Debut of the Guardian

[Naijinaxx]

Solid white eyes gazed out blankly as they opened to the world... adjusting to the light around him, a gentle shimmer of reflection casting upon the retina.

Memories...[/i]

They continued to flood his mind, continued to scream at him, continued to lurch forward and grasp him by the throat, continued to hurt... the pain, the guilt, the sorrow. -How could he not blame himself... he did nothing, he only watched with disbelief as it happened... watched in... horror as the only dog he ever accepted as a father was killed before his very eyes.

He glanced at the pup as he swallowed his feelings down his gut, standing, Vernon curled up into a sleeping ball at his side. Tinuke' smiled, turning and heading out, the wind flowing through the fortress as it always did, early, about six in the morning. He walked through the gates entering a small field, the entrance to the Sacred Grounds, from which he lifted his leg and released a spray.

A guard came up to him, a Shiba Inu, red fur, white chest, looking up at him.
How's it feel to be a hero?

The husky only swallowed, watching as the winds swirled around the flowers in the distant garden, casting them up into the winds as the pink pedals began to flutter, and for a mere moment, he thought they changed color... fading from a white, to a deep blood red.

In some cases, we have to discover just who, and what we are on the inside. With you Tinuke, you must learn who you are, for your heart remains clouded with hate. A hatred that cannont be allieved from words of love, but from being released.

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Tinuke grinned, the voice of the master resounding in his head as though he were standing next to him once more. And he turned to face that poor dog, the very one who called him a hero... the very one who said they'd go down in legend.

A legend... a legend, is nothing more than another's words... a story, passed on from generation to generation. A person tells it, another person listens, and he -cherishes it, and once more, recites the story. Tinuke paused as he glanced up at the sky.
But a hero? -I'm no hero... he whispered harshly.
Never was... never will be, the only heroes out there, are the ones who are dead, or going to die. Courage is fear lasting only a moment longer. Now those who are dead, those who gave their lives a few days ago for what they believed in, bad -or-good, make no difference; no those... -those are heroes. he explained to the young dog.

They say the markings of a hero are written as time itself carries on, just like the slayer of the dragon, marred with sweat, blood and tears, wielding his sharpened sword, and his hefty shield, approaching the d**nation of a creature he was paid to kill...

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Me? Tinuke glanced down at his paws, feeling heavy on the inside.
I didn't even know my name until I was two years old... he admitted, I'm just a middle-aged dog hired to do some wet work. he confessed, the young child looking at the husky blankly as he moved passed him without saying another word.
You're leaving today, right?[/i] the guard asked as he stood at his left.
As soon Ripper gets here, I'm gone. he smiled as he looked out to the horrizon.

_{Susuka, why don't you return to your post, give the leader and I, some time?}[/i][/b] Tinuke heard words behind him, glancing first over his right shoulder, and then his left, landing his eyes on Jerome, the guard kreeping away to his post once more.
Come to patronize me again? he asked.
Tinuke... Jerome smiled as he glanced at his friend.
You still blaming yourself, after a week?
Can't be helped Tinuke whispered with a hoarse throat.

Jerome knew what he was going through, and guilt had a funny way of telling the truth. It had a way of pin-pointing long-suppressed emotions, had away to make the smallest of burdens into the heaviest. But with Tinuke, it was different. The Master, he was more than a father to him, he was an idol, someone who was always there, who bonded with him like no one else ever could. Who reached into his darkened and marred soul of tears, and blood, and pulled him out of the darkness, and into the light. Who encouraged him to become stronger when he was his strongest; who impelled him to succeed when failure was certain, who taught him everything he knew, from the day he was rescued, until that horrific day last week. And last week, had impacted him like the force of an atom bomb, a scream that was resounding from his inner-soul, silenced by the hiss of a knife.
Tinuke, it was Cherokee meaning "White Devil," a name that intimately defined who and what he was. Whether he be a coward, or the most glory of warriors on the field of battle today. Whether he be a lost and depraved soul, searching for a cause, or toiling with a cause, it no longer mattered. But the voice of the master was in him, his heart was in his heart; his causes, now with his; and his courage, was with Tinuke.

"Give you my fang, the very spark that gives me life, the very fibre that holds us as one, to use upon your conquest. A journey not just for glory, but for you to know where it is you come from."

