The Wolf Kronicals 3 (Chapter 10-14)

Chapter 10- The Light and Shadow Within

5 years past since this time and everyone was doing fine. Maliko and all her friends lived normally and soon learned to forget about Disen, who Nivea marked as a traitor, all except Maliko, who thought about Disen all the time and could never hate him. Everyone healed and Kalila went back to being hospital nurse. Ski eventually stopped hating Maliko‘s guts, but they weren’t what you would call friends. They still fought constantly, building up both of their power, both learning new attacks and soon became bitter rivals. The constant Feline VS. Canine was a hot topic in DarkSoul, because both Nivea (Who always bet on Miko) and Kensuke (Who always bet on Ski) both became super rich because there was barely a time when they weren’t fighting and when Niv and Ken were not betting. DarkSoul was completely rebuilt and they added a huge pool right in the center near the Crimson Fountain, right along with a gigantic stadium so Maliko and Ski could fight without destroying the town. Poor Disen was actually doing a very good job as Shadow’s slave. He killed many opponents with his new Fire Blitz attack, burning them alive from the inside out and he learned new strategies and new faster methods of death, making Shadow stronger and stronger all the time. Disen had matured into a very sexy wolf demon. He had much stronger from the all of the fighting, and his muscles showed brilliantly as well as the fact that his light purple eyes had darkened into a violet color. He met many girls, human, angel and demon alike on the mission who wanted him, but Disen showed no interest in them and took all of their lives, under Shadow’s command, of course. His hair was longer and covered his eyes when he let it and when he smiled, his fangs sparkled in the sunlight. His soul grew gradually colder with every life he took and it showed in his eyes. His dark and evil glare rivaled that of Eiri Yuki’s and could make hundreds of fan girls fall to their knees with severe nosebleeds, begging to have his children, but Disen didn’t care. In all the years he had been gone, Disen never once forgot about Maliko. His love for her still burned as strong as the day he left and he could not help but think of her day after day, wondering what she was up to and how she was doing. Disen stared sadly into the sunset after a complicated murder mission. Shadow walked up to him and sat down. “What’s up?” “Master! I…um…I just…” “You miss Maliko, don’t you?” Surprised he guessed right, Disen looked at his feet. “Yeah…” “Lets go see her then.” “!!!” “ What?” “Are you serious?” “Yeah, whatever. I’m bored. But only for today.” “Okay!” “You can give her this.” He handed Disen a multi-colored flower. “…Thank you…” “Lets go.” Shadow and Disen jumped into the portal. I will be back for you in 1 hour.“ “Alright.“ They walked around for a good 2 minutes until they spotted Kensuke. “Kensuke!” he called out to him. He turned. “D-d-disen?! Is that you?!” “Yeah! Wow! You look great!” “Thanks! You too, man! Maliko will be so happy to see you!” “S-she remembers me?” “Remembers you??? She talks about you every day!” Disen blushed and smiled to himself. “Where is she?” “In the pool. Go meet her.” “’Kay! Thanks!” He ran off to find Maliko and spotted his love just as she climbed out of the pool. She was the most beautiful person he had ever seen in his life. Her, now much longer, tripping wet hair covered her eyes and she flicked her head to brush it away. Her crimson eyes glowed like fireflies in the dusky evening sun and her tail was wagging as she stretched back and her wet bathing suit showed just how mature her body really was. Disen whimpered and grabbed his nose to prevent the nosebleed that shot out of his nostrils. Smelling the blood, Maliko turned and saw Disen. Her heart skipped a beat and she ran to him, tail wagging faster than ever. “Disen!!!!!” She jumped on him and licked him happily. He hugged her as tight as he could. “Miko…” he began to cry. “I missed you so much…” he cried much harder now. Maliko blushed and held him as she sat on the ground next to him, smiling slightly. When Disen finally calmed down, Maliko stared at him happily. “Yay! I knew you’d come back so I kept your room just like you left it!” Hearing this, Disen’s perfect mood turned dark. “I…cant stay…” “Why not?” “I cant tell you why. I just cant!” “Sure you can!” “I’m sorry.” Maliko grabbed his arm and made a handcuff out of shadows. You see, Maliko also learned new tricks in the long time apart, like how to make inanimate objects from the shadows. She grabbed his arm and locked it around him and then her arm. “You’re not leaving again!” “Miko! I have to!” “You cant!” “If you don’t let me go, I’ll kill you!” He pulled his sword out with his free hand and held it to her head, glaring at her. Maliko jumped back and the shadow disappeared in a flash. Truly afraid of what Disen was becoming, she backed up, whimpering and ran away. “I’m so sorry, Maliko. But I cant stay. I cant see you hurt like that again.” He realized he forgot to give her the flower and ran to find her. It was almost time to go. He couldn’t find her by the time he had to go and regretted saying what he did to her. He explained his dark mood to Shadow when they got back. “Don’t worry. We’ll be back tomorrow.” Shadow reassured him. “We will?” “Yeah” Disen’s tail wagged and he drifted off to sleep, forgetting to ask just what they were returning for. The next morning, Shadow awoke to see Disen rereading the contract.
“Hey, Dice-boy. What’s up?” “I have a question. If you were to die, then would I be free?” “Uh, no. You would follow me into the afterlife.” “……” “Why? Planning to kill me with that poisoned cup of tea last night?” “!!! You knew about that?” “Yes. I wasn’t happy, so I switched it with yours.” “!!!!!!!” “Heh heh… Just kidding.” “……” Shadow whipped out his chain and wrapped it around Disen’s throat, pulling him close to his face. “If you ever try another stunt like that…” he whispered in a heart shattering voice “I will kill Maliko as slow as possible, then force it to replay in your mind for the rest of eternity, screams of pain and all.” Disen coughed and looked down, not able to breathe at all. “Now,” Shadow laughed darkly, releasing Disen. “On to DarkSoul!” Disen jumped up and started walking when an angel girl, looking about 19 and kind of slutty, walked up to him, grabbing his arm. “Hey, sexy…” She stared at him with her most seductive voice. “Don’t speak to me if you value your life.” Disen said calmly and coldly. “Ooooo, A bad boy… I like that…” She