Here's another short little tale from me. I hope you all like it.
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| "Werewolf Priestess" by CyberKaku. The inspiration for Sister Candace. |
Night of the Wolf
Night had fallen over the forest, a dark blanket with shining stars covering the canopy of the many trees there. From within the forest, the light of a campfire poked through the darkness of the forest floor. The fire popped and crackled as it burned the logs underneath it.
The end of a metal pole with a marshmallow impaled on it hovered over the flames, held in the hand of a lithe sandy blond-haired man. He wore a green flannel shirt, blue jeans, and brown boots. A smile was on his face.
Yes. Gary Pearson thought as he watched the marshmallow heat, carefully turning it in his hand. This is cooking wonderfully. A smile appeared on his face as he watched the small white foodstuff.
“You. Are. A. Child.” A woman's voice teased. Still smiling, Gary looked up and to his right. Sitting on the ground and wearing a red shirt, jeans, and brown cowboy boots was a woman whose frame showed powerful muscle mixed with feminine curves. Long curly black hair was spilling out onto her powerful shoulders, her head topped by a white Stetson. The fire cast orange light on her dark brown skin. She was drinking out of a small silver cup.
“You never toasted marshmallows over a fire before, Viola?” Gary asked.
Viola Renard snorted. “Never even been camping in my life before I started this gig.”
“The joys of bounty hunting.” Gary smiled. “You get to be your own boss, you get to make your own hours, and there's always an adventure.”
“You forgot getting shot at, nearly blown up, sliced up, and there was that one time I nearly got turned into a newt!” Viola retorted.
“But you didn't.” Gary grinned. “Good thing I was there. That dimwit didn't expect to get a firehose full of water to the face, heh heh. Besides, we know that's not a thing.”
Viola rolled her eyes. “You're an idiot, Gary.”
“I prefer to think of myself as 'pleasantly optimistic'.” The sandy blond-haired man chuckled. He noticed the marshmallow. “Ahh, perfect.” He put the toasted white foodstuff in between a pair of graham crackers. The bottom cracker also had a piece of chocolate in it.
“S'mores. You're making s'mores.” Viola noticed.
“Love 'em.” Gary said. “You want one?” He held his s'more out to her. “Come on, they're good.” He waved it at her. “Campfire made, the best way to make them.” Viola huffed and rolled her eyes.
“Alright...” She sighed in mock tiredness and accepted the s'more. She bit into and chewed the s'more. Her dark brown eyes widened. “Wow.” She said. “This is good.”
“Told you.” Gary smiled. The two then perked up when they heard the sounds of fighting. “The hell?”
“That doesn't
sound good.” Viola scowled.
“No, it does not. We'd better
take a look.” Gary suggested, getting to his feet. Viola did the
same.
“Right.” Viola ran to the pickup truck lying nearby. She opened the back door, and opened up a long metal box on the floor of the passenger seat area. The dusky-skinned woman pulled out a dual-barreled shotgun, and a bandolier filled with shells. She put the bandolier across her chest. “Gary!” She pulled out a belt with a pair of futuristic silver pistols in twin holsters and tossed it to him.
“Thanks!” Gary said as he caught the belt and put it on. “The noise came from over there!”
“Right!” Viola grabbed a bucket of water and poured it on the fire, putting it out. “Let's go.” The two bounty hunters quickly and carefully made their way through the woods. As they went closer to the noise's source, the two's ears picked up some new noises: the sounds of hooting, laser firing, and snarling. “Gary, I'm not liking this.” Viola whispered.
“Neither am I.” Gary agreed, pulling out his laser pistols. The two continued making their way through the woods, careful to avoid making too much noise. The two bounty hunters made their way towards a clearing when they saw quite a sight: a pair of cyborgs fighting a wolf-woman.
She had tan fur, and orange-brown hair. She wore a white dress that did little to hide her curvaceous form. On her head was a white miter that was blue in the front with a golden crescent moon on it. Slung over her generous chest was a duffel bag. She held a golden staff in her hands, and she was panting.
“You will never have me.” The wolfwoman snarled, baring her sharp teeth. “Not alive, at least!”
“Trust us, woman. You are indeed quite beautiful, but we aren't after you.” One of the cyborgs said. He was tall and muscular, wearing worn blue jeans and a torn black shirt with a sleeveless leather jacket over it that had metal plates on it. His hair was styled into a green mohawk. His right arm was robotic, with signs of wear and rust in places, like he wasn't able to properly maintain it. The other was shorter and stouter. He wore a leather jacket, a red shirt, and black leather pants. He had a metal plate over his left eye, and wild blond hair. The ocular prosthetic glowed green.
