Calamity Hound Overture, Cascade Ominence, Benign Overlord

I am disgusted. Utterly, undeniably disgusted.

At myself.

That does not happen. Ever! I am too cool for that.

But...

I ATE A RAT! A RAT I HAD A CIVIL CONVERSATION WITH JUST SECONDS PRIOR! AND I LIKED IT! WHY?

A chocobo is supposed to be a herbivore! Why isn’t my body rejecting it and making me puke it out? Why was I enjoying the taste of meat with these taste buds? IT MAKES NO SENSE!

So there I lay, on the floor of my cage, eyes wide open, not looking at anything... I hate to admit it, but I feel like a piece of shit. I don’t know if it is because I killed and ate an innocent animal that I promised to let go, or that I don’t even have the decency to remember it- her name...

... It feels weird accidentally being the bad guy... I have no problems with it but... most of the time I meant it... This time, I didn’t. I was going to let her go...

I guess... Instincts just took over.

...

THAT is complete bulshit! A herbivore has no such instincts, so why did I do it?!

I feel my own anger at myself and my ignorance grow and swell inside of me. Nothing like this has ever happened before. I’m confused, angry and I really want to pummel something. I’m Hulking out over here!

... But I guess I can’t do... well, anything, really.

...

...

‘Being emo sucks!’

I get up, frustrated. I walk up to the door to my lovely cage. I take position, prepare, take aim and kick it. The metal bar door let’s out a loud noise and rattles a little, but nothing else. I was kind of hoping it would just break of it’s hinges, but it seemed too durable for that. But everything has a breaking point. If I kick it long enough, it will break. No question.

I am tired of this! I am fucking fed up with this fucking cage! This fucking place! I am getting the FUCK out!

So I repeat the process. Kick after kick lands on the metal bars. The noise it makes is incredible. Loud as hell, I mean.

After a while I start kicking in faster succession. Limiting as this new body is, it sure as hell packs a good punch. Or a kick, in this case. The muscles in my legs are strong and with each kick I can feel them tensing up to take the impact.

A foot would start getting sore after a while of kicking shit. My bird foot didn’t. I must have tougher hide to absorb the impact while still keeping it strong. I am happy with this info.

I did not even notice it at first, but the time inbetween my kicks started getting smaller. It’s like my muscles have figured out the pattern and now are aiming to work at optimal capacity. So I kept kicking the blasted door, faster and faster. The noise it made had to be heard to be believed. I ignored it though.

After a while I had to stop. I was panting heavily, somewhat drained. I looked at the door. Still there, standing, but one thing caught my eye immediately. Eyes that widened and almost popped out of their sockets. The bars had bent outwards quite a bit. The dent was... impressive.

‘Wow, shit! Did I really just do that? HOLY FUCK!’

Then I noticed something else. The bottom of my foot was hot! It must have caused some friction from the kicks. I was astounded. Suddenly I began to see some potential in this body. Some damn badass potential.

Some noises can be heard from just outside the room my cage is in. I figured someone must have heard that. The door is flung open and a familiar looking -*snicker*- diamond dog walked in.

“What go on here?!”, It asked, kinda agrish.

“Nice to see you too, Mr. Weeney. Go eat a sausage!”, I...God, why can’t I just say that like a normal person? WHY?!

Mr. Ween- fuck it. He has a name, might as well use it. Heros looked at me with a malicious look. “You stop racket!”, He growled at me walking closer to my cage. Closer than is deemed safe with me.

I do my best to blow a raspberry at the prick of a dog, but I am not entirely sure if I could pull it off with a bird tongue and a beak.

“Why you-!”, He yells. Apparently I can do it just fine. Fuck yeah! Heros makes his way closer to my cage, his muzzle sticking inside between the bars in a growl. I, of course, see a perfect opportunity to fuck this guy up. With a swift movement, I kick his muzzle, sending him stumbling to the other end of the room, hitting the bars of the larger cage.

Not only did the kick make a satisfyingly loud clank-sound on the bars, but it also apparently caused some damage on Heros’ muzzle, which he was holding and trying to muffle cries of pain. I think I saw some blood leak out between his fingers too.

“That’s right! Don’t fuck with the chocobo, biatch!”, I say... Damnit! This has no desired effect if no one can understand me!

I stop on my tracks. Something was moving in the room, or so it sounded like. Some shuffling noises. It was not me and Heros was still holding his nose.

Then I saw it. The shape in the largest cell had moved. Oddly enough it seemed... taller.

