The Fall of Alex Requinsward

[Night the Lucario]

I've been working on this for a bit now, and I finally finished it, so I'm going to post it here.

   AN: Alright, first things first. This story might be a bit different from what you're used to. You know, unless you read fantasy in which the main character just so happens to be the villain. But then, I don't know of any off the top of my head, and I read. A rather considerable amount. I'm sure that they exist, but they're an endangered species.

   I think I'll open with a few details on some of the characters you will meet in this chapter. First up is Alex Requinsward, a young(well, he's about fifteen when the story opens(and that's in human years)) black and white cat abandoned by his parents on the doorstep of a chapel of Requin, one of the gods in this world. Alex happens to be both the main character and a Villain Protagonist, and if you don't know what a Villain Protagonist is, go look it up on TVTropes. He is in training to become a Paladin when we open, and the only reason he's being given this training is because the priesthood doesn't like those who make them look impious. Let me put that plainly: Alex is harder on himself than the Romans were on Christians. He is a master of two weapon combat, due to long – incredibly long – hours spent each day practicing. Most of the people he fights now are full Paladins, the youngest of them five years older than he, and he wins more often than not. This has caused rumors to float around that he's cheating, the most frequent one being that he purchases his wins by selling his body. During the few hours he's not resting or practicing, he's often found in the chapel, repenting for his 'sins'. He stands at approximately five feet one inch.

   Um... I'm going to explain Requin now. Requin is the Lord of Mercy. His Clerics and Paladins preach forgiveness and acceptance, and therefore the religion is one of the least strict in Na'Zul'Ra, the world on which this story(series?) takes place. Although you wouldn't know it by looking at Alex. In the mind of Requin, it does not matter who you are(things that make you you, like your sexuality, what you find attractive, ect.), what you are(unlike most Gods, who often restrict their followers to a select race or species. Or both.), or what you do. So why does the God of Not Giving A Shit have Paladins? Because shut up. No, seriously, because I am the creator and I say so.

   Nikola "Blackbeak" Reginasdatter: A rather bookish young raven, Nikola is also incredibly sweet. Nikola has a crush on Requinsward, though Alex is completely oblivious. Nobody knows why she's here, though she works as the Librarian. Nikola is the kind of person you don't want to piss off, because she can and will kill you. To avoid angering Nikola, don't threaten her friends. Also, don't harm, wound, or inflict pain upon her friends. And don't touch her books.

   Christopher "Timber" Wolfe: An Arctic wolf, Christopher stands at 6'2". Quiet, Christopher keeps his own counsel, rarely talking to others. He fashioned his katana himself, an effort that caused several spots to become permanently black with soot. Fortunately, these spots are all easy to hide with a shirt.

   Alex Reffand is intelligent to a fault. His brilliance has been central to his lifestyle throughout his early life, and as a result he never really had much opportunity socially, and was a loner. He's eccentric, and awkward socially, due to his fidgety nature and odd habits. Alex is a white cat, with few distinguishing marks in that regard. He has blue eyes, and despite the common genetic mutation associated with white cats with blue eyes, he has incredibly sharp hearing. His sight isn't all it should be, due to a sensitivity to light. His sense of smell is sharp as well, as is his sense of touch, but oddly enough his taste suffered for it. He reacts strongly to anything bitter or salty, uncomfortably so even. As a result, he has an affinity for sweet things, and the sweeter the better, since his sensitivity to the taste has dulled rather than the others becoming more sensitive. He's slim, due to his incredible metabolism, and tall, though he walks hunched over, so he appears to be much much shorter.


   Jaxon(pronounced Jay-on) "The Freak" Firesnout: Contrary to his nickname, Jaxon is the most normal of the group... which isn't actually saying a whole lot, is it? Jaxon is a thirty foot long Red dragon. He's one of the laziest of the group as well, opting to simply watch sparring matches rather than competing with the others. Often, if for no other reason than to humor Requinsward, he'll practice with the cat. Jaxon is exceptionally laid back, but he does have a rather nasty temper if someone pushes him too far. Jaxon is in love with – and courting – Ruby Snaketail.

   Paddy "Hyper" Branchwalker: This short monkey excels at little more than annoying the people around him, especially Requinsward. Often seen around Jaxon, this hyper little fiend in monkey's clothing uses the dragon as a shield against what's coming to him. He happens to be very fond of practical jokes, although he has a tendency to cry when others return the favor.

