The last shadowkie

Chapter one: Lost

Have you ever felt fear? The feeling that crawls up you're skin, etching its way into your mental state? The feeling you experience, when you see you're life as 'threatened'?
The Flight of Fight responce known by all.

I know this...emotion... it's a part of me, I am a part of it. It is what makes me 'different' as some would say- others on the other hand prefer to be, harsher.
'Dark-blood', 'monster', 'fiend of midnights embrace (to me this one is poetic. it has a ring to it you 'know)'
to name a few.

I fade away into the darkness, becoming one with the shadows around me. I can become a mist of cold. A mist of pitch black emptiness. A bottomless pit. There are creatures like me. Composed completly of darkness. They see me as their parent. Their carer. Their Alpha. I'm not completly made of dark matter. But we relate.

To society, I'm the outcast, the ember of ash that's left to dull being refused the chance to reignite. I'm not a saviour, I'm a villain. To them. That's all I am. I'm not composed of the light that shines between the trees. I'm not the shining stars above. I'm not one of them. I'm the darkness in the other side of the tree, the shadow of darkness cast. The 'Impure' one.

I cannot help the way I was born, the creature I was spawned as. They don't seem to care. Through pain of by body breaking and reshaping itself I can change...but the markings I bare remain. They know which wolf I am in the pack, bird in the flock. They will figure it out eventually. I cannot fend off them all alone.

My warm breath hits the chilling morning air of the forest, creating a faint clout of mist. I hate to think back, but as I stare into the ground with little to no emotion. those memories etch their way into my minds eye.

I can't get it out of my conscious, it stays there...taunting my sight.

I'm what humans would call...An Oni, demon or whatever else those evolved apes call me. Most are afraid. For good reasons, but there are a few- a few that treat me like them.
I'm like a shadow to them.

I began the journey to to the nearest water sourse, my clawed feet hit the chilled ground. I cant believe its almost winter. Letting out another sigh I continue my way forward, one of my ears twitched as I look at and listened to my surroundings.

A twig snapped, who's there? Whats there? Are they an enemy or a friend..?

Tilting my head up to face in front of me I sniff the air, attempting to find any scents I can muster.

"Hm....." humming quietly I turn to face the direction of the scent. Plucking a feather from my currently folded wings, I raise my hand and lower my stance. Instincts rise through my contiouse to strike, to throw, but I push them back down.
I listen out again, waiting.

C r u n c h

It's not something small...I know that....
It can't be anything large...nothing like that exists in this enchanted forest.
There can only be a few things it could be.

Time almost freezes as my thoughts rapidly spiral, still weary I keep up my stance.

The shrubbery russled, shook, rattled. What could it be? Do I need my blades?
I ask myself, placing my left clawed hand on the handle of the blade that was currently haulstered.
S

taring into the dence shrubbery I growl lowly, the rattling and rustling become quicker and quicker.

Something jumped out of the bush, I unhaulstered my blade in anticipation. Only to see a deer make of condensed dark matter. Sighing in relief I haulstered my blade as the mystic animal fled from the scene.

"Why is it always the deer?" I questioned quietly as I stepped forward to continue my travels.
I didn't need to ponder the idea, they were the most common out of the kiri, so it was to be expected I encounter them in this forest..The forest of my spiecies. I wish there were more left, then I might be able to learn our culture. But alas, apparently that wasnt ment to be. The lightokies had other plans.

Other destructive and enialatimg plans...

My kind didn't stand a chance, to few of us existed to begin with. Mainly because we don't breed like rabbits and we produce less offspring per pregnancy cycle.
Unlike the lightokies, we kept our numbers below a specific threshold. We knew how long our life spans were- we didnt want to over populate like the Lightokies did.

The lightokies begun the war after breaking the peace treaty, they continued to cut down out forest. Destroying parts of our home. We heard the forests crys and rushed to its aid.

Only to see the lightokies burning it with their 'pure' light. We called for them to stop. They only attacked us.
They won after a few years of war...Well- that's as much as I can gather from the destroyed scriptures and torn out pages of forgotten history.

The rest of my kind was murdered, I was only a 5 month old cub at the time of the slaughter. They could of easily killed me, but they had different ideas...

After all, I am the last shadowkie.