held Disen’s arm tighter. Disen wrapped his arm around her and shot his claws up, using them to brutally rip through her chest. Feeling around inside her, he grabbed her heart and ripped it out of her, staring at the limp and bloody heart in his hand and the dead girl on the floor with the hole in her chest. He threw it on the floor and stomped on it, shooting blood all over him. “You know, you could have just said you were taken.” Shadow laughed evilly. “Now quit wasting time. We have to find Maliko. We are going on a mission.” Just the very thought of his darling Maliko accompanying him on one of his murder missions made his heart jump and his face turn red with happiness. He got a running start and jumped into the portal. As soon as he got there, he didn’t stop to wait for Shadow and ran off ahead, and found Maliko crying hysterically in her room, all her friends and her wolves trying to calm her down. As soon as Disen burst through the door, everyone turned and Disen stood shocked at the large amounts of dark stares he got. “How dare you even show your face after what you said to Miko?” Nivea cried and grabbed him. Disen pulled his hand back and stared at her angrily. “I came here to apologize. Maliko, I am going on a mission and I would like you to come with me. Will you?” He held his hand out. “You came all the way here, to ask me that?” “Not exactly…” Shadow stepped out from the shadows. “What are YOU doing here!!!” Maliko cried. “Shut it, wolfy. Didn’t he tell you? He was working with me the whole time going on what we like to call Murder Missions.” Maliko jumped up off of the bed. “Disen would never kill anyone! You’re such a liar!” “Am I?” “Tell him, Disen! I know you’re better than that! I know it! Tell him you wouldn’t!” “No, Miko… It’s true…” Disen whispered. “….Disen…” Maliko shook her head in scared disbelief and sat down slowly. “I knew you were a traitor!!!” Nivea cried. “Yeah, so…like I was saying, You are not here to invite her, you idiot. You have failed too many missions and wasted too many training days preoccupied with this girl. So I’m here to fix that. Your next mission… Kill Maliko!” “WHAT?! I WONT DO THAT!” “Do it! You have no choice. You’re bound to me by blood.” He pulled out the contract. See? Number 2. You must kill who I tell you to without question. Or else…” Disen stared at Shadow in horror. “Please…” “Don’t beg me. Just do what you are told, slave.” Disen looked into Maliko’s eyes sadly as he pulled out his sword and walked towards her. Maliko, scared and wide eyed jumped up and backed up against the wall. “Disen…P-please… Don’t do this…” She pleaded for her life and when he got close enough, shielded her head with her hands. “Goodbye…Maliko Wolfen…” he spoke softly and he lifted his weapon and held it high over Maliko. Maliko screamed and shut her eyes tight. ‘Drip…Drip…” was all that could be heard in the room seconds later. Maliko smelled blood but wasn’t hurt. She opened her eyes and cried out at what she saw. Disen had taken his sword, and instead of following his orders to kill Maliko, stabbed himself in the chest until the blade shot out from the other side. He lay on the floor in a pool of blood, eyes barely open. “Disen!!!!” Maliko jumped up and softly lifted Disen’s body from the floor, holding it close and pulled the bloody sword out, throwing it to the ground. Disen’s eyes opened slowly, and he blushed softly to see Maliko holding him. “Miko. I’m sorry…” he whispered, taking all of his energy. “Don’t say that… You’ll be fine!” “I sorry for what I said… and I are sorry that… I never told you…” “Told me what?” “How grateful I am to have you as a friend. I think it’s almost my time, so I just wanted to tell you that before I go.” “Shut up! You’re not gonna die! You’re not!!!” “Maliko… Please…Come closer…” “Huh?” she placed her head right near his face and Disen leaned up all he could manage and kissed her cheek. “I’ll always be watching you…” he coughed and spit up blood, then smiled. “Disen… Please… Tell me what’s going on. Why did you leave?” Through hazy eyes, Disen coughed again and spoke as slowly as he could, so that he didn’t throw up again. “…I signed a contract with Shadow so you would come back to life… and it bound me to him forever.” “Which is why you said… you couldn’t stay…” “…I’m sorry for threatening you.” “Don’t worry about that! I don’t care about that! “He said that…” He clutched his stomach suddenly and began to throw up even more blood. Maliko held him and he soon calmed down, finishing quickly. “…and I would still be bound if he died, but he never said…what would happen if I died.” He smirked slightly. Knowing in her heart that Disen was really going to die, she looked to Nivea with a desperate need for comforting words, but Nivea stood silent, wiping tears from her eyes. “Maliko… it’s almost my time.” “Disen…” Maliko couldn’t contain her tears. “Miko… Don’t cry for me. What do you think…this is? Pokemon the First Movie? That won’t help either of us, so don’t.” He wiped the tears from her eyes, even if they kept coming. “Always remember, I lov-” he stopped suddenly, his weak heartbeat stopping short as Shadow taken his sword and stabbed Disen through the head, splashing his blood all over Maliko. “Too much conversation for me.” He said calmly. “If you’re gonna die, just die already.” Maliko, enraged beyond words at what she had just seen, stood paralyzed by shock for a split second, then cried out in rage and lunged at Shadow in an attempt to take his life, when he quickly disappeared into the shadows. Maliko, in angry tears, ran back to Disen and picked him up, calling his name desperately. “Disen…” she shook him softly, tears running down her eyes. “Disen…Please… Don’t go…” She cried harder, clutching her burning heart in pain and burying her head in his chest. “Disen…Please…Wake up…” Nivea walked up to her and touched her shoulder sadly. “Miko… It’s no use… He’s gone…” “No! It’s not true! He can‘t be!” Aurora walked up to Maliko and licked her cheek to calm her down. She remembered how Disen had saved her life in the snow with the collar he made and whimpered sadly. Seeing everyone so sad, Maliko couldn’t deny it anymore, but held his corpse tighter, as if believing her touch could bring him back. “….” the room was silent as tears ran from everyone’s eyes. A voice was heard in Maliko‘s head, Shadow‘s voice. “Heh heh… You think this was bad? This is merely the calm before the storm.” “……” Everyone walked out as Maliko picked Disen’s body up and held him close, kissing his pale cheek. “Disen…Watch over me…” she walked out and shut the door behind her.

