BO Prequels; Silrun "Caracal" Pepin

Written by Peter

Reilly Pepin, a powerful samurai warrior had twins - Silrun and Tameto Pepin. Since they were young, Reilly trained his children, turning them into the most powerful samurais in the town of Guvner. Other parents asked Reilly to train their children, but Reilly said the true path to the samurai results in the student staying with their master all day, every day. He could only train their children if he adopted them, and he was sure the parents didn't want that. And they didn't. Silrun and Tameto were taught to look out for one another, to watch each other's backs and to never let the other die. To test their loyalty to one another, Reilly took the two into the local woods when they were thirteen years old. He gave them both a Katana and told them to find a way home.

"Come on Tameto. I'm sure it's to the south. I'm sure of it." Silrun said.
"No way. It's south from our home to here, so the way home is to the north." Tameto replied.
Tameto turned to walk off in the opposite direction to his broth. Silrun jumped in front of him.
"We can't go off in opposite directions Tameto. Remember the training. The reason we're here is so we can train ourselves to work together and fend for each other." Silrun said.
"Stop spitting out crap! I do not give a shit what we're here for. I'm heading home, with or without you." Tameto replied.

Tameto hated his brother. His father forced him to train and look after him, just like Silrun was trained to do. But Tameto felt Silrun wasn't worth it. He felt Silrun was weaker than him, and thus he felt no need to stick by his brother. It wasn't long before Tameto ran off and left Silrun behind. It took him about an hour to get home.
"I am glad to see you're both home my children." Reilly said. He paused. "Where's your brother?"
"I left that weakling behind." Tameto said.
"That is no way to speak of your brother. I trained you both to be as strong as each other." Reilly replied.
"Well you failed with Silrun!" Tameto cried.
Reilly locked Tameto in his room as punishment, grabbed his prize sword Zanmato and ran off to find Silrun. It took Reilly an hour to find his lost son in the heart if the woods. When he finally found him, Silrun was huddled by a tree, shaking. He was clutching his sword close to his chest. Reilly could see what Tameto said. Silrun was weak. Suddenly, Reilly heard a loud roar behind him. A huge bear like monster had spotted the two of them and was running straight for them. Reilly had no time to draw his sword and defend himself. In a flash, the bear like creature was dead and Silrun's blade shone in the moonlight. Something snapped in the young boy's mind. He no longer seemed to cower like his brother said. Courage and strength now flowed his body like blood.

Five years later, the great lord Odonic Magus moved into the town of Guvner along with his daughter Janine Magus. They were recognised as high figureheads through out the town. His daughter, Janine was said to be the most beautiful girl in all the land. Many of the local men fell for her, including Tameto and Silrun. It is said that the only way to marry a daughter of a lord is to become the highest ranking general in the local army. With knowledge of this, many of the town's men joined the army. The army for Guvner was however different from the army of other towns. Guvner's army required the people to posses excellent hand to hand combat and skills with the Katana. Since they had samurai training from a young age, Silrun and Tameto quickly ran up the ranks. By their twenty first birthday, they were the two highest ranking people in Guvner.

Janine however had fallen in love with a man. Both Silrun and Tameto had grown into strong adults. Many of the local girls had fallen for the twins, and Janine was among them. Tameto had grown to become a hardened man. He thought only of fighting and being strong. He didn't really rare much for other people, except Janine. Silrun was a more friendly person. He was about as strong as his brother was, possibly weaker but his heart was among the largest in the land. He would always uses his skills to help his fellow man, be it defeating a bunch of bullies or saving a small cat from a tree. Janine had grown to love Silrun. His kindness, bravery and looks were enough to make her fall for him. However, no one knew of her secret love for Silrun. Even her father and Silrun had no clue about it.

During their training in the army, the brothers became masts of hand to hand combat. They both found an old master to train with. Silrun trained with master Ying, the good master of hand to hand combat and Light Chi Magic. Tameto trained with dark master Futeper, the dark master of hand to hand combat and Dark Chi Magic. Both of the brothers learnt the same moves, for Ying and Futeper once trained under the grand master Strife. The masters also passed down the art of Chi Magic to their students. It took hem a good three years to master the art, training from dawn till dusk, seven days a week. They only stopped training to continue their progress in the army. Their chi skills enabled them to perform chi blasts, where they use the Chi in the body to create and fire chi blasts at their enemy. They mastered the five elements - Fire, Water, Thunder, Ice and Earth, and learnt to heal themselves and others.

