//?The Jackal (9)

>Stage Parameters Met
>Deflev: 3
[I realize what I am now. A mortal? Not anymore. The God of Time? Ha! What a fool I was. No. I'm much more powerful… I… Am… Entropy.]
-----Prometheus Unbound
The result was quite unexpected. Kodomo made a mental note to herself to be more careful before threatening a child in front of its parents next time- if there was a next time. The Talzayn counter-strike was swift and brutal; all Inu lines in the general vicinity had spontaneously broken, and one of her four honor guard had already been slain. Not that they had been much help; while the brunt of the Talzayn force had impacted the Inu, the one male Talzayn warrior and one female Talzayn Officer (Kodomo assumed these were the child's parents) had jumped through the lines completely, dismembering any in their way –Kodomo's honor guard included. While her honor guard were busy defending from the Talzayn that inevitably had broken through, the two Talzayn parents had flanked Kodomo, and were closing in together. Kodomo gripped her polearm tighter, bent her knees in a fighting stance, and tossed the child to the ground like discarded trash to allow her to better defend herself.
The female on her right reached her first, charging with her polearm fully extended. Kodomo swiped it away with her own blade, and sidestepped to get out of range of the rapidly approaching male on her left. The male anticipated this and angled his trajectory right behind Kodomo's field of view. For even the best Inu warrior, the situation seemed desperate at best. She was trapped between the two, deflecting their blows with her pole arm, but never being able to strike back at them. She dodged to the right, then blocked to the left, but her polearm became entangled with the male's polearm. She took out her dagger to defend her front from the female's slashes and blows, while maintaining a steady grip on her polearm, keeping the male at bay.
Thwak!
"Ahhhh!"
Another of her honor guard fell. A Talzayn warrior came barreling towards Kodomo and her assailants, ramming her at full speed. She fell to the ground and lost her grip on her weapons. She had just enough time to look up at the three Talzayn, their bodies extended to their full heights with ruthless expressions on their faces and blades, poised to come down and impale their helpless prey, before-
Bang!
The Talzayn in front's chest exploded with red. The other two paused in confusion. Acting on instinct, she grabbed her dagger from where it had fallen in the ground and planted it square in the female Talzayn's foot, causing her to collapse in pain.
Bang!
The male Talzayn's forehead was sprayed with red, and soon after the female's took on the same gruesome hue from Kodomo's dagger. She craned her head to see the source of such death.
Bang!
Jack stood in the middle of a clearing of bodies. His completely expressionless face did not so much as flinch at each headshot he made.
Click!
He slid another extended clip fluidly into his pistol, the years of experience and training making it almost an art. Another fifteen Talzayn fell to the ground like discarded puppets. He was cold and efficient, head or neck shots only; any kill that took more than one shot was a waste. He slid another fluid lead into his gun. The fighting was dying down now, and many of the Inu were starting to watch in awe at the sleek, black killing machine in their midst. Throughout the entire spectacle, one of the most amazing things to note was the fact that Jack's face never twitched, or made any form of expression.  The engine wouldn't allow that.
The number of unused clips on Jack's belt was inversely proportional to the number of bodies scattered over the landscape, and there were a staggering number of bodies. He deactivated his gun and holstered it with difficulty. His hands were shaking, though not from the death; his hands were shaking from the blood.
***
The landscape was scared with the etchings of the dragged bodies of fallen warriors. Smoke cut through the previously untainted azure sky. In its last throes of death the Talzayn army had viciously thrashed at anything in its reach, whether it was Inu, ANF, or even Talzayn. The last of the Talzayn , with one exception, had been rounded up and killed by the Second and Third Vanguard, while the First Vanguard sacked what was left in the Talzayn camp.
There was movement. There was too much movement. She cracked her eyes open through a layer of dried tears. Dead. Everyone was dead. Dark grey figures wandered in the background. Then her eyes focused on the foreground. A gleaming-silver clad figure approached her, its wickedly curved polearm glimmering in the sun. She whimpered. Where was Mother? Where was Father? Where was someone to protect her? The golden-clad figure was close now, and drew a dagger from the handle of its polearm.