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This journey will help, you know." Jerome said as he glanced at Tinuke with reassuring eyes.
No, it'll help him Tinuke said as he glanced at the sleeping Vernon, who was now sprolled out on his side.
Why do you continue to beat yourself up over this? Jerome asked, Tinuke turning to face Jerome with narrow pale eyes that bespoke pain and sorrow, how can I not? -I watched the attack happen before my own eyes! he shouted, his voice tearing through the silence in the fields.

-He saw the fray of the battle, blurred apparitions amongst the chaos, the blood as it sprayed in all directions, eyes lit with fire as he continued to push through, blind to what was in desperate need of his attention, landing his eyes on the massive New Foundland as he slashed the master's throat as though it were nothing more than paper, the master turning as he fell, to face his attacker in utter confusion, and disorientation, landing in the grass upon his back with a tremendous impact that froze the whole battle...

You...?![/i]

Tinuke opened his lids, tears running down his left eye as they adjusted to the light once more.
And in shock... fear... I did nothing... he closed his eyes once more.

MMMMMAAAAAAASSSSSSSSTTTTEEEEERRRRRR! The voice tore through the battlefield like a reaper, it's tone, haunting, and fluctuating, like a ghost, an apparition, a vision of a long and dark shadow. An unguessed whisper upon deaf ears as all grew silent, all steady, watched the Master land with a slow, but heavy impact in the grass, an impact that pushed the air out, and sent it along the grass in a manner of a wave, the thud of the crash beating away at everyone's ears as though it were a drum.

Jerome! -What are YOU DOING!? Tinuke had screamed, blocking his way without saying a word, tears too in his solid eyes.
"You'll only be fighting on rage, and anger... a short-lived source of energy... when it runs out, so do you..." -Jerome had whispered to him like a personal coax than anything else.
"Let the fool run... let the gods caste their judgment upon him... he chose his own path, let him be the one who has to live with the curse of being a murderer."[/i]

We all make mistakes, Tinuke. Jerome said as he laid down at the shadow of the gate.
What else can we do? -It's how we learn. There are some things that we arn't meant to stop, Tinuke. Jerome paused as he glanced at him with his peripheral.
You couldn't stop your child-master when his parents told him to leave you behind during the evacuation... you couldn't stop Thunderhawk from launching his insurrection here, and by the name of Sirius himself, -that you wouldn't have been able to save the Master. Fate has a funny way of laughing in our faces, brother. Jerome coaxed with a harsh whisper.


You going to be able to take care of these guys while I'm gone? Tinuke asked as he turned to face him, changing the topic.
Hopefully, being the next supreme master was the least I could ever expect... Jerome lowered his ears.
Hey, like you said, fate has a funny way of laughing in our faces, brother.[/i] Tinuke cocked his head to the right as Vernon finally awoke, opening his mouth and closing it as his eyes remained half-closed.
It was there that Tinuke stood, turning around to look after Vernon, smiling as he approached him.
Look who's awake? he nudged him over, the pup smiling as he continued to stretch out his legs, not in the mood to speak at the moment.

[Seraphinu]

Ash floated on the wind currents as the two dogs conversed over the happenings of the past week. Everyone had suffered at the hands of Thunderhawk. Everyone had lost someon in that petty battle for power- for revenge. A mate, a brother, a friend. Ash had lost no one. So why did she feel as though she had? Was it because Ripper had lost his long-time friend, and Master? Sorrow was very fickle indeed.

She came upon a downdraft, and joined the two dogs.

"A glorious morning for flying," the falcon said, landing on Tinuke's exposed shoulder. It was her usual greeting to Ripper.

"A morning too glorious for those who feel sorrow. Pieces of the world can be kind. Individuals, societies. They will mourn when loved ones die. But the world as a whole is cruel. It does not cry. It does not care. The sky can be beautiful and clear, even when the one the sun shines on is in despair, and wishes rain," Ash spoke.

"The world has moved on without Master Fireborn. Eventually you must move on too. But be careful to never forget him. He may be gone, but he still lives in your memories. And just as the cats go to Starclan, and I'll fly with the Zephyr, one day, you, will join him as he's joined Sirius."

[Magicheart]

A silhouette of a large muscular dog slowly becomes visible on one of the low hills surrounding the fortress. Ripper approaches the two dogs and the falcon, nodding his head in greeting. "It has never been a favorite pasttime of mine, putting good dogs into the earth...but we did the best we could. Every dog lost has had a respectable burial. Everything seems to be in order here, I believe. Will you be ready to travel soon, Tinuke?" Ripper asks the younger dog, still noting the wounds he carries in his eyes.

