Yuku free message boards

Kiri stared the small rabbit, her large ears twitching and head tilted at an angle. It was like she'd never seen anything like him, and the fact that he didn't have a tail didn't seem to bother her at all. Instead of backing off, she scooted a little closer and pointed at him. "You don't has a tail. I thought bunny-rabbits had fluffy tails like that girl I saw. What happened to yours?"

This only succeeded in another round of "No's", "Go 'way's", and "You hurted him's" from the thin tyke mixed in with Kiri's incessant questions, which ended once Kenneth shut his eyes, covered his ears, and called out, "SHUT UP! You're making a scene for no reason at all!"

"It wasn't me!" the fox-cat said defiantly, jabbing a finger at the rabbit. "HE started it, yellin' at me!"

It was at this point that Kenneth turned away from them, but not before he saw the fox's hand twitch. Was he conscious now, still pretending to be knocked out? That didn't seem unlike him, the kitten thought.

It was at this point that he spotted a familiar someone in the distance, not too far away from them. His eyes widened and he was completely ignoring the two half-breeds now.

"Sister?"

--

Terald looked up from where he sat on the sidewalk, he had seen Aria and John trudging up the street. They both looked downright terrible, something that caught more than one person's eye as they approached.

Idly yawning and scratching his back with the sword scabbard still in his hand, the unkempt cat said only one thing once the two rabbits stopped:

"You look like you've gone through hell."

"… so, you say you're having some trouble with a family member of yours?"

Robert, Julius, and "D" had made their way to another part of town, sitting in the dark, secluded corner of a tavern around a small wooden table.

"Yeah, we do. Her name's Ryn Sonata. Her birth year's around 499, which makes her about 22 GSA. She currently has custody of our youngest brother, Kenneth Sonata, Birth Year 593, making his age roughly 11, almost 12 GSA."

"I see. What is your dilemma, exactly?"

Julius spoke this time. "Murder."

"D" shifted in his seat. "Murder?"

"Our mother, Darlena Sonata, was killed with a single, point-blank gunshot to the head," Robert clarified. "Kenneth was delivered post-mortem, but of course, that's neither here nor there. Pretty much pointed at our former housekeeper, who, at the time, need a raise in her pay or something, but our father wouldn't give it to her. Perfect motive, don't ya think?"

"D" nodded. "Perfect indeed."

"Well, everything went downhill from there. Our sister didn't believe the old bucktooth did the crime, so she did some snooping of her own, and ultimately proved that it was the work of her old teacher." Robert looked a bit lost for a moment. "It was some wolf. I forgot the bastard's name. In any case, the charges against the old hag were dropped. The wolf's still rotting in jail to this day, unless he got out or something."

"You're not getting to the point fast enough."

"Don't be like that, Julius, I was just getting there. In any case, the thing that really set us off was the family lawyer arriving on our doorstep out of the blue. Mind you, at this point all hell's breaking loose, and we couldn't get at the brat with Ryn and that turncoat bastard Terald protecting him. In any case, the lawyer plays this tape that's like, our mother's will. And you know what she goes and does?" Robert's voice has risen to almost a yell now, causing a few people to turn their heads. "D" just sat there, listening intently.

"What does she do?"

"Inheritance." Julius turned to look at the hooded figure. "She left behind a large inheritance for Kenneth. Nothing for the rest of us."

"It's like a $&*%ing slap in our faces. We were her kids, too, and she goes and does that for the kid. The only thing is that he's not old enough to control it on his own. Nope, that belongs to whoever has custody of him, and that responsibility fell to our father. Of course, Ryn made sure that she got custody of the runt when she became of age, meaning control of his inheritance. We haven't been able to do a thing!" Robert's voice was still growing louder, prompting the barkeeper to shout, "OI! You're scaring 'way my customers, keep it down!"

"D" simply nodded again. "I see."

"We've got something we're in the middle of setting up, though, see?" Robert whispered, his voice only audible enough for "D" and Julius to hear. "See, soon after she got custody of our youngest brother, She high-tailed it out of here about thirty-something years ago, claiming that things were 'too dangerous.' We thought it would be good enough, along with some things we got from people we knew, we thought it would be good enough to get Ryn charged with kidnapping him, leaving him with no other family to care for him except for us. All we really need to do is get one final piece of proof… something that definitely says she's really unfit to care for the boy. Then he's ours. We've already managed to get a statement from our father saying that she was here earlier today, alone, meaning that the kid was left alone out there somewhere."

