[Mkguild] Story Rewrite: A 'Taur's Tail

[Stephen Tigner]

Heya folks, been a long while since I'd written anything, but as I
said on the forums, my situation has improved and I have energy and
motivation to write now. ^_^
As such, I sat down tonight and did some re-writing of my story, "A
'Taur's Tail", with the intent to revise a few things and put it more
in line with future plans. Also, to fix a few issues with how I wrote
it originally that make me facepalm a bit now. ;)

So, without further ado, the revised story is below.

============================================


Metamor Keep: A 'Taur's Tail
by Stephen Tigner
Part 1: It S'taurts

The sun peeked over the horizon, slowly pushing the night away,
lighting up the sky with its beams.  Kishu slowly opened his eyes and
stretched, yawning a bit, and got up to make breakfast for himself.
His steed nickered softly at him as he woke up, ::About time you woke
up:: he spoke to Kishu's mind.

Kishu grinned softly and scritched the equine's poll, "Oh quiet you,"
he said laughingly.  Now this may seem a bit unusual to most, but you
see, Rakurai, as he called him, was no ordinary horse, and those that
knew (which were a very select few) wondered how Kishu had managed to
get the kirin to be his steed.  He called him Rakurai because his real
name was in the language of the kirin, and as such was
incomprehensible and near impossible to pronounce for the human
tongue. A kirin, in his natural form, looks much like a western
unicorn, enough that those ignorant of the difference will often
mistake one for the other.

Rakurai whickered softly, nuzzling Kishu's hand, ::No fair!:: he said,
with a smile in his mental voice.  Kishu grinned broadly, then went
about cooking his breakfast, a small bowl of porridge, with some
berries he had gathered the previous night.  Rakurai, meanwhile, had
his breakfast, grazing quietly on the long grass nearby.

The man ate quickly, careful not to burn himself by eating it when it
was too hot, then started packing up for the day's travel.  He doused
the fire and made sure that it was good and out, dumping bucket after
bucket of water on it from the nearby stream.  When he was finished
packing up, the only things he left behind were some flattened grass,
and the fire circle, ringed by stones, that he had put his fire in.

Rakurai tossed his head, in the equine equivalent of a nod.  Kishu
attached his one small bag to his steed, and vaulted up onto Rakurai's
back.  "Let's go, my friend," he said.  Rakurai whinnied and took off,
galloping in the direction of their destination.

----------

As they were approaching the next village, the wind howled at them
through the trees from the village, almost seeming to be in pain, and
carried with it an acrid stench.
Rakurai snorted, ::What's that awful smell?::
Kishu didn't reply, in fact, he looked like he was about to loose the
meager breakfast he had eaten, as the scent of burnt flesh permeated
the air.

"Faster, Rakurai, we must see what is going on, and help if we can," said Kishu.
::Right:: came the reply, as the kirin poured on a burst of speed,
almost flying along the path.  As they topped the hill outside of the
village, where the forest ended, a sad sight met their eyes.

The village was on fire, and the fire was quickly spreading to the as
yet untouched buildings.  Bright yellow and red tongues of flame
lapped at the sky, drooling a thick grey smoke into the air, as they
hungrily devoured the buildings.  Even from atop the hill, the two
could hear the painful screams of people as their flesh was seared of
their bones, and their innards roasted.

Rakurai slowed down to a walk as they reached the village, then Kishu
pulled his katana out and jumped off, "Let's split up!"
Rakurai nickered and ran into a building, as Kishu ran into the one
across from it.

----------

The little girl screamed as the door imploded, then looked up to see a
samurai in the doorway.  He ran over to her and picked her up, "Anyone
in here besides you?"
The girl shook her head slowly, tears welling up in her eyes, "The bad
man killed my mommy and poppy."
Kishu sighed, "I'm sorry, little one."  He then ran out the door with
her, the house seeming to moan, mourning for the lost lives of those
who used to fill it, as it collapsed.

----------

Rakurai kicked the door down to hear the sound of wailing babies
coming from the next room.  He quickly galloped into that room to find
three little boys bundled up and being held by their injured mother,
who didn't have the strength left to make it outside.

