A Tale of Tails, Sunsets and Burned Bridges

by Ozone31

Tell Me Something...

(Xeno-Terra, 25 years before the events of Trust Between Outcasts.)
(Third Person POV)

A seven year old Oscar Lupercal sat before his Grandfather, in between his older brothers. They were all rubbing their heads after a particularly shameful attempt at 'wooing' someone, that person being the local bar maid and Jonathan had wasted no time in giving them each a firm clip to the back of the head. She was nineteen years old putting her five years above the eldest of the adoptive siblings, but they'd tried anyway under his leadership, even the love-blind Oscar.

"What the hell is wrong with you three?!" The old man roared at the boys sitting before him, he knew that she was pretty and he shouldn't have been surprised when his eldest grandson had tried to flirt with her as he was only just beginning to notice his attraction to hot girls - so he didn't quite get that she was too old for him, but why the other two? he thought to himself.

Alexander Lupercal, the oldest of the brothers, was seven years older than Oscar and five years older than his cousin-Dan. He wore black denim jeans and a dark blue t-shirt with the Lupercal family crest on the back. His hair short, spikey was a dark blond with the occasional streak of brown, and his eyes shared the greengage colour of his little brother's. He was too proud for his own good at this point in his life and got himself, and his kin, into far too many scrapes and tousles with the local bullies. He didn't look for fights, in-fact he often possessed the right intentions, but over estimated what he and his brothers could do. This often lead to fights, that their Grandpa had to step into so they didn't end up killing someone. This was Alex's flaw-overconfidence.

Danziel Lupercal, aka Dan, was the middle brother. He was actually the cousin of the other two, but he was treated like and often referred to as their brother. Unlike the other two, who were quite thinly built, he was built like a tank. Naturally wide shoulders and arms and with more meat on his bones than both of his siblings combined, anyone who didn't know him would question how he was a kick-boxer. He wore simple blue jean-shorts and black t-shirt under a red, hooded jacket which also had the family crest on its back. His eyes were a deep, cerulean blue and he had short, sharp, black hair almost cut to his scalp. He was always the first one to punch if one of his elder brother's 'little talks' went south. Quiet but plain spoken, his flaw was he resorted to violence too easily without once speaking his opinion on the subject.

Then there was little Oscar Lupercal, an aggressive little bugger with a fighting style like none that existed as a formal martial art. In his usual attire of blue jeans and grey hoodie, the latter being too big for him at this point, he stared up at his furious Grandfather from beneath the rim of a green family cap, which was adjusted to several sizes too big for him. His flaw was as it would be in the distant future - lowering his guard too early in a fight.

"I would expect something like this from you Al, but why you two!? You're nine, you're seven!" Jonathan continued, pointing at Dan then to Oscar in turn.

"Because it's love Grumps, love I tell ya!" Alex shouted back, causing his Grandpa to face-palm.

"Al, she's out of your league." This simple statement caused Alex to deflate like an old balloon, he stared at the ground for a minute before meeting his Grandparent's gaze.

"You think so?" He asked emptily.

"Yes." That was easier than expected the old fighter mused to himself, before deciding he had to set these wild boys straight now as far romance went. "Tell me boys, would any of you be willing to die for that girl? And answer honestly."

The three looked between each other, then at the floor, their faces furrowed in thought. Eventually the brothers rose their heads, and said as one:

"No"

"Nah"

"Nope"

"One day" Jonathan began sitting down in front of the youngest members of his family."You'll find someone. Someone who you'd throw your life down for. Someone who you'd protect without having to think about it. Someone who you will truly love." The serious tone in his voice pulled in the full attention of the rowdy youngsters. "But it will not be a case of-'I love this person because they're pretty, I'll ask them to marry me'- You'll love this person for who they are on the inside, no matter what they may look like or do on the out."

*Bang*

---

(Kurama's POV)

I was jolted from my memories by the sound of what I could only identify as a gunshot, the same sound that had ended everyone of my dreams for the past sixteen years. I yawned and stretched, feeling every inch of my body, from the tips of my clawed fingers to the ends of all nine of my tails, click and crack as the movement released all of the stiffness that had built up while I was asleep. Opening my eyes, I was surprised by my surroundings, as I was no longer in a massive cage that looked like a warehouse basement, but in a cave with a grass covered floor and high, but visible ceiling. Wondering to the mouth of the cave my eyes were met with blinding light, as bright as the sun. It illuminated a lake of sky blue water surrounding the cave I'd woken up in. It was serene, peaceful.

"Curious" I muttered, my deep voice echoing around the wall-less space. I reached out cautiously with my chakra, unsure of what to expect. Have we won? Has been Kyuubi defeated for good this time? Or am I dead for good this time and this is just what the afterlife looks like? These sorts of questions revolved around in my head until I reached the consciousness that was in control of the body I was in.

"You really have to stop going wild at these parties, you may not be drinking yet but no one would be able to believe that if they saw you now." It was Sunset Shimmer, I could feel it in her presence- calm, friendly and thoughtful. I let out a deep sigh of relief.

"We did it. We won." I felt as if a massive weight was just removed from my shoulders. He was gone, completely. Letting my chakra search through the entirety of Sunset's psyche, looking for any sign of him or Sundown, there were none. The evil we'd worked so hard to destroy was finally gone."Good riddance" I let the spite role off my tongue like poison. It was then that I realised that he wasn't gone, only moved from Sunset back to me. However he wasn't a being of his own any more, instead with his destruction all of my negative emotions had returned to me.

