[Originally posted in GCC]

Hello. This is a one shot I wrote as mainly an experiment on 'original' work. If you guys are recurring readers: no, I wasn't able to implement that other plan for a one shot I had before due to lack of time, so here's hopefully a good replacement. If you're a new reader: greetings. This writing is a short narration of a quickly thought up plot. These characters are part of a species that we call as "chibianthros". I can't really describe the general idea behind them right here, but if one wishes to take time to explore them then just head over to the 765th channel to know about them.

Well, enough of that. Hope you guys would appreciate reading my first ever narration of a story that is almost entirely original and refers to minimal, if not nothing, stuff regarding worlds I've traversed before.

PROLOGUE

The conflict between hope and preservation rages on, with this world's fate being the biggest spoils for the victor. Those that seek to obtain this glory are warriors summoned for that intention; Heroes that have come from a world much different from the truths of reality. These heroes however have no choice but to participate in this sole objective, continuing to fight for the deities that are claiming entitlement of the land. The heroes are however given the promise of freedom after the war has ended. Letting their lost memories guide them, they continue to fight for dominance in this conflict, to be given the chance to return home, back to the worlds they once knew. They are being blinded from the fact however, that this conflict never ends...

PLACE: Castle of Timeless Love

"Hey, uh... Nagisa? You figured they all made it to Kibou by now?" an inquisitive Ineko asked.

"Hm... I guess they could have. You must be exhausted, aren't you?" replied the being named Nagisa.

"Isn't it obvious? Shi-to lead us down the scenic road. I have no idea what was going on in his head, to be honest." Ineko replied with an annoyed face.

"Well, um, uh... I really swear this was the quick road, honest! Can't you guys just catch up to me?" an embarassed Shi-to enters the scene, answering the annoyed statement of the other cat.

"'Catch up' my behind, you're the only one that's going way ahead all of us!" Ineko replied.

"Well, it can't really be that much farther from here can it? This place looks familiar, for some reason." a mystic entity named Rebirth asked.

"Well, at least someone here knows what I'm talking about! Rebirth is my proof!" Shi-to replied. "We kind of went in a different route, I give you that, but at least we're still on the track. I just don't get why you guys just have to keep doing leisurely walks..." he continued.

"...Rebirth. I'm pretty sure that's not what you really wanted to say. Say what you truly wanted to, it's for his own good." Ineko disapproved.

A few distances from here, 2 other entities were conversing among themselves instead.

"Melody... now is not the time to be sulking." a concerned Kyouki told the other being. Melody, getting out of her crossed arms pose, diverted her gaze towards Kyouki with a straight face.

"Who's the one sulking?" Melody replied.

"Nfu... If Shi-to didn't lead us, we probably haven't been able to make it this far." Kyouki returned with a positive answer. "Sure, he doesn't know what he's talking about at times. However, those words moved us, and that's why we're here."

"I understand that. Thanks for the optimistic reply." Melody said, before looking back up at the sky. "Kyouki... Kibou summoned us here again. Do you have an idea why that is so?"

"...who knows." Kyouki returned with a blank answer.

"I... I have no intentions of turning my back. I will win this. I succeed, and I get all of my memories back... then go back to the place where I really came from... my home. That's what I keep telling myself, just as everyone does. But you know... now that I've been here for a while... Sometimes, I have to wonder whether triumph over this battle would actuall mean getting us home. It's certainly possible that... this is all just a facade. It's been bothering me for a while, you know..."

Kyouki just replied with a small smirk. After a few more moments of silence, Shi-to walks over to them, apparently eavesdropping.

"Hey hey! So here we see that Melody's just as normal like all of us here?" Shi-to blurted out.

"W-what was that?!" Melody said, apparently annoyed at the statement.

"Look, everyone of us is confused at the moment, but we're trying to do our best here. If you really wish, you could be the one bossing us around, you know. But since no one else is doing it, I'll take it as my rightful place instead. Are you going to put up for that?" Shi-to replied, provoking the motivation of Melody.

