The Fable of a Lost Wolf

by Solaris Night


Chapter 1: Welcome Home

"This is it then." Trider said as he picked up the fragment and walked towards the portal. He stopped in front of it and looked back to his friends. They all smiled and waved at him, so he returned the gesture. "See you in a year." he shouted and turned back to the portal. He took a deep breath and walked thorugh the it. "Old home, new adventure." he said to himself as the portal closed behind him.

As soon as he entered it his senses were thrown into a disarray and he felt vertigo hit him like a truck. The confusion lasted for only a second before it stopped and he felt fine once again, however this time he didn't feel, see, hear or smell anything, almost like all of his senses were turned off. And just like before his senses returned almost as quick as they disappeared.

When he came back to, he quickly realized that he was standing between two buildings, the ground several feet below him. Gravity took its effect and he began to fall towards the concrete floor.

He smirked to himself and faced the sky above him. But his smirk was quickly replaced with a dreadful expression, when a sudden realization dawned on him.

He couldn't fly.

Thinking quickly he reached out his hand and grabbed the closest thing, which happened to be guard rail of the emergency stairs. Unfortunately the rail couldn't withstand the sudden force and it snapped almost immediately.

Trider looked at the stairs with anger and shouted as he continued to fall.

"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-"

He didn't get to finish his sentence as his back collided with the ground. After several seconds he slowly stood up and massaged his aching head.

"-ck!" he said as he lifted his upper body from the hole he had created. "Why do I always fall from extreme heights, whenever I travel to a different planet?" he asked nobody in particular and stood up completely.

He glared at the Kanisar shaped hole in the ground, almost like it had killed it family. Eventually he closed his eyes and sighed. "The fuck happened?" he wondered and lifted his hands to his head. He inspected them for a second. He tried to channel his Ki through them and created a marble sized ball, before it almost immediately fizzled out.

He tried again and again, but he had no success with it. "Shit!" he cursed. He knew that no matter how hard he tried, it would be useless. He could feel his internal energy was in a state of pure chaos. For a minute he stood still as he continued to feel his energy, but eventually he sighed and gave up.

He knew that without Ki he would be as good as done, but he didn't give up. He once again inspected his arms, then his torso and finally his legs. He found no wounds on them and he began to ponder. He turned his head and saw a garbage container, filled to the brim with trash.

He approached it and reared his arm. In a split second he struck it with full force and sent it flying high into the air. Satisfied, he watched it spin in the air, before he turned around and walked away. "This will do to deal with the other trash."

Just as he rounded the corner he heard the container impact with the ground and afterwards the shouts of the residents. He smirked to himself and pulled a cloak out of his backpack and used it to cover himself with it. He continued to walk down the streets, avoiding any crowded place.

Slowly but surely he made his way through the biggest city on Inu, while also gathering any information he could get.

"One year?" he mumbled to himself, as he looked at the newspaper, he swiped from a human. "It's been one year since I've left." Now that he thought about it a bit, he remembered that the alley he wound up in when he came back, was the same one he jumped over when he left his planet.

He discarded the newspaper in a nearby bin, since there were no other useful information in it, and continued his trek. "The only thing I have to figure out now is why I can't use Ki anymore?"

Numerous thoughts ran through his head, about the possible reason why it happened, but he eventually gave up, since he wasn't the kind to think too much about such things. He prefered to keep it as simple as possible.

"Maybe someone at the base can help me figure out why it happened? But if it is somehow because of the shard and its magic, I doubt they'd be able to help at all." he continued to think, paying no attention to his surroudings, beside that he didn't accidentally run into someone.

Before he knew it he arrived to his destination. But what he found wasn't the secret base of his fellow rebels. Instead the building was demolished, charred remains the only thing left of it.

He slowly approached it and dragged his hand across a piece of wood. "So they found it." he said quietly. "Figures." Without sparing a single moment longer, he turned around and began to walk away. "Now then, where would the old man put his new base?" he pondered as he walked between the alleys.

***

A couple of hours had passed and Trider still wasn't anywhere close to getting an answer as to where the new rebel base was located. It didn't help that he couldn't ask anyone, since they would immeditely know that he was part of them.

"The only way to find it is to find a rebel." he said in a deep thought. "But where am I supposed to find one?"