   ...That should do for now. I'll explain other people as they become relevant. Anyway, this story is three firsts for me, it's my first original novel(here's hoping I can finish it), it's my first furry story(so I apologize if I get something wrong, if I do, please tell me, I'll correct it posthaste), and it's my first attempt to delve into a... uh... I think they're called 'fursonas'? Also, I would like to put this out there for the people who read the first chapter and like this little universe I'm cooking up. You can write any story you like here, although please DON'T mess with the existing timeline. In universe, this would be from roughly 1500AS-1560AS. In this case, AS stands for Ammo Septum, or Time of The Seven. If I'm wrong here, I apologize, I don't know much Latin. If you would like to write legends, or if you want to delve into the history of Na'Zul'Ra, feel free. If you want to look into the future, feel free. If you want to write things involving the characters in this story, ask and send it to me before you publish it, but feel free. There are some things you can do here, and some things you can't. Uh... I think that's everything I need to say here... so happy reading. Please, comment, if you're still here.

* * *

   The light wooden blades whipped around quickly, neatly slicing the straw dummy in two. The small black and white cat holding them let out a curse, berating himself for some nonsense about his being too slow. "I'll never get this right!" he exclaimed, before stalking into a nearby building filled with more of such weapons. Carefully, he set down the blades as if they were some holy object, and fled the area, as if he was frightened that his 'failure' would corrupt the success of another.

   Carefully, he ran to his room in the building, a small cell with nothing more than a bed, before the bell calling for those serving in the kitchen that day to report for duty. Leaping up, he sprinted to the kitchen, well ahead of the others. "I apologize for being late, Master."

   "Requinsward, what are you talking about? You're early, for the sake of Mercy! You're always early, often by more than ten minutes! And what have I told you about calling me 'Master'?"

   Requinsward looked downward in chagrin, finding that he had disappointed one he looked up to upsetting. "I'm sorry," he said, before the turtle smacked him with a wooden spoon, causing the cat to scream in pain.

   "For the love of Requin, child, stop apologizing! You don't do anything wrong, and yet you're always apologizing! By the Seven, it's downright suspicious! Look, child, I'm sorry I hit you with the spoon, but you keep apologizing, even when you haven't done anything wrong! And it starts to be irritating after the first three times you do it! Anyway, since you're early, would you mind starting the roast? That marinade you made me was simply delicious, and I managed to save some. The pot roast has been sitting in it since last night."

   "You liked it? It wasn't too spicy?"

   "No, it wasn't too spicy," the turtle said, shaking his leathery head. He had taken the roll of head chef for the temple after the restaurant he worked for 'convinced' him to retire, and started teaching the pupils a year after. In the ten years he had worked at the temple, he hadn't taught a student more eager to learn than Requinsward, a student more naturally talented than Requinsward, or a student harder on himself than Requinsward. Or a student as irritating as the two-colored cat.

   "That's good," said cat replied, still looking down as he moved toward the ice chest containing the meat. Putting it on the counter, still in the tub of marinade, he walked to get a bag of potatoes and some carrots, along with a knife block. Carefully, he peeled several of each, chopping them up and putting them as a bed for the roast. Just as he was getting finished, the first of the other cooks began walking in. Not turning to face the other students, Requinsward carefully slid the roast into the oven,

   "Hyper, no!" admonished the turtle, taking a pair of butcher knives from the monkey.

   "Aw, but gramps-"

   "Don't you 'but gramps' me, young man! Why are you even in here?"

   "The head priest told me to give you a message."

   "And what was the message?"

   "Uh..."

   "Branchwalker, don't tell me you forgot!"

   "No, no I remember! We have a new student, a white cat named Alex Reffand!"

   "Auspicious day indeed for a new student, after all, Alex is cooking."

   "Really? Whatcha making, Alex?"

   The cat ignored the annoying monkey, busying himself with preparing the salad for those who wouldn't eat the pot roast. "He's making a pot roast," the turtle sighed, turning to face Paddy. "So now that you've told me, don't you have something else to do?"

   "Uh... nope!" he said brightly.

   "Fine then. Go get Jaxon."

   "Aw... why do I have to go get The Freak?"

   "Because I said so, young man, and if Jaxon's the freak in this school, you're all absolutely insane!"

   The monkey left the room, sulking, and Alex spoke up. "He's called that because he's normal. Well, comparatively."

   "Aw, yes, I can see that. Do you know what he's doing in this temple, as opposed to Bahamut's one?"

   "No. I try not to ask about other people's pasts."

   "A good thing to do, a good thing indeed. What do you think this new student is like?"