“We know you got it in your bag.” The man with the blond hair and glowing green eye said in a smooth voice. “Just hand it over.”
“I don't know what 'item' you speak of.” The wolf-woman growled. “Whatever it is, you shall not take it from me!”
“We don't want to harm you, but we will if we must.” Green Eye said.
“Speak for yourself, Anders!” The green-Mohawked man snarled. “I want to skin this hairball and make her hide into a rug!” His cybernetic arm sprouted a chainsaw blade. The saw whirred, and the man's face formed a wide grin. “I'm going to cut you slowly, you fleabag...”
The Lycan woman's crimson eyes narrowed. “You may try.” She twirled her staff. “But I will not go down easy.”
“Trenton, no!” Anders snapped.
“I'm done waiting!” Trenton yelled. “I want this fuzzbrain's hide, and I will have it!” The sound of a shotgun firing got the two cyborg and wolfwoman's attention. They turned their heads and saw Gary and Viola.
“What is going on here?” Viola demanded, pointing her shotgun at the three.
“Back off, broad!” Trenton yelled. “This ain't your business!”
“Yeah, we heard some of your little...conversation with the wolflady here.” Gary smirked, gesturing to Candace with one of his laser guns. “I believe she told you lot to back off.”
“You think you scare us, pal?!” Trenton mocked. “I'll slice off that big mouth of yours!” Anders put a calming hand on his shoulder. Trenton growled, but he backed down.
“This is none of your concern.” Anders told Gary and Viola. “I take it you two are bounty hunters?”
“What's it to you?” Viola asked.
“I'm sure you can appreciate that we are on a job ourselves.”
“Yeah, this is our payday!” Trenton snapped. He growled at the wolfwoman. “She got something our boss wants!”
“Who's your boss?” Viola gestured at the furry priestess with her shotgun. “And what's she got that you're after?”
“You understand that our client wishes to remain anonymous and his reasons the same.”
“Yeah, that smells fishy to me.” Viola scowled.
“Yup. Nothing ever good comes from a client making those kinds of conditions.” Gary agreed.
“That's it!” Trenton roared. “I'll have your heads!” He screamed as he charged the two bounty hunters, raising his chainsaw arm. Gary quickly blasted at it with his laser pistols. The energy blasts smashed through the cyborg's chainsaw blade, completely wrecking it.
“You'll have what now?” Gary taunted. Trenton snarled at the blond bounty hunter.
“You son of a-GAH!” The cyber-psycho gasped as he was kicked in the back by the wolf-woman. It made him fall flat on his chest.
An amused Gary smirked at the she-wolf. “I thought there was some kind of rule against attacking people from behind.”
She merely shrugged. “They wished to fight without rules. I was merely accommodating them.”
“Fair enough.” Gary nodded. Trenton snarled as he got to his feet. He looked at his ruined chainsaw, and saw that it was reduced to a sharp shard of metal. The cyborg grinned widely as he jumped up to his feet.
“I'm gonna gut the both of you like fish.” Trenton snarled.
“Not if I put a laser between your eyes.” Gary retorted, pointing his laser guns at the green-mohawked cyborg.
“You think you can blast me?!” Trenton laughed. “Come on then, you goof! Let's see what you got! Come on!”
The wolf-woman looked at Gary. “May I handle this?” She offered.
“What do you plan to do, wolfie?” Gary asked.
“Come on, fleabag.” Trenton taunted. “Come on! I'll skin you and take it from you!” The glaring wolf-woman twirled her staff. Meanwhile, Anders was engaging Viola.
“Take another step, and you'll eat buckshot.” The dark-skinned woman growled.
“You do not frighten me.” Anders said. “We just want the wolf-woman.”
“Why? She's a priestess. You need a blessing or something? Go to a church.”
“She has an item we need.” Anders explained.
“What kind of item?”
“That is none of your concern.” Anders answered. “She gives it to us, we'll leave.”
“Yeah, I want answers!” Viola snapped.
“Unlike my more...crazed comrade, I have no desire to fight you.” Anders said. “I just want the item from the priestess.”
“You ain't leavin' until I get some answers!” Viola sighed.