Chapter 11- A Time without Purpose

The days following were long and hard for Maliko and her friends. At Disen’s funeral, Maliko and Nivea spoke and he was buried with a letter that Maliko hoped he would find and read in heaven, signed by all his friends.

?

He was buried on top of Crescent Mountain where he and Maliko talked about their pasts for the first time, grave covered in red, white and black roses. The headstone was engraved with a short poem that Maliko wrote him. It was called Twilight. It read,

The Shadowy Night can take more than a life
It can take a soul, as well
But a person that can face dark and turn it to light
Is braver than words can tell.

Maliko took Disen’s death harder than anyone. After the funeral, she was often found sitting by Disen’s grave, singing a song that he had always liked, a song that she remembered from somewhere… hoping he could hear it, wherever he was. For a reason Maliko could never understand, he always hated the song but was always more than willing to hear Maliko sing it as he hummed along like he had loved the song all his life. It was a haunting but beautiful melody that contained only the most poetic but cryptic lyrics. Her friends could never comfort her because when she was singing, nothing they could do or say would distract her from her song. It was like she didn’t even hear them. She would even sleep there sometimes, using a rock as a pillow and staring at the pale glowing moon and the billions of twinkling stars in the sky, looking over the ocean where the water hitting up against the rigid mountain wall made a comforting sound. Aurora was just as sad as she was and barely left the house, only to eat and drink, or to whimper and howl on the roof of Maliko’s house. Orichal always offered her a bone or her favorite chew toy to cheer her up, but she just whimpered sadly and curled up in the corner, head buried in her tail. The days weren’t the same in DarkSoul. Nivea cried silently often, regretting what she said about Disen and Kensuke didn’t have a rival to train with anymore. Maliko even stopped speaking to Ski, who was lonely and bored now that he wasn’t arguing or fighting for his life. He had thoughts of leaving, but quickly dismissed them, knowing deep down that he didn’t want to leave but didn’t have any idea why. He didn’t like Maliko, he didn’t like Nivea… His only friend Disen was dead. Why couldn’t he go? What exactly bound him to this place?




