Rise Of The Spatial Dragon

Dane smiled to himself as he watched Barcova exit. The vasil had shown himself smart and adaptable, and quite an eye for treasure. One of the reasons for saying that was cause, had Barcova known the true treasures in his cave he would have discounted his precious loot as garbage.

True, treasure is measured by its value, and while his treasure was extremely valuable in their planet, it valued as nothing in the cosmos. However, the gems in that cave, they sold for top dollar in the universal markets, and every planet that had these gems as naturally occurring is considered a goldmine, and to his pleasant surprise, this planet has several such ores.

While Barcova didn't know what he had stumbled onto, it was a well known fact that by many in the cosmos that there were those that were born lucky with an eye for treasure. Such people are usually the best choice for treasure hunters, and many factions found and sponsored such individuals. All in all, his starter pack group of mortals was looking good.

Bamboo found himself walking in a grassland, much like the home he is used to, only, something seemed off. It wasn't just the fact that there were none of the landmarks he was used to, because that would only mean he was in another region, but there was something intangible that felt, different. Bamboo couldn't quite put a finger on it though.

He had been walking for a while and was feeling quite perched, so when he saw a small pond, he immediately rushed in.

Wham!

Before he could get to it, a paw had sent him sprawling. Livid, he got up ready to pummel the opponent, but to his utter shock, his opponent was, himself.

Not giving him time to process the shock, the opponent lunged at him with viciousness only displayed by the mentally handicapped, a smart way to say those who'd gone savage. This was a well known fact, some lavels hadn't quite finished the evolutionary journey yet, and these were more beast than lavel. They were hermits that were okay to shun and be shunned by the rest of the the species.

Realizing that he can't negotiate with this prey, he fought with everything he had. Paw bashing paw, bites, scratches, wrestling and body tackles.

The wild Bamboo noticed an opening and lunged at his opponents neck, only to end up biting mane. With a vicious smile, the real Bamboo swung a kick to knock out the opponents knee, following up with a strike from his paw. He intended to use the opponents attack momentum against him, so careful getting out of the way, he struck his prey to the ground.

With a loud war cry, his paw found the edge of the neck, and Bamboo ripped out the neck in one swell move. Standing tall as he watched blood flowing from his opponent, he bravely walked to the pond, this was it, the reason he had worked so damn hard, and killed... himself?

Just as he was about to put his mouth in the pond for a drink, he felt himself being pulled away. To his surprise, he saw two more savage Bamboos, each as scary as the one he had fought. Bamboo thought of running, but they had him surrounded, blocking his path to the pond and away, there was only one thing to do, fight.

Maple was still following the scent, oblivious of the dangers she was in. She had to save her companion. Bamboo had always been her companion, her best friend since she was a small lavel. They used to play together, and as they grew up, they started hunting and fighting together.

She couldn't b.a.r.e to lose him, and she'd rather die alongside him, where she belonged, than apart from him. She hated that he didn't notice her feelings, or reciprocate them. Her hope was to be more than what she was, and as it always was the case with these stories, there was Thea. However, Maple was smart enough to learn that Thea was not a threat, as she realized Bamboo wasn't that into her, but rather he pined after her.

What really infuriated her was that this man wasn't into anything. To her, she felt that if he just worked for it, he could have anything he wanted, and she'd be there by his side to see it done, yet, he didn't act.

Even when that bully Hasilo tried to pin him down, he wouldn't let him. He'd tried severally to assert his dominance over Bamboo, and often times he succeeded, but everyone knew, Bamboo wasn't a hunker down kind of guy. Yes, everyone in the tribe knew of their feud, and while at the moment it seemed Hasilo had the advantage, even he knew it was because Bamboo let him.

This was one of the reason why Dane had chosen Bamboo as the leader, because he naturally was capable of assuming command and lead an army. His charisma further enhanced by that look of one who carries the weight of the entire world on their shoulders. He was the sort of leader that others chose to naturally follow, even when he himself didn't ask it. He was the leader that people and trust in times of crisis. And oh wouldn't Dane capitalize on that. To him, acquiring such an asset and failing to use it was an insult to Bamboo, and a waste of talent. Of course if Bamboo was to see the great dragon smiling as he thought about him, shivers would go up his spine.

Maple's nose had always been her trusted ally. Like most lavels, her nasal capabilities could shame a wolf, of course, she didn't know what a wolf was as her entire world only had 10 predatory species, and 2 of them were sentient. Hence, for her, following a scent was the same as following a straight line straight leading to him. Yet,when she did see him, shock filled her eyes.

