Shadow's New Beginning

It had happened all so suddenly for him. One moment Shadow was minding his own business; then the next he was being dragged out of his castle and into Gaialla's and Novara's sanctuary for some reason. The bag was pulled off of his head causing him to squint from the sudden and drastic change of lighting. He was wearing nothing but prisoner pants and was chained by the hands as requested by the two from the start,
"Shadow! You kneel before us in this session of divine punishment." Novara spoke with a stern voice unusual for him.
"What... What have I d-done?" Shadow asked trembling. Gaialla stared at him with eyes as cold as the vacuum of space.
"You have betrayed us Shadow. You have abused your title, taken advantage of people, and committed slaughter without a second thought. You've overstepped your boundaries." Gaialla proclaimed. Shadow became distraught and tried to explain himself,
"No! It's all a misunderstanding! I would never do such things! Please-!"
"SILENCE!" Everyone inside the sanctuary looked at Novara shocked,
"I've heard enough of your pathetic begging Shadow! I've been far too merciful to you and today we change that!" Nobody had seen this state of Novara before and terrified Shadow to the very end.
"Please! Don't do this! He's innocent! I swear!" Shadow looked over to see Hotep being held back by some of Gaialla's and Novara's guards crying. He looked around him and noticed the whole court filled with Deities; even the Elite Deities were here to see the punishment.
"I will show you the evidence...." Gaialla summoned a crystal view to show Shadow killing people who attempted to give a sacrifice to him to prolong their end as his demon form. It was undeniable that Shadow had done these things,
"Now; does the criminal here have any more pathetic excuses before we begin his punishment?" Gaialla asked. Shadow shook his head finding it pointless to argue any further by two of the most powerful Deities who thought he was clearly guilty. He hung his low and tears began streaming uncontrollably from his eyes.
"Thank you. Let us begin." Gaialla raised a hand forming a ball of energy in it and pointed it at Shadow. Novara did the same and the two began chanting something incomprehensible by everyone there.

Soon a pillar of light that engulfed Shadow. Inside it Shadow could be heard screaming as his flesh was seared right into pitch blackness. Shadow's family looked away as he was supposedly scorched alive. Though one of the Deities noticed he wasn't being burned; he was transforming. Hotep watched in horror as hair began growing from Shadow's body and covered his entire being. His legs then began painfully breaking themselves to form a new shape and his feet receded into his heel with his toes disappearing. His face morphed itself into that of a Faun's (think of Splat from Skylanders but more male-like), his fingers fused into just three, and a tail started to grow out of his tailbone. Finally the light dissipated and everyone saw what the two had done to him: They had turned him into a Lambara. He was covered in black fur and strange glowing whit marks. He had white hooves, ankles (the hair ended at the top of them), hands, and nose. His right eye had been fixed as if no damage had ever been done to it. He still had his long black ponytail. Everyone became shocked and the murmuring was numerous in states of horror and fascination.

Novara looked pleased with his work when Gaialla spoke,
"Stand up." She simply ordered Shadow to do. The Lambara didn't stand up still having his head hanging low.
"STAND. UP." She demanded this time in a voice that struck fear in even Aliearon. Shaking Shadow slowly stood up. He trembled uncontrollably,
"You Shadow are hereby relieved of your status as God of Oblivion and are to live out your miserable Lambara spirit life in the forests of Betolsa for all eternity. We don't want to see you even anywhere near any of the other Deities. Guards; get him out of our sight." Two men grabbed Shadow and escorted him out of the court.
"NO! SHADOW! PLEASE!" Hotep screamed being held back by the other Deities as Shadow only walked out hanging his head in shame. Daisuke pulled out his sword and looked at the two.
"You'll pay for what you did to my father!" He jumped at them only to blast back by one of Gaialla's energy balls.
"Nice one doofus." Fang said trying to hide her crying.
"For your own health Daisuke. Please don't try that again." Novara said as Daisuke was picked up by Ryuu.
"This meeting is now over. You may go back to your duties." Gaialla said before heading back into her private quarters with Novara leaving the Mazzezin family to cope with this loss.

On the outside Shadow could see a crowd in anger of Shadow's new Lambara appearance. The guards held them back to avoid any injuries to be inflicted upon Shadow. After a while they reached a portal without any further casualties. Through it Shadow finally looked up to see himself in a forest straight from a fantasy world.
"Here we are. Lamb boy." The first guard said as the two unchained him,
"Try not to cause too much trouble here. I know your new title: The disgraced hero." The second one said. With a click the chains were free from Shadow. He stood there dead silent his head still hanging low in shame.
"*Sigh* Enjoy your new life. Disgraced God." The first said before the two left Shadow to wallow in his misery.