The woman looked up at the kirin and a tear fell from her eye,
"Please, please...take care of my babies," she pleaded with the
equine.
Rakurai nodded and took the bundle in his teeth, ::Your children will
be well taken care of::
The woman smiled weakly, "Thank you...thank you..." her voice faded
away, as her eyes closed for the last time.

Rakurai whinnied and reared, quickly turning around and heading for
the exit as the roof started to cave in, burying the mother in its
smoldering embrace.  Rakurai turned toward the house once he had
cleared the burning building, ::Rest in peace, whoever you were::  He
then galloped out of the village, and set the three baby boys down,
nuzzling them softly.

----------

Kishu ran up to Rakurai, holding the little girl, "Rakurai, please
take care of her while I go and try to help some more people."  Kishu
then whispered to his friend, "She's lost her parents...apparently
whoever set this village on fire, also killed her parents."
Rakurai nodded and whicker-sighed, ::Okay, be careful::
"I will, don't you worry about that."
With that, Kishu ran back into the village, and Rakurai turned his
attention back to the little girl, nuzzling her softly, ::Hello,
little one:: he sent to the girl.
The little girl blinked then giggled softly, "The horsie talks!"
Rakurai smiled inwardly, ::Yes, I do, what's your name?::
"Hiryuu," replied the girl.
::My human friend calls me Rakurai::
Hiryuu noddled, "Nice to meet you" and smiled softly.
::Nice to meet you too::
Rakurai nuzzled the girl again, ::I..I'm sorry about your parents...::
Hiryuu hugged the kirin's head, "Th...thank you..." and started bawling.
::It's okay dear, just let it all out...you'll feel better after a good cry::

----------

Kishu hacked the door to pieces, and had to drop to the ground because
of the smoke billowing out of the once beautiful home, which looked
like it would collapse very soon.  He got back up, but in a crouched
position and hurried inside, trying to locate any survivors, the smoke
burning his eyes.

He managed to find an adult couple, which he carried out one at a
time.  By that time, the smoke had gotten to him and he was wheezing a
bit, but that didn't stop him from carrying the family out of the
village to where the other survivors and Rakurai were waiting.

----------

Rakurai looked up as Kishu slowly carried the people out of the
village, and then collapsed after he had carried the whole family out,
breathing hard, and wheezing slightly, finally seeming to find his
breath just as he lost consciousness.

Hiryuu blinked and ran over to the man, "Mr. Samurai?  Are you okay?"
she said with a worried expression on her little face.
::He'll be okay....after some rest, Hiryuu::
The girl nodded, "Okay" and went back over to Rakurai, snugging his
muzzle and scritching his poll.
~Cute little girl~ Rakurai thought ~I hope she won't be too
traumatized by this.  I'd hate to see such a happy spark, like hers,
go out.~
Hiryuu yawned slightly and gradually fell asleep, still holding onto
the kirin's muzzle.

----------

Kishu groaned as he slowly opened his eyes, "Man...I think I overdid
it this time..." and held his head in pain as his eyes slowly adjusted
to the light.  He then slowly sat up and looked over at the folks they
had managed to save.
The husband bowed slowly to him, "Thank you kind sir...we owe our lives to you."
Kishu smiled slightly and bowed lightly back, "You are quite welcome,
it brings me great joy to be able to help people," he then grinned
sheepishly and rubbed his head, "Though it can be painful at times,
but the rewards are well worth the risks."

The man nodded and smiled softly, "My family and I owe you a great
debt, please, if there's anything you ever need, don't hesitate to
ask."
"I'll keep that in mind," replied Kishu.  "So what are you going to do
now that your village has been burned to the ground?"
"Rebuild, of course, we're not going to let that nasty wizard think he's won..."

Kishu nodded, "So this wizard is the one who burned down your village?"
"Yes, a very evil man...every time he visited us, at least one person
would come up missing.  He set our village on fire when the village
leader and his wife, Hiryuu's parents, confronted him about it..."
"Why do you think he kidnapped those people?"
"I don't really know..." the man shuddered, "and I don't think I want
to find out, either."
~Hmm~ thought Kishu, ~this wizard needs to be eliminated, he has gone
too far, burning a whole villiage... He's either insane, or very evil,
or both...~ he then sighed.