"Ah, I see your point." "D" nodded yet again. "So all you need is something concerning the whereabouts of your youngest brother. Very well, I do believe I may be able to help you with that. In fact, a friend of mine has just sent someone to investigate right at this moment… You should have your information in no time…"

"Whoa, really?" Robert stared at him in disbelief. "We really owe you one, 'D'."

"No, no, there's no need. After all, I tend to think we have something in 'common.'"

--

"Who else would it be?" Ryn said plainly. "I thought I told you not to go wandering off by yourself, Ken. I've been looking for you all over the place."

"I couldn't stay there. Someone was following me."

"Really? Why don't I believe you?"

Kenneth looked hurt, but his sister didn't seem to be aware of this.

"There's more kids wandering around here than I thought," she said idly, noticing the toddler and older girl staring at her. She assumed the vulpine boy on the ground was knocked out. Seeing the dark red stain, she stopped short. Eyes widened, she looked back at Kenneth. "What happened here?"

"That little boy don't gots no tail." Kiri pointed at the small rabbit's rear. "There's nothing. This boy got knocked out, another older boy hit him and ran away. Said his name was 'Wonderwood.'"

"Underwood," Kenneth corrected her, finally turning about face.

--

Terald stared blankly at them. "Met who…? Well, whatever, what the heck happened to you?"

"None of your damn business," Aria snapped irritably, holding her chest as some pain subsided, "I'm just going against my better judgement because this guy over here." She motioned to John, adding, "I don't get what his problem is."

The cat looked back for a moment, then at the two rabbits. "Dunno if you wanna head back that way, either. I heard some sort of commotion a while back. Whispers about something horrible just happening there. Something about a murder."

Aria's face turned pale. "Murder?"

"I don't know the details," Terald said. "I'm not about to-hey! Aria, where are you going?!"

The girl ignored anyone calling after as she suddenly found herself running forward. Somehow, she'd just gotten this feeling of dread… she hoped it wasn't the someone she thought it was.

"Sam? You followed me all the way out here?" Ryn looked quite surprised as she picked up the young squirrel. "$@&*#! I should have noticed sooner." Looking back at Russell, she answered, "It does look like we have a common destination after all. Kenneth, we're going. Now." Her violet eyes hovered on Kiri for a second. "You, too. You're not staying out here."

Kiri just stared at her as though she'd spoken a language she couldn't understand. A moment later, it seemed to register in her mind and she stood to full height and nodded.

Kenneth sighed. This really wasn't one of those good days. They were always too far and inbetween. He cast a sideways glance at the unconscious fox cub still on the ground. I know you're fully aware of what's going on by now. It's no use pretending any longer. I'm sure that little rabbit is someone you're protecting, so unless you don't want to be kept away from him, I suggest that you 'wake up.'

--

Terald shrugged, helping John to his feet. "I dunno anything about that, all I heard was someone talking about how they heard a woman screaming in one of those houses in the direction Aria ran off in." His face was suddenly grim. "We'd better catch up with her, she looks like she's already hurt. I'd really hate to think how much worse things could get in one day…"

--

"There's a body here. Looks like a single stab wound. The hand's been severed; it's lying over there... The cut's really clean, too. Kinda scary thinking about who would do this…"

A German shepherd and arctic fox had stopped by a side street; one knelt by a corpse lying in the street.

"This one's dead, all right. Hasn't been that long either… Looks a bit familiar though…" The fox was speaking, looking over the body when she suddenly froze. "Oh… oh sh--! I-it's him… Liaison Officer--"

"Shush." The canine covered his partner's mouth. "The last thing we want around here is unwanted attention. Bad enough the market got blown up, now there's murders happening left and right."

The fox wrenched herself free from the dog. "This is still very urgent-and tragic-news. We have to report back at once."

"Yes… let's go."

In a moment, the two vanished from sight.

Kenneth's ears were still ringing, but otherwise he was fine. Did he just hear another voice? It sounded pretty sinister from what he had heard… something really wasn't right here.

The destructive power of the Storm Art had been something he had only heard about. And just now the cub had to have used some pretty advanced magic.

He noticed Ryn was trying to get the man to stir, the injured squirrel looking on curiously. He looked back at the foxboy, his expression serious. What the hell was that for?! You could have killed him!!

"He's out cold. I hope you're happy." Ryn stood up and took a few steps towards Rico, then knelt so she was at eye level. "I don't know what your story is, and I'm not asking you to tell me," her expression became concerned as she continued. "However, you still need medical treatment. Both you and your sibling."

--

The place she had come to know as home was now a crime scene.