   "I don't know. I try not to assume much about other people."

   "Alright, alright, I can take a hint. I'll get out of your way now, Alex. Have fun cooking!" the turtle exclaimed, as he left the kitchen.

   "Have a good day, Jasper!" Alex yelled back, still watching what he was doing with care. It's a new student, it's a new first impression. I have to be really, really careful about this, if I screw up and he has to go to the clinic, I'll be in trouble! So, so very much trouble... no, can't think about that, have to concentrate on making this as good as it can possibly be. Oh, dessert... dessert... why can't I think of a dessert?! Jasper made a soup already, I've made the entrees, now I have to make a dessert! Peering into the pantry, Requinsward looked at what they had. Maybe... something new. An experiment. Oh, I do hope it turns out well! he thought, as he grabbed the ingredients he would need.

* * *

   "Come on, Jaxon! Alex is cooking today, and I want to find out what he's making!"

   A large, gold reptilian eye opened at the side of the dragon's snout and glared at Paddy. "Tiny, do you have to bother me with this," he asked in a voice that gave away the fact that he was still an adolescent. "I was having a wonderful dream."

   "But Alex is cooking! You know he always makes the best food!"

   "That's because he didn't piss off the chef the first day he was being taught, Tiny. Besides, I don't really care what he's making. Whatever it is, it won't be enough to feed me."

   "Oh fine! But when he kills me, it's going to be your fault!"

   "Here's an idea, why don't you not bother him?"

   "But it's so much fun! Oh, and there's a new person at the school, and you know that Alex'll make something grand."

   "Eh, I'll just go back to sleep. I still remember what Alex did for me when I came. Vegetarian meat... It was good, but... plants. Who eats them?" The eye closed, and Jaxon went back to sleep. And if Hyper spent the next hour or so trying to wake him back up, well, even the most fruitless endeavors have some good attached to them.

* * *

   The white cat had conscripted an arctic wolf into showing him around, asking several questions about each building, rarely receiving anything more than a grunt in response. When the bell for supper time rang, the first question out of Reffand's mouth was, "What does that mean?"

   "Supper. Requinsward is cooking. Food's done. Follow me if you're hungry," Christopher grunted, walking to the mess hall. Opening the doors, the duo was treated to a magnificent sight, a brown sculpture of a cat that looked edible. A small nick in one ear was missing, the only sign that it had been tasted the the creator.

   "Who did this?"

   "Requinsward," Christopher grunted again, as if that explained everything.

   "Holy mother of Bast!"

   "This? Should have seen last time."

   "What did he do last time?"

   "Edible sculpture of dragon. Made of vegetables. It was all gone before we realized it."

   "But this-" he was stopped by the appearance of a black and white cat coming out of the kitchen, bringing out a very large salad bowl and a platter of roast beef.

   "Do you like it? I heard you were white, but I couldn't make the color hold. Sorry..."

   "You made me... a statue. An edible statue. And you tried to make it my colors. And you're apologizing?!"

   "Sorry... Jasper is always telling me I apologize too much. Sorry..."

   "It's fine, really! What is it made of?"

   "Oh, it's something called chocolate. I hadn't made it before, so it's something new. I wish I could have made it white... but then the eyes would have looked strange. It's dessert," Requinsward said sheepishly. "I remembered the recipe from Jasper's book... I hope it turned out alright."

   "Well, how did it taste?"

   "Sweet. Really, really sweet."

   "Then it's perfect!" the white cat exclaimed, as he moved to attack the statue.

   Requinsward grabbed him before Reffand could begin devouring it, saying, "I'm sorry, so, so sorry, but it's for dessert. And most of the rest of the people haven't even arrived yet!"

   "But... but it's chocolate!"

   Christopher just grunted, before sitting down. Soon enough, the remainder of the people, minus Jaxon and Ruby, gathered into the mess hall, and got their food. Requinsward took only a very small portion of everything, allowing the others to have their fill. Reffand, oblivious to this, cut himself a large piece of the roast, and began attacking it furiously. Blanching, he quickly took several large gulps of water. "Oh dear, what's wrong?"

   "It's really salty!"

   "Oh, I knew I screwed up somewhere," the black and white cat began to wail, hitting his forehead with his paw. "I knew it, I knew it!"

   Reffand, confused, said, "It's still really good! I'm just really sensitive to salt, that's all..."

   "But I should have known this! I'm so sorry, really!"