A sigh escaped Anders's lips. “Very well. I guess we'll have to do this the hard way.” His cybernetic eye's jade glow intensified. Viola was faster. She realized what that glow had meant.
“EAT BUCKSHOT!” She yelled, firing her shotgun. Much to her surprise, the cyborg lifted his organic arm, a silver band around it glowing. The band sprouted a series of interlocking glowing blue hexagons that formed a shield. The energy shield blocked the buckshot. “What?!”
“Energy shield.” Anders smirked.
“I know what that is!” Viola snapped. She fired again, only for Anders to block it. “I know you can't maintain that blasted shield forever!” Those things are effective, but they eat battery power like acid through metal.
“I don't have to.” Anders smirked. He started firing his eye laser at Viola. She cursed and leapt out of the way. The energy blast destroyed the trees behind her.
Sweet goodness, what is he packing in that eye?! Viola gaped in horror.
“Impressive, isn't it?” Anders smiled in amusement. “Cost a pretty penny, but pays for itself.”
“I've seen better, pal.” Viola scowled. She whipped out a small black grenade from her belt. She pressed a button on it as she dodged another eye blast from Anders. “This'll give you a bit of a shock, you jerk.” Viola tossed the grenade at the cyborg. The projectile exploded, shocking the man. He roared as the electricity ran through his body, forcing him to his knees.
“Anders!” Trenton yelled. “GAH!” He yelped as he got blasted in the knee by Gary. He fell backwards into his comrade. The snarling wolf-woman then slammed her staff on the ground, her eyes glowing a brilliant white. She growled out a spell, and then a big tornado kicked up, sending the two screaming cyborgs into the air.
“Whoo...” The priestess huffed as she went down to one knee. Air magic was the easiest form to learn, but calling up big tornadoes out of a calm night still could be draining. If she were human, she likely would have fallen asleep right now.
“You alright, Wolfie?” Gary asked in concern, running over to her.
“I am well, I just need a moment.” She assured, giving the blond bounty hunter a warm smile. She got up to her feet, thanks to her using her staff as a support.
“What was that all about?” Viola asked as she walked up to the two.
“I wish I could tell you, but I am just as lost as you are.” The shewolf answered, picking up her miter and dusted it off. She smiled and bowed towards the two. “I thank you two very much for your aid today. I am Sister Candace, priestess of the Sisterhood of Luna.” She bowed humbly to the two.
“Gary Pearson. And this is Viola Renard.” Gary introduced. Viola gave her a wave. “We were camping in these here woods when we heard the fight. If you want, you can join us there.”
“You sure about this, Gary?” Viola frowned at her partner.
“She's a priestess.” Gary shrugged. “Besides, I wonder what those two half-clankers wanted with that girl?” The woman sighed.
“Ah, I hate it when you have a point.”
“I have no intention or desire to intrude on you.” Candace assured warmly.
“It's fine.” Viola assured with a waving gesture. “Besides, Gary's right. No offense, but those two may not be the last to come after you.”
“I can take care of myself, but a wise person knows their limits, and there is no shame in having aid.” Candace agreed. A rumbling from her stomach could be heard.
“Yeah.” Gary snickered. “We got food.”
The three made their way back to the campsite, where Viola worked to reignite the bonfire.
“At least we won't have to worry about seeing those two cyber-idiots again.” Gary noted as he fished out an item from his backpack. Viola scowled and stomped over to him.
“Don't say that, you fool!” She snapped, lightly punching Gary's arm. “You'll jinx us!” She went back to her previous position.
“And she says I am a child.” Gary muttered as he rubbed his arm. He noticed Candace was looking at the item in his hand. “You ever had one of these?” The blond man asked as he held out a wrapped foodstuff to Candace after sitting down next to her.
“No, I don't think so.” A curious Candace answered as she accepted the item. She gave the wrapped bar a sniff. “I smell blueberry.”
“Yeah, it's a blueberry fruit bar.” Gary nodded. “I love those. Give it a try.”
“Gary loves those.” Viola chuckled. “They're the only flavor of those things he'll eat.” Candace looked at the bar, then opened the wrapper. She took a small bite of the bar, and chewed it tentatively.
“Mm! It's good!” Candace said. She ate the rest of the bar.
“Yeah, I love 'em.” Gary chuckled.
“Nice to see you two finding something to bond over.” Viola remarked as she took her own seat after restarting the bonfire.
