Tales of Raiveirn: Leon

Chapter 4

He dreamt of his family, before all of this. He had always wondered what it would be like if his family was "normal", what would life be like? It's a question that he always wanted an answer to, but would never receive.

Leon felt an impact on him, still asleep and wondering what it was. He couldn't break himself out of his deep sleep but soon felt some kind of warmth spreading on his body, which was enough for his eyes to open slowly. He only saw a paw on his chest, letting his eyes begin to function before jumping to a conclusion.

When he could see fully, he saw that the paw was a silver paw with blood pooled around it. Leon shouted and jumped up, noticing a thin trail of blood coming from the door. His mind was racing, he followed the trail, terrified of what or who would be waiting for him at the end of it. He stepped off the shelf, seeing a figure standing in the center of the main floor.

As he approached it, he saw his father and smiled with relief... but as soon as he thought he was safe, he realized Hayseed had a look of pure fear on his face.

Leon froze and stared at him, Hayseed sputtered in a panicked tone. "Leon, who is this?!" He shouted to know.

Leon couldn't respond, looking over his father's shoulder to see the same blue eyes that he had looked into the day before staring back at him. Lana laughed maniacally, letting Hayseed drop to the floor as she approached Leon.
"The Mayflower line ends with you. If I can't survive, none of you can!" She shouted, lunging for Leon.
She pinned him to the floor, raising the same blade she had killed his mother with above him. Leon stared at her, unable to comprehend the things that she was saying. He felt a sharp pain in his lower chest, screaming in response to it. As Lana tore the blade out, she was knocked to the side by Hayseed.
Lana growled and ran to Hayseed, Leon shouting a warning from the floor.
By the time the words left his mouth, he felt his father's blood spill onto his face. He froze in shock, unable to move anyways, he tried to crawl towards Hayseed. Lana stepped in front of him, crouching to meet his eyes. "It ends with you, Leon."
She said ominously before placing a paw on his head, a pain rushing through it. He could feel his body weakening and consciousness fading. Leon stumbled forward to Lana, and muttered one final sentence before he passed out,
"I'll... kill you..."

He was unsure of how long he was out, only a cold and silent void was in his mind throughout the time. He couldn't think, it was the only moment where his mind wasn't racing for once in his life. He didn't understand what this was, but he hated it.

His eyes began to flicker open, his vision blurry. Leon found it hard to even keep them open, from what he could see, the area was dark. It was filled with trees taller than he'd ever seen, long grass, and surrounded by shrubbery. Leon took a long blink to clear his eyes, finally having a moment to take in this new area. He stood up slowly, his head still hurting and dizzy. He looked down at his paws, they were covered in scratches. He couldn't think about it. The wound previously on his chest was gone, but it still ached. His view seemed shorter than usual, and each step wouldn't take him the same distance as it did before. Leon kept walking forward, looking around and trying to get a bearing on his surroundings before he felt a thumping on the ground that seemed to be rushing towards him.

Leon quickly turned his head around, seeing a large dog barking and running towards him. He shouted and let his legs take off, running as fast as he could away from the canine. He could feel the dog getting closer, and his chest began to ache more, he looked to his left and quickly dived into a bush. He heard the dog keep running forward, its steps fading into the distance. He breathed a sigh of relief and began walking forward, still looking back. He hit his head on something, groaning and looking up at what he had hit.

He saw a tall cat. They were black with a white chest and gray upper paw, long fur that covered one eye, and a long tail. Their eyes are a deep orange, or perhaps a darker yellow. They were raggedy and tall, their fur unkempt and rough. The cat hissed at him, slamming his paw down in front of him.

Leon gasped and fell over, crawling backward as the cat crouched down in front of him. The cat put its head close to Leon's, Leon shut his eyes and prepared for the pain that would follow.

However, that never came. Leon opened his eyes to see the cat staring into his own. The cat lifted its head and began to speak, "You're not fighting back." They spoke, their voice was raspy and quiet.

Leon would look at them, slowly beginning to speak. "Of course not, you're huge..."

The cat's face morphed into a confused expression. "That's all the more reason to fight. Prove you're worth something, but I guess someone like you wouldn't get that."

Leon's ears practically rang with that statement. "Hey! What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" He shouted, offended that this cat assumed him to be weak.

"...It means you're unable to defend yourself. You gave up with the smallest threat." The cat said, laughing at Leon's 'ignorance'.

"Shut up! You don't know what you're saying!" Leon shouted further, wanting to attack the larger cat.

The cat stepped into a puddle of water, letting it pool in front of Leon. "Look at yourself, you look frail."

Leon stared into the water, realizing that this cat was right.

He was never the fighter he wanted to be, he could never defend someone. He couldn't save anyone...

Leon would breathe heavily, before beginning to shout. The cat would wrap its paw around his mouth. "Shut up! It'll hear you!" The cat hissed, letting Leon go after he had stopped shouting.

"Don't touch me you, you..." Leon said, trailing off before he could insult the cat.

"Badger. You can call me Badger."

Badger sighed and looked up. Leon tilted his head, then shook it. "Whatever, Badger, what is that... 'it' you mentioned?" He asked. Badger shrugged, huffing softly.

"It doesn't matter, you'll know if you ever encounter it." He said, turning and starting to walk away. Leon ran in front of him, putting his arms out. "Wait! You can't just leave me here!"
Badger chuckled, walking past him. "I can, and I plan to." Leon stared at him as he walked away, beginning to tear up. He could feel the sun's heat begin to hit him, and his surroundings lit up with a yellow glow. He could feel something inside of him shifting. Leon shut his eyes as the tears began to flow, screaming out at Badger. "Please! I don't want to be alone anymore!" He shouted, "My family is gone! I don't even know where I am!"

Badger paused, slowly turning his head. "Let me give you some advice, move on. Trust me, it's better that way." He turned his head further, looking at Leon. "You... are so desperate." He mumbled, staring at him. Badger would sigh again, motioning for Leon to follow him. "I'll help you, but leave me alone once you figure out where your home is."
Leon nodded and ran beside Badger, wiping his tears and smiling slightly. Badger grunted, looking away from him."Tell me, what's your name?"

"Leon. Leon Sainoa."

"Well, Leon, how is your family 'gone'?"

Leon paused for a while before responding with, "Dead, killed by my sister."

Badger chuckled again, now looking towards him. "Yeah, that's life. Well, maybe not the killer sister, but... people come, they love you, and they die." He said, "It's what happens." Leon shook his head, not understanding how Badger could laugh about something like this. "Well, what about your family? Where are they?" He asked. Badger waved dismissively, "I'll tell you later." He said.

"When's later?"

"Never." He laughed, continuing to walk.

Leon groaned, still following beside Badger. "What kind of answer is that?" He wondered. "We're heading for the hills, we'll get a good view up there and I'm sure you'll see your home," Badger explained the plan.

Leon nodded. "How long will that take?"
"About a day, if we keep up this pace."

Leon sighed, nodding and letting himself zone out, simply following Badger. The two were fairly silent, neither of them wanted to speak to the other. They both had many questions about the other cat and wanted to know every answer they could get. They would continue to walk through the forest, and Leon eventually decided to speak up. "How did you move on from your problems?" He asked. Badger stayed quiet for a few moments, responding, "You just do, you get over it."

Leon nodded once more, "I wish I could do that..." He admitted. Badger shook his head, refusing to speak about this further. Leon just stared at this strange cat, no matter what he asked, he couldn't get any information about him out.