A few enforcers and a large crowd were already gathered outside by the time she arrived. One of them spotted her from a short distance away, said something to his colleagues, and then started walking right towards her. As he got closer, she could see that it was another canoid, a rather harried-looking pit bull. One paw remained on the small club he held, and with this other he motioned to the girl. "You there, kid. You're named Aria?"

Aria's expression hardened. "How do you know my name? What do you want from me?"

The dog tilted his head to the side. "I… think I'll take that as a yes. In any case you'll have to come with me."

"No way!"

"Look, I'm just as ticked off as you are, kid, but I've got to do my job. There's a half-dead victim back there who wanted me to find you, and I REALLY would like to get this over with. Besides, I'm gonna need you to identify her, the old thing's broken, won't tell us her name. She just kept muttering 'Aria' over and over again."

The rabbit fell silent, and she looked at the ground, fists clenched. The pit bull scratched his head impatiently. "Whether you follow or not is up to you, it's not my problem anymore, I just gave you the message. Jeez, the last thing I wanted to deal with today was something like this."

The next thing he knew, the tan blur blew right past him, right for the house. He took off in pursuit, but stopped in his tracks as he saw her trying to push her way past the enforcers in front of the house.

"No one is allowed inside, kid, go home."

"THIS IS MY HOME!" Aria screamed back shrilly. "LET ME GO BEFORE I KICK YOUR ASSES, THE WHOLE LOT OF YA!!"

One of the enforcers blocking the girl, a female golden retriever, sensed the pit bull's approach and looked up. "Good timing, Biggs, do something about this kid!"

"No can do, Jess. She's the one the victim spoke of, we gotta let her in."

"What…? This kid--OW!!"

The rabbit's fist hit the retriever in the nose, making her step aside. The other enforcer was kicked hard in the groin, and he collapsed in a heap with a raspy yelp. She ignored Biggs' yelling as she ran inside.

The sight that awaited her would make her scream.

She stopped just short of the entryway; the door was in pieces on the floor, as though it had been blasted apart. The scent of blood was heavy in the air, and red was smeared and splattered all over the walls. She could see a couple of officers gingerly walking around, documenting what they saw and talking amongst themselves.

A hand touched her shoulder. Startled, Aria whirled around, but kicked nothing but air.

"Man, you're pretty quick for a kid," the pit bull said, "I told you to stop, but you don't seem to… hold it right there." He took hold of Aria's shirt as she tried to push her way past him. "Listen, you can't just walk in there, you HAVE to be accompanied by someone. This is a CRIME SCENE, after all."

The girl glared at him venomously, but he shrugged it off. Keeping a firm grip on her shirt, Biggs led her inside.

Nothing looked how it used to be. Broken dishes littered the place, a fork was stuck in the wall. Furniture in the living room was torn to shreds, and more blood smeared the walls. As they passed the kitchen, the teapot on the stove was whistling loudly. The table was smashed in half.

Tears streamed down her face. Who could do this?

"It's a mess, I know. I deal with this %&#@ every now and again, but this is the worst I've ever seen," Biggs said, his ears twitching uncomfortably.

A doctor and another enforcer waited for them outside one of the back rooms.

"Found her," the canine reported.

The doctor nodded as the enforcer went inside the room. He knelt down in front of Aria so he was at her eye level. "You're the child called Aria, right? I assume you're aware of what's happened?"

The girl turned away as best she could, though the pit bull kept a grip on her shirt.

The doctor went on as if she'd answered him, "Well, I need you to see if you know the person in this room. I am afraid she's barely hanging on to life, so time is of the essence…"

"Then let me go already!" Aria shouted, trying to wrench herself free of the canine enforcer's grip to no avail.

The doctor nodded and stepped aside, allowing the two to enter the room. Once the rabbit saw the broken form that once her caretaker, she fell silent.

She could barely recognize the old hare, it looked like she'd bathed in red paint. Half of one arm and looked as though it had been torn off and carelessly tossed aside. Her legs were bent at odd angles in several places, obviously broken. Her dress had been ripped apart, and there was a particularly nasty wound on her abdomen that exposed burnt flesh, exuding a smell that was making Aria feel ill. As the enforcer turned her loose, Aria just noticed that the strange gurgling sound she was hearing was coming from a bloody hole in the old woman's neck; her throat had been slit.

"A…ri…a…"

The girl fell to her knees at the old hare's side, the tears streaming down her face. Why? Why did she have to see her like this? Who could have done this?! Why was this happening?