Battered, bleeding, Bamboo was being plummeted by a masked figure. Unable to hold back her rage, she charged in with everything she had.

Pa!

All her momentum was stopped by a single strike to her face. In her charge, she had made the mistake of completely losing herself to battle, causing her to be unguarded and only focused on the offense. The strike had been well placed to hit her jaw, causing her to lose her footing and was sent sprawling on the ground.

All this did was make her more mad, but just as she was about to stand and continue the fight, she received a second shock. The person who had hit her, who had been plummeting the lavel she loved, was her? As horror registered, an evil smile flashed across the assailant's face, almost as if she was mocking her.

Thinking about it, that move, putting down a charging bull, that was her move. She was known for it, as she wasn't the type of lavel you took on easily. Across the galaxies, she would have made a name for herself as having a talent for assassinations, the instant strike from seemingly innocent movements, the danger that sprang out of a non-threatening smile.

Seeing that her opponent wasn't simple at all, she rose up with caution. Now the real fight begins.

The two predators eyed each other, monitoring each other's move, almost afraid to strike. Maple's evil doppelganger sent a probing paw, which was met by an expertly timed fainting backwards to dodge the attack accompanied by a front kick aimed at the opponent's shin.

Following with the momentum, she spun left and sent a second attack at her opponent. The angle of attack, the speed and placement of the claws led to instant beheading of the enemy. Quick, clean and fast. A budding master assassin, Dane nodded with approval.

Sadly the easy part was over, as 2 more doppelgangers stood in the place of the one that just died. What followed was a spectacular show of speed and stealth. Leveraging with everything she had, she did her best to get past her attackers, anything she could to get to Bamboo, but alas, she was severely overwhelmed.

Watching from his hideout, Dane could feel her exasperation. She gave her all, yet her doppelgangers always seemed to have an answer. She struck hard, but was stricken down before she could land a blow. It really was asking too much for someone with no training to fight not just their own selves, but three of her own doppelganger. They too, like her, were relying on instinct and bloodline, which is what she was doing.

She may have beaten the first because of skill, and the second pair due to battle prowess, but against three doppelgangers, she was pressured to no end. She couldn't defend completely, so in every exchange she was hit. She couldn't attack because she was on the receiving end, and the mounting pressure only got worse as she was growing weaker and tiredness was becoming a fatal factor.

Was this it, would she and the lavel she loved perish in this wasteland? Was it her fate to watch as she remained helpless, weak and incapable of saving those, rather, he who meant so much to her? NO! There must be more to her than this!

That was it, that was when it happened. Dane had thought Bamboo would be the first to experience it, but he had underestimated the need borne from her d.e.s.i.r.e to save her Bamboo. On one such occasions, he was happy to be proven wrong.

At first she didn't know what had happened. One moment she was battling, the next she was right next to Bamboo, having gone past her assailants without even knowing. However, to her jubilation, her attackers were even more surprised.

With a scream to pierce the skies, the doppelgangers began to fade, until they were no more. A victor's smile appeared over her as she watched her enemies fade away, and she turned to Bamboo with a face full of joy, only ...

Wait, where'd he go? Had he too also faded away? Before any such thoughts could cloud her mind, her vision began to turn murky, and she too faded into the black.

Watching Barcova's fight, Dane suppressed a yawn. He was a supernatural being that didn't need to speed or eat, yet at that time he felt like taking a nap. Having fought in great intergalactic battles, watching these untrained amateurs was like a world class chess player watching an amateur who doesn't even know the rules.

Everything was all wrong. Barcova was trying to prove that he can fight, yet that was not where his strengths lay. In a way, it was a smart move cause he was fighting himself, and he knew his weakness was. He was quite lacking in a fight, this he knew, hence, any doppelganger would also experience the same. While it was good to see one use their opponent's weakness , the test was meant to bolster one's strength, and in this case, that was just not happening.

It took the vasil a whole day to take down his first doppelganger, only to be hit by a bigger surprise of 2 more Barcova's suddenly appearing. It was then that he decided it was time to take things serious, causing a dragon to sigh.

Yet, it was during this time that a leader had been born. A powerhouse that would rock an entire planet and a building block to shape a faction in a universe, the foundations that would cause the name Bamboo to ring across generations and millennia had just been laid! An excited Dane grinned as a triumphant lavel faded into unconsciousness.