When they had both reached the highest rank, they both went to ask for Janine's hand in marriage. Tameto managed to get to the palace first, by tricking Silrun into thinking a man needed his help. Just as he finished his proposal, Silrun slammed the door open and told every one of Tameto's dark ways. He then asked for Janine's hand. Tameto looked at the lady when Silrun proposed to her, and saw her smile. He realised that she loved Silrun. Tameto challenged Silrun to a duel, with the intent of beating his brother and winning Janine's hand. Silrun accepted.

"Are you both ready?" Lord Odonic asked.
Silrun stood their, holding Melmusa in his hands. Tameto was opposite him, and held Masamune loosely in his right hand.
"Let the duel begin!" Lord Odonic cried. The crowed in the stadium cheered. Next to Lord Odonic sat his daughter, Janine and next to her sat Reilly.
"Farewell brother! Say hello to mother in the afterlife!" Tameto cried.
"Death shall not come to either one of us for I am guided by Light Chi. I can not kill unless the being is of pure darkness and you my brother are not of pure darkness. Light shall vanquish Dark. I shall win this fight!" Silrun cried.
Tameto raised his sword and ran towards his brother. He swung down his blade onto his brother's head. Silrun held up his sword, blocking the attack. He then jumped and kicked his brother in the face. Angered by this attack, Tameto attacked with a fury of sword swipes. Silrun struggled to block them all. One of the random swipes made it past Silrun's defence, and cut him on his right shoulder. Before the blade could move deep enough to slice off the arm, Silrun raised his sword and pushed Masamune away.
"You are weakening brother!" Tameto cried.
Silrun placed his left hand on his shoulder and began to channel his chi. The white Chi quickly sealed the wound and healed him.
"I shall claim victory Tameto." Silrun said.
Tameto raised his right hand. Dark Chi began to form in his hand. He thrust his hand forward and fired the attack. Silrun stopped, and prayed for a few seconds. Light Chi began to spread along his blade. When the Dark Chi was close to his face, Silrun snapped his eyes open and swung his blade. The Light Chi deflected the attack. He then ran towards his brother, his hands close together, charging a Chi attack. He fired a weak attack in his brother's face, stunning him. Then, he punched him in the stomach and threw him to the floor. He placed his blade close to his brother's neck, symbolising victory.
"Silrun has won the duel, and my daughter's hand in marriage. Silrun, kill your brother." Odonic cried.
Silrun threw his sword away, and held out his hand to his brother.
"I can not kill my own brother, even if he intended on killing me my lord. I am a warrior of Light Chi, and I am prohibited from killing anyone unless they are of true evil. My brother is not of true evil, just misguided. I can not kill him." Silrun said.
"How noble. Let us praise the noble victor!" Odonic said.

And with that, Silrun was engaged to marry Janine. The wedding was to be held in a week, or at least that is what they planned.

The day before his wedding, Reilly approached Silrun.
"Do you know your brother has fled the city?" Reilly said.
"Yes, but I have not spoken to him since the duel. I pity him as he is misguided. I wish he would accept my help rather than slice off the hand that tries to help him." Silrun said.
"It does not matter Silrun. You truly are a noble warrior. Here, take this. It is my Holy sword Zanmato." Reilly said as he handed Silrun the sword. At that second, a messenger ran into the hut screaming.
"THE DARK WIZARD IKONBOARDIA HAS ATTACKED THE VILLAGE! He is headed for Lord Odonic's house!" The messenger cried.
Before anything could be said, Silrun attached Zanmato to his belt and ran out the hut. He could see Ikonboardia close to the house. He held out his hand and charged his Chi. A ball of Light Chi formed in his hand. He jumped, somersaulted and fired the Chi blast at Ikonboardia.
"What is a fly doing here?" The Dark Wizard asked.
As he slowly fell down to the ground, Silrun drew Zanmato and slashed the Wizard. He watched as people evacuated lord Odonic's house, keeping an eye open for his fiancee. That was his downfall. Ikonboardia managed to get through the fury and struck Silrun in the face. Reilly was close behind his son, and caught him as he fell to the ground. Taking Zanmato, the aged samurai master leapt at the wizard. Neither Janine nor her father had managed to flee the house when Ikonboardia engulfed it in flames. Reilly's body was also thrown onto the burning house. Zanmato landed not far from Silrun's unconscious body. The fire spread and destroyed the western half of the town. The two people Silrun loved were dead, slain by Ikonboardia's dark hand.