Distant screams drew Triders attention and he decided to check it out. It took him a couple of seconds, before he arrived to where the commotion was coming from. His eyes widened from the scene that unfurled before him. Humans and Kanisars were engaged in fierce battle, neither side having any advantage over the other. Some of them were engaged in combat, while others were hiding or shooting at others.

"Bingo." he smirked to himself and ran towards the chaotic scene. As he approached he took notice of a Kanisar girl, enveloped in a black aura, who was fiercely fighting anyone who even came close to her. However she failed to notice a guard who aimed his gun at her. Just as he pressed the trigger, Trider jumped in and kicked him.

The bullet missed its target, but it drew the girls attention. She looked at Trider with shock. "Who are you?" she asked flabergasted, before she kicked away a guard who tried to tackle her.

"Later." Trider quickly replied. "Don't worry though, I'm a friend." he said and drew three lines across the left side of his chest with his right hand, in the shape of an S. She immeditely realized he told the truth and nodded. The two now back to back began to fight off the humans.

"Mind telling me what this is all about?" he asked her as he tossed one of the guards into a nearby wall.

"You don't know?" she asked.

"Kinda new here." he replied.

She grunted and kneed a soldier in the stomach. "After our base was found out and destroyed, several of our comrades were captured and we came here to rescue them." she pointed towards an armored truck that Trider only now took notice of. "Needless to say, things went south and here we are."

"Luckily you have me here now." Trider grinned and roundhouse kicked another guard. "With this we should be able to beat them."

The girl shot him an cold glare. "No we won't. If we continue like this, then it's only a matter of time before a Peacekeeper comes here."

Trider looked at her with a confused look and asked. "What's a Peacekeeper?"

The girls expression turned to one of shock and bafflement. "Were you living under a rock until now?" she asked.

"Maaaybe?" Trider replied with a shrug.

The girl shook her head. "Let's just say it's trouble. A kind of trouble that will get us all killed, if we don't get away, and fast."

"Then why don't you take the truck?" Trider asked and pointed towards the vehicle. "With it you should be able to plow through them with ease."

"We would, but we don't have the keys." she replied.

"Then who does?"

The girl lifted her hand and pointed towards a man way in the back. "Him."

Trider looked where she was pointing and his eyes widened.

There in the back stood a man with a black trench coat, that reached all the way to the ground. Towards the bottom it opened up to reveal white trousers and black shoes. In his hands he held two tonfas, whose edges were sharpened to an extreme, acting like two swords. His head was adorned with long, slicked back, black hair that was beginning to gray at the side of his head. The bottom half of his face was hidden behind a jet black mask, which was shaped like a skull with sharp and jagged teeth. But what was truly terrifying about him were the two cold grey eyes.

The same eyes that Trider had faced, right before he was transported to Equestria.

"Deadlock!" he exhaled. His eyes became colder and he began to walk towards him. "I'll get the keys. You guys focus on staying alive."

"Are you crazy?!" the girl shouted after him. "You can't take him alone!"

"Watch me." he said, before he began to run through everyone, heading straight for Deadlock. The soldiers tried to stop him, but to no avail.

When he reached Deadlock he reared his fist and unleashed everything he had at the man. The human dodged out of the way of the attack and looked at Trider, who was still wearing his cloak.

"You dare attack me beast?" he said in a cold tone, showing nothing but disdain. "You have some nerve. I will make sure your demise will be excrutiating."

He twirled his tonfas and began his attack. Trider matched his attacks and blocked his blade tonfas with the combat gloves he got from Spike. The two were locked in a fierce battle with neither of them showing any signs of backing down.

At one moment Trider saw an opportunity to deliver a sure hit and he took it. Deadlock took the full brunt of the attack and fel across the ground. Trider approached him, sure of his victory.

"No way a human could stand after an attack like that." he smiled and reached down.

Suddenly Deadlock lifted his arms, both of them glowing. "Death Star." the human said and blasted Trider. The Kanisar screamed as he fell to the floor. He grabbed his slightly burned face and faced Deadlock once again.

"You can use Ki?" he asked flabergasted.