Without any sort of warning, the bars of the largest cage came flying off as a large fist broke through them, hitting Heros and flinging him straight through my bars with unbelievable force. Heros did not stop there but hit the back of my cell, hard. I watched as his skull hit the wall first and shattered, spilling blood everywhere.

The sight made me want to vomit, but I managed to hold it in. Safe to say, I had never really seen an injury of that caliber. It was... horrible. I slowly looked back through the new holes in both of the cells. What I saw made me freeze perfectly still.

From inside the newly made hole, a creature crawled into the light where I could see it. It was a black furred diamond dog, or so I thought. It’s arms and legs and body in general looked very muscular, albeit it still looked very thin and sickly. It’s tail was unlike any of the dogs I had seen this far. It was far longer and was built like a club with spike like points on the round tip.

But the most eye striking part was it’s sheer size. Compared to me, who was larger that most of the dogs myself, it was... a giant. It was basically crawling in the room, pressing itself to it’s minimal size to fit, but it still came off as far larger than anything I had ever seen.

Then I got a look on it’s face. It’s ears were straight like arrow heads and it had a long muzzle. The part that got me were the eyes. Or rather where I should see the eyes. The eyelids were closed, two vertical scars running over both of them. It’s ears jerked around and it sniffed the air lightly.

This thing- this monster was blind.

My breathing stopped for a second as it laid it’s closed eyes on me. After a second or two it looked away, but for me it felt like an eternity.

Finally it crawled to the door with sluggish movements and punched a massive hole into the wall with no apparent trouble. After widening the hole for a bit, it crawled outside and for a minute after, I just stood still, listening the sound of the giant shuffling about until I could hear it no more.

And I started choking. I had forgotten to breathe for a while there. I took a few raspy breaths, my legs and entire body shaking. I don’t know what it was, but that thing just...

I blink. Am I actually scared of this thing?

I shake the thought out of my head and headbut some of the bars for good measure. This is the perfect opportunity. I walk through the hole in my cell and look at where the door once stood. The hole was big enough to let the giant crawl out, but to me it was just a huge hole.

I walked out of the room which had been my prison for some time. The outside is a tunnel, extending to three directions. I immediately take running through the route that is elevated upwards. This usually means it lead to the surface.

... And for fucks sake, don’t let this place be a maze!

The corridor is pretty long, going on for several minutes, even when I was running through it. I was pretty fast, I noted but did not dwell on it. I eventually came upon a crossroad. There was a path to the left and a path to the right. Both elevated, but the left only slightly less. I looked at the right. There were large claw marks on the wall there.

Nope, left it is.

It did not take long for me to reach YET ANOTHER CROSSROAD. It is a maze. I am fucked! But before I even get a chance to cry out in frustration, some voices from a distance catch my attention. Curious, I follow them. Soon enough, I can make out what is being said. I stopped. A little walk away from me was a door that was open just a little bit.

I listened.

“I can’t believe that damn bird is still alive and kicking.”, Said the voice of the alpha, a slight growl mixed in there. Guess my little stunt still made an impression on his nads. “I should just kill it and be done with the whole thing.”

‘HAH! Come and try, mutt!’

“Dad, he’s not worth it!”, Another voice shouts out. It was the young bitch that visits me all the time. Seems like the alpha has a daughter. Just great!

“You are right. It is not worth my time. I’ll just send someone else to lynch it.”, The alpha growled. “And stop calling it a ‘he’.”

“But-”

“No buts!”, The alpha interjects. “You have already disappointed me gravely. Not only did you go there on your own, but some of our provisions also happen to disappear the same moment. Care to explain?”

There was a small silence.

“I... I did not want him to starve.”, The female speaks timidly.

The alpha sighs. Not angrily, or anything. It’s just a tired sigh. “Angel, dear. You need to stop caring for random creatures. Yes, I know how you feel about that, but this simply can’t continue. It is not supposed to work that way.”

“... But, dad-”, The female, whose name was Angel apparently, tried to speak up.

She was shushed. “Remember how that ended up with that baby manticore. The mother came to our den and injured several of your packmates.”

I could hear a sad whimper from within the room.

“Now ,now. No need to get sad over it. It was an honest mistake and no one blames you for it.”, The alpha comforts his daughter.

“... Heros does.”

“Heros’ mate lost an arm in that incident. He has his right for it, even if I do not approve. No one died. That is important.”

There was another pregnant pause that lasted for a while. I just stood perfectly still, inching a bit closer to the distant door.

“What about brother and sis?”, the female asked sounding a bit hopeful.