"General Silrun. Wake up" said a man.
"What? Geg? What has happened?" Silrun asked as he slowly opened his eyes.
It was Silrun's wedding day. He had spent half a day unconscious.
"Sad news. Ikonboardia destroyed the western half of Guvner. Janine is dead." said Geg, his head lowered. There also stood Arthur and Reno.
"What..." Silrun cried. He glanced to his left and saw the fallen blade. He had vague memories of his father taking the sword and going to fight Ikonboardia.
"My father is dead, isn't he?" Silrun asked.
"Aye." Arthur replied. "He fought to the bitter end."
"How many of us are left?" Silrun asked.
"Few Silrun. Most of the great solders were killed."
"Cloud, Tifaldo, Melvin and Lyle are dead!" Silrun cried.
"Aye. Many are also wounded. We were lucky as we managed to survive." Arthur said.
Silrun stood up and entered his hut. He walked out, wearing black pants with small plates of armour on his shins and on the sides of his legs. He was wearing a white top. On the front and back were two big pieces of armour and two small pieces on each arm, one above the elbow and one below.
"I swear I shall take Zanmato and kill Ikonboardia!" Silrun cried.

Geg, Arthur and Reno went to accompany Silrun in his quest to avenge the death and destruction Ikonboardia caused. Ikonboardia had made a castle on the outskirts of Guvner. Using his Chi magic, Silrun created a hole in the wall, allowing the group to enter. They slay the demons standing guard. No Dark life form was spared from the blades. The group came across Ikonboardia in his main lair. The group stormed into the Dark Wizard's main lair and faced him. Ikonboardia looked like a normal human, except he was wearing a Black Mages' costume expect for the hat. Behind him was a cape and he had long black hair. The warriors watched as the area around them turned to look like the stars. Ikonboardia raised his hands, and everyone watched as purple mist drew in his hands.
"ULTIRA!" Ikonboardia cried. Silrun thrust up his hands, creating a Chi shield. Just as it was about to cover his allies, Ultira killed them. Their burnt bodies fell to the floor. Silrun lowered his shield and ran towards Ikonboardia. He raised his sword and slashed the Dark Wizard's chest. Zanmato was a holy sword, the Katana version of Excalibur. It burned Ikonboardia's dark flesh. Smoke rose from the wound. Silrun, blinded by the smoke and tears for his fallen friends and loved ones continued a fury of attacks. Ikonboardia raised his hand and grabbed the blade. Though it burned his hand, he wrenched it from Silrun and threw it across the room. He grabbed Silrun by his throat and held him up.
"Quhy Yong Chi Dong Soe Si!" The Dark Wizard cried. Silrun changed into a kitten. His breed was Caracal, a breed of wild cat known to look like a domestic cat and excellent at jumping up to catch birds. Ikonboardia just laughed at the kitten.
"Killing you would be to much fun. I have turned you into a cat, where you will be cursed by the memories of those you failed."
Ikonboardia pushed Caracal out the door and left the young cat to roam the planet.

One year later, Caracal found he could once again speak like a human. He spent two more years roaming the planet, looking for food and knowledge of Ikonboardia. He was close to Baron Castle when he heard a man speak.
"I heard rumours that Ikonboardia is going to attack Baron Castle next, like he did to Guvner three years ago." One of them said.
"Did anyone survive that assault?" His friend replied.
"Nay. Only Tameto survived because he left the town a few days before Ikonboardia attacked." The first one said.
"What, even Silrun Pepin the great samurai was killed?" The second one said.
"Aye. He led three comrades into Ikonboardia's castle and were never seen again. They are presumed dead." The first one said.
"Then I fear for Baron Castle." The second person spoke.
Caracal headed for Baron Castle, in the hopes of gaining assistance to defeat Ikonboardia.

The End

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