Chapter 12- Stuffed Love (Luki's Story)

Thinking about this, he didn’t really pay attention to where he was walking and bumped into someone. He looked up, surprised. “Oh, sorry…” He jumped back as he stared down a weird guy dressed in a navy blue T-shirt and a black hooded jacket. He had spiky hair that blocked his eyes until he brushed his hair to the side to show that his eyes were a very dark violet, one step away from black. “No problem, Ski. I was looking for you.” “Huh? You were? Why?” “I have something to tell you. Look in the top drawer of Maliko’s dresser in her bedroom for the answer you seek. Bye!” He disappeared in a flash of light before Ski could ask how the man knew his name. Ski stared stunned and wide eyed for a second, then decided to do what the man said and walked over to Maliko’s house. He had to get her out of the room. She would never let him in, so he had to sneak in. He rang the door bell and was not at all surprised to hear Seto Kaiba cry “White Lightning Attack!!!”. As soon as Maliko walked out of the room to answer the door, he flew up to her window. He spotted her dresser and yanked it open. All he saw was a blue piece of string. He reached in to pick it up and noticed it was stuck. He pulled it and out of nowhere shot a huge kunai. Ski screamed and ducked, missing his eye by less that an inch, but slicing the side of his face and stabbing Luki in the head. He fell off of the bed and flopped onto the floor as Ski screamed in pain. Maliko burst through the door at the sound of the screaming to see Ski on the floor gripping his now very bloody head. “What are you doing here?!!” “Owwwww!!! I was sent here, if you must know!” “By who?!” “I don’t know! He left before I could ask his name!” “Likely story, Jetstream!” “Its true!” “I’ll bet…” She turned her head and noticed Luki on the ground impaled with the kunai. “O_O” “What?” She ran to Luki and pulled the kunai out of his head gently, holding the hole to prevent further blood loss. “Luki? Lukiii!!! Are you alright!? Wake up!!!” She shook him violently, but all she heard was a mere “……“. Teary eyed, Maliko turned to Ski with pure rage and dark intent in her eyes. Ski stared at her, confused. “What’s wrong, Wolfen?” “What did you do to Luki!?” “What? The stuffed animal?” “Shuddup! I’ll kill you!!!!” “Just as she was about to attack Ski, she turned to Luki. “Huh!?” she gasped. (*Groan* …God… That hurt… I would like to be shot, please) came a soft voice that only Maliko heard. “He’s still alive! But I have to hurry.” She picked Luki up gently and held him tightly to her. “Hold on, Luki… You’ll be fine.” She ran and jumped out of the window, landing quickly and took off as fast as she could to the hospital. Ski sat stunned for a second, then climbed out of the window as flew there slowly, heading to the hospital to get his injury treated as well. When he got there, he was surprised to see Maliko crying harder than he had ever seen her and Nivea sitting there trying to comfort her with no success. As Ski walked up to them, Nivea looked up. “Oh, hey…” “Hi…What’s going on? Where is everyone?” “All the doctors and nurses are working in the emergency room on Luki’s very delicate brain surgery.” “B-brain surgery?!” “Yeah… You DID impale his skull with a kunai!” “He is a stuffed animal!!! He can’t feel pain! He doesn’t have a skull! Or a brain! And considering he is not ALIVE, no amount of brain surgery will EVER heal him!!!” Maliko looked up at him in horror at the thought of Luki dying and Ski was shocked to see how much she had been crying. She couldn’t… really believe he was really going to die, could she? Who could be that irrational? Before he could stop her, Maliko ran out of the hospital crying. “What’s her problem? She isn’t serious, is she?” “We don’t know anymore ^_^;. We just do it to humor her.” “Hmmm…” He stood up and walked out of the room. Looking at the night sky, he bumped into something and fell back. “Huh?” he looked up and saw the same weird man as before. “Hey.” the man said uncaringly. “Don’t “hey” me! Why did you tell me to check her top drawer!? I almost got killed!!!” “I know… I was watching. I just wanted to see if you were stupid enough to do something so dangerous as invade Maliko’s room based on nothing but a stranger’s advice.” “What?! So I almost died for nothing?” “No…I’m kidding… There was a reason. I knew this was going to happen, so I came to explain something to you. First off, Luki is alive, you know.” “O_O What?! He’s a stuffed animal! He is NOT alive! What doesn’t anyone understand about that?!” “Listen to me, stupid. Maliko had a puppy a long time ago, as a child… and his name was Luki. They were much closer than best friends. They were virtually inseparable. You couldn’t find a better fighting team, even for a couple of kids. They did and learned everything together, which is why Maliko’s fighting techniques seem so primal sometimes. But when Maliko was about 10 years old, there was a violent war between her and a couple of demon hunters and Luki died in the middle before Maliko could save him. After that, Maliko was completely heartbroken. For months, you could never find her no matter how hard you looked, because she always went to her and Luki‘s secret spot to think and cry. She wouldn’t eat or sleep and everything had to be force fed to her to keep her from dying. Eventually, Maliko calmed down and got a good idea. She made a small stuffed animal version of Luki and put his soul inside of it, vowing to protecting it forever. So you can see why she is so upset.” “Hmmm…I see… How do you know all this?” “Heh, heh.” He turned and melted into the shadows. “….” After a lot of searching, he finally found Maliko sitting by Disen’s grave again, crying softly. He flew over and touched Maliko’s shoulder. Maliko, startled, cried out and looked up. “What do you want?!” “I’m sorry.” “O_O What?” “I spoke in ignorance even when I didn’t understand your pain and to make up for it, I have something for you.” “What is it?” He handed her a blue and red ribbon. “What’s this for?” “It’s a special ribbon that I made for Luki. It’s much better than pain medication because wearing it makes all of your nerve endings numb and all the pain goes again and not just some of it. I thought… you might want to give it to him.” Maliko hesitated in taking it from Ski and stared into his sincerely sorry eyes. Her tear filled eyes saw how sorry he was, but she herself didn’t understand. Why did he care? She slowly stood up and took the ribbon, looking down at her feet. “…Thanks…” “You’d better go give it to him. I heard the surgery is supposed to start in a second.” “!!!!” She took one last look before she took off towards the hospital. Maliko made it just in time to give it to Luki and sat outside patiently, but nervously. Ski walked in and looked at Maliko. “Well? What happened?” Maliko took a second before responding, then looked up. “Luki said to tell you he said “Thank you.” Ski smiled. “No problem. Now stop being such a sissy and come satisfy my combat cravings in, lets say, the arena?” “You’re on, Jetstream!” “Bring it on, Wolfen!!!” They ran out of the hospital as Nivea and Kensuke glared at each other just as intensely. “You ready to lose?” Kensuke smirked. “Why would I be ready for that? I never do. But its never too late to get richer, though.” She ran out before he could respond and he jumped up and ran after her. After a night of intense battle, bloodied and battered Maliko stumbled out of the arena clutching her arm and leaving a trail of blood behind her and she tried to make it to the hospital door and just as she did, collapsed in front of it. Ski, who was doing no better, laughed softly and painfully as he flapped his shredded wing, gliding over Maliko by a couple of feet then fainting right in front of her. Kalila walked out of the emergency room, wiping her sweat and spoke to herself. “Glad that’s over. He is the last patient of the night, so I can finally get some rest…” she stumbled happily into the lobby where she saw Maliko and Ski laying in a huge puddle of blood and groaned loudly. “Noooo!!! Not again!!! I wanna go HOME!!!”