Kishu stood up and walked over to Rakurai, vaulting onto his back.
"Which way to the wizard's place?" he asked.
"Past the village," the man said, "then a half-day's ride to the west,
through the next village, and up into the mountains to the south.  In
a deep canyon there, you'll find his keep."
"Thank you," replied Kishu, "Please take care of Hiryuu and those three boys."
The man nodded, "I will care for them as if they were my own flesh and
blood.  Farewell my friend, until we meet again."

Kishu nodded and Rakurai took off through the crumbling remains of the
village, galloping toward the setting sun, and disappearing over the
horizon.

==========

Metamor Keep: A 'Taur's Tail
by Stephen Tigner
Part 2: Our S'taury Continues

As Kishu and Rakurai entered the next village, it was eerily quiet,
the sounds of people bustling about were conspicuously absent.
::Where are all the people?::
"I don't know, my friend, but I don't like this silence, something is
definitely wrong here."
::Yes...but what?::
"That is what we must find out."

Kishu dismounted, "Stay here, Rakurai."  The kirin nodded and looked
around, his ears swiveling, to try and catch anything that might sneak
up on him.

Kishu knocked on the door of one of the houses, but received no
response. He then slowly opened it and cautiously entered, looking
around for someone who might be able to tell him what had happened to
the village.  He turned a corner and heard soft sobbing from the next
room.

~Sounds like another little girl~ he thought.
As Kishu opened the door, the crying suddenly stopped, and the little
girl looked up at him, her eyes red from all her crying.
"Hello," he said, "I'm Kishu, what's your name?"
"Akane."

"Where are your parents, Akane?" Kishu asked her.
She sniffled, and replied, "I don't know, I saw the bad man zap them
and I ran away, I don't know what happened to them after that," her
quivered and she started crying again.
~Poor thing~ he thought, "Let's see if we can find them, okay?"
Akane nodded slowly and stood up.  Kishu gently took the little girl's
hand in his own, and led her outside, "Can you show me where the bad
man zapped your parents?"  She nodded slowly and led him to the far
end of town, with Rakurai walking behind the pair.

She pointed to a barn, "In there," she said, and led Kishu to the
door.  He slowly opened it and cautiously crept inside.  As his eyes
adjusted to the light, he stared at the sight before him.  This barn
had apparently held quite a few animals, but they were no longer
there.  Instead, the deformed figures of once-human villagers met his
eyes.

Akane ran over to a couple, "Mommy, daddy!" she yelled as she ran.
Kishu quickly followed her, and examined Akane's parents up close.
The man had equine forelegs for arms, and hooves for hands, as well as
horse ears, and a horse tail. In addition, his human legs had been
replaced by the rear legs of a horse.  His wife was in a similar
shape.

~What kind of sick maniac would do this to people?~ Kishu thought, his
anger rising in him.  He was shaken out of his reverie by Akane crying
and hugging her parents.  He sighed and went to inspect the other
victims.

Many were in a similar state to the first couple.  He came upon a
couple that appeared to have been given attributes of pigs.  The man
had the forelegs of a pig replacing his arms and hands, as well as the
rear legs replacing his legs. Also he had floppy pig ears, a curly
little tail, and his nose was stretched out slightly.  He tried to
talk, but was greatly hampered by his large porcine tusks, making him
completely unintelligible.
The female, Kishu assumed she was probably his wife was in a similar
shape.  Next to her, it was apparent that this whole family had been
changed into pig-creatures, as children with piglet parts huddled
against their mom.

Similar twisted forms had been given to the rest of the folks in the
building.  ~He will pay for this~ the samurai vowed, and returned to
the first couple, "Come little one, it is not safe here," he said, and
started walking toward the door.
"No...I want to stay with my mommy and poppy," Akane whined.
"No," replied her father, "he is right, you must go with him."
"But poppy, I want to stay here with you," she cried, tears streaming
down her face.
"I know, but it is not safe for you here, please go," tears ran down
the deformed equine man's face, "I love you."
Akane hugged her father tightly, "I love you too, poppy."  She
sniffled and got up, walking over to Kishu, wiping the tears from her
eyes.

A cat appeared from the barn entrance and walked toward the girl,
mewling softly.  The girl stopped and looked at the feline, her face
brightening, "Kitty!"  She gently picked up the cat and started
petting it gently, scritching its ears. Something was off about this
cat though, but Kishu couldn't quite place it.