I could basically hear the alpha frown. I am not kidding!

“Nothing, still.”, He said “We still do not know where they might be. But I have a strong sense that that group of bandits that has appeared recently must have something to do with it.”

“... What if-”

“BOSS!!”

The talk was interrupted by a loud yell from inside the door. A panicked yell.

“BOSS! IT’S ALIVE! HE’S KILLING EVERYONE! IT’S BA-” A loud sound of rock breaking impact cut the sentence. A shriek was heard from inside the room.

“How could... Angel, run!”

“D-dad-”

“RUN!”

The door burst open, the female diamond dog leaving in a hurry. I made a split second decision to follow and as I passed the open door, I looked in. I saw it again. The massive form of a dog with two scars on top of it’s eyelids. The split second it took for me to pass the door I saw it clawing at the walls, widening the passage so it could get through. The alpha seemed to try and stop it’s advance.

I did not stay to watch.

The dog... Angel was faster than I thought and it took me little effort to keep up. Then again, I was not really trying to make a record here. When she took a turn, I took a turn. I did not think she saw me following her. Might be better.

I hear rumbling in the ground but don’t stop to think about what it might be.

I followed that bitch for several minutes, up until I stopped and let her leave my line of sight. Not that I needed her anymore.

I could see light at the end of the passage. You would not believe how relieved I felt. With one final spurt I took a running start and headed for the light. It came closer and closer. With one final jump, I was outside.

...

“GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”, I scream as the rays of the sun suddenly hit my retinas like a kamehameha. I touched the ground but stumbled into  the grass, rolling for a good distance from the speed I had gained from that short spurt. It did not hurt nearly as close as my eyes did.

“GOD DAMNIT! WHYYYYYY?!”, I yell out in pain, even if no one can actually hear me say it. How the hell can I be so stupid? In my temporary underground exile, I had forgotten about how light sensitive my eyes are. And now the volume of my screams tells more than words ever could.

I, for the first time try to move my wings to cover my eyes, but noooooo. Of course my wings must be like that of a damn ostrich! So big but short that they are worth JACK. FUCKING. SHIIIIIT!

“Oh my- What are you doing here?!”, I hear the voice of that damn female speak up in shock, BUT I AM TOO DISTRACTED BY THE PAIN TO LISTEN! “A-are you hurt.”

I just continue thrashing around on the ground, doing everything I can to cover my eyes, at least a little until I can adjust. Then I feel two paws cover my eyes. It is dark again. Thank. God! I stop my erratic movement and relax a little.

“Poor thing. Does the light hurt your eyes?”

‘NO SHIT!’ I just nod, a bit bitter that I can’t actually say that. Well, now that I was calm-ish, I jerked away from the paws, my eyes closed. I began to open them, letting in small amounts of light at a time.

Soon enough my eyes had adjusted to the point where it does not hurt like all seven rings of hell. I get up a bit clumsily and stand up in my full height. I look down on the diamond dog, who I tower easily.

She, however did not look at me anymore. She looked at the entrance to the underground caves form where the two of us just came out of. She looked... Worried.

“Dad...”, She whispered silently, but I heard it. Only a heartless guy can’t not feel bad for a sight like that.

Then the ground begins to shake, small tremors making themselves present all over the place. They grew in strength and seemed to be getting louder. The ground in front of me began to crack, so I took many hasty steps back, as did the female.

The cracks spread a bit more before the ground basically burst open like a volcano, shooting dirt and dust in every direction. I got some dust in my eye and blinked furiously to get it out. But then, from the dust came forward a form with a step that caused the earth to tremor slightly.

All of a sudden it looked a lot cloudier. Then I looked up and was both flabbergasted and terrified. Angel stumbled while backing away and fell, but did not stop her panicked escape. I just stood there.

In front of me, a mere foot away, stood the dog from the large cell, facing away from me. But now, it seemed even more massive, standing up on it’s muscular legs. The term ’giant’ was not enough to do it justice. Gargantuan was more closer to the truth. It stood way above me, at least five, maybe six times the size of the alpha from before. And unlike before, it was now clothed.

On it’s large hand it was now wearing some sort of gloves. A horrifying combination of red boxing gloves and spiked knuckle irons, some fresh blood was visible on the metallic parts and the dull spikes. On it’s torso it wore what looked like a very large, blood red long tailed coat with the sleeves torn off and a hood covering it’s head, aside from the ears that poke through. On the coat’s back was a picture of a skull with sewn shut eyes, some letters written on it's forehead.

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