A black pillar descended from the sky and planted itself heavily in front of her.
"Jack," the golden-clad figure called to the being supported by the sturdy black pillar, "get out of the way!"
"You shall not harm her" The black entity spoke with force, positioning its legs to better defend her from all sides.
"Do you think you can defeat me after what happened last time!?" It shrieked a maniacal laugh.
"She is a child!"
"She is a Talzayn!"
"What has she ever done to you?!"
"The Talzayn have-"
"No. What has SHE done to you" The black entity's whispered words shot through the silver-clad figure. It paused, and loosened its grip on the polearm.
"Fine" She heard the snowy white monster retort as an immature child talks back to their parents. It is funny how children are capable of seeing things that are invisible to adults.
Her muscles visibly relaxed. There would be no more chaos, and no more movement. That was good. The black entity descended to her level.
"Now, now" his breeze whispered in her ear, "no one will hurt you. I'll protect you"
She curled up tighter than before.
"I'm Jack. What's your name?"
Mother was gone. Father was gone. Everyone she had ever known was gone. It was time for her to move on. She slowly released her muscles from their tight embrace and gave in.
She looked at the black entity's face hiding behind a sea of blue and green auras and said one word and one word only: "Innocence"
(AUTOR'S NOSE: DON'T THINK THAT THE NAME INNOCENCE IS SIMBOLIC OR IMPORTANT IN ANY WAY; IT IS AN INSIDE JOKE/REFRENCE {that and I'm too lazy to actually think of a name at this hour})
***
-----A sheep in wolves' clothing
Kodomo looked at the only remaining member of the Talzayn force. The youth she had threatened now laid curled up on herself crying. Kodomo had a ping of guilt for what she was about to do. Most Sergals would no feel bad about killing a child from another clan, especially if the two clans were at war, but then again, Kodomo was not like a most Sergals. A memory of her mother floated into her mind, but she immediately locked it out. She shook all the memories out of her head. This was no time to reminisce on the past. 'Never let your emotions visibly take over you' her father had said. Her adopted father to be more precise. 'And if they do show, use them to your advantage'. Even with all the effort in the world, she was still just a small innocent girl at heart, and could not always handle her emotions, a fact that her father took advantage of to keep her alive. That was how she had gained the name the 'Snowy Terror'. Every time she could not suppress her emotions, she had a tendency to commit heinous acts of brutality to any who opposed her. Something that she was about to demonstrate to the grieving tuff of fur on the battle-scarred ground. Because that was the logical thing to do when she felt sad about her past after seeing an orphan on the ground grieving for its mother: kill it. She unsheathed her dagger from its concealed clip on her polearm, and saw Jack approaching the Talzayn youth. Does he plan to kill her?  She inquired to herself. That was what most Sergals would do, but then again, Jack was not like most Sergals. She watched as he reached the child, turned towards her, and then planted his feet firmly in the ground on each side of it.
"Jack," Kodomo's deep commanding voice beckoned, "get out of the way!"
"You shall not harm her" he answered with force, but no defiance.
"Do you think you can defeat me after what happened last time!?"
"She is a child!"
"She is a Talzayn!" Kodomo screamed with a rage that could only have been born from a scarred childhood.
"What has she ever done to you?!"
"The Talzayn have-"
"No. What has SHE done to you" His whispered words shot through her.
Kodomo was silent. She understood. She had been that innocent girl once, blamed for something she had no control over, then left by her parents to fend off the predators of the world all alone. Kodomo nodded her understanding.
"Fine…" she growled through gritted teeth.
Jack stared at Kodomo only for a moment longer to ensure that she did not make a move. He had won this battle, but she still might decide to strike back. Jack walked up to the puff of white fur gently spazming on the ground. He kneeled down and stroked her back.
"Now, now. No one will hurt you. I'll protect you", he spoke in a serene voice.
It curled up tighter than before.
"I'm Jack. What's your name?" He asked in a soothing voice.
It slowly unfurled itself from the knot of tangled limbs like a flower blooming from a tightly bound bud and craned its neck to better look through him with its gleaming red eyes.
It said one word and only one word: "Innocence"