Chapter 13- The New Amity

The next morning, Maliko awoke with bandages from head to toe. Even her tail was wrapped up. She looked over to the left and noticed that Ski was sleeping right next to her. She jumped up in disgust and horror. “Ewww!!! What the heck!?” At the sound of Maliko screaming, Ski opened his eyes slowly and tried to sit up, but the pain was too unbearable and he laid back down as fast as he could. Maliko saw this as a quick opportunity to get the first hit, but as soon as she got ready to attack him, her eyes flashed purple again and Maliko stepped back, breathing heavily. She gripped her head and there was a flash and Ski shut his eyes. When he opened them again, he saw a person that looked like Maliko, but… wilder hair, darker purple eyes and… it was a guy, anyway. The man walked over to Ski and stared at him with dead eyes. “W-who are you?“ “I’m Maliko. What does it look like?“ The intensity and darkness in the man’s voice frightened Ski, but he didn’t let him know that. It was too risky to show fear to a potentially powerful enemy. “Don’t you lie to me! You look nothing like her… Wait…Okay, you look a LITTLE like her, but I know it’s not her.” “Heh heh… Maybe you’re not as stupid as you look. That’s a relief.” “What do you want?” “My name is Krypt. That’s all you need to know.” “K-krypt? He walked right up to Ski and held a weird shaped sword to Ski’s neck. He whispered in Ski‘s ear in a voice that made a cold shiver run down Ski‘s back. “Now, Pick one. Quick and painful or slow and even more painful.” “What?!” “How do you want to die?” “You’re gonna kill me like this?” “Actually, I really wanted to splatter your brains all over the walls with this Bob-omb, but then how am I supposed to use it then?” “Use…my body? What are you talking about?” “…God, your taking too long! You’re going the long way now!” “Screw you! I’m not gonna let you kill me!” “You don’t have a choice in the matter.” Krypt’s eyes started to glow and Ski was slowly lifted out of the bed, levitating in mid-air. “Hey… This is kinda cool…” Ski laughed. “It wont be.” “Huh- Whoa!!!” Ski flew at sonic speed into the back wall and slammed against it very painfully, sticking to it with his arms spread out. “Owwwww!!!!!” Krypt lifted the sword and took Ski’s arm, holding it tightly and forcing Ski’s hand into a fist. “Ready to die?” “Let me go, you stupid punk! Fight me like a real man.” “Unfortunately for you, I am not foolish and weak willed like Maliko. I am sparing you the pain of fighting me and taking your life less painfully.” Krypt positioned the sword and expertly slit Ski’s wrist in the shape of a weird symbol that looked like a star with a K going through it, but at that moment, Ski didn’t care what it looked like. All he knew was that it hurt and it hurt bad. After Krypt squeezed his arm a couple of times to really get the bleeding started, he looked at Ski. He then took a tiny bottle out of his pocket and dripped 2 small drops of purple liquid into the cut. “ This will help you…sleep… And as soon as you are asleep, the process can begin…I’ll be back for you in a couple of days. Try to be good and dead by then, ’Kay?” He disappeared in a flash, leaving Ski still stuck to the wall, bleeding heavily and trying to stay awake the best he could. But, with every drip drop that echoed throughout the empty room, the closer Ski stood to death, and Krypt taking over.
About an hour later, Kalila returned to her position as nurse back at the Wounded Spirit hospital. She unlocked the door and laughed into the darkness. “Maliko was still be asleep. Hahaha… Its amazing the type of trouble that girl can sleep through. I swear, one day, her and Ski are in for the worst…fighting like that.” She flicked on the lights and screamed in horror. She jumped back as she stared upon Ski’s pale body hovering above a puddle of blood. But something was wrong. He wasn’t just pale…He was deathly white… She ran to him and tried to pull him off of the wall, but with no success. So, she then tried to wake him up. “Ski? Ski! Please, tell me you’re alive!” Ski’s strained breathing was all that could be heard then. Dark Magic was the most reliable choice of what was going on, but…“Maliko… What did you do to him?” She whispered to herself, wrapping Ski’s wrist and