"Of course." the man said with slight joy. "I am one of the few who was blessed with this power. Although I do hate it that it had come from your kind, but I guess the end result is more than worth it." Again he twirled his tonfas and began his assault on the Kanisar, this time also using several Ki attacks in between.

Trider was slowly pushed back by his relentless assault and he received several wounds. Eventually he was brought to his knees and Deadlock placed one of his tonfas on his shoulder beside his neck. "Be grateful mutt, you will have the pleasure to be executed by the likes of me." he said and lifted both of his weapons. He swung them down at Trider, but the Kanisar caught them midway and the blades dug into the flesh of his hands.

"You have a lot to learn about Ki, before you can even measure up to me." he growled. He pushed all of his power into his hands and with a loud snap he broke Deadlocks weapons.

Shock by that, the human had no time to react to his counterattack. Trider wailed on him with everything he had and while Deadlock tried to retaliate, Trider managed to successfully dodge or block all of his attacks.

With a roar, Trider delivered a powerful kick to the humans stomach and slammed him into a wall. "This is payback for the last time."

"Last time?" Deadlock said weakly. Trider wanted to punish him more, but he knew he didn't have the time. He searched the pockets of Deadlocks trench coat and found the key.

"Found it." he said loudly, lifting the key high into the air. But instead of cheers he heard a high pitched whistling. He looked around to find the source. Looking into the sky he saw it, a large object that was flying straight towards them. It smashed into the ground and laid motionless.

"What is that?" Trider asked.

Deadlock laughed at him. "Heh. This is your end. A Peacekeeper." The giant lump of metal began to shift, as it transformed. When it was finished it stood on four large oval shaped legs and a slightly smaller cicular body in the middle.

"A robot?" Trider asked, slightly disappointed. "This is what everyone was making a big deal out of?" He let Deadlock fall to the ground and walked over to it. "i've dealt with your kind before. Let me show you how."

He reared his hand as far back as he could and punched it. The Peacekeeper tilted backwards and it landed on its side when it fell down. Trider smiled victoriously, as he rasied both of his hands into the sky.

"Get away from there!" he heard someone shout. He paid them no attention, as he faced the robot again and saw it picked itself up, with no visible damage.

"Tough nut are ya. Well then, you better get ready for round two." This time he reared his leg and he swung it.

"Peacekeeper attack!"

Suddenly the robot jerked and intercepted Triders kick. Surprised by the sudden reaction, the Kanisar lost his balance and the Peacekeeper took advantage of that. It swung one of its legs at Trider and he was sent flying into a nearby wall. He grunted as he slid down to the ground, his back grating against the rough texture.

"Peacekeeper stand down." Deadlock said and the robot stopped its movement. The man walked over to Trider and he could tell that the man was smiling under his mask. "Like I said. Your end." He then turned to the robot again and shouted his command. "Peacekeeper, kill!" he said and pointed toward the rebels.

The robot shifted to life and began to move towards the terrified humans and Kanisars, who began to hide inside the truck.

"Now then, I think I was about to exe-" Deadlock didn't have time to finish his sentence as Trider punched him straight in the jaw, cracking the mask that the man wore.

Without a second to spare he ran towards the Peacekeeper. He saw that it approached a couple of humans that didn't manage to hide and it was about to strike them with its leg.

Trider knew that they wouldn't survive if it hit. A part of him said that they deserved it, the part that he had listened to for a great part of his life.

But not this time.

He jumped in front of the leg and grabbed it. He struggled against it and eventually managed to stop it.

"GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE ALREADY!" he screamed at the two humans and they listened to him. Trider pressed back against the machine, however it was jsut stronger than him and it smashed him into the ground.

He had no chance to counter as it continued to strike at him with its leg, pressing him deeper and deeper into the ground.

Suddenly the girl Kanisar howed out of nowhere and kicked the Peacekeeper off of Trider. He wanted to thank her, but she just pulled him up and they began to run toward the truck.

"Why the heck didn't you go Feral?" she screamed at him.

"I can't." he replied.

"What do you mean you can't?" she asked, looking at him with complete shock and confusion.

"Woman, we don't have time to talk about my performance issues!" he shouted back at her. He handed over the keys he got from Deadlock to her. "You drive!"

She took the keys and nodded. The two went into the cabin of the truck and the girl started the engine. The motor roared to life and they drove away from the humans.

