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The Shadowfox

Chapter 1: Beginnings

A bolt of lightning streaked across a pitch-black sky as rain is illuminated by a burning village in the distance. Small buildings and sanctuaries were aflame throughout the town. Outside the village to the north, a path of holes and broken branches leads to a hill where a slumped black fox lays unconscious over burned grass. The shadowy figure stirs.

"Ugh... Where am I?"

The Fox staggered to get up and drops something. It is a green marble swirled in a metal coil. When he bent to pick it up he paused. The rain that fell on the crystal disappeared in a small cloud of steam. He ignored the phenomenon and picked up the orb. As the Fox examined the marble he noted that the center is glowing a very lucid green. He places it in the pocket of his ripped and tattered cloak. It was then that he noticed the village.

His tried slowly walking down the hill, but his balance was not very good, when he reached the bottom his legs were more cooperative. A quick look around revealed that the ground of the clearing was very uneven and unearthed, exactly like something had stuck the ground in several places. As he attempted to dart off to the village, he tripped on something sticking in the earth. When the Fox hit the ground, his muzzle smashed into the side of a rock. A loud shriek escaped his lips. As he struggled to get up, little wisps of black shadows shot from his wound. The gash slowly closed as the darkness slowly wove through the bleeding sinew. When it was all over, the fox sat in shock at what he had witnessed.

"What am I, why can't I remember anything?!" he thought aloud. The dark figure examines his formerly wounded area. No scar was present and fur had regrown on the spot. The thing, which had tripped him, was now sticking in his side. He quickly removed it and discovers that it is a sheathed sword.

A solid dark green sheath covered the blade of the sword. On the handle were cloth grip weavings the same green color as the sheath. The Fox lifted the sword and held it at waist level. Something about it felt right and calming, almost recognizable. When he tried to unsheathe the weapon, it would not open. Several more attempts proved that it could not be forced open. He soon gave up and tried to find a place to put the sword. A belt hanging by his waist was an ideal place. It was obviously his since the clip on his belt was a perfect fit. He once again darts off towards the village.

A sign just outside and untouched by the flames of the city was written in a language distantly familiar to him. "Rigeaud: Guardian City of Criminal Entities". He stared at the carved slab of wood for a minute. "This is all so familiar to-"

FLASH. His sentence was brought to a halt by a bright flash of light in the eyes of his mind.

The Fox was ripped from reality and placed were time does not matter, inside his own psyche. Green flame flickers around him. He is staring down at the flames, when the face of a red fox began to materialize in front of him. The visage of this old male was someone close to him, he could sense it.

"Who are you old one? Who am I?! Answer me!"

"Darkness... Darkness embodied... Beware the shadows. Beware the dark one. IT will try to consume your very being."

"Your not making sense. What happened?!"

"All will be revealed", The red fox smiled, "Sagios will be there for you, I'm very proud of you."

The fox began to melt away just as it had come. "Wait I need to speak to you! What does that mean?!" Then suddenly what was left of the floating sage's face began to reform and was no longer warm and welcoming. It began to grow dark. The face was now another black fox with piercing green eyes and a cruel smile.

"Heh heh... HA HA HA, little foxy can't remember anything!" A terrible and cruel laugh echoes in the darkness. "You desire your memories yes? Than I am successful!" The insane fox starts to laugh uncontrollably. The head disappeared and reappeared as a real size head at eye level. "Well, my child, I see your eyes remain the same blue as before. I'll remember to change that."

"WHO ARE YOU?!! ANSWER ME NOW!!" The full-bodied dark fox leapt at him.

The evil fox ducks out of the way. "My aren't we bold...that's what I don't like about you!"

"Do your worst! I've nothing to live for."

The demon fox looked grim for a second. "Oh I shall, little one, but you shall live, as I see it! It seems ironic that you would be MY shadow eh? Oh yes that's right you can't remember!" The demon began to laugh again with his foul laugh.

"What is so funny? Let me in on it."

He halted his laughing and stared hard at him with clenched teeth.

"All will bow down and cower at the awesome and terrible power, of the immortal being, the SHADOWFOX!!!" At the very mentioning of his title, caused the flames around them to flicker greatly.

FLASH

Time was back, reality was in order, and the fox was in his beloved body once again. Scrambling to his feet he hobbled himself with rage. Shaking madly he screamed, "WHAT'S GOING OOOOOOOOON?!!!!!!!!!".

The village of Rigeaud burns at a steady pace. The black fox wonders aimlessly through the city. The town was not as big as it had looked from the hill. One dirt road ran through the middle with shops and sanctuaries scattered around on both side of the street. Most of the structures had almost burned completely to the ground. The buildings that had not been entirely charred were either freshly aflame or just catching fire. Except for a structure around the middle of the dirt path. It was a large one-story building with a giant hole at the center. The edges were melted, but not caused by flame, as the rest of the building was intact. Strangely, fire had not come too close at all. With all the buildings around it, it should have long since caught fire. It was an aura, emanating from the building, which caused no flame to approach. He could see it.

The hole was about 6 feet in diameter, enough to fit his body inside. The room he emerged into was a dimly room by glass light orbs placed on special tripods made for them.

"Who's there?!" A startling voice is heard from a corridor to the right.

"I am!" said the black fox.