[Naijinaxx]

Silence, that's all there was between the warrior and the newly-entitles master, no exchange of greetings, no payment of depths, just a firm, and death defying silence that seemed to ail the husky's shoulders, as though something dreary were pondering upon the male's mind.

It was a single tooth, a single fang that revealed his answer, a demon waiting to come out, to reveal itself against the massed armies. A warrior, a soldier with a mystery behind him, born from amnesia, and tourment, conscious found by love and care, only to forget his true purpose, his true job.

Or, perhaps he was the role of the deceiver? -To gain the trust of the one hero, and to harry and crush him into submission. The "White Devil", himself, was confused just as everyone else was, and he too, just as unaware of his purpose.

A dark heart, one that was scared by nightmares, by memories that had been long supressed through the shadows of a void unpenetrated, a wall that could not be breached, a barriar that not only needed love, but hate.

He was a viscious creature, Master Fireborn's greatest warrior, a teacher of self-defense and combatives. A motivator, a leader, just like Ripper himself, but placed with the responsibility of raising the only heir of the Fortress, to teach him the meaning of life, and why he must live. To lead others like his father had done, until his very death.

But just who was the husky? -The husky who, for so long had been living a lie his entire life, who had decieved his brothers, who was mysteriously beaten, and left for dead where the Supreme Master unraveled him, and dropped down into his heart the kindness he had never known, the very same kindness that had dropped down into his soul where the plumments of hate and struggle and never gone.

They say that the makings of a good warrior not lie within his strength, or his cunning, his speed, or his endurance. They lie in his ability to reason, that the toughest of battles are those faught with reason and truth, not war, combat, or bombs.

But Tinuke, he was raised differently, he was a something far from the dogs in this camp, a thief... a soldier... a deciever...

Just what was he? -And who was he? -Who was this guardian that was entrusted with the responsibility of raising the deceased master's son? -Just who was it that the master's son was sleeping next to at night, who he followed, and who he relied upon for protection, and food? But most importantly, just who was Vernon? Was he Tinuke's responsibility? -Or was he Tinuke's hostage?

It would seem that one who was far superior in combatives and techniques would find himself in an organization met to uphold peace and prosperity between canines and cats, an organization that refuses to solve disputes with combat, but peace talks.

Tinuke... cheroke for "The White Devil", he was more than a warrior in his previous days, he had a long story to tell, one of betrayial and secrecy, of lies and false meaning. However, unlike Master Fireborn, Tinuke himself had another mission on mind, one that would blow his cover, but he had no care in the world for the child that was left in his foot steps, the child that would soon become the leader of this fortress.

An Assasine...

One who was swift, silent and deadly. Who knew skill beyond compare to anything that the world of dogs and cats would ever overcome, that took years and years of selection training since child-hood days. Honed, molded, and robbed of his interaction with those his own age, trained not to become a dog of loyalty and love, but to deceive his targets until they, themselves, trusted him, from which he would then move in to claim the kill that he was hired for.

He let out a toothy grin that expressed his anger over the subject, that revealed the fire that was kindling within his eyes, that revoked everything he had been taught, that failed to cast the image of a skilled warrior, but inconspisciously revealed the glimmer of a cold-blooded killer.
"Been waiting for this for what feels like forever... the sooner we leave, the faster the Master can be avenged..." he rolled his tongue over his chops, revealing the sharps of his fangs.

"One must live, and one must die... no victory, no defeat..."

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[Magicheart]

Ripper gaze slid to his right, over to where Fly sat perched. He let her see the slight uncertainty in his eyes regarding the state of the young warrior dog, but looked back to the husky before he could notice. "Very well." he barked. "I ran into a cat in the marketplace, but she had not had any sign of the clan cats. She didn't even know who they were. I'm not surprised. I'm sure we'll find the trail once we cross over the mountains."

[Seraphinu]

"Would you like me to scout again, Ripper?" Ash asked, fluttering from Tinuke's shoulder to his. She settled in, shuffling her wings, and gently nipped his ear affectionately. "I would help you find the Clan cats... the journey over the mountains will be easier if we have an idea of where we are going," the falcon illustrated her point, and turned her beak towards the horizon, gazing at the distant peaks, so near, and yet so far.

