The Bounty Hunter

August 20th, 2088

Kira’s POV

My name is Kira and I am a cat-kin living in Obsidia.  I have the best big brother in the world.  Well he’s not really my brother but I still call him that since it makes him smile every time.  But I don’t want to be considered as just his sibling.  We first met 6 years ago when I was still living in Hafor village with my parents.  At the time everyone thought he was a spirit of the forest.  To me though he was the only kid who would really play with me, since I was the youngest and couldn’t keep up with the others.  He would always come up with the best games, like chase the string. 

He was also so cool with the way he was protecting the village from all kinds of monsters that used to cause problems.  I idolized him and eventually I developed a massive crush on him.  I would follow him around everywhere and when it was just us, I couldn’t help but start purring in contentment.  There are two different kinds of purring that cat-kin do that are different from each other.  The embarrassing thing was that I wouldn’t purr how cat-kin do when happy with friends and family, but I would purr in a different manner which was used to show happiness with one’s mate.  It’s the equivalent of repeatedly saying “I love you!”

Terra had no idea there was a distinction, but one day my mom walked in on me while I was with Terra and purring that way.  It was so embarrassing.  She naturally started teasing me endlessly about it, while adding that she and dad very much approved of him and asking when the binding ceremony was.  All in all though, I was very happy and content.  And then that fateful day occurred.

On that day I had decided that I would confess to Terra and try to get a promise we would date when I completed my rapid maturation.  Some of the other girls had started to try to get closer to Terra and I was getting anxious one of them would succeed.  So I was waiting by the river in the late afternoon, which was considered to be a romantic spot, for Terra to arrive but he didn’t show.  I had waited for nearly an hour, but he hadn’t come.  “I wonder if he forgot.”  I muttered as I headed back to the village.  I smelled smoke as I got closer and when I arrived, a hellish scene greeted me.  The village was in ruins and corpses were everywhere. 

I immediately ran for home while the tears ran off my face.  I stayed quite because my intuition was telling me the bandits might still be nearby.  And there my parents laid, in a pool of their own blood.  My dad was lying across my mom, he had clearly tried to protect her from something, but the large hole in their chests showed that he failed.  At this point, I couldn’t help but cry out “MOM! DAD!” as I hugged their corpses which still had remnants of their warmth.  “Oh? Looks like there’s still a live one here.”  At that voice I turned around to see two beast-kin I didn’t recognize, armed with various weapons that were stained in blood. 

As I glared at them, they both gave me lewd looks.  “And she’s even a beauty, a bit young, but I won’t complain.”  I couldn’t restrain my rage and I immediately lunged at one of them, managing to successfully leave a series of vicious scratches with my claws.  I immediately payed for that action as a heavy boot connected with me and sent me flying.  “THIS BITCH!”  I didn’t wait to see what would happen next as I ran for the river.  I can’t make mom and dad sad by dying here, I have to do my best to survive.  But unfortunately I was caught just as I arrived at the river.  I fought my hardest to hold them off but I took a strong hit to the head and my consciousness started to fade.  “Sorry, everyone.  I wasn’t able to survive either.”  Those were the last thoughts I had before I blacked out. 

I regained a little consciousness when I was placed in a soft bed and felt warm drops of water fall on my face.  Were those tears?  I could hear Terra’s voice as it repeated over and over in my muddled mind, “I am not a hero.”  I fell back into unconsciousness while trying to make sense of what he said.  When I awoke once more in a nice warm bed, I realized I was very much alive.  Granny was sitting next to me and quietly explained that Terra had saved me.  Relief spread throughout me, followed swiftly by sorrow.  I cried while Granny hugged me with tears coming down her face as well.  When I saw Terra again, I could see the sadness in him as he apologized for only being able to save me.  Granny and I did our best to convince him it wasn’t his fault, but I don’t think it worked.  I never had the courage to talk to him about what I heard him say because he made it clear he never wanted to remember Hafor again.

Why are memories from the past surfacing in my mind right now?  Simply put, it’s because I am currently in a situation eerily similar to that day.  I am standing with my back to a tree, facing off with two beast-kin who were glaring at me with their weapons drawn.  They were part of the bandits who had assaulted the caravan Granny and I were a part of as we were headed back to Obsidia.  In the chaos Granny and I were able to escape, but we were pursued by a group of 7 bandits.  We managed to whittle their numbers down to 4 thanks to the magic items that Terra had given us.  Unfortunately, we ran out of items and the only magic artifact I had was a defensive one which I was using to block the incoming spells from the bandits’ magic tools. 

