them both to her sides, and Cage felt a big chunk of his life force disappear.

Cage responded with a heavy horizontal swing, managing to bat the gazelle away like one would hit a baseball. She flew backwards, towards an awaiting Felicity. She jabbed the tip of the spear against her back, stopping her midflight. Natasha slumped downwards, grasping her back. Felicity was about to stab into her again, but she swept her blades behind her, knocking the spear’s tip away. At the same time, she kicked against the warrior’s chest, knocking her away.

Grace, meanwhile, positioned herself overhead. She loaded an arrow, and fired down on Natasha after she kicked Felicity away. Natasha, meanwhile, swung her yellow-gem-ed cutlass upwards, sending a blast of wind up towards the owl. Before he could react, she was struck by her own arrow, and began to fall from the air. When she got close enough, Natasha stabbed her with her pink-gem-ed cutlass.

While Natasha pulled her cutlass from Gracce, Brandon was running up, daggers drawn, to strike the gazelle. Before he could, Natasha kicked against his face, sending him tumbling to the ground. She then straddled his abdomen, and began madly stabbing against his chest, Brandon wincing at each strike. Cage was running behind Brandon before he was knocked down, so he was about to strike her with a horizontal strike. She leaned back, rolling off of Brandon and dodging the blade.

“Cage, stay away!” Brandon shouted out. Before he could, Natasha whipped her cutlasses around her, wrapping her up in a whirlwind. She flew towards Cage, weaving under his arm and around to his back.

“Shit!” Peter screamed out as he saw the gazelle fly towards him. Cage stuck his blade into the ground, and made a ring of earth rise up around him, blocking the attack.

“She’s after Peter! Don’t pursue her!” Brandon shouted to Cage. Cage realized the situation, he had to stay back and only defend. He’s got to leave the attacking to the rest of the group. Troy leapt above the ring of earth and was descending onto the flying gazelle. He was about to bring both hands down on her, but she adjusted herself and flew into his stomach, nailing him with a powerful headbutt. After flying up a fair distance, she rapidly swung both cutlasses against Troy, slicing through his life force like paper. In a few seconds, she gave one last slice, and she drew blood. Troy fell from high up, and landed on the ground, lifeless. She just killed him.

The group barely had a chance to register that fact before the gazelle flew towards Cage, who got rid of the ring of earth to conserve his gem. Before she could strike him, Felicity channeled energy into her spear, slammed the butt of it onto the ground, and produced a wall of earth in front of the gazelle, halting her progress. While she was stunned, Grace channeled earth magic to her next arrow, and fired under the gazelle. The earth came up and wrapped around Natasha like a dome, and Grace flew down on top of it.

“This is for Drake!” she shouted as she channeled magic into the dome beneath her. It then closed in, seemingly smashing Natasha with the soil. There was a moment of silence, a moment for the remaining group members to catch their breath and really register the fact that Troy was dead. That moment wouldn’t last long, for the dome began to quake. Suddenly, it erupted, Grace tossed away from it. Out from the remnants came Natasha, who was emanating with earth magic.

“Are you all finished resisting?” Natasha said. In response, the group members readied their weapons, defying her. From behind, Brandon attempted to stab Natasha from behind. However, a swift spin around from Natasha tore his life force apart, and he collapsed, lifeless. Felicity looked on in horror as the life drained from her lover’s eyes. And at that, she realized they didn’t stand a chance. The threw everything at her, from their mightiest of skills to their most powerful of magic, and she had an answer for their every move.

Grace was seething with anger. She loaded five arrows in one hand, and fired each in quick succession at Natasha, but she easily got rid of them with a flick of her cutlass. She then sent forth a sharp arc of wind at Grace, and she was forced to take a knee in pain. She was gasping in pain as Natasha walked over to her. She put a hand under her beak, and positioned her such that she was looking her in the eye.

“Tell this ‘Drake’ of yours that he should’ve been stronger,” Natasha said. She took her life stealing cutlass, and sliced it at Grace’s neck. The owl collapsed, the life drained from her. Felicity looked on in horror at the three bodies lying around the field. Then, Cage came up to her.

“Get Peter out of here,” he said as he took Peter off of his shoulders.

“What? What about you?” Felicity asked.

“I’ll cover your escape,” he said. Natasha turned her head towards the remaining group members.

“I’m not going to leave you!” Felicity shouted. Cage realized he had no time to argue, and that he couldn’t convince Felicity willingly. He gripped his sword, and slammed it on the ground near the cat, and a dome of earth suddenly swallowed her up. Cage then slammed again, sending the earth dome deeper into the ground. He then turned towards Natasha, readying his sword as the gazelle approached.

Felicity barely registered what just happened. Cage just sent him under ground, who knows how far, with only Peter in tow. Realizing she’d just waste energy going back to the surface, she used her earth magic to tunnel towards the village, images of the recent battle plaguing her mind.