   "How could you have known that I was really sensitive to salt? I just got here three hours ago! And seriously, you apologize way too much, you should stop that."

   "But-but-"

   "Enough! It's a perfectly good meal, I just had more than I could handle at once! Look at everyone else, they love it! I just know to not eat so much now!" Requinsward sniffed, clearly still upset that he had 'made a mistake', but quieted down. "I'm Alex Reffand, what's your name?"

   "Alex Requinsward, but most just call me Requinsward. N-nice to meet you," he said, blushing shyly.

   "Requinsward, huh? What do you do here?"

   "Uh... well, I'm training to be a Paladin-"

   "What, really? You should just stay here and cook, and teach people to cook."

   "What? No, I couldn't do that-"

   "Well, why not?"

   "I'm too likely to do something wrong and kill someone."

   "...Alex, how long have you been cooking?"

   "Huh? I... well, Jasper started teaching me a couple of years ago, and I started cooking unsupervised last year-"

   "And has anyone died? Has anyone gotten sick?"

   "Well, there was – no, wait, I wasn't cooking that day, I had gotten a cold. There was – no, that's not true, the Healers found that he had been sick already. Uh... no."

   "So why are you so worried that you're going to kill someone while cooking? I mean, it's kind of preposterous, don't you think?"

   "Well, yeah, but-"

   "Ah, my dame always told me 'No buts'! So you don't get to, either!"

   "But-"

   "No buts!"

   Requinsward opened his mouth, before shutting it abruptly, not having anything more to say. Satisfied that he had won this battle, Reffand began to cut the roast into small pieces, which he ate slowly, carefully, making sure it wasn't too salty for him. By the time he was finished, most of the others were waiting patiently, knowing that Requinsward wouldn't serve the dessert until everyone was done.

   As everyone in the room finished, Requinsward stood and walked to the center of the dining hall, where the statue stood. Reaching up, he carefully broke off a piece of the ear and ate it. Then, as if this was some kind of sign, everyone began swarming the statue, leaving Reffand, still sitting, confused. As Requinsward made his way out of the mob, he walked back over to where the new cat was sitting, and held out an arm. "Here you go, I hope you like it."

   Reffand looked at the solid chocolate arm hungrily, and grasped it quickly, devouring it as fast as he could get it into his mouth. Within minutes, the foot of chocolate was gone, and Reffand leaned back, sighing contentedly. Picking up his glass, he took a swallow, finishing the water. "That," Reffand declared, "was delicious. Thank you, Alex." Requinsward smiled demurely, muttered something about it being nothing, and left the mess hall, walking to the sparring grounds.

* * *

   Captain Migure might not have liked allowing this, but, she mused, it was good practice for the cadets. One would think that, against four of her highest ranking recruits, Requinsward wouldn't stand a chance, but Seven blast her if that cat wasn't positively lethal. Watching over the combat from the observation deck, she watched as Requinsward walked into the stadium, seemingly unarmed. Unseen by the cat, she gave a signal, and Tobias struck from the shadows in the entrance, a quick blow that would have hit most people, though done little damage. A sword whipped out to defend the cat, as Requinsward began to spar with the large panther.

   Leaping backwards, he managed to avoid an attack by the antlion, Magdal, and leapt to the left as he touched ground to avoid a strong blow from Cerril, a black dog. Surrounded now on three sides, the cat began to dance, a peculiar series of steps attuned with the way the battle would flow. Two blades and a spear were thrust at Requinsward, and with ease he dodged all three. Crouching to avoid an attack from above made by Ruby, Alex dodged yet another sword blow, and made his way under the legs of Cerril.

   Outside of the trio, but still pursued by the dragoness, Requinsward jumped up onto Ruby's snout, climbing back from the neck onto the main body. Digging in with his blades, a thin line of blood beaded up from Ruby's back, and she gently fell to the ground, 'dead'. Quickly, Alex jumped off the 'corpse' of the defeated red dragon, and struck Tobias in the chest, just enough to draw a small dropplet of blood. The panther fell down, 'dead', and Alex was already 'decapitating' Magdal. Still in the motion, Alex used his own momentum to send him into Cerril, blocking her blade and 'stabbing' her between the eyes. "Um... does this mean I win?" he asked quietly.

   "I'd say so. We need another person, you know us all too well!" Cerril cried, rubbing her forehead with her paws.

   "Seriously, we don't even seem to be that much of a challenge to you," Tobias declared, standing up and wiping away the spot of blood on his fur.

[Chris8492]

Great beginning to the story!  :)