Shadow looked up to see if no one was around and sighed himself.
"Everything... taken away from me..." He began walking through his new home.
"What am I to do now?" He looked around the forest,
"Hmm... What opportunities may this forest present to me? Will it show me a new way to live out my life the happiest as I could?" As soon as he said that he came across a strange shrine bathed in a strange glow. Oddly attracted to it Shadow began ascending the steps to the top of the hill. At the top he found a simple bow; but the bow itself was elegantly carved and doused in various markings that for some reason matched the symbols on his body. Carefully Shadow approached it and slowly touched the bow. He could feel its smooth wood and tough spider silk string that just begged of him to take it with him. Shadow picked it up off of its mantle and walked off with it.

When Shadow got to the bottom of the hill and observed it once more he decided to pull back on the string to see how strong the spider silk was. What had happened shocked Shadow, as he pulled back the markings on his body and body glowed brightly causing an arrow to form. Freaked out he let go leading the arrow to go into a nearby tree; he stumbled back and dropped the bow.
"What... what kind of bow is this? How come it reacts to my power like this?" Soon a large smile came across his face.
"That's it! I have found my new calling! I will become a hunter, hunt down the most dangerous beasts, and protect the... light..." His smile faded.
"But I don't want to protect the ones who cast me out as punishment. But I also don't want to join the ones that try and hurt others for their own power. Perhaps this bow is trying to tell me something else. I guess I'll just have to continue my life in this forest until I can figure out what this weapon is trying to tell me." Shadow said before taking off into the forest to practice his archery skills.

Forward to three months: Shadow had become a feared hunter known as the Weeping Lamb. He had slain beasts three times his size without even trying and evaded the locals with ease leading him to be considered a myth, a legend, and a rumor. They say he had donned a gray wooden lamb mask with white streaks of paint to represent tears, and that glowing crimson instead peeked out of the eyeholes instead of regular eyes. For Shadow however he was still waiting to see if the bow would lead him to his true calling. He had mastered transforming the bow into other various weapons like daggers and a large Kris blade. He had learned how to hunt and to track down any living thing.

Today he expected it to be no different as he hopped across branches in search of his next hunt. His hair was tied into the new usual ponytail that started halfway down his back (it had grown quite a bit bushier and thick since then). As he traveled his eyes immediately were set upon a strange man wearing a black trench coat with a hood over his head and a large backpack carrying a multitude of items and trinkets. Suspicious he hopped down and snuck behind him with his bow at the ready.
"So... I have finally found him." Shadow was confused to who he was talking about. The man turned around and showed mesh pattern bandana he was wearing and the strange goggles that had tons of lenses. On his hands were black fingerless wool gloves.
"Yes boy, I am talking about you!" He pointed a sickly gray finger at him.
"What do you want with me creep?" Shadow asked unnerved about this stranger in the forest all of a sudden.
"What do I want? Well I have an offer that could satisfy both of us..." Shadow lowered his bow still unsure about him,
"Continue..." He gestured for the man to speak.

"Thank you... My name is Mordecai; I am the traveling shopkeeper that will always get you hooked up with the best kinds of potions, gems, treasures, you name it! But recently I've been sent off to find another hunter to help us. You see we use to be in a business that revolved around taking souls to the Realm of Finality and making space for new souls to enter the universe. Unfortunately long ago the last of the hunters were killed and their souls locked away for all eternity by those wretched Deities known as Gaialla and Novara knowing that they were the only things that could bring death to them. When we heard of your antics I offered to go to this forest and find him for my friends. Your job is to take souls and bring them to the Realm of Finality." He wasn't sure what Shadow's feelings were right now due to the mask but it seemed he had him interested.
"And before you ask, yes, you can bring the ones that wronged you to justice. Not even they are free from the hands of death." Shadow's interest was now piqued.
"You mean Gaialla and Novara? Hmm..." Shadow thought about this,
"Here's the thing. You aren't just limited to the good spirits, oh no... you can also bring evil spirits to justice and rid the world of their horrendous nature. You show no discrimination, you are just an enforcer of death." Shadow had heard enough.
"I think this is the calling that was meant for me. I am not evil, but yet I am not good any longer. I stand for nothing; I'll take you up on this offer." Mordecai looked ecstatic from that response.
"Perfect! Come with me, I want to introduce you to a few of my friends that will help you along the way in this new career choice. I can assure you, you have made a smart decision. Follow me." He opened up a portal and led Shadow through.