running off to find help. Kalila found Nivea lounging by the pool under an umbrella. “Yaaaaaaaaawn… What’s up, Kalila?” “It’s very important! Please, something terrible has happened to Ski and he is dying!” “Yay!” “No yay! If Ski dies, you wont make money…” “So? I’m filthy rich already!” “ …and you’ll never have enough for Link’s Anniversary Gift! Remember? You said it was your super special otaku triforce shield of ultimate love? It was called…um…The Incredibly Lovely Otaku Version Effective Liberal Instant Numbing Kangaroo. Codename: I.L..O.V.E.L.I.N.K. That blasted metal Kangaskhan that you wake everyone up at night building? The one that is invincible, indestructible and a mix of all Link’s weapon’s put together so that he didn’t have to wear anymore thick clothes because he didn’t have to hold all his weapons all the time and you could make him wear that tight black stripper outfit you got him all the time? That one?” “*Gasp* I’m still $300, 532, 879, 042, 414. 38 short!!! This is serious!!!” They ran to Maliko’s house to see a note on her bed. “Looking for me? I’m at the grave house. Later! “……“ Nivea read the note and stood silent. “’Kay. Lets go!” Kalila chimed and Nivea looked up quickly and nodded. Making their way to the grave house on the base of the mountain, Nivea and Kalila saw Maliko walking out of the grave house, wiping tears from her eyes, gripping Luki as tight as she could. “I’m sorry, Marin… Please forgive me…” She said to herself, so low that no one could hear. “Maliko!” Kalila cried out and Maliko jumped and nearly dropped Luki. “Are you psycho?! Don’t DO that!” (She’s out of her mind. I almost split my stitching! Hey, you dumb broad! Indoor voices!!!) “You tell her, Luki!” “Miko, do you mind not talking to yourself for a second and listen, please?” “I’m NOT! I’m talking to Luki!” “Sure… Now, Listen! Something terrible has happened to Ski and he’s dying. You have to come now!” “No one hurts Spy-gear Jetplane but me! I’m on it!” Kalila stood dazed at the sight of her calling Aurora and flying off, and Nivea shook her. “What’s up?” “Nothing… Lets go…”
At the hospital:
“Who the heck did this to you???” Maliko tried to patch Ski’s wound with a thick cloth, but nothing stopped it. “Darn it!” Maliko cried just as Kalila and Nivea came in. “What took you so long? Heal him!” “No.” “No?! What do you mean No?” “If I heal him, that will encourage your senseless violence!” “What are you talking about?” “You cant just go around using Dark Magic and cutting people up and expecting I will just heal them every time you do it! I just wont do it!” “Cu-cutting people up?! I didn’t cut Ski!” “Sure you didn’t…” “Kalila? I don’t CUT people. I bite! Cutting and scratching it for stupid felines!” (Like Ski!) “You tell her, Luki!” “I don’t believe you!” “I don’t CARE if you don’t believe me! Heal him NOW! Or do you want to spend another week in Fear’s Nightmare!” “……Fine…” She walked up to Ski and chanted a weird spell, which closed the wounds. But Ski was still pale and Kalila proceeded to pump blood into him forcefully. But something was still wrong. No matter how much blood he received, his skin still stayed the same deathly pale… Why didn’t it help him? Kalila didn’t understand at all. Maliko walked up to him slowly and laughed, much to everyone’s surprise. She didn’t laugh her usual hysterical “Hahaha, You fell down the stairs“ laugh. She laughed a dark and heart freezing “Hahaha. I just killed your family, your friends, your lover and your newborn son and put them in a blender and now you have to eat them“ laugh. “Miko?” Nivea backed away from her, a little scared. “Miko… Please stop… W-what’s so funny?” “Oh, my dear Nivea? Don’t you understand? The time of demise of the Valley of Light has come.” “What?” “Lets just say… You’ll be the first to die when my vessel is complete.” “What? I’ll be the first to die? Miko~! Why would you kill me?!” “You are the single biggest threat to my plans next to Jetstream here.” “Miko?” “Don’t you see, you idiot? I am NOT your little Miko anymore.” “Then who are you?” Kalila stepped forward. “Soon enough, you will see… Ah ha! The vessel is hollowed out and complete.” “H-hollowed out? You mean…” “Yes. The soul has resided in the pit of Shadows for all eternity. His body is mine now!”