"Are they following us?" the girl asked after a few seconds.

Trider stuck his head out to look behind them and pulled it back just in time to avoid a shot. "Take a guess!" he said sarcastically.

The Peackepper, with Deadlock on top of it, as well as a few jeeps were following and shooting at them, but luckily the truck withstood the blows it received.

The girl focused on the road, while Trider navigated her.

"Take a left here!" he shouted. The girl turned the wheel sharply and smashed through a couple of cars that were in their way. "Shit!" Trider cursed and looked in the rearview mirror at the destruction they caused. "Where did you learn to drive?"

"I never said I knew how to drive." she shouted back.

"Shit!" he cursed again. He looked forward and saw that they were approaching another intersection. "Go forward!" he commanded.

"No!" she retaliated. "That won't get us nowhere, we need to turn right!"

"The only thing on the right is a dead end."

"And how do you know?"

"Cause I've passed by here before!"

"Yeah right, I am supposed to believe a guy who recklessly charges into a fight and has no clue as to what is going on? I am going right and that's final." she said and pressed on the gas even harder.

"Woman listen to me!"

"No I am driving, so I choose where we go!" she countered and turned the truck right. "Why don't you shoot at them, instead of trying to lecture me where to go?"

"I can't for some reason."

The girl rolled her eyes. "Can't go Feral and can't shoot Ki? Next you're going to tell me that you can't even-"

"STOP!!!" Trider shouted. The girl saw what he meant and pressed the breaks. The truck screeched to a halt, just a few inches away from a broken down bridge.

Trider turned his head to the girl and shot her a nasty glare. "This is the last time I let you choose where we go!"

"Oh this is my fault now?" she shouted back. "This coming from Mr. Impotence."

"Impotence?!" he screamed. "I'll have you know that I am more than capable of satisfying any woman, just ask my-"

Their bickering was interrupted when they heard a voice come from the outside. "You are trapped. Surrender now and we will let half of you live. Maybe." Trider knew who this voice belonged to and he knew that if they obliged, none of them will make it out.

He looked at the girl and saw her depressed expression. "I guess this is it." she sighed. "I'm sorry for what I said." she apologized. "Thank you for trying to help us."

Trider observed her, a scowl clear on his face. "Well I'm not." he said and reached over to the girl, pulling somthing from her belt. "I don't give up that easily. We'll continue this when we get back to base."

"Do you have a plan?" she asked, slightly hopeful.

"I have an idea." he answered. "Although it's probably an awful one." He unlocked his door and before he exited he told her one last thing. "Tell everyone inside to hold on to their butts."

With that said he went out, his hands behind his head.

Deadlock watched with glee as the Kanisar stepped out of the truck. "Good. Now for the others." he said. "Or we will have no other choice but to push the truck down."

Trider didn't say anything. Instead he pulled the pin and tossed the grenade into the air. Everyones eyes followed the object he had tossed into the air, while he himself shut them tight.

The object exploded, blinding and deafening everyone in the vicinity. It took a few seconds for everyone to regain their senses and once they did they could only stare at the sight before them.

Trider was using all of his strength to lift the massive truck with everyone inside it over his head. Then he grunted and tossed the vehicle across the gorge, where it safely landed an the other side. Still awestruck by what ahd happened, the humans remained still, giving Trider a chance to look back at them.

Deadlocks eyes widened as his eyes gazed at the unhooded face of the Kanisar. "It can't be." he gasped.

"Now for you!" The Kanisar said and extended his arm.

Fear coursed through Deadlocks veins. "Peacekeeper, protect!" he screamed. The robot positioned itself in front of the human and placed its legs at the front.

Trider watched how the humans scrambled around, trying to get out of the way of the blast. He then grinned and twisted his hand, flipping them off, which Deadlock saw quite clearly. He then turned around and ran to the edge of the gorge. With a mighty leap he crossed it and joined the others in the truck, with which they then drove off.

Deadlock continued to stare at the other side where the truck was, before reaching for his radio. "HQ. This is Deadlock. We mig- We have a problem."

***

The truck drove for half an hour, before they reached the outer limits of the city and then drove into the woods. It took several more minutes for them to reach the base of the rebels.

When they disembarked they were greeted by other members and they all cheered and praised. The captives hugged their closest ones and two humans approached Trider.

