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A tear ran down JJ's cheek as his knees became weak, holding tightly onto his staff. Though the dagger was now on the floor, the damage was done, and the blood was flooding from his back. Knowing it was too late, all he could do was lay down and laugh a hollow laugh at himself. "How far have I come, and for this?", he thought to himself. He tried to mend the wound, already knowing it wouldn't work, but what else could he do in his last moments...

As a pup, JJ would never have forseen this fate. In fact, he was usually the one to break up fights in his village. The first real episode he could remember couldn't have been when he was older than 6...

Back then, he still had a clean, ebony coat. His floppy ears still had no chips, and he still had a heart of gold.

He lived in Pin, a small village about a two hours walk from the closest town, namely Demar, separated by the ancient Mari Woods

The village didn't have much. Most of its income came from bottling water from the springs in the village. It had a decent forge for making glass bottles for the water, which was also used for making weapons for hunting in the surrounding forest.

To spite there only being about 50 people in the village, JJ was never lonely. His best friend was an Otter named Kai, who'd always get himself into mischief. Once, when the two were only 6 years old, Kai had gotten himself into a fight with Alex, a blond tiger, who was 10 at the time...

Alex spent several days perfecting a trap with twigs, with which he eventually caught a small feral rabbit. He took much pride in the trap, but Kai didn't agree with the practice at all, and destroyed the trap, in order to set the rabbit free

Alex, of course, was furious, giving Kai a big scratch to the face. JJ saw his friend being attacked, and, though his bunny-fox muscles wasn't the strongest, he managed to grab Alex's arm before a second blow could hit...

"This basterd completely ruined my trap!" Alex exclaimed.

"I just wanted to free mr. Bunny..." defended Kai, which only provoked a growl from Alex.

"Guys, please just don't fight!" cried JJ, wildly clinging to Alex's arm, preventing him from using it as a weapon

"uggh! Babies." Sayd Alex as he shaked JJ off his arm, before walking off

Shortly after, Kai ran off, crying, searching for someone to help ease the pain in his face

JJ spent the next few days reverse engineering and fixing the trap, without letting Kai know, of course, and returned it to Alex along with a small feral bunny within...

Chapter 2:

The first time JJ got to leave the village was two weeks after his tenth birthday. He'd been very exited for the day, and had always wanted to go to town with his family, but was always told that: " the forest is no place for a cub". So when his tenth birthday came, his parents finally gave in and allowed him to ride on one of the feral horses carrying the goods.

The path was a dark one, definitely not suited for carts, going around trees rather than through them. It did it's job, allowing the small village to send 3 horses loaded with goods to trade with Demar twice a month

With a mix of excitement of seeing the town and fear of the dark forest, JJ yelled: "daaaad, how far is it?" less than 15min into the journey

"Relax, son, the journey has only just started" replied his dad, a relatively buff fox, leading the horses through the forest on foot.

After a few more minutes of nagging his dad, JJ accepted that this wasn't gonna be a quick journey, so instead of nagging, he started looking at the forest. It was really a very dark forest, but the few beams of light penetrating the roof actually made it quite beautiful

JJ suddenly realised how glad he was that he was sitting on a horse instead of walking. He just imagined himself getting lost in the forest. Then he had to admire his father, who easily found his way around the trees and on the slightly used path. JJ often saw other areas on the floor which looked like it could've been the path as well, but his dad didn't look twice to know the right path

Before he knew it, the forest started getting less dense, and in the distance, JJ saw the walls of Demar. Big stone walls about five meters high, going around the city. Poking through the middle was a tower, going up a good fifty meters. JJ couldn't take his eyes off of it through the rest of the journey to the gates of the town.

"Wizards tower" his dad told him. "Built more than a hundred years ago, when the lands were taken by the Laurin empire."

"But dad, why is it so tall?"

" It doesn't have to be, my boy. Wizards just love showing off"

They giggled about this on their way through the gates. The town was really huge as compared to the village. It seems like the buildings are sorted according to how close to the centre they were. On the outside, small, wooden buildings, getting bigger until the wood is replaced by stone, which grows bigger still and gains until it reaches the tower in the middle.

They continued through crowds of people towards the centre, stopping at a single story stone building, a sign outside indicating an alchemy shop.

"Well, this is our stop. Joe's alchemy. Best potions and poisons in all of Demar, and it's all thanks to our villages water"

JJ got off the horse and started walking towards the shop. The passage into the shop was covered by a green curtian. The inside of the shop was lit by green lights, and soft flute music could be heard playing. JJ looked for a flute player, but couldn't find one. Behind a counter, a wolf stood up and started yelling at JJ.

"Get out, you damn cubs! There's nothing in here for you, you hear?"