She remembered the time before she had met Ripper and his pack, back to when she was alone, seemingly content to merely watch the goings of the world around her. Not part of the circle, but high above it, a herald of the heavens. A raptor, glorious and free, and preyed upon by none. But freedom was indeed very lonely. She remembered feeling lost and without purpose. For she had no friends to call upon. No one to talk to, to share her feelings. She could only watch the world, a lone sentinel of the skies, an observer. She learned much on her wanderings. For she had the gift of liberty, to go anywhere she chose. But was the price of it too great? To have no where to go, and no one to go to?

Eventually her ever turning mind grew restless and weary. And then she met the dogs, and grew quite close to their leader. It seemed as though she had been reborn. She was still masterless and free, but she didn't want to leave them. She would always come back. For this was her family. Ripper, her brother, her equal. Her friend.

[Magicheart]

Ripper glanced over his shoulder at the Falcon with warm eyes and nodded. "That would be wonderful, Fly" he praised. There had been a time when the Rotweiler wouldn't have accepted any other than his kind in his pack, but Shadow had broken that foolish and small idea. Ripper hoped that somewhere, his friend was safe and happy, that he had found some peace....
And Ripper loved to watch the falcon soar above him, her wings speckled and spread wide, in another realm above him and his pack. She was such a critical part of his pack now. Come to think of it, Fly was kind of like a dog with wings....he didn't even see her as any different from his other packmates.
"I've been itching for an adventure!" he barked to the sky.

[Seraphinu]

((Her name is Ash, silly))

Ash's eyes shown with happiness that he approved, she felt pleased that she could be useful in some way at least. She opened her wings, flapping them slightly to warm them against the chilled air. She released the gentle grip her talons had upon Ripper's shoulder, gaining slow lift until she scooped upon an updraft, gaining swift momentum before she rose higher and higher into the sky.

Her wings glittered beautifully against the sun. She always felt freest while flying high above the ground below. The cold wind felt wonderful against her warm feathers. but she was careful to remember that she was on a mission. Once she reached the mountains, it was her job to find the best way to get through them.

[Magicheart]

(hahah wow, my bad)

Ripper followed the slowly vanishing shape of the falcon, wondering what it would be like to see the world from up so high. Maybe in the mountains, he would know soon enough....

[Naijinaxx]

His eyes were steady burning as he followed from behind, making occasional stops to glance over his shoulder and out to the young lad who loped behind in the long grass, seeing this adventure as it was so-called, as more of a game, rather than business that needed to be dealt with.
He sighed, ears constantly shifting, nostrals flaring as it took into the various smells and oders that rambarded the area, ears keen to the various audials that soared in from the west-bound wind, that soared through the wheat-grass like the hand of God, swaying it to the distant horizon.
The master moved faster than you, and he was four times my age... Tinuke mutterde loud enough for those around him to hear, swallowing harshly as the strain in his throat broke through the silence. Silver eyes burning with a distant hate from a forgotten past.

He slowly turned, maintaining his bearing, holding onto his ground as the pup bounded up from behind, Tinuke's eyes shifting downward as he the dogs at the gate formed up to say their final fare wells, seeing the pack off with praise.
Something tells me that it's just going to get worse... Thunderhawke... his army... the huskey growled as he nudged the pup forward from the rear, pushing him into the middle of the wedge they had formed.
Almost pains me to have to take him with us... expose him to... this abomination of feline and canine... he hissed as he swallowed hard once more, his deep and masculine voice scorched from wounds in the past.

[Magicheart]

Ripper padded over to the young husky, hearing him muttering. "If you need more time..." he offered to the younger dog seriously. "There is no shame in that. It's going to be a tough journey over the mountains, and I'm not sure what we'll find on the other side. You have to keep your pack's spirits up." he barked, striding along with a noble gait. "....for as long as you can." He nodded to Tinuke.