The cat started purring softly, then Kishu saw what was off about the
cat, it had a forked tail, that was a bakeneko.  Kishu yelled, "Drop
the cat!" and started running toward her, but it was too late as the
cat started glowing.
Akane blinked as Kishu ran toward her and tried to do so, but found
herself unable to move. The feline's once solid form turned wispy, and
swirled around the girl for a second before diving into her mouth as
she screamed.
Kishu stopped running and cursed, ~It's too late for her...why didn't
I expect this?~

Akane continued to scream as she collapsed, able to move again, but
now pain wracking her body as she started to change.  A long black
feline tail grew out of her rear, then split in two, and black fur
started growing on her arms and legs. Her feet reshaped into
foot-paws, and her hands into hand-paws, both with retractable claws.
However, her hand-paws retained her opposable thumbs, so her hands
were still somewhat usable.

Her screaming morphed into a very feline yowl, as her teeth started to
reshape, becoming sharper feline ones, and whiskers sprouted from her
face, as her nose reshaped slightly.  A burning pain in her eyes
caused her to close them, and when she opened them again, she had
slit-pupil feline-like eyes.  She panicked for a moment, as her ears
melted, and she was temporarily deaf until her new black-furred,
pointed ears poked through her hair. Her metamorphosis was not
complete, however, as she started to grow, rapidly aging from a child
to a teenager, her clothes tearing in places as they were now very
ill-fitting.

The glow slowly died, and she found she was able to move again.  She
looked herself over and collapsed on the ground, burying her face in
her paws, crying softly.  Kishu approached her slowly and sat down
next to her, hugging her gently, and she found herself starting to
purr.  Kishu blinked at that, then sighed, "I'll get that wizard for
this," he promised her.  She looked up at him with tear-filled eyes,
"Rrreallly?"  Kishu nodded gently, and hugged her softly.  She purred
again, and slowly drifted off to sleep, the stress of her
transformation having tired her out.

Kishu made a bed of straw for her, and gently set her down in it,
"Sleep well...I'm going after that dishonorable dog of a wizard."

==========

Metamor Keep: A 'Taur's Tail
by Stephen Tigner
Part 3: 'Taurget of the Wizard's Traps

Kishu rode toward an imposing mountain range, the tops of them like
daggers, piercing the sky, causing it to bleed clouds.  As they
approached the mountains, an opening into a canyon, like the one the
man from the village had described, came into view.
Kishu slowly rode into it, "Keep on your guard, Rakurai.  We don't
know everything that this wizard is capable of."
::Right::
Rakurai slowed down slightly as they entered the canyon, and Kishu
pulled out his bow and nocked an arrow in it, looking around him
warily.

Before them the imposing shape of the wizard's keep rose up, jutting
out of the mountain, and seeming to have been carved out of the living
rock.  "Can you hear it, Rakurai?  The mountain is crying..."
::Yes, I hear it...::
"We must end the mountain's suffering as well now, yet another reason
he must die..."
Rakurai tossed his head in agreement and they continued onward toward
the castle.

----------

"So...they think they're going to kill me, hmm?" said the wizard, "I
doubt it...but that doesn't mean I can't have a little fun with them
first, before I destroy them," he then cackled.

The wizard turned his attention back to the little boy on the floor,
unable to move, staring at the wizard with fear in his eyes. "Well...I
think I'll wait to start on you until my new toy gets here..." he then
laughed darkly, which just made the boy even more scared.

The wizard smirked and turned back to his scrying glass, "Let's see
how good he really is..."

----------

"Careful Rakurai, I have a feeling we're about to meet up with someone
who wants to have us for dinner, as the main course."
::Yeah...I have the same f-:: Rakurai's response was cut short by a
feral howling, as a pack of wolves appeared high up on the rocks in
front of them.

Kishu' eyes went wide, "eep..." and he fired the arrow he'd had nocked
since they entered the canyon at the first wolf that leapt off the
rocks at them, catching it in the throat.  The wolf gurgled and fell
to the ground in a heap, as the other wolves started attacking.