JJ wasn't sure what was what, but when his dad came in, the problem solved itself

"Dennis! You came not a day late" sayd the tall brown wolf to JJ's dad

"Low on supplies already?" Responded Dennis

"Yeah, well, since I've been making fuel, I just couldn't keep up. This "electricity" trend is really good for business. "A lesser form of magic", some people are calling it. Lemme tell you, the magic I've seen... A simple record player and a few lights don't come close"

He's moved out from behind the counter by now to greet Dennis

"I hear you, man. But sadly, people will have to use torches a bit longer. sacrificed some space so I could bring my sun along" he said, gesturing at JJ. "But I asume you've already met"

"Oh, are you Dennis's boy? Sorry for being so rude, but recently cubs have just been making such a mess of my shop, chasing others away"

"It's fine, sir" JJ replied, still not completely sure what was going on

"Mind babysitting while I go do some shopping? " asked Dennis

"No problem. I'll go get Dasc quick"

The shopkeeper went to one of the back rooms and returned with a younger wolf, looking about JJ's age

"JJ, meet Dasc. Dasc, JJ..."

JJ opened his eyes once again, the blood from his wound starting to dry around him. He pressed his staff against the ground, trying to get up, muttering: "Dasc...", before slipping into unconsciousness again...

Although Dasc was only a year older than JJ, the town seems to have made him a lot harder than the peaceful village. He was forced to be cautious of crime, an attribute that proved useful as he showed JJ around town

In contrast to the clear order at the front of the town, the back had to be packed tightly. Dasc led JJ through some narrow alleys, climbing over a series of rooftops ending up on the roof of a 4 story stone building, a mere 4 buildings from the tower. From up here, they could easily watch over the slums of the town, and could even see over the wall, and the mountains in the distance

"This is as close as I've been able to get to the tower" said Dasc, staring up the tall structure. "Few people get into it without good reason to"

"Why is that?" Asked JJ, curiously

"Wizards, man. We can't just go there"

"Why? Cause they have a big tower?"

"Can you do magic? Didn't think so"

"Ummm, magic? Isn't that just an old story?"

Dasc just giggled at that. "No, man. Why would you think that?"

Though JJ has heard about magic from people in this village, he's never actually seen it for himself. To him, the concept of magic was comparable to the easter bunny. He's been told of it, but, being part bunny himself, and being pretty sure that bunnies can't lay eggs, he'd come to not believing everything his village had told him. The closest thing his village had to magic was old miss Schmitt, who was driven mad by magic, and has since moved into the forest

Seeing the confusion in JJ's eyes, Dasc continued: "they say this tower was built in no more than a week. Pulled straight out of the ground, already in the shape you see it in today, minus some erosion. It isn't perfect, but the wizards can fix her up if it gets too bad"

"But, that can't be. That can't happen" JJ protested.

"And yet, there she stands."

The two stared at the tower in silence for a while, JJ processing the info that his childhood stories might be true

"And the easter bunny?" JJ asked, curiously

"I think a bunny laying and hiding chocolate eggs may be pushing it" said Dasc, laughing.

JJ blushed from embarrassment, trying to hide his face, till Dasc lifted his head

"It's okay, don't worry about it"

Silence once more, as JJ processes some more

"Can I be a wizard some day?" He asked

"Maybe. They say you've either got it or you don't. But I wouldn't wanna be one" Dasc said, looking down

"Why not?" JJ enquired

"The laws work differently for wizards. Basically, they have to do whatever the king tells them, which often means war"

"Can't they just use their magic to be free?"

"I..." Dasc paused for a bit. "Pappa says it isn't that simple..."

By now, the sun was starting to set behind the mountains in the distance

"We should get going" said Dasc, standing up. "Just know that being a wizard can be as big a curse as it is a blessing'

JJ accepted this and followed the wolf down the rooftops, through the alleys and to the small alchemists shop, in silence.

By the time they got back, darkness has fallen over the town. Their dads was already having dinner without them.

"Where have you two been? Dinner's getting cold" sayd Dascs dad

"Just been looking over the city" replied Dasc.

"Well, get over here. Dinner's getting cold"

Not long after dinner, a steak and sone veggies, the two cubs went to bed. JJ shared a room with Dasc. Wasn't a big room, had two beds, an alchemy table and lots of storage space. It was illuminated by a green-blue moss on the roof, which was necessary, the room being underground

Not long after JJ closed his eyes to sleep, Dasc turned off the light with a twist of his wrist in the air, a tear rolling down his cheak as he goes to sleep himself

The next morning went by, mostly uneventful, though there was a sadness in JJ as he had to say goodbye to the town, and to his new friend