[Naijinaxx]

Tinuke glanced up to Ripper, giving a faint smile that exposed none but a single fange, grinning with his satisfaction.
"Time..." the dog snorted, a sparkle of hope in his eyes as he grinned at the master.
"Time is something we don't have, brother." he said as he continued to walk forward.
"The clans don't have time, the dogs don't have time... no one has time." he said said as he glanced at the bounding Vernon, who was leaping in and out of the grass in the manner of a young child, due to the fact that he was, in fact, a young child.
"He thinks it's a game..." Tinuke said with a voice of sombriety, sighing his malcontempt at the situation, turning to face his gaze off to the mountains.
"We can go through the city, it would be shorter." he said as he glanced at the town not too far from the field, a city filled with roads and highways.
"A tunnel forms off of Highway 8, and cuts through the mountain." he stated firmly, having knowledge of the area.
"Master would take me through there to find strays and give them another chance at the life they lost-" he stated with pride.
"Master Tinuke?" a childish voice interrupted the conversation between the two adults, slicing through the silence of the wind, the sombre husky glancing forward with a blank stare.
"I'm hungry..."
The Husky let out a sheepish grin, turning to face Ripper with a firm smile.
"...And food..."

[Magicheart]

The giant Rotweiler nodded. "I fear that we may be too late as it is." he admitted. "I do not know what challenges the felines will have faced in this new home of theirs..." he wondered.
Ripper closed his eyes for a moment, thoughtful about Tinuke's suggestion. "Hmm....but I hate those damnable man-movers" he growled, thinking of the noisy and destruction metal traps that man went in to move faster. "Pitiful really." he growled, thinking aloud. He looked down at the pup and cast an amused roving eye back to the husky. "To the city it is then." he barked. He picked up the pace, veering off towards the west, and towards the city.

[Naijinaxx]

Tinuke grinned with humor as he trotted along side of the new leader.
"I never thought that the hero who has been deemed the one to save us all, was afraid of men?" he cocked a one-toothed laugh, Vernon leaping infront of Tinuke and jumping at his front, as if begging for food once more.
"Vernon..." Tinuke growled.
"But!"
"Stop..."
"Bu-"
"I said stop..."
"I'm hungry!"
"VERNON!"
The child stopped leaping at his side, obeying an instinct that had been used by his wolf kin (mother/father wolves regurgitating up a portion of partially digested food to give to offspring... Tinuke really isn't much of one to follow his ancestors.)
The pup drooped his ears in dis-satisfaction as he looped miserably at Tinuke's side... grumpy old man... always in a bad mood...
However, that Ripper fellow seemed always in a good mood, maybe he could play with him? -Get his mind off his grumbling stomach, and without warning, Vernon charged to the rotweiler, leaping up in the matter of an Australian Sheep dog, and pounced the dogs head like a face hugger from the Alien's movies.
Tinuke gasped in shock as he froze solid as a rock, nodding his head side-to-side in the manner of a disappointed parent.
"When are you ever going to learn?" he grumbled to himself, realising that Master Fireborn's kid made him look like a baby-sitter than a warrior on a mission as by the master's request in his dying breath.
"Why? -Master? -What unholy sin have I committed that led you to the decision of entrusting me with the kid? -Why?" he prayed, glancing up to the heavens with eyes of misery as the sun began casting through the clouds.
(I'm going to age U'Kuma, so she's some use to the pack, rather than a runt like Vernon... lol. Let's make her a young wolfess rather than a pup. I'd say about eleven months?)
U'kuma glanced on in shock as Vernon, as he was called, darted through the grass like a predator, and leaped clear on Ripper's face and clung to it like a child and his stuffed toy.
Well... that was one way to wake up the legs...
She couldn't help but smirk in slight laughter.
"A leader who befriends cats, and is now seen as a toy for the younger ones... how amusing, leader." She grinned with eager enthusiasm as she and Tinuke' met regrouped with Ripper.
"Vernon... _{let him go..."} Tinuke said in a voice of embarrasment.
"I'm just playing with him, grumpy!" Vernon's childish voice called out.
Tinuke's jaw dropped as U'Kuma bursted out laughing, rolling on her back in the manner of a pup once more.
"You two are great!" she heaved as her laugh exposed her fangs.
"You did not just call me that!" Tinuke' growled.
"What? -Grumpy? -It suites you well!" U'Kuma grinned as she calmed herself.
"I am not grumpy!" he complaigned.
"Yeah you are..." Vernon's voice shattered the moment once more.
"See, he agrees." U'Kuma glanced at Vernon with a wink.
"You practically told him to say that!" Tinuke' argued.
"Ripper... help me out here..." Tinuke' pleaded as Vernon began to gnaw on his ears.

[Wickedstar]

The border collie wasn't to far from watching them. She gave a smile and just let the dogs do whatever. She then glanced at ripper and gave a sigh. She then let her eyes trail back on the pup for a while.