"Ya know that don't help me much bo-", his sentence was cut short when he directed his torch light towards the darkly colored fox. "It's y-you! But he killed you! How are you still alive?!". The dog began to shake uncontrollably until he could no longer stand.

"I was hoping you could tell me that. I don't remember anything."

The dog began whimpering at the sight of the fox standing before him.

"What are you afraid of dog? I don't plan on harming you."

"You don't? But your...him!"

"And who do you say that I am?" The dog was hesitant for a moment. "TELL ME!"

"You're, The Shadowfox, sir!"

The fox remained silent for a moment. Then he spoke softly to himself. "Was that other fox the real me?"

"What was that sir?"

He slapped his own muzzle in aggravation, "Ugh. Stop calling me that."

"What do you want me to call you si- mmm."

"I, am this, Shadowfox?"

"A-aye!"

"Then you will address me as such!" The Shadowfox sat in front of the dog.

The dog began trembling again, "C-certainly, Mr. S-S-Shadowfox."

"What happened here?"

He spoke with a little more confidence, "You really don't remember anything do-ya?"

"No. I woke up over on a hill outside the village." He pointed outside through the hole at the hill where he awoke.

The dog looked down, as if sad or something, "You didn't find another fox up there did ya? He went up there for ya after you escaped."

"What do you mean escaped? Why was I imprisoned?"

"Can ya remember anything at all?"

"I said no. The first thing that I can remember doing was waking up and coming down that accursed hill... But I tripped over this sword." He lifted the sword off of its clip for the dog to inspect. "When I fell, I hit a rock, and my wound was healed somehow."

The dog inspected the sword. "This is the ceremonial sword we used to confine ya the first time. You were our worst criminal demon."

"What do you mean 'Demon'?"

"Are you gonna kill me?" He asked.

The Shadowfox look agitated again. "What am I?"

"The Shadowfox, sir."

"Now tell me why I was imprisoned!"

"Yes sir!" He yelped. "You are The Shadowfox, a demon of old tales and stories that have been told for centuries. When you began terrorizing the neighboring towns we sent in our elite team of warriors and magician's to stop ya. This was about ten years ago now. They say that you slaughtered them in cold blood." The dog began to look angry instead of afraid for his safety. "When you came here, our village chief fought against ya and almost won, but instead of killin' ya off, he putcha ina Crystal."

"A crystal?" said the Shadowfox.

"It's a little marble with a protective barrier around it, there are necklaces that attach to them for easy carrying, we've used 'em to keep our spirit type prisoners in. That's because there's no other way to hold 'em. We put yours up in the other room." He pointed towards the corridor he had come from.

The Shadowfox reached into his cloak. "You mean this?" He held up the green marble he had found before.

"That's your crystal, the one ya 'scaped from! The lad had that last!" He looked away from the Shadowfox with disgust.

"Whom do you speak of?

"The chief's kid. You killed 'im didn't cha!" He yelled.

The Shadowfox began to look worried. "No! I-I can't remember!"

"You're, a mindless killing machine. Ya've always killed for the pleasure, and ya killed HIM!"

The Shadowfox look more solemn, "I told you I can't remember!"

"You were without a conscience and killed without remorse!" He was now getting angry and speaking very loudly. "When he left to fight you he left with the crystal meant for you, an ya killed him! You monster!" He stared deeply into the now angry blue eyes of the Shadowfox. "Wait... you're-"

Then the Shadowfox's eyes began to change color. It changed from a deep blue to a turquoise, and then to a dark green. The Shadowfox stood up, picked up the sword, unsheathed it and sliced the dog in half. His body lay in two on the ground before him.

"Heh... heh... HA HA HA HA!!!" The Shadowfox began to bellow out the same insane laugh that the other Shadowfox had given before in his vision. He realized this and ceased his laughter. His eyes slowly returned to their natural blue color. "Am I the same Shadowfox? Am I truly a mindless killer?" He stared long and hard towards the body he had just destroyed and felt sick to his stomach. He left the room in a nauseous state towards the room the dog had pointed to.

His steps were slow and steady as he moved towards the room. Unsure of what he may find, he poked his head through the opening. The room he emerged into was a giant spherical cavity. The room walls were painted with images of destruction with a black fox in every one. The center had a pedestal with a smooth bowl concave built in on the top. Engraved in the bowl were ridges that would fit the metal coil around the crystal that The Shadowfox had. "So this was meant for me." He took the marble out of the cloak that he had placed it in. "So, here goes." The Shadowfox placed the crystal in the slot ridges. As soon as it popped into place a light shone through the center and began to take shape. When his eyes got used to the light, he stared in wonder at the sight of a full body hologram of the same fox he had seen in his vision. "It's...me." The picture began to move. The fox in the hologram began to twist and mutate, his body could melt and reform as a black shadow. Another form was seen on the hologram. It was a walking dog. The Shadowfox dove into his shadow and disappeared, when he was in the shadow the dog-ceased movement as if stuck. "What is this... Is that me?" The holographic fox looked at the Shadowfox and without a sound coming from the picture, began to laugh.

Thus ends Chapter one.

I have won several writing contests and one of them garenteed me a slot for a book to be published by the mass. I plan on re-writing this story over and over again to get it perfect. This is just my rough draft. What do you think?