“I do apologize for intruding on you.” Candace said. “I won't stay too long.”
“Yeah, don't worry about it, fuzzy.” Viola waved.
“So, how did you two meet?” The wolf-woman asked.
“We met in the military.” Gary explained.
“Really?” Candace noted.
“Yeah.” Viola nodded. “We were both serving on the Ironside.” She then let out a snort. “I was a grunt.” She then pointed at Gary. “This nerd was working the computers.”
“I helped maintain the starfighters on the ship, and I was an engineer. It wasn't just 'working the computers'.” Gary rolled his eyes.
“The Ironside...” Candace blinked. “Wasn't that one of the ships that was involved in that battle on Selzon III?”
“Yeah, that one.” Viola nodded, sipping from a bottle of water. “Ye gods, it was a mess.”
“No kidding. I was stuck helping repair starfighters for a week.” Gary nodded. “Viola was part of the ground forces.”
“I would be happy to never set foot on that planet ever again.” She shook her head. “You could not pay me enough to go there again.” She sighed. “Lost some good friends there.”
“I met Viola in the medbay while she was recovering from some injuries she suffered on the planet.” Gary recalled.
“Gary, the dork he is, like to entertain the people in the medbay on his off time.” Viola explained. “He would do all kinds of stuff. Tell jokes, do dances, wear silly costumes, the whole nine yards.”
“I was always a creative sort.” Gary preened a bit. “Viola laughed her head off at my antics.”
“Because of how terribly bad you were.” Viola retorted.
“I think it's quite wonderful that you worked to aid in raising the spirits of your comrades.” Sister Candace smiled at the blond man.
“We all did our part there.” Gary sighed. “And Viola loved it, she just didn't want to admit it.”
“Sure, Gary.” Viola shook her head. “If you say so.” Both the blond man and the wolf-woman noted the small smile that briefly appeared on the woman's face. “We're getting off track.” She looked at the priestess. “I would like to know what those two were after you about. One of them mentioned you had an item they were after.”
“I assure you, I have no idea what they were talking about.” Candace said. “I am just as confused as you.”
“Those two clowns clearly thought that you had something.” Gary noted. He looked at her duffel bag. “Maybe there was something in that bag of yours.”
“This?” Candace blinked, patting her bag. “I just keep my few possessions, some extra clothes, and a travel kit.”
“Includes a comb for that fur?” Viola teased.
“And shampoo. Have to keep the fur neat and shiny.” Candace grinned.
“You sure that's all you got? Someone may have slipped something in there.” Viola suggested. Candace blinked at the taller woman.
“I'm...I'm sure it is.” She said. She opened up her bag and rifled through it. “No, nothing I did not have packed myself in here.”
Gary eyed something at the edge of her bag. “Yo, Candy. There's something funny poking at your bag there.”
“There is?” Candace blinked.
“Yeah. It's right there.” Gary pointed at the end of her bag. Candace held up her bag, noting the bulge the blond man was pointing at.
“Huh?” The brunette she-wolf blinked, her crimson eyes showing confusion. “That's odd.” She unzipped the compartment the bulge was in, and put her hand in. She then pulled out a small yellow device from her bag.
The device was rectangular, with rounded corners. The top of the rectangle had a pair of short gray parallel antennae, making it look almost like it had little ears. The small machine had a large screen, and on the bottom were five buttons. Each of the buttons were triangular in shape, forming a five-pointed star. The top button was red in color, the two side buttons were green and blue, and the bottom two were yellow and white. On the top of the device above the screen was a solar panel. On the sides of the colored buttons were a trio of small gray dials forming a “V”.
“I take it that isn't yours.” Viola deduced.
Candace shook her head. “No. It's not.”
“Do you know what it is, Gary?” Viola asked. “I know you're a geek for this kind of stuff.”
“May I?” Gary held out his hand. Candace gave the device to the blond man. He turned it around and over. “Hmmm...”
“You think it's some kind of phone?” Viola suggested.
“I doubt it.” Gary said. “The keypad is weird. Let me try to turn it on.” He frowned as he continued examining it. “That's odd. There's no power button...oh here it is.” The man found the button by opening a panel on the side. “Yeah, no phone would hide a power button like this. You're supposed to easily access them.”
“Turn it on.” Viola ordered. Gary nodded and pressed the button. The screen powered on, showing a green grid with yellow lines on it. “What in the name of...?”
