"Final Space: Where It All Began"

Chapter 1

   A silver, thick furred Ventrexian rushed the the corridors of the royal palace, her large tail trailing anxiously behind her. She opened every door in search of something, her ears angled back in fear.

"No. No no no. No!" She wailed, her anxiety getting worse with each passing moment. "Where in the cosmos are you?!" She exclaimed, checking every drawer, cabinet and bed.

She resumed rushing through the castle when she crashed into the King, falling backwards onto the marble floor. Thankfully her rear end cushioned her fall. "Brother!" She announced in surprise as she gazed up at the broad shouldered ginger Ventrexian.

He wore a scowl on his face as he shook his head in disappointment. "Looking for Mochi?" He asked accusingly as he lingered on her daughter's name with disgust.

"Y-Yes... I promise I'll find her I sw-" She flinched as he swung his forepaw to slap her face. "SILENCE! Your job is to care for my wife while she is pregnant. Not waste time with that wretch you call your offspring. Am I clear Kioko?" He growled, his gaze filled with hatred as she stumbled to her paws.

The silver Ventrexian shivered with fear and simply nodded her compliance as she rushed past him to care for her sister-in-law.

Ventrexia was currently suffering from the first seven hundred years of war against the Tryvuulians. One that the Queen and King instigated out of greed.

Kioko was against it from the beginning, and for them to choose to bring a child into this world now, filled her mouth with a taste she never could be rid of.

She opened the large twin metal doors that lead to the Queen's main chambers. She bowed upon entering and scurried to her side with a notepad in hand.

"Good day your majesty... How may I be of service to you this morning?" Kioko asked hesitantly, mentally preparing herself for the laundry list of demands to come.

"You're late. Again." The queen put bluntly. She didn't wait for any sort of response as she began to list her needs for the day. Kioko wrote everything down to the letter and once the queen had finally finished it was time for Kioko to begin her duties.

This took her, depending on the list size, about half a day to finish. Usually by then her daughter was back in her room playing. After losing her husband, Kioko couldn't bare to lose her daughter.

Kioko, smiled at her precious treasure as she gave Mochi a gentle kiss on the forehead. "Mama? What are you gonna do now?" The small chirp of her daughter's voice asked.

"I'm going to fight. I'll be fine, you get some sleep ok?" Kioko reassured her daughter as she tucked her in and stalked back to her room.

She slicked her hair back, flattened her chest, and put on her traditional battle gear. Pulling out her dual bladed pole arm from its case, she stood on the mirror with a stoic expression.

"Oh Juniper... I wish you didn't have to suffer such a terrible fate... I will try my best to make things right for you..." She promised, gazing longingly at the face of her husband in their wedding photo.

With a heavy sigh she put helmet on,  rushed out her window and onto the battle field. Sprinting into action, she began scanning the area meticulously until her gaze locked onto another Ventrexian.

She rushed to his side, stopping to catch her breath. He looked down at her and chuckled, "Good grief Kopi, you need to get back into shape or you'll definitely be the first to meet an untimely end." He purred, helping her get to her feet.

Kioko lowered her voice and gave a gruff laugh as a response. "Yeah... It gets difficult when your wife needs you to help put the kids to bed y'know?" She mentioned, stalking the battle grounds alongside him with caution.

"You can say that again... I just wish this damn war would end. It's been so long I don't remember why we're battling it in the first place." The black furred Ventrexian replied, dropping into a crouch at the sight of the enemy.

He aimed his gun, taking note that the Tryvuulian was distracted by another Ventrexian. Just a few moments more, he held his gun firm and took the shot. His bullet aimed true and blew the enemy's head off.

Kioko stifled a yelp of sorrow as she begrudgingly gave the Ventrexian warrior a high five. "Nice shot Avocato." She complimented, still using her male voice.

"Thanks. All those years of training paid off!" He exclaimed with pride.

Kioko nodded and patted his shoulder, "I'm on an important mission right now. It's for recon. I'll catch up with you at the bar ok?" She informed, sprinting across the battle field, making headway for the Tryvuulian kingdom.

She slid past the barred gates toward the back of the wall enclosed city, taking her helmet off and setting it on her designated spot she had forged here. Putting on a new change of clothes she ran as fast as she could into the castle to hopefully confront the King and Queen of Tryvuulia.

As soon as she approached the throne room doors, they opened on their own. Revealing the cobblestone and marble sculpted space before her. She was in awe at how well carved each individual stone was, showing how much passion was put into the construction of this very room.

She was brought back to reality by the soft hum from the Queen, who sat poised on her golden throne."Pleased to see you again Kioko. What brings you here?" The Queen implored, gazing down at the young Ventrexian with curiousity.

"Well... You see your majesty. I wanted to ask, one last time. If you could out an end to this madness?" Kioko begged, gazing up at the matriarch with a spark of hope lingering in her chest like bait for a fish.

The Queen's face softened as she shook her head somberly, " I'm sorry dear Kioko. I'm afraid that just won't be possible. Seven hundred years have passed, and our people have changed to become the ruthless killers they are now. No thanks to your own rulers... I can't stop them. Even if I could we'd end up eradicated. " She explained, her gaze not meeting Kioko's.

Kioko got on her knees, the expression of dismay plastered on her already sullen face."So... What you're saying is... There's no hope... We're doomed?" Kioko looked back up at the queen, praying to every god imaginable that what she was saying was a harmless joke.

" Yes... I'm afraid that's exactly what I'm saying..." The queen's voice was barely a whisper, knowing how this unfortunate news would affect Kioko.

The silver Ventrexian stood up meekly, her silver fur seemed to fall flat and appear greasy in response to her current mental state."Thank you your Majesty... For your honesty and hospitality... May the gods forever be in your favor." Kioko gave her best wishes before sulking away to return home.

Upon her return, she stood in front of the Queen of Ventrexias door. Her heart was pounding as she knew the queen would be due soon. She was about to walk in when a scream echoed through the halls. A blood curdling scream that Kioko recognized.

"Mochi?!" Her eyes widened with horror as she raced through the halls.