"Thank you." one of them said.

Trider simply shrugged and said. "No problem."

The girl Kanisar approached him as well and bumped him in the shoulder. "You're one crazy dude, but I'm glad we had you came when you did. Otherwise this would've ended even worse."

The two were soon swarmed by others and they began to ask them questions.

"I see you've been successful." someone said and as soon as he did, everyone stopped their chatter and turned towards an older man. He slowly walked towards the pair, using his blade as a makeshift cane.

"Commander Shepherd!" the girl said and saluted. Trider watched as the familiar face approached them and he couldn't help but smile.

"At ease." Shepherd said and the girl lowered her arm. "I'm glad that you made it back alive." he said and patted the girls head, which she clearly enjoyed. He then turned toward Trider and raised a brow at him. "And who might you be?"

The girl quickly responded. "This is a fellow rebel. If it wasn't for him we would've probably been captured." she said enthusiastically. "You should've seen him. He went against a Peacekeeper even though he can't go Feral or use Ki." she continued fawning over him.

Shepherd chuckled at the girls reaction. "I see. He truly will be a valueable ally in the future." He then turned his head towards Trider and extended his arm. "I am Commander Robert Shepherd, leader of the rebel forces here in Lupias. And who might you be."

Trider didn't respond, instead he continued to stare at the man. Eventually he reached up and removed the hood of his cloak, revealing his toothy grin. "Long time no see old man." he said.

Shepherds pupils shrank when he saw the all too familiar face. "Trider?" he asked in disbelief. When he uttered the name the people around them had different reactions. Shock, joy, fear and anger.

Still in disbelief Shepherd reached forward and touched Triders face with his hand, almost like he was trying to touch the most fragile object in existence. When he finally reached him, he broke down and pulled the Kanisar into a hug.

"I thought you were dead." he sobbed into his shoulder.

Trider was a little surprised by the reaction, but he eventually hugged him back and patted his back. "You know it would take a goddamn army to take me down." he said, as he buried his face into the old mans shoulder, hiding away the tears that began to flow down his face.

***

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!"

Deadlock stood silent as he was berated by the king himself.

"HOW COULD YOU LOSE NOT ONLY THE CAPTURED REBELS, BUT ALSO ONE OF THE ARMORED TRUCKS, WHICH NOW THE REBELS HAVE IN POSSESSION?! DESPITE THE FACT THAT YOU HAD A PEACEKEEPER WITH YOU?"

"We... were surprised by someone." Deadlock tried to defend himself.

"Ah yes you did say something about that." another voice spoke up.

Deadlock was currently standing in a room that had several screens, on which the most of influental people on Inu were watching him.

"Who did you say it was again?" the voice asked again.

Deadlock fumbled for a bit, his usually clam demeanor crumbling under the pressure. "Trider Lykosgrothia." he answered.

"Trider Lykosgrothia?" the voice repeated. "As in the Mad Fang Trider Lykosgrothia?" Before Deadlock could answer, the voice continued. "The same Trider Lykosgrothia that you supposedly eliminated a year ago?"

"Correct." he answered.

"Are you certain?" another voice spoke up.

"I saw him with my own eyes." Deadlock replied. "And the Peacekeeper also managed to capture his face." As he said that the image of the Kanisar flipping off the camera was displayed on the screens. "And after running it through several face recognition programes we are certain, that it is him."

"Then tell me Deadlock." the king spoke in a soft tone, before he erupted. "HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN SOMEONE WHO IS DEAD, WALKING AROUND AND BEATING OUR SOLDIERS?" Deadlock could swear he heard the kings veins pop.

"In my defence sir." he said once the king had clamed down. "When he had disappeared we searched all over the city and after he had not resurfaced for three months we had all the reason to pronounce him deceased."

"He does put a valid point. He followed all the procedures, so he is not to blame for not knowing that he was alive." another voice spoke.

"He should've done a better job."

"How can you say that, he did all that was expected of him and then some."

"I say we should just demote him."

The voices continued to argue with each other and while they did so, another person continued to watch the enhanced image of Trider that the Peacekeeper took.

"So you were alive." the man said quietly. He corrected his glasses and smiled. "I can't wait for our reunion."