Chapter 14- Newfound Friendship

Ski blinked and looked up at Maliko, who was staring at him sadly. Everyone else looked pretty sad, too.
"What’s up, guys? Why so sad?"
"......."
"Huh? What’s wrong with you all?"
Maliko turned and walked out the door, followed by Nivea. After Kalila stopped and explained everything that had happened, Ski blushed softly.
"You mean, they're actually sad... for me?"
"Uh huh..."
"Why? I thought they didnt like me."
"You should talk to Maliko. I told you before, she really isn’t as bad as everyone thinks."
"Maliko, huh?"
Ski got out of bed and spread his wings, pushing himself up into the air and gliding around DarkSoul until he spotted Maliko on top of Crescent Mountain. He flew down and landed next to her.
"Yo."
"!!!!!! What the heck are YOU doing here"
"Were you crying...for me?"
"Ewww. H*ll no!"
"Oh."
"Why? What is if say I was?"
"Then I would say... Thank you."
Maliko stared at him for a second then turned her head. Ski slightly put his hand on her shoulder.
"Are you saying that you wont miss me at all?"
"Yeah, That’s what I mean."
"Well... I'll still miss you."
"Why???"
"Aren’t we friends?"
"We are?"
"I always thought so."
"W-why?"
"Because...Um...I don’t know. I just kinda figured."
"Oh. Well...Um..."
"...Fine. I guess we can be friends then."
"....Maybe..."
"Maybe? Well, That’s good enough for me."
He laid down on his back, resting his head on Maliko's leg and looked up at her.
"Isn't it nice?"
"ISNT what nice?"
"To have a chance to talk without having to fight."
"Yeah. It is cool."
"So...That grave you always go to...The one you sneak off to at night... Whose is it?"
O_o "You SEE me?!"
"Yeah."
"...Well, It belongs to a very dear friend."
"Care to tell the tale, oh great storyteller amongst the Gods?"
"...If you want to hear about it, read Orichalcos Girl- Volume X."
"...I never got that script. You told everyone that it was a secret and they couldn’t have it, remember?"
"Oh, yeah. Well, Um... I'll explain. His name was Marin. When my mother and father died the day I was born, he found me and protected me. He died protecting me from some demon hunters on my 10th birthday. Here... I will help you. We will go into a flashback."
"NoooOOOOoooo!!!"
"Shuddup! Its already started!!!"
*Sigh* "Fiiiiine..."

This is my 10th birthday when Marin told me to run so I wouldn’t get caught by demon hunters, but told me that we were playing Hide and Seek so he didnt scare me. After a while of interrogation to Marin, I came out of hiding with Luki to see why he took so long to find me...And stepped right into their trap...