Slowly, the old woman's lifted her arm with great effort, and something small dropped from her clenched, bloody hand onto her chest. Something was clenched in her bloody hand. "…take… this…"

Apprehensively, the rabbit picked it up, and realized it was a gold locket, stained with red. She looked back at Estella, who simply managed a weak smile it faded.

Once her eyes closed, they never opened again.

Aria was shaking uncontrollably; the tears weren't going to stop now.

"Estella, you &@%#ing old bat… You're not supposed to die… YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO DIE!!"

She threw her arms around the dead woman's neck and sobbed, indifferent about the blood soaking into her clothes. Her chest hurt because of her cracked ribs, but that was nothing compared to how she felt now.

"'Time of death, 6:53 p.m. Cause, multiple severe injuries and internal bleeding… Name: Estella Bridge-Harrison, Species: Lepoid, Gender: Female, Age: approximately 57 GSA…'"

"This is the worst case I've seen in a while. It's like the perp really wanted her dead. The average old bucktooth probably would've died after being gutted like that."

"Biggs, you should get her out of here. She looks like she's already injured…"

"She's getting in the way. We still have work to do here."

"All right already, damn, Jess. I heard you the first time."

Aria finally looked up as the footsteps approached her. The pit bull stood above her, looking as agitated as ever. "Look… I know what you're goin' through, kid, but it's time to go. I take it you don't have any family?"

The woman didn't reply right away. "It is imperative," she said plainly. "Ken, keep an eye on Sam."

"Eyan?" Kenneth was puzzled.

The children looked on as Ryn lifted Russel so his arm was draped around her shoulder. The ruler was obviously taller than she was, his legs were bent slightly at the knees. Her teeth were clenched; he must have been pretty heavy, too.

Kiri looked on in silence, her orange eyes darting back and forth. She seemed nervous now, being around people she didn't really know. "I don't like hospitals."

"You can stay here, then," Ken said, sounding a bit more irritable than he felt.
The girl shook her head. "I don't like it here, bad things come out at night."

Ryn sighed. This was going to be a long walk.

---

"Stay away from me," Aria warned, her fists clenched.
"Look, kid, I'm just doing my job. You need to get someplace safe..."
The rabbit stood up and backed away from the pit bull, her green eyes almost illuminated by the fading sunlight. "Stay away from me."
"Come on, kid we're not playing around."
"NO!"

"I've had enough of this bucktooth brat..."

Aria's eyes spotted another enforcer near the canine draw his club. "If you don't cooperate with us--"

He never had time to finish the sentence, as Aria rammed herself as hard as she could into him knocking him to the floor. Another made a grab for her, but she ducked and tripped them with a sweeping kick, scrambled to her feet, and made a run for it. The locket was still clenched tight in her fist.

Two more enforcers were waiting for her by the time she reached the front hall, but she didn't care. She grabbed the nearest object and swung it blindly at them, making them sidestep. One of them took hold of her arm, but was thwacked in the head.

A large tiger stood outside the door, and quickly scooped up the by her shirt rabbit before she could react. The retriever and pit bull arrived soon after, one with a pair of handcuffs.

"What are you gonna do with this one?"

"Place her under arrest. She looks scrawny, but she's quite a handful," Jess commented, taking the handcuffs from Biggs.

"GET OFF ME!!" Aria screamed. "LET ME GO!" She twisted herself around in the tiger's grasp, kicking and trying to wrench herself loose, but it was no use. All she managed was to smash her foot into the retriever's muzzle again and knock the wind out of a bystander. The tiger wasn't fazed.

"... Right."

"I've never had the patience to come up with plans," Terald chuckled lightly. "I tend to bum-rush my way through things, depending on who ticked me off first. In this case, I'll just have to pretend."

A howl of pain finally came from the tiger as Aria landed a hard kick in his jaw. He staggered a bit, but he maintained his grip on her shirt. He was bleeding from the nose and mouth now, and he didn't look too pleased.

"You LITTLE--"

--

"I never said I was taking him," Ryn grunted, setting Russell on the steps of a nearby house. "I most certainly wasn't going to leave him lying in the middle of the street."

She picked up Sam and started walking ahead of the kids, glancing at the foxboy for a moment. "I'm going to assume that you can walk, because I'm not waiting for anyone. That means you and your friend, Kenneth."

"Huh? Oh, right..." Kenneth looked as though he'd just snapped out of a trance. He looked a bit pale.

"Ken?"

"I'm... I'm fine. I just... let's go."