"Kuh, anything but that." she replied.

"Heh. Don't sweat it, we'll figure something out. As long as we're here, things will work the way that they should, right?" Shi-to replied with a positive answer.

"I'd trust our once wayward 'leader'." Kyouki interrupted. "He seems to be stating these from experience."

"Uh... thanks?" was Shi-to's reply, not knowing if that was a compliment or not.

"Let's go, then. Relax, the battle won't be lost so easily." Kyouki replied, prompting some of them to start walking.

Melody took one last glance at the sky. "...no, that it won't."

All of them then start to walk towards some direction. This time, however, they take each others' intuitions instead of letting Shi-to lead them all the way.

Ineko is a cat that seemed to be a victim of some identity crisis that became prominent. Sporting fully the features of a yellow cat but acting completely like a dog, Ineko is one of the most interesting creatures as this gives her the ability to tap the powers of three kinds of species: a dog, a cat, and a mixture of both.

Nagisa is a simple rabbit with excellent intelligence. A victim of many crises, even though she's completely ordinary, her experience in dealing with large monsters, both literally and figuratively, is one to be admired. She loves seashores and has some fear of rocks. She is also considered to be one of the pretties entities from her world.

Shi-to is a blue cat-esque creature that wears clothing almost similar to that of a prince of old, which makes him look a bit stupid. Beneath that clothing however lies an immense power that only few know of. He can harness powers that are considered 'Dark' and turn it into the energy that he uses. Self-proclaiming himself as the strongest of all warriors, he will stop at nothing to prove that his power is unmatched.

Rebirth is a dog with the obvious powers of a mystic. Her powers are limited however, so no one from her world actually knows that she knows too much about the history of the worlds and beyond. Not one to converse much, Rebirth likes to compile the facts of this world while still staying as ordinary as possible. When called for, that's when she conjures up some of her knowledge and uses space as her main weapon.

Kyouki is a wolf with the extraordinary ability to reason and 'un-reason'. He has one of the most stable minds among many others, but when provoked he actually becomes one of the most insane entities in the world. He has unnatural speed and relies on trickery to get the jump on his adversities in any kind of battle, physical or not. His ties with Shi-to far extend into their worlds, they however just forgot what it was.

Melody is a fox that always looks forward to the future. She always wonders what's in store for her, and bases all her decisions mainly from intuition and prediction. She is usually seen spacing out as she gives a lot of time to herself and only herself, making her a bit enigmatic. She likes associating everything with music.

They continue to walk on this direction that they all think looks like the shortest route towards Hope's Sanctuary.

PLACE: Train Station for Furious Avians

"Hey, uh, Melody?" Nagisa called over while they were walking.

"Yes? What is it?" Melody replied.

"Since you've been looking in blank spaces and thinking too much to yourself lately, I can't help but be curious regarding your past." Nagisa asked. "Do you remember it already?"

"Hm... it's true that I have recovered some of my memories. However, there are still a lot of gaps in it in that I can't really say whether the memories I do have are real or not." Melody returns with an answer.

"No fair, I want my memories back too!" Ineko shrieks after hearing the conversation. "It's kind of troublesome trying to be happy due to me not remembering myself!" she continues.

"Quit your whining, all of you." Shi-to's turn to speak. "I think you guys probably know this already, but the only memories that matter are the strong ones. I remember a lot about my past due to not wasting my life idling! Being the strongest isn't easy even though it's natural for me, and I've gone through a lot of crap!"

Nagisa was startled at this. "So you remember everything, Shi-to?! Do you recall your world entirely?!"

"No, not really. The most that I think about are the other entities that have been quite a significance in my path to becoming the strongest. Staring at these alone is enough to keep me going! Maybe that's why I never get bored of fighting, or something." Shi-to comprehensively continued.

