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~Origin of Manethrandrelle~
Warning: This story contains violence and adult language. Turn back now if such matters offend you. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Manethran's story is one of true sadness. Early on in his life he was shunned and ridiculed by the others of his village. This may have been due to his fur coloring. No one in the village had ever seen black and red fur on a wolf. Many saw this as unnatural and considered him a freak. His parents did what they could to protect him. Mane was always a mischievous little pup. Pulling pranks that no one but him seemed to find funny. If anything happened in the village and no one knew who was to blame, everyone turned to him. They were usually right in their assumptions. His pranks were just the normal childhood pranks; buckets full of ice water over doors, harassing the village animals, and petty theft. Little did they know the tragedy that was to befall their small village. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ One day, not much different from any other day at the start, a large wagon rolled into town. It was made of golden oak and had so much gilding that it was hard to tell where the wood ended and the gold began. It was lead by two matching pairs of Durham stallions. The wheels were made of iron, but seemed to have a rather smooth ride. The wagon made its way down the village main street, drawing a crowd as it rolled through. Everyone was talking amongst themselves. Each having their own ideas about who or what was in the wagon's passenger compartment. It was some lordling from the north country. No, it was a merchant from the far east. When the wagon stopped in front of the local bar the crowd held its collective breath in anticipation of getting to see who would ride in such a vehicle. The tension could be felt, like a miasma rising around everyone. There was a loud collective gasp as the rider climbed out of the wagon. The feline that stepped out seemed to be of mix breed. He resembled the smaller cat species like a Lynx, but he had the build of the larger like a Tiger. His appearance seemed embody the very essence of greed and money. He wore a bright red suit with gold thread lining the edges and making the pin stripes. The gold chain running from his pocket most definitely ran to a watch of the same. This man surely had power and money. The feline looked around at the locals for a minute before sniffing and wrinkling his nose as if he smelled something offensive. He snorted as if to rid himself of the odor and walked into the bar, leaving the gathered towns folk to make their own opinions of him. As he walked into the bar a young pup looked up from the corner where he was sweeping. This was Manethran. The bar owner, Trace, was kind enough to let him work at the bar. This kept him out of trouble with the other children and also kept him from some of his pranks. Mane looked up and his eyes popped a little at all the fancy clothes the feline was wearing, before he looked back down to keep from being rude. Trace, a big Brown Bear, came out of the back room and stutter-stepped at the sight of the new comer. "Ah Mr. Alruco, how can I help you today?" "Don't play dumb with me Trace. You know why I'm here." "Yes sir, I suppose I do. Let us go to the back room." He turned to look at Manethran, "Mane, could you leave us? We have some adult matters to discuss." "Ok, Trace. I'll head home and get some lunch then." Trace nodded and walked into the back with Mr. Alruco. Mane tried to keep his word, but being young the curiosity got to him. He snuck around back where there was a small window in the back room that Trace used as an office. He made sure to stay down and only raised enough of his head over the edge to be able to see what was happening. Mr. Alruco slammed his hands down hard on Trace's desk. "I don't give a damn if this only a small village and no one has many coins to spend! We had a deal. We wouldn't hurt your family as long as you gave us our money!" "But sir, that's all I have. I'm not keeping anything from you. It is not my fault that these people are poor." "It may not be your fault Trace, but it is your problem. So you will have to pay for it." Alruco reaches into his suit and with a lightning fast flick of his rest, buries a dagger to the hilt through Trace's neck. Before he could even think about remaining quiet, Mane screamed, "NOOOOO!!" Alruco jerked his head to look at the window just as he made a run for it and caught a glimpse of the little wolf. So, some one knew what happened. This village would have to be silenced then. Man ran as fast as he could towards the forest outside of the village, but did not stop when he reached them. He ran into them and kept going till he collapsed on the ground panting and whining in pain and exhaustion. Had he just seen what he thought he did? Did he just see Trace murdered? "I can't go back right now. I think Alruco saw me and I don't know what he'll do to me." Soon, he fell into a deep sleep. When he regained consciousness, he looked around for a moment trying to remember where he was. That is when he smelled smoke. Not cooking smoke and not the smoke of a forest fire, but that of homes and flesh within the flames. He ran back to the village as hard and as fast as he could. Long before reaching the end of the forest he could see thick smoke and flames licking at the sky. "The whole village must be burning!" He redoubled his efforts and found that he was right. Most of the village was already nothing but piles of ashes and rubble. While the other half still burned. Mane could see the shapes of many armed men wandering off across the hills. Bandits had attacked his village, but why they were poor and simple folk. He took of down the street, sneaking from corner to corner with eyes and ears alert for anything. He noticed two people in front of his house and ducked behind a barrel to see who it was. He immediately recognized the form on the ground. It was his father. Even from this distance Mane could see the blood and the lack of life in the body. His mother held him in her arms sobbing into his lifeless body. Mane stood to go and comfort her, but stopped as a figure stepped from the shadows. The shadow raised its arms high and brought them down in force. There was no scream of pain, no gasp of surprise. Just the thunk of contact and she collapsed into the body of her mate. Not thinking about his own survival main rushed forward with eyes full of tears. All his hate, anger, and pain balled into strength in an attempt to harm the one who had attacked his village and killed the only ones that cared for him. He jumped and lunged at the attacker, but was suddenly struck in the face and sent flying backwards into the dirt. The figure laughed and stepped forward into the light. "So, little one. Did you really expect to take me with your bare hands? It will take more of a man then you will ever be to remove me from this mortal coil" With that the attacker disappeared into the shadows cast by the flames. Manethran laid there. Covered in dirt and blood from a busted lip. He crawled forward towards his parent's bodies. "Mother! Father! Who would do this? Why would they do this?" Tears filled his eyes again and anger filled his voice. "It must have been Alruco. He did this because I saw him with Trace. I swear, mother and father, I will avenge you both. I will avenge this whole village. Alruco, I will not rest till your foul tainted blood stains the ground!" That night he went through the village to bury everyone that he could find. He went to what remained of his house and removed a few items to take with him in remembrance. He left the village with only the clothes on his back, his father's coat and sword, and a locket with both of his parent's pictures in it. After that day, Manethran wandered the world. Spending his time training in many disciplines and searching for the murderers of his village. To this day he still tracks, but he can feel the time drawing near. Soon...soon, he will have his vengeance. Soon, he can give up this crusade and finally rest in piece. |