I wasn’t perfect, and Granny ended up taking a wind blast to the back.  She was knocked unconscious and the wagon swerved violently, throwing me off before toppling over.  I twisted my body while in mid-air and managed to orient myself and land on my feet.  I doubt anyone other than another cat-kin could have managed that.  I quickly turned to face the oncoming bandits, who gave off wicked grins as they finally caught up.  Those expressions were just like the ones the bandits from 3 years ago had, and it ticked me off.  I wasn’t going to be as helpless this time as I was then.  I had trained for combat with Granny and big brother for years in order to avoid being so useless ever again. 

I drew my twin short swords and immediately threw one at the leading bandit.  He was caught completely off-guard and died as the sword pierced his throat.  In order to draw them away from Granny, I sprinted off-road onto the uneven rocky terrain.  The three bandits dismounted and followed me.  I rounded a corner and waited for them to catch up.  I ambushed them and managed to inflict a couple wounds before I immediately sprinted off again.  I continued this hit and run tactic several times until they finally managed to corner me leading to the current situation. 

There were only two bandits remaining and they were glaring at me with pure hatred in their eyes.  Although they were wounded, it was a two on one and I was exhausted.  I now regret throwing my sword at the beginning.  Although it took out a bandit immediately, having two blades would have made it easier for me to fight multiple people at once.  Granny has always been saying I need to think ahead in a fight, I guess I should start listening if I survive this. Objectively, my chances of winning look to be about 50/50. 

As if it sensed the oncoming danger, the necklace I had gotten from Terra pulsated with a golden light.  It only did so briefly before stopping, much to my confusion.  Next thing I saw was both of the bandit’s heads soaring through the air as they were instantly decapitated in one swing.  Standing between the corpses was Terra.  There was an empty look in his eyes and he was emitting a fearful aura of extreme detachment and apathy.  Without any movement or apparent action on his part I was suddenly enveloped in a warm and gentle light.  I could feel my injuries and fatigue vanish.  The light was even able to soothe my mind, eliminating the anxiety and fear I had accumulated. 

Immediately after the light faded, Terra picked up one of the heads and it burst into emerald green fire.  The head started screeching in agony and quickly bellowed out words in a language I did not know.  Terra patiently waited as the head continued to talk until the fire completely consumed it, leaving only ashes behind that scattered into the wind.  Terra walked towards me and placed his hand on my head, suddenly we arrived in front of the wrecked wagon. 

Before I could even cry out in concern for Granny who was lying unconscious, she was enveloped in the same light that I had been and fully restored.  The light even fixed the wagon and horses to as good as new.  “Head back to the city, I will finish things up here.”  Terra told us in an emotionless voice.  Both Granny and I shivered when we heard that voice.  Cat-kin have an outstanding intuition that is useful in various situations and right now it was telling us that Terra was off in a scary way. 

He didn’t wait for a response and simply turned around and started walking away.  I really wanted to chase after him, but I couldn’t abandon Granny when there was still a chance of more bandits being around.  “Be careful!”  I shouted after him and got a casual wave in response.  I again was saved by Terra, but I realize now that I don’t fully understand him.  He clearly has still been carrying that burden of guilt from Hafor even though none of it was his fault.  It makes me so mad that I don’t know how to help him move on.  But I’m not going to give up so easily.  I love him after all.  As soon as I grow into an adult, I’ll tell him that I love him and that I’ll proudly stand by his side as his mate.  And we’ll get past the shadow of Hafor together.

Terra’s POV

EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY! SUBJECT IN DANGER, PLEASE RESPOND TO SOS IMMEDIATELY!  I had just crossed over to Obsidia when the emergency signal amulet I had given Kira activated.  I immediately turned into a nearby alley and without regard for being seen I teleported to where the amulet was.  For the sake of speed, I didn’t draw a magic circle to aid me and simply spent quite a bit of extra mana to teleport successfully.  The amulet functioned as a teleport marker, so even if it was somewhere I had never been I could still jump there. 

Two filthy beast-kin were standing across from Kira, who was currently backed up against a tree.  There was plenty of blood on the ground, most of it was from the two beast-kin.  Kira was holding a short sword with a reverse grip in one hand and was still full of fighting spirit in spite of her obvious exhaustion.  But that wasn’t what entered my vision.  The scene of beast-kin and an injured Kira reopened the old wound on my heart. 

The déjà vu overwhelmed me and instead of seeing the reality that was in front of me, I saw the same scene as back then.  The faces of the villager’s corpses appeared in front of me once again, their screams of despair were ringing in my ears and the smell of burnt flesh caused my bile to rise up.  And just like last time, the overwhelming sensations and emotions came to a crescendo and then suddenly there was only silence in my soul.  “I broke again, huh.”  That was the last rational thought I had for a while.