Through the opening Shadow found himself in another forest surrounded by cherry trees aplenty, the greenest grass that Shadow had ever seen, and a beautiful mountain landscape in the background.
"You live here? This-" He was silenced by Mordecai as they arrived to a rather large hut,
"A lot of them say that. Just shut up and let me introduce you to Rizeal the Recorder. Rizeal!" The two heard rustling of papers and books from inside. A man clad in black robes came bumbling out covered in papers and ink.
"What is it you want Mordecai!? You better not be trying to sell me anything because I'm not interested!" He looked up at the Lambara who looked to be rather confused right now at what was going on.
"Who did you bring here today?" Rizeal looked at Shadow intently,
"How much is he paying you?" He asked,
"Enough pestering the new hunter here Rizeal!" He looked at Mordecai in disbelief,
"New hunter? So... you've come here to take the job?" Rizeal asked Shadow,
"Yes I have. So what do you do around here?" Shadow asked,
"*Ahem* my job is to record all the souls you obtain over the course of your career. I can find out any of their names with my special book known as the All-Knowing Tome here." He lifted up a book with an eye on the cover.
"And figure out who they are when you bring them to the Realm of Finality. Sounds simple enough?" Shadow nodded,
"Well... it seems you have something that the other hunters didn't; the ability to control the souls they captured." Rizeal looked at him in excitement,
"It means you can summon any souls you put a binding on to battle for you or order them around." Shadow snickered at the thought of it,
'Controlling Gaialla and Novara? Now that sounds like a treat...'
"Yes. Though they can only be Deity's souls so far. You can visit me at the library anytime to empower those souls or maintain control over them for longer out of the Realm of Finality. Now introduce this new hunter to our other friend while I sort out my mess." With that he closed the door and left the two to find the second person.

"Alright. That was Rizeal, and now here come to our second friend. I must warn you though... she can be quite... jumpy..." Mordecai swallowed nervously. The two had arrived to a cottage that overlooked
"How jumpy are we talking about here?" As Shadow said that the door burst open to reveal a gray faun/Lambara hybrid covered in black markings with white hair in curls and grayish horns.
"Goooood... morningeveryonehowarewedoinghere? Good? GreatI'vegotsomethingbigplannedtodayforallofyouluckylittleguystoday!" She was impossible to understand for Shadow. She was running all over the place talking to her flowers is seemed. Mordecai cleared his throat,
"Lissiana!" The girl stopped her gibbering to turn to see the shopkeeper waving to her,
"*Gasp*! Mordecai! Doyouhavethosetulipseedsreadyforme!? BecauseifsoI'vegotmypaymentrightoverthere-!" He cupped his hand over her mouth.
"That's not why I'm here. I would like you to meet someone. Oh Weeping Lamb! Don't be shy!" He called out for the Lambara. He was greeted with Shadow slowly peeking his head out trembling in utter fear.
"This is no way to- OW!" Mordecai ripped his hand from her mouth and gripped it. The girl had chewed straight through the glove and bitten his middle finger.
"How many times do I have to tell you that is not necessary!?" He yelled at her,
"How many times do I have to tell you that I hate it when you put your hand over my mouth!?" She had slowed down her speech enough for Shadow to understand her.

Lissiana turned to Shadow still poking his head out a bit and ran towards him.
"And who do we have here?" She dragged him out from behind the wall and saw him in all his Lambara glory,
"I, can't, believe, it. YouactuallyfoundoneofmyownMordecaiyourthebestshopkeeperever-!" She was calmed down by Shadow this time.
"He just isn't here to be your friend. He's the new hunter around here. So please try to keep your talking pace as understandable as possible." Mordecai explained,
"New hunter? Finally we can get something done around here! I am Lissiana the Faunara, the Morals Counselor around these parts." She bowed humbly before him,
"Moral... Counselor?" Shadow looked confused,
"*Sigh* I help with making sure that the hunters stay neutral and unbiased as possible. I can also help with empowering your light and dark magic to stay ahead of the game. You can visit me whenever you feel like you need some more bang for your buck or need some help staying on the path to neutrality." She explained,
"Thank you, now what's a Faunara?" Shadow asked,
"It's a hybrid between a Faun and a Lambara. Simple as that. Now if you have any more questions I need to get back to my flowers." Lissiana said,
"Nope. I hope to get to know you more often some other time." Shadow said waving goodbye to her.
"Good. Now allow me to show you to your new home." Mordecai led the way once more. When they were out of Lissiana's earshot he whispered into Shadow's ear,
"Just between you and me; I'm pretty sure that girl drinks several coffees a day." Shadow only rolled his eyes in response.

After little bit more walking the two had reached a pond with a nice looking cottage overlooking it.
"Here we are! Your new home! I leave you to yourself to get comfortable. When you feel like you've gotten use to your new surroundings I'll take you down to the village for a celebratory dinner." Mordecai said,
"But that Faunara said-" Shadow was about to correct him,
"It's the evening. Lissiana doesn't have a very good sense of time..." He said before turning around to leave.
"One more thing!" He turned back to the new hunter,
"My real name is Shadronix. But most of my friends and family just call me Shadow. Be sure to tell the other two this." Mordecai simply nodded obligingly before turning around and leaving. Shadow took off his mask and smiled.
"So... this is my new life? I could get used to it." He opened the door to his new cottage.
"It's good to know that someone out there is always willing to support you." He said to himself before finally going inside.