Fenrir: Dawn Rising (Part 1)

Standing back up, just for the moment leaving Jackal to his own, Ris turned to the tigress. "Terra, I'm really glad you're not trying to kill me anymore--honestly, I wouldn't lie about that--but why're you being -this- nice? I mean, why is it 'forbidden' for anyone else to kill me?"

Terra perked her ears up, as something he said struck her as odd. "Ris, when have I EVER, tried to kill you?"

"Wh--...Um...Well..."

That was a good question.

Crossing his arms over his chest, one hand brought to his muzzle in thought, the blue vulpine eventually said, "Well, when we first met we fought...I assumed that was a to-the-death sort of scenario there, just we never got finished with it..."

"Just because I send a bulldozer to run you over, doesn't mean I'm trying to kill you, Ris," Terra corrected him.

Solus grunted and quickly closed his eyes trying to shake off the dolls on his muzzle, while still trying to maintain the red orbs stability.


"Hello... hurt jackal here..." Jackal weakly said. Suddenly there was a deafening explosion coming from the library. Solus must've lost control of the orb. "I-it wasn't me..." Jackal said.

"What else happens when you get rolled over by a bulldozer?"

At least Jackal acted as a distraction from his confused thoughts. "Right, sorry, sorry..." he mumbled, turning back to see what the jackal needed. His ears flattened at the explosion, his head ringing for a few seconds before clearing out again. "...I...guess the dolls came in handy for a little, at least."

"Aww... I probably didn't make them fireproof..." Terra said, her ears slightly drooping, before looking over at Ris. "I -can- always make more, Ris," Terra grinned, pretty much already knowing his answer.

---

The lynx woke once again, as her body was roughly tossed into the castle dungeon. The bars closed and locked, although, her bonds were removed. The minions didn't even pay attention to the soft sniffles coming from her cell.

One minion said to another, "We must tell the Master now! He is no longer in his chambers."

"Agreed," the other minion said, climbing back up the stairs to find the lord of the castle.

---

Terra's ears flicked again. "Are you two gonna be all right? You should get moving. Solus is probably a -little- frustrated right now."

Jackal finally came to his senses, "R-Ris? Terra? W-what happened? I feel like someone just ran me over with a bulldozer..."


Fenrir had managed to shield himself from the explosion. After lowering one of his arms, he looked to where Solus was and could only see a large crater that stretched down deep enough to have an abyss. "...impressive display of power... I need to check on Berial... ensure he's still sealed."

Fenrir then teleported to a place deep underneath the castle, where he was face to face with a cage that appeared to be constructed of bones. "His prison appears to be holding... but with Solus still alive, chances of this prison remaining strong are slim."

A little puzzled by Terra's sudden change of behavior, Ris said, "I can't promise anything with Solus around, but we'll try to stay alive." Looking to Jackal, he jerked his head back a little. "Come on, let's get moving before he does."

"Do you need me to babysit you, is what I'm asking," Terra said.

"Well, I can't say we -need- you to babysit...but if that's an open offer..."

"I have other things that I need to do, and I can't take you with me..." Terra looked down to the side for a moment, thinking this through...

---

In the lynx's cell, she noticed; a small, plush toy of a certain blue fox sat on the bench. She walked over to it, eying it particularly. With her finger, she lightly poked against it's stomach.

"Hi! I'm Ris!" it said, which made her surprised. She picked it up, her eyes slightly welling up in its resemblance.

"You big... well, little idiot..." The lynx held the soft doll against herself, not paying mind to how it seemingly hugged her back.

"Everything's gonna be okay!" the doll squeaked, trying to comfort the troubled girl.

"Y-you sure, Terra?" Jackal asked, slowly managing to move, but still lacking the strength to stand. "Would Ris and I still be alive right now, if you didn't send the cute killer dolls after Solus?"


Fenrir teleported out of the hidden room and into one of the halls. After turning around he saw one of his minions running towards him.

Nodding in agreement with Jackal--well, mostly in agreement--Ris added, "And why'd you even ask if you had to leave anyway?"

"What do you mean, Ris?" Terra asked.

---

"Master," the minions said, bowing down. "I humbly request your presence in the dungeon. There is a matter that we felt needed to be brought to your attention."

"Why ask if we wanted you to come with us if you're not gonna be able to?" he said in clarification. Glancing towards the library, though, Ris mumbled, "Though we best not stay and chat for long..."

"I get you now. And my answer to that is: yes," Terra said.

"What matter?" Fenrir asked as he began walking in the direction of the dungeon.


"I think we should get moving either way, before Solie decides to slaughter us while we're still yapping..." Jackal said. The canine, using broken parts of the wall for support, managed to pull himself onto his feet.

With a light sigh, Ris asked with a shake of his head, "Jackal, you need me to carry you or can you manage?"

"Ugh..." Terra cringed at the sight of Jackal. "I don't see you broken just for the sake of beating you up..."

---

"We caught an intruder lurking around the portal to the castle," the minion said. "But, we felt like this one was a little... different, from the others."

"I'll be fine." Jackal said. Though after taking a step forward, he fell to his knees, "Okay... maybe I won't be fine yet..."


Fenrir frowned at this, "Different, you say? This could prove to be a rather stress-filled night..."

"Fine my butt..." Ris muttered, his ear giving a quick twitch. With a light sigh, the fox crouched down, placing his hands on the ground for support. "Alright, hop on..."

'Good thing we're straight...'

"My apologies, Master," the minion replied, opening the door to the dungeon for Fenrir.

---

"Wait," Terra said, stepping towards the jackal, putting her paws on his chest and his arms, where he had been injured before by Neku. "I don't know anything about fixing bones, but..."

Jackal's lost blood was drawn back into his body through the cuts, before they closed completely.

The tigress let go of him. "There, that's the best I can do."

"I-I dunno what to say, Terra... th-thanks." Jackal managed to say. He even had the strength to stand once more. "Looks like I won't be climbin' on ya yet, Rissy."

From deep within the hole in the library, Solus pulled his arm out from the rubble. His shoulder was dislocated and he had bruises all over his body. He grabbed his arm and with a pull, his shoulder snapped back into place. Though he showed no discomfort from it. He looked up the hole, unable to see the library from how far in he was.

He growled and shouted loudly, into the abyss. "RIS! YOU THINK THIS IS GOING TO STOP ME!? HOW DO YOU EXPECT TO DEFEAT ME WHEN YOU'RE NOTHING!? YOU HEAR ME, RIS!?"

Jackal's ears could pick up everything Solus was saying, "YOU'RE JUST ANOTHER BUG UNDER MY FOOT! -I- AM A LEGEND, RIS! NOT YOU! YOU WILL DIE BY THE TIME THIS NIGHT IS OVER! WHILE I WILL LIVE FOREVER!" Solus continued.

"...something tells me, he's really pissed off." Jackal said, feeling slightly afraid.


Fenrir stepped into the dungeon, giving a nod of gratitude to the politeness of his minion. Before allowing the minion to lead him to the cell.

"Y-Yeah...If you're really sure about not needing that ride, let's just get out of here." With that said, Ris started to run, not going -too- quickly until he was sure Jackal was well enough to keep up. "Catch you later, 'kay, Terra?" he called back to the tigress, knowing that he would eventually run into her again.

It seemed inevitable.