Kishu leaped off of Rakurai's back, put away his bow, and pulled out
his katana out, in one fluid motion, while Rakurai, now that Kishu was
off of his back, reared up and brought his forehooves down hard on the
skull of one wolf, then kicked another wolf quite a distance with his
hind legs.

Meanwhile, Kishu was holding a couple of the wolves at bay with his
sword, but was losing ground as they were forcing him into the canyon
wall.  Suddenly, he leapt up and over the wolves, slashing at their
backs, and landing behind them, earning a few slashes in his arm for
that.  Before the wolves could react, his leg shot out and swept them
off of their paws, knocking them to the ground.  Kishu then quickly
and cleanly hacked off the head of each one.

Kishu looked over at Rakurai, who had sustained a few claw marks to
his flank, but nothing too serious.  "Well...that
was...um...interesting."
::Yes, take a closer look at them, Kishu::
Kishu peered at the wolf closest to him, "This is no ordinary
wolf...it...it...looks like it could stand up and walk like a human."
::Exactly! Those wolves were not normal...they must have been more of
that sick maniac's victims, under his control::
Kishu nodded and leaped back up onto Rakurai's back, careful not to
touch where the kirin was scratched.

----------

"Bah...those wolves were a waste..." the wizard grumbled, then
grinned, "we'll see how well he handles the next challenge though..."

----------

A voice echoed through the canyon as they approached the gates, "You
must win my favorite game to gain entry to my domain..." the voice
laughed as it faded away, and two pedestals rose out of the ground.
One of them had four different colored crystals, the other was divided
into four squares on the top, one each for each of the crystals, with
corresponding colors.

"What the heck is this?"
::I do not know...I have never seen anything like this before::

The voice came again, "You must repeat the pattern that the crystals
flash, using the colors on the lower pedestal, it will start out easy,
but get harder and harder, as the sequence gets longer, and the
crystals will flash their pattern faster and faster the longer the
sequence gets," the voice laughed again, "If you can make it through
to the end, you will be allowed to enter...if not...." and again the
voice laughed, fading away this time.

Kishu sighed, "Well...I guess I'd better get started," and jumped off
of Rakurai's back.
::Good luck...::
"Thanks, I'll need it..."

He walked over to the lower pedestal, and stood behind it, looking at
the crystals...and the game began.  One crystal flashed, accompanied
by an audible tone, Kishu pushed the corresponding square on his
pedestal.  Then two, then three, and so on....the pattern getting more
complex and the crystals playing it faster as it got longer, just like
the voice had said.

Kishu was sweating, straining his brain to try and remember the whole
sequence as it kept lengthening by one each time, but he hung on, and
kept going, finally reaching the end of the sequence at 30.

After Kishu successfully repeated back the 30-part sequence, the
pedestals retracted, and the doors of the keep slowly opened outward,
"You have beaten my game...and now you may enter...if you dare," the
voice laughed again and faded away once more.

Kishu walked back over to Rakurai, "Let's go..."
::Right::
The headed into the castle through the doors, which creaked eerily as
they shut behind the samurai and his mount.

==========

Metamor Keep: A 'Taur's Tail
by Stephen Tigner
Part 4: What in 'Taurnation?

Kishu looked back as the doors closed behind them, "Well...there is no
going back now..."
Rakurai tossed his head, ::Yeah...let's go get that guy::
"Right"
They continued forward, deeper into the wizard's domain, cautiously,
but steadily.

---------

The wizard cackled, "That's right, just keep coming, I'll be waiting
for you," he smirked once again and laughed, the boy on the floor so
scared now, that had he not been immobile already, would have been
paralyzed with fear.

----------

The pair continued to walk forward, seeing a door in the distance,
they headed for it, an eye out for traps or ambushes, but none came.
When they reached the door, Kishu pulled his katana out, holding it
ready, "Okay, Rakurai, kick the door open."
Rakurai reared up and his forehooves came down hard on the door, which
swung wide open, and the two slowly advanced into the new room.  They
had not even taken ten steps into the room, however, when the door
slammed shut behind them, and a strange glow came from the floor at
their feet.

"What is this...I..I cannot move..."
::Neither can I...::

Along with the glow, an unknown mist rose into the air. Kishu began to
cough as the mist burned his lungs and made him dizzy, "It's.... a....
trap...." he managed to get out between coughs, as his eyes grew heavy
and he slumped over.