"Motivation. I think that's something we shouldn't run out of." Kyouki interrupts. "Shi-to's intentions are admittedly lowly, but if this is his driving force in life then this is an example many of us can possibly follow."

Nagisa then replies. "Well, my memories... are really scary. Sometimes I wish that I could just stay here forever so that I never get them back... I've already caught a few glimpses.

"Is it that fear of being abducted? ...yes, I know a lot." Kyouki asks her.

"...keh! Kyouki, how much do you know?"

"I have just taken all from inference, don't mind me." he replies, dismissing the topic.

"So guys are we all just going to stand here and talk about something that we probably won't get until much later? We're delaying everyone else back at the sanctuary." Melody interrupted them. Everyone agreed.

"Wait, guys, can you give me this one last chance? I think I have a feeling I know the way back to the sanctuary from here. I can feel something that's drawing me there, there's no doubt about it!" Shi-to requested.

"...much as you got us lost a while ago, you're the only one that has the lead this time. Guess we have no choice." Melody sheepishly replied.

"Alright! But can you guys PLEASE catch up this time?" Shi-to replied, before walking briskly towards the direction, again leaving the others to just catch up to him instead of waiting for them. The other 5 started to walk after they saw Shi-to quickly disappear.

PLACE: Nihyaku Ruins Outskirts

"...wait! Everyone, stop!" Melody suddenly commands everyone while they were proceeding. "I can feel something heavy here...! I'm not sure what it is, but stay alert!" she continued. This prompted everyone to suddenly stop in their tracks and assume a cautious pose... except for Shi-to, who just stood there smiling.

Later, he suddenly laughed. "For some reason this feeling is too familiar...! I can't point out my finger on it, but this is hilariously nostalgic, for some reason!" he blurts out loudly.

Everyone else is confused by his statement here. "Show yourself!" shouted Kyouki.

Then later the pressure got heavier and heavier. Eventually some of them heard another set of footsteps coming from their direction.

"I come over here and what do I see? 6 heroes, seemingly confused as to what they're doing." some other voice said. This made them face behind as the other voice was coming from there.

"Gah! You're...!" Shi-to suddenly blurted. What they saw in front of them was another hero. She had ears that resembled miniature dragon wings, with the inner side attached entirely to her head, making it unavailable for flight. She wore 2 bells behind each of her ears. She was wearing a tight blue vest, accompanied by a blue cape with ends tattered that seemed to look like blue flames. (author's note: sorry guys, I just have to complete hi~... err, her description. Always. Hee~)

"...oh? And look who's among them... it's the jerk that thinks he's the strongest." the dragon continued.

"That's the truth and you know it! Well except maybe the 'jerk' part and the 'thinks' part!" Shi-to shouted at her.

"Shi-to... isn't this girl a warrior for the other side? You know her?" Melody had to ask Shi-to, as the small dialogue seemed to have convinced her that the two know each other.

"You mean she's one of the bad guys?!" Ineko suddenly shouted.

"I don't think 'bad guys' is the best word to use here, young cat." the girl replied.

"Now that I think about it, what are you even doing here Ryougen?!" Shi-to shouted to the girl, who is addressed as Ryougen.

"Oh, you mean what am I doing trespassing into the territory of the warriors of hope?" Ryougen replied.

"Well, kind of, yeah. Actually... now that you're here..." Shi-to answered. Then he assumed a position that directly faces Ryougen, then puts on a stance similar to a fighting stance.

"You're going to ask for a fight. Typical... You still will never win though, so don't get your hopes up." she replied, then conjured up a really long pike that seemed to be made up of cold energy.

"T-that weapon... it's huge!" Kyouki just had to comment.

"I don't care how long it takes! I'll take you down, Ryougen!" Shi-to shouted.

"I admire your unwavering pride! But you have nothing to back it up with!" Ryougen replied.

Just as something was about to happen, however, another voice came from behind Ryougen. "Stop it, all of you." the voice said. In came another entity. This entity looked like a simple cat that was wearing a green vest and a green cape with lightning designs on it.