Kiri jogged passed him so she was just behind Ryn and Rico, leaving Kenneth to drag his feet at the rear. He stopped for a moment, then looked back down the street. A single tear streamed down his face, then, realizing that the others were almost out of sight, ran to catch up with them.

--

"Ah, look at the time. I need to be on my way." "D" stood up from his seat.

"Where to?" Julius eyed him suspiciously.

"That, my friend, is strictly private."

"Jules, stop being like that," Robert said irritably, "Although if you at least take off that hood, I'd probably be more inclined to really trust you."

"All in good time, friend. Now if you'll excuse me, there are things which I must be getting back to. We will meet here tomorrow afternoon, if time permits, to discuss things further."

"D" headed for the tavern door, dropping a few coins on the counter as he passed.

Robert sat next to Julius, who was idly sipping his drink.

"You sure made some progress, dear elder brother."

"Shut up, you %&#@."

Everything seemed to slow to a crawl for a moment. All eyes were on the rabbit, especially the tiger. Anger flashed in is eyes for a moment before he dropped Aria. The girl got in one last kick on his shin before she landed sloppily on the ground. She gave the enforcers a sullen look before walking a short distance away and sitting on the ground with her back to them.

Terald stepped in front of her, looking the much larger feline and the few other enforcers emerging from the house. "You guys are a lot smarter than you look. I take it we have no problems here, then?"

The tiger crossed his arms. "Whatever. Go on, get out of here before I change my mind."

--

"Nobody... should have to suffer..."

The words left Ken's mouth as soon as he thought of them. "Why do siblings have to fight each other? Why do people choose to hurt one another?"

Ryn stopped in her tracks. "The world's never going to get all prettied-up and sugar-coated for you, Ken. You know it's a cruel place."

"But..."

"Enough. We'll talk later, Ken."

Kenneth balled his hands into fists. First she leaves me behind, then she blows me off. Eyan...

Her violet eyes simply gazed at him, the fox's tone didn't seem to bother her. "You misunderstand me," she said, her voice still calm. "I wasn't saying it for anyone's benefit nor to harm them. It just is.

"I was your age once; I had a bunch of older brothers who were bullies, always picking on those they thought were inferior to them. I had parents who turned a blind eye simply because they didn't want to deal with it. One gladly chose death, and was murdered after delivering her last child, the one walking behind you. I swore to myself that I would do everything within my power not to let anything happen to him, and I still do to this day."

Kenneth's head perked up a little, he'd never known his sister to simply talk about the past.

"In the end, I simply speak from my experiences. Make of it what you will."

--

The shepherd and fox would find the unconscious ruler slumped against the building when they arrived a moment later.

"Damnit. I knew something wasn't right around here. And now look what's happened."

"We've no time for that. We have to get Master Underwood back to his estate at once."

"But what about…" the fox started, but the canoid silenced her with a wave of his paw.

"They can handle themselves, I'm sure. Besides, I wanna get out of here already. It feels creepy, like there's something sinister lurking about."

--

"She didn't deserve to die like that."

Her words were strangely clear and distinct. "There was blood everywhere… all hers…"

When she looked up at John and Terald, there was an almost wild look in her eyes. "She was waiting for us to come back, and she died for it. Why did it have to happen to her? She was only waiting for us to come back, that's all. She didn't deserve what happened to her."

Terald seemed to grasp what she was saying. "… Damn… Ryn didn't even get to see her yet… and now this."

"Even with all that one does, one thing or another is bound to happen," Ryn said gently. "He's still alive, and he's safe. That's all that should matter to you at this moment. Then, take care not to let it happen again."

The last couple of sentences seemed to be more directed at herself than Rico. She sounded almost apologetic.

"I am no Warden. I am simply an older sister who has taken it upon herself to raise her younger brother as best she can at the cost of her own dreams. Nothing more, nothing less…

"...You're a smart kid; more capable of handling yourself than I was at your age by far. Don't ever lose sight of your dreams. Ever."

She had stopped walking. The hospital was in their sights now; several doctors and kept running in and out of the building tending to the numerous wounded, noble and lower-class races alike. Some looked like they had been caught in the middle of the blast and somehow survived, others had broken bones from being caught or pinned under falling debris. The small group watched as one physician covered an unfortunate patient with a blanket and shook his head.

Kiri shrank back behind Ryn; it was obvious she didn't like the place.

--

Aria looked away. "Heard that one before. Hell of a lotta good it ever did anybody. The dead never come back to life. Estella is no exception."

"Well, if you're done brooding, kid, we need to get going. This isn't exactly the best place to mourn the dead," Terald said plainly. "You've got two legs; stand up and walk."