Fenrir: Dawn Rising (Part 1)

Noticing the wave, surprised and a little worried by how many other people seemed to be there, Ris smiled and waved back at the squirrel girl. After all, she seemed cute and it was only polite. His ear twitched in further surprise, however, when he heard Jackal's voice, quickly turning his head to see him.

His smile, whether expected or not, grew. "Jackal! Heh, I guess I really can always count on you, can't I?"

"Vampire, you say?" Zenith asked, having somehow materialized behind Melissa. He stepped out into view. "Fenrir...I don't recognise that name."

Melissa glanced at the black fox, then looked back at Gramps. "Seeing as you said 'fight him', I'm guessing Fenrir's a bad guy, huh?"

"Well, yes. That's what you do with bad vampires. You fight them." Grandpa said. "It's the only logical conclusion! Running from them in terror just doesn't cut it these days!"

Aetsia looked back to Jackal, then at Ris and Leo. Any friend of Jackal's was a friend of Aetsia's!

"Hey, I don't know you, but you seem pretty cool!" Leo told Jackal. "Any friend of Ris is a friend of mine!"

Even if Fenrir was being serious, Terra couldn't help but laugh to herself. "Yes, Fenrir. That's exactly what I'm saying."

The tigress strut over to his throne and sat on his lap. "I forgot how cute you are sometimes. I guess I missed that the most."

Jackal chuckled, closing his eyes and shrugging, smugly, "Well, you know me, Ris. Can't get enough of the action."


"I don't care who this 'Fenrir' is. I only came to find my father!" Alice shouted to the group, while she observed the castle.


Fenrir seemed a little more relaxed when Terra sat on his lap. "I gave you life eternal... and yet you choose not to love me. Did I do something to deserve such a fate, or is this a choice I will not understand?"

Leo giggled. "Heh. Can't get enough of the action."

Grandpa covered Aetsia's ears. "I won't have any of them inn-your-end-ohs!" he said. Aetsia took a few steps away from Grandpa, giggling silently.

Looking back to Leo, Ris nodded. "Oh, right. Leo, this is Jackal. Jackal, Leo." Of course, he made the appropriate gestures as he spoke, indicating who he was referring to with a simple flick of his tail. "So Jackal...care to introduce me to your girlfriend there?"

"Wow, someone's touchy." Melissa commented at Alice's sudden outburst. She looked back at Grandpa, and at the clearly innocent Aetsia. "Well, we'll give you a hand! Been a while since we've had to blow any brains out, right Zenith?"

Zenith gave a slightly disapproving sigh. "If that's how you want to put it."

"I'm Melissa Valhalla, by the way."

"Zenith Goria."

"I suppose you don't understand what sarcasm is still, babe," Terra said to him while resting her head on his shoulder, and her muzzle just underneath his chin.

"It means that I will always love you, until the end of my life. I just needed something to remind me of why. After all, that was my first time dieing," the tigress said in a pleasant mood while cutely cuddling into her love.

Fenrir looked surprised for a moment, before he chuckled, "Oh... in the words of the mortals these days, 'you had me worried for a sec, there... babe'" He said, smiling as he put his arms around her.


Jackal waved at Leo, smiling and wagging his tail. When Ris asked his question, Jackal began to blush and double take, "W-wait, g-girlfriend!? W-were not... I mean... not yet... but... she... her name's Aetsia!"

Aetsia laughed silently again, then nodded when Jackal told the others her name. Grandpa yelped. "You and him, dating?! Over my dead bo---- no, wait, you're not my daughter, just my granddaughter. Not much I can do there!"

Leo rolled her eyes, then whispered to Ris, "This guy's gotta be off his rocker... and his meds..."

Terra let out a 'murr' as Fenrir's arms tightened around her body, once again warming her iced heart.


"Ugh... Where did he go now?" Luna said, stopping near a lake and looking around.

Ris smirked, both at Jackal's response and at Leo's remark in reference to the older squirrel. "Yeah, definitely." he whispered back. "And Jackal's gotta be into her--He got way too embarrassed."

Zenith turned away from the group and looked up at the castle once more, then specifically at the entrance. "Shall we continue? If you're done with your pleasantries, of course."

"Alriiiiight!" Melissa spun on her heel and quickly dashed over to the entrance, presumably a massive door of some kind. She looked for a handle to open it with.

Fenrir closed his eyes for a moment, missing the feeling of Terra being with him. He had nothing to say, nor did he care for the intruders in his castle. He was certain that they would be destroyed effortlessly, anyway.


As Melissa got near the main door, it seemed to creak open loudly, as if welcoming them into the gothic looking castle. Jackal looked into the castle and sighed, "Was really hoping we'd never see this place again. My neck aches every time I think about what happened here, last time..."

Alice growled and walked past the group, "Whatever, my father's in there and I'm not letting you freaks slow me down!"

Adam began to follow her, "Alice, wait! We should all stay together!"

The lone parent of the siblings shook her head and massaged her temple with her fingers, "Those kids..."

"I know what you mean! Back in my day, we kept 'em on leashes 'til they were twenty one years old!" Grandpa said. "... kidding, of course!" He went on into the castle.

"Why does your neck ache? Is it because there are scary vampires here or do you just have bad spinal alignment issues?" Leo asked.

Aetsia looked in, letting out an impressed whistle. Hell of a fixer-upper, but with a fresh coat of paint, she'd totally live here!

She took out her old gun and spun it around before accidentally pulling the trigger. A swirling red-green-blue beam fired out from it, leaving a chunk of the wall missing.

"Careful with that thing!" Grandpa warned. "That's an enchanted pistol!"

Aetsia whistled again, awkwardly putting it away.

Jackal looked at Leo for a moment, "No, just that I died once, in that castle. Neck was snapped like a twig. Hurt like hell, I'll tell ya that, mate."


Alice looked rather surprised at the weapon Aetsia was using. "...I need to get a weapon like that..."

Leo shivered. "Ow, that sounds painful. I was never a fan of the necksnappings." she admitted. "... you know they made a movie all about snapping necks. I don't know who the hell watched it."

Aetsia looked back at Alice, grinning sheepishly. "Bah!" Grandpa replied. "Just used some spell from some book to make it do that. Rumor has it that if you hold the trigger and release the laser'll get bigger!"

"... heh, get bigger." Leo snickered. "GOD DAMN IT, YOUNG'UN!"

At the she-cat's quiet remark, Ris grinned, trying not to laugh. "Sheesh, Leo, Luna probably thinks I ran off with some tramp." he joked.

"I can't believe Ris ran off with some tramp," Luna said, pulling out her phone and calling his number.

Terra too, was silent, simply enjoying the comfort of her only love.

... Well, not only love...

Jackal looked inside the castle and he could see a figure sitting in a chair at the end of the long hall. "...I sure hope that's not who I think it is..."

"Well, who do you think it is?" Ris asked, returning his attention to the rather serious situation at hand as he caught up to the jackal.

Oh, and the call failed to go through.

Clap... Clap, clap, clap...

"Welcome, one and all, once again, to the castle of monsters, curses, and nightmares," a male mongoose said, stepping out of the chair.

"I must congratulate your courage, or stupidity; whichever brought you here."

Ris crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes instantly hardening into a light glare. "Obligation, rather, in my case. And who would you be?"

Jackal didn't recognize the figure, but he could feel tainted energy radiating from the mongoose. He leaned towards Ris and whispered, "Don't know him, but I can sense he's pretty powerful. Not gonna be easy to beat. There's also something else. Something odd. I can't quite figure it out, though."