“Maybe it's some kind of video game?” A frowning Candace scratched her head. Viola choked out a laugh.
“Wolfy, Pong didn't look like this!” She laughed.
“Oh.”
“Hmmm...” Gary frowned as he looked the device over. “If I didn't know any better, I'd say it's some kind of detector.”
“If it is a detector, what is it made to detect?” Viola wondered.
“Maybe it's made to find treasure! Like in the old adventure books!” Candace offered with a big grin on her face.”
“You a big reader, huh?” Gary chuckled.
Candace nodded happily. “I love reading old adventure books!” She pulled out a couple old paperbacks from her bag. Viola took one and looked at the title.
“...Treasure?” She blinked. “That's...not a very imaginative title.”
“Can I see?” Gary held out his hand. Viola handed the book to him. “Hey, a fellow Clive Cussler fan!” He grinned and gave the book back to the wolf-woman. He then went back to fiddling with the device. “Nice to see you got some good taste in books.”
“Give me a good Trek novel any day.” Viola remarked.
“That reminds me, you still need to give me back my copy of Strike Zone.” Gary said as he continued fiddling with the little yellow gizmo.
She quickly shook her head. “We're getting off track here. What is that little gizmo for?”
“I think I may have figured something out.” Gary announced. “Check this out, you guys.” Viola and Cadace gathered around the screen. “Look at this.” He pressed the buttons, and certain icons would appear on the screen. The red button showed an icon of a flame. The blue showed an icon of a waterdrop. The yellow button showed an icon of a bolt of lightning. The green button made an icon of a green tree. The white button showed an icon of a white tornado.
“What the...” Viola blinked.
“I recognize those symbols.” Candace pointed at the screen. “Those are the symbols of the Five Magical Arts: Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, and Lightning.”
“Magical Arts?” Viola frowned. “That crud meant nothing out in space.”
“Because those magics require a person to be on a planet to be used.” Candace explained. “I myself am pretty good with the Wind Art, although that's arguably the easiest to learn because, well...” She smiled and gestured everywhere. “We are surrounded by it.”
“Considering how you blew those half-clankers away, I say you're more than 'pretty good'.” Gary complimented.
Candace blushed. “I was merely repaying you for aiding me. Nothing special.”
“So, this gadget is made for detecting something magical.” Viola frowned. “But it doesn't exactly indicate anything.”
“No kidding.” Gary frowned. “Whoever made this display is an idiot, or in a serious hurry. There's no details given.”
“What I don't understand is how can someone build a gadget to detect magic?” Viola frowned. “Magic is...weird.”
“Magic is weird, but energy is not.” Gary smirked. “Magic still has to follow certain rules of science. At least, that's what the ladies at the Luna Temple told me.”
“For example, you can't use fire magic underwater.” Candace illustrated. “Because water puts out fire.”
“Ah.” Viola nodded. She sighed. “You sure you have no idea how you got this?”
Candace shook her head. “I am just as confused as you.”
“Well, we're not going to find anything out here.”
“Too bad we didn't ask those guys where it came from. They may have had an idea.” Gary remarked as he continued fiddling with the device.
“Yeah, too bad they were more interested in trying to kill us.” Viola reminded.
“Yeah, that sucked.” Gary agreed. He looked at Candace. “Hey Candy, you don't mind hanging out with us a little longer?”
“I have no intention of intruding on you...” The wolf-woman said.
“Naw, it's not an intrusion.” Gary assured. “Think of it as paying us back for helping you out against those half-clankers there.”
“I didn't help you guys because I wanted a reward.” Candace said. “I helped you guys because it was the right thing to do. I have no desire to be a burden to you.”
“Eh, there are worse people that we can end up around you, fuzzy.” Viola said.
“Hmmm...” Gary frowned at the device. “I think I may know a guy that could give us an idea who built this thing.”
“You do?” Candace blinked.
A nod from Gary. “Yeah. And in fact, I think he lives near here. You know that tavern we passed by on the way here?”
“He lives in a bar?” Viola frowned.
“Yeah. He has an apartment there.” Gary nodded. “He helps maintain the place, so he's allowed to live there.”
“Oh yeah, that tavern had an inn as well, huh?” Viola recalled.
“I hope he can help!” Candace smiled.
“So do I, kiddo.” Gary smiled back at her. Little did the three realize they'd end up having an epic adventure...
Thanks for reading!
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