"Another warrior of bonds?!" Melody just had to exclaim. Now there are 2 heroes from the other side which are in the other territory.

"Tenyou..." Ryougen exclaimed, while half-looking at her ally addressed as Tenyou and withdrawing her pike.

"Now is not the time for pointless actions like this. Ryougen, these warriors have not obtained their essences yet." Tenyou said, which left all of the 6 puzzled.

"Essences?" Nagisa asked, for the term seemed very familiar to her.

"You'll understand the essences in time." Tenyou said.

"You mean this, right?" Ryougen exclaimed, as she pulls out some odd looking colorful air from within her clothing.

"That's the essence of flames!" Melody shouted.

"Yes, and is the main reason we were able to get here in the first place." Ryougen replied.

"There's no point fighting them without their essences. Ryougen, we must return for now." Tenyou told her ally.

"...well, if that's how it should be then we're leaving. Sorry Shi-to." Ryougen told Shi-to.

"Wait what?! You can't just tuck tail and leave like that! You're not leaving this place until we fight!" Shi-to shouted. Tenyou, annoyed at this statement, drew out a humongously long katana and pointed it at the blue cat, prompting him to suddenly flinch as he almost got hit by it.

"...at least you know much to understand the language of fighting." Tenyou said, before discarding the katana.

Ryougen approached Shi-to before going beside Tenyou who was already walking away. "If you want to know a bit of the situation, then meet me at the place where eating is always allowed." was what she said.

"Um... OK?" was Shi-to's confused reply. After hearing this, Ryougen finally turned back and walked away from the place. She said something before completely disappearing. "By the way, if you're still lost, the way to your sanctuary is just behind Shi-to." was what she said. Without turning back, the two entities from 'the other side' disappeared.

"...Shi-to?" Melody blurted out immediately.

"...no I don't know either! I'm a bit frustrated right now though..." was Shi-to's reply. "Anyway, at least my feeling was right! We didn't get lost this time because of me! We would have never gotten back there if I wasn't leading!" he continued. This received a lot of frowning faces from the other heroes there.

"Let's not waste time. Everyone is waiting for us." Kyouki exclaimed. This prompted everyone to get into a normal stance again and walk towards the direction that Ryougen pointed them to.

PLACE: Hope's Sanctuary

The 6 arrive there. As expected, they were the only ones being waited upon. There at the center of the sanctuary was a goddess. Surrounding her were around 7 to 9 other heroes that are allies. Collectively, all of the heroes for this goddess are called the warriors of hope.

As the goddess now confirms the presence of all of her heroes, she then casts some heavenly spell. Spirit energy was flowing beautifully across the sanctuary, circling the heroes. Mesmerized and startled at the same time, each hero noticed that the spirit energies are approaching them one by one. As they open their palm to receive it, an essence forms for each one of them.

The goddess spoke.

"...I'd like to give a special mention to both Melody and Shi-to for leading your group. Yes, I've seen all that happened... even if you guys did get lost, that was only beneficial for all of us as you have seen and encountered some events that would be an advantage later on...

Now, this is it my brave warriors. From here on, you must find other essences and bring back as much as of them as you can here. Where these essences lie is for everyone to find out... now go!"

A lot of the heroes then, after hearing those words, began walking their own paths, briskly walking away from the sanctuary with different emotions. Some were excited, some were blank, some were clinging to other heroes. Shi-to and Melody took one last glance of the goddess before walking their own paths.

"...how much longer must I hide the truth..."

END PROLOGUE

For some reason I feel like I rushed this a little bit too much. I'm pretty sure I missed some details that I wanted to elaborate, I just forgot what. Alright guys, if there's enough demand, I might pick this up again sometime. But for now as it is, this remains as a one shot. This admittedly isn't my best work since I operate more on fanfiction, which this largely isn't.

Also, the name became "Shi-to" and not "S h i t o" because I can't find a workaround to our word censoring.