The Mak Toras Chronicles

Chapter 8 - Farewell to Earth

Everything had gone quiet. The city life and those around it remained in silence. From what rang within his ears became silent once more. Gunfire resided in his hearing as a sound like no other. He never knew they could be so loud, even at a distance. It almost made him feel deaf for an eternity until his hearing regained form. Even then there was nothing to be heard. The forest around him ensured his confinement to the deathly cuts of sound into nothing. All the could be heard, however, were the sobs of a young boy. In this state, Tanner could finally let out his pain through sudden shrieks and yells, blotted out by tears to himself. Everything fell apart around him. Just moments ago he enjoyed a peaceful night of solitude amongst the majesty of the sky with the dream world. Now it was nothing but a living hell. His family was killed before his eyes, the brush of death passed him with the touch of a cold embrace. Along with it all, Tanner realized that he was the monster in his dreams. The true bestowed clearly in his mind as it came to life. Tanner couldn't believe what he had become. In fact, he no longer had a sense who or what he was anymore. All that he could recognize is that he was the monster. The animal amongst people. What had been lingering inside revealed itself to the threshold of reality. The taste for blood, flesh, the desire to kill and torture to express his emotion; It flooded his empty thoughts, consumed by hatred. It was all that was left. There was nothing Tanner could do but to save himself-exactly the words of his dying mother. Memories repeatedly stopped by like civilians and bystanders passerby of street violence. It hurt deep within the torn heart and soul of him. He had nothing left, and more so, felt as if he wanted to die where he stood. But the thriving compulsion to survive branded its directive into his brain. On his knees, he cried for what seemed like hours. He wanted nothing to do with the outside world and crawl right back into his mother's arms to snuggle the pain away for protection. But she was not there-no one was, for Tanner was truly alone. Stained with the blood of his enemies, he let out his shrilled cries of anger and loss. The entire forest echoed in his despair. In effort hoping someone would come to his aid, no one answered. The only attention he seemed to be catching was the creatures of grimm. Monsters from the darkness emerged into the light. Attraced by his negativity, they circled him, ready to tear Tanner into nothing more but ribbons. Upon looking up to meet danger a second time, blurred by his soddened eyes, he wanted it all to disappear, even himself. His inner monster from earlier drained him of his strength to fight back and therefore was helpless as they got closer. However, something watched him and his threat. Like the frigid night alone, they watched at the scenary below. Silent, stealthy, yet vigilant, they remained out of sight until the Grimm closed in for the kill. Instead of feeling their teeth and claws, he was greeting by a sight of decapitated Grimm with the sound of metal cutting through the air like the threaded eye of the needle. Swiftly, it returned to the trees without a trace. Tanner cries were soon halted by the odd occurance. Something had answered his call, but not to what he had expected. Something in a peculiar form emerged from the brush as an invisible figure. Though he couldn't quite see it, his senses picked up an odd scent let alone seeing a distortion of light. Looking up to what he encountered, the moonlight faded behind the figures head as it revealed its true form. To Tanner, it was a giant, standing taller than the average man. Surprisingly, this wasn't human nor faunus to wha he believed, judging by the skin tone-it appeared to be reptilian like, yet not as a whole. Its head was covered by a mask marked with strange symbols upon the forehead. Instead of the tiny strands of human hair, these were large strands of hair, extruding from the back of its head. The body itself was only partially covered: the torso displayed nothing but muscle as its left shoulder was armored. This pattern was also seen at the legs. From thigh to foot, it was covered in plating. Along with the arsenal, the wrists and forearms were well-protected as well: Each were equipped with razor sharp blades in dual pairs. Above it all, Tanner wanted to know about this being. Never before had he seen anything like it. Yet he wanted to thank this figure for saving his crippled life. Despite it being torn apart, his feelings leaned towards the side of living rather than dying. Unfortunately, he couldn't react anymore and felt his body nearly go bonless as he collapsed, barely trying to stay awake.

Kneeling down at his presence, he caught the young boy in his arms. Ultimately taking pity on the fragile human, he took him into his arms. Although a tough and brave warrior, he felt a sense of affection and care as a mother would. Never had he felt his way since the birth of his first son hundreds of years ago and siblings to follow. However, this was a different species. Although he and his brethren felt nothing to humans and faunus than to have their heads as trophies, he noticed something sealed away within the boy. From the fight his scouts reported, it was known that he had became a 'monster' or 'demon'. Just despite a child too exhausted to cry for help, he was able to defend himself from a threat prior. This interested the mighty hunter. Legend had it that there were few, rare individuals born with a power beyond understanding. Violent, and destructive-Primitive yet delicate. It involved with the mutation of the selected being to become something more. Although they varied in forms, the young human's came in the purity of essence-as if the beast inside emerged into full spectrum; that an ancient evil had awoken from its slumber. Though his first instinct would be to walk away, he admired the human's survivability. The boy had come a long way. Moreover, the hunter wondered where he came from, let alone where his family was. It wasn't typical in human culture to let youngsters running around alone, not with Grimm on the prowl. Something was wrong. There were no sign of the parents anywhere. Not a trace was found. All he could do was comfort the boy as the rest of his comrades stood guard. "Sire" one of the hunters called out, "You may want to take a look at this." He approached the cliff face to where they stood. Amongst the night life of Vale, a large fire rose from landscape. Below, stood a crowd of faunus, gathering at the torn down mansion. Their flags raised high in flight of victory. Immediately, the hunter hissed in disgust upon gazing at the symbol: Whitefang. A writhing, blade-churning feeling stabbed him in his gut. Clear from memory, the hunter remembered who they were and the atrocities of their race, even from the midst of forgotton time. The overlap was then put together like pieces on a puzzle: the young human's estate was besieged and ravaged to oblivion. There were no survivors but the boy. Inside, the hunter ultimately felt true pain and sorrow for the human. Such massacres seen before him involving the genocide of a race angered him the most. Despite eliminating the hunting generations and gene pool, it was a shame to see species after species rot into nothing more but dirt. Now with the Whitefang added into the mix along with horrendous events in history regarding genocide, it was all the more unnerving. Glancing at the boy, he shielded him from the view before them. "The Whitefang will pay for their treachery many times over" he muttered. Turning to his group, he signaled the return to the mothership. "My brethren, set course for home. I think we're just about done here." His comrade spoke up in the far back. "But sire, what about the tem-" "Another time, Cja'thar" He said interrupting his fellow hunter. "And what about...that?" Another hunter said, pointing to the boy. "He comes with." They looked to eachother astonished. "But why take a frail human alongside us?" "He has no where else to turn. I'll explain later. Go." With the order, they receded back to the ship, prepping for their journey home. Along in the mix, he brought the boy. Realizing the pain the human went through and with no where else to turn, he took him in. There was no other option by default other than to let the boy die and bring dishonor amongst the honor code. Nevertheless, his fate was sealed. He took the young boy with into his custody, setting him aside within the passenger seats available on board. Though his comrades would question his motives, he would make them understand. "Destination set. Brace for warp jump on my mark" the pilot said. The land was growing small as the ship climbed higher into the atmosphere until it emerged into the abyss of space. As the ship stationed for warp jump, the world below was nothing more than a spherical mass against the billions of constellations around. From seconds upon finally departing, the boy slowly opened his eyes to witness his goodbye to his homeworld. Within an instant, the image was gone as they jumped back into the dimension of travel in destination to their homeworld...of Yautja Prime.