He awoke with a groan, "Oh my head... what happened?" As he blinked a
few times to try and get his eyes to focus, he tried to move his arm
to his head to rub it, but found that his hands were tied behind his
back. He looked around as the room slowly came into focus, and saw his
faithful companion bound within some kind of magic circle, unable to
move.

"Rakurai!" He called out, struggling against his bonds, but finding
that his feet were also bound.

On the other side of the room, a lamp blazed into light, revealing the
wizard, and his victim, the little boy, who was standing in oversized
clothing to the side of the wizard.  "I'm so glad you could stop by to
watch me have my fun," the wizard grinned.

Kishu blinked, "Manorishi! You again... I though I had taken care of
you the last time we met. You are even more sick and twisted than
before, I see..." he replied. This was not just any wizard. Kishu had
faced off against this wizard previously, and had thought him soundly
defeated. But it seems that was not the case, much to his chagrin.

Manorishi laughed, "So we meet again. As before, flattery will get you
nowhere, warrior. Now watch as I show you how I've been having fun
recently."  He grinned and pulled a couple of bottles off of his
shelf. "You see, I've been experimenting with extracting the essence
of both animals and magical beings, and then combining them with
people." He brandishes the bottles, which are labeled, "Spider" and
"Fox", and starts taking the stopper out of the "Spider" one.

"Why did you burn down that village?" Kishu asked, seething anger in his voice.
"My dear boy, that was because they refused to hand over certain
villagers for my experiments." Manorishi answered matter-of-factly. "I
needed them," he continued, "to extract their essence." He grinned,
"You see, not all are as they appear... there are bakemono,
shapeshifting monsters, living among, and breeding with, humans in the
villages."

"So you're still at that then, the same stuff you were up to last time
we met?" Kishu narrowed his eyes as he spoke, the disgust palpable in
his voice.
Manorishi roared with laughter, "Indeed my boy, indeed... but I have
refined my techniques and advanced quite a bit since our last
encounter." He finished opening the spider jar and pours the contents
of the jar out over the trembling boy on the floor. The green mist
pouring out of it congeals into the form of a giant spider, before
turning back into a mist again, and flowing quickly into the boy
through his nose and mouth.

"The big difference this time," he added as he worked on opening the
stopper on the fox bottle, "is that I've learned how to effectively
combine essences to create hybrids." He started chanting as he
released the stopper on the second bottle, and out poured a mist which
turned from green to red, taking the form of a fox, before also
leaping into the boy through his facial cavities.

The boy started screaming and convulsing, his bones snapping and
popping as he grew from youth to adult in a few seconds. A fluffy fox
tail grew out of his rear, as his hands and feet became fox paws, with
fur spreading over his entire body.  His face slowly pushed out into a
vulpine muzzle, while his ears repositioned themselves to the top of
his head. His muscles significantly bulked up over his entire body.

More popping and grinding noises, as he grew a second pair of legs,
and the lower body of a fox'taur grew in between the two pairs of
legs.  As the area between the two pairs of legs filled out, two more
pairs of legs sprouted from it, giving him a total of eight legs. His
changes complete, he stopped screaming and lay there, panting, still
unable to move.

After the little boy had finished changing into that 8-legged
monstrosity, Kishu said, "You are a sick little man, and you must pay
for what you have done to these people."

Manorishi laughed, "And who is going to make me, you?  You sad excuse
for a samurai?  You can't even move!" He then turned to look at
Rakurai, and rubbed his hands gleefully, "Now it's time to extract
your essence, my little Kirin friend. Oh, how I've waited for this
moment since we first met." He started chanting, and the glow from the
circle below the kirin intensified. Rakurai whinnied in terror, ::Help
me, Kishu!:: as he started to glow white, and a wisp of white mist
started to flow off of him toward a waiting jar on a nearby table. The
wizard cackled, "All you can do is lay there watching while I extract
the essence from your little friend.... Revenge is certainly a
delicious dish."

Unbeknownst to the wizard however, was that Kishu was double-jointed,
and had managed to pop one of his wrists out in order to loosen the
rope. While the wizard had been talking, Kishu had been slowly untying
his arms and legs, out of sight, and was just waiting for the right
moment to catch the wizard off-guard. He leaped up and tackled the
wizard, knocking him over, and interrupting the casting of the
extraction spell.