“Aren’t you even gonna look? You’re the worse hide and seek player ever! How hard is it to see me hiding behind Luki‘s litter box? Man, that stinks…” “Bark!!!” “You tell him, Luki!” “Maliko! Run!!!” “???” “There she is!” The man turned to see Maliko, and fired a shot at her, but it didn’t hurt her. She just stood there, baffled. “Are they playing, too?” “Did you see that? She IS a demon!” They pulled out the Holy Arrows and aimed. Just as they fired, Marin jumped out from behind the men and blocked her, taking 4 arrows to the chest. "Ma...liko...Run..." He fell to the floor with a crack as he took his last breath and Maliko saw just why he had told her to run. She ran, alright… Right up to those demon hunters and tackled them both. Luki bit one of them in the ankle and Maliko scratched his eyes out with her claws. When they were both immobile, they ran outside and bumped into a girl. Maliko fell back and saw that the girl had a tail, too. Maliko figured that the demon hunters were long past dead and was about to say hello when one of the demon hunter came running out of the house with a big gold-colored gun, the kind that fired Holy Shots, that were made for demon hunting. Maliko screamed and ran and the girl ran, too. Luki was running as fast as he could, but tripped and fell. Maliko ran back for him, but the man fired about 6 shots to his back and head and Luki was dead. Eyes blinded with tears, Maliko stopped running. Her angry eyes glowed and out of the thunder erupting ski came rain, lots and lots of pouring rain too heavy for the man to fire straight and from the single rain cloud that hovered over the man, a huge spiraling thunderbolt that hit the man right at the top of the head, electrocuting him and killing him, too."

"Turns out that the girl was Nivea... I didnt know back then how much we were hated, but after seeing that... Lets just say that it's how DarkSoul came to be..."
"......."
Ski wiped the tears from his eyes and Maliko looked down at him.
"Are...you crying for me?"
".....I'm sorry...Its just...I didnt know you had it so hard... I mean, I had problems, too, with my siblings and all, but Geez..."
"Um...Don’t worry about me. Marin is happy in the afterlife, The Angels will pay for hurting my family... And look on the bright side. I still have Luki!
(Yeah, B*tch. And I'm all she will ever need! Don’t make me Judo Flip you.)
"You tell him, Luki!"
(^_^ Hehehehe)
"Hahahahaha!!!"
"What’s so funny?"
"Nothing, Spy Gear...Nothing..."
"I told you NOT to call me Spy Gear!!! I hate that commercial!!!"
"Yeah. Me, too."
"Hey, what's up with that Krypt guy anyway?"
"Well, after my parents and Marin die-"
(And me!!!)
"And Luki died, I was depressed and lonely. I joined up with Nivea after a while and I lived with her and her parents. After a long time, they were also killed by the Demon Hunters. We both were lost and wished for a place where we can go and know that we are safe, until we were old enough and strong enough to come back and get revenge on the Angels. With that, I went on a journey to find somewhere that we can go and I met Krypt, a wandering spirit. He told me that if I let him live in my body until he found his own vessel, he could give us a place where we could be safe. And that led to the creation of DarkSoul. "
"So...You...created DarkSoul?"
"Well, actually...It was an empty dimension. Me and all my friends created it together as a home for orphaned or abandoned demons."
"....Wow...By the way...Who names a dog Luki anyway?"
"Actually, his name is Laurenkaithrop. (Lauren-Kai-Throp) But I call him Luki for short."
(Yeah.)
"O_O; That’s a long name. Hey, Luki... Do you mind if we are friends, too?"
(That’s fine with me...You're cool, I guess. Just keep your feline paws off on my Miko and I wont have to bite your balls off! Okay, buddy?!)
"He says Sure." She covered Luki's mouth.
"Cool."
The sun began to set in the sky. Maliko, Ski and Luki looked on in sadness.
"So... Today will be the last day I will see this, huh?"
"...Yeah, I guess so. This day needs a little light."
Maliko held out an orb that shot out fire whenever she pressed it.
"What an awesome toy!!!"
"My friend Blaze gave it to me a long time ago."
"Can I have it?"
"Um...Sure, I guess."
"Yay!"
He put it in his pocket.
"....Maliko."
"Yeah?"
"Thanks."
"For what?"
"I don’t know. Being my friend, Letting me stay here in DarkSoul all these years even if I wasn’t a demon..., And most of all... Being my rival. All that hard fighting has taught me, protecting yourself is the first key to winning. And so I learned something that has come in handy for a time like this."
"What?"
He began to glow a weird blue and took Maliko's hand and held it tightly.
"Whoa...What are you doing?!"
"Crescent Soul Substitute!!!"
"Huh???"
A small ball of light appeared in his hand. It was burning hot for a second, but when it cooled down, It was the most beautiful crystal orb Maliko had ever seen. It had patches of black all over it.
"W-what is that?"
"It's my soul."
"WHAT?!"
"I'm going to put it somewhere safe. I was planning on telling you to hide it, but then Krypt would know."
"Yeah. Wait, No! He's not here!"
"What?"
"He went down to the pit of Lost Souls to straighten everything out for your arrival."
"How...nice of him."
"Hehehe. I will put it in th~ WAIT!!! If this is your soul, what is keeping you here?"
"Oh. I am using a substitute soul. This can last for months."
"Okay. So like I was saying before I was interrupted by logic *Twitch* ...I will put it in the best hiding spot ever."
She jumped up and ran off. Ski stayed behind and stared at the sky, sparkling with stars.
"...Real friends..."
He smiled and fell asleep right in that spot.