"Well, it's good to see you're awake" I directed my attention to the source of the voice and the closest thing I could get to a smile formed on my face. Sunset Shimmer stood before me on a patch of grass that had formed below her feet when she arrived, with her arms folded and a triumphant grin spread across her cheeks. "That's a week longer than it took for me to recover. That must be pretty irritating for an all-powerful, super fox huh? You missed ALL of autumn break ya' know."

"I probably would be irritated" I said, looking up to the ceiling for a moment in mock-thought, before flattening my look to a deadpan. "If I cared. I'm an ultra-powerful demon fox spirit trapped within the body of a whiny teenage girl. I doubt I'll ever really get a break again." I found my grin again as Sunset replaced hers with a pout at my lazy nature and then with a 'Hey!' at my insult.

"So I can see you found somewhere to live during my absence" I commented, causing my Jinchuuriki to start and look towards the ground, a forlorn smile decorating her lips.

"Yeah, when I first arrived here I had no idea what to do or where to go. I was cold, hungry and tired, so when Kyuubi suggested stealing...well I barely thought twice about it." While she spoke I laid myself down on the grass next to her and allowed her to climb atop my muzzle and sit back against my nose bridge. "I found a house with an open window and a table next to it. There was food on that table so I went for it, I was so close to grabbing it when someone shouted at me." she winced slightly at the memory.

"At first they were angry, but once I told them I had no home or parents...well...long-story-short they let me stay with them and their niece, who is more like a sister to me now." I smiled at that, memories of my own family flooding into my mind. "This was one of the few places where Kyuubi didn't have much influence on me and these were some of the few people I really cared about." I watched her own smile grow as she recounted some fond memories with these people and couldn't help but feel a little bit sad knowing I probably wouldn't see my own family again.

"Take it from me kid, not much can beat having a loving family..." I paused for a bit before finishing my thought. "And not much is worse than the feeling of being without them" I averted my sight from her as I desperately tried to repress that very feeling, trying to ignore it as it filled my chest. She shot me a concerned look and was about to pry further when:

"Suuuunseeeeeet." A voice called from nearby. It sounded drunk or out of energy or both.

"What is it Vinyl?" Sunset called back with her true voice, disappearing from her mindscape in the process. I chuckled, knowing more than well the cries of someone with a headache, whether it was hangover induced or not. I welcomed this distraction from the painful well of loneliness that was slowly taking up all the space in my chest.

+She probably wants water+ I sent, making sure my deadpan tone shone through.

"Can you get me some...some...what's that clear stuff that comes from the tap again?"

+Yeesh I thought I knew out-of-it.+

"Water, Vinyl?" Sunset giggled at her friend's drunk-like behaviour.

"Yeah...that."

"I'll get you some now, gimme' a sec." Sunset took a breath to break her laughter and grabbed a cup from a kitchen cupboard.

+You have a lot to tell me, who is this person who is letting you live here?+ I questioned through our mental link.

"One: you've got a lot to tell me too." She listed with an authoritative tone, filling up the cup with tap water. "And two: Vice-Principal Luna, that's who."

After that, it was a matter of us telling each other about things. Sunset told me about what had happened over the past six years since she left Equestria at the tender age of ten, how she'd won all three of the biannual Fall Formal Princess awards since arriving here and the forth had been on the day we'd fought Kyuubi and Sundown. While I told her of my past, of how I'd died in another world and had been reborn here.

"Do you miss them?" Sunset asked after I'd finished telling her about what I wanted her to hear. I couldn't tell her how I'd died because even I wasn't sure how that'd happened exactly, so instead I'd diverted the conversation to talking about my relatives - those I knew of at least.

"Of course, but I know that they'd not want me wallowing in self-pity over what I can't change. I remember Grumps telling me once:"

"Every atom of your being was forged in a star! Stop being a Pussy!"

"That's a really...weird thing to say." Sunset said, unsure of how to respond properly.

"Back when he said that particular phrase I was too young to truly understand what he meant, I was always confused as to why he was calling me and my brothers cats..." I looked to the ceiling briefly and contemplated my Grandfather's lack of tact and sensitivity. "Now I understand that he was calling us something very different and that he was a piss-poor parent."

"I'm sure his intentions were-"

We were broken from our conversation by a voice calling from the door to the house:

"Sunset, Vinyl. I'm back." Came the voice of Vice Principal Luna from below. I'd heard it a few times before through Sundown's encounters with her, but I'd only heard the voice and hadn't really taken notice of what it was saying.

"Do you mind if I tell her about this, she's wants to know but I didn't want to say without your permission." Sunset asked, sounding a little nervous.

"It's your choice, you're the Jinchuuriki" I'd already sort of lost interest and with my laziness kicking in, I started to manoeuvre back to the cave-home she'd made for me.

"I'm a what?"

"A person who has a Tailed Beast sealed within them" I answered her question before adding:"You might as well tell your adoptive sister too. Save some time."

"Your not going to help?" she asked indignantly.

"Nah, I need to get some more rest, that fight took a lot of chakra." I replied dismissively

"Most of your chakra was in here!" she yelled back. "You look fine!"

I turned my head back to her, a massive toothy, grin spread from ear to ear. Putting a clawed finger to my lips and winking.

"Shhhh" I whispered, entering the cave's welcoming darkness.

Author's Note:

A little learning has been done. The stage has been set:

Next Time: The Eight Tailed Bull/Octopus...Thing?

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