The men grunted as they struggled back and forth, and though Kishu had
the upper hand in a physical brawl, Manorishi wasn't about to lose and
stabbed Kishu in the side with a knife he had hidden up his sleeve.
Kishu screamed out in agony and his grip loosened enough to allow
Manorishi to escape his grasp and stumble away.

The wizard stood up, still brandishing the knife as drops of blood
slowly dripped from it. He then started laughing, softly at first,
then gradually increasing in volume until Manorishi was practically
cackling. "Foolish samurai, you have failed yet again to defeat me...
you should have been smarter about your attack, but your foolish
attachment to that beast has cost you your life." He grinned from ear
to ear, exchanging the knife for a long spear that stood on a rack
against the wall. "Any final words before I finish you for good, boy?"

"Even if I am to pass to the next life..." he paused to cough up a bit
of blood, then continued, "my spirit will haunt you for eternity...
you sick sick old goat."

While the two of them talked, Kishu's blood slowly flowed across the
floor of the room... until it reached the magic circle holding Rakurai
in place.... Suddenly, the circle started to spark, and the glow
flickered. Rakurai, suddenly freed of the bonds holding him in place,
reared back, and kicked the the Manorishi squarely in the chest,
sending him flying into the nearby table, knocking it over, and
knocking the wizard out cold.

The bottle that was on the table smashed into the floor with a crash,
breaking open and releasing the captured mist, which flew back at
Rakurai. However, the magic circle was still somewhat active, and
starting to go out of control, sparks flying, arcs of magical current
moving across the circle. Suddenly, two huge arcs zapped both Rakurai
and Kishu, who both screamed out, but their screams were soon drowned
in an explosion of white energy. It started as a white sphere
surrounding the two of them, and then quickly spread outward as if a
bomb had been detonated, levelling the entire castle.

----------

Kishu groaned and slowly opened his eyes, "I've gotta stop waking up
like this..." He tried to turn over, so he could push himself up, but
for some reason, his body felt *really* heavy. His eyes travelled down
his chest, to his waist.... and then to where it smoothly blended into
the body of a horse. An oath strong enough to singe eyebrows escaped
his lips as he reached a hand down to feel the pelt that was now,
apparently, his. It felt smooth, and he could feel his hand stroke
over his flank. "What... what in the world has happened to me?"

A sudden realization came to him, and he looked around frantically,
"Rakurai? Rakurai!? Where are you!?" Piles of rubble surrounded him,
the remains of the lab and the castle, but no matter where he looked,
he couldn't see a soul. Rakurai, that boy Manorishi had changed, nor
the crazy wizard himself, were anywhere to be found. Silent tears
started streaming down his face, "RAKURAI!!" he screamed out one more
time, then started sobbing for the loss of his friend.

Suddenly, he felt, well, it was hard to describe, but it felt like
something stirring in the back of his head. ::What happened?::
Rakurai's voice came to Kishu's mind. Relief flooded over Kishu, and
the tears flowed even more freely, "Dammit, Rakurai, don't worry me
like that!" He sniffled and wiped his eyes, "Where are you?"

::I'm not quite sure,:: came the puzzled response. ::I have no control
of my body, and I just saw your hand wipe my eyes?::

Kishu blinked, "Your eyes? Ummm.... Rakurai..." He looked down at his
lower half, and then a curse exploded from Rakurai, in the language of
the kirin. He'd never heard such colorful language from his friend
before. Wait... the language of the Kirin? Apparently he somehow
understood it now.
He sighed and rubbed his temples. "I'm going to wager that we were
somehow fused together, my friend."

::That does indeed seem to be the case,:: came the reply, ::And it
looks like I'm just a passenger along for the ride.::

There was a bit of silence after that line, and then Kishu sighed
again, then smirked, "Which leaves us with one problem...." ::What's
that?:: "How the heck am I supposed to stand up?" And the two friends
had a good laugh together, Kishu's laughing voice echoing through the
remains of Manorishi's castle.

===========================================

That's the end of it. Feedback on the rewrite would be much appreciated. ^_^

-- Stephen

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