The Infinite Cycle- First Blood

by Temayes

Chapter 1, First Meeting

After a while, Katarina stepped into the brightly lit tavern room.

‘’What shall it be for you today, my love?’’

‘’The usual dear.’’

And without a sound, she walked out again.

-----------------------------

You sat up in the musky tavern bed. Vaguely remembering what had happened the night before. You were… attacked? No.. that wasn't it. It was dark outside. Honest folk had already left the streets to make place for brigands and bandits. Everyone knew this city was hell after dark. Murder, rape, robbery; It all happened here.

So last night, you came back after a long day of training. It was already dark, so your watchfulness had been even greater. You had been robbed before, and barely came back alive last time. This alone made you panic when you saw a red-haired mare in front of you. Surrounded by five tough-looking bastards. The mare's jacket was half ripped off, exposing her breasts and her torso. You felt like you stood there looking at the scene for hours…. Until reality struck.

You dashed toward the pray closest to you, and after a lightning-speed move, his head rolled over the floor. The other four bandits were shocked for a while, until they forgot about the mare and went after you. You could almost TASTE their fear. It amused you. They charged in headfirst, but you knew some of the pegasi had already wet themselves.

Once again, you drew your katana with your magic. Hitodama Nihontõ now hovers in front of you. You dashed towards the four cowardly pegasi. Everything in front of you turned blood red, and you felt the bloody sensation burning behind your eyes, and felt the blood rushing through your veins.

‘’YOU WERE BORN FOR THIS.’’

Surprised by the sudden voice in your head, you dropped your guard, and failed to notice one bandit had gotten back up. He dropped his weapon, ran over to you, and jabbed his full hoof in your throat.

‘’T… Th… This is-‘’ You managed to say, before coughing up blood and passing out.

-----------------------------

The next day, in the morning, you woke up. In your tavern bed, no less.

You had noticed a certain mare lying next to you that morning.
A Pegasus, no older than twenty-one, with red hair.

She reminded you of the mare you had saved yesterday. No.. It WAS the Pegasus from yesterday. Still, strange thoughts circled through your head. What was that voice from yesterday? How did I get here? How did that mare survive that last bandit? Who is this Pegasus actually? You just couldn’t make any sense out of it.

You asked the mare her name. ‘’It’s Katarina.’’ She had said.

Katarina.. This name sounded familiar, but you don’t know exactly why.

‘’So what’s your name?’’ She asked when you finally awoke from your daydreaming, sitting on top of you.

Shocked from the sudden piece of feminine pony that had appeared, you accidentally knocked her over and fell out of the bed yourself.

‘’Don’t…. scare me like that..’’ You said.

‘’Sorry. You did look very cute though.’’ She replied with a smile. ‘’So what is it?’’

‘’So what is what?’’

‘’Your name!’’

You looked down. No one had ever asked your name before. You had one, yes, but the last time you needed it was when you had challenged someone, and he wanted to know the name of the one that would eventually slay him.

‘’Names are not important.’’ You eventually said.

‘’Fine, have it your way.’’ She said with a grand sigh.

You stood up, walked over to the chair, and got your gear back on. You got your eye patch from your nightstand and put it on.

‘’You….. have an eye patch?’’ Katarina asked you with eyes wide open. Visibly shocked.

‘’It’s.. something that happened a while ago, yes.’’ You said.

Katarina was silent for a while, until she asked me to get breakfast.

‘’Fine, just.. don’t get assaulted or anything.’’ I said with a wink to Katarina.

‘’I’ll try.. I’ll try…’’ She replied, and fell back onto the bed.

You stepped out of the tavern room and headed downstairs. You knew the owner, and greeted him with a smile.

‘’Good morning, master Silverwing. And how fares your day so far?’’

‘’Mighty fine, master Hunter." ‘’Mighty fine.’’

‘’Good to hear, sir. Keep it up.’’ And walked past the tavern counter, to the door.

‘’So… they seem to call you the blade of the north now..’’ Your friend the innkeeper said.

You turned around, surprised. ‘’They gave me a nickname I didn’t even know about?’’

‘’Apparently. I read about it in the Skãlderhømer.’’

‘’Argh… That godforsaken newspaper, always, they only write about the trash that concerns only them, or the rich folk from Valemar.’’ You said with gritted teeth.

Swift nodded. ‘’Indeed. You could have a goblin run a better paper than their current employers.’’

‘’Too true, Silverwing. Too true.’’ And you stepped outside.

It was cold, you could tell. Because of your thickly-pelted hunting equipment though, it didn’t hurt much.
You could, however, still feel the pain in your throat from that encounter the night before. You thought about it for a while as you headed towards the town’s baker.

How did I actually… Pass out from something like that? You thought.

You had been jabbed, stabbed, and messed up before. And always you had survived. Save that one time you were robbed in Marifgar and you barely stayed alive. This was just.. different. You passed out from one attack. This wasn’t like you at all, and it gave you a feeling of fear.

-----------------------------

You returned to the inn with bags in hand, and didn’t see Swift anywhere.
‘’Must be doing some shopping himself.’’ You accidentally said out loud.

‘’HELLO?’’ You heard the shouting from upstairs. ‘’HELLO?!’’ ‘’HELP! I’M STUCK HERE! THEY LOCKED ME IN!’’

You instantly recognized the voice. It sounded like a friend of yours you had not seen for decades.
Dashing up the stairs, following the sound, you had but one door left. You leaned against it, prepared yourself, and charged through the door.

The sight before you, was… How to put it, familiar. And awkward.

-----------------------------

You had instantly recognized your friend.

Her name was Bjinx. She was from a strange city in the east, where ponies have black manes and strangely shaped eyes. You remembered her from when she was still a filly. Now however… she had grown up, and had two guns. Lying beside her on the bed.

You looked at Bjinx. And she looked at you.

‘’Hi.’’ You said.

‘’All this time you haven’t seen me, wrote me, or tried to find me.’’ She paused. ‘’And all I get is a HI?!’’’

‘’Err…. Well…. Sorry. You know I’m not good with words-‘’

‘’THAT’S NO EXCUSE!’’ She said, furious. Cutting you off.

Not knowing how to deal with the blue-haired piece of fury in front of you, you sat down for a minute in silence.

‘’So?’’ She said. ‘’Not going to say anything?’’

‘’Give me some time.’’ ‘’Please.’’ You replied.

‘’I gave you enough time and you know it!’’ ‘’You scumbag!’’

‘’Look, I’m sorry. Alright? I’m really sorry for not getting to write you, and stuff.’’ You replied hastily.

‘’Oh well.. I suppose I will have to forgive you for now.’’ ‘’I do owe you one for getting me out of here.’’

‘’Right..’’ You said. ‘’Anyway, I’m going back to my room.’’ ‘’I’m hungry.

Not waiting for a response, you walked across the hall to your own room. Entering without warning, you had apparently scared that mare in the room. She was lying on the bed.

You looked at the stains on the floor first and only then you noticed something.

The mare on the bed had her legs spread and one of her hooves between them.

‘’….’’ You stared.

Author's Note:

Hitodama Nihontõ : Dismembering Soul Sword.
Valemar: City of the ‘’richer’’ people of the province of Valoria.
Skãlderhømer: Newspaper from Valemar, financed by dirty cartel leaders.
Marifgar: City that is known to be deadly at night.

*